Chapter Six
The next three days seemed to go by in a blur, at least for Kagome. Kouga visited once a day, as he had promised, but something was different. Ever since that day at his apartment, he had been acting strange. Sending her smoldering looks when he thought no one, including herself, was looking. Silent touches like on the shoulder and occasionally a skim of fingertips on her cheek. But almost too soon, he was healed and it was time to get down to business.
Though it had taken some serious guilt trips on Inuyasha's part and plain, hard logic on Sesshomaru's, Kagome had finally gotten them to agree to let her take the case. But not without some berating on from both brothers.
"If this doesn't work out, Kagome, I'm not taking the fall for it," Inuyasha said as soon as they had come to an agreement.
"I didn't expect you to, Inuyasha," she replied calmly. One could never be too emotional when dealing with a client. She then turned to Sesshomaru who watched the exchange with the tiniest hint of amusement in his usually neutral gold eyes. His long silver hair was in perfect place, not a strand out of order. His clothes were likewise and ironed. He never looked frazzled no matter what. It was something he prided himself on.
It was at a complete contrast with Inuyasha. His long hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail at the nape of his neck, his clothes wrinkled as if he had slept in them, which Kagome didn't doubt. His gold eyes were heavy with fatigue, having only gotten three hours sleep. He'd stayed up all night doing surveillance for a woman who thought her husband was cheating with one of their teenage daughter's friends. He hadn't gotten in until dawn, only to be woken up again when Kikyo had to go to work and giving her a lift.
Kagome looked over at him with sympathy and winked at him. He gave her a tired smile and they turned back to Sesshomaru. She lifted a questioning brow at him. His mouth quirked.
"Though I do not agree with your choice of clients, the evidence is undeniable and we will search for everything we can." Kagome almost jumped out of her chair until his next words hit her. "But," he paused as she turned back to him. "You will make it clear to your client that the chance of finding anything substantial is one to a million."
Kagome nodded and gave him a grateful smile.
"Thank you, guys. You won't regret this."
"You're an asset to this company, not to mention the founder, and we trust your judgment," Inuyasha said, shrugging a shoulder. Kagome's eyes softened, as they often did when working with the two brothers. She walked over to Inuyasha and kissed his cheek.
"Your taking today off, Inuyasha. You need your rest."
As expected, he objected. "But, I've slept less before."
"That was when you were a teenager. You're not that young anymore. Sorry to break it to you, but you're getting old." He scowled at her, earning a laugh in response. When he shook his head again, she turned to Sesshomaru for help.
"She's right, brother. You're dead on your feet. You'd be useless to us. Kagome and I will take your clients for the day and you will go home and rest. I want no objections," he said finally when Inuyasha opened his mouth once more.
He frowned and looked from his brother to Kagome.
"So your turning on me, is that it? Some friends you are," he grumbled. Kagome smiled and pulled him from his chair, giving him a push towards the door.
"Go, we'll be fine without you. We've done it before." He gave her one last look before finally leaving. Kagome turned to Sesshomaru and grinned.
"Stubborn as always," she said, shaking her head. "Thank you, Sesshomaru, for letting me do this. I won't let you down."
"I know," he said simply and cracked a smile, as he only did in her presence or his wife, Rin, who was currently taking care of their two-year-old little boy. She smiled again and kissed his clean-shaven cheek.
"I'll update as soon as I get something." And with that, she left.
As soon as she got to her car, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Kouga's number.
When his deep voice came to her, a small smile graced her lips.
"Hey, Kouga. It's me."
"Hey, Kagome. What did they say?"
"It's a go." She heard a sigh of relief.
"Thank God. What do you need me to do?"
"Just meet me at my house in an hour. I'll ask you a few questions and we'll go from there."
"Great. See you there." Kagome sighed as soon as she hung up. It seemed that every time she saw him, the more anxious she was to see him again as soon as he was out of her sight. She was growing attached and she knew it wasn't a good idea. But she couldn't help it. She loved the way he would smirk at her cockily, when he would tilt his head to the side when he was confused. And more, she loved it when he would look into her eyes and she would feel like she was the only girl for miles.
As soon as she got home, she took a relaxing shower, her aching muscles sighing with the warm water. The night before she had taken a shift with Inuyasha, then had taken her own case of a mother who thought her son was selling drugs. She had taken surveillance, but the son had soon caught on. It was never pretty when they found out they were being watched. Thankfully, though, she had made it out with herself and her car intact.
Kagome looked down to take in the damage and winced at the colorful bruises all along her side from where she had landed when diving away from a spray of bullets. Also, down her legs were cuts and scraps from the asphalt. She grimaced.
That's the last time I ware shorts to a surveillance, she thought with a shake of her head.
She got out and dealt with the minor cuts and wrapped herself into her bathroom on her way to her bedroom. On the way, however, she heard banging on the door. She padded to the door as another series of raps echoed in her apartment.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm on my way. Hold your horses." She yanked open the door with a frown. But soon her frown turned into shock at what she saw.
Kouga hung up the phone after talking with Kagome and smiled. It seemed that every time he saw her, he was more and more eager to see her again. He shook his head. And if the secret looks she'd been giving him were anything to go on, he wasn't the only one. He grabbed his laptop bag and briefcase and headed out the door. But as he closed and locked his door behind him, his phone rang.
Thinking it was Kagome, he grinned and answered.
"I thought I told you to leave," a voice boomed. Kouga winced and looked at the phone, recognizing the voice to be the one from the day at his apartment.
"You again?"
"Yes, it's me again. And because you didn't head my warning, you'll pay. And dearly."
"What do you mean?"
"Ah, but that's for me to know and you to figure out. But I will give you this much information, she has fiery red hair." Kouga blood turned to ice in his veins and he clutched the phone.
"What did you do to her?" he shouted.
A deep chuckle answered his frantic question. "You'll have to be quick. The poor dear only has ten minutes."
"Where is she?"
But it was useless. He had hung up. Kouga closed his phone with numb hands and stared at it as if it had turned into a vicious snake. His hands trembled. The time was 2:35. He had ten minutes.
Ayame. He had Ayame.
Suddenly, he was mobile and running desperately towards his car. She could only be two places. She had to be either at home or at her parents. She didn't go anywhere else. Kouga started his car and peeled out in record time, pressing the gas petal to the floorboards and skidding down the street. His eyes were wide and frantic as he drove like a maniac. As soon as his car skidded to a stop out side, he jumped out and ran to the door, pounding furiously.
The door was yanked open and Kouga was confronted with Ayame's disgruntled father.
"Is Ayame here?" he asked frantically.
"No, she said she had to stop by work to pick up a few things."
"When did she leave?"
"What's this about Kouga?"
"It's urgent. When did she leave?"
"Five minutes ago. She should be back any minute…" but Kouga paid no attention as he ran to his still running car and jumped in, peeling out quickly. The time was 2:40. His heart raced as his brain conjured up all sorts of scenarios. None of them good.
He came to a screeching halt outside her office building and ran through the glass doors. He stopped at the front desk.
"Has a woman with bright red hair passed by here?"
The receptionist blinked at him and nodded. "Which way did she go?"
"She said she was just picking some things up from her office."
"Which floor?"
She continued to blink dumbly at him. Kouga want to slap her. "Which floor?" he shouted. She snapped out of it.
"Fifth floor." Without another word Kouga was off again, his heart racing with dread. He opted for the stairs instead of the elevators. He checked his watch. 2:42. He ran faster. He only had three minutes.
As soon as he reached the fifth floor, he stopped in the main hall.
"Ayame! Where are you?"
A muffled cry came from an office to his left and Kouga ran towards it. He yanked open the door and felt relief that he'd found her. She was in a corner of her office, her legs and arms bound. He smiled at her.
Her muffled cries finally registered and he saw she was jerking her head in the direction to his left. He turned his head and saw a small box-like contraption. It was counting down. His blood turned to ice once more. Thirty seconds. His ran towards her, grabbed her by her shoulders and hauled her fireman style over his left shoulder and ran from the office. He was almost to the stairwell when it went off. It blast threw Kouga off his feet. He landed with a solid thud next to the door, Ayame landing two feet from him. She cried out on impact, her head raping smartly on the tiled floor. Kouga's vision wavered as a searing pain erupted over his entire back. He shook his head to clear his vision and began to crawl towards Ayame. Her body dead weight, Kouga didn't have time to panic as he hauled her once more over his shoulder with a wince from his burning back.
He stumbled rather than ran down the five flights of stairs. The alarms had gone off at the blast and he could hear sirens in the distance, but he ignored them. They wouldn't get there in time. He had to get Ayame help now. Suddenly, Kagome's face flashed in the back of his mind and he knew where he would go.
Kagome gasped as she took in Kouga. His face was a mass of cuts and around his feet, a shallow puddle of blood had begun to form. In his arms was a beautiful red headed girl. Her arms and legs were bound and in the back of her head was a nasty bump.
"Kouga! What happened to you?" she exclaimed, pulling him in and shutting the door behind them. He didn't answer, only looked down at the girl in his arms.
"It's Ayame. She hit her head when the bomb went off. She needs help."
"Bomb! What bomb?!" When Kouga looked at her, she knew she would get her answers later, but right now she needed to deal with the injuries. She nodded and gestured him to follow her as she led them to her room. Kouga placed her carefully on the burgundy sheets and watched as Kagome grabbed her first aid kit and set to work on stopping the blood flow from her head.
"All that blood," Kouga whispered. "Is she going to be okay?"
"All head wounds bleed a lot. It looks like a nasty bump. She should be fine." He nodded and watched as her deft hands parted Ayame's flaming hair carefully, revealing a jagged cut in her scalp. The blood flow had slowed somewhat and Kagome pressed a damp cloth to the wound until the blood clotted. She then cleaned it gently, making sure no infection had gotten into it.
As soon as a bandage covered the wound, with an ice pack over it to lessen the swelling, Kouga began to relax and finally feel the pain from his back. Kagome saw his grimace of pain and turned to him.
"Let's go to the bathroom," she said quietly and he nodded, sending one last look at the girl on the bed before leaving.
As soon as they were in, she pushed him gently down onto the lip of the bathtub and made him turned his back to her.
His shirt was almost completely torn from his bloody back. When Kagome saw the burns and deep cuts, pieces of glass poking out from his skin, she wanted to cry. But she held it in and only got the things she'd need.
"I need to pull the glass out, it might hurt," she said softly, tweezers in hand. He only nodded and gripped the towel rack with his big hands.
"I'm ready," he said after a moment. She hadn't been kidding, he thought as he felt the searing pain throughout his back, making him jerk in protest. She made a soft sound of pain as he groaned when she removed a rather big piece. When she had gotten all of the glass out, she wet a towel and began to gently, wipe the blood from his back. Soon enough he was bandaged and had been given three pain killers.
He sighed when it was done and relaxed. But soon, he heard a sound behind him. He turned his head and saw Kagome had stayed were she was behind him, her arms wrapped around herself, her bangs covering her eyes. He turned to face her fully and tipped up her chin. Her big eyes were swimming with unshed tears.
"Hey, what's this?" he asked gently, wiping the tears from her lashes. He stood and pulled her into his arms. She struggled in his grasped as the sobs shook her small body. Her tiny fists hit his chest weakly.
"You idiot!" she choked out. "Why did do something so stupid? Have you lost your mind? You could have died!" Kouga only smiled tenderly and placed his chin on top of her head. Soon enough, she was burrowing into him, her arms wrapped around his neck.
"You could have died. You stupid, stupid man!"
"I couldn't stand by while she got hurt. I had to," he said simply. She shook her head.
"What would I have done if you had died? Don't you ever think about someone other than yourself!"
When her tears were spent, she sighed weakly and pulled away, avoiding eye contact. He grinned at her.
"Sounds like you care, Bambi," he said cockily. She glared at him through puffy eyes.
"Don't let it get to your head."
"But I can't help it. You care about me. I feel so honored." She laughed sadly and kissed his cheek.
"At least you're still alive," she murmured, pressing her cheek against his. He breathed in her scent and smiled contently. He pulled back slightly to look her in her eyes and saw they were warm with care. His heart skipped a beat as he leaned down so his lips pressed to hers tenderly. She stiffened a moment, testing the feel of his lips against hers, before completely melting and pressing her body flush against his, her arms wrapped securely around his neck. His own arms were around her tiny waist as he pulled her to her toes and deepened the kiss. She sighed and pulled back. Her eyes were stormy with passion, as his were. He grinned at her, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face.
"Can't get enough of me, can you?"
She laughed and kissed him again. But pulled back before he could really get into it.
"You don't know that half of it."
AN: Hey guys. I had to do a little Kouga/Kagome fluff before really getting into the plot line. Don't worry, Ayame's married, so you won't have to worry about her, but she did used to have a crush on Kouga when they were kids, but nothing more. You'll get more of Ginta and Hakkaku later along with Sango and Miroku. Hope you liked. Review!
Jane