InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Book of Shikon ❯ Venture Too Far... ( Chapter 3 )

The Book of Shikon

 

Chapter 3

 

Venture Too Far…

 

“Onigumo Naraku, please.” Inuyasha said into the payphone, casting a glance back to Kouga's store.

 

“I'm sorry but he's busy right now, if you'd like I can-.”

 

“Tell him Inuyasha wants to talk about the book.” Inuyasha growled. The receptionist sighed.

 

“I'll see if he'll talk to you.” She replied. Inuyasha heard a click as he was put on hold. He looked back at the store again. Kouga was a bit of a recluse, so if the cops got word he was dead they'd start with his customers, one of which was him.

 

“Mr. Taisho, earlier than I expected. What do you want?” Naraku asked, coming on the line.

 

“Out.” Inuyasha said. “I quit. I'll bring your book and bank card back tonight.” Naraku was silent for a moment.

 

“I must say, I'm very disappointed Mr. Taisho. I had high hopes for your performance. But apparently you can't even follow your own rules.”

 

“Well someone else broke them first. Kouga's dead.” Inuyasha snapped.

 

“The book dealer?” Naraku asked, seemingly unconcerned.

 

“Yeah, hanged in the stairwell, presumably by some psycho bitch who, by the way, is the widow of the guy you bought the book from first and she wants it back. Excuse me if I don't wanna be part of a murder scandal.” Inuyasha said.

 

“Mr. Taisho, I understand your distress but you must have known this would be dangerous. Danger is always something people come across, if you find yourself being stalked I hardly see why it should impact our deal. Now, continue your investigation as scheduled…

 

“But.” Inuyasha started.

 

“And I'll add another zero to your paycheck.” Naraku finished. Inuyasha was silent. “That's a good boy. Run along now, you have a job to do.”

 

“Now hold on, I'm not just going to roll over for cash here!” Inuyasha protested.

 

“Flight 391 is now boarding bound for-.” Inuyasha frowned.

 

“Are you at an airport? Naraku? Hey, Naraku!” Inuyasha stopped as he heard the dial tone. He sighed and hung up, trudging back to his taxi.

 

“Airport?” The driver asked.

 

“Yeah, I'm headed to Portugal.” Inuyasha nodded.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Inuyasha walked down the alley of a derelict street, turning down a back alley. He eyed a large metal scaffold warily as he walked past it to a small door. Inside was a small, dark bookstore. The floors and shelves were caked with dust, but the books looked brand new. Inuyasha was impressed, whoever owned the place took care of their stock.

 

“Can I help?” Inuyasha turned to his left as a middle-aged man descended the stairs to the second floor, eyeing him.

 

“Yes, I'm Inuyasha Taisho, I understand Miroku Houshi lives here?”

 

“I do, yes. What can I do for you, Mr. Taisho?” Miroku asked, sitting down at a nearby desk. Inuyasha reached into his book bag.

 

“I was wondering what you could tell me about this book.” He said, handing The Shikon-no-Tama to Miroku. Miroku's eyes widened.

 

“The Shikon-no-Tama, 15th century, Midoriko Takahashi.” Miroku and Inuyasha looked up as a woman emerged from the shelves, dusting the book shelves.

 

“My wife, Sango. Business partner too.” Miroku introduced. Inuyasha shook Sango's hand.

 

“How do you do?” He said. Sango nodded and looked back at the book.

 

“This is the Fletcher copy.” She mused aloud. “I'm amazed she let it go.”

 

“She?” Inuyasha asked.

 

“Kikyo, Fletcher's wife.” Miroku explained. “She came here about a decade ago and asked for this specific book. She knew we had it and refused to leave until we let her buy it. Musou couldn't give less of a damn about it. We didn't want to sell to a woman like her, but she made us an offer that, if you'll forgive the expression, we couldn't refuse.”

 

“Very nice buy, lots of money. I would have felt bad for ripping her off, if she wasn't such a bitch.” Sango muttered. “So Musou sold it to you?”

 

“No, it belongs to my client, Onigumo Naraku.” Miroku and Sango nodded knowingly.

 

“Ah, Naraku. No wonder he bought it, I was wondering how long it would take him to get his hands on one.” Miroku smiled.

 

“What do you mean?” Inuyasha asked.

 

“Naraku is a profound studier of many Satanic texts, Mr. Taisho. Surely if you're working for him you noticed that more than half the books he owns are related to the Devil.” Sango scolded. “No doubt this piece that details the Prince of Darkness' summoning is his crown jewel. Why did he trust you with it?”

 

“He wants me to authenticate it. I cam to ask if it was possible this book was a forgery.” Sango and Miroku stared at him as if he had just grown a tail and horns.

 

“You must be new to the book dealing business if you think this could be a forgery!” Sango scoffed. “Look at this book. The pages, the writings, the engravings. There's no way someone could forge this book, it would be next to impossible.”

 

“Next to, but not entirely.” Inuyasha pointed out. Miroku sighed and looked the book over.

 

“Well, I suppose, if you had the time and money, you could do it. But it would be impractical, any collector worth his weight in knowledge would be able to spot a cheap forgery right off the bat, and a masterful forgery would be too expensive to be profitable. You need the right inks, the paper, to copy every line of text letter by letter, it would be painstaking. Besides, we owned this book for 20 years before we sold to Fletcher, we studied it extensively before then and never got any indication it would a fake.” Inuyasha nodded.

 

“Okay, fair enough.” He said. “Not a fake, got it. Do you know who owns the other copies?”

 

“Yes, I've heard Sesshomaru…something with T, I can't recall his last name, owns a copy in England. Baroness Kaede Myko lives in Italy, but she may have passed on by now. And in France, too, Bankotsu Shinchinintai. 4 copies scattered around the world for 500 years, remarkable.” Miroku said.

 

“And the engravings. I understand there are 16.” Inuyasha continued.

 

“Yes, 1 for each soul and 3 for each of the qualities that soul is made up of.” Sango agreed.

 

“Well, beyond that little riddle, each engraving seems to have some sort of…underlying significance.” Inuyasha explained.

 

“Oh, of course, many books like this do.” Miroku nodded. “For example, see here, the second engraving.” Miroku opened the book and turned it to face Inuyasha. It was a stone bridge over a lake with a horse-back knight preparing to ride across it. However, in the clouds above the bridge a sinister-looking creature was aiming a bow and arrow down at the knight. “See this, very interesting riddle here. The inscription on this engraving reads `venture too far, and danger will descend from above'.” Miroku chuckled slightly. “This work contains many philosophical sayings and teachings for those who look for them, among other things.”

 

“Other things?” Inuyasha frowned. “Like what?”

 

“The engravings, you must have noticed by now.” Sango said. “Of the 16 engravings, the history books and biographies will tell you Midoriko signed each of them. In reality, no. I can't speak for the other 3 copies, but in this one, only 12 of the 16 are signed by Midoriko Takahashi, abbreviated M.T.”

 

“And the other four?” He continued. Sango tapped the page.

 

“See for yourself.” She advised. Miroku pulled a magnifying glass from his pocket and held it over the page. Inuyasha knelt down. “The rock there, at the left. See it?” Inuyasha nodded and tried to make out the initials on the page.

 

“L…C, F.” He read. “Who's L.C.F.?” Miroku smiled.

 

“Think about it.” He told him. Inuyasha looked up, and Naraku's lecture came back to him.

 

“Lucifer.” He sighed. Miroku and Sango shared a grin.

 

“Very good.” Sango chuckled.

 

“Midoriko wrote this book as a collaboration with the Prince of Darkness, and burned so that it could live, so that the Devil's work may live on, disguised at hers.” Miroku explained. Inuyasha laughed.

 

“You can't honestly believe that.” He scoffed.

 

“There are many things in this world that people laugh at, write off as nonsense. Magic and the supernatural are such things. But 500 years ago, it would be the computer and the cell-phone that people would laugh at, the magical they would believe in.” Sango lectured. “Alive today is the signature and the words of the Devil himself, in this book, and Midoriko let herself die to save it.”

 

“Even the pits of Hell have their heroic martyrs.” Miroku smiled.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Inuyasha walked out of the store and closed it behind him. They always said the line between genius and madness was razor-thin. The Houshis had not done a thing to disprove it. He walked past the metal scaffold again, frowning as he tried to think of what the L.C.F initials could mean, when he heard a metal clang. He froze and looked up. The scaffold creaked, and the thing began to sway. Inuyasha tore off running down the alley as the metal came crashing down behind him. He dove to the dirt, coughing out dust as the scaffold collapsed. He looked behind him at the pile of metal and shook his head. Miroku's words came back to him.

 

“Venture too far…” The book dealer's voice echoed. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

 

“What a load of bullshit.” He growled, walking out of the alley.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

That night, Inuyasha leaned back in his chair aboard a high-speed train destined for France, and Bankotsu. His stomach growled, and he got up, hefting his book bag onto his shoulder. Inuyasha walked to the door of the car and opened it, walking back to the dining car. He began to walk down the aisle of the train, and stopped. He glared and marched forward, stopping behind a young woman gazing out the window at the passing trees.

 

“I know you.” He accused. The woman in the black jacket and green skirt turned her slightly.

 

“Do you?” She replied.

 

“You stalking me?” Inuyasha asked. The woman shrugged.

 

“If you say so.” She replied, smiling slightly. Inuyasha rolled his eyes, and her smile grew.

 

“You have a name?”

 

“Yes.” The woman chuckled. Inuyasha waited for a moment, but she just turned back to the window. To hell with it.

 

“Whatever. Tell Naraku I'm doing my best.” He called, walking away.

 

“Naraku?” The woman asked.

 

“Like you don't know.” Inuyasha growled, leaving the car. The woman watched him leave with a small smile.