Strike by Night
Chapter 1: First Encounter

This is the revised version of the story I started nearly a decade ago but abandoned due to real life issues and the fact that I didn't know where the plot was going. The story is now fully plotted out and will be finished but required heavy edits in the early chapters both to ensure continuity and because I didn't like where some characters were going. Chapter 1 escaped mostly unscathed but the revisions will be more obvious in subsequent chapters.

Hope the edits are a change for the better. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha but wouldn't mind keeping a few characters.

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Da-da-da-dum! Da-da-da-dum! The cell phone chirped out the opening chords of Beethoven's Fifth before a slender hand fumbled for the location of the disruptive sound, nearly smashing it in the process. Finally locating the offending object, the hand raised the cell to a sleep tousled head that reluctantly emerged from the snug confines of the covers.

"Hello?" she mumbled into the receiver. Someone better have a damn good reason for waking her up.

"I have a job."

That was a good reason. A quick glance at the bedside clock told her it was 3:45 a.m. Resisting the urge to groan at being woken up at this ungodly hour when any living thing with half a mind would be asleep, she sat up in bed and listened intently. "I'm listening."

"Your target is Naraku Shinigami."

Naraku Shinigami…now why does the name seem so familiar, Kagome pondered. Suddenly it clicked. "Isn't Naraku Shinigami a co-owner of Four Gods Industries?" she asked into the receiver. "The Byakko Branch, I believe."

"One and the same. He is currently in Kyoto on business, returning to Tokyo on the seventh. We are not expecting him to return…alive. The pay is $5 million. Half will be wired now and the remaining on completion."

"Understood," confirmed Kagome before terminating the call. The Merchant of Death himself, she mused. The Byakko branch was the military technology sector of Four Gods Industries. Rumors had it that Naraku also had side deals with terrorists and dictators but nothing was ever proven. Kagome hated people like him: a heartless monster masquerading under a civilized veneer. She will not be at all remorseful to send him to his well deserved rest.

Making a mental note to call Miroku later, she snuggled back under the covers.

Name: Kagome Higurashi. Age: 22. Occupation: Assassin. Alias: Avenging Angel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Elsewhere: at the Fukaimori Mansion~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Riiiiiing. Riiiiii-" An elegant hand picked up the receiver, abruptly silencing the second ring. "Fukaimori residence," a deep voice spoke indifferently into the receiver.

"Sesshoumaru?" a hesitant voice in the phone inquired, making sure it had the right brother.

"Speaking," replied Sesshoumaru. He had just come back from an assignment, a leader of some country whom other leaders had wanted dead. The task had been pathetically easy; he even had to kill the man up close and personal just to find some sort of excitement. The man had begged like a worm before he died. Sesshoumaru smiled at the memory, but the smile quickly faded. Leaders just weren't what they used to be anymore, he thought. It's amazing that the world is still standing with the leadership it had.

"I have an assignment for you, think you'd be interested?" the voice asked.

"That depends," Sesshoumaru replied coolly. He'd had enough with easy targets. His blood cried out for the thrill of a challenge and unless this one promised at least some excitement, his bed was a much more enticing alternative than listening to this man drone on about something that even his half-wit brother can take care of. It had been a long night.

"But I believe you will find this one to your interest," the voice assured. "The target is Naraku Shinigami."

"Owner of Byakko branch of Four Gods Industries, interesting." His interest piqued. It was common knowledge that while Naraku only owned one-fourth of Four Gods Industries, one of the most influential companies around, he wielded power over the other three parts with an iron fist. Not only that, but his romantic affairs had turned up in the tabloids countless times. Ruthless and a womanizer, this promised to be at least interesting.

"Same one," confirmed the voice. "The deadline is the seventh, and the pay is $5 million. I hear-"

"Very well, I'll take it," Sesshoumaru cut in and hung up the receiver without waiting for an answer. The target was slightly surprising as assassins were rarely called in to settle business disputes. The financial world usually preferred public ruin and humiliation versus a well placed bullet through the head. It seems business had become much more vicious than he remembered.

After a quick shower, he climbed in bed hoping to get at least a few hours sleep before his idiot of a brother woke up and created enough noise wake half the country.

Name: Sesshoumaru Fukaimori Age: unknown. Occupation: Assassin. Alias: Demon Lord

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Sunlight streamed through the gaps of the drapes, creeping slowly across the sleeping form of Kagome. She tossed, she turned, and finally, surrendered to the glare. "Alright, alright, I'm up," she grumbled as she untangled herself from the sheets and stumbled in the direction of the bathroom, emerging minutes later much more refreshed. Running a hand through her hair she managed to get it into some order while a glance at the clock on the nightstand told her it was 10:30 a.m. Even Miroku must be up by now, she thought as she dialed his number.

"Finders Keepers Detective Agency, we find whatever you need."

"Did I ever tell you that is the dumbest slogan I have ever heard," Kagome teased.

"Every time," was Miroku's good natured reply. "How can I help you, Kagome?"

"I need everything you can get on Naraku Shinigami by the end of the week, focusing on recent events."

"That's an awful lot of information and a real short deadline."

"Which is why you're the best, Miroku. Just one last time. Please?" Her tone sweet enough to rot teeth.

"Well…." she could feel his sigh over the phone. "Only for you, Kagome."

"THANK YOU!" she gushed. "I'll see you in 3 days."

Changing into a blouse and jeans, she grabbed her bag and climbed into her silver jaguar.

She loved this car, bought with the money from her first successful job. But seeing it each time also bought back painful memories of how she got into the assassination business.

Five years ago she had the ordinary teenage life, just graduated from high school and looking forward to college. If anyone told her then she'd kill people for a living, she would've run as fast as possible from the lunatic. Yet somehow, here she was, all because of one night.

One night, she came home from school to find her entire family slaughtered. Grandpa, Mom, Souta…everyone. She would later learn from her police rumors that some mob boss wanted the land for development but her family had refused to sell. So the boss decided he was done with negotiations.

Unfortunately, the police didn't have enough evidence to convict. The remainder was a little blurry as all she could remember was a blinding rage when she learned that her family's murderers would walk free. When the rage had subsided, she found herself standing over a roomful of bodies with arrows through their hearts. She was horrified at what she had done but could not bring herself to feel sorrow for the deaths around her. They deserved it for what they did to her family.

Realizing someone might come by, she gathered her arrows and slipped away as quietly as she had arrived, if a little dazed. She cried herself to sleep that night, opening the gates to all the pain and grief she had pushed aside for the trial. Her family was gone and nothing would bring them back. Vengeance had calmed her rage but had given her no peace. She would never again hear Grandpa's stories, taste Mom's cooking or tease Souta; she was alone.

The following weeks were the longest of her life. She barely ate, barely slept and moved around the house aimlessly. Sango, Miroku and Shippo frequently checked in on her and brought her food, reminding her that there were still people who loved and cared for her. Kagome suspected they were partly afraid she might do something drastic and she wasn't sure their fears were entirely unfounded.

However, under their care, she slowly found the will to live again.

Even though the house was too big for one person to live in, she refused to move. Giving up the house and shrine would mean losing the last link to her family; it would almost feel like losing her family all over again. Besides, there was no guarantee that the new owners wouldn't turn around and just sell the property to developers. She owed her family that much.

Then the calls started. It seemed there had been witnesses to her act of vengeance, a mistake she never made again. But thankfully those witnesses were not the kind to call the cops. She learned quickly to hide her real identity and unexpectedly discovered her talent for technological manipulation. However, she made it a personal rule of only accepting jobs on dishonest targets, thus earned her the nickname Avenging Angel.

The past five years have been lucrative but Kagome wasn't about to pretend assassination was a long term career prospect. She wanted a normal life with a normal family, a normal husband, and a normal job that did not involve looking for sneaking into dangerous people's homes in the dead of night. With luck, this would be her last assassination as she would be finishing her masters this semester and was already looking into open positions.

Pulling into the campus parking lot, Kagome headed to class.

Days later, Kagome was sprawled on her couch flipping through the files she picked up from Miroku. Naraku Shinigami, Co-President of Four Gods Industries, CEO of Byakko Branch. Age 35 this year. Phone: 587- 923-0102. Cell: 4562356754. Residence, currently in Maple Hotel, at Kyoto, room 813. Note: Shinigami is negotiating a deal with Soul Jewel Enterprises. He has been there for 2 months, but is due to return on the seventh. He is in and out of his hotel room, no specific times. The man is highly intelligent with violent tendencies and will not hesitate to kill.

Don't worry, thought Kagome. She intended to be alive to enjoy her $5 million. Taking out the enclosed picture of Naraku, she studied the picture. Very nice, she thought. She's seen his picture pasted across tabloids and the news many times, but she had to admit, this picture got his good side. Pulling out her handy laptop, she tried to fill in the gaps in Miroku's report. One thing that jumped out at her was that Naraku didn't have any bodyguards. Very few in such positions of power didn't have anyone to protect them. Those that didn't were either very confident of their own abilities or very stupid. This one was most likely the former; she'll have to be extra careful. Booking a seat on the next plane to Kyoto, she set about packing her bags and pulling up blueprints of the Maple Hotel before heading to the airport.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~At Fukaimori Mansion~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crash! Clank! Splatter! Then the TV roared at an inhuman volume, blasting sound through the entire mansion, where not even the dust in the darkest corners was spared from its effects. Unfortunately, neither was Sesshoumaru. Eyes snapping open, he growled as he got up and stomped downstairs to kill Inu Yasha. Finding him situated in front of the large screen TV with a bowl of ramen in his hands, unmindful of the intensity of noise coming from the speakers, Sesshoumaru backhanded Inu Yasha into the nearest wall.

"Hey, what's the fucking idea!" screamed Inu Yasha from his imprint in the once smooth stone wall. Ignoring him, Sesshoumaru turned the volume down on the TV, which was damaging his sensitive youkai ears. Pushing off the new hole in the wall, Inu Yasha lunged at his brother.

The two fought until their stomachs growled, alerting them that they should've been down here for a different reason. Agreeing to an unspoken truce, Inu Yasha returned to his bowl of ramen, which remained surprisingly unscathed throughout the entire fight, and took the ear plugs out of his ears. Sesshoumaru moved to the kitched to see what was available for breakfast. Yep, it was a normal morning in the Fukaimori household.

After breakfast, Sesshoumaru retired to his study, digging up information on his latest target. Finding results that were similar to Kagome's, he packed his bags and booked the last seat on the next flight to Kyoto.

On the way out, he barked to Inu Yasha he would be out on assignment for the next few days, earning him a "Feh" from Inu Yasha, whose eyes never wavered from the TV, which was showing a concert by pop superstar Kikyo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Airport~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Final boarding call for Flight 2386, departing for Osaka-Itami International Airport. All passengers please report to Gate 15." Kagome sighed as she sank into her window seat. It would be a short flight, she thought gazing out the window. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a presence beside her. Turning her head, she was greeted with the sight of a muscular chest, whose definitions were visible even through the immaculate shirt he wore. Looking down, she saw a pair of toned legs clad in a pair of tailored slacks. Damn, Kagome thought appreciatively.

Seconds later, a face emerged to match the body. Intense golden eyes looked out from chiseled yet feminine features framed by long silver hair, accentuating his feminine appeal. She could almost mistake him for a woman if it weren't for the physique and those piercing sunlit eyes that met hers with the coldest air and an arrogance that was undoubtedly male. So entranced was Kagome that she almost missed the lifting of one elegant eyebrow in response to her staring.

Realizing her rudeness, she immediately turned away and stared pointedly out the window, not quite able to keep the pink from her cheeks as he settled himself in the seat beside her. That was a stupid thing to do Kagome, very very stupid, she chided herself.

Sesshoumaru smirked at the embarrassment of the girl beside him, who was just moments ago giving him a once over. She was not a great beauty, black hair and large brown eyes, but there was a mystery about her that he found most intriguing. "Did you see anything you like?" he whispered against her ear.

Kagome nearly jumped when she felt Sesshoumaru's breath on her ear. It took a few moments for his words to work through her startled brain but once it did, annoyance pushed away any tender thoughts she might have had for the man.
"And just what is that suppose to mean?" she demanded, turning to face him.

"Simply the fact that you could not tear your eyes away from me moments ago," Sesshoumaru pointed out, his face inches from a now very pissed Kagome, a smug smile across his lips.

"You must be mistaken," Kagome shot back, her voice dripping disdain. "I've seen better." This time, she didn't back down from his gaze. "I don't know which bimbo took pity on you and let you think you were Casanova but you've obviously never dealt with a woman who wasn't plastic."

The effect was satisfying. Though his smug smile didn't fade, she saw Sesshoumaru's eyes narrow the tiniest bit at her words. This time, it was Kagome's turn to imperiously raise an eyebrow, daring him to prove her wrong. Their staredown was interrupted only when the flight attendant came over to ready them for takeoff.

A tense silence settled between the two as each pretended to ignore the other. When refreshments came, Kagome requested a ginger ale and Sesshoumaru requested a seltzer. Just as Sesshoumaru was passing along Kagome's drink, the plane hit a patch of turbulence, causing Sesshoumaru spill the contents of the cup…right onto Kagome's shirt. She would have been far more understanding had Sesshoumaru's gaze not lingered longer than necessary at the front of Kagome's now very transparent blouse. Covering herself for some attempts at modesty, Kagome headed for the bathroom. Grabbing her carry-on bag, she tried to maneuver between the seats to reach the aisle. As she crossed Sesshoumaru's seat, she 'accidentally' bumped his half full drink off the table and right into his lap. Only youkai reflexes allowed him to stand up in time to avoid some rather embarrassing water stains, giving Kagome enough room to cross. "Why thank you," she purred, moving into the aisle. She didn't miss the glare that he shot her way and he didn't miss her smirk as she walked away.

Kagome cleaned her blouse the best she could and changed into a new shirt from her bag. Settling back into her seat, the pair continued to pointedly ignore each other.

Once the plane landed in Osaka, Kagome had plenty of time to muse on her infuriating seatmate during the rail ride to Kyoto. Despite her earlier words, she had to admit the man was drool worthy. Unfortunately, his superior attitude grated her every nerve. She couldn't stand guys who acted as if they were God's gift to women and that all women should throw themselves at his feet. Considering she had been sorely tempted all flight to strangle him with his own smugness, the airline should commend her for her restraint. It really was too bad he was such a jerk, she sighed, because she wouldn't mind nibbling on that piece of that.

Climbing into his cab, Sesshoumaru could not tear his thoughts away from the girl from the plane. She had shown a surprising amount of spirit, or a lack of self preservation. Not many would dare to do half of what she did to him. A dark smile played at his lips at the memory. I do hope we will have the chance to meet again, little one.

~

-hitokiri*seraphim