Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

A Parallel Dimensional Fairytale	By : Zoid Category: InuYasha > General Views: 3984 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
A
Parallel Dimensional Fairytale

Chapter
10

Blood
and Bile

Disclaimer:
I don't own the series Inuyasha

OOO

OO

O

OO

OOO

Living
a life during which pain had been a rather common experience Inuyasha
had later, when he learned of it, wondered about masochism. If one
spends roughly one hundred and fifty years telling himself there were
pains he could ignore and pains he couldn't ignore yet, the
idea that there might be people enjoying it was... hard to grasp.

But,
when his consciousnessleft his counterpart's wrecked body and the
pain finally stopped he thought that this might just be it, the
reason why one would voluntarily submit themselves to harm. The bliss
he felt when the feeling that his flesh was being carved from his
bones with several wooden teaspoons ceased was probably more orgasmic
than any actual climax he'd ever - well maybe not ever... no,
definitely not ever, but it sure had been a long time - had. Because
the strange drug that madman of a factory owner had injected into him
had inflicted a kind of pain that he couldn't even dare hope to be
able to ignore one day. He had a feeling that day would have to be
the day he went completely insane.

'I
need a drink,' he observed.

That
whiny girl was still crying when he manifested in his usual form and
hugged him some as soon as he was solid enough, which was OK though,
Inuyasha was willing to admit, ‘cause for once he, too, was a
little shaken.

That
Sango chick was not to be seen and the lecher monk for once had the
tact to stay back until Kagome had calmed down ... ish. She actually
stopped crying to get hopping mad and, surprisingly, direct her anger
towards someone who wasn't him. Miroku took her abuse with a sort of
apologetic face and no migraine ridden goddesses popped up to smite
her for all those distinctly voiced intense emotions. Inuyasha was
torn between joining the yell fest, since what he could make out in
between her shrieks was valid enough, and leaning back to enjoy the
show.

Well,
that Sango bitch had all but thrown them into the dimension
head first, without such helpful information as the name of the
factory, or the fact that said factory was heavily guarded, or that
its owner was a sadistic nutcase... And yes, for once, Inuyasha was
willing to admit that what they had thus been forced to do to their
counterpart's lives had left them beyond repair, and that was wrong!
But, oddly enough, Inuyasha just didn't feel particularly mad about
it... he felt an almost serene calm... and why were his hands
trembling like that? And were those rapidly growing black dots
shoving into his vision?

'Aw
crap,' he thought when his knees gave away. 'Don't tell me I'm in
shock. How ridiculous.'

He
still refused to believe it when he came to again, and so when
Kagome, who wasn't yelling anymore but fussing about him and helping
him stand, asked what had made him faint he only grunted something
about exhaustion, although that was hardly less embarrassing,
especially because she obviously didn't buy it. He still felt
decidedly better though. And adequately pissed off, too. Luckily for
him, Miroku then decided that it was time to present to them a, as he
said, “more than sufficient overview on the circumstances you
will encounter in pursuit of the next piece of the sacred jewel”
and darkened the room while conjuring, once again, the hologram
table.

Inuyasha
rushed to sit down, glad for the distraction. And Kagome followed,
hopefully postponing any further intrusivenesses until he'd come up
with a better excuse. Miroku began elaborating: “This mission
will be, in a way, one of the most difficult ones, at least from a
moralistic point of view. Taking the shard from its owners might
cause considerable harm to a lot of people, but you'll agree that in
relation to the inevitability of a universal collapse that is a price
one must be willing to pay.

“Right,
now about the specifics of the dimension. You surely are familiar
with so called 'Fantasy novels', or rather, 'Gothic novels', and
their usual cast? Like werewolves, vampires and whatnot?”

At
their nods he continued, “Well, this dimension has all of
these, and more. Technologically its societies are far beyond what
scientists of your dimension could possibly imagine, but that is also
partly because spiritual energy, magic, for lack of a better term,
has been part of their development from the very beginning. The
sociological and political system of the area you are going to travel
is, well, patriarchal, parliamentary monarchism, with a strong
executive arm. There'll be lots of police and civil militia around,
patrolling the streets, especially at night.

“As
I said, this dimension has Undead, and they have become quite a
menace to the human population in recent years. Larger cities, such
as the one where the shard will be found, thus have installed large
protective ban circles around major parts of the city. These ban
circles are usually based on a sacred object, such as a reliquary or
any object that has been prayed to and worshiped over a period of
time. In your target city, the ban circle is especially large and
effective because it is based on the shard of the Shikon no Tama. You
probably see where this is heading: As soon as you take the shard,
the barrier will collapse and leave the city unprotected until a new
object is found.

“What
you could attempt to do is persuade the city’s official
magicians to replace the shard, a process during which the barrier
can be maintained, but with the social status of your counterparts
and our rather tight schedule that is superfluous as it will prove
fruitless. Therefore SHE asks you to just 'go ahead and take it'.

“Which
leads me to the next point: Your counterparts and how you'll meet and
recognize each other. Your counterpart, Kagome, is a... woman of
negotiable affection if you catch my meaning.”

Kagome
shook her head puzzledly.

“He
means she's a whore,” Inuyasha was glad to explain.

Miroku
nodded. “Indeed.”

“Oh.”
Kagome shrugged. “OK,” which left Inuyasha a little
disappointed. What with the way she'd always freak out as soon as a
situation allowed a sexual interpretation you'd think she was
concerned about modesty enough to at least blush at that.

“Your
counterpart, Inuyasha, is a young man living in the rural area near
the city.”

“A
peasant?”

“Not
quite. Anyway, the shard is situated in a chapel that is part of the
council house in the city's center and is heavily guarded. It should
still be possible to get in there unseen, if you put your minds to
it.”

A
hologram flared up, the blueprint of a building.

“The
main entrances are guarded, windows and the supply door for the
kitchens are not -" several parts of the drawing, the ones that
symbolized windows and one that symbolized a door lit up red. “All
in all, security inside the city wall is rather lax, they feel safe
inside their barrier. Once you've gotten inside the building, there
should be no one bothering you. Now, the chapel is on the third
basement floor, the staircase is right here.“ Another door
flared up. “Up to there, things should run smoothly. The stairs
leading down are automatic, though, and as soon as they're in use
after the building is officially closed, an alarm goes off in the
security guard’s booth. So make sure you don't touch it on the
way down, it should be possible.”

The
blueprint changed.

“This
is the third basement floor. The chapel itself-” an area of
four rooms lit up “- is guarded, there's only one man but he's
not what you should worry about, it's the alarm button he sits right
next to. Get him down before he hits it or you'll only have four
minutes before the place is crowded with police and militia forces.”

The
blueprint disappeared to be replaced by a detailed map of a city.

“The
council house lies in the center of the city, right here,” one
of the buildings on the map changed color. ”You, Kagome, should
be taking over your counterpart's mind when she's around this area, “
in the northwest of the city two intersecting streets and the area
surrounding them flared up. <<Not sure if I interpreted this
correctly. 2 streets cross and the streets in one of the angles light
up?>>

“You'll
be somewhere outside the city of course, Inuyasha, someplace west of
it if I am not mistaken, but I presume that you'll find your way
easily enough; the land is flat and the city is huge. The guards that
watch the gates should let you through without a fuss once you've
passed the barrier. The barrier works in such a way that it detects
and repels people with malicious intent, so make sure you're not
thinking anything wicked while you're passing.” Miroku
chuckled, lecherously. “Seriously, though. The barrier does not
go by your thoughts but by your heart. The Undead tend to have in
their hearts the urge to still their hunger on human flesh or blood,
a bit of a narcissistic superiority complex and a sadistic streak,
too. The barrier detects all. So, even if they really make an effort
to feel 'good' feelings while passing the barrier they're repelled.
The same goes for humans, by the way. The barrier does not
discriminate species. There are, of course, exceptions. For example
if one matter, urge or feeling were to out weigh the bloodlust. But
since the only reason an Undead would want to enter the city is to
feed on humans, the barrier is, all in all, rather effective.
However,, it only checks those passing through, not those already
inside. So it does not actually prevent murder or criminality in
general, even though its creators claim that.” Miroku shrugged.
“But then again, those things are only human.

“As
a place of meeting I suggest this small square here -” the
hologram zoomed in on the area that was marked as likely for Kagome's
counterpart's location and indeed, the two larger roads met in a
square. “There's quite a high chance that you, Kagome, will
already be in that square or close to it, since that square is not
referred to as 'The Cleft' without a reason.

“Now,
your counterpart looks like this -” and the map disappeared to
be replaced by the slowly turning 3D picture of a woman dressed in a
strange, broad collared, black dress held together in the front by a
single button on her belly button. Auburn hair was piled onto her
head and she'd donned quite a lot of the stuff women used to tint
their cheeks red. Inuyasha was at a loss for words. Miroku gave a
lecherous chuckle.

“Whooh,”
Kagome said at last, after seconds of silence, and she voiced
Inuyasha's feelings with that, too. “She's actually wearing
that? Right.” A few seconds passed during which the hologram
shifted from one foot to the other, briefly displaying a dark patch
on her crotch that might have been underwear and might just not.

“Nevermind.
What's he gonna look like?” Kagome asked then.

The
woman kept on turning.

“Well?”
Inuyasha urged. If this counterpart was going to be a wimp like all
the previous ones...

Finally,
Miroku tore his eyes from the 3D pin up and another image flared up.
Inuyasha thought he heard a strangled gasp from Kagome but really
didn't know what she was so surprised about.

At
least this guy was tall, very tall if the scale of this image was the
same as the one before. His face was a little girlish but that didn't
mean anything. Inuyasha himself was the disgruntled owner of a baby
face and could quite easily lift a van. Well, and with his shirt
gaping open like that it was quite plain to see that his counterpart
was kind of muscular. But he was also still human.

“Coulda
been worse,” Inuyasha admitted.

Kagome
shot him a look that he failed to interpret and then hastily turned
away. Right.

The
image faded and Miroku conjured the map again. “You'll probably
enter through the west gate of the city wall, or one of the other
gates close to that one.” Several spots in the city wall, a
line that ran in a quasi circle through the whole area of the city
lit up in the west.“No matter where you enter really, you'll
hit Gate Street, a main road that follows the arc of the city wall,
soon enough. There you'll most certainly meet someone you can ask for
the way to 'Cleft Square'. They'll think you're a young lad looking
for a good time and show you, I'm sure.” The image died and the
room lit up again. Miroku leaned back in his chair. “That's it,
I think. Any questions?”

“Yes,
well, if I'm not in that... square, how do I find the way?”
Kagome asked.

Miroku
shrugged. “Best not ask someone of your counterpart's
profession, lest you accidentally ask someone your counterpart knows
and arouse suspicion. Just walk until you hit either Glory Road or
Kidney Way, those are the streets crossing at said square, there
should be street signs, and follow the general drift of the 'clients,
or if you are really lost, ask one of them.'. You'll both arrive in
the dimension at dusk, so there should be some people around the
city.”

“How
long do you think it'll take me to get into the city? Just so she
knows when to take action on her own, you know, if I can't enter or
get killed on the way.”

Kagome
snorted. “Always assuming the worst, aren't you?”

“Yeah,
that's called being realistic. One of us has to be, don't you think?”

“Being
optimistic is not being unrealistic. It's being willing to see that
everything's not lost right from the start. And that there is always
something that can be done to help things along.”

“An
hour, maybe more, I should think,” Miroku cut saving Inuyasha
from an embarrassing lack of response to that. Damn the woman.

“But
with the territory outside you never know. It could just as easily
take you half the night. Just stay where you are, Kagome. Should
something fatal happen, we'll take you out of the dimension again. Of
course, that would be very unfortunate; you know why. Anything else?”

Kagome
shook her head. “No. I mean I don't have a clue about the
directions to the council house anymore, with how briefly you showed
that map, but I guess he does anyway, so it's OK,” she nodded
towards Inuyasha.

“Sure,”
he agreed, a bit stupefied.

“Excellent!”
Miroku eagerly let the rings on his staff jingle. “Now who
wants to go in first?”

OOO

OO

O

OO

OOO

Taking
over his counterpart's mind was strange, as usual, but at least this
one was sitting down through the process. Inuyasha glanced around as
soon as his eyes worked. The room he was in strangely reminded him of
his... apartment, for lack of a better term, back in Berlin. It was
rather small and untidy, and a thick black curtain blocked out any
light from the outside. The furniture was strange, and not as
futuristic looking, by far, as he'd expected from a world of
unimaginable technological standard. Then again, neither were the
clothes he was wearing, nor those of Kagome's counterpart. He wasn't
all that sure about cultural history but they had a kind of baroquish
feel to it, unlike the vampire stories he knew, that, in accordance
to Bram Stoker, took place during the Victorian era. But he'd be
damned before he started giving a shit about fashion.

There
was only a small lamp spreading gloomy light but Inuyasha could see
very clearly, so at least this counterpart had acceptable night
vision; handy since they would have to sneak around a city by
nighttime. The sense of smell was lacking, of course, but probably
still good for a human. His hearing was ridiculous but – he
bent and jumped – at least his counterpart was flexible and
fit.This was a body he could actually work with.

He
searched the room and the bedroom and bathroom to the left, the
whole apartment it seemed, for a weapon or something to use as such
but came up with nothing. In the end he kicked off two of the heavy
wooded posts of his counterpart's large four poster bed and stuffed
them into the conveniently large inside pockets of the dark,
billowing coat he found lying on the floor beside the bed.

Feeling
slightly reassured, he left the room through the other door and
stepped out into a dark, short corridor that ended in a staircase
leading upwards. As soon as he stepped on the first step, it began
slowly moving upwards, carrying him past several corridors until he
jumped off the step and in front of another door. He entered a
larger, just as dimly lit room that was probably the foyer of the
apartment house his counterpart lived in. There were four people, all
around his counterpart's age, one sitting behind a counter and
talking to another, another pair lounging in armchairs that were
grouped around a coffee table. Everyone looked at him when he closed
the door behind himself and he nodded a greeting, assuming they were
acquaintances of his counterpart. He headed to the two winged
entrance door but the guy standing at the counter called out to him.

“Oi,
Nathael, what're you up to? Have you forgotten about our party
tonight?”

Inuyasha
whacked his brain for something noncommittal to say. “I'll just
go out for a while, y'know, I'll be back in time,of course,” he
drawled in the end.

“Whatever.
See ya,” the guy turned back to his pal behind the counter.
Just as well. Inuyasha stepped out of the door.

The
sight outside was curious. When that bouzu had talked about 'rural'
areas Inuyasha had imagined just that; fields, farms, and perhaps
even a forest. But, obviously all rural meant in this dimension was
that the houses didn't stand as close as inside the cities. Not a
tree to be seen. To his left he could make out a bulky shadow before
the horizon overhung with clouds lit from beneath. That would have to
be the actual city. The street leading there was, as far as he could
see, broad, straight and even, but also looked as if it wasn't
actually in frequent use.

Suddenly
something shot past him, a carriage of some kind probably, but it was
reduced to another shadow with two flickering orange eyes of light
within seconds. It was probably not that bad an idea to keep off the
street, Inuyasha observed.

The
run to the city was uneventful, surprisingly enough, and if it hadn't
been for the occasional sheen behind the tightly shut iron shutters
brimming with strange runes Inuyasha would have thought that every
house he passed was deserted. But it figured that people would stay
inside after sunset, if they really had trouble with the Undead
around here, and if it was true that those couldn't stand sunlight.

The
carriage to pass him was the only one he met on the way, which made
him wonder. With a city as large as the one ahead, you'd think the
streets leading there would be stuffed with cars. Was that, too,
because of the undead problems? Mayb – well, not that it
mattered.

So
little distraction did his way offer that his thoughts kept trailing
off, towards that stupid, overly sensitive girl who thought she knew
it all, had him figured out. All that crap about him having no self
respect, ridiculous! He was still alive, after all, wasn't he? And
dying had more often than not, by far, been the easier way to go...
aw, wait, crap, he was dead... well, but that wasn't the damn point,
anyway. He did respect himself, of course he did, exactly as
much as he deserved... which wasn't all that much, granted... come to
think of it he was a wreck. Had he really choked on his own
vomit back there? It had sounded kinda funny at first, cool almost,
since a lot of cool people seemed to have kicked the bucket that
way, but if you left that out and just faced the facts it was
actually a very... pitiful way to go...

No!
What did that little bitch think she was doing, anyway? Acting like
he mattered to her, doing and saying those little things that made
him feel cared for when it was obvious that he really was just a
means to an end for her? An unpleasant but necessary tool she had no
choice but to use to get her life back. The nerve of her, really.
There he was, doing exactly what he was supposed to do, which seemed
to be getting ripped apart on a daily basis to save her ass and get
the shards, and she complained about it, the fucking nerve of
her!

Only
when his fist dented the iron entrance door of the house he'd come to
seethe in front of and magic scorched his hand and panicked screams
sounded from inside did Inuyasha realize what a state he'd worked
himself into. And all because of that stupid girl. He shook his head,
called an absentminded “Sorry,” and hurried off.

'Gods,
I fucking need a drink,’ he thought, licking his burnt
knuckles. It just couldn't be healthy to feel that much after years
of carefully nourished apathy. He would not let her get to him
anymore he decided then.

How
long had he been standing there, anyway?

Even
in the outskirts of the city, no one was about, actually, the first
people he saw were the two men dressed in a red uniform that stood
besides an arched gateway in a tall wall that was probably the city
wall. He approached them with what he hoped as an air of innocent
insecurity and they bought it.

All
in all it couldn't have taken him more than forty minutes to get
inside the barrier give, or take the few minutes he'd spent standing
in front of that house. Still, he felt a little drained, and dead
thirsty, more so than his counterpart's physique had led him to
assume he'd feel after such an easy jog.

Well,
at least Kagome wouldn't have to wait very long. What with her
counterpart working in that business, Inuyasha couldn't help but be a
tad worried about her, out of professional interest, certainly. But
still, a woman that'd do more or less anything for money had a
strange allure for all sorts of creeps, he knew out of first hand
experience. After all, throwing said creeps out and patrolling the
streets for them had been his job a couple of years ago.

Still
following the road straight on he did indeed soon hit another broad
one, lined with houses and shops in succession and a dark paved
sidewalk. The difference between life inside and outside the barrier
was quite obvious. The shutters on the houses were open, people were
about and strolling down the road, occasionally throwing glances into
the brightly lit showcases of the shops. Inuyasha turned left since
the brothel quarter lay in the northeast of the city, and hurried
on. He waited until he met a likely looking guy to ask for directions
and the man, cheeks red with busted capillaries, grinningly
explained the way and sent him of with a slap on the back. So much
for that; Miroku had been right.

Entering
the streets where red light seemed to be first choice, he felt
strangely at home. Well, he had worked in the business for quite
some time, until he'd been kicked out, allegedly for nicking too much
booze from the bar. He'd really been kinda sad to go at the time, for
all he felt wronged by the accusation since he surely could not be
expected to deal with those loads of freaks on a sober mind.

The
homey feeling lost itself after a few paces though, because between
the cheap, plastic appeal of late seventies whoredom, where heroin
seemed to be lurking behind every corner, and the voluptuous glamour
of the ladies standing in the doorways and occasionally calling out
to him lay, well, quite literally, a whole dimension. And the dresses
theywore, it was strange, maybe it was in fashion because of the
imminent danger of vampire attacks but they all seemed to designed to
draw attention to the neck.

In
the square, the stream of people flocked into a loose crowd where for
every pair that left, a new woman and a new desperate man<<?>>
seemed to appear. Still, spotting Kagome was easy enough; she stood
huddled in a doorway and was the only woman in the square not
beckoning anyone to her. When he was close enough to smell her he was
confused for a second, but then, under layers of perfume, yesterday's
sex and some indistinguishable heaviness, yup, there it was, female
sweat of that unique spice and, for some reason, sunlight.

He
was about to call out to her when suddenly another woman pushed
herself in front of him. “Hey there, fella,” she rasped,
“forget that one. She's being picky tonight. Says she's
waiting for someone. She'd probably even flip off a handsome one like
you - “ but he shoved her aside.

“No
thanks, I've made my pick,” he joked, and Kagome looked up.

“Inuyasha?”

“Yeah.
Let's go somewhere quiet, alright?” and he was pleased to see
her blush under the crackling layers of paint on her face. She was
a prude; he knew it. All it took was a little innuendo to tickle it
out of her- damn. He was not letting her get to him anymore, that
should probably include the urge to tease her.

They
left on Glory Road and took another turn into a tiny street that was
more of a gap between two houses.

“Alright,”
Kagome started as soon as they were sufficiently hidden in the
shadows and out of hearing range. “People in this city are so
paranoid, it's not funny. Did you see all those signs and posters on
the walls?”

Actually,
he hadn't. But, well, that dress of her counterpart was designed to
distract.

“They
were all about how to recognize vampires and werewolves, and what to
do if you encountered one. But if people actually listened to that
stuff, they'd have to call the guards every time they met someone
hairy or someone tired looking with very fair skin -”

Either
because they were stuffed rather closely together or because of the
old joke that if you're told not to think about polar bears
you can't think of anything else for days, not letting Kagome get to
him was getting increasingly hard to do. What did her counterpart
think she was doing, wearing a dress like that? His mouth felt so
dry. And that black choker? It made the kittenishly fast pulsating of
the artery under her almost translucent skin all the more obvious.
Hypnotizing, really. Through the thunder in his ears and the sound of
his own rapid breathing her voice sounded muffled.

“I
mean, if I took all that seriously, I'd have to call the
guards this instant. You look as if you haven't slept in a year and
are a white as a bed sheet...” she cocked her head and reached
out a hand to his face. “Are you alright, Inuyasha?”

Inuyasha
was far from all right. He was rigid with shock. It couldn't be,
right? He'd passed the barrier without trouble, hadn't he? It had to
be something else!

On
its own accord, his hand gripped hers and he pulled her wrist to his
face. He could feel the lively heat of her skin and the blood gushing
right underneath it. The hair on her arm suddenly rose in goose bumps
and ever so softly tickled the skin of his lips as it swayed in the
quickened rhythm her heart set. He felt a chuckle rise in his throat.
She was turned on by this, the little minx, barely a drop of fear in
her scent, but confusion and hesitant arousal. This'd be a fun one-

“Inuyasha?
What are you doing?”

Her
trembling voice splashed over him like a bucket of ice cold water.
What was he- No! He dropped her wrist and stumbled sidewards. It
couldn't be, why hadn't that bouzu told them?

“What's
the matter with you?” she asked and reached that cursed hand
out again. He needed to get away from her this instant!

“Wait
here, I'll be back,” he choked out, biting his tongue when his
fangs suddenly elongated. “Don't ask, just stay.”

On
instinct he jumped up and didn't even wonder when he stayed afloat,
just urged himself upwards, over the roofs and away from her voice
calling his name in angry confusion.

He
came to rest on a roof some streets further, or rather, crashed into
it, since landing was a bit difficult when you hadn't known you
could fly seconds before. He caught a tile that was threatening to
fall and tried to think reasonably through the haze of hunger and
lust in his head. How was this possible? How could Miroku not have
told them his counterpart was a fucking vampire?! What should he do
now? He'd have to get that bloodlust under control before he could
return to Kagome; that much was clear. The sound of laughter flew up
to his perch on the roof and the instinct roared up again. He
reasoned the only solution; he'd have to drink someone else's blood,
still the hunger, then he could face Kagome again. Or could he? How
long would it last, anyway? What if the urge returned while they were
down in the cellar of that council house and there'd be no-one around
except her?

That
Miroku sure was in for some murder as soon as they were out of this
dimension.

Would
he be able to control it, maybe? Rush through weakly lit alleys with
her; watch perspiration create a wet sheen on the fair skin of her
neck... Inuyasha swallowed as saliva gathered in his mouth. Fat
chance of that happening, his eyes crossed from the mental picture
alone. With her running around in that dress, it was already hard
enough to pretend some of his less supernatural and more male urges
didn't exist. How was he supposed to cope with these monstrous ones?

But
going and killing some unlucky passerby to feed on the blood would
mean reducing himself to the animal he'd always suspected was hidden
somewhere inside him. No, the one he knew was hidden somewhere
inside him, hadn't it shown its ugly face back then? The one he'd
been running from for a good part of his adolescent life...

A
faint scream ripped him back just before he fell down the cliff in
his mind he usually was very careful to stay clear of. Where'd that
come from? Could it have been Kagome? Leaving her and telling her to
stay put was asking for trouble with her tendency to do the exact
opposite of anything he told her to he realized.

He
ran and jumped across the roofs. The scream had come from the
direction of the street where he'd left her.

And
indeed, true to her trouble magnet nature, she'd somehow managed to
get some creep to spot her in the shadows and try to go a round for
free. Although the poor sod was probably already regretting his
decision with the way she kept ramming her elbow into his stomach and
biting the hand he'd clasped over her mouth. Not that Inuyasha felt
particularly sorry for him. He jumped from the roof above and landed
silently behind the man. His hand went out before he really knew what
he was doing, just like before, and gripped th eman’s neck.
Inuyasha broke it with a flick of his wrist.

Kagome
tumbled to the ground when her attacker suddenly let go of her and
scrambled away a bit before turning.

A
chorus of a thousand voices howled and screeched in his head for him
to go ahead and still the craving; her questioning voice failed to
break through. He jumped up, the corpse dangling from his hand, and
landed on another roof, where he proved to himself all over again
that if there was one thing he was lacking, it was self restraint. He
would have killed himself right on the spot, but the split second of
calm afterwards was heavenly, better perhaps than the moment when his
mind shut down after he'd drunk a sufficient amount of booze, and
lasted just long enough for him to realize that if he was a monstrous
beast anyway, he could at least try and not be a cowardly one.

He
made sure to wipe his mouth carefully before he jumped down to Kagome
again. She looked up when he crouched down at a safe distance.

“Is
your counterpart... “ she began hesitantly.

“Yes,
how cunningly observed. I'm a vampire,” Inuyasha spat out when
all that self hatred inside him found the next best outlet.

“Oh
my god! Why didn't Miroku tell us? Is he mad? Who knows what could
have happened?”

He
knew. He'd been so close, so close to - “I fucking took care of
it, quit worrying. You're safe for the moment,” he hissed.

“But
if you'd been recognized, you could have been killed! There are
patrols all over the city, it says on the posters. Who knows what
they'd do to a vampire who's gotten past their barrier?”

The
turmoil soothed for a second, then flared up with twice the force.
There she was again, pretending she cared about him when all she was
really concerned about was the Shikon shard. But he shouldn't let her
get to him anymore. He wouldn't let her get to him anymore. He
wouldn't. With an effort he could almost feel physically, he shoved
his emotions down until the thought of continuing to live was just
disgusting, not impossible.

“It's
late enough now; let's go find that council house.”

“Inuyasha?”
that cursed hand of hers descended towards his shoulder. He beat it
away.

“Don't
fucking touch me! I hate it, I told you – come on now, I know
where to go.”

And
he marched off, so briskly that she only caught up with him several
streets later, way beyond the red light district. He felt her eyes on
him even though he could absolutely not face her and he didn't dare
imagine what she thought of him now. Thankfully, she stayed silent
through the whole march; she didn't even say a word when he dropped
his coat on her shoulders saying her dress was drawing to much
attention. Which was true. Everyone they passed ogled her as if
they'd never seen a square centimeter of female flesh before.

The
council house was right where it was supposed to be according to the
plan, and getting inside unseen was beyond easy. Everything ran
smoothly, but still required just enough of his attention to dull
that trembling ache and the raging disgust. They exchanged a few
words on the question of how to get down the stairs without touching
them and in the end Inuyasha was forced to give in, yet again, and
carry her down as he floated. But, although her neck still looked
delicious any urges he felt were completely drained out by the sheer
horror of what had happened earlier. The corridors downstairs lay in
darkness except for one, the one leading to the chapel. They
retreated into the room at the foot of the staircase and discussed
the possibilities in whispers.

Inuyasha
was beginning to feel kind of stupid facing away from her all the
time but the thought of what her gaze might tell him about himself
was terrifying. At last, when she suggested, “I could walk in
there in this dress and try to distract him long enough for you to -”
he whipped around.

But
the anxiety of what might come made him forget he meant to declare
her insane and his eyes came to rest on the wall behind her. There
was something expectant about her sudden silence and it made him draw
his eyes, ever so slowly, to her face. Where he was greeted with the
very last expression he'd expected, a smile.

“It's
alright,” she explained, with a serene certainty that made her
look a lot older than her counterpart was. Inuyasha was about to ask
what she was talking about but then thought better of it. Intrusive
as she was, she'd probably guessed what he was about.

“It
fucking is not, I -” he attempted.

She
shook her head. “It's alright because you didn't want to.”

How
ridiculous. What did she know?! About losing control like that, about
waking and not knowing why one was plastered in blood, about hearing
the muffled memory that was no conscious memory of his, a flashback
of agonized screams, every time he tried to sleep. What did she
fucking know?!

“You
have no fucking idea what-”

“That's
right, I don't. I didn't say I had, did I? I can not even begin to
imagine what it's like to – but if you're feeling this horrible
about it, it can't have been anything I'd want to imagine anyway. But
that you're this broken up about it also means that you really,
really didn't want to do it, . and if you're feeling as sorry for
this as you seem to be, then that doesn't make the thing itself
better, but it also doesn't make it something you have to hate
yourself for. You could try to forgive yourself, somehow... I think.”

“What
are you, a priest? There's nothing to forgive, don't tell me you feel
sorry for that creep! He was trying to rape you, wasn't he?”

And,
she looked hurt, which puzzled him even more than her strangely
thoughtful ideas, but her expression lasted only for a second. Then
she just looked angry. Inuyasha almost sighed in relief. That was
something he could cope with, not all this strange talk and
understanding. How was he supposed to not let her get to him if she
was acting like that?

“Fine,
be that way,” she snapped.

“I
am.”

“Fine.”

“Yeah.”

“Now,
about that guard, have you come up with something better yet?”
she said in a voice that didn't even sound angry anymore. And still,
Inuyasha felt more uncomfortable than before. As if she was observing
him closely, in search of what, he didn't know.

“No,
I mean I tried some of the- “ he was careful not to let his
voice waver, “vampire stuff, like dissolving into fog and
morphing with shadows or shifting shapes but nothing worked.”

“So
are we gonna do it my way then?”

“No
way, that's idiotic. He'll press the button as soon as someone's in
sight, I'm sure.”

“Well,
what then?”

They
both lapsed into silence to think, but Inuyasha's thoughts wouldn't
do as they were told. They kept contemplating her stupid and naive
words. Forgiving himself the unforgivable, a complete loss of self
restraint? The very idea...

“This
is kinda dangerous too, but it might work,” Kagome interrupted
his thoughts.

“Hn?”

“Well,
as a vampire you're probably very fast, aren't you? And the corridor
is not very long. And he won't expect anything to happen, right?
Maybe you can just outrun his reaction. Knock him down before he
presses the button. You think that'd work?”

He'd
been so focused on the more supernatural aspects of vampirism that
he'd forgotten about the almost natural physical superiority. As a
hanyou, in his usual body, he probably could have the man unconscious
before he'd even seen him; maybe this wretched vampire body was
capable of something similar.

“It
might. It's the best idea so far.”

“Then
do it,” she urged impatiently.

“Alright,
alright.”

In
the end it seemed they needn't have worried. The man was busy reading
a newspaper and didn't even look up before he was down. There was
another barrier around the chapel itself but it didn't seem to regard
their wanting to collect the shard as malicious intent. But those
barriers were crap anyway, had to be, since they'd so completely
failed to detect the savage beast inside him.

The
altar standing at the back of the room was alight with a pinkish glow
that seemed to intensify as Kagome drew nearer. The whole basis of
that huge ban circle seemed to be a simple chalk drawing with the
shard lying at its center. The smaller circle next to it, drawn
around what looked like a tooth, probably was the one responsible for
the barrier around the chapel.

They
stood in silence for a minute or so, and Inuyasha was sweating with
discomfort at the how tense it was.

“Go
ahead, take it. That guy won't be unconscious forever,”
Inuyasha blurted out at last, just to say anything at all.

Kagome
looked up to him with a frown. “There's something I want to try
to maintain that circle before we destroy it completely,” she
explained.

Inuyasha
rolled his eyes. “It's not like there's anything I can do to
keep you from trying.”

She
stuck out her tongue at him, but then she turned towards the altar
again, her face slack with obvious concentration.

She
took the tooth out of the smaller circle, they both tensed, but
nothing happened. Then she cradled it in her palms and closed her
eyes. Minutes seemed to pass and Inuyasha grew restless. He took a
look at the watchman and bound and gagged him with stripes of his
clothing, just to be sure.Kagome hadn't moved when he returned.
Suddenly she breathed out exasperatedly and opened her eyes.

“Alright,
it won't work this way.” She looked at him in a very strange
and calculating way. Then, in an even stranger voice, said, “I'd
really rather that Miroku be my partner for these missions than
someone as... “ she opened and closed her mouth several times,
“as stupid as you!”

Inuyasha
was at a serious loss for words. What had gotten into her all of a
sudden? Maybe that tooth had made her go insane somehow? Why else
would she go and say something like – wait... him, stupid?

“That's
interesting, because if I look back at what's happened so far I'm
kinda inclined to say you've been acting stupid all of the
time!” he snapped.

She
looked irritated for a second, but then she suddenly giggled,
laughed.

“What's
so-”

“I'm
sorry, Inuyasha.” she explained in between chuckles. “You
remember what Sango said about my ki? That it had to be triggered by
intense emotions? I thought if we started a fight I'd be able to work
some magic here, but that's just stupid. And you're not, by the way.”

Her
laughter was magic in itself, had to be. Because Inuyasha couldn't
help but laugh with her although there had been few times in his crap
life when he'd felt as little like laughing as right then. That was
why she sounded so strange. How stupid indeed.

As
tense as the mood had been, it unloaded as abruptly and explosively.
Why else would they erupt into such convulsions over something that
was hardly worth a laugh?

“It's
ri-diculous, really-” Kagome giggled. “We seem to be
fighting all the time -”

“But
the one time we need to, we can't,” Inuyasha finished.

“Oh,
there it is! Laughter seems to work, too,” Kagome cried out
suddenly, and indeed, as his chuckles slowed Inuyasha saw the same
pink light erupt from her hands that tore apart the snake youkai,
only this time there was something soft and... beautiful about it.

Kagome's
ki seeped into the tooth until it was glowing more intensely than the
altar with the shard, and Inuyasha understood what she was trying to
do. She wanted to pour as much of her own holy powers into the
artifact as possible, to create a basis for the barrier that was at
least close to the power the shard gave it. 'Not bad,' he admitted.
He actually wondered when she'd come up with that. In the split
second after she took the shard and before she placed the tooth in
its stead, Inuyasha thought he felt some kind of weight lift from the
atmosphere, only to return with twice the force when the magical
circle was complete again. But, that might just have been his
imagination.

Kagome
swayed a little when she turned to him and before Inuyasha knew what
he was doing, he'd gripped her elbow to steady her, only to jerk his
hand back when he realized.

“That
might have been a bit too much of my energy,” Kagome slurred
tiredly and then slumped against him. A bit unsure what to do with
the now unconscious girl with the still offensively sleek neck,
Inuyasha decided that fresh air might help and carried her up and out
again unhindered, flying over some roofs until he found a large and
not so steep one.

She
came to after a while, a bit disoriented at first, but rapidly
regaining her sharp mouth when he berated her about overexerting
herself when she knew they needed her to get out of the dimension
again, Her, in comparison to former outbursts, slight anger was
enough to kick her remaining powers into gear and add the shard to
the collection in her chest.

Inuyasha
had the presence of mind to carry her down to the streets while she
faded and attempted to get his counterpart's body outside of the
barrier lest he... do things after Inuyasha's mind released what
little control he had over the bestial bloodlust. He got well beyond
the city wall when the last of his consciousness faded, much to his
relief.

He
gained existence in the interdimension to see Kagome unconscious
again and strangely translucent, too. That
soon-to-be-dead-a-second-time lecher of a supposed monk was hovering
over her, way closer than was acceptable. Juust as Inuyasha leaped
to do some killing he would not feel monstrous for, that cursed Sango
bitch appeared and swept the monk out of his reach.

“Before
you express your, I'll admit, momentarily<<why momentarily?>>
fully justified anger, know that this time he acted on my orders.”

Inuyasha
shrugged. “So it's you who's gonna suffer. I don't care. You
fucking should have told me!”

Sango
rolled her eyes. “As amusing as your threats are, we didn't
tell you for a reason, and a valid one.”

“Can't
wait to hear how you'll justify that,” Inuyasha pressed
out between clenched teeth. The fucking nerve of that bitch! To claim
there was a reason to be found in all of the universes that justified
breaking up parts of his mind and memory he'd locked and nailed up
completely for exactly twenty two years, eleven months and twenty six
days. And to indirectly endanger Kagome's real life that she clung to
so, by endangering her counterpart's life, Inuyasha saw that as the
outrage it was even if the girl wasn't getting to him anymore.

“You
wouldn't have been able to pass the barrier had you known you were a
vampire,” Sango started.

“Exactly,”
Miroku supplied from his perch close to the ceiling of the familiar
living room Sango seemed to prefer. “Had you known you were a
vampire, do you deny you would have tried to identify the expected
bloodlust? And be it just to find a way to suppress it, you still
would have been conscious of that desire, and perhaps the need to
find Kagome as soon as possible, which was probably what allowed you
through in the first place, would not have been the first thing on
your mind and heart anymore. We couldn't risk that. And in the end,
what difference would it have made if you had known?”

“A
fucking big one,” Inuyasha assured fiercely, although the urge
to kill both of them had abated to the very much normal urge to whack
Miroku for being a lecher and stick his tongue out at Sango when she
wasn't looking. Maybe they were right. Maybe. Probably. It
wouldn't have made much of a difference at all, Inuyasha concluded at
last, since the problem didn't really lie with the vampiric nature of
his counterpart but with his very own monstrous abnormality. So, they
were probably fucking right, those full themselves bastards.

Still,
he'd rather chew off his own ears before he'd trust another word they
said.

Then
Kagome, who'd grown more solid during the last minutes, came to her
senses again. Convincing her of Sango and Miroku's more or less good
intentions proved surprisingly more difficult than convincing
Inuyasha. She yelled bloody murder at them and Sango flinched but
didn't smite her, and she was only calmed when Inuyasha himself told
her to get a grip.

“You
mean, you're OK with that? What you went through?” she asked,
baffled.

Inuyasha
felt uneasy under her familiar scrutiny. Why did she keep doing this,
those things that made him feel so... important?

“Sure.
T'was nothing,” he lied defensively.

Then
she looked hurt again, for whatever fucking reasons, but she shut up
all the same.

“Right,
now that this is settled, shall we proceed?” Miroku asked while
he sank down from the ceiling and onto the couch.

Kagome
sat down on the armchair next to Sango theatrically; now what the
hell was her problem? Inuyasha plopped himself down next to
the bouzu, who babbled on immediately.

“In
the next dimension you'll be sent to a part of a planet where most of
the life takes place on the sea. Your counterpart, Kagome, is a human
servant member of the crew of a wolf youkai pirate fleet raiding the
northern seas. Your counterpart, Inuyasha, is a husky-hanyou that is
part of the raiding crew of the ship. You'll recognize each other
easily enough I should think, you're both living on the main ship of
the fleet, but just to be sure, this is what you look like.”

Two
holograms flared into life out of nothing as the light dimmed. One
was a man who bore a great resemblance to Inuyasha himself, what
with the triangular dog ears, the long white and gray streaked hair
and the clearly of Asian heritage, which actually made him the first
since that wimp in the school dimension, Inuyasha realized. The
other hologram depicted a small but sturdy looking, pretty Inuit
woman. Both were dressed in plain, practicable clothing. They turned
a few times, then the lights went on again and the pictures
disappeared.

“The
shard is in the possession of the fleet's captain, a wolf youkai, of
course. You'll recognize him by his missing eye and the large hat -”

Kagome
and Inuyasha snorted at the same time. Miroku stifled a chuckle
himself. “Yes, he's cliché like that, I'm afraid, but
he's the only one missing an eye on the whole ship. It's not really
that common among pirates to lose body parts like other people lose
hair; they need them, you see. Anyway, he's getting old and has quite
the alcohol habit; tricking him should be easy enough. You might want
to keep an eye open for his eldest son, though. His name's Kouga.
He's captain in training and first mate at the moment, and he's...
eager. But I'm sure you'll do fine,” he finished
enthusiastically. “Any questions?”

“Where
does the captain keep the shard?” Kagome asked, still very
obviously not looking in Inuyasha's direction, which annoyed him
increasingly. What was that about?

“On
himself, but he puts it down with his clothing when he goes to sleep.
The safest way to get your hands on it should be to get him seriously
drunk, so he won't wake up when you search his cabin.”

“And
do our counterparts have any friends on the ship? People we might
offend?” Inuyasha wanted to know, half because he didn't want
to go through useless hours of righting-the-wrong again, and half
because he hoped it'd make Kagome look at him again. Which it did.

“Your
counterpart, his name is Han-hu, the pun is, I think, intended, is a
bit of an outsider, and he hasn't been around very long, so it won't
come as much of a surprise if he doesn't socialize. Your
counterpart, Kagome, her name is Su-hine, is one of the only three
humans aboard and they keep mainly to themselves. Save for your
counterpart, there's the cook, whose name is something
unpronounceable, which is why he's usually called Cook, even by his
own wife, who is the other human, and is called Haruko. I shouldn't
think any other member of the crew knows your counterpart's name. It
shouldn't surprise you to be referred to as 'Human' or 'Servant' or
something like. Wolf youkai are not above eating humans; the ones
they keep around usually have some special skill. The cook can cook,
which they can't. The cook's wife can sew, which they hate. Your
counterpart is some sort of girl for all purposes, she's good with
her hands, which they are, too, but feel that some tasks are just
beneath them. She cleans where necessary, helps the cook and his
wife, and with repairs on the ship that need a deft hand.”

Inuyasha
snorted at that and he thought he saw Kagome blanche. So much for her
'conformity is key' crap. She was a total klutz. He'd love to see
her 'deftly' repair any part of a ship. She wouldn't make her
counterpart look too good.

“Anything
else?” Miroku asked. “No? Well then, who wants to go
first?”

OOO

OO

O

OO

OOO

Inuyasha
came to in a body that was clinging to a plank floating in a rough,
fucking ice cold sea. At first, he actually thought Miroku had
failed to tell him his counterpart was lacking a lower body, but that
part of him was just numb with cold. He desperately tried to peer
through the wet hair plastered all over his face but all he saw were
hills of salty water, the color of anthracite, flocked with white
patches of foam. Then he spotted some boxes floating close by, and
more pieces of wood. What the fuck?

Had
that lecher failed to tell them that the ship they were supposed to
live on had just sunk? And what did that mean for Kagome? In a bout
of panic, Inuyasha tried to heave himself onto the plank to gain a
better overview but he felt very weak and kept slipping. Still, he
didn't give up until his forearms were spiky with splinters and he
felt close to unconsciousness.

Well,
whatever was going on, if something didn't happen soon, his stay in
this dimension would be a short one. It wouldn't be long till he
froze to death.

Suddenly
a yell sounded over the howling wind and before he could twist to
search for its source, a massive shadow fell over him. Then,
accompanied by another yell, something hard hit his head and knocked
his head into his life-plank. He felt his arms give from the shock
and the below freezing cold water swallowed him up.

'I'm
going to hate this dimension,' was his last thought before the water
closed over him.
- 11
- 12
- 13
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

A Parallel Dimensional Fairytale