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Disclaimer:

  My sadness is blue

  My temper is red

  If I owned InuYasha

  Kikyo'd be dead.

  Again. HA!

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   Hey! This is my first update of the year! How slow can I go? Why should I tell you—you already know!

  For the Confused and Critical

  Call it what you like, but Kikyo is fsking dead. She doesn't deserve to be loved.

  And the fact that a sixth grader, "Birdman" Bobby, says he is doing my grandmother doesn't place me in a slightly jiffy mood.

   Compare in your mind the two situations. If one isn't right, they both aren't right. It's the same state of affairs no matter how you view it, everyone. The dead should remain in their boxes or cans or wherever you traditionally put carcasses, not loved, just grieved, and that's where it ends.

    [ When Bobby said he was 'doing' my grandmother, he was initially sending the statement out to more than two people. Unhappily, I was one of those people. At least we have a system of getting back at those who insult us.

      "Hey, you. What's for lunch?" - Bobby

      "YOUR MOM!" - Krystle      

       See what I mean? ]

     Oh by the way, is it just me, or does anyone else notice that some people's Pen Names are more interesting than their story titles? I know it's a hackneyed thing to point out but it's everywhere. I think it bothers me because a person will care more on what they go by then a real devoted title to the source of them being at fanfiction.net. It could be just my opinion, but it's kinda getting noticeable. There are thousands upon thousands of titles out here in the void…

      Wooo… You humans are so fun-nay.

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   WARNINGS

   Major Yura and Kikyo bashing! YAAY! Once again, people who like Kikyo and Yura, please leave now like you should have done 13 chapters ago! JIT BAG. _

   Keep In Mind

   Hey, you might want a virtual bookmark for this chapter. Sheesh. O_o So many things to do, I just had to work in so many pages to this chapter as an extension. I've been working my ass off for pictures to put on my DeviantART account on top of that, I have currently finished SATs last week, and my Spring Break should be coming around the corner soon. I'll start a brand new chapter that week, I promise.

   I'm sorry it took so long to wait for, but I made it a longer chapter just for you, I stayed home today and had nothing better to do than make an extension to my favorite story. But do you want to know why it took me so long to write it? I put a Trojan into Quarantine. It ate up 1234MB of my computer, I was pissed, haha, so was my mom, haha, all was hell. Think of this circumstance in terms with the movie, Independence Day. I captured an alien, put it into a sleeping mode away from the rest of my research and data, and it's forever safe (until someone unleashes it again—which would suck major loofa sponges).

   Well, let me now shut up and start the story. Right! Hit it! *kicks projector*

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   |)!r7y 5|\|34|3r5

 Chapter 14 » My Fair Lady Must Hide

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   It was midday and everyone was gathered into the mysterious double-decker bus that utterly tore off the idea of the Partridge Family. People started to gather on the outside of the bus, making remarks, good or bad, on the art and design of it. And why some piece of English crap was parked so safely within their neighborhood, but they couldn't do anything about it because it was obviously an ADT endorsement on wheels. They dare not touch it.

   Ginta and Hakkaku were already getting acquainted with some of the group, but others wanted answers instead of debates on the capacity of garbage Americans go through once every month. Why was Kagome gone? Where exactly were the Shichinin-tai? Who was Oscar Mayer and why does everyone want to be his wiener? Okay, so underprivileged Mukotsu was the only one who wanted to know the answer to that last question, but curiosity killed his ancestor.  

   Renkotsu and Shippou were fighting over the stations on the overhead flat screen TV, Mukotsu was pulling on slapdash people's clothes (getting everyone thoroughly annoyed), and everyone else was either on the upper layer of the bus such as Kohaku and Souta were, while others were almost near death caused by their own friends for answers to their questions, such as Kagome was.  

   The only answers they received were large doses of information on Hakkaku and Ginta.

   Hakkaku was a really nice guy. He was humorous, a regal Asian cuisine chef, and good at breaking the laws like everyone else could be if they were reduced to watching The Spiral Staircase through the Radio Shack window on tenth street. Ginta was just about the same, but just a little new to the world of X-cons and juvenile escapees. Just last year his grades were top mark in everything, Science his number one goal since he first learned to produce soap successfully watching Martha Stewart only once.

    Until, that is, Hakkaku came home one night and brought him into another dimension of death, booze, and vehicles that run on mammoth joints jammed up the muffler. This dimension shall be dubbed 'life in the 70's that has yet to change today'.

    Ginta's face appears on milk cartons now, and there are many complaints about that. I mean, if you're going to put someone on a hormone-driven beverage, you might as well make that vermin the damn mascot of the whole company supplying the milk. Ginta can barely get by a drugstore without odd looks or gasps or angry people seeing his face again. But there is a completely reliable solution to that.

   "So you really wan' 'oo know?" Ginta said from under his black beret. "'Ou really wan' 'oo know wha' happened?"

   "That'd be a fucking help," InuYasha growled. "No one else is telling us." His glare switched over to Kagome who was jolting fretfully not under just his gaze, but Sango's too. No one could shake a person harder than Sango. That came literally and emotionally.

   "Fine, fine!" Kagome yelled, jumping out of her seat by the window. "I'll tell! I was just waiting when everyone would shut up—Mukotsu stop pulling on my sweater! I'm this close (H/N: this close -- |  |) to taking your glasses and feeding them to my cat."

    "Meow."

   Mukotsu sighed, but obliged and stopped all further questioning. Kagome smoothed down her hoodie and plopped back down in her seat, pressing her back against the window. InuYasha gazed at her absorbedly from next to her as she started to speak.    

   "This is what happened last night. As I was leaving the house to look for the rest of the Shichinin-tai…"

"º""º""º""º""º""º" Flashback to last night during Monk  "º""º""º""º""º""º"

     Kagome left the house and took in the hinterland that was Tokyo. She walked down the steps with keys jingling in her pockets with every step. It was a pretty breezy night for a change. The neighbor's willow trees rustled in the wind and blossoms fell among the path and swept into the street. As Kagome walked onward, she ran a finger across the white thicket fences as she did when she was just a kid.

     Except when she passed a gated area with a massive pit bull named Zip McOccup. That wasn't a very memorable time in her life being around that pit bull playground they called a home.

     Before she knew it, she had come to the crossroads. It had been hours since she left the house now. On the bend of the roads, there was the Stop and Go store but it had only two cars in the parking lot. None of them looked like Ginkotsu's familiar silver pick-up from the dim streetlights. You could always tell his car from a lot of pick-ups since his was custom made with a door for Lock Jaw companies for those with disabilities all around the world.

    Kagome was turning to walk down the north crossroad until she saw that two young men had run out of the Stop and Go store with raggedy plaid sweaters and stakeout clothing. Sweaters loaded with food, Kagome saw as she squinted to see a Devil Dog sticking out of the older boy's pocket. He had a bandana over his mouth. The short boy was wearing an over-sized hat that covered his face, not fully, but the shadows of the night covered the rest.

   A scream wavered in the breeze. It sounded far back into the distance. It must be Zip again, trying to make a kill out of the night watchmen.

    Kagome never thought about pros and cons to help the two boys that were being run down by the store clerk. Would they turn on her and kill her? Were they armed? Couldn't have been. Their torn clothes indicated that they probably wouldn't be able to see a knife much less own one.

    Without giving another thought, she ran as quickly as she can to the store. The pads of her quaking feet hitting asphalt were being drowned down as the shouts from the three in the lot. Not one of them noticed her. Which made her feel like she was in that damn Christmas movie special, and expected a double of herself to come running out of no where trying to make the world a better place.

     Honestly, she was 6 feet behind these people!

     "You z'tupi' crooks!" The store clerk yelled in a crooked European accent, raising a fist as to beat the small of the two men down. "Goo' for no'zhing z'hieves! Give me bac' me food!"

     The man's fist was mere centimeters from the boy's face. The older thief shouted a curse, dropping all food in his arms to block out the punch. He missed. There was a loud thump before Kagome lowered her hoodie down with her fist. It was she who had stopped the punch.

      The two lads' eyes widened in amazement and dead shock as they noticed the girl twist the clerk's arm until it was painfully contortioned into the back. Kagome looked back at the boys, and winked before fiercely whipping the cantankerous man around. She had zeh masta' plan.

     "Don't you touch my brother!" Kagome bellowed. She drew back her other fist and slammed the meager man square in the eye. The man staggered back, letting Kagome release his fist and hurriedly turned to the two boys who had their eyes wide open and their jowls slanted open.

     "Hurry! We have to leave!" The two thieves glanced at each other hesitantly. Kagome saw their expressions twist and started running on the asphalt down the empty crossroads with only her feet making a noise. Soon enough, behind her she heard ruffling and grunting.

      The clerk must be getting up, Kagome thought as she ran down another road that was dimmer than the last. Right behind her she heard footsteps padding her way. She stopped immediately and turned down the block she just ran. To her surprise, the two boys at the Stop and Go store were not to far behind her, panting slightly as they reached her.

    The older boy stood in front of the younger one protectively as he reached Kagome.        

    "OH FU—" Shippou suddenly cried, his hands in the air like he just don't care. One half of a smashed remote lie in his hands while bits and pieces and blinking notches scattered the carpeted floor.  Kagome's story has just reached a climax, too. InuYasha couldn't help but yell in frustration causing Kagome to practically glomp him to make him settle down, and Sango just couldn't help but yell too, causing a chain of reactions to come forth that included lechery, injuries, and lint to come into play. 

    "SEE WHAT YOU FUCKING DID!" Renkotsu roared as he slapped one of Shippou's hands away from his face as it was being waved around. Renkotsu lunged and tackled Shippou, causing a brawl to uproar as Suikotsu's meditation was interrupted and Kyoukotsu's Royal Flushed was Royally Flushed down Mukotsu's mouth as he ate them in one /\/\3g4 13173.

    Cursing ensued.

    "ME?! IT WAS YOUR KLUTZY CAUCASION ASS THAT—" Shippou was cut off as Sesshoumaru stopped the filing of his nails, standing and stepping over the heap of broken remote remains to examine the TV. All noise halted as he rose and carefully inspected the over-sized gossip device. 

    "Is that not Kikyo?" He asked with a hint of lemon in his voice. (H/N: Or it could have been the whole lemon.)

    Hakkaku and Ginta were confused. Everyone else was just sitting around with a dumbfounded look on his or her faces.

     "Turn it up!" Sango yelled, slicing the silence.

     Sesshoumaru turned the notch for the volume up as a newscaster was talking.

     Instinctively Miroku slugged his way to lean over Sango's back to get closer to the TV, not using his hands as an instrument for once. She made no attempt to move him, just 'shh'ing the ruffling of his clothes as her leaned on her. It wasn't just them having that problem. Everyone had stopped, glued in their positions, staring at the TV as Sesshoumaru took his seat next to Naraku in the back of the bus, going back to reading old magazines and filing his nails. Yet even he was listening as the news displayed Kikyo's extremely pale and make-up drizzled face in a photo taken in, ah, the past few days.

(H/N: You know how cheerleaders are such the camera whores. If it's not every hour that a photo is printed of themselves, than it's every minute. )

      A pasty-looking, horse-faced woman with slick ebony hair, dressed in a purple work suit appeared on screen, gum chewing and all. A particularly repugnant picture of a five-year-old Kikyo in skimpy leopard print on ten-inch thick Candies making a face to the person taking the photograph had shown up in the upper right corner of the screen with a red ribbon stripping the corner that read 'MISSING' in white letters.

     "In other news today," The newscaster's voice had a terrible pitch that could have passed for an impression of Shirley Henderson. (H/N: Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter movie 2.) "A girl has been claimed missing when she was abducted from a back alley near the Tokyo Bowl restaurant in, well, Tokyo. The girl's name is identified to be, Kikyo Miko of Goshinboku High, age 17. Our very own Seamore Butts has more on the story. Seamore?"

    A man had shown up on the screen. He was fairly tan, fairly skinny, and fairly unattractive just as all newscasters are. So it was only natural for the name to fit the face.

     "Thankyaveramush, Kamakiri," The man laughed at his own impression of Elvis, in which he was the only one. Some guy in the back hidden behind the camera coughed. The newsman straightened up as Japanese Zelkova trees in the background brushed clean through the morning breeze.

     InuYasha rubbed his temples in infuriation and cursed severely under his breath. Kagome nudged him with her elbow and nodded up to the screen to watch. Renkotsu yawned and scratched his ass just as any man would do when something really crappy was on TV and unavoidable to watch. Sango yelled at him to stop scratching so loud and went back to listening to the TV.

     A sudden wave of static erupted the screen. It swept off as soon as it came.

    "Kikyo Miko of Goshinboku High was abducted last night in a back alley near the Tokyo Bowl restaurant in Kyoto. Not to far from the alley, there was a fight at a local Stop and Go store in which the clerk, Mr. Eshi, was knocked out by, what seems to be a teenage female. The identity has yet to be uncovered, but as we speak the search for the girl is getting rather successful. Police are investigating the situation to see if the two crimes are linked."

     All eyes turned to Kagome. InuYasha's mouth was gaping open.

     "Kagome…" He whispered.

     Kagome let out a nervous laugh and twiddle her thumbs. "Uh… My bad?"

     Seamore suddenly gave a cry of joy, holding one hand to his ear as if hearing something from a piece of machine stuck up there.

     "This just in! We have a witness confessing to the scene of the crime! I could get a raise for this! Yaaaay!" Seamore bounced around the area as if he was Special Ed from Crankyankers. Men cursed in very obscene and vulgar languages, as a man was suddenly pushed in front of the screen with the look that plainly read 'I-don't-know-what-the-hell-I'm-saying-so-don't-listen-I-just-work-here-to-get-paid-is-tgat-so-wrong?' scribbled on his beautiful moth-like face.

      "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Butts is being a Mr. Ass at the moment. So I'm Gatenmaru filling in for the tree-hugging jezebel you see now, being censored on your screen, making Mother Nature a proud…mother, indeed." Gatenmaru let loose a sigh from his rose-painted lips. A hand from behind the camera held out a paper. Gatenmaru mumbled a 'Give me that' and looked at the camera in disgust.

     Disgust so vile that it was as if Martha Stewart trying to make him join in her little cult of homemakers by abusing their husbands mentally as well as in the flesh and creating pink perpetual candles out of toothpicks, lavatory paper and glitter like she was MacGyver on a mission to make the world a better place for the cheaper people of America who can't get off their languid ass and actually shell out the 75¢ it takes to buy the damn things. Then again, as we look back in time, Emeril tried the same trick and where did that get him? EXAMINE THE EVIDENCE!

     Gatenmaru coughed as a beautiful frown stamped onto his glossy little metrosexual chops.

      "Listen up, hommies!" Newscaster Gatenmaru pointed to the screen, as if accusing it of trying to pay his father's Death Tax. The microphone he was holding tilted to the side of his face as he verbally abused the watchers.

      "Yura—wait, this name is scratched out. I can't read that. Seikai, you're a good interpreter get the hell over here. What does this say?" Gatenmaru flashed the crumbled script he held in the clutch his fine purple nail polished fist before his face. 

      More mumbling and cursing came up from behind the camera. A man wearing a headset microphone and a canyon orange tee came up to the screen and shoved the paper away from the camera.

      "Seikai! There you are. What is this girl's last name?"

      Seikai squinted. A couple of seconds passed when the man suddenly clucked his tongue from inside his chipmunk-like face.

      "Yura Hoar."

      Gatenmaru froze. "Say what?"

      "Yura Hoar, Gatenmaru."

       A fist impacted to Seikai's face. Immediate anarchy and shouting developed in a blur of diverse action, and soon enough, someone had backed up into the camera making it fall and knocking the static out of it.

       At that moment, the whole news broadcast was interrupted. Static waves filled the bus in peculiar patterns of clamor. Ginta, who was closer to the television, stood up and reached for the button to turn it off. Suikotsu stared at the static for a second, his eyes narrowing. One of his calm hands grappled Ginta's wrist that was making way for the dial.

       Ginkotsu peered down at his brother through the bridge of his crooked nose. "Brother, what's wro—"

       "Ssh," Suikotsu whispered, his eyes closing in a meditative tranquility of concentration.

       "Listen…" So they did.

       The static. First, it seemed as nothing but a bunch of ruffling noises. But something… Something within the static echoed. Just a little. Focusing on that one echo made it grow and grow and grow.

       A voice, as if it was caged within the confines of a barred cell and had the vocal freedom of a small insect echoed throughout the bus.

       "Do you hear it?" Suikotsu asked as he reopened his eyes.

       "I do." Hakkaku admitted. "It sounds as if someone is tryin' to send a message through the teloo'." 

       "I hear it too," InuYasha said. "Hakkaku, turn it up. I think I can make something out from it... It sounds, so familiar."

       InuYasha became one with the infernal noise as he tried to make out the noises within the TV.

        "I…" Static dawdled and sputtered within a fury of blacks and grays playing across the dreary VDT. Only careful ears could hear the noise. That was why InuYasha caught it before it slipped away from him.

        InuYasha sounded it out as he heard it, "I…" His wan tainted dog-ears flickered about, adjusting between the uptight silence in the vehicle and the ear-splitting static.

        "Am…"

        InuYasha nearly jumped for joy as he heard the word, strained to do so. "Am…"

        Nothing but ricocheting clatter swarmed through to their brains. A while passed until Kagome tugged on his sleeve, pressing against him a little, drawing him away from his concentration and causing him to blush an innocent shade of cherry.

        "Huh?" He asked, flustered.

        "What is it saying now?" Kagome whispered, choosing as if not to notice the blush on his cheeks.

        "Oh." InuYasha whirred his attention back to the static, yet now finding it harder since Kagome still had not noticed that her breasts where pressing ever so slightly, roughly clingy-like, to his powerfully built arm. He could just about feel his blush strengthen to a more powerful shade as his doggie-ears tuned into the static.

          Suikotsu looked around the bus eagerly. "Someone sounds upset…"

         The TV made a flicker of color, and soon voices arose louder and louder until nobody strained to hear the words coming from the black and gray tornado. Even Sesshoumaru and Naraku looked up from their card game to see what was going on with the TV.

         The screen flickered again, but shorter with a more colorful pause. Sango gave a startled gasp, just finding out Miroku was worming his way closer to the idiot box—over her. She put an open hand over his face and pushed him back into his seat with much complaint.

         "And, like, yeah! She was…"

        Kagome stared uncomprehendingly at the screen, as others did, and scratched her scalp absently. Why did this voice sound so decipherable, yet so maddening on it's own part?

        "Just… Like…"

        Kyoukotsu pressed his face to the damn screen and started to sob. "SUSPENSE! I'M IN SUSPENSE!"

        "Shut up, Tiny." Mukotsu said, leaning against his plush seat, not really caring to the static anymore. It was as if The Ring didn't make him piss his pants every time he looked at little girls or crayon drawings enough in one year, but now he had everyone fixed to the tube like Anna Nicole Smith has just released news saying she is having a sex change for a new set of rules on life, you know what I'm saying? It was kinda like that.

       Kyoukotsu held up his older brother by the neck. "Keep that tongue inside its cage, you human moth ball."  

       "Like, YEAH!"

      Not one soul did not jump up in fright by the sudden noise that had nearly shaken the bus by its shrill volume. With surprise that could choke Mary's little lamb, none other than Yura had appeared on the screen with a panicked looked on her face. She had nail scratches on her face, her hair—being cut short by knives and other completely random objects known to man—was fluffed up and her clothes, oddly enough, had not one piece of yarn misplaced that made up her lewd little tank top. 

     It was the interview that Gatenmaru had mentioned. Obviously, they had switched cameras. Listening to a metrosexual battle with witty words and frisky fingernails against the people he works with is a much more interesting controversy than having a cheerleader smack her gum and answer 20 questions about a kidnapping. News Channels just didn't make sense.

     Knowing that everyone would get a headache, and if they didn't someone who did would give them one, they listened on to what Yura had to say about her BeSt FrIeNd 4EvA!!!111!11!'s kidnapping and what she didn't do to stop it.

     "So, Yura," The interviewer, a woman who wore her rippling ruby hair in a tress of white magnolias, gave an exhausted grunt while she talked in a strained voice to the teen, mutant, anti-human, whoknowswhatthehellsheis. The interviewer had probably been put up to do something that would blemish her mental sanity forever and ever by means of blackmail, a raise, reimbursement, or for funnzies. Whatever it was, Yura seemed to not notice, but instead was hyperventilating quite exaggeratingly up to the point where she'd jog in place to let it out.

     Occasionally, Yura would wave to or seduce the camera repeating 'Hi, boys!' or try to take the microphone from the news lady and push her away from the spotlight. The lady would have more than likely been happy to let her do just that, but for fear of getting fired and being shunned by the world and her husband, she chose the safe route.

      "What exactly… in comprehensible terms—no, no, breathe if you have to—can you tell us about the kidnapper of… Kikyo Miko?" The interviewer swayed faintly in her high heels, obviously trying to keep awake.

      "Like, it-it was.. uummmmmm… Like, um, a she!" Yura paused and closed her eyes, clenching her fist. "Yeah! It was a she. She, like, wore designer footwear. Totally, like, handmade and like—pleather! Actually she, like, had on this blue—"

     "What did she look like, Miss. Yura?" The lady asked, blearily.    

     "Well, like…" Yura peered in all directions, seeing if anybody else was listening.

     "If you like promise to, like, not tell like anyone. Like, anyone ever!"

     The news lady frowned. "Yeah I got that part."

     Yura lowered her voice to a whisper as capable of being heard as it was when she was talking. "I like, really, like, think her clothes are like out of date. I mean, they're like, so not like trendy or like ena'thin! It's, like—!"

      "If you say the word 'like' one more time, I am going to brutally strangle you with my microphone wire until you beg for me to kill you. Get it? Got it? Good." The redhead dodged an on coming hurricane of hypocrisy and spied at her watch and stared dead-eyed at the camera, expecting them to defy her after that long piece of useless information to go and take a long sponge bath and pop open a vein or two.

       Kikyo the poontang plonk muncher was better left kidnapped if this is what she would also act like compared to her double Dutch yapping friend.  

      "Oh, would you look at the time, its almost time for the future presentation of our long-awaited movie—"

     A ring and slight waves of vibration emitted from Naraku's pocket. Naraku retrieved his Side Kick cell and viewed the caller ID.

      His eyes widened. "You guys, shut the damn TV off."

     Ginta directly turned the volume on the TV and shut it off. Sesshoumaru peered at his buddy through his thick silver bangs, his honey caramel eyes asking who the hell it was calling. Naraku put up one finger, telling him to hold on as he answered the call.

     "Naraku?"      

     "Bankotsu. What have you got for me?"

     The name Bankotsu had already attracted InuYasha to usher Kagome near the back of the bus as did Miroku to Sango and most definitely the other five members of the Shichinin-tai were already huddled around, peacefully hoping nothing was wrong with their other two brothers. Kouga wasn't an option to care about, but Kagome did hope he was all right, as did Miroku and Sango. Spite that he could be a possible future figure for stalking, it was okay for now, since they needed someone to hope for. 

      Bankotsu on the other line sounded like he had just run a marathon and won. There was another set of unlabored breathing in close proximity, which was most likely Kouga. He sounded very tense, and changed his deep undertone into harsh whispers.

      "This is going to sound really unbelievable, but word going around prison is that… Bonehilda's last wall is slowly coming down." Sesshoumaru stopped filing his nails and carefully listened in.

     "Guards by the dozen have already been sent to investigate on the outside of the security walls and underground." He took a deep breath. "Kouga and I have over heard some guards talking to Chocolate and Officer Rin about not seeing anything. Not seeing a thing!"

      Naraku tucked stray wavy strands of hair behind his ear with a slightly shaking hand. "Where are you now? Are you away from large groups of people?"

      There was a pause, a stop of shaking breath, and sounds of footsteps. The footsteps slowly muddled away. "Ye'. Kouga and I are away from any metal object that might percept the interception of the phone call. The security has more than tripled around this whole prison. Someone will be looking for us soon."

      "Where are you?"

      There was another break in proceedings. Kouga sounded like he was murmuring something. Bankotsu responded indistinctly. Kouga growled, as if urging Bankotsu to tell Naraku something. Bankotsu responded faintly again, not heard. Their whispers echoed off of walls where they were.

       "Did you hear?" Bankotsu asked, a slightly different tone leaving the confines of his throat. 

       Naraku shed a puzzled countenance. "Hear what?"

       "That Kikyo was kidnapped."

      Naraku rolled his eyes. "Yes. We heard it just a few minutes ago, right before you called. Yura was talking nothing about the kidnapper. It's obvious she saw someone. I guess she just wasn't smart enough to identify what her face looked like instead of her boots."

       "So you haven't heard from Yura or the other donkey show at all?"

      "No. Were we supposed to?" Naraku rubbed his temple. His eye took on a Chinese fashion as his finger rotated around it.

      "Damn." Bankotsu started conversing to Kouga again. "You should find her and take her in."

      "WHY?!" Naraku yelled, entirely offended by such the idea of the idea.

      "SSH! Keep your voice down..." Naraku settled down again. "There is a reason why she won't say anything to the Press."

      "And why is that?"

      "The kidnapper!" Bankotsu snarled rigorously. "The kidnapper had warned her to change her identity to anyone who asked for it. Something the opposite of what she had looked like that same day of the hijacking. She wasn't masked or anything. Now you know this information, you need to find Yura. Bait her; trap her, whatever it takes! You need to find her and console her with security. She was the only witness to these events, and she knows just who did it."

      "Hold on."

       No words could describe how utterly… disgusted Naraku felt with this plan. He wasn't just about to go through with it for nothing. He needed a few minutes. And with everyone else huddled around him like the Plague, he couldn't get a word in inch wise. He waved a hand and jerked an eye at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru looked at where he was waving at and saw everyone in a mass, huddling around him and practically breathing down his throat. Naraku sent him a glare and Sesshoumaru snorted indignantly.   

       Sesshoumaru got up and ushered everyone away from his and Naraku's part of the bus. Yes, they all started complaining, yelling, and even starting physically abusing him. Now we know that it is not easy to be Sesshoumaru.

       Sustaining bites in your arm and scratches from both genders for the sake of your friend's privacy on the phone is a piece of cake, right? Hm. Well, hey, what are friends for? 

       Naraku settled down again, less tense now that Sesshoumaru was now pushing his brother into rough housing.

      "What do we get out of this, Bankotsu?"

      "Besides getting all the facts of who kidnapped Kikyo, if you trick Yura into thinking you'll help her find Kikyo you also get specifics on the kidnapper's connections to…her."

      "To Bonehilda?" Naraku solicited in stupefaction. He leaned back in his seat, and peered out the window into the clear Tokyo afternoon. Skies were dampened with spots of graying clouds. Willows and charmed Oaks of small crowded forests around the Sunset Shrine rocked with the chilling breeze flying over the seluded streets' stray leafs. Such an ethereal scene did not know of the dangers so close by it's territory.

       "Tell me," The wavy-haired teen jested. "What would the kidnapper have in common with the paranormal prodigy that is Bonehilda?"

       "Don't you see?!" Bankotsu bit back with inner-vengeance—such a vindictive tenor. "Look at the fundamentals of this entire situation. Someone kidnaps your everyday whore. Secret rumors of a deadly being so close to its long-waited freedom are being spread. One of your own friends was out that very night the sluttish drip was kidnapped. Do you really think that someone so powerful, a girl for that matter, is still kept within confines of these shitty jail walls?"

      "Honestly," Naraku said. "I do not care for Bonehilda."

      "Well you better!" Bankotsu had his voice raised to an extreme hiss now.  

      "Why?"

      "Fuck your intelligence, man! Can't you figure it out?" Bankotsu said, exaggeratingly. "Think about it: Bonehilda can't still be trapped inside this place. Last night was the reported phenomenon that justified the fact that Bonehilda has made such an extreme process of escape, that even Goshinki is scared to go back outside and check the fucking walls for any sign of damage. This place is a deserted fun house that was shunned away from society for a fucking reason, you know. Kouga and I believe it is true that Bonehilda has escaped this prison, and is now freely roaming the streets."

     Naraku started to get fed up. "What does this have to do with us at ALL?"

     "Shut up and let me finish, you ample brain-dead chimpanzee," He said. Kouga growled out something inaudible. Bankotsu replied to him again, just when a punching noise came from the line. "What I was saying was that if it is true that Bonehilda has escaped, than you better hide Kagome. There, are you happy Kouga? I told him now, so bugger off my case!"

     "Why hide Ka—"

     The Shichinin-tai brother disrupted the ebony-haired teen. "Are you by her now? Take a good look at her hands."  

      "Hold on…" Naraku said suspiciously. "Sesshoumaru?" The luscious silver mane itself that was Seshoumaru looked up at Naraku from his accommodation on top of his grumbling brother's back, once more filing his nails without a care in the world but keeping his brother away from violence. 

      "You called?" Sesshoumaru said, sighing. Why can't he just file his nails in peace?

      Naraku glanced between Kagome and Sesshoumaru. Kagome stopped her giggling at InuYasha's position under his brother and curiously raised a brow at Naraku.

      "Come here for a second, Kagome."

      "Hey!" InuYasha called. "I'm going with her, then!"

     "InuYasha, shuddap!" Kagome rolled her eyes. "I'm going no more than 15 feet away from you! You can wait for just a minute. This is probably really important!"

      "Exactl—GET OFF'A ME, WILL YA'?!"  InuYasha started clawing and swiping at his brother who was now reading a Newtype magazine. Sesshoumaru didn't pay heed to his brother, but just kept on skimming through pages, searching for some good articles on one of his favorite mangas Seven of Seven.

      "Down, boy." Sesshoumaru said weakly, as he dove into an article about Azumanga Daioh!.  

      "Argh! I give up! Geez!" InuYasha folded his arms and pouted.

      Kagome smiled and ruffled his hair lightly, giving one of his ears a feather-soft little tweak. "I'll be right back, don't turn rotten just waiting for me, now!"

       "He's about several years too late on that one, Kagome." Miroku wiggled a brow and smirked lecherously. "If you know what I mean."

       InuYasha hid his pouting face.

       Sango was too busy bobbing her head and murmuring random lyrics to her CD player to be paying attention to that comment. She soon felt eyes on her, and immediately looked at Miroku, slapping him upside the head.

       Kagome laughed and ran to the back of the bus where Naraku was.

       Miroku rubbed his head. He soon snuck a devious grin on his face just as Sango was about to switch CDs in her Psyc Walkman.

       "I seem to have lost my virginity, may I have yours?"

       Sango pulled out a CD case from Sesshoumaru's bag she had conveniently stolen. "Sorry, I like my eggs unfertilized in the morning."

       Miroku feigned a shaken facade. "But Sango, my precious! I wasn't kidding!"

       She put in a CD, Dancing On Your Grave, into her player and started to put the case back without looking at Miroku. This was his way of playing mind games, in hopes of getting something on the side. The boy was as pure as they came, but his mind just didn't know when to lower it's level to a teenage minimum. Sango knew it, but every other girl in the whole entire east side nation didn't know, but as long as she was safe, the world was spinning correctly again.

      "Miroku, with that attitude, you couldn't even give your virginity away."

      Miroku's eyes got big and sparkled with heavenly glee. "Why Sango! Is this a proposition I am hearing from your luscious ginger lips?"

      Sango gave a deadpanned expression. "No Miroku, darling. I wasn't kidding."

      "Oh." Miroku said. "In that case, can I listen to your Walkman, too?"

      "Sure!" Sango beamed optimistically, like the barter of words never happened. She handed him an earpiece. "You know the rules."

      Miroku sighed. "Yes, my sweet Sango."

      And 3 feet did he slide away from her.

  º""º""º" Back with Kagome and Naraku, right when Kagome ran over to him º""º""º"

      "She's here now."

      Kagome sat down in the seat next to Naraku. "What is it you needed me for? Is something wrong?"

      Naraku switched the phone from one hand to the other and turned his back to the window to face Kagome. "Show me your hands, Kagome."

     Slightly nervous, Kagome removed her hands from inside her long white hoodie jacket. Noticeably there were cuts, scratches, and painful bruises lacing her arm.

      "Are there cuts? Injuries? Anything?" Bankotsu's frantic voice beckoned over the line.

      "Yes, as a matter of fact there are." Naraku replied. Kagome started to panic. "What's going o—"

      "What exactly is there? Is it bad?" Bankotsu asked.

      "There are deep violet bruises on some parts of her hands and wrists. There are a few cuts and scratches. It isn't too bad. Why do you need this information?"

       "Bonehilda has hands made of steel, and sustains injuries, I hear. Banging on walls for many years does that to a person, obviously. Kagome has injuries and was out that ni—"

       "How do you know where she was that night?" Naraku interpolated.

       "I called one of my brothers last night while all the guards were asleep," Bankotsu explained in low tones again. "They told me what had happened from start to finish. Let me tell you, that the odds of Kagome's safety are zero to none. If cops find out that it was Kagome who had beaten out that store clerk, then they might get more curious as to the situation. There was abduction not too far away from the scene of the Stop and Go store. About 12 minutes and a couple of seconds apart from each other, it's in the paper of recorded times of both crimes. Without a doubt, authorities and Press will twist the story up so bad that cops will have no other leads but to arrest Kagome for it if she did it or not. Plus the fact that she picked up two new friends along the way to finding my brothers is also a major factor. They too will be arrested and put into custody of jurisdiction, amounting up for at least 20 years in prison for the minimum. Assault, kidnapping… And if Kikyo obtains any serious injuries that put her in a relentless life or death situation, than Kagome will never get out of jail. The death penalty may also be an option if ever the time comes."

      Bankotsu's breathing was strained, his voice quivering with each word of the last sentence. Naraku was unmistakably speechless. One of his friends was inside of the very clutches of death for a crime she didn't even commit. That is, if someone found out and successfully proved that it was, indeed, Kagome who had assaulted that store clerk or snatched the material girl Kikyo.

       Naraku sadly glanced at Kagome. When he did, he nearly had a heart attack.

       That jacket she had worn last night was on her body.

       "Hold on, Bankotsu." Naraku practically ripped down the shades to his seat window, Kagome's warning and pleading voice he just ignored.

       "Kagome, take your jacket off." Naraku took a second to just think over how weird that sounded in a situation like this.

       Kagome shook her head. "But what about my hands! I don't want anyone to s—!"

       "Don't ask questions or say anything on that matter; just take it off and I'll explain later. Sesshoumaru! Get off InuYasha for a second and bring him over here! Quickly!" 

       Kagome easily pulled off the jacket, bundled it up and put her hands inside. Naraku shook his head and took the jacket away from her and shoved it into a compartment under his seat. Kagome cursed him out, and winced as she placed her hands into her jean pockets just as InuYasha sprinted over to the back of the bus.

       "InuYasha, go up to the second layer of this bus where Kohaku and Souta are. Tell them to put every other window shade down. When that's done, come back down, take Kagome, bring her up to the second layer and sit on the aisle floor next to a seat where the window is shaded. Don't ask questions, just do it and keep her away from windows. Do you understand?"

       InuYasha glanced down at the beguiled Kagome with a puzzled and angry expression. "Wha-?"

      "Don't just stand there like an ocean booey!" Naraku shouted. "MOVE!"

       And there went InuYasha, up the stairs and onto the second layer of the double-decker bus.

       Naraku turned back to Kagome, "Kagome, when you get to the top, just sit there. Make sure you aren't seen through a window by anyone. Make sure Kohaku and Souta are acting normally; we wouldn't want any neighbors or tourists—ah, fuck tourists, just make sure nothing looks suspicious, got it? While you're up there, tell Souta and Kohaku to fetch you a new pair of clothes from inside that house that look different from the stuff you're wearing now. I want you to appear totally different from what you were wearing last night. And when the coast is clear to bring you down, we'll get you back into your house if it's safe to."

       Kagome gave a modest headstrong salute. "Aye, aye, Captain Chimp!"

       InuYasha came back down from the stairs and slung Kagome over his back, but not before giving Naraku a sour expression. "You'll get yours, baboon. You'll get yours…" With that, he leaped up the steps with a protesting Kagome secure in his arms.

       Naraku silently pledged to himself that the next person who called him something close to a primate, he would kill in an instant.

       He picked up the phone. "We have everything under control. Call again if you ever get personal proof of Bonehilda's escape. Remember, trust no one there."

       Bankotsu dramatically sighed. "Yes, mother. We'll keep in touch with you and the family frequently. Kisses!"

       Click.

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 Character Identification:

     Kamakiri – The Praying Mantis bitch! Who could forget the girl who widened the damn hole in Miroku's hand with her massive claws as she was being sucked into his void?

    Eshi – The hellish painter who was a fraud, a gimp and a lowlife with nothing but the smell of ink to wake up to in the morning. Kinda like my dad, just switch the ink to battery fuel and hellish painter to mechanic/car part thief.

     Gatenmaru – One of meh favorite InuYasha characters of all time. Love his voice, love his personality, love his lipstick; what more could a girl/guy ask for?!  He has shown up in episode 51, tried to take InuYasha's swords, failed, died. All's bad that end's bad—but I still love him and that's all that matters.

     Seikai – This priest appeared in the episode where Kikyo scared off that little kid, Sayo. The priest died, tragedy, tragedy—write me a song, yada yada yada, shred some petals, they all die when they defy you, but the point is that you're still alive, so we must not worry about the dead.

     Shunran – This was the redhead news lady that was pissed at Yura. Shunran is apart of the Cat Arc in much later episodes, but is not found in mangas. This was one of the four siblings trying to resurrect the leader of the Cat Arc, Oyakata. The other siblings consist of the brother Shuuran, the caster and ruler of lightening, the sister Karan, the caster and ruler of fire, and another sister, Touran, the caster and ruler of ice. Shunran herself has the ability to cast illusions.  

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     I hate it when people try to act like my mother. It's almost aggravating as this Barbie Girl song I'm currently listening to. Except this one is in German. The English version is more irritating. It would be funnier if Foamy would sing it with Germaine, though.

     Mmmm… Foamy…

     FLUFF NEXT CHAPTER, FLUFF NEXT CHAPTER! Yaaaaaaay! YAAAAY! Yay! YaAaAy! yAaAaY!

     …YAY!

     THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO'VE REVIEWED!

    Terra Secora (You're just having your own little adventure there, aren't cha'? Go ahead, get my carpet dirty with Kikyo's dir-tay blood. Get on with your bad self! ^_^ 'Cause you know you want to…!)

    loozer-09 (I don't mind that you reviewed late! It's the fact that you reviewed at all that matters, ya know? Hey where did'ja move to? Farther from me, right? T_T Gah, it's a curse! …Just joking! ^_^)

 

    Winter-hearted oddity (Fluff next chapter! Love this, love that, you'll get what cha' want soon! In the mean time, I hope you like the update!)

    seikkyokuka (PLUSHIE! *squeeze* Gratitude! Gratitude! *hands you a giganto whistle candy*)

    Kim (They are wolf demons of Kouga's tribe. You probably already know that since there is a big gap between this chapter and the last chapter to read some fics to find out. ^_^ Yes, those pairings suck major pet rocks, but what can I do, eh? I've got people riding on my coat-tails about it. I honestly don't see what people see in couple like… those… Yuck… I honestly don't get the hype. I must've missed a memo about it. Damn you, AT&T.)

    lovin-sesshoumaru-isnteasy (Thaaaankyouverymuch! Oh, and I agree with your pen name. Bwaha!)

    Alia (I see someone is having a case of shits n' giggles. ^_~ Ha! Glad you love meh story!)

    Maiden of the Moon (They cleaned up this apartment, thank God. My mom must've been pissed for weeks. The lady next door (the one that I thought was Amish) turned out to be a lawyer, so she made them clean it up in a jiffy. Yes… Lawyers are bloodsuckers, but they are helpful ones indeed. Ah, don't fret! You aren't an annoying reviewer! It's just… some people out there… *twitch* @_#)

    Rouge Aisha (If someone called me thunder-thighs I'd kill everything that would be cute and adorable. O_o I wonder how Kagome managed to bare it! Must've taken great training to accomplish successfully. Without blood spill and all.)

 

    Fuzzy 'Lil' Bella-Chan (You like, yes yes? ^_~)

    InuYasha00 (Did I e-mail you already? I forgot-it's been so long. It's just a little compulsion joke I made. I have a compulsion of cleanliness and my mom (ironically the person I inherited it from oO;) uses it against me, so hey! Why not put it in a story.)

    Inu-shounen (I don't know if many peeps know about Hakkaku and Ginta. I know they're both idiots, they aren't really British, and they like physically abusing each other. Hey! I thought out loud, They have all the characteristics that brothers do! Why not make them as British as Boy George AND relatives? So here they are. I realize this chapter wasn't really funny because it's got some serious parts, but I hope it made you at least—um—snort with laughter. Yeah! Snorts are always a good sign. ^_^)

    eddie4 (I know! I got your e-mail and read the chapter. Keep up the good work on it, I wanna see more fluff! Woo hoo!)

    Demon Assassin (I forgot if I e-mailed you, too. But of course you could put me on your favorite author's list if you'd like! Hell, I'd love that! Thankies so much for the glomp and all the goodies! *pulls out a soda from the big sack of stuff and downs it* My gratitude! *hands you a mammoth alien glow pop* )

    demon-kim demon carey-12 (Thankyouthankyooou! I hope you savored this big-ass update.)

    Wakadori Ramen (Well, that's too bad, because Suikotsu and Kikyo are both dead and not up for pairing. So if you're into necrophilia this place isn't for you. They could be the 'effing Fear Factor for all I'm raised to know or care, but hey, if you like them paired together good for you—but don't mind if I just insult them some more, seeing as I have my opinions, you have yours. You're in my home, and if you don't like what's inside, then well, you know you're way out. I hope you liked my story, in which you have reviewed for no other reason than to complain to me about my opinions anyways. ^_^ Have a nice day.)

      Now… I just need to rant… _ Gah! Oh how I need to rant!

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      RAAAAANTS!

     Aaaah..! Must… @_# Complain…

     *gives into temptation*

     » An e-mail was received about my hate for cheerleading. Now, the e-mail shall be replied.. Anonymously. Aggravatingly. Bluntly.

    This cheerleading business… I hate it. No-hate isn't the right word… I LOATHE it. It's not a sport, divvies. Cheerleading is doing nothing but reciting replicating poetry for the athletes who actually train hard and compete to the bone in a live team game, while the girls who you can't tell apart are standing on the sidelines getting all the undeserved attention, taking all the glory, hoisting each other in the air while screaming rehearsed lines that mean nothing. NOTHIN'! You usually have to be a certain weight to join in (around 50 lbs.) or all else is snickered at, or judged against because of their weight—and what does that get you?! Tittle-tattle. Hearsay. Gossip. I am here as a REAL athlete supporter, giving acknowledgment to the people who justify it most.

    That's why I have such detestation for cheerleading. How can I prove that cheerleading is no sport, you ask beforehand? Well. Why isn't it in the Olympics if it is so holy? Riddle me that if you itch to, I already know the answer.

    One word: PUBLICITY.    

    All else who believe contrary to what I have said then I'll give you two minutes. Two minutes to turn off your computer and go pull out your Barbies from your little hope chests to play with; you're wasting beauty sleep staying up so late to read this and replying will only lead to further turmoil. Which Amande and I are known for. So before you e-mail me to try and whip me at lexis you should turn around now, because it's not going to impede my story. Why can't some of you people lighten up and be someone else for a minute without having to yell at someone to do so?

     » For shame? No! For thought!

     I don't understand what people don't get when in the series they mention over a thousand times about InuYasha not having childhood friends. When there are non-AU SIs written out there about InuYasha finding 'long lost childhood friends' or 'missing sisters and/or brothers'… Don't you think that they would have mentioned it in the series if there were any of them hidden out there? Is no one paying attention anymore? If InuYasha had a sister or friends before Kagome, not only would he have definitely remembered it, but also wouldn't the story really be considered an AU because it's just not true by what the series in the manga and anime alike tell us? I mean there are no relevant connections as to why he did forget! But he didn't. Why didn't he forget? Because there's nothing to remember in the first place! Some of you people are desperate for spotlight and that's a sad way to get some.  

    SIs make me sick.

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    That's all good and done with. *scruffs hands clean of imaginary dust*

    My birthday is coming up this weekend (the 10th)! Review for meh as a present?!

    …Please? T_T

    Love Evermore in 2004,

    Hirari the 9th Goddess of Maple Syrup

    …Como esta el Yaaaay!

    Say it with me! Yaaaaaay!

    Gah, couldn't resist.