A Feudal Fairytail

Chapter 9

Inuyasha swore softly to himself. What the hell am I doing here?

He didnt know what hed been hoping for. He had run to the school, sticking to the rooftops and presumably avoiding being seen. The school grounds were deserted, and in the dim light he had peered in through the windows of every classroom he could find. Kagome was not there. Now he sat on the edge of the rooftop, brooding over what course of action to take next.

He could certainly try to find a scent trail starting at the school. If he succeeded, it would be easy to follow for a short while, but would quickly become problematic. In the hustle and bustle of the city, with literally thousands of human and artificial scents potentially permeating every square foot of ground, tracking one individual scent would be incredibly difficult. He could probably do it, but it would be slow going, requiring him to basically crawl around on all fours pressing his nose to the pavement. That would be sure to draw unwanted attention, even if his picture wasnt on all the news stations. He regretted not taking the time to alter his appearance before leaving the shrine. But there was nothing for it now. If Kagome really was in trouble, and he could not shake the irrepressible feeling that she was, then nothing else mattered. Avoiding recognition was of miniscule importance compared to her safety. The humans will see me, but they wont be able to stop me. Ill find K"

"Ah!" he exclaimed, his hand flying to the source of the sudden stinging pain in his neck. His fingers brushed against a foreign object, and he quickly drew it out. He examined it, his eyes widening. It was a dart of some kind, with a clear, cylindrical body and orange feathering at one end. At the other end, the dart was capped by a long needle, tinged red with his blood.

No sooner had Inuyasha risen into a crouch and began to scan his surroundings when another bolt of stabbing pain erupted in his chest. Swearing, he yanked that dart out as well, already feeling the effects of whatever drug had been injected into his system. He tried to leap off the building, but his leg muscles would not respond. Sinking to his knees, he somehow managing to draw and transform Tetsusaiga. He slammed the sword into the roof, shielding his body from the approximate direction of the shooter. Forehead resting against the blade, he panted hard and tried desperately to maintain consciousness. The only thing keeping him upright was his tight grip on Tetsusaigas hilt, his arm fully extended and acting almost like a rope suspending his body. His vision swam, his heartbeat thundering in his ears. But it was not getting any worse; he was teetering on the brink of oblivion, but he did not think he would fall over the edge. That is, until a third dart embedded itself into the flesh of his hand. A few seconds later, the hanyou collapsed, finally surrendering to the irresistible darkness.

* * *

Kurou and Saburou sat silently across the table from one another, each lost in his own thoughts. Kagome was sleeping off the drugs in another room, cuffed by the ankle to the bedpost and locked in to make sure she wasnt going anywhere. Given the fantasticand downright unbelievabletales the young girl had spun over the last two and a half hours, neither man quite knew what to think.

"That was by far the strangest interrogation Ive ever done," Saburou declared softly, breaking the silence.

"Do you think her story was genuine?" Kurou asked.

"I dont know. I see two possibilities: one, its all true, or two, shes a freaking lunatic and believes its true."

"Isnt there a third possibility? Could she have simply lied to us?"

"Not a chance. Thats the best stuff you can get, and its highly illegal. You saw how the drugs affected her. No, she honestly believes what she told us to be the truth."

"But its so"

Saburous cell phone rang, and after looking at the caller ID, he put it on speaker and set it down in the middle of the table.

"Ishikawa?"

"Yes, boss," the man on the other end of the call replied. "We got it."

"You did?!"

"Yes. It came to the school just like you thought it would."

"Excellent! Good jobwait, why are you saying it instead of he?"

"Because whatever this thing is, it definitely isnt human."

"How can you tell?"

"Just by looking at it; the non-human features are not artificial. And I had to hit it with threewhoa, its stirring again!"

Crackling sounds of the cell phone being set down were broadcast through the phone, and Saburou thought he heard the telltale puff of a tranquilizer gun going off. Neither he nor Kurou breathed until Ishikawas voice came through again.

"Whew! Make that four darts."

"Four darts!" Saburou repeated incredulously. "Thats enough to kill a bull elephant!"

"I know, but it barely put this guy to sleep."

"Alright, you and Arai load him up quickly and bring him to the warehouse. And whatever you do, dont let him wake up!"

"Understood, boss. Ishikawa out."

The phone went dead, and Saburou put it back in his pocket. The room was silent once again, though now both men felt grins spreading across their faces.

"Well, Sasaki-san," Saburou observed, "it appears weve caught ourselves a hanwhat the hell did she call it?"

"Hanyou."

"Yeah, that. Id still like to give Kagome a polygraph in the morning, but it looks like her story was true after all."

"Sounds good to me. I cant wait to study him!"

The scientist wrung his hands together excitedly, and Saburou smiled wider. And I cant wait to turn that hanyou into a big pile of cash. If Kurou thinks hes getting away with paying us the usual rate this time, hes delusional. Im thinking more like seventy-five percent. Yeah, that ought to properly compensate us.

Saburou chuckled darkly to himself, but made no indication of his private thoughts. There was plenty of time for negotiations later. Right now, he settled for dreaming of retirement on a small island in the Caribbean. Heck, maybe hed buy an island of his own. Sitting upon this enormous cash cow, the sky was the limit.