InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Settling the Score ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or its other characters… they belong to Takahashi

 

Reference:

“Talking”

“Screaming”

`Thinking'

 

Settling the Score

 

Chapter five

 

Inuyasha stood by the stairs, staring up at the entrance of the last place he thought he would come back to. The shrine entrance stood out newer than his memories remembered. The stairwell no longer looked cracked and used by time. Instead they were well made. Obviously, the owner had to have the whole place rebuilt after the incident.

 

He had followed his nose after the girl he almost ran over. His pride was hurt from her quick dismissal of his presence. He didn't know what to tell her, but he knew she couldn't just almost get herself killed and the next minute act as if nothing had happened. Besides, everyone knew who he was. They all looked at him with shame and disgust. All except for that girl and thus his curiosity was picked. She looked like she was… mesmerized by something.

 

He didn't expect her to come here of all places. He thought for sure she'd come running down the stairs after a quick prayer and probably break her neck as she falls the rest of the way. Inuyasha had waited as patiently as he could for the last hour, but his patience was running thin.

 

`Where the hell is she?' He knew the shrine didn't have anything big or special to keep people captivated for over an hour. `What the hell could she be doing??' Growling in annoyance, he made up his mind. He was going after her. He just hoped the barrier around the shrine would let him through.

 

Inuyasha hadn't even taken one step up when the voice of a woman interrupted his musing.

 

“Oh my! Look what the cat brought in.” A woman with black hair held in a bun and cold brown eyes gazed down at him from the shrine entrance.

 

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as he recognized her immediately. “Kikyo.” `What is she doing here?'

 

Kikyo made her disapproval shown as she walked down the stairs. “That's Miss Yokuhana to you.” Reaching ground level, she fully inspected the boy, or should she say young man. “You've certainly grown since I last saw you.” The boy was now well built and much, much taller than she was. He looked more self confident and his eyes held such strong emotions. The calm teen she knew no longer existed. He's been replace by a man that has lived through a hard long life. Can jail time truly do that to one? Kikyo actually felt a little bit of pity for him.

 

It must have shown on her face, for Inuyasha growled threateningly low and bared his fangs at her. “Don't look at me like that. What do you want?”

 

Blinking away her emotions, Kikyo took a more serious face. “I should be asking you the same question.” Looking at the shrine entrance she continued. “I thought this was the last place you would come to, considering this is the same place that locked you up.” She looked back at him, making sure she got her point across.

 

“Keh.” Diverting his eyes, Inuyasha as well gazed up at the entrance. “I'm looking for someone,” he said. “Not that it's any of your business.” He finished, narrowing his eyes at her.

 

“The shrine is closed for the time being.” She answered back. “Nobody else is here beside the owner.” Kikyo started walking away, having nothing more to say. Stopping a short distance away, she thought she might give him an advice. “Inuyasha,” she called for his attention. “I suggest you stay away from here.” She continued on her way as she last spoke. “We definitely wouldn't want you to be the assassin's next target.”

 

Inuyasha watched her walk away. What was that supposed to mean? Was that a threat? Shaking his head in dismissal, he figured he had too much excitement for one day. He glanced one last time at the shrine opening. Maybe walking up those stairs wasn't such a good idea. He already had enough trouble with the cops as it was. He didn't want to give them a good reason to come chasing after him again.

 

Inuyasha turned his back on his past once again and walked away.

 

xXxXx

 

Kagome's alarm rang nice and loud on her beside table. It was seven in the morning and time to get up. Mornings were the hardest for her. She was always tired from her nightly duties that shared her study time. She wasn't only a teenager going to school and coming back home. She was a homeowner, a shrine keeper and a shrine priestess. It was her duty to make sure the barrier surrounding the holy ground remained up and strong. It was her duty to keep the shrine grounds purified of all forms of evil. She only had time to do that at night when she had the piece of mind she needed. The safekeeping of the territory would drain her so much that she would some time wake up at early dawn, lying down on the grass by the sacred tree.

 

Kagome got herself ready and headed downstairs. She made scrambled eggs, fixed her lunch and was out the door by a quarter to eight.

 

“Kagome!”

 

It was Yuka. Kagome waited for her three friends to catch up with her. “Hi.” It was the same every morning. They would walk to school, Kagome lost to her own world as her friends would talk about the cutes boys and the latest fashion. This time, however, Kagome's musing was interrupted. She stopped walking as a strange feeling wrapped around her. Ayumi noticed this and turned around. A gasp escaped her lips as she saw seven heavily armed men standing right behind her frightened friend. One of them had a gun pointed directly at the back of Kagome's head. Yuka and Eri also stood motionless, holding on to each other in fear of their lives.

 

“Which one of you is Higurashi?” The man with the long braid asked the question.

 

Ayumi took a step towards Kagome as to reassure her, but fright had her take two steps back. The rest of the group came forward, surrounding the girls and blocking all possible exits. Kagome's three friends huddled together and didn't say one word.

 

The braided man obviously didn't have patience. He unlocked the safety from his gun and pointed it once again at Kagome's head. “I'll ask this one last time. Which one of you is Higurashi?”

 

Her whole body shaking, Kagome brought her hands up in the surrender style and turned to face her assailant. The man smirked as he kept the gun pointed at her head.

 

“Hm. And he thinks you're the assassin.” The man chuckled at the humor he found in the situation. This girl was too frightened to do anything. Where the hell did Naraku get the idea that she was the one behind the attacks?

 

“Bankotsu,” Naraku called out. “I have a job for you.”

 

Bankotsu listened carefully. He didn't like to do anyone's dirty jobs, but he enjoyed killing so much he never complained. Naraku always gave him very delightful jobs as well, so he hardly ever refused.

 

“I have reasons to believe the survivor of the Higurashi family is the one assassinating our comrades.” After Naraku's words, Bankotsu sat up straighter. If Naraku's found the one behind the killings, then he would gladly take the job. “The child, Kagome, is the only one with enough motivation to do such a thing and she's the only one with an incredible amount of spiritual power to perform any type of ritual and not get caught.”

 

That didn't sound so good to Bankotsu's ears. “So how the hell do you expect me to kill her?”

 

Naraku smiled. “She only comes out at night. Such a sweet innocent and pure girl would not give herself away during the day, or in the view of the public eye.” Naraku waited until Bankotsu caught his drift. “Every morning, she walked to school with her friends. Catch her off guard then and get rid of all evidence.”

 

Bankotsu smiled. It would be his pleasure to kill the annoyance off.

 

The man shook his head, dispelling the memory. It didn't matter weather she was the one they were looking for or not. The simple fact of watching someone die was enough motivation. Smirking, he reached for the trigger and swiftly pulled it back.

 

Kagome closed her horror wide eyes and felt something collide with her entire being. However, she felt no pain. She opened her eyes to see the gun still pointed at her face, mere inches away, and she also saw the bullet, destined for her head, floating just millimeters away. In her fright she managed to put up a strong barrier preventing bullets from passing through.

 

“Shit!”

 

Bankotsu wasn't a happy camper. This was supposed to be quick and easy. Of course Naraku had to omit the fact that she wouldn't mind putting up a barrier in plain day light. Throwing the gun aside, Bankotsu reached for his sword. A barrier can only be kept for a limited amount of time, especially since she didn't seem to have an anchor anywhere. The man grinned again and signaled for the others to do the same. They understood and drew their own weapons.

 

A crowd had gathered around, men and women screaming for someone to help, someone of demon blood hopefully. No one dared advance upon the seven men to save three frightened girls and one terror stricken priestess.

 

Upon Bankotsu signal, all seven men attacked as one. Without realizing it, Kagome had made a barricade big enough to keep her friends safe as well. The three girls huddled closer to Kagome as the barrier visibly shrunk. The attacks were relentless and nobody was willing to help. Even the police that showed up didn't dare advance.

 

Kagome was obviously loosing strength after each assault. She couldn't keep this up for much longer. Momentarily, she remembered her friends were still here with her. Not taking her eyes off the bullet, Kagome called out. “Eri…”

 

“What?” the girl in question managed to call out.

 

“When I tell you to,” Kagome began, “I need you to grab the others and run as fast as you can.” Kagome was panting from exhaustion, but she had to be strong. She was too weak to save her family before. Now, however, she would not give up that easily. She was stronger and she would prove it. She will save her friends!

 

Eri didn't quite understand, but nodded anyway. She grabbed Yuka and Ayumi by their arms and got them into a ready position. Kagome somehow managed to split her barrier in two; one surrounding herself and the other around her comrades.

 

“GO!”

 

Eri didn't hesitate a minute. She got into a sprint, dragging her two friends with her. They managed to get away from the fight, cross and street and reach the safety of the watching crowed. Ignoring the bombardment of questions, Eri stared at her last friend wobbling in place as her strength was slowly giving way.

 

`Kagome!' She saw the transparent barricade burst into thousands of sparkling lights and slowly disappear into the air. She saw the other six men jump back as the one in charge took a ready stance and brought his sword down for a clean sweep. Eri's eyes widened as she screamed. “KAGOME!”

 

xXxXx

 

She didn't know what was going on anymore. A minute ago, she knew she had to get her friends away from her. She'd managed to do just that. She split her spiritual wall into two, one half protecting her while the other half made sure her friends reached the safety of …of… she wasn't sure what.

 

Now, however, she was tired, so very tired she could hardly stand. She had put her full concentration on keeping her own barrier up, but she'd forgotten why it was there in the first place. She was too scared to remove it and her fear blinded her to her outside world. She wouldn't last very long if she kept going like this, though.

 

Kagome felt her legs weaken. They will fail her sooner or later, but that wasn't the more pressing issue. Her spiritual energy was ending. She couldn't do much without that. Something kept pounding in her head as well. She just wanted it all to stop. She couldn't take it anymore.

 

Closing her eyes, Kagome let go of her anchor. She felt her barrier break and disappear. The pounding was replaced by many screaming voices, though she could care less. She felt her entire body give up, her own physical strength failing her. Black spots covered her mind as the blissful oblivion of unconsciousness took over her.

 

xXxXx

 

“Fucking traffic…”

 

Inuyasha was late for another meeting with his brother. Apparently he had an interesting job offer for him. He refused at first. He didn't want any desk jobs and he certainly didn't want the responsibility of an entire company on his shoulder. Then Sesshoumaru said it had something to do with the recent assassinations. That had picked his interest, but his brother refused to go into details on the phone. So unless he shows up before eight o'clock in the morning, he would never find out what the job offer is in the first place.

 

“Stupid drivers…”

 

It was five to eight and he was stuck behind a load of cars that refused to move. He sensed some strong energy coming from straight ahead, but brushed it off as a couple of demons arguing about the car jam.

 

Thirty seconds later, Inuyasha's patience ran out. Narrowing his eyes, he calculated the space between the cars. If he was careful enough, and nobody opens their doors, he just might be able to reach the end of this block and find another way to the office. Or he could just simplify his life and pass by the sidewalk. With a quick turn to the right, Inuyasha made his way around the pedestrians and sped down to the next intersection.

 

He didn't go far as police officers had blocked the intersection off. One of them was flagging him, urging him to stop. Inuyasha halted as asked, but he completely ignored the yelling man as his eyes caught the reason why the road was blocked in the first place.

 

`It's that girl,' he thought. The one he almost ran over, the one that lives at the Higurashi Shrine. Inuyasha got there just in time to see three girls, surrounded by something, dash away from the fight scene. The other girl, however, was obviously struggling to stay on her feet. The seven men around her kept beating down hard with their weapons on the barrier keeping the girl safe, but from the looks of it, it wasn't going to last very long.

 

Everyone gasp and many started to scream. The officer that had flagged him down started to run forward, but just like his comrades, he was obligated to stand back. One of the seven attackers had created a ring of fire around their group. They were untouchable unless someone felt like burning their skin off.

 

Inuyasha's own eyes widen in surprise as many sparkles of light danced in the air until they were no more. The barrier was down. Six of the seven men jumped back. The seventh guy prepared his sword for a clean sweep.

 

He didn't know what got into him. The next thing he knew, Inuyasha had the unconscious girl in his arms and they were at a rather safe distance away, leaving the enemy in their own ring of fire.

 

“What the fuck?!?”

 

Inuyasha finally looked up to see he was back by his bike and safely behind the police barricade. The leader of the pack looked ready to kill just about anything.

 

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Bankotsu shouted. “She's my pray!”

 

“Keh,” was all Inuyasha had to say. His smirk said everything else.

 

Bankotsu clearly wasn't happy. A crowd surrounded the fallen girl and her savior, and the police had their weapons aimed straight at them. This job was supposed to be clean, quick and easy. This was going to be anything but that if he engaged in a fight. Bankotsu narrowed his eyes at the intruder. The white hair brought some kind of recognition, but Bankotsu couldn't quite put a finger on it. Although humans and demons coexisted, white hair was only for a specific kind of race and a dangerous breed they were too.

 

Standing straight, Bankotsu put his sword away. “This is far from over.” With that said, the smallest of them released a gas in the air, blinding everyone to their escape.

 

Inuyasha covered the girl's nose and mouth as his own face was protected by his head gear, but didn't relax until the air was clear enough to see through.

 

“Well, well, well.” A familiar voice called from behind. “You're the last person I thought would come to the rescue.”

 

“Miroku.” Inuyasha turned around to see the smug look on the officer's face. Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, he carried the comatose bundle in his arms only to pass her on to the irritating cop. “Don't think I'll be making a habit out of this.”

 

“Actually…” Miroku wasn't sure if Sesshoumaru's plan was such a good idea. He had received a call from the delinquent's older brother just yesterday suggesting maybe he could be of use in their search for the mob-murderer. Miroku however didn't really anticipate working with the boy. Swallowing his insecurities about the subject, he thought asking wouldn't hurt. “You know, you would make quite a good cop.” The officer was positive the kid was shooting daggers through his helmet. Taking a step back, Miroku released an uneasy laugh. “It was just a suggestion.”

 

“Keh.” Inuyasha was in no mood for this. He was late beyond imagination now. Mounting his bike, he disregarded the people's praise for his job well done and sped his way out of the area. He didn't deserve the people's applause. He remembered all too well what had happened at the shrine. He might not have been at fault, but he didn't do anything to stop it either when he could have done the opposite.

 

`I'm no better than a con… I don't deserve to be a hero.'

 

With that in thought, Inuyasha just hoped Sesshoumaru would still tell him what the job offer is. He was only going to be half an hour late anyway…

 

xXxXx

xXxXx

 

A.N.

Well, sorry for the long wait. Here is chapter 5, much longer than the others. I usually write five pages (on MSWord), but this one turned out to be over seven! I know how short chapters are annoying and I've had plenty of comments say they were too short. So this is for those loyal readers!

 

Thank you to the following feedbacks:

MM Org: blackmist, Anime Lady PIMP (good to know you're still with me), inuyashafanaticllmv and bettychan (thanks for the great review!).

FF Net: foxcat (yes, well, I seem to have a better feedback on mediaminer… oh well. You're choice whichever you prefer!)

 

Thank you again for reading. Do send feedback. I need feedback!! Ja!