InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Miroku's Lyric ❯ Session Seventeen ( Chapter 17 )

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"Do you know it's a sin to kill a mockingbird?"

Sesshoumaru eyed her for a moment, before turning back to the road ahead. He noticed Rin from the outside mirror, waving them off as they rolled away from the school.

Kagura smiled, knowing he wouldn't respond. "The mockingbird spends its entire life making music for us, singing its heart out until it's last breath for nothing in return. It's immoral to kill such a noble and humble creature."

She ran her finger across the frost covered window, peeking out the visible areas that her finger had trailed across. She didn't like simply looking out the windshield, she would always state that it depressed her.

"A creature stupid enough to serve humans deserve to die," came his reply.

She smirked, tracing her name in the frost. She knew he found it irritating when she did such childish things. She realized that was why she did it.

He continued. "People think of nothing but themselves, hoping they get somewhere in life, paying no attention to the things around them. As much as we try to separate ourselves from animals, we still have the basic things in common: we're born, we live, we die."

"Then why do you bother trying to progress, only to be forgotten a few generations later?"

He didn't respond.

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Session Seventeen- Kohaku, Part One

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"Everyone ready?"

"Are you sure about this? This is a middle school, there are a good two-thousand witnesses here-"

"Please! That's never stopped us before!"

"Quiet!" the leader hissed, "and the rest of you, get into your positions. You find him, take him. Alive."

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11:19 AM

Kohaku yawned, staring at the clock. 'Eleven minutes until lunch.'

He had drowned out the seemingly endless lecture, the piece of notebook paper was covered with doodles instead of notes. He looked around the classroom. Most of the kids were out their seats, chatting shamelessly, a few deciding to take advantage of the current situation and skip class completely. After all, who actually does their classwork when there's a substitute teacher?

He sighed, tucking his sketchbook under his uniform, knowing if he left it at his desk several of his peers would be adding to his artwork. Yawning again, he closed his eyes, waiting for the bell to ring. That's when he heard it.

"Teachers and staff, teachers and staff, gather your students and lock the doors to your classroom. Students, please hurry to the nearest classroom. We are on a temporary lock-down. Please watch for the announcements for further instructions. This is not a drill..."

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She blinked. 'Lock down...?'

Rin looked around, the hallways completely deserted, not a classroom in sight. 'The teacher HAD to send me to the one hall with no classrooms.' Hesitantly, she turned towards the stairway, the closest classroom being downstairs.

She stopped mid-stair.

She froze, staring at the man before her, or more like the gun that was in his hand. Rin knew he didn't work here, by his appearance she was sure she would've remembered him.

She didn't even hear herself scream.

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'Rin?'

He stood up suddenly. Everyone in the classroom had heard the scream, a few gathering towards the door's window to see what was going on, the substitute trying to force the students into their seats, ignoring the cry.

Kohaku made his way to the door, pushing random teenagers out of his way as he looked through the small window out into the hallway. Several men were standing near the stairway, all holding guns.

His hands gripped the doorknob. He recognized them, all of them. They were looking for him.

He swung the door open, ignoring the teacher's yells. "Naraku!"

The man at the top of the stairway looked down at him, a smirk playing across his features as he turned away from Rin, who was backed into a corner.

"Kohaku," said Naraku, "It's been awhile. You've grown."

"What do you want?"

His answer was short and simple. "You."

A long moment of silence stretched between them.

"Rin," Kohaku turned towards the young girl, "go."

Rin watched them, too afraid to move. "Kohaku..." she whispered.

"GO!"

She jumped, suprised by the tone of his voice. He had turned away from her, his eyes hidden by his dark bangs. Holding back a sob, she hurried back up the stairs, but not before hearing the next part of their conversation:

"Nice girl," the dark man gave a bored glance, "love her?"

"...Yes..."

She gasped, tears falling freely from her face. She had to do something...

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Miroku watched the clock. 11:43 AM

"Aren't you going to eat something?"

"After I finish these last few papers."

Miroku frowned. She had already skipped lunch and dinner yesterday, barely eating breakfast. Most of her time she was spending working on unnessessary paperwork or going through her medical books. Barely any words were spoken between them. She avoided him and any attempts of conversing with him, praying questions of her breakdown several days ago wouldn't come up.

But he wouldn't ask. He refused to pry into her personal life like she believed he would. If she had wanted him to know, she would've told him. If she did decide to do so, she would do it when she was ready.

But that didn't stop him from wanting her to tell him.

Both of their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing.

"Hello, Sango Takahashi-"

"Sango! Sango, you've got to get down here now!"

"Rin, calm down! What's wrong?"

"They're people here with guns. They took Kohaku."

A moment of silence passed. The older woman didn't respond, staring out, silent. 'Naraku...'

Miroku watched her uncertainly. Her arm was shaking, her hand gripping the phone as if trying to crush it in her hands. It was as if she was fighting something. 'It's as if she was trying to... wake up...'

"We're coming, Rin," she whispered, more for her own benefit than for Rin's. Hanging up, she hurried out the door, Miroku following.

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"You came here to kill me, didn't you?"

The man laughed, his voice echoing in the large area of the deserted gym. They were alone, his henchmen waiting outside the doors in case someone managed to show up in time.

Naraku pulled the weapon out of his pocket. "Do you remember this gun Kohaku?" he asked, not bothering to hide the proud smirk plastered across his face. "You should. It's the gun I used to kill your father with."

"Adding insult to injury, that's just like you," Kohaku replied.

He laughed again, backing away from the boy, cocking the weapon at its desired target. "No more time to chat, Kohaku, I've got a meeting to attend to. Scared?"

"No." Was his simple answer.

"That's good... that's very good."

The gun went off. The bullet pierced into Kohaku's chest, the shock of impact hitting him before the sound of the bullet reached his ears. He had promised not to cry out, but the agonizing pain had more control over him than his will power did.

He fell backwards onto the cold hard floor, Naraku gone before he even touched the ground. He couldn't hear, he couldn't speak, his eyes slowly becoming blurry.

He saw a form loom over him. He didn't need to see to know who it was. 'Rin...'

'I'm sorry Sango...'

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Police cars. Ambulances. Reporters. Students were scurrying out of the building, oblivious to the actual severity of the incident. Sango hurried through the crowds, serching for any sign of her brother, Miroku following close behind her.

She hurried towards the entrance, the mass exodus of students now dimming down to a few. Police hurried out, running around the premises, more than likely looking for the one who cause the whole thing in the first place. Sango already knew they wouldn't find him, Naraku was too sly to be caught by the city.

One more group exited the building. The large group in front, once loud and rowdy, grew quiet, spreading out to make room for the last group. It was the medical group, rolling out a soft white cot, which was now damp with bright red spots.

"He's alive... barely..." she heard one of them say.

Sango made her way through the crowd, trying to get a glimpse of the victim before they drove off, hoping with every ounce of her being that the victim wasn't who she thought.

She stopped in her own tracks, covering her mouth to supress her screams.

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I know the question on everybody's mind is: "Will he make it?" We'll just have to see ... well, technically, you'll have to see. I already know what's going to happen.

The first scene with Sesshoumaru and Kagura is inspired by the book "To Kill a Mockingbird". It's used because I think almost all the characters in this story are mockingbirds, tainted by the evil(Naraku) in the world.

In the next two chapters, the reasons for Sango and Kohaku's behavior and overall mood are revealed. And I promise some Miroku/Sango in the chapter after next.

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Lil'Lyn713

Posted 12/20/04