Hostile by Somewhere in the Middle

Chapter 1

        Kagome sped past the commuters on the busy streets of Tokyo as best as she could. Her heartbeat was at a steady pace, but her appearance revealed another story. In her haste, her crumpled white shirt had come undone from the waistband of her jeans. A piece of the shirt hung out and over her brown belt as it flapped against her with every determined step. She was supposed to have been home at least forty-five minutes ago. She was later than she wanted to be. Suddenly, flash of white hair from across the street made her stop in her tracks. Oh, no, she groaned internally, I am tired of telling Inuyasha not to walk around the city when he comes through the well!

     While it wouldn’t have exactly been unusual for someone to walk around the streets of Tokoyo dressed up in robes and brandishing a sword, Kagome preferred to limit Inuyasha’s exposure to the modern world. She stared at the perfectly gelled short silver-white mass of thick hair from across the street. It was much different than the snowy clump of unkempt, waist length strands which Inuyasha had sported since the day she had met him. The young man turned around and looked up, catching her eye. Kagome gasped as she stared back into the familiar golden brown eyes of the stranger. Something about his stare was jarring; he looked at her the way one would look at a rocket launching into space- with all the wonder and awe of anticipated exploration before you, of discoveries unknown. Seconds later, a car pulled up to the left of her. The door opened, revealing a finely tailored tan suit. The man in the suit also had silver-white hair that was pulled back into one. His honey coloured eyes widened in surprise. “Kagome?” he asked incredulously. “Sesshoumaru, what are you doing here?” she responded, uneasy for some reason. She followed as his eyes narrowed nervously to the young man now about to cross the street, the same one she had initially mistaken for Inuyasha. Calmly, but with a tone of concern, Kagome turned to Sesshoumaru, “You’re not the Sesshoumaru I know now, aren’t you?” He smiled gently, something she’d rarely seen him do in the Feudal Era. She noticed he had no markings on his face, a fact that should have immediately struck her. “Where’d your markings go?” she asked before impulsively reaching up to his face then pretending to swat at a fly. He continued to smile at her while responding, “I am very powerful, Kagome. You know my kind have very long lifespans and very strong magic.”

       She had never expected that there would still be demons walking around to this day, hidden from society. She looked at him, trying to find any difference from over the years. Other than his missing markings, and his modern clothing, nothing seemed to have physically changed in him. “The markings are still there, I used to use an old spell a miko in Bangkok gave me. She saved me if I’m going to be honest, from looking like a geisha for the rest of my existence. Then I just started investing in better makeup.” He laughed, a deep, full laugh she’d never heard from him before. She was in awe. This is who he’ll become. He certainly wasn’t the same Sesshoumaru she had left in the Feudal Era. He had long made peace with Inuyasha’s group, deciding that in the grand scope of things, defeating Naraku was a much more important endeavour than hacking away at his issues with his brother (literally). Kagome had tentatively started what she believed to be a friendship with him. Even though he wasn’t fully inculcated into their little family, she was beginning to grow sort of fond of the Western Lord. If his demeanour towards her now was any indication, so had he. She knew the moment she closed her eyes and focused on his aura, she would be able to detect the same perfectly harnessed, a calculated power that had become more familiar than him himself.

    Just then, the young man from across the street interjected. “Father, I didn’t want to go in until you arrived,” he explained, purposefully ignoring Kagome’s presence. Kagome looked from the young man to Sesshoumaru, trying hard not to show how flabbergasted she truly was. The two men were strikingly similar, but the young man held a softness to his features, a familiarity that she just couldn’t place. She glanced at the building he was just in front of, ‘Kame Hotel’, then back to the men in front of her. Kame? It had been the nickname her father had given her before he had passed away. No one called her that anymore. “I didn’t know you were a father, Sesshoumaru,” she managed to say. Sesshoumaru looked at her, the corners of his mouth turning down just a little, just enough to make him look forlorn. “Kenchi, go wait for me at the entrance,” he commanded his son, his face hardening. Kagome frowned in confusion as Kenchi followed his father’s orders, all the while refusing to acknowledge her. She scoffed, I guess he transferred his bad attitude to his little demon spawn. He waited until Kenchi was back across the street at the front of the building before swiftly closing the distance between them.

“My dear Kagome,” he began, grabbing her by the arms, “be strong. The coming months will be hard on you. Don’t lose your gentle heart.”

He bent forward, resting a kiss on her cheek. He stared at her for a little while longer, before turning away and crossing the street. Her fingertips lay over her cheek as she stared in confusion at the backs of Sesshoumaru and Kenchi while they disappeared into the building. “What does that mean?” she whispered to herself. She gathered herself, remembering she was late. She walked as quickly as she could, hoping Inuyasha would not be too upset at her typical lack of punctuality. Sesshoumaru’s words echoed carelessly in her mind, “My dear Kagome, be strong. The coming months will be hard on you. Don’t lose your gentle heart.”

What could he have possibly meant by that?

      She entered her house swiftly, noting that no one was home and more importantly, Inuyasha was not there for her. She grinned, picking up her already packed yellow backpack. She swung it over her shoulders before she skipped to the well. She let her feet dangle over the edge before jumping in. She smiled as the familiar swirl of magic surrounded her for only a second, then it was gone. She looked up and gone was the roof of her shrine and in its place was a clear, blue sky. She used the vines to the side of the well to pull herself out as she usually did. She flung her bag over before using one last serge of energy to heave herself out of the well and onto the grass. She dusted herself off and picked up her bag, eager to follow the trail back to Kaede’s village to meet her friends. She stopped. There was no trail. There was no cleared path for her to follow. There was only a thick, unwelcoming forest before her. The Tree of Ages stared soundlessly at her, its leaves unmoving. Her heartbeat quickened. What was going on? “Hello?” she called out. Her response was the squawk of a bird somewhere within the forest. What the hell is going on?   She heard the yips and barks of animals come from inside of the forest. They steadily grew louder and louder, competing with the blood rushing in her ears. Why does everything look…different? There was a low rumbling. Sounds like horses approaching. Kagome steadied herself, preparing for the possibility of bandits. She might have been thrown off-guard by the well’s antics, but she was not going to let it get her killed, or worse. She dropped her backpack, into the well, adopting a fighting stance she had learnt. She was not going out without a fight.

       A group of men burst through the forest, their horses neighing restlessly as they pulled them to halt. Kagome felt them assessing her with their greedy eyes, her stomach heavy with dread. “Ah, told you I smelt something fresh fellas,” one of them called. He had two horns protruding from the sides of his nose which grew in a curved manner like a hog’s, threatening to grow down into his skull. “And to think, we were only passing by!”

His singular tuft of black hair was in the centre of a pair of ears set atop his head. It made him look more cartoonish and markedly less terrifying than other men.

“She smells a little funny, Kanji,” another cried. He had a long, reptilian tongue and blue skin. His eyes were like slits, petrifying her to the spot.

“She may smell funny, but she’s human. And she’s young too. She’s exactly what we’ve been looking for,” the first hog, Kanji, grinned at her. Kagome tried her best to keep her face impassive. These men were demons. They were low-level demons but were still powerful enough to take an almost human form. She was not sure she far along enough in her miko training to combat these many demons.

Sango where are you guys?

“Smell that boys? I think she could be frightened,” Kanji smirked.

Lizard Man scowled, “I hate when they’re frightened; it turns the meat bitter.”

Kagome kept her face neutral, refusing the reveal the turmoil in her mind.

“Ichizo, must you always be so picky?” Kanji asked with a roll of his black, round, animal-like eyes as he dismounted from his horse. The other demons, about eight other capable looking men, followed suit and began drawing closer to her.

          Kagome kept her breathing steady. A million fight patterns whizzed through her mind at once. She focused her energy into a tiny ball trying her best to conceal it from her attackers as they formed a menacing circle around her. This is life or death right now, Kagome. They don’t just want to kill you, they want to eat you. You have no choice but to survive. It’s you, or them. A man with a mouth extended forward like a beak, started to charge towards her. Without hesitation, she pelted her ball of pink energy towards him. It collided with his chest, pushing him back slightly as he screamed and clawed at his chest. A sizzling sound echoed through the suddenly still forest. The man screamed and dropped to the floor. He writhed in pain as the scent of burning flesh began to fill the air. The other men seemed terrified to move, their stances uncertain. Kagome held back a smirk. She wanted them scared.

“Miko,” Ichizo spat angrily, his tongue flickering wildly.

Kagome remained still, trying to assess the demons surrounding her. That blast had significantly drained her energy but she knew she couldn’t let it show. Kanji seemed to sense her weakened state. He grinned sinisterly, the cries of his comrade still ringing through the atmosphere.

“You’re powerful, but you’re not fully trained. We will still take you,” his smile revealed blunt, crooked human teeth, with two slightly long incisors.

“Let’s take her in!” another voice called.

      Kagome tried to focus her energy into her fists, channelling her purification powers as best as she could. She felt herself being drained as her movements began to slow. She was burning up energy quickly. They would take her soon. She sidestepped one of her attackers and lunged for Kanji, slapping him firmly across the face, and punching him in the abdomen. She smiled as she heard the crack and pop of his burning face. He grunted angrily while his men restrained her. His hand covered his cheek. She openly beamed at his rage as he stomped towards her before raising his foot and launching a kick towards her head.