Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha
Chapter 13—Complicating Matters
"I still can't believe you have a twin," said Koga from the passenger seat of the Geo. Their conversation during the ride to the impound lot had not visited this subject, since Ginta was acting as chauffeur. Now that they were alone, however, it was the first thing he brought up.
"I should have told you sooner," Kikyo apologized, turning the ignition to start the car. As she maneuvered out of the impound lot, she continued, "Everything's just been a mess—Kagome didn't want people to know she was here at first, and then the whole thing with the stalker complicated things… You do know that she was the one who threw you over her shoulder at the mall, don't you?" she added, tentative.
Koga's brows shot up beneath his bangs. "That was her too?"
She nodded, swerving out into traffic. The sudden move had her boyfriend grabbing at the dashboard to catch himself.
"Whoa!" he cried. "What's the hurry?"
Kikyo was already zipping in and out of the lanes, driving like her usual maniac self. "Kagome's heading to the airport to meet someone this afternoon—I wanted to get back home to talk to her before she left." She didn't bother adding that, as Kagome was intent upon meeting up with a yakuza assassin, it might very well be the last time she saw her twin alive.
"If you had a cell phone, you could just call and talk to her anytime," he quipped.
Weaving the Geo in between two trucks, she spared him a dry glance. "We're still minors. Cell phones require a contract, which has to be signed by an adult."
"So ask your dad."
She scoffed at this. "Dad hates cell phones. He thinks they're a horrible sign of co-dependence, and that the world at large needs to hang up and tend to their business. He carries his out of protest and has it turned off half the time—he'd never sign a contract for us."
Her boyfriend grunted. "Well," he allowed, "that still doesn't mean you have to drive like a banshee—we need to get back in one piece, you know."
Kikyo turned an affectionate smile in his direction. "I've got it under control," she assured him with a wink.
………
"What's with those two?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
Kikyo gestured toward the couch, where Sango sat batting away Miroku's attempts to grope her. "She seems to be lacking her usual violence this afternoon."
"Ah," said Kagome. "It seems they've decided to try dating, and Miroku is still learning that this does not entitle him to fondle her to his heart's content."
"I see," her twin mused, frowning thoughtfully. "Well, it's about time they finally admitted they have feelings for one another."
"You knew too?" Inuyasha exclaimed, coming up to the pair just in time to hear Kikyo's last statement.
"Please," she said, rolling her eyes. "Are you blind?"
"Apparently," he grumbled, turning to Kagome and pointedly ignoring the snicker she was trying to conceal. "The information line says your girl's flight is an hour away from landing," he told her. "If you're going to do this, we need to get going."
"'Kay," she nodded. "Just let me go grab my bag."
"Bag?" Kikyo echoed sharply.
"Handbag," Kagome clarified. "Purse. Tote. Whatever." Having assuaged her twin, she trotted off to retrieve the item.
Inuyasha moved to follow, but he was waylaid when Kikyo's hand suddenly darted out and fisted tightly into his shirt. "If you don't bring her back," she growled in a low voice, dragging him close enough to hear her words, "I will personally oversee your descent into Hell."
He gulped and nodded, wide-eyed. "You heard the plan yourself," he managed to retort, not wanting to admit that the intensity of her stare scared the living crap out of him. "Everything should go smoothly—if it doesn't, I'll take full responsibility."
Kikyo released her hold, lightly shoving him away as she nodded. "I'm glad we understand each other," she remarked in a pleasant voice, her smile sending shivers down his spine.
"Keh," Inuyasha snorted, then shifted his attention to the two figures on the couch. "Hey, lovebirds! We're leaving!"
As the trio exited the room, Kikyo watched with worried eyes. She and Koga had arrived back in time for Kagome to explain what she planned on doing at the airport—it was simple enough, but so many things could go wrong. An anxious twist of her stomach caused her to call impulsively, "Hey, be careful!" Through the open door, Inuyasha waved one hand to indicate that he had heard her. She watched as Kagome joined the group, waving a cheerful goodbye her direction.
"They'll be fine," Koga assured her, placing a comforting arm around her shoulders as he came to stand next to her. "Your sister seemed pretty sure of herself."
A small smile crossed Kikyo's face. "She did, didn't she," she agreed. All those years at their mother's side had taught Kagome how to plan, and how to remain calm in carrying out those plans. Her twin couldn't help but reflect that she would have been a nervous wreck in her place. "I wish she would have let me come along," she murmured, feeling left out.
"Nah," said Koga, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Better to let minions like those three risk their lives. Meanwhile, we have the house to ourselves…"
"The servants are still here," she reminded him, trying not to laugh at the speculative gleam in his eyes. "And your doctor told you to take it easy for the next week."
A wolfish grin lit up his face. "Where's your mind?" he asked. "I was just going to suggest a game of Monopoly. Unless you have something better to suggest…"
She snorted delicately, orienting herself toward the stairs. "Monopoly it is," she said, and her boyfriend congratulated himself on successfully distracting her from her fears.
………
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have started our final descent. We would ask that you please put away your tray tables and return your seats to their upright position."
Kagura sighed and continued staring out the window at the blanket of clouds they were about to sink through. What she would have given to be out there, free, riding on the wind instead of stuck here in the middle of the coach class, next to a lush and a woman with a screaming baby.
Naraku, that bastard. The least he could have done when tossing her on an international flight with less than an hour's notice was buy her a first-class ticket.
As it was, she had to settle for a window seat in the economy section, where she could only stare out into the afternoon sky and feel her own entrapment that much more acutely. At times like these, when she had nothing to do but wallow in self-reflection, she realized just how much she hated her life.
She was twenty-one, she thought ruefully. She should have been going to university and flirting with cute boys, not flying halfway around the world to put an end to a vendetta she cared nothing about. Her life should have been simple, like any other young twenty-something's was. Life was anything but for a girl born to one of the most ruthless yakuza leaders in all of Japan, though.
Kanna didn't seem to mind, of course.
Kagura's mind briefly flitted to her elder half-sister, the colorless, childlike creature who worshipped their father and did his bidding without question. The two of them had absolutely nothing in common. Where Kanna bent to Naraku's every whim, Kagura yearned to rebel. One did not rebel against the Onigumo, though. Her cousin Musou had tried a couple of years ago, and Naraku had killed him without so much as a second thought or twinge of regret. She would share that fate if she stepped out of line, be she his daughter or not.
The baby wailed louder, its mother apparently having abandoned any attempts at comforting it, and the lush was drunkenly trying to count the number of empty mini liquor bottles he had stowed in the magazine pocket in front of him. Pity Naraku didn't have a contract out on his life, because she would have more than gladly obliged, especially after he spent the first three hours of this interminably long plane ride hitting on her and trying to get her drunk.
No Mile-High Club for him this trip.
The flight to San Francisco had been long but uneventful; customs had been busy, of course (here on business, no foreign produce in her bags, thank you very much), and she had had to run from the international terminal to catch the second leg of her trip. She had expected to sleep a bit once she got settled in, but thanks to the screaming infant and the chatty lush, those plans had gone out the window. All she wanted right now was to get off this plane, away from these people, and into a small hotel room where she could take a nice, hot bath and forget that she had been sent to do Daddy's dirty work yet again.
She almost broke out into the Hallalujah Chorus when the wheels hit the runway.
Another excruciating twenty minutes passed before she could deplane. She didn't even bother standing up from her seat, since she didn't see any point in cramping her head against the ceiling while she waited for everyone else to clear out of the walkway.
"Find your happy place, Kagura," she muttered under her breath, forcibly willing herself not to strangle the lush, who was currently having trouble pulling his bag from the overhead compartment. He wrested it free, but rather than shouldering it and herding off the plane, he set it down in the aisle seat, unzipped one pocket, and solemnly began to pack away his empty bottles. He looked up to see Kagura's vitriolic gaze directed at him.
"Souvenirs," he mumbled with a drunken smile. "You know, for the kids."
She had to stop herself from laughing. What kind of a father brought home empty liquor bottles for his children?
That of course made her reflect on her own father. Come to think of it, she would have preferred a tiny booze bottle to some of the souvenirs he had given her. Her mind flitted to the small tattoo on her shoulder, the little red spider that was the mark of the Onigumo yakuza, that he had forced her to get when she was only fourteen. Figures that red ink tattoos couldn't be removed except by actually cutting out the flesh, she reflected bitterly. And if she resorted to that, she would still be marked, just with a horrible scar rather than her family's brand. She could never get away.
The aisle finally cleared and she stood up, shouldering her carry-on backpack and holding tightly to the small airline welcome envelope that had previously held her boarding pass, but now only contained her baggage-claim ticket.
All she had to do was get off the plane, get her bags, get to her hotel, take a nice, hot shower, track down this girl for her father, kill her, then get back on a plane and go home, where she would probably just be sent out again. She sighed as she entered the terminal gate. When had her life become so mundane?
"Kagura! Kagura, over here!"
She stopped dead in her tracks, looking around quickly for the voice that called her name, suddenly apprehensive. No one had said anything about someone meeting her.
"Over here!"
She turned to the side and felt her jaw go slack as she observed her, that girl she had been sent to kill, standing by a group of tourists and waving one arm frantically to get her attention.
Was she on some prank TV show or something?
Glancing around herself suspiciously, she warily approached her mark, trying to decide whether this was some sort of a trap or not.
"Hey, you finally got here," Kagome said with a smile. "Your plane ended up being almost an hour late. I thought you'd never arrive."
"You know who I am?" she asked uncertainly, fully expecting a mob of people to jump out of nowhere and scream, "Gotcha!"
"Sure. I just came to talk things over on neutral turf. Come on, there's a little café halfway down the terminal."
She found herself being dragged toward the small restaurant, past the little duty-free tourist shops that sold every kitchy souvenir known to mankind, past the restrooms that she probably should visit some time soon, past the bay of pay phones, to…
Cup'a Joe.
That was the oh-so-intelligent name of this particular establishment. Kagome pulled her in to the fish tank-like restaurant, and sat her down at a little table for two. "What'll you have to drink?" she asked pleasantly, taking the seat across from her.
"Cappuccino, extra froth," Kagura promptly said. Who was she to turn down a free beverage, especially considering her immediate American funds were somewhat limited: she had enough for a cab, and that was about it, and right now she could use the pick-me-up.
"Coming right up."
Kagome started to stand, but Kagura quickly grabbed her wrist. "No, you don't," she shook her head wisely. "I know better than to let an enemy give me something to drink."
"Don't worry," Kagome answered with a laugh and an innocent wave. "I just place the order, and someone else brings it to our table."
"Oh." Well she certainly felt a little stupid right now. She watched as her mark bounced away to the counter and rattled off her order, wondering what could possibly be on that girl's mind, if she even had one. She half-wondered whether they'd sent her after the wrong person entirely.
"It'll be here in a minute," Kagome announced as she took her seat once more. "You can relax," she added, noting that Kagura hadn't set down her carry-on and still clutched her baggage-claim ticket. "My intentions aren't sinister, I assure you."
"I'm still not sure you know who I am," Kagura stated uncertainly.
The girl across from her quirked an eyebrow. "Sure I do. You're traveling under the name Sugisaki, but you're actually Kagura Onigumo of the Onigumo yaku—" The rest of her words were lost as Kagura quickly clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Are you crazy?" she hissed, to which Kagome solemnly shook her head.
The two of them stared at one another for a long moment, each trying to discern the other's thoughts. In fact, they sat frozen in the same position until Kagura realized that people were beginning to stare.
"Just—don't say that name," she whispered conspiratorially, withdrawing her hand and looking around to see if anyone suspicious was watching them.
"You mean the 'O' word?" Kagome inquired with wide eyes. At Kagura's curt nod, she said, "Okay, I won't say it. But at least you know I know who you are."
"And now I'm just left to wonder why on earth you're sitting across from me at an airport café," Kagura drawled.
The teen opened her mouth to respond, but shut it again as the server appeared with their drinks. Kagura at last dropped her backpack to the floor next to her chair and set down her baggage-claim ticket, turning her full attention on the whipped-creamed-and-chocolate-sprinkled foamy nectar-of-the-gods in front of her. Kagome had ordered a hot chocolate that was served with the same garnishes.
Both girls breathed in the aroma of their beverage and sighed blissfully.
"I thought we could both lay all our cards on the table," Kagome stated as she stirred the cream into her hot chocolate. "Public place, state-your-intentions-before-the-games-begin sort of thing."
"I'm here to kill you," Kagura said bluntly, then took a sip of her cappuccino. "Not that I really want to," she added to soften the blow.
"Well that's good, because I don't really want you to either," Kagome replied, apparently unfazed by the news she had just been given. "Perhaps we can come to some arrangement?"
"Naraku doesn't believe in coming to arrangements after he's marked someone," came the dark response. "I'm really sorry, because you seem like a nice person, but I don't have a choice in the matter. I guess you should have chosen your partner-in-crime more carefully."
"Akemi chose me," Kagome shrugged dully. "If I had my choice, I would never have gotten into crime."
"You and me both."
"So Naraku wants me dead, huh," Kagome observed aloud, her voice still level. "Apparently I'm no use to him alive?"
Kagura shook her head sadly. "My sister Kanna's already busy tracking down the Shikon's buyer—it's only a matter of time before it's recovered, so Naraku wants you dispatched with and out of the way as soon as possible. It hurt his pride to be burglarized, you know."
"I can imagine. But what makes you think Akemi sold the Shikon no Tama?"
This question took her by surprise. "What else would she do with it?"
"She was obsessed with it," Kagome shrugged. "She even discussed having it implanted in her. You know, the perfect hiding place, right between the kidneys and the small intestines? Trouble was finding a doctor whacked enough to oblige…"
Kagura was busy coughing, having started to drink at exactly the wrong moment during that previous speech. Kagome stood quickly, sidling over to pat her on the back and help her clear her lungs.
"She had it implanted in her?" the assassin gasped as soon as she was able. "Naraku's going to have a fit!"
"I didn't say that," came the knowing response. "I said she talked about having it implanted. Whether she actually did or not, well, I'm not about to tell you that. It may be my only bargaining chip."
She narrowed her red eyes, observing the seemingly air-headed teen in front of her and reassessing her initial evaluation. "You could be bluffing," she ventured.
"I could be. But if the Shikon Jewel really was sold, why haven't you found it yet? I mean, Akemi got her hands on it almost two years ago. Surely you haven't been sitting on your laurels before now."
Kagura was about to say something, but she was interrupted by an annoying chirping sound. Kagome blushed and produced a ringing cell phone, glancing down at its illuminated screen with an apology.
"Sorry about this," she said as she began to punch numbers on the keypad. "I got a ride here with a friend of mine, and he's certain you're going to snap my neck or something."
"The thought had crossed my mind," Kagura said mildly, stirring her drink.
"Well, I'm just going to text him and assure him I'm still alive, if you don't mind," she smiled back. Did nothing faze this girl?
She waited patiently for her to finish sending her message before saying, "So how were you expecting to get away from here alive, anyway? You may have just made my job a whole lot easier by meeting me, you know."
"I just figured you'd be too tired after your flight to go to the trouble of killing me in public," Kagome shrugged, replacing the phone in her pocket. "Besides, I can always hop on a plane out of here. I had to buy a boarding pass to get back to your gate anyway."
"We'll just track you down again."
"Like you did from Rome?"
Kagura smirked, remembering Naraku's wrath when a couple of his men had missed the girl by mere hours back in Italy. "We only traced you as far as Toronto," she conceded. "You're excellent at running, I'll give you that. Unfortunately you're leaving family behind if you bolt this time. I don't recommend it," she added, solemnly shaking her head. "He'll order to have them both killed, Kagome."
"Why hasn't he yet?"
"It seems he owns some stock in your father's company. Sudden death of a CEO is bad for business, you know? Naraku's nothing if not a greedy bastard."
"You don't sound overly fond of him."
"I loathe him," Kagura growled. "But I don't have any choice in my occupation."
"You always have a choice," Kagome retorted softly. "I learned that too late. Just do me a favor and tell him the Shikon no Tama was never sold. Maybe he'll reconsider the value of my life."
She stood to leave.
"You're awfully trusting of me," Kagura observed.
The teen cavalierly tossed a few dollars on the table to take care of the tip. "Professional's Code of Honor?" she ventured with a wistful smile. "Can I at least have a five minute head-start?"
The assassin smiled and nodded. "I'll give you that much just for the cappuccino." She sat back in her chair and raised the oversized mug to her lips, watching her prey retreat with amusement and sorrow mingled in her expression. That girl was younger than she was, dragged into a life of crime against her will, just like her. She didn't like killing innocents.
Life just wasn't fair.
She let the five minutes elapse, sipping her drink with ease down to its last dregs, then stood and gathered up her backpack and the airline envelope that held her baggage-claim ticket. Out of compulsion, she opened the latter—and froze.
There was a boarding pass for a flight to New York and a small note tucked into the flap.
Sorry about your bags.
Her day couldn't possibly get any worse.
………
"Did you get them?"
"Yes, hurry up! What took you so long?"
"We were talking."
Kagome handed the baggage-claim ticket to the inspector, who looked over the tags on the suitcases Miroku and Inuyasha each carried, checking to make sure the numbers matched before letting them pass out of the carousel area.
"She said she'd give me a five minute head-start, but who knows how long it will take her to find out I made the switch," Kagome said, ushering them toward the parking garage. "I'm just glad you already found her suitcases, otherwise we'd be in a little trouble."
"We're in plenty enough as it is," Inuyasha retorted. "It took you long enough to text that claim number to us!"
"Quit complaining. Everything worked out in the end."
"So she's not here to kill you?"
"Okay, so maybe not everything."
"I don't believe this!" Inuyasha cried, shifting the suitcase from one hand to the other. "A yakuza assassin is here to kill you, and you won't even consider going to the authorities!"
"What could they do?"
"They could arrest her, for one thing!"
Kagome shook her head. "I wouldn't want that. Kagura's really nice, aside from the whole heartless assassin thing. Besides, from what she said, she doesn't exactly enjoy her work, and she despises Naraku."
"That's the yakuza leader?"
"Yeah."
Sango was waiting for them in the same SUV Kikyo had driven the night before, and she flipped on the engine while the boys threw the bags in the back. Kagome hopped into the back seat, leaving the front passenger's seat open for Miroku. She slid the cell phone out of her pocket, handing it to the girl in the driver's seat.
"Thanks, Sango," she said. "It worked like a charm."
"Tell me again—why exactly did you steal her luggage?" Sango inquired with a frown.
Inuyasha and Miroku slid into their respective seats and pulled on their safety belts as the vehicle backed out of its space.
"Because anything lethal she brought with her will be in there," Kagome replied. "But also just to tick her off. I mean, she's here to kill me, after all. I may as well make her life as hard as possible. So who wants to volunteer to keep her luggage?"
"Why aren't you keeping it?" Inuyasha demanded.
Kagome frowned at him. "She knows where I live. I mean, I plan to give it back, minus the weapons if she has any, but I need time to go through it, check the lining and all that."
"I could keep it at my place," Miroku offered.
Sango shot him a sideways glare as she drove. "Why? So you can see what type of underwear she packed?"
"My dear Sango," he retorted prosaically, "I don't even know what this woman looks like. Why on earth should I care about her undergarments? Especially when I'm far more concerned with a certain someone else's underwear at the present," he added with a smirk.
Kagome whacked the back of his head. "Eyes on the road, Sango," she commanded.
"Thanks," the athletic teen replied. "But could you hit him again just for good measure?"
"Sango," Miroku whined as Kagome gladly complied.
"I told you there were rules, Houshi," she answered heartlessly. "You need to be respectful. I wouldn't go around in public talking about your underwear, or grabbing your butt, for that matter."
"I wish you would," he muttered, slumping down into his seat so that the headrest shielded him from any more of Kagome's swats.
"Ah, young love," Inuyasha sighed, feigning a dreamy expression. This earned him irate glares from both teens in the front seats.
"So is Miroku taking the luggage or not?" Kagome asked, getting back to the point.
Sango frowned. "We can take it to my house," she said firmly. "It'll be safer there."
"I can't believe you think I would do something unsavory with it," Miroku protested, genuinely hurt.
"Houshi, even if you didn't, Mushin would."
He couldn't argue with that. "Right. Sango's house it is."
………
"Dad?" Sango cautiously called as she opened the door. "Dad, are you here?"
A bearded man in his early forties came wandering out of his office, a small room just off the house's entryway. His hand held a steaming cup of coffee and his face held an expression of confusion. "Sango?" he questioned, glancing from his daughter to the three people stumbling in behind her. "Whose car is that out front, and whose luggage is this?"
"Ah, um, that's my friend Kagome's car," she motioned to the girl at the back of the group, and began introductions. "Dad, this is Kagome. Kagome, this is my dad."
He reached forward to shake the girl's hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, an odd look flashing through his eyes before he turned his attention to the two boys. "Inuyasha, Miroku. Good to see you both again. Are you keeping out of trouble?"
"Yup," they both chirped, exchanging a nervous glance. If Sango's father found this at all suspicious, he did not indicate it.
"And the luggage?" he prompted instead, eyes traveling down to scrutinize the two medium-sized suitcases that Inuyasha and Miroku were carting inside.
"They're Kagome's," said Sango quickly. "She just drove in from out of town."
"And that would be why there are airline tags around the handles?" He pointed to the telling white labels, one eyebrow raised in a challenge to his daughter's story.
"Those are from my trip to Japan last year," Kagome spoke up with an innocent smile. "I haven't been able to bring myself to remove them yet—it's like a souvenir, you know? And once I take them off, I won't have those reminders anymore."
"Ah." The man paused to take a sip of his coffee, eyes trained on this new girl's face. "Are you staying with us, then? Sango hadn't said anything about visitors."
"No, no," said Kagome, flashing a disarming smile and raising her hands defensively. "I'm staying with another friend, but she's working right now—the rest of us were going to, um, hang out here until her shift ends, and I just didn't feel comfortable leaving my bags in the car while we were inside."
He nodded. "I see. Well, have fun, then. Sango, be sure to let me know if you leave again," he added, wandering back through the open door into his office.
The four exchanged glances before hurrying through the entryway and up the stairs to Sango's room. "He suspects something," she whispered as soon as they were out of earshot.
"What makes you say that?" asked Miroku. "He seemed normal to me."
"That's how I know," Sango said, shooting him a dark glance. "He was too normal—he didn't ask Kagome where she had driven in from, how long she was staying, how she knew me, anything. He just accepted everything we told him and walked away. He suspects something."
They piled into Sango's bedroom, dumping the luggage unceremoniously upon the floor. "If he had a file on Kagome's mom," Inuyasha said as he shut the door tight behind him, "maybe he has one on Kagome as well."
Three pairs of eyes turned in the direction of the former criminal-accomplice, who lifted her hands defensively. "I don't know anything about that," she said, wide-eyed and innocent.
An odd silence followed, in which they watched her as though expecting her to break down and confess everything. Finally, Inuyasha snorted, turning his attention back to the suitcases. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "Let's crack these things open already."
Kagome automatically flipped the first to lie flat, zipping it open in a quick movement and throwing back the flap as the other three teens gathered around her.
"Hello, hello," Miroku murmured, reaching one hand toward a bundle of black silk and lace that was unmistakably lingerie. Sango immediately slapped his hand, throwing a glare his direction. "Ow! Sango!" he complained, holding his injured appendage and looking at her with wounded eyes. "It's not what you think!"
"You might want to cut him some slack on that one," Kagome agreed, reaching for the same spot. From beneath the silky bundle she extracted a small, hard black case. "Looks like she at least follows airline regulations when transporting her firearms—it's locked."
"Is that…?" Inuyasha started, licking his lips nervously.
"Oh, definitely a handgun," she nodded. Setting the box to one side, she rifled about between clothes and produced a second box, this one wooden with a tight-fitting lid. "And here we have the ammunition," she announced, prying the top off to display the neatly stacked rows of bullets, standing on end like a small army of metal soldiers. "Nice—looks like 9mm hollow-point."
Inuyasha snatched the lid from her and forced it back on the box. "Are you crazy?" he hissed. "Some yakuza assassin has come to blow your brains out, and you're admiring the bullets she plans on using?" Stashing the ammunition box next to the locked gun case, he leveled an impatient glare and prompted, "Just get on with it! In case you haven't forgotten, we are up to our necks in all kinds of illegal shit right now."
"You know," Kagome drawled, returning her attention back to the contents of the suitcase, "with how worked up you're getting over all of this, I'd almost think you care. Ooh!" Her startled exclamation cut off whatever retort he was about to give.
"What is it?" he demanded instead, leaning forward with anxiety.
"These jeans are super cute!" she crowed, holding up a pair of the denim pants for all to admire.
"Those are cute!" Sango agreed, fingering the pattern stitched on the pockets.
Inuyasha looked about ready to burst a vein, and Miroku stared with slack-jawed disbelief. "Could we please get on with this?" the former growled, stealing the super-cute jeans away and flinging them off to the side.
"Dibs on those if we don't give the luggage back," Sango whispered in Kagome's ear.
All in all, the search did not take long. The first bag produced only the handgun and ammunition. Within the second lay a set of knives and a rather elegant katana. Preliminary inspection of the linings produced nothing—it seemed that Kagura didn't bother trying to hide her weapons. She probably claimed them up front when she checked her bags, just as the airlines would have desired.
"So," Kagome pronounced as she piled articles of clothing and various toiletries back into place in their respective suitcases, "looks like I get a choice between a bullet and a blade."
"How can you sound so cheerful about all of this?" Inuyasha questioned, incredulous.
"I was worried about finding a high-powered rifle," she shrugged. "Looks like Kagura prefers to do her job with a personal touch, though."
"That doesn't answer my question!" he protested.
Her brows furrowed together in annoyance. "What am I supposed to do, cringe in fear and start blubbering? I hardly see how that would help matters. Besides, I gave her a message to pass on to her boss, and that should buy me some time, if not my life." She stood and brushed off her hands.
"What sort of message?"
"Just that killing me won't get him back what he wants. Sango, can I get a drink or something? I feel like I'm dying of thirst."
"Sure—I could use something myself." The other girl was on her feet in an instant, leading them downstairs to the kitchen. "How much time do you think you've bought?" she inquired.
Kagome shrugged. "I'd give the Onigumo three days," she said as they passed through the door.
A heavy smash brought all four teens to a dead halt. Within the kitchen stood Sango's father, coffee pot in one hand, with the mug he had been holding in the other only seconds earlier lying shattered across the tile floor. He stared at Kagome with eyes the size of saucers.
"Onigumo?" he repeated. "Did you just say 'Onigumo'?"
Kagome stared back at him for a heartbeat before immediately replying, "Huh? Onigumo? No, no, I said 'only good for three days'—we were talking about the sight-seeing pass I bought to use while I'm here. What's 'Onigumo'?" The innocent expression on her face could have fooled the devil himself into thinking she had never stepped a toe out of line.
"It's n-nothing," Sango's father replied, casting a wary glance her direction as he set down the coffee pot and went to find cleaning supplies. "Sorry. No, no, Sango, I've got it," he said, waving aside his daughter's attempt to help him. "You just go play with your friends."
At that invitation, the four beat a hasty retreat back upstairs. "Your father knows about the Onigumo?" Kagome hissed once the door was shut tightly.
"I told you he's CIA—I don't know anything about his cases, aside from the occasional tidbits I find when I'm cleaning his office, and I'm not supposed to know about those! He had suspicions about you before," she added with an anxious glance. "Now they've probably skyrocketed. We shouldn't hang around here."
No one saw any reason to disagree. They stashed Kagura's weapons and luggage under Sango's bed and then tiptoed downstairs, listening for sounds of the girl's parent. Sango eased the door open to let the other three slip outside. Once they were in the clear, she called, "Hey, Dad! We're heading over to Inuyasha's place for a bit!"
He came rushing from the direction of the kitchen. "Sango, I don't think you should…"
"Don't worry, Mr. T!" Miroku interrupted, appearing at her side and putting his arm around the girl's shoulder in a protective gesture. "I'll take good care of your daughter! What kind of a boyfriend would I be otherwise?"
"Boyfriend?" her father gasped, face turning pale as he stopped short to stare at the couple in complete horror.
"Since this morning," Miroku announced with a bright smile. "Aren't I the lucky man? I promise I'll have her back safe and sound before curfew, Dad!" With that, he whisked Sango out the front door, shutting it tight and clasping her hand in his as they ran to the waiting vehicle.
"I thought we agreed to break that news to him gently, Miroku," she snarled as they tumbled into the back seat.
"But it made such a perfect distraction," he replied, slamming the car door and grabbing for his seatbelt as Kagome pulled out into the street. "Besides, now he has time to mull over the idea on his own for a bit."
"That's true," said Sango.
"I'm not sure how I feel about his reaction, though," Miroku frowned to himself. "He seemed to find your dating me a bigger concern than the possibility that you could be running around with someone connected to the yakuza."
Inuyasha snorted in the front passenger seat. "Sango's old man has good sense. He'd probably take the yakuza over you dating his daughter any day of the week."
………
A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading, and cookies to all who review! (Your kind words really do motivate me, even if it doesn't seem that way.)
Next chapter—Kagura passes the message to Naraku, Kagome's dad brings home a surprise, and Kikyo returns to school!
Also, in the name of shameless self-promotion, if anyone likes weird, culture-clashing AUs with OOC alt-pairings (I'm really selling this, aren't I?), I posted a five-chapter fic back in March, called Tribute. I don't really know what else to say about it, so that's all.