InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One Summer ❯ Path to Wherever ( Chapter 16 )

 

A/N: I don't think this thing is going to go past twenty chapters. Also, though I'm sure you've already guessed if you've read this far, the “plot” is going to be a little…out there.

 

Chapter Sixteen: Path to Wherever

 

“I'm going to ask you one more time…” the first cop started, “Why did you beat a poor defenseless fortune teller into a state of abject unconsciousness?”

 

“I didn't!” said Carol, hanging her head. “I swear, she passed out after reading our fortune!”

 

“A likely story,” spat the mall cop.

 

The second cop, the one with the sunglasses, circled Carol's chair. His standard issue boots echoed on the floor. “And I suppose that the dog just fell out of the sky without its license and registration?”

 

“What? No! It wasn't like that at all!” said Carol, even though for all she knew it was true.

 

“You animal abusers make me sick.” He lowered his sunglasses, glaring.

 

Carol shifted uncomfortably.

 

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Sesshoumaru was sniffing a powdered donut in the makeshift holding cell (actually the mall security break room, with the door locked.) He was completely unfazed by the situation. It was actually turning out to be sort of … fun.

 

Jaken had been tied and muzzled, for one thing, and the demon lord had to admit that the sight of his henchman attempting to free himself from beneath an ugly purple chair was beyond amusing.

 

Sesshoumaru even allowed himself a rare smirk.

 

Another point of interest: The girl's little friend, the insane one, had also been tied and muzzled, although she didn't fit quite so neatly beneath an ugly chair. She had attempted to bite the `maul security' man, hence the ropes, and had refused to stop barking, hence the crude gag. (Actually a few scarves from Madame Zelda's booth tied over her mouth.)

 

Madame Zelda herself was spread out on a long table in the corner of the room, secured with yellow `Do Not Cross' tape. `Evidence', the maul security called it.

 

Sesshoumaru still wasn't sure about this `maul' thing. He supposed that the maul cops would be mauling the girl in the next room, and that was all right, but under no circumstances would Sesshoumaru deign to be mauled by some worthless human in a strange hat. He would not lower himself so, not even for a glimpse into the future.

 

The maul psychic, motionless on the table, seemed to have outlived her usefulness anyway.

 

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Naraku was puzzled.

 

Here was yet another mysteriously convenient bowl of pudding, this time floating on a water lily. However, he was hesitant to approach it. The heartbreak of losing the first batch had imprinted itself deeply upon what remained of his soul. In fact, he was so wounded by the loss that he had begun to use it as an excuse for his evil deeds (not, mind you, that he really needed an excuse. Sometimes he found that it was just fun to give one, though…to add a little spice to the great big bowl of pudding that he called life.)

 

Still, it was free pudding and Naraku was used to taking what he wanted, consequences or potential heartbreak be damned. (Sometimes literally…heh.)

 

Frowning, Naraku came to a decision. He made his way towards the bowl of pudding. Just as his fingers were about to close around the bowl, a shrill shriek sounded.

 

“We is Boulderlets!”

 

Naraku sighed. A villain's work is never done. (Though he rather liked the butt-kicking portion.) He turned from the pudding and made ready to cause the grammar intolerant pebbles a severe amount of pain.

 

Somewhere in the treetops, Kagura cursed.

 

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“Where are we going, Shippo?” Kagome asked.

 

“I…don't know,” came the reply. Staring straight ahead, Shippo continued to lead them into the unknown.

 

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Naraku yawned as the Boulderlets usurped his right shoe. It might prove to be slightly inconvenient if they managed to cause any damage. He had found a cobbler to repair his left shoe from the last Boulderlet `attack', but, as he left the man's workstation, he cooked up an elaborate scheme to trick him into killing his own daughter and eating his own dog, just for the hell of it.

 

Needless to say, the cobbler might not be in the best mental condition to perform delicate shoe repairs, after all that. (Dimly, Naraku realized that this gave new meaning to the expression `shot yourself in the foot'.)

 

Naraku supposed he would just have to find someone else.

 

Oh well.

 

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“Psst.” A voice sounded from the corner of the room. Involuntarily, Carol jerked her head to its source.

 

“Do you understand how much trouble you're in?” asked the first mall cop, apparently chagrined at her lack of attentiveness, “Do you think this is a game or something, punk? Huh?” He prodded her with a nightstick.

 

Carol, fearing police brutality, vigorously shook her head. “No!” She did her best to ignore the shape in the shadows.

 

“Do you even know what the consequences are for having an unlicensed animal running free in a public area?” He pronounced the phrase `unlicensed animal' in the same way that an ordinary person, say a doctor or a TV repairman or the president of the United States, might pronounce `weapons of mass destruction' and `consequences' in the same way that one might say `prolonged torture'.

 

“Um…no, I guess not,” said Carol, who knew little about weapons of mass destruction, but was beginning to get an idea about prolonged torture. (She'd never been allowed so much as a goldfish, let alone a dog, so unlicensed animals and the consequences for possession of such were still a mystery to her.)

 

“Tsk tsk,” clicked the cop with the sunglasses. “Kids these days.” He threw up his hands in exasperation.

 

“For one thing, little girl,” clarified the first cop, “you could face a heavy fine.”

 

“A very heavy fine,” added the one in sunglasses, glowering.

 

“How do you suppose a little girl like yourself is going to pay for a very heavy fine such as this? Hmm? That's a lot of papers to deliver on your paper route,” said the first cop.

 

“A lot of five cent cups of watery lemonade to sell,” the second cop adjusted his glasses.

 

“A lot of cars to wash,” continued the first cop.

 

“A lot of cheap wallets to sew during those long hours in a Chinese sweatshop!” added the second cop, a little too enthusiastically. His partner must have sensed this, so he shot him a warning look. The second cop immediately busied himself by fiddling with his sunglasses.

 

“But maybe there won't be any papers to deliver or lemonade to sell…” said the first cop, frowning.

 

“Or wallets to sew,” muttered the second cop. The first pretended not to hear him.

 

“Maybe Mommy and Daddy are going to pay for it,” he continued. “I bet they won't be too happy about that, no sir!”

 

Carol blanched. They sure wouldn't, especially considering that, as far as Carol's mother and father knew, she didn't have a dog! She didn't even want to imagine their reaction to a bill for an unlicensed animal….

 

“A life of crime doesn't sound like too much fun now, does it? Not all it's cracked up to be on MTV or the Teletubbies or whatever it is you kids like to listen to nowadays, huh? And…” the first cop paused ominously. “That's not even taking into account the fines—“

 

“The very heavy fines!” The one with the sunglasses added.

 

“Yes, the very heavy fines for beating a fortune teller into abject unconsciousness!”

 

“Oh the fines!” The second cop waved his arms as if to illustrate how horrible the fines would be.

 

“That could even be looked upon as a hate crime. Do you have something against the Roma?” The first cop stared at her accusingly.

 

“What?” panicked Carol, who liked to think of herself as a tolerant person, “Of course not!” (She had no idea if Madame Zelda was Rom or not anyway.)

 

“Or do you just have something against the religion she practices? Is that it?”

 

“Religion? I don't know anything about her religion—“

 

“Aha! A confession!” yelled the sunglasses-wearing cop.

 

“The fines you're going to rack up, little girl, tsk tsk. The heavy heavy fines!” The first cop shook his head. “If only you had thought before you embarked upon the sad and debilitating road to teenaged delinquency!”

 

“They never think!” The second cop commiserated. (The shadow in the corner moved closer.)

 

“You might even be looking at…” the first cop paused in horror, “time in a juvenile facility of some sort!” (And closer)

 

“A drain on society!” The second added.

 

“Costing the taxpayers money!” The first cop sighed. “Now what do you have to say for yourself?” (Closer still)

 

Carol whimpered.

 

The voice from the corner hissed. Carol tried once more to ignore it. She was in enough trouble already.

 

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“I don't understand what we're doing here,” Miroku scratched his head. “Why won't you enlighten us, Shippo?”

 

Shippo soldiered on, marching towards some distant point whose exact whereabouts and function were uncertain, perhaps even to Shippo himself.

 

Pun Moo lagged behind, huffing under his breath about Agnes' weight. The group traveled in silence for nearly ten minutes, contemplating the situation.

 

“Hey, isn't that the little girl who travels with Sesshoumaru?” wondered Kagome at last. She pointed to a lone figure about twenty feet ahead of them.

 

Sango squinted, shading her eyes against the sun. “Yes, I think it is. What's she doing out here all by herself?”

 

“Does this mean that Sesshoumaru is nearby?” mused Miroku.

 

“Feh,” grumbled Inu-Yasha, “I would've smelled it, if he was.”

 

Shippo wandered towards Rin, trotting along beside her.

 

“Shippo?” Kagome said, puzzled.

 

“You're going there, too?” he said to Rin, without taking his eyes off of the unseen path to wherever.

 

“Yes,” Rin replied, similarly focused on their bizarre destination. Kagome noticed that their eyes were very wide, their pupils very large, but they did not seem to be actually seeing anything. Twice Shippo tripped over stones in their path, and Rin must've sideswiped at least six trees.

 

“Um…” said Kagome, watching the two, unsure of what to say.

 

“This does not bode well,” Miroku pronounced, voicing everyone's thoughts.

 

But it seemed that they had no choice but to follow the two children to whatever mysterious place they were seeking.

 

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“As I suspected! Why can't you kids just -nnrg!” The first cop sank to the ground as Agent 349B stood triumphantly over his fallen body.

 

“Hey, what do you think you're—” the old woman gave the sunglasses-wearer a strategic clip to the jaw and he tumbled to the ground like an overripe melon.

 

Carol sat in her chair, mouth wide open, aghast.