InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ On a Leash ❯ Urchin ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter Twelve: Urchin

The streets were void of a single soul, with the exception of one black-haired human boy.

Inuyasha bowed his head; the forest green jacket was pulled up high above his noggin in an effort to keep the hail from smacking it like it was the forsaken cars parked on the street.

The sound of the hailstones had started off making small chinks as they bounced off vehicles and slighter noises when jolting off the sidewalks and pavement and skipping a-ways. As the storm grew more intense, the cacophony grew faster and multiplied as the frozen rain thundered down in large, dull thuds, leaving many dented automobiles. It was this extreme weather that Inuyasha faced at this very moment.

At least I managed to get out of the house, he thought, shivering against frigid, wet wind. Hailstones thudded against his barely protected body, causing him to flinch somewhat-he'd been barraged like this for nearly an hour. There wouldn't necessarily be bruises, but the boy was certain of red marks.

Inuyasha smirked faintly. He hadn't been sure what to do when Shippou had leapt up and pushed him off balance. Tricking a kitsune, and with the boogey man hunter thing, no less, had made his departure, somehow, a little more lighthearted.

Hopefully he'd scared the fox-child enough that he wouldn't tell Kagome…

As he dwelled on his musings, Inuyasha retrieved the business card his brother had given him from the pocket of his jeans, stopping by an alleyway. At first, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, until he heard the sound of a metal trashcan clattering to the concrete, chiming a bit thickly as frozen rain hit it.

Curious, Inuyasha deterred from the sidewalk and took a few steps inward. His violet eyes glimpsed around to see what had caused the bin to fall. It was lying on its side, lid off, and the dull ringing continued. The boy heard something shuffle inside, rather lethargically. Suspecting it was an alley cat or some other city animal, Inuyasha turned to leave…

…but stopped when he saw a small hand reach out over the rim.

He immediately tramped over, thin mud from the dust that had collected on the concrete washing over his running shoes. Alarmed, he hunkered down fore the mouth of the garbage can. What the hell…?!

Inside, there was a small, shivering body-a little girl, maybe not much older than Souta. Her clothes were but rags, covering her thin, battered frame. The lass's skin was ashen, with a fevered scarlet over her nose and cheekbones. A bed of miscellaneous trash lay beneath her, no blanket to cover her.

"Hey…" Inuyasha started off softly, swallowing once. He gradually began to reach out. "Why don't you come here?"

The girl's lackluster brown eyes stared at him untrustingly as she shambled closer to the bottom of the can. She trembled more, hastily drawing her hand in and tucking both arms underneath her chest.

Inuyasha let his hand linger where it was. "I'm not going to hurt you…" he said, keeping in the same quiet tone. "I'm going to help you. Will you please come here?" He kept his gaze on her. "I promise I won't hurt you."

Shifting slightly, the little girl seemed to ponder this. A languid smile, one missing a few teeth, shone up at him, and she crawled over to him. Inuyasha waited as she stumbled out onto the concrete, still crouching.

"You don't look good."

The little girl nodded her head sadly at him. She rubbed her stomach, and took his hand and touched it to her brow.

She was burning up.

He swore heavily under his breath. I can't just leave this by herself when she's so fucking sick. She doesn't have shoes! Knowing that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't, Inuyasha nodded and slipped off his jacket. "I'm going to take you with me, and see if I can get you some damn help. Come on." He helped the girl slide the large green jacket over thin shoulders, and zipped it up; the hail smacked a bit harder against his black-sweater-covered back.

Then the girl smiled at him again.

"I'll carry you. It'll go a lot faster. Up you go." Inuyasha hoisted the girl into the cradle of his arms, adjusting the jacket to cover as much of her as possible with limited use of her hands. Thankfully, it protected a great deal of her. Striding out of the alleyway, Inuyasha hurriedly began to leg it for Sesshoumaru's again.

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Kagome had tucked Shippou in bed at about ten thirty-the six-year-old continued mumble things that sounded something like 'hunter' and 'don't eat me'--, and had started absently studying again with her small desk light on. Her mind would wander from her comparative essay of kabuki theatre versus England's theatre during the time of Queen Elizabeth I to the sound of the balls of ice pattering off the roof of the shrine-house.

Mama said that the news said it was only going to reach three degrees Celsius… I hate when the weatherman forgets to mention wind chill…maybe he didn't say what the low for tonight was gonna be. Kagome pushed aside her pink curtain and peeked outside. The sky was a dusty black, and everything seemed to be painted by shadows with ethereal streaks of white heading for the sodden ground. The hail is terrible outside. It's awful weather for anyone to be stuck in.

She let the curtain swing shut again, before moving away from her desk, and rolling her chair over to the window and reopening the curtain. Resting her elbows on the sill, she blearily watched the scene again through the glass. For the first time in weeks, Kagome thought of Taisho.

I wonder how he's doing. I haven't seen in a month…I wonder what he's up to. She sighed, leaning her forehead against the cool glass. I offered him to come and have dinner here…. I wonder if he's forgotten. Maybe he has. But he said he lives close…maybe he doesn't like me? Another tenet ran through her head, Or maybe you just like him more than he likes you.

Kagome shook her head, doing her best not to speak aloud and wake up the happily dozing fox-child.

Maybe…maybe he went somewhere. Or… her eyes grew wide at the contemplation, he has a girlfriend! She sighed, part of her feeling angry, another depressed, another confused, and another…just really cold.

Grabbing a blanket off her bed, Kagome brought her legs up and sat cross-legged on the rolling chair. Taisho… Mama mentioned the name of Grampa's friend as Inutaisho. I wonder if there's a connection. She yawned lightly, settling against the sill again. But I thought Grampa mentioned his friend was a demon…a demon lord…. Inutaisho…'dog-demon boss'….

Maybe Taisho's a leader of a gang or something. She giggled faintly into the glass, half of her buying it and the wanting it to be true for some odd reason.

Well, Inuyasha's name means 'dog-demon spirit'…and 'yasha' is used as part of a tough guy's gang name. Maybe Inuyasha's a member of a doggy gang. Kagome snuggled against the glass, still laughing at that idea.

As her torpid eyelids lowered, the funniest thought passed through her brain: Maybe Taisho and Inuyasha are the same person….

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Inuyasha glanced down at the bundle in his arms. The girl hadn't made a sound for the past half hour, but he could feel her move and her small heart beating. Still, when he held with one arm, and used the other to feel her brow, it was even hotter than before.

He had reached the Nakushima district about fifteen minutes ago. He was on the boulevard Sesshoumaru's card said the mansion would be on, and kept his eyes out the address. Moving quickly but carefully, Inuyasha checked the house number of each of the looming miniature castles.

When he reached the end of looped street, at the very peak was a large white house. Tall black iron gates were at least four times Inuyasha's height, and were tipped with sharp spikes. A giant fountain stood in the middle of the grounds; a very noble-looking dog was charging forward, water coming from the mouth. It rose to three stories, a few lights shining from behind fine silk curtains fitted at each window.

Nice to know Sesshoumaru is living so comfortably, Inuyasha thought bitterly, inadvertently glimpsing at the waif he carried. He found the intercom and jammed the round red button with his elbow.

A voice crackled through the speaker. "Yes?"

"I'm here to see that bastard Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha hissed back over the din, having to bend over awkwardly to hit the button and talk into the microphone. "Open up would ya?"

"Who's there?" the gatekeeper's voice snapped back.

"The boogey man," the boy couldn't stop himself saying in annoyance, hailing whapping his back-the sweater having stuck to his skin from getting so sopping wet. "For fuck's sakes, let me the hell in. I'm Inuyasha…Sesshoumaru's brother." Why did it feel so nasty calling himself that?

With a grumble over the intercom, the gates slowly began to inch inwards. Inuyasha started for cobblestone walk, when the gatekeeper groused, "Master Sesshoumaru has been expecting you."

Smirking Inuyasha made his way up the walk, hearing the gates shut behind him once more.

Eventually, amongst the frozen rain, the boy made it to the wide stone porch. A valence shielded him from the direct path of the storm. He was about to knock on the door when it opened and his brother stood there, still dressed in a cream-colored, button-up dress shirt and navy slacks.

"And here I thought you were caught by the dog-catcher. Come, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru instructed, a very petite half-smile on his face as he held the door open wide enough for the boy and his charge to slip through.

"Thanks for the personal greeting," the teenage boy sarcastically said as he stepped into the richly decorated calling room. He watched his older brother's eyes go to the green jacket bundled in his arms, raising an eyebrow as the faintest clue of inquisitiveness. Inuyasha moved the coat a bit to reveal the little girl's fevered face, swirls of dark brown hair plastered against her damp skin. "I found her in one of the alleys on the way here."

Sesshoumaru looked at the girl for a moment, as poker-faced as ever. Finally, "A street urchin… Jaken!"

Immediately, from one of the side rooms, the toad demon came scuttling along. "Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru?" he eagerly asked.

"Go and show Inuyasha where to place this child and then have one of Yuki's nannies tend to her. After that, get my little brother some dry clothing."

Jaken's large yellow eyes peered up at the human teenager with first uncertainty, and then with disdain.

Inuyasha smirked faintly at the disgusted look on the toad's face. "Got a problem, Jaken?"

He opened his beaklike mouth to say something, but saw the commanding glare of Sesshoumaru and feebly mumbled instead, "Of course not…Lord Inuyasha…."

Inuyasha's smirk only widened as he carried the child up the curving staircase after Jaken. The polished marble was covered by a long, ruby runner. The reached the top, Jaken muttering undecipherable things to himself.

Expensive gold and silver illuminations ran as boarder along the top of the walls. Antique vases and other beautiful, costly items adorned the hallway and the rooms they passed. Finally, they came to the guest room.

Gingerly, Inuyasha laid the girl on the blankets, and slipped her out of his dripping coat. The girl grabbed for it apathetically. The boy set it on the floor and lifted her up again to tuck her in up to her chin.

"Stay here," Jaken ordered harshly, going to the doorway. "I'll go get Miss Kumiko to attend to her."

Shrugging at the toad's rudeness-which hadn't changed in the slightest since he'd last seen him in a humanoid form-Inuyasha sat heavily in the armchair beside the bed. He peered at his running shoes; twice he'd broken the rules of no shoes in the house; once at the Higurashi's and here at Sesshoumaru's.

Inuyasha was quiet, wondering how Kagome was doing at that moment. He hoped everything would be all right at the shrine. So far, so good.

"You're lucky, you know," he suddenly said for no apparent reason. "I didn't have some good Samaritan come and save my ass when I was shivering in an alley during a hailstorm." Inuyasha went silent again, staring at the finery, cast in a gentle light from a lamp on the reading table. "I'm not a good Samaritan though…" He sighed tensely. "I'm…I don't know….

"Fucking hated by the gods, that's what."

He leaned his head back, just wanting to curl up and sleep for a good long while. His clothing was sticking to him everywhere, and not comfortable by any stretch of an insane imagination. His arms ached for carrying that little human girl through the hail for gods knew how many blocks. His long midnight hair felt like a dead weight, yanking on his scalp and straining his human neck.

Inuyasha absently ran a hand through his soaked locks, his fingers snagging at the wind-spun knots. His emotions were running in every direction, and he wasn't quite sure which one to follow. The one he was currently chasing was confusion and he figured that once he had his little chat with Sesshoumaru, perplexity and he were going to be well-acquainted.

A cat-demon walked into the room, and a pleasant smile spread behind her whiskered face. She held an armful of clothes. "These are for you, sir. There's a bathroom to your right. Please go and get changed in there."

"Thanks." He reluctantly rose, accepted the clothes, and went to the bathroom.

He shut the door and locked after him before removing his wet articles and stealing a towel to dry himself off with. He looked to the mirror and he stared the strange reflection in bewilderment until he realized that was his face.

Turning away, he picked up a Spanish-style white dress shirt and black pants, also Spanish-style. Putting his complimentary boxers and slipping the shirt and pants on, Inuyasha thought all he need was an embroidered vest and a red cape and he'd look a matador. (He'd read about those in one of Kikyou's old books of history.)

Inuyasha picked up his wet clothes, not sure what to do with them, and slipped on the blue house slippers Miss Kumiko brought for him. He stepped out of the bathroom, still inspecting his clothes.

Miss Kumiko smiled at him again when he exited. "Well, don't you look dandy," she said laughingly; she reminded him a little of Kagome. "You can set your clothes in the sink, dear, and I'll get them later."

"Uh…ok…. What about my shoes?"

"Oh, just leave them on the floor."

Inuyasha did as he was told and returned. He watched as the nurse attended to the little girl, making soft, soothing noises in the back of throat as she took the girl's temperature. The little girl stayed asleep even while she was given medicine.

Miss Kumiko, noticing Inuyasha's intense stare, murmured, "A strong demon potion. Your little friend should be fine in a few days. Master Sesshoumaru's daughter Yuki had a terrible cold a few weeks ago, and a bit of this helped her get over it in two days."

Nodding his gratitude at the information, and surprised by the fact his brother had a child, Inuyasha exited. He made it down the staircase again where Jaken waited.

"This way…ingrate," he muttered.

"Degenerate," the boy replied quietly.

"What did you say?" Jaken rounded on him.

"Nothin'." He crossed his arms. "Keep frog-marching, toad."

Jaken clamped his mouth shut, making annoyed gurgles in his throat.

Inuyasha was lead into a large room, bright because of all the light colored furniture. His brother sat in a stuffed white chair, while a woman with glossy black hair tied in a bun, dressed in her nightgown, spoke to him, seated on the arm of the chair. The boy watched both of them as he plopped onto the long, half-circle couch four feet or so away across the way.

"Inuyasha, I want you to meet my wife Kagura." He took the woman's hand.

Kagura gave a half-smile. "So you're Sesshoumaru's younger brother." She chuckled when he didn't make any particular answer. She got off the chair, giving her husband a tiny peck on the cheek, before walking towards the yawning entryway; Kagura adjusted a knob on the wall so the light dimmed, and the fireplace from behind her husband became the prime light source. "Well, I'll leave you boys to talk. I'm going to see how Kumiko and that girl are doing.

"Come along, Jaken. Don't get under Sesshoumaru's feet, you groveling, little wretch," she said breezily, waving a hand in farewell. Jaken sighed deeply, toddling after his mistress.

Sesshoumaru waited until the pair were out of sight before he spoke. "Seeing as you're already seated, I'll get straight to the point."

"You were always good at being blunt."

"As are you. In any case, little brother, this house was left to me by our father. There is a second one on the other side of the city, close to the water, that is in your name. At this point in time, it is my summer home.

"This fortune, this splendor, was left to us by Father." Sesshoumaru gestured to the luxury with an elegant wave of his hand. "However, if we cannot find the deed to renew our joint ownership of the Western Lands, it will be up for bids."

"And this guy you were talking about last time?"

"His name is Onigumo Naraku."

Inuyasha felt his blood run colder.

Sesshoumaru spared a lilted smirk at the expression on his younger brother's face. "So you've heard of him?"

Inuyasha nodded tensely. "Yeah…met him a few times…collar on."

The demon lord made a slight bow of his head. "I see. Naraku is trying to get a nice hold on this land. Due to our father's influence, this place has prospered. I am still gathering information to discover his true motives. What I do know is he wants more power politically…and militarily."

Peering curiously at the full-blooded dog-demon, Inuyasha remarked, "He must know something we don't know, 'cause since the end of World War II, Japan hasn't been allowed to have an offensive military, as part of the reconstruction deal. And with the inspectors, they'd know if we weren't fulfilling it." Before Sesshoumaru could rebuke him, for stupidity Inuyasha reckoned, he continued on, "But, Naraku's a demon, so he could easily hide it if he wants to. And that bastard's not one to play by the rules."

"Bravo. I wasn't sure if you had thought that far ahead."

Inuyasha allowed a smirk to cross his face. "Now I got a question for you. How the hell did you find me?"

Sesshoumaru relaxed into the back of the chair. "I have eyes and ears everywhere, little brother. Even so, this was a fluke. I heard that the Sunset shrine brought home a guard dog, a pure white husky called Inuyasha. I sent one of my associates to visit the shrine, and they saw you and that girl that answered the door-"

"Kagome" Inuyasha interrupted. "Her name's Kagome."

"Yes, they saw you and Kagome outside playing with her younger brother and she called you by name." Sesshoumaru folded his hands in the open prayer position over his stomach, elbows resting on the arms of the chair. "My associate could understand your speech, and reported to me his findings. I decided to take a little trip to the downtown Tokyo area and see you myself. That old priest can drabble on, but it was worth it. You're sitting here right now."

"Amazing you came looking for me now when you need something," Inuyasha bit callously, tucking his hands in the billowing white sleeves of the bullfighter shirt.

Raising an eyebrow slightly, "I thought you had died during one of the raids. It wasn't until years later that I tracked you down at Kawasaki, to find you and your girlfriend Kikyou had left the apartment. Or, more accurately, Kikyou and a dog. That woman managed to elude me with her spells, so I put your search on hiatus."

Inuyasha wasn't sure if he should be insulted or be touched.

He blinked once.

Ah, confusion won out again.

All he managed to say was, "Kikyou put a spell in this collar I'm wearing," he tapped the leather band around his neck. "I won't be released until a strong enough miko can remove it. Until then, I'm stuck sleeping on the floor."

Sesshoumaru nodded once to show he understood the predicament. "You see, Inuyasha, the only way to get to the deed is deep within Father's catacombs, beneath his mausoleum. The problem lies in the fact in the clue he left me with: two must be present, four in all, and it shall be revealed to the destined." Sesshoumaru dropped his hand to the side and brought up with it a long katana. The polished sharkskin shone like ebony, and the blade the regal demon drew from it was unblemished and perfectly crafted, reflecting the light from the fireplace in a beautiful way.

"What the…?" The boy's muscles coiled, waiting for a tip off to instruct him to take off.

"This is Tenseiga." Sesshoumaru changed the hold on the blade, making it look like the fire was dancing along Tenseiga's edge. "I have reasoned that the two in the hint is this sword and yours, Inuyasha. The Tetsusaiga."

Inuyasha's heart leapt up to his throat in two seconds flat, hammering against his voice box before suicide-diving into the pit his stomach and finally settling back into its original spot. The…the Tetsusaiga…? How can that be…? If I'm Tetsusaiga's owner…that must mean I'm Kagome's fiancé! He swallowed thickly, feeling very lightheaded all of a sudden, and not connected to his body.

"The four," Sesshoumaru continued on, only eyeing his brother somewhat, "is the two of us and the swords, as they were forged from our father's fangs are related to him also. The last bit, I would assume, would be the deed."

Inuyasha swallowed, his body growing ever more alien. "So…" he spoke in a low tone, "you knew where the Tetsusaiga was…."

"Very perceptive of you, little brother." Sesshoumaru slid the Tenseiga into its scabbard once more and set it to the side. "My sword is that of healing, and yours is of destruction. A guardian's sword. I tracked down the sword smith who forged them, Toutousai, and he explained to me that Tetsusaiga has stipulations to it. The first being that it has to be wielded in protection of humanity. The second that the wielder must be chosen by Tetsusaiga, from our family line, and mixed-blood."

Inuyasha could hear his heart beating in his ears, scarcely able to hear his brother's quiet words over the tattoo. "So…do we know where the mausoleum is?"

Sesshoumaru gave a small nod. "Thanks to your retainer, Myouga, I have found the location. Father's body, along with your mother's was preserved during that raid, most probably by your mother's manipulation of magic."

The boy bobbed his head, remembering how powerful of a sorceress his mother had been. "Where's Myouga?"

"Right here, Lord Inuyasha!" a sudden yell filled the room.

Inuyasha watched in bafflement as a small dot hopped from behind Sesshoumaru's neck and landed on his knee. There sat the little flea-demon, tears flooding his eyes. "Long time no see, old man."

"Lord Inuyasha!" Myouga bawled, leaping up and sucking on the boy's nose.

Squashing the flea, and letting him swish to the ground, the dark-haired teenager looked to his brother. "I take it you're giving him back, right?" he asked dryly.

"Indeed."

"Fuck."

"Lord Inuyasha…!" Myouga cried in a whine, bounding onto his master's knee again.

Sesshoumaru ran his claws through his straight platinum hair, falling in a silky cascade. "Inuyasha, I have heard that someone tried to break into the mini-shrine, presumably to steal Tetsusaiga."

Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah. Some weird bee demons."

"Bee demons?" he echoed back. "Naraku's calling card."

"What?!" the boy exclaimed, leaning forward so quickly that Myouga fell off. "You mean…he knows?"

"He may have found out the agreement between that old priest and Father."

Inuyasha sat back. "The promised engagement…"

"Correct. And if he knows this, then there will be trouble." Sesshoumaru closed his eyes for a moment, asking, "How well are they protecting it."

"Uh…" the boy scratched his head thoughtfully, "they have an ofuda on it, some member of the shrine was going to donate a security system…" He spotted the knowing smirk on his brother's face. "Your doing?"

"Naturally."

"Well…and there's another spell on it."

"Father's warding. It's in source hold."

"…And me."

Sesshoumaru opened his eyes, a commanding gleam in his pale gold orbs. "You must watch that girl Kagome and the sword. Only a human would be immune to those spells, and if they are clever enough, they will be able to dispose of the security system, though I doubt it.

"I developed it."

Sighing again, Inuyasha flopped all the way into the sofa cushions. "Gods…what the hell did I do…?"

"You have to protect the Tetsusaiga, and most assuredly the girl. Your mother wrote the prophesy in one of the books in the library, yet Jaken is too incompetent to find it." Sesshoumaru rose, and Inuyasha followed. A pair of black boots, socks, and a heavy red coat sat on a table along the wall. Inuyasha picked them up when his brother gestured at them. "Come back here again in a month when you are human. I will keep the girl here. I think Yuki might like to have someone else to play with when she's well; she's only seven after all."

"Fine. As long as she gets better. I'm not sure if she can talk though." Inuyasha tugged the socks and boots on-how his brother knew his size, was a wonder--and then the coat.

"Whatever Kumiko gave her will heal that." Sesshoumaru put his hand on the doorknob, pausing to say to his little brother, "If you get that collar off, wait until you are human to come."

"Got it. Later."

With a final bob of his head, Sesshoumaru ushered his brother out and shut the door.

Zipping up his coat and pulling up the hood, Inuyasha began to walk down the cobblestone path of confusion.

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A/N: Wow! Three for three! Well, this is what I'm able to get out. I'm going to prom next weekend, and I will have to finish that research paper, so everyone, I hope these three chapters will tide you over for now. Thanks so much! I feel so loved and I appreciate Quatic pointing out my mistake on Japanese currency (though she was off, too ^^). Dedicated to my mommy again! I love reviews everyone!

Jane,

~Moonlight Shadow