Author note: wow feels like it's been forever since I've been on. My life has been hectic now with 2 kids. Loving life though. I've been working on this story for just over 2 years. Yes it is complete and I will be trying to edit and upload chapters at least weekly. I look forward to hearing feedback to see if there's anywhere I could improve.
Chapter 1
Battle raged, one between youkai and humans. The hatred for one another was intense and blood shed was common in the feudal era. Death was an everyday occurrence in that time. Family members were always lost either from illness or a youkai killed to eat them or just to kill them.
Eventually, human hoshi and miko were able to train their bodies and make them into weapons to fight against the youkai. They used their abilities to protect the innocent people of the villages and at the same time make youkai start to rethink their violent rampages of said villages. Daily rampages of villages grew less as it grew too risky for youkai to enter and the only time humans were killed were if they left the safety of home or a brave youkai attempted to decimate a village.
After a few hundred years as youkai came to observe humans to wait for the chance to strike out at them and kill them, some youkai began to find that humans weren’t as primitive and disgusting as they thought. Humans were learning that some youkai could have human forms and could act no different than them. A bond started to form between some youkai and human, cross breeding began to happen and hanyous were being born. The birth of the cross species began a whole new hatred for youkai and humans that hadn’t yet accepted each other.
Another round of violence began with the birth of the hanyous. Youkai and humans both set out to kill the creatures that came from their beings and wipe them off the face of the earth. They were abominations, creatures that should never have existed to begin with. And with that thought, more carnage came upon the land.
The cycle of hatred and mayhem continued to ravage the land for centuries. Youkai killing humans, humans killing youkai, both killing hanyou. One would think that with both sides after hanyous that the monstrosities would have been wiped out quite quickly and easily, but they weren’t. More would suddenly pop up and it didn’t matter if the parents were slaughtered before or after. There were other humans and youkai breeding together and having offspring. Many methods were used to keep their half breed children safe including having their own personal hidden island.
Later the island was found and no sooner found were they destroyed. Men, women, and even children were torn apart. There was no mercy shown. If you were a youkai and bred with a human, you died. If you were human and bred with a youkai, you died. If you were a child created from a human and youkai breeding, you died. No place was safe for anyone or anything.
Two hundred more years and youkai and human alike started to grow tired in their fight to get rid of the hanyou vermin. Little by little human and youkai grew more accepting of hanyou. Soon humans learned while hanyou were part youkai they held many human traits. Youkai learned that while hanyou had human blood they still held youkai abilities. Seeing these qualities started paving the way for both sides to accept hanyou.
After another couple hundred years both human and youkai began to accept each other. The truce between them was tense, but after a few decades it became more relaxed. Gradually youkai and humans began to live together. Villages became cities. Wood huts became brick houses. Buildings rose as companies were made and technology grew.
In today’s world, there were humans, youkai, and hanyou walking down sidewalks, driving cars, and working. Figuring out how to work the justice system for the three different species had to be worked out over many centuries before finally finding a way to make it work and keep majority of the people happy.
Two divisions had been made to please the people, one for the youkai community and one for the human community. Hanyou were welcomed and helped at either division they entered. However, both divisions came together when working on crime cases that involved both sides and hanyou. They would show that while they were in separate buildings they were still united when it came down to the law.
If only the police knew that their little world was going to be turned upside down.
It was the beginning of the school year where kids were returning to school and parents going back to the working world. Animals that hibernated were nearly fattened up as they continued to prepare for winter. Birds were already starting to prepare for their long fly south.
Meanwhile, as life passed by, one youkai supervisor narrowed his eyes as he stared at a constable he had sitting in front of him. The constable was only 4ft 9inches and weighed probably 400 pounds. He looked about late 40’s, early 50’s with short gray hair and brown eyes. He sat confidently in the chair as he waited for the supervisor of the youkai police division to speak.
However, the supervisor was less than pleased with the pig youkai and had to keep from snarling at the man “do you know why you are here?”
“No sir” he replied.
Again, he withheld a fierce snarl. How he wished this were the feudal era again “do you know what I have on my desk?” he spoke stoically.
Looking at the folder sitting on the desk the pig inwardly smiled. He had been doing the school gig for nearly 5 years and looked like he was finally going to be promoted and get to leave that crummy high school. Seriously, being a high school constable was beneath him and not what he signed up for when he had joined the police force. Speaking calmly, he shook his head “no sir”.
The supervisor opened the folder “what I have is a complaint from a very angry mother”.
“Sir, if I may” he interrupted quickly, suddenly afraid of where this was going “the principal has been involved when there were complaints and if that is the complaint from that boy…Kevin’s mother, then it has already been dealt with by the principal in a meeting they had”.
“Be quiet” he said, finally allowing the snarl to escape “I have already read all about it. Now, shall we go over the multiple errors that were done both by you and the school?”
Gulping, he gave a quiet nod knowing that this youkai wouldn’t accept no for an answer. Even if the youkai across from him was his supervisor in the police world it didn’t matter because amongst the youkai community he was the western ruler, Sesshoumaru Taisho, and he could over rule the chief at any time.
“You gave a gr.12 student a ticket for disturbance” the taiyoukai spoke as he looked at the ticket “you put the wrong date and therefore reissued the ticket with the correct date” he glanced at the pig “if we were only to look at that part it would have been a good work” placing the ticket down he then picked up the letter “however if we look at what the boy’s mother wrote it was anything but good work considering it was a day later when you rewrote the ticket and you even went to their home to give it”.
A knock on the door drew Sesshoumaru’s attention “enter”.
The youkai pig turned around to see a flea youkai enter the room and he paled. Myoga…chief of police. Suddenly he was wishing he could take back ever writing that ticket.
Myoga bounced over and landed on the table “have I missed anything, Taisho?”
Sesshoumaru shook his head “we were just about to discuss”.
The flea nodded before looking at the constable in question “I want to stress that this has become a very serious situation and your job is on the line here”.
If he could have paled more he would have. He then glared and stood up “I have done nothing wrong!”
Sesshoumaru shot him a sharp look “SIT DOWN!” he roared, watching as the pig nearly ended up sitting on the floor in his haste. He then stood up while pulling out another, thicker, file from his drawer and slammed it down on his desk almost squashing the chief. He, however, didn’t care “in this folder are multiple complaints against you from other students’ parents!”
Myoga sighed, “the court date has just been set for early December and the mother is bringing a lawyer”.
“Lawyer?” the constable said confused and worried. It was just a ticket! One would normally go to their court date if they plead guilty for their tickets then they just paid whatever the court said. If they plead not guilty then another court date was set so they could defend themselves.
“Yes, apparently the lawyer is offering her service for free” the flea answered, “she has seen many of your cases and she too has had enough of seeing these tickets coming into the court room. The tickets are unreasonable and wasting government time and money”.
He gasped, “I stayed within guidelines!”
“Not this time” Sesshoumaru spoke, voice deadly calm “according to the school report this happened while the student, Kevin, was in his food class the day before the prom” he read off the school’s report “a teacher, one not even teaching that class, was called to deal with the student. She, however, was in a meeting and you went. Now as you walked down the hall you met up with her. Is this correct?”
“Yes sir” he replied, nervously “she finished off her meeting and came up to the classroom”.
“Indeed” the taiyoukai growled “if this teacher showed up, why didn’t you leave? She had been called to deal with the student initially so you were not needed” ignoring the now blathering idiot in front of him, he continued “the student was then called out of the room before being taken to the office where he was later cuffed by an officer that had been called” he looked up at the constable “tell me, was it necessary to cuff a 17 year old boy?”
“Well..uum..” the pig could feel himself beginning to sweat “he is a big boy”.
“You are a youkai, he is human” Sesshoumaru stated, “he is a student and you are a constable. How was he a threat?” not bothering to wait for an answer he continued “he complained that the cuffs were tight, nothing was done. Instead of his mother being called and told of what was happening his grandmother was called, why?”
“She lives only 5minutes away from the school” the constable replied, shifting in his seat.
Myoga shook his head “that does not matter and is a poor excuse. I know she is the emergency contact, but the mother must be called before calling the grandmother. That is just common sense. However, that part will be blamed on the school”.
Before the pig could make another excuse, the taiyoukai continued “when the grandmother arrived she found her grandson in cuffs. When the cuffs were removed, it was found that the boy’s wrists were extremely red. The grandmother was understandably upset by this discovery and when asked if his cuffs had been checked by both cop and teacher, she had been told they had been. A week later during an interview with his mother and grandmother the teacher was again asked and gave a different answer, saying they hadn’t”.
Myoga stared at the cop from his place on the desk “this ticketing is becoming quite an issue with the parents. In two weeks, you managed to issue nearly 44 tickets. Not even cops on patrol issue that many in a month! And you are in a school!”
Setting the folder down Sesshoumaru picked up another piece of paper “there was another issue with the same student. You gave him a ticket when he was in gr.11. According to his statement he had a spare at the end of the day and went to leave. He forgot his coat in his locker on one of the last days of school so he returned to get it where he ran into you and you gave him a ticket for trespassing” seriously this sounded as nothing more than a cop on a power high “I spoke with the boy’s mother on the phone and also heard from her that when you gave him that ticket he had his friend beside him, but you did not ticket him. Why?”
“I..uh”.
“It would make sense that if you are going to ticket a student for something as ridiculous as returning to his school during his spare to get his coat on one of the last days of school while with his friend you should ticket that friend as well” the western lord replied “tell me do you have something against this student?”
Shaking his head, the pig constable answered “no!”
“Though I don’t have details on every single ticket written, judging from the few tickets I’ve looked at I can tell you have been writing tickets just to write tickets” Sesshoumaru said, calmly. Inside he was furious over the matter. Cops were meant to protect the people and keep them in line when they start to get out, which was why they did tickets. On the other hand, the constable before him was simply using tickets as a way to flaunt his authority around and to bully “I’ve also been told that a student’s friend got ticketed as well for trespassing…” his eyes narrowed “for helping an old woman across the street and he had never stepped foot on school property, but on the sidewalk next to the school”
“That’s not entirely true, sir” he gulped once more. He was sweating profusely now, but before he could defend why he wrote that ticket his lord held a hand out to stop him.
“He was ticketed simply for not crossing the right way” golden eyes flashed red, he seriously hated idiocy and right now he was dealing with a big one “that student’s family was so upset they pulled him out and now he goes to a different school”.
Myoga sighed, “because of all the idiotic reasons tickets being issued parents aren’t feeling confident in the school. Even students who have never caused problems have gotten a ticket by you. This case with the student Kevin is being taken very seriously and the parents and grandparents are questioning our ability as leaders of the justice system”.
“Constable” Sesshoumaru said, watching as the youkai had begun to visibly shake “turn in your badge. You are suspended while we do a review. Your job is on the line”.
He wanted to fight back, but he knew he couldn’t. This decision made wasn’t only made by chief of police, but by the western lord. Quietly and slowly he stood up while taking his badge off his shirt. Walking over to the desk he placed it next to his chief before leaving the room.
Myoga sighed once again “what a hassle this issue has become”.
“Indeed” Sesshoumaru replied, “you, however, were not needed for this meeting”.
“True, but I am the chief and I have to talk with you” he replied, suddenly sounding frustrated “you know Ayame from the canine unit?”
The taiyoukai thought for a moment about the wolf youkai who was head of the canine unit. She was a feisty wolf, but she had a knack of training the low level canine youkai for police work. Giving a nod, he allowed the flea to continue.
“Last year she began training that litter of hanyou pups that were born” he began explaining, “the training is going well for all of them except one”.
“Then give it to someone who wants it” he replied, simply.
Myoga shook his head “that is the problem, this one is very aggressive and it’s just over a year old”.
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes “then put it down”.
“Ayame not blaming the dog for its hostility” he informed “she couldn’t understand why the whole litter was doing so well except for the one so she set up surveillance and found that kids passing by were throwing rocks at him and the men of the canine unit were bullying him because he’s a runt”.
“I trust those men have been dealt with?” he growled.
Myoga nodded “of course, but this pup is proving difficult to train now. He is untrusting and snaps at anyone who walks by”.
It seemed like a no brainer. If the canine was aggressive enough to snap at people and refused training, then it had to be put down. If this were the case, then the flea youkai would have just done so without bringing it to his attention. After all it was not the first time they have had to put down a canine because they weren’t safe.
“Why are you bringing this to my attention?” he asked.
“I wanted to let you know that we are bringing in a constable 2nd class from the human division” the flea replied “her name is Kagome Higurashi. She’s just begun working with domestic canines and her chief is amazed at how well she can control just a normal canine. We figured we’d give her a chance to see if she can handle this pup. It’ll be his last chance since nothing else has worked”
Sesshoumaru nodded “very well. When does she come in?”
“She’ll be here tomorrow afternoon” he answered “I was hoping to place her under your care while she is in our division”.
Eyes narrowed, he stood up from his desk “I am not a babysitter, you will allow Ayame to deal with her since they will both be in the canine unit”.
“I know that makes sense, but chief Kaede wouldn’t even let us borrow Higurashi if I couldn’t promise that she would have the best protection available” the flea replied nervously “you see, Higurashi is a miko, so I had to promise chief Kaede that you as lord of the west would be there to watch over her”
Times had changed and hatred towards the humans and youkai had practically been erased. Still, mikos and hoshis were another story. There were still many youkais out there that feared or hated those humans and would kill them without a second thought just so they could be rid of one less human that could destroy them.
Five hundred years ago, Sesshoumaru, lord of the west, truly did despise humans. If any approached him either trying to kill him because he was a youkai or not realizing, he was a youkai and asking for directions…he killed them. He had always felt that humans were beneath him, but then during one battle with another youkai he had been injured and left unable to move. During that time a little girl beaten and bruised had happened upon him.
He had bared his fangs at her to scare her away, but while she had flinched she hadn’t left. It didn’t take long to realize the girl couldn’t speak as day after day she left food for him, but never spoke to him. One time she had come with cooked fish, water, and some fresh bruises. When he had asked about them her only answer had been a smile.
Shortly after he had regained the ability to move and had met up with his retainer, the smell of blood and wolves had been heavy in the air. Figuring it was a bunch of wolf youkai that had managed to attack a village, he was going to ignore. As he had been ready to leave the sudden scent of the little girl invaded his nose…along with her blood. Quickly he had followed the scent to find her a corpse on the forest floor. Noticing the direction she was running in it didn’t take a genius to figure out she had been running to him. Running to him to protect her from the attack of the wolves.
A few hundred years prior when his father had died he had been left a sword that was said to be able to bring the dead back to life. However, the young lord had never bothered to try to see if it was true. Remembering how this child had never feared him he had decided to test the sword and used it on the girl.
She had come back to life and he had left her to do what she wanted. Without any hesitation or thinking at all she had left what remained of her village and began following him around. They had many adventures together, she had learned to talk again, and by the time she became an adult he had lost a lot of the hatred he held for humans. At least he had started giving them a chance.
Then when a human male had expressed interest in her, Sesshoumaru had become angry at the thought of someone touching her so intimately. Without any thought, he had taken her for his own and she had been so happy with him. She had become pregnant with his pup and he found that he was excited. He hadn’t cared that the pup would be hanyou, only thing that he cared about was that it came from her.
He could remember that day as if it was yesterday. He had been patrolling his lands when she had gone into labor. Later he would learn from the midwife that all had appeared to be well. Suddenly there had been a great deal amount of blood and before they could figure out what was happening she had passed away. Wasting no time, they had cut her open in hopes of saving the infant. Instead what they pulled out was a lifeless corpse of their lord’s heir with the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around its neck.
“Sesshoumaru, will you look after her?”
Giving his head a mental shake, the taiyoukai looked at the flea. At the thought of his lost female he knew she would want him to help. She had been such a caring and loving woman. Since her death, he often tried to act, as she would have wanted him to behave, so replied “if there is no choice. Should she cause any trouble she will be returned and the canine put down”.
Myoga gave a nod “understood, I doubt there will be a problem. When she arrives, I will have her shown to your office and you can show her around”.
“Has she ever worked with the youkai division before?” he asked. He never recalled hearing the name Higurashi before, but it was possible she helped with on call situations. If she had some previous experience with youkai, then it would make things easier.
“I believe she has been to a few confrontations that involves humans and youkai” he answered “but I’ve been reassured she can handle herself”
Sesshoumaru nodded and stood up “I will be going to the canine facility” he grabbed his coat from the back of his chair “I wish to see this pup”.
Myoga could only watch as the lord of the west left and sighed. The lad had become softer since meeting the human child he later took as his wife. Before her he was a ruthless killer that killed just to show he was powerful. After her, he killed merely to protect her. When she died he killed ruthlessly in his anger until one of the elder youkai pointed out that she would not have wanted him to kill innocents because he grieved for her. That fact had done a great deal in calming the despaired taiyoukai.
Still, hundreds of years later and it was obvious that he still mourned for the human wife that had died so long ago. The flea shook his head as he hopped down from the taiyoukai’s desk and left the room. He could only hope that one day the western lord would open his heart again.
Sesshoumaru left the youkai headquarters and got into his vehicle. Turning the ignition on he put his gear into reverse and pulled out of parking. Changing the gear to drive he then drove out of where they kept the police vehicles and drove down the street. He turned his radio to the frequency required to hear if there were any troubles that required his assistance. The canines were kept just outside the local airport for convenience should they be needed for a helicopter fly by. Since the airport was just on the edge of the city it was also convenient place for training. While there were civilians around there were a far fewer amount than if they had been located in the city. True they wanted the dogs used to being around civilians so they knew the difference between working and regular people, but they wanted a spot where they could train the dogs with as few distractions as possible.
“Attention, call for supervisor Taisho” a woman’s voice boomed over his radio.
Picking up his intercom piece he replied “Taisho here, go ahead”.
“Presence is requested at address 1536-73st, possible homicide”.
“Explain” he ordered.
The woman answered, “2 youkai killed in youkai district, 1 female, 1 male. Possible riot at hand with the families”.
“Understood” he spoke as he turned on his siren “eta is 5 minutes”.
“Yes sir”.
Stopping at the four way he looked up to read the street and avenue was on. Seeing he happened to not be far off from where he had to go he smirked. Pushing a button that turned on his siren he began to go through the red light and speed down the street. He watched as other vehicles hurried to get out of his way. Even though he was blocks away he could feel the youkais fluctuating their powers in conflict. Technology had advanced and because of vehicles humans were now faster. However, vehicles only went so fast and for a youkai, cars were still slower than actual youkai power. The means of transportation were created in the helping to make both species more equal.
Sensing a spike in power, the taiyoukai knew he’d have to get there immediately to prevent bloodshed. Quickly he pulled the cop car to the side of the road, turning the siren and engine off, he got out and flared out his youki, which formed a cloud under his feet and took him into the air. He sailed over buildings and a few houses.
“I’ll kill you!”
Glancing down he saw 2 groups of youkai looking ready to shed blood. Taking a closer look, he saw that one race were dragon while the other were snake youkai. Seeing the leaders of the two clans were about to attack each other he then dropped in between them.
A bird youkai officer that had been trying to maintain the peace between the two clans sighed in relief when he saw his superior. No one would dare dream of fighting while he was present. His superior was still lord and master over the youkai of the west and none that were alive hundreds of years ago would ever forget just how sadistic he could be should he be truly angered.
The taiyoukai stared at the dragon youkai. Each race of youkai had a difference in strength. While inu youkai were considered on top with dragon just underneath. Snake youkai were further down the line, but when comparing them to a bird youkai they were stronger, much like in the regular animal kingdom.
“His s-s-s-son let my daughter be killed!” the snake shouted.
“Be quiet” Sesshoumaru ordered as he turned and walked into the house where he could smell blood. Upon entering the house, he could see blood on the walls of the hall and on a door. He saw a blood handprint and walked to the room. Looking inside he saw the mangled form of a female snake youkai along with other officers that were documenting the scene. Entering the room, he walked over to the corpse and looked at the coroner who was a pig youkai “what have you learned so far?”
The pig coroner looked up from the female body he had been examining “it’s looking like she was beaten to death. She has multiple broken bones, post mortem bruising and no defensive wounds”.
Sesshoumaru looked around “where is the male?”
“He’s in the next room” was the reply “he was stabbed by what looks like his own ancient weapon”.
The taiyoukai nodded. Every youkai that had been alive for more than even 200 years had their own weapon they had used back in the time when battles were common. Now however large full-blown battles were extremely rare and the weapons were now kept locked up safe in their homes as keepsakes. He, himself, had 2 swords tenseiga and toukijin that he had used in the feudal era.
Taking a walk, he entered the nearby room where there were other officers documenting the scene. The taiyoukai focus on the male that was standing unmoving with his back to him. Looking at the form he could see that the dragon’s body was slightly hunched and he walked around to get a better angle. Seeing from the side it was easy to see that the sword was propped against the floor and the wall to make it so it wouldn’t fall over while the male lay impaled standing. After being there he managed to piece together what had happened.
“This is a murder-suicide” he declared.
“That was the conclusion I came to as well”.
Turning his head, Sesshoumaru watched as a wolf youkai entered the room. The wolf was a detective that wore blue jeans, a black muscle shirt while having his long hair done up in a ponytail.
A long time ago the wolf and his tribe killed humans to eat. His wolves being the ones that killed his mate when she had been a child. Safe to say they had not gotten along in the beginning and it wasn’t until they met again a hundred years later did they begin to build a sort of friendship. Both shared the pain of losing someone they cared about that was human. He had lost his mate in childbirth while the wolf leader had told him he had met a human woman. In the end the wolf leader had managed to get the woman to agree to mate with him and she had been in the early stages of pregnancy when he had gone out hunting. She had been lured out of their cave by a crying wolf cub where she was then slaughtered a bird of paradise youkai. The pack had mourned the loss of their leader’s mate and future heir and in order to honor her memory they had killed the entire race of youkai. To this day, they continued to protect humans to keep her memory alive.
The two youkai had created a bond through each other’s mutual upset over the tragic death of their mates and pups. While the western lord had not found a person, he was willing to mate with again the wolf leader ended up mating with another tribe’s female. Currently she was the canine trainer that he was going to see.
“Detective Kouga Takashi” Sesshoumaru stated.
The blue-eyed wolf grinned, “I heard you were going to see Ayame about that hanyou pup so what are you doing here?”
“I was informed my assistance was needed” he replied as he glanced around the room “however it appears that information was incorrect since you are here”.
It was true that while the western lord was head of the youkai police division and lord of all youkai, he was not needed for a simple case like this. Kouga was more than capable of handling such situations. So why was he called? The taiyoukai turned his sites over to the wolf youkai and narrowed his eyes.
“Sharp as always” Kouga chuckled “however you’ve been too busy to answer your personal phone and I kept missing you at the station so I figured I’d have you come to where I was”.
With a slight growl that he had been interrupted for nothing he waited for the reason he was called. After a minute it was clear he had to ask, “what is it you wanted?”
“Was wondering when the next time we can meet up for coffee was?” the wolf asked, “like I said it’s been a while since we’ve gotten to talk without involving work”.
“Tomorrow at noon” he replied, “after that I will have a partner with me”.
Kouga’s eyes widened “a partner?”
In all the years he had known the western lord he’d never known the dog to have a partner. Ever since the youkai division was created most youkai worked independently if they were stronger. The weaker ones worked in teams like the humans did, but Sesshoumaru was the strongest of every youkai so he never had a partner. It was said that if there ever came a time when they would have to take the lord down for whatever reason it would take the whole youkai cop division to even get a chance to subdue him.
“Myoga is bringing in a human officer to try and deal with the pup your mate is working with” he explained “according to him she has a talent with canines and the only way the chief of the human division would allow her to work with us is if she was under my protection”.
Kouga smiled wide as he remembered hearing about it from his mate “I remember Ayame talking about it. I know your still not a big fan of humans, but you’ll like Kagome”.
That perked Sesshoumaru’s curiosity “you know her?”
“Yeah, I’ve known her since she was a kid” was the answer as the wolf’s eyes became somber “I know you can come off as a cold, stick up the ass kind of guy, but do me a favour and don't hurt her”.
“You question my honor?” The taiyoukai growled “I would never harm a female!”
Kouga threw his hands up in defence “not physically and I'm not saying it to be disrespectful to you it’s just…” He sighed and put his hands down “I can't go into details, but I just want to let you know, she's been through a lot and just don't be the ass I know you can be. She doesn't respond well to negativity. Praise her when she does something good and don't be too hard on her for minor faults I guess is what I'm getting at”.
“Hnn” he gave a nod “I will make an effort to make her feel welcomed then, as a favour to you”.
“Thanks, that's all I can I ask of you”.
.
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Author note: good start? yes/no? Kagome will be in the next chapter.