InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Novus Lux ❯ Awakening ( Chapter 2 )

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

þÿSong excerpts used in this chapter: "Modern Day Catastrophists" by Bad Religion, and "Holiday in Cambodia" by the Dead Kennedys.

Only one industry term for this chapter:

Leading: Refers to the space between lines of text.

This is tight
leading.

This is wide

leading.

WARNING: This chapter contains violent passages. Some descriptions may not sit well with those who are sensitive to violent content.

And without further ado, back to our story!

Chapter 2: Awakening

"Inuyasha!" Her voice was loud enough to make him cringe. "Where have you been?!"

"Yeah, about that..."

As he drove, Inuyasha related an edited version of the afternoon's events to Sango over the phone. He left out the naked part of the trumped up robbery charge and the incident with the creepy blonde officer.

"...Sounds like you had an eventful afternoon," Sango commented. "And so I really hate to do this to you, but that Kosha Industries project needs to get finished for tomorrow morning. I need you to come back to the office."

Inuyasha sighed. "I was heading back there anyway to drop off the paper," he said, "but I was kind of hoping I wouldn't have to stick around."

"I wish you didn't have to either, but unfortunately we're both going to be stuck here tonight. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Inuyasha's stomach conveniently took that moment to growl in response. "No, and I never got any lunch either."

"Alright, I'll order some take-out for us then. Any preferences?" she asked.

"You should know that after 2 years of late nights at the office all I ever want is ramen," he said, "And at this point, I really don't care what restaurant it comes from."

"Pff. Of course. It never changes. I'll dig out a menu from my desk and place the order."

"My stomach thanks you," Inuyasha said.

"Indeed. See you soon."

"Yep." He hung up. Inuyasha turned on the radio, twiddling the dial to see if anything good was on.

"-Kim Jong Il has increased the number of soldiers near the border with South Korea," a newscaster relayed. "Seoul has released a statement saying-" He flicked the dial again.

"-listen to the warnings
verify all your fears
there's a world outside
that's ready to blow
and we're all to blame
when it finally explodes-"

Inuyasha smirked as he changed the station again. Ah, Bad Religion. How appropriate to the brief news bite he'd caught. But he didn't want to think about anything like that right now. He just wanted to escape briefly. He found a station playing, "I Kissed a Girl." That would do. Of course, he'd never mention it to anyone, and he'd change it back to a metal station or something before he got to the office parking garage.

...

"Thank you so much, Hojo!" Kagome grinned. "So you think you can have it back to me by tomorrow afternoon?"

"Sure can," Hojo replied. "I'm heading out now, but it shouldn't take me too long to get done tomorrow morning."

"That's fine. I'm leaving too, as soon as I let Sango know that you were able to take the assignment. See you tomorrow!" She turned and left his office.

Hojo sighed quietly as she walked away, enjoying the way her suit pants skimmed her figure. It seemed he always ended up attracted to the new female hires, but they never seemed interested in him. Actually, there had even been a young male copy editor who Hojo had taken a brief fancy to (much to his own surprise), but the young man had left the company about 6 months ago to be nearer to his family in Memphis.

Hojo's own family was native to Chicago, and there was an entire clan of them. They'd probably have a collective conniption fit if he ever even entertained the possibility of moving elsewhere. When he'd travelled to New York to visit a friend last year, they'd spent three days warning him about the dangers of the city and some odd new strain of Staph bacteria that you could supposedly pick up on the beaches in the area if you weren't careful. He considered himself to be health-conscious, but in his humble opinion, the rest of his family was a clan of hypochondriacs who performed their daily ablutions with a bottle of Germ-Ex in one hand and a fistful of herbal supplements in the other. They'd all probably live in sterilized plastic bubbles if they could.

Hojo pulled himself out of his reverie glanced up at the clock. It was almost 7. He really should get home.

...

"Sango!" Kagome sing-songed as she rounded the corner to Sango's office.

Sango was just hanging up her phone from ordering take-out. "Hey, Kagome. Did Hojo take that assignment?"

"Yep, so I'm out of here for the day. Oh, and did you ever find out what happened to Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, it's a long story, but he's on his way back and everything is fine at this point."

"That's good to hear. Well, I'll see you tomorrow, and good luck on that project for Kosha."

"Thanks, I'll need it. Have a good night."

"You too." Kagome adjusted the strap of her computer bag and headed out.

She arrived at her car, an old Saturn Astra with a bright blue custom paint job. It had originally been silver, but she'd saved up in college to get it painted. It wasn't really that great of a car, but it was her baby nevertheless, and she took good care of it.

Kagome tossed her bags in the back seat before sliding into the driver's seat and starting it up.

"POL POT! POL POT! POL POT!
AND IT'S A HOLIDAY IN CAMBODIA
WHERE YOU'LL DO WHAT YOU'RE-"

She jumped high enough to nearly smack her head on the car ceiling and punched the "off" button. Kagome had left her Dead Kennedys CD turned almost all the way up. Again. You'd think I'd learn one of these days, she thought to herself, pulling out of the space and zipping toward the garage exit.

She turned down the street toward the entrance ramp onto the highway, twiddled the volume down, and then turned the stereo back on. The Dead Kennedys finished their song a little more quietly this time.

...

Inuyasha arrived back at the office at the same time the delivery boy for their take-out showed up. He dug some cash out of his wallet to hand to the kid in exchange for the bag of fabulously smelling white cartons. The boy thanked him, hopped back into his car, and sped off. Inuyasha's stomach grumbled.

"Shut up, you," he snapped at it. "I'll feed you in a minute."

He shoved open the door and made his way to the elevator, pushing the call button. AdHOC occupied two floors of a 20-story office building, the 7th and the 8th, and he wasn't in the mood to climb stairs.

...

Sango was sitting at her desk with chin resting on her hand, her computer screen casting its light weirdly on her face and making her look even more tired than she already was.

"Hey," Inuyasha said when he poked his head into her office. "I've got food."

Sango's face brightened a little. "Thank goodness. I think I'm about to keel over here."

"You and me both," he said, plunking the plastic bag of cartons on her desk. "I'm gonna go get my laptop and I'll hook it up to your extra monitor so we can get this done faster. Feel free to go ahead and eat." He shrugged off his coat as he left, folding it over his arm.

"Thanks," she replied, reaching for the first carton.

...

Kagome pulled into her assigned spot behind her apartment building, drumming happily along to her music on the steering wheel. She turned the car off, this time remembering to also turn the stereo volume down, and got out of the car. Kagome slammed the front door and opened the back to get her computer bag off the seat. The streetlight overhead flickered out.

Something hit Kagome in the back, knocking the wind out of her. She stumbled forward, catching herself on the edge of the seat. She turned to see what had hit her, and a pair of glowing orange eyes filled her vision.

Her gasp was cut off by the hand that went over her mouth. Another pair of hands grabbed her and hauled her away from her car.

Kagome struggled in the dark, kicking out, and came into contact with what she thought was a shin. Someone grunted. A fist closed the distance with her gut. She tried to cry out, but the hand over her mouth was firm.

She managed to wiggle one arm free to elbow the person holding her in the stomach. He didn't yell, but his grip loosened just enough for her to break free.

She started to run toward her building, but one of the attackers knocked her down. He grabbed the back of her neck, grip burning her skin strangely. His breath came close to her ear. He smelled like ozone.

"Where d'you think you're goin' girlie?" His soft voice crackled with electricity.

Kagome tried to get up, but his grip was like iron. Terrified, she heard the steps of the two others approaching behind her.

They moved on her at the same time, grabbing her middle and her legs. The one who had hold of her neck pulled her face close. His eyes were white, and they seemed to pulse with lightning. Kagome vaguely registered the strangeness of that observation, discerning their lack of humanity as some basic level.

She doubled her efforts to get away, trying to twist out of their grip. The back of her neck burned. The other two men held on to her tighter, with enough force to leave bruises.

"Don't worry," the white-eyed one whispered close to her cheek. "We ain't gonna kill you. Naraku likes you a little too much, y'see. But..." he licked her cheek, leaving a small trail of sparks that singed her skin.

A force deep inside Kagome snapped.

A terrible pain tore inside her as something pushed toward her skin. A flash of gold ate up the darkness.

Three horrible shrieks rent the air. A transformer exploded from the shock wave, sending the buildings on the street into darkness. Several cars caught fire.

Kagome hit the ground as her attackers' grip suddenly disappeared. She rolled onto her side and briefly saw that her forearms glowed with a golden pattern of spirals that formed a pair of bracers as the design wound its way up. Then all was dark.

She awoke lying on the grass, a cool hand on her forehead and several concerned faces bent over her. Someone must have moved her off of the sidewalk leading up to the building.

"Are you alright?" An older man with round glasses asked her.

"I-I think so," she said a little dazedly. "Mostly I just feel sore...And I have a headache," she added as an afterthought. Things were still a little hazy, and she couldn't focus her eyes properly; everything seemed to have a gold cast to it. She must have hit her head on the pavement.

"Do you remember what happened?" A small, mousey-haired woman queried gently.

"Those things-some guys-they attacked me," she started. "I-I tried to run and they grabbed me. There was an explosion-" She faltered. Where were those men...things...anyway? She remembered their grip leaving her, and falling, but...

Their collective scream surfaced in her mind. Her eyes widened.

"What happened to them?" She asked, suddenly struggling to sit upright. The woman held her and helped her sit up. Kagome looked around, and saw a small crowd was starting to gather.

"Well, we're not entirely sure, actually," said the man, polishing his glasses on his shirt. He looked back down the sidewalk toward the parking lot.

She followed his gaze, trying to make out the misshapen lumps on the sidewalk, which were lit by an eerie orange glow. Several cars were on fire; others were already twisted debris at the far end of the parking lot. In a stroke of luck, her car was not among them. Sirens pierced her brain as two fire trucks arrived on the heels of three patrol cars. Bringing up the rear of the frenetic procession was an ambulance.

"I-I need to see-" she started, trying to stand.

"Oh, honey, you really shouldn't-" the woman began.

"Please," Kagome said a little desperately.

"Alright. Let me help you." She and the graying man each put an arm around Kagome, helping her to her feet. The others, who had been hovering silently in the background, moved out of the way. The three approached the figures on the ground.

The man and woman helping her averted their eyes as they got close. Kagome, however, could not look away. The flickering light from the fires in the parking lot illuminated a grisly scene.

There were three blackened mounds, ostensibly corpses, flesh charred and jackets melted onto the sidewalk. Bones in varying shades of gray and black poked out at odd angles. Their skulls were laid bare, strangely misshapen with the hair mostly gone. Their eye sockets were almost empty, and whitish goo oozed out and over cheekbones, bizarre tears of the dead. A breeze blew light ashen flesh from what might have been a shoulder.

Kagome yanked her gaze away, turning and falling to her knees, trying to control the dry heaves that wracked her body. The other two were immediately by her side. The woman gently pulled Kagome's hair back in case something actually came up.

"What-what-?" Kagome barely managed. She noted vaguely that she still had those weird markings on her forearms, though they had faded and looked a little like a henna tattoo.

"We don't know," the woman said. "We thought maybe the transformer explosion...but you're okay, and the fires are all the way over there. Maybe they were thrown. It's the only explanation anyone can think of..."

"It's-It's horrible," Kagome said. "Their eyes, they-they've been melted."

"I know honey. It'll be okay." She gave Kagome a small squeeze.

"A couple paramedics are coming," the man said, watching two figures dashing toward them across the parking lot. "And an officer," he added, as a third uniformed person joined up.

"Let's get you away from these bodies," the woman suggested. She helped Kagome to her feet, and they made their way back to the grass where they had been a few minutes before.

The paramedics and the cop arrived. They checked Kagome over thoroughly.

"Everything seems to be in working order," the shorter of the medics said. "You know, you are extremely lucky." He looked at her a little curiously, and added, "Especially if those bodies back there were any indication." The medic handed her an ice pack for the small knot on her head, which Kagome gratefully accepted. They left her then to make sure that no one else had been hurt. The officer, however, stayed.

"Hello there," the officer offered a smile, "My name is officer Marion Brand. I need to ask you a few questions, if you can manage," the brown-haired woman finished gently.

Kagome sighed and gave a small nod.

The officer reached into her coat and brought out a small notebook and a pen. She looked at Kagome intently from her spot on the grass.

"Hon, you're shivering like mad," Officer Brand said. "Where's your jacket?"

Kagome suddenly realized that she was in fact shaking. Hard, actually. Her body was starting to get over the shock and had started to react to the chill autumn air. It made sense now why she had seen the markings on her forearms; her jacket must have come off when she broke away from one of the attackers.

"Ummm..." Kagome's teeth chattered a little. "I-I think it's in the parking lot..."

"Well, why don't we get it before I start the questions so you don't freeze, alright?"

"K-kay." Kagome started to stand up, and the officer helped her to her feet, supporting some of her weight. Officer Brand's head was practically in Kagome's armpit, but they managed well enough.

In the bright white light of the flood-lamps that had been turned on a few minutes ago, Kagome was able to clearly make out the bright blue paint of her car. The pair shuffled towards it at Kagome's direction, and she was thankful that she had parked on the opposite end of the lot. The cars that had been on fire had been mostly put out, their remnants now skeletal and strange. Smoke and steam drifted through the air, twisting patterns in the stark, artificial light.

Kagome was retracing what she was pretty sure had been her attempted escape path back to her car. Soon enough, she spotted a light gray mass of cloth on the ground.

"That's it," she said, starting to lean down to pick it up.

"Let me," said officer Brand, gently pulling Kagome back so she leaned against one of the cars. She picked up the jacket and handed it to her, and she gratefully shrugged it on. It had been torn at the shoulder seam on the left side, but it was otherwise unharmed.

"Well, we might as well start the questions here," officer Brand stated. "Can you tell me what you remember? Please be as detailed as you can," she added. She waited, pen poised over her notebook.

Kagome closed her eyes, brow furrowed in recollection.

...

Inuyasha and Sango were stuck. No matter how many times they'd rearranged the text and images on the last set of packaging labels, it didn't all fit.

"This is ridiculous!" Inuyasha exclaimed in exasperation. "Why on earth they need a fucking novel on the back of a frozen dinner is beyond me!"

"It's supposed to evoke feelings of love and-" Sango paused for dramatic effect, "-your mother's beautiful, delicious, mouth-watering arte di cottura!" She cocked an eyebrow at him. "They want to sound authentic," she added sarcastically.

"Keh! Well, their sappy prose and random flowery Italian words are keeping us from getting this done!" He grouched.

"You could at least try to have a sense of humor," Sango snapped at him.

"Whatever. I just want to finish this and go home."

"You're not the only one."

"Keh...Can't we just get rid of these two useless sentences in the middle? It would solve the problem completely."

"No, we've been over this already."

"But-" Inuyasha started.

"This is the copy they approved, and we can't change anything about it tonight. We'll have to try to get their approval at the meeting tomorrow morning," she stated firmly.

"Oh, that will be a fun discussion." Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Seeing as we warned them when they asked for this much text that it probably wouldn't fit."

"Yeah," Sango agreed, "They don't particularly like it when they're wrong."

"They should just do it themselves if they're going to be this damn picky," Inuyasha grumbled.

"Don't say that," Sango admonished. "You know they're like 40% of our business."

"Yeah, yeah...and they can always take their business somewhere else. I'm aware," snapped Inuyasha.

"Then let's quit complaining and figure this out."

...

Kagome finished her explanation of what had happened as well as she could.

"So the last thing you remember is the explosion?" Officer Brand asked.

"Yes," sighed Kagome, more or less, she thought. But the glowing arm tattoos appearing out of nowhere are just too weird, and she'd never believe me anyway.

"And the attackers were holding on to you when the explosion happened?"

"Yes," Kagome repeated.

"Now that is odd..." Officer Brand said, almost to herself. "They were completely destroyed, and yet, here you are...not that that's a bad thing of course!" She added hastily.

But Kagome wasn't really listening. Her gaze flowed right through the petite police officer, focused on a train of thought she was liking less and less by the second.

It had to have been the explosion, Kagome thought. There's just no other reasonable explanation...except that I'm fine when I shouldn't be, by all logic. I should be burnt to a crisp along with them. Unless...unless it was somehow something I did. But there's just no way-

"-back to your apartment?" Was all Kagome heard the officer say.

"W-What?" she asked, jerked back to earth.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Asked officer Brand. "I know the medics cleared you, but-"

"Oh! No, no I'm fine," she interrupted hastily. "I was just thinking."

"Of course," smiled the officer. "This must be quite traumatic for you. I was just asking if you would like me to walk you up to your apartment."

"Um, that's alright... I think I can manage on my own now. My head has mostly stopped spinning and there's an elevator."

"If you're sure..." Officer Brand said. She rushed on, "Well, you've been through a lot, so here's my number if you need anything. I don't know if you have family here or what, but if you decide you want to see a councilor or just need someone to talk to, you can call me, okay?" She pressed a card into Kagome's hand, a look of concern on her round face.

"Thank you," Kagome said, accepting it. She gave the officer a strained smile. "If it's alright though, I'd like to go inside and get away from...this. And... don't worry, I'm going to call a friend." She turned to head toward the back door.

Officer Brand sighed. "Alright. If you need anything, you know how to find me." Kagome nodded with her back turned and moved gingerly away, paying heed to her various aches and pains.

...

Once inside her third floor apartment, Kagome collapsed on her old beige futon that served as a couch. She shook uncontrollably, tears leaking from the corners of her brown eyes, breath coming in short gasps. With trembling hands, she managed to unzip the outside pocket of her computer bag and retrieve her cell phone from its inner pocket.

She hesitated. Kagome didn't really have anyone she could call. Her family lived in Cleveland, and she had only just moved to Chicago after getting her Master's degree at Northwestern. She didn't have any real friends yet. She had Sango's number, and Miroku's, but she knew that Sango was probably still at the office, trying to finish the project for Kosha Industries. That left Miroku as the only person in the entire city who might be able to help her. He wasn't exactly a friend yet, but he was her supervisor as the Assistant Director of IT and Web Development. She knew him well enough, and this was more or less an emergency. She pushed the call button.

...

Miroku was humming to himself as he washed the dishes. He had made himself an extravagant dinner that evening, having decided that he was sick of eating pasta with marinara sauce every night for the last two weeks. Not that there was anything wrong with pasta, but it did get boring after a while. So, Miroku had decided to treat himself. The delicate lobster bisque sat comfortably in his full stomach as he bustled around the kitchen. He heard a soft musical tune carry over the sound of running water in the sink. He turned the water off, realizing it was his phone going off in the dining room.

Miroku picked the phone up, looking at the screen to see who it was. Kagome's name was lit up in white. He frowned. She'd never called him outside of business hours. Well, first time for everything, he thought.

"Hi Kagome," he said when he answered it.

Silence.

"Kagome? Are you there?" He thought he heard breathing in the background. Maybe she had butt-dialed him?

"Kagome?" Miroku said again.

No answer. He moved to hang up, thinking she must have called by accident.

"Miroku!-Wait, I-" came Kagome's strangled voice.

"Kagome! What's wrong?"

"I, well, this-don't take this the wrong way-can you come over? Something...happened, and I, there's no one else, and-"

"Yes, yes of course! What happened?"

"I'd rather not...over the phone, I just..."

"That's okay. Where do you live?"

She told him while he scribbled the address and directions on a scrap of paper.

"You live closer to me than I would have thought," Miroku said. "I'll be there in about 15 minutes."

"O-Okay. Thank you..."

"Of course. See you in a bit." He hung up feeling quite worried. He picked up his rosary, wrapping it around his wrist. He felt the charm's magic slide over him, watching the marks of spiritual ability on his palms disappear.

As he locked up his apartment, a thought occurred to him. Kagome's aura had been feeling a little weird lately, as though some formerly sleeping creature was beginning to stir. The rosary he always wore anywhere outside his apartment had dampened his senses, so he wasn't precisely sure whether he had really felt the shift or not. He was starting to think that those feelings had some merit.

He strode quickly down the one flight of stairs and out the door to his car.

...

Kagome was curled up on the futon, arms wrapped around a light blue pillow that desperately needed to be washed. The thinning fabric cover on the goodwill bargain was originally a bright baby blue, but was now tinged with gray and streaked with her tears. When she had gotten off the phone with Miroku, she had gone to the bathroom to try to wash the strange markings off her arms. On some level, Kagome had known they would never come off, but that hadn't stopped her from scrubbing her skin raw. She had cried into the sink as steam from the too-hot water rose and billowed around her, a comforting embrace. She had stopped scrubbing when she was too exhausted to continue and went back to the living room to wait for Miroku.

The intercom phone next to the front door rang, making Kagome jump a little and signaling Miroku's arrival. She picked up the receiver.

"M-Miroku, is that you?"

"Yes, Kagome, it's me. Can you buzz me in?"

"Y-Yeah, sure." She pushed the entry button, hearing the faint sound it made as the building door was unlocked.

She stared apprehensively through the peephole in her door, opening it when Miroku's distorted figure finally made its appearance in front of her vision.

Miroku's encouraging smile he had so carefully constructed faltered when he saw Kagome's expression as she let him in. It didn't help when he saw that her face was bruised and scratched.

Kagome's ability to speak seemed to have fled entirely. All she could do was stand there as Miroku looked her over carefully. He shut the door softly behind him and stepped forward, taking Kagome's hands in his. Normally, that gesture would be flirtatious, but no such thoughts entered his mind at the moment. He examined her forearms, which besides being an angry red, were tattooed with strange swirling marks. Miroku inhaled sharply.

"Let's sit down," he suggested.

Kagome tried to respond, but it came out as an undignified squeak, so she simply nodded and sat heavily on the futon.

"Now," Miroku said as he sat beside her, "Can you tell me what happened?"

Kagome swallowed hard and haltingly began her second lengthy explanation for the night.

...

Inuyasha and Sango had finally decided that they had no other options. Despite express orders for the text to be a certain size, they had caved and made it smaller. There was simply no other way it was going to fit, even if they made the leading tighter.

"You know they're going to kill us," Sango said again as they packed up their computers.

"It's not like we had any other choice," Inuyasha said for what seemed like the fortieth time.

"I know... At least we saved all of our other attempts so they can see we tried."

"And that had better be enough," Inuyasha grumbled.

Sango sighed. "I hope so. If Bankotsu's at the meeting tomorrow, we should be fine. If it's just Jak though... Well, you know how he is."

"Keh. No freakin kidding. I swear that man has a crush on me too. Talk about awkward."

Sango chuckled. "Pff, Jak flirts with everyone. And if he does actually like you that way, maybe if he's unhappy about this he'll be disappointed in your work and leave you alone."

"I can hope," Inuyasha grimaced as he shrugged his coat on.

"Indeed. See you tomorrow, then." She started out the door.

"Wait!" Inuyasha called. Sango turned expectantly. "I almost forgot. I need to get Kagome's phone number from you."

At this, Sango actually burst out laughing, clutching her side as she tried to catch her breath and regain some semblance of composure. Inuyasha glared at her.

"It's not like I actually want to talk to her, you know." He continued to scowl as Sango giggled intermittently. "It's my brother. He wants to have dinner with her and me tomorrow night to discuss some...business proposal or another."

"He's not planning on stealing her is he? We just hired her!" Sango objected. Then she realized something else. "And since when have you had a brother?" Inuyasha had never mentioned anything of the sort before.

"Uh, well..." He hesitated. "We haven't exactly been on the best of terms, and, er, we haven't spoken in quite a while..." Keh, it's been more than 60 years, he thought, and I was hoping I might make it to a century, the bastard.

"If you say so," Sango said, though she still had a gleam in her eye that Inuyasha didn't like. She pulled out her phone. "Here, I'll text you her number."

"Thanks," said Inuyasha grudgingly.

"Have you got it?"

He looked at his phone. "Yup."

"Good. Now let's get the hell out of here," she said, forcefully pulling open the office door.

...

Miroku was looking at Kagome with an odd expression, torn between pity and wonder at the young woman seated next to him.

"Unfortunately..." he began tentatively, "I can't say that you didn't kill those men."

Kagome's eyes went wide with shock. She had expected to be told at worst that she was utterly crazy, and at best that it was just a freak accident for which she was not responsible. But not this. Oh, no, definitely not this.

"I am actually almost certain that that is exactly what happened," he continued heavily. "You see, well, some humans are blessed, some might say cursed, with, um, spiritual power."

"What? That's ridiculous!" Kagome exclaimed.

He sighed. "It does sound that way a little, doesn't it?"

"A little? It's completely impossible," Kagome said. "The laws of physics don't allow-" She didn't want it to be true. The angry red of her arms where she had scrubbed them said she already knew it was.

"They don't," Miroku agreed. "Yet it is possible. I can't really explain it other than to say that it's the truth."

"You are seriously insane-"

"I can show you if you like," Miroku interrupted as he unwound the rosary from his wrist. He turned his hands palms up so Kagome could see as the last of the rosary came away. Kagome's protests flew from her mind as she watched, riveted, as marks almost identical to hers blossomed on his palms.

"I am similarly gifted," he said, "though not nearly as strong as you. If those are your preliminary marks," he gestured toward the bracer-like designs on her forearms, "Just wait until you have training."

"They'll grow?" Kagome squeaked.

"Yes. I can tell you right now from the feel of your aura that your power is nowhere near it's full potential."

Kagome shuddered. "You mean, I'll do more-more things, like, like what happened with those men tonight?" She had killed plenty on her TV or computer screen, as evidenced by the large stack of games threatening to topple over next to her Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, but killing someone for real... that was different.

Miroku sighed. "I hope you won't have to," he said. "But it could become necessary at some point. At the very least, you need training so that it doesn't happen again by accident."

She shook her head, reminding herself of the bizarreness of the whole situation. "Prove your power to me, then," she demanded.

"I suppose a small bit wouldn't hurt after that storm you unleashed." Miroku tried to smile and mostly failed. "Anyway." He held his hands out in front of him, palms facing each other and slightly cupped. A royal purple light formed between his hands, which he let go toward the ceiling. It floated there like some strange firefly before winking out.

Kagome was quite surprised and a little in awe. All she could manage was, "Purple?"

"Yes, everyone who has a gift has a color. Some colors are more common than others. Do you remember the color of yours when it happened?" He asked curiously.

"...Gold. It was gold," she said absently. Her mind was still back with the now-gone purple light hovering gently at the ceiling.

Miroku was staring at Kagome as though she had suddenly grown an extra head. "Gold?" he asked with quiet emphasis.

"Yes," Kagome said, finally looking at him. Seeing his expression, tears again sprang to her eyes, "Is that bad? You're telling me I'm some kind of crazy-"

"No, no! It's not bad at all!" Miroku reassured her. "It's just that gold is extremely rare. You are sure it was not yellow?"

"No, it was definitely gold. It...It had a weird sheen to it and it was deeper than yellow."

"...I see. Well, then we definitely need to get you trained as soon as possible. Not to mention a charm to hide those markings of yours."

Kagome looked at her forearms. "They are kind of conspicuous, aren't they?" She said, feeling a little better now that she seemed to have a course of action, though she still wasn't completely sure that she wasn't going insane. It wouldn't make the "gift" go away, but Miroku had said that it would help keep her from incinerating anyone else without meaning to. Despite the fact that those men had attacked her, she still didn't think they deserved the fate she handed them. Getting thrown in the slammer for a few years? Yes. But fiery oblivion? Not so much.

"Just a bit," Miroku agreed. "I'll drive us over to Fujiwara Studios, since I don't think you've been there before."

"Fujiwara...?"

"It's a martial arts studio, of a unique type. We'll get your charm there, and some better explanations of what's going on."

"Um...Alright, I suppose." She didn't really have much of a choice if she wanted to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Oh, and have you eaten anything yet?" Miroku asked. He was betting she hadn't, since she had said that her ordeal had occurred as she arrived home.

"No, but I'm really not all that hungry..." she said, remembering the corpses with their melted eyes and blackened jaws frozen forever in wide screams.

"Maybe, but you really should try to eat something," he persisted. "We'll stop at a drive-thru, alright?"

Kagome didn't really feel like arguing. "Alright..." she gave in.

...

Inuyasha was relieved to finally be driving home. It had been one hell of a day, and at now just after 9 o'clock, it was also one of the longest ones in a while. The section of freeway he was on was almost empty for a change, which even at this hour was unusual for the city. He might as well call Kagome and get it over with. He was exhausted, and planned on burying himself in his bed as soon as he got home. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and found the number Sango texted him.

"Here goes nothin'..." he muttered to himself as he highlighted the number on the screen and pushed 'call.'

...

Miroku and Kagome were waiting for their food at the window of a Wendy's drive-thru. She had only ordered a small salad and a sprite. Miroku had tried to get her to add chicken to the salad ("You need protein! Using your spiritual energy takes a lot out of you!"), but Kagome simply could not stomach the idea of meat right now. Even a little grilled chicken reeked of charred flesh to her. It was disconcerting, since she normally adored a big juicy grilled steak more than almost anyone, but the thought of it brought images of the corpses to her mind unbidden. Seared muscle hanging off blackened bone. The jagged edge of a gray ribcage. The smell of burnt hair lingering-

A loud and somewhat flat rendition of "The Empire Strikes First" jerked her out of her memories. Her phone was going off.

Miroku was just taking the paper bag from the man at the window. "Who's calling?"

"Not sure," Kagome frowned. "I don't recognize the number." She showed him the phone, which was still going with its song.

"That's odd. Why would Inuyasha be calling you?"

"Dunno. I didn't think he had my number. I certainly didn't give it to him," she grumbled.

"Do you want me to answer it?" Miroku asked.

"That would actually be nice," she said. "I'll trade you." She handed Miroku the phone and took the paper bag and soda from him.

...

Kagome was taking forever to answer the phone, Inuyasha thought. Maybe she'd gone to bed already? She didn't really seem like the type to be asleep at this hour though...

"Hello, Inuyasha," came a masculine voice over the phone.

Inuyasha jumped. Did Sango give me the wrong number?

"It's Miroku," the voice clarified.

"What the hell are you doing answering Kagome's phone?" Inuyasha asked indignantly.

"Look, there's been a bit of a...situation, and she doesn't want to talk. Can you meet us at Fujiwara Studios?"

"What do you mean? What happened?" With what his brother had told him earlier, he was suddenly very worried.

"Kagome, well, some guys attacked her, and her... gift woke up."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Is she alright? If they hurt her, I swear, I'll-"

"She's fine, more or less," Miroku cut in. "Mostly just shaken."

"Alright. I'm turning around now. I'll see you at Fujiwara in a few minutes." He hung up.

She better be alright, he thought. Fucking Naraku.

I hope you all liked this revision! In addition to combining chapters, some of the dialogue has changed, and I hope it flows more naturally than it did before. I've also been trying to revise the character's inner monologues, and while I'm still not entirely happy with their thought sequences, I think it's improved somewhat. Suggestions on that front especially would be welcome!

-ebj