File 4: Loss

 

            Stepping out of the car, Shiraha bent over backwards to stretch the kinks out of her back, watching with an amused grin as Ginharou and Kagome followed.  Only upside down.

 

            "I hate riding in cars," she complained, straightening.  "They always take so darn long.  Roofhopping is so much faster."

 

            "You hate roofhopping," the wolf dog pointed out, stopping beside her.

 

            "Compared to driving, I'll take roofhopping any day," Shiraha murmured distractedly, surveying the expanse of the shrine.  It was obvious the cleaners hadn't been here yet - the evidence of last night's battle still lingered to be viewed by the naked eye.

 

            The ryu looked over at the Goshinboku and winced.  She had thought her friends had overestimated the amount of blood she'd lost, but if anything they had underestimated. Blood was smeared all over the trunk and on the cement where she had laid, beaten and broken, last night.  There were splatters of blood on the other side, and looking up she could clearly see which branches she had perched on - they were the ones with the darkest stains.

 

            Shiraha could only stare at the defiled tree - the testament of her greatest defeat and utter failure.  Anger welled up in her chest - anger at the mission, her adversaries, the spell which failed...but most of all, anger towards herself...She had been out muscled, outwitted, outfought.

 

            It was her own fault, too.  She had been overconfident and assured in her 'superior' power.  A bitter laugh welled up in her throat. 'Superior' power? Hah!

 

            Ginharou glanced at his partner worriedly as she stood, transfixed by the tree, emotions flashing across her face.  The cleanup crew should have been here by now, unless they themselves were early...

 

            He checked his watch.  No, the clean up crew was late.  Unusual...

 

            "Gomen nasai!" A tiny voice piped up behind them.  Kagome turned around, seeing no one.  A tug on her pant leg forced her to look down.

 

            Standing there, an amused look occupying her face, was...something only six inches tall.  The schoolgirl blinked.  "Wha - ?"

 

            "A cleaner elf," Shiraha explained, her contemplative countenance exchanged for a grin at the bemused look on the younger girl's face.

 

            " 'Cleaner elf'?" Kagome echoed, kneeling down to take a closer look.  The creature was like a proportionately sized human for her diminutive height - if humans had long, tapered ears and pupiless eyes.

 

            "Yes ma'am.  My name is Pequeña, ma'am," the cleaner elf replied, her squeaky voice almost comical when combined with her serious expression.  "It's our job to clean up the messes you agents leave when things get out of control."

 

            "Why do you think humans never find traces of our battles?" Shiraha asked, grin still in place.

 

            "And the cleaner elves are best for this sort of work because their size allows them to pretend to be toy dolls in order to avoid unwanted attention,"  Ginharou added.  Pequeña's ears twitched in agitation and she opened her mouth.  "Not that it has ever been necessary, of course," he amended hastily.  The elf nodded in satisfaction before darting in between their legs to start working.

 

            Kagome looked over at Shiraha, blinking.  The ryu's face was strained from trying to keep a straight face - and failing miserably, she noted - and the slight frown Ginharou was sending in his partner's direction only made things worse.

 

            "Cleaner elves can be...'long winded' when insulted," the wolf dog explained.

 

            " 'Long winded'!" Shiraha exclaimed, her voice strangled.  She leaned down toward Kagome with a conspiratorial twinkle in her eye.  "Their lectures can make even the most long, boring college lecture seem like a kindergartener's speech - in both length and diction.  It's a common saying around HQ that the IYC's greatest weapon is an affronted cleaner elf.  See?" She pointed to her partner.  "The threat of a lecture is enough to break toughies like Ginharou here."  Kagome giggled as the wolf dog raised an eyebrow and gave his companion a long look.  Shiraha, in turn, pretended not to notice.

 

            "Done."  Pequeña's squeaky voice caught their attention and they looked down - Shiraha's face regaining some color once it became apparent that the cleaner elf had not overheared her last comment.  This time it was Ginharou's turn to look slightly amused at his partner's expense.  "Sorry about the delay, but some trainees were getting their first taste of field experience today."  She grimaced.  "It wasn't pretty."  The elf looked down at the miniscule watch strapped to her wrist, her tiny eyes bulging out in alarm.  "I'm behind by four hours!  Four hours!"

 

            There was nothing to announce the cleaner elf's departure - no flash of light, not even a sound.  One second she was standing there, grumbling about the time and the next she was simply not there.  If not for the lack of blood near the Goshinboku, Kagome almost would have believed herself to be imagining things.

 

            "Nobody is quite sure how they do this," Ginharou confessed, misinterpreting her expression.  "It's knowledge known only to the cleaner elves and so far no one has asked."

 

            "Translation: The IYC hasn't yet employed an agent suicidal - or stupid - enough to ask for one of their lectures," Shiraha added, grinning as amusement shined in her eyes.  The wolf dog's mouth tightened, but he made no objections.

 

            "Shouldn't we be looking for your family, Kagome-san?" He pointed out.  His question snapped his companions back to reality.

 

            "Mama!" Kagome ran into the house, slipping off her shoes as she searched for her family.  The two agents stood in the courtyard, listening to the slap of feet on wood as Kagome searched for her family.  "Tadaima!  Mama?  Grampa?  Souta?  Mama?"  There was a pause.  "Mama!"

 

            Shiraha and Ginharou jumped at Kagome's anguished cry.  Eyes wide they rushed into the house, slipping off their shoes, as they raced up the stairs to the sound of Kagome's sobs.  Ginharou reached the room first, coming to an abrupt stop in the doorway.  Cursing her partner's height the ryu took a step back, preparing to try and force her way through.

 

            However, her plan came to an abrupt halt as her ears caught the small sound of an odd, squishy noise.  It was then that she realized her socks were soaked and she looked down, dread filling her stomach.

 

            The white carpet was stained black with blood...  "Oh, sky lords..."

 

            "MAMA!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Notes ~ This came out _MUCH_ sooner than I intended it too.  Chapter Five isn't even completely written - well, it's about 94% done, but still!  And in case you wanted to know why this chapter came out early, blame/praise my new laptop.  Hehe, I LOVE this thing!! ^___^

 

            Even if the trackpad makes typing a bit harder than a regukar ball and mouse. ^^;;

 

            Anyway, for those of you who wanted to know, both Inuyasha _and_ Miroku will be making their debut in the next chapter - not until 3/4 of the way into the chapter, but they're in there nonetheless.  Oh, and as a bit of fair warning, the next chapter takes place at a "later point in time" (about a year I think, I'm too lazy to look up what I've written) so there will be some characterization changes. *Cough* Kagome *Cough*

 

            Disclaimer: Inuyasha is not mine, I just happen to share muses with Rumiko Takahashi ~.^ (j/k)