A/N – Edited from my awesome beta: DarkSacredJewelXoX

The Rat

Chapter One – Fire in Ice

The room was on fire. Under the dark moon and over the small town with little houses, there was a girl…no, not a girl or a woman, but an enticing and seductive snake which hovers over a glistening dark red pool. The area was quiet, and filled with darkness, like a ghost town, except there were not ghosts…just the living dead. And that's why she was here…she was here to finish off the last of the living.

'In the town of Sasaguri, silence the babies cry and send back a token of its death.'

Before the fire took over, she quickly bent down and pulled out the army knife hidden under her skirt. The metal's cool surface left the warmth of her legs as she pulled it free from its leather clasp. Swiftly she lifted the body from its hair, and swung the knife across to cut the strands of its hair. Pocketing the patch of hair, she ran out from the baby's room and into the dark streets.

Once she was outside in the dark, a gust of wind blew by and her long black tresses flew across to cast her expression in the shadow. Her heels clicked loudly each time they hit the pavement, because there was no need to hide its noise, for there wasn't any living in site. The wind blew harder as she felt her black trench coat catch the wind and flew behind like a cape. The feeling of the icy chill did not sway her composure. However cold she may be…she had the fire inside. Not the cold of the wind, but the cold of another dead body in her conscious.

This was her job though…this was her life.

As the wind settled, so did her hair and when she looked up, a man in black stood before her. He had the tall, dark and handsome feature that any woman would drool over, but this chemical reaction did not affect her. She knew he was just as sly as she was, and the appearance was a deception from the true self.

The smell of smoke lingered in the air, but it wasn't coming from the fire house behind, it was coming from the shortened cigarette held between the tips of the man's appendages. How she hated that smell. To be able to do a job as hers, it would make sense as to why life is so precious for a person. So why would anyone kill themselves slowly every time their lips kissed a cigarette?

With a motion of a hand, she moved forward…so close that she felt the heat of his body. She silently prayed that his talk would be quick, so she could get away from the polluted air and get on with her next task.

"Do you have it?" he started. His voice was cool, even with the blazing fire destroying life just ten feet away.

She gave an irritated sigh and retrieved the hair from her pocket. He fisted the hair once she threw it into the palm of his hand.

Re-opening his hand, he inspected his agent's work. Giving a disappointed sigh he spoke, "You know…I do expect better than this, Kagome."

"Well, Naraku, if you want me to bring back a body part instead, I'm happy to run back into that burning building to get it for you. But then again, you'd be sacrificing your best agent." she replied sarcastically.

Naraku gave a soft laugh, and muttered the words "smart mouth" under his breath. "You realize that because of this, you won't get that bonus reward my client offered."

"Listen Naraku…I'm smart, I'm good at what I do, and I know when I'm being tricked. If that woman wanted her own baby with that bastard to die, I'm sure she'd want it gone, but I highly doubt she would want to see a part of her mailed to her house. You just wanted a part of that body to add to your sick collection."

Naraku snickered, "Very smart Kagome, you've figured me out." He neared closer to Kagome's lips, and whispered, "But that's why you're my best agent, you've got the skills, and you've got the brains that bitch of a mother gave you." The closeness and smoked breath did not wither Kagome's composure, as she stood still and continued to listen. Naraku grabbed her arms and dug his nails deeper into the fabric of her coat, his lips lightly grazed over hers. "You have the whole package for this job, Kagome, but if you dare act smart with me again, or call my human collection twisted…you just might find a part of you hanging on my wall. Besides…my hobby isn't so sick if people we're to look at what you would do for a couple thousand bills." He pushed her away, and stepped back.

Kagome took a deep breath, and tried to refill her lungs with clean air. Then she simply held out her hand, waiting to receive what she came out for.

With a smile, Naraku retrieved a brick of thousand dollar bills from the pocket of his cloak. He threw the money in the air, and Kagome caught it with out hesitation.

Naraku turned around and opened the driver side's door, and was about to drive away until Kagome spoke up.

"Just remember this Naraku. I do it for your clients…and the money. Whatever you want on the side of the job isn't part of my contract."

And he left.

Kagome pocketed the cash into her coat, and wiped off an invisible dust on her sleeve. Inspecting herself, she noticed a drop of blood on her boot. It reminded her of when she kicked the babe to silence, when she saw the intense amount of blood seep from the babe's mouth and unto the carpet.

Without looking back, Kagome walked down the dark streets of Sasaguri…never to return.

With the baby's silent cry, all that was audible was the sound of dying wood.