Story updates

I have to thank you for being patient, I can’t promise a date to have the next chapter up, I can only say that I’m already working on it and a lot of parts are already written, for at least 4 more chapters. This doesn’t mean the story ends in four chapters, no, no, no. Actually I believe there are going to be at least 30 if not more. I just have to put them together and make the story flow as it has.

Thanks again to my editors evercool resurrected and Laz.

Chapter 20

After two more rounds for both of them, Inuyasha was done for a while so long as she did not purposefully start him back up again. He was feeling tired but content as he put on the clean pajama bottoms his mate brought him before. His mate, it now had a whole new ring to the sound of it even if he had not really claimed her yet, it would not be long before he did. A rare lazy smile spread across his lips as he watched her gather his hakama and the towels she had also brought along. He would have liked for her to leave those things and tidy the TV room later, but he understood that Kagome did not want to leave evidence that they had been exploring and getting intimate. Her grandfather had not been told about their promised status and Sota would not understand.

Inuyasha lay back on the couch and waited for her to return from the laundry room, she was back in no time and settled beside him. He pulled her closer to cuddle into him, nuzzling softly at her neck. For the first time in his life the young hanyou felt completely calm, content, and at ease; filled by a warm and fuzzy feeling that only made him hold the young Miko tighter, not wanting to loose contact, ever. It was also the first time that he really felt comfortable showing some of his feelings and let someone share them.

Kagome could not help but smile at his possessive gesture, as she absently brought the blanket up to cover them. Inuyasha had put on his haori but he had left it open for her to place her head on his chest. Fatigued from their activities he was asleep in no time, the lazy smile still on his face as well as a very soft contented purr. But Kagome, although tired, could not sleep. There were too many things on her mind to be able to relax as her mate was doing.

‘My mate,’ Kagome thought as she held him close, for the first time really noticing his particular scent mixed with the smells created by their activities. ‘It sounds strange and yet… so right,’ she allowed herself a smile and absently kissed his chest, seeing his skin quiver in response, a soft chuckle escaping her mouth that she quieted when he mumbled in his sleep.

For a few moments Kagome pushed aside all thoughts from her mind and just felt, his closeness, how his chest slowly raised with each deep breath he took, how his chest even though relaxed still felt rock hard and strong. Her mind started to wander and she realized that things had really gone too fast, but she did not mind, not at all. Inuyasha had chosen her above Kykyou, decided to live for her and their group and that made the young woman’s heart soar with happiness. The fact that he wanted her as mate had shown Kagome an aspect of his personality that she had only seen a glimpse on very few occasions. Underneath that act though, he really was shy and gentle, and he hid that from everyone else. She smiled again, but then it turned into an embarrassed smirk.

‘Eeeeek! And I just found out things about myself that I wouldn’t even have thought. I’m more of the forward kind,’ she thought wryly, ‘he was really surprised… actually I was too; I never thought I had the guts.’ The young woman raised her face to look at him in the dim light of the TV. Both had been too caught up with each other to turn the thing off, the volume was very low and finding the remote would require to wake him up which she did not really want. He rarely slept so soundly before… before he decided to protect her in her time, and she cherished the fact that she could watch him rest so carefree.

Kagome sighed; thinking about him sleeping brought back the dread of the nightmares or visions. No matter what they were, she really did not want any part of them. But she guessed that as with the Shikon no Tama, she had no choice but to face whatever it was she needed to see. There were souls hurting, that was certain, since she could feel it; and it nagged at her. Actually it had been bothering her since she had that first nightmare… no it wasn’t right to call them that.

‘Visions then,’ she thought and it felt right. ‘I just wish I knew why I’m seeing them, why? Why me? Is it because of the Shikon no Tama?’ The young Miko asked herself, and oddly enough she ‘felt’ that the jewel had nothing to do with it.

In a way it comforted her to feel that the Shikon no Tama was not involved, it meant one less problem. Whenever the jewel was drawn into the equation things really got bad and nasty. Kagome closed her eyes, the images from the murders instantly appearing, although the horror and pain from those glimpses were not there. It was puzzling, since reliving partial images was still gruesome, she guessed that all the gore she had seen in the Sengoku Jidai had prepared her to face those scenes, or perhaps it had made her callous. Still, seeing the carnage of old battlefields made her uneasy, sad and sometimes even a bit sick at heart at so much death. Oddly enough, she did not feel like that at all, it was as if being in Inuyasha’s arms pushed them away, instead she felt safe, protected and… loved.

‘He didn’t say he loved me,’ she thought letting her mind wander away from the horrible scenes.

‘That doesn’t mean he doesn’t.’ A tiny voice in her mind rebutted her.

‘But,’ Kagome started to argue with her inner voice.

‘You didn’t tell him either, so why are you complaining?’ Now Kagome was frowning a bit.

“Great! Just great! On top of all this confusing things I AM going crazy, arguing with myself,” she muttered.

“K’gome… sh’s mine… K’gome’ss mine” Inuyasha sighed and shifted a bit under her head, his arm tightened possessively for a moment, then he went back to sleep.

“Yes, yours,” the young woman whispered after watching him for a few moments, starting to feel drowsy. She planted a light kiss to his chin before joining him in sleep.

At six in the morning, Asami came down to check on her daughter and foster son.  She was not surprised to find Kagome asleep in his arms, but she was amused that he had not woken up at her approach since she had not been particularly quiet. For a moment she just watched them sleep a bit. Emotionally speaking yesterday had been a very difficult day for them, too many ups and downs. She approved of the match, and they were sleeping like that because she had meddled in their relationship. Still, as a mother she needed time to adjust to the fact that her young daughter had a mate, a husband. The older Higurashi really would have liked to let them sleep together as much as they needed, but she had yet to explain things to both Sota and Jii-chan.

Asami hesitated; they really looked peaceful and content in each other’s arms. In a painful wave of heart wrenching memory, she remembered falling asleep in Yushiro’s arms exactly the way her daughter was now.  She had loved him and really loved him still.  It had been three years and she had only dated two men since and that only briefly, barely enough to qualify for the term.  She knew she was still an attractive woman and could find another man to love her and her family.  She just was not ready to let go of her grief quite yet. Brushing away the tear that had snuck down her face, she gently woke her daughter to get her to either get ready for school or go to her own bed.

Much to her surprise, her daughter opted to go to school once she had a hot shower and a good bit of coffee. Inuyasha on the other hand, grumbled and protested wanting nothing more than to stay cuddled with his mate. Yet it was him who really had to be up and about since Detective Nomura wanted him at the precinct early to go through the murder files. With one final ‘feh’ of protest, he let go of his mate’s waist, stood up and groggily made his way to his room. The young woman went to take her shower with a soft smile and a good morning kiss to her mother’s cheek, appearing to be in a good, happy mood. Once Kagome was clean and dressed, she found her mother in the kitchen making breakfast and got herself a nice big mug of coffee.

Her hanyou came out a short while after that working on combing his long white hair and grumbling at the snarls in it.  Kagome took pity on him, got her spray in detangler, and combed it through.  Sota brought them a couple of hair ties from Inuyasha’s room and she used them to put his hair in a nice masculine ponytail and then proceeded to braid it so that it would remain nice and neat during the day.  In the end, only his bangs and forelocks were loose and she stopped braiding his hair six inches from the end of the longest strands.

A few cups of coffee and a nice breakfast into both teens later, and it was time for everyone to get out the door.  Asami took Sota to school and then went into the office to deal with insurance claims forms and to consult with one of her colleagues at the center about her daughter’s nightmares. Kagome and Inuyasha walked to her school where he left her at the gate, wishing her only half jokingly,

“Good luck staying awake!”  She growled a little at him and gave him a look that clearly said she would have a rejoinder later.  He just snickered a little at her, stole a quick peck to her cheek and ran to the subway station before she could say anything, and then he made his way to the police station.

Eri and Arumi found her first on their way in.  Arumi had heard the comment from Inuyasha, but not seen the kiss, and asked about it, leaving Kagome groping for a good answer for them until she finally settled on the truth. Well, mostly the truth.  There were just some things her girlfriends did not need to know yet. They probably would not understand anyway.

“I was up pretty much all night and so was he.  He kept me company.  I got all of my homework done and much of my extra credit.” She had done most of that before talking to her mother and the rest before finally going to bed. “He was curious about some stuff, so I let him read some of it.” Which was also true, after he returned from the park, he had tried to read some of her history homework, before he quit and decided on reading a Rurouni Kenshin manga instead, saying the drawings were more interesting. “I spent a lot of time answering his questions.”

“You shouldn’t do that what with how sick you have been recently,” Arumi told her.

“I know,” she said with a small resigned smile.

‘Jii-chan and all his impossible illnesses, I wonder what it was this time. I have not asked him, but I really hope it wasn’t something like curable aids.’ Kagome thought, with all the things that had been going she really had forgotten to ask the old man.

“But I really couldn’t sleep and it is pretty rare to catch him openly in that mood…”

“That mood?” Emi interrupted a bit curious, it did not sound like the young man was doing anything out of the ordinary for any guy his age.

“Yes, he was curious and showing it. Inuyasha would rarely show what he is feeling unless he is pissed,” the girls looked at her like he was probably some kind of crazy guy, but Kagome just shrugged. “So I had a good time and we both lost track of time.  It was about 4:30am, I think, when I finally got to sleep.” The young woman said with a huge yawn, she had not even gone into the school and she was already yawning, it was going to be a long day, a very long day. And she still had much thinking to do.

“Hey, it’s Yuka.”  Eri spotted their friend.  “Yuka-chan, come here.”  Yuka came over and walked with them for a minute as they all tried to navigate the crowded halls and get to their classroom; they still had plenty of time before the first hour bell rang.  Once seated Yuka gave her friend a look and told Kagome,

“Where did you find that guy?  Dayu said Inuyasha-kun bailed him out of some trouble in the park last night.”

“He did?  It mustn’t have been much of a problem since he didn’t even mention it when he got home.”  This was clearly news to the young woman, but knowing Inuyasha she was not surprised. He would brag about how strong or good a fighter he was, or how he planned to easily defeat, beat, maim or kill a certain demon. But he rarely, if ever, bragged about what he really did, especially if it was a good, nice or kind deed like helping someone up.

“I don’t think I’d say that.  Dayu said he took down eight guys; they didn’t even touch a hair on his head, although I really think my baka twin was exaggerating. What he told me sounded like he’d just been to a Jackie Chan or Van Dame movie, because he scared them off with a few sword passes after when they started to bring out weapons. Come on! You can’t fight in real life against eight guys and not get hit at least a couple of times.”

Eri and Arumi looked rather aghast and Kagome was amused, so Yuka though that was not possible and sounded like in the movies, she really wanted to laugh. Her friends eyes would bug out if she found out demons existed and movie like fights were the norm where she went when away from school. Besides, eight untrained human brawlers were not even close to what he would usually bother with.  It sounded like he had even left the humans pretty much unharmed as far as real injuries went, now that was a surprise knowing Inuyasha was not one to pull his punches when fighting, he enjoyed it far too much. With a small chuckle she looked Yuka in the eye and decided to tease them a bit so she said.

“He fought eight guys? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, that’s what Dayu said. He was really a mess when he came home, I had to take care of the bandages, since he did not want mom to know. That’s why I can’t believe that ‘guy’ left unscathed. Even if he is my baka brother I have to admit Dayu is a really good fighter.”

“Hmmm… He must like your twin.” Kagome said thoughtfully, and that was interesting news. Why would Inuyasha bother rescuing Dayu? They had met him on Sunday, and he had taught Inuyasha how to skateboard, even showed him a few tricks. But her hanyou was not the friendly kind; it was difficult for him to relate to humans or demons, she would have to puzzle about that later or plainly ask, and pray he felt like answering.

“Why would you say that?”

“Because, he usually wouldn’t waste his time with only eight brawlers…” Kagome said absently.  It was clear her mind was elsewhere.

“Waste his time?” Both Emi and Arumi asked wide-eyed.

“What do you mean by ‘only eight’ brawlers eh?” Yuka asked suspiciously, she did not like Kagome’s tone one bit. It sounded, like she was bragging about the guy’s abilities.

“Only eight are no challenge for him, really,” the young woman sounded quite smug. “He can easily take down black belts for amusement if he wants, and mind you, not just one at a time.  There could probably have been fifteen black belts all going at him and he would have taken them out quite easily. You saw him jump out of the tree on Tuesday; you don’t get to be able to do that if you aren’t that good.” She could only snicker at the ogling faces from Arumi and Emi, but Yuka looked at her through narrowed eyes.

“You’re exaggerating!” Yuka accused, pointing a finger at her. “You must really be nuts to believe him if he came with a blatant lie like that.”

Now that comment angered Kagome a bit, how dare she say she was lying? The need to defend her mate’s honor took over, and it was rather stronger than anything she had felt before, but at the moment she did not have the time to puzzle about it. The young woman never let their enemies put him down and was not about to let an ignorant girl, best friend or not, do the same. Her mate was a good fighter, one of the best in the whole Sengoku Jidai, probably one of the best in her time too. He had bested a youkai not even his father, a great Taiyoukai, had, and he had been fairly unscratched while his father sustained grave injuries and only managed to seal Ryuukossei. She really felt really proud of that feat.

“That is no lie Yuka!” Kagome said quite heatedly which drew the attention from some of the other students as well but she really did not care at the moment. “I’ve seen him fight and not just eight harmless brawlers…”

“Harmless? You can’t call the guys from Takeshi’s gang harmless!” Yuka was a bit outraged; she had been at the park on Friday when the fight started. In the young woman’s mind those guys were killers.

“I’ve seen him fight at least 20, a few of those professionals with swords, and you know what? He beat them all, and didn’t even get a scratch.”

“Oh come on Kagome-chan you must be teas…” Emi began saying but her friend looked serious, so the guy really was an incredible fighter. After thinking a moment she began to feel relieved, he really would be a good protector against the park killers. “Ok so you’re not, it must be nice to have such a good fighter around.”

“It is Emi-chan, I’m not lying Yuka-chan, Inuyasha is really good. I take it there weren’t any serious injuries?”

“No,” she responded, not wanting to press on that. But she really wondered how her friend could really like such a violent jerk. “Just a lot of really nasty bruises and I think he said one guy was knocked out.”  Yuka did not have a chance to ask for more information as the teacher walked in to begin class.

“Thanks for telling me then Yuka, I won’t chew him out if he didn’t put anyone in the hospital.”

‘She won’t chew him out? She sounds like she has control over this guy and he listens to her, I don’t really think she has any.’ Was the last thought Yuka could spare before having to concentrate on the lessons

Inuyasha sat hidden behind a mountain of evidence and files on a provisional desk. It had been hastily crammed in Nomura’s already cramped office. He was carefully reading all the information they gathered on the victims and the park killer, and having a hard time understanding all of the strange terms. He had resorted to try and copy them onto a sheet of paper to ask Higurashi-sama, Kagome or Kojiro later about their meaning, if he found a way of figuring out his handwriting. The young hanyou had to admit ruefully it was beyond awful.

So far there had not been anything really useful and he was bored to death, his mind often wandering of its own volition towards Kagome, his Kagome, now that she had finally agreed to be his mate. Inuyasha had to pull his mind back to the matters at hand, which was to read all those papers and hope he could make enough sense of them. The only thing that was evident though, was the strange predilection of the killers for wooded areas that were fairly visited, and the connection to the Sakura Park.

On the files of the youkai victims, he had found concealed reports that attested to their true nature. Watanabe told him about them, and taught him a simple spell to uncover them enough for him to read. The neko had explained it was a reference for those youkai in the police and the few humans with strong enough auras and training to see them. He found those hastily scribbled notes on the other files too, but not so important. Most were only comments on scents, still if looked carefully something might come up from that. Watanabe’s sense of smell was very good.

Nomura had taken him the day before to check on three of the most recent crimes scenes in hopes of getting a lead, but unfortunately, the areas were contaminated beyond any hope of being useful. Too many humans and youkai had been about, for Inuyasha to get a good scent trail. There was only one good thing about the whole affair and it was that for the next one, Nomura would have the zone closed to anyone until the young man had a chance to go about it. Watanabe had not been around the day before and his partner only said that he was at Kagome’s school and checking some other stuff.

The young hanyou stretched the sore muscles of his shoulders and yawned loudly. Neither Nomura nor Watanabe were there at the moment, the guy who was their boss had called them to a meeting. The only good things he could add on the work’s favor was that his reading had, by sheer necessity, improved almost overnight and those glasses ‘thingies’ were a marvel.

“Damn! I need to do something or I’ll go mad!” He said while yawning again. Then removed the glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Still not used to their slight weight and the pressure against his nose. “How can they stand this? I’ve been sitting here half the morning and I’m already falling asleep!” Inuyasha muttered to himself disgruntled. Though he had reasons for feeling sleepy, first, it was Kagome’s nightmare and then they had stayed up almost until dawn talking and… he shook his head. If he started thinking about it, he would end up permanently red and probably embarrass himself.

Not being able to take it anymore, he stood up and decided to get himself a soda. Nomura had been helpful enough the day before to teach him how to use the vending machines. The cop had tried hard to get his story about the disappearance but Inuyasha had remained firm in refusing to talk about it. Giving the human the impression that it was a painful subject rather than a subject, he knew very little off.

‘Ah! Much better.’ He thought after the first swallows of the cold drink. It still marveled him the way he could get really cold things to drink whenever he wanted. ‘This must be a blessing on the hot season.’

“Feh!” A soft bark called his attention. “What are you doing here Rurouni?” He kneeled to discreetly sniff the dog in greeting and let him do the same. He realized the dog had Dayu’s and his sister’s lingering scents and came to the conclusion that Ando, Rurouni’s owner was indeed the kids’ father. It was odd how many coincidences were happening around him lately.

‘My human was summoned by one of his pack leaders.’ The dog told the inu hanyou as he saluted him.

‘Treat me as a human, Ok?’ He only got a soft assenting bark. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be with your human?’

‘Yes’ Rurouni answered moving his tail happily. ‘Smelled you and came to pay respect to inu youkai.’

“Your human is not going to be very pleased that you’re not were you’re supposed to.” Inuyasha told the dog with a slight smile when he saw the dog do the equivalent of a shrug. “Come we’ll look for him, his scent is around.”

‘And I want to sniff him out better.’ He thought to himself, although there was really no doubt as to his conclusion about the cop’s family.

‘Why is dog demon pup with these police humans?’ Rurouni asked puzzled as he walked beside the hanyou. Walking together got them more than a few surprised looks from the officers present. Rurouni was well know as a very well trained dog, and seeing him with someone other than his handler, and looking quite happy about it, was a surprise.

‘Heard about the ones killing both human and youkai females?’ Pup, coming from a dog was acceptable as to them that was indeed what he was.

‘Yes.’

‘I’m hunting for them.’

‘Why would inu youkai pup search for those humans?’

‘They scared and hurt my mate.’ That answer, even for the dog was a complete surprise, pups did not have mates. Rurouni stopped dead in his tracks and regarded the hanyou for a few seconds, before following him again. A curious woof came out. ‘Oh come on not you too! Okay, I am young so what? Damn! Why is everybody so intent on pointing out my age?’ That got him another curious woof.

‘Talk to Ryoushi.’ The dog told him instead, changing the subject. ‘He has been on their trail and searched for the dead, he found most of them including the youkai. He knows more than any other dog about those humans.’

‘The young golden one?’

‘Yes. He is young but smart, better than the one before him. Has very good nose too.’

They had arrived to the place where Rurouni’s human was and well he noticed that Watanabe and Nomura were inside too. Loud voices were heard and among whatever they were saying he heard his name. That got him curious but when he tried to go in, a uniformed officer told him he could not. But that if he wanted to speak with Nomura or Watanabe he could wait for them outside.

He decided to wait with Rurouni, as he also felt and smelled the presence of a Kitsune vixen in there. The dog explained that she was his human’s partner Goroko. They worked together, she had a great nose and she understood dogs, although not as good as Inuyasha, he explained. The young hanyou absentmindedly scratched the canine ears and got a very pleased woof in response. He did not need to be inside to hear, they were talking about something called a ‘bust’, and that they had to be undercover so the dog could not be in plain sight.

‘Undercover? Under the cover of what?’ he thought curious.

One of the voices was from Rurouni’s human. He kept insisting on borrowing him for the bust, promising that nothing would happen. His nose was important, as they could not take his dog inside the warehouse complex. Nomura and Watanabe loudly argued against it, saying that he was just a young kid and a civilian.

The murder cops arguments were beginning to make him look like a weakling and Inuyasha did not like the sound of it. He was not weak. Watanabe should know that after talking with Sesshomaru, Inuyasha could not get used to call his half-brother by his modern name yet. In fact, he was positive he could beat any human or demon of the time. After all, he did that almost everyday back in the past. Things started to get out of hand and his pride was being wounded.

‘Damn stupid humans! If they want help why don’t they ask me instead of arguing about stupid things?’ He thought exasperated and without preamble moved as fast as he could past the one guarding the door and irrupted into the room surprising everyone present. Rurouni on his heels wagging his tail, Inuyasha did not look very happy as they turned to face him.

“Damn it Nomura-jiji.” Since the detective insisted on calling him kid he still would call him like that, even if Kagome had explained the night before that it was not an insult, was not even meant as one, he still did not like being called a kid. He heard the vixen, Rurouni’s human and the other human chuckle.  “Didn’t I tell you I’m responsible for myself?” He told the cop angrily.

“Excuse me Sir.” The guy on the door came after him. “I tried to stop him but he was too fast.” He excused himself at the time he got hold of Inuyasha’s arm. “I’ll take him out.”

“Hey! They are talking about me.” Inuyasha complained absently breaking the man’s hold on him by grabbing the cop’s arm and shaking it off him. “They at least should ask me first.”

“Come on punk you shouldn’t be here!” the officer again tried to take him away and the young hanyou just moved away making the officer stumble a bit.

“Leave him Hotaru. The young man is right, we were talking about him. Please take a seat Inuyasha.” The Captain said, and that got him a couple of murderous looks from both Nomura and Watanabe, especially when the later saw the coke can in the younger hanyou’s hand. Hotaru moved away rubbing his harm where the hanyou had broken the hold.

“That’s the sixth I think.” Kojiro told him in a very low voice that only those with demon blood in there could hear. The kitsune vixen sitting by the human Ando eyed him curiously. “She said no more than four.” Before he left the shrine yesterday Higurashi-san had asked him no to let Inuyasha have more than four caffeinated drinks or he would get too hyper to manage without Kagome’s presence.

“Feh!” the hanyou responded equally low with a shrug as he moved to take a seat beside Ando, where he could sniff the man better without seeming to. Then drank defiantly from his soda, acting every inch the rebellious teen, making Watanabe wonder how he managed to become a historical figure if he behaved like that.

In canine, the young hanyou told Rurouni that he had not slept more than three hours the night before and that the neko was upset about the soda when the dog asked what that was all about. The dog treated him with more respect than most beings had ever given him, so he made a point of returning it. Watanabe being feline and not trained at all in canine did not catch any of it. Goroko the kitsune vixen noticed the exchange and limited to raise an eyebrow to the dog, she understood enough of their language to have at least part of her curiosity assuaged, but it still left the fact that Watanabe was upset about it open, why would he be looking after an inu pup?

The Captain then explained why they were talking about him. Narcotics had a very important tip about some drug shipment being brought into Tokyo and they needed to check the area for possible places where it would be stored. So far it was believed a group of warehouses in the industrial sector near the new airport were the most likely place. The problem was that if any of the dealer’s people saw a police dog they would know that the cops were unto them and move the operation away from the area.

Ando told him that after the impressive results he got against the dogs, they thought he could do the job for them. He had assured the detective that they would not get him in danger, his only job that of sniffing the location of the drug and determining what kind it was, something they knew no dog was able to do for them. The plan was to let him walk around with a small group of the narcotics squad members until they got the location then move away to let the cops do their job. Inuyasha pointed out that any more than a team of two people would be very noticeable and would likely attract attention. Both Watanabe and Nomura kept arguing that he was a teen and a civilian and should not be involved. Drug busts were always dangerous and he was only being allowed in the park killers’ case because he had already involved himself in it by sniffing out the latest scene, and of course because his girl was the only victim that had managed to escape them. But the narcotics team did not have to know about that, although the Captain was informed of the situation.

“Look Captain…” Nomura began saying. “I’m responsible for his safety while he cooperates with us. I don’t think his foster mother would permit him to work on something like that.”

“Are you stupid or something?” Inuyasha told him exasperated. “I have told you several times that no one is responsible for me Nomura-jiji. I make my own decisions.”

“No, you are the stupid one kid! Do you have any idea what you’ll be getting into? They’ll probably be so busy saving their own asses to keep you safe!” He was really angry the kid was being unreasonable, or he probably had no sense of self-preservation. Drug dealers were a criminal breed apart from the rest.

Those were the wrong words to say to a dog demon that had survived on his own for most of his life, and that was very capable of protecting others. Without any warning and in a move faster than either the older hanyou or the full demon in the room thought him capable off. Inuyasha was over the table his hand tightly around a very surprised Nomura’s throat, as he lifted the bigger man from his seat. This was the third time it happened and the seasoned fighter was not able to sense it coming. It was disconcerting to say the least.

“You don’t now anything about me policeman.” Inuyasha said in a voice that sounded quite dangerous as it had an underlying growl. “I have protected myself since I was five. Don’t be surprised if I end up being the one protecting your ass.”

The kitsune vixen eyed the young hanyou with clear surprise; his words did not make much sense. Every demon knew that inu youkai were pack demons, their pups were never left to fend on their own even if the parents died. Another member of the pack would take care of them. Goroko made a mental note to talk to Watanabe; the neko seemed to know more about the pup than he was telling, as he did not look at all surprised by that comment.

“Prove it!” Nomura challenged the young man, making his best to look unfazed, although he really was. He could not understand how the damn kid was able to do that. The fact that he lived alone in the woods still did not make for it.

“Gladly,” Inuyasha said releasing him; his golden eyes had that dangerous wild glint that unnerved the cop. He then gave him a predatory smile that all around had to wonder how a kid his age could have; it made him look downright dangerous.

Nomura looked at his Captain, who was eyeing the young man carefully. He was one of those humans trained to detect demons, knew very well the abilities of each of the youkai under his command, two of his best were right there and none had been able to do anything to stop the young hanyou. It was clear that Inuyasha was a pup by inu youkai standards, but his movements had denoted fighting experience, a lot of it.

He had a word the day before with Lady Chie, one of Lord Sessho’s daughters, and the one in charge of all affairs concerning the police. She had provided him with some information regarding Shirosenshi Inuyasha, agreeing that he was indeed the young pup that got lost ten years before and that he was quite an accomplished fighter, had to be to survive in the untamed lands for all those years.

He called to ask for more help on the demons part, as it was clear they could not stop the killings by normal means anymore. Lady Chie told him that Inuyasha was probably the best tracker they could have at his disposal for the ‘Park Killer’ case, her father, Lord Sessho thought so. The young hanyou had all the experience living in the wild that none of the police or city dwelling youkai could hope to have. Besides, he was motivated, since his ‘mate’ was threatened. The human had been a bit surprised to hear that one so young had a mate, but the inu hanyou told him it was an approved match, considered a Shirosenshi private family affair, and he should not concern himself with it.

After their talk, the police Captain had already made up his mind about letting the kid work with them on the bust, with Shirosenshi Chie’s words in favor, but he still needed to see for himself how good the boy was. The Lady had even suggested that he let him do some work to keep him entertained.

“Ok Shirosenshi,” the Captain said to him, at the mention of that name Goroko, Ando’s Kitsune partner started.

‘Shirosenshi? Is this pup related to the Lord of the Western Lands family?’ She thought eyeing Inuyasha carefully. ‘That can’t be right, they would never let a pup fend for himself at that young an age. There must be some sort of mix up here. Although, I have to admit there is a strong resemblance to Lord Sessho.’

“I’ll let you do some police work to keep you from getting bored or try to strangle my best detective,” he saw Inuyasha smirk cockily at Nomura. “But…” Now the young hanyou did not seem to like the fact that there was a condition. “I want to see how you fare against Nomura and Watanabe.”

“Come on Chief! That’s not fair!” Ando protested knowing that Nomura was THE best the police had, and Watanabe was not far behind.

They had been paired together in part because of it, after Nomura had returned from his stint with the American FBI. The slot there had been an apology to him from the department for the black mark on his record from the internal affairs investigation. Just thinking about it still left a bitter taste in Ando’s mouth; he could not believe his coworker had done that to his friend over petty jealousy at Nomura’s record. Thankfully that guy no longer worked with the police.

“Feh! That won’t be a problem,” Inuyasha said confidently.

“My! We are cocky aren’t we?” Goroko said sarcastically, the pup seemed too full of himself. “Chief you might as well have said no. There’s no way this kid could beat…”

“Now you listen up vixen…” Inuyasha began saying but the Captain interrupted him.

“I didn’t say he had to win Detective Nakada.” The inu hanyou looked at him angrily. “Now Shirosenshi, just do your best. If you beat them, it will be good, but I just want to see how good a fighter you are. My decision won’t depend on whether he wins or looses, but in how well he fights.” He told his narcotics detectives, as Ando Fujimaro was not looking all that happy either with his decision. Nomura on the other hand, looked quite smug. He was after all unbeaten champion of the police force as well as national champion. But Watanabe looked really thoughtful, like he knew something about Inuyasha the rest did not, and if he had spoken with Lord Sessho he probably did. “Do you know kendo?” The look the young hanyou gave him clearly stated that he did not. “But I assume you know how to use a katana.”

“Feh! Of course I do.”

“Good.”

The six of them left toward the training area, Inuyasha would face Nomura in a Kendo match and Watanabe on hand-to-hand combat. They found suitable Bogu for him and Ando helped him don it properly. He had the narcotics cop quite amused at the large tirade of inventive curses he let out. The young hanyou argued that all the weird stuff constricted his movements and wanted to take it off, especially the men as he could not see a thing. After Ando told him he would be disqualified for not wearing the proper equipment he just ‘fehed’ and went out of the locker rooms. Nomura was already outside doing some odd movements. The hanyou concentrated on getting the feel of the bamboo thingy he was supposed to use instead of a sword, the balance and weight were quite different from the feel of his katana, Ando had told him the thing was called a shinai

“What’s he doing? Aren’t we supposed to fight?” He asked Watanabe when the neko approached him; Ando had moved back the same as the vixen.

“He’s warming up. You’re not going to?”

“Warm up? What’s that for?” Inuyasha asked puzzled, the term was strange.

‘Why would anyone want to get warm before a fight?’ Inuyasha thought puzzled, this future time people’s customs just got weirder and weirder with each hour he spent there.

“That’s to get your body ready for a fight; else you can strain a muscle.” Watanabe explained, to the still puzzled hanyou who seemed to be trying to assimilate the idea, and failing to see the purpose as his next words indicated.

“No one I’ve fought before does things like that… We just go at it, perhaps after insulting each other to get the tempers going, if that is what warming up means, then I certainly do it,” he smirked that was one of his tactics, get the enemy so riled he would not really concentrate on the fight, it usually worked. “But, if I started doing silly movements before a fight with my opponent right there, I’d be dead already.” He responded, and it was loud enough for the others to hear and wonder at his words.

“You don’t prepare for a fight?” Now it was Watanabe’s turn to be puzzled.

“No, no chance. Just have to be ready all the time.” Inuyasha responded with an indifferent shrug.

After that, the neko changed the conversation and explained the rules of kendo, where he was allowed to hit and what where points to score. He also reminded him not to use his full strength or speed, as it was not a real fight. Inuyasha nodded to everything though he really did not understand a thing aside from the taking into consideration that Nomura was a human.

The referee signaled for them to take their places, Nomura stood a few steps away and did the REI (bow). Inuyasha eyed him puzzled under his MEN(helmet) then at some signals from Kojiro he realized he had to do the same and copied the other’s movement awkwardly. Then the cop moved closer and got into the KAMAE (ready position) again the hanyou copied the movement. Thinking that it was all a weird stupid ritual, if he had to undergo something like that when really fighting, they would never get to it.

The captain signaled for the match to start. Nomura in a movement faster than the hanyou thought possible for him, lounged forward went past his defense and scored a hit to the Tsuki-tare (the throat flap that is part of the mask). They moved back and got into the ready position again. Inuyasha eyed the cop through narrowed eyes, even if the man could not see them. He could hear him snicker and that made him angry, he was guilty of underestimating his opponent, a mistake he never allowed himself the luxury to make. Even if he sometimes gave everyone the impression of it, well, he would not be caught off guard again.

Nomura repeated his movement again, but this time Inuyasha was alert, he saw it coming, half turned on his heels letting the cop’s momentum carry him forward past him, so he ended at his back and hit him on the opposite side from where he turned. This surprised the human, it had not been a kendo move, but in the end, he was hit on a score place. The captain decided to give the hanyou the point.

“Feh! This style of fighting would get you killed in a real one.” Inuyasha snickered, he still felt uncomfortable with all the stuff he was wearing, but he thought he could manage.

“You just got lucky kid,” Nomura taunted him.

“Feh! I’ll show you it was no luck Nomura-jiji.”

They resumed positions, the human attacked again, and Inuyasha just moved away with a small back flip, his legs hitting the cop on the chest making him fall very surprised on his ass. The captain realized that if he had to judge according to kendo’s rules the young man would have to be disqualified if he kept doing the things he was doing. The moves were good; he seemed to be an experienced fighter, so he decided to make a change to the match. He knew Nomura could take a free style fight just as easily as kendo.

“Look,” he began telling the two combatants, “It is clear that if we follow the strict kendo rules Inuyasha would be disqualified.” He saw the hanyou about to protest and raised a hand to stop him. “So lets go for free style, you can use whatever martial art you want.” Now that got him an immediate reaction from Inuyasha, he took off all the boku, a small cocky grin on his face. “Do you agree Nomura?”

“Don’t see why not, but I think we should use bokken for that instead of shinai.”

“That’s fine with me. I was getting bored.” Inuyasha replied as Watanabe tossed him a wooden sword. “A wooden sword? Don’t you use real weapons?” Disdain colored his voice.

“Children should not be allowed near weapons.” Nomura said and this time he ended sprawled on the floor with Inuyasha on top, both hands on his throat and looking pissed enough to actually apply an uncomfortable pressure. “This is getting old,” he managed to croak unnerved at the murderous glint in the kid’s eyes.

“It is, I.am.no.child you better not forget that or…” he threatened but was stopped by Watanabe pulling him off his partner and the Captain saying to his detective, his voice so full of authority that Inuyasha finally realized one of the reasons why this guy was the boss.

“Don’t piss him off Nomura, we do need his cooperation. And as for you Shirosenshi, another stunt like this one and you won’t be allowed anywhere near the Park Killer case or the bust, understood?” Inuyasha looked rebellious, it was clear that he was seriously offended and not one to take orders from anyone. He had been too long without an authority figure. “Understood?” Captain Fukasawa asked again, the young hanyou remained quiet looking angry and thinking over his options. Higurashi-sama did not want him to get on this police’s bad side, too many questions that would be difficult to answer would be asked.

“Feh!” was his only response, as he shrugged and concentrated on getting the feel of the bokken.

It was very different from Tetsusaiga. The old katana was much heavier, and the handle molded better to his palm, but he could use the thing. The bokken did not swish through the air like his sword did, even when it was untransformed. Inuyasha did several passes he had learned by watching some ronin train, the familiar movements taking his mind off his anger. Those moves got a murmur from the people in the place. So far, they were only a small group of curious humans and demons that probably had nothing better to do. An odd idea crept into his mind, Kaze no Kizu was a special trick from the fang, but could he do something like that with some other weapon? Without depending on his opponent’s youki?

Ever since he mastered the Bakuryuuha he could do Kaze no Kizu without youki so… Seeing a bench he decided to see what came of it and used the thing as target. Without much warning he jumped high made a circular motion with the bokken above his head to gain momentum and came down with a mighty sweep down ward. The bench cracked and then the edge broke cleanly, he had used only the wind and his own youki; the bokken did not even touch the bench.

‘Huh? It worked? It worked! It worked! Ha ha ha’ Inuyasha thought at first surprised and then completely elated, that was surely a very interesting trick to pull. He would have been jumping up and down destroying stuff just like he did when he discovered he could use Kaze no Kizu whenever he wanted, if he had not noticed the looks from the spectators.

“Fuck!” “Shit!”

“What the hell?” The Captain exclaimed amazed.

“Kami! What was that?” Goroko’s voice came through among the whispers and surprised exclamations from the spectators.

“Did you see that?” “He didn’t even touch it!” “Can’t believe that!” “Gotta get the guys to come and see this they are not going to believe it!” “It was a damn wooden sword!” “Didn’t know a bokken could do that!” Were among the comments heard from the curious bystanders, a couple of which, went out in a hurry, probably going to call others.

Watanabe remained silent, he had been warned that Inuyasha was good, and he was seeing it first hand, although there was no way he could tell it was the first time the younger hanyou ever tried a stunt like that. Even Seijuro Nomura was startled, he knew of one or two people who could use the force of the wind with real, extremely well tempered, and sharp katanas, but never bokken; the things were too cumbersome for that. He had even felt the flare of the kid’s ki before he struck, and the cop had to admit it was by far the strongest he had felt in his life. Not even his sensei matched something like that.

“You were saying jiji?” Inuyasha asked looking downright cocky and very pleased with himself.

“You have a big ego show off.”

“Feh! Now let’s see what you really got jiji.” He told Seijuro swinging the bokken in an arc by just the movement of his wrist. That got him a very demon like growl from the human before him.

“You’ll be pleading me to stop before I’m through with you kid.” Nomura threatened as he too removed his boku.

“We’ll see about that,” Inuyasha said wearing a smirk, “we’ll surely see about that.”

Once ready, the Captain gave the signal to start and Nomura attacked first. A blow to the heart that Inuyasha parried easily, the cop attacked holding the bokken one handed, the hanyou parried, holding his own with both hands. Then Inuyasha attacked, making Nomura parry and start to move backwards as the kid pressed his defenses. They crossed bokken a few times, once unintentionally cracking the hardened wood of the bokken with the force of a blocked blow. On receiving a replacement they crossed swords again, and then in an unexpected move the cop went for the young man’s legs. The hanyou read the intent and did a summersault that brought him behind Nomura who had turned on his heels, waiting for him to land and score a hit. However, Inuyasha was expecting that reaction and was ready to block as he landed. Then he back flipped hitting the cop again with his feet and sending him sprawling backward. All was done in one flowing uninterrupted movement too fast for the cop to really see what happened.

‘Damn! The kid is fucking good! He really wasn’t bragging!’ Nomura thought as he stood up. ‘He doesn’t have a definite style, but he sure knows how to cross swords.’ In his mind the cop had to admit he had a worthy opponent in the person he had least expected, although he was not ready yet to admit that aloud. There was one thing he noticed though, and it disturbed him greatly. Each and every one of Inuyasha’s attacks were aimed at points that if hit with a real sword, would end killing the opponent, not maiming or disabling like Nomura was used at seeing in competitions. If this had not been a friendly match and he not able to parry them, the cop had to admit he would probably end dead.

When the news that detective Nomura was fighting a kid free style got around the police precinct, those who had the time, gathered at the training grounds to watch. Seeing Nomura in kendo practice always drew the attention. But, very few had ever seen him fight in any other style. Those who had knew the man was good. So many expected to see him beating the kid into a pulp only to find that the kid was not only holding his own, but also was actually giving the homicide cop a hard time.

The cop was up with a small jump expecting Inuyasha to give a frontal attack, instead, the hanyou jumped up and attacked from the air, Nomura barely having time to raise his bokken to block. As soon as the young hanyou landed, he attacked, pressing the Nomura and making him loose ground. He started to use his legs and fists to gain some advantage. The change in style caught Inuyasha a little off guard and a couple of times the cop landed some well placed punches, but after a moment he managed to block most of Nomura’s, though one of the kicks did hit him hard enough to send him sprawling against a bench and crack it. The young man was up in no time, pressing his attack against his opponent. Nomura noted the boy’s body was very solidly muscled from the feel of the contacts.

Inuyasha moved about quite a lot, something Nomura was not expecting, he also attacked from the air whenever possible; the cop thought it might be because it gave the kid the added benefit of his weight to the strength of his attack. The boy was quite strong for his light weight and very flexible. He could not help comparing the boy’s mass when he carried him out of the lab on Monday with the solid young man that was giving him such a hard time; they were at odds. They were crossing bokken blows again, Inuyasha crowded Nomura’s space receiving a hit on the arm, but he delivered what would have been a killing blow to the shoulder and neck making the surprised cop loose his bokken. That move scored points for both of them.

They started again, and the young hanyou had to admit that for a human Nomura was a very tough opponent. He not only had technique, but also speed and strength. Therefore, as he fought he tried to memorize the man’s movements. He again attacked, trying to get a hit to the chest.

Those who had gathered, and by that time, they were quite a few, could only admire the dance like fast-paced combat. Both men were extremely good, and both did some pretty interesting acrobatics, but the kid did the most impressive of them. Moving about like a gymnast, at first those who knew about sword fighting noticed the young one’s style was a bit rustic. But the more the match progressed the more interesting the kid’s moves became, to some it was like he was copying Nomura’s most successful attacks, and using them when they would do the most good. The cop had begun to notice the same thing, even if at the moment he really had no chance to think about it.

The cop managed to block all attempts then tried to disarm Inuyasha blocking him and then moving the bokken in a wide arc. The young man realized it and let his arms flow with the movement but at the last moment when the wooden sword would have been flung away he let his body follow the bokken’s momentum and jumped, twisting in midair to land behind a very surprised Nomura landing him another killing blow from left shoulder to right hip.

The small crowd that had gathered gasped as they saw their companion fall forward. Inuyasha had pulled all his hits but they were still painful. It was obvious to everyone around that the kid was the better fighter even if none had been able to determine to which martial art school his technique belonged. The captain called the match finished and pronounced Inuyasha the winner.

“Damn it kid! You sure hit pretty hard for a sparring match!” Nomura complained as he moved to a sitting position, rubbing his shoulder. Inuyasha offered him a hand, to help him stand, that was grudgingly accepted.

“I do? I was pulling my punches.” He responded surprised scratching his head. “You’re after all a jiji.”

“You were what?” Nomura exclaimed, and that outburst got the attention of the others gathered there. Goroko was actually gaping at the kid that had actually beat Nomura when not even demons had been able to pull that off.

‘The pup was not bragging, and it seems like I have to eat my words,’ the vixen thought as she watched the pup carefully. She wanted to be sure that her assessment of the inu hanyou’s age was correct. A few discrete sniffs testified that he was indeed young.

“I was not hitting you as hard as I can, that would be downright dangerous.” Inuyasha responded, “but then, I had never done a pretend fight before.”

“You never sparred before?” Goroko asked surprised and then narrowed her eyes before asking suspiciously. “Then how exactly do you fight young man?”

“Well… let’s say I have to admit it is fun to fight without worrying about ending up dead.”

“You hit to kill kid; you even let me hit you to get the kill.” Nomura said very softly, “on a real fight it would mean you purposely chose to get injured… I can’t understand that way of thinking.”

“What would you prefer? Being wounded or being dead. Where I come from you have to choose being wounded or die,” Inuyasha said casually before just shrugging and then refrained from saying anything else, when he saw the shocked expressions of those around him. “You go next Kojiro.”

‘My God! It’s fucking likely the damn kid has killed before!’ Seijuro was shocked, but it sure made those dangerous looks he sometimes had understandable.

“Perhaps you should rest pup.” The neko suggested, but as he looked at the pup he realized it was probably not necessary. He had seen the looks as well and knew that he was probably the only person within earshot that had already known about that.

“What for? I’m not tired yet.” Those close enough to hear noticed that he had not even sweated.

Nomura walked away slowly sure he would be sore the following day. He sat on a bench on the far corner of the room to watch. The kid had surprised him completely, he was really good. The detective had to admit his ego was a bit bruised; unbeaten National Champion just got beaten by a 16 year old. It was damn embarrassing. Putting his pride aside he decided to analyze the kid’s fighting style. He did not have a special technique he used, but as they fought, he had been able to realize that Inuyasha had been copying some of his moves almost to perfection, and he was sure the kid did not know them in the first place or would have used them from the start. Still he needed to confirm that, so he planned to pay close attention to the next match.

Watanabe had already changed into his practice uniform and was doing some katas as warm up. Inuyasha just sat on a bench drinking a Gatorade someone had tossed in his direction and waiting until the neko decided he was ready to start. He still watched the graceful movements of the neko and stated to feel the flow of energy moving about him. It was something very different from what he was used to feel from other youkai, as he had sensed it from Nomura too. The hanyou had not really paid much attention to it, since it was not youki. Watanabe’s was a mixture between his youki and the energy that came from Nomura who was human. Perhaps he should have paid closer attention, it seemed important and interesting. He would have to ask Kojiro about it later. The neko signaled he was ready, so Inuyasha stood and moved to the stand before him.

“You might want to observe the techniques pup. They’ll probably become handy later during your Hunt. I have to admit I am surprised you actually beat Nomura; no one has for at least a couple of years. Although I had been warned you were good.” The other officers wondered who had warned the neko and how that person had known, although the Captain suspected it was Lord Sessho. The kid’s abilities had really surprised everyone. The youkai wondered what pack leader would take a boy on a Hunt where he would need advanced combat techniques. It was downright irresponsible to risk children like that.

“I survived fighting that asshole repeatedly, of course I’m good,” he told the neko with a cocky grin. “He is damn hard to beat. Let’s see what you have. However, I won’t hold my punches as much as I did for Nomura. I won’t go all out either, but I know you can stand rougher handling than a human.” He muttered only for Kojiro’s ears.

“That is if you manage to hit me at all pup.” He said as he bowed in salute and then stood on guard. The pup returned his salute and heard the Captain order the match to start.

“If he does manage to hit him, Kojiro is going to be hurting. Those he landed on me are going to leave marks.” Nomura said still rubbing his sore shoulder as he looked at Ando.

Next thing Inuyasha knew was the swift kick the neko aimed at his chin. The younger hanyou bent back avoiding it, and then went all the way down, bending on an arch and back flipping out of reach in a movement that was just as fast as the neko’s. Watanabe had speed, but he could never match Sesshomaru or even Kouga, so the younger hanyou knew he could deal with that.

Another kick went flying in his direction, Inuyasha blocked it grabbing Kojiro’s calf and twisting it to send him sprawling on the floor. True to his feline nature, the cop landed on his hands, kicked to break the hold, and somersaulted to his feet. In a flash, he was before the pup giving him a combination of punches that Inuyasha mostly blocked making him back up, they were ended with a kick that did connect on his chest. It was hard enough to send the pup flying toward some benches, and as he was carried by the kick’s momentum the inu hanyou twisted his body on the air in a maneuver that seemed impossible, only to land lightly on his feet on top of a bench.

“What the hell was that?” Nomura muttered softly from his place behind some benches. It was only then that a comment from Higurashi-san started to make sense.

Flashback

“Higurashi-san, here is the surveillance material.  I think we have it worked out so that we have all the entries and exits covered.”  He told her to be polite, people were not supposed to know exactly where the teams were located so that they would not compromise their positions. It was only mentioned so they felt safer.

“Yes, you do have all of the normal ones.  And unless they are as acrobatic as Inuyasha, those men won’t be able to enter the grounds unseen.  He pointed your people out to me not long after they arrived.”  She told him, and he frowned, the teams must have screwed up somehow.  The family should not have even known when they arrived.

End of Flashback

Watanabe ogled he could not believe what he had just seen, not even a full neko could pull that off. The pup not only had to be very strong, but also flexible and have perfect sense of the objects that surrounded him. Inuyasha took the small distraction to attack, jumping up from the bench doing two flips to land feet first on the neko’s chest, then again doing some incredible feat of using the body before him to turn his momentum with a back flip landing on his hands then just pushing himself to a crouching position.

Kojiro landed on top of some benches and broke one; he was on his feet in no time, telling himself that he would have to analyze things later. With a nimble jump, he was before the younger hanyou throwing a series of kicks that the pup either blocked or avoided just as nimbly. On one of those kicks aimed at the face, Inuyasha avoided it going all the way down to the floor and lashing a low kick to Kojiro’s support leg. To his surprise, the neko read the intention and in a very catlike move, he jumped backwards out of the way extracting a gasp from the audience. Taking the advantage that the inu hanyou was on the floor he attempted to knock him with a kick to his middle. It was blocked and then with a roar the kid sent him flying away. Kojiro managed to land on his hands and then rolled easily away.

“I have to admit you’re good… but then so am I,” Inuyasha told him and then to the utter surprise of the spectators he launched a kicking attack, using Kojiro’s best moves.

The neko was able to block most of the lightning fast kicks with some of his own; they jumped up and down all over the place. Their contacts resounding against the gym’s walls, for some people the things started to get intense as on several occasions either hanyou almost landed on the bystanders. More than a couple of benches were destroyed two walls were cracked, one from where Inuyasha hit it, feet first. The other was a victim of Kojiro, as the younger man threw him and the neko slammed against it on his side.

Nomura started to worry, as both men seemed to be going at it with all their might, still when he caught glimpses of their faces, both wore wide grins. The level of skill of the match had him surprised, he knew his partner was good, but from what he was seeing, he was actually excellent. He started to wonder why Watanabe never fought like that on the internal championships; he could surely beat everyone he had seen so far. Now, the fact that the pup was matching that level of skill and again he was copying the other’s movements was astounding, it was clear he was not bragging when he said he could not only protect himself but him as well.

The detective was brought out of his reverie by the sound of a particularly loud crunch, he saw Inuyasha flying his way and was sure he had no time to move out of the way so he just prepared the best he could for impact. To his and the few people that still remained amazement, Inuyasha extended his arms to get leverage, then brought his legs up to his chest with enough strength to make his body give to full backward turns, as the arms hugged the legs. He went flying past Nomura and landed lightly on the space behind him.

“Hey! Be careful where you aim, or do you want me to squash your partner?” Inuyasha told the other hanyou as took a running leap only to land a well placed kick on Kojiro’s neck. The neko slammed hard on the floor.

“Shit! It’s almost two! I better get going.” Someone from the audience muttered, but both hanyous heard. It was almost time to pick Kagome from school and there was little time to change and get there.

“Want me to give you a lift?” Kojiro asked as he stood up slowly.

“You’re calling it quits lieutenant?” His boss asked a bit surprised, “if that’s so then I have to say that by hits scored Inuyasha is the winner.”

“We have to leave chief or the girlfriend is going to chew out the pup here,” he teased and got a growl in response.

“Oi!” Inuyasha protested at Kojiro speaking of what he considered private affairs, and took a swipe at the neko’s head, just like he would do with Miroku or Shippou, that was easily avoided.

“Well she IS your girlfriend pup.” Kojiro defended himself and another swipe was sent his way.

“But that’s not their business,” he grumbled not denying it, and it got him a couple of laughs from those still present.

“No, we definitely don’t want to get you in trouble Shirosenshi,” the captain told him.  He was rather amazed at his fighting ability, and had to admit the kid intrigued him. “Come on, let’s get the three of you to the infirmary, you can get changed there.  Detective Nakada and I will wait for you there and we can go over what we need to do for the bust,” he instructed the men.

A/N: Well here are some of the translations and explanations to the words I used in this chapter, just FYI.

Rurouni Kenshin manga – Well this is my second favorite anime/manga and just could not resist putting it here. Besides it deals with samurais and katanas, so this would really catch Inuyasha’s attention.

Bogu – This is the name of the whole equipment used in Kendo (The armor).

Men – It is the helmet or head mask used in Kendo.

Shinai – Sort of bamboo sword used to practice kendo.

Bokken – Wooden sword used to practice.

Ronin – This were samurais that were not pledged to any daimyo or feudal lord in Japan.

Ki – It is a spiritual energy, also known as chi (this is the Chinese word and used in Fen Shui). Ki has many meanings and explanations, but in martial arts it is mostly the inner strength of the individual that is focused for a purpose.

Katas – are a series of exercises or forms used in martial arts, a whole set of techniques.

Hmmm… I know what both ki and katas are, but I’m probably not doing a good job of explaining them.