InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Alpha ❯ Phase 01 - The girl who held fate in her hands ( Chapter 1 )

Alpha

Phase 01

A/N: After many moons of planning and editing this chapter, it is ready for release. I hope everyone likes it, and do say if you do, but please, not `continue' reviews. It annoys the hell out of me. Say you like it, and I assume you want me to continue it as well.

"God damned inner-yokai relations," Kagome muttered as she read the cover article of the morning's newspaper. 'West Wing of Chinatown Destroyed', it proclaimed in huge, thick bold letters. A large picture accompanied the headline, showing the remains of several shops and homes.

Kagome's eyes veered to her list of e-mail messages, mostly from anti-yokai groups. This incident wasn't going to look good, especially to the jurors that would decide the extent of yokai rights in a couple of months. Her eyes returned to the article in order to discover the race involved.

A groan escaped her throat when she discovered that a certain silver haired half dog demon was responsible. Most likely he would stomp into her office today, handcuffed, with Sango and Miroku struggling to keep him restrained while he was spewing out every curse word known to man and demon. "I'm going to charge the department double for this," she decided, placing the newspaper to the side, then began on her public statement.

Did she have to start on a public statement? No. But once the nightly news got wind, they would be at the department's door, asking questions and twisting the answers. It would be a couple of hours before the duo got a chance to capture Inuyasha.

"Let me go," a deep, rough voice yelled, echoing through the building. Kagome jumped and in the process spilled her coffee over her freshly printed report.

"Damn it Inuyasha," she cursed, and stood, debating whether to meet her colleagues or let them drag the raging half-demon to her office. Enclosed space, open space. . . alone, together . . . After a moment, she decided on letting them trap the bully in her office, so she could chew him out in private. A few minutes later her door opened, and Sango pushed the angry dog-demon into her office.

The door slammed and clicked behind Inuyasha, leaving him alone with Kagome. "If it isn't the wench," he greeted, "Get these damned things off of me!" Kagome grinned and shook her head. Although reasoning would deem it extremely stupid to anger a demon more, Inuyasha and all the leaders of the yokai races needed her to keep from becoming caged animals or worse, slaves.

"Sit," she commanded, gesturing to a chair. Inuyasha growled and glared at her for a moment before seating himself in the leather chair. "Good boy," she cooed before grabbing the newspaper and tossing it onto his lap. "Care to share why you destroyed half of Chinatown?"

"The wolf-yokai were challenging me for my territory. I had to show them who was boss." Kagome sighed and frowned. She walked over and picked up the paper, narrowly avoiding a bite from her prisoner. "Now will you let me go," he asked, clearly annoyed.

"This is bad for public relations. I already have the Anti-yokai groups breathing down my neck as it is. We both know you could've kept the fight in the woods."

"Oh, so the animal rights groups can tackle you too," he replied, keeping a heart-stopping glare fixed on Kagome.

If Kagome had just met Inuyasha, the look would've stopped her cold, maybe even cause her to run away in fear. However, this particular look lost its menace quite some time ago, and seeing the man often helped as well. She returned his glare, "You're missing the point Inuyasha. If you insist on destroying-"

"What about the murders of my clan," he retorted, "You haven't been coming over lately to discuss those. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd assume you dropped the case. My people keep dying, your people keep dying."

"You're only a half demon," Kagome reminded him, knowing the reaction her words would provoke.

"I could kill you here, wench," he replied, vehemence dripping from his voice in a cool, controlled fashion. He stood, and looked down at Kagome, murder written on his face.

"Kill me and you lose everything," she said, refusing to look away or show her fear. Sure, she had pissed Inuyasha off before, but this time she went a little too far. He could, and probably would kill her if she didn't do something. Suddenly Inuyasha looked away, sniffing the air. "What is it?" Inuyasha ignored her and continued smelling the office, stopping at the bottom drawer of her desk.

"Open it," he commanded, and Kagome complied, slightly cautious and confused. For all she knew, it could be a trap he made up to escape. Her eyes widened when she saw the glowing red numbers. Five minutes. Four fifty-nine. Four fifty-eight. Four fifty-seven. Fear enveloped Kagome, and she stumbled backward. "Kagome," Inuyasha asked, leaning over, smirking slightly. "Scared? Aren't you a cop, can't you disable it?"

"I-I'm not a bomb expert," she replied, "Humans aren't my domain, demons are."

"So get one of your partners to disable it."

"Can't," Kagome said with regret, "I told them to leave you with me for an hour while we talked."

"Bitch! Why so long!"

"Because that's how long it takes for me to pry any information out of you!"

"Don't blame this on me," Inuyasha retorted angrily, getting slightly nervous. Demons were no problem. Human devices confused the hell out of him.

"If you hadn't gone and ripped apart Chinatown," Kagome began, only to be cut off by a now nervous Inuyasha.

"Three minutes Kagome! Figure out something!" Kagome looked at Inuyasha, then at her door. To keep Inuyasha from escaping, they locked the outside of her door. Perhaps, if she uncuffed the demon, he could knock down the door and - no, there would still be a bomb. But she didn't know anything about a bomb! "Kagome," Inuyasha asked, then grunted and in an extremely acrobatic move, tucked his legs over his arms and thus bringing his handcuffed arms in front of his body. Then, with a grunt, the 'new unbreakable handcuffs' were nothing more than a piece of scrap metal on the floor.

He then grabbed Kagome, kicked down the door (and part of the wall, for that matter) much to the horror of those in the office. "There's a fucking bomb in there," he announced, and continued outside. Better to save his own ass than stay inside and face death. Kagome kicked and complained as he dashed out of the office. A minute or so later Sango came out, frowning.

"Anti-demon groups are targeting you again," she simply replied, holding up the diffused bomb with a yellow smiley sticker on it. Kagome groaned when her eyes caught the logo. It belonged to an extremist faction, 'Normality'. She sighed and sank on the steps, then looked up at Inuyasha.

"If you could break apart the handcuffs this whole time, why didn't you?" Inuyasha shrugged, and gave no response. Kagome blinked at him, then dismissed the strength as adrenaline. "The day keeps getting worse and worse," she muttered, then returned her attention to Sango. "I need a complete analysis of that bomb by this afternoon, preferably before the press conference. I would like to bring Normality a little gift. As for you, Inuyasha, we need to go back in my office and continue what we started."

Inuyasha growled and could've run away, except he needed to discuss the recent murders of his clan. If the anti-yokai groups were targeting Kagome again, it meant that there was a good chance they were murdering the people in the clans as well. He nodded and side-by-side they walked in, Kagome frowning as she surveyed the damage to her door. "Could you have been a bit more gentle? We're not rich like you yokai are."

Just how did yokai make a living? Most were in the black market, and some were in the `honest' trades, hiding their abnormalities. Kagome still wasn't sure of Inuyasha's occupation, and the only thing she did know was that it made him extremely wealthy. Most of the damage done had been paid by him in half or occasionally full. Although Kagome doubted he would be willing to cover the damages done to Chinatown.

"Quit whining about your stupid door and explain to me why my people are still disappearing." Kagome sighed and sat, followed by Inuyasha, who kept a glare on the woman.

"You're a half-demon," she replied simply, giving a serious look to reprimand his initial danger. "You and I both know that the other clans assume yours is weaker because of that fact. They could be carrying out the murders to cause distrust in your clan. Then there's the ones within your clan that detest you because you are a half-breed. Not only that, but there's also the anti-demon groups. Now, can you please tell me where you would like me to start? Because everyone could be a suspect."

"No one in my clan would dare challenge me by killing their brethren," Inuyasha replied tartly.

"What of the night you are human? What do they do then? What if they are attacked when you are a human? You can't protect them."

"Are you saying I should give up my leadership?"

"It's safer that way, Inuyasha. Besides, you don't have an alpha female. The other clans do. It's another blow to your reputation."

At times, Kagome could be a real bitch. But what she said had a point. Despite what he said earlier, several small packs of his clan detested his leadership. And the anti-yokai groups were always a threat. With the lack of available territory, fights between clans were common.

Still, to admit that Kagome had some valid points would be a blow to his pride and small hold of power over her.

"Inuyasha. . . Do you want me to talk to the wolf-clan?"

Inuyasha's ears perked at that statement. Kagome? Talk? Sure, she did it often, and was well respected by most of the demons out there. But her? Fight his battles? Never.

A simple glare stopped that suggestion. Kagome stared at Inuyasha for a while, and then reclined back in her chair. The movement bothered Inuyasha. The little wench was almost as stubborn as him.

"What's wrong with you," he asked, rather rudely.

"I give up. I can't do anything if you don't want me to. Listen Inuyasha - don't fight near civilians again. It's getting harder to defend your actions."

"Tonight," Inuyasha said abruptly. Kagome arched an eyebrow. Inuyasha's eyes had suddenly become entranced, and his ears were back, a sign of feeling threatened. Had he sensed something?

"Come with me tonight. It's not safe for you to be at home now." Kagome blushed slightly at his statement; or rather, order.

"Why," she asked, voice growing a tad bit softer.

"I've heard the fox-clan talking. They're going to attack both your home and the anti-yokai groups. Plus, the damned activists are already on your ass."

Kagome jumped up immediately at his words. "Then we have to send out a warning!"

"And get the fox-clan extinguished?"

"This is beyond help. They're biting the hand that feeds them."

Inuyasha frowned and looked at Kagome with pitiful eyes. "Some clans do not accept you as well. It's a blow to our pride when a mere human is our last line of defense. A mere human fighting a battle against other humans that we ourselves should be fighting. We can't fight our instinctual battles anymore. It's like we're walking on hot coals and glass simultaneously while you people throw rocks at us."

Kagome stared at him in silence. Sure, she had assumed that it annoyed the clans that a human had taken over their fight, but she never thought their annoyance would turn into malicious frustration.

Inuyasha sat on the floor, Indian style, with a not-so-normal thoughtful look on his face. Kagome wondered briefly what was on his mind, but Sango abruptly burst through the door, worry imprinted on her face. "We just got word that the fox clan is threatening the anti-yokai leaders. If they actually succeeded in just one of their plans. . ."

Kagome nodded. "I know." Not only would her and her friend's cause become hopeless, the fox clan would be extinguished as well by sheer pressure from the anti-yokai groups. Kagome looked at Inuyasha, who still looked to the side, thinking.

Kagome frowned. What were they going to do?

Lei flopped back on her bead in a stricken mood. Thanks to Kagome she now knew that the fox-demons were plotting to kill her. Lovely. Just lovely. Of course, this was a blessing to her cause. And she would do anything to make sure demons were eradicated from this world.

Demons weren't Christian. In fact, their mere existence disproved the Bible. Nothing disproves God's word. Nothing. It didn't help that Kagome had started this `miko' campaign a couple of weeks ago.

Train young girls to take care of the yokai as a special task force? How deranged could she be?

Of course, she hadn't brought out her special weapon. Evidence that proved Kagome herself had a relationship with a demon - a clan leader. Her subordinate, Kagura, had noticed that at every one of her press releases the guy was hidden in the back, watching.

A lover was plenty enough reason for someone to support the horrid beasts.

"But what if those demons attack me tonight," she whispered in fear. Common sense knew that humans stood no fighting chance at humans. However, she had her cross. Her faith. Her God.

The fox demons stared at the burning fire, anger intensifying as the flames licked and kissed the air. Two of their own had been killed. Not just any two - parents to a young pup.

Children were rare in all yokai clans. To kill a child was a mortal sin, to kill parents was even worse.

They would kill the damned leader of `Normality' the ones who left that logo on the bloodied bodies of the corpses, then kill Kagome, the woman who wouldn't let them act by instinct.

If they died, then so be it. Revenge and moral code were more important.

The young pup whimpered as he watched the flames dance, desire for revenge and hatred slowly consuming his heart. His parents were dead. Killed not by demons, but humans. Even a pup like himself could avenge their death easily.

Naraku watched the clan from afar, grinning. Not only did his plan work, but this event would signal the musicians to play, and he, he would be the conductor.