DISCLAIMER: All Inuyasha goodness belongs to the amazing Takahashi-san!

The Agency

By MissKatt

Chapter Eight: Souls

"Oof!" Kagome grunted as they dropped from the miasma. She bounced slightly in her bubble before rolling around a little until he stopped her, licking his lips as he stared at her through the translucent substance.

"I cannot wait to devour that soul of yours!" He cooed, drool gathering at the corner of his mouth.

She pulled back in disgust. "You'll never have it!" She fired back, hoping she wasn't just bluffing.

He squealed, which she assumed was his way of laughing, and began to roll the bubble down the hall of his house. "Now, now, you hardly have a choice in the matter!" he said happily and he rolled her.

She pressed her hands against the side of the bubble, desperately trying not to throw-up from her dizziness as she rolled around in her hamster ball. When it finally stopped, she had to close her eyes tightly to try and concentrate on making her head stop spinning. Once straightened out, she opened her eyes and nearly gasped when she saw the piles of bubbles next to her. So many women were trapped in there; some were translucent while others were like her.

"Hey! You! Can you hear me?" She shouted, pounding her fists on the walls of her bubble.

The girl's head next to her bobbed up, glanced at her, and then fell back down, defeat written all over her features. "I can hear you."

Her voice was a little muffled, but she still heard her. "Great! Hey, how long have you been here?" She asked, trying to get as much information as possible.

"Three days, I think. It is hard to tell when you are trapped like this." She muttered.

"Well, don't give up hope! I'm going to get us out of here!" Kagome said confidently. She huffed when the girl scoffed at her and leaned back in her bubble. She quickly grabbed her purse and began to rummage through it. She grabbed a pen and stabbed it into the side of her bubble before dragging it down. The side split open and she pushed her way out. Smiling triumphantly, she looked at the girl and did the same thing to hers, releasing her from her prison.

"Just go. There is no point in running. He will catch us once more." She whispered, drawing her knees to her chest.

Kagome pursed her lips together. "I will come back for you then. I promise." The girl just shook her head and closed her eyes tightly, trying to fold in on herself and escape to some safe place within her mind. "I will." She repeated to her and stood up.

Where did she start? She walked to the door and cracked it open. Poking her head out, she looked both ways before scooting out into the hallway and walking quietly along the wooden floors. She tiptoed her way around, trying to find an exit. She turned a corner and bit her lip when she found another hallway.

Hesitantly, she began to make her way down it after making a mental map in her head so that she knew how to get back if she had to. Each step was careful, slow and quiet. That was until a floorboard decided to wail when her weight hit it, announcing her presence. Panicking, she tried to move faster away from the place, but the other floorboards continued to rat her out with squeaks. She heard the sound of a door slam and bristled when she heard the heavy breathing of the toad.

"W-what are you doing out of your sac?" He screeched. He was furious. Never had he had someone escape from him. How was this possible?

Kagome turned around and gave an awkward laugh before she took off down the hallway. She heard the slapping of his feet as he chased after her. She had to find an exit! Where could it be? "Eee!" She squealed when she felt something slimy wrap around her ankle and yank it out from under her. She could have cried from the amount of pain in her already bruised face from hitting the floor. She put her hand on the side of her face, sucking in a hissing breath from the pain. It had only been five hours from the last time she hit her face on the floor when they were fighting Yura.

"Now, I will make sure you don't escape again!" He shouted and opened his mouth to spit his paste-like substance at her.

With wide eyes, she quickly rolled to the left, dodging the dangerous substance before getting back on her feet and running again. She wanted to use her reki against him, but she remembered what Hitomiko had said on the report: 'He is a cursed human. Do NOT kill the human.' How was she supposed to get him back to being a human?

"Get back here!" He hissed and began chasing her once more.

"No!" She shouted back as she ran. But, she stopped abruptly though when she heard a wail and then a heavy smack on the floor. She turned around and hope bloomed in her chest. "Sesshoumaru!"

He lifted his gaze to her, his amber eyes cold. "Miko, you are useless."

She nearly fell over. "Y-you're so mean! I'm sorry that I was able to find his hide out!" She said sarcastically, putting her hands on her hips.

"Only because you allowed yourself to be captured." He replied, narrowing his eyes at her attitude.

She bristled. "Yeah, well, I still found it." She crossed her arms over her chest and put her nose in the air.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and snapped his poison whip at the toad once more when he tried to get up and scamper away. The toad squealed and flopped down on his stomach, his hands coming up to rest on the back of his head as he wailed.

"Hey! Don't hurt him!" She order and she walked over to his side.

He lifted his brow at her. "And why not? He is a rogue and almost ate your soul. Still, you wish to save him?"

"It's not that," She began and looked back down at the quivering toad. "He's a cursed human. The notes specifically said not to hurt him!"

He scoffed. "Alright, Miko, then how are you going to remove it?"

She blinked, confusion in her blue eyes. "How am I going to…?"

He stared down at her, unblinking. "You are a miko. Are you not supposed specialize in this kind of thing?"

She blushed. "I don't know anything about curses…"

Again, he had to resist the urge the rub his temples. "As I said, you are useless, Miko."

She glared up at him. "Hold on, let me think." She put her thumb and forefinger on her chin, her lips pursing. How to get rid of a toad curse? What would be a toad weakness? Moss? Tadpoles? Warts? Lack of water? Her eyes widened and she grinned before jumping in delight. "Fire!"

"Fire?"

"Yes, if it is a toad curse, you have to find the weakness of the toad. It's fire!" She smirked with triumph and put her hands on her hips. "And you said I was useless."

His brow twitched. "And where, exactly, are you going to find fire?"

She stiffened again. She hadn't thought of that. "Uhh-"

"Y-you hurt me!" The toad finally wailed, gaining the two's attention. "I will make you pay! Souls! Come to me!" He shouted as he tilted his head back.

Sesshoumaru took a defensive stance as white orbs began to swarm into the room. They swam around in the air before diving into the toad, disappearing into his body. He felt the miko's hand on his arm and turned to look at her, horror etched into her face as the creature doubled in size.

She shuddered as she saw the souls sink into the toad. All…all those girls that she had seen in that room. He had just absorbed them! How cruel! They didn't deserve such a fate. She had to find fire and stop this creature from hurting anyone else. Her eyes widened a little when she realized where to find it. She turned to Sesshoumaru and promptly dug her hand into his pocket.

"M-miko!" He asked, face flushing at her bold action. "What are you-?" He cut himself off when he saw her withdraw his lighter from his pocket.

She flicked the lighter and paled at the small flame. There was no way this was going to defeat him. Her head snapped up to focus back on the much larger toad when he released a roar. He swung his giant hand towards them and she eeped as Sesshoumaru grabbed her and jumped away from the threat. The force made her drop her purse, the contents scattering about the wooden floors. She eyed her travel-size hairspray and nearly cried out in joy.

When he touched down on the floor, he felt the miko push away from him, running towards the contents of her purse. He scoffed at her; how pathetic, worrying about mundane possessions in such a time. He quickly turned his attention back to his opponent as it charged at him, his massive webbed hands swinging towards him. Just as he was about to use his youki whip, he felt a force slam into his side, pushing him to the side.

After pushing Sesshoumaru out of the way, she flicked the lighter and sprayed her can of hair spray simultaneously, creating a make-shift blow torch. She watched as the toad squealed in pain. He dropped to the floor, wriggling and thrashing about until he glowed white. Souls shot out of him, darting about confusedly before flying out of the room. As the glow dimmed away, a small human male was left on the floor.

Kagome dropped the contents in her hands and rushed over to the male. She shook his shoulder, trying to wake him, when a newt-like creature crawled out from his mouth. She screamed and smacked it away out of reflex. She watched as Sesshoumaru stepped on it, killing the thing beneath his shoe. She then looked down at the male as he roused.

"Ah! He's okay!" She said and smiled down at him as he opened his eyes, blinking away the drowsiness.

Another mission complete!

*~~~The Agency~~~*

"How did you find me, anyways?" Kagome asked, pressing a bag of ice to her swollen cheekbone. By the time they returned the man home, her making Sesshoumaru do it since he was the only one who had a car, it had been dusk. She officially had been up for twenty-four hours and annoying begged Sesshoumaru to take her to a coffee shop until he finally caved in, unable to take her whining anymore.

He looked at her over the rim of his coffee cup. "Our link."

"Our link?" She blinked and then looked down at the chain around her neck. "We can do stuff like that with it?"

He nodded once and leaned back in his chair running his hand through his short white hair. "You will learn of it soon enough."

"I see," She murmured and sipped her coffee with her free hand. They fell into a silence and she shifted uncomfortably. Deciding to break it, she sighed loudly. "I still can't believe I've fallen on my face, in the same spot, twice in the past twelve hours." She heard him make a noise and she swore it was a laugh. "Did you just laugh?"

"Your pain amuses me," He retorted, a twisted smirk on his face.

She blinked and then let out a laugh. "Looking back on it, it is pretty funny actually."

He glanced at her smiling face and lifted a brow. This girl was too strange for him.

A/N: Loosely based episode: #8 "The Toad Who Would Be Prince"