InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Nikanaru ❯ Black Blooded Trail ( Chapter 6 )

Previous Chapter Illustration

 

www.deviantart.com/view/21930765/

 

Ouch. I hope this helps exemplify just how much that hurt, cause it comes up a lot in this chapter.

 

Nikanaru

 

Chapter 6:

 

Black Blooded Trail

 

Or

 

Further Ways of Embarrassing Oneself Before Dying.

 

 

It's really funny, some of the thoughts that can go through your head while you're running for your very life. Ideally, you'd be devoting your all of your cognitive powers towards the subject of your pursuer…how to avoid her… where a good hiding place might be… how to move faster despite clutching your bullet-ridden gut in agony… and if there were any way you could turn the tables. Strategic things like that.

 

Another kind of thought process that one might expect from this kind of situation was along the lines of panic. Fear. Desperation. Those kinds of things. Logically speaking, those where less desirable than the former, but perfectly understandable under the circumstances.

 

And then there was Max, who, with a maniac chasing after him with a gun, couldn't help but figure the following:

 

I can't believe I fucking pissed myself! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Why did I have to have a Coke right before I got shot?!

 

************

 

10 Minutes Ago

 

As he lay on the office floor, almost completely paralyzed by the rippling sensations of blazing pain tearing through every inch of his being, all Max could do was fearfully stare at the woman who had done this to him while struggling to remain conscious.

 

Max wasn't human. And although This “Naraku” didn't resemble him, she clearly wasn't either. It was more than her just being inhuman, though…something about her oozed of an unnatural aura. Where there should be white in her eyes, there was instead an almost luminescent violet. Under her partially transparent white skin were hideous, thick dark veins he could actually see pulsing.

 

But what was sealing the deal on the judgment was her hand. The way she raised it before him and herself, observing it almost in bemusement. Dangling her fingers around, Max saw those same dark veins seen all over her body begin to “crawl” underneath the skin in her hand, like vines rapidly growing around a trellis. They made sickening sounds of flesh churning and squishing as the thick veins pushed them aside, making their way through her fingers. At last, they reached the fingertips, but that was not the end of this sickening display. Sickening more so was the way they pushed at the skin on top of her fingers until at last they popped right out. Several tiny little tendrils were now squirming from broken flesh out of each digit on her hand.

 

She turned her attention from it to look back down at Max, and her smile only widened when she saw that the look of pain on his face now replaced with that of stunned horror. As if to spite him, she playfully dangled her fingers around more, the tendrils waving disgustingly in motion.

 

“No fear. This won't hurt.” She mockingly comforted him as she coiled her digits into a claw-like grip. “Well, not physically anyway.” Max instinctively bore his fangs at her, although with his crystal still on, he could only bare a set of flat, pearly whites at her. For that matter, the bleeding that Max was doing from his abdomen was invisible to the naked eye as well. In addition to hiding his demonic features, the Toku crystal also rendered his blood invisible. However, he was bleeding so profusely that the blood eventually dripped off of him, out of the range of the crystal magic, and appeared on the cold office floor. His own blood was dark, a much darker shade of red than human blood, appearing almost black at a careless glance.

 

“Wh..ar…” He inhaled his next breath carefully to make sure he could complete the sentence without wincing in pain. “…what are you?!”

 

“I thought that much would be obvious.” She paused her approaching hand a moment. “I am a demon. Like you.”

 

“Bullshit!” He snarled at her. “You don't look a…Arggh!!…a damn thing like me!” Her eyebrows raised in surprise.

 

“Are you honestly this ignorant. Nikanaru?” She laughed at him. “Pathetic. How long did you expect to stay hidden with such utter lack of basic knowledge? You think one Toku crystal was all you needed to stay hidden?”

 

“Hiding??” He went on, his breathing now evening out a little. “I wasn't hiding!”

 

“Oh?” He flinched a little when she raised her gun to him again. However, she simply tapped at his crystal with the muzzle. “Then what purpose does this serve?”

 

“For…” He stopped himself before he went on. The young demon may not have had half a clue as to what the hell was going on, but there was no way he was going to reveal personal details to a person who'd just shot him, let alone, someone who was now menacing him with grotesque fingernail extensions. Instead, he just hissed out a groan as the next wave of pain flashed through him.

 

Wait a minute…did it just…?

 

“It makes no difference.” She scoffed at his silence. “In any event, I found you. And now we can both leave this miserable place.” Her hand began moving closer and closer to his face, the dark tendrils at the ends wiggling in anticipation of contact. Max had no idea what was going to happen if those things touched him, but every inkling of common sense he had in him screamed that he wasn't going to like it. She was going right for his face, and his eyelids began twitching reflexively as they came within centimeters of them.

 

Another wave of pain went through Max's body. This one far less intense than the last.

 

Yes, it IS!

 

Surprise belonged to Naraku this time, as Max's fist suddenly sprang forth from the wound it was clenching and connected with all of its might to her shocked face. She went flying back into the desk, the sheer momentum of her body sending both the desk and her slamming into the adjacent wall with such force that it shattered the window.

 

Instantly was Max making an effort to push himself back up, although not without a lot of difficulty. In its last few waves, the burning pain that had, seconds ago, been so unbearable that he couldn't move at all… had subsided significantly. Not nearly so much so that attempting to move again hurt like a bastard, though. And beyond that, there was still the wrenching gunshot wound in his abdomen. One hand still on the injury, he managed to get to his feet, breathing heavily. Looking over at the body of Naraku, his ragged breaths were, for a moment, was the only sound coming from anywhere.

 

Is she dead? In his panicked bid for survival, Max had lashed out against her with all of his might…the blow he had rendered upon her would have been about enough to kill any human, even despite that he'd been severely weakened. He'd literally felt the bone in her face cave in against his knuckles. For Max, the notion that he'd actually killed someone was almost as horrific as the terror he'd been facing a few seconds ago. Carefully, oh so carefully, he approached her limp form. He wanted to tell himself that he'd had no choice, but that didn't make the idea of him having actually ended another person's life any less mortifying for him.

 

Luckily, he didn't have to worry about that too long. When he stepped a few inches short of where she lay, her purple eyes snapped open and her hand grabbed at his foot. Max didn't even have time to gasp before he hit the ground hard after she pulled his own leg out from under him. A howl of anguish hurled from his lungs when the impact painfully reminded him about his wound. While he scrambled to get on his hands and knees, she was crawling away from him. Looking ahead, he saw that she was heading for the gun on the ground. Making rare use of his invisible tail, he swatted the gun away as he struggled back onto his feet. Instead of still going after her weapon, though, Naraku returned her attentions to him. Cold, pale and unbelievably powerful hands clamped around his neck with vice-like strength, shocking him further. He was lifted off of his feet entirely and thrown harshly against the wall, granite cracking under the collision. With him now shaking off the blurry vision that such an inhuman battering had given him, Naraku made an uninterrupted grab for the berretta. By the time Max's eyes refocused, he was staring at Naraku across the room, her gun pointing straight at him. Wisely, he froze in place.

 

“How…how can you still be moving??” She growled at him. “That was a miko bullet!” He didn't have an answer for her. Both because he wasn't daring to move, mouth inclusive… and also because he seriously didn't know. “Answer me!” She yelled, cocking the gun as a threat.

 

“Lady…” He panted back in labored huffs. “…you are operating…under the mis…mistaken impression that I have…the slightest fucking clue what the…hell you're talking about.” They stared each other down, his golden orbs locked dead on to the purple pupils of hers. She searched him for any sign of deceit, which was all but impossible given that he was already trembling and practically hyperventilating. But despite that every other physical sign on him indicated that he was terrified, Max's eyes locked with hers, showing a defiant, uncompromising glare. Unusual, but not a sign of bearing false witness.

 

“No matter.” She finally stated. That was the only warning Max got before he saw the muscles on her arm begin to constrict. He moved and she fired, but a split-second too late. A flash of bright pink light once again accompanied the zip of the silencer and a bullet flew across the room, leaving a trail of dissipating energy in its wake. Although Max avoided the actual bullet, he was close enough to feel the excess energy singing at his skin like the licks of an errant fire. Knowing that he had less than another second before she could fire again, he used his current momentum to hurl himself right for the broken window.

 

Max had jumped immense heights before, but never under any sort of life-threatening pressure, and never with so serious an injury. Despite the fact that he managed to twist himself in mid-air so he could land on his feet, he still stumbled and fell upon hitting the ground. This time he managed to collect himself and get back up much quicker, and was off as fast as his limping form could allow, heading for the school gates. Given that Naraku apparently had superhuman physical capabilities as well, he expected her to jump right out after him. Tossing a quick look behind him to see how close she was behind him…he saw nothing.

 

Much to the relief of Max's bleeding internal organs, he stopped. Brief confusion struck him, followed by realization… he'd just left school… left hundreds of innocents… left principal Nagasi with an extremely dangerous and demonstrably psychotic woman inside.

 

What was it Sakura had told him? Measure the risks, then determine if it's really worth it. This was easily the single most deadly situation he'd ever found himself in in his life. For the very first time, he was actually afraid of dying. That instinct to survive, the same self-preservation sense every living creature possesses lit up in Max's mind for the very first time. It screamed at him to run, run, and keep running.

 

And then there was that same feeling he'd had last night when he was about to watch two people die, and found himself unable to simply sit back and watch it happen when he could have done something about it. The same sort of feeling was present here as well, battling it out with his desire to flee. And although he'd never had a conflict like this before, he was just as surprised as anyone else might be that conscience easily and instantly won out over self-preservation. Fleeing his school like a coward while some super-powered, homicidal maniac was inside threatening lives was out of the fucking question.

 

Sorry, Grandma.

 

But just as he took a step back toward the school, Naraku finally came flying out the window. Despite the three-story drop, she landed perfectly on her feet, much more elegantly than Max had managed.

 

Oh! Well, that settles that. Internal conflicts ended insultingly fast as his heel ground into the dirt and twisted himself around, instantly heading off in the other direction again.

 

************

 

 

Present

 

It was a bizarre scene for people on the streets when a tall, silver haired young man came limping down the sidewalk…only he “limped” at a speed that matched a marathon runner's. He was grasping at his stomach as if there were something wrong with it, but there was no sign of injury. There was a dark stain on his jeans, though, looking as if he'd wet himself. Was this some sort of joke? There were even what looked like spots of dark-red ink leaking out of him from somewhere.

 

Moments after that young man rushed by, a young lady came chasing after. The appearance of a gun in her hand made it clear then to any bystanders that something serious was indeed going on.

 

At some point while rapidly hobbling away from the school and tending to his invisibly bloodied gut, Max had taken notice to a distinct wetness riding down his left pant leg. At first he had thought it might have been his own blood, a prospect that horrified him. Then he actually smelled urine, looked down at his leg, and realized that he may have pissed himself, a prospect that mortified him.

 

For God's sake, the crystal hides my blood, but not my piss? Where's the flipping logic in that??!

 

It had almost been enough to make him forget that Naraku was chasing after him, liberally firing in his direction. Despite that his wound was severely hampering his mobility, Max was still running faster than most any human could. Naraku, however, had already proven that she possessed superhuman strength, so it came to no surprise that she also possessed superhuman speed, and could not be outran

 

While the people in the streets did look at the scene with curiosity at first, they ran screaming for cover when they realized someone was shooting. It occurred to Max that someone would probably be hit by a stray bullet if he kept himself a target out in the open, so he at first tried to bound up to the top of a small building. When he actually attempted to jump, though, he yelped in pain and could only bring himself to jump a few meters in the air, very nearly slamming into the wall of the building he was trying to get on top of. Instead, he scrambled into the alleyway between in and the next edifice as another shot rang out against the brick meters from his head.

 

Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ!!! If you're listening, HELP!

 

Maybe someone up there was listening, because in the road on the other side of the alley, he saw his answer …or some twisted version of it anyway: an open manhole flanked by city workers. Max may have lost his ability to ascend as well as he usually could, but the forces of gravity assured that he could fall down just as well as he ever could. Crashing through the yellow tape and ignoring the angered shouts of the maintenance workers, Max dove right into the hole. It was clumsily done, as he scrapped against the sides of the vertical tunnel on his way down and slammed harshly into the shallow pool of sewage at the bottom. Still, instinct kept the pain from stunning him too long and he was soon on his feet, speeding down the dark, dank tunnels.

 

The sewer was nothing at all like those old Ninja Turtle cartoons had mislead him into believing. It absolutely reeked down there, which was doubly painful for him given his superior smelling capabilities. It was also much darker, and much narrower than he'd expected, meaning that in his haste he'd have no choice but to step in raw sewage. And despite the fact that he was running for his life, it still irritated him that he was messing up his new sneakers.

 

On the other hand, the stench of bodily excrements all over the place was a good way of covering up the fact that he'd gone in his own pants. Not that he exactly had anyone down here to impress, besides the lunatic presently trying to ventilate him with sparkling bullets.

 

Well, if I am going to be die today, I could at least die knowing everyone else thinks that I overcame wetting myself when I was five.

 

One thing the sewers were, though, which he had been counting on, was complex. As he ran down the tunnels, he was presented with a new passageway or a new direction to flee into practically every five seconds. He zigzagged through them speedily and randomly, the echo of his footsteps ringing throughout the tunnels. It did seem like the perfect place in which to lose someone while running around like a scared ninny. Echoes of other footsteps besides his own were thundering throughout as well, though, leaving him no chance to doubt that she had indeed followed him down here.

 

“NIKANARU!” Came a raging roar, ringing deafeningly though hundreds of pipes and passageways. There was no question now that Naraku was some unnatural being…gone now was the vaguely seductive yet disturbing feminine voice she'd possessed when they'd first met, now replaced entirely with a rough, dark, distinctly masculine voice. The voice brought Max to a stop, and he listened carefully for any sort of sign that she was close by. He did hear footsteps, but they echoed just as unclearly as his had. The sewer was a double-edge sword in that it hid his position, but made his enemy's equally difficult to determine.

 

Although never having been in a cat-and-mouse, life-or-death situation before, he knew full well that just standing in one spot was a bad idea. Trying to keep his breathing level, his feet moved as quietly as possible down the tunnel, making sure to peep around the corners and listen as carefully as he could before moving on. There was perhaps a chance he could stealthily sneak away.

 

“Do you understand the utter futility of all this?” Her voice commandingly tore throughout the sewers. “It's blatantly obvious you don't know what you're doing. You fight like an amateur, and you flee like a coward.” The anger perceived in the tone soon changed when a glint of humor boomed throughout. “Ridiculous… After all this time I spent hunting you down, it seems a bit anticlimactic that all you turn out to be is a meek little demon content to emulate the pathetic traits of the humans you masquerade as.”

 

Blow me dry, you raging sack of insanity! He had to keep all reprisals to her comments to himself. If he could manage to stay quiet and sneak off, put enough distance between the two of them, then he could find another manhole and escape entirely. Then…

 

…then what? What was he going to do?

 

“Where's your pride, Inu-Demon? You would not come out to face this Naraku, even though all I possess is a mere human priestess' body?” Although they echoed dominatingly around him, he ignored her words as much as he could. If she tracked him down and knew his identity, then there was a big, fat chance that she could just do it again. Only this time, she might attack him at his home…endanger the lives of his family. That was out of the question. Could he go to the police? Warn them that a raving psychotic was chasing after him, and maybe they'd protect him and his family? After all, she may be strong, but he doubted that she could single-handedly take on an entire S.W.A.T. team. “Is this truly the last in the great legacy of the Inu?”

 

Wait…isn't she a cop? No, that couldn't be. While any knowledge he held of police was limited to the cop dramas he'd occasionally watch, he was pretty sure it was against policy to shoot a high-school student in his chair and then fire randomly into the streets. No, between that, her youth, and her plainclothes, the claim that she was a police officer had obviously been a lie she'd used on Ms. Nagasi in order to pull Max out of class and reveal him to her. So maybe it stood to reason that he could find some real police officers and get protection from them.

 

“What are you even fleeing from? Perhaps you believe you can hide from me again?” That was a risky notion, though. She seemed like the kind of super-villain from the movies that ate nondescript policemen for brunch until the heroic supercop came along to defeat her. Lives could very well be lost if he tried to involve someone else in this. “Quite wrong. I've seen your face. I've felt your blood. You leave a trail a mile wide. You could run to the furthest reaches of this world and never escape your fate.”

 

But they're cops, for Christ's sake! It's not like they didn't know the job was going to be dangerous. They're supposed to risk their lives for innocent citizens like me! Still, involving himself with the authorities was one of the things he tried to avoid as much as possible. He didn't want to attract the attention of government officials who might dig a little too deeply in his partially falsified background. Once again, it came around to the possibility of Max being publicly outed as a non-human. That is, assuming Naraku hasn't already tipped other people off. Who's to say that she wasn't part of some group with other members who might come after him, even if she was taken out?

 

“If you truly insist on acting like a coward and not fighting, then you could at least be logical, show yourself, and accept your fate. A fate which, I assure you, is inevitable.”

 

Oh, for God's sake, you jackass, stop thinking so much! He scolded himself as he snuck into another tunnel. Just focus on the now. The person presently trying to kill you takes priority. When you're rid of her, then you can worry about what's going to happen next.

 

Several dozen minutes passed as Max snuck from passage to passage, hoping to be putting enough distance between himself and Naraku. However, no matter how far he fled, the sounds she made, and her booming voice never seemed to die off in the distance. He couldn't seem to lose her. She rambled endlessly on and on about his cowardice, and kept making references to “Inu” something or other. Dogs? Why the hell was she rambling on about dogs?? Maybe he'd have found whatever she was alluding to somewhat intriguing in any other scenario, but survival was of the utmost priority. He was managing to stay ahead of her, it seemed, and he couldn't let himself get distracted by questions. What did really get on his nerves was that she seemed to have no problem blabbing on endlessly after this had been going on for an entire hour.

 

By then, Max had no idea where he was or where he was going. Most of the sewers looked the same to him, although he was sure he must have at least doubled back in a few tunnels given that he could find faint traces of his own scent as well as hers, and saw spots of his own blood. That was probably why he was having such a hard time losing her. Luckily Max could now move a little bit faster, since he was in much better shape than he had been an hour ago. His flesh healed fast, though he still felt the bullet inside him whenever he moved too much, like a piece of ice lodged in his internal organs. His right hand maintained a firm place on the spot, both because it was less painful if he kept pressure on it, and because he was trying to keep the bleeding to a minimum. And he still felt lingering traces of the burning sensation that “miko” energy had given him. By now, though, it didn't actually burn. Not painfully, anyway. It had died down to just…hot. Sweaty. The feeling was more akin to a hot flash, or a fever. And once again, despite the danger he was in, the subject caused Max's mind to wander.

 

That's weird. In this lesser state, Max realized that the effect the holy energy had on him was…familiar. He knew that sensation. He'd experienced it many times before in times past…of course, those times before had been much, much less intense than even what he was feeling right now, but whatever the degree it was at, Max knew the feeling was of the same kind…

 

This…it feels like I do whenever I get sick. Quite ironically, further thoughts on the subject were interrupted by a lack of interruption. Max now noticed that things had gone quiet in the last few minutes. Not quiet, as sewer sounds were still abundant, but portents of Naraku's presence had gone silent. Maybe he couldn't hear her because he'd lost her, but also possibly because something may have been drowning her out; there was the sound of water rushing, running, like a waterfall.

 

For lack of a better plan, Max decided to follow that noise. It's not like he had exactly been making any sort of progress by fleeing. Besides, whatever was causing that noise was dampening any sounds he made and, if there were an exit nearby, Max could make his escape. He continued on through several sewer mains, cautious still, following the sound as it got louder and louder. He also began to notice that the water flow beneath him was becoming stronger as he went on.

 

Sure enough, he rounded a final corner and found the tunnel coming to a cutoff into a large, circular drain room. Several other drainpipes and tunnels were converging here, dumping wastewater down further into a lower level pool several stories down, where it was being drained down. When sending sewage to the water treatment plant, most sewers were designed to send water flowing downward so that gravity did most of the work getting it there rather than expensive bilge pumps. And as brilliant a strategy as that may be with regard to efficient sewer design, it didn't help Max out one bit. He needed to go up, not down. Looking around, he saw no exit leading upwards. All he could do was scoff in frustration and turn around…

 

Face to face with the business end of a Beretta M9.

 

Max screeched as he instinctively jumped back, arms raised. When he almost lost his footing on the ledge of the tunnel, he found himself clumsily struggling to maintain his balance, eventually resulting in him falling to a kneeling position in the flowing sewage. That action painfully reminded him of the lead lodged in him, and he was forced to lower a hand to once again clutch himself. Naraku stood there, victorious smile on her face and obviously amused by her prey's show of weakness.

 

“On the other hand...” She had to shout in order to be even audible over the rushing water. “…it would have been far too boring if you'd have submitted too easily. I suppose I should thank you, Nikanaru.” Immense fear and anxiety were coursing though him, but Max's anger still managed to get the better of him. It had been one of those days, after all.

 

“Why the Christ do you keep calling me that?!” He demanded in a snarl. The arrogant smirk remained unmoved.

 

“It's your name, is it not?”

 

“NO, you lunatic! It's MAX!”

 

“Hmph.” Eyebrows raised, she regarded him condescendingly. “Seems I overestimated you quite a bit. ”

 

“Cunt…”

 

“Yes…I did. Perhaps your rejection of me really did have more so to do with that well's energies.” Anger turned to shock as Max digested those last words.

 

“…what??”

 

“The well. The one we used to come here. I assume you know at least that much.” Max regarded her with a stunned stare that seemed to have her answer. “Yes. Good.”

 

“You're from…the past?” His tone now betrayed a genuine curiosity mixed in with his great fear. A whole rush of feelings he wasn't used to, individually or collectively.

 

“In a manner of speaking, yes. And no.” She dared to approach him a by another step. “I was there with you when we entered this world. And I know that you knew I was there.”

 

“I was… I was a baby when I came trough it.” He growled at her, frustrated by the apparent lack of logic. “And I'm pretty sure someone would have told me if a psychotic bitch had been there, too.

 

“Let's get one thing perfectly clear.” She spoke, sudden annoyance apparent. “I am a man.” Conversation with this Naraku character seemed to have a tendency of catching Max off guard, be it from the sudden appearances of firearms, her knowledge of his secrets, or the daytime-talk-show style revelations.

 

“Well… my hat's off to whoever handled your sex change operation.” He muttered, unable to really think of anything else to respond to that with.

 

That's right, Max. Keep being a smartass when you're about to die.

 

“This is merely the body I was forced to infest. It was supposed to have been yours.” She…or he replied, narrowing his eyes in anger. He cocked the gun and took a step toward Max. “And now it will be.”

 

“What?” Defensively, Max took another step back, careful to not go over the edge again. He had to think of something. He had to buy himself some time.

 

She…he likes to talk. Maybe if I can stall her…uh, him…

 

“What do you mean, `infest'?” He shouted. Unfortunately, Naraku wasn't going for it.

 

“Enough. You will understand everything when we are sharing a mind.” He/she trained the gun's aim from Max's head to his stomach… Max's eyes went from focusing on Naraku's feminine face to the feminine finger around the not-so-feminine gun's trigger. “And seeing as how you seem recover from miko energy unnaturally fast, I won't hold back this time.”

 

His heart jumped when he saw the muscles of that finger begin its first constrictions around the trigger. It was as though at that precise moment, Max knew he was going to die.

 

The whole world seemed to slow down around him…the sounds of the water flowing became low and distant, the air around him seemed to still and stagnate, and his own breath stopped cold. In that instant, his entire world was nothing but that single index finger on the trigger, watching as it moved agonizingly slowly, fraction of a millimeter by fraction of a millimeter, pulling the trigger back.

 

A feeling of a rush of adrenaline shivering up his lungs then hit him. It seemed to snap him out of his trace and he looked back up at the face of Naraku, then back down at the gun, which still hadn't fired.

 

What the…? It was ethereal…Max could literally see the finger in microseconds as it was moving…and so could he the flowing water around them. It was… it was like those times people claimed time seemed to slow down during catastrophes... no, it was even beyond that. Max could actually see the things going on around him in slow motion as his mind digested the information at what felt like a normal pace.

 

Whatever the rate of time, though, that finger was getting awfully close to pulling the trigger all the way back. Max made a split second decision then…

 

“RRRAAAA-AAAAAAAII III-IIIEEEEEEEE!!!!”

 

Naraku's blood curdling scream brought time screechingly back to its proper chronological frame of pace. Max hadn't meant for his claws to shred right through his/her arm, but had been horrifyingly surprised at how easily they did. The scream emanating from Naraku was equally horrifying, as it seemed to switch pitches every split second between that of a roaring male and a screeching female. It was as though the two pitches fought for dominance of the scream. Either way, Naraku stumbled forth in shock, clutching his new stump. Red blood oozed from it horrifyingly, but even more disturbing were traces of dark, purple oozes tinted in with the crimson. Max barely registered any of this as he leaned over to the side of the tunnel, dodging Naraku's convulsing body as it staggered foreword, the shock of his decapitation disorienting him. Before he/she could regain his proper senses, his momentum was already sending him over the edge of the pipe. Max could only watch aghast as Naraku made a final attempt to reach the ledge with his remaining good hand, fail, and fall several stories below to the drain pool, making one haunting, final call:

 

“NI-KA-NAAAA-RUUUU!!!!” Max had had to turn away before he saw his body hit the water. A few seconds passed where he waited for any other sounds. When the echoes of Naraku's screaming stopped bouncing off the walls, nothing remained but the familiar rushing of water. Max eventually peered over the edge again and saw nothing of any trace of his enemy.

 

The danger seemed to have passed, and the panic that Max had held back in the heat of the moment had now caught up with him. His breathing was coming in quick and short bursts as he rested himself against the circular wall of the tunnel. Reflexingly clenching his fists in and out, he was only reminded that the right one was now sticky with the red blood it had soaked in. Gurgling in disgust, he lowered it into the flowing stream, uncaring of the wastewater, scrubbing it as frantically as he could.

 

Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.

 

Pulling it out for inspection, he saw that most of the red was gone, although his hand was still filthy with whatever dirt had been in the flow. He gave it a few final shakes before grimly deciding that it would be sufficient.

 

What the fuck am I supposed to do now?? Jesus, she's dead! I…I killed someone!!! He gave another peek over the edge to find nothing still emerging from the pool. Given the rushing of the water going down into the water main, Naraku would surely have been pulled down and drowned by now, even with his superior strength. Yes, Max had indeed caused the death of another living being. The notion wasn't sitting at all well with him. If he had had any contents remaining in his stomach, he may very well have vomited them out by now. Violently turning away from the scene, Max marched away, forcing his legs to work despite the state of self-actualized terror his mind was in.

 

Well, what choice did I have?! She was going to shoot me! I mean… argh! Growling in utter frustration at his inability to justify it to himself, he just kept going. Besides, I didn't kill her! I just dismembered her. The fall and the drain killed her! It was her own Goddam fault for being a fucking homicidal transsexual maniac! But there wasn't much else he could do but continue to debate his actions with himself as he wandered aimlessly. After another fifteen minutes, he at last came upon a manhole exit. With no particular feeling of victory or accomplishment, he climbed the ladder and opened it.

 

Lifting the heavy manhole was no problem, since the effect the miko energy had on him was all but gone. However, peeking through the cover, Max saw that it was in the middle of a fairly crowded, mildly trafficked street. As if appearing out of a manhole wasn't suspicious enough, there was also his ebony hemorrhage. The crystal did do a good job of hiding the blood whose dark stain contrasted starkly with his white shirt, though Max just had to make sure that it was no longer bleeding off of him. He'd kept pressure on it with his own hand for over an hour now, so that hopefully gave the blood a chance to congeal. Lifting his hand away from the wound, he waited a few moments to see if anything would still come out. After biding for a few moments, he satisfied himself that the hemorrhaging had stopped.

 

Okay. So just real casual…real nonchalantly, lift up that cover, climb out and walk away. After peeking again to make sure that the road was clear enough, he shoved the cover off and at last reveled in a breath of refreshing air that blew around his face. Pulling himself out, he was pleased to see that there were only about three people on this street at the moment, all of whom were giving him curious glances. Paying them no mind, he pulled the cover back over the manhole and walked off. Although his wound was no longer bleeding, he still kept one hand on it just to make certain, and to keep some pressure on the pain. To any onlooker, he just looked like some guy with a wicked stomachache.

 

Now where the hell am I? It took a little while for Max to get his bearings. This was a part of Tokyo he wasn't too familiar with, but upon walking down a few streets he began to recognize a few notable landmarks. It was enough to give him a general idea of which direction he should start to head in.

 

This is all going to be a hell of a thing to explain to Grandma. Their worst worries had been unveiled. Someone had indeed recognized him on the evening news, and had come after him…violently. There had been times throughout his life where Max had really wondered if it would be all that bad if certain people knew about him…his friends for example. Even Souta had refused to let Asaki, the woman he was engaged to be engaged to, know the truth about Max. Had absolute secrecy been necessary?

 

Well, if today was of any indication, then the answer was a big, fat, giant, neon, glow-in-the-dark YES. Yes, he should keep his true nature hidden from anyone and everyone outside of his family. Clearly, there were people out there who would come after him and try to hurt him, just for being what he was. Lord knows why…granted Naraku had been some sort of psychotic, but the world had plenty of those on hand. And who knew if Naraku had only been one member of a particular group? Maybe someone else would come after him as well!

 

Furthermore, there were the odd things that Naraku had known…namely, about the well. Strange, though, that if he'd been hunting Max as he'd claimed and had simultaneously known about the well, that he wouldn't have just come directly to Max's home. The fact that the Higurashi Shrine had the Bone Eater's Well wasn't at all a hidden fact. It was even advertised just as any other historical exhibits they had there were. Furthermore, if Naraku had indeed come from the past…

 

It's too fucking eerie. He knew too much to just be some escapee from an asylum for the criminally insane. I…ARRGHH!

 

Although Max, in addition to many other superior qualities, had superior healing capabilities, that didn't change the fact that the bullet lodged in his gut still hurt like crazy. After all that running down below ground, his insides felt raw, like someone had been rubbing them with a cheese grater for the past hour. Just walking still hurt, and Max eventually had no choice but to lean against a wall and take a rest.

 

Goddammit, I need to get this thing OUT. Theoretically, he could dig into himself with his claws and extract it, but that would reopen a gash and blood would spill all over…not a wise thing to do in broad daylight.

 

Maybe I can just ride the bus? No, Max hadn't renewed his bus pass this month. To save on money, he'd taken to rooftop leaping to get to places. That, obviously, was no longer an option. And neither was the bus, as he'd already spent what money he'd had on cafeteria lunch earlier today.

 

Wait…isn't this place…? Taking a moment to look around at the street he was on, he felt some sense of familiarity. Yeah, it is! This was not too far off from where Al lived. He could hopefully borrow her phone and call for Grandma or Great-Grandpa to come pick him up.

 

With a deep breath, he once again bit back the pain as he headed over to the apartment complex on 32nd, Shinjuku Street. He'd never actually been to her home before, but he'd seen her go into the building several times. It was 4:21 now, so she should be home.

 

Not like she's got friends to go out with or anything. He thought with some degree of pity. Entering the lobby, he searched for the Tanaka name on the index board and punched in the corresponding number. The speaker rang once…twice…three times.

 

C'mon, be home, be home, be home… Finally, there was a click on the other end.

 

“Yeah?” Came a bored reply.

 

“Al!” He exclaimed in relief. “Hey, it's Max.”

 

“Oh.” Her reply seemed a little surprised. “Uh…what d'ya want?”

 

“Listen, can I come up for a few minutes? I need to use your phone.”

 

“Uh…” There was clear hesitation in her reply. “Actually, now's not a good time…”

 

“Al, please!” He tried not to sound too pathetic, pleading as he did. “I really, really need to make a call, and I don't have any change for a phone booth or anything.” He waited eagerly for her reply. A few seconds passed before she sighed.

 

“Just…stay where you are. I'll bring you my cell.” A mechanical click ended the conversation, and Max sighed a semi-victorious sigh as he carefully sat down on the bench. Clearly, she didn't want anyone else up there with her. Strange on its own, but not by her standards. Who knows, maybe she had something like a drug-lab up there. Pushing that thought aside, Max just thanked God that a phone was at least coming his way. Drumming his fingers patiently against his jeans, he watched with some passing interest as a couple and their kid entered the lobby. Wanting to be as inconspicuous as possible, he gave them a polite wave, which they returned.

 

“HOLY SHIT!” Both his and their attentions were snappily diverted to Al, as she'd opened the lobby door and stared agape at Max. “What the hell happened to you?!”

 

“U…Uh?” Her stare was of wide-eyed horror. Max wondered what on earth could be so shocking to her. “Oh! I, uh, got a little dirty. That's all.” He explained, hoping that she was referring the filth he'd rolled in underground.

 

“No, I mean THAT.” She shouted, pointing directly at his stomach. Panicking, Max looked down and saw…nothing. The bloody stains on his shirt were still invisible…weren't they? He looked back up at Al, who still looked aghast. He then turned to the other people watching the exchange…they appeared just as confused as he was. “Is that blood??” She demanded.

 

What the Christ??? Max looked again to check his shirt. Then at his reflection in the glass door…nothing. The crystal was working! So what the hell was Al seeing?

 

“There's nothing on…” He had intended to firmly deny what she was getting at, but was interrupted when he unexpectedly went into a coughing fit. Grimly, Al put the cell phone into her pocket and pulled him up by his sleeves. “Hey…OW!”

 

“God, come on up…I've got some of my dad's medical stuff here.” She left no room for argument, and Max wasn't in the kind of condition where he could offer much resistance. If he hadn't been so perplexed with everything going on, he might have noticed for the first time how posh this apartment complex was. The elevator he was shoved into had mirrored doors, so Max could once again conform that his blood was NOT showing up. So why was Al staring at it like it was?

 

“Where did that come from?” She inquired.

 

“Where did…what come from?”

 

“The blood on your goddamed shirt!” She yelled at him. As if to exemplify her point, she dared to jab a finger at it. Max instantly winced in pain. “Are you delirious from blood loss or something??”

 

“I…” The elevator dinged and the doors opened before Max could further stutter. More gently this time, she led him by his hand down the hall and to her apartment door. Her I.D. card swiped across the scanner, a green light indicating her success, and the door clicked open.

 

Woah. As if he didn't have enough distractions coming from every which direction today, when Max entered Al's home, he became privy to one of the most finely furnished places he'd ever seen. Her place looked exactly like the perfect photos in those furniture catalogues…spotless white walls, leather couch, a T.V. with a screen almost as wide as his room, and a stereo system that looked like it could power a KISS concert.

 

“Here.” She manoeuvred him over to said leather couch. He may have protested that his blood, not to mention the filth all over him, was going to ruin the upholstery, but that would mean admitting that he was bleeding at all. Unable to think of anything else, he just allowed himself to plomp down onto the pleasntly comfortable cushions. “Hold on. I'll be back in a second.”

 

I just wanted a phone. A Goddam phone. Why does everything today have to be so difficult? Her return was heralded with the contents of the kit in her hands clanging around.

 

“Okay, take off your shirt.” She instructed as she kneeled down in front of him.

 

“…what?”

 

“Your shirt.” Whatever sympathy she had had not long ago had been quickly replaced with her more characteristic annoyance. “Take if off.”

 

The moment became one of curiosity for Max, then. Staring at his reflection one more time in the screen of that obscenely huge television, he assured himself that the crystal was hiding his blood from plain sight. After a moment's hesitation, his curiosity got the best of him and his overcoat was shrugged off. Still staring at Al, gauging her reaction, Max carefully pulled the shirt off himself, making sure the crystal didn't get pulled off as well.

 

Her reaction was a wide-eyed gasp when his chest was exposed.

 

“Oh God!” She cringed as she readied a moist towelette. “That looks pretty bad.” Max looked back up. Reflection? Still nada on the injury. “Okay, lean back against the seat and just relax your stomach. This might sting a little.” Gently as she could, she began wiping away at his abdomen. It did sting, but he grinned and bore it all the same. What was more interesting to him, though, was the way her towelette seemed to be wiping at nothing, and then when she pulled it away from him, a dark, rusty substance appeared on it.

 

No effin' way.

 

Max had to be sure of something. His tail, previously nestled behind him as he sat down, shimmied out from his back and carefully manoeuvred it between himself and Al. He observed the focus of her eyes carefully as he pointed its tip a few inches from her face. She stopped what she was doing and pulled her head back a little. Experimentally, he swished his tail gently from side to side.

 

Her eyes followed it.

 

You have GOT to be fucking with me.

 

“Al?” The words came slowly out of his mouth, as if he were afraid of breaking something with them. “What…what do you see when you look at me?” She stared back at him right in the eyes. Her hesitation was equally evident.

 

“I'm…uh, pretty sure I don't see what everybody else does.” When she saw his surprise, she turned away almost shyly.

 

“What do you mean?” Insistently leaning in closer, ignoring the sharp ache that entailed, he had to be sure of this. “Exactly what is it you see?” She stared back at him a moment before she stood up and went over to her backpack. Pulling out one of her sketchbooks, she kneeled back down in front of Max and flipped through the pages. Arriving on the desired one, she offered it to him.

 

“I see this.” Max grasped the book and glanced at it.

 

…and looked right at a pencil sketching of himself in full demon form.

 

Well, this has been just about the most peculiar day of my life.

 

 

**********

 

A/N: …and it's going to get even worse. HA!

 

Serious action scenes are much tougher to write than I initially expected. And because there are going to be a few more of those along the lines, I'm thinking I need to do some research…study the greats. Just going “He grabbed his…and the she kicked him in the…” feels horribly monotonous. Ick.

 

Also, while I do like to keep things well researched instead of just making up bullshit about things I don't fully understand, chances are I did fuck up a fact or two with regard to sewers. I did research, but there's so much fucking variety in between one city's sewer system to the next, I could almost throw anything out there and be right. And given that I've seen a Tokyo subway system map, which is fucking crazy complicated, I'm willing to bet the sewage system is as well.

 

Tschuess, folks.

 

Koday.