InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Fortuneteller and a Nerdy Hanyou ❯ In Sheep's Wool ( Chapter 4 )

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

Disclaimer: Inuyasha be not mine. Ouch. Fuck Yoda.

Reviewers: agent-doo: yes, Inuyasha is very much in a need of a hug. Don't worry, I think he'll get one. As far as umChris, this chapter will answer that question.

Deadly Tears: Do you really love it, because I could totally hook you guys up. Sorry, middle school humor kicked in for a moment.

Little-Black-Magic-Witch: Though I considered your offer, as you can see I broke under pressure.

Kag-15-neko: Yes, I like Kikyou. It may be more of a pet peeve of people who bash her. She can't help she was resurrected and she was nice enough when she was living. Still, I guess I don't like her enough to write a fanfic where she's in the lead. If nothing else, she's an interesting character.

Leiko Kane: I'm not too sure where this is going either, but I have a pretty good idea

Thanks everyone for reviewing and everyone who listed this as a favorite!

Chapter 4

Kagome's throat was burning, her head was buzzing, and her ears and eyes felt as though they were going to explode. She could feel herself weakening, how much longer she would last was certainly limited. It was then that somewhere in back of her mind, an idea flashed by. Letting her body go slack, Kagome prayed that her attacker would think that she was gone.

It seemed to work for a moment—he relaxed his grip on her and, for a that instant, Kagome thought that would let her go.

But he didn't. He still had her in a chokehold, and though a tiny bit of air could now get to her lungs, it was hardly enough.

Things were really going black now. She was going to die like this, in a dirty parking lot, at the hands of a stranger…

Like light ripping though the dark of a sleeping room, Kagome felt the grip on her throat being pulled away. She crumbled on her hands and knees, down to the cement. Sucking in the night air as best she could, alternated with coughing it out, she didn't notice for sometime the fight going on not far from where she crouched.

Inuyasha's instincts kicked in the moment he saw the girl's drooping body being supported only by her attacker's fist clinging about her neck. Maybe it was that she looked so much like Kikyou, or maybe it was just her scent, but Inuyasha's youkai took over at the threat of the young woman's death. Reaching up, the demon removed the hanyou's glasses, letting them fall to the ground. He didn't need them.

In one leap he was at the man's back. Eyes bleeding red and claws elongating, with one swipe of his wrist, the attacker was flying thought the air.

Not even giving Kagome a look to see if she was all right, he turned back to his opponent. The man had struggled to his feet, shaking his head as if to re-align its contents.

“Who the fuck are you?” He growled at Inuyasha.

“I'd ask you the same question. Why are you attacking them?” With his hand, he motioned to the two still figures and the coughing girl.

“That miko bitch made me lose my prey!” He spat out the word like it burned as he flung a pointed finger at Kagome's quivering form. “Do you know what that will cost me?”

Without answering, Inuyasha took a leaping step forward, catching him under the chin with a solid upward punch. The man was thrown backward, but only stumbled, tottering and not losing his footing. Twisting his neck back into place so that it crackled and popped, he glared and the hanyou-turned-full-demon.

“You underestimate me, half-breed.” With that, he lunged at Inuyasha. Catching him around the waist, the impact tumbled them both to the ground. They rolled several times, and when they came to a stop, Inuyasha—even in the incoherency of his demon state—was surprised to see that he was being pinned down by a snake youkai.

He felt something cool and slick tightening around his abdomen. Looking down, he saw his opponent's legs had disappeared, only to be swapped with a long snake's tail. His eyes glowed an eerie green, lighting up what remained of his human for—the upper torso and hands of a man—now covered in green scales.

“Call me --------------, dog,” hissed in Inuyasha's ear.

Inuyasha growled at -----------, digging his claws into the snake demon's hands that seemed to have turned to slippery ropes of snake flesh that coiled around his neck. At the same time, Inuyasha knew his rib cage didn't have much time under the pressure of the constriction of the snake's tale. He had to hurry.

“I prefer women, but I guess you'll have to do.” ----------- whispered again. “I'm very hungry.” With his tongue, he licked alone Inuyasha's jawbone. Not one to take an unwanted advance, the hanyou's head dived at the offending appendage, biting down hard and earning a screech from the snake.

In the process of rearing back in pain, the demon's grasp on Inuyasha's neck loosened just enough to give him the chance to breath in a short breath. He quickly grabbed ----- on either side of his head and rolled so that he now was in the dominant position. Digging his claws into the demon's skull, demon Inuyasha smirked when his opponent cried out in pain again.

His gloating him was cut short though as -------- tightened his hold on Inuyasha's abdomen, cutting his breath off another way.

“What a weak dog,” the snake hissed, practically purring now. “And a hanyou to boot. Do you honestly think that you could stop me?” He gave his tail another twist, squeezing more air from him and at the same time lifting Inuyasha off him.

The dog demon bared his teeth, little good that did him as he was now held too far above him to accomplish anything of significance. Another squeeze brought forth a popping in his back.

“When your spine snaps, that will teach you to meddle in matters that are not of your concern.” A pulsing wring and more pressure on his vertebrae pushed a howl from the dog demon.

If possible, Inuyasha's eyes bled and even darker shade of red and he heaved himself at ----`s neck. He managed to embed his claws in the soft flesh, but in the process, the snake rolled him again, leaving Inuyasha on his back and vulnerable.

“I've had plenty of dog in dry spells, but never a dog demon.” ------ whispered, this time choosing to lick Inuyasha's neck where his prey's fangs could do no damage. With that, he joggled his jaw, unhinging it to accommodate his dinner.

Crushing the hanyou's body even more until Inuyasha's arms lay limp on the ground and his head lolled to the side, -------- smirked at the hanyou's weak growls and defiantly bared fangs.

“I usually consume my meals feet first, it is irritating on the digestive track, but I like to see the fear in their faces as they try to use their broken spines and worthless limbs to escape me. The cry out as I take in their heads last is most delicious.” He cocked his head to one side. “But you have been too much trouble already. With honor for an advisory, I will make your death painless. You will—”

Neither the hunter nor the prey saw the attack coming, but the blast from the miko's hands was enough to send ------- flying so that Inuyasha easily rolled out of his grip.

Kagome continued her advance on the snake demon. Her eyes had clouded over with a white glow. When she reached the spot where he lay, she opened her hand again, spreading out her fingers and sending another ball of white-hot energy directly at ------`s head.

Inuyasha meanwhile lay motionless on the ground where he had fallen. There was a pounding his head, and he could feel his body fixing the internal bruising and bleeding. He tried to open his eyes, but there was some sort of light blinding him. Wasn't it night? Lying his head on its side facing away from the bright flashes Inuyasha was finally able to wrench his now-amber eyes open.

Where was he? He could barely see a thing—where were his glasses?

The last thing he had remembered was landing in a parking lot. As usual when he went into demon mode, all he had left was a collage of memory flashes, scrambled and out of order: the snake demon, the crunch of his ribs, the man attacking Kikyou's cousin, the man shifting into his true form, the name --------. --------, where had he heard that name before?

There was a sudden squeak behind him, and on rolling over, he was almost trampled by a leaping Kagome, trying to get out of the way of a now moving snake demon. She beautifully leaped over him. Inuyasha himself just barely managed to scramble to the side before ------ came crashing where he had been lying only a moment before.

“What the hell did you do, bitch?” Inuyasha growled over at Kagome. He couldn't see her too clearly, but he could sure as hell smell her. In the past when he had broke or lost his glasses, he had found that to a certain extent he could rely on his nose.

They were both slowly backing toward the chain length fence, separated from one another by a gap in which ------- was slithering slowly at them. He was upright, looking very much like a king cobra ready to strike. The green scales now completely covered his body, and he looked very much like a snake with the exception of his arms that still held on his shirt and jacket.

“I tried to purify him, bastard!” Kagome hissed. “He has an amulet on that protects him. I can't do anything until it's off.” She stopped talking when her back hit the fence.

“Amulet, huh?” Inuyasha smirked. Turning to ------, “You want her? Take her, the bitch isn't worth my time.” He stepped further away from the two as ------ began to inch toward Kagome, his tail slipping around to slid up her leg. Sucking in a quick breath through his nose, he could make out the scent of his glasses—metal and cut glass mixed with the smell of his sweat. They weren't too far off, just a few feet really. He must have gotten turned around during the fight. Stopping as the smell became stronger, he reached down and carefully felt for them, until his claw hands come over the spectacles.

“Bastard! What the hell are you doing? When I find you I'll—” Kagome watched Inuyasha's movements in dismay. She stopped her rant at as the tail twirled around her, from hips to mid ribcage. In a voice completely devoid of its previous bravado, Kagome whisper, “Please, Inuyasha, don't leave me. Please.” If he hadn't have youkai hearing, he would have missed it.

Still walking away, he looked over his shoulder at Kagome. She was the picture of fear with her face paling by the second and her wide eyes, but there was also a determination beneath her pleading expression.

The snake watched his departing form, and convinced that the hanyou was really leaving turned back to his prey.

Once he saw he was no longer the focus of the snake demon, Inuyasha winked. Though you could barely see it through his thick glasses.

“Where did she go?” -------- hissed. “If you tell me now, I'll offer you the same courtesy as I did the hanyou. If not, you can watch yourself be digested.” He leaned in and nuzzled her throat, giving her a lick with his scratchy tongue.

“W—who?”

“Don't play dumb, miko. The bitch from the club—my prey. You helped her get away, you knew she was in danger and you made me lose her. WHERE IS SHE?” The demon began slowly, gradually gathering sped with his words until he was screaming at Kagome. His body tightened around hers, pushing the air from her lungs. She strained to breath.

Her mind was flying, trying to pinpoint was the hell he was talking about. The drunk girl? That had to be it. Why couldn't they have gone to the bar instead of her stupid stand?

She was ripped back to reality, by -------- hissing in her face again. “Well, where is the girl?” He drew another breath to scream at her once more, “WHE—”

------- stopped suddenly. He backed out of Kagome's face just enough to turn his head and see the inu hanyou holding a stone charm linked on a chord as it dangled from his claws.

“You—”

“Now miko!” Inuyasha shouted at her.

Stunned for only a moment, Kagome quickly recovered and blasted a ball of white light at the snake youkai. As he was no longer protected by the pendent, -------- was hit hard, and Kagome's attack easily turned him to dust.

With the snake's tail no longer supporting her weight, Kagome toppled to the ground in a heap. Inuyasha looked at her, then over his shoulder at the still-out Miroku and Sango. Despite being “unconscious,” Miroku's hand had somehow found its way to his girlfriend's hip where it rested peacefully. Until she woke up.

They seemed to be sleeping from their scent—a heavy sleep, but sleep all the same. They were fine.

The miko on the other hand reeked of blood. It was so strong that it cloaked the natural, scent of her holy standing.

He walked over to where Kagome was crouching and stooped down to her level. “Hey, wench? You okay?” She lifted her ducked head at his words and nodded. Inuyasha was surprised to see that during the fight he had somehow forgotten how much she looked like Kikyou; that she was Kikyou's cousin. Offering her a hand, the two stood and began to make their way to Sango and Miroku.

Kagome knelt down beside Sango, and Inuyasha nudged Miroku with his foot. When he didn't respond, he gave him a somewhat harder kick that in the process jolted his glasses to the peak of his nose. It still didn't do any good.

“They smell like they're sleeping…” Inuyasha mused.

“But they aren't waking up,” Kagome finished. “Let me try something.” She carefully rolled up her sleeves and placed her palms on Sango's temples. Drawing in a deep breath and closing her eyes, she willed her energy to her fingertips while at the same time rubbing gentle circles on her friend's skin. Inuyasha was about demand what the hell she was trying to do when Sango's eyes fluttered open as she gasped for fresh air.

Without looking at Inuyasha, she moved to Miroku, following a similar pattern of movements. “The youkai used his own energy to knock them back. Unconsciousness is a common side effect of a demon attack.”

“So what are you doing?” Inuyasha grunted.

“Purifying them: cleaning out the youkai energy that imbalances their human essence.” She sat back as Miroku began blinking, and stiffly attempted to sit up.

“What happened?” he asked. He rubbed the side of his hand and tilted to the side to check and make sure Sango was all right.

“A snake youkai attacked us. I think he was one of my customers from earlier.” Kagome stood then reached down to help pull up Sango. Kagome tottered a bit herself, but Inuyasha grasped her arm to steady her. Looking at him a little surprised, she gave him a soft smile.

“Bad fortune?” Sango asked, clamping her hand over her forehead.

“He was trying to get a girl into bed. I gave her a chance to get away and she took it.” Kagome's brow scrunched. “She said he had been following her.”

“Whatever he was doing, we'll have to report this,” Miroku sighed.

Relations between demons and humans had always been shaky. The rule of thumb was that the two races go their separate paths, even if they were living side by side. When the invisible line that always existed between them was crossed in the form of a crime, it had been agreed that humans would generally be considered the victims. This was unless the demon a child, injured, or underdeveloped in some other fashion. Though when the laws were first written in this manner it seemed greatly unfair to the youkai community. However with time and intermarriage between a demon and ever-shrinking human population, they seemed to be just was needed, not to mention necessary. Though Kagome was a miko, she was human first and foremost. Inuyasha as a hanyou also could received immunity in many legal matters because of his human blood, and his standing wasn't hurt when humans could vouch that he defended them.

Kagome nodded to Miroku, and began to fiddle with her pockets, finally pulling out a cell phone. She blew the dust off it, and , skimming though her contacts list, she called a number. “Yes, human-youkai affairs? Good. I have something to report…”

An hour later, three retellings of the tale, finger printing, multiple runnings of Kagome's miko license and Inuyasha's hanyou identification card, and several viewings of their various bruises, cuts, and scraps, they were finally cleared to leave. The officers looked at the dust that had been the demon, said that there really wasn't anything that could be done when a demon went haywire, and released them. If they had attacked the snake youkai out of malice and not self-defense, why would they call it in instead of just leaving? There were few who would be able to identify the snake dust as anything other than street dirt.

The group made their way back to Kagome's car. Inuyasha drove as he was the least injured, dropping Miroku and Sango off at her car, then speeding through the city streets to Kagome's apartment. She looked at him quizzically when he refused her offer to borrow her phone to get a cab.

“I need a good run,” he said with a sheepish shrug. He turned to go, but paused, “Hey wench, are you sure you're all right? You got knocked around a bit back there.”

Kagome looked at him for a moment, a puzzled look on her face. Was this the same guy that hours earlier couldn't stand to be in her presence? It had to be—she had never seen glasses like that on a hanyou before. “I'm fine. Miko powers are pretty handy. Helping others helps the priestess,” she said with a little smile, fiddling with an invisible piece of fuzz. “As long as I use my gifts for good, my gifts take care of me. I helped you, I healed Miroku and Sango. The positive energy healed me.”

Inuyasha nodded. She was right, the stench of blood had left her, replaced with an odor acquainted with healing. He had never heard Kikyou talk of such things. Waving good night, he sprung out into the air.

Kagome watched him until he disappeared into the darkness, then made her way to her own apartment. The instant she shut the door behind her, she knew she wasn't alone. Cautiously stepping into her living room she wasn't really surprised to find herself looking into the mirror image that was sitting on her couch. Granted a colder, cheerless, but none-the-less more poised mirror image, but still the one member of her family who could pass as her twin.

There on her couch was Kikyou, calmly smoking a cigarette as if she was permitted that liberty, not to mention as though the apartment belonged to her.

“Out a little late, Kagome?”

A/N: Okay, I was kinda a bitch, demanding reviews for updates. Then I found a story I had written a few nights ago and forgotten. It kinda deals with the news right now, so I though it would be best to post it now, and not later. Besides, you should write not for glory, but because you want to. That being said, here's the update. I promise I'll try to have Chapter 5 up before the end of July—I can't take my computer to China. There should be some plot in the next installment, this one sure as hell didn't. You might want to read the other fic, after I reread it, I realized that it was a nicer version of what part of Chapter 5 would be like. I'm really too nervous about flying to care.