Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha and Co. that privilege is all Rumiko's. This plot is mine however unoriginal as it may be! =]

Chapter One The Manual of Detection

"Take this one. Oh! And that one! Take this one as well it's specially made just for you Kagome, I'm sure you'll like it." Miroku pushed several gadjets into Kagome's already full arms, preparing her for her mission at the last minute as if it would help.
Kagome made quick work of shoving the items in any number of her many pockets. She felt as if her clothes weighed as much as she did with all the gear she was now carrying. Kagome kept only one item out as she thanked him. "Give us forty minutes from the time we round the corner at the end of the street."

"Oh! Is that his latest gadjet?" Sango—her best friend and partner in their many exploits—eyed the small, flat, round shape in Kagome's hand taking interest in its reflexive surface.

"Yup!" Kagome smiled at the small insignificant-looking item.

"What's it do?" Sango's excitement over the item was quickly quelled as Kagome held it up to her face and she awaited a demonstration.

"It tells me if I need more lip stain." Kagome pinched her cheeks to add to their already flushed color and adjusted her lips with a dab of the cherry red stain she concealed in one of her many pockets.

"It's night time, who's going to be able to see your lips? And who is going to care at this hour?" Sango gave her an annoyed sigh taking her own armful of trinkets and gadjets from Miroku.

"I'll notice." Koga's unwanted presence was making their trip into the night all the more stressful.

"No one cares if you notice." Sango snapped at him in a very unladylike fashion that she was all too skilled at demonstrating.

Koga was still grumbling over not being allowed to tag along with the pair, but Kagome could care less. She trusted only one person in the field and that was Sango. However, without Koga's help at the moment they wouldn't even be here. He was their financier, at least that's what he thought he was. In reality he was their getaway driver and their temporary host and alibi. He had no idea what it was they were really doing out this late, he was led to believe this was a late night astronomical event that they were planning to record for Miroku's research. He hadn't picked up through the first week of their stay that Miroku didn't believe in research. He just did what he felt like doing when he wanted and most often with few resources and outrageous—and helpful—results.

"We need to go now or we're going to miss it." Kagome insinuated the importance of leaving in a way that would keep Koga out of the loop.

"Safety first." Miroku whispered as they turned to leave, it was his silent warning that if anything went wrong they were to use his packs—that so far they'd never had to open—which contained a plan B, whatever that meant.

Kagome pulled up the hood of her black coat covering the crim marking on her neck that was no longer hidden by her long hair. 'Once a criminal always a criminal' wasn't that the truth. Her shapeless top hid her more feminine features but her black trousers—which Koga claimed where inappropriate for her to be wearing—were tight fitting in case the need to run arose. Her boots were the best part, stopping just above her knee, they were laced tightly and holding a few of Miroku's smaller gadjets along with her favorite weapon.

Sango was close on her heels, dressed similarly only in a tan coat instead of black. Her hair was tied back with a dark ribbon its length easily hiding her own crim mark. "You know, you should really consider taking off during the winter." She muttered tersely around the chattering of her teeth.

"Maybe you should get your beau to make you a heated outfit." Kagome suggested knowing the insinuation would set Sango off on one of her episodes where she claimed there was nothing going on between her and Miroku—even when most times his offensive acts didn't occur in secrecy.

Instead she ignored the caustic tone in Kagome's voice. "Don't make me hit you." She hadn't denied the accusations like she normally did, which took away all the fun. Aside from the nearly silent splash of their boots on the gritty slush that covered the walkway nothing around them gave away their positions and when they rounded the corner Kagome barely heard the carriage pull away from the curb where they had left it. "You have no room to talk with the way Koga looks at you, and what about those hushed conversations you two have in the back sitting room? That's hardly proper."

Kagome felt the small giggle rise up through her throat and when it escaped her lips a cloud of white puffed in front of her face.
"Sometimes Koga needs a little convincing. He wants to marry me, you know. I suppose he doesn't approve of my choices in life and thinks marrying him will change my ways."

"He doesn't even know the half of it." Sango had to laugh along despite the seriousness of their operation. "How many times has he proposed?"

"More than I feel comfortable sharing." Kagome confessed and as the house they were targeting came into view they both knew that the time for laughs had come to an end. They each pulled out their masks, the part of their costumes Koga wasn't allowed to see, and covered their eyes concealing their identities. Before nearing the gate Kagome pulled the sensor Miroku had shown her to use from her inner pocket of her coat activating it and scanning their surroundings. It wasn't a very exciting gadjet like her weapons that he had altered but it did something no weapon could. It picked up the thermal readings of the area telling her where every animal or person was and from that she knew how to safely enter the home.

Sango went to work opening the gate while she checked the house for inhabitants. It was as she had expected empty except two bodies and several mice. The gentleman of the house was out of town probably staying at his country home for the winter until the spring festivities began. The front door, that would normally be locked and guarded by a younger, less useful servant, was free of any life forms.

Once they were able to slip through the front gate and up to the front door Kagome was already ready with her next gadjet.
Sango took the thermal sensor and waited for her watching over her shoulders in quite an itching fashion. She wasn't acting normal, she seemed anxious, which under these conditions was not a good thing. Kagome pushed the clockwork gearshift into the key hole and waited on it to work its magic. "What is your problem?" She hissed at Sango grabbing her attention.

"This doesn't feel right." She was moving her body weight from foot to foot shifting her torso around to view their surroundings.

"Its fine, we'll be in and out in no time, we can't back out now. We are running out of time, we have a deadline to meet. Remember?" The gearshift had done its job and Kagome slipped it safely back inside a pocket before turning the nob and entering the house.

Sango followed her in silently after another glance behind her. The first thing they always did was leave their safety packs at the door. Miroku had instructed them to do so and in the case of an emergency they could be activated by a simple action word. 'Sit.' was all they needed to say and the packs would do their job to create a distraction and give them a chance to get out alive. What the packs actually did upon activation the girls didn't know, but Miroku had ensured them it wasn't something they needed to know. The packs would automatically disintegrate after their jobs were done leaving behind no trace of evidence.

Kagome checked the thermal sensor over Sango's shoulder and decided they were in the clear. Slipping down her hood, she passed the stairs and headed straight to the gentleman's study. A light glowed through the crack in one of the sitting room doors and Kagome carefully slipped past the room Sango tightly on her heels. The two thermal spots were in that one room, probably enjoying a night cap before bed.

The study was at the end of their current corridor and through two sitting rooms. Kagome left Sango by the door keeping guard and went to the desk to search for their prize. It wasn't in the desk and when she finally found what she was looking for it was hidden in an unlocked gun cabinet. The small wooden box was inconspicuous and really easy to access. The unlocked gun case and the simple box threw Kagome off. Opening it was her mistake. It was a clockwork box that sent out a screaming siren when she opened it and it didn't hide the item she was after in its belly.

She dropped it and it snapped shut but it hadn't been quick enough.

Heavy boots on the old wooden floors approached them and they instantly went into escape mode. Kagome concealed her face behind the over-sized hood of her coat and followed Sango who still had the sensor. She left a trail of Miroku's traps behind them hoping they wouldn't have to turn around and fight their way through them. "Kagome, we're out of running room." Sango's voice was nothing more than a hum but the words registered. She reached for the sensor and led Sango through a door.

The pounding of boots was nearing and they were running short on time anyway. There was no way they were getting the jewel tonight. Kagome had no idea where she was going, but Sango took up her job of dropping traps while Kagome tried to find a way back to the front door. There was a snap behind them and the boots came to a stop as a howl of pain killed the hush of the house. Whoever it was after them was headed to the study.

"Servant's stairs." Kagome whispered taking the black knob to a small door and forcing it open.

They flew down the first flight and came out in a large kitchen that was dead silent and vacant. Except for the metal pot that came flying at their heads. The scream of the woman throwing the pot sounded the alarm and the boots above stairs took off on the wood in greater haste.

Sango was quick to disarm the woman and leave her unscathed but tied up on the cold cement flooring. "No stopping now." She whispered and they both took off through the maze of servant quarters. Finally they found another servant's stairs that led to the large entrance. Sango was out the door first and quickly scooping up her plan B pack. Kagome was two steps behind her and one step slower than their pursuer.

The hand that clapped over the back of her neck stopped her in her tracks, pulling her off her feet and into the air like a rag doll. Her hood fell back and she was turned and pinned against a wall. The man holding her sneering at her, his eyes glowing angrily. In the dark it was hard to tell what was happening, Sango hadn't even realized her predicament and was two steps out the door when the action word hit Kagome's lips. "Sit." The rasping sound of her voice under the straining pressure made her sound like a man, but that was fine with her.

Miroku's contraption jumped to life and seemed to attack the man who held Kagome aloft. He let got of her throat to grab for the device locked around his neck, and as it pulled him to the ground she fell on top of him. Kagome landed with hard enough that her body felt rattled. She gasped watching the man struggle with the device around his neck, momentarily she wanted nothing more than to help him, until Sango rushed back in and yanked her to her feet ushering her out the door.

The device was defective, Kagome decided. The man was back up seconds later and still after them. The metal clicking that followed them was the sound of a gun. As they raced through the darkness that wasn't dark enough shots rang out. They were slow and there were long pauses between each shot but regardless of their distance by the time the third was fired, it hit its mark.

The fire that burned in Kagome's leg was enough to make her dizzy but Sango's grip on her arm and the pull of her lengthy strides kept her moving. "Red flare." Red flare for failed, green flare for pass, Miroku would respond accordingly. Sango waited till they were around a corner before sending it into the sky and then she pulled Kagome further into the darkness of the night. "We need to go to the Grandville, take cover for the night. We'll meet up with Miroku after I've rested."

"Don't be ridiculous, Koga won't allow Miroku to leave us out here without an explanation, and besides we're fine we got away." Sango slowed at last her hand dropping from Kagome's arm allowing her friend to stand on her own, but instead she crumpled.

"We got away, but not without injury." Kagome confessed and that was all Sango needed to follow orders. The Grandville was an old rundown theater, which was their planned hide out if something went wrong. Miroku would ditch Koga and come here to find them.
With Sango's help they arrived in ten minutes and Sango worked to build a fire while Kagome passed out allowing the unconsciousness to dull her pain.

(^.^)
End Chapter One
Edited, and revamped just a tiny bit!