InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Okaeri ❯ Chapter 23

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and associated characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

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Chapter 23

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Kagome stood in the now-empty, dim courtyard, gripping the rifle in her trembling hands. There was no sign of Soen but the blood marring the white gravel near her feet; the youkai had vanished. Kagome strained to listen, but it was difficult to hear anything over the pounding of her heart and her agitated breathing. Somewhere in the distance a dog barked. Her breathing gradually steadied, and soon she was able to discern the soft background susurrus of traffic noise common to large cities, even at this time of night. After a moment, she heard in the distance the faint rumble of thunder.

No sound of her, and no sign of Soen's malignant aura anywhere in the immediate area, either; the only youkai around was the small kitsune pressed against her leg. She glanced down to see Shippou staring at the blood on the ground. She dropped to her heels, setting the gun down, and hugged him tight. “Are you all right?” she asked.

“I don't know,” he mumbled into her hair. “I don't-- I thought she was my friend, Kagome.”

She drew back to look into his troubled face. “She still cares about you,” she said. “You seem to be the only person in the whole world that she feels any kind of connection to any more.”

Shippou shook his head. “Then why wouldn't she listen to me? Why do all this?” His glance took in both the courtyard and the wide metropolis beyond. His face was drawn and tired, his green eyes enormous and glassy as his gaze lingered on the lights of the city.

“Shippou-chan,” she said softly, “you need some rest. It's been a really long day for you, hasn't it? How about we go inside and I get you settled in a nice comfy bed, huh?” Kagome levered herself upright, endeavoring to take him with her, but Shippou pushed off and planted himself stubbornly.

“You're going after her, aren't you?” he demanded. “You won't get rid of me that easy, Kagome. There's no way I'll let you go off alone.” His tail twitched in agitation, and she sighed.

“Are you sure you won't stay here and protect the house, in case she comes back?”

Shippou frowned in indecision. “No. I think she's gone. She won't stop now until she gets to the Emperor.”

That might be, she thought, and bit her lip as she glanced at her home. But what if she does come back? Kagome was desperately tired, dirty and bruised; her head pounded from her recent, unaccustomed efforts, and she was still holding the barrier on the house, a palpable drain on her strength. There was no way she'd be able to maintain the shield like this for any length of time, but there were ways to set a barrier and walk away. She felt for the ofuda in her pocket that Jii-chan had given her earlier in the day—an eternity ago—and fingered them uncertainly. She'd seen Miroku use ofuda for this purpose, but Kaede had taught her a method, one that echoed a ghostly memory of Kikyou's. She nodded to herself and walked over to the nearest of the sakaki bushes that ringed the courtyard, and broke off a twig with several leaves.

Kagome turned back to the house and walked to the edge of where her barrier was now, and listened. All was quiet inside, as she'd hoped and prayed; none of the chaos out here had penetrated the shield. She stuck the small branch into the dirt just inside the barrier and concentrated, focusing on the sakaki as the anchor point of the barrier. Her fingers tingled with power as she dug the stem into the soil, and when she lifted her hand, the twig gave off a faint gleam. She leaned back and saw with satisfaction that the barrier held strongly, and the receding strain let her breathe a sigh of relief.

Shippou had been watching, his eyebrows raised in surprise and approval. “Did Kaede show you how to do that?”

“Yes.” She decided not to mention Kikyou at this point. “Now, which way do you think Soen's gone? She doesn't seem to be anywhere close.” How can she have disappeared so quickly, so completely?

Shippou sniffed, and wandered a few steps towards the stairs. “She went off that way,” he said, pointing down the steps, and incidentally towards the view of greater Tokyo to the south. He looked back at her, solemn now. “She's left a blood trail. I'm not Inuyasha, but even I could follow that.” He glanced dubiously back at the vast city in front of them. “At least I think I can, this place smells strange. Do you know which direction the Emperor's palace is?” His expression grew bleak. “She'll find out pretty soon.”

Kagome retrieved the rifle from the ground where she'd left it, slinging the strap over her shoulder. “It's southeast of here, but it's pretty far away, Shippou-chan. We'll catch up to her.” Shippou nodded and started for the stairs. As she began to follow, the gun bumped gently against her back, and she muttered imprecations under her breath. “Wait, I can't walk around like this. Hold on.”

She brought it around to look at it, hastily putting the safety back on. It seemed fine; how many shots were left? The clip only held four bullets, and she had used two. She fumbled in the ammunition bag, got another clip and replaced it; it clicked into place easily enough, and she surveyed her work.

Okay, that looked fine. Now how would she carry it? Walk around the street with a World War II-era rifle? She didn't think so. Guns were illegal in Japan—she didn't even know how Jii-chan had gotten the ammunition for it. Some conspiracy of his old cronies, no doubt.

Glancing around, her eyes lighted on the clothes line—Mama had some sheets out; they flapped in a rising breeze that smelled like rain. With a mumbled apology Kagome took one, wrapping the gun loosely enough that she could get the sheet off easily to fire it. It looked like a gun wrapped in a sheet, but at least it wasn't as obvious.

Shippou stood balanced on the edge of the top step, and looked up as she approached with the bundled up gun slung over her shoulder, his expression anxious. “Kagome...you hear that?”

She listened. The dog she had heard earlier was now barking continuously, hysterically. And then faintly, they heard a yelp; after that, silence.

Shippou gulped. “Soen hates dogs,” he whispered. “You think...?”

“Let's go.” Without another word she clattered down the steps, trying to orient herself towards where that dog had been barking.

The streets were mostly empty, and she took off running, Shippou running gamely at her side. Again, she tried to find a lead to Soen through the older kitsune's aura, and this time she felt the tug of a vague connection. There was a trail of some kind. Up ahead she could detect...something...of Soen's, something on the ground. She stopped, puffing, to examine it, and Shippou nearly piled into her. It was a smear that appeared dark and shiny in the glow of the street light.

“Is that blood?” Kagome asked, her skin prickling.

Shippou didn't even have to sniff. “Yeah, it's hers. I can follow this, Kagome, come on.” He took off with assurance, and she followed.

The blood trail led through a quiet residential area, and Shippou shortly found the scattered remains of a dog in an otherwise unremarkable yard. Its head and neck were still chained. Kagome gulped and looked away.

“The poor thing,” she murmured. The door to the house gaped open, and there was no sign of live residents. Just a random house...there didn't seem to be anything else that might have interested the kitsune here. “Shippou...would she have made a detour just to kill a dog?”

The kit hunched his shoulders. “Probably. Let's go, Kagome.” Silently, they hurried on, following the dual trails of scent and youki.

Unfortunately, as their surroundings changed from residential to urban, both trails gradually evaporated, lost in the fumes and press of traffic. They finally ended up at a corner where two busy streets intersected, unable to tell which direction to turn. Kagome stood still, desperately casting about for some sense of the youkai's whereabouts. Up that way, maybe...?

“Kagome,” wheezed Shippou.

“What?” she said distractedly. “I'm trying, Shippou--”

“I think I smell something over there,” he said softly. She turned at that, and he motioned towards the dark entrance of an alley off to their left; the street light in front of it was broken, and glass fragments glittered on the sidewalk. She trudged over with him, her heart sinking.

The man was lying face down in the dirt behind some trash cans, his neck at an unnatural angle, and blood had pooled under him where the big vein in his throat had been torn out. Kagome gasped.

“Pretty clean kill, for her,” Shippou noted, his voice flat. “Normally there's a lot more blood spread around.” He coughed.

“Quick--” she moved away before anyone might see them. “We've got to find her and stop her before she kills any more,” Kagome said, clenching her fist in the folds of the sheet. “I think her youki goes that way. Come on.” She spared a thought for the nameless man lying there, and silently offered an apology. When this is over, I'll make sure you're found.

They hurried through garishly lit streets, slowing to look, listen, and take breathers every so often, but the city was unrevealing. How far had Soen gotten ahead of them? They were in Shinjuku now, getting close to the shopping and entertainment district. Traffic was heavier, there were plenty of people out on the streets, and the two of them were garnering some curious stares, and even some pitying looks, mostly directly at Shippou. The kit stuck close to her, and occasionally coughed like a sickly toddler. Kagome mostly tried to ignore the attention, and focus. Where is Soen?

“Hey, Kagome. Can we, uh, stop for a minute? I need to catch my breath...”

She glanced down at the plaintive question; Shippou did not look too good. He had halted behind her, eyes flicking from the flashing lights above, to the cars zooming past, to the people passing by laughing with each other or talking on cellphones or simply hurrying on their own errands, and he seemed to be going into a glazed sensory overload. He coughed again, a hacking wheeze.

“Shippou-chan...” She reached down and picked him up, and he clung to her.

“There's so much smoke and stuff,” he mumbled, and lay his head against her shoulder, hiding his face in her hair. “I can't smell anything anymore. I'm sorry, Kagome.”

“It's all right.” She stood indecisively as people flowed around them, and felt helpless. Where do we go from here? They seemed to have completely lost the trail. Should she simply keep heading for the Imperial Palace? The distance by foot was daunting, even if she wasn't carrying a heavy gun and a heavier Shippou. Maybe she could get a cab?

She let her feet carry her in the right direction as she kept her eyes and ears open. If she got past the entertainment district and still couldn't pick up any trace in the relatively quieter areas, she'd hail a cab. A car might still disturb Shippou, but not nearly as much as the rattle and crowds on a train. She hadn't gotten to the end of the block before she felt a pulse of youki, shivering down the tenuous connection she had felt. She froze, and the pulse was followed by a sickening wave of jyaki. People stopped and staggered as the effects hit them; some fell or sat, some began vomiting. All of them looked frightened. A few began wailing about gas attacks.

Shippou lifted his head. “Miasma.” His face was drawn and scared. “And...I smell a lot of blood.”

“Which way?” she asked urgently.

“Keep going. Straight ahead,” he said. He swiveled his head, trying to catch some sound to go with the scent. “Put me down, I'm okay.”

“Whatever you do, don't run into the street, all right? The drivers of the cars won't see you.” She motioned at the vehicles crawling by, and he nodded distractedly. She set him down, and he hurried forward--she had to quicken her steps to keep up.

Despite her warning, the kit ran into the street a couple of times, but managed to stop short before actually running into the path of any cars—most of them had come to a stop anyway, hopelessly gridlocked. He seemed impatient, almost-single-minded in his pursuit. Dodging wobbling pedestrians, they ran a few blocks before Kagome started to hear screaming up ahead. And another minute before they came across the first few bodies.

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Inuyasha had no trouble following Soen's scent—her blood was rank and easily distinguishable from the rest of the evil smells of Tokyo, so he could maintain a fairly high rate of speed. What worried him was that Kagome and Shippou seemed to be hot on her trail...dammit. How could they be so stupid as to go after a monster like that by themselves?

Following their scents, he passed the yard of the butchered dog, grimly noting that the two people it had tried to guard were dead inside the house. The heavy scent of some massive human slaughter had not abated, but he cast a worried eye overhead—it looked like rain was coming. He had to find Kagome before it broke and washed away her scent trail. The smell of that much blood wouldn't wash away as easily. His only comfort was that the blood was definitely not hers or Shippou's.

He soon found himself in a noisy, busy area, and here the scents diverged. On the one hand he was glad that there was some distance between them and the demon; on the other hand Kagome and Shippou were a little more difficult to track. He trotted along their trail, head lowered as he tried to isolate their scents among the flood of humanity, and ignored the slowing steps and long stares of passersby.

His head came up as he parsed out the sound of sirens and distant cries from the cacophony around him, and ran full tilt. Please be safe--

The wind shifted, bringing a few fat drops of rain and suddenly, the scent of Kagome and Shippou, aligned with the blood smell and the smell of jyaki. He cursed and ran faster, nimbly darting around cars as if they were standing still. He was starting to see people stumbling in several directions, all seemingly away from something, and ahead he could see the flashing lights that heralded the presence of the city guards and medics. Where the hell was Kagome? Her scent was rapidly getting lost in the sea of humans ahead, alive and dead. The buildings were taller here, but he was still able to leap up for a vantage point on top of one not so high.

The scene ahead was ghastly. Scores of people lay dead in a trail stretching into the distance, and there was so much blood that it was slowly draining into the sewer grates. Here and there some seemed to be still alive and were being attended by unsteady bystanders and medics, but for the most part a confused, hysterical crowd milled on the sidelines, unable to look away from the massacre. Cars lay toppled on their sides and shoved onto the sidewalk, adding to the chaos. City guards wearing odd masks were trying to herd people away from the bodies and wreckage, but even they looked scared and shaken.

Inuyasha couldn't see Kagome, but he could smell her and Shippou, somewhere ahead. He traveled slowly along the lower rooftops, and and when the buildings got too tall he used the projecting facades of the shops below, all the while peering down anxiously, trying to spot her or the kit. The rain had increased to a drizzle, and with a curse he jumped down to a clear spot at street level, trying to catch firm hold of the track before it washed away. There-- they were still on Soen's trail! They were close, somewhere in this crowd, but he couldn't see her--

“KAGOME!” he roared in frustration. “Where the hell are you?”

“Inuyasha?” Her voice was faint, and somewhere ahead.

He leaped forward, his heart rising. Yes, there was their scent, and there were their pale faces, lifting and brightening as they caught sight of him, crying out his name--

And then he had Kagome in his arms, and Shippou was in there too, and they were safe, both safe. The rain had begun in earnest and they were getting soaked, but he didn't care, because he had found them. He held them tightly, allowing himself the comfort of burying his nose in Kagome's hair, her scent. She was gripping him back just as tightly, but she was saying something...

“--got to find her, Inuyasha,” Kagome said into his shoulder, her voice muffled. “Look at what she's done--”

Reluctantly he pulled away and held her at arm's length. “What the HELL did you two think you were doing, following that piece of shit youkai?” he asked angrily. “She could have fucking killed you, and you're following her?”

“You weren't here! We had to do something!” Shippou yelled over Kagome's shoulder, from where he was clinging to her back. She winced from the noise right at her ear.

“What the hell do you think you're gonna be able to do against something like that?” Inuyasha growled, waving at the dead bodies lying in the street. “You should have sat tight and waited for me!”

“We didn't know where you were, or if you were coming back! You just up and left, you moron!”

He was drawing angry breath to dispute the kit, but Kagome grabbed the front of his haori, her face serious and determined. “Inuyasha. We can't waste any time. She's headed in a straight line for the Emperor's Palace, and we have to stop her.”

Inuyasha stared down at her, and set his jaw. She was right. This was a damned mess, and he'd have to shut down that bitch now, before she did even more damage. This was his fucking city, and he wasn't having it.

“Let's do it.” He nodded at them. “Come on.” He turned so that Kagome could climb onto his back, which she did, trying to hold on to him, the kit, and the odd metallic-smelling bundle over her shoulder. He recognized it right away.

“What are you doing with that thing?” he asked, getting her settled.

“The gun?” she asked, juggling it so awkwardly that it slipped off her shoulder; he took it from her to hold more securely. “Jii-chan gave it to me, since my last bow got broken over at Michiko's house.”

Inuyasha snorted. “Lot of good it will do.” He jumped up to the nearest balcony and took off from there.

“It did do some, actually,” she said, with some dark amusement. “I don't think Soen liked it much.”

He twisted his head around to stare at her incredulously. “This thing did all that damage? She left a blood trail for miles!”

“Kagome shot Soen right in the face, and it was just like she had shot a holy arrow,” Shippou said, sounding subdued. “How strong is she, if that didn't kill her?”

“I'd say she's pretty damn strong, all right.” Tersely, Inuyasha described the fight and the damage in Kyoto, and how he'd had to find an alternate kitsune doorway to get back to Tokyo. Below them, the trail of bodies and wrecks had ended, but the smell of blood , not yet washed out by the rain, led him forward, towards brighter lights, taller and taller buildings, and the smell of the ocean. But before the ocean, up ahead, he could smell a large green space, vaguely reminiscent of their encounter in Kyoto earlier in the evening.

Springboarding off the slick, rain-wet roof of a lower building, he leaped up to catch hold of some sort of framework of brightly illuminated letters affixed to the side of one tall building; it provided an excellent vantage point. Perched high above the street, the three of them looked down across the green space he had scented. A moat meandered around a complex of gardens and old buildings, illuminated by lamps softer than the harsh glare of the streetlights. He frowned. There was something familiar about the layout...had he been here before?

“That the Palace?”

“Yes, the castle over there,” Kagome confirmed. She swiped wet hair out of her eyes, and peered worriedly over his shoulder.

“You call that a castle?” he snorted.

“Well, it's not the original castle,” Kagome conceded. “That burned down a long time ago. It would have been the one on the other side of the well—Edo Castle.”

“Oh, yeah.” The memory rose, faded and vague as a dream. He had spent some time roaming this area, looking for the guardian of the Shikon Jewel...that's when he'd seen it. “Some vassal of the Hojo held the fort. There was a dinky little village here too, smelled like rotten fish.”

“Tokyo's proud origins.” Kagome grinned. She shivered a bit; the rain had slacked off some, but it was windy at this height.

“Hey. Are those guys the Emperor's guard?” Shippou pointed, frowning.

Inuyasha squinted down. There were indeed a large number of figures moving stealthily in the gardens, from this distance looking like ants crawling about. Most of them seemed to be soldiers, similar in dress to the men he saw in Kyoto, and bearing guns like them. But he was startled to see, bunched up near the edges of the imperial property, monks, priests, and some other oddly-dressed men. What were they doing?

“Who are those guys?” he murmured to Kagome, not taking his eyes off the scene below. A mist was rising down there, and he cursed it for obscuring his line of sight.

“I'm not sure,” she frowned. “Whoever they are, it looks like they're setting up a barrier. I don't--” Kagome suddenly gasped. “Inuyasha--I can feel Soen. She's somewhere close by. Really close.” She clutched his shoulders as she huddled against him, reaching for the strap of the gun. “The rifle--”

He handed it to her without looking, felt her grab and unwrap it from its swaddling. Tensely, he eased backwards until he had the wall of the building safely at their backs, all the while listening as hard as he could, and scanning the surroundings. He couldn't smell Soen, but he didn't doubt Kagome for a second. He couldn't see much now through the bright framework of letters, but that stupid blinding mist was rising fast anyway, shreds of it rising from below to shield the palace grounds from view.

Wait. Mist? In this wind?

An isolated wisp of it tumbled in lazy figures, moving closer to them. Against the wind. He growled and yanked Tessaiga out of its sheath, holding it at ready.

A low chuckle. The mist darkened to black smoke, and resolved into a cloud vaguely resembling a black fox; against the night sky, only one foxfire-green eye was distinct. It was narrowed in hatred as she stared at them.

“You should have remained in Kyoto, dog,” her voice hissed wetly. “You're going to die here.”

“Fuck off, bitch, before I give you what you deserve,” he snarled. Power swirled around Tessaiga, but he didn't let it loose; he still couldn't smell Soen, couldn't tell if he would really be swinging at her or an illusion.

She laughed, a coughing, bitter sound. “Oh yes. Everyone will be getting what they deserve, before the night is through.” She focused past him, to Shippou, clinging to Kagome's shoulder. “Shippou. I continue to be disappointed by you. You had so much promise, promise wasted by your choice of companionship. Out of every soul here, you are the only one who might not deserve what's coming.”

“And what is coming, Soen?” Kagome said carefully. Inuyasha could feel her doing something with the gun behind his back.

“The fulfillment of my duty,” the youkai hissed. “At last.”

The fox-cloud suddenly uncoiled and expanded, and Inuyasha felt a massive pulse of youki as it did. Kagome gasped, but leaned forward over his shoulder, pointed the rifle at its head, and fired.

It was unbelievably loud. He flattened his ears in pain, but through watering eyes watched the bullet blaze through the cloud, dissolving it instantly.

But before any of them could blink, they were surrounded by mocking laughter. “I won't fall for the same trick twice, miko. How do you think I've lived long enough to see to my duty?” The cloud reformed, grinning maliciously at them. “I expect I'll be dead soon, but not before I take all of you vermin with me.”

Dammit! Where the fuck is she? Inuyasha fumed. While she was playing with them up here, what was happening on the ground? He darted a glance to the palace grounds, and saw that the monks and priests had lined up into a defensive position. Odd lights crackled just beyond their perimeter.

“But first, this place, this Tokyo, is all wrong. I will set it right before I get to work.” His gaze shot back to the fox-form, to see it look away, eye narrowing. The form began to slowly spin and dissolve, the wisps of smoke rising and spreading overhead. Abruptly the lights began to go out, beginning with the letters of the sign they clung to, and then a swift wave of darkness radiated out, away from them, across the face of the city.

Then the building disappeared.

One moment he was standing on the framework of the sign, the next, it was gone, and they were falling. Startled, he waved his arms where the supports had been, scrabbling for a hold, but there was nothing to grab. Kagome shrieked and Shippou yelled as they began to drop to the street far below.

Street? He angled his body for the landing as they fell, but below them, he saw not the hard black-topped street surface of Tokyo, but a rutted dirt road, lined on both sides by wooden houses. Here and there a torch provided a circle of light.

“Goodbye, Shippou,” a voice whispered in the wind of their descent. “If these are your friends, share their fate.”

TBC

 

A/N: I am so, so sorry about the long wait, you all. I hope you like this installment, and I will do my best to speed up production on the remainder of the story. Circumstances may be kinder to the writing process than they have been so far this year.

Speaking of the writing process, I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to m0u5e for the awesome beta work! The suggestions, advice and commentary definitely improved this chapter, especially the first half that I'd been staring at for too long. Round of applause, please!