Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
7,770 words, originally posted 5-2-14
A note: I'm baa-ack! This chapter was difficult to write, after such a long absence. Let me know if the flow isn't quite right or the humor is substandard. I hope you enjoy it!
This chapter is also a sort-of late birthday present for the wonderful iheartinuyasha. Happy birthday, friend!
Chapter 3: The Shikon Jewel
Kagome took a deep, fortifying breath as she watched the Bakusaiga land on the hellhole that was the trade outpost she was stranded on. Unfortunately, the thrusters of Taisho's stupid ship chose that moment to send a tidal wave of dirt and probably dead Denubian guts flying her way, so it was less fortifying and more dust ball of death. Kagome reflected, while trying not to hack up a lung, that at least if she died now, she wouldn't have to suffer her demon boss's wrath.
Kagome was still coughing and blinking dusty tears out of her eyes when Taisho strode out of his ship, perfectly pressed and mad as all hell. He stopped several feet in front of her, waiting with ill-concealed impatience as she composed herself.
"Higurashi. Ship. Now." Taisho ordered her stiffly when she finally regained some semblance of normalcy. Kagome had to bite her lip from retorting with a sulky comment of her own. Anything she said now could only make it worse.
She trudged to the entrance of the Bakusaiga and slumped inside, tossing a dirty look at Jaken, who was hunched over the ship's control panel. As if sensing her disdain, Jaken turned from his post and immediately launched into his usual bevy of insults and ridicule.
"Ungrateful, ridiculous human girl," he squalled, working himself up into a lather without any provocation. "How dare you ignore Master Taisho's calls? How dare you force him to come looking for your sorry hide, when he could be solving cases and bringing in miscreants not unlike yourself? How dare you make him squander his hard-earned money on bribery in order to retrieve your ship after you carelessly misplaced it! How dare—"
"Oh, shove it, frog-face," Kagome shot back, kicking his chair as she passed. Jaken yelped as the chair spun in place, and turned an even uglier shade of green that made Kagome snicker.
The chair was slowing to a halt when Taisho marched back inside and commanded Jaken to get them off-moon immediately. The little alien attempted to right himself and follow his master's orders, but he was so dizzy that when he moved forward, he fell out of the chair. Kagome howled with laughter, feeling that it was a more than fair retaliation for the tongue-lashing he'd given her, but she stopped abruptly at the withering glare Taisho sent her way.
She shrunk back into the shadows of the weapon shelves lining the walls as Taisho none-too-gently bumped Jaken out of the way and set the course for space himself. When the Bakusaiga had cleared the atmosphere, Taisho stood and faced Kagome, smoothly picking Jaken up by the scruff of his neck and depositing him back in the command chair.
"Higurashi," he began menacingly.
This was it. This was the part where she died. It had been a good life, she supposed, all things considered.
"Are you alright?" he finished, sighing, and Kagome thought her eyes must be popping out of her head.
"Now I know I'm going deaf. First I'm sure I heard you tell me that Inuyasha, space pirate scum of the galaxy, is related to you by blood. And now you just asked me if I'm okay?" she wondered, her tone becoming steadily more shrill with each word.
Ignoring her comment about his brother, Taisho retorted icily, "Customarily, one asks one's protégé about her well-being following abduction."
"Well, then, since you asked, no, no, I am not!" Kagome shouted indignantly. "My compact fission reactor is completely broken, and those cost a hell of a lot of credits to get fixed, except I don't have a hell of a lot of credits, or even a hell of a little credits, and even if I did, it wouldn't matter for shit, because my damn ship is locked up in a damn impound lot, because I parked in the damn, stupid loading dock without radioing ahead for a damn, stupid parking pass," Kagome snapped, really getting into the role of tortured victim. "Not only that, but my skip got away and then got dead, my handcuffs were shot in half, that asshole pirate and his asshole crew left me stranded on only the ugliest moon in the universe, I haven't eaten in hours, I have to pee, and Inuyasha's ship is bigger than mine! Do you know how humiliating it is to get kidnapped, hit on, and summarily stranded by a guy who has a bigger ship than you do?!" Kagome wailed, sinking to the ground in a dramatic heap.
"Hit on?" Taisho demanded, eyebrows shooting up.
"Your brother," Kagome spat the word as if it offended her—which it did—"is the most deplorable, disgusting, disgraceful excuse of a creature I have ever met. And that's saying something, as I've spent a disturbing amount of time around Jaken."
Kagome smirked when the little alien gasped and muttered at her barb, but it was wiped off her face when Taisho surged forward and grasped her arms roughly, shaking her a bit as he brought her to eye level.
"Did he touch you?" he growled, looking her body up and down as if inspecting for rips, tears, or suspicious blood stains. He calmed slightly upon seeing that nothing was amiss, setting her feet back on the ground, but continued to hold her firmly in place.
"No more than necessary, thank god," Kagome admitted, a fiery blush creeping up her neck as she remembered the feel of Inuyasha's muscled chest against hers and the way his eyes had raked up and down her form in a much lewder perusal of her attributes.
Willing Taisho not to notice her discomfort, or worse, question it, she stepped away from his arms and attempted to change the subject by asking, "What should I do about Tenseiga?" She winced a bit as she said it, because she was half-afraid Taisho was going to keep it as punishment for her carelessness after retrieving it from impound.
"It's here," Taisho informed her tersely, leaving the bridge and motioning for Kagome to follow with a jerk of his head. She did so without fuss, because although he was being very nice and cooperative so far about her little incident, she could tell he was still boiling mad underneath that unmussed exterior.
"You went and got it for me?" Kagome asked in surprise. Taisho was never one to help those who could help themselves, especially when there was a lesson to be learned.
"I had it brought to the ship before we picked you up," he told her coolly, shooting a perturbed glance back at her as he did so.
"Thanks," Kagome offered meekly, feeling horribly guilty.
"Don't think you're off the hook, Higurashi," Taisho said sternly, stopping and turning to face her. "There will be a price to pay for disobeying my orders, but right now, we have more important matters to attend to."
He turned and continued walking without waiting for her response, clearly expecting her to follow. As they walked, Taisho asked, "Where were the pirates planning on going next?" Kagome noticed that he avoided saying Inuyasha's name whenever possible. She couldn't wait to hear the story behind that.
"I'm not really sure," Kagome answered truthfully, shrugging. "But they seemed pretty upset about whatever it is that Menomaru didn't pay them for. They kept mentioning shards and something about a guy named Naraku."
"I've heard that name before," Taisho said. "He's been involved in several high-stakes deals with some nasty criminals. There's been some talk recently underground about an ancient artifact, rumored to have been lost for several millennia, resurfacing. Supposedly, this artifact, known as the Shikon Jewel, was a powerful gem that held a tremendous amount of power, very mysterious and highly dangerous. Underground trade rings are claiming that it has reappeared, albeit in pieces, and are selling shards of the jewel at exorbitant prices. Some just want the shards for the power they provide, but there are a few collectors rumored to be attempting to reassemble the jewel. Naraku is one such collector. It's the type of case I would never let you handle alone," he informed her seriously.
"What should we do?" Kagome asked.
"We need to get ahead of them. I assume they didn't know where they could find Naraku?"
"I got the impression they hadn't even heard of him before today. Inuyasha interrogated Menomaru before I got on Saria, and I think that chickenshit Denubian must have given away more information than he intended. Inuyasha just seemed to want his money," Kagome revealed.
"If they weren't able to retrieve their money or, I assume, the shards they tried to sell from Menomaru, then they will go to the next likely place to get them. We need to go to Menomaru's home planet."
"Denubia?" Kagome wondered. "But that's light years away."
"Then it's a good thing my fission reactor isn't irreparably damaged, isn't it?" Taisho drawled. Kagome stuck her tongue out at his back.
Finally, he stopped at the kitchens, striding inside and opening the icebox, only to pull out a wrapped sandwich and a bottle of water. "Go get cleaned up," Taisho instructed, handing Kagome the food and staring pointedly at the dust and dirt covering her clothing. "There's an extra uniform in the med bay. I'll meet you on the bridge when you're done."
"Aye, aye, Captain," Kagome saluted, bowing sarcastically. She might have imagined it, but she was almost sure she saw Taisho's mouth quirk in the tiniest of smiles.
"Don't dawdle," he scolded, before heading back to the con and leaving her to it.
"Don't dawdle, Higurashi," Kagome mocked, making her way slowly in the opposite direction, toward the medical bay. "Clean up, Higurashi. The dirt on your boots offends my pristine visage, Higurashi."
"I can still hear you, Higurashi," Taisho called from the hallway.
"Moon maggots."
Inuyasha cursed as something deep in the bowels of the Tetsusaiga shook and sent him sprawling off his chair in a most unbecoming manner.
"What the fuck?" he yelled, propping the chair up with his foot, making it scrape on the cold metal floor of the ship and startling Miroku so badly that he dropped the cards he had just managed to keep hold of in the disturbance.
"Do you mind, Inuyasha?" he asked evenly, picking up his hand again and grimacing at the huge grin overtaking Sango's face, giving away that she had seen his cards and that the odds were apparently not in his favor.
"Not at all," Inuyasha shot back irritably, pushing himself off the floor.
"What was that?" Shippo's voice wondered from their communicators. "We're dead in space up here."
"Shit," Inuyasha muttered, before pressing his communicator. "I'll go find out. Rin's probably fixing it already," he said, stalking from the common room.
"Read 'em and weep," Sango exulted, laying out a full house and smiling triumphantly.
"Ah, Sango," Miroku sighed, laying down his own hand and pushing her winnings—a rare and delicious bag of apples—over to her good naturedly. "Are you sure you only want fruit? I'd be more than happy to pay with my body," he offered, raising an eyebrow suggestively.
A light flush stole up Sango's cheeks, and she was glad it could easily be mistaken for anger. "Only if by that, you mean you'll allow me to use you to experiment with methods of torture that won't leave you completely mangled," she shot back, snatching the apples out of his grip.
"Why, Sango!" Miroku put a hand to his chest in mock surprise. "I had no idea you were into that kind of thing."
Sango's hand clenched into a fist and Miroku smirked. "I'll gladly be your sub any time, my dear."
"You're sick," Sango shouted, finally hauling off and punching him hard in the arm, sending his chair skidding back several feet. She stalked out of the room after Inuyasha and she could hear Miroku chuckling gleefully behind her.
"That's right baby, just like that," he groaned, and Sango blushed again, despite herself.
"You… you disgust me, Miroku!" she shouted down the hall, and Miroku laughed outright as the she slammed the door to the engine room behind her.
"Who does she think she's fooling?" he muttered to himself, still smiling.
Sango climbed down the ladder leading to the engine room, stomping as much as physically possible and making the soles of her boots ring out as they hit each metal rung.
"That you, Sango?" Inuyasha called.
"It's me," she called back, feeling the tension leave her shoulders as she reached the floor of the warmest part of the ship. "What's wrong?"
"I dunno," Inuyasha said, glaring at Rin's feet. The girl was almost completely underneath the engine, and Sango could hear her tinkering with something under there. The rotor in the main shaft wasn't moving.
"What's wrong," her muffled voice floated up to them, "is that we need a new engine. I don't know how many times I've told you this now, sir. We simply can't keep going without a replacement fan and new spark plugs at the very least, but the whole thing is basically shot."
"That doesn't do me a hell of a lot of good in the middle of space, half pint," Inuyasha sneered. "Can you fix the damned thing or not?"
There was some unintelligible muttering, some loud clanks, and the fan roared back to life. Rin scooted out from under the engine, covered in grease. "It'll hold for a little longer," she sighed, "but only because I'm the best mechanic this side of Zordran."
Inuyasha's shoulders slumped visibly in relief and he gave her a small nod of satisfaction. Sango pressed the communicator in her ear. "Shippo, we're back up. How long until we get to Denubia?"
"Maybe another two hours," he responded. "Depends on if we actually manage to go that long without another breakdown."
"I'm doing the best I can with what I have," Rin sniffed, running out of patience.
"Shut up, brat," Inuyasha snapped at Shippo. He depressed his communicator and kneeled beside Rin. "I trust you to keep us up and running," he told her seriously. "I have no doubt that we'll get there eventually and I understand that you're working with inferior parts. But if we don't get to Denubia fast, we'll lose the trail and then there won't be any money to buy your parts until we find another job. Can you keep us running long enough to get to Denubia?"
Rin stared at Inuyasha for several moments, face blank. Finally, she grinned and said, "You can count on me!"
"Thatta girl," Inuyasha praised, ruffling her hair and standing level with Sango once more. "Let's get to the bridge," he said. "I don't want any surprises before we land. "
Sango nodded in agreement and moved toward the ladder. She had just lifted her foot onto the first rung when Inuyasha grabbed her ankle to get her attention.
"Better get Miroku, too. I want to come up with a plan of attack before we arrive."
Sango sneered, thinking that the two of them could plan just fine without that lecherous moron, but she kept her mouth shut. It was going to be a long night.
Sesshoumaru pressed his forefinger and thumb to the bridge of his nose, willing the monster headache that threatened to emerge back to where it came from. He glanced over at where Kagome was arguing heatedly with Jaken and decided that there was little to no chance of that happening any time soon.
"I already told you, you disgusting toad, I didn't call in for a parking pass because I was trying to get to that bastard Menomaru before he got away again!"
"If you were half the bounty hunter Master Taisho is, you wouldn't have lost him in the first place you ungrateful human wench! And how many times do I have to remind you that I am not a toad, I am a Kappan! Kap-pan! Not toad!"
Kagome eyed his diminutive form skeptically. "You sure look like a toad. You know what a toad is, don't you Jaken?" she taunted. "A toad is a weak, slimy Earth creature whose sole accomplishment is making humans grossed out enough that they want to step on them. Oh, and the creatures we use to learn how to dissect things in biology class."
"You bitch!" Jaken squawked. "How dare you insult my race with such filthy lies! I should cut out your tongue for such an offense!"
"Why don't you just try it, you pathetic excuse for an alien."
"I will more than try, you piece of human sc—"
"Enough!" Taisho roared, finally losing his temper. "Jaken, get down to the engine room and make sure everything is in order."
Jaken snapped to attention. "Yes, Master Taisho," he simpered, scampering quickly down the hallway and out of sight.
Sesshoumaru turned his glare on Kagome and she had enough sense to look chagrined in the face of his wrath, though to her credit she did not flinch.
"Sit," he commanded, pointing Kagome to the chair Jaken had been occupying. She looked for a moment as though she might argue with him, but at the last minute took a deep breath and obeyed. Sesshoumaru gave a brief mental sigh of relief at her compliance. He didn't exactly relish punishing Kagome, but she was willful enough as it was, and if he didn't at least attempt to exert some control over her, he was afraid she would be completely unmanageable. His handle on her at any given moment was tenuous at the best of times.
"My patience is wearing thin, Higurashi," he warned, voice low. "There is a reason I sent you off in your own ship last year; do not make me regret picking you up off that moon."
At this, Kagome balked. "What? You practically forced me to tell you where I was so you could come get me! I thought you were pissed off because you didn't know where I was for every second of every minute of every hour of—"
"Kagome!" Taisho snapped, and she shut up. He rarely used her first name; it was a sign of how annoying she was truly being if Taisho was resorting to familiarity to get her attention.
Sesshoumaru turned his back on Kagome to take a moment to compose himself. She was almost awe-inspiring. He could hunt down the lowliest, dirtiest criminals the underbelly of the universe had to offer, day in and day out, without batting an eyelash. Two hours into having this tiny, human woman on his ship and he was ready to jump out the nearest escape hatch for some peace and quiet.
"We will need to be prepared to face any cohorts of Menomaru's, as well as your space pirates, once we reach Denubia," he said, turning back to face her. He could see her glaring daggers at him for the mention of her pirates, but he ignored her. It would be best to wait to address her childish behavior in a more private location, where they would not be interrupted. "I have not forgotten that you were woefully unprepared when going to face Menomaru the first time," Sesshoumaru reminded her. "You may use any of the available weapons on my ship until we can reacquaint you with your own."
"My, how magnanimous of you, Master Taisho," Kagome snarked, bowing sarcastically.
It was all Sesshoumaru could do not to roll his eyes.
"Just go pick out a sharpshooter," he sighed, recalling her former ire at having forgotten her beloved weapon.
"Won't be the same," Kagome grumbled, standing and making her way to the weapons case.
"It will probably be better," Sesshoumaru drawled, coming up behind her to see which weapons she chose. His eyebrows rose slightly as he watched her tuck a pair of throwing knives into a sheath on her wrist and a rather large handgun into her waistband, in addition to the gleaming new sharpshooter now resting in her hip holster.
"How dare you!" Kagome snarled, whirling around and standing on her tiptoes to get her face as close to his as she could, in an attempt to be intimidating. Sesshoumaru thought she looked rather like an angry cat, with her freshly washed hair frizzing slightly and her cheeks flushed with righteous indignity.
Sesshoumaru liked cats.
"You know my sharpshooter was the first weapon I bought on my own after I made that awesome Yura The Hair capture! She was gross as hell, too, with that weird fetish, and I lost four inches of my own gorgeous mane, in case you forgot! I'd like to see how you'd react if someone took a cursed comb to your precious, perfect hair, you smug, star-sucking asshat!" Kagome was breathing hard as she finished her rant, hands balled angrily at her sides and eyes snapping fire.
"Careful, Higurashi," Sesshoumaru warned, stepping closer to her and putting his mouth against her ear. "We're in a confined space, and you can't turn off your comm to get rid of me. I'd watch that volatile little mouth before it gets you in trouble."
Kagome blushed at his proximity and Sesshoumaru smirked when she stumbled away, backward as far as she could go, bringing her flush against the weapons shelves. A flash of desire curled through his stomach seeing Higurashi embarrassed and angry and surrounded by heavy artillery. He should probably watch his mouth, too, before it got him in trouble.
"Just… just don't go insulting my gun like that, Taisho," Kagome tried to brush off her discomfort with a laugh and a wave of her hand. "You know how it gets me all riled up."
"Why do you think I said it?" Sesshoumaru said with a careless shrug. He watched her fists clench again and while he relished pushing her buttons and seeing her come alive, they would be arriving on Denubia in a matter of minutes. "Get strapped in," he ordered, effectively cutting off any further argument and changing the tone of the conversation. "We're about to land."
"Running from a fight, Taisho?" Kagome taunted. "That's not like you."
Sesshoumaru opened his mouth to respond when the ship's automated voice command directed all personnel to prepare to enter the planet's atmosphere. Instead, he stared pointedly at the row of seats to the side of the main con, where he took his own seat and buckled up. Kagome followed suit, grumbling the whole time, yelping when the gun she had shoved into the back of her pants bit into her skin.
"Damned, stupid, big-ass weapons," she complained under her breath, reaching behind her to extract the gun. "That's just like a man to have huge, overinflated excuses for firepower."
"Bigger is always better, Higurashi," Sesshoumaru lectured with only the slightest of smirks, relishing when she blushed brighter than a dying star.
He had forgotten how much fun it was having Higurashi around.
Inuyasha took a moment to mentally review how many of Menomaru's trade ring they had maimed or murdered in the past ten minutes. More than probably was strictly necessary, but, eh, that was life.
"We've got to be getting close to the boss room!" Inuyasha shouted back to his compatriots as he shot yet another trader in the kneecap.
"But Captain," Miroku yelled back, "We haven't found the boss key yet! It must be hidden in one of the treasure rooms!"
Inuyasha paused, staring disdainfully at the Denubian who was rolling on the ground in agony, clutching his mangled knee. Inuyasha gave him a swift kick in the stomach and smirked when he groaned loudly, tears leaking out the corners of his eyes. "That's actually not a bad idea," he remarked casually as Miroku and Sango caught up to him.
"What is?" Miroku wondered. "I thought we were just kidding."
Sango rolled her eyes. "Treasure room, idiot. We're at the headquarters of one of the most successful trade rings in the gamma quadrant."
"Oh," Miroku grinned, eyes brightening in recognition. "But how do we want to play it? Surely you don't want to interrogate the leader on your own, Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha pursed his lips in thought before quickly making a decision. "Miroku, you're with me. Sango, radio Rin and have her meet you down here to look for anything we might be able to use or sell. Maybe she'll find one of those damn parts she's been so fucking irritating about."
"I'm on it," Sango said, turning and running in the direction they had just come.
Inuyasha and Miroku moved forward, dispatching enemies when necessary, and in Inuyasha's case, sometimes when not.
"Inuyasha," Miroku sighed in exasperation as the hanyou punched out a female trader who hadn't been aware of their presence only moments before. "You are going to attract unwanted attention if you don't calm down. We need to find their leader before this gets out of hand. We aren't going to be able to take on an entire group of these things if word gets out that we're here.
"Keh," Inuyasha spat, following the hallway the female had been guarding and stopping at a door on the end. "I know it. I guess I'm still frustrated from not getting to handle Galaxy Princess in a more satisfactory manner."
Miroku's eyebrow's shot up and Inuyasha turned to look at him with a crooked grin on his face, showing off glinting fangs. "And yes, I mean that in any and every possible sense."
Miroku only chuckled and pushed ahead of Inuyasha to open the door. She had been a beautiful woman, if feisty. Miroku wouldn't have minded handling her a bit himself.
Both men stepped into a room that was dimly lit and littered with mismatched chairs, small tables, and about twenty pairs of eerily glowing eyes. Chairs scraped as the Denubians stood up and drew their weapons, which ranged from broadswords and throwing stars to laser guns and rifles.
"Well, shit, Miroku," Inuyasha sneered, drawing his favorite gun from a holster at his side and flexing the claws of his left hand menacingly. "Guess we're gonna get that fight you wanted after all."
"Who said I wanted it?" Miroku grunted, pulling out his own weapons and crouching next to Inuyasha, so that they were back to back. "I was merely commenting on how we would be forced to have it if you didn't control your temper."
"Looks like it's happenin' no matter what," Inuyasha remarked lightly, and then raised his voice to address the room in general, who had yet to attack and were staring at Inuyasha and Miroku as if they had two heads.
"Which one of you shit-for-brains is the leader of this crappy operation?" Inuyasha drawled.
Growls and threats could be heard throughout the room, and one alien, taller and larger than the rest, as well much more immaculately dressed, stepped out from the shadows to sniff haughtily at them. "I am the great Denubian Gatenmaru," he announced imperiously. "And you are trespassing."
"You heard the man, Miroku. Let's hurry up and finish so we can get out of their hair."
"Indeed," Miroku agreed, and before the Denubians could so much as blink, Miroku had shot three of them in the head with his pistol and Inuyasha had slashed down as many with his claws.
Gunfire rang out and Inuyasha and Miroku were forced to slow their attack as they dodged bullets and ducked out of the way of clumsily swung swords. Inuyasha cocked his gun and took down the two aliens closest to Gatenmaru, wincing when a shot fired from one of their guns bit into the flesh of his upper arm.
"Damn it," he swore, taking a moment to inspect the rip in his sleeve. "I loved this coat. They're hard as hell to find, too."
"Later, Inuyasha," Miroku bit out. One of the traders had finally gotten close enough to do hand-to-hand combat with him, and he was fending off the Denubian's sword attack with a knife that was far too small for the job. "A little help, if you please?"
Inuyasha whirled and shot the trader in the temple. Blood splattered, just missing Inuyasha but covering Miroku's left side in brain matter.
"Yuck," Miroku grimaced, pulling his own jacket away from his body.
"Later," Inuyasha snapped, whirling away to cut down two more traders with his claws. At this point, there were only three traders besides Gatenmaru left in the room. Inuyasha shot one woman in the back as she scrambled to leave the room and recruit reinforcements. Miroku quickly and efficiently took out the remaining two with shots to the chest, and the room was silent save for the shuffling of Gatenmaru's feet on the floor as he backed away from Inuyasha and Miroku.
Inuyasha shot forward just as Gatenmaru turned to run, snagging him by his collar and slamming his head down on the nearest table. Gatenmaru grunted and Inuyasha smirked.
"How about that, Miroku?" he commented over his shoulder. Miroku was busy finding a mostly whole chair to drag over and tie Gatenmaru to. "Guess we could take a whole group of these weaklings after all."
"Miraculous," Miroku drawled, pulling a pair of handcuffs and some industrial ties out of his pockets and binding Gatenmaru's arms and ankles to the chair. Once he was secured, Miroku stood off to the side with his gun in hand, allowing Inuyasha to pull up his own chair and plop down unceremoniously in front of the Denubian trade ring leader.
"Let's chat," Inuyasha said amicably. "Gatenmaru, was it? My name is Inuyasha." He smirked wider at the look of fear that passed over Gatenmaru's face upon learning who he was. "Let me tell you how this is going to go. You're gonna tell me and my friend here everything we want to know about the Shikon shards and some bastard named Naraku. If you don't, we're gonna kill you. Don't get me wrong," he said conversationally, resting his arms and chin on the back of the chair as he stared at Gatenmaru. "We're going to kill you anyway. But the difference will be in how we kill you, so I suggest you cooperate."
Gatenmaru's face contorted into a sneer. "Naraku," he spat. "I'll gladly tell you anything you want to know about that two-faced son of a bitch. He's been causing trouble in our circle for weeks now. I sent Menomaru out to bring him back to headquarters so we could deal with him here, but that idiot has yet to send word of any progress."
"Menomaru's dead," Miroku offered. "Killed only a few hours ago on one of your outposts outside of Saria."
"You—!" Gatenmaru wheezed in surprise. "Why kill him if he could lead you to your target?"
"Wasn't us. I mean, it would have been us, but we ran into a bit of a snag on Saria. By the time we caught up to him, somebody had already popped him. Probably Naraku," Inuyasha said. "Smelled like absolute shit," he added as an afterthought.
Gatenmaru grimaced at the crude retelling, but decided to focus on more pertinent matters. He had no desire to be tortured to death, and he knew when he was in over his head.
"What is it you wanted to know about Naraku?" he asked, testing the restraints on his ankles and finding them more than adequate.
"Who the hell is he? And why the fuck does he have my money?"
"Why would I know why he has your money?" Gatenmaru asked.
"Cause your ol' boy Menomaru got the shards you sold to Naraku from us. And then he conveniently neglected to pay us our share. I assume on orders from you. Before he got dead, Menomaru was spouting some shit about debts and there not being any money left, especially since Naraku failed to pay him."
"That idiot!" Gatenmaru spat. "He always was too stupid for his own good. I assure you if I had known he made the deal with you I would have made sure you were paid. He should have known better than to fuck with someone like you. His behavior shouldn't have reflected on our entire operation. It's too bad you've killed most of us now, or perhaps we could have worked something out."
"Doubtful," Inuyasha sneered. "I wanna know where I can find this Naraku, and I wanna know why he would commission an order for these Shikon shards and then not pay for 'em, not to mention kill to cover his tracks. What's so special about the shards that anybody would go to that much trouble?"
"You haven't heard the legend?" Gatenmaru's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"What legend?" Inuyasha asked, eyes narrowing.
"They say the shards are thousands of years old, and that there are hundreds of them littered across the galaxy. Evidently, if you collect them all, they become the Shikon Jewel, an ancient piece of magic that will grant the user any wish."
Inuyasha and Miroku shared twin expressions of avarice upon this revelation. Something like that would be worth a fortune. Hell, with something like that, they could wish for a fortune.
"So this Naraku is trying to collect all the shards and recreate the Jewel." Miroku confirmed.
"It would seem so," Gatenmaru agreed. "He is only one of many shard collectors who have requested our services. He was, however, the only one with the means to pay for them. We charge quite a hefty fee for even a single shard," he explained.
"A fee that was not passed down to us," Inuyasha growled, face twisting into a scowl. "And we did all the dirty work."
Gatenmaru shrugged as best he could with bound hands. "We have to make money, too."
"Yeah, well, none of this would have been a problem if we had just gotten paid in the first place. I'm gonna strip this place bare before I leave," Inuyasha taunted.
"Look, I was serious when I said we would have cooperated fully if I had known you were who Menomaru dealt with. As a show of my goodwill, I'll tell you something you never would have found out yourself."
"Go on," Miroku prompted, sidling closer and training his gun on Gatenmaru's temple.
Gatenmaru rolled his eyes. "Really, is that necessary? I have been more than helpful." When Miroku didn't move, Gatenmaru looked to Inuyasha, who just shrugged, as if to say, "too bad, so sad."
Gatenmaru sighed. "Fine, then. But if I tell you this, I want you to promise to let me go."
Inuyasha just shrugged again. "We'll see."
Gatenmaru weighed his options, apparently deciding that living even for a few more minutes beat an instant shot to the head. "I don't know where exactly you can find Naraku, but I know where he would likely go next, if he truly is collecting the shards as we suspect. There is another trade ring in the beta quadrant, much larger than ours. They've been dealing with Shikon shard collectors for much longer than we have. They take only the most serious requests, and if Naraku wants to track down the most shards for the least amount of work, he'll go there. He'll have to work with them eventually, as they've created a complete monopoly in that quadrant."
"Name?" Inuyasha prompted.
"Shichinintai. But you won't be able to just waltz in and expect them to give you the information you want. You'll have to show them you're serious, "Gatenmaru warned. "Which comes to my second piece of information. We have two Shikon shards hidden here in the compound; we kept them after the people who commissioned them were unable to pay. Figured they could come in handy. They're in a vault located on the south side of the building, which can be reached by hitting a switch underneath the desk in the southernmost room in the far hallway. There's a code to the vault embedded on a disk in the desk's locked drawer. All you have to do is insert the disk in the slot above the keypad and the vault will open."
Miroku and Inuyasha exchanged looks of surprise. This was way more information than they ever expected to get their hands on. It was almost too good to be true.
"I don't have to tell you what will happen if this is a trap," Inuyasha threatened.
"I'm not lying," Gatenmaru assured them. "What would I have to lose? Our trade ring is done now anyway, thanks to you."
"Well, fuck," Inuyasha swore, grinning contentedly. "For that I'm almost tempted to let you live."
Gatenmaru perked up; his eyes brightened and he opened his mouth to say something, probably agree wholeheartedly that he deserved to keep his life after such admirable cooperation, but before he could so much as say "boo," Inuyasha shot him in the head. The chair Gatenmaru was tied to tipped over from the force of the shot and Gatenmaru's body landed heavily, blood leaking sluggishly from the hole in his head onto the already-stained floor.
"Then again," Inuyasha informed the corpse, "can't have you blabbin' about any of this to Naraku. Let's go Miroku."
They followed Gatenmaru's instructions and collected the jewel shards, chuckling in disbelief when they encountered no traps or trouble to and from the vault.
"Sango, we're done here," Inuyasha said into his communicator. "Meet us at the ship in five."
"Did you get what we needed?" Sango asked.
"He squealed like a pig," Inuyasha confirmed, exchanging grins with Miroku.
Sango and Rin met them at the end of a hallway near the entrance to the compound, loaded down with knapsacks of ship parts and illegal merchandise. As the four jogged back to Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha filled them in on what they had learned, stopping to quickly show off the dully glowing Shikon shards at the end of his story.
"We'll need to make our way to the beta quadrant soon," Inuyasha decided.
"Not before we get my parts," Rin argued. "And not before we sell off this cargo. We'll move faster if we travel light, and we're going to need money before we go to the beta quadrant, at any rate."
Inuyasha scowled, but Sango and Miroku nodded in agreement.
"Rin's right," Sango said. "While we don't want to waste time, we should make sure we're thoroughly prepared before we change quadrants. And the Tetsusaiga's going to need to be in peak condition for long distance travel."
"Well, then what are we standing around yakking for? We're not getting anything done sitting here talkin' about it," Inuyasha sneered.
They continued toward the ship at a slower pace; they could just see the prow peeking over the hill they had parked behind. It became clear as they rounded the bend, however, that something was terribly wrong. The ship was not running and ready for take off like they had planned; Shippo was standing in front of the Tetsusaiga with his hands behind his back and a gun trained on his head.
None other than Kagome stood in front of the whole scene, arms crossed over her chest, fringed jacket flared to show off the sharpshooter strapped to her hip.
"Great," Inuyasha muttered to himself. "Her again."
"Maybe this is a good thing," Miroku whispered. "Maybe now she can be handled."
"Shut up," Inuyasha hissed, straightening to his full height and pulling out two guns, grinning when Kagome's smirk faded and she hesitantly pulled her own weapon.
"Well, well, well," Inuyasha drawled, coming to a stop in front of Kagome and sneering down at the little green demon who had cornered Shippo. "Galaxy Princess. I was wondering how long it would take you to get off that outpost we left you on. I'm impressed. I expected it to take you at least a couple of days."
"Eat dirt and die, scumbag," Kagome shouted, pointing her gun at him with shaking hands.
"Oh, come on," Inuyasha smirked. "No hard feelings, sweetheart. You were too much of a risk to take with us, and I'm much too mean to care what happens to you."
"Yeah, well you're too much of a bastard to…" Kagome trailed off, a puzzled frown pulling her lips into a pout. She shook her head as if to clear it. "What is that awful buzzing noise?" she asked.
Inuyasha looked back at Miroku and Sango, but both shook their heads. They couldn't hear anything either. Inuyasha's nose wrinkled. "I don't hear nothin'. And I guarantee you my hearing is ten times better than yours. Sure you're not just going crazy, princess?"
"No, I'm sure… it's coming from your coat!" she accused, pointing a finger at Inuyasha's chest. Inuyasha exchanged worried looks with his crew. That was where he'd stowed the Shikon shards.
"You're hearing things, lady."
"My name is KAGOME!" she shrieked.
"Higurashi," a low voice drawled from behind her, "really."
"But Taisho, they—"
Kagome was cut off by a loud yell from Inuyasha that sounded remarkably like a bark. He thought he was mistaken when he heard his brother's voice; they hadn't seen each other or spoken in centuries. When Kagome said his last name while clearly talking to someone else, his resolve faltered. And he couldn't contain the surprise upon seeing his icy older brother casually striding up behind the bane of his existence and scolding her like a wayward pup.
Now that he thought about it, he did remember hearing that his brother had become a bounty hunter. He had never bothered to pay much attention since they avoided each other like the plague; no way would Sesshoumaru breach his stony silence to bring in Inuyasha and his crew. Who would ever have expected them to somehow run into each other based on their mutual connection with an annoyingly persistent and disturbingly attractive human woman?
"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha gasped, and his elder sibling turned his attention toward them.
"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru drawled, lip curling in disgust. "I see you haven't changed a bit." It was not a compliment.
"You're one to talk, Mister Stick-Up-His-Ass," Inuyasha taunted.
"Do not test me, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru warned. "You've dared to encroach upon what's mine, and you will pay dearly for your transgressions."
"Oh, stuff it, you fucking lunatic," Inuyasha scoffed. "You couldn't beat me in a fight if I had both hands tied behind my back."
The brothers drew on each other faster than human eyes could follow, though Sango, Miroku, and Rin quickly followed suit and trained their weapons on the trio currently holding their pilot captive. Kagome had yet to take her gun off Inuyasha, but she seemed distracted, her head tilting oddly to the side as she listened for something no one else seemed to be able to hear.
They appeared to be at a draw. Inuyasha was contemplating running for it and sequestering inside the Denubian trade compound until they could formulate a plan for Shippo's rescue when all hell broke loose.
Jaken, who was distracted by the posturing taking place between two very dominant demon (or in Inuyasha's case, half-demon) males, screeched in shock and pain when Shippo bit down hard on the hand holding his gun. The laser misfired as it hit the ground, letting off a freak shot headed straight for Inuyasha. His reflexes were much too fast for him to be caught unawares, even by something so surprising, and he ducked and rolled to the side before it could connect. The beam caught the inner breast pocket of Inuyasha's trench coat as he rolled, sending one of the shards flying and putting a huge burn all along the inseam.
"Not again!" Inuyasha cried, landing heavily and inspecting the burn with tender fingers. "Why is everyone so intent on making me replace my wardrobe?"
No one was listening as Miroku, Sango, Kagome, and Jaken all dove for the Shikon shard simultaneously. They landed in a tangled mess on the ground, grunting and swearing in an undignified heap.
"Ouch! That's my nose, Miroku!"
"Ooh, ooh, you're sitting on my hand!"
"Don't you dare, you slimy little toad!"
"Damn it! If you kick me one more time…"
"I am not a toad, I am a Kappan!"
"No, that's not— Ow! Stop it!"
"I got it!" Kagome squealed triumphantly, clutching the shard tightly in her fist and scrambling away from the knot of flailing arms and legs. Sesshoumaru darted forward and pulled her out of the melee, clutching her protectively to his chest and snarling as Inuyasha lunged at her in an attempt to steal back the shard.
"I don't think so, half-breed," Sesshoumaru warned, pushing Kagome behind him.
"I guess we'll get to see who's stronger after all, eh, Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha taunted, drawing his gun once more.
"Hn," Sesshoumaru agreed, pulling out a rifle.
Rin finished freeing Shippo from his restraints and they stared at each other with wide, frightened eyes before sprinting onto Tetsusaiga, loaded down with their plunder from the outpost. It was best to be able to make a quick getaway in these kinds of situations.
Miroku and Sango untangled themselves from Jaken and scrambled behind Inuyasha for support, Miroku giving Jaken one final, swift kick as they did. The little alien squawked in outrage, shouting obscenities at the filthy humans while he high-tailed it back to the Bakusaiga, apparently of the same mind as Shippo and Rin.
The tension was reaching fever pitch when Kagome reminded them all just how irritating she could be, if she put her mind to it.
"How do we even know if this is a real shard?" she interrupted, peeking out from behind Taisho and opening her fist to reveal the sliver in her palm. "I don't see what's so special about these things in the first place. I mean, can they really power anything that—"
She stopped speaking when the shard in her hand suddenly started shaking and rose into the air in front of her, apparently of its own volition. The jewel fragment began glinting in the slowly rising Denubian sunshine, gaining in strength and luminosity until it glowed with such dazzling radiance that they all had to squint and turn away from its brilliance. It hovered there for several seconds, burning brighter than the star behind it, before abruptly winking out, falling unobtrusively into Kagome's outstretched fingers.
Silence stretched across the clearing, Sesshoumaru and the remaining members of Inuyasha's party staring at her with undisguised shock.
Kagome tittered nervously, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. "Sooo," she said, drawing out the syllables obnoxiously, "that was interesting."
*Gatenmaru is the moth demon introduced in chapter 184 of Inuyasha, "The Venomous Cocoon" (in the English version manga, it's chapter 6 of volume 19). In the anime, it's episode 51. If you'll remember, the gang comes upon a human village that's been destroyed by bandits, and their leader is a moth demon that spews a venomous cocoon out of his mouth. Inuyasha is forced to fight him while he still doesn't have control of the newly-forged Tetsusaiga, and Sesshoumaru intervenes in the fight after Inuyasha transforms into a demon. Shichinintai is the Japanese term for the Band of Seven.
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