InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Island of Dr. Onigumo ❯ Chapter 4

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"Is that really necessary?" Kagome looked skeptically at the white linen jacket Miroku was holding up from the doorway. "He's not insane, for kami sake."


"The armed guards outside the door probably aren't necessary either, but they were requested by Dr. Onigumo," Sango replied from behind him. "I know it's degrading and all, but when Dr. Onigumo asks for something it's done."


Kagome narrowed her eyes, glaring in their general direction. They knew she wasn't angry with them, but with the doctor. Inuyasha had as much as promised to be on his best behavior during their examinations, but Naraku wasn't taking any chances that the hybrid might escape. She was ready to punch a hole through the wall. "Fine."


She turned to the hanyou who was looking just as put out, if not more. "I'm really, really sorry."


Miroku came in and slipped the material over Inuyasha's head. Much to Kagome's relief the boy complied, even if he growled while doing it. Once the arms were secure, Miroku grasped his elbow and led him out to the hall where two armed security guards were waiting to escort them to the PT area.


The physical training area was on sub level two and took up nearly the entire area. There was an obstacle course on one end and a grouping of gym equipment on the other, as well as stations for the doctors to keep tabs on their results. Like everything else in the sub levels, the floor and walls were bright white. Over head, halogen lights buzzed with energy.


The door was locked behind them and Kagome could see the two guards take up positions on either side, waiting for them to finish. Miroku unlatched the straight jacket while Sango opened a black, plastic case on one of the tables. The inside was lined with foam with cutouts for vials and several needles as well as a pair of scissors.


"We're going to do some physical tests on you for stamina and ability as well as take some blood for genetics testing," Sango explained, pulling rubber gloves over her hand. She removed one of the three needles and a small bottle of alcohol. "I'll take the blood and run it down to the lab while Kagome and Miroku start on the other tests."


Inuyasha rolled up his shirt sleeve and held out his arm while Sango tied a piece of rubber around his upper biceps and rubbed a small area with the alcohol. Eyeing for a vein, she stuck the needle in and withdrew a tube full of blood which was then deposited into a vial and capped off. She did this two more times before replacing her instruments, tossing the needles away, and closing the case.


"I'll be back in a few."


Kagome set up her lap top at the work station and pulled a pen and paper out as well. "What're we doing first, then?" She tucked the pen behind her ear and flipped the notebook open.


"I was thinking that stamina, sensory and ability should be tested as much as possible for today. We'll use normal human standards and the average standard for one of the youkai creations." He took the notebook from Kagome's hands and plucked the pen from her hair, earning himself a hard look from both Kagome and Inuyasha. "The average human at top speed is perhaps five MPH. The canine and feline bred youkai on this island have averaged a clocked top speed of 160 MPH, give or take a few miles."


The keys on Kagome's laptop clicked as she typed that information into her database. "How are you going to test that? I mean, in here? Kinda confined, don't you think?"


The other doctor chuckled. "Onigumo Naraku has thought of everything, Kagome-chan." He motioned to what looked like a treadmill, but had no computer on the front, only two side bars. "If you wouldn't mind stepping up there, Inuyasha?" He punched a few things into the control station where Kagome stood and then stepped aside. "Now, if you would just start to run, going as quickly as you can, we can record the rate of speed. Just don't run off the machine."


Inuyasha started moving and Kagome's eyes slid to the screen that was tracking his speed. "You'll be able to get a print out of that, right? I need as much hard copy information as possible."


"For you? I can do anything." Miroku grinned and winked over at her before pressing another button. "Okay, Inuyasha, you can start slowing down now."


Kagome's eyes wandered from the screen to the treadmill where Inuyasha was gradually coming to a stop. The t-shirt he wore was a bit on the small side and showcased his muscled upper body - not that she hadn't gotten an eye full of it that morning and the day before. Still there was something about the way his muscles rippled under the skin as he ran that caught her attention. It was odd because she'd never that interested in a man before. Though she'd had the occasional boyfriend, her work had always taken top priority. Was she missing out on something?


"Kagome? Earth to Kagome." Miroku whistled and waved a hand in front of her face. Both men were watching her. At some point Inuyasha had come to a stop and had started glaring when he caught her staring at him.


She jumped and ducked her head to hide her blush. "Sorry. I was just thinking of all the things I need to do to get this report and presentation ready. What were you saying?"


Miroku was trying not to laugh. He had the impression his young associate had a bit of a crush on their hybrid. And for some reason, that didn't seem as odd as he would have thought. "I was just telling you that his speed leveled off at around 79 mph. That's nearly half what the average inu and neko bred youkai here can do and considerably more than the average human."


"Well, he is only a half breed," a male voice remarked from the front of the room. Both doctors turned to see a tall man with blue-black hair, pulled back into a tail. He wore a navy blue business suit under his doctor's coat and stood as straight as a board. Sango was standing behind him, looking less than pleased. "I ran into Dr. Hitomi on her way back down here and thought that I would come and see if there is anything I can do to help."


Sango walked around him and joined the others. "I told him we had everything under control, but Dr. Hyouga insisted."


Doctor Hyouga Menomaru, Kagome realized watching the man practically glide down the aisle of machinery towards them. Naraku's first assistant. He's much younger than I imagined. And a whole lot creepier. Just his presence sent goose bumps up her spine. Not even Naraku had given her that kind of reaction.


"What have you discovered so far?"


The youngest doctor closed her laptop, not wanting him to see her results. "Nothing that is of any particular interest yet," she replied tersely. "I prefer to not discuss my research until I have come to a conclusion, if that would be alright. I will be sending a copy of my report to Dr. Onigumo when I turn it into the Review Board and I am sure he would be more than happy to let you read over it then."


Menomaru's eyes narrowed slightly. He wasn't used to being denied anything by anyone other than Naraku. "Yes, I'm sure he will. Well, Dr. Higarashi, it seems there really is little I can do here..." His eyes wandered to where Inuyasha stood waiting and a slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Except...I wonder if your associates have explained to you a certain attribute all of our youkai have."


Without warning, and before anyone could react, he'd drawn a small scalpel from his coat pocket and made a thin, neat slash across Inuyasha's arm. It wasn't very deep and only a small line of blood oozed from it, still it was enough to anger the hanyou and he jumped at the doctor as if to attack him.


"No! Inuyasha!" Kagome threw herself in front of Menomaru and held out her hands to stop the boy. If you do that, it'll be over! This work will be for nothing!


Luckily, it stopped him and she sighed in relief. Her lowered arms caught sight of his arm and she gasped in surprise. "That's amazing!" She exclaimed, forgetting what had just happened in that instant. She grasped the hanyou's arm and ran her finger over it to see that it was real. The blood that had oozed out hadn't even dried on his skin and already the cut had scabbed over and was slowly fading away. What should have been at least a week's healing process was taking place in the matter of minutes.


"Heh," Menomaru snorted. "The youkai of this island would be healed completely by now. I suppose you really do only do everything half as well." With that he turned and left, wiping the scalpel off with a handkerchief and placing both back into his pocket.


Sango rolled her eyes and sat on one of the weight benches. "Sorry, guys. I tried to keep him away, but he insisted. What could I do?"


"It's okay," Miroku assured her. "What'd the lab say?"


"Everything from us is to be marked top priority so we should have the results by the time we finish today."


Kagome had reopened her computer and had just finished documenting the rapid rate of healing into her file. "Well, we might as well keep going. We can test stamina and strength today and keep a monitor on his heart rate and blood pressure throughout. Sometime I want to see about scheduling an EKG and CAT-scan to show brain function and we'll also do an eye exam."


She fiddled with the edge of her coat. "The best way to test strength level would be one of those punching rings...you know what I'm talking about? It's like a padded button and you punch it as hard as you can and it tells what the pressure is?"


Sango nodded and pointed to a wall across the room. "Specially built to resist youkai strain."


Kagome smiled. Despite a few minor setbacks, things were finally on their way.




They were just about to pack up when the results from the blood work came back. While Kagome and Sango looked over the paperwork, Miroku led Inuyasha and the two security guards to the shower so the now sweaty hanyou could clean up.


"It's just your basic stuff," Sango muttered, sounding disappointed. "He has no abnormal anomalies in his blood; no contagious or stagnant diseases; blood type AB..."


"This is interesting, though." Kagome pointed to the bottom of the first page. "DNA analysis shows combination of inu and human DNA material. General DNA properties are divided 50% inu and 50% human. See diagram." She flipped to the next page to see the computer drawn diagram of his DNA strand compared to that of a dog and human.



After seeing Inuyasha put back into this containment cell and saying good-night, the trio headed back to their apartment building, discussing the results and their next moves.


"I was really hoping that the genetic markings wouldn't be equally divided," Kagome groaned. "That was my best shot at convincing the board to classify him as a human. Now I’m going to rely completely on his educational and physical aspects. It's not going to be easy."


"You would think that all they have to do is look at him and they would see he's more human than canine," Sango said, shaking her head. "Even I don't think of him as a dog anymore."


"Neither do I," Miroku admitted. "But the board will require scientific proof."


Kagome leaned against the wall by her apartment door. "I feel like I'm walking around in the dark. Even with everything you've been telling me, it's like I know nothing about this company or his projects...or even the people who run it."


Sango put a comforting hand on her arm. "We've been here for three years, and we - What was that?" She turned quickly, looking at the corner where the hall turned to another line of apartments. "Someone was there. I saw them."


The other two looked, but saw nothing. Kagome approached the turn carefully and looked around just in time to see the shadow of a figure going inside one of the apartments. She turned around, frowning. "Someone was watching us. Let's just give up for tonight and start fresh in the morning."


Her colleagues nodded their agreement and bid her goodnight, going to their own home.