InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ New Age ❯ Free To Fight ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Claimer: I own what has to be the smallest fraction of Inuyasha possible. So small I can’t remember it. Heh, oh well. Moving on.

Summary: Meet Dr. Kagome Higurashi. She works in a recently developed portion of the Shroud Companies called “Metaphysical Understandings”. What she does is analyze and report the supernatural things she’s given, such as old Japanese Ofudas, Taro Cards, Crystal Balls and so on. And then she was assigned to the biggest discovery of the company: a demon-like creature recently uncovered in a deathlike sleep from under the surface of the Old World.


New Age

Chapter Five: Free To Fight


As Kagome reached the door she was headed for, she thought back on her trek here so far. She passed plenty of those Shippers/Receivers on her way here and couldn't help but wonder if one of them were headed to her lab room to pick up the samples -- which were stashed away in the breifcase she now held. Having reached door O-17, she pressed the button that buzzed a notice to the inhabitants.

A voice said, "Research Lab; who seeks entry?"

"Dr. Kagome Higurashi from the new project on the 96th floor. I have samples here from the subject in question to deliver," she said back.

"Samples to deliver?" the voice repeated. It went quiet for a moment, which only seemed to confirm Kagome's suspicions about there being foul play. After a short while, the voice returned. "Show us your ID."

She did so, holding it up to the camera. A light blinked to life and zipped across her ID before blinking out again.

"ID passed. We'll let you in, but then you have to explain."

This wasn't right. . . As Kagome entered the lab, her instincts acted up. Partially from all the jars, bottles, trays and pieces of everything laying about in various stages of discovery, but mainly because this just didn't feel right. She met a nice young man who introduced himself.

"My name is Dr. Kouga, around here they call me 'Pack Leader' though. Come this way, and we can talk," he said, gesturing which way to go.

She set the breifcase down on the table nearest her before sitting in a gestured chair. Dr. Kouga sat in front of her and didn't waste a moment getting to the point.

"We don't have any record of asking for samples from the subject," he said.

Kagome shook her head. "Maybe not, but the message I got for them was directly from Mr. Bell himself."

"Okay, assuming you're right and there was a mistake or malfunction that kept us from receiving the same message; why are you delivering it?"

She wet her lips. "I received a message from Management telling me to send the samples down to this lab as soon as we finished gathering them."

"You directly?"

"It was specified to whomever left last," she half-answered.

Dr. Kouga leaned back in his chair with a puzzled look. "What all is in that breifcase?"

"All sorts of samples; everything that was asked for."

"Specifically?"

"Specifically: blood, hair, saliva, fur -"

"Fur?" he repeatedly sharply.

"Yes, subject has miniature dog ears instead of normal human ones. Both are covered in fur."

"Anything else?"

She nodded but, being reluctant to say it, blushed and kept her mouth shut.

He tilted his head. "What else was requested?"

She almost whimpered, but put on her professional mask and answered. "A sample of sperm."

Dr. Kouga's eyebrows raised, almost disappearing from sight in his hairline. "Sperm?"

"Yes, it was requested to be drawn directly from his. . . uhh. . . " She couldn't say that part.

He nodded in understanding. "You didn't find these requests a bit odd?"

She nodded. "I did; however I am already in trouble and could not afford to ask questions or disobey."

He nodded again. "I can understand that. Leave the breifcase here, and I'll get someone to check on the communications line to see if something was damaged. In the meantime, I suggest you return to your laboratory with a police escort to make sure nothing happened or will."

"Six police guards are stationed outside of the lab at all times," she returned, standing. "I thank you for your time."

"Likewise. Fare well, young researcher."

"Fare well," she replied, and turned to leave. With every step she took towards the door, she expected her anxiety to fade; instead, it was growing. While she was certain that she was stressing over nothing, she was also certain that her instincts couldn't be wrong when they were this strong. In fact, she found that her steps -- while they had begun slowly paced and relaxed -- were steadily growing in speed.

She was almost running by the time she reached the elevator again, her heart pounding quickly in her chest. She pressed the button for her floor and tapped her foot as the slow journey began. At this point she was almost positive that she could run up the stairs faster than this elevator was going. The continuous 'ding's as the floors passed by annoyed her, and she found herself counting them as one would count the seconds.

At exactly half a second passed the 'ding' for the 94th floor, the elevator jerked to a stop and the lights within flickered warningly.

Get out.

That thought couldn't have been hers, but she obeyed, trying to pry the doors open with her hands, then looking around when that failed. The elevator jerked a second time, much more sharply, and then she was weightless. She gasped but before she could scream, she slammed into the floor again and panted, shaking, as the moment slowly died.

The elevator had fallen, correct? The emergency breaks must have caught it before it went too far down. Which meant. . . was she exactly at a door, now? She got up and tried again at prying open the doors, but then the lights went out and the sudden darkness made her shriek.

Shaking again, worse than before, she focused on getting the doors open, hoping against hope that this wasn't an assassination attempt on her life, or that of Inuyasha's.

Try harder; get out!

She kicked at the doors, frightened by her lack of sight but ignoring it for the time being. She was starting to panic; she could feel it growing inside her. Still, she did her best not to let it control her, and bit her lips on every whimper and scream that tried to escape her throat.

The elevator jerked a third time, knocking her down, and she reached up to grab the inner railing. She could hear and feel her heartbeat now, strongly and clearly, ringing in her ears, thudding in her neck, making her sweat. Once she stood, she didn't have another chance to pry at the doors; the elevator freefell.

She screamed. She couldn't help it as it began a straight, unerring fall a full 94 floors – plus however far underneath the building it traveled. Her feet weren't on the ground, she couldn't see a thing, she couldn't stop the fall, and she was seeing images from behind her eyes. She saw her friends and colleagues, her family and pets, the stranger from her dreams. . . and Inuyasha as well.

Her stomach was churning and her screams were hurting her throat. She flailed her arms out uselessly to find something still and solid to hold onto, feeling tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she thought of how young she still was. . .

And then something grabbed her and everything stopped all at once.

Shaking, whimpering, blind and still seeing saddening images of what she was going to leave behind, she found herself certain that she had hit the bottom floor and died in a bloody heap. Her sense of touch wasn't working, and she couldn't seem to move at all yet. This only helped her thinking that her soul remained in her body at the very bottom at this moment, unable to control her body any longer.

She shrieked.

"Oy!"

She jumped, surprising herself with the move. Her heart hadn't slowed yet, surprising her yet again -- she was still alive?!

She stuttered some mess of words she didn't understand.

"Don't yell again," the voice returned.

This time she recognized it.

"I-I-Inu-ya-yasha?" she stammered.

"Yeah, it's me. Now hang on; we've gotta go back up."

"No more heights," she pleaded, leaning into him. She became aware now that he was holding her against his chest with one arm, and she seemed to be sitting on his thigh. How was he holding himself?

"We have to go back up, so hang on like I said."

She shook her head but held him tightly around the neck. "Can you. . . see at all?"

"I can, but I imagine you can't." He shifted and Kagome shrieked again at the motion, her relaxing heart thundering again. "Oy! No screeching, harpy!" She felt his hands move, first finding her waist, and then her thighs. She blushed.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" she asked, sharply. The moment of fear passed as she felt her anger and indignation rising. Trying to seduce her in such a situation?! He really was a brute!!

"Now I told you twice to hang on," he snapped back. He shifted again and moved her thighs so her legs were wrapped around his waist.

She was just about to throttle him when she felt him leap. With another shriek she clung to him. The motions following were the strangest ever: he would jump, she could feel the air rushing past; then he would turn and land for only a breif moment, and leap again. Each leap sent a wild thrill through her very core, both with excitement and fear. By the fifth jump, she was almost having fun, having forgotten of her earlier anger.

It wasn't until she felt something brush against her face that she realized all that earlier moving had been him moving her to his back. That gave her a sense of trusting, which at the moment was unfounded. She had to wonder, despite her thrilling ride on Inuyasha's back, how he had gotten himself free. Still, she wasn't about to distract him at such a time.

She counted more than a dozen jumps as they continued up, and then he landed and stayed still for a moment. Her arms around his neck could feel the muscles on his shoulders moving, and a moment later she saw sparks followed by a sliver of light. Her eyes widened as she realized he was forcing open a door, then narrowed again at the bright onslaught of light.

He stepped onto the floor and knelt, letting her off his back. She sat down without a second thought and blinked slowly as her eyes readjusted. When they did, she looked up to see that Inuyasha had stood again, and was facing a door. . . rather, what had once been a door.

It was the door to their lab! Had he broken it down? How, and why? He couldn't have heard her, could he?

"Stay here," he ordered her, and she almost stood up and slapped him. The only reason why she didn't was because she noticed the six stationed guards lying in heaps on the ground, each one sporting broken armor, a broken weapon, and a puddle of blood.

Her stomach churned and she opened her mouth to ask Inuyasha if they were dead or not, but he was gone. She saw him inside the lab briefly, followed by a blast from a proton-gun. Her eyes widened. Someone was attacking him! Was that why he told her to stay put?

She couldn't just sit here and watch. . . after all, he might be an escapee, and had attcked the guards. But then, why save her, and return to the floor which he escpaed to face off against one of the most dangerous weapons their time had produced?

"Sankon Tessou!" he snapped, slashing towards the blasts. Bright yellow slashes followed the trail of his claws, he disappeared from her line of sight in a rush, and someone cried out in pain. A moment later there was a sparking and the sound of metal crushing.

She couldn't sit here any longer. She got up and stepped around the wreckage of the door to see inside. Someone was on their knees, holding their left arm, head down, as Inuyasha stood before them, chin up, chest out, with the broken and crushed gun in one hand. Two tables were crushed and one more was toppled over.

"What happened?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Inuyasha looked at her sharply. "I told you to stay!"

"And I asked you a question!" she snapped.

They glared at one another for a long moment. Then the person on the floor made a daring lunge at Inuyasha –

Who didn't seem fazed in the least. He shoved the person aside, revealing it to be a man in all-white robes – well, now white with some red coloring.

"I was attacked," Inuyasha said while pacing a circle around the man on the floor. "This guy managed to take out those guards before coming in; I don't know how he got past the security measures."

With how Inuyasha talked about these things, it was obvious he wasn't new to it. Kagome looked at the door. "Why is the door smashed through?"

He chuckled. "I broke it down when I heard you scream."

She blinked, dumbfounded. "How did you get out?"

"I wasn't strapped, remember?" He gestured at the cell.

She looked it over from her place and found that the barrier was fizzing, the chair was askew, and there was a gaping hole in the left side of the cell -- undoubtedly how Inuyasha had gotten himself out.

There was a flaw. . . in the cell. Her jaw almost dropped as that hit her. The cell was supposed to be perfect, yet it wasn't -- and why had none of the other, strength-induced prisoners tried that same tactic? . . Because none of them were bright enough to think of it. She turned her eyes back to Inuyasha.

"You're brilliant," she said aloud, then covered her mouth. "I didn't mean that!" she added, hoping she'd spoken in her born language and not Japanese.

Inuyasha was chuckling. "Yeah, real brilliant to claw my way out of a metal cylinder."

She blushed. When he put it like that. . . "Okay, so you're practical, which has nothing to do with brilliance."

He shrugged. "Brilliant enough to survive."

She heard footsteps coming towards the room and quickly stepped inside. "Inuyasha - !!"

"I hear them," he interrupted. He tossed the broken gun towards her, which landed with a clang and slid over to her feet. He then sat up the man in white robes, had him face the entrance, and twisted the man's arms behind his back.

Kagome understood his strategy and turned to face the guards who showed up, guns aimed and raised – at Inuyasha.

One of them ran towards her and pulled her towards the exit. She resisted and said, "The threat is over!"

The head guard shook his head. "Prisoner is still loose!"

"Prisoner!" she scoffed. "Inuyasha is no prisoner -"

"Let the man go," the guard interrupted, speaking to Inuyasha.

"Hold it!" she yelled, taking on her full I'm-in-charge voice. "Inuyasha was attacked within his cell, fought the attacker who took out the usual guards, jumped down the elevator shaft to save my life, and returned to disable this vagabond!" she finished with a gesture at the man in white.

One of the guards spoke directly to her. "Crisis Counseling will be certain to assess this situation and treat you for your trauma."

"Trauma this!" she snapped, wrenching her arm from the grasp of the guard and turning on her heel. She half-ran, half-trotted over to Inuyasha and stood by him. "Inuyasha is not the enemy here."

The guards all looked at one another. Turning back to her, the leader lowered his weapon. "We will consult the recording of this attack before releasing either the prisoner or the man."

She narrowed her eyes. "For the last time, his name is Inuyasha."

Inuyasha chuckled beside her, seemingly having gotten the gist just now. "Inuyasha-chan?" he asked, looking up at her mischievously.

She blushed. "Never!" She knew what that meant; 'chan' was usually used as a cute nickname, but to call a man by that term was to suggest he was your boyfriend. "Inuyasha-kun."

He smirked. "Whatever I can get, I'll take."

She blushed redder. "Guards, you may take them now," she addressed them. The guards came forward – she counted ten before losing count with the sway of identical bodies – and restrained both Inuyasha and the man in white. The man in white struggled, repeatedly calling Inuyasha a 'mutant in need of purging' and other such insults. Inuyasha, on the other hand, gave her a trusting look and allowed the guards to restrain his arms and lead him out of the room.

Kagome took a moment and looked around the room while her mind came to terms with everything that had happened.

The main question behind all of this, was how that man learned of Inuyasha. She could imagine someone cutting through the guards, getting ahold of a fake ID card, and gaining entrance into the lab; but how had he learned of Inuyasha?

If he did know, he must've known Inuyasha was awake. If not, why bother to bring that gun? If he was no threat, there would have been no attempt on his life. Only ten people knew that Inuyasha was conscious: her team and the board members. Mr. Bell alone, if not all of them, making it five.

The room definitely was a mess. She found herself thankful that the others had left already, and then gasped. She should've been back home already, which means Ayumi would have called her – the girl would be panicking at the moment! Kagome cursed herself and searched her belongings for a transerter – the word the used these days for a phone, only these come with video recording screens which could be activated at any time or simply not used.

She lifted the transerter and said, "Ayumi Fitsunara, Shroud Employee of the Miyuna District." The Miyuna District was what they called this section of the metropolis, much like Old World area codes within a single city. It became a required thing to list the name, occupation, and location of the person you wished to speak to these days, given the huge amount of people who lived and in such close quarters. In the event that two people shared the same name, job and housing, their middle name or date of birth was also required.

That was extremely rare.

The screen beeped to life and Ayumi's face was one of relief. "Kagome," she sighed. "I was worried when you didn't call me as soon as I got home."

"There was a bit of a setback at work," she replied.

"Setback?" Ayumi echoed. "Oh no -- that Inuyasha didn't get out, did he?!"

Kagome sat at her desk, which had thankfully escaped the thrashing the room took. "In a sense. In fact, he. . ." she paused and smiled. "He saved my life, Ayumi."

Ayumi looked positively shocked. "Tell me everything!! No, wait -- come over, then tell me everything!! I'll be waiting, so be sure to get here as fast as you can!"

"I'll leave right away, Ayumi," Kagome replied with a smile. "Fare well."

"Fare well!"

She flipped the transerter closed and looked around once more. The place was definitely a mess, but the janitors would get it cleaned in no time. By tomorrow, everything will be as it was before the fight and nobody would know the difference. . . perhaps she could even keep the secret from Sango and her husband, Miroku. But somehow, Kagome didn't like the idea of keeping a secret from Sango.

"I'll tell her," she decided aloud. "And if she wants to tell her husband, that's her choice." She stood up and headed for the exit one more time, deciding to take the stairs down this time.

It was very late, almost three in the morning, when Kagome returned home from Ayumi's. The reason why she'd stayed over for so long was because Ayumi had asked about everything, and Kagome had denied her no answers. She even got a little into it, herself. . . She found herself talking after a while and admitted that she was lusting for Inuyasha, and badly at that.

Ayumi looked like she was going to flip, but ended up smiling and saying she knew it all along.

"You knew it?" Kagome had echoed.

"I knew it," Ayumi confirmed. "I've heard you two argue and you know what they say -- the more a couple fights, the hotter they are for each other."

"You got into romance books again, didn't you," Kagome had said flatly in return; it hadn't been a question.

Ayumi had nodded. "I did, but that's not the only reason why I knew you liked him."

"What else is there?"

"You kissed him. Twice, he said," Ayumi had pointed out. "And on top of that, he keeps teasing you and you always rise to the challenge, whatever it is. You're the only one who feeds him, the only one who gets so close to him, the one who dressed him. And I think. . ." She had paused there before going on. "I think he's lusting for you, too."

To which Kagome had blushed. "No, he's a jerk and pervert and he deserves a few good slaps," she snarled in return. "And you're being suspiciously mellow about this. . ."

"I think it may be beyond lust, too," Ayumi continued on, ignoring her last statement. "I think he either really likes you, or. . ."

"Don't say it!" Kagome had begged.

"He loves you."

Kagome had intended on leaving after that statement, perhaps without so much as a 'Fare well', but she stayed much longer after that. They talked longer and more deeply, sometimes about Inuyasha, sometimes about her, sometimes about Ayumi's books. They made comparisons a lot, between those romance novels and how life was these days. Kagome found herself wishing to be the beautiful princess mage in a book, and Inuyasha, the shining hero who rushes in to save her, and the two of them together defeat their enemy and then ride off into the sunset. . . to be married and have. . . a wedding night.

As she entered her home now, thinking of these things, she found herself blushing. She had already told Inuyasha once that intercourse was outlawed; it was messy and disgusting and it caused many of the worst diseases. She herself couldn't believe she had gotten so close to him, to be okay with touching him, to have kissed him before. It was all against good morals, if not the law.

While it isn't strictly outlawed to have physical relationships, it is outlawed to do so in public, or under scrutiny.

That's when it hit her. Not only had she kissed him twice, she'd done it in plain view of a camera!! Oh, the board was going to fry her alive. . .

She tried not to think about her punishment as she went to her room, then to her bathroom for a long-deserved shower. Standing under the spray, she wished she had a bathtub like the luxury homes do. A nice, big, hot bath right now would have made all her worries fade away. . . It was too bad for her that she was still just upper-middle class with an upper-middle class home and upper-middle class wages.

It seemed strange to her that even though the Old World is now nothing but rubble, and yet they kept these classes into the New Age. Not just the classes, in fact, but the meaning behind them and the exact same titles for them.

Now she found herself wishing that she could leave this place, go into her dreams, and live there forever with the Shadowed Man. It didn't matter that she couldn't see his face like she wanted to; it made him mysterious and as long as he kept being so nice and considerate to her, if only in her dreams, she would be content to just be with him.

"You've got a really dreamy look."

She jumped. Her first thought was that Eri wasn't supposed to be in her room while she was showering, and her second thought was: That's not Eri's voice. She nearly panicked, making sure the door was closed the right away and turning her back to it.

"Wh-who's there?" she stuttered.

"Think about what language I'm speaking right now," the voice returned.

Her eyes bugged out in pure shock. Inuyasha?! How'd he get out of the prison, how did he find her, what was he doing here, and why didn't he leave yet?! Better question: Why hadn't her dogs barked?!

"What are you doing?!" she shrieked. The blood rushing to her face was making her highly dizzy and she swayed a little before leaning against the tile wall.

She heard him chuckle. "You look like you're about to fall over."

Her jaw dropped too, now. He can see me through thick, foggy white tile?! "Don't look at me, you pervert!!"

"You spoke in that new language again," he returned smoothly.

"Get out!!" she yelled.

The door opened and closed and with it, his footsteps took him away. She heard her bed squeak under weight and Inuyasha's chuckling again.

She shut off the water, grabbed a towel and started to dry herself off. She kept glancing at the door, making sure it was shut. Just who did he think he was, barging into someone's house without asking, entering their bathroom while uninvited, and peeking in on them while showering? What a pervert!!

It seemed strange to her, as well, that she wasn't afraid. Her heart was thudding and that was true, but not in fear -- in anger. How could he have such audacity, anyway?!

She wrapped the towel around her and stepped out, eyes narrowed, chin raised and flames following her. "Now what in hell do you think you're doing?" she snarled quietly.

He shrugged. "I decided to come by and see you." He glanced down at her legs, then back up. "You look good," he added teasingly.

"First question," she said, ignoring his statement entirely, "how did you get out of the prison?"

He smiled. "I let myself out. It was crowded and damp in there."

"Second question," she went on, "how did you find me?"

"A computer told me when I asked for it."

"Third question, why didn't my dogs here bark when you came in?"

"They did; that was hours ago."

"Fourth question, why didn't you make yourself known when I got here?"

"You would've shrieked and awoken Eri. She fell asleep an hour ago and has been sleeping like a rock."

"Fifth, why in hell did you go in the bathroom?!" she snapped at last.

He smiled devilishly. "Payback."

She blinked, getting a cold feeling in her spine. "Payback?"

"Yes, payback." He stood up and continued that devil smile. "You saw me naked, I figured I'd return the favor. Next is. . ."

She swallowed. What was he planning on doing, now?

He gestured her bed, and when she looked at it, she saw some of her clothes laid out -- all in red. Her jaw fell. "What in the. . ."

"You dressed me; I'll dress you."

Her face flooded in heat. "No you will not!!"

"Why not?" he asked, taking a single step forward. "I'm not gonna hurt you, and you know it."

She took a step back. "It's completely wrong!! It's against the law and -"

"I read those laws," he countered. "We're not in public, now are we?" He took another step forward.

She swallowed again. "No, but. . . I deny you!" She took a second step back, which put her back against her wall. "I do not give you permission to -"

"You look really sexy like that," he commented in an off-hand way. "Wearing nothing but a towel," he began, and took another step towards her, "hair still wet, pressed against a wall. . . Anger in your eyes and embarrassment in your cheeks. Positively seductive." Again he came closer, this time leaving him no more than a foot away from her.

Her face warmed more. What was he thinking, or was he thinking at all? You couldn't just come into somebody's house, watch them bathe, suggest to dress them and then try to seduce them! "I deny you," she repeated, though this time her voice was shaking.

He smirked, very slowly lowering his head. "I choose you," he returned, softly.

All at once time seemed to freeze, watching him come closer to her like he was. She became aware of everything all at once, most especially that her body stopped responding to her will. She felt her hands on her towel, holding in shut at her chest in an iron grip. She could feel her hair against her neck and forehead, still drying. She could also feel the warmth radiating from the both of them, warming her skin and adding more heat to her cheeks and chest. In the back of her mind she heard one of her dogs begin to whine a little, and saw Daisy out of the corner of her eye – the girl had tilted her head, as though asking why, why Kagome was still bothering to resist.

Once again, a single word repeated in her mind: Erotic. Inuyasha had made such a simple move, stepping closer to her, allowing her the motions she'd need to get away, and speaking softly; all seducing her little by little, and proving all at once that he was alive, that he was real, that he was. . . erotic. And that she was loving it.

She had no protests by the time their lips met again, and she allowed her eyes to close at the contact. After all, why bother fighting a man who could not be defeated, even in death?