InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Playing Dead ❯ Plan in action ( Chapter 1 )

Playing Dead

Summary: This isn't a story of a bad boy learning to be good. Or a good girl going bad. This is the story of two people, from two different worlds, finding out that there is no such thing as black and white.

Rating: T for most chapters. M/NC-17 for later chapters and for language and violent scenes.

Disclaimer: Any and all characters used from the Inuyasha series and franchise does not belong to me. Any references to others work, are not property of mine either.

Warning: OOC/ AU

Authors note: Some parts of the story will be written in first person, while others will be written in third. POV changes will be marked by an O's. Shifts from present to past will be signified by -. And scene changes will by noted with X's. Thank you.

A/N Reread the Prologue if you haven't already. It's changed drastically and I don't want you to be lost.

Chapter One

As a general rule, Kagome did not swear. It was simply not in her nature to allow deviant words to escape her petal pink lips. It wasn't that she didn't get angry; the few that had bared witness to her rage could readily attest to that, it was just simply a habit she was adamant not to form. Yet, as the raven-haired woman flung herself through her front door, she found that, at the moment, she just couldn't bring herself to give a shit. "Fuck!" Her door crashed against the wall, the sound lost amongst Kagome's screams. The familiar walls seemed to bleed against one another, making her feel sick. She felt for the banister, her fingers digging into the wood as she held herself there for dear life. She took a moment to breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly as she forced herself to calm down.

Her cat meowed, his paw gently touching her leg, she ignored him. Pushing herself away from the stairs she walked into the kitchen, her eyes landing on the table. The answering machine read two unread messages; she couldn't comprehend what to do, so just sat stared blankly at the phone. Alone in her kitchen she just breathed once again. Slowly oxygen made its way into her lungs, pushing out stale air, allowing her to absorb everything. Tears welled in her eyes, brimming each silvery orb with a barely contained sea. Buyo rubbed against her legs, stealing her from her own world. "Hungry?" Her voice was monotone, as if she was merely on autopilot. Her cat purred, his porky, little body squishing against her with love. She walked over to the light switch, her fingers numbly searching. The room illuminated, she blinked back her tears. She moved through her kitchen mechanically, scarcely aware of what she was actually doing.

The wind rustled her long locks as she knelt to give Buyo his food. Looking slowly she took note of the open door, the purse half scattered, the shoes abandoned without thought. The medical voice in the back of her mind rationalized that she was most likely in shock. But knowing this didn't help her. As if walking through water Kagome closed her door, locking it. She checked each lock several times, a foreign feeling of OCD taking hold of her. She had to be sure, had to know that for the moment, the door was locked and she was safe. Her vision blurred as her fingers numbly worked over the metal. Slowly she sank to the floor, her body quaking against the heavy wood door. Curled tightly in a ball, Kagome allowed the film of her memory to replay over and over in her head. None of this made sense. This was not reality. But even as she began that mantra she doomed it. She knew. Couldn't escape it, couldn't change it, and didn't think she would ever truly understand. "Tenchi." That name was engraved in her mind, plastered amongst her thoughts with the constant sound of a firing gun.

Taking a deep breath she looked up wildly, her glazed eyes searching frantically, wildly. Upon landing on the shining, half-full, 26oz bottle of whiskey, she stood. Gliding over to the counter her hands wrapped around the neck of the bottle greedily. Her other hand made quick work of the lid, tossing it to the side as she heaved the bottle to her lips. She paused, her tongue running along her bottle lip. She was so thirsty. Her body shook, her eyes closing as she allowed herself to imagine the bottle's contents being poured down her throat, the amber liquid...

The bottle fell. Glass shattered and mixed with its golden contents at her feet. She looked down, looking at her reflection. She could see him staring up at her, through the liquor that was coloured the same as his eyes. She shuddered, tearing her eyes away. Those eyes, those terrible, beautiful orbs. They mocked her, stole her breath, captivated her. Her stomach rolled again. Taking a long look at her liquor cabinet, she contemplated going over and drowning herself in a new bottle. She pushed away from the counter, ignoring the shards of glass that cut at her feet. She needed to think, to sort out everything. As badly as she wanted to finish a bottle, to fall into the protected world of self-made delirium, she knew that for now she would have to abstain.

A man was dead. That much she knew. So she started there, thought back to the moment that the gun had gone off, the moment when the man fell to the ground in an unnatural position.

As she fell back into reality she found that two sets of eyes now looked up at her. One pair with the surprise of first spotting the unexpected. The other now just seemed annoyed, angry almost. It was then that she realized that the scream wasn't coming from the dead man. It was coming from her.

The taller silver-haired man appeared at the shorted one's side, his hand coming up to rest on his shoulder. He inclined his head and the other two advanced on her. Her coat fell to the ground. Her body went into flight mode. She turned and ran to her car. She fumbled in her pockets for her keys before realizing she had left them in the ignition. Thanking the gods she started her car and pulled away. She pushed the car to its limit, glancing at her review mirror ever few seconds, praying that hadn't followed her. Each time she looked she saw nothing.

A sickening lump began to form in the pit of her stomach, rising up her throat, threatening to spill from her lips. She focused on the door. Scattered along the floor were her keys, her shoes, and her purse. My jacket… The table and its chairs were bare, it wasn't with her. Running to the door she quickly unlocked it, flinging it open and running through. Pressing her face to the glass of the drivers' window she searched. Nothing. No jacket. "Damn it! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Banging her head against the glass she inverted her cursing, opting to silently curse the Kami's. She flipped so her back was leaning against the cool metal of her vehicle. A man was dead. She had seen it. Countless Mafia films led her to rightfully assume it was gang related. What other possible reasoning could there be for taking someone out to the middle no where, get into an argument with him or her, and then kill said person? No she was sure that what she had witnessed was some kind of hit.

Kagome looked around her as she walked back into her house, unease creeping up her spine. She made sure the door was once again locked, this time with a little less gusto, before returning to the kitchen. Buyo had finished eating, his pudgy body now gracing the tabletop before her. He looked up at her as he always had, with adoring eyes that begged for her to pet him. Gingerly she stretched out her hand, stroking the soft fur between his ears. "If I die, will you miss me?" He pushed his head into the palm of her hand, a soft rumble emanating from his chest. "Well good, at least someone will."

Pulling out the chair she sank into the plush fabric, seemingly noticing for the first time all that was around her. Everything was new, state of the art, perfect. Gleaming silver surfaces, oak cabinetry and marble countertops stared back at her, not a thing out of place. She glanced down at the floor, grimacing, having forgotten the bottle of Jack Daniel's that lay broken there. Well, almost nothing was out of place. From where she sat she could see through the large window and everything that lay beyond it. Distant friends of her grandfather meticulously cared for that the courtyard, the old tree that stood gloriously in the center, and the old well house that lay just beyond it. Her heart felt unnaturally heavy. It had been so long since she had actually looked at her home. It was beautiful, a mesh of things new, or her, and of the ancient, or her grandfather. Briefly her thoughts went to the phone. Surely she should call the police, tell them everything, and get protection. But how? How could she begin? What good could they do anyway? They had been no help with her father, and had given her even less help with her vandalism problems, so why would they be any better now? No, until she had everything sorted, had some kind of plan, it would be better just to keep her mouth shut.

Sighing she continued to idly pet her cat, her fingers playing with his pointed ears. "Okay, so they saw me. They have my jacket, which means they have my security tag, which means I'm fucked." A groan fell from her lips as she slammed her head down against the tabletop. Buyo meowed in protest, his tail flicking back in forth in ire. Rays of light filtered in through the kitchen blinds, shining off the polished surfaces in her kitchen. She looked over to the clock on her microwave. 7:38 where had the time gone? Groaning she let her head loll to the table. Buyo pawed her face gently before falling onto his side. "Do you think it's fair that a dead person should still have to go to work?" He just stared at her blankly. "Well I don't. But sometimes we have to do unfair things."

Ignoring the mess on the floor, she forced herself up the stairs, peeling off her clothes as she made her way to the bathroom. She took a quick shower; pushing aside the previous night with a smile she had been practicing all her life. Minutes later she was wiping away the steam from the mirror, gauging her appearance. Darkened bags sat under red eyes. Pale, blotching skin gleamed with droplets of water. A deep sigh fell past her round lips. Toweling dry her hair, she placed in up in a messy bun before dressing. Her mind kept wandering to horrible scenarios, to what ifs and possibilities as to how the day would pan out. She left her house, taking care to lock it up and give it a good look before getting in her car. She stared out at her home for a few minutes before putting the car in reverse and beginning her journey to work. She forced the darkness that had taken hold of her to remain in the furthest reaches of her mind, determined that this too, and would pass.

XoXoXoX

The hanyou was fuming, his muscled body tense as he paced back and forth in the room. "Fuck!" His hands balled into fists, his claws digging into the pads of his hands, drawing blood. He wanted to kill something, someone, anything. He wanted to feel bones break beneath his capable hands, to bathe his fingers in the warm life fluid of another. His mind reeled as thoughts of the stupid woman plagued his mind, wrapping around his thoughts and choking the very sanity from him. He wanted to chase her, to sniff her out, to catch her and fuck her until...

"Inuyasha, you need to calm down. What's done is done. Getting angry is not going to change that." His friend's voice shook him from his dangerous path, making the beast in him quiet as he looked at the raven-haired man before him. Miroku had his violet eyes squeezed shut, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, a thing he did when he was stressed.

Clearing his throat, Inuyasha scowled. "Yah, well, sitting here doing nothing isn't going to fix this either!" His deep voice reverberated off the walls, adding to the volume. "I could have had her Roku! She was right there. Right FUCKING THERE!" His fist connected with the wall, creating a rather large hole. "He just called me back, tugged on my god damn leash like I am some insolent pup! Fucking bastard!"

Miroku chose his words carefully, his breathing short and restrained. "I understand where your anger comes from Inuyasha, I truly do. However," He stole a quick glance at his silver-haired friend, swallowing hard before continuing on. "I can also see where your brothers logic lies. With what information we had at the time, it made sense for him to want to focus his attentions on the mouse. He couldn't have possibly known that this girl would be a big of a liability as she is."

"He should have trusted my judgment and let me grab the stupid bitch." Inuyasha plopped down across from his friend, his face void of any emotion.

Smirking Miroku let a chuckle escape him, "Oh come now Inuyasha. She is a doctor; I don't think that warrants you the right to call her a stupid bitch." His chuckle ceased when Inuyasha shot him a heavy glare. Clearing his throat, Miroku sat back in his chair. "Well what do you want to do then?"

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders, looking around the room with feigned interest. It was barren but elegant, each piece of furniture serving a purpose but managing to act as art. The table he sat at now was accompanied by ten chairs eight of which sat empty. "I guess we'll wait to hear what Sesshomaru has to say."

As if on cue, the elder Taisho brother came through the double doors, followed closely by two of the family's retainers; Jaken and Myouga. Myouga was an elderly looking man, with an almost baldhead. A ring of fluffy white hair wrapped around his cranium, causing him to look like a crazy scientist. He was short and round, with completely black eyes and pointed ears. His nose was always twitching, scavenging at people's scents. Jaken on the other hand was short but slim. His slatted pupils were surrounded by yellow irises. He was completely bald and if you caught him in the right light his skin had a distinctive green tinge to it. *

All three men sat down carefully; Sesshomaru sat gracefully at the head of the table, his suit clean and pressed to move with him without sound. Jaken sat to his right, his already short frame dwarfed by the large table and chair. Myouga moved to Jaken's right, his seat almost parallel to that of Miroku's. "Where are the others?"

"Totosai is in Kyoto at the moment, Shippou and the women were not asked to come." Sesshomaru replied evenly, his eyes challenging Inuyasha to argue.

Without hesitation Inuyasha took the bait. "Why not?"

Clearing his throat, Sesshomaru smiled. "Because this is not a matter that the women would agree to, and we don't have time to debate our course of action. As for Shippou, he is still just a kid. By birthright he may hold that seat now that his father has passed on, but until I think he has proven that he is a man worthy of such a position, he will not be privy to the information in this room." Inuyasha wanted to point out that the kit was seventeen, and had accompanied them on many "adult" business trips, but chose to keep his mouth shut. While he was talking, Sesshomaru had taken out several manila folders from his brief case. He passed each of them one, sliding them across the mahogany with ease. "Now then, shall we move on to pressing matters?"

Jackass. Under the table Inuyasha let his balled hands release, leaving behind small crescents in his flesh. He tore open the folder, his eyes scanning over its contents momentarily. Kagome Higurashi, blah blah, Ph.D., blah, daughter of, whoa, wait a second. Glancing up at his brother, Inuyasha found his gaze returned with a near identical set of eyes. "When Shippou said the name Toishii I didn't think it had anything to do with THIS Toishii. I didn't know he had children." Dropping the file back onto the table he yawned. "Small world."

Raising one eyebrow, Sesshomaru snarled slightly. "Indeed."

The tension in the room was thick, and in an effort to thin the air Miroku coughed loudly. "Well, what do you want us to do with her?"

"Well at first I figured we could just kill her." A small voice in Inuyasha growled at the motion put forth by his elder sibling. "But due to certain, histories, it seems this matter will have to be handled a tad more delicately." Shifting so his posture was faced at Jaken, Sesshomaru whispered something in the man's ear. In an instant the small man was up out of his chair and running out of the room. "So, I figured we'll just have to take her before Naraku does."

Inuyasha snorted, his signature smirk appearing on his face. "Well then, thank goodness you came up with that one. For a minute there I thought we were screwed!" Jumping from his seat he made his way to the door. "Come get me when you have something useful to tell me."

"Inuyasha."

He turned carefully towards his brother, his ear twitching in agitation. "Yes?"

"I want you to be the one to retrieve her." His brother's smile made him instinctively clench his fist.

"Hell no."

"This isn't up for debate little brother."

"Keh! Like hell it isn't. Just because you sit in that chair does not mean that you are entitled to…" He was cut off as he brother sped across the room, his hand coming up to grip his younger brother's throat.

Sesshomaru moved so his lips were inches from his brother's ear. He spoke softly; knowing full well that only Inuyasha could hear him. "Until the day that you choose to own up to your responsibilities and sit where you were meant to sit I am entitled to say and do anything I please. If you care to refute that than by all means sit in Father's chair, take the half that was left to you." Sesshomaru smirked as his brother averted his eyes, his body going limp in submission. "Now, go get the girl. You have her address and you know where she works. From what her file says she will be in either place."

Miroku interrupted them, his brow furrowed. "Won't she have called the police?"

Sesshomaru released Inuyasha, shaking his head as he looked at the monk. "No. She has a long list of unanswered complaints to the Tokyo City police. Someone with connections in the PD have black listed her. I doubt she would even bother."

Inuyasha wordlessly left the room, his cheeks burning with humiliation. He hated when Sesshomaru put him on the spot like that. Yet, he couldn't blame his brother. After all he was just trying to make him into a man, to finish the job his father never got the opportunity to do. Walking into the oversized garage Inuyasha stared at the array of cars that lay before him. Settling on his brother's prized car, his new 2011 Corvette C7, Inuyasha found himself smirking once more. So his brother was a dick for his benefit, fine. That didn't mean he couldn't push his elder brother back. He told himself that over and over as he drove off in his brother's baby.

XoXoXoX

Some how, and she was still unable to discern how, Kagome had managed to obtain a rare, albeit needed break. The clinic was staffed and running smoothly, she had no operations lined up as of yet, and the hospital had not received an urgent call in almost an hour. As she walked through the brightly-lit hall, the daily noise she had grown accustom to, began to nag at her. The quick talking voices of the nurses, the inquisitive tones of patients, the tired noises of staff from various departments all weighed on her. For a moment she leaned against the wall, her head tilting back against the painted wood. With each breath in she attempted to push the sound out. While doing this, he caught her off guard.

"Kagome?"

Her eyes snapped open, quickly focusing on the familiar face in front of her. "Oh." Relaxing slightly she let out a held breath. "Hojo-kun, uh, what can I do for you?"

He looked bashful, his dark brown hair perfectly disheveled, bits of it falling softly in front of his beautiful brown eyes. "Um well, yesterday I had asked you a question and you never got around to answering me." At her confused visage he quickly added in, "Dinner. I wanted to know if you would like to go for dinner with me, maybe tonight?"

She smiled softly, her heart fluttering a tad. He was very cute, and incredibly sweet, but right now she did not want to have to deal with this. "Perhaps some other time Hojo, tonight is really not good for me." Or ever really, I doubt I'll even see tomorrow.

He looked crestfallen, but for the moment, she didn't have any more room to care. "Another time than."

"I'm sorry Hojo."

"No no, it's ok." He smiled at her before he briskly walked away.

Sighing Kagome pushed herself away from the wall, her footfalls quiet and swift as she walked numbly to her office. She closed her door, unaware of the person sitting in her chair. She placed her forehead against her wood of the door, mentally berating herself for continually screwing up her life. "Higurashi?"

The voice caught her off guard. A small scream escaped her lips as she turned to face the man who had invaded her sanctum. "What are you doing in my office?" She all but yelled.

The man snickered, his face pensive. "Well my dear, it seems you have something that I need."

Her heart beat increased, but she kept her face stoic. "I find that unlikely since I don't even know who you are." Walking to her desk with confidence she moved to pick up her phone. "Now unless you have some kind of ID that warrants you being here, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, with or without security."

He moved faster than she expected. The phone was torn from her grip and thrown to the ground carelessly. "I really would advise against doing that."

She swallowed, her composure barely faulting. "Get the hell out of my office!"

The slap came as a painful surprise. Grimacing as her face was flung to the side she glared at the man before her. "Do not raise your voice at me you little bitch." The man sat back down in her chair, his alabaster skin a stark contrast to her black chair. "You are right that you do not know me. But you do have something I need. I happen to know you were privy to a little event last night. Am I correct Kagome?" The way her name fell from his lips made her shudder. He accentuated every syllable, his eyes raking over her form.

Swallowing hard she found herself back from him, mentally counting the steps to the door. "I..." The door handle poked into her back, giving her a little more courage. "I don't have any idea what you are talking about." He was in front of her before she could blink, his pale fingers wrapped around her throat. Pressing her against the doorframe, his other hand came up to cup her face. He pet her softly, his crimson eyes flashing dangerously.

"I don't like when people fuck with me." He pressed himself fully against her, shuddering at the look of revulsion that took over her features. "I am going to ask you once more pet, were you or were you not a witness to a murder last night?" The way he spoke of it, his voice to brash and casual made her stomach flip. She shook her head, her hands pushing weakly at him. He threw her to the ground, smiling wickedly as he head made contact with the floor. Walking over to her, he stood with one leg on either side of her hips. He knelt, straddling her, his body weight resting on her diaphragm, restricting her breathing. His face was suddenly centimeters from hers. He gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, bruising the porcelain skin almost instantly. "Poor pet. I was hoping you would be an obedient bitch but it seems I will have to train you after all." His fist connected with her face once again. His hands began to roam her form, delighting in her small sounds of protest.

The door creaked open and abruptly the weight was gone. She was so tired, and the combination of her weariness and the recent physical abuse was slowly stealing her from consciousness. She saw silver hair, and she knew she should probably be afraid. But just then, she didn't have the strength to care. The other man left, she didn't know how, but one moment he was there and the next he had disappeared.

Strong arms lifted her, cradling her body to another's. "You."

He frowned her at her, his annoyance clear on his face. "Me." His agitation was furthered when her head lolled backwards, her eyes fully closed. "Damn it." Shuffling so he was holding her with one hand, his other grabbed his cell phone. After just one ring his brother's voice asked a very clear, "Yes?"

"I have her. Naraku was here. Or at least a part of him was. Stupid girl passed out. I'll be home in twenty." Silence answered him. "Well you're welcome!" He hung up, his teeth grinding. "Stupid son of a bitch." Looking at the girl's face a small part of him snapped at the sight of the new bruises already set on her face. "You're just going to be a delight, I can tell."

Authors Note: Well Chapter One is FINALLY done! Please Review!

* In this story Myouga and Jaken take on more humanoid forms, though they still retain some their original physical characteristics