InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Book of Shikon ❯ Seeing...Double? ( Chapter 4 )

The Book of Shikon

 

Chapter 4

 

Seeing…Double?

 

Inuyasha waked down the small sidestreet, the one side lined with a tall hedge. Finally, he reached the end of the hedges and found large iron gate. Beyond the gate spawned a large yard and a medium-sized house. Inuyasha hit a buzzer on one of the stone pillars on the side of the gate.

 

“Who is it?” The voice crackled.

 

“Inuyasha Taisho, I'm here to see Bankotsu Shinchinintai.” Inuyasha said. The gates buzzed, and Inuyasha pushed them open, walking down the walkway to the mansion door. A man with a receding hairline and graying hair opened it as he approached.

 

“Welcome to my humble home.” He chuckled, shaking Inuyasha's hand. “I am Bankotsu.” Inuyasha nodded.

 

“Yes, I'm here to view your book.” Inuyasha reminded.

 

“Of course, come in.” Bankotsu walked inside, Inuyasha following. The rooms of the house were largely empty, a few black and brown marks on the walls. The house was bare, except for a few sparse chairs and tables here and there. “Not quite what you were expecting, I presume?” Bankotsu asked.

 

“When I heard your collection was extensive, no, not quite what I pictured.” Inuyasha admitted.

 

“I know, there was a fire a few months ago, much was lost. The few pieces of my collection I managed to pull from the flames are in here.” Bankotsu led Inuyasha into another room that, if the shelves were any indication, had been the library, but now they were bare. A few rows of books were on the carpet.

 

“Behold, my collection.” Bankotsu said. “It has seen better days and isn't going to make any records for showmanship. But I dust and air them out every day, I take care of them, as best I can.” Inuyasha nodded. “This is the one you want.” Bankotsu knelt down and slipped out a book, holding it out to Inuyasha. Inuyasha took it and nodded.

 

“Why exactly are you here, Mr. Taisho?” He asked.

 

“My client owns a copy of the book, Onigumo Naraku. I was asked to authenticate his copy against the other three.” Inuyasha explained.

 

“Ah, so he was the Fletcher buyer. I heard a few days ago it was sold before Musou killed himself. I never imagined Naraku would be the one though.” Bankotsu mused. “Strange that you're supposed to authenticate his book versus the others if you don't have his to…” Bankotsu trailed off as Inuyasha gave him a look. “You have it here?” Bankotsu asked, his eyes lighting up. Inuyasha reached into his book bag and withdrew the infamous book. Bankotsu took it and walked over to a table, laying the two books next to each other.

 

“Marvelous, look at it.” He whispered, running a finger down the spine of his book. “If not for the small burn mark on the top of my book, identical.” Bankotsu opened them up to the first engraving and chuckled. “Two of the only remaining copies, reunited after 500 years, superb.”

 

“Not something that happens a lot huh?” Inuyasha asked. Bankotsu shook his head and turned the books to another page.

 

“And here, Midoriko forgot to capitalize the `T' here.” He pointed to the start of a paragraph. “Same in both books, remarkable.” He shook his head and smiled.

 

“I was wondering if I could examine your book in detail, and possibly buy it, based on what I find.” Inuyasha continued. Bankotsu slammed both books shut and sighed.

 

“Look all you like, it is yours to research. But I will not sell, my books are all I have left, they mean more to me than my own life.” He said. Inuyasha nodded, and Bankotsu handed him the books. “If you need me, I will be by the fire.” Bankotsu left the room, and Inuyasha pulled out a chair and sat down.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Several hours later, it was growing dark outside and Inuyasha was still comparing the books. Every bit of text was the same that he could see, same bindings, paper, ink. He had just moved onto the engravings, and opened the books to the first one, the man hung from the castle wall. Inuyasha suppressed a shudder at the thought of Kouga's corpse and looked the engravings over. Identical, just like the rest of them. He turned the page and stopped. He quickly flipped back and looked again, his gaze darting and forth between the two books.

 

“No way…” He whispered. In Naraku's book, the man hung from the castle by his left leg with his right crossed over the thigh. But in Bankotsu's book, the man was hanging by the right leg, with the left crossed. “I'll be damned…” Inuyasha whispered. He dug a magnifying glass from his bag and peered the pages over. There, on a stone in the wall, just under the man's head. Naraku's copy was signed `M.T.'. But Bankotsu's…

 

“L.C.F.” Inuyasha muttered, looking up. “It can't be.” He flipped to the next engraving, the knight crossing the bridge. Naraku's version had the knight's visor down, covering his head. Bankotsu's knight didn't. Naraku's knight was protected, Bankotsu's wasn't. Inuyasha already remembered that this engraving was L.C.F. in Naraku's book. Inuyasha looked down at Bankotsu's copy. M.T.

 

“I don't believe it.” Inuyasha shook his head in disbelief.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Inuyasha closed the door to Bankotsu's house. It was almost midnight, and he had a long walk back to the hotel. He had made a chart in his notebook on the L.C.F. initials. In total there were 4 engravings in Bankotsu's book signed L.C.F., that were signed M.T. in Naraku's, and vise-versa.

 

Inuyasha opened the gate and stepped outside, looking around. The right side of the road was blocked by a black car. Inuyasha shrugged and walked down the left way. He had gotten a few steps when he heard a roar. He spun around the black car roared to life, screeching towards him. Inuyasha jumped back and plastered himself to the hedge, the car barely missing him. Inuyasha would swear he felt the side-mirror brush his jacket. The car stopped, and Inuyasha glared at it. The driver's door opened, and a woman stepped out. She had long white hair and dark blue eyes, and wore a dark suit. Inuyasha stared at her as she began to walk towards him.

 

There was a squeal of tires, and Inuyasha spun around. A motorcycle skidded to a halt a few feet behind him. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at the all-too familiar green skirt and black jacket. He darted his eyes back and forth, and the white-haired woman turned and walked back to her car, entering and driving away. The motorcycle screeched and turned to follow, black hair streaming out behind it. Inuyasha just stared.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

It was nearly midnight, and Inuyasha was sitting in the bar of the hotel he was staying at, sipping and brandy and musing over the engravings. The L.C.F. enigma continued. Between Naraku and Bankotsu's copies, there were 8 L.C.F. initialed engravings, and each of them was different. Each one had one of the 4 Soul engravings with the L.C.F., and three of the other 12 as well. It was all too orderly to be random, something was up. Inuyasha swallowed the rest of his drink and stood up, walking to the elevators to go up to his room. He passed through the lounge on his way, and stopped. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, he turned around and sat down in a wingback chair, staring at the woman sitting across from him.

 

“You again.” He growled. The woman in the green skirt smiled.

 

“You stalking me?” She asked.

 

“That's my question.” Inuyasha replied. “Among others. You never told me your name before.”

 

“You never asked me, you just asked if I had one.” The woman said with a smile. “You should be more specific.”

 

“Well I'm asking now.” Inuyasha snapped. The woman didn't even blink.

 

“Kagome.” She supplied. “And I suppose you have a name yourself?”

 

“Inuyasha.” He said. “It means dog demon in Japanese.”

 

“Funny, you don't look Japanese. Odd name.” Kagome chuckled. Inuyasha glared.

 

“How'd you get here, you never told me you were coming to here.”

 

“Neither did you.” Kagome challenged. “I travel a lot, I don't keep track of my destinations that much.”

 

“Ever travel by motorcycle?” Inuyasha asked. Kagome shrugged. Ever since he had sat down, Kagome had had that strange half-smile on her face. It was starting to get creepy.

 

“You have a visitor.” She said, looking up. Inuyasha turned to see the desk clerk standing beside his chair.

 

“I'm sorry sir, you have a phone call form a Mr. Naraku.” The clerk said. Inuyasha nodded.

 

“On my way. You.” He said, pointing at Kagome. “You stay here, don't move.”

 

“If you say so.” Kagome replied. Inuyasha followed the desk clerk to the front desk and picked up the receiver.

 

“Mr. Taisho. Hello.” Naraku said.

 

“How did you find me?” Inuyasha asked.

 

“Not important. Did you examine the Shinchinintai copy?” Naraku countered.

 

“Yeah, I did. Both books have a little…um…” Inuyasha looked around. “I'm in the lobby and can't talk here. Where are you, I'll call you back in my room.”

 

“Have the call transferred, I'll wait.” Naraku said. Inuyasha shrugged and looked up.

 

“Excuse me.” The desk clerk looked up. “Transfer this call to room 134.” He asked.

 

“Of course sir.” The clerk said, taking the receiver. Inuyasha headed back to the lounge, and sighed when he saw the empty chairs.

 

“Figures.” He muttered. Kagome was gone.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Inuyasha pushed open the door to his room, and the phone's ringing greeted him. He locked the door and walked to the bed, sitting down and picking up the receiver.

 

“Alright, what do you have for me?” Naraku asked.

 

“Well I examined both copies. They're identical, same text, same paper, even the same spelling errors. Except there are a few differences.”

 

“Like what?” Naraku asked.

 

“The engravings are different. Not all of them, but some of them. Guys hanging by different legs, doors open in one copy, bricked up in the other, armor changes. And the ones that differ…”

 

“Yes…” Naraku urged.. “Yes, go on.”

 

“The ones that differ, aren't signed M.T. They're signed L.C.F.” Inuyasha explained, omitting the detail of what the three letters were supposed to stand for. Naraku was silent for several seconds. Inuyasha frowned. “You there?”

 

“L.C.F…I knew it.” Naraku whispered.

 

“Where are you?” Inuyasha asked, suddenly confused. He could swear he heard a crowd in the background.

 

“Get me that book Mr. Taisho. Pay whatever he wants, no matter how much, just get me that book.” Naraku ordered.

 

“The book mean more to Bankotsu than his own life, he said so himself.” Inuyasha replied. Naraku chuckled.

 

“Kukuku…did he now?” He asked. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes.

 

“Where are you?” He repeated.

 

This time, he was only half-surprised to be answered by the hum of the dial tone.