Welcome, one and all, to my first dark story! [I hope it counts as a dark story and turns out like one…although it kinda isn’t in the first chapter.] Ironically, I thought of this idea whilst I was sitting in church on Sunday. Weird, eh? Well, enjoy! And if you have any suggestions on how I can improve, then please, give me a heads up! Tell me if I’m wasting my time or not.
[Disclaimer:] I do not own Inuyasha or any one related to the show or manga. I make no money by writing these stories.
[Warnings:] Will contains scenes of violence involving torture, gore, and human cruelty. Will also contain adult scenes. Reader discretion is advised.
The Days of Black: Act I
Bang!
Higurashi Kagome shot straight up in her stiff rolling chair, alarmed at the unwanted sound. A dictionary was the culprit of the obnoxious racket. Groggily, Kagome looked around from behind her plain metal desk to locate the perpetrator. Her eyes landed on the smug, arrogant face of her partner.
“Morin’, Darling,” his deep alto voice rumbled mockingly. His lips were quirked in a cocky grin as he set a steaming cup of black coffee on her desk, a strawberry-powder sugar doughnut following.
“Mmm. Thanks, Sweetums,” Kagome purred as she pulled back the plastic tab to get at her coffee. Taking a long sip from the bitter brew, Kagome exhaled dramatically, as if the weight of the world was lifted off of her shoulders. “What would I do without you, Sesshoumaru?”
Taisho Sesshoumaru smiled a genuine smile. Kagome and Sesshoumaru had been partners at the Tokyo Police Department for three years and counting. Most detectives switched partners every two years or so, to ensure pure efficiency from the investigators. Kagome and Sesshoumaru, however, never had to rotate because they worked with each other with the intensity of a well-oiled machine. Both sitting at the rank of ‘detective’, they were some of the best in the business.
“You probably wouldn’t get up in the morning,” Sesshoumaru answered, brushing a wayward strand of silver hair out of his eyes.
His hair was a simple shag-style cut, coming down so it hung just an inch above his shoulders. Having a slight curl to it, his smooth tresses looked like an organized mess. He crossed his arms over his broad chest, a coffee of his own resting in his right hand. His navy blue t-shirt was pulled tautly over his muscles and faded blue jeans rested comfortably on his hips. Around his shoulders and back was his side arm sling. In each case rested two heavy looking guns.
“Most likely,” Kagome mumbled around the doughnut in her mouth, powdered sugar was dusted across her lips. She eyed one of the metal pieces at her partner’s side.
Arrogantly, she stuck her hand out at him, palm up. Sesshoumaru slapped it lightly with his. Scowling, Kagome clarified, “Give me your gun.”
His left hand extracted a black Jericho from his right side and handed it to her, ensuring that the safety was on. Sighing, Kagome put it on her desk and turn back to him.
“I meant the other one,” Kagome specified.
Grinning, Sesshoumaru handed her the heavy gun. The silver case was impressive and writing was etched in the side. In perfect calligraphy, it said Hephaestos.
Kagome looked up at Sesshoumaru who was now leaning against her desk.
“Hephaestos? The Greek guy that made supernatural weapons?” Kagome questioned, making a face at the gun.
“I thought it was appropriate.”
Kagome examined the side arm carefully, truly admiring the workmanship and style. Handing it back to him, she smiled widely.
“Nice.”
Sesshoumaru collected his guns and put them back in their holsters. He made his way over to his desk that sat directly in front of Kagome’s.
“Were you here all night again?” Sesshoumaru asked as he turned on his computer.
Kagome nodded dejectedly. “Yes. I had to finish up the paper work on the Araika Naraku case.”
The last case they were working on involved a man that went by the name Araika Naraku. He would kidnap teenage girls and sell the as sex slaves to men overseas. They were finally able to catch him when an undercover agent posed as a customer and arrested the bastard. Kagome hadn’t been able to sleep much during that case.
Sesshoumaru looked at her sympathetically. Some cases just seem to hit closer to home more than others, whether there was some personal experience involved in the past or not.
Before more conversation could ensue, the captain walked into the squad room and right over to Kagome and Sesshoumaru. They both turned in their chairs to look at him. Eien Masakazu was the leader of all of the detectives stationed at Tokyo Police Department. The phoenix demon was a hard nose male that was passionate about sending evil creatures to jail. His bright red hair shot down to the middle of his back and his bangs hung loosely over his forehead and eyes. At first glance, you would think that this male would never warm up to any one.
Boiling dark green eyes narrowed in on the best detectives he ever had the pleasure to command. Handing Sesshoumaru and Kagome both a folder, he began to talk.
“New case, children. Victim’s name is Hoorai Chiyo, age 21, and found dead early this morning, four blocks from here, in a pile of bushes. Our coroner had a look at the girl and her detailed findings are found in the back of the folders I handed to you. Looks like she was beaten, starved, and possibly tortured. There were red marks found on her wrists and ankles, as if she was bound and a vast number of lacerations were found all over her body. No clothes or purse was found with her body. Her boyfriend reported her missing 10 days ago.”
Masakazu looked up from the file he was reading to glance at his detectives; they were skimming over the ME’s report.
“It also says that her ring finger on her left hand was missing. That’s bizarre,” Kagome commented, looking up at Sesshoumaru.
Pondering for a second longer, Sesshoumaru addressed the captain.
“Any one see who dumped the body?”
Masakazu shrugged. “We’re looking into that. Inuyasha and Miroku are going door to door to see if anyone saw anything.”
Sesshoumaru nodded in understanding. Turning to Kagome, he looked at her contemplated face. One thing that everyone knew about Higurashi Kagome was that she was very thorough. She always felt that knowing all of the details about the case would keep her in better mind, to help figure out what happened.
“We should go over to the medical examiner’s, see what she can tell us,” Kagome suggested, still looking at all of the information in front of her.
Sesshoumaru nodded in agreement. He stood up and snatched his black leather jacket from the back of his chair. Grabbing the car keys from his pocket, Sesshoumaru looked up to see Kagome throwing the back of her leather coat onto her shoulder’s and straightening out the slightly bunched up sleeves. Opening the drawer, she took out her gun and secured it in her hip holster. Glancing up at Sesshoumaru, she motioned with her head to the door.
…
Sesshoumaru pulled out onto the main street. The plain black Subaru blended in with the other cars out and about during the morning commute. Kagome was staring out the window in front of her; her eyes were slightly glazed over. She was thinking. Kagome tended to do that too much. Over thinking a situation can lead to mistakes and mistakes were not needed in their occupation. Sesshoumaru needed to distract her.
“Are you coming over tonight?” Sesshoumaru asked as he looked over his shoulder and switched lanes.
Kagome broke out of her stupor and smile slightly to herself.
“Do I need to come over tonight?” Kagome asked teasingly.
Sesshoumaru smirked. He loved it when she got like this.
“Yes, I believe so. You haven’t been over in two weeks or so. I was starting to think that maybe you started to swing the other way,” Sesshoumaru supplied, stopping at a red light. “Good for other girls, bad for me.”
Kagome reached over and caressed his thigh reassuringly.
“Still as straight as a straw,” Kagome assured.
Sesshoumaru’s larger hand covered her smaller one and squeezed it in response.
“Perfect,” Sesshoumaru whispered to himself contently. “How about you come over at about 6:30 tonight?”
“That works.”
“Are you going to stay over night?” Sesshoumaru asked expectantly. Sadly, he already knew what the answer was.
“No,” Kagome said firmly, pulling her hand away. “We’ve been through this, Sesshoumaru.”
Sesshoumaru nodded unhappily. “I know.”
Kagome sighed sadly. “Good.”
Kagome and Sesshoumaru had been warming each other’s beds now for about six months. After a rather difficult case, Kagome had gone to Sesshoumaru for some support. Somehow, one thing led to another and they ended up spending five hours in his bedroom. They agreed that they would not tell anyone what happened and that it was a one-time occurrence. Temptation taunted them and their plans. The ‘one time fling’ turned into a ‘two time’ turned weekly. At one point, it was daily. Exhaustion from work caught up with them and they decided to slow down a bit. As of late, they had been visiting each other about three times a week. The two-week gap they experienced was very unusual. Sesshoumaru would do whatever he could to avoid that suspension again.
Sesshoumaru pulled into the parking lot of the coroner’s office and parked the car in a vacant spot. Turning to Kagome, Sesshoumaru said, “Let’s go see what the good doctor has for us today.”
…
“Why do we have to do this? It’s so dumb! Kagome and Sesshoumaru always get the better assignments! Captain’s pets are what they are!” Inuyasha grumbled as he stumbled down the steps of the last house that had a visual of the crime scene. His unruly long silver hair was tied in a low ponytail. A black t-shirt and blue jeans adorned the raging hanyou. Things never seem to go his way.
His partner shook his head, his dark shoulder length hair blew gently in the morning breeze.
“Stop your griping, Inuyasha. Complaining will get you nowhere. Did you ever think that if you stopped complaining, then the Captain will give you better duties?” Basaku Miroku rationalized as he pulled the collar up on his heavy black leather coat.
Inuyasha scoffed.
“Yes, Mother.”
Miroku made a face but ignored the disgruntled half-human.
“What do we know so far?” Miroku asked out loud.
“Other than what’s in the folder we got this morning? Not much. No one saw anything, heard anything, or knows anything. We hit a nice, hard, dead end,” Inuyasha sneered rudely.
“And that’s the attitude that makes women run from you with distaste,” Miroku commented as he climbed into the black Subaru.
“Bah!” Inuyasha growled as he slammed the door shut on the passenger side of the car. “Where are we going now?”
“Back to the squad room. Kagome and Sesshoumaru went to the coroner’s this morning. They should be back a little after us. We can do a background check on the victim, see if she has any enemies. After we talk with the other two, someone will probably need to talk to the family and someone will need to go check out her apartment,” Miroku rationalized as he turned left.
“Fine, but we get to go to her apartment! I hate having to go talk to the parents; all they do is cry,” Inuyasha cruelly said.
“You’re a real fucking bastard, Inuyasha,” Miroku cursed hatefully.
The rest of the ride back to the police station was tense and thick enough to be cut with a knife. How could someone, who was supposed to represent a helper of the people, be so cold hearted and cruel?
…
“As I put in the autopsy report, the victim had a number of lacerations, ranging from shallow cuts to deeper ones,” Kasu Sango reported, pulling on a pair of latex gloves. She pointed at angry red marks that defiled the pale, cold body. “It’s hard to speculate what could have created them. Some of the wounds have blisters around the puncture.” Sango pointed to a deep hole on the cadaver’s upper left thigh. “That suggests that whatever instrument that was used was hot enough to burn and blister her skin.
“As for the rest of the wounds,” Sango shrugged, “they could be made from paring knives or another serrated edge.
“Now, these bruises on her wrists and ankles,” Sango introduced. “they have one basic shape. I can safely speculate that she was shackled. Moving about or resisting against shackles would cause this massive internal bleeding pattern.
“Also, as you can see, her left ring finger was removed. This could have possibly been done by a jealous ex, since that finger is where wedding bands and engagement rings rest. Then again, this is all speculation.”
Kagome nodded.
Kagome looked over the pale body that appeared luminous in the artificial light. Her dark, shoulder length hair was matted to her head and oily. Her hands were red and raw, as if she was trying to free her wrists from her restraints. Bones were poking her skin, making her look like a skeleton within a thin wrapping. Red welts abused her worn body. She could have been beautiful. She probably was before she was kidnapped and tortured.
Kagome shuddered.
“Cause of death?” Sesshoumaru asked, taking note of the dark circles under Chiyo’s eyes.
“The poor girl bled to death. She didn’t have much blood left in her body,” Sango sighed sadly. “What a gruesome way to die. It must have been so horrific.
“She was also underfed and horribly dehydrated. She would have starved to death if she didn’t die from loss of blood.”
Kagome closed her eyes, trying to handle all of the information she had just ingested. How could…? What would posses someone to destroy a person that way? To destroy someone at all? Perhaps the devil does walk amongst the living.
…
“Okay. Is everyone all caught up now?” Masakazu asked after flipping through Chiyo’s file.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Alright, moving on. I need two detectives to go check out the victim’s apartment and another two to go to the parents,” Masakazu commented as he looked at the information board the detectives set up to arrange their information. A picture of the victim when she was found and her driver’s license photo was up on the clear board. Her name and address was written underneath in white marker.
Inuyasha jumped down from the table top he was sitting on.
“Miroku and me will go to the girl’s apartment, see if there is anything we can find to tell us why she was abducted,” Inuyasha interrupted arrogantly.
Masakazu chuckled evilly.
“Yah, right. Knowing you, you would do something rude. You get the honor of staying here and running a background check on the girl and seeing if this is linked to any other case in the past.”
“What?! That’s not fair! Why can’t I go?” Inuyasha hollered rudely.
“You hear that tone? You comprehend that attitude? That’s why you do not get to go,” Masakazu taunted cruelly. “Now, Miroku, you go to the Hoorai’s home and speak with the parents. Make sure you ask about any enemy’s, possible reasons for her disappearance, how she was before she was abducted. You know the drill. Kagome, Sesshoumaru go check out her apartment. We need to figure out about her lifestyle. Okay people, go!” Masakazu instructed as he retreated back to his office. He had to go give big brass a piece of his mind.
Inuyasha grumbled to himself hatefully, muttering rude obscenities under his breath. Kagome walked up to Inuyasha.
“It’s alright, Inuyasha. Maybe next time,” Kagome consoled as she caught up to Sesshoumaru and left the squad room.
“Kagome,” Inuyasha stared after her.
…
Unlocking the door to Hoorai Chiyo’s apartment, Sesshoumaru let Kagome in first before he shut the door behind them. Flicking on the light, the detectives glanced around the simple apartment.
Easter egg yellow paint added color to all of the walls in the apartment. White trim and ceiling complimented the golden hue. Light oak furniture was arranged methodically in the living room. Directly to the left, right after walking in the door, a tiny kitchen that sat spotless. Light brown cupboards took up wall space on both side of the aisle size kitchen. Another counter ran parallel with the first one, boxing in the tiny room and separating it from the living room across the way.
Hard wood floors were absolutely spotless. Not a speck of dust seems to have touched the fine wood finish. Her living room was nothing out of the ordinary, either. A twenty-seven inch television sat on top of a wood cabinet. Shelves were hung on the walls around the television, holding up movies, books and photos. Across from the entertainment unit, a light beige couch sat, adjacent to a matching love seat and single chair.
Kagome glanced over at Sesshoumaru and commented, “Nothing out of the ordinary so far.”
Sesshoumaru nodded mutely.
Kagome and Sesshoumaru turn right and walked down the small hallway. Pictures hung on the walls in light colored frames. Flicking on the light switch, they looked at the pictures. Most of the photos in the frames contained Chiyo and a man. In one, he was holding her in his lap; large, happy smile framed their faces. His hands were at her sides and she seemed to be in an awkward position, as if he was tickling her.
Kagome smiled. Her assumption was right; Chiyo was beautiful.
“That must be her boyfriend,” Sesshoumaru commented from beside her as his eyes flicked from picture to picture.
“Looks like it,” Kagome answered distantly. Turning away from the wall of happy photos, Kagome opened the first door on the left. It was her bathroom. The design and color matched the rest of the small apartment. A yellow, fuzzy rug sat just outside of the bath tub and yellow towels hung on drying racks. Turning to the sink, Kagome saw two toothbrushes sitting in a glass; one pink, one blue. Kagome sighed inwardly.
“I’ll go check out her room,” Sesshoumaru informed as he walked past the open door and into the other room across the hall.
Pulling on the handle to the medicine cabinet behind the mirror, Kagome thought that Chiyo must have been a very cheery person. The vibrant colors of her apartment and all of the pictures on the wall showed that the girl had spunk and was full of life.
Not anymore, Kagome thought glumly.
Her eyes took in all of the hygienic materials in the little cabinet; toothpaste, hairbrush, deodorant, peroxide, allergy medicine, cold medicine; all of the basic instruments. A small, pink container sat on the lowest shelf. Kagome reached for it and popped open the lid. Immediately, she knew what they were. Birth control pills. A box of Trojans sat on the upper shelf and Kagome couldn’t help but wonder how she was able to reach it, until a thought dawned on her. Her boyfriend could probably reach it.
Kagome finished looking through the bathroom, but found nothing out of the ordinary. She met Sesshoumaru in the hall. He shrugged and said, “Nothing weird here. And nothing seems out of place. Perhaps she wasn’t taken from here since there are no signs of a struggle.”
Kagome nodded in agreement.
“Let’s go back to the station and see what Inuyasha has found.”
…
“Okay, Inuyasha, what did you find?” Masakazu asked as he massaged his forehead, feeling a headache starting to form. Sesshoumaru and Miroku sat at Sesshoumaru’s desk, debating over what they were going to order for dinner.
“We always get Chinese food, Miroku. Don’t you think it’s time for a change? I’m all for ordering a pizza,” Sesshoumaru retorted, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms across his chest.
“Change? Change? You’re asking me to change? My mother couldn’t get me to change out of my favorite shirt when I was five, and you can’t get me to change my preference on what I want for dinner.” Miroku stuck his tongue out at Sesshoumaru and copied Sesshoumaru’s stance.
“Pizza,” Sesshoumaru growled.
“Chinese,” Miroku snarled.
“Pizza.”
“Chinese.”
“Pizza.”
“Chinese.”
“I swear to God! If you two morons do not stop your stupid arguing, I’m going to empty some lead into that bulge on your shoulders you call a head!” Kagome threatened, thumping her fist furiously on the desk.
All four men looked at Kagome, who flushed lightly at the attention. Clearer her throat nervously, she slouched down in the chair and crossed her arms under her breasts, as if to protect her from the odd looks she was getting. Kagome cleared her throat again.
“Y-you were saying, Inuyasha,” Kagome encouraged.
“Yah. Anyways, her background was clean. No criminal record, not even a parking ticket. Good grades in high school, went to University, and had a good job going for her,” Inuyasha informed the group.
Miroku nodded in agreement. “When I spoke with her parents, they said that she didn’t have a beef with any dangerous people or have any enemies. This girl was well liked.”
Masakazu sighed and leaned his head back. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, letting it out slowly, allowing it to sooth his pounding head. His blood was screaming through his head, echoing the obvious strain this job was creating.
“Okay. Apparently we can’t do too much today. It’s already 5:30. Go home, guys. Get some of your own food!”
The team nodded and gathered their belongings and headed home.
…
Kagome pushed Sesshoumaru roughly back onto the mattress, pulling his t-shirt over his head in the same action. Inwardly, Sesshoumaru smirked to himself. Apparently, she didn’t like the two-week separation, either.
From his position on his bed, he looked up at Kagome, who was pushing the button of her jeans out of the hole and unzipping her jeans. Shucking them off quickly, she climbed onto of Sesshoumaru, straddling his lean waist. Leaning down, Kagome nipped at his shoulder and up to his neck. She let her blunt human nails scrape down the front of his muscled chest.
Sesshoumaru growled inhumanly.
“C’mon, Kagome. Kiss me,” Sesshoumaru pleaded.
Kagome smirked down at him and her lips slowly descended to Sesshoumaru’s. He tried to move up to capture her lips. Kagome nipped his bottom lip playfully, teasing him with her charms. Flashing her his fangs, Sesshoumaru snarled at her, tired of her torture. Grabbing the back of her head, he moved to yank her down only to interrupted by –
Dun dun dun dun-dahna dun-dahna.
The Darth Vader ring tone destroyed the moment. Sesshoumaru reached for his cell phone in his jeans pocket. Kagome grabbed his wrist and massaged his pulse with her finger tips.
“Don’t,” Kagome begged, her breath brushing his mouth. “Don’t answer it. Please. We haven’t been together in so long. Sesshoumaru.”
“I can’t. It’s the Captain. I have to answer it,” Sesshoumaru groaned as he dug into his pocket. He flipped open his phone and put it to his ear.
“Idiot,” he heard Kagome mutter before she attached her lips to his neck.
Sesshoumaru sighed into the mouthpiece.
“Taisho,” he called out.
“Sesshoumaru, you need to get a hold of Kagome. No one can seem to find her. I wasn’t interrupting anything, was I?” Masakazu asked, although his voice obviously showed he didn’t really care.
“Yah, you were.” Sesshoumaru sighed again as Kagome kissed the juncture in his neck.
“Oh well. You need to come in, now.”
“What is it?”
“Another body has turned up. Just like the other girl.”
…
“Come, my bride. Tonight, we celebrate. We celebrate our union. Aren’t you happy, my love?” A dark, drawling voice hummed to the limp woman he cradled in his arms.
The woman whimpered. She was so frightened. Blood trickled down her thigh from the deep puncture wound. A shallow cut across her cheek trickled down her neck and stained the top of the white wedding dress ruby red. Her legs were weak and shaky. Not being able to hold herself up against her captor, she let her legs collapse under her.
“Now, we can’t have any of that. I want my bride to be energetic. Will you be energetic for me, darling?” Pale hands raked through her dark, blood caked hair.
“I can’t,” she whispered to him hoarsely. “I want to go home. Please let me go,” she begged, her eyes filled with tears.
“Home? You are home!” Her captor roared, dropping his victim.
The young woman cried out as she fell to the floor, landing on the side of her leg. Her brutal tormentor grabbed a knife from a close table. He sat on her legs, effectively pinning her to the floor. Reaching for her left hand, he grabbed the finger he wanted.
Ripping the knife harshly through her finger, effortlessly cutting through flesh, bone and tissue, he growled at her. Ignoring her pained and horrified cries, he looked into her petrified eyes, his own devoid of any warmth.
“You lose.”