THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS!

AS PROMISED, TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE SENT ME EMAIL ADDRESSES WILL GET YOUR PREVIEW SHORTLY, AND AT THE END OF THE NEXT CHAPTER'S REVIEWS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF IT.

To Wolf-I didn't realize that some of you didn't have emails, so I will post for you the preview at the end of the next chapter. I apologize, I'm not a very bright person, after all, and fanfiction.net has prohibited us from using chapters as author's notes and previews or summaries instead of the actual chapters.

Disclaimer-Need I say it?

Chapter 23-The last man laughing PART 1

By now Kagome was nearly shaking. The group was heading out in the right direction, all still in a group to discuss everything once again. Kagome was hardly listening, though; she knew what her job was and she hoped that she could do it. She knew she could, she just had to because that was the plan.

However, she realized, things never go exactly the way they're planned. Something would most likely throw her off and may even mess everything up.

"KAGOME!" Inuyasha screamed into her headphones, making her jump and curse. She steadied herself on the bike and scowled.

"WHAT?"

"You need to pay attention, young lady, or I'll send you to the office."

"Ha, ha, very funny, Inuyasha. Shit, what a time for humor."

He sighed. "As I was saying, when you go in I want you to be as sneaky as possible. Miroku will be with you or around you the whole time, and he's going to help you, so you need to listen to him. Understand?"

"Loud and clear." She said blandly.

"Good." He sighed and counted down from ten. "Ok, split up next block. Kagome, follow the monk, and Miroku you watch your business or else."

"Yes sir."

"Thank you."

Miroku, who had been in front of Kagome the whole time, signaled left and Kagome followed, still a little wobbly on the bike but nothing that she couldn't handle. Looking back, she saw Inuyasha and the rest of the group, heading in the same path they had been taking and moving closer together. She began to wonder if Sesshomaru's club was half the size of the block, but Inuyasha would have his own way of breaking into the club. She had to worry about herself.

She wondered if there were going to be guards outside of the building that had to be taken care of. That wouldn't be hard at all; just as long as one didn't sneak up on her and the monk while they were trying to sneak in. With the way her adrenaline was running, she was afraid that she would end up screaming her guts out and alerting everyone on the premises that she was there.

Then it'd be a field day for Sesshomaru because he'd finally catch her and kill her like he had wished.

"Kagome, what's on your mind?" Miroku asked in the microphone, glancing back at her when he should have been watching the road.

Kagome sighed and spoke back. "I'm just thinking carefully about everything that I'm supposed to do. Do you believe there will be guards to avoid?"

"Well probably, we are talking of Sesshomaru here. He's probably got human guards, so take them out with silenced guns."

Kagome nodded, turning her attention back to the road. "Do you think we'll make it?"

He laughed softly. "You don't have very much faith in yourself, Kagome. That's the only way to win. Believe that you can do it, like I am. Or at least be optimistic."

"Monk, when I defeated Kikyo I barely made it out alive."

"Sesshomaru has no Miko immunity, on shot of it and he'll burn."

Kagome snorted, just barely turning down the right road when Miroku did. "Monk, he's so fast, he'll avoid any blow I shoot at him. I'm going to start killing people that don't let me in on things that involve me when you're deciding them."

"Well, Kagome, Inuyasha was strict on your rest. Not that I mind or anything, but Kira and Shippo were also insistent on it and wanted to talk behind your backs so we could think for the club for once while the true brains finished healing."

Static came over the headset and Kira's voice rang in their ears. "Monk, don't lie, you're the one who wanted to chat and set up things behind their back. You should probably shut up, too, Inuyasha's in a fairly good mood for this situation and I don't want that spoiled."

"Well we're just the little star of joy tonight, aren't we?"

"Shut up."

Kagome sighed. "Knock it off, I'm nervous enough I don't need to listen to you two."

Miroku nodded, and a stern "Hai Kagome-chan." was heard from Kira. Kagome smirked to herself at her new known power. It seemed that Inuyasha's law had made her fully second in command, and now disobeying her meant disobeying Inuyasha.

Ah, music to her ears. They actually had to listen to her now! She could definitely get used to this.

Miroku blew in the microphone, earning her irritated attention. "Kagome, we're nearing the club. I'm going to pull to a stop and I'll signal to let you know when and where."

"Ok…Inuyasha?"
There was nothing on the other end, and Kagome felt a ping of fear in her stomach. Miroku pulled over right beside a strange abandoned building, taking and hiding his motorcycle in the very back of the alley. Kagome followed and her eyes hardened at him as she leaned her bike against the wall. "Why didn't he answer? You don't seem worried."

"That merely means that Inuyasha has already gone inside the building. His communication is all based on the radio's in his ears."

"The only radio I have will only enable me to talk to you when I'm messing with cables."

"I didn't forget the radio in your pack. I'm wearing both radios and I will until your finished."

Kagome sighed in relief, walking right along side him as he approached the end of the deserted looking block. Grabbing the corner of the building, he barely peeked out over the edge and Kagome was right behind him.

"There." Her gaze was forced on a large building, in a sense a warehouse like Inuyasha's, only a very good size. He pointed at Inuyasha and the other figures running along the front of the building, Inuyasha killing the one man standing guard with a hand over his mouth and a knife to his throat, dropping him to the ground in a very quiet manner. They were standing next to a side door, and after Inuyasha leaned his ear against it, they pried it open with a crow bar and surged in, pulling it quietly closed behind them.

Miroku turned back around and pulled two cloths out of his pockets. "Kagome-chan, please turn around."

She did, looking around intently for other people as she did so. Miroku tied one of the clothes around her head, in the bandit form, making sure that it wouldn't budge but it wasn't too tight.

She faced him when he was done and watched him put his own on in the same manner. "What are these for?"

"The place that we're going could very well have toxic fumes, but I'm not certain. We will not take any chances." After he finished with his own, he pulled a handgun with a silencer out and checked it for bullets. She caught on quickly and did the same, waiting for his cue to get going as he began searching for an easy path. The minute they left this street corner, their mission would begin.

And now, Kagome was looking at everything in a different light. She was excited. She'd get to kill Fluffy, and hopefully Rin, as well. She'd be the main reason that the club had no more enemies, and Inuyasha had already promised her that she would begin living her title to the fullest.

They shouldn't have any problems now with her renewed confidence. Just as long as they stay separated, she wouldn't worry too much about the difficulty level of this new game they were playing.

She had won all of them so far, what was to stop her this time?

*~*~*^_^*~*~*

Sesshomaru was currently sitting in his office, observing the wine sloshing around in his wineglass as it twisted in his fingers. He had nothing better to do; Rin was out seeking more information on his bastard brother, and the rest of the club was quietly keeping to themselves downstairs. Until Rin came back with news, he was stuck in his office with nothing to do.

He hated it, but couldn't do anything about it.

The silence in the club was eerie and strange, but at this time of the night he didn't doubt it. When the members of his club weren't dealing with objects on the black market, or causing utter havoc on choice places of the city, they usually were sleeping. They wouldn't go back to an apartment, though; they'd nap downstairs in the lounging room/bar so that they were always nearby when Fluffy needed something.

They had been pretty bored lately with his search of Higurashi and Inuyasha. There was nothing for them to do because Sesshomaru couldn't involve any of them in this business. Not this one, anyway, because it only took him and Rin, and the occasional messenger boy to work.

Sesshomaru smirked despite his irritation towards everything that was happening. Inuyasha wouldn't win; whatever he was plotting would not work this time. He was bound and determined to take down Higurashi, and the thoughts of how he could do that came rushing back to his head.

He could picture his large hands wrapping around her fragile throat; claws digging in everywhere they touched skin. But she wasn't a useless, fragile woman in this destructive fantasy; she had knives and other weapons, stabbing him, trying anything to kill him and get him to let her go. Anything but her hands, of course. He didn't imagine that she would be that intelligent and remember that she was a very powerful Miko.

That would be so amusing, however he knew it wouldn't happen that way if he ever did get his hands on her throat.

The dream ended with him strangling her to death, dropping her lifeless form onto the ground. Just to insure of her death (she always had a habit of coming back) he would take out his handgun and shoot her in the head, just once so he could look upon the dead face of his most challenging obstacle yet without too much obstruction or distractions on her.

Upon the death of his mate, Inuyasha would feel the pain of her death in his heart as their mental and physical bond broke. The object of his control would be completely gone; the rope would snap and he would loose his mind. That is, only if her death itself did not force him into shock and kill him, as it sometimes did with demons. No one would be safe from him. It would be the duty of Fluffy to destroy him, and because of his state of mind, he'd be slow and foolish enough for Sesshomaru to finish the job once and for all.

Now, if he could only get Kagome to hold still long enough for her to be caught, then he'd be on a roll…

*~*~*^_^*~*~*

"Sango, come here." Inuyasha stated, bringing her closer to the bend in the wall that he was going to look around. He pointed down the hallway to the door at the end. "I smell them; majority's in there. None of them are demons. We shouldn't have a problem with them once the lights go out."

"You want them taken silently?"

"As quietly as possible. Fluffy will suspect something the minute the lights go out and probably will end up coming down here anyway. We don't want him alerted to this spot quite yet; unless he's going towards Miroku and Kagome, then we'll have to distract him and get him here until they arrive."

Sango inhaled deeply, glancing over at the Kitsunes. Both were about twenty feet away, watching the other main areas of the club for people. They didn't have to be within one foot to hear the instructions; they could hear everything just fine.

Sango went back to Inuyasha, sighing deeply. "How long until Kagome and Miroku cut the power?"

"First they have to get in there, then Kagome has to crawl in the space, then she cuts it. I don't know, ten minutes?"

"We'll be discovered by then, won't we?"

"We won't let anyone squeal. We'll use the same method I used on the guard outside both out here and when the lights are out. It's easier to cut their throats when they can't see what their doing."

A gun cocked and everyone froze. An arrogant male voice came up behind them, everyone turning their heads slowly to the man. "Don't move, Inuyasha. I think someone's finally caught you."

Inuyasha stood up and shook his head, glaring at the one human man behind them. Upon close inspection with his keen eyes and nose, he smirked. This man had nothing on him; it didn't even appear as though he had a phone. The only thing he had was the gun in his hand, and even that wasn't very dangerous looking.

Kira stood, approaching the man slowly and cautiously. The gun turned in the man's hand to pointing at her, but she stood much closer than Inuyasha, unafraid and well aware of it. Her smirk was just as arrogant as his. "Do you not know who you're speaking to? Why don't you put that little toy down?"

"Little toys are better than none at all."

"Really now?"

A fist came into contact with his eye from what seemed like no where, blacking it and forcing his other to close tightly in reaction. Sango, after rubbing her slightly sore wrist, grabbed his shoulders and threw the man to the ground, sitting on him (using one of Kagome's techniques) with her knee in his chest. Her fingers wrapped tightly around the man's throat and squeezed so that any noise he made was just barely a squeak.

She rose her eyebrows at him, squeezing tighter in emphasis. "Now, where's Fluffy dearest?"
"I…In his office…"

"How bout Rin?"
"I…I…I don't…know…she's been gone…"

"Where did you come from? Are there more of you?"

When he didn't answer, Inuyasha sighed. "Kill him, idiot, he could be sounding something in his pocket."

Before the man could protest a knife sliced through his jugular vein, killing him instantly. Sango shook her head, almost in disgust, and wiped the knife on his clothing, resheathing it before beginning her overall search.

"Inuyasha, watch my back here. I want to see something." At Inuyasha's grunt, she pulled the man's coat apart and was surprised at all the tools lined up his sides. "Wow…"

Row after row of guns, knives, bombs, monitors, things that didn't even seem to belong in a coat all lining the inside. It was a wonder that this man had only managed to pull out a gun; it seemed that he had ways to contact Fluffy if he wanted to.

"Shit, this guy's like a freaking store. He even beats you, Inuyasha, at holding weapons."

"It's for show, then, he doesn't know how to use them." Inuyasha twitched his ears, looking around the room even more urgently than before. After glancing down the main hall across the room, he felt his shoulders relax and his stomach clench instead at the aura's of the people. Good, they're in…Miroku, you had better take care of her…

*~*~*^_^*~*~*

Kagome turned sharply around the corner, holding her gun with both hands and near her head so she could see and move, even though her constant blinking wasn't helping. Miroku had gone down the opposite hall, checking for people that could possibly stop them while working on the electricity. Her eyes still burned from the earlier treatment, but she couldn't think about it when somebody could just walk right in and shoot her in the back.

She had more important things to do anyway.

Before they had entered the building, they stood outside the entry door to finish their preparations. He had ended up spraying her down with a substance that made her eyes water from the fumes. It was odorless and colorless, but that fact didn't stop her from groaning in protest of it hitting her eyes. Miroku had to stifle her with his hand to make sure that they weren't heard, mumbling his apologies weakly in return in hopes that she wouldn't tell Inuyasha that he tried to blind her with the scent masker.

Kagome viewed a large room that housed the vent she would crawl in. It was loaded with expensive things; a lounge, just like Inuyasha's only more efficiently made. A large screen television sat in the corner with a large leather couch in front of it. A pool table and bar took up the left side of the room, and a few tables on the right, a large dart game on the wall. Kagome was impressed, but nervous as hell.

The room was loaded with people. What the hell was she supposed to do now? She was the object that Sesshomaru wanted to get his hands on more than anything; she wasn't about to walk right out where the gang members could kill her.

Miroku walked up behind her, catching a glimpse of the people and cursing under his breath. He pulled her back and whispered urgently to her. "Permission to perform a distraction?"

Kagome widened her eyes at him and then thought about it for a moment. Ok, I'll play along…"The distraction involves?"

"I will draw the men away from this area and you quietly climb the vent. Once the bastards are taken care of, I will return to assist you. Until then, you do nothing. Do I have your permission?"

She smiled at him. "You're really treating me like the second in command, aren't you?"

"Inuyasha has ordered it so from now on. I'm simply treating you the way I treated Sango in this position. Now YES or NO, ma'am."

"Yes, but wait until I can hide, and don't kill anybody till the light's out."

He nodded and backed away a few steps, watching Kagome find a good hiding place behind a statue in the wall. Once she was truly out of sight to the people coming down the hall, she nodded and Miroku walked to the end of the hallway to start the distraction.

He smiled while he talked, well aware of the fact that each and every man there had to carry weapons. "Well, well, Fluffy's gang is loaded with bastard humans. Lazy humans, at that."

"GET HIM QUICK!" One man shouted, and as Miroku took off running down the hall men in the lounge followed at a quick pace, ripping guns out of their pockets even though they wouldn't hit him running like this.

Good job, monk. Kagome thought quietly, slipping the silk pads on her hands and knees for better climbing. She pulled large suction cups out of the bag to also help her climb the six feet up and attached the straps to the palms of her hands. Her ear now occupied the radio that Miroku would talk to her with when she was up there, and that was good because she wasn't sure what wires did what. She made sure everything else that wasn't needed was hauled away in her black bag so that she didn't have any problems whatsoever.

Swallowing deeply, she looked around before stepping out from behind the statue. She had to hurry if she wanted to get in without being found. She was as ready as she would ever be.

Dashing quickly to the vent, she pulled out the door and crawled inside the very tight vent. The floor she stepped on was a metal mesh, probably just barely holding her as the warm air blew through it, and she felt very nervous about her movements. However, this was no time to back out. She had to finish what she started.

She reached back through the hole and pulled the door back over the vent. After cursing for almost catching her finger, she pushed the suction cups onto the wall and slowly began her climb up.

It took her three minutes to climb, carefully putting one cup in front of the other and moving slow enough so that she didn't make many obvious noises. With the air blowing, she wasn't worried about her breathing, just as long as she didn't gasp or moan or anything like that. No one should hear her in the vent otherwise, not unless they had their ear against it.

As she reached the top and began crawling forward into the darker vent, Miroku's out of breath voice came onto the radio. "Ok, I lost them. How's it going?"

Kagome spoke quietly, just enough to be heard. "I just finished climbing that stupid vent piece. Do I keep going straight?"

"Hai, go straight until you see a metal box at the end. Your eyesight should be enough light, considering Inuyasha's demon is in you. Tell me when you get to the box, but before you touch it, put on the gloves that I also stuffed into your bag."

She nodded her answer and continued crawling, carefully peering down into rooms when she had to crawl over the cage parts. Not once did she see people in the rooms below her, but that didn't mean there weren't any. She was worried that she'd walk right over Fluffy, and no matter how quiet she was he would catch her. That thought didn't appeal to her one bit.

"Ok, I see it." She said after viewing the box at the end. "Just a second." She stopped and flipped her bag around to the front to pull out her gloves. As she slipped them on, she made her way quietly over to it and pulled it carefully open, viewing what had to be hundreds of wires.

"Good. Is the box open and are your gloves on?"

"Yes."

"Ok, first things first; you have to locate the main system of wires. They are the thickest wires in the box, and judging by a place this big there's probably six or seven of them. Find them and let me know."

Kagome dug through the wires, lifting them around carefully so as to not rip any of them out until she found the seven all bundled up with black electric tape. "Ok, I found them. Now what?"

"Please list the colors."

"Let's see, there's blue, green, yellow, red, another green, orange, and a lighter blue."

He sighed and thought deeply; Kagome could sense it. "Alright, the red is the lighting, and I believe that orange is the camera system. Cut both."

"Can I hotwire the camera system?"

"Do what you want, you're the second. It won't matter anyway, no one will use it when they're killed."

Kagome used the handheld that she picked up from Inuyasha's coat and grabbed the wire clipping at the end. After removing the clippers, she cut the orange wire and attached the clip to one end, turning it on and smirking as it worked. Hitting another button, the screen flashed "ACCESSING SYSTEM" and the loading bar showed her that it was saving. After it was finished, she had all the cameras loaded into the device, and after detaching it from the wires, she took the clippers out again and cut the power.

Miroku smiled as the lights shut off. He could hear the panicking of the men in other rooms as Inuyasha's little group began to eliminate the people one by one. He got back on the radio. "Good job, Kagome, now back out of the system and let's get moving."

"Back out? I can't see a thing, even with my sight."

"Just back straight out, and when you hit the end, I'll help you down."

Kagome did as she was told, closing her eyes because it was pointless having them open. When her feet finally hit the edge, she shivered in fear of nearly falling down it. "Uh, monk? How are you going to help me out of this if you can't even fit in the vent?"

"I can fit, Kagome, I just can't move around." He climbed in and used the spikes on his feet to jab in the sides. He didn't want to touch the bottom because it wasn't very sturdy; both of them on it would probably break it. "Come on, Kagome, I'll help you down. Just gently lower yourself and I'll grab you."

"I hope Inuyasha ate something before we left or he'll eat you alive."

"I'm more worried about getting us out of here, not Inuyasha's sharp tongue at sensing that I had touched you. He has to learn not to be so possessive one of these days, now climb down."

Kagome pushed her suction cups on the side and as carefully as possible lowered her body down the chute. As soon as she had pulled herself off the top, Miroku grabbed her waist. "Let go."

"Drop me and die." She pulled the suctions off carefully and grabbed his hands as he lowered her onto the caged floor. After she landed, she feared that she was way too close to him, because Inuyasha would probably strangle him at the scent of him all over her. But all she could do was laugh at that sight, making Miroku stare at her funny.

"Well, I'm going to assume that that joyous sound is at my expense. You can get out now."

Kagome nodded while still laughing softly, pulling herself out of the hole and waiting for Miroku to follow. He ended up grabbing her shoulder because he still couldn't see a thing once he got out. "We have to be careful."

"My eyes are adjusting."

"But our enemies will still be hard to see. We need to hurry and join Inuyasha."

She nodded, quickly moving in the direction off all the noise. Miroku was following closely enough that if Kagome stopped he'd run into her, but he did that so he could see her back and know where she was going. He couldn't see very well in the dark.

Kagome continued quickly, the monk swiftly following her the entire way. The plan was to get going now and find Rin before her and Sesshomaru found them. She could feel that in Miroku's aura. Catching them both at the same time would not be a good thing.

However, as Kagome took a slow step forward, a spinning star of blades flew inches in front of her face and wedged into the wall beside her. Miroku had stopped breathing at the sound and when he nearly collided into her, knowing that if that had hit her, Inuyasha would have his head, no questions asked. He was sure seeing his friend die in such a manner would do wonders for his sanity as well. Well, seeing wasn't the word, but you get the point.

Kagome had frozen herself to that spot, barely even breathing as she registered what had just happened. She slowly turned her head to the strangely pouting face of Rin across the dark room. "Awe, damn, I almost hit you, too…If you had just been a millisecond faster. What's the matter with you, bitch? You're always screwing up everyone's plans!"

Kagome turned full on to face her, almost certain that she had seen a spark of red fill her eyes for an instant. Call me crazy…but I think Rin's actually enjoying herself. I can SEE emotions…She's like a child…

Kagome inhaled deeply and directed her voice to Miroku, not taking her attention off of Rin, even in the darkness. "Miroku, go back to the group."

"I'm not leaving you here by yourself, Kagome."

"Do it, monk."

"I can't."

"You can if I fucking tell you to, I'm second in command and you're not, so beat it! There's nothing you can do here."

Shaking his head, Miroku took only one step back. He hated to say it, but Kagome was right, and she scared him in more ways than one. He didn't want to leave her here to die, but he didn't want her to kill him either. It was within her rights to do so if he disobeyed her.

And lately, she had been exercising her rights to the fullest of her capabilities.

He hesitantly nodded once. "I'll go get Inuyasha." He sprinted down the hall as fast as he could in the darkness, following the sound of screaming men to his boss.

Rin called after him. "Don't worry about her, houshi, I'll take care of her." When her attention was turned back to Kagome, the evilest of smirks that the Miko had ever seen happened to send chills down her spine. "Want to play a game, Kagome?"

"With you and Fluffy, it's always about games." For the first time during this mission, Kagome was truly scared. Rin (in all her apparent childishness) was a very dangerous person. She knew for a fact that she was more so than Kikyo. Kikyo was insane and made Kagome nervous…Rin just flat crept her out. Especially now, since her emotions seemed to rise to the surface. She felt like she was arguing with a 10-year-old girl that had a grenade, ready to be thrown.

Rin grinned from ear to ear, and even in the dark Kagome could see her thinking. "Sesshomaru and I love playing games, that's true. I love playing with peoples minds, it makes me happy to see them squirm." She frowned suddenly and glared at Kagome accusingly. "You are here to hurt my mate, aren't you? Why that's uncalled for!"

"Uncalled for? Well you have just satisfied my curiosity of your sanity. Sesshomaru has been trying to kill me from day one, and I don't even know what I did to him."

"We're going to play a game…" Rin started, ignoring the statement as she looked up in thought and began to pace. "This is a game that you should know how to play. It's very simple." She turned facing Kagome like a soldier turning at the 'about face' command. The smile that was no longer alien spread across her features. "We're going to play tag extreme. The first one to die…well…loses."

"That's not a fair game. You have major weapons." Kagome was breathing heavily, her heart pounding in her throat. What was going to happen now? Kagome couldn't see very well, and she got the feeling that there was something very different about Rin other than her sudden emotional outbreak. Putting her finger on it would waste time, but she couldn't help but wonder.

"That would be cheating, Kagome. That is why I have set up some rules of my own. NO weapons. We can kill each other with our bare hands, can't we? Of course for you that means no witchery, or whatever you want to call it."

Kagome swallowed, furrowing her brows in worry. This was not right…Rin had something up her sleeve…something very different about her…

Rin charged unexpectedly, a smirk on her face as she ran at Kagome with alarming speed. Kagome felt she had no choice and turned to run down the halls, hoping to find something that would make it easier to catch her off guard. If Rin wanted to play tag, fine; she'd could run all day. The object apparently was to not get caught, because Rin seemed rather confident in her abilities to kill without weapons.

But Rin was constantly gaining speed…if she continued running Kagome would get tackled.

The threat was right on her heels, so thinking quickly she turned around to face it. There was no point in running when Rin would eventually catch her anyway. Might as well face her with all her energy then out of breath and weak.

The girl smirked and pushed her hand forward, as if to grab Kagome's neck. The Miko nearly squeaked and in automatic reaction shot her hand out to stop her, gripping the hand and pushing back with all her might. The other hands shot up and did the same, and both women braced their feet on the ground as they pushed, trying to force the other one down or away, but neither fully succeeding.

Naturally, Kagome had an advantage. Both her Miko abilities and the demon that Inuyasha had shared with her made her more powerful than imagined. She should easily be winning.

However, Rin was still pushing back with equal force, a calm and collective look on her face as she struggled almost effortlessly. Kagome could see the glint of excitement in her eyes, too, as if she was enjoying herself immensely.

Kagome became faintly aware of an evil cackle as she was pushed back about a foot. Rin's feet never moved from the ground; the only thing shoving her was upper body strength.

Regaining her composure, Kagome spoke up with a very panicky voice. "What are you?"

Rin grinned and raised her eyebrows, almost suggestively. "Have you ever met a human gone demon, Kagome?" Rin's eyes flashed red and in an instant her foot made harsh contact with her stomach, forcing the Miko to her knees. The grip on her hands had tightened, so Kagome didn't fly back. She continued to hold on, even though now she couldn't breathe as she kneeled before the demon.

The grip didn't loosen on her hands, and when Kagome could finally breathe again she glared up at Rin. "Well I bet that was worth it Rin. Changing your human life for a life of immortality. I can understand that, but how could you want to spend it with the ice prince? He's heartless."

"So am I. I don't care about anything other than him."

"That means you're not heartless." Kagome spat, matter of factly. "You're weak." She gripped the hands gripping hers and sparks of Miko energy went flying from their connection. Rin winced and tried to pull her hands back, but Kagome had the grip now. The more pain her stomach gave, the more the power wanted to tear this woman to shreds.

And the more that Rin's screams would bring out the ice prince himself.

Rin managed to rip one hand back and punched Kagome in the jaw, disabling the Miko abilities as she cried out in pain and released her. After babying her jaw for a moment, Kagome stood again, determined not to go down with just a punch to the face. She had maneuvers to show off, too. Rin, demon or not, wasn't the only one who could punch and kick.

Kagome pretended to kick upward, watching Rin easily grab her foot as planned. She pushed off with her other foot and kicked Rin in the face with a move that only a few people in self-defense would know. Rin let her go, barely acknowledging the kick and struck forward with her hand, slapping Kagome in the face and listening to the sickening noise with a smirk. "Ah, music to my ears."

Kagome took a step back and aimed, shooting at her with an arrow of Miko energy. Rin, however, pulled a fast one that Kagome just could not believe.

Her hands glowed a bright red, and as the arrow nearly hit her she caught them between her fingers, hurling the arrow straight back at her and piercing her stomach. As Kagome doubled over, holding her stomach tightly while the arrow dissolved into the air, Rin broke out into a sadistic laughter, almost Kikyo like in nature as she threw her head back.

Kagome's eyes glowed and she stared at the floor in disbelief. How…HOW DID SHE DO THAT! This is not happening…she can't win…I won't LET her!

As Rin continued laughing, Kagome stood on her feet, ignoring the pains and protests that her body let loose as she powered up her hands. Her hands were glowing like Rin's had been, and she ran at the woman with speed that she didn't think possible even at top condition.

Kagome's hand made contact with Rin's stomach first, waiting until the woman doubled over herself before striking her face. Her blows were more powered, stronger and burning with every strike that she took to Rin's body. Every single one did more damage, and as the rage of nearly being beaten continued to shake through her body her anger powered her Miko energy even more.

Rin stood, almost drowsily, and Kagome charged at her once again, grabbing her around the stomach and forcing her into a room, pushing right through the wooden door. As Rin fell to the floor with Kagome above her, her head made sharp contact with the ground and she glared up at Kagome in hatred as it began to bleed. "You kill my man and dead or alive I'll haunt you for the rest of your days."

"I find that hard to believe…" Kagome stated, panting heavily. "Cause when you die you're just going straight to HELL." Kagome hauled Rin to her feet by her collar and delivered one more powered blow to her face before she fell to the ground unconscious.

Kagome planned on pulling her gun out to finish Rin off, but she could hear Sango screaming for her as they raced back down the halls. She looked around the room, finding a large hope chest conveniently placed beside where Rin had fallen. Bending down, she took Rin's pulse, and at feeling little or none and getting nothing from her aura, she managed to pick her up and stuff her into that chest. She closed it tightly and fell to her knees, finally feeling the affects of her own arrow shot back at her as she leaned against it for support.

Sango and Miroku found her in that room, leaning against the chest in a puddle of blood. Sango bent down next to her panting form. "Kagome, God, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Sango. I'm fine…I just need some bandages. Did one of you bring any?"

Miroku pulled open his own little black bag and handed them to Sango. As Sango lifted the bottom of Kagome's shirt, her thoughts leaked out of her mouth. "So where is Rin?"

"She's dead, don't worry about her. We'll have to worry about a very pissed of Fluffy." She winced as Sango rubbed a gel substance in her wound and had to grip the chest tightly as it was bandaged.

Miroku looked around carefully with his gun in hand. Inuyasha had been very strict on his orders; find her and bring her back quickly. He still had a few problem humans to deal with, and since Miroku knew where she was he was the one to go after her. Sango wouldn't hear anything of it when she demanded to go as well.

Miroku checked his watch and then watched the door again. "Are you sure you'll be able to continue, Kagome-chan?"

"Miroku, I'm fine. If I couldn't continue, I couldn't talk as well as I am right now."

"I suppose, but Inuyasha will throw a fit."

"Yes, well he can shove it for once. I'm going to do my part in this and I will hear nothing else about my condition. After all, we have to worry about Sesshomaru now, not Inuyasha. His mate's dead."

Sango helped her to her feet and Miroku grabbed her other arm when she stumbled. "You're weak, Kagome."

"I used Miko energy; I'm not terribly weak. I saved some for Fluffy dearest."

Sango and Miroku exchanged worried looks as they helped her back to Inuyasha, as if nothing had ever happened between them earlier that day. She managed to walk fine without their help eventually and made their way back into the main room just as Inuyasha was finishing off the last human.

Everyone was covered in wounds and blood, but Inuyasha was covered in more blood than anything or anyone else. He threw the last human down and panted deeply, watching them enter the room. "What…happened?"

Kagome inhaled deeply. "We don't have to worry about Rin anymore. I took care of her."

"BY YOURSELF?" He looked in disbelief, and suddenly appeared shock like he had just now realized her condition. "What happened to you? What did she do to you?"

"She shot me with my own arrow. Don't worry, though, I killed her. She's gone."

Inuyasha embraced her, slowly smiling despite her condition. "I'm glad, though. I knew it would be hard, but you're proving yourself so far. Are you strong enough to continue?"

"Of course I am. I'm not weak." She continued to hug him tightly and viewed the damage done behind him. There were fifty or more people on the ground, and she noticed Kira and Shippo fishing some of the weapons and other things off of them, stuffing them greedily into their own coats like children shopping for dolls.

Kagome giggled and Inuyasha smiled. At least she's not hurt that badly. Miroku and Sango smiled too; watching as the Kitsunes picked up a few things and showed them to one another proudly, like digging for buried treasure.

"Well I hope you six are enjoying your last minutes alive, because you will never know the meaning of JOY again." Everyone turned sharply to the sight of Sesshomaru, coming from the same hallway that Rin and Kagome had fought. He clenched and unclenched his fists, effectively popping every knuckle as he did so.

Kagome turned around and glared at him. He had blood down his front, and she suspected that he knew about Rin, and knew exactly who killed her, too.

Fluffy pointed at Kagome, a frown of pure hatred and malice hitting his features. "YOU…YOU will not live to see DAWN, you pathetic excuse for a BITCH!"

Kagome's stomach turned upside down. They broke him…Rin was gone and he had nothing left to live for except for his honor. And it was all because of Kagome.

She shook momentarily. If looks could kill, Fluffy wouldn't have killed her, but cut her into a billion tiny pieces while she still lived, each and every nerve making sure that she felt the pain they were going through.

*~*~*^_^*~*~*

A/N-Man, that was a long chapter! I'm sorry to say that the next one is my last one, but if enough people enjoy my preview enough then it won't be the last you hear of this story ^_^ I hope people like it, too, because I really want to do the next story. So, like always, REVIEW! PLEASE?