InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Crow ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Silence had fallen.

 

How long it had been silent, he couldn't say. Everything was just . . . quiet. It seemed odd to him because he'd been rather certain he'd heard his brother calling out for him, the hanyou's voice pain-filled and broken.

 

`Why, though? Why would he sound like that? Must have been my imagination,' he told himself. It never occurred to him that he had heard correctly and that, on the night before his brother's wedding, he had died.

 

* * *

 

Rin maneuvered her skateboard across the rain-soaked streets with the greatest of ease. Inuyasha had taught her how one day, when the weather had been particularly dreary. She smiled a little as his comparison came to mind. He'd said it was like surfing, something he had learned when he'd gone to California on a road trip. Rin made her way to the small cemetery, where the Draeven brothers had been laid to rest.

 

When she reached the graveyard, she kicked her skateboard up then began to make her way to the brothers' site, stealing flowers here and there as she went. Rin hummed to herself as she moved along, choosing the healthiest flowers from each tomb. She kept one white flower out.

 

`For Sesshomaru.'

 

Finally, she reached their graves. With a little reverence, Rin placed the white flower on Sesshomaru's grave then placed the bouquet on Inuyasha's.

 

“Later,” she told them. Pulling her hood up, Rin turned to go. She had taken only a few steps when a crow landed on top of Sesshomaru's grave and cawed at her, as if trying to ward her away. Or perhaps it was trying to berate her for something? She couldn't decide.

 

“What are you? The night watchman?”

 

It cawed at her again and she shook her head, leaving the cemetery. The streets were not a safe place to be anymore. Not that they had been to begin with. But since Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had died, she'd had no one to look after her nor did she have a haven to go to. Kagome had tried but she never stayed in Detroit long enough to really look after her. It was like the memories were too terrible for her to stay more than a week or so. Not that Rin could blame her. There were a lot of things about the area that reminded her of Inuyasha.

 

`She didn't have to see them, though,' Rin thought bitterly. `She didn't. I did.'

 

As the rain began to beat down, Rin set her skateboard down and took off. For once, she welcomed the rain, if only for it to wash away her sorrow . . . and her guilt.

 

* * *

 

The girl had left. No one else was around. The time had come. The guilty would be punished.

 

* * *

 

He felt stiff, as if he'd been locked in a freezer or something. The scent of pine and dirt assaulted his nose and his vision kept blurring. His lungs felt like they were on fire and he couldn't figure out why. Then he realized that he was enclosed in some sort of plush, wooden box. With a panicked growl, he ripped through the wood and clawed his way through the dirt. Once he was free, he gulped in air, his body shivering and trembling in the cool, damp air.

 

`What happened to me? Why am I here?'

 

A large black bird flew towards him, causing him to defensively hold up his arm. The bird landed on a tree branch in front of him, and gazed at him expectantly.

 

“Follow,” he whispered hoarsely. The bird took to the sky and he stumbled after it. His feet made squishing sounds as he walked, the rain streaming down his chiseled body. All the while, he felt something deep within him, that a great tragedy had happened somehow, but what eluded him.

 

* * *

 

Rin carefully navigated her way to Sango's Hot Dogs. It hadn't been easy for the girl, as the rain coming down had made it difficult for her to see, but she had enjoyed the challenge. She heard Officer Kouga Albrecht instructing Sango on how to a hot dog while the raven-haired woman complained about how the city needed something to shake it up. Rin smiled as she approached. The police officer had been her source of comfort since Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had been murdered a year ago.

 

“It's a Rin-monster!” Sango greeted with a smile as Rin sat in the chair next to Kouga.

 

“How do you steer that thing on a wet street?” Kouga inquired.

 

“Pure talent,” she grinned. “Hi.”

 

“Now, Rin, she's a genuine hot-dogger,” the blue-eyed officer smirked, getting ready to take a puff off his cigar. “You want one?”

 

“You buying?”

 

“I'm buying,” he nodded, inhaling.

 

“No onions, though.” Rin made a face as Sango passed her a drink.

“No onions?” Kouga raised an eyebrow at her.

 

“They make you fart big time.”

 

Sango and Kouga chuckled as Rin took a drink of her soda. This is how her life had been, a small bit of stability in a chaotic world that would leave the young to die if they couldn't fend for themselves.

 

`But it won't be like this forever,' she vowed. `When I'm old enough, I'll leave here and make a new life for myself. Maybe I'll go to L.A. . . . find something that will make Inuyasha and Sesshomaru proud.'

 

* * *

 

Down the street, in a large building with the name “Arcade Games” in faded white letters, four men had broken in. Each man carried at least one weapon of some kind, usually a gun, each had dark hair and dark eyes, but each had a specific “talent” that they brought to their little group.

 

There was Bankotsu, a man who always carried a dozen blades with him. Sometimes even more. Then there was Jakotsu, the group's speed freak and pet monkey to the group's leader, Houjo. Houjo specialized in explosives. Finally there was Miroku, the group's monk and womanizer. If there were any youkai in the building, he'd be the one to immobilize them.

 

Without a word, Houjo handed each of his men some of the explosives then set about setting up his own. Once they were done, Houjo lit a cigarette.

 

“You know, Lake Eerie caught on fire once because of all the crap floating in it. Wish I could have seen it.”

 

He whistled then, then set the timer on the main explosive. Bankotsu let out a whoop, and he and the other two set about smashing pinball machines. Then they quickly exited the building and headed for Houjo's car, a 1978 Thunderbird. They stopped in a circle around the car, and shouted out, “Fire it up! Fire it up!” Then they were off and driving away from the scene. Minutes later, an explosion could be heard . . .