InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Torn Apart ❯ Chapter 17

 

Chapter 17:

 

Portraits adorned the dark green walls lending contrast to the otherwise dreary office. Bookcases filled to the brim with scientific journals more then a hundred years in the collecting lined the walls of the rectangular office leaving space for two windows on one wall. A door on the wall to the left of the windows led to the master suite and the rest of the apartment. Spaces were left between the bookcases to allow two pictures to frame the door on one side and two more framed by bookcases on the opposite side. There were no bookcases on the wall with the two large windows although a fifth portrait was nestled them. Soft-lit ceiling lights illuminated the odd collection of pictures.

 

Of the four side-wall pictures, one showed an old man sitting at his lab bench with a dowdy looking woman on one side and a young boy standing in front of them while an intricate display of glassware stood in the background. Inscribed on a brass plate underneath it were the words, “Louis Pasteur and the first successful vaccination.”

 

Another contained a picture of two men. One was standing next to a large-model that swiveled around a central pole looking as though a circular staircase was built with slates stacked one on top of another. The other man sat next to the model speaking with obvious enthusiasm to his companion. Beneath this picture was the inscription, `Watson and Crick's Double Helix'.

 

The third and fourth pictures were digitally re-mastered old black and white, or rather brown faded photos of men. One contained the serious picture of Kitasato Shibasaburo, as distinguished by the inscription, standing in formal Japanese dress with black kimono and white under haori. The other contained the headshot of an equally serious Alexandre Yersin in a slightly worn business jacket.

 

The fifth picture, nestled neatly between the two windows was a stolen snapshot of a smiling Kagome leaning against Goshinboku while the wind played in her hair. She appeared to be in her early teens, thirteen or fourteen perhaps.

 

To one side of the room, was a mahogany desk with smaller pictures littering the surface with a printer to one side, a fax machine on the other and centered between the two was an expensive looking laptop. Papers littered the surface with mad scribbling marring the smooth white pages. Sitting behind the desk was one black-tipped red haired kitsune lounging in an elegant, old-styled leather chair while his soft bushy tail swayed gently in laziness.

 

He had been staring at nothing for the majority of the day, letting his mind wander where it would. What he should have been doing was reading some of the scientific literature he was behind on. He needed to read it if he wanted to stay abreast of the rapidly changing field, but he couldn't put his mind to wrapping around the massive amounts of data. It was either that or work on his lesson plans for the yobiko he taught nights at. Summer school would be starting next week, and he needed to be prepared for the dedicated young minds that would be coming after him, worried about high school and university entrance exams. If he wasn't reading literature or working on lesson plans, he should have been working on some law cases for Sesshoumaru.

 

Scooting his chair back a little, he propped his feet against his desk and wondered just how much longer he had to pretend to work at the law firm before he could return to research. It had already been about 65 years since he had last dabbled his paws into active research, and he was itching to return rather then subtly guiding others through grants and carefully phrased e-mails. He had quietly retreated from research after he started to become a little too well known. Sesshoumaru, sadly, had not been so lucky.

 

It would take many years for the taiyoukai to openly regain the reigns of his law firm as a result of his fame. Thank goodness for the fact that most of his employees were fellow youkai and understood his plight. At least this way, he could work as a `junior partner' while still controlling the direction of the firm. That's where Shippou stepped in. He would be the `active' senior partner for a few more years until one of Kouga's daughters had enough experience to take over. A few more years after that Sesshoumaru would step back up and resume his place. It was all a matter of shuffling lives and identities to fool an increasingly paranoid human population.

 

Sighing, Shippou sat up and typed idly on his laptop checking his e-mail for the umpteenth time that day. It was a compulsion he acquired and seemed discontent to end. It gave him something to do on days he felt indisposed to do anything. Type in the address, log-in to the system, check his e-mail, maybe answer a few, and log-off. It was a ritual he found comfort in much as some find comfort in jogging everyday or looking forward to a drink after work. He found comfort in e-mail. Logging into his service, his eyes skimmed the thirty new messages, mostly junk, collecting in his box. Clicking the tiny boxes to delete the rather tedious spam, he felt his jean pocket vibrate. Jumping slightly before pressing firmly on the delete button on his browser, he reached his free-hand into his pocket and freed the violently vibrating phone from its confinement. Flipping it open, he idly answered, “Mikatahnoo speaking.”

 

“It's good to hear your tired old voice, Shippou!”

 

Shippou stared idly at his computer screen before recognition flashed in his eyes. “So how much money do you need this time?” he inquired with a grin.

 

“Oh, you know, about three billion yen should do the trick I'd say.”

 

Shippou laughed at the slightly ridiculous number his friend and son-in-law spouted off. “No, seriously Kitaro, why are you calling?”

 

Silence settled over the phone as Shippou leaned back in his chair with a smile on his face. “I wanted to know if we really are finally going to meet her.”

 

Shippou's grin widened. “Of course! You didn't think we'd send out the invitations if she wasn't willing to meet the whole family. Besides, she's already settled at Sesshoumaru's so she can't back out now.”

 

“Great! Maybe I'll fly in early and see if I can't extend my stay by a few days.”

 

Shippou's feet fell flat to the floor from where he had propped them on the desk. “You know the rest aren't going to be too happy if you suddenly show up on the doorstep before they can.”

 

Kitaro's tenor laugh filtered over the phone-line. “Oh, please. You should know by now that almost everyone is trying to find an excuse to head over early to the party. They've been dying to see this epitome of sweetness you, Inuyasha, and Sesshoumaru are so obsessed with. I mean, you've kept me waiting for almost five hundred years telling story after story to Mottomokicho and our children about your adventures looking for jewel shards and fighting Naraku and his incarnations.”

 

Shippou's mind spun in circles as he felt his lazy day turn into one big headache. “You've got to be kidding me,” he mumbled into his free hand as his forehead fell forward.

 

“And here I thought you were the smart one of the group,” teased Kitaro.

 

“Yeah, well, I guess Inuyasha's been rubbing off on me.”

 

“I'd say so,” replied the black-haired kitsune on the other line. “Hey, I gotta get going soon. I have a lot of work to clear up before I can skedaddle my way out of here. I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a dream before I finalized my traveling arrangements.”

 

“Yeah,” mumbled Shippou. Clearing his throat a little, he focused his mind on the work that his son-in-law had chosen this decade to follow. “So how is it over there off the coast of India?”

 

“Rotten, absolutely rotten,” came the quick response. “A few weeks ago some of the Tsunami survivors kidnapped one of the senior bureaucrats here on Andaman Island just so they could coerce the government into distributing food packets. Everyone's starving on this forgotten island, and half of those are suffering from one disease or another. Just about every vitamin deficiency one can have is starting to crop up down here, and getting people to boil and filter their water is a living nightmare. We don't have the resources, and they could almost care less.”

 

Shippou shook his head; there really wasn't much he could do besides send some relief aid his way. It seemed like only the major hit areas of Indonesia and India were getting the necessary aid they needed after the Tsunami hit in late December. International coverage seemed to have that effect, but some of the less damaged areas were suffering for it now. He was grateful for the amount of support the coverage generated, but it might have been better to siphon more of it off to the lesser known hit areas.

 

“I'll see what I can do then to send some food packets, vitamins, and strainers over there for you. I'm sure I can convince Sesshoumaru to part with some of his money again.”

 

Relief echoed over the phone as Kitaro let out a happy sigh. “You're the greatest, Shippou. Just some cheesecloth works fine for filtering. If I can get everyone to filter their water before drinking, even if they aren't boiling it, that'll help with probably 80% of our cases of cholera.”

 

Shippou grinned. “The smell is getting to you isn't it.”

 

Grunting sounded over the phone. “Of course it is! You should be down here taking care of all these sick people and see how you like walking around in detritus all day.”

 

Shippou sighed as his memory drifted to other times. “I've done that, several times. Two that come to mind are once with your mother and again in Hong Kong and China when the plague epidemic hit.”

 

“Oh yeah, I can't believe I nearly forgot China. So why am I here again?”

 

Shippou grinned. “You've been laboring under the influence of Kagome's and Rin's memory to long.”

 

“That's right. I can't believe I'm finally going to see Kagome.”

 

Shippou laughed again. “You will. Trust me, you will. Anyways, I should let you get back to your work.”

 

“I guess I should. It'll be good to see you again. It's been to long.”

 

“It's only been six months!” said Shippou with a gleam in his eye.

 

“True, but I still say you could have joined me down here. The CDC can only do so much you know, and with your background, we could have used the help.”

 

Shippou stuck his tongue out at the phone. “I know better then that. Now get back to work! I'll see you at the week's end.”

 

“All right, all right! I can tell a dismissal when I hear one. Sayonara!”

 

“Sayonara.”

 

Shippou closed his flip phone before staring with unseeing eyes at the laptop in front of him. China brought up memories of a time when he had dropped everything to help a young man discover something no one else had been able to after centuries of trying. Letting his gaze wander over to Yersin's photo, he wished that Myouga hadn't been the one to suffer for his first foray into scientific research. If only the flea hadn't died that day a little over one hundred years ago providing the missing piece to a centuries old puzzle. Myouga had mourned Kagome's loss almost as much as he had, and it saddened him that the tiny youkai was unable to survive another century after so many. Sighing, Shippou returned to the comforting ritual of checking his e-mail. He would get to the bottom of whatever mischief his children were planning tomorrow.

 

—Kanada's Sushi Bar—

 

Ayumi walked hesitantly into the restaurant, searching the scattered tables with her dark brown eyes. She was fifteen minutes early, but it had taken all her will power to not turn back for home half a dozen times. She still thought she was crazy to agree to go out on a date with a man she barely knew by name. She had been resolved to just say goodbye before he picked up the phone the night before, but as soon as she heard his honey tones drifting into her ear, she just couldn't resist one more meeting. She had to see him again.

 

Hence, she was standing in the door of a restaurant she had never been to, trying to spot his dark brown hair and light skin tone amongst the backdrop of suit-clad Asian men and women. Sure, a few of them were dressed up in summer dresses and silk ties, but most appeared to be of the working class relaxing from a long day at work. Looking down at her own clothes, she felt slightly out of place. She had decided on a knee-length dress with a few flares at the waist and a fitted line running down each side of the bodice. The neck-line flowed like a cowl from shoulder to shoulder covering most of her chest and suggesting that if she would just bend over far enough one might see a hint of cleavage. The dress itself was a soft periwinkle that appeared to bright for the somber atmosphere of black and grey business suits surrounding her.

 

Fidgeting with discomfort, she was abruptly turned around with the intent of sprinting for the nearest train station when her nose lightly bumped into a firm chest. Soft chuckling tickled her ear as lightly calloused hands gently grasped her shoulders. Closing her eyes against the blush she knew was about the threaten her face, she felt the man's hands lightly run down her bare arms to rest on her elbows as he gently pushed her away from him.

 

“I hope you weren't about to leave because I was a minute late.”

 

Dulcet tones flowed into her burning ears. Cracking open one eye, she tilted her head slightly upwards to look into those of her date. Sighing she opened up the other as she took a step backwards into the restaurant. Feeling his hands continue to slide down her arms before falling gently to his side caused goose bumps to rise along her flesh. Smiling sheepishly, she took another step backwards and to the side to allow Shuukaku to follow her into the all too warm building.

 

“I'm sorry. I was just going to wait outside for you rather then stand around in here.” Ayumi hoped he would forgive the slight fib. There was no reason for him to know she almost turned tail and ran out on him.

 

Shuukaku smiled knowingly. “Don't worry about it. I'm just glad I could save you a long wait outside.” Grasping her elbow lightly in one hand, he gallantly motioned forward. “Shall we find ourselves a table?”

 

Ayumi smiled brightly, happy that he had arrived when he did. With him there beside her, she was glad she had made the effort to look a little nicer then normal. His eyes just seemed to gleam in appreciation in the dark atmosphere of the restaurant. “Lead on, dear sir.”

 

Laughter erupted from his silk covered chest as he walked between the crowded tables to a secluded one half-hidden in the corner. She couldn't wait to learn more about him.

 

—Late Evening Stroll—

 

“I can't believe he wouldn't even have supper with us! I can understand skipping out on lunch. He probably wasn't here, but supper? Come on!”

 

Kagome laughed as Sango continued to rag on their host. She couldn't help it. It just felt so good to be able to laugh and talk with her after such a long time. She hadn't realized just how withdrawn the two had become from each other after Sesshoumaru kidnapped her from the hot spring some two and a half years ago. It wasn't until Sango blew up at her twenty-four hours earlier that she realized how far they had drifted away from one another. Now things were almost back to normal. They had spent all morning and most of the afternoon talking about nothing and yet everything. It felt good doing nothing.

 

Granted, it wasn't all fun and games. Sango had been drilling her all day on meditating and practicing drawing on her miko abilities; she felt exhausted. She was only still functioning because she had stolen an hour's nap right after lunch. Shaking her head, she smiled and looked sideways at Sango's fuming face. “Oh, stop it Sango. You knew he wasn't going to be there.”

 

“I know; at least he had the decency to tell one of the maids he wasn't going to be home in time for dinner. However, that doesn't mean he's off the hook. He avoided you yesterday, and now he's avoiding you today. What's going to happen four days from now when he's giving that party of his for you? At the rate he's going, we'll be lucky if he even attends, let alone greets his guests.”

 

“Stop it Sango. It's better this way anyways. I need to practice some more first before I even attempt to talk to him.”

 

Sango sighed in frustration. She couldn't believe at how well Kagome was taking everything. After this morning's breakdown, she had a bounce in her step and a carefree smile on her face. It was admittedly one of the things she admired most about her friend, her ability to take life in stride and keep on going. That she was internally optimistic sometimes grated on her nerves, but sooner or later everyone did. It's how human nature worked.

 

Breathing deeply, Sango allowed the soothing smell of jasmine, lilies, and a hundred other scents to wash over her. There was just something about Sesshoumaru's garden that caused peace to settle over her soul. Looking sideways at the equally contemplative Kagome, she could tell it had the same effect on her although her smile twisted a little in wistfulness. There were a lot of memories in these gardens for the young miko, and it saddened her.

 

They continued to walk in silence down the smooth stone path, luxuriating in the quiet peace as night started to fall and the birds settled down to rest. It had been a good day for both women.

 

As they started to head towards the northeast corner of the garden, Sango picked up the quiet murmuring of two very familiar voices. Glancing quickly at Kagome, she saw that she too had picked up on their presence. Bringing up one finger to her lips, she cautioned for silence before wetting her finger and testing the air. Nodding to herself, she grabbed Kagome's arm and headed off a little west of their direction into the garden proper before heading north. She made sure to move into the wind rather then behind it to prevent their scent from reaching the two sensitive inu-youkai noses in front of them.

 

Creeping closer, they made their stealthy way underneath tree branches and over flower beds until they could just barely hear and understand what Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were talking so secretively about

 

—Inuyasha—

 

Inuyasha paced the circumference of the tiny clearing he and Sesshoumaru were currently standing in. It had been a long day for both of them, and he had looked forward to having dinner with Kagome and Sango. But, his ass of a brother had to go and insist on taking care of security as soon as he walked in the door. So, they had taken a nice little stroll discussing which of his recruits from the dojo would best be situated where and how soon they could get there. He was happy to help train the best of the best in security at the Fighting Inu with Sesshoumaru's sporadic help, but he wasn't about to let him dictate his life!

 

“You know it's the best choice we have at the moment. Just take Kagome and go back to the United States. I'm sure you have some business there that could use a little personal attention, and it'll get Kagome out of immediate danger.”

 

Inuyasha glared at his half-brother. Sesshoumaru merely inspected his claws before flicking some imaginary dirt off of them. Stalking up to stand face to face with the taiyoukai, he felt his eye twitch in anger. “Don't you think it's best to let Kagome make that decision? Besides, if I take Kagome out of the country, who's going to make sure Sango's okay? She may appear to be coping with the new time period, but she's not. If we take Kagome away from her, she'll have a mental breakdown!”

 

Sesshoumaru cracked his knuckles. “Then take the Taijiya with you. She'd make a good bodyguard for Kagome.”

 

Inuyasha growled as he fought the instinct to punch Sesshoumaru in the face for his obtuseness, but he learned a long time ago that it was a useless gesture. He'd dodge it some way or another as always.

 

Watching Sesshoumaru's eyes glint with amusement in the light of the setting sun, Inuyasha figured what the heck and took a swipe at the older youkai. Sesshoumaru jumped back with ease. “I see you haven't improved your aim even with the Taijiya to practice on. Although from what I heard, she still kicked your ass, quite literally, the other day and has been holding back ever since.”

 

Inuyasha growled. He had already come to the same conclusions himself, but that didn't mean Sesshoumaru had to rub his face in it either. “At least we know that someone will be able to defend Kagome since you're too stuck-up to take advantage of the situation to lend your protection and cozy up to her. From what I've heard, you haven't spent more then thirty minutes with her since she got here yesterday.” He swiped again at his half-brother, hoping to at least tear his clothing a little. He'd give almost anything to wipe the self-satisfied smirk off of his face. Seeing any emotion on Sesshoumaru's face was just scary, more so since one only saw it when he was about to kill or maim something. The only exceptions were the moments he spent with Rin and Kagome.

 

Sesshoumaru frowned as he continued to dodge Inuyasha's pathetic attacks. He would have to talk to his servants again about keeping his business to themselves. It didn't matter if the hanyou was family or not, no one was allowed to know his personal dealings. “I'm merely paving the way for you to skip the country with her until our little problem is resolved.”

 

Inuyasha seethed in frustration before yelling, “I'm not skipping the country! If Kagome wants to come with me, fine, but if she doesn't want to we're going to stay right here and bug the heck out of you until you realize that it doesn't matter where we go! She will always be a target by association until we find the yakuza leader, and there is nothing we can do about it.”

 

Silence settled over the clearing as Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha entered into a staring contest. After a few minutes, Sesshoumaru nodded his head in agreement even though he was already plotting a way to ensure they left regardless of Kagome's decision. “That is acceptable. I expect you to have an answer before the end of Saturday.”

 

Before either one could split up and leave for parts unknown, a rustling from the foliage close by alerted them to a trespasser in their midst. Turning swiftly to confront the lurker, Sesshoumaru dashed forward and pulled out of the bushes two scowling women named Sango and Kagome. Throwing them into the middle of the clearing, he gazed down at them as his mind quickly went back over their conversation, hoping that they hadn't heard too much of it; although by their expressions, they had heard enough.

 

“Ouch!” cried Kagome as she rubbed her shoulder and posterior simultaneously. “You didn't have to throw us so hard.”

 

Sesshoumaru merely stared the woman into submission before turning to Inuyasha. “Figure out how much they overheard,” he said before turning around with the intent to leave quickly.

 

“Wait just a minute!” cried Kagome as she hastily stood to her feet.

 

Appearing nonplussed by her pleas, Sesshoumaru continued to walk away from the clearing hoping that one day she could forgive him his callous behavior. Fuming, Kagome turned to Sango and Inuyasha with tears swimming in her eyes. “Help,” she whispered, but neither could do anything to ease the pain of watching him walk away again.

 

Sango sighed and rolled her shoulders as she picked herself off the ground while Inuyasha watched on. Turning to Kagome, she blinked in disbelief. Her face was contorted in anger and frustration while her irises reflected a silver sheen, something she hadn't seen since Shippou nearly died in the final battle with Naraku. Gulping, she looked downwards to the dagger still strapped to her ankle and saw it softly glowing. Slowly, she started to back away from the angry miko pulling a willing Inuyasha with her.

 

“Don't you dare walk away from me!” Kagome cried to little affect. Anger oozing from every pore, she took a step forward as she started to gather her power together. Tapping into herself, she latched onto the errant wisps of energy that coated her body and quickly spun them into a ball as Sesshoumaru continued to walk away. Finding her reserves weak, she pulled on the added energy of her anger and the glowing dagger pulsating in commiseration against her ankle. Throwing the energy at the retreating taiyoukai, she watched in satisfaction as it spun a web of light around his form before he could take two steps between the surrounding trees.

 

A satisfied smirk graced her face as she watched him come to a standstill. Walking over to him, she circled his energy encased body to stand face to face with him. Looking into his eyes, Kagome nearly took a step backwards as she registered the anger shining in his amber depths although his face was a blank canvas left unprimed.

 

“You will let me go, now,” he demanded with almost clenched teeth. He was trying to do the right thing for once, and she wasn't letting him.

 

“No,” she said rather smugly. “You're going to stay right here until you promise me that you will not walk away and stay long enough to explain yourself to my hearts content.”

 

Sesshoumaru imagined himself tearing to shreds the trees around him although he made sure to keep his body from reflecting his inner frustration. “Your energy cannot hold me. I merely grant you the opportunity to remove it yourself.”

 

Kagome laughed. “True, I am not so well-trained to keep you Lord Sesshoumaru, but I can guarantee it will burn. I am sure you will be happy to explain to your guests come Saturday evening how you came to acquire them?”

 

Sesshoumaru felt his chest vibrate with the force of his contained growl. She was right of course. He would be burned. Eyes narrowing with anger, he let his mind quickly sift through all the alternatives and came to an unwanted decision. He would have to talk to her and explain the situation he and his baka half-brother got her into. That did not mean he had to like it nor make it easy for her to get the information she seemed to desire.

 

Kagome waited impatiently for him to give her an answer. She could already fell the strain of holding the barrier around the taiyoukai on her body and knew that unless he gave in soon, he would have his freedom despite her best intentions. “Well?” she gritted out as she fought to maintain the spell. “What's your answer?”

 

Sesshoumaru glared at the woman before giving her a minute nod of his head. “You have my word now free me.”

Kagome smiled sweetly as she immediately dropped the spell. She should not have practiced so diligently that day on so little sleep. “Good, because I couldn't hold it any longer.” Feeling her body give in to exhaustion, she swayed as darkness descended.

 

Sesshoumaru quickly swept up her limp body and turned to look at the gawking individuals still standing immobile in the middle of the clearing. “You'd best inform Sango of what's happening as well. I'll take care of Kagome once she wakes up.”

 

Inuyasha and Sango watched in silence as Sesshoumaru sped off to his castle and what they presumed was Kagome's room before turning to each other. “What the hell just happened?” asked Sango in a daze.

 

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders. “Sesshoumaru must be getting soft in his old age. I can't believe Kagome just one-upped the bastard.”

 

Sango nodded in agreement. Turning her thoughts away from her unconscious friend, she looked closely at Inuyasha. “So what is going on here?”

 

Inuyasha cleared his throat and pulled at the cotton dress shirt he was wearing. “Why don't we head inside? This is going to take a while.” Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel and started to follow in Sesshoumaru's wake while Sango trailed after.

 

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