And with this chapter, things will start to fall into place. Notice I said start. Trust me. There's more to it, but this is a good start. Prepare for a history lesson!
Chapter 9: A Muddled History
Kagome turned the pages cautiously. Nervous energy was making her hands shake badly. At least, that's what she told herself was the reason. The Law Book was quite large, but even with this, it didn't take her long to find the object of her search. This law was introduced just as all of the other laws were in the book. There was a cover page that identified the number of the law and its date of addition. It was devoid of any other information. Kagome hesitated one last time before turning the page. The words told a story all their own. They read:
Law Fifty-Four:
No Pack member shall ever have a romantic relationship with another member of the Pack.
Purpose:
Romance among the Pack hinders decision making. It is a certainty that these feelings will get in the way of the objective of any mission or exercise. Due to the nature of our organization, our family, we must be strong in everything we do. We must be able to make quick and sometimes hard decisions. These cannot be influenced by feelings of love for another member. They must be objective and goal based.
It is also true that many members die in our line of work. What we do is dangerous and has an extremely high risk attached to it. Feelings of romance for another member could be crippling if the object of those feelings were to die or otherwise be injured or terminated. This would cause the member left behind to be completely ineffective and a hindrance on a mission, which would put other members at risk.
We cannot afford these types of costly distractions. The lives of the Pack are more valuable than the feelings of any individual member. For this reason, romance and romantic relationships have been forbidden.
Punishment:
Left up to the discretion of the superior officers of the law breaker. No punishments will be considered too severe.
History:
Cause: Histories - Section I - Subsection K - Article 89
Notable Infringements: None
Kagome gulped. There was more there, but she didn't feel like forcing herself to read it. She hadn't expected the law to be this strict about it. From what Kara had said, it seemed like the law was fairly lenient on this issue. However, the actual text told a far different story. From this Kagome could make many different assumptions, but she didn't know the whole story. For that, she would have to read the Histories. She closed book in her hands and set it aside. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the other, thicker book. She brushed her hand across the leather cover. It was untitled, just like the Law Book, but she knew what it was.
After a moment's hesitation, Kagome opened the book and began to search for Section I. Luckily for her, the book was in alphabetical order. Leave it to the assassins to be organized in their record keeping. It didn't take her long to find Section I, Subsection K. The articles inside, at first glance, mostly detailed successful missions that had been undertaken by Pack members. Kagome even saw one that Inuyasha had done with Kara four years prior. However, she didn't stop to read it. Her goal was article 89 and, after a few more seconds of flipping, she found it. She stared at the page without really reading it for a moment before closing her eyes and mentally steeling herself for what she was about to learn. After a moment, she nodded to herself and opened her eyes to read the words in front of her.
One year and nine months earlier
A bead of sweat ran down Inuyasha's cheek. His concentration was fierce. It needed to be. He couldn't afford to miss. The knife in his hand was cold and his target small. With this in mind, though, only about ten feet separated him from victory. He took in a deep breath. As he exhaled it slowly, he brought back the knife and then threw it forward through the air in one fluid motion. The knife flew through the air, spinning over itself as it went. Inuyasha closed his eyes, hoping that it would hit home. It wasn't until he heard the thump of the knife sticking into its target did he crack his eyes to see the result.
"DAMMIT!" He screamed into the small room. The sounds of laughter filled the room.
"C'mon Inuyasha!" Miroku jeered from the side, "Can't even beat of girl in a game of knife throwing?" Inuyasha turned to him and narrowed his eyes.
"I'll beat you." He threatened, cracking his knuckles. At that moment, he felt an arm go around his waist and pull him tight against a familiar, warm body.
"Inu baby, calm down. We all know you're a guns expert. You're a damn good knife thrower too. It's just that Kara is a master." Kikyo cooed. Inuyasha sighed. He couldn't argue with her and his anger just seemed to leave him at the sound of Kikyo's soothing voice. It was like honey to his ears. He looked over at the victorious Kara, who was still giving him a haughty look. It made him laugh to himself. At least his little sister could beat him in something.
"Fine." Inuyasha breathed after a moment, putting his own arm around Kikyo, "You're right." Kikyo beamed up at him, her smiling face making Inuyasha's heart skip a beat.
"I know babe." She joked, "Now come on. Let's get you a drink."
Inuyasha smiled as Kikyo led him to the bar. He was extremely thankful for the month they all had off from work. It had been a long time since he had been able to just kick back and relax, especially with his woman. Kikyo poured him a glass of Wild Turkey 101, his favorite American bourbon. It burnt like hell, but it tasted good and got him drunk, which was an accomplishment for a drink. Kikyo herself picked up the fruity little drink that she had ordered about ten minutes earlier, yet hadn't touched yet. By US law, they were underage, but, then again, they weren't subject to US law. Hell, they weren't subject to any law except their own.
A few hours later, Inuyasha along with every single other Pack member in the bar was drunk and passed out, or on the verge of doing so. Everyone except for Kikyo. She chuckled to herself and stepped out of the bar to make a call. The cool night air nipped at her face. It was comfortable outside and the city lights lit up the sidewalk just enough to see, but not be annoying. Kikyo looked around to make sure that she was alone. Upon seeing that she was, she reached for her cellphone. Only one person in the world besides her knew about that phone besides her and that person wasn't in the Pack.
She unlocked the phone and accessed its contact book. Of course there was only one number inside. She called the number and waited for the other person to answer. The phone rang twice, as always, before the man she was calling picked up.
"Report." He said, his voice smooth and low. Kikyo smirked. The man had never been one for many words. He had always been straight to the point unless the occasion called for something more poetic.
"They're out. All of them are drunk off of their asses." Kikyo informed him. The man on the other end chuckled.
"Good. They have never been the most intelligent bunch have they?" The man joked, making Kikyo laugh.
"No, not at all sir. They let me in after all." She told him, amused by stupidity of the self-proclaimed best assassins in the world. The man on the other end sighed.
"This may be true, but unfortunately, we have to abort tonight's operation." He told her. Kikyo's eyes widened in surprise.
"But sir, they are open for the taking. We could take out this threat now and never have to worry about them ever again." She protested, "I don't understand your decision." The man chuckled to himself.
"I didn't expect that you would." He admitted, "Let's just say that there are two people that I want to keep alive in that room." Kikyo's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean sir?" She demanded, " Who are you talking about?"
"You're a smart girl. I think you can figure it out." He told her, "You do happen to be very... close to both of them." Kikyo's jaw dropped.
"You mean..." She began.
"Yes." The man said quickly cutting her off. That sealed it. Kikyo had always suspected something. Their looks had given them away. The strange orders to get close to both of them only affirmed her guesses. But, until now, that's all they had been. Now, though, they were fact in her mind. Kikyo smirked. Now she understood this whole assignment. She understood it and could see the endgame in sight.
"I understand." She said after a moment.
"Good. Now get moving." He commanded. With that, the line went dead. Kikyo put the phone back into its hiding place in a secret pocket in her bag. She smiled to herself and walked off into the parking lot. Her Pack issue cherry red Ferrari 458 was waiting for her right beside Inuyasha's jet black Lamborghini. That was one of the few things she liked about the Pack. They had nice cars. Kikyo approached Inuyasha's car. In his drunken stupor, it had been easy to get the keys. She unlocked the car and dropped a slip of paper onto the driver's seat. The whole situation made her laugh. With that done, Kikyo closed Inuyasha's car, leaving it unlocked and the keys on the seat, and walked to her own car. She got in, started it up, and drove off onto the dark city streets. She made sure that the silenced pistol that she had on her and would need later that night was well concealed. Naraku Jigoku was not going to be disappointed in her. Kikyo Hitomi could do treason better than anyone in the world.
One year and nine months later
Kagome's hands went weak as the heavy book fell from her hands. Kikyo hadn't died. She hadn't been reassigned. She hadn't just broken up with Inuyasha. She had done something far worse than all of those. Kikyo Hitomi had gone rogue. She had betrayed the Pack and, in doing so, had killed three high ranking officers in the Pack, all of whom had trained Inuyasha and Kara at some point in their careers. It was the most disgusting thing that she had ever heard of in her life. She had gotten all of the young members drunk at a party that she had suggested and arranged. Then she used her position within the Pack to get close to three unsuspecting officers. Upon meeting with them on the pretense of discussing training methods, she put a bullet into each of them. Her treason wasn't discovered until the next morning. By that, time she was long gone, presumably in another country. After that, her trail had been cold for over year. It stayed that way until the one year anniversary of her betrayal. On that day, Arihiro's office was broken into. Nothing was taken, but a hit for Naraku Jigoku was left along with evidence that Kikyo had been working for him since birth.
Kagome felt sick to her stomach. It was all wrong. Inuyasha had loved Kikyo. He trusted her with everything, including his life. Kikyo had known that and had done everything to cultivate it, so that she could tear it to shreds in the end. Then she had done it again on the one year anniversary. No wonder Inuyasha couldn't deal with the memories. He blamed himself for the deaths of three officers that he called his friends. Kara probably felt the same way. Kikyo had been her best friend and then she had become a traitor. Now it was Kagome's job to avenge that and even out the score. That was her job, her responsibility.
Anger, pity, rage, sadness, and many other feelings that she didn't understand filled her all at one time. The tears began to fall of their own accord. She couldn't control them, nor did she understand them. Her trust had not been betrayed and her heart had not been broken. Yet at the same time, she felt as if those emotions were her own. It didn't take much for her to figure out why. Inuyasha and Kara were her family now. Kikyo had been apart of that family at one point too. Then she had torn that family apart, ripping some from it by death and destroying the hearts of others as she left. Her heart was now subject to all of the emotions that her family had felt upon that betrayal. Kagome wasn't ready to handle this yet. Nothing had prepared her for it. She curled up onto her bed as her cries turned into sobs.
Kagome was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to notice what was going on around her. At some point, someone had opened her door. The only reason she knew that was because she was suddenly being taken into someone's arms. These arms were strong and familiar. A smaller, softer hand began to rub her arm in a comforting gesture as the stronger ones pulled her tighter into a body firm with muscle. The two different people were saying something to her about it being alright, but her brain couldn't process their words. All she could do was hold on tightly to the shirt of the person holding her and soak it with her tears.
It took her a few minutes to compose herself. At some point, she figured out who was holding onto her so tightly. It was Inuyasha, while Kara was on her other side trying to comfort her as best she could.
"Kagome." Inuyasha whispered into her ear as her tears began to slow to a stop, "Kagome, you're gonna be alright."
"How? How can you say that?" Kagome pleaded into his shirt, "She betrayed all of us. She threw away Kara's friendship and she ripped out your heart. How is anything ever going to be alright again?" Inuyasha held her tighter, but didn't say anything. He let Kara answer this one for him.
"We'll kill her." Kara said bitterly, "We'll kill her and Naraku. No one betrays the Pack and lives. Ever. It's as simple as that."
"Kikyo thinks that she's won, but the game isn't over yet. The last word and the last bullet will be mine." Inuyasha told her matter-of-factly, "And you're going to help." Kagome looked up at his face for the first time. His eyes were full of fire. He was sure of himself and not a single doubt existed. Kikyo was dead to him.
"And how can I help?" Kagome cried, "I'm not trained. I'm not strong. I'm nothing compared to Kikyo."
"NO!" Inuyasha roared, taking Kagome and Kara off guard, "Don't you EVER belittle yourself compared to thag bitch ever again! She betrayed us. That makes her lower than the dirt I walk on. A strand of your hair is worth more than her life." Kagome didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. The fury and hate built up in Inuyasha's voice said everything that needed to be said on the subject.
"He's right you know." Kara said after a moment, "And don't worry about training. We'll make sure that you're ready. By the time we're done with you, killing will be second nature." Kagome laughed to herself.
"You make that sound like a good thing." She said weakly.
"The people we kill need to die." Inuyasha told her, "Never doubt that fact."
"Kikyo is a prime example." Kara added. Kagome simply nodded. It was another few moments before she, or anyone else spoke again.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome began, not knowing if she wanted to know the answer to what she was about to ask.
"Yes Kagome?" He responded, waiting for her. Kagome took a deep breath.
"The Histories don't tell the whole story do they?" Both Inuyasha and Kara froze at the question. Kagome immediately knew that she was right and continued, "So what is the whole story then? From the beginning."
Inuyasha swallowed hard. He hadn't been expecting this question, but damn was the girl perceptive. She was her father's daughter. There was more to it than the Histories suggested and to understand it, you had to know her whole history.
"Kikyo came to us just over four years ago." Inuyasha began, "It was unusual because she sought us out. That had never happened before and has never happened since. Said she had heard rumors or some bullshit like that. Anyway, she had no known attachments. We did every type of background check possible. By all records, she was an orphan that had recently gone missing and that no one cared enough about to look for. Arihiro decided to give her a shot. She knew about us, so it was either kill her or let her in. We should have fucking killed her. When put to the test, she excelled in every category. Athletics, academics, weapons, it didn't matter. It was like she was a natural at them all. That should have tipped us off, but she was also an amazing actress and had us all fooled into believing that she was simply just that good. Arihiro accepted her in and sped her through training. He treated her like the golden girl. Hell, we all did. I was assigned to train her in guns of all types. She was good. By the end of it, she was almost as good as me. Could hit a target a square inch in size from a mile away. During her training, she played me and Kara worse than anyone else. We were like her own little puppets. She probably enjoyed it and got a hell of a kick out of it. As a show of how bad she had us fooled, I fell in love and opened up to her. Told her everything, while she fed me lies. Eventually we began to date. That was back when Pack relationships were encouraged instead of forbidden. Arihiro knew we were together and sent us on missions alone together. We fought and watched each others backs. Hell, she even saved my life more than a few times. It only brought me closer to her and wrapped me around her finger even more. I loved her. I even told her that I'd fucking marry her. That's where it really went wrong. In order to celebrate my "bold declaration" she said that all of the young squads should have a party. Since we had just been given a month off by Commander Arihiro, we figured that it was the perfect time. Well at this celebration, everyone got drunk of their ass. Everyone except for Kikyo. She had the whole damn thing planned. While we were passed out, she left to commit her betrayal without worry of being caught or hindered by one of us. That night she killed our officers, my commanders. No one figured it out until the next morning. None of our drunken selves would have figured out until even later than that except for one little gift that she left me. I walked out of the bar that morning, planning to drive home and sleep off my hangover. Found my keys in the car next to a slip of paper. It was note that Kikyo had left the night before. I'd say knife to back is a better term for it, though. It's words, handwritten by Kikyo, read: "You may now kiss the bride." The second I finished reading it, a .308 bullet slammed into my body half an inch below my heart. The worst part is that she wasn't trying to kill me. I would have preferred to have died. The bullet went straight through and didn't hit anything vital. It was an incredibly difficult shot to make and not done on accident. I trained her to make that very shot to put an enemy down without risking his life. She was trying to taunt me and show me how badly I'd been played. To add insult to injury, when we analyzed the bullet, we found a message on it. It was the end of the note she'd left in my car. Written on that bullet was "-Love, Kikyo Takahashi." The bitch took my last name and defiled it by putting it next to hers. She was mocking the feelings that she had cultivated in me. One last little fuck you to remind me of much of a dumbass I was. Needless to say, I got the message."
Once finished, Inuyasha went dead quiet. Kagome didn't say anything either. She didn't have any idea that anyone could be so cruel or heartless. Kagome turned her head into Inuyasha's chest and rested her forehead on it, trying hard not picture a bullet hole there spouting blood all over the place. These attempts failed miserably, however, and her stomach began to churn. Thankfully, Kara broke the uncomfortable silence.
"He was in the hospital for weeks." She began, "It didn't take long to heal since it was essentially just a flesh wound. We had to remove the scar because Pack members aren't allowed to have them. They are distinguishing features that can identify us at inopportune times. As for Kikyo, she tore the Pack apart. Everyone sort of blamed themselves for what happened. No one saw what should have been obvious. But like Inuyasha said, Kikyo was a good actress and kept it hidden from us all until the day she betrayed us. I guess it's clear enough that Inuyasha and I were the hardest hit by all of this, so we got reassigned to different squads."
"Kara, you and I both know that's bullshit!" Inuyasha yelled, "They split us up because the higher ups thought they couldn't fucking trust us!" Kara held up her hands to stem the oncoming rant that she had all too much experience with.
"Not now Inu. Not now." She said calmly. To Kagome's surprise, he actually listened and didn't say another word on the subject.
"So what happens now?" Kagome asked weakly. Inuyasha and Kara exchanged a look before nodding.
"It's getting late and you need to sleep." Kara advised, "Inuyasha and I need it too. These coming weeks are going to be hard on all of us."
"She's right." Inuyasha agreed, still holding onto Kagome, "You need rest and Kara is going to make sure that you get it." Kagome nodded.
"You're gonna be alright though, right?" She asked him, making him chuckle softly.
"Kagome, I've been dealing with this for almost two years. One night of having to tell someone about it isn't going to be the death of me." He assured her, "I should really be asking you that question. This is still new to you." Kagome smiled at the ridiculousness of him asking about her well being when she hadn't been the one hurt by this.
"I'll be fine." She told him.
"Good." Inuyasha said. He squeezed her tight one last time before releasing her and standing up from the bed to head out the door.
"Inuyasha." She called out, making him stop and look at her from over his shoulder, "Thank you. For everything." Inuyasha smiled softly at her.
"Yeah." He said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. With that he walked out the door into the night that had fallen at some point during the time that Kagome had been in the room. In all honesty, Kagome didn't want him to leave, but knew that he had to go.
"Kagome." Kara said, ripping her from her thoughts, "You do need to sleep, but if you want to talk, I'm here."
"Thanks Kara." Kagome said, laying back on the bed, "But I don't really think I want to talk about this much any more." Kara chuckled softly.
"Now you get how all of the rest of us feel." She joked, "I understand. Get some sleep Kagome. Tomorrow is gonna be one of the hardest days you've ever had." Kagome nodded, getting what Kara was saying.
She didn't even bother to undress. Kagome closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her. The black bliss of unconsciousness took her by storm and, for once, dreams left her alone that night and allowed her mind to rest, if only for the night.
Told ya. Kikyo's backstory is a lot more complex than this. For that matter, so is the backstory of every single character in this story. There's only one person that knows everything and we've only gotten a glimpse of him in this chapter. Know who he is? I guess we'll just have to see how our young friends fare. If you can guess what's gonna happen, you're probably a mind reader. And if you are... STAY OUTTA MY HEAD! Anyway, hope you guys are enjoying this. The girls are finally going to start training next chapter. Bout time right? They don't have all that much time...
