InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Zero-G ❯ The Murder ( Chapter 3 )

Author's Notes: New chapter!

Zero-G

Chapter Two

The Murder

Kagome Higurashi was exactly where Kikyo had said she would be at six o'clock that evening. Inuyasha parked his bike further up the empty road, directly along the route that the girl would probably take to get home to her shrine. He walked past the salon a few times, checking on the occupants. The first time he went past, there seemed to be no one around, but the second time he strolled by, Kagome was there at the front desk, bent over something she was writing in.

Inuyasha bided his time and kept himself hidden from view down a grimy alley, leaning against the brick wall behind a dumpster. He kept his ears tuned for the sound of the salon door opening… the signal that the girl was on the move.

The rock sitting in the inner pocket of his jacket was weighing down on him considerably and was probably quite obvious to anyone who happened to come across him. Either they'd realise he was carrying a rock in his jacket or they'd assume that he'd been trying on a bra and had forgotten to take one of the chicken fillets out.

Best keep hidden.

Then there it was - the tinkling bell of the salon door. A car drove past the end of the alleyway, but within a few seconds it was gone and Inuyasha moved forward to peer around the corner. The schoolgirl was approaching, her eyes dawdling on something across the street. She wore a long, grey cardigan that reached her calves, and beneath that was the customary middle school uniform complete with the school crest on her breast and cap. Inuyasha's eyes focused on the brown satchel that she carried over one shoulder.

Ducking back into the alley before she saw him, Inuyasha patted the rock under his jacket and wondered if she'd recognise his bike and stop to 'admire' it like she'd done before. He'd been flattered the last time, too, not that he'd shown it.

He kept an eye out and soon enough the girl passed the entrance of the alleyway, her hair bouncing on her shoulders as she walked briskly, while her stiffly folded arms pulled her cardigan tight around her back, displaying a rather flattering figure.

Inuyasha slipped out of the alleyway and shadowed her steps.

Sure enough, the moment she clapped eyes on the bike, she slowed. She changed direction and headed straight for it, stopping beside the vehicle in order to reach out and stroke the panel with the character for 'fire' painted on it.

The street was empty, the girl was unsuspecting, and the timing was perfect. It was now or never.

"Kagome Higurashi." he called out, just on the off chance that some other Kikyo look-alike worked at the same beauty salon.

But when the girl whipped around guiltily, he knew there could be no mistake.

She must have recognised the bike, and him as the rider, because the moments she saw him she breathed, "You…" Expressions of surprise and reproach mingled across her face.

"I seem to recall that you owe me a favour." Inuyasha stated as he moved toward her, the rock seeming to grow heavier with each step. "I think it's about time that I was repaid."

She backed off for every step that he took until he was beside the bike. He set his helmet down on the seat and turned towards her, still scanning the streets from the corner of his eye.

"Repay you?" The girl sounded uncertain. "What would you like? I mean… I don't have any money or… surely I don't really need to repay you. I know I said that I was indebted but I didn't really mean it. What on earth do I have that you would want?"

Inuyasha shrugged easily. He wondered for a moment whether he could just demand the research in her bag and then be on his way… but Kikyo wouldn't tolerate that. He had to do this properly. He had to remove Kagome Higurashi from the face of this planet… but he couldn't be to blame. If he didn't do it, it would only be Kouga next who was employed to eliminate her.

Inuyasha gave up trying to justify himself. He withdrew the rock from his pocket. "Let's just start with your life, shall we?"

Her eyes grew wide and her jaw went slack. She stared at him as if he'd just sprouted a scaly tail and a few horns. It was almost endearing, and Inuyasha smiled. He didn't know why. Maybe it was to reassure her, or maybe it was to frighten her. The action seemed to provoke the latter option as that very instant she bolted - or would have done if Inuyasha hadn't caught her by the sleeve.

"Let go!" she screamed, trying to wrench herself free. "Stop it!"

Her screams would carry, and if anyone was within a few hundred metres of their position, they would come running. Inuyasha had to act fast. "Calm down, you're making this difficult." he scolded as he tugged her back towards him. He hesitated for only a fraction of a moment before lifting the rock and bringing it down on her head. He had hoped that she'd continue to keep turned away, but at the last moment she looked round at him… and Inuyasha saw every flash of pain that crossed her face.

He let go of her quickly, and the girl stumbled to her knees, concussed. Blood was already beginning to trickle down her forehead from her hairline, and the school satchel she'd been carrying lay unguarded on the pavement at Inuyasha's feet. He looked at the rock in his fist, noting the blood speckling the uneven surface.

He had everything he needed.

The schoolgirl was still trying to crawl away, but already he could see that she wouldn't make it to sanctuary. He could leave now and let her die the cowardly way… or he could hit her again and shatter her skull to make it quick.

Or…

Inuyasha went after her and leant down to catch hold of her neck. Suddenly she went limp and fell forward onto her front, apparently giving up. Inuyasha rolled her over, but her eyes had already closed and she was gone.

Kikyo didn't bat an eyelid as the bloodied rock smashed against the desk before her, followed by a blue notepad.

"There." Inuyasha folded his arms, his voice wavering with suppressed anger or some other emotion. "There's your freaking rock and your miracle formula. I hope you're happy now."

"Extremely." Kikyo ignored the rock and grabbed the notepad straight away, opening it to a random page and beginning to read through the contents. "Amazing…"

Naraku looked over his tented fingers at the hanyou. "You sound upset, Inuyasha. Did this one strike a little too close to a nerve?"

Inuyasha bristled. "I've never… never done that to someone as young as this." He'd never killed anyone younger than himself. It seemed far more heinous than normal.

"Well, don't expect her to be the last." Naraku warned. "I hear the chief of police has a daughter about Kagome's age…"

Inuyasha shot a fierce glare at his boss who smiled blandly in response.

"You did kill her, didn't you?" Kikyo looked up from the notepad.

"Of course I did!" Inuyasha snapped at her. "That's the proof right there! She died on the street, and I took her body and dumped it in the canal."

Kikyo sat up. "That wasn't the deal," she said coldly. "You were to leave her there on the street and take only the bag and the murder weapon with you!"

"Plans changed." Inuyasha told her frostily. "She screamed for help, so I had to move the body or anyone who had heard her scream and seen my bike would have made the connection. Don't worry. Someone will fish the body out in a few days."

"You are certain she was dead?" Kikyo narrowed her eyes. "If she survives and lives to tell then I'll take you down with me."

"Likewise." Inuyasha smirked. "But I highly doubt that. She wasn't breathing when she went in the water… I doubt she'll be breathing when she gets out."

Kikyo sighed. "And did you really have to tell me where you dumped the body? Now I'll have to put up with my family worrying about her disappearance whilst knowing exactly what's happened to her but being unable to tell anyone or risk incriminating myself."

Inuyasha shrugged. "Your problem, not mine." He held out his hand. "Now I want my money."

"Of course. But I want a full refund if any serious complications arise." She pulled her briefcase onto the desk and snapped it open. From inside, she took a thick white envelope and passed it into Inuyasha's waiting hands. "Nine hundred thousand as promised."

The young beauty analyst stood and straightened her clothes before packing the notepad securely into her briefcase. "In which case, gentlemen, I'll be on my way. This transaction never took place and I don't know either one of you exist."

"Naturally. Pleasure to do business." Naraku told her humbly.

"What business?" Kikyo gave him a meaningful look as she closed her briefcase and made for the door. "I hope we never have to meet again, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha glowered as the door closed after her. He glanced down at the money-filled envelope in his fist and then up at Naraku. "What do I spend it on…?"

"My birthday's coming up." Naraku slid in casually with a waggled eyebrow.

Mrs Higurashi unwittingly shredded another tissue as she stared off into space through the kitchen window. Her father sat beside her, his warm hand resting on her shoulder, but Mrs Higurashi was miles away.

Her little girl was missing… and had been for the last three days. She was out there somewhere, in trouble, and all she could do was sit in her kitchen and tear a tissue into confetti.

"Mrs Higurashi," The inspector standing beside the sink looked over her sympathetically. "Can you think of any reason why Kagome might have run away?"

Mrs Higurashi shook her head firmly, loosening a few tears. "She's not run away. She was a happy girl… she never gave any indication that she was unhappy here."

"When exactly was the last time you saw your daughter?" the inspector asked as he jotted something down on his notepad.

Mrs Higurashi pressed two fingers to her temple and wondered how many times that she would have to explain this. "Wednesday morning, officer." she told him. "She was leaving for school… and I gave her some money for her dinner and kissed her on the cheek and told her to 'take care'." Her voice broke on the last word.

"So you didn't argue about anything?" he pressed.

The mother shook her head. "I never argue with Kagome. I never have to… she's a good girl."

With a deep sigh, the police inspector closed his jotter and pocketed his pen. "Mrs Higurashi, from what you're saying, it is highly unlikely that your daughter has run away…"

Mrs Higurashi didn't trust herself to open her mouth. Her lips were trembling and the tears were fighting for release…

"Taking into consideration that you've had no contact or communication with your daughter for over three days… it might be time to face the fact that your daughter may be in serious trouble." he told her. "Outside the salon where your daughter was last seen, we found some traces of blood which we're having tested with our forensic department. We may need a sample of your blood, Mrs Higurashi, to compare the DNA results and determine whether or not this is your daughter's blood we've found."

The woman nodded jerkily, a fresh tissue pressed against her mouth.

For the first time since the inspector had arrived, Kagome's grandpa spoke up, mostly for his daughter since she seemed unable to speak now. "Inspector, what do you think has happened to my granddaughter?"

The man shifted uncomfortably. "Well, we can't be certain right now…"

"I've seen the st-statistics." Mrs Higurashi began shakily. "Eighty percent of all missing people are usually d-dead somewhere…"

"But that's only among those that are missing for a great period of time." The inspector reassured her. "It's only been three days, and the vast majority of missing people are found around the five day marker."

Mrs Higurashi returned her face to her hands, shaking her head as if she still didn't quite believe that this was happening.

The thick atmosphere of misery was sliced by the sound of the inspector's radio going off. The device crackled and hissed, and an unintelligible voice muttered something on the other end. However, the inspector seemed to understand every single word. "Excuse me," He bowed to them both. "I'm needed outside."

The police officer left the small kitchen to join his men. Mrs Higurashi turned to her father in distress. "Why can't they find her? What's happened to her?" she whispered, as if expecting the older man to know the answers.

He just shook his head. "I'm sorry, dear… we'll just have to wait and hope…"

"But she could have been abducted!" Mrs Higurashi lost control of the sob she'd been trying to suppress. "She could be lost and I can't get to her."

The clicking of stilettos on the hallway floorboards made the distraught pair look up in time to see Kikyo come sailing through the kitchen door. "Auntie Mai!" She looked pale and wan as she threw herself into her aunt's arms. "I drove down as soon as you told me what happened. Is there any news yet?"

"She's still missing." Mrs Higurashi conceded. "Th-they think they might have found her blood on the street where she works…"

"Oh god…" Kikyo stroked her aunt's hair as they sat down. "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll turn up. This is Kagome, after all… she's too stubborn to allow anything to happen to her."

"I hope you're right." Grandpa handed Mrs Higurashi a new tissue, and she blew her nose thoroughly. "I really hope you're…"

She trailed off as the inspector appeared in the doorway again. Judging by the expression on his face, he didn't seem to be bringing good news… and instantly, Mrs Higurashi felt the tears rise again.

"We had a team combing the canal…" he told them slowly, a tentative tone in his voice. "They've found something."

Kagome had one hell of a splitting headache when she woke up. The pain was so severe that she wished she'd simply remained asleep. Too late now… she'd have to get up and take some aspirin.

A sweet smell filled her bedroom… something mouth-watering like roast chicken and gravy. Kagome smiled to herself to think that her mother was probably preparing something wonderful for breakfast. She moved to get up, but her arms caught on something. She tugged again and heard a metallic clatter, but her arms still wouldn't lift.

Her eyes snapped open and the headache instantly intensified thanks to the blinding light that was shining above her. She grimaced and squinted at her wrists, trying to determine why she couldn't move them. It took a few more moments before her eyes gained enough focus to see that it was actually a pair of handcuffs.

"M-Mama?!" Kagome called out in growing panic, but her voice sounded strange… raw and thick. She looked around the room and her distress only increased. This wasn't her bedroom! This wasn't even her bed!

Grey, unpainted plaster walls surrounded her on four sides, and all sorts of junk crowded the floor. The bed was hard and lumpy and didn't even have a blanket to its name, and Kagome's cuffed wrists clattered noisily against the bed rail to which she was tied.

With a great deal of effort, Kagome began to sit up. It didn't help that her head swam dangerously and the pain in her head seemed to go deeper into her skull, but she couldn't lie still. She was too terrified. Blood stained the towel that had been serving her as a pillow, and someone had taken away her shoes and cardigan.

Presumably, that same someone was the one banging around the kitchen downstairs. Kagome looked towards the door and saw it was ajar. A series of steps led out of sight… and that was where the delicious smell was emanating.

But Kagome didn't feel hungry anymore. She felt sick. Scared sick. She couldn't remember what had happened to her, why she had woken up here of all places when the last thing she remembered was going to bed on Tuesday night. Why was she handcuffed to a stranger's bed? How had she gotten here?

Why didn't she remember?

The last question she could answer almost certainly. Her brain hurt, and when she carefully lowered her head to touch her scalp with her fingers, she felt a matted clod of hair beneath a raised welt on her skull. It was tender and painful to touch, but from that she could piece together that she'd has a severe head injury… and it had knocked her memory loose.

I'm Kagome Higurashi, I'm fifteen, I live at the Shrine with Buyo and Souta and Mama and Grandpa and I work at 'Curl up and Dye' and I go to school with Yuka, Eri and Ayumi…

Well, it seemed as if her memory was still more or less intact. But of course, she wouldn't remember if she'd forgotten any extra details.

A door closed downstairs and Kagome flinched anxiously on the bed. She wanted to run and hide… especially when she heard footsteps climbing the steps, but with her hands securely fastened, she wasn't going anywhere.

She wasn't at all surprised when hot tears began running down her cheeks. She didn't snivel or sob, but a lump had lodged in her throat and she couldn't take her eyes off that bedroom door.

The next moment, someone entered the room. Kagome's gaze jerked instantly to their face and she paled… more so, if that was possible. A stranger. In his late teens to mid-twenties, perhaps. His hair was long and perfectly bleached… and his eyes seemed to be a fair shade of hazel. Then he got closer and she could almost say they were yellow… like an animal's.

Everything about him screamed 'demon', and everyone knew that demons were all allied with the Coalescence…

But in his hands he carried a plain bowl of steaming chicken soup, and when he reached the bed, he pulled up a chair and sat down. "Hungry?" he asked. He had a nice voice… but it seemed detached. In fact, he seemed detached, like he'd rather be somewhere else.

Kagome shook her head in answer to his question.

"But you haven't eaten in three days." he told her dully as he stirred the soup with a spoon. Waves of delicious smells washed over Kagome. "If you don't eat soon, you'll wither away."

Kagome did her best to ignore the food as she stared at his face. She noticed the shadow of a bruise under his right eye and a tiny scar indenting the skin above his left eyebrow. "Who are you?" she asked quietly.

"You don't remember?" He tilted his head slightly. "I'm the one who saved you."

"Saved me…" Kagome echoed, confused.

"Here, take a sip." He held the spoon close to her lips.

"How do I know it's not poisoned?" Kagome seriously doubted this possibility, but it's what they always asked in the movies. It was usually followed by-

"Then I'll take the first sip." He shrugged and downed the spoonful of soup. He smacked his lips. "Mmmm. Yum. Now you try." He scooped the spoon back into the soup.

Kagome's gaze narrowed on the spoon with disdain. "I'm not having that." she said shortly.

"Why not?" he asked.

"You've put your mouth on it."

He gave her a blank look, and the next thing Kagome knew, the spoon was being jammed into her mouth. She gagged and swallowed in reflex, then gaped at the young man as he spooned the next round. "Good?" he asked.

"If I get ill…" Kagome warned.

"I'm sure you won't." he smirked. "Did you like the soup?"

Kagome conceded a little. "It was alright… quite tasty, I suppose."

"You suppose." he repeated, stirring the soup again. "Want another taste?"

Kagome shook her head, but when he pushed the spoon against her lips, she decided to stop fighting it and swallowed greedily. Each mouthful seemed to revive her appetite rather than quenching it, but she felt the awkwardness that came with being fed by a complete stranger while her hands were tied to a bed rail.

"I'd enjoy this soup a lot more if my hands were free." she told him.

"Of course you would. Now here comes the train! Choo, choo, choo…" He fed her another spoonful.

Kagome's unexpected burst of laughter had the soup cascading down her school sweater, but she didn't much care. If the sweater had been any other colour than black, she would have been showing off hundreds of old stains by now.

"Now look what you did." He didn't sound particularly angry as he set the bowl down on the floor and reached over to snag her pillow towel. She caught sight of the brown bloodstain before he folded it deftly away and began dabbing at her sweater with it. Once again, she felt discomfort with the unfamiliarity of the situation and the person cleaning soup off her sleeve. But he seemed so businesslike and impartial that when he passed the towel over her chest and belly, she didn't squeak a word of protest. She would feel too prudish to do so…

She watched him as he began dashing at the soup that had spilt on the mattress beside her knee. "Who are you?" she asked again. "What's your name?"

"Most people call me Inokku Yoshikawa." he told her.

The name meant nothing to Kagome. She'd never heard it before.

"But… you can call me Inuyasha." He tossed the towel over his shoulder.

"Inuyasha…" She watched the towel sail through the air to land on a stack of old magazines and a tennis racket. "That sounds like a gang name… or a demon's name."

He shrugged as he picked up the bowl again. "You think I'm a demon?"

"Well, aren't you?" He gagged her with another spoon in the mouth.

"Yes and no."

"Whack king ov anssa iz dat?" Kagome said around the spoon.

"What?" He removed the gagging device.

"What kind of answer is that?"

"I'm a hanyou."

"Oh…" Kagome still wasn't sure what that meant. "Do you mean… like… like half youkai and half…?"

"Human."

That was surprisingly relieving. Kagome felt safer knowing that she was with half a human. It was still not that comforting to know she was also with half a demon. Time to press on with the other million questions that were plaguing her sore head. "What happened to me?"

He didn't answer for a while, and she had two more sips of chicken soup before he spoke again. "You were attacked… mugged." he said quietly, more content to watch himself stir the soup than meet her eyes. "I brought you back here to treat you."

Kagome frowned. "I should have gone to hospital."

He shook his head once. "That was out of the question."

"Why?" What was going on?

Inuyasha looked towards the door, as if he'd heard something or was just looking for an escape. "I can't answer that right now…"

"Is that why I'm handcuffed to this bed?" she demanded. "What do you want from me? Are you holding me prisoner or something?"

"No…"

"Then please let me go home." she pleaded. "If I've been gone for three days like you've said, my family will be worried. I have to get back to them and let them know I'm-"

"You can't do that." he told her coarsely. "You have to stay here. You're safe here."

Kagome swallowed hard. Was he crazy? Had he been the one to hit her on the head and kidnap her? He didn't seem all that insane… but sometimes the nutters didn't until it was too late. "Please…" she said in a low, forceful voice. "I want to go home. My family will be worried and if I miss more than six days of school then I'll be expelled."

He looked up at her, almost in pity, but mostly in set determination. "Kagome, you're in trouble. Serious trouble." He touched a hand to her head, but not hard enough to hurt. "The people that did this to you… they're not going to stop till they have your life. The only reason you're alive today is because they think you're dead."

"What…?" she breathed. "Wait - how did you know my name?"

"You have to stay hidden in this place until a time when…" He broke off as something began beeping in the pocket of his jeans. Kagome watched as he pulled his phone out and stood to answer. "What is it?"

An awfully curt way to answer the phone…

"Yeah… fine, go ahead… twelfth street, sixth block… got it…"

Kagome leant towards him. "Hey, who's-"

He whipped around and clamped a hand against her mouth. Pain shot through her head and her eyes spun dizzily.

"No one… that was just Soa." Inuyasha was saying into his phone. "You know what a chatterbox she is. Anyway, you were saying? Ok… yes, I got it. Yes… Miroku Hoshi, twelfth avenue, sixth block, Decker's Studios, five-thirty. I got it already… I heard you the freakin' first time."

He hung up quickly and released Kagome's mouth. "I have to go to work."

"And leave me here?" Kagome squeaked. "Can't you at least free these cuffs so I can go to the bathroom?" And then out the bathroom window…

"No. You'll escape out the bathroom window if I did that." He shook his head.

"Perceptive bugger, aren't you…?"

He looked around the room for a moment before walking off to fetch a pale beige bucket. When he saw Kagome's bemused look, he pointed at it. "If you need to go, go in that."

Kagome's mouth dropped open as her eyes popped wide. "You have got to be joking!" she hissed. "I'm not going in a bucket! I'd rather wet myself!"

"No, you wouldn't." He kicked it closer to the bed. "Besides, I won't be long. Maybe an hour or two. You can hold it till then, but if you can't…"

Kagome made a disgusted noise in her throat.

"Look, I'll even put the TV on for you." He marched over to a small box that Kagome hadn't previously noticed. It turned out to be a television set, albeit a small one that only broadcast in black and white.

"Are you living in the stone age or something?" she criticised. "There is a thing such as colour television."

"And I don't have a license for it." He shrugged simply as he tuned the set with ancient knobs. "You're fifteen, right? You kids like the music channel, don't you?"

"No."

"Well, too bad, I don't have time to retune it now."

"-All my friends go 'wow' when they all see just how, our shoes co-or-din-ate-"

"Oh gods no… kill me, please…" Kagome groaned.

"-with my plate-"

Inuyasha was already steaming down the stairs. "See you in a few hours."

"-'cause I'm a good girl and it's cool, ooh yeah, I'm cool girl, ooh baby, baby-"

And so the madness began.

The bike had been left in an alley two streets away so as not to arouse suspicion, and immediately, Inuyasha set to work scouting the area around the studio for a way in. The main entrance was guarded by security and there were at least three fire exits - probably wired - so Inuyasha stayed clear of all of them. The only way into the building seemed to be through a small window set into the back of the building. It was too high to jump… but only for an incompetent human.

With one quick look around the alley to check that he was alone, Inuyasha scaled the wall in one bound and clapped his finders around the windowsill. He levered himself up just enough to peer inside.

A changing room.

A women's changing room, judging by the amount of bras hanging around. Fortunately it was empty at that moment in time, so Inuyasha gave the window one hard shove to break the latch and slid noiselessly inside.

His feet touched the top of a stack of lockers with a soft 'clunk'  and at that very moment, he heard the sound of female laughter and running water coming from an adjoining room.

Great. A women's shower room, too.

Inuyasha hopped down to the floor just in time for one of the women, having finished her shower, to return to the changing room.

Her shriek had all the other women  running, and soon Inuyasha found himself faced with half a dozen or so rather wet, rather angry, semi-naked women with towels. If the door hadn't been so close to them, Inuyasha would have tried to make a run for it.

"What are you doing here?!" they seemed to shout in unison, each one of them red-faced with anger.

"I'm looking for Keiko!" he shouted back, Keiko being a nice common name. "She's my girlfriend!"

"Keiko hasn't worked here in weeks!" they shouted back. "She got a contract with ABS!"

"Never mind then!" He inched towards the door. "Thanks anyway!"

"Our pleasure!"

The door slammed in his wake, and Inuyasha found himself thrust into a rather busy corridor. All kinds of people strode past him, from amazingly dressed up women in feathers to people with clipboards and cups of coffee.

"Erika! Where's Erika?!"

"They're about to start shooting!"

"Don't step on that - do you have any idea how much it cost?!"

"Don't mess with the glue, darling…"

"Miroku Hoshi wants coffee in his dressing room, asap…"

Inuyasha's attention suddenly focused on the rather put-upon looking gofer that had just been assigned coffee duty. Quickly, Inuyasha began moving towards him, dodging between actors, actresses, and stagehands.

"Why do I get all the dirty work…" the kid was muttering at the espresso machine when Inuyasha reached him.

Flourishing the boy aside as if in the midst of a generous offer, Inuyasha took the coffee cup off him. "Don't worry. You just continue with whatever you were doing. I'll deal with the coffee."

"Really?" The boy looked relieved, but slightly cautious. "Are you sure?"

"It's my job to do the dirty work." Inuyasha brushed him off. "Which way's his dressing room?"

"That way." The youth pointed. "And thanks. That guy can be a total pain when he's depressed. He always sends me back for another cup…"

"No problem." Inuyasha followed the kid's directions and wandered along the corridor, checking each door for his victim's name.

He found it, complete with the tacky gold star plating. Inuyasha took a sip of the coffee and knocked three times. "Room service!" he called.

A loud sigh could be heard. "Come in."

Inuyasha let himself in and looked around. It was a typical dressing room for a second-rate actor, complete with a couch, a rack of 'costumes' and a large dressing table with mirror and light bulbs. Miroku Hoshi, lead actor for "Life's Treasures", was sitting at said table, poking a make-up brush against his forehead in a bored manner. His eyes flicked towards Inuyasha through the mirror. "What is it?"

"Coffee." Inuyasha moved forward to set the cup down on the dresser.

"Oh, good. More caffeine." he said with as much enthusiasm as a man on death row. He took the polystyrene cup and knocked back a gulp before pulling a drastic face. "It's too strong. Go back and get me some milk."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Do it your bleeding self." he muttered as he poked something which looked oddly like a feather boa.

Miroku, seemingly just cottoning on to the fact that this was no ordinary coffee boy, turned in his seat to face Inuyasha. "Just who do you think you are, speaking to me like that-"

"Just a badly paid assassin." he answered simply, drifting his fingers through the feathers.

Miroku stared at him, and for a moment he seemed about to dismiss this admission as nonsense. Then he stopped himself… and began looking resigned. "This is about my father, isn't it?"

"He's one of the leading police officers working on tracking down members of the Coalescence, isn't he?" Inuyasha skewed a glance at the actor.

"Yes."

A slow, dark smile spread across Inuyasha's face as he tugged the feather boa off its hook. It was strong… strong enough to bear the weight of a grown man and long enough to attach to the rafter across the ceiling. "Good. I need to send him a message…"

Kagome's stomach rumbled loudly as she lay on the hard mattress, staring up at the ceiling fan. It turned slowly, squeaking rhythmically with every rotation, but it was better listening to that than the dribble echoing from the television set.

At some point in the past few years, pop music had just degenerated into suggestive conformity. The record labels were all owned by the government, a takeover that had occurred rather secretly, and now the only way to sell a song was if it contained some kind of government message.

"-Kids should stay in school, 'coz it's the right thing to do-oo-ooo-ooo-"

But what was the point? No one ever really listened to the lyrics of a song. There were probably hundreds of kids right at that moment who were tuned in to the same channel as Kagome, all of them bopping their heads to the music as subliminal messaging crawled into their brains.

"-My boyfriend is the best, we never bite the zest, we're waiting for the wedding to make it to third base-"

Kagome sighed and rolled her head to the side to stare at the opposite wall. She tuned the music out of her mind and wondered about her family and friends. If it had been three days like 'Inuyasha' had said, then were they worried about her? Were they sending out search parties to find her? Or… what if this guy had been telling the truth, and she was in serious trouble and everyone thought she was dead?

Kagome dismissed this as nonsense in an instant. She was a nobody. She'd never offended anyone in her life and she made it a habit to avoid anything that spelt trouble. What could anyone possibly have against her? She was just a schoolgirl with a part time job, a family that she loved to bits and friends she would do anything for. Why would anyone want to kill her?

This left only one explanation: Inuyasha was bonkers. He'd brained her and kidnapped her and was feeding her some insane cover story to try and fool her. But what did he want from her? Why had he brought her here if he wanted to do nothing more than feed her chicken soup? Did he have something else planned? Was he -gulp- a pervert of some kind that would have his way with her once she was off-guard?

Everything was so confusing… Kagome just wished that she could remember what had happened to her.

The godforsaken music finally stopped and Kagome gasped a sigh of relief. She turned her head as the news came on and listened as the newsreader told her about the unanimous 'yes' vote for television and movie stars to start abiding to the uniform laws. This movement went hand in hand with the vote to ban foreign movies from being shown in cinemas.

Then there was some news about a bomb that had gone off in a shopping centre. Part of the roof had caved in, and twenty people were said to have died with over a hundred injured in varying degrees. The newsreader informed that the police suspected Coalescence involvement.

"And finally, the body of the missing schoolgirl Kagome Higurashi has been recovered by police."

Kagome's heart skipped and thudded against her chest.

"Police found the body while combing the canal bed after fearing the worst. It is thought that the fifteen year old was attacked by her assailant a hundred metres away from the salon where she worked, and her body was dumped in the canal the same night. Her clothes and belongings were missing."

"Oh my god…" Kagome sat up hastily. That man on the television was talking about her! But she wasn't dead!

There was a picture of herself in the corner of the screen, and Kagome recognised it as the one that sat on the fridge next to Souta's. It was a school picture, the one where she'd been having a zit day when it was taken - which, fortunately, the picture didn't show. But a sharp pang of familiarity and strangeness struck her. The last place Kagome expected that picture to ever show up was on the six o'clock news.

The newsreader went on. "Kikyo Higurashi, cousin to Kagome Higurashi and owner of Regenis Cosmetics, had this to say…"

The feed cut to outdoors, and Kagome was shocked to realise that the background was her family's shrine. Kikyo stood before the camera, shakily holding a piece of paper that she was reading from while mascara tearstains tracked down her cheeks. There were a lot of cameras and microphones around the young woman, not something that Kikyo was unused to, but today she seemed overwhelmed.

"The loss of my cousin, Kagome, has hit us all very hard." Kagome heard her say in an unsteady voice. "It's a loss that I fear our family will feel for a long time to come. Kagome was at the heart of this family… she was a good, kind girl with a beautiful soul. She was bright, smart, and popular, and never without a smile, even during the difficulties that our family has endured. Her innate happiness and good nature brought out the best in all of us, and she helped us through hard times… and I only hope that she can help us through this heartbreaking time from whatever place her soul rests now."

Kikyo was crying. She was honest-to-god crying. Kagome's heart ached to think of the pain she was causing Kikyo and the rest of her family. She wished she could go to them right then and tell them that everything was ok and that she was alive and well. She would get back to them… she didn't want her family to cry when there really was no need.

"Our message to the person who took Kagome from us and created this void in our family…" Kikyo went on shakily. "Is to know the grief he has caused and the pain that will never leave our hearts. We want him to see the devastation he has caused and know that he cannot hide forever. The law will find him, and he will pay dearly for what he did to my beloved cousin."

Kagome blinked as Kikyo vanished and the newsroom reappeared. The man on screen took a moment before starting to read from the auto-cue again. "In other news, a pigeon trapped in a car fender had the whole community out trying to help him free…"

Great, the joke news.

Kagome turned her eyes away and gazed at the floor instead. She tried to piece together what had happened to her from what information the news had given her… but she still came to the same conclusion as before. Inuyasha had kidnapped her and somehow faked her death.

But if Kagome was alive and well here… then who had been fished out of the canal? Why did the police think it was her? Why did her family think it was her? Surely they would have been asked to identify the body…

Next Update: Chapter Three: The Escape Attempt