Taboo

Chapter 6

The Taboo: Inuyasha's Fate

-

Kagome's eyes roved over the semi-lit room she was now more or less confined to. L had assured her that she was free to roam the household, and use any of the rooms with prior warning, but she knew without having to be told that she wasn't allowed outside...

"What's wrong?" a familiar voice whispered in her ear.

She leaned back slightly, knowing she'd feel nothing but air. "Inuyasha..." Shaking her head, she walked forward and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, looking to where he stood just inside to doorway. A wistful smile touched her face at his confused expression. "I haven't seen you in almost a month," she chided lightly, voice soft so that any eavesdroppers wouldn't hear her.

He smirked cockily at her. "Yeah? You miss me, Kagome?" he asked, leaning back against the door.

The miko nodded eagerly. "Un! I really did."

"Aw, shucks. Now I feel bad." He pushed away from the door and meandered around the room, brushing his fingers through things, touching decorations she knew he couldn't feel. "This place is pretty nifty, Kags. And I've seen my fair share of nifty." A silver brow quirked at her as he stopped half on the tiled corner. "What's this all about Kags?" His arms crossed as he leaned back, presumably against the wall.

Kagome sighed and slumped back onto the bed, staring up at the canopy overhead. "I killed Hojo. It was an accident and I didn't mean to, but I still killed him."

"Tch. Bastard had it coming, the way he was so blindingly clueless to yer feelings, Kagome," he assured her in such an arrogant manner that she was hard-pressed to believe he felt sorry for her ex at all. "But that doesn't explain why you're in a gilded cage."

She blinked and looked over at him. "What? How'd you know it was a 'cage'?" she asked, confusion marring her features.

He tilted his chin, eyes staring into the darkened light-fixture. "A camera. Probably has a speaker, too." The hanyo frowned and walked up the wall, hanging upside down beside the light and crouching to draw closer to it. Impossibly, his hair didn't fall downward with the press of gravity, but Kagome supposed that was alright, since he was dead and all. "You didn't know?"

The miko shook her head, starting to tremble with both fear and anger. They were probably watching. They probably thought she was crazy. "That... That bastard!" she exclaimed, but her voice broke in the middle and she was on her feet before Inuyasha could stop her and out the door, fury and fear thrumming through her veins.

-

"Ah, ready to go?" L asked gleefully, mouth half-full of Pocky.

Kagome smiled and nodded, shifting her bag higher onto her shoulder. Light returned the smile and offered to take it for her, but she denied him with a smile and an excuse of personal products. Really, though, the Shikon was inside the bag, and given the strange aura around the boy, she didn't want him to taint the jewel. He seemed unaffected by her refusal and walked along-side her, L sidling up as well to throw an arm around her shoulders and grin.

His offer of Pocky was also turned down.

Once they were comfortable in L's limo, Light finally turned their otherwise *light conversation to another, deeper topic. "So... I couldn't help but notice the other day's argument between yourself and Taisho-san, Higurashi-san," he said idly, brow quirking as L surreptitiously watched her between bites of Pocky. "What was that about?"

L was curious to see that her demeanor was somewhat dampened, though she feigned confusion. "What do you mean?" the girl asked sweetly, smiling brightly at him. "You mean the thing about the well?"

"That," Light allowed, inclining his head and darting L a quick glance, "As well as the person - Inuyasha - that you mentioned, and something about hunting monsters?"

"Oh, well..." She turned her gaze to the window, avoiding meeting their eyes. "Inuyasha... Is Sesshomaru's departed brother, and my first boyfriend. The well's this old water well on my family's shrine. It was decaying, causing a lot of sickness when I was younger. And monsters..." A mirthless smile touched her lips and her fingers twitched to touch a small pocket on her bag. "Some demons are meant to never be remembered, Yagami-kun. You'd do well to remember that." She glanced at him, still smiling, but her eyes were empty. Almost sad. Almost.

Beside L, Light stiffened with indignation and his mouth opened, but L not-so-subtly stepped on his foot, making him cringe and bite back a visible yelp. The detective ignored the resulting glare and smiled at Kagome. "Demons, you say? Funny you should mention that... Tell me, Kagome. Do you believe in shinigami?"

Her laughter was startling, and she never bothered answering. L just knew he'd inadvertently stumbled upon another one of this girl's numerous and heavily guarded secrets. He resisted the urge to grin at the challenge.

Perfect.

-

"Spill."

Ryuk shifted again, nervous and a little annoyed. Light was not happy. "Er... There was an... issue, about five hundred years ago with a shinigami named Gredos." He scratched the back of his neck. "He died."

Brown eyes widened. "He what?" the boy breathed, shocked and uncertain. Hadn't Ryuk told him that shinigami couldn't die? Then what was he blathering on about? "Explain!" he insisted when Ryuk simply trailed off.

"Gredos wanted to know what would happen if he took the life-span of a demon, so... He searched the human world for one-"

"Wait, demons exist? Like, evil, hell-spawn demons?" the human interrupted, confused.

Annoyed, Ryuk waved him off. "I'll explain it later, Light. Just let me finish this." Satisfied when the boy fell silent once more, he glanced out the window, shook his head, and continued.

"Well, he looked for one, and unable to find one with a long enough life-span, he settled on a half-demon instead. Long enough life and everything. No one knows if it'd work on a demon or not, to this day. It may have just been the human in him, but... It worked with the hanyo. Only problem was, the hanyo had a very powerful miko witness it. Horrified, the miko ran to the hanyo's brother, who confronted Gredos.

"Gredos got away. Injured, but he was still alive. I'm sorta surprised the demon was able to injure him, given that he was one of us and pretty powerful to boot. But it happened, and Gredos fled back to the shinigami realm. Thinking about revenge, he returned to destroy the demon that injured him. Which was, in hindsight, a Very Bad Idea. The miko was present and without a thought, grieving for the life of the hanyo, purified him.

"Miko can kill us. It's a taboo to kill them, Light. It's one of our few Rules; thou shalt never kill a miko. We usually avoid them and their families like the plague, but you've somehow gotten involved with one. That little girl, Higurashi, is a miko." Eyes narrowed. "If you try to kill her, Light, I will kill you on the spot. Without hesitation."

The blood had drained from Light's face by this point, his plans and schemes freezing in his mind. No. Then this was it? Higurashi Kagome, murderer and miko, would get away with everything? No... There had to be some loop hole. Some way to get it done-

"Don't even think about it, Light," Ryuk warned, voice soft but menacing. "You. cannot. kill her. She's off limits." He shifted uneasily, waiting for Light's reaction.

And slowly, it came, in the form of half-crazed, furious, haunting laughter that echoed into the night.

-

Yep. Ryuk was right. Light was NOT happy. Lol. And I shall torture you with another cliffy. Mwa ha ha. I am evil. R&R! Don't just fave/alert! SERIOUSLY!!!