Chapter 5 – The Bite of Victory
It was just a bit past seven in the evening yet the lounge was already packed with eager patrons, excitement in the air for the nightly festivities to take place. Many had already been in wait when doors had opened just a mere three hours prior. Like the rest of the city, everything was in full swing for Danketsu Matsuri.
A celebration of unity between humans and youkai, it marked the anniversary of the end to the years-long war that had almost decimated whatever left of the living world. With Japan at its epicenter and where it had all started, it became the Zion of the new era after the dust had settled. And like all origins, time had become the steady river eroding the legacy, leaving behind a pleasant silhouette with barely a reminder of the lasting scars.
It had become just like any other holiday.
Like a coin tossed into a dry, forgotten well, it was a shallow hallmark of what once were.
Kagome kept still as the opaque screens were drawn, spotlights blinding in its intensity as they landed. The oni-mask upon her face felt heavy and cumbersome, while the red and black fabric of a modified kimono dragged the floor with a threat to trip and stumble. She discreetly kicked out her heels to untangle the mass, least Murphy's Law come to fruition. Peeking a glance to the right, four other girls stood beside her in a line, all donned in matching attire. All exuding an air of mystique with droplets of seduction.
The MC announced a specialized introduction over the speakers, yet the words floated like a string of discombobulated syllables through one ear and out the other. The crowd clapped their clammy hands in a ruckus of applause, and before long, a slow, sensual tune began flittering across her skin.
Immediately, all fell into rhythm, just as practiced.
Satin trailed around the stage, following each graceful step of the dancing figures dressed as demons. Arms and legs moved like liquid art. And when the thick hoops lowered upon their suspended height, the figures took flight like the most skilled of acrobats. The lights swiftly transitioned to a darkened sunset hue, and another set of dancers appeared one by one, their beauty hidden behind a metallic shield.
Blunted swords wrapped in gold were drawn by the Oni Queens, glinting with danger in the reflected light.
Painted guns emerged in well formation, all aimed at the salacious beasts.
The music thinned to a single beat.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The war of drums.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
All was still as silence deafened.
Face to face on opposite ends, Kagome's head lifted with the weight of a thousand unanswered prayers. Lashes closed briefly before sweeping across the extravagant décor, bleached in red. And with a final breath, she forced a trilling rumble through her throat in an echoing war cry, blade drawn high.
In a flurry, traditional-styled faux-silks clashed with antiquated battle regalia. Dancers swung towards and away, weaving a tale of wilted truth. The youkai parried with the human fleet, a whimsical re-enactment to honour the forgotten dead. And soon, all too soon, the play bastardized into a tableau of provocateurs, slaking the thirst of all the sinful souls in attendance with each flash of skin.
The air grew thick, the aura dark, dark, dark.
And with it, Kagome sunk down onto her knees, and played her part.
-X-
"Get me one of what she's having."
Bland blue eyes slanted to her left, noticing Sango leaning precariously over the bar to reach for a napkin. "Careful Tanya, I'm having a double," she warned half-heartedly.
The napkin was patted along the column of an exposed neck, soaking up a light layer of perspiration that resembled dewdrops in on an early spring morning. Her mid-length, chestnut brown hair was already out of the way and up into a high ponytail, making it an easy task. "Shouldn't you be the one that's careful, Dana?"
Kagome smiled tersely, feeling a numbing warmth slink down her throat as she downed the rest of the apple martini. "This is me being careful."
Sango picked up the identical beverage that was just placed in front of her. Sniffing delicately at the fruity aroma, she took the first sip before leaning closer to her weary-looking friend. "I'll be on again in twenty minutes. You sure about this?"
Recounting the proximity of the bartender now at the other end of the rail, she nodded, dropping her voice to barely above a whisper. "I'm sure. Just keep them distracted long enough for me."
It was a crazy, ridiculous, dangerous plot. And try as she might, Sango had not been able to talk her friend out of it when approached for assistance. Kagome had finally confided in her the series of covert operations she and this Sesshomaru person had been on. When she had heard of his involvement, and how this had outrageously all began with him dragging Kagome into his shady investigation, she had wanted to main him herself. If it wasn't for him, Kagome would not be going through such risks for so little guarantee of success.
But true to her character, Kagome had remained that same stubborn idiot she had always been. And that girl's goddamn naivety was also to blame in all of this. In so easily diving head-first to help this perfect stranger – the same stranger that had essentially blackmailed her into being his confidential informant, despite her instance that it was not blackmail.
Just what was Kagome thinking? Had she totally lost her mind trusting someone like that? Putting herself in such a dangerous situation – for him?
Sango had all rights to be royally pissed at both of them. Pissed at Kagome for being so damn dense and nice and trusting and pure and all the things she loved about her. And extremely pissed at Sesshomaru for being a fucking tool and taking advantage of all that Kagome was doing for him.
And goddamn it, even though she was helping them, she was not happy about it at all. It's not like she would have – or could have – said 'no' to Kagome for anything. Once this was all over though, they're definitely going to be getting another earful.
"You've got thirty minutes. When you hear the gong in the track, you'll only have five remaining."
Sango was doing it again, Kagome noticed. She was looking at her with those pleading-but-chastising eyes, silently fretting over her and asking without words if she was sure about going through with this risky plan. But Kagome had nothing else to say. They had discussed this over enough already. She really, really hadn't wanted to involve Sango, even for just the small part that she would play. But when it came down to all the options, it had become a necessity. There would have been too many variables.
The two stood leaned at the bar, side by side as they spent their short breaks watching the other performances on the main stage. They were pretty much at capacity tonight, but majority of the crowd had gathered up front despite their tables being elsewhere. And amongst the gathered guests were a few political figures that Naraku was currently entertaining in the largest VIP booth.
"That's my cue." Sango straightened from the bar as the front stage lights flashed, drawing down the mask from its resting position upon the crown of her head. Tonight, she played the part of a fabled kitsune – complete with nine fluffy tails flowing from the back of her bodice, befitting of the club's namesake. "Just be careful, Kagome."
Placing a sisterly kiss on the cheek of the mask, Kagome promised. "I will."
And with that, Sango headed towards Naraku's table as the announcer called Tanya to the front.
As soon as the lights dimmed to highlight just the performers, Kagome silently slipped off towards the upper deck, bypassing the busy staff without hassle. Everyone seemed to be juggling three tasks at once, and none would think to pay her any attention amidst the flurry of activity.
With the complete floorplan mapped to memory like a fresh tattoo, she took careful steps along each hallway once reaching the upper deck. Down on the main floor, it didn't matter where she went as it was part of the job description to flounce around amongst the patrons. But on the upper levels, she needed to be more prudent as it was private bookings only.
Remembering exactly where each camouflaging camera had been installed, she traced along with bated breath, keeping to the noted blindspots as best she could.
It wasn't until she had gotten past the third floor that her shoulders finally relaxed. There were no cameras on the fourth floor where the offices were located. It was either a brilliant tactic as to not have recordings of shady meetings, or an utter blunder in their security planning. Either way, she had been glad, as this would make it infinitely easier to get to the final gateway. They would have been at an impasse otherwise.
The darkened halls were luckily empty just like the last two floors as everyone fussed with the main attraction. It was a relief they had been correct thus far on each moving piece of the plan. Mentally counting the doorways, she finally came across the one she was looking for. Taking one last peek around to make sure no one was tailing, she reached for the cool metal at her wrist, pressing into a memorized gemstone before lifting her arm towards the bio-scanner. Biting at her bottom lip, she watched and waited as the scanner blinked, the bracelet illuminating a blue glow around the pressed stone.
Her breath held. She was anxious to even breathe as it neared the thirty-second mark. If the security decoder didn't work by the one-minute mark, she only had seconds to vacate before guards would show up for a security breach.
Sweat started to bead her brows, palms starting to get slick with nervousness.
Then finally, green flashed before her eyes as the metal door slid open. She thanked her lucky stars and this amazing spyware device Sesshomaru had procured for her. Without waiting a beat, she quickly ducked in before the door slid shut again.
She quickly perused her surroundings.
The interior was furnished in a royal purple and trimmed in gold. It practically screamed old money and entitlement with its obnoxiously large, vintage mahogany desk. Anything made from wood was either an antique or expensively imported. The décor seemed to fit Naraku perfectly.
Her attention landed upon the holoscreen at the desk. To her luck, the computer system was already up and running, displaying a logo of a rounded, pink jewel.
"Okay charm bracelet," she whispered while quickly striding over, "Time to shine."
Placing her wrist with the decoder next to the core system mounted on the desk, she commenced the sequence and waited with a rush of anticipation. Within moments, the display faded away from the lockscreen and was now showing folders upon folders of organized files.
There must have been dozens of them, and there was no time to figure out which one contained what she needed. Without missing a beat, she initiated the data sync protocol to copy all of them. Better not leave anything behind. A status bar popped up immediately to show a runtime of five minutes for complete transfer.
As she stood in wait, she decided to might as well look through some of the folders. Gesturing for a keypad display, a keyword was quickly typed into the search, avoiding the voice commands least it be rigged to authorized users only.
"Let's see what Naraku's up to with GenexisLab."
Multiple results turned up, and Kagome eagerly opened them, eyes flitting over each in quick succession. And after the first few, her face grew grim, mouth running dry with fear.
"Crap –" she muttered as quietly to herself as possible.
Hand fishing into her under-bodice to pull out her phone, a number that had been ingrained to memory was hurriedly dialled.
After three tones, she finally heard the familiar voice on the other end.
"Sesshomaru!" she exhaled, mind racing to keep up with the information on the screen.
"Kagome?" The urgency in her voice immediately roused his concern. "What is wrong? Are you alright?"
"I'm in. And I've found what they've been hiding. And it's going down tonight. Where are you now?"
"Downtown, at my penthouse. What – "
"How fast can you get to Sanctum's main air filtration plant?" She was speaking in spitfire speed.
Full attention hung on every word now, abandoning the work he had been so focused on just before receiving her call. "In a matter of minutes. What is going on?"
"Okay, good." She finally took in a much needed breath, one so deep that even he had heard it clearly over the phone. "I need you to get down to the plant and find a metal enclosure roughly the size of a coffin. It's a bomb, Sesshomaru. Some type of bio-weapon carried out by airborne nanotech. They're going to detonate it at midnight right when the main filtration is scheduled to turn on. When that happens, it's going to be disbursed through the system and infect everyone in the city, starting with the mass gathering in the core for the festival."
His fury immediately shot through the roof. That despicable scum really had the audacity for such a devious plot. And they had been right. Fuck The Council and their skepticism. They had finally proven them wrong.
"I will find it," he stated firmly. "Where are you right now?"
"In Naraku's office transferring all the data as we speak. Everything's here. Everything. You'll get these guys – the whole network of them."
"Get out of there as soon as possible. I will meet you at your apartment once this has been dealt with."
"Sesshomaru," he heard her voice through the receiver as he was reaching for his coat. She sounded much calmer now. "Be careful."
Despite the urgency of the situation, he paused in his motions and inwardly smiled at the concern lacing her words. "Always."
The single, flat tone on the line indicated he had hung up after that. Kagome felt a weight being lifted, like all the heaviness of the uncertainty they've been carrying around for weeks had finally crumbled away.
But she kept herself in check. They may have discovered what the plot was, but they still needed to stop it from happening. She had the utmost faith in Sesshomaru for accomplishing that task.
Keeping the bracelet within close proximity of the system, there were still another three minutes left for the transfer. The last two had felt like twenty minutes instead. Damn the relativity of time.
So she continued to dig through the files, hoping it will make the minutes go by faster. And as she did, she hit the motherload.
Jackpot.
It was exactly what they had been looking for to link them all together. Remembering the secondary function of the silver bangle, she pressed another gemstone and recorded a short message to later send to Sesshomaru. Hopefully it would save him some time in searching for the right folders to look into.
With just a minute left, she was about to close out the files when suddenly, a singular filename caught her attention like a slap to the face.
The Higurashi Family
Almost hesitatingly, she opened the file, and felt the floor dropping from beneath her feet.
No – this can't be!
But it was all there in black and white. Tears rushed out her eyes like a broken damn, and she almost fainted with the wave of nausea that threatened to claim, bile rising up like a snake trying to escape its basket.
She braced herself against the desk, the single beep that indicated a completed transfer barely registering in her flooded mind. Droplets fell freely, staining the deep mahogany, wetting the back of her splayed hands. It was as though the world had ripped open to consume her soul. All over again, she felt the pain of the years hit her like a hundred freight containers. Her bones felt weak, her muscles stiff.
But after what seemed like an eternity, her clouded gaze refocused, and hands lifted from the table to wipe away the remaining streams that ran down her pretty face.
There will be time to cry and mourn later. For now, she needed to get out of there.
Pulling herself together, she logged off the system and slipped out of the office as quietly as she had entered, retracing steps back down through the floors.
Once on the upper deck, her fake smile was once again in place, face removed of all hints of the prior waterworks. She just had to get through the next hour, and then –
"Dana," she heard a bouncer calling her from the side, and turned to look at him. "Room 5 is requesting your presence."
Odd. No one was supposed to be booking her today. Must be one of those one-offs that she'll have to politely decline again. Just get this over with and go, she chanted to herself.
Nodding to the bouncer, Kagome turned back down the corridor to find the private lounge. With a wave at the scanner, the door slid open for her as she stepped inside the darkened room.
Was this some sort of mistake? There was no one there, the place completely empty.
A goddamn waste of time. With a grumble, she turned to leave when the figure blocking the exit froze her on the spot.
"Just where do you think you're going, princess?" That recognizable, oily voice was accompanied by a wicked leer.
Kagome bristled, hackles shooting to new heights. "What the hell do you want, Bankotsu?"
"Why a little fun, of course." He took a menacing step closer, and she took three steps back. "Don't you remember all the fun we had last time? Didn't you enjoy it?"
"Screw off, or I'm calling security!" she threatened. He didn't seem to care as he continued closer while she kept her distance.
"Oh, playing a bit of hard-to-get now." He chuckled, and it made her skin crawl with disgust. "I like that."
Her eyes were frantically looking around for anything to use as a weapon, but everything was either bolted down or were large pieces of furniture. Even a stupid vase would have been useful!
And as her eyes continued to search, she caught a glimpse of someone passing by the door, and she elated.
"Mika!" she yelled, and the woman looked directly at her through the entrance. "Call security! This guy needs to leave!"
But then, to her utter horror, the older girl simply smirked her cherry-red lips, and turned away.
What the – ?
"Mika!" she shouted again, confused at what was happening. They had a code, they had protocol. What on earth was going on?
But there was no answer; she could clearly see her walking down the angled hallway as though deaf to the world. Finally, with anger flowing through her like flaming lava, she screamed the woman's real name at the top of her lungs in a last-ditched effort to gain attention.
"Kikyo!"
The name died in an echo along the walls, muffled by the vibrating bass that reverberated from the main floor below.
"What a friend you have there, princess." Bankotsu cajoled, causing Kagome to focus back on him again. He was another step closer this time, and she was running out of space to backpedal as she felt the plush edge of the couch behind her legs.
"Obvious not," she couldn't help but snicker.
"I guess not. I mean, what friend would purposely deliver you to someone like me?"
"What?" No, it couldn't be. Why would Kikyo do that do her? Did she even know what this man was capable of? Schooling away the shock that was evident on her face, she glared at his approaching form. "Stay away from me you fucking rapist!"
"Oh princess, you loved my dick in you last time," he preened with a ridiculous flare of pride. "I didn't hear any complaints."
"That's because you had me drugged up. I may have been too incapacitated to fight back, but that didn't mean I didn't hate every minute of it!"
"We can do it again without the drugs, then," he grinned.
Those sinister cobalt eyes raked her body with a perverted hunger, and as they landed back upon her fiery stance, he lunged.
But this time, she had not been drinking, and had not let her guard down.
She was prepared. And right as he loomed in, she kicked her left foot with all her might, channelling all the withheld rage at the violation he had imparted upon her flesh the last time they had met.
The impact was felt all the way up her leg as her eyes clenched unwittingly.
To her satisfaction, a loud, agonizing groan danced to her ears like the most beautiful of symphonies, and she opened her eyes to see Bankotsu withering pathetically on the floor, both hands clutching at his groin.
"Y-you fuckin' bitch!"
To her greater amazement, pooling on the floor and soaking through his tacky white slacks, was a large puddle of blood as red as Kikyo's traitorous lips.
"Go fuck yourself," she answered with attitude, inwardly thanking the power of her bionic leg for dishing out such damage. Karma was a bitch, indeed.
"Y-you – you…"
She ignored his continued wails while sidestepping that pitiful excuse of a human towards the exit.
It was time to finish this.
-X-
Standing tall in front of the vacant lot, his hand gripped the coated steel handle at his side.
It was a disgraceful excuse for a weapon. If he'd had his way, he would not be utilizing such a piece of junk. His own abilities were exponentially more effective, more powerful, more precise.
More lethal.
But it was forbidden to use demonic forces against humanity, regardless of their criminality. So he was stuck adhering to this cheap neutralizer. A goddamn toy. It was all part of the treaty that had maintained the balance of their peace – that only humans may use lethal force upon each other in conflict.
He did suppose that it was only fair, as just a fraction of his punch would have been enough to kill any mortal instantly.
But that did not mean he didn't itch to dig into Naraku's flesh with his own deadly claws.
With one last glance around, he entered the filtration plant through an easily breakable door. For a facility so vital to the populous, he was surprised at its lack of security, having only three guards on post to patrol the entire facility. Perhaps it was only due to it being a holiday that it was the case. Everyone was still currently at the parade in the downtown core or continuing the celebrations along the streets still opened for business.
The interior was large and spacious, ceilings high enough to house the eight, sixty-foot turbines that supplied filtered air through the vast majority of the urban centre. Each was cylindrical in shape, spanning another forty feet in length and mounted with fan blades like rows upon rows of metal teeth.
The bomb should be in or near one of these eight.
Lifting his nose into the air, he dragged in a long, deep breath.
Sifting through the copious variety of scents, he was finally able to identify one that didn't seem to quite belong. Unlike the others, it did not settle around like it had been there for weeks. The scent of the workers would have seeped into the designated areas of their stations. But this one scent was fresh, as though only just been there for less than a day.
Following, he weaved through the passageways along the dormant turbines, getting closer and closer, looking through any crevices that could have been a likely hiding spot. After a few more turns, his keen eyes finally landed upon a rectangular shape slotted between the blades of the fifth turbine, a structure that weren't there in all the others he had checked.
This must be it.
Crouching low, Sesshomaru was about to dip down to retrieve the casing when something hard came across his chest, knocking him back with force. But quick reflexes recovered instantaneously, eyes bleeding red and angry that someone had landed a strike without his notice.
"I don't think so. You will not be foiling my plans today."
The deep voice came from his left, causing him to quickly turn. And once he did, he sneered at the man standing within the dark shadows.
"Naraku."
Stepping from the dark and into the faint moonlight filtering through the glass-covered ceiling, Naraku grinned devilishly as he caught the momentary shock slipping the Daiyoukai's unmoving expression. It was gone in a split second, but he still relished in its appearance.
"Surprised?" he crooned, pacing closer and closer to the light as endlessly large, purple tentacles slowly came into view, malevolent aura billowing out around him in a cloud of inky miasma, freed from the confines of an illusory spell that had kept it hidden all this time. "I supposed you should be. I do try my best to hide my demonic side. It is so much easier blending in with the humans this way."
Stopping once fully in the light, Naraku continued, words dripping black as tar.
"But then again, you would know, wouldn't you, Takeshi?" His eyes flashed vermillion, glowing like two bright rubies in the void. "Or should I say Sesshomaru, the great heir of Inu no Taisho."
Golden eyes narrowed at the wildly fluctuating youki. So, Naraku had been a demon hiding in plain sight all along. No matter, that did not change a thing. Discarding the neutralizer gun to the ground, useless, Sesshomaru flexed his claws in a way he had not done in years. He could finally satisfy his morbid thirst for blood.
"I will not let you kill half the city," he spoke evenly, not revealing his true disgust.
"Half the city? Who said anything about half the city?" Naraku's face feigned surprise, a false worry before once again merging into a heinous smile. "Oh no no no, Sesshomaru. I only intend to kill those with demonic blood. All except myself, of course."
Then that had been Naraku's ultimate goal – to be the last standing demon, making him the most powerful being in Japan. A literal Kami amongst humans.
"You strive to be the only remaining demon. Is your greed for power so great that you would stand against your own kind?"
"Own kind? That is where you are wrong. Youkai are not my kind," the vile creature sneered, the youki around him sparking and spiking with rage.
Then it suddenly hit him, why Naraku's dark aura seemed incomplete and turbulent, as though fighting for total control like a developing pup.
"You are a hanyou," Sesshomaru accused, back straightening and ready to engage in battle.
A manic chuckle rolled out as though hearing a secret joke. "A good deduction. But not quite. Not like that half-breed brother of yours. What was his name…Inuyasha, was it? I often did wonder how your father felt about such a disgrace to his bloodline, and whether his lust for that whore of his mother had been worth it."
"Do not speak their names as if you knew them." The beast inside was clawing to be released, to maim. Despite his own feelings towards his family, he would not allow such disrespect to the dead.
"Oh, but I did. Tell me, Sesshomaru, do you not recognize the one you so victoriously, falsely claimed to slay?"
And just then, Naraku's handsome face started morphing, smooth, pale skin crinkling into rough patches the texture of dry, dead leaves. Lips crumbled away to display broken teeth and rotted gums the colour of mud. Waist-long, wavy black hair burned away in manufactured flames, leaving splotches to a balding head. And lastly, eyelids peeled away with a disgusting, wet sound, revealing two protruding, bloodshot eyeballs, unblinking as it stared ahead.
"Onigumo."
Sesshomaru would not have believed this if he weren't seeing it in the flesh for himself. He had killed him – this evil, vile general that had been the leader to the human's main battalion in The Great War over a hundred years ago, the same war that had taken the life of his father. The same war that had been started and manipulated by Onigumo, the one who had hated youkai enough to incite mass extinction of the demonic kind.
"How?" the inu demanded with force.
And with the blink of an eye, Onigumo melded back into the passive face of Naraku. Chuckling again, his response came off as though reading Sesshomaru's mind.
"It would seem that no matter how much Onigumo hated demons, he did not hate them enough to resist calling for them to come save his dying life. He traded his soul to live."
Sesshomaru stiffened at the revelation, though from a sudden clarity and not from fright. Regardless, he had defeated him long, long ago. And now he had heard enough. The time for talk was over.
"A pathetic life. I will see to your downfall once more." And with that, Sesshomaru lunged forward, claws aimed directly at Naraku's heart.
Large appendages blocked the strike, sliced into chunks as they fell with a sickening thump. But the inuyoukai kept the pace, advancing and striking as tentacles after tentacles countered, lashing out with its own attacks. Clashing demonic auras were mounting like volcanic fissures, shaking the cement foundation of the filtration plant like a miniature earthquake. Clouds of miasma left the air in a tight fog, but had little effect on the immunity of the poison-wielding inu.
"You will not stop my plan, dog." Naraku was growing furious. He was beginning to doubt his ability to defeat Sesshomaru, having never battled against such a foe in this demonic body before. But he just needed to bide his time until the bomb goes off in time with the scheduled start of the turbines. The nanotech will do the rest of the work for him. So he kept the attacks launching, rounds after rounds of regenerated tentacles sickling out like a scythe.
Sesshomaru roared with fury as one of the appendages punctured his abdomen, blood spilling in a vicious stream of red as he fell to one knee.
"Pity. I was hoping to see the look on your face at finding your precious informant. But I guess you'll just have to die here."
Kagome!
Red consumed the whites of his eyes, twin stripes on each cheek a jagged mess as canine fangs elongated. With a renewed rage, Sesshomaru stood up with a murderous glint.
"What have you done?" His words were guttural, scraping each syllable as the beast took over.
Naraku simply smiled. "Yes, that's right, lose yourself to the rage. It will make it much easier to slay a mindless, rabid dog."
But the smile was quickly wiped off his face as Sesshomaru grinned in return, remaining in full control. "Time to die."
Scowling, Naraku braced for another attack. He wouldn't have to wait long. His narrowed gaze slanted over to the bomb under the turbine, checking as though reassuring himself it was still there.
But that had been his first and last mistake.
Ever observant, Sesshomaru had caught that almost imperceptible glance.
Both claws dripping with as much poison as his youki could concentrate, the inu launched.
Prepared to raise his tentacles into a shield with another dozen set into sharpened points for puncturing, Naraku's face contorted to confusion when Sesshomaru veered from his path of attack at the last second, curving to the right.
Eyes immediately following, he released an angry roar at the too-late realization. "Noo!"
There, behind the Daiyoukai, now lay a monstrous pile of sizzling, melting steel, large portions of the fifth turbine damaged beyond repair. And through the wide gaps in the blades, Naraku could only watch in abject shock as the once rectangular container quickly dissolved into a puddle of sludge.
It was the sudden whirring noise of waking machinery that finally broke Naraku out of the stupefied gaze at his ruined plans. He looked into the smug, glinting eyes of Sesshomaru, and with a blinding temper, exploded his youki, body expanding with tentacles all launching at the same time.
Anchoring his stance, Sesshomaru waited for the impending attack, long hair and flaps of his coat blowing wildly in the artificial wind created by the turbines.
With the bomb disarmed, there was just one thing left.
When all the nasty, ghastly appendages came directly towards him, Sesshomaru struck his arm first-first deep into the largest one that blasted by, hooking his grip.
Fangs revealing, he shot one last look at Naraku's contorted, raging face.
"Time to die," he repeated, and with the sheer force of his unbridled strength, whipped the tentacle with the attached body towards a spinning turbine.
Eyes widening in shock at the trap that he had fallen for, it was too late to reach out to grab hold of anything, the hundreds of metal blades slicing into his thick body with a pain he'd only felt once before, shredding it to millions of indistinguishable pieces as it rained down in droplets of crimson.
-X-
The distance had been crossed almost instantaneously as he landed in a blinding ball of light. The piercing pain at his side had been ignored as the balcony door was jarred opened with force, breaking the locking mechanism with excessive strength.
But once it had been opened, he let himself relax as the scent of lemongrass and lavender invaded his nose.
She was safe.
Shoulders finally slouching with the weariness sustained from the battle, he stepped through the threshold and into her apartment, puddles of blood still dripping and making a mess of her floors. But he didn't care, and he was sure she wouldn't care either. Because they had succeeded.
"Kagome," he called tiredly, spotting her sitting at the kitchen table with back turned towards him. "Naraku's dead. You're free from him now."
He paused to see her reaction to his announcement, but she didn't say a word. Didn't even seem to acknowledge that he was there as she sat unmoving.
Was she not happy? Was this not what they had been working so hard towards over the last few months?
"Kagome," he tried again. And again, no response came.
Was she mad at him for something?
Growing frustrated, he finally stepped around to face her.
But what he saw set his whole body on ice.
There she sat, still as a statue, hands clasped together on her lap, head held up straight with eyes wide open.
Sesshomaru almost couldn't move. Because looking back at him in those wide, blue eyes that he had grown so fond of – was a dull, blank stare.
He felt a lump lodged in his throat, chest constricting in a sensation he had never in his long years had felt before. A sinking knot curled his stomach more painful than the open wound that still leaked his blood.
He couldn't pull his eyes away, away from that angelic face that was now so devoid of life, devoid of the essence that made that woman her.
Slowly, his hand reached out, lightly cupping her still-warm cheeks.
"Kagome…" The name fell in a whisper from his parched lips.
For a moment, he stayed frozen, mind blank as his golden gaze looked deeply into hers, desperately searching for even just a glimmer of life to reveal itself, to let him know that it was nothing, that he was seeing things, that she was okay and well and that all was fine.
But as the minutes passed without a change, Sesshomaru felt something shatter within, hand falling away from the soft skin that told him she was still alive.
For another long, drawn out moment, his sight lingered upon her, on the revealing red and black kimono that draped her body in all the right ways, on the column of her neck that still pulsed with every beat of a pumping heart, on the valley dipping between her chest where it continued to rise and fall with each even breath.
She was alive. But she was –
Something shiny caught the corner of his peripherals then, and he turned his gaze towards the small phone-like device on the table.
He reached to pick it up, but immediately dropped it back down as it suddenly turned on, a video beginning to play in a projected hologram.
His eyes grew wide at the scene unfolding before him, the audio stringing together two familiar voices.
"Fuck you, Naraku!"
It was Kagome, dressed in the same outfit, tied to a chair as Naraku stood next to her. Her tone was etched in confident anger, the undercurrent of fear completely gone. It was so different from the first time he had met her trembling voice in that alleyway such a short time ago.
"Language, young lady. It is very unbecoming of you. What would your parents say if they heard that spewing from your dirty little mouth?" Naraku was circling her like prey.
"My parents? You mean the ones that you killed?" she spat at his face with impressive vehemence. "You're a goddamn monster."
Naraku simply tsked. "Even with your wings clipped, you still attempt to fly."
"Go to hell!"
"Feisty, isn't she?" Turning purposefully, Naraku was now facing directly at the camera.
"I never thought I'd see the day when the Great Sesshomaru Taisho lowers himself to teaming up with a miko, no less."
Sesshomaru's breath hitched, and he glanced away from the scene towards the still form of the real Kagome at his side, before looking back at the hologram.
"Don't be surprised though" Naraku continued, "Little Dove right here just found out herself today, too."
"You're a psycho!" Turning towards the camera as well, clearly catching on whom the video was meant for, she hastily added "Sesshomaru! He's been using the microchip implanted in me to gather genetic data on people of holy descent – my family was from a long line of priests, but I had no idea anything was passed down to me. He's using it to find a way to create a weapon targeting demons!"
Ignoring her outburst, Naraku simply laughed. "She does talk a lot, doesn't she?"
He circled her once more, coming to a stop directly behind her. "But then again, Mr. Taisho, you seemed to like what she has to say, with how much she has been spilling to you about my operations."
One hand pulled out a sleek device from a hidden pocket, while the other gathered the hair behind Kagome's neck, giving it a sharp yank as she let out a pained cry.
"But I will have that fixed for you."
With sinking dread, Sesshomaru could only watch as Naraku pressed a button on the device as Kagome screamed in pain, a red glow emitting from the back of her neck as her body violently convulsed.
After a moment that seemed to have lasted forever, her head slumped forward, and Naraku could be seen yanking it back up with her gathered hair. Deliberately, he pointed her face towards the camera.
"There, much better. Now she's perfect." Naraku chuckled darkly, preening with glee as a dull, bland stare centered on screen. "Enjoy the ghost left in the shell."
The video ended, the projection fading away as Sesshomaru stood shaken to the core.
He had been too late.
This was his entire fault.
It was his entire fault for involving her into such a dangerous mission. And to come to the realization that Naraku had been Onigumo all along, it was even worse of a sting, for it had been personal.
Lowering himself to his knees, he looked into her eyes once more.
They were still the same. Still the same blank expression as an hour ago when they had first pierced his soul.
His hand reached for hers, stroking the skin absently before a jingle caused him to look down. On her wrist was the bracelet he had given her.
She had completed her mission, but he had failed his.
But he would not let her efforts go to waste.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself together.
Carefully, he unclasped the bangle and gently removed it from her arm.
Pressing one of the gemstones, he played the last recording, breath hitching as Kagome's lively face came into view.
"Sesshomaru, I'm summarizing this to save you time – just get the warrants as soon as you can. All the details are in the files."
She looked to the side as though reading from another screen, the light illuminating her face in an ambient glow.
"Naraku uses the clubs under Jewel Entertainment to launder money from his drug trafficking network. The funds are then layered through Bankotsu's shell corporations to finance the bio-weapons research and nanotech. I don't know for what reason or why he's doing it or the motives for the other players. I'll leave that to the cops to figure out. Whatever it is, we have enough solid evidence here to link him to all of it."
He could see her expression softening from the seriousness of her findings, as she said the last thing before the video ended;
"I'll see you soon."
-X-
Last chapter/epilogue coming in the following days. Just wanted to get this posted by the last day of the SessKag Big Bang.
So, Kaoruhana has convinced me to continue this instead of ending it in the next chapter. Stayed tuned for more! Thank you all for your lovely reviews 3