I do not own any characters in the Inuyasha series.
Chapter One- Nonchalant Observations
'How did I get myself into this?'
Kagome thought as she pulled her skirt down for the thousandth time. She was working undercover trying to get a break on her latest case. Naraku, owner of Konota, Inc, had attracted much attention with his latest merger. So much attention that she was put on an investigation into how Naraku has become so successful so quickly. So far, Kagome has made several links to killings that made Naraku's success possible. So, here she was in a fancy new business suit walking down the hallways of Konota, Inc in the middle of the night posing as an employee who forgot some paper work.
'Ugh I shouldn't have bought a brand new suit, this sucks'
Kagome walked into the elevator pressing the button for the top floor. She didn't find anything after searching the computers in the research department. Her last hope was Naraku's office. The elevator chime sounded as the doors opened. Kagome stepped off the elevator and looked around.
Sigh 'At least nobody is here, or at least it seems that way.'
She walked forward taking in the fake plants and tacky furnishings.
'Geez, he could've at least tried to make the place look good.'
She reached the door she was looking for but froze when she heard voices coming down the hallway. She ducked inside as the voices grew in volume.
"Naraku has absolutely no mercy, I mean, he could at least give us the weekend off."
The voice had a whiny quality to it that made Kagome cringe.
"It's not like Inuta, Inc is going anywhere. From what we've found Sesshoumaru isn't going to merge with Tanaka Co. for a while. Maybe not even then, Totosai still hasn't promised anything. He might not even merge. Old man just loves to play games. Naraku is so impatient it gets on my nerves…"
The voices faded off down the hall. Kagome turned around but not before locking the door for good measure. She walked to Naraku's desk and shivered in disgust. Even though he wasn't here, Kagome could still feel his evil aura and she had no doubt that if she were a demon the smell would quickly over power her. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and sat down.
'I wonder what Sesshoumaru has to do with this and why does Naraku have employees working so late to research his company? I'll have to make a stop by Inuta, Inc tomorrow.'
Once again, Kagome shook her head to clear it and turned on Naraku's computer.
:PASSWORD:
'Shit'
She reached into her briefcase and pulled out a disk. She inserted the disk into the computer and immediately a row of numbers started scrolling down the screen much like the movie "The Matrix".
'Miroku, you are such a geek'
The screen cleared and she was at the main desktop. She typed in a search using a program on the same disk she inserted.
:Search:
Shikon; Inuta, Inc; Tanaka Co; Sesshoumaru……
:Results:
248 Files found
Kagome copied all of the files to the disk and returned it to the briefcase. She shut down the computer and got up to leave, making sure she wiped her fingerprints away. She walked to the door and checked for anyone in the hallway. She walked out and continued down the hall to the elevator. She pressed the button and the doors opened immediately revealing a stunned employee.
"Hey! I didn't think anyone else was working this late besides the Black team. Are you filling in for someone?"
Kagome quickly got over her surprise and walked into the elevator and noticed the button for the parking garage was already pressed.
'Black team? Nevermind, I'll think about it later. At least I don't have to worry about wiping fingerprints away in here. That would look pretty suspicious if she had seen that!'
"No, I just forgot some paperwork and I had to come back and get it." She said hoping the woman believed her. She seemed nice enough. Petite with white hair, her eyes seemed emotionless, but her attitude seemed fine.
"Oh, okay"
The rest of the trip was made in silence. Kagome thought it was taking forever to get to the floor her car was parked. Finally, the elevator chimed and open the doors and they both walked out.
"Well, have a nice night." The white haired woman said as she walked towards a Dodge Intrepid.
"Yea, you too."
Kagome walked towards her car. Well, it was the stations car, but she used it often enough to call her own. The rickety brown Ford Taurus had grown on her over the years and she was loathe to learn all the kinks and quirks of a new car. Especially in this line of work, when you had to get up and go at any moment. As she was walking, she saw movement at the corner of her eye. A security car was heading towards her.
'Probably just making their rounds'
She turned back to her car and started to put her key in the door when she heard someone shout.
"Hey, where's your security badge!"
Kagome looked towards the person that had shouted. A fat, grotesque security guard who probably hadn't taken a shower in a good month or two was walking towards her. She turned towards him.
"I'm sorry I forgot it. I just had to pick up some papers that I forgot earlier." 'Oh plleaassee, believe me'
Kagome didn't like the way he was looking at her and she started to back away. She may be a detective but all her defensive moves wouldn't save her from being overpowered by that mountain of fat.
"Hey, Doll, no problem but you'll have to come with me to the security office so I can check your ID." He said licking his lips.
"Um, sure, but can I follow in my car so that I can leave afterward?" Kagome said trying to look as innocent as possible.
"Sure thang, Sugar." He turned, hiking up his pants and heading back to his car. Kagome got into her car and waited for him to drive past and then pulled out. She followed the security car to the street level of the garage. Since the security office was across the street from the company they had to leave the garage to get to it.
'Man, what an idiot! I almost feel sorry for Naraku hiring this goob!'
The security car turned right and Kagome turned left and gunned the engine. She saw the security car's brake lights slam on in the rearview mirror just as she turned the corner. She turned into the alley behind the company and cut off the car and lights. When she saw the security car speed by in the mirror she turned on the car and backed out and quickly made it to the main street and, though it wasn't busy, there were a few cars to blend in with.
As she was driving she pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. She put the phone to her ear and listen to the phone ring on the other end.
"Moshi-moshi?"
"Shippou, when would you like to schedule your death?" Kagome said.
"Um...a couple centuries from now? What happened?"
"You didn't tell me the times of the security rounds and you didn't tell me that there would be employees working now!" She yelled into the phone.
"Whoa, Kags, I didn't know about the employees and I'm sorry about the security rounds, I figured you could handle them." Shippou gulped hoping that she wouldn't see through his half-lie. He had actually been distracted by his mate when he was watching the company. She wouldn't let him out of the house earlier because they hadn't been spending much time together once he and Kagome got put on the Naraku case. So he suggested she come with him on the stakeout. Bad idea. She distracted him soo much that he left out that minor detail of the security cars. Thank Kami nothing happened to Kagome, he never would have forgiven himself.
"Yea, well. It all worked out just don't ever forget again or I'll make you a necklace similar to the one I gave Inuyasha for his birthday." Kagome smirked.
"Oh Kami, I promise Kags, I promise!" Sure it was funny when Inuyasha slammed into the ground but that was exactly the point. Inuyasha slamming into the ground, NOT him.
"Ok Shippou, I'm going back to the station see ya tomorrow."
"Night, Kags, don't spend all night at the station, okay?" Shippou knew she would anyway, whether she said okay or not.
"I'll try not to, night Shippou." She turned off the phone as she turned into a parking space. A couple of the patrol cops were in front of the station smoking. On her way through the doors one of them said something and the others started laughing. She knew they were talking about her. The guys thought since she would spend most of her time on cases when she got them that she didn't have a life. Actually, she heard the rumors. They thought she was a lesbian. That's okay though. She'd rather them think that then think she was easy like some of the other female cops. It was hard work being a female cop let alone detective so most of the women tried to sleep their way to the top.
She made her way to her desk and sat down. She turned on her computer and put the disk with the files from Naraku's company in. She searched the files until she found one that might lead to something. It looked like an electronic copy of an old scroll.
In the time of peace between demons and humans
The Shikon no Tama will renew
And time will turn to mere moments
When a legend will ensue
The love of a miko and taiyoukai
Will bring about a change
And for a moment in time
The shikon will remain
A wish will then be granted
With pure thoughts and content
The user is then enchanted
The wish will then be spent
If ever the wish were not pure hearted
The user will be cursed
The wish will be distorted
And time will then reverse
Kagome froze upon hearing about the Shikon jewel. It was a closely guarded secret of the Higurashi family. For her to find out that Naraku knew about it chilled her to the core. How come she had never seen this scroll before?
She printed out a copy to take to her Ojii-san next time she visited the shrine. She continued looking through the files until she came to a couple video clips. She opened the first one and it showed a silver haired man talking to someone in a black limo. She couldn't see the face of the person in the limo, but the silver hair reminded her of Inuyasha. She guessed this must have been Sesshoumaru. Even though she and Inuyasha had been dating for 5 years she had never met his brother. They weren't on the best of terms. Especially since their father had cheated on Sesshoumaru's mother with Inuyasha's mother. Unfortunately for either brother, their father's cheating streak didn't stop there. He kept on until he just became a perverted old man. Well, old age-wise….demons don't show much of their age. Even up until the day they die.
The rest of the video clips were the same except one of them looked like Sesshoumaru was at a gala of sorts. She never really got a good look at him the person who took the clips was never very close to Sesshoumaru.
Kagome yawned. She decided to call it a night for once. So she grabbed her keys and her purse and walked out of the building to her car. She drove to her small apartment humming along with the tune on the radio. She pulled into a parking spot and walked up the many flights of steps silently cursing the decision to live on the top floor. Unlocking the door, she walked inside and closed the door behind her. She shuffled around in the dark until she found the light switch and turned it on. She put her purse and keys on the table beside the phone and pressed the button on her answering machine.
:You have 3 new messages:
"Hey Kags it's Inu call me when you get this. Love you."
Kagome smiled hearing this. She always felt bad during a case because she never got to spend time with Inuyasha. Sure they fought from time to time but she really did love him and he had his tender moments. His roughness was endearing and she could never get over those cute puppy ears.
"Kagome, it's me Sango, we're going to lunch tomorrow, Café Pizzano. Be there or I'll kick your ass."
Kagome laughed. Sango was never known for beating around the bush. She guessed she didn't have a choice. If she timed it right she could make it there after talking with Sesshoumaru tomorrow.
"Kagome dear, it's your mother. You haven't been by in a while so I wanted to make sure everything was okay. Your Grandfather and I miss you. When you come bring Souta. Take care, Honey."
She grumbled thinking what a pain it would be to drag Souta over to the shrine. Ever since he moved out all he has been doing is avoiding their Okaa-san. Just cuz she didn't want him to move out and he did anyway he's been hiding from her. Doesn't he realize Okaa-san is not going to chew him out? Well, she will now because he hasn't been around.
Kagome decided to call Inuyasha before she went to sleep. Sure it was late, but he was always up at all hours of the night. She used to think this was weird but then he explained to her that half-demons, and demons for that matter, don't need as much sleep as "puny humans."
"Yo, what's up, Kags?" Inuyasha half yelled over the loud music in the background.
"Inuyasha, what in the world are you doing at 2:30 in the morning?" Kagome didn't understand how he could stand to be around such loud music when it was hurting her ears through the phone!
"I'm just hanging out listen Kags I'll give you a call tomorrow alright?"
"Sure, love ya Inu"
"You too, Ciao"
Kagome hung up and made her way to the bathroom. She stepped out of her clothes and into the shower. Working undercover always stressed her out and she was going to treat herself to a nice long bath and then go to bed. She lathered her shampoo into her hair and rinsed it. Then put conditioner in. She took pride in her hair. It was one of her features she was confident was pretty even if she didn't think the rest of her body was that great.
She turned off the shower and stepped into the tub sighing as the hot water worked the pains out of her overworked muscles. She closed her eyes and relaxed leaning her head back onto her bath pillow.
She was running as fast as she could trying to get away from the evil that chased her. She looked back seeing red eyes and elongated fangs. Why didn't she just go home from school at the normal time? She just had to help out with the preparations for the dance! Now look what she got herself into. She turned a corner and ran towards the police station. It looked so close but the more she ran the more it looked further and further away. "I'm never going to get there in time!" Just as she finished the thought in her head claws raked down her back and she screamed. "You'll never get away from me miko. I can smell the shikon on you. I will have it even if I have to rip it from your body!" She screamed for help and saw a pair of headlights coming towards her. She felt the weight lift from her back and saw the shadow leap away. "I'll be back for you miko. I'll be back when you least expect it." She was starting to lose consciousness from blood loss. The last thing she remembered was footsteps coming closer.
Kagome jerked awake. It had been a long time since she last had that dream. She looked down realizing that she was still in the tub so she grabbed a towel and got out. She drug herself to her room and laid down on the bed hoping she would never have the memory of that night again.