InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ New Age ❯ The Shroud ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I own what has to be the smallest fraction of Inuyasha possible. So small I can’t remember it. Heh, oh well. Moving on.

Summary: Meet Dr. Kagome Higurashi. She works in a recently developed portion of the Shroud Companies called “Metaphysical Understandings”. What she does is analyze and report the supernatural things she’s given, such as old Japanese Ofudas, Taro Cards, Crystal Balls and so on. And then she was assigned to the biggest discovery of the company: a demon-like creature recently uncovered in a deathlike sleep from under the surface of the Old World.


New Age

Chapter Seven: The Shroud


Kagome awoke to a shrill beeping and slapped her alarm clock off. As she blinked up at her ceiling, feeling one of her dogs lick her hand as it hang off the bed, she couldn’t remember the previous night at first. Then she sat up and grinned. Oh, she remembered now.

Inuyasha had left to return once more after spending about an hour kissing her into what she could only describe as a ‘relaxed frenzy’. Though he greatly aroused her, the entire time she’d been entirely too weak against him to act on it. The most she really did was kiss him back, or lie there and moan, sometimes writhe.

Before the kissing, however, was the plan.

She got up and got dressed in her lab gear, fed her dogs, and left. But she wasn’t heading for the Shroud building. No, she was going to Ayumi’s house. As with how buildings worked these days, there were two ways to enter your building: the scanner above the door can recognize you and open for you, unless you had a touch-pad which recognizes thumbprints, or you can break a door down.

Kagome was recognized and allowed into Ayumi’s house, and vice versa. It was extremely simple to program another face or thumbprint to allow access to your home, and friends and family often did it. There was very little distrust these days.

And Ayumi’s third floor was a giant lab. Kagome had another briefcase of samples from Inuyasha, which he willingly gave -- that is, without the sperm. She might have asked, and he might have suggested, but they both knew Kagome would giggle and blush and never do anything about getting it.

She set up the samples and looked them over before grinning and getting started. She wondered what was happening with Inuyasha, just how restless he must be right now, but she had her job and he had his.

As Kagome knew Shroud in and out, and how to handle metaphysical items, she knew exactly how those who had his other set of samples would analyze them. And she was so much faster than them, really. She had so much more experience.

And dear god, even the samples of him smelled good.

Every sample showed extraordinary qualities, as she’d expected. What she didn’t expect was for a piece of his hair to wiggle as she introduced it with a chemical that was supposed to drain all the liquid from the hair. Instead of being drained, that piece of his hair actually rejected the chemical, making it seem as though his hair was trying to get away when it was simply reacting on a microscopic level.

Trying this out on his other samples, she found that all of him rejected chemicals, even doses of acid. A drop on his hair made it curl but not dissolve, a drop on his skin rolled off like water off a leaf. It was insane, fascinating, intriguing, frightening, and above all, precious. Inuyasha was, in a word, unique.

As she ran all the tests, she found one miracle after another, one impossibility trumping the next continually. She even tried separating his blood and plasma with a spinner, setting it off to the side while she worked. After three hours at a high speed, it was hardly diluted, and more stunning yet, it mixed again with seconds.

She laughed in her surprise as she learned more and more about his body, and at last ran a test on his skin and hair than analyzed the scent properties.

Amazingly, it wasn’t simply that he was a man among men in a world where real ‘men’ no longer exists, although you really couldn’t claim that it didn’t factor in. No, he was actually releasing a chemical which called mates to him, even if he didn’t realize it. No matter what, females will come to him as long as he’s producing that pheromone.

But even more shockingly, that was hardly the half of it. Naturally, his scent was as unique as he was, which alone would make others drawn to it. But further than that, it seemed it was genetic. He had said he had a brother. Following the rules, that would mean that his brother had such a scent as well, possibly stronger or weaker from age or gene luck.

Ultimately, Inuyasha had three strong factors which made him smell so alluring, and now that she understood it, it seemed perfectly alright to enjoy it. She couldn’t stop her giggle at the thought; maybe next time she’d snuggle into his neck as he’d done to her, and start sniffing deep, maybe add a lick or kiss or both.

With any luck, she’d be able to put him in the stupor he’d left her in last night.

But she shook her head. Work still needed to be done.

Getting back to it, she glanced only once at a screen which showed a view of the front door, then went back to her work.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, was about ready to tear things apart out of frustration and boredom. Though he and Kagome had made a sound plan of what to do about his ‘freedom’ or lack thereof, it was extremely difficult keeping himself settled. For one, that Kagura lady was a headache unending.

She knew very little about him, and didn’t seem interested in knowing more than she already did. She was rough and had a voice like a harpy when things didn’t go her way. More than once she’d screeched at her team or Inuyasha, even both at times, until everyone obeyed -- simply to end her voice.

On the plus side, Inuyasha had been talking to Ayumi-san a lot, and between his under-the-breath insults to Kagura, soft tones, and his ability to read expressions for what they were, (something he had to learn how to do some time ago) the girl really seems to be warming up to him. At least, she doesn’t stutter or shake when they speak anymore.

Most frustrating about this situation was the search he’d undergone each time he’d returned from ‘escape’. A few soldiers patted him down for any concealed items while two dozen more -- both human and mechanical -- kept armed and ready weapons pointed at him. What these humans didn’t seem to understand was who had the real power here.

If Inuyasha had wanted, those guards and policemen would be nothing against him. They wouldn’t land a hit, from fist or gun, and they’d all be down in seconds, if not dead. They were stupid for being so smart, weak for being so strong, and docile for being so independent. He had a bad feeling about the higher-ups in this organization, and his instincts served him well in the past.

Kagome felt it, too; once he’d awakened her abilities. Technically first he’d had to convince her of who she was, truly, and then get her to believe in reincarnation and who she once was. His feelings for her previous body remained, though diminished, and likely always would. However, he’d been dealing with death his entire life, and he’d already gotten over Kikyo’s end.

Kagome was his future now. Though he didn’t want to see her die, or even sick or hurt, he knew that unless she found a way to become immortal, he was going to outlive her.

A dark thought, that.

So he focused instead on driving Kagura mad, making it seem like he didn’t understand what she was saying even when Ayumi-san translated, and to their credit, the rest of the team merely smiled and nodded, refusing to aid Kagura more than they had to.

Kagura. What a name. Though she looked drastically different than the Kagura he once knew as an enemy, the unpleasantness was still there. She was as much a witch as a human could be. Inuyasha knew that for a fact because his nose worked as well now and as it always has, and told him without doubt that this Kagura was human.

Although, his instincts were very confused about her. On the one hand, she was strictly a human, with no powers perceivable by Inuyasha, making her a zero potential threat. But again, she was an employee of Shroud, and seemed overly devoted to her role. She could cause a problem in the future, but just as much, she might betray Shroud and harshly if she learned that they were betraying her.

A trait of the name, perhaps.

Locked in and strapped down, there was little for Inuyasha to do in his cell. Twice this day he’d taken a snap at Kagura for being the bitch she is, as she walked by or got too close. He made it abundantly clear that only Kagura got on his nerves in such a way, by cooperating completely with Ayumi-san, Sango-san and Miroku-san. Still, all three knew that if Kagome were here, he’d be making a fuss whenever any one of them tried to work with him instead of Kagome. Perhaps he was as shameless as he’s been told before, but he had no problem showing affection for the one he wanted -- even and especially in front of others.

He shook his head, deciding for the moment to pretend he hadn’t heard Ayumi-san’s translated orders. About ten minutes later of zero cooperation, Kagura became so enraged at his difficulty that she shut down the field and slapped him.

Given her size and what he knew of her body structure, she’d slapped him about as hard as she could. It did little to harm Inuyasha, however; in fact it barely stung, and only briefly. He smiled at her, showing a single fang, and that seemed to make her snap.

About damn time.

Grabbing a syringe from her desk, she made a banshee yell, straddled him, and repeatedly stabbed downwards. One of the piercings shaved the skin beside his left eye when he dodged it as much as he could, while another scratched his upper lip. Miroku-san got her off him then, and she kicked violently, hitting his stomach, and then the field went up again.

He licked his lip, tasting a very faint coppery tinge. For all her strength, her rage, and the sharpness of the syringe, she hardly scratched him. He felt no leakage beside his eye, either, and merely watched as Kagura was taken into custody by the outdoor police units. Judging from the repeated beeps and whirs from the ‘Swear Detector’, she was cursing the whole way.

Once the door had shut once more, all three in the room looked pointedly at him, seemingly shocked that he wasn’t full of bloody holes. He grinned at Ayumi-san and said, “I’m mostly unbreakable.”

She laughed weakly and translated for him, then asked, “And you failed to mention that before now?”

He shrugged. “Nobody asked, and really, it’s a point of whether or not I let myself be hurt.”

She looked surprised even as she translated. Then she said, quite clearly, “You told Kagome.”

He grinned again. “There’s no secrets between us.”

He noticed that she didn’t translate that, or what she had said, either. She continued, “How did you get Kagome to trust you?”

“I became the man of her dreams,” he half-joked.

Obviously confused by that, she opened her mouth to inquire, but thought better of it and shook her head.

What none of them noticed, as they worked and talked, was that he was listening. Talking with Kagome each night was teaching him her language. Listening to the others was helping. As long as he feigned ignorance, they spoke freely.

News reports had deemed him a ‘Subject of Shroud Inquiry and Historical Significance,’ and they had listed what Shroud allowed them to about him: first, was his basic abilities that they knew of -- that is, his strength and speed -- his known heritage, being Japanese, and only knowing the Old World Japanese.

Or so they thought.

He’d been around the world twice before he’d died. There was so much to see and do, that it would have been considered selfish to refuse them all. He learned the most basic languages, because everywhere you go, you will at least one person who will understand you that way -- if only partially. Communication was key in those times.

Monopoly seemed key in these times. One company keeping all of mankind employed, paid, protected, and completely silent. Of course they didn’t know it, because they all were born and grew up in these circumstances. But Inuyasha saw, as did Kagome, now that she trusted him entirely.

By asking Ayumi-san questions of her politics, and her and Kagome speaking every night, Ayumi-san herself was beginning to see. It becomes more apparent every time he walks the streets, watching people. For being the biggest story in Shroud history, very few people even glanced at him as he wandered among them.

They knew his face, knew what he was, knew who he was, and that nobody totally understood how he is how he is. Yet they were so absorbed in their lives, in what Shroud tells them to do, that they couldn’t see him.

Shroud eventually accepted that they weren’t going to keep him in that cell every night. No matter what they did, what plans they had, what security measures they tried, they couldn’t keep him where he didn’t want to be. After nearly two months of this repeated routine, they accepted it.

And they signed an agreement with him. He would lend his knowledge, his abilities, and his body, to Shroud. In return, they would allow him free access of the outside world and the lab, including specific floors of this building and others, and his choice to make Kagome-chan his lead researcher once more.

By this time, he already knew their language, but didn’t let them know that.

Kagome had done every experiment, taken every sample that Shroud would have, but before them -- and she kept that knowledge to herself and him, doing each procedure again, for show. But he could see, as well as the rest of the team, that she was not being overly ‘careful’ about it as she seemed on camera -- no, she was secretly and minimally sabotaging each sample, to make him seem less amazing than he was.

And so eventually, all of Shroud was underestimating him. But not his team. Kagome shared the true results only with them, and only away from Shroud.

They were a team, really. Inuyasha felt more like the alpha rather than the prisoner by now. He chose where to go, what to do, and one or two of them came with, sometimes all four. And as more time passed, more people began waking up, and began noticing him.

In this city, there were walkways everywhere, but not on the original Earth layer. The walkways were suspended between buildings, some still under construction, and all covered to prevent falling or being blown to the ground. He wondered how many people plummeted to their deaths before putting there barricades in place by law.

Men stopped to talk, women stopped to stare or sniff, and children of all ages stopped to gape. He was a huge subject of interest, and felt his pride swell at the knowledge. For once, he was more popular than his brother, not that Sesshomaru wouldn’t have gotten stares were he here. That had little to do with it.

No, the point was, Inuyasha was here, people were awe-struck, women were constantly falling in love, and Kagome-chan -- his sweet little ferocious Kagome-chan -- was constantly jealous. Luckily, on the rare occasions where Kagome-chan looked about ready to hurt one of the females, all he had to do was hold her close to him.

It got even more stares, sure, but he learned quickly that his scent, while alluring, was also soothing. Holding Kagome-chan to him made her forget about anger, or jealousy.

And after these months had passed, he finally asked her about having a more physical relationship. At first she faltered and told him he was crazy, which he probably was, really. But then she asked him why.

And so he told her.

“Kagome-chan, you are wonderful. In all aspects. And our dreams. . .” He paused to chuckle. Their linked dreams had continued through all this time, even when apart, but the more passionate dreams only occurred while touching. “To put it bluntly, it’s hard to imagine needing physical satisfaction when those dreams. . . Well, I’m sure you can understand this pretty easy,” he added, laughing to himself.

She looked confused.

Inuyasha just about tracked down her parents and strangled them. Had they taught her nothing? Does anybody anymore teach their children about their own bodies? Going on to explain, he added, “In my time, it’s not uncommon for couples to explore each other, sexually, before marriage. Oftentimes they do it without thinking of marriage, but that’s not the point. . .”

Kagome-chan had paled. She snapped out, “What kind of a person could play with their own bodies so dangerously like that?!”

“Dangerously?” he echoed, eyebrows raising. “Koishii, you haven’t seen dangerous. . . In my time, demons were everywhere. Very few people, if any, lived and died without seeing one, and only a few more hadn’t had to fight one off. My very ‘career’ was protecting others from these demons, especially around one particular village -- but I was a traveler. I protected everyone innocent or in need, I slew demons left and right who attacked, I even helped out those with too heavy of a burden or work load for them to carry.

“I was a danger magnet and haven’t a scar to show for it,” he finished. “Compared to my life, sex could hardly be considered. . . Why are you blushing?”

She stuttered and shook her head. “It was, well. . . The word. . .that is. . .” She bit her bottom lip.

He went very still for a moment. And very slowly, he said, “Sex?”

Her blush deepened and she looked away. Inuyasha absolutely burst out laughing, falling back on her bed and brushing his bangs back. “Oh,” he sighed after a time. “Unbelievable. How incredibly modest. We’ll have to just fix that. . .”

“Fix what?” she snapped, and he laughed again at how chagrined she sounded. She shoved his shoulder and then, boldly, straddled him, grabbing the sides of his face and forcing him to look at her. “I’m not incredibly modest and there’s nothing about me to fix!” she yelled.

His retort was so ready, so perfectly executed, any onlooker would have sworn it was rehearsed. He flipped her over, moved atop her so he wasn’t touching, and said, quietly, “Prove it.”

She looked surprised; he tilted his head. And then her arms linked around his neck, pulled him down, and she kissed him with the hidden passion he always knew was just beneath the surface.

Kagome could hardly believe the ways things had turned since that night. At first her intention was to prove to him that she was capable of being just as unhindered as Inuyasha was, and then leave him hanging, having made her point. But somewhere along the way things had bent to his will.

He had shielded her from the pain of her first time, but what she really needed protection from was his passion. Though he had held back and told her that every time following would only get better, she was still caught off guard for just how great of a lover he was. The way he looked, the way he smelled, the way his mouth had tasted and everything he’d done; it had all made her want him, even as she was swept away by him.

Her first time had ended with extremely confusing and conflicting emotions. On the one hand, every last sensation had been so strong, she’d had to check her pulse to be sure she was still alive. On the other, her state of mind was mostly wondering why it had to end there.

The next morning, she understood.

And from there, as he’d said, it all got better. He taught her a lot, beginning with how everything could be pleasurable to the right person, and you discover a large part of yourself by learning what you like. Her spared nothing in showing her this lesson, and afterwards, she had a whole new view of herself: as a sexual being.

He taught her that every position you could be in had its own pleasures, and that, too, was something you had to experience to discover. But more pointedly, he taught that pleasure not only comes from what your lover does to you, but what you do to your lover. He encouraged her to explore him as he’d done to her, and every little thing she learned brought them closer.

One of the first, strongest things she’d learned, was that Inuyasha made a variety of sounds -- some of which didn’t even sound like his voice. She couldn’t be sure how he made them without doing an autopsy, but she knew they were coming from his chest.

And she teased him constantly about some of the sounds, some of the purrs and grunts and growls. So he teased her in return, until she stopped -- which didn’t take long. Commenting on her different flavors had nearly made her pass out from shock, and they both learned that they simply shouldn’t ‘tease’ each other about what they learned anymore.

Five months since his awakening, with a now physical relationship, near-freedom, and overall ease about him, they finally got the break they were looking for. Shroud’s top employees: their full names, occupations, official housing, and most-used secondary housing.

Now that they had this information, however, they needed to be far more careful. While Kagome had trust in Mr. Bell, the others all gave her bad feelings, and in any case, they couldn’t move on what they knew until Inuyasha was officially ‘freed’.

And then, then Shroud would at last fall, with or without the top corporates’ help, and finally, the healing of the Earth and humanity could begin. For better or worse, time would only tell.