Tasogare Akatsuki 'Dusk to Dawn'
The Morning After
Chapter 2 The Morning After
Grim R.
The morning was
growing stale and the freshness of dawn was now lost to the bustling streets. A
heavy mist cloaked the city, while rain beat down on the hard pavement. Crowds of
people herded along the Avenues like cattle, set to their destination and
ignoring all else.
Mingled with
the anonymous crowds was a girl that seemed out of place. Her pace was slow and
lingering, and her movement was out of sync with the sea of people.
She wore a dark
heavy coat, a short black skirt, combat boots, fishnets stockings, and a black
T-shirt that said it all in one word Hakai (destruction). There was no color to
her outfit, but it went nicely with her dead complexion.
Entwined in her
waves of dark hair were headphones blasting out a tune that fit the girl’s
mood, and the worlds.
"Hey
now…all you sinners…put your lights on…put your lights on.
Hey now…all you
lovers…put your lights on…put your lights on.
Hey now…all you
killers…put your lights on…put your lights on.
Hey now…all you
children…leave your lights on…better leave your lights on.
Cuz there's a
monster…living under my bed…whispering in my ear.
And there's and
angel…with her hand on my head…she say I got nothing to fear.
And there's a
darkness…living deep in my soul…still got a purpose to serve.
So let your
light shine…deep into my hole…god don't let me lose my nerve…don't let me lose
my nerve."
The tune was
sad, but the melodic guitar riffs comforted her soul.
But Kiri had a
place to be.
So as far off
forgotten church-bells tolled 12 o'clock, she shoved her hands into her
pockets, and quickened her thr through the falling rain.
Rays of
sunlight broke through the mists of April, but shadows still followed Kiri. And
no matter how high she turup tup the volume of her serenading headphones, she
could not escape her wandering mind.
Time was slow
and it seemed a thousand forevers before Kiri turned into the alley. Tromping
her combat boots through more puddles, she came to the back door hidden between
two dumpsters. She looked around cautiously before slowly opening the steel
door and entering the secretive room.
The room was
large, open, and full of life. Quickly Kiri shut the door and left behind the
rainy mists of the day. It was an abandoned warehouse sectioned off by cubicles
and half-finished walls. The warehouse was infested with about a dozen people,
all Mutants of the Underground.
Some sat
together talking, others toyed around with what little stolen equipment the group
had: 2 computers, 4 stereos, and 1 big screen TV. But being around lunchtime
most sat in the main living area eating, talking, just hanging out waiting for
the days work to begin.
* * *
Afternoon rays
of sun broke through heavy curtains, spilling golden light on a sleeping lump
of blankets.
The scene was a
normal bedroom for a Babylon like this lump. A desk adorned with a computer,
big flat screen TV with DVD player, a kick-ass stereo system powerful enough to
blast out your eardrums, and a dresser decorated with awards and metalsothiothing important, just shit the rich give to the rich for being rich.
Stirring from
slumber, the blankets ruffled and an arm left the warmth of the covers to feel
around the bed environment. The lump then yawned and sat up, revealing that it
was not actually a lump, but a young man.
He sat erect in
his oversized bed, blinking away sleep, and then glaring angrily at the bright
windows. The man scratched his head of silver locks and ya aga again. Looking
around his dim bedroom, he was glad to see the normal furniture and items, that
the clock read 11:55, and that there was no nameless girl sleeping in his bed.
Rubbing his
temples, he remembered last nights partying. Last night had not been a good
night; too much stress and that 'bitch'….He
didn't want to k abk about her any further. He remembered getting to the club,
the music pulsing through his entire being, talking a bit with the normal crowd
(a couple of friend he didn't get to see much, and a cult of swooning girls),
then hitting the drinks.
He had had WAY
too much to drink, so what did he do next? Dance, he only danced when he drank.
Through his hangover more embarrassing memories came, like more drinking, and
then that…..'Oh no’ he sighed at the
memory of that anonymous girl, and WHAT they had done. Well she wasn't in his
bed now, so just fooling around isn't all that bad.
Groggily he
rose from his bed and wandered into his bathroom. Ever yawning, he opened the
medicine cabinet and downed many painkillers to kill a rat. Closing the cabinet
door he took a good look at himself.
He was meth
ah
a 21-year-old Babylon, with long silver hair and a tattooed face. His friends
had originally teased him for his crescent moon and tiger strips, but soon they
too wanted personalized markings. The man he saw in the mirror was tired, hung
over, and bored with life. He had no desire to kill himself he just needed more
excitement. The world loses its desire when you can buy everything you want.
Because of this, his recent teenage years had been spent partying, drinking,
drugging it up, and just living recklessly. But now he had an added
responsibility, he had authority, he had a job to do, and he would lead his
people well.
*
* *
In a solitary
corner Kiri sat ignoring everyone, and engrossed in her book. She was seated in
a large overstuffed armchair, sitting sideways with her fishnet legs draped
over one arm of the chair, as she leaned against the other.
Her book was a
large hard-back, with midnight blue bindings, and the title &;The;The
Damned" inscribed in gold on the cover. Kiri was fixated on the pages, her
headphones and Walkman laid on the small coffee table before her chair, and she
didn't even acknowledge the presence of the man coming towards her.
He had ventured
from the rest of the group and took a seat next to Kiri on the couch adjacent
to her chair. As he sat, he placed his half-filled soda can on the coffee
table, crossed his arms across his chest, and leaned back on the sofa.
He was dressed in
some cut-up, baggy, jeans, a tan muscle shirt with no sleeves, and a red
bandana. The crossing of his arms had accentuated the muscles he had, and one
of his biceps had "yokai" tattooed across it. Locks of silver-white
bangs fell to his forehead from under his bandana.
Without taking
her eyes from her book, Kiri greeted the man.
"Hello,
Inuyasha." Inuyasha leaned forward over his knees, shifting his weight to
his elbows. He smirked at her cockily, his golden eyesght ght and teasing.
"So you do
speak?" Kiri turned the page of her book nonchalantly. "Of course I
do."
"Oh
yeah." Inuyasha smiled, "Of course, I forgot, its just eye-contact
you avoid." Kiri shot Inuyasha a look of ‘watch it’, but he could see the
playful affection in her eyes.
Inuyasha was
one of her closet friends, he was Naraku's best friend, and had been a Mutant
of the Underground longer than almost anybody. He was the younger estranged son
to Inutaisho, the once great leader of the Elite. Conceived from an affair with
a lesser woman in social standards, his family had turned their back on him.
Being rejected by his only family after his father’s death, he turned to the
Underground looking for acceptance, and revenge. He had been a bastard 16 year
old fending for himself in the world, and so Naraku took him in, and he'd been
a loyal second-in-command ever since.
She herself had
been living in the city for only about two years. She had no family, friends,
and was alone in an unfamiliar city of cold hearts. After she had met Naraku the
Mutants had welcomed her warmly, under much pressure from Naraku.
Kiri had
returned to her book until Inuyasha leaned even closer, and with his finger
lifted the cover to read the title. He widened his eyes and smiled at the
intimidating name.
"Why do
you read things like that?" Inuyasha returned to his normal seating
position. Without looking at him, Kiri replied blankly.
"Because I
like it."
"Reading
vampire crap like that..it..it makes you seem creepy." Kiri did not move
her head but stared up intensely at him, expression blank. Inuyasha lifted a
gesturing hand.
"See what
I mean." Kiri's harsh stare broke into a genuine smile. Inuyasha joined
her smiling.
"Now
that’s better, your so much more attractive when you smile….and less
scary." Kiri shot him another *look* and then smiled again. She was then
distracted by some movement behind Inuyasha and pointed in the same direction.
"So you'd
rather I be like her." Inuyasha turned and lo beh behind him, a girl was
walking towards them. She wore a pink tube top that was a couple sizes too
small, and a pair of flare jeans that were so tight they looked like the
material had just been glued to her skin. Her hair was up in a curly ponytail,
and her face was painted with blush, red lipstick, and purple eye shadow.
Inuyasha turned back to Kiri, and gave her a frustrated,
"No."
He sounded sarcastic, but she could tell he was serious. The Barbie doll of a
girl sat down as close to Inuyasha as possible, and gave him the most convincing
seductive look she could.
"Hi
Inuyasha." He looked at her and
tried to be polite.
"Hello
Kikyou."
The off and on
dating history between these two was common knowledge. They were the usual
superficial breakup-makeup couple, one week they were madly in love, the next,
they loathed each other. It was the normal scenario w the they would 'breakup',
then one would realize their terrible mistake, and try to gain back the
relationship, while they other played hard to get. They did it for attention, they
did it for love, they did it for sex. The two didn't make any sense, but
everyone had gotten use to it, and ignored their little game.
Kiri did not
return to her book, she had something more interesting to watch. It was
Inuyasha's turn to play hard to get, and Kiri could tell he needed, no, wanted
some help.
"So
whatcha doing tonight?" Kikyou scooted closer leaning in the Inuyasha so
even more cleavage showed. "I don't have any plans, and if you need some
company, we could *do*
something." She emphasized that "do" in a very immoral way.
Kiri saw
Inuyasha trying hard not to give in to the temptation, and being bored and
morbidly fascinated, she thought she'd help him. She never liked Kikyou.
"Hi..Kikyou."
Kikyou glared at Kiri for interrupting, like a cat glares at a dog.
"Oh hi,
didn't see you there." She was snobby all right, but with the trampy way
she dressed, she really had no reason to be.
“Of course.”
Kiri smiled at her in a heated stare.
Kikyou turned to Inuyasha openopened her mouth as she was about to say
something, but Kiri again stepped in.
“So what are
you doing here?” Kikyou ld atd at her very irritated.
“What do you
mean?” Kiri tried to look innocent…but it was hard.
“Oh nothing. I
just thought you actually had to be a member to hang around here, not just a
bed warmer.” Kikyou’s eyes widened farther than anyone ever thought a girl
could, and Inuyasha tried very hard to suppress a laugh.
“Well, then
what are you doing here? If I can’t hang around, why should Naraku’s bitch be able
to?” Inuyasha looked cautiously at Kiri, he knew kikyou had gone TO FAR. He
tried to intervene, “Uhh, girls.” Kiri harshly interrupted him.
“I was actually
sworn into the Underground, and I didn’t sleep my way to get where I am. And I
don’t think Naraku would like to hear you say such harsh things, watch what you
say, you might get cut.” Kikyou could only stare in anger at Kiri. Without a
word or a comeback, she got up and left high-heels frantically clicking on the
ground. After watching Kikyou’s swinging
ass for a moment or two, Inuyasha turned back to Kiri with a smirk on his face.
bsp;bsp;
“Why are you so
mean to her?” Kiri didn’t even take a moment to think before replying.
“I’m sorry if you
‘love’ her, but I think she is a sluty bitch who would sleep with any man to
get power and authority. I think the only reason she’s with you is because
Naraku’s taken and your second in command. When she’s got you wrapped around
her finger sas aas as much power as she can get.”
Inuyasha
blinked a couple of times. “Oh.”
“I’m sorry for
being brutally honest, but that’s what I think.” Inuyasha dropped his surprised
expression and again leaned back against the couch. With a cocky smile he
rested his hands behind his head with his elbows sticking out.
“Well, you
can’t blame her wanting to be with me….I am pretty powerful.” Kiri rolled hers
eyes and retuned to her book.
As she settled
back into her overstuffed chair, positioning her legs and wiggling a lot, her
minni-skirt started to rid higher up her thighs. Almost to her butt, most of
her fishnet-stocking legs were exposed. Feeling like she was being watched,
Kiri looked at Inuyasha. He was staring at her and she followed his gaze to her
almost completely exposed thighs.
“Inuyasha!”
“What?” He
moved his gaze to her face. Kiri quickly stood up adjusting her skirt and
mumbling angrily at Inuyasha.
“Hentai.”
“Hey, I wasn’t
looking at your butt.” Kiri glared at Inuyasha.
“Oh really,
then what ‘were’ you staring at?” Inuyasha leaned forward and slightly lifted
up her skirt with the tip of his finger. Kiri slapped his hand away, and was
about to yell at him some more when she was cut off.
“How’d you get
that?” Kiri looked at him curiously. “What the fuck do you mean?” Inuyasha
pointed to her thigh.
“How’d you get
that big bruise on your leg?” Kiri looked down at her leg and quickly lifted
the rim of her skirt to see for herself. There on the side of her thigh was a
large purple bruise. Kiri swallowed hard and looked back at Inuyasha tryio
so
seem casual.
“I fell.”
Inuyasha’s eyes looked at her questioningly, and he knew she was lying. Kiri
became uncomfortable and defensive under his stare.
“I said I fell.”
Kiri turned away from Inuyasha and started to walk towards one of the back
rooms.
Inuyasha shook
his head and stood up. He took one more look at Kiri’s retreating figure and
started to walk back to the rest of the group, where he was warmly welcomed by
Kikyou. And gh hgh he tried to get his head back on work, and listen to his
companion’s opinions on the next stage of action, he couldn’t stop thinking of
her.
It had started again, and he didn’t like it.