Free Web Hosting Provider - Web Hosting - E-commerce - High Speed Internet - Free Web Page
Search the Web

Chapter 25: Olfactory Investigation

As Shirokiba was emerging from Kaede's hut, he immediately spotted Ginnezu sauntering by. She seemed like she hadn't a care in the world, as if nothing bad at all had happened. She looked entirely too smug for Shirokiba's tastes. Something in him reacted violently to her self-satisfied expression; the image of Kouga lying bloody and broken in the woods flashed through his mind.

He bristled and growled. In one bound, he was on her, hoisting her up by her tunic front. "Where have you been?" he demanded, his voice a snarl. "Who are those Dogs that are roaming about? What have you got to do with this?"

Ginnezu's eyes were, for a few moments, wide with shock and fear. This violence and anger was totally uncharacteristic; coming from him it was completely unexpected. "Shirokiba...!" she gasped.

"What were you doing last night? Where did you go?" the wolf-dog snarled again, and shook her. "Tell me!"

Quickly, Ginnezu regained her composure. "You will unhand me, Hunter," she said coolly, expertly masking any shake in her voice and any fear on her face.

His fangs still bared, Shirokiba lowered her to the ground and took one step back. "Tell me."

Ginnezu made a great show of straighening her clothing and smoothing her mussed bangs. Then she regarded the wolf-dog with a good mask of barely-concealed disdain. "Hunter Shirokiba, if you must know where I was last night, I was sleeping in a tree in Inuyasha's Forest. I have no alibi, unless you wish to question the tree, and I have no responsibility for any vagabond Dogs that may roam here, unless they are from my Clan. Only in that case do I have reason or authority to step in."

Shirokiba rumbled at her again, angered that he could find no holes in her presentation of authority. Damn it, unless those Dogs were Silvers I can't legally hold her responsible! I know she pulled something--she has to have something to do with it--I just can't prove it!

"And just what has you so upset, Hunter?" Ginnezu asked, an innocently concerned expression on her face.

"Do you know what happened last night?" he gritted out.

"I haven't the foggiest."

"A Wolf was attacked by dog-demons last night. A wolf-demon of my family."

"Oh..." Ginnezu managed an expression of shocked sympathy. "Oh dear. You have my condolences, Hunter. Is your...kinsman all right?"

Shirokiba finally managed to get a bridle on his temper. "He is," he replied, his tone still dark but his inflection and expression beginning to return to his usual polite indifference when dealing with her. "He survived. What I wish to know is what those Dogs were doing here in Musashi's Domain, and what you have to do with it."

"Nothing, I assure you," Ginnezu said. "I have had no contact with my people. I came here alone."

"That you did," Shirokiba responded, gazing at her with narrowed eyes. He bowed, a quick short nod of his head. "My Lady. Forgive my temper. My kinsman's condition has made me emotional."

Ginnezu smiled politely, a bright and pretty smile, but her eyes behind it were dead cold. "I understand. Apology accepted, Hunter. Good day."

Shirokiba stood aside to let her pass, then watched her go with hard, dangerous eyes. Scowling, he turned to go back to his brother's side. Oh, this situation is just shot to hell, he thought angrily. Like an idiot I had to send Inuyasha away. I could use his help in this--he had the right idea. But he's so damn out of it with Kagome gone that he's no use at all--unless getting some rest at her place does him some good. Hurry back, you lovesick little mutt; I need your help here...

Inuyasha awoke feeling extremely at ease, with Kagome's quiet scent all around him. He found himself lying sprawled out on his side instead of curled up as he had been; he had relaxed in his sleep to a degree he hadn't in years. A warm, soft quilt had been laid over him, probably by Kagome. It had her scent on it faintly.

When he sat up, he found he felt rested and refreshed. Kagome was no longer present, and her books had been put away. With a frown, he cast about with ears and nose to see where she had gone. He heard voices speaking pleasantly downstairs, and the sound of footsteps coming up.

Kagome opened the door. Inuyasha, sitting in the middle of the floor still halfway wrapped in the quilt, drew up and stared at her for a second.

She smiled at him. "Oh, you're awake," she said softly. "Sleep well?"

"Uh...yeah, I guess." Blushing slightly, he rose, leaving the blanket on the floor. "I didn't mean to fall asleep on your floor. How long has it been?"

"About three hours, I think." She made a shushing gesture. "It's okay; I could tell you were tired. But my mom's downstairs and she doesn't know you're here. Maybe it's best if she didn't know you came up here to my room while she was gone."

"Um..."

"Yes?" She looked at him pleasantly.

Inuyasha looked down, struggling for words. "Thanks for...uh...inviting me in, and the snack, and...um..."

Kagome giggled. "You're welcome. It was fun. I still can't believe you can do math like that."

He gave her a look. "What--you can't do figures in your head?"

"Yes I can!" she protested. "Just...not as fast as you can. How do you do that?"

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. "There's no trick to it. It's just because I'm a demon. You know I'm faster than you anyway. My muscles and reflexes are quicker than yours. The math is the same. My brain just thinks faster, that's all."

"Oh! I get it..." Kagome frowned; she should have made that connection in the first place; as a demon he would have faster mental response and processing times. To move as fast as he did required some quick thinking. Suddenly his mental math didn't seem so mystifying. She ran out of things to say, so they sat in silence for several moments.

"I really should get back." Clearing his throat, he picked the quilt off the floor and bundled it up, setting it on her bed to keep his sleeping place from being a total mess in her room. "Shirokiba and I have some investigating to do about those dog-demons."

"Yeah." She frowned. "I still think I should come and help you."

"No!" His bark was sharp and almost loud in the stillness of her room, making her jump. "No," he said more softly. "These are dog-demons, Kagome--I've never faced them before, except for Sesshomaru, and I don't know what they might do. I don't...I don't want you to get hurt."

Kagome sighed. "I know. I'll wait until you come for me."

"Good."

"But...come soon?"

He glanced back at her, seeing the half-hidden pleading in her expression. He shivered; her tone nearly matched the one she'd used that fateful day, that day when she'd said, "Inuyasha...I love you..." in the quiet depths of sleep. He turned away toward her window, mostly to hide his expression. "I will," he promised softly.

Kagome took a deep breath, sitting on her bed. "Inuyasha, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"About what you said earlier..."

"Mm?" He glanced back at her.

"You said...your mother was like Kikyo?"

His breath hissed in surprise, as if he'd been caught doing something bad. "I said that?"

She nodded. "Yes. You were tired, and I kinda asked you, so..."

"Oh." Inuyasha shrugged, and perched himself on her desk chair. Something in his expression looked to be a cross between grudging and embarassed. "Yeah, she was. But she practiced the art of healing and defense, not the craft of a warrior-priestess like Kikyo. And she wasn't nearly as powerful."

"But she had some power. Did she use it often?"

"No. Only a little."

"Why?"

"Because of me. That kind of power is dangerous for a demon. I still wonder sometimes why my father bred with a woman like her..."

Kagome gazed at him for a while. "Um...Inuyasha...can you--?"

"Can I what?"

"Can you... do any of those things? Like Kikyo and I...sometimes...?"

"Yeah, I guess." He hunched his shoulders defensively. "I have that power in me somewhere. But not as much as you and Kikyo do."

"Then why haven't you ever used it?" Kagome asked curiously.

Inuyasha turned to her, eyebrows raised. "Now why don't you use your brain?"

"What?"

He sighed, as though it were obvious. "Your kind of power is anathema to demon power. Why do you think you can fire arrows that burn demons, or that revert the Tetsusaiga? I've got some of that in me, but if I use it...I'll kill myself."

She gasped. "Oh! I'm sorry...I didn't realize. I guess I understand." She frowned softly. "But...isn't there a way you could learn to use it without...injuring yourself?"

"No," the half-demon replied. "My mother tried when she taught me a few defensive spells. When I try to make the power, uh, come out...it hurts. It burns, from the inside out. The demon part of me just can't take it."

"Oh..." It seemed so sad that Inuyasha had the same pure power that she did, yet was unable to utilize that gift. A source of salvation so close, yet so far away. Suddenly, her eyes snapped wide. "Wait! Can't you use it when you're human?"

Inuyasha actually turned to stare at her. "Um...I dunno."

"You don't know?"

"I've...uh...never tried it..."

Kagome suddenly laughed. "Oh, my gosh..." She wiped tears of mirth from her eyes. "Inuyasha, you goose, you probably can! Just think, all those nights that went by, and you had to sit there as a helpless human against all those demons--when you really weren't that helpless at all!"

He gaped at her. "I...I never thought of that."

She still giggled softly. "We're going to have to find out this coming New Moon, aren't we? Maybe we could get Shirokiba to be our guinea pig..."

"No way!" Inuyasha protested, eyes suddenly wide. "Even if it works, no way am I going to zap Shirokiba!"

"Okay, okay, I was just kidding. Gosh..." She smiled and winked at him. "But we're still going to try it, aren't we?"

"Um...I don't know if..."

"We can get Kaede to help," she went on. "I'm sure she knows lots about that kind of thing. She can help you remember. And me, too. That would be cool! We could practice together!"

Inuyasha, still looking a little overwhelmed, just sat back and let her bubble. She seemed excited to have found something she shared in common with him, even if it was something a bit supernatural. He wasn't too keen on the idea of accessing a force within him that, to him, had always been a source of pain and discomfort. Even trying to make a single, simple shield-ward had cost him badly burned hands and a terrible, feverish trembling that lasted for hours afterward as his body ached with bone-deep agony. His mother had had to hold him and rock him as he cried until all the pain and terror went away.

"I don't know if I want to," he finally said, brave enough to interrupt her happy chatter.

"What?" She looked surprised.

"Whenever I did that, it hurt. It always hurt."

Kagome gazed at him understandingly. "Don't worry. If it does, we'll stop. No questions asked."

"Hmph." He seemed to regain some of his typical grumpy composure. "I need to go. Shirokiba's waiting and it's been three hours already."

"I know." Kaogme smiled again. "You take care over there. I don't know what you're going to do without me to keep an eye on you."

He snorted, hopping to her windowsill. "Come on. It's me, Kagome. No lousy dog-demon's gonna take me down."

She giggled. "Bye!"

Without another word, Inuyasha pounced down from her window and darted across the grass, a red streak flashing into the wellhouse and down the dark hole before anyone else in the house saw him.

Kagome smiled fondly from her window. "Thanks for the visit," she whispered softly.

"Hey, Shirokiba!"

The wolf-dog demon looked up from his vigil at Kouga's side, his whole face brightening at the sound of the voice outside. He's back--and he sounds like he's his old self again! Leaving Kouga still peacefully sleeping, he hurried out to meet the younger half-demon on the porch. "Hey, mutt! Took you long enough."

Inuyasha glared at him, half-hiding his smile. "You planned that, didn't you?"

"Who, me?" Shirokiba asked innocently.

Inuyasha scowled, lowering his voice so that passersby wouldn't hear. "You know I turn into useless mush when she's around!" he hissed. "Why'd you have to send me over there to fall asleep if you need my help here?"

"You're no use to me when you can hardly walk a straight line," Shirokiba replied dryly. "Now that you're somewhat recovered, do you think we can get on with business? I really hate to leave Kouga here alone, so let's get some investigating done before he wakes up."

"So you liked my prowl idea, eh?"

"Only when you're in the condition to go prowling. Ginnezu's told me she's ever so innocent in this. She swears she had no idea--but I think I know otherwise. I just need your help to prove it." Shirokiba grinned. "Let's go scare some Dogs."

With twin grins, the two demons headed out of the village at a steady trot. It didn't take them long to reach the site of the attack; the scent of dried Wolf blood drew them in like a magnet. It made Shirokiba's hackles bristle in remembrance as his mind pictured Kouga once again, lying in that puddle of crimson, torn by dog-demons.

"Settle down, will you?" Inuyasha said quietly.

Shirokiba paused to look at him, cutting off the rumble he hadn't realized had been building in his throat. "Can you catch any scents that I didn't?"

"You're the full demon here," Inuyasha reminded him tersely. "If you can't find anything what makes you think I can?"

"Just because your brother has a better nose than you doesn't mean you have a weaker nose than every demon." Shirokiba sniffed about. "The blood-scent's too thick here. It's distracting me too much."

Inuyasha didn't have to mention that the smell of Kouga's blood didn't faze him at all; he wasn't as close to the Wolf so he could ignore it like he could any other unimportant smell. Kagome's blood, however...

Dropping to all fours, the half-demon proceeded to sniff around the site in ever-increasing circles, discerning direction and intensity of the scent, reading every nuance and pheromone. "I've got six dog-demons," he reported after a few minutes. "Five males, one female..." He trotted around the area a couple more times, this time criss-crossing the attack site. "Looks like the four guys and one girl did most of the beating. The other's scent doesn't come in too close--he stood out here...and watched, or directed." He sniffed the spot. "He's an older demon. Much stronger. The five who did the deed are just pups."

Shirokiba raised an eyebrow, impressed. "That's a lot more than I get--you're good. Are they still around?"

"Smells like they hoofed it." Inuyasha headed out along their quarry's trail, roughly southwest, Shirokiba striding on two feet behind him. "Yeah...and I can't sense them either. They left--or at least they're outside my range."

"Well, what's your range?"

Inuyasha stopped, sat, and contemplated. "I dunno...I guess about two hundred yards, give or take. Outside that it's iffy."

"That much?" Shirokiba exclaimed, a little awed. He thought for a minute. "Although if it's dog-demons we're dealing with, two hundred yards may not be enough if they decide to jump us."

"If there was a damn wind blowing in the right direction, I could get a scent from further than I can sense," Inuyasha grumbled. "It's too dead still out here."

Shirokiba suddenly froze. "Wait...wait a second..."

Inuyasha looked at him. "Eh?"

"It is dead still."

The two glanced around, ears and noses twitching. "You're right," Inuyasha whispered, standing upright. "Not a bird, not an insect..." He growled, a low dangerous rumble deep in his chest. "They're still here."

"They must be further away, though. You can't sense them."

"No...they're close." Inuyasha was on full alert; beneath his red kimono every hair stood up. His teeth were bared as his eyes darted about the forest around them. "The animals wouldn't be silent if they were that far away. I don't understand how, but they're close. Too close."

Shirokiba felt his own hair prickle as if he was being watched. "You want to try to find them?"

"Didn't you say that they might be Gray Dogs?" Inuyasha said softly. "If they're watching us, why haven't they come out? They should know you."

The wolf-dog hissed in a breath. "You're right... Damn it, I should've thought of that from the first! They're Black Dogs--the Silvers' allies!"

Inuyasha grinned, ferociously eager. "Ginnezu's been lying about being alone. And that means I get to..." He flexed his claws.

"Take it easy," Shirokiba cautioned. "If you just up and shred her you'll have a whole Clan of very angry Dogs on your doorstep. That is, if you have a doorstep by the time they're done with their revenge."

The half-demon growled. "Bring it on."

Shirokiba smiled. "I think I know how to go about this. If you and I can corner her with her own words and prove that she deceived you, you can exact a blood-price and I'll stand as your witness. You can send her packing back to her Clan in pain and a big disgrace. Then the Silvers won't have cause to come looking for trouble."

Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow. "That was a bunch of jumbled legalese, but...I guess I understand. Can you do that?"

"I've got enough pure Gray blood and ties to the Daimyo's line to be a legal witness in your case." Shirokiba didn't lose that conniving grin. "Shall we?"

"Yeah." Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. "I'm looking forward to this."

Not twenty yards away from the blood-soaked clearing, two enormous dark shapes huddled in the shadows of the forest. Glittering amber eyes focused on the two distant humanoid figures, just visible through the trees. A low, bass growl emerged from the smaller of the two shapes, a rumble that earned a swift cuff from the larger.

"[Silence!]" commanded the larger shadow, a soft, sibilant bark.

"[We could take them, Father,]" rumbled the smaller shadow, fangs bared with bloodlust. "[There are only two. The other was so easy--]"

"[You will not move,]" snarled the first. "[Are you blind, pup? Do you not see who accompanies the Gray halfling? That is Inuyasha. A White Dog.]"

"[He's only a half-breed! The Great Lady wants him dead. What better--?]"

"[Desist! You are a fool. That White pup defeated Sesshomaru in single combat, when the elder brother was at full strength--and without even transforming. How well could you fare?]"

The smaller shadow crouched in hesitation.

"[I agree that the little Silver she-dog's methods are too round-about, wanting to breed with that halfling pup,]" the larger continued. "[But a move against him now is pure folly. I will let you go, if you still wish to attack. But I will not avenge your bloody remains when the White Dog tears you to pieces with his bare claws. I will merely laugh at your stupidity.]"

"[I could take him!]"

"[You would be dead before your fangs touched him.]"

"[One pup...]" the other rumbled in a mixture of disgust and awe. "[No wonder she wants that one dead. If he's as powerful as Seibunishi...]"

"[Let us depart,]" the big shadow growled. "[We have to bring word to the others, and the Great Lady. The White pup was able to identify us, which requires a change in our plans.]"

The smaller panted eagerly, watching the two humanoids hurry out of the woods.

The other bared white fangs in a grin. "[You will have your chance. When our numbers are greater, you will have the privilege of tasting his blood. It is not every century our Clan has the honor of shedding the blood of a White Dog.]"

With identical toothy, gaping smiles, the two huge dark shapes bounded away through the brush, silent, like living pools of shadow.

To be continued...