InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Virulence ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter Six

"Chicks Dig Honesty

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha and friends. Solely owned by Rumiko Takahashi.

"Muttface."

The moment InuYasha heard those words; his initial feelings weren't his usual annoyance and exasperation. No, what he felt was something he hadn't felt since he'd been a little kid.

Fear.

And it wasn't fear for himself. No, InuYasha wasn't afraid of a mangy wolf like Koga. What he was afraid of was Koga's sense of smell, not to mention his proximity to the apartment where his escaped victim was now lodging.

"Koga," InuYasha replied, trying to keep his voice as disdainful as ever, "what do you want?"

Koga stepped forward, a movement that didn't seem to intimidate the hanyou in the slightest. With a scowl, Koga pointed at his rival, his voice condemning.

"I know you didn't really kill the girl, you lying scum."

InuYasha lifted an eyebrow. "I didn't huh? What makes you say that?"

"Oh nothing," Koga drawled, tapping a finger against his temple, "maybe it has something to do with the weird things you've been doing!"

Now InuYasha wasn't worried anymore. In fact, he would have found this kind of amusing, had Koga not talked to him so snottily. With a wave of his hand, InuYasha turned away from Koga. "I have a job to do."

"Looks just like her, doesn't she?"

InuYasha stepped dead in his tracks. "I don't know what you're talking about Koga. Go fuck yourself, if you would be so kind..."

"Kikyou, huh? Sure was a nice piece of ass, huh? Just couldn't let go could you? Using the girl as some kinda identical doll? Or did you kill her and preserve her so you can stare at her like one of those corpse obsessed perverts? We all knew that when she didn't show up to the party that you were gonna hang around her like a lapdog fore-"

Before Koga could even finish his sentence, InuYasha hand him against the concrete wall in front of his apartment, an animal growl in his throat. With a snarl, InuYasha's claws elongated, pricking at Koga's neck. In that same instance, Koga's own claws did the same, straight above InuYasha's heart.

The two canines stood there for a few moments, refusing to back down.

The neighborhood was quiet at this time of night, the silence pierced only by the chirp of crickets and the distant hum of automobiles.

InuYasha figured this was around the time when he was supposed to be the bigger man. Besides, he would need Koga in just a few minutes. He would teach the fleabag. Oh yes he would. A lesson he would never forget...

^.^

Hijiri Yukana slowly walked out her front door, flinching as it closed with a loud click. They could hear anything, everything. They were always watching.

Shaking her head as though to rid herself of her fears, Yukana gripped her small suitcase. She didn't have enough time to pack more than a few items after calling him, a conversation that lasted too long in her opinion. 'Get out of there,' he'd said, his voice compelling her to be calm. 'I'll take care of it later.'

Thinking of his strong assurances, Yukana felt a bit relieved. Yes, she would be fine. If they hadn't found her now, she still had plenty of time. Looking down at her printed airline ticket, the woman quickly ran out her gate and onto the street, the city lights glowing before her. Once there, they wouldn't dare do anything in public. She was going to be alright.

"Excuse me, Miss. You got a light?"

Her insides froze. She turned, the click of her heels echoing in her head. "W-what?"

Standing against an electrical pole was a man, average height with a ball cap on his head. Shaking her own quickly, the woman turned away, her fear overcoming her as she began to ran.

"Come on sis," the man whispered, suddenly beside her. He gripped her wrist, twisting her arm behind her back. "I need a smoke."

Yukana whimpered, tears forming in her eyes. "Please," she gasped, wincing as the pain in her arm grew, "please let me go. I'll give you anything you want."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Miss Hijiri," the man sneered, his voice full of hate, and "you won't have anything to give away after this."

"PLEASE!" Yukana screamed, hoping someone would hear her, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I didn't know!"

With a soft laugh, the man gripped her neck tight.

"Murderers," he chuckled

And she was dead.

^.^

"Damn, Dai."

Turning to his cleaner, InuYasha closed his eyes, remembering the feel of the woman's neck. It had been wet, slippery with her tears. For a moment, he almost regretted what he'd done.

"Looks like you are a neck kinda guy," Koga said, whistling as he crouched by the body of Hijiri. "Pretty clean job."

"After the Takeda job, I didn't feel like doing anything messy," InuYasha whispered, feeling a headache coming. He turned away from the city lights, looking back in the direction of his apartment.

'The Takeda job huh...'

"Well," Koga said, dropping the woman's hand after a quick check, "she's definitely dead. I would say there's not really going to be a big deal about this though. Find some poor chump; get a love hotel, simple simple."

"Keh!" InuYasha answered, his hands balling into fists, "so Naraku's going to cover the whole thing up huh?"

Koga looked up at his furious companion, his eyes raised. "There's no way the people would are about a hanyou killer anyway. They think demon affairs are demon affairs. Not something they should get interested in."

InuYasha's rage exploded. "She experimented on kids! KIDS! She tricked them on the street like a pedophile, stole them and tortured them. A HUMAN BITCH!"

Koga nodded, his eyes trained on the woman in disgust. "Well, a half-breed got to kill her then. Eye for an eye."

"It's still not enough."

"A bit bloodthirsty aren't we?"

"Damn straight!"

Shrugging, Koga threw the woman over his shoulder, turning towards her house.

"What are you going to do with her?" InuYasha demanded gripping Koga's unoccupied shoulder.

"I'm going to go dress her up in something skanky and get her ready for the hotel. That was the plan from the get-go."

InuYasha snorted. "Pervert."

"Whatever."

As the men turned to go their separate ways once again, Koga stopped, looking at his partner's back. No, InuYasha hadn't been able to dissuade him on the issue of the girl. All he'd proved was that he let his emotions get in the way of the job.

^.^

The next day, Monday, was quiet. InuYasha sat at the table, drinking his usual coffee and pretending interest at the contents of the day's paper. Kagome sat across from him, her usual yogurt accompanied by a bowl of cereal.

"Hey, InuYasha..."

"What?" the hanyou snapped, slamming his mug down on the kitchen table. it cracked, hot liquid seeping out the bottom of the mug. "Fuck!"

Standing up, Kagome walked over to the sink, grabbing a plate. Turning back to InuYasha, she quickly placed the mug onto it, walking over to the garbage.

"What the hell are you doing," InuYasha demanded, his voice angry as usual.

"I'm throwing the cup away," Kagome replied, confusion knotting her brow.

"There's nothing wrong with it!" the man stated, glowering at said mug with undisguised loathing.

"InuYasha," Kagome said slowly, recognizing an annoyed hanyou when she saw one, "I'll make you another mug of-"

"No thanks," he said, walking out of the kitchen and down the hall towards his room. He heard Kagome drop the mug into the trash anyway, heard her quick footsteps run after him. Opening the door, he slammed in her face, quick as ever.

Kagome stared at the door, her eyes prickling with angry tears. What the hell was his problem? Deciding that two hotheads wasn't the best thing at this point, Kagome knocked on the door softy, knowing that he could hear it with his ears.

"InuYasha? What's going on with you?"

"Bitch! Go away!"

Ok. Two could play at this.

"InuYasha, let me talk to you. I know this isn't about the cup."

"Go. Aaaawaaaaaaaaaay."

For a few moments, Kagome actually considered leaving. But for some reason, she felt as though she shouldn't. It wasn't like InuYasha was a loud jerk because he felt like being one. He always had a reason.

"I'm coming in," she whispered, her hand gripping the doorknob.

"I hope you remember the note I left for you."

Kagome laughed, a churning nervousness in her belly. "You wouldn't really set up a gun for me would you? Besides, I highly doubt you had time to disable it when you ran in here."

"Shows what you know," came the grumbled reply, "go ahead."

"I will."

Opening the door, Kagome peeked in, seeing InuYasha lying on a large uncovered mattress, his eyes observing the ceiling with undisguised boredom. Opening it further, Kagome opened her mouth, triumphant at her own bravery.

That was, until she was hit in the face with a squirt of water, drenching her hair and chest.

"What the-" Kagome sputtered, looking at InuYasha in shock. His face, which only moments ago had been angry and frustrated, now displayed a semblance of amusement, the corner of his mouth twitching as he tried to hold back a grin.

"InuYasha!" Kagome growled, seeing the contraption he had set up. On the top of a dresser, in plain sight, sat one of those giant toy water guns, set up in a shoebox. Around the trigger was a string, which was then hung on a hook. That string then led to the doorknob, which it wrapped around.

"I told you you'd get shot, didn't I?" InuYasha pointed out, turning his head to look at the water gun as well. "You just don't listen do you?"

Frowning, Kagome stomped over to the gun, jumping as she tried to reach it. "Oh, very clever dog-boy. Pulling kid stunts like this..."

Finally managing to get her hand on the box, Kagome grimaced as the gun shot again, hanging from the hook.

"Come on!" She exclaimed, turning to stand over InuYasha who was still sprawled on the bed, a now undisguised grin of mirth on his face. "Just take it down!"

"Hmmm," InuYasha replied, scratching his chin, "I don't think I will. You can leave now."

"I don't think I will," the girl replied icily, sitting on the edge of the mattress as she looked around the room. "At least not until I've talked to you about your behavior."

"I'm not a kid," the man growled, looking at Kagome with his usual scowl. His eyes left her face, looking at her soaked shirt. Instantly, his face flushed. Kagome was wearing the pajama pants from last night, but she'd taken off her top to replace it with a short sleeved white undershirt, an old one of his she must have found in his closet. He might have found it hot if he'd remembered even buying it. That cotton shirt was thin, thin enough that that small amount of water had soaked through to reveal her bra, pink with strawberries on it. Turning his face, InuYasha stuttered as he held back a groan of despair. "Do you- do you think you could get out of here? I need to change..." Or something else…

Leaning over his leg, Kagome poked his chest, unwittingly giving him a better view. "What was that in the kitchen just now? Were you still mad at me for yesterday? Or just for interrupting you and your lady friend?"

Lady friend?, InuYasha thought, realizing she was talking about his first unsuccessful attempt on Hijiri Yukana's life. "No...I met her later."

For some reason, Kagome scowled. "Oh really? Just couldn't wait huh? I bet you would've brought her here if I hadn't been here."

"Not likely," InuYasha snorted, turning away from her again, "I don't bring wenches to my house. I like my privacy."

"Glad to know I'm so special," Kagome drawled, leaning away from him. She sat there, her hand brushing against his foot. It took all InuYasha had to not burst out laughing. That kind of tickled... God, she was getting to him wasn't she...

"InuYasha."

Looking at her, InuYasha was surprised to see that her expression had changed from one of bemusement to one of sadness. "What?"

"Can you tell me now? About that day?"

That day?

"When...when I first met you..."

Damn. Grimacing, InuYasha sat up, looking at Kagome. Her legs were tucked underneath her, her wet hair tangled around her hair as it had been that night. For a moment, he realized how easily he could kill her. He should've killed her that night himself, his pity for her and his actions having left her stuck in what he realized was a hell for her.

Reaching for her, InuYasha gripped her wrist tightly, dragging her forward against his chest.

^.^

Kagome grew stiff, feeling InuYasha's arms grow tight around her. What was he doing?

"I knew Koga from a job I used to work at. I knew he was doing work for some gang lately, so I'd decided to follow him. I saw him leave that grocery. I ran from there and went to call the cops from a few blocks away when I saw him chasing you. I knew that if I acted cool he wouldn't do anything to me. When his guard was down I knocked him out and grabbed you. It's not like I really had a good plan going."

Kagome raised her head, her eyes scanning the hanyou's face. "What gang? Could he...still be looking for me?"

InuYasha shook his head. "I told him that you were dead, that you were going to point at me as being in with him. I don't know if he believes me. As for his boss... I. Corps."

Kagome groaned, pressing her face against InuYasha's chest as she thought of all those stories she'd heard about the company and their CEO, Naraku. Everyone knew that they were particularly involved in youkai rights. Some even said they were involved in several demon attempts at assassinating the Emperor and Prime Minister, along with other humans and demons that got in the way of their plans.

"I'm just a kid in middle school," Kagome sniffed, tears beginning to trail down her cheeks. "Why do I have to be involved in this?"

InuYasha sighed, running one hand through her hair. "I don't know. But I swear, no one's going to do anything to you."

Kagome laughed, the sound bitter. "I used to wonder. What if you were in on it? What if you wanted to mess with me; no one would ever know. My family wouldn't know...Hojo..."

InuYasha's eyes narrowed, the hand that had been running through her hair moving to lightly press against her neck. Kagome's eyes closed, accepting what she thought was a caring caress. InuYasha's claws waited against her neck, ready to slit it.

"Mmm," Kagome sighed, nuzzling against InuYasha, the word friend coming to mind. "I know you wouldn't hurt me though. You learn things after living with someone..."

His claws retracted, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. Gripping the girl's shoulders, InuYasha pushed her away, standing.

"Just...just wait a bit. I'll figure everything out something eventually," he muttered, walking out of the room. He could feel her eyes on him, eyes that seemed to know everything about him.

"Take care," she whispered as she heard the front door slam shut.

^.^

"What are you saying?" The man asked, slamming his fist down on the table in front of him. His assistant looked up at him, trembling as the man's dark blue eyes hardened on her.

"Sir," she whispered, her voice shaking, "it appears as though she was murdered by a lover of her's. She was found in a love hotel."

The man snorted, tossing the autopsy photo of Hijiri Yukana into the shredder beside him. "Hijiri wasn't one for short romances like that. This is obviously the doing of I. Corps. I want you to get closer to Naraku. Do what you have to, Kikyou."

"Yes sir," his assistant replied, her eyes closing as she tried to fight off her feelings of apprehension. It seemed as though things were only going to get more dangerous from now on...

A/N: