InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Shadows Within ❯ The Moment Everything Changed ( Chapter 2 )

The Shadows Within

Ch.2

By: Quiet Escapist

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Sango stifled a yawn as she slowly walked down the ramp of the newly restored ship. Sleep tugged at the back of her eyes and her body longed for a rest after the past couple of sleep deprived nights. In fact, she had been awake most of the night, the first rays of morning light now beginning to creep into the hangar from the smaller side door. She did a quick visual scan of the ship, making sure everything was in place.

Just 23 more runs and you're mine, she thought, letting the idea of owning her own ship play out in her mind. The ship in question wasn't sleek or streamlined like the newer models out today, but it had the parts where it counted.

After a few weeks of working at her new job, Sesshomaru had asked her to work on the team to modify the ship before Inuyasha started taking it out. Ever since then, she felt a connection with the ship. She knew it sounded stupid. You couldn't have a connection with an inanimate object, but she couldn't help being drawn to the ship. Whenever it needed repairs, she was right there, ready to bring it back up to peak condition.

Sesshomaru must have noticed her fixation with the aircraft, because one day as she was about to leave he took her aside to speak with her. He explained the rule about the smaller ships that Inuyasha took out for his runs, how they were only used for two hundred runs and then were dismantled. He told her that keeping them around for any longer would raise the risk of some sort of official being able to trace the ship back to their location. Sango mentioned that she thought that was just wasting a good ship, and the older man's lip quirked up slightly in what could be called a smile for him.

He then let her know that he already decided he would give her the ship before it was to be taken away, under the condition that she would alter the exterior and change the chip in the onboard computer so that the ship's former identity remained a secret. She was stunned to say the least, and all she could do was muster out a, "yes, thank you."

From then on, each time Inuyasha returned she would mentally check off the number of runs left before the ship fell under her command, each time becoming more and more possessive of the aircraft.

Sango was drawn out of her past reflections when she felt someone standing beside her. She turned and saw Inuyasha standing there.

His little white dog-ears drooped down the side of his head, his golden eyes expressing to her that he was sorry for being such a jerk. Looking into those eyes, she felt the anger she previously held for him begin to slip away.

"Hey," he said softly. She smiled and playfully punched him in the arm letting him know he was forgiven. He feigned hurt and she laughed genuinely, then motioned towards the ship.

"I started her up and ran a systems check. Everything's running smoothly."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you," he stated as he moved closer to inspect the work for himself. "There's nothing you can't fix." He slid her a confident grin and she shook her head.

"I'm just a mechanic, not a god. Maybe you'll finally realize someday when you break something and I can't fix it," she joked as she poked him in the ribs. He muttered a `feh' before turning around to watch the group of the people entering the far end of the hangar.

Three labour workers were wheeling in a large metal container while a man and a woman slowly trailed behind them. The pushcart the container was wheeled in on squeaked as it slid across the smooth floor, drawing the attention of the few people that were working in the hangar so early in the morning.

"I would have taken her out for a quick test run, but, you know," she said, nodding towards the group.

As the labourers made their way closer to the ship, Sango estimated that the pod-like container stood at almost six feet and was probably four feet in circumference. A heavy latch hung at the side of the cold metal structure, an electronic touch pad lock attached to the latch.

An involuntary chill ran down Sango's spine.

Inuyasha growled beside her, seconding her sentiments. "I don't like not knowing what I'm carrying," he said, his dark brows drawn together in a scowl as he glared at the container. Sango nodded.

Some of the warm rays of morning light hit the flawless metallic surface of the container. For a second the structure didn't look as cold and harsh, but it still didn't seem any less threatening.

"Inuyasha?"

He ignored his friend as his gaze turned to the man and woman who had been trailing behind before. They had stopped walking halfway across the hangar and now carried on a whispered conversation between themselves. Inuyasha's glowing amber eyes narrowed on the pair, his ears perking forward in an attempt to eavesdrop.

The pair in front of them split their ways a few moments later, the petite woman heading back toward the entrance door, the taller man making his way towards them. His dark hair was pulled back, though some of the shorter locks had escaped the tie so that they fell about his forehead. The outfit he wore was business attire, a long sleeved navy blue shirt coupled with black pants.

The hanyou beside her grumbled to himself, and Sango felt it was safe to assume that he hadn't heard anything they said.

"Be nice," she whispered, knowing his acute ears would pick up her words. The only response she got was a mumbled 'keh', but it was good enough.

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Miroku watched as the woman walked away, the hairs on the back of his neck raised. Something about that woman put him off. Her pale complexion and empty eyes coupled with her fine white hair and white pantsuit...it just gave him the creeps.

So much so that he couldn't even enjoy her womanly figure. He frowned inwardly. Pity.

She had come to see him off and give him last minute instructions on how to open the touch pad lock on the cargo, programmed to only work using his thumb print as identification. On their way over, she told him that she worked in the Senate, like him, but in the research and development department whereas he worked in public relations. He hadn't seen her before so he figured she must have been new, seeing as he was sure he had met all the women in the Senate.

Miroku felt an uneasiness settle in his stomach, but he brushed it off as nerves. It was his first job outside the walls of the Senate building, but that wasn't what was bothering him. He knew why he had been specifically chosen for this errand. His smooth, persuasive voice had managed to get him out of sticky situations before, and if ever someone with a calm demeanour and a knack for averting trouble was needed, it was now.

What bothered him was the purpose of the errand. It didn't sit well with him. What was locked inside the container, and where they were taking it...

Miroku pushed the distressing thoughts aside as he turned and began to make his way towards his transportation. Standing in front of the ship were two people, a man and a woman, but Miroku's attention was more drawn to the woman. He moved casually, fighting the suggestive grin that was trying to make it's way onto his face.

And just when I need something to brighten my day, a beauty appears before me.

Her dark brown hair was haphazardly pulled back in a high ponytail, a fringe of bangs reaching just above her eyes. The soft lines of her face somehow seemed familiar to him. The standard grey mechanic's suit she wore was stained and worn but it did complement her figure, emphasizing her pert breasts and contouring her slim hips. She had the front zipped up to just above her chest, a thin strip of magenta fabric peeking out from underneath.

A light bulb went of in Miroku's head as he recognized her as the woman he had seen when he made his initial visit to Sesshomaru. Beside her stood the man he had seen her arguing with, his own clothing complementing his tall, lean stature. His black vest worn over the open necked t-shirt sat well on his broad shoulders, the dark brown pants following the lines of his long legs down to his thick black boots. Upon his face he wore a scowl, and Miroku guessed that it was a perpetual facial expression for him.

He stood before the couple now extending his hand out to the man with silver hair, introducing himself. Inuyasha reluctantly took his hand, shaking it only once before letting it drop. Miroku just ignored the man`s foul mood, repeating the process with woman who smiled back warmly.

"Will you be joining us?" he asked her still holding onto her hand gently. "I'm sure that the journey would be much more enjoyable with your company."

A small blush graced her cheeks. He couldn't help but take it as encouragement.

"No. I'm just a mechanic."

He brought up his other hand so that now both his large hands were cradling her own delicate ones. He moved a little closer to her, adding a suggestive hint to his voice.

"Surely if I had know there were mechanics as lovely as you, I would have given the profession more thought."

The effect his words had on her was immediate, thought not quite what he had in mind. She rolled her eyes and groaned, wrenching her hand from his grasp.

"Save it," she snapped before heading towards the ship. "Inuyasha, I'm going to make sure they got the cargo secured."

Miroku let out a silent sigh of defeat. Perhaps I pushed it a little too quickly that time.

As he watched her move away, Miroku admitted to himself that he was sorry she chose to leave, but at the same time he was pleased to see her go. His gaze dropped down to her backside, his eyes greedily taking in the way her hips swayed slightly when she walked.

A low growling sound from his side drew his attention away from the girl. He turned to Inuyasha and gave him an innocent smile, wondering to himself how a man could sound so much like an animal.

And that's when he noticed the furry appendages atop Inuyasha's head.

"You're a hanyou," he thought out loud, not realizing the words had left his mouth until Inuyasha's brows drew together in a scowl.

"Yeah. So?" he snorted, folding his arms across his chest. "You got a problem with that?"

"No, not me." Miroku held up his hands in a pacifying gesture before pondering out loud again. "But the rest of the world does."

Inuyasha bristled at that last comment and glared at Miroku for a moment with piercing amber eyes before turning abruptly to head towards the aircraft.

"Well the rest of the world can bite my ass," the hanyou muttered under his breath.

Miroku smirked to himself as he followed him. With a moody pilot like that, this trip may prove itself to be somewhat interesting.

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This trip is gonna be hell!

I have to ride with a fucking pervert. Could this day get any worse...and where's my hat?

The heavy black boots strapped to Inuyasha's feet thumped as he stormed up the ramp to the ship. He stopped at the top just inside the doorway, growling as Miroku passed, letting him know who was in charge here. The three labourers passed and he leaned against the doorframe waiting for Sango to get off board as well. He ran his hands through his hair, trying to remember where he last left him hat.

Ah, yes. Back home. Some good it does me there.

Miroku's cheerful whistling from the front of the ship carried to Inuyasha's ears, making the urge to throttle the man even stronger.

That idiot's pushing his luck.

Not only had he ogled his best friend with no shame, he insulted his pilot which was always a bad move. Thinking about the last comment Miroku said made Inuyasha fume. As if he didn't realize that being a hanyou was as good as being a universal terrorist. Gee, he'd only been that way all his life.

He shook his head trying to push aside the man's words, thinking about their destination. A medical base stationed on a small planet in the next solar system. He'd been there before, several times in fact, to deliver medical supplies that were banned by the government. The whole place stunk of chemicals. It made him sick.

He sighed, finding that thinking about the destination didn`t exactly make him feel any better. Especially about the fact that it would take the whole day just to get there, and that was only if they didn`t run into any problems.

I just want to get this run over and done with.

A sharp smell wafted past his nose catching his attention. His senses went on high alert. Inhaling deeply, trying to pinpoint the scent, he racked his memory for some sort of indication to what the smell was. It was illusive, but for some reason it seemed a bit familiar.

Sango came up beside him noticing the way he suddenly tensed. She watched him curiously as he tested the air, his ears twitching from side to side trying to catch something beyond the normal sounds that filled that hangar. His strained his senses, frustrated that he couldn't put his finger on what was making him so tense.

A muffled explosion sounded from a distance, and Inuyasha quickly determined that it came from the factory next door. Not more than a moment later, another explosion went off, this one closer sending a wave of booming sound through the air. Inuyasha flattened his ears to his head to try and block out the sound, looking up to Sesshomaru's office above them just in time to see the large viewing panel explode, raining shards of glass down upon the people in the hangar. Flames followed right after, a wall of red heat quickly spreading out from the office, latching on to anything it touched. People working in the hangar began to scream and flee for the nearest exit while the flames reached out after them.

Inuyasha instinctively grabbed Sango by the arm, pulling her away from the door and yanking down on the lever to close it. The ramp closed inwardly, just before the flames made their way into the ship. Both of them ran to the cockpit, acting on instinct and the fear that pumped through their veins. They each fell into the a seat in the cockpit, madly working the controls in front of them as an alarm went off inside the ship.

Behind them sitting in a couch-like seat that sat against the wall, Miroku's eyes widened in horror as he watched flames lick at the large front window.

"Main thrusters on! Fuel cells loaded! Get this thing off the ground!" Sango barked out stats, furiously flipping switches while Inuyasha took the control, raising the ship of the ground with a startling jerk and steering it towards the side hangar door.

The large ships that occupied the other end of the hangar glowed from the flames that engulfed them, small shots of electricity bursting through the searing hot exterior.

"Secondary thrusters on! Boosters ready! Move it already!"

Inuyasha thrust the controls forward, jolting the three people, the sudden pressure forcing them further into their seats. One of the ships behind them burst in two, another wall of flames chasing their ship as it shot through the hangar door, up and above to safety in the clouds.

The blood rushed in Inuyasha's ears as he pushed the ship though the thin atmosphere around the red planet. His heart threatened to pound out of his chest, the youkai blood in him pumping a steady heat through his shaky limbs. Taking a deep breath, he slowed down the ship slightly, moving it along now as a steady pace as the white clouds disappeared behind them.

He heard Sango trying to steady her breathing beside him, her own heart pounding just as loudly as his. She leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes as she ran a hand through her bangs. Behind them, Miroku shifted forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees as he dropped his head into his hands.

Instantly when Inuyasha remembered the perverted passenger, his thoughts turned to the container in the cargo hold of the ship. His blood began to surge again, red-hot anger rushing through his already worked up body just thinking about the steel structure. Hastily, he typed a few commands into the central computer and let go of the controls, the ship settling in to autopilot. He shoved himself out of the worn seat and stormed to the back of the ship, his blood becoming more and more heated with each step he took.

Sango called out after him, but he didn't hear her, his mind too focused on one thing. The one thing everyone knew nothing about. The thing that had somehow been the cause of the explosion that was burning the hangar to the ground at that very moment.

He had known there was something wrong about the whole thing, this whole shipment Sesshomaru agreed to take on. If he had just listened to his instincts, they wouldn't be in this fucking mess.

He shoved open the heavy door to the cargo hold, letting it swing on it's hinges as he moved stealthily towards the steel container propped against the wall, numerous thick straps holding it in place. He lashed out, snapping each one of the straps with his sharp claws in one fell swoop.

Footsteps from behind him became louder as Sango and Miroku entered into the cargo room. He heard them stop just inside the doorway as they watched him, unsure of what to do. Inuyasha hovered over the lock, fingering the smooth device, trying to determine if he could disable it with just his claws.

No more mysteries. This ends here!

"What are you doing?" Sango's voice interrupted his thoughts and he whipped around to look at her, his hand clenching on the lock.

"What do you think?! Finding out what the fuck's in here!" He spun around again, focusing his attention on the lock in front of him. The touch pad glowed a fierce blue, the buttons on it illuminated making it obvious now to the hanyou that there was only one way to open it.

"Open it." He turned to face Miroku, whose facial expression had taken on a rather calm appearance at his command. Just looking at the man's placid face irritated Inuyasha even more, his claws itching to rip through something to satisfy his anger.

"No. I can't."

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows mockingly, the youkai in him laughing at the challenge in the man's words. "No?"

"I can't. I have orders not to-" The air suddenly left Miroku's lungs when he was thrown roughly against the wall, the firm pressure from the hanyou's hand tightening around his neck. Inuyasha brought his face mere inches from the other man's, his lips twisting in a threatening snarl, his enlarged canines now painfully obvious to Miroku. The ripe scent of fear that came off the man Inuyasha held hit him in waves. His youkai side fed off of it, revelling in the way the man trembled slightly but remained defiant.

He tightened his grip on Miroku's neck, causing the man to gasp for breath. Sango whimpered behind him.

"I don't think you understand. That wasn't just a building that blew up down there. That wasn't just my brother's business,." he growled, pausing to shift his fingers slightly on Miroku's neck, pointed claws now pinching the supple skin.

"That was my life! That's all I fucking had!" Slowly he increased the pressure again, his razor sharp nails piercing the flesh slightly, small red beads forming under his nails. A wicked smirk took its place on Inuyasha's face. "So, are you going to open it or should I just rip off your thumb and do it myself?"

Miroku lowered his head slightly and Inuyasha took it for a nod, releasing the man and letting him drop to the floor. He placed his hands firmly on his hips as he waited impatiently, glaring at Miroku as he slowly got up, rubbing his throbbing neck and feeling the blood that escaped. Inuyasha barked, startling Miroku into moving faster. Sango stood as far off to the side as possible, never having seen her friend in such a rage before.

Miroku touched his thumb to the touch pad and then pressed several buttons allowing the lock the click open. He stepped aside, Inuyasha taking his place beside the container as he threw off the lock and ripped open the latch that held the door shut.

Moving to stand in front of the container, with one strong thrust he threw open the door. A cloud of white steam burst out from inside, stinging Inuyasha's eyes and overpowering his nose. The scent brought a dizzy feeling to his head, and before he could step out of the steam's way something heavy fell into his chest, knocking him down to the hard floor.

He reacted immediately, grabbing the foreign object off him, rolling over and forcing it to the ground. He shook his head trying to dislodge the disconnected feeling caused by the steam. He looked downward to the thing on the floor that he was straddling.

Each of his hands were clasped around a thin arm, his mind slowly registering the other familiar body parts as his eyes scanned the thing below him. Two arms, two legs, a torso...

A baggy white t-shirt and a pair of green shorts covered the petite frame. Slowly his mind pieced together the information, confirming to him that he was sitting on some sort of human... but why would a human be cargo?

What the fuck? Is this a joke?

He turned his attention upwards to the person's face, cautiously brushing aside the thick tousled black locks that covered the facial features. Once he got a clear view of the feminine features that adorned the face, he felt his body jump slightly. Her eyes were closed, long lashes fanning across smooth pale cheeks. Rosy fine lips were slightly parted below her straight nose.

Sango gasped as she moved closer, Miroku moving to stand by her side. Inuyasha's head spun at the sudden realization, his mind coming out of the fuzzy haze created by the steam.

It's a girl...