InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Taisho Brother's Game and Wildlife Capture ❯ The Rhino ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The winds swept over the plains of the Serengeti. Waves of tall yellow grass pulsated with the warm breeze of early summer. Long silver hair flipped over a nose sniffing delicately at the breeze, obscuring an amber predator's gaze. Triangular ears pivoted atop his head to locate sounds of any movement or threat that could not be seen. Quickly, Inuyasha pulled his hair out of his face and secured it with a piece of leather, to keep it from obstructing his view again.

"Do you think it's a big one?" asked the young fox demon sitting behind the wheel of the old beat up Ford truck.

"Feh! It's a fucking rhino. They're always big and mean as hell." The inu hanyou walked around to the front of the truck and hopped into the specially designed seat mounted to the hood of the truck. He strapped himself into the seat, tucking his hair in his shirt, and grabbed the pole and rope meant to capture their quarry.

Hunting was something that came naturally to Inuyasha. It was a gift really. It didn't matter what it was, Inuyasha could track it down and capture it alive. It was how he was raised in the business he was in with his older, full demon half brother Sesshomaru. Together they owned and operated Taisho Brother Wildlife Game and Capture. Although, Sesshomaru did more of the owning and Inuyasha did more of the operating. The business had originally belonged to their father. Inu Taisho had brought his fifteen year old son from a previous relationship, his new wife, and their infant son to the large estate located fifty miles outside of Arusha in Tanzania, Africa. He had been a demon of the highest nobility, but he had given most of it up for the love of a human. To protect his human wife and infant hanyou son, he moved them across the world to a place where no one noticed and no one cared. It seems demons, humans and hanyous mingled well in the wilds of Africa.

The business of capturing animals for zoos and wildlife preserves was second nature to a dog demon. The biggest obstacle had been capturing the animals alive. In the early years, the Taisho's found out that simple tranquilizer darts distressed the animals too much and the survival rate was very low. The best and easiest way to capture an animal and have it arrive safely at its destination was an easy method that game wardens had used long before the Taisho's had ever arrived in Africa. An old truck, with a special chair mounted on the hood, was used for catching. A WWII surplus Jeep, kept tuned to perfection, was used to "chase" the animal down and tire it out. And a flat bed truck meant to haul the animal back to the farm before, mild sedation for transport all over the world.

It took ten years to get the precision down to an art form. Everyone, in the beginning, pitched in and learned to do everything. By the age of ten, Inuyasha could drive as well as his mother, track as well as his brother, and was very close to sitting in the big chair like his father. In that time, Taisho Game and Wildlife Capture became the go to company to capture and deliver exotic and dangerous animals to zoos and wildlife preserves for exhibits or breeding programs all over the world. It was just before Inuyasha's twelfth birthday that tragedy struck the family. No one really knows what happened, or how it really transpired, but the accident was a bloody, fiery mess that took the lives of Inu Taisho and his wife Izayoi. Sesshomaru had to return from Japan to take care of the little brother he never wanted. Inuyasha was faced with the loss of his parents and the cold apathy of his older brother.

When Sesshomaru returned, he changed the name of the company to The Taisho Brother's Game and Wildlife Capture, though never really telling the younger Inuyasha. He managed the money and the political aspects of the business which continued to grow. He even kept the family his father had hired years before, mostly because he would have had to raise Inuyasha had he dismissed them. Surprisingly enough, Inuyasha knew what to do, so Sesshomaru allowed the boy to practically run wild. The young hanyou had learned the hard part of the business from the man who pioneered it in the first place. There were a few incidents with some of the smaller prey animals, like antelope and deer, but Sesshomaru wrote those off as Inuyasha's natural instincts getting the better of him, "Weak half breed." He had told the boy on all of those occasions.

There was obviously an animosity between the two brothers. There were also times, mostly while Inuyasha was going through his hormonal adolescence that the brothers fought until both were bruised and bloody. But that animosity had mellowed out over the last few years. Regardless of any ill feelings between the brothers, it was very clear to anyone that they were fiercely protective of each other. Only Inuyasha could beat the crap out of Sesshomaru, and vice versa.

Now, the company was the best in the business. The Taisho Brother's had orders from every continent for animals from all over the world. It was late March, the beginning of summer and the hunting season on the Serengeti. The summer was always the best time for hunting. It was after mating season in the spring, and the animals were less aggressive and more occupied with staying alive. Today, they were after the elusive rhino. Taisho Brother's Game and Wildlife Capture had an order from the Shikon Zoo in Tokyo. Honestly, most of this year's orders were for the Shikon Zoo, but the rhino could be the most problematic, which is why Inuyasha wanted to get it over and done with as soon as possible.

There had been several mishaps over the years with the rhino and Inuyasha was trying to be cautious at best. They had picked up a trail of this rhino a few days ago and had followed the tracks. Sango and her two tailed fire cat, Kirara, were acting as aerial support. They had spotted the rhino grazing several miles away. Miroku and Koga were in the chasing car, ready to start running the beast towards Inuyasha's location. The young Shippo was starting his first season driving the catching truck. The kid had done well with the giraffe and gnu during his test run last season, but this would be his first test at anything that had a habit of fighting back.

Inuyasha reached down and picked up a handful of dirt and sand, rubbing it in his palms, "Tell the letch and the wolf to start herding it this way. Once I pick up the scent, try to get along side of the rhino. But not TOO close, ok Runt?" He grasped his catching pole tightly.

The young fox pulled the radio from its cradle, "Catching truck to chase car, Baka says to start herding this way."

"Watch it Runt!" the hanyou growled.

The radio squawked, "Tell Dog Shit to get a rope around its neck this time."

"Keh!" was Inuyasha's eloquent response, "Do your job Wolf Shit and I'll do mine," He lowered the goggles that would protect his eyes.

"Coming your way Mutt," The radio squawked again.

"Okay Shippo, start out easy and we'll meet in the middle."

There was the distinctive grind of the gears, before the truck jerked forward. The motion caused Inuyasha's goggles to become slightly askew. Then there was the silence of the engine stalling and coming to a complete halt. Shippo shrunk down in the driver seat sheepishly. Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "Shippo!"

"Sorry Bwana…" Shippo drawled with smirk on his face and sarcastic tone. The engine restarted and they were off.

Inuyasha’s gaze was searching forward. He hated the goggles he was wearing, but sand and debris in the eyes could be dangerous. But he didn't have to see, he could smell it. He could smell the open plains of the Serengeti; the tall grasses that made him sneeze in the late spring or even the dead gnu a few miles away. He loved the Serengeti. It was more a home than anywhere else had ever been. He had been to school in Tokyo for a while, but if he could read a book about it and get it over with, it suited him just fine. Besides, he hated the smell of the city. Tokyo by no means was dirty, but it smelled that way to Inuyasha's sensitive nose. Here, it was clean, open and always fresh.

The hanyou's nose twitched with the scent of unmistakable male rhino. A very pissed off male rhino at that. He briefly glanced back at the young driver and pointed off to the left. The idea was to chase the rhino and wear the fight out of him. Then the catching truck would come up alongside and put the rope on him. As simple as it sounds, it never went that easily. If Inuyasha was honest with himself, he didn't need Shippo, the truck, the wolf or even Sango high above. He could chase down the rhino on his own and capture it all by himself. But this was the way his father had done it. This was the way his father had devised so everyone, both human and demon, could be involved and no one would feel left out. This kind of hunt was a group effort and everyone had to pitch in. There were other kinds of hunts that kept the Hyena demons away from the ranch where the humans weren't allowed.

There were a lot of demons in Africa. Most of them stayed far away from humans and humans usually stayed far away from the demon tribes deep in the Serengeti and farther north in the Kalahari. Of course that's the way it was all over the world. Hanyou were still extremely rare. Inuyasha had met a few hanyou in his time in Africa. There was the lion hanyou Game Warden and there was the jackal hanyou that had worked for his father for a while. Inuyasha hadn't seen the jackal in a very long time. And the Game Warden had monthly visits to make sure everything was on the up and up. Inuyasha had to chuckle to himself. He liked Kimba. Sesshomaru had to posture and try to tell the big cat who was the top dog. Kimba fined the company several hundred thousand dollars on a trumped up charge that magically disappeared in a clerical mishap. Kimba had said later he did it just to see if the "top dog" would change his expression.

Inuyasha shook off the memory and vaguely heard muffled talking from the radio over the roar of the engine, probably Sango giving directions to Shippo from above. There was a sharp jerk of the truck to the left and the truck exited the dense grass to the open plain.

Inuyasha strained his keen eyesight through the goggles, searching for the dust cloud. It was the tell tale sign of the jeep racing over the dusty plain. Amber eyes caught sight of the plume and pointed again to Shippo. Within minutes, the old truck was trailing the chase car by a few hundred yards, and the frightened and angry rhino a length in front of the jeep.

Now the hunt was on. A slow, lazy smirk of pure glee spread over the hanyou's lips. He grasped the pole and rope. He hit the quick release of the belt holding him in the chair at the hood of the truck, planted his feet on the re-enforced bumper and launched himself forward. He hit the ground running, literally. He was running behind the chase car signaling to Koga, who smirked and also, jumped from the speeding jeep. The cars were supposed to slow and keep pace behind the demons, but Miroku kept pace with Inuyasha and Koga. Soon Inuyasha was preparing to get the noose at the end over the rhino's head and dangerous horn. At speeds close to forty miles per hour, Inuyasha and Koga were on one side of the rhino and Miroku had maneuvered the jeep on the other side. Inuyasha had an inkling of Sango and Kirara's presence high above, keeping pace with the action.

What happened next happened so fast, Inuyasha barely had time to react, let alone stop it from happening at all. The demons and jeep were dead even, with four tons of pissed off rhino being sandwiched between demon and vehicle. In the moment Inuyasha was marveling over the large creature and the fact that the horn had to be about five feet long and razor sharp at the tip, said creature reared its head towards Koga. Koga jumped straight up, leaving the horn to almost impact with Inuyasha's face. Inuyasha managed to nearly miss being impaled by ducking under the horn, but he lost his footing on the uneven ground, tumbling for a distance.

The irate hanyou was getting up dusting himself off, ready to spew a string of curses in Koga's direction when he saw the chase car had also come to a dead stop. His heart was thundering against his chest and he pushed back the goggles to get a clearer picture of the scene. Miroku was clutching his leg. Sango and Kirara were on the ground. Koga looked worried. The rhino was trotting away in triumph and all Inuyasha could think was, "Not again! This can't happen again!"

0 – 0 – 0

Several hours later, Koga pulled the jeep into the drive way at the main ranch house. The others had taken Miroku to the Arusha hospital to treat his wound. Old lady Kaede could heal the wound. They had gotten the bleeding to stop, and it didn't look like the rhino had gored Miroku too badly. Sango had loaded Miroku up on Kirara and taken off as quickly as possible. Shippo was driving the truck, and Inuyasha was running the hundred plus miles to Arusha behind Sango and Miroku. Koga had picked the short straw and was given the task of informing Sesshomaru.

The wolf demon pulled the hand break, letting out a deep sigh. The last thing he wanted to do was give Sesshomaru bad news. He hopped out of the jeep and headed into the house. There were no such things as locked doors in the Serengeti, so Koga barging into the back study where Sesshomaru usually took his afternoon tea was nothing new. There was a somber silence as Koga stood there, holding the door open. Sesshomaru would look up eventually and Koga wouldn't have to say anything. There was enough of Miroku's blood on Koga's clothes to get the message across.

Slowly, Sesshomaru looked up from the elegantly written letter from the Shikon Zoo. Koga had to suppress the urge to chuckle at the sight of the fearsome dog demon wearing black rimmed reading glasses. Sesshomaru may be able to pick a falcon out of the sky on a cloudy day without the aid of binoculars, but ask him to read up close, and he needed glasses. Koga hardly noticed the delicate movement of Sesshomaru's nose, "How bad?" Though Sesshomaru's expression never changed, Koga saw the emotion flash in his eyes.

"Rhino gored him pretty bad. He lost a lot of blood before we got it to stop. We dressed it the best we could and Sango was getting him to the hospital. That was five hours ago."

Ever the calm one, Sesshomaru stood from his desk, letting the letter slip onto his desk, "Let's go," And the tall dog demon strode past the worried wolf.

0 – 0 – 0

Inuyasha was leaning calmly against a wall in the hospital waiting room, although he was far from calm. Sango was sitting nervously in a chair, a small kitten like Kirara purring in her lap. Shippo was pacing back and forth seemingly in deep thought. They were all worried. This hadn't been the first time they had dealt with a pack member being gored by a rhino. There had been that young bull fighter from Barcelona when Inuyasha was young. He got the horn in his stomach. He lived, but that was the first and last season he worked for his father. There had been one other guy that had been gored, but he never walked again.

The hardest hit by rhino's had been Sango's family. Her father had been killed after being gored in the chest. Her younger brother had been trampled almost to death while trying to get a rope around a rhino's hooves. Now, Miroku had been gored in the thigh. Sango and Miroku had a love hate relationship. He loved to pester her, and she hated it, though Inuyasha knew that his two best friends were secretly hooked on each other. And she was worried that Miroku was going to become like her brother, permanently tied to a wheel chair.

Inuyasha huffed and pushed off the wall moments before Sesshomaru and Koga breezed through the doors of the small hospital.

Sesshomaru's stone stare caused Shippo to scurry off to the other side of the lobby. The brothers faced off and the elder dog demon ended the silent glaring match, "What happened?"

"Miroku was gored by a fucking rhino. That's what happened."

"I am aware of that, half breed. I would like to know how it happened," Sesshomaru's tone demanded an answer.

"Then you should ask the right fucking question, ya' stony bastard. I don't know what happened. Ask Wolf Shit, he jumped to miss the damn thing when it reared. I hit dirt and was picking rocks out'a my teeth and didn't see it happen," The hanyou pointed towards Koga.

Koga found himself nose to nose with a very unhappy looking Sesshomaru. Although, Koga thought Sesshomaru always looked unhappy, but right now he looked REALLY unhappy, "Wolf," Sesshomaru said like a curse, "HOW did this happen?"

Koga took a step back from the full dog demon and put his hands up in placation, "Just like Wolf Shit said. I jumped when the rhino reared at me. The mutt hit dirt. Damn rhino then reared five feet of horn towards the Catching Truck," Koga peaked around Sesshomaru to smile at Shippo, "Nice bit of driving there Kid," when he looked back at the imposing dog demon, Koga withered slightly before he stood tall. He was not going to be intimidated by Sesshomaru. It was an accident that couldn't have been prevented, "The rhino's head whipped around in the other direction to go after Miroku. The horn just clipped him. I swear it was an accident."

Sesshomaru's eyes shifted to Inuyasha briefly, who nodded, and then focused back on Koga, "Very well."

And that was the end of that. Game and wildlife capture was a hazardous business. There was always some risk involved. They all knew it. They all accepted it. They all had signed liability waivers because of it. They also had the best medical insurance money could buy. Soon after Sesshomaru's icy entrance, they all were back in their perspective places. Inuyasha leaning against a wall, acting cool and collected even though he was worried. Sango had fallen asleep in her chair with Kirara curled in her lap. Shippo was playing cards with Koga and beating him badly. Sesshomaru was blankly staring out of the window. The doors to the main hospital swung open and a short old woman in white scrubs walked out, pulling her medical mask off in the process. Everyone turned to hear her verdict, "Why did it have to be Miroku?"

Sango stood up, dislodging a very unhappy two tailed demon from her lap, "Is he alright?"

The old woman wrung the white mask in her hands, "Oh dear… Oh dear, oh dear," she walked to a chair and sat down.

Inuyasha huffed in annoyance, "Spit it out Baba…"

Kaede looked up into worried amber eyes. A soft smirk curled at the edge of her wrinkled lips. The hanyou was gruff on the outside, but he was genuinely concerned for his friend, "I ask again, Inuyasha, did it have to be Miroku?"

"It ain’t like I planned it Old Woman, so tell us! Is the bozo gonna live or not?" The hanyou yelled in exasperation.

"It isn't good," Kaede looked at her hands, "If it had been one of you demons, we wouldn't be in this situation. The injury would have healed, and you would have been a little light headed for a few hours at most. Miroku, in this case, is unfortunately human. Though there was no major arterial damage, he still lost a lot of blood."

"Is that all?" Inuyasha raised a relieved eyebrow, "Sango… Give Miroku some blood and let's get out of here."

Sesshomaru shook his head. He knew exactly where the old doctor was going, "Inuyasha, I do not believe it is that simple, although, sometimes it is the simplest things that manage to slip past you."

Inuyasha growled at his brother and stepped forward. Sango was the one that put her arm up baring his way, "There has been enough blood today. You two don't need to get into it, especially not here." Watery cinnamon eyes pleaded with Inuyasha.

The inu hanyou growled low as if he was going to tear into Sesshomaru just because. Inuyasha needed to hurt something. He needed to let out the frustration and anger. But one look at Sango about to cry and Inuyasha backed away from Sesshomaru and stopped his growling, "Keh!" the hanyou turned away.

Sesshomaru, for his part understood Inuyasha's frustration. He too wanted to hurt something, specifically the rhino, but that wasn't possible at the moment. Sesshomaru wanted to allow the emotions he was feeling to escape the tight control he had on them. However, his pride wouldn't allow it. Besides, Inuyasha was upset enough for the both of them, "What human must be found to bleed dry?"

"It isn't just that Miroku's human," Sango began.

The old doctor nodded, "You are correct Ms. Sango. Miroku has is blood type O Negative. Where he can give blood to everyone, he can only receive the same blood type. Because of this, Miroku was required to donate blood every three months in case of such an accident. Whole blood does not store well, so it is separated. I have the plasma as a result and the pint from his last donation. We used the last pint of whole blood during the surgery. I can try to supplement with plasma, but that may not be enough. He needs whole blood and finding a donor with O Negative blood on such short notice is not easy."

The entire crew went silent for several moments before Inuyasha stormed out of the hospital. He couldn't stay rhere. There was nothing that he could do anyway. Koga went to follow, but Sesshomaru put his arm up baring his path. There was no stopping Inuyasha from his tantrum. And besides, they were a man down; Sesshomaru didn't need two of his men out for the count. Koga growled, but relented. It was for the best anyway. Inuyasha was going to go do what they all wanted to do anyway. Be angry at the world.

Inuyasha was, indeed being angry. He was pissed beyond the point of breaking. His best friend in the world was going to die and there was NOTHING he could do. So lost in his thoughts as he was walking from the hospital that Inuyasha didn't see the boy, looking lost and confused walking into the hospital. There was a thud and a crash as the two collided. The mousy boy looked up from the ground, "Oh... Excuse me."

"Watch where you're going, kid!" Inuyasha yelled, brushing himself off.

The boy blinked a few times, his eyebrows rising with dawning comprehension, "Goodness... Are you one of the Taisho Brothers? I've been looking for you for several hours. I heard you were..."

"For fucks sake, the bozo isn't even dead yet and there are people looking for his job!" Inuyasha reached down picking up the boy by his arm. Inuyasha's claws digging in and drawing a bit of blood.

The boy's eyes were wide with fear, "Oh no... You have it all wrong... " He tried to plead, "I have a message of great importance. I was sent by..."

"I don't care if you were sent by Kami to tell me the world is going to end in a cataclysm of fire and brimstone! Miroku ain’t dead YET... And if you...“ alarm bells started to ring in the inu hanyou's head. The blood that was oozing over his claws had a familiar twinge to it. Be it the copper content, or the distinct lack of iron, he couldn't exactly put his finger on it.

Inuyasha released the boy and set him down calmly, "What's your blood type kid?"

The messenger boy blinked in utter confusion, "Um... O negative... I think. But that isn't why I'm here," the boy tried to straighten himself out and quell his fears, "I'm here to tell you..."

The silver haired hanyou grabbed the boy again, not really caring or thinking about the message the boy had. Walking back into the hospital, Inuyasha was very much thinking about saving his best friend, "What's your name kid?"

Continuing to blink in confusion and dragging his feet a bit, "Hojo... I work for the Arusha Taxi company and I just dropped..."

Inuyasha pushed open the doors to the hospital and dragged the young taxi driver in, "BABA! I have Hobo here that will be more than willing to donate some blood," turning to the still babbling kid in his grasp and growling, "Won’t you…" it wasn't a request.

Everyone still in the waiting room turned and looked at Hojo first, who seemed to shrink farther into his crisply pressed shirt. Inuyasha looked pleased as punch with himself for solving the unsolvable problem. Kaede walked calmly towards Hojo, with her hands behind her back and looked up at him, "Child do ye have O negative blood?" She asked just as calmly.

Hojo managed to release himself from Inuyasha's grasp and straighten himself up to look a little less scared, "I... I think so.. It isn't something I've had to worry about. But I would be more than happy to help if I can."

The old woman smiled and pointed, "Down that hallway and to the left. We can find out for sure, and most important, have you give a pint in order to save a dear friend."

Hojo nodded and walked down the hallway, happy to help. He stopped half way down the hallway and turned to the congregation of people, "Oh... There was a message... But I can't remember it now," he smiled, "I will make sure I tell the doctor should I remember it," he then continued down the hall.

Kaede turned to address the extremely anxious people in the waiting room, "Go... Get out of my hospital. This is a place of healing..." she turned a decisive glare towards Inuyasha, "not a place of brutality."

Shocked by her ire, the hanyou growled. Sesshomaru put a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder which instantly stopped the younger brother's growling, "We will be at the Safari bar when you have news."

The old woman nodded and walked back through the doors which led to the operating rooms. Inuyasha shrugged off Sesshomaru's hand and stomped out of the hospital. Koga shrugged and followed the brooding hanyou. Sango picked up Kirara, following slowly as well. Shippo stood next to Sesshomaru for a moment, looking up at the tall demon, "So now we wait?"

The proud countenance of the noble dog demon never broke as he looked down his nose at the young fox. Though his face never spoke of an emotion beside contempt or apathy, his gold eyes reflected the vast emotions Sesshomaru was capable of. The elder demon let out a breath, that could have been mistaken for a sigh, but Sesshomaru didn't do such things, "We do as the Doctor asks... We go," and the demon elegantly strode out of the room with the confused fox on his heals.

0 - 0 - 0

The hours ticked by at the Safari bar a few blocks from the hospital. The group of friends and family, sat with long faces around a small table. Inuyasha was on his fourth or fifth beer, he really didn't remember. Koga was about the same. Shippo was still too young to drink anything and was drinking soda pop. Sango had been drinking a never ending glass of Long Island Ice Tea. Kirara was lapping at a small bowl of Irish cream. Sesshomaru was the only one standing like a sentinel, a tea cup in his hand, staring out into the blackness of the night. The silence was deafening.

The phone rang, startling everyone in the bar. Koga and Inuyasha were at main bar, nearly salivating as the bar keep answered the phone. As soon as Inuyasha's ear twitched at the sound of Kaede's voice, he grabbed the phone, "How is he? Is he ok? Will he live? Should I come back and kick his ass? Why aren't you talking Baba?"

"If you would allow the Doctor a moment to say something, half breed, perhaps she would give you better indication of Miroku's condition," Sesshomaru snatched the phone from the hanyou with a grumble, "Speak Doctor... Mhmmm.... Mhmmm... He did. You may bill us for the charges," and Sesshomaru hung up the phone and turned back to the anticipating crowd, "Miroku sat up in bed and asked the nurse to bear his child," rolling his eyes and sounding almost disappointed, "He will live. We can retrieve him in four or five days."

The collective sigh of relief was palpable and echoed throughout the bar, "Drinks all around!" Koga yelled.

"HELL YEAH!" Inuyasha chimed in. And they all drank and celebrated the fact that their friend was going to live. It was a merry moment and they reveled in that moment. Even Sesshomaru cracked a smile when Inuyasha stumbled from the bar to the truck several rounds later. They sang songs and were generally happy with life as they drove back to the farm about an hour away. Koga and Inuyasha were arm in arm as they entered the house.

"Breakfast at six!" Sango reminded.

The young fox grumbled, "Awe man... Does it have to be that early?"

"Breakfast is always that early," Sesshomaru commented as he strode off to his room.

"Yeah, yeah... " The inu hanyou waved as he pushed Koga off him, "Your room is that way Wolf Shit... " Of course the action caused the drunken Inuyasha to stumble in the other direction.

"Is not... My room is..." The wolf looked around, which caused him to wobble, "Uh... It is that way isn't it?" He laughed and stumbled off in the other direction.

Inuyasha chuckled and ping ponged his way down the hall to his room at the back of the house. It was quiet and secluded and that was the way he liked it. He opened the door and flipped on the light. He started undressing when his ears twitched on the top of his head. He had his shirt half way up over his head when her voice, like tinkling bells drifted through his brain.

"Um... Before you go any further, I should tell you that you are not alone." There was a girl, black hair flowing down her shoulder, wearing his favorite red plaid pajama's top, in his bed.