File 1: Protection

 

10 Years Later…

 

      Footsteps beat a steady rhythm down the darkened hallway, the sound multiplying as it bounced off the linoleum walls.  There were dim, overhead lamps scattered sporadically throughout the hall, the only lighting available.  Naraku smirked as he glided down the passageway, manila folder in hand.  He loved the darkness – it was so much easier to manipulate from the shadows.  And speaking of manipulating…

 

      Naraku stopped at a metal door nearly completely cloaked in shadow.  After checking for other people on both sides of the hallway – and once satisfied with it being completely deserted – he reached up and tapped a hidden button on the upper left corner of the door.  He turned as a section of the wall behind him opened up with a barely audible hiss, clicking into position.  Naraku walked confidently through the secret doorway – he had many places like this built into the compound, and their existence was known only to a select few.

 

      The door closed and a dim lamp clicked on, two silhouettes jumping to life in the low lighting.  Good, they followed orders well. 

 

“Kagura.  Sango.”

 

The two nodded, visibly unaffected by Naraku’s presence.  “As my two top agents I have an assignment for you.”  He handed the pair the manila folder and Kagura opened it to a picture of a fairly pretty girl with black hair and lively shale blue eyes.

 

“She looks like Kikyo,” the scarlet-eyed woman murmured, taking a closer look.

 

“Her name is Higurashi, Kagome,” Naraku answered curtly.  He needed no reminder of the bitches’ similarities.  She is the daughter of our late opponent Higurashi, Himitsu – and like her father she deals in an evil practice with youkai.”

 

“She is a member of the IYC, then?”  Kagura asked.

 

“No.”  Naraku stepped directly in front of the pair, fixing both of them with his cold gaze.  “She is the keeper of an artifact known as the Shikon no tama and is corrupting it as we speak.”  Sango flinched and Naraku smiled, the expression not quite reaching his eyes.  “As one of the last taijya I’m sure you know what that means, Sango.”  It was not given as a question but the huntress nodded anyway.

 

“Your assignment is to kill this girl and bring the Shikon no tama to me.  Dismissed.”  Kagura nodded and walked past Naraku as the door opened again.  Sango hesitated before following.

 

Naraku started to laugh after the door closed – a horrible sound that promised pain and sent chills up the spine.  With a sweep of his hand he set the file on fire, the extra lighting revealing the mad gleam in his eyes. Ten year of Kikyo’s time had been spent gathering the information – ten years in a futile attempt to escape him.

 

“Nobody escapes Naraku, Kikyo.  Nobody.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      Two pairs of curious eyes – one silver, one gold – watched Kagome from a darkened alley as she traveled from school to home.  “So that’s Himitsu-kun’s little girl,” a feminine voice whispered.

 

      “It would appear so,” a gruff, masculine voice answered.  The silver eyes glanced over at the golden ones.

 

      “My, you’re so emotional today,” the feminine voice commented dryly.  The silver eyes returned their gaze to Kagome.  “But it’s a shame, though,” the voice continued softly, “Himitsu-kun wanted his child uninvolved in this and now she’s being targeted by the IYE.” 

 

The owner of the silver eyes emerged from the shadows of the alley.  A feminine cut, navy business suit graced her lithe form, yet only gave a hint of her distinctly female curves.  “C’mon, Gin-kun,” Shiraha murmured, pushing a strand of silver-white hair out of her eyes.  Her companion growled slightly before stepping into the light, his irises of his golden eyes retracting.

 

He wore a black suit, complete with tie, which seemed to absorb the light around him, accented by the dangerous air that clung to him like a second skin.  Ginharou gave his partner a reproving look.  “Shinonome-san told us to stay hidden.”

 

Shiraha glanced up with a frown, mentally grumbling about her partner’s height – why did he have to be so damn tall?   “Forget orders for once, Gin-kun.  We can’t protect the Higurashi girl as well from the rooftops if she gets attacked.”

 

“And if she notices us?”  The wolf dog was careful to keep his tone neutral, but Shiraha still bristled as if insulted.

 

“Himitsu-kun couldn’t notice me and he was the most powerful human working for the IYC.” 

 

Ginharou held up both hands defensively.  “I’m just saying we should be careful, Shiraha.”  The female ryu sighed as her shoulders slumped.

 

“Okay, okay.  If she notices us – If! – then we’ll do it your way.”  Ginharou nodded and the two started trailing Kagome, Shiraha lagging slightly behind.

 

“And Hojou-kun’s seriously interested in you, Kagome-chan!” Emmi’s wavy hair bounced as she smiled.  Kagome mentally sighed – whenever she was around her friends recently it was always ‘Hojou this’ and ‘Hojou that’!  Couldn’t they tell that she wasn’t interested in the guy?  Sure, he was incredibly sweet but Hojou never was one of Kagome’s more…perceptive acquaintances.

 

A chill traveled up her spine even as her instincts screamed ‘Danger!’ and Kagome suddenly felt cold despite the warm, spring weather.  Something was wrong.  Turning her head, the schoolgirl tried pinpointing the source of her unease.  No, not the old lady…not the guy with the little girl…

 

“Kagome-chan.”  The two adults in business suits?   “Kagome-chan!”  She felt a hand shaking her shoulder and Kagome snapped her head back to face her friends.

 

“Nani?”

 

“Are you okay?”  Yuka asked, concern tinting her voice.  “You just kinda…spaced out.”

 

“I’m fine I’m fine!” Kagome smiled reassuringly, but her friends looked unconvinced.  She mentally sighed; her nerves were on edge screaming at her to run, screaming at her to do something other than just standing there unprotected in an open area. “Well, I do feel a bit sick,” she admitted meekly.  It wasn’t a total lie, after all.  “I’ll see you guys later, I’m gonna go home. Bye!”  She dashed off, wanting to get home as soon as possible.  Home was safe, after all.

 

But her instincts wouldn’t stop screaming at her…

 

“Oh my!” Emmi exclaimed, watching the retreating back of her friend. “Poor Kagome-chan, she rarely gets sick!”  Yuka shook her head, Emmi could be so unobservant sometimes.  It was obvious she wasn’t sick, so it must be boys. And then realization struck – she must be running off to see Hojou! 

 

“Kagome, you sly dog,” Yuka murmured. 

 

But Kagome heard none of this as she paused around the corner, mentally berating herself.  Get a grip, Higurashi!  There’s no way someone was following her – her imagination was simply going nuts.  After all, she was just an ordinary student – most stalkers were only in movies and the few real ones only followed important people.  Yet despite all her reassurances, her instincts still kept screaming at her.

 

Something was very, very wrong.

 

Shiraha sucked in her breath as Kagome looked directly at them – their target could sense them?  She ruefully glanced up at the rooftops – at least it wasn’t winter.  “Gin-kun – ”

 

Ginharou cut her off with a wave of his hand.  “It seems as if the target suspects something, though she’s not sure.  The wisest course of action is to keep on following her as we are now.  Any other move might direct her attention specifically toward us.”  Shiraha gave him a grateful smile.

 

The two agents traveled in a companionable silence obtained through years of friendship.  And so the two trailed Kagome for a time, their thoughts their own, the sounds of civilization enough to fill the silence between them.

 

“You know,” Ginharou murmured, shattering the silence, “this girl is quite powerful.  She would make a great age – ”

 

“No,” Shiraha snapped quietly.  The wolf dog blinked in surprise – the first true emotion he had shown that day.  “Himitsu-kun wanted to spare her from this life and quite frankly, I agree.”

 

“If the IYE has targeted her life,” Ginharou countered, “we might not have any alternatives.”

 

“I know, I know.  I would just rather not think about it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      “Shiraha!” Kagura hissed between clenched teeth.  Her grip tightened on her fan as her eyes glittered maliciously, with just a hint of madness.  The scarlet-eyed woman took a step forward and raised her fan as if to attack.  Sango barely resisted the urge to smack her upside the head.

 

      “We are not to attract attention!  Our orders are for the Higurashi girl only – it would probably be best to avoid confrontation with those damn IYC lackeys.”  She glanced at her partner out of the corner of her eye before returning her attention to their target.  “Besides, why would you hate Shiraha personally?”

 

      Kagura growled, her eyes narrowed in anger.  “She humiliated me!  It was my first mission and she beat me with ridiculous ease!”  A low laugh started to flow from her throat.  “She will learn that sparing my life was a horrible mistake.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      Days passed as time flowed slowly on, as it tends to do during peaceful times.  Most people enjoyed such days and used them to their full advantage, but Shiraha was becoming impatient.  “Jeeze,” she muttered, flopping down beside Ginharou on the well-house roof.

 

      “Be patient, Shiraha.  The IYE probably knows we’re here,” the wolf dog murmured.  “Besides, you get to trail Kagome-san wherever she goes while I have to keep constant surveillance here for any traps.”

 

      Shiraha expelled a gust of breath, ruffling her bangs, but she couldn’t argue with the truth.  After a few days filled with trial and error, the pair had discovered that the Higurashi girl was especially sensitive to youki.  Shiraha, as a ryu, was the perfect candidate to tail Kagome while Ginharou, an ookami/inu youkai mix, was obviously not.

 

      She sighed sitting up.  “It’s been six days so far.  Have you put the sleep spell in place?”

 

      “Of course,” her partner murmured, giving her a sideways glance. “It’s ready to activate with the slightest signal.  This isn’t our first mission together, Shiraha, and neither of us are rookies.  I think it highly unlikely that I need to be reminded of necessary precautions.”  While gentle and nonprovocative, a rebuke was still a rebuke. 

 

      Shiraha’s mouth twitched into a rueful smile. “Yeah, I know, sorry about that.”  She curled herself into a ball, hugging her knees, as she kept watch over the expansive shrine, her pupils slowly widening as twilight started to come. “It’s just…this is Himitsu-kun’s family we’re talking about.  They managed to kill him, but I don’t want the same fate to befall his family – they’re just kids.  We may have been doing this for a while, but we’re still living beings – what if we screw up?”

 

      Had she looked over, she might have seen the brief look of sympathy coming from the wolf dog in its brief moment of existence before his mask was slipped on again.  “Don’t worry, we’ll just have to do our best.  But you will mess up if you keep yourself so tense,” he pointed out.

 

      The ryu snorted. “So says you.  I’m just worried that you’ll – wait a minute.”  She crouched, every muscle tense and on alert as she peered into the black, gloomy night.  “Gin-kun, can you smell anything?”

 

      Ginharou closed his eyes as he pointed his nose up into the calm night air, sniffing.  “Luckily there’s no wind.  I can smell the family, the cat, and someone else.  It’s faint, though, as if someone was trying to hide their scent.”

 

      Shiraha growled as she leapt off the well-house roof, propelling herself toward a moving shadow.  Pulling out a small, cylindrical piece of wood from her hair, she concentrated and it grew into a 6 ft. long Bo staff.  Landing lightly on the pads of her feet, she whirled, finding herself face-to-face with a stunned Kagura.  She blinked in surprise. “So the IYE sent you, kit!”

 

      Kagura snarled at the remark, snapping her fan open.  “Fuujin no mai!”  The ryu leapt back from the blades of air, laughing. 

 

“You haven’t grown at all, kit!  Using wind against a dragon? Foolish!”

 

The scarlet-eyed woman smirked, glancing at something shining just above the ryu’s shoulder.  Shiraha frowned, tracing the human’s line of vision.  “Oh, shi –!”

 

She twisted to the side, narrowly escaping a fatal injury as the katana sliced through her left arm muscle.  While it was better than dying by getting a sword ran through her heart, Shiraha knew she was in serious trouble as her left arm fell limp and her staff fell to the cement.  Muttering curses she glanced up and paled, panic worming itself in the edges of her mind.  There were easily two dozen katanas suspended in midair, cutting off all routes of escape.

 

“Now you’ll learn the folly of leaving me alive!” Kagura hissed, her eyes shining with malicious triumph.  “Die!”

 

The blades descended.

 

Meanwhile, Ginharou was having difficulties of his own.  Frowning at his partner’s eagerness for a fight, the wolf dog started to follow at a more sedate pace.  But upon seeing the katana hovering, unnoticed by her, he rushed forward with a cry of warning on his lips.

 

The warning died, however, as he was suddenly engulfed in a poisonous cloud.  He paused, coughing as a bit of the vapor found its way down his mouth, setting his throat aflame.   Ginharou pinched his nose – he had to get out of here!  He made his way to the edge, the poisonous smoke burning his eyes as it impaired nearly all of his senses.

 

It was his hearing that alerted him as his ears picked up the sound of something cutting through the air.  He leapt back, watching through his tears as a dagger neatly embedded itself in the pale cement where he had been standing just a minute before.

 

If it had been Ginharou’s style, he would have cursed.  His eyes were stinging, he couldn’t smell his opponent, and since his adversary was human he was also unable to sense anything.  He was trapped and it was quite clear that his assailant left him with only two options: die by knife, or die by poison.

 

And he was quickly running out of air…

 

To Be Continued in File 2: Discovery

 

 

 

      Author’s Notes ~ To be honest, Ch1 was supposed to be much longer – about twice as long to be exact. Though probably more since I can’t seem to stop from adding things….>.<

 

      Plus, it’s a good thing I cut this short to allow for a faster update.  To be honest, another short story came along while I was typing up chapter one (A yaoi Saiyuki fic, to be precise) and my hentai muse just picked it up and ran.  So I sorta got distracted for two days and typed up the prologue for that, but I’m back on track and trudging through, typing up everything I already have written on paper (+ additions *Sigh*) for this fic.  

 

      But don’t worry, while this chapter (and the next) seen to be more “original character” oriented, it’s just to get the ball rolling.  There’ll be plenty of fun with Inu Yasha-tachi soon enough. ^_^

 

Japanese Glossary:

Ginharou – “silver wave”(gin=silver, harou=wave)

Shiraha Ryu – “White Feather Dragon”(Shiraha=White Feather, Ryu=Dragon)

Youkai - literally, it’s a magical creature with a tendency to do evil things – in the fic it’s used to denote a “demon”

–chan – a suffix usually used when talking to children and close (female) friends

Himitsu – Secret

-kun – a suffix used with younger males. Also for someone of equal/lower status

-san – a suffix used when talking about or addressing strangers. Less respectful than ‘-sama’, the closest English equivalent would be Mr./Ms./Mrs. 

Taijya – Demon Hunters; the name of Sango’s tribe

Inu – Dog

Ookami – Wolf (Inu/Ookami Youkai translates to “Dog Wolf Demon”)

Youki – Demon aura/energy

Shinonome – Sunrise

 

            Inu Yasha-tachi doesn’t belong to me but the IYC and (heaven forbid) IYE do, along with their respective agents.  Send C&C via email to [email protected] or [email protected]