InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Secrets of the Dark ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Secrets of the Dark

 

Chapter Three

 

Kikyou would never tell her sister about her latent spiritual powers.

 

She thoroughly enjoyed the company she kept in the youkai circuit; the taijiya, the youkai, and even the few hanyou that she knew were all good company - though she was less than certain about some people's intentions when she was with them, she knew that all she had to do would be to zap them, and they would leave her be. Telling Kagome would be like hauling her into Kikyou's world, and she didn't want that overbearing bitch anywhere near her new `scene'. It was bad enough that she had to put up with the uptight, spoilt brat at home, where she `had' to do what she told her to do.

 

Not that she ever listened.

 

Before their parents' death, the two young women got along famously; Kagome would take Kikyou and Souta out all the time, spoiling them with treats and clothes and anything - within reason - that they wanted. Kikyou longed for the good old days, but knew that, so long as Kagome was supporting their household, there would never be a surprise gift, unless it was for a birthday or Christmas. Kikyou hated that. She had loved being spoilt by `Kagome-nee-chan', as she used to call her, and was unwilling for the change. Kagome had drastically switched from a carefree, loving older sister, into an overbearing, snippy parent practically overnight. In truth, Kikyou resented that her sister had adjusted so well, picking up the reins as if she had always been in charge. As if their parents had never even existed. She had adjusted so easily, while Kikyou was still trying to deal with the pain. That was why she hated her.

 

As she called her friends over, Kikyou smirked to herself that, if Kagome ever found out where she was and who she was with, she'd have a heart attack. Kikyou knew that one of her best friends was Kagome's boss; she took pleasure in the fact that every time Kagome bitched about him making her work life hell, she could run to him that very night and relay all the details. It was exhilarating to get her `Onee-chan' into trouble with her boss. Inuyasha always took it all in good humour, and promised Kikyou more stories the following night. And he always delivered.

 

She'd discovered that the two worked together quite by accident. Kagome had been bitching to her one evening, about six weeks ago, about her new boss. She'd been working under him for only two weeks, but she could already not stand him. It was with an air of great amusement that Kikyou relayed the conversation to her circle of friends, grinning to herself at the echoing laughter that floated throughout the bar they were in that night. Sango had commented that she almost pitied the poor girl for having to deal with what sounded like a real dragon. It was at that moment that Inuyasha had pieced two and two together, and had playfully pointed out to Sango that he was inuhanyou, not a dragon. The silence that had reigned after that comment was thick, until Inuyasha had broken the ice, saying that it was a small world after all, and asked Kikyou if Kagome was aware of the youkai community.

 

Since that night, Kikyou had been keeping Inuyasha updated on Kagome's thoughts of her work life, often giving him pointers on just how to push her buttons, knowing how well he loved to irritate her elder sister. As her friends sat down, she quietly mused that perhaps Inuyasha was even more pissed at Kagome than usual for being so late that morning. She knew that he'd have questions for her tonight, and she figured that they may as well get it over and done with; especially if Kagome had told him the reason that she'd been late was because of Kikyou's little incident the night before. He'd left early the previous evening, saying something about an early meeting. Kouga had then snapped that he'd better be on time for their meeting. The rest had left a little later, leaving Kikyou alone to catch a cab home. Kikyou sighed as Inuyasha turned to her, questions in his eyes.

 

“What. The. Hell?” He demanded, sweeping his eyes over her form. As much as Kikyou wished otherwise, he was not sexually `sizing her up', merely appraising her injuries. She'd wanted him for a long while, and had told him so about a month ago. She still got depressed thinking about it. He'd let her down as gently as he could, saying that he thought of her as a good friend, but not as a mate, and that, really, she was still just a child. Well, the word he had used was `pup', but the meaning was the same. He saw her as a child… and that thought depressed her. Why couldn't he see her as a woman, like every other damn youkai in the joint?!

 

“I got a bit hammered and picked a fight with Kagura.” She shrugged, ignoring the slight pain she felt shoot through her shoulder as she did so. “Kaguya jumped in and things kinda just… went crazy.”

 

Inuyasha snorted, knowing the two women that she spoke of. “Yeah, and you'd better stop picking fights with Kagura. My brother will eat you alive if he ever found out.” He paused for a moment. “Not that I'm averse to putting the stupid wench in her place, but you need to be more careful about it. Don't go doing anything that'll piss Fluffy off.” He warned. Kikyou rolled her eyes. Dropping the conversation, Inuyasha got up to order their usual drinks, leaving the rest of them to gossip.

 

“What'd your sister say last night?” Sango asked, distaste clear in her voice. She'd heard so many stories of Higurashi Kagome that she felt a deep dislike of the young woman. Miroku had suggested to her that, perhaps, it was a sisterly attitude that coloured Kikyou's descriptions of Kagome, but Sango was having none of it. However, unlike Inuyasha and Miroku, Ayame, Sango, and Kouga had never actually met Kagome, or heard Kikyou speak of Kagome prior to their parent's death. Anyone who had heard both accounts of Kagome would not doubt the hero-worship that Kikyou had once held for her sister. The Houshi wept that such a good friendship between sisters had come to an abrupt end at the one time when they would have needed to pull together the most.

 

Kikyou shrugged. “I was pretty upset when I got home. She was trying to get me to call the cops, but I stopped her.” Everyone nodded their approval of the choice. They all knew that the human police force could do nothing about the moon and wind youkai. It was for the best that Kikyou had talked her sister out of it. It would have only been a waste of time anyway. “I swear, she's such an idiot.” She spat. “She sat outside my room all damn night! So much for privacy!” Sango made a noise of outrage.

 

The conversation was abruptly changed when Inuyasha returned with their drinks. Sipping at her cola, Kikyou smirked that Kagome probably would have liked Sango, were it not for the fact that Kikyou has completely poisoned her against her. Kikyou took great delight in making her sister look bad, and Inuyasha did nothing to disillusion them and reveal Kagome's true character. Not once did he fall for any of Kikyou's insistences that Kagome was a bad person. Nope. Not once.

 

OoOoOoOoOoO

 

Watching a brawl between two oni some ten minutes later, Inuyasha was smirking his ass off. He'd already had mild words with the barman, a grizzly bear youkai, cracking his knuckles to intimidate the bear into giving him a third and fourth drink. The youkai had nearly wet himself when Inuyasha had stated who he was and what he could do. After that, Kouga had been getting the drinks.

 

He felt Kikyou watching him again, knowing what she wanted. He sighed for the umpteenth time. It wasn't that he didn't like her; he happened to think highly of the girl. But, that was just it. She was a girl. He was nearly two centuries old, for Kami's sake! She was a whopping sixteen! In the human world, she wasn't even of age to drink, let alone mate - ignoring the fact that, a century ago, he would have been wed with at least one child and possibly pupped for the second time. She was still just a pup. She didn't really understand youkai society, being caught up in the glitz and glamour of their dangerous world. He understood all too well what it was like for humans, even spiritual ones. Say the wrong thing and piss someone off, and you could say `bye bye' to your family. It only took one word to set some people off.

 

Like that Onigumo Naraku guy that had his eye on Kikyou. Inuyasha growled at the thought of the disgusting hanyou. Even though Inuyasha made an effort to be reasonably friendly with other hanyou that he met, he made an exception when it came to that greasy… thing. He openly detested the human race as a whole, denouncing his own human heritage. He claimed that humans were weak and stupid, easily misled by a simple glamour and able to be manipulated into killing each other or themselves so easily.

 

In his opinion, such a weak race needed to be exterminated. At least, he'd said, those without any kind of spiritual power. Those humans, he said, needed to be bred into youkai clans. It would, he said, only serve to strengthen youkai blood. It was with those thoughts in his mind that he pursued the miko Higurashi Kikyou. He'd called her the strongest miko that he'd ever sensed, and was bound and determined to have her for his own. Inuyasha had snickered quietly to himself, thinking that he had obviously never been in the same vicinity as his secretary. Though her abilities were buried deeply, Inuyasha was fairly certain that she would easily be the most powerful miko of her generation; and he had met a lot of them.

 

It was with mild amusement that he noted that Kagome, somehow, had managed to follow her sister here, and was now looking around the club quite horror-stricken. If he'd ever doubted it before, now he definitely knew nothing of the youkai world. From the other side of the club, he watched as she tried to pick her way through the rowdy crowd, her eyes darting around feverishly. She looked like she would rather be anywhere but where she currently was. Watching a snake youkai sneak up on her, Inuyasha decided that he'd better intervene, before she was killed… or killed something.

 

Picking his way through the crowd easily enough - it only took a good set of elbows to barge everyone out of the way - he winced at what he saw happening on the other side of the room, and picked up the pace, before things got nasty. He had no desire to see his secretary murdered or one of his best friends put into that nasty human foster care.

 

OoOoOoOoOoO

 

Kagome had had enough.

 

She'd taken Souta to Jii-chan's that evening, and was just returning home when a cab pulled up outside her house. She watched Kikyou jump in, and the car take off. Furious with her sister for disobeying her, again, and sneaking out, again, she followed the car through the city. Her heart almost stopped pounding when she realised that she was following them into one of the worst areas for crime and violence. What on earth was her sister doing here?!

 

Pulling up outside the same building, she watched her sister climb out, pay the cabbie, and skip up the steps. Just as Kagome was about to open the door, a car pulled up ahead of her. She watched, curiously, as a group of four climbed out. What kind of freaks was her baby sister hanging out with?! If the guy with the silver hair was any indication, there could be any amount of wackos in there! In fact, she noted, there were several cars pulling up, all being vacated by weird-looking people. Something about these people gave her the heebie-jeebies. She didn't know what it was - it was the same feeling she used to get around her current and previous boss.

 

Sitting in the car for about twenty minutes, trying to gain her bearings, Kagome took several deep breaths and counted to ten multiple times. Finally, deciding that nothing she was doing was helping to calm her strangely jangled nerves, she stepped outside the car, brushing her hair from her face. Ignoring the fluttering butterflies in her stomach, she strode purposefully toward the steps. Ignoring everything screaming at her to stay away from this place, she pushed open the door… only to be met with one of the worst scenes she had ever come across in her life.

 

People were fighting, drinking, and gambling over cigars. The fights were barbaric; blood was all over the floor, people surrounding them, howling their favourites, wolf whistling, clapping, and stamping their support. The fights themselves didn't seem to be conventional; opponents were swiping at each other with fingers extended, rather than punches. As if to further torment her rattled mind, these people seemed to be literally jumping off the walls. Shaking her head, she cast her timid eyes around the room, looking for her sister. She failed to notice the weirdo behind her until he had his hands on her.

 

“My, my… aren't you just the yummiest little human I've ever seen…?” He literally hissed in her ear. Freezing up, she registered the feel of hands sliding up from he waist to cup her breasts. “Mmm… yummy…” he hissed again. Kagome panicked at the feel of a tongue sliding down her neck and onto her shoulder. Ok, shit, the tank top was definitely not the best idea. Shrieking in outrage, she ripped herself out of his grip and slapped him.

 

She froze as she registered what she was seeing. The… thing she had just slapped was green. With scales. Stepping backward, she almost stumbled and fell as he reached for her again, pulling her flush against him and running his tongue along and down her cheek. “That wasn't very nice…” he hissed. Kagome panicked, once again, at the feel of fangs on her neck.

 

“Let me go!” She cried, twisting in his grip, trying to get him to loosen his iron hold on her waist and wrists. His grip held fast, the flickering of his tongue still dancing on her neck. She'd just started to sob, thinking that no one in this freak house was actually going to help her, moments before the man was ripped off her person and held in the air by his neck.

 

“Leave the girl alone.” A low voice growled. Kagome choked back another sob, thinking that the growl, though strangely familiar, reminded her of a real dog. She sunk to her knees, unaware of the attention that the small group of three had gathered, and buried her head in her hands. She'd never felt to embarrassed before in her life. She barely noticed the ruckus, or the unconscious body dropped beside her, until what sounded suspiciously like her boss' voice floated into her ear, warm and concerned. “You all right, Higurashi?”

 

Slowly nodding and opening her eyes, the first thought was that there was no way this man was her boss. The first thing she focused on were intense, golden eyes. Her boss had dark eyes, almost violet. And, she realised, her boss had black hair, not silver. And her boss definitely had human ears, not puppy ears. Even though their faces looked almost too similar, the exception being the fangs that this man had, she decided that they were perhaps related somehow. So far off in her musings was she, that she didn't even register that he was speaking to her. Shaking her head, she focused on his words, just in time to catch the end of his sentence, “…give you an explanation.”, as he used her arm to haul her to her feet. Stumbling after him, she let him drag her toward the back of the room. She watched his hand distrustfully, eyeing his sharp-looking nails. Almost like… claws.

 

Angry was an understatement when she finally registered who he had taken her to. Kikyou stared up at Kagome. Kagome stared right back. The guy with the long hair in a ponytail and the other two women were simply staring back and forth, trying to determine what was going on. It wasn't until Inuyasha's quiet order of “Sit down, Kagome,” that everyone snapped into realisation.

 

Kagome ripped her arm out of her silver-haired saviour's grip, ignoring Miroku - who she was more than a little surprised at seeing in a lace like this - and the other three, and strode the three paces toward Kikyou. In her rage and fear, her hand reared back, before coming down to slap her sister across the face with more force than she'd ever applied before. She was so angry that her sister was in a place like this and, fuelled by what had just happened to herself, she was feeling positively livid. “I thought I told you not to leave the house! What the hell are you doing here?!” She demanded.

 

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Kikyou spat right back. “How the hell did you even find this place?”

 

“I followed you, that's how!”

 

“Why the fuck did you do that?!”

 

Slap!

 

“Don't you dare speak to me like that, young lady!” Kagome seethed. “Get outside and get into the car. Kami help me, Kikyou, I never like to hit you unless its absolutely necessary, but I'll be damned if I let you hang around in a freak show like this!”

 

Kikyou rocketed to her feet. “You can't stop me and you know it!”

 

“I will lock you up in the storage shed if I have to!” Kagome pretty much screamed right back.

 

“Hey!” Kagome shot a glare at the woman who had interrupted their argument. Dark brown eyes scowled back at her. “Excuse me, but I don't think its any of your business who Kikyou hangs out with.” The strange woman challenged.

 

“Look, I don't know who the hell you think you are, lady,” Kagome growled, “but Kikyou is my sister, and therefore it is my business where she is and who she's with.” She grabbed the younger girl's elbow in a tight grip. “Move it, Kikyou. Into the car. Now!”

 

The other man reached up to grab the arm that was attached to the hand that Kagome had gripped to Kikyou, thinking to stop her. Shooting him a glare, Kagome reached over with her other hand and ripped his arm away from her. Dragging a fighting Kikyou toward the door, Kagome failed to notice the hiss of pain that the man gave, or the angry red burn on his arm where she had gripped him.