Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING
Friendly Rivalry
Chapter 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last Chapter...
Oh no... oh no, oh no, oh no... I'm so dead...! However, despite my thoughts, I gave a warm smile.
"What can I do for you?"
I looked at Train, then Wilgar, expecting some sort of reply, but got none. They were listening in on all of the conversations around us, gathering information.
"You were right..." Train mumbled, taking another sip of his milk. "This place does give a lot of believable information."
I gave another forced smile. "It does, doesn't it? Many sweepers come here to sit down and just listen. Did you hear what you were looking for?"
Wilgar nodded. "We heard a lot more than we needed to."
"Okay, then. Would you like anything to eat or drink?"
"I think we're good to go."
I nodded and gave them their bill. They looked at it and dropped the money on the table, leaving. I picked up the cash and counted, scowling when I realised that they didn't leave a tip.
"...greedy buttmunches..." I whispered and cleaned the table, waiting for the next person to come in and take a seat.
------------------------------------------------------------
By the time the last customer had left and I began cleaning up, Sango had already started to count the money she earned in tips. I sighed, dreading what was to come. I knew that I had not made enough money, and that I would have to suffer the consequences. The thing was, the boss didn't know of my past, and what I was capable of. When I was hired, he knew that I was good at fighting, but didn't know that fighting was my life.
Finishing washing the last plate, I sighed as I looked at the jar that held the money I had earned. Picking it up, I tipped it on to its side and watched the pitiful coins pour out. After the jar was empty, I picked up the first coin and began to count.
one... two... three... four... five...I groaned once I got to five. This was way too boring for a person of my calibur. I continued anyways, wanting to see how much money that I owed the boss. Sango looked at me from the corner of her eye, a small hint of worry could be seen. Scowling, I threw down the money that I had counted, which was still only five, and slammed my head against the table in frustration.
"Oh... my... god... I... hate... my... life..." I ground out and Sango's light laughter filled my ears.
"Relax Kagome," she laughed, "I'm sure the mug wasn't that expensive."
I gave her a look that said 'yeah right...' and she shrugged.
"Can't blame me for trying."
"...that mug... was his favorite type... he still has the complete set.."
"Had, Kags. Had the complete set."
"Shut up, Sango! I don't need to feel any worse!" I shouted and she laughed more.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I can't help it! It's just that you never break anything! And, you are never frozen in place when a man tries to harrass you. Maybe it's because of the young man with gold eyes that so valiantly 'saved' you...?"
I snorted in disgust. "You'd like that, wouldn't you, Sango?"
She nodded her head to show that she would. "Yeah, I would, actually."
I groaned and she laughed even more. The door suddenly slammed open and I spun around to see my boss, Kouga, standing there. He saw me and smiled, running over.
"Why, hello Kagome, how are you today?" he asked, taking my hands in his.
Yep... must have been dead when I saw the ad... dead or drunk... though I sincerely hope it wasn't the latter...
"Uhh... I'm fine, thanks for asking, Kouga..."
"You know that my offer still stands, right?" he asked and I gave a nervous laugh.
"Eh heh... yeah... but I'm still not accepting..."
"Why not?" he questioned as I tried to pull my hands out of his grip. Didn't work to well.
"Uhh... because... uh..." I frantically wracked my brain for an excuse. I then saw Sango behind Kouga, and evil glint in her eye.
Oh no...
"Um, excuse me" she politely interrupted and I expected the worst.
Bad Sango...
"Yes Sango?" Kouga answered and she gave an all too innocent smile.
No. Sit. Don't speak. Bad Sango!
"Well you see..."
Don't you dare!!!
She gave me a glance, a smile beginning to form on her lips.
NO! ANYTHING BUT-
"Kagome's already taken."
STOP RIGHT THERE, SANGO!!!
"By who?" Kouga asked, curious now.
YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO ASK! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SIT THERE AND MOPE! YOU HEAR ME, KOUGA?! JUST SIT DOWN AND MOPE!!!!
"Train Heartnet" she stated simply.
I'LL KILL YOU SANGO!!! I shot her a glare that would have killed her if she had seen it.
"Who's this Train Heartnet? I'll kill him!" Kouga snarled and I went pale.
I'm screwed... anybody except Train... Hell, I would've chosen Miroku over him...
"Oh, he's Number 13 of the Chrono Numbers" Sango chirped and Kouga stopped his growling.
"You mean the Black Cat?" he asked and Sango nodded. Kouga turned towards me. "Is that true, Kagome?"
"Uh..."
"Yeah, it is!" Sango answered for me and I glared at her.
"No, it's not true, Kouga. Sango's making it all up" I replied.
His face relaxed and I mentally gave a sigh of relief. "So you're still able to take my offer?"
"Uh... sure..." I mumbled and his eyes lit up. He gave me a huge hug and I gave a hesitant laugh. Sango sighed and I realised that I should have just played along with her little lie. What was I thinking? That wasn't just a little lie, it was a huge lie.
"Oh, and Kagome?" Kouga mumbled, letting go of me and holding me at arms length.
"Yeah...?" I answered. Here came the question.
"What happened to the last mug in my collection?"
I sweatdropped. "I...uh... eh heh... I kind of broke it..."
Kouga's face darkened. "You... broke it...?"
"Um... yeah..."
"Do you know how much that mug cost?"
"A lot...?"
"Yeah. Can you afford it?"
"...no..."
He sighed and rubbed his temples. "Okay... you're working full time until you can afford to pay for it, got that?"
"...yessir..." I mumbled with a bow and he nodded in approval before leaving. I sighed with relief.
"That was close..." I whispered and Sango looked at me.
"Why didn't you play along?" she asked.
"Are you crazy, Sango?!?! Train hates me!!!"
"I'm not so sure about that... he seemed to reeeaaaallly like you earlier today."
"Well I hate him, so it still wouldn't work out."
"Why do you hate him? If you don't mind me asking."
I gave her a look that made her shut up. She sighed. Turning towards the door, I gave a small wave and walked out, leaving her to do the rest of the cleaning.
------------------Train------------------
"Wilgar" I mumbled and he looked at me. "She looked really familiar."
"Yeah? Well, she's Saya. The sweeper."
"What does that have to do with it?" I asked and he looked at me incredulously.
"Saya Minatsuki. She's one of the most famous sweepers ever known," he explained, "she's one of the most feared sweepers, too."
"...your point?"
"She's like the Black Cat of the sweeper world."
"...really..." I mused. That made me even more curious. I never really was good when it came to controlling curiosity. "Sounds interesting..."
"Well, that's all for now, Train, you've got a mission to attend to. You can ask me more questions later on."
"Yessir" I stated, giving a small bow, and walked off. As I walked over to the front door, I could feel Wilgar's eyes staring a hole in my back. I slowly shut the door behind me and disappeared in to the darkness. I had a man to kill.
---------------------Kagome------------------------
I looked at the dark sky and guessed what time it was. I had never gotten a way to tell time, as in I had no watches or anything of that sort.
"Hmmm..." I mumbled to myself. It's about...10 now. That should mean that Train should be leaving for the assassination about now... Maybe I should give him a visit and see how much he's improved...? I nodded. Sounds like a plan, Kags.
After deciding what to do, I ran back to my home and changed into my "Number" outfit. I Put my hair up in a ponytail and took the illusion off of my eyes. Remembering where the assassination would take place, I racd off in the correct direction, and general area. I gave a loud whistle and I felt a presence beside me a few minutes later. I heard panting and the padding noise made by paws.
"Let loose the warning, Shade. Let them know that I'm on my way."
A loud howl suddenly erupted from my wolf's throat. It was a sad and haunting sound. It rose, and then fell, like a cry of pain. I smiled when there were screams of fear and surprise coming from a nearby mansion. I heard a gunshot and knew that Train had finished his mission. I had to get there before he could escape. I would have teleported but that took up a lot of energy. Plus, it wasn't necessary that I had to see Train. There would be plenty of oppurtinuties in the future to ruin his pathetic life.
There was a gunshot and a cry of pain as the lights in the mansion turned back on. I ran faster, knowing that something had gone wrong. I made it to the front gate just int time to almost get my head blown off. I quickly hid behind the brick wall beside he gates and heard someone swearing through clenched teeth.
"Stop right there!" voices shouted as more gunshots were heard. I heard someone falling to the ground and heard a grunt as that someone made harsh contact. I looked at Shade. He didn't need the signal.
Shade bolted in front of the front gates, making sure that whoever was there could see him clearly. I smiled as he judged the lights just right so that his yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. The guards skidded to a stop and he let out another howl. I took that one moment of surprise and jumped over the brick wall, silently landing on the branch of a tree. I then hopped from branch to branch until I was right next to the dark-clothed guards before hopping down behind them and knocking them out.
"How shameful, Train. The Black Cat had been given bad luck instead of the other way around..." I mumbled, staring down at his unconcious and bleeding form. I sighed and entered the mansion, finishing the mission for him, before returning to his body. I made sure to use the illusion to make my eyes look blue, and took my ponytail down. I touched his back and looked at my wolf. Shade trotted off as I disappeared from thedriveway and reappeared in my home. Setting Train on my bed, I looked in the closet for an outfit and pulled one out. I went in to the bathroom to change.
When I walked back out, Train was trying to sit up on the bed. I quickly walked over to him and gently nudged his shoulder.
"Lie down, Heartnet" I mumbled using fake sympathy. "You need to rest."
"...Saya...?" he moaned and I gave a small smile. If that's what he knew me by...
"Yeah. Hold on, I'll fix that bleeding for you."
Too bad he wasn't awake to hear that. I guess that's a good thing, too. He wouldn't be awake for the treating of the wounds. That would mean that I could make it as painful as I wanted...
To Be Continued...
