Disclaimer: Inuyasha and any of its characters do not belong to me.

Hunter

Chapter One

…

"His indiscretions have gone on long enough. Do what you must to eliminate him and be sure to avoid the others. Are our orders clear, Hunter?"

Feeling the invisible chains tighten, she gritted her teeth in barely suppressed hatred that spanned several mortal lifetimes and had centuries to grow and fester like an open wound. Nevertheless, she forced a sickly sweet smile onto her lips.

"Crystal."

…

"Sadao-kun…" She released a shaky, shallow breath, body pliant and flushed as she stared into charcoal eyes.

A dark grin curved his lips as he stroked the side of her face. "That's right, Aimi-chan. Now just close your eyes."

And as the chocolate haired woman readily complied, fluttered shut those cloudy hazel eyes without a second thought, Sadao ran his fingers through her soft locks and easily peeled away the skimpy dress she wore.

"Aimi…Aimi…" he murmured, savoring the taste of her innocent flesh.

He licked a wet, hot trail between her breasts, circled her pulsing jugular before claiming her moaning lips in a bruising kiss. His long tongue swept in to relish the feel and flavor of her mouth, anticipation and hunger growing as the moments rushed by.

A trembling breath. An incoherent murmur. A stroke. A strangled gasp. A widening mouth and flickering tongue.

Pupils vertically narrowing, Sadao began to devour her from the bottom up. Scales appeared at his temples, lined the smooth column of his neck as he slowly guided his expanding mouth and lascivious tongue over and around her feet, up the silky smoothness of her creamy white legs. Warm and moist, slick and wet, languidly gliding up further and further, he slowly consumed every delectable inch of her young ripe body.

…

He was on the prowl tonight.

After recent occurrences involving what he believed to be a snake demon, Sesshoumaru Taisho was on the hunt for the rather elusive spawn from hell. After two days of tracking, no results, and still no lead, his patience was beginning to thin.

Stalking the darkened streets in a corrupt and decaying Tokyo, his unusually bright amber eyes peered into the shadows, sensitive ears sharp and tuned in to everything around him.

Dark whispers of broken promises. Offers to buy a soul, sell a soul, become a void consumed by greed and evil. Propositions. Sexual fantasies. Death and murder. Murmurs of immortality. Come. Step into the darkness, into a new hellish life of depravity and sinful decadence.

None of it was useful however. None of it led to the demon he was seeking.

He devours young women. Yes, yes he does. And then he sheds. Devours young women. Young beautiful women.

Sesshoumaru immediately paused before suddenly vanishing in pursuit of the raspy voices. He reappeared on top of a rooftop a block away. Eyes flashing a bright crimson, he tightened his hold on the two headed dark gargoyle.

"Speak," he demanded.

"Hunter," the two heads rasped together, fear overtaking their wild eyes.

Sesshoumaru squeezed its two necks, tempted to snap them both in half. "He who devours young women, where did you see him?"

"The Jewel. We hover, curious. He is dark, deceptive."

"And where does he take these women?"

"Never the same place."

"Where was he last?"

"The Sky."

Sesshoumaru released it, a clear warning in his eyes and voice. "If I find that you have deceived me, I will track you down and kill you."

In the next moment he was gone, catching the dark stream—a rippling transportation shift that paralleled the underworld and this world—and making his way towards the skyscraper hotel. The snake demon could run and hide all he wanted, while he still had the time, because Sesshoumaru would eventually find him and tear him apart.

…

"Inuyasha."

"Yeah?"

"The Jewel. Meet me there."

"Found him?"

"Perhaps."

Sweeping his cold gaze around the room, he closed his telecom and took a deep inhalation. He'd been here for sure, perhaps a few days ago if the dry dead skin was anything to go by. Shreds of what could've been a dress lay discarded on the suede loveseat along with diagonal gauges and strands of brunette.

The snake had most likely devoured her whole, shedding his outer skin a little while after. Sesshoumaru speculated he needed these women to keep his human form from deteriorating though unfortunately for him, he had chosen the wrong place to obtain his unwary meals.

As a Hunter, Sesshoumaru couldn't allow the snake demon's sloppy transgressions to go unchecked. The dark cries would become too much and the tendrils of duty would bind tighter and harder than they already were. Not to mention his father would crack open earth itself and bring his wrath upon his sons like no tomorrow.

His duty as a Hunter was the one, perhaps the only thing that kept him here on this god forsaken earth. And his fallen angel of a father of course. Always his father who had shoved his human saving, demon slaying ways down his sons' throats. Perhaps it was his way of atoning for the sins he'd committed during his life on earth, the very reason he was now fallen and reduced to a hell watcher. Or maybe it was for the lovers he had failed to protect and inevitably lost.

Flirtatious behavior aside, the old hell watcher was an unmerciful stringent bastard when it came to handling and keeping under control rogue demons and other creatures from the underworld. When they stepped over boundaries—which they often did because the alluring light, the innocence, the unsuspecting pure souls were much too hard for dark beings to resist tainting—the hunt commenced and strict punishment was dealt.

Admittedly, it was at times exhausting and more often than not a nuisance to gather intel and track the rogues down, but it was thrilling nonetheless. It fed his baser, more primal instincts, the ones which called for blood and destruction and delivered death in chaotic elegance.

Glancing one last time around the room, Sesshoumaru vanished and headed for The Jewel in the center of Tokyo.

…

"Sadao-san, wait…" She panted as the devilishly handsome stranger cupped her breast, licked and tasted the pretty curve of her jaw.

Blushing madly, she pushed him away and tried to straighten her skewed sequined top.

"But Mika-chan," he whispered low, baritone thick with seduction and conquest. "I haven't had nearly enough of you yet." His hand glided up her short skirt, teasingly skimmed her already wet core as he looked deep into her violet eyes.

Her mind gradually grew fuzzy and leaning into his magnetic caresses, let him take her away.

Sadao led the oblivious girl through the throng of undulating bodies, feeling his fangs elongate in anticipation and suppressed hunger. Laying low for the past few days had been extraordinarily hard. Knowing the Hunters were on the prowl for him had made him more cautious in his movements. He couldn't afford to be sent back to the deepest layers of hell, not when he was so close to obtaining his permanent human form.

But his senses suddenly spiked, went into a frenzy when he felt a presence much darker and more powerful than his own.

Hunters.

Gripping harder the girl's wrist, Sadao quickened his pace, keeping low and snaking his way towards the back exit.

…

Sesshoumaru narrowed his bright golden eyes, lips curling into an irritated sneer when he saw the snake make a quick turn for the exit, dazed woman in hand.

Inuyasha, having just arrived followed his line of sight and was just in time to catch the demon disappear through the back door. "That little shit."

Looking towards his seemingly calm older half brother, he quickly relayed what Shippou was finally able to trace on the snake demon. "He goes by the name of Sadao. Turns out this is the last woman he needs to consume before he can permanently attain his human form."

"Follow him through the back." It was all Sesshoumaru ordered before swiftly turning around and disappearing into the lurking darkness.

…

Within minutes, Sesshoumaru was able to cut him off, effortlessly landing on the building rooftop. Sadao skidded to a stop, the girl stumbling behind him and still completely under his demonic spell. He shoved her aside however, his lips twisting in anger until the sharp deadly fangs of his true form glinted in the waning moonlight. His midnight scales surfaced, thin ebony pupils ringed with crimson.

"I will not allow you to ruin this, Hunter," he hissed.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter."

And before Sadao could catch Sesshoumaru's movements, he was thrown back by the force of his rippling power. Quickly picking himself up off the concrete, the snake demon jumped out of the way of the Hunter's sword strike. His neck rapidly lengthened and struck out but Sesshoumaru dodged, poisonous fangs not even close.

He saw Inuyasha approach and motioned towards the senseless woman as he evaded another powerful strike from the demon. But Sadao had sensed the other Hunter's presence and with a furious scream, arched his back as two more snakelike heads ripped forth and shot towards the younger Taisho.

Inuyasha called forth his sword and gripping the hilt tightly, slashed forward as he evaded the increasingly fast strikes.

With a powerful swing, Sesshoumaru smoothly cut through one of the heads, long black coat snapping in the wind as he pivoted sharply to the left in order to avoid another quick thrust.

Desperation called to Sadao, the need to survive gripping his panicking heart. Seeing the older Hunter flicker towards him, twin swords ready to run through his chest, he grasped the girl between his jaws just as Inuyasha sliced off Sadao's second head with a stinging hiss, his blood spraying across the concrete rooftop.

Ignoring the pain, he took off, jumped and scaled the side of the building with the girl halfway inside his mouth. If he could just quickly devour her—he began to, slid his forked tongue around her pale milky legs, let her delectable body fill his mouth and glide along the slick moistness of it.

It was as far as he got before Sesshoumaru impaled him through the chest with one sword and releasing a rapid outward swing, ruthlessly beheaded him with the other.

Inuyasha freefell and caught the girl, cursing as he pried her from the disgusting jaws of the snake demon. They landed smoothly on the ground, shortly followed by Sesshoumaru and the headless bloody snake.

Sword still buried deep in Sadao's chest, the older Taisho stepped over him.

But something wasn't quite right. The demon's body suddenly began to deteriorate, until all that was left was a dry brittle husk of its former self.

Realization quickly dawned and releasing a visceral snarl, Sesshoumaru called away his twin swords and looked towards Inuyasha who was gently slapping the girl, coaxing her out of the demonic spell.

"A replica. He created another of himself to act as a decoy. Bring her back to The Jewel, Inuyasha."

"What? Can't we just dump her here? It's close enough."

Sesshoumaru shot his half brother a hard glare and ignored his grumbling, turning away when Inuyasha none too gently hauled the confused girl back towards the pounding night club.

…

A burning pain ripped across Sadao's chest. Stumbling, he grasped the shadowed walls for support as he felt his replica's demise. It had afforded him precious time however and he knew escape had held more priority than a meal. Taking a deep breath, he straightened out his long disheveled black hair and tried to calm his jumping nerves.

Sadao knew he didn't have much time now, knowing that the Hunters would quickly be able to find him. His serpentine eyes took in his surroundings until he spotted a chic, modern bar called Blue. With just one more woman to consume, he made his way over and stepped through the crystal clear door.

…

She placed the small glass of brandy in front of him. "Long day?"

He glanced at the blue eyed woman on the other side of the bar. She was quite beautiful. Long ebony hair, sun kissed skin and curves in all the right places, enhanced by the cropped vest she wore and the low rise, shredded jeans.

"Something like that," he replied.

Taking a drink, he covertly scanned the place, noticing a good mix of both male and females intermingling. But his eyes were drawn once again to the laughing bartender, to the smooth seductive curve of her back and the ink just barely peeking from the bottom of her vest.

He downed the rest of his brandy and flagged her down.

"Another one?" she asked, deft hands already reaching for the bottle of hard liquor.

Sadao nodded. "So what's your name?"

She glanced at him before placing his newly filled glass cup on the bar counter. "Kagome. And yours?"

"Sadao."

It almost sounded like a hiss to her as she got caught in his penetrating, darkly alluring gaze.

"Join me tonight, Kagome." He reached over, ran his cold fingertips down the length of her arm.

She bit her lip, hesitant and unsure. "But I—"

"Join me," he pressed, his tone having grown darker and more seductive.

After a breathless moment, Kagome relented. "Okay," she murmured and Sadao knew then that he had her under his demonic spell.

…

He trailed hot kisses along her naked inner thigh, mouth salivating, hungry for her subtle and unique rainwater taste.

"Sadao…" she breathed.

"You taste divine," he murmured against her skin, forked tongue darting out to scent, smooth dark scales slowly fading in as he let himself go.

But a powerful surge hummed through the air then, wild and wicked just beneath his widening mouth and flickering tongue.

A bone deep shiver ran down his spine as his senses abruptly reared back and slammed into his chest, leaving him breathless and frozen. It didn't take him long to realize his foolish mistake, the trap he'd so conveniently fallen into. And as the cool kiss of silver pressed against his forehead, he could feel his imminent death upon his tongue. It took him one second to look at her, her electrifying blue eyes seared into his dying memory before she pulled the trigger of her sleek, silver gun.

Blood splattered across the soft carpet, painted itself across the white suede of the settee and her sun-kissed skin as his nearly headless body hit the carpet. Calling forth her razor sharp kodachi, Kagome stood, made a shallow cut on the palm of her hand, and gripped the blade. She let her blood trickle down the shiny silver before plunging it deep into the snake demon's chest. Murmuring in the ancient language, Sadao's body suddenly erupted in a cloud of swirling black ash along with any and all remnants of his existence.

Kagome took a deep, long breath and called away her sharp blade and silver gun. Body still purring with the aftermath of the sacrament, she straightened out her clothing and smiled wistfully when she felt the other Hunters' swift approach.

If only…if only…

She caught the dark stream right before they burst into the room.

…

"That little bitch," Inuyasha said, though it was more out of fondness than spite.

The room looked untouched but to dark beings like them the atmosphere was thick with dark power and saturated with the scent of demonic blood and a hint of rainwater.

Sesshoumaru moved throughout the hotel room, letting her fading presence seep into his soul.

"Kagome…Kagome…how you tempt me…" he whispered, a ghost of a pensive smile fleeing across his lips. It had been many many moons since he last saw her.

"Should we track her down and say hello?"

Even though he would like nothing better than to do just that, Sesshoumaru reluctantly shook his head. "She's bound by the chains of the Vatican or have you forgotten little brother? This was, no doubt, their kill order. If anything, she'll find us should the need arise."

Inuyasha heaved a slightly disappointed sigh, cursing the damnable bastards who kept her bound under lock and key. "It's fucking unfair and messed up. I'd run them all through if I could."

Sesshoumaru glanced at his younger brother, silently echoing his sentiments. She was the last being who deserved to be tethered and choked. But this world was cruel and drowning in vice, bloodthirsty and dark in corruption. Rare possessions were never let go so easily, if even at all.

Theirs was a complex fate. One steeped in duty and blurry lines, spurred by the whims and drives of dark lifeless souls who cried for more. It didn't matter if things were unfair or not.

"I'm sure Father would like to know."

Inuyasha grunted, his adrenaline shot and draining while he took one last look around. And as the distant roll of thunder shook the earth, they both grasped the threads of the dark stream and disappeared.

…to be continued…

A/N: A very long overdue one-shot for Kirche! I've never written a 'gift' fic for anyone before, let alone for a guy so I hope this was somewhat satisfying. I actually really enjoyed creating this universe and almost feel a bit forlorn leaving it thus. I sense its mysterious allure drawing me in. Hmm…I might just add to it. We'll have to see.

Again, much thanks to Kirche for donating to Dokuga. Hope you all enjoyed.

And to the very helpful and wonderful Smittee – I'm in the midst of writing yours. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping to have it out soon!

-hasu