InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Midnight Blood ❯ Corruption ( Chapter 31 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

By: ji-an

A/N

I’m surprised I got to this chapter. I didn’t think I’d get this far in the story, but hey, we got somewhere right? It has been a while since I wrote fanfiction. Life has just been bleh. Though I wasn’t entirely gone all these months. I did FINALLY write the last chapter of Bad Influences, though I don’t know if anyone is still interested in that old thing, but it’s done. Now all I have to do is get this one done!

----

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own Inuyasha, nor do I take credit for Rumiko Takahashi’s genius. I don’t own Yu Yu Hakusho, nor do I take credit for Yoshihiro Togashi’s awesome characters.

----

`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~ `~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~ ` ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~` ~ ` ~ `~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~` ~ ` ~` ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~ `~ ` ~`~ `~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

REVIEWERS:

@REVIEWERGODDESS: Is that meta or not? Laughing at your own thoughts as you write something down? Well either way, I’m glad to see that you’re laughing, whether it’s at yourself or the story. You know every time I read a review from you, I either think you’re thinking ahead of me, or I think, “Muhaha! You’re so wrong! I can’t wait to throw this curveball at you!” So you think Lilliana is “safe” in numbers, eh? As for Inu/Kag, weeeell…just keep reading. On another note, thanks for the heads up about the spelling mistakes last time around. I don't really have a beta reader or anything like that, it's just lil ol me trying to do as well as I can, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

Part Thirty One: Corruption

“They target teenagers, right?” Rukiya tapped her foot. “We’ll have to look around malls and schools, see if there is anyone selling juice or marketing a new type of drug to underage party goers.”

They had been searching the city for any sign of rogue nightwalkers or slaves, with no luck, for the better part of an hour. The sun had crossed to the west end of the sky. Within a few hours it would be nighttime, and they had made no progress. Kagome was pulling a complete blank on what to do until Rukiya mentioned hunting down some kids.

“This puts a bad taste in my mouth.” Kagome looked down, hating that this was their best plan. She couldn’t even think freely, so many cars were honking their horns. They were on the edge of an overpass, watching the cars try and squeeze into the freeway through the traffic. A few freeway drivers honked as they drove by, and Inuyasha happily flipped them off.

“I remember running into those things near a mall,” he said.

“That’s right. It was when I went shopping with,” Kagome shut her mouth.

Inuyasha glared. “Let me guess: Narek? This wouldn’t happen to do with Lilliana’s impromptu strip tease would it?”

“Can we not talk about this right now? We have more important things to do.”

Inuyasha stuck his tongue out at Kagome. “Doesn’t matter. I’m still going to kill her.”

Rukiya smacked Inuyasha upside the head. “I don’t care if you’re her blood father or not, I decide what happens to her not you. And I happen to think that Lilliana is a fully grown adult and a loyal one at that, so keep your opinions to yourself.”

Inuyasha gave Rukiya his back. “You didn’t see what I saw,” he grumbled.

“Excuse me,” Sayo cut in, “but what’s a mall?”

“It’s like a market.” Kagome explained. An idea lit up in her head. She grabbed Sayo’s shoulders. “And you would fit right in, now that I think about it. I have a plan.”

Forty-five minutes later, Sayo was dressed head to two in black, damaged jeans, a rock and roll t-shit, and converse shoes, courtesy of Claire’s closet. Inuyasha and Kagome walked arm and arm through an outdoor mall downtown, with Sayo trailing behind, doing her best to look absolutely annoyed. They passed by a group of goths and punks with big stud earrings and hard-rock tees. Inuyasha and Kagome paused a few steps in front of them.

Dressed in a tux, Inuyasha fumbled with his tie. Kagome, just as elegantly dressed in a green slip dress and stilettos, made a show of fixing his tie. She leaned her shoulder on his, looking over the group of kids. A pair of beautiful people had naturally drawn the eyes of a few teenagers. Kagome winked, and Inuyasha turned for a moment to give them a onceover.

Some of the boys rolled their eyes, some of them smiled back at Kagome, while a few girls looked away, blushing and giggling. Sayo let out an obnoxiously loud groan. Kagome and Inuyasha stopped at an intersection, and Sayo trailed behind, glaring at them.

“I wish you wouldn’t encourage them,” she told the teenagers, “they’re just showing off.”

“Dude, that Asian girl is hot though,” said one of the guys.

“How do you know them,” asked one of the girls.

“That’s my sister and her boyfriend. She was supposed to ‘babysit’ me but her date was more important.”

“Aren’t you a little old to be babysat?”

“T-that’s what I told my mom, but she insisted on ‘quality time’ with my sister. Uh,” Sayo rolled her eyes, “pu-lease.”

The teens leaned closer to Sayo and whispered something in her ear. “Want to get back at her? Come hang with us and freak her out when you go missing.”

The plan was working perfectly. Sayo stayed behind with the teenagers while Kagome and Inuyasha made it across the street. They stopped to watch as the group of kids walked off with Sayo, leaving the outdoor mall area in favor of back alleys nearby.

“Rukiya should keep us informed about where they go,” Kagome sat down on a street bench to pull off her stilettos, “now we just have to wait and,” Kagome sighed, “hope that they will become targets.”

As she was putting on her flats, she heard Inuyasha click his teeth. “Shame. I was liking the slutty older sister routine.”

Kagome threw her heels at him. “Can’t you focus? This is hardly the time to be checking me out.”

Catching the shoes, Inuyasha let out a deep chuckle. “What can I say? I didn’t think your plan would have been this,” his eyes moved down, “distracting.”

Kagome’s chest tightened, which was not something she wanted in a strapless, emerald dress. The summer heat was not helping much either. “Is that you talking or your inner beast?”

Inuyasha’s voice took on a low growl, and an echo of another. “Both.”

Kagome stood, grabbed his shoulders and turned him around, mostly to hide the deep red surfacing in her cheeks. By the way he shuddered, she knew he could sense her blood rushing elsewhere as well. Quickly, she tried to think of something else, something that would flush out her fast beating heart like a cold shower. Nothing. All she could think of was just how amazing Inuyasha’s butt looked in a suit.

“W-we don’t have time for this! We need to meet up with Rukiya.”

“What’s the rush? Can’t we role-play a little longer?”

Kagome pushed him toward an alley.

“A bit creepy, but I can dig the whole public indecency thing if you want.”

It was Kagome’s turn to smack him upside the head. “Will you shut up? I’m really trying not to think about that right now!”

“Oh, so you were thinking about ‘that.’”

“Inuyasha!”

He stiffened, turning around to look at her with an intense glint in his eye. Kagome covered his chest.

“If you say one more stupid thing, I swear I’m going to-”

“No, it’s Rukiya. She’s calling.”

Kagome waited until Inuyasha jumped up to the top of the building before she followed him. They sped to Rukiya’s location, stopping at the back end of an apartment building a few blocks away. Funny how odd downtown was structured. One area could be ritzy and perfect, while the next could be filled with old apartment buildings and homeless tents. The smell of weed wafted up from the dim lit area below. Kagome wrinkled her nose. Whether human or nightwalker, she had always hated that smell. The rank, unmistakable odor of dumpsters also didn’t help. How the hell did teens find underage drinking and smoking so cool when they had to do it in such terrible places?

Rukiya handed Kagome an oversized T-shirt, which Kagome gratefully threw over her head while Inuyasha made a little whine.

“So much for the eye candy.”

“Keep it in your pants,” Rukiya barked. “Sayo is down there. Those kids joined this little group a few minutes ago.”

“Now we just have to wait and hope that someone comes by to sell the kids some nightwalker blood. I hope Sayo can keep up the angry teenager façade long enough.” Kagome rubbed her arms, hating that they were using children as bait.

Nightwalkers never fed from anyone under the age of eighteen, even if they were newborns near that age. It was one of Sesshoumaru’s new rules. No human child was to be hurt, especially considering that humans made more of a fuss when a child went missing or had a sudden injury. She hoped he would forgive her for breaking the rules, just a little.

“Don’t worry,” Inuyasha rubbed Kagome’s back, “we’ll stop them before they get a good taste.”

“I sure hope so.”

But an hour later when nothing happened, Kagome was starting to doubt they would have to protect the kids after all.

“Sayo’s getting tired,” Rukiya said after a few minutes. “They’re all drunk or high and it’s starting to get on her nerves.”

“Don’t have to tell me that. I can feel whisky breath and pot burning my eyes from up here,” Inuyasha scoffed, pacing. “Keep this up and my senses will be too overloaded to tell if a nightwalker walks by.”

Rukiya stiffened. “Wait.” She shushed Inuyasha. “Someone is nearby.”

“Can you sense what this person is thinking?”

“They’re thinking that they’re going to enjoy this.”

Kagome moved toward the edge of the building. “Let’s go.”

They dropped down and knelt by the corner that led into the alley with the dumpster. The smell of marijuana was stronger then ever and Kagome could hear the boys and girls slurring their speech as they talked about nothing in particular. Then there were footsteps in the distance.

There was no mistaking the scent of another nightwalker. Humans had a scent that wafted into one’s nose like a delicious Sunday meal or a rotten tomato, depending on preferences of the hunter. But nightwalkers had a scent that Kagome could only describe as natural. Earthy, spicy or watery scents, mixed in with something primal, something deliciously sensual, and sometimes, something dark and cold, like the crisp, cool smell of winter ice. This nightwalker smelled like a hot day in the summer, like the sun, but, just under all that sweetness was another scent, the smell of soot and ash.

“Tsubaki,” Inuyasha hissed, “so she has found a way back here.”

Kagome peeked around the corner, hoping that the smell of dope would conceal their presence. They were downwind, and, sure enough, Tsubaki was walking toward the alley.

“Rukiya,” Kagome whispered, “tell Sayo to get out of there.”

Rukiya nodded, closing her eyes to mentally send Sayo a warning. “She’s slipped away. I told her to go around back to where we separated. That should keep her out of harms way for now.”

Tsubaki skipped into the alley. Without warning, Inuyasha ran after her. Quickly, Kagome and Rukiya rushed to follow, stepping into the mouth of the alley just in time to catch Inuyasha wrestling Tsubaki to the ground. He pinned her down with her hands behind her back.

The teens were a mixture of confused and nervous. Only one girl was sober, and she let out a scream. Kagome reacted without thinking, reaching out to the grab the girl and whispering in her ear.

“Relax. We’re undercover cops. That woman is a known serial killer and you’re a bunch of drug using kids. Gather your friends, go home, tell no one and I won’t arrest all of you.”

It seemed as though the human girl would do as she was told. Even though her friends were drunk and high, she was able to gather up the teenagers and get them away. Once the alley was clear, Inuyasha sat on Tsubaki, holding her still while Rukiya reached for her head. Touching Tsubaki’s temple, Rukiya shuddered.

“Smart. She’s scrambling her thoughts.”

Kagome put her hand over Rukiya’s. Closing her eyes, she focused on a single memory: how to get to Zenith. Images invaded her mind. She zoomed through city streets and between buildings. A hole was somewhere, in an old, abandoned building behind a car dealership. Kagome pulled her hand away.

“I’ve got it.”

“Good,” Inuyasha lifted his hand, flexing his claws. He sunk them into Tsubaki’s chest.

Rather then scream, she laughed, blood oozing from her lower lip. “You’ve gotten stronger, but going back will only bring you one step closer to what he wants.”

“And what does he want?”

“What makes you think I’ll tell you?”

Kagome reached to Tsubaki’s memories again, but the second she touched Tsubaki, a whirlpool of horrible images invaded her mind. Child Tsubaki tied up and abused by dozens of adults, Naraku reaching into her memories to brainwash her. Kagome pulled back, screaming. Hammers pounded on her head. Somewhere else, in another life, there was an empty giggle. When she opened her eyes, Inuyasha’s hand was in Tsubaki’s chest.

The smile on her face was deranged, almost excited. “I’m not afraid to die, go ahead and squeeze. My master already has one of the things he needs. You go back there and he’ll have two.”

“You’re talking about my mother.”

Rukiya, Kagome, and Inuyasha looked up. Sayo was back in the alley. “He wants a revenant’s soul, doesn’t he?”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lilliana sat by the fire, watching it burn and hating why the wood smoke was necessary in the middle of the desert. She felt sick being this close to Naraku’s territory. Although her group was far from the pit that monster called his home, Lilliana was too afraid to close her eyes. The other nightwalkers in Hiei and Kurama’s assault team were fast asleep, or keeping watch.

Ice nightwalkers didn’t deal well with the heat, they were quickly enraged, but still they insisted on the bon-fires. Apparently, it kept all the creepy crawlies in the desert away, at least the stench from the wood they were burning did.

Shippo twitched next to Lilliana’s leg. She questioned Yoko Kurama’s judgment in letting a child come on this trek with them, but for the past few weeks, they hadn’t so much as made a major move and Shippo stayed at the base camps playing nursemaid more often then not. Yoko and Hiei’s armies were spreading out throughout the desert, taking their time surrounding nearby cities and waiting for the order to move in. They were trying to cut off Naraku’s reinforcements, take over cities and kill any desert nightwalkers they came upon.

The sneaky attacks reminded Lilliana of Narek and his methods. At least they were being strategic, but she knew it was only a matter of time before they went back to Naraku’s city. If she were being honest, she was surprised that Yoko and Hiei hadn’t staged a full on assault on Naraku and his city. Yoko Kurama’s mate was in his clutches, and Lilliana could understand if he was desperate, but the only thing she got from him was detached logic.

Just thinking about going back to Naraku’s city made Lilliana’s skin freeze over. She would be happy never seeing that man again, but knew she would be safest around people then alone where she could be plucked up from the ground without a single witness nearby, even if it meant fighting someone else’s war.

Lilliana didn’t sleep all through the night. Or if you could call it night. She didn’t know how Zenith nightwalkers were able to tell time, but eventually, the camp woke up and got their orders. Shippo stayed behind while Lilliana moved out with another group of nightwalkers. They found another hole in the sand, another city.

Lilliana stayed behind while half of the group went into the hole. Soon the sounds of extermination reached her ears. Lilliana pressed her teeth together. She tried not to think about how many of those people were innocent, tried to tell herself that they had struck first, that they would kill her if they weren’t killed first.

Within seconds, desert nightwalkers rushed out of the hole. Deranged animals, they locked onto the armies surrounding their city and bit and clawed and sliced through the people. Lilliana was caught in a bloodbath within seconds. She ducked and jumped away from one nightwalker, only to have one another come up behind her and slash her back.

Lilliana stumbled forward, gasping from shock as her back exploded in pain. The nightwalker pushed her to the ground, forcing her face into the sand. She felt slashes on her legs and shoulders and it was all she could do to hold her breath so that she did not scream and choke on sand. She reached up, grabbed the hand holding her head in the dirt, and sunk her claws in till she felt bone. With her other hand, she grabbed her attacker’s forearm and pulled as hard as she could. The nightwalker stopped slashing her in favor of pulling his hand away from her, but Lilliana held on, feeling his skin tear and his muscles snap like a bunch of rubber bands coming apart.

He reared back on his feet, pulling Lilliana out of the sand and onto her knees. Another nightwalker was coming to her from the front. Lilliana finally let her attacker go, and he fell backward, wailing at his broken wrist. With her face free from sand, Lilliana took a deep breath and began to sing.

The song was slow at first, and then the volume increased, louder and angrier. The nightwalker coming at her stumbled backward, covering his ears. It was just enough time for Lilliana to get close to him. Still singing her twisted lullaby, she snapped his neck.

Fighting blurred into a mixture of pain and adrenaline. Eventually, every nightwalker in the pit was killed. Another day’s work, Lilliana thought as her group went back to camp. There were fewer in her group now. There were fewer every time they did this, but the ice and beast nightwalkers’ thirst for vengeance didn’t stop. She was glad that Shippo was not in the camp when she got back. She didn’t want him to see her covered in bruises and cuts.

Lilliana lay flat on the ground, looking up at the starless sky. And here she had thought her human life had been terrible enough. Her laugh sounded sounded more like a cough, her throat raw from singing and snarling all through the battle. One of the beast nightwalkers walked by her and glared. Lilliana bared her teeth right back. Despite the fact that she fought with them, they had no friendliness for her. She was an outsider and both Yoko and Hiei’s demons hated weakness.

The only excuse for rest was exhaustion. Lilliana licked her dry lips. How long would the fighting last? She closed her eyes for only an instant, and felt a brush of hot air pass over the cuts on her face. Something whispered in her ear and Lilliana sat up immediately.

The nightwalkers didn’t care if she left. They knew that, once away from their group, she would have to fend for herself, but Lilliana couldn’t shake the feeling that something familiar was out there in the dark desert, just a little ways away from camp.

She rose up to her feet and moved away from the bonfire. Soon she lost track of how far she had walked, but it was just far enough to catch and kill a desert bird. Once her senses were strengthened with a meal, Lilliana realized that what she had been chasing was familiar, but it wasn’t warm or understanding.

Sure enough, when she finished with her food and whipped the blood off her chin, Narek sat down in front of her. Attacking him would be pointless, she was too weak, too tired, but Lilliana still felt the need to hiss.

“Haven’t shown your ugly face in weeks. Why would you bother showing up now?”

“Ugly? Well, well, you insult yourself then, seeing as our faces are similar. Though yours looks worse for wear at the moment. ”

“Shut up. And don’t you dare try to heal me. I’ve had enough blood from you to last a lifetime.”

Narek tilted his head at her scathing words. “Do you really think it’s wise to stay so close to the Hiei, the man that delivered you to Naraku in the first place. I’m surprised you haven’t killed him.” Narek smiled. “I would have.” His smile turned animalistic. “I’d love to kill him.”

Something in Lilliana’s heart burned. Memories of all the battles, and the blood she had spilled flashed in her mind. She heard a monster roar in her head. It wanted to reach across and pull out Narek’s remaining green eye. She wanted to slowly make him suffer, to eat his heart, anything to hear him scream in agony, but instead, through clenched teeth, she said, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. You didn’t answer my question: why are you here?”

If Narek could sense the animalistic hunger in her, he didn’t show it. Rather, he relaxed and crossed his arms. “Something has been bothering me since I healed your memories. Thought you should know.”

This was new. Since when did he tell her what he was thinking? Still, Lilliana warned herself not to put too much stock in what he had to say. “And?”

“When I healed Inuyasha, his blood had been black as well. This was before I came to Zenith and he has not had any run-ins with Naraku to the extent as you have, as far as I know. This means that the black blood occurs naturally. It stands to reason that since you’re his blood-child, that you had black blood as well, before you came here.”

“You’re saying Naraku did not cause this?” Lilliana pointed to her chest.

“The blood no, but the jumbled memories, yes. For some reason he needs you to suffer. My working theory is that he’s tenderizing the meat for his meal, so to speak.”

“Disgusting choice of words. It suits you. So you think that the mental chaos he put me through makes some sort of difference in my blood?”

“Perhaps. It’s not unlikely that he’ll put you through the same hell if he catches you again.” He stood. “I don’t usually do this, but seek me out if something changes.”

“What makes you think I would ever ask for your help again?”

Narek didn’t answer. He simply reached across, grabbed her hand and put something in it. It was a black gem.

“Squeeze this until it turns red. I’ll find you.”

Before Lilliana could throw it back at him, he was gone. She pocketed the gem, thinking that she would only use it when she wanted to lure him into a trap.

But something bothered her long after Narek had left, and she didn’t realize it until she got back to camp. She could see the fire from the distance, and the light blurred for a second. Lilliana fell to her knees in the sand, pressing her hand on her heart. The burning she felt before was no longer fury. It was real physical pain. She removed Narek’s jacket from her shoulders and saw it.

The blackness on her chest had reappeared.

“What does Naraku want with my mother?”

“What a smart girl you are.” Tsubaki let out a gurgling laugh. She looked at Inuyasha. “What’s taking you so long? Hurry it up.”

Kagome, still reeling from the images in her head, ran forward and grabbed Inuyasha’s arm. “Wait. Maybe we don’t have to kill her.”

She had expected him to yell at her, to ask her if she had lost his mind, but he simply stared at her with an eyebrow raised, waiting.

“What if I take all of her memories? We can have all the information we need and I can purge her of her own terrible past.” She looked at Tsubaki. “You won’t have to obey your master anymore.”

Tsubaki’s smile faded, replaced by a hissing, ugly snarl. “Either way, you kill me. Who I am will disappear, but everyone else will remember.”

“But you could start all over. You could fight with us.”

“And be your puppet while I circle around trying to recover the past that I can’t remember, while everyone else taunts me with it? Besides,” Tsubaki bared her teeth, “you’ll be corrupted by what you took soon enough!”

“No,” came Inuyasha’s voice, deep and guttural. He tightened his fist, crushing Tsubaki’s heart.

She was dead instantly. Kagome stared at the body. A fury bubbled to life inside her chest. It burned its way to Kagome’s head, arms and legs. The world turned red, and Kagome could barely make out the shapes, but she could still feel Inuyasha next to her.

“Why did you do that? We could have found out what Naraku plans to do with us. We could have,” Kagome swayed. The world around her melted as she was caught in a whirlwind of memories again.

She fell but didn’t hit the floor. A warm arm held her waist. With his clean hand, Inuyasha steadied her, putting her back on her feet, but he didn’t let go. Kagome breathed in deep, trying to remember where she was. When Rukiya cleared her throat, Kagome returned to the present.

“I don’t know how much we would have gotten out of her,” Rukiya said, “but I think we can agree that we have some part of the puzzle.” Rukiya pointed to Sayo. “What did you mean about a revenant’s soul?”

Sayo put her hands together, her fingers squeezing hard. “My mother told me that a revenant’s soul is stronger then most. She forbade me from leaving the Spirit Woods without an escort because she worried that other nightwalkers would come after me.”

Inuyasha let Kagome go and she stood upright, but continued to glare at him as he spoke.

“I get it,” he said, “it’s like fourth generation blood. It can give nightwalkers godlike powers as well?”

Rukiya counted on her fingers. “I don’t know what a revenant’s soul or a fourth generation nightwalker’s blood can do, but it seems as though they need one more. Inuyasha and Lilliana fit into the puzzle somehow. So what’s so special about the two of them?”

Their voices were far away, barely discernable, but Kagome heard enough to remember something. “The black blood?”

Inuyasha shrugged. “Maybe. We won’t find out by staying here. We know where the portal is, let’s go.”

Sayo rubbed her arms. “I have something to ask.”

Rukiya went to her side and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “What is it?”

“I’m worried about my brother and parents, but they would want me to stay out of danger. And the two of you,” she nodded to Inuyasha and Kagome, “have something Naraku wants. We would be delivering ourselves to him if we go back.

“And?”

“I don’t think my father would want me to go back,” Sayo’s eyes filled with tears, “and if they catch me, they will have two revenants.”

Rukiya put her arms around Sayo but Sayo pushed her away. Shaking, she stood up straight even as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“My father will stop at nothing to get my mother back. If she dies, so does he, and you can bet that he’s already gone to war. If you go back there, please rescue my mother. Help my family in my stead.”

Inuyasha nodded. “You’re making a wise decision. I’ll do whatever I can to help your mother.”

Sayo sobbed. “Thank you.”

Kagome glared at Sayo. “I promise too,” she whispered.

Rukiya gave Kagome an odd look and then shook her head. She looked at Inuyasha with a suspicious frown. The two of them exchanged glances for a moment. Then Rukiya put her hands on Sayo’s shoulders.

“I’ll take you back to our home. Why don’t you rest for a little while?” Before she left, Rukiya glanced at Inuyasha and nodded. “Don’t leave without me. Just do what you need to do first.”

When they were gone Kagome turned away from Inuyasha and ran out of the alley. He called after her but she didn’t listen. She kept running until she arrived in a park somewhere. In the distance a playground stood, empty of any human children. Only the tall sycamore trees were their company.

It didn’t take long for Inuyasha to catch up with her. When he was close enough Kagome pushed him back.

“You are not going to leave me here and go back after Lilliana on your own.” Kagome wanted to scream, and the anger was bubbling so strongly, it was all she could do to hiss at Inuyasha through clenched teeth and not rip his head off. “Listen you ass, I can take care of myself. This isn’t ten years ago where you had to protect your poor little human. I’m tired of being a liability.”

“You’re not a liability, but if you get caught, Naraku would have everything he needs for whatever he’s planning. And besides, I’m the one who has the best chance in there.”

“Don’t you dare let that new power of yours go to your head. Need I remind you who saved you when we came back to the human world?”

Inuyasha was acting strange. He tilted his head to the side as though he were seeing her for the first time. “Kagome?” He reached out.

Kagome grabbed his arm, her claws digging into his skin. The smell of his blood filled her head like alcohol, muddling her senses. She wanted to destroy him, to make him suffer for undermining her.

“Why did you stop me from taking Tsubaki’s memories? It would have given us an edge over battle! We could have learned what Naraku wants with us, and now we’re back to where we were, scrambling in the dark. You damned fool!”

He looked at his bloody forearm. “It would have changed you, her memories.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes I do. It already has.”

“What are you talking about?”

Inuyasha nodded to his arm. “No matter how angry you’ve gotten at me, you’ve never done this before.”

Kagome looked at his hand and then she felt it. She had sliced into him to the bone and he was just standing there, taking the pain. She pulled her hand away, and put her fists on her temples. Her head felt as though it were going to explode. Tsubaki’s memories were just too painful, too horrible, too real. Worse then the unrelenting fear in Kouga’s, worse then anything Kagome had ever experienced before.

The abuse, the brainwashing, and the men, it made Kagome furious and terrified. The worst of it all was the truth in Tsubaki’s thoughts: toying with his subjects was nothing but a game to Naraku. A rigged game that only existed for his pleasure.

Kagome fell into Inuyasha’s arms. She didn’t even stop to think about when he had gotten close enough to support her, she just sat there on the ground, shaking, her eyes wide and dry. Tears wouldn’t come, but the horror remained.

“W-who am I?”

Inuyasha patted the top of her head. “You’re Kagome. The human girl I stole away ten years ago.”

“Are you sure?”

When she looked up at him she saw that his eyes were red with rage. It was then that she realized that his inner beast was speaking to her. “I’m sure.”

Kagome covered her eyes, rubbing her forehead. Was this what was waiting for them if they got caught by Naraku? Was this what had happened to Lilliana?

“The memories won’t stop,” she half sobbed, half whispered.

Inuyasha shuddered. Kagome looked up to see him looking away, his face tight. Then she noticed it, the blush on his cheeks. He was back to normal, his inner beast hidden back where it belongs.

“W-what is it?”

“Nothing. My inner beast just made a suggestion.”

“What kind of suggestion.” Kagome’s breaths were getting shorter and shorter. She fought to keep herself awake, to stay in the present and not return to the abyss of Tsubaki’s memories.

“It says it knows a surefire way to make you forget, at least for a little while.”

Inuyasha’s face faded in and out. Slowly, the world around her was turning back to the black pictures in Kagome’s head.

“Well what is it,” Kagome snapped. She almost wished he would slap her, if that were what it took for her to stay in the present.

Inuyasha leaned his head back, looking up into the night sky. “We are so NOT doing that.”

“What is it?” Kagome grabbed his cheeks to make him look at her. “You’re telling me you know something that would make me feel better and you won’t do it? I can barely see you, and I’m going in and out of her memories. Just do it!”

Inuyasha gave her an uncomfortable smile. “You’re not going to like it. No you moron, it’s not the best time! Okay, fine, maybe just halfway then.”

“Stop talking to your inner demon and hurry up before…”

Kagome fell backward. Inuyasha’s voice faded out, and Tsubaki’s screams became louder and louder. Kagome shivered, the darkness pressing down on her like a suffocating blanket, and she wanted something, anything to grab onto and pull her out, and somewhere out of the blackness something soft and warm reached her.

It pulled her out of the darkness, slow and gentle at first, then quickly becoming rough and passionate a moment later. Kagome’s eyes were open, but it was only after she closed them that she realized what was happening. Her chest was crushed against another, and she was squeezed so tightly, she could barely breathe. But she didn’t want to.

She was upright, but she wasn’t standing. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her rib cage kept her floating in the air. Kagome put her hands on his cheeks, pulling him closer. She felt everything that he was, his hot breathe against her lips, his tongue lapping at her bottom lip, his heartbeat banging against hers. Nothing else existed and she wished the moment would stretch on and on, never stopping.

Inuyasha’s hand slipped up into her hair, his fingers drawing circles on the back of her head. Kagome moaned. It wasn’t enough. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he deepened the kiss. His tongue pressed against hers, and the surge or heat spread out through her body and all the way down to her toes.

She bit his bottom lip playfully and he suckled gently on her tongue. His hand left her hair to cup her jaw instead. The pads of his fingers passed over her skin so softly; it was like raindrops on her cheeks. Kagome breathed in deep, the feeling of his chest against hers sending sparks of light and warmth into her heart.

Her chest was tightening and her legs wanted nothing more then to wrap around his waist and squeeze him closer. Kagome’s hand slid under Inuyasha’s shirt, loving the heat under her fingertips.

Inuyasha jerked, pulling away. Kagome leaned backward, her face toward the sky, breathing deep, still in the haze of pleasure. It was only when her feet touched the ground that she snapped out of it. She quickly withdrew her hands from his chest, detangled herself from him and turned around, her face burning, but her mind completely her own again.

“H-how did your inner demon know that would work?”

“Well, you know, the opposite of pain is pleasure isn’t it? He reasoned it was better then sitting here doing nothing.”

“This isn’t because of my slutty older sister bit earlier, is it?”

“No!”

Kagome covered her chest with her arms. It had been a long time since he had kissed her like that. Her lips still tingled. Then she was confused. Had she been kissed like that before? She couldn’t really remember, it had been so long, and if she had experienced something like that before, Kagome was sure it had been followed by sex.

But her face wouldn’t stop flaming, and her heart wouldn’t shut up. She was sure he could hear it. The worst part was that, deep down, she knew that all she wanted to do was jump back into his arms and have him hold her tight once again. Damn summer heat. Or was it a different reason?

Either way, wish granted.

From behind her, Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her shoulders, resting his chin on top of her head. Kagome closed her eyes and thought back, trying to remember what had happened before. Everything snapped perfectly back into place and she remembered what Inuyasha had said about his inner demon.

She looked up at him. “Pleasure is the opposite of pain huh?”

“I told you that you might not like it.”

“So which one of you had the idea?”

He pressed her back into his chest. “We’re both the same man. Though it was my idea to, uh, lessen the intensity of the plan.”

“So, are you going to do this every time?”

“Depends.”

Kagome shivered with what he was implying. The temptation to ask him to be direct was there, but she was too confused about everything and nothing to take it, so she avoided the subject. “I guess I needed that.”

“I’m just glad that you’re back to normal.”

“But I don’t understand. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. I’ve been affected by memories, sure, but not like that.”

Inuyasha breathed in and out and Kagome felt his chest move against her spine. She leaned her head back against his shoulder.

“Maybe,” he whispered, “it had something to do with Tsubaki. She’s the first Zenith nightwalker you’ve worked your magic on, right?”

“Yeah.” Kagome slipped out of his embrace. “There’s something I realized.”

“What’s that?”

“When I met Naraku, I couldn’t help feeling as though something was just not right about him. Now I kind of understand why. Everyone else around him is just a toy, and he brainwashes whoever is unlucky enough. Like Tsubaki.” Kagome rubbed her arms. “Can you imagine what life would be like if someone like that becomes godlike?”

Inuyasha covered his mouth and bent forward. Kagome put a hand on his back.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick.”

He shook his head. “My fangs are burning. It’s my inner demon, he’s furious. He-we won’t accept a future like that.”

Pain erupted in Kagome’s head and, for a moment, one of Tsubaki’s memories flashed. Corrupted, she had said. A sudden fear struck Kagome and she collapsed to her knees. Inuyasha was beside her in an instant.

“What wrong?”

“I think I kind of understand. When I touched Lilliana, she was going through her most painful experiences over and over, like on a loop. Is that how he brainwashes people? By making them suffer to the point that only he can end it?” Kagome rocked forward and Inuyasha caught her again. “We can’t let him get what he wants,” she whispered.

“We won’t.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said a voice in the distance.

Inuyasha and Kagome turned. Rukiya had come back. She walked up to Kagome and nodded.

“Glad to see you’re feeling better. I would advise against taking memories from those otherworld nightwalkers in the future.”

“Technically, they’re the original nightwalkers, seeing as Zenith is where we came from.”

Rukiya rolled her eyes. “Whatever. We have a hole to find.”

Kagome reached across and held Rukiya’s hand. Through her, she sent the memory that held that location of the portal. Rukiya led the way. They were at the abandoned building within a few minutes. They entered the hollow brick place through a broken window. But when they got inside, Kagome saw something that made her heart freeze.

Lucy was there, standing next to the wall where the hole should have been.