Dangerous Circumstances

Chapter Five

Miseria Cantare

Inuyasha spent the next few days stiffly bandaged and forced to stay home. He spent many hours contemplating his ceiling, and when he wasn't doing that, he was sitting at his computer, researching. When he wasn't doing that, he was dodging overly concerned friends trying to make him lie down.

Whatever had attacked them had been unnaturally strong. He wasn't one of the ancient line of youkai, he shouldn't have been able to defeat Sesshoumaru. There was something strange about his power. Inuyasha couldn't put him thumb on it.

Miroku was severely worried about Kagome. She hadn't left her room and she wasn't speaking to anyone.

Kagome lay in her bed, staring dispassionately up at her ceiling. It was not white, as she'd always thought, but a very light blue. Stuccoed. Why on earth was it stuccoed! This was Tokyo, for fuck's sake! A foreigner must've lived here before Miroku, she thought. No one else would do something like stucco the ceiling.

She sat up. She would be no good lying in bed crying. So what if it was her fault Souta had died? That was no reason to act like a child. She would avenge her little brother, so his soul could move on in peace.

Kagome shot one last glance at the small stuffed wolf she had given Souta when he was little and closed her eyes, composing herself.

When Miroku walked into her room, he found her on her bed, lacing up her boots.

"Hello Miroku. I'll be ready for school in a few minutes."

Miroku, who had only come in to tell her that he would be leaving soon, stood shocked into stillness. Kagome tucked a knife into her boot and a gun into her backpack. She stood and gave Miroku a wavering smile.

"Ready."

"Umyou're not really going to bring a gun to school, are you?"

"You do. I figured that I should be ready for anything. C'mon, we're going to be late."

She brushed past him. He followed. "Are you sure you want to go?"

"Of course," she said with fake cheer that was painfully obvious. Miroku decided not to push it, but he told himself he'd keep an eye on her.

Inuyasha had snuck out of the house. He wanted to explain to Kagome why he had stood her up. Or at least, as much as he could. He had called and called, but no one ever answered her phone. Inuyasha kept the vain hope that she would forgive him. It seemed so important that she did.

He found her outside the school, smoking. He ran up to her. "Kagome, I wanted to apologize and explain."

Kagome looked at him in mild surprise. "Huh?" she asked eloquently. Then she remembered their date. She felt shame burning deep in her stomach. "Oh. Oh god, I'm so sorry, you must've wondered where I was"

Inuyasha frowned. "What? No I came to explain why I never came."

They stared at each other, consternation forming on their faces.

"So, wait, lemme get this straight. We stood each other up?"

"I-I guess so."

Inuyasha inhaled. "Well, that was unexpected."

"Tell me about it."

"Where were you?" They had spoken in unison.

"Sorry. You first."

Inuyasha scratched the back of his neck. "There was an emergency. Some friends of mine were in a fight, and I had to go, er, help them."

Kagome's eyes narrowed. That had been her excuse. What were the chances that he was telling the truth and not doing the same thing she had been? Next to nothing.

"Really." It was not a question. A horrible thought went through her head. "Is that where you were? You are, by any chance, attacking anyone?" Kagome's voice had gotten louder and louder until she was almost shouting at Inuyasha. Miroku appeared from nowhere.

"Kagome, what's wrong?"

She ignored him and leaned in close to Inuyasha. "I know what you are," she said in a vicious whisper. "Did you think I wouldn't find out? Were you planning this all along? Was it some sort of twisted revenge?"

Inuyasha was dumbfounded. "What?" Kagome glared at him. Miroku was trying in vain to get her away from Inuyasha. "What are you talking about?" A chord of fear struck through his heart.

"My brother, that's who!" she yelled. "You killed him!"

Inuyasha blinked. Miroku had stopped trying to tug Kagome away and realization was dawning on his face.

"I didn't kill anybody! Why would I want to kill your brother?"

"We all know you Special D bastards would do anything to get at a Hellspawn!"

Miroku dropped his head into his hands. Inuyasha felt the need to sit down. Hellspawn? She belonged toHellspawn! He got angry.

"I don't do that shit! I don't kill innocent people if I can help it and I certainly didn't kill your brother! For your information," he seethed, "I was having my ass handed to me royally by the man who's just killed over half my pack!" He sneered at her. "As if I'd stoop to anything so low for revenge. Besides, there's nothing I'd want to get revenge for, so get your face out of my sight before I do something I'll regret."

Miroku's face hardened. "It wasn't you?"

"No, goddammit!"

Miroku looked down, thinking. "Then whoever attacked us must've attacked you."

"Attacked?"

"Yes. A youkai of unnatural strength. He just burst in and" he trailed off helplessly. "And we were left with nothing but bodies."

Inuyasha clenched his jaw. "Unnatural strength."

"Yes."

"That's him alright. Did you--no, you're human."

"Did I what?"

"Did you sense anything weird about his youki," Inuyasha sighed, expecting a blank look.

"Yes, actually I did." Inuyasha looked up, surprised. Miroku gave him a wan smile. "I have some holy powers. Residue from my father, it seems."

Inuyasha nodded. "I'm trying to find him."

Miroku pursed his lips together. Kagome hadn't made a sound and was staring at the floor. The bell rang but no one moved.

I think, maybe, it might be a good idea to combine forces."

"WHAT!" Kagome and Inuyasha were gaping at him.

"Look, with what's left of both of our gangs, we wouldn't be able to survive if that youkai comes back. Hellspawn is mostly humans, but we have a few Gifted. Kouga is a wolf youkai. And we also have better chances of infiltrating human hideaways. Special D has the strength of all the youkai, but you can't get into the places we can. And visa versa. Maybe it would be in our best interests to work together, a temporary truce."

Inuyasha thought it over. Then he nodded. "I'll talk to Sesshoumaru."

"And I'll talk to Kouga. In the meantime," he held out his hand to Inuyasha. They shook.

Inuyasha laid a hand on Kagome's shoulder as Miroku walked off. "I'm sorry about your brother." She looked up at him and the eyes he so loved were dull.

"Yeah."

Inuyasha bent down sharply, then stopped. She looked at him, confusion and desire raging in her eyes. He bent all the way don't and gave her a sweet kiss. "A rain check on that date." She nodded. Suddenly, she threw her arms around him in a hug. He jerked in pain and hissed. She let go and inspected him.

"What are you doing out if you're still wounded!"

"I wanted to explain to you why I stood you up."

Kagome looked at him incredulously. "You're an idiot."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

Sango walked up behind him. "Inuyasha," she said calmly, " you're bleeding."

"Oh, fuck."

Changing Inuyasha's bandages was an adventure Sango regarded with a grudging fear. They chose to do it outside, where no one would be likely to be this early.

Inuyasha was half lying, half sitting against a tree. As he saw Sango return with new bandages and other medical supplies, his eye widened and he tried to scoot away.

"Oh no you don't, you sadistic bitch. You love to hurt me. I'm not letting you anywhere near me!"

"Shut up." Sango plopped down on her knees and, realizing she couldn't hold him down and fix him up alone, enlisted Kagome and Miroku's help. They were both a little skeptical about the need for two extra people, even after Sango warned them Inuyasha would struggle, but that was quickly snuffed when Sango got near his stomach. The guy would not stay still! He squirmed, growled, yipped and wriggled.

Sango finally got his shirt open, revealing a mass of bandages that worried Kagome. Just how injured was he?

Sango began the painful process of removing the bandages. Inuyasha had stopped moving, but he was cursing impressively.

"I didn't know you could do those things," remarked Miroku.

"you can't. At least, not all at once," replied Kagome, watching Sango with fascination.

"Ow! Fuck, bitch, be careful! OW! What was that for?" The last remark was directed at Miroku, as he had hit Inuyasha on the head with his fist.

"Don't call her a bitch."

"Why do you-OW-care?"

"Because." Kagome snorted, but at Miroku's glare, shut up and looked way, a small smirk still on her lips.

"Whateve-OW!" Before Inuyasha could say anything more, Sango shoved her handkerchief into his mouth and ripped the last bit of gauze off his stomach. Kagome watched Inuyasha scream into the handkerchief and felt sick at the sight of his wound.

It was nasty. There was a fairly large hole through his body, like someone had stuck a rail about an inch in diameter the hanyou. Worse, it was infected, oozing pus, and getting slightly crusty at the edges. A bruise spread around it, a few inches in all directions, green and yellow.

Sango's ripping off the bandage had caused Inuyasha to start bleeding even more than before, and Inuyasha was grinding his teeth through the cloth in his mouth.

"Sorry Yash, you know I had to," Sango said as she began pulling fresh bandages out of her backpack. Inuyasha grunted, his eyes clenched together and his hands in fists at his sides. Kagome pried his hands open when she realized his claws were digging into his palms and making him bleed. She took one hand, and Miroku took the other. Inuyasha kept a firm grip, but never so hard that he cut or hurt either of his helpers.

A few minutes later, Sango was throwing the last of the used bandages away, and Kagome was helping Inuyasha re-clothe himself. Sango steadied him on her arm, but he waved her off. "I'm fine." Sango rolled her eyes, but left him alone. Kagome was in the middle of scratching the back of her head when there was a loud 'SMACK' and Miroku staggered away from Sango, a red handprint on his face. Kagome giggled. "Miroku, what have I told you about groping women?"

"Don't do it."

"Exactly. Why do you never listen to me?"

"I swear, this hand has a mind of it's own!"

Inuyasha was bent nearly double, alternately laughing and grimacing. Sango was looking distinctly unamused.

"Let's go."

Inuyasha filled Sesshoumaru in on everything, and pitched him his idea.

Hellspawn and Special D had both suffered a serious attack, each within hours of each other, undoubtedly by the same person. The girl who had run over his errant brother with her car and who Inuyasha undoubtedly was attracted to was a member of Hellspawn. Nobody could figured out who had attacked them. In fact, the whole thing was just giving Sesshoumaru a headache.

The regal inu youkai stood, on the brink of yawning, and walked over to the mini bar. He needed a good drink right about now. Sesshoumaru had tried everything to track down this new threat. But it was as if he was a ghost, or a phantom demon. Sesshoumaru couldn't find any trace of him. He had just shown up, committed genocide, and disappeared again.

Sesshoumaru sighed as he poured his drink. Walking over to his window, he lifted the drink to his mouth and sipped. Ahh, the wonders of alcohol. He thought about Inuyasha's idea. It wasn't bad. In fact, it might work, which meant that Inuyasha hadn't come up with it, but that didn't matter.

"Alright. If the leader of Hellspawn agrees, we'll combine forces in a temporary truce until we find and kill this mysterious demon."

Inuyasha pumped his fist in the air behind Sesshoumaru's back. Sesshoumaru sighed in exasperation.

Kouga had agreed with not too much begging, and the two leaders had a meeting the next day. They both walked out of Sesshoumaru's study with smug expressions that alarmed their respective men. Now Hellspawn's extensive library was open to search, and Inuyasha's every waking moment not spent at school or ogling Kagome was spent in the library, researching. Inuyasha was flipping through another stupid human tome, full of legends and myths, when his eye caught a promising looking page. He began to read, his eyes getting wider and wider as he did.

Sesshoumaru's peace was disturbed by his brother, as the hanyou came bursting into his office.

"Sess!"

"Inuyasha, how many times do I have to tell you, knock. Like a normal person."

"Whatever. I think I found out why this dude was so strong."

Sesshoumaru was instantly on alert.

"And?"

"And I think it has something to do with the Shikon no Tama."

Sesshoumaru sighed, disappointed. "Brother, you do realize that's a myth, right?"

"No, I don't think it is. I was digging in some old texts in the library, and I came across this. " Inuyasha held out an old, yellowed book open to an old, yellowed page. It was full of ornate scribblings and it gave Sesshoumaru a headache just looking at it. "It describes the Shikon no Tama and the energy it gives off. What I was feeling from the attacker is like this, a 'sort of foreboding and a general tightening of the chest.' Think about it, Sess! If this guy really has the jewel, he could easily defeat us. We have to find a way to get it from him. Then we'd have it! The power!"

Sesshoumaru thought about it. True, this jewel was supposed to be myth, but what if it wasn't? It would certainly explain why that youkai had been able to beat him in a fight. And why Sesshoumaru had an uneasy feeling about his energy.

Inuyasha was right. The raw power said to exist in that jewel was unimaginable, and would certainly be an asset to his gang.

"Right. Thank you, Inuyasha. Now we know what to look for."

Inuyasha nodded, and backed out of the room, feeling very proud of himself and already poring over the chapter on the jewel again.

Kouga was much less worried about finding the strange youkai who had attacked his gang for no apparent reason than he was about Kagome. The girl wasn't taking Souta's death well. She walked around with a smile fixed on her face, a smile that didn't reach her eyes, a smile that fell away whenever she thought no one was looking to be replaced by a cold burning anger.

Kouga had been secretly in love with Kagome for years. He'd never done anything about it, but it was practically common knowledge. Seeing her so full of hatred nearly broke his heart. He vowed to find Souta killer and make him pay. He would make him pay for every person he killed, and pay, and pay, and pay.

One night, when Kagome had opted to join Inuyasha in finding and interrogating the scum of the earth about a new youkai with a lot of power, Miroku was interrupted in the middle of reading about Isaac the Insane with a bowl of udon under his nose. He looked up, curious. Sango stood with her hand outstretched, the bowl still under his nose and one eyebrow raised on her pretty face. He quickly took it from her, as well as the chopsticks she handed to him. He eyed her quizzically, appreciating her lovely curves as he did so. She flushed slightly.

"Thought you might want some food."

"Thank you." He ate his udon in silence, flipping a page every once in a while.

"Find anything?"

He started. "Er, no." Suddenly, she was behind him, leaning over his shoulder and her fresh clean scent drifted into his nose. He suppressed a whimper. She smelled so good, and she made his heart race whenever she was near. He'd found himself staring into those brown eyes more than once, and caught himself actually enjoying the various slaps and smacks he received for touching what he shouldn't. Any attention from her was good attention.

She retreated and Miroku felt an odd mix of disappointment and relief.

"When do you think Kagome and Inuyasha will be back?" Sango had half-formed a friendship with the stormy-eyed beauty and felt obligated to ask.

Miroku shrugged. "Dunno," he said, eating the last of the udon. "That was delicious, thank you." She nodded, her eyes downcast. Her ears were red.

Kagome had noticed something strange since Inuyasha had given her that soft kiss a couple days ago. Every time Inuyasha would look at her, with those soulful gold eyes, she felt a tingling in her stomach she had not felt since, well, since Derek. It was scaring Kagome a little, and it was not helping that Derek had been killed not long after she had realized she loved him. She never wanted to go through that ever again.

But her body was betraying her. She was finding more ways to be around him, to brush by him. Any contact with his body was bliss.

Inuyasha led Kagome into a little underground bar frequented by criminals and youkai alike. More often than not, the criminals were youkai and visa versa.

The bar was small and dimly lit. Inuyasha walked purposefully over to the bartender and promptly grabbed him by the neck. While Inuyasha questioned the barkeep, Kagome looked around. She had a little power, the ability to sense auras and such. She was getting a strange vibe from something in the corner, and told Inuyasha as soon as he was done with the vile little green thing behind the bar.

He sniffed. "I smell fear." He placed a hand on the small of her back--her stomach leaped--and led her forward. They found themselves standing over a small crane youkai. He was nervous, his eyes darting all around as if to check for exits.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

Miroku looked up as Inuyasha and Kagome walked in, both grinning like idiots and covered in a mix of blood and dirt.

Sango's eyes widened. "Are you two alright?"

"Yes!" said Kagome triumphantly. "We are perfectly fine. We just got some information on our rogue youkai."

Inuyasha grinned at her, and she grinned back. Sango and Miroku exchanged a look. The sexual tension was palpable.

"His name is Marise. He's half hellhound, half spider youkai."

Miroku shuddered. "I don't even want to think about how that happened." Kagome pulled a face.

"Me neither.

"If I may continue?" said Inuyasha, glaring.

"You may," returned Miroku, unfazed.

"He's only just surfaced, but he's got a lot of followers. They're aiming to take over this part of town and eventually all of Tokyo. From what I hear, he's insane and quite possibly deluded."

"Also scarily powerful. It's said he wears the Shikon around his neck. All we need to do is grab the jewel and 'poof!' kill him."

"Yes," said Sango dryly, "because that's going to be so easy."

Kagome said indignantly, "Who said anything about easy?" Inuyasha guffawed.

A/N: Now, I'd consider that a nice chapter. Keep in mind that it was written over the span of two weeks, and so may seem a little disjointed. Sorry. I have a goal I'm working towards here, but there's a whole bunch of other stiff that needs to come first. Gah.

At least I got it out!