25

The orange sun had turned red as it sank below the horizon. It made Kagome think of blood. And certainly someone's blood would be spilled tonight. But who's? She hoped it would be Agatha's and no one else's. It had been half an hour since Sakaki had called the office to report in. Now he was leaning against his bike in the shadow of an apartment building, watching the little strip mall across the street out of the corner of his eye. Kagome sat on a milk crate behind a dumpster in the nearby alley and waited for Inuyasha. He'd be the first one to arrive, she was sure. The challenge would be to keep him from rushing right into a duel with Agatha before they had a chance to form a plan. But something else was bothering her at the moment.

"Should we be sitting out here waiting like this?" she asked. "Won't Agatha recognize us?"

"That's why you're back there and I'm out here," Sakaki answered. "I wasn't there this morning so she won't recognize me. And someone has to make sure she doesn't leave."

That made perfect sense to Kagome, but she was still worried. Agatha wasn't stupid. Surely, she could figure out who was watching her. But if so, then why hadn't she made a move yet? Was she planning something too? The whole situation reminded her uncomfortably of Naraku's traps. But maybe she was overestimating Agatha. Could it be that the witch was just overconfident and thought she'd escaped for good? That was probably it, but still…

Kagome turned at the sound of an approaching car engine. Amon's car turned around the far side of the apartment building into the alley and came to a stop beside the dumpster. Most of the STN-J piled out and joined Kagome in her hiding place. Sakaki left his bike and joined them too.

"Aren't we missing someone?" Kagome asked, looking around for Inuyasha.

"Who's missing?" Inuyasha asked as he jumped from the fire escape.

"Nobody," she said with a sigh of relief.

"But we are missing someone," Dojima said.

"Who?" Karasuma asked.

"Well, Agatha, of course." Dojima tossed her head imperiously. "We need her here so we can hunt her."

Karasuma and Sakaki sighed but Amon thought differently.

"She's right," he said. "We need to lure her out in the open where she'll be easier to attack."

"No problem," Inuyasha said. "I'll challenge her to a duel. She's not the type to refuse."

"And she would have to come out into the parking lot to fight," Robin continued the line of logic."

"And then what?" Kagome asked. "The windscar won't fire at her and she can block an ordinary sword attack with her water power."

"He doesn't have to kill her," Sakaki said. "Just wear her down so the rest of us can pounce on her."

"And what about the jewel shards?" Inuyasha asked.

"You can have them," Amon said.

Robin shot him a look and he met her eyes. Some silent communication passed between them and then they both looked away again. That seemed familiar to Kagome. She and Inuyasha did that sometimes. Talking without talking.

"So that's the plan?" Karasuma asked just to confirm.

"Yeah," Amon said.

26

The streetlights cast strange double shadows behind the cars in the parking lot across the street. It was a quiet neighborhood and there were only a few cars there. The breeze on the roof of the apartment building pushed Robin's loose bangs around and she waved her hand to keep them out of her eyes. Amon crouched near the edge of the roof, studying the layout of the battlefield. Robin stood at the top of the fire escape and watched him. He hadn't asked her to follow him. But she didn't like being away from him, especially in situations like this. Somehow, being near him made her feel safe. Every once in a while it struck her how strange that was. Had she told any of the others, they would have laughed at her. She could start fires with her mind and HE made her feel safe. But it was true and she was at a loss to explain it.

She looked down at the others gathered in the alley. They were talking in whispers and she couldn't hear them, but she had a feeling they were comparing notes on the last few days. Everything seemed to have turned upside down since their last hunt. The events of the day were bizarre, even for the STN-J. Not the least of those events was meeting Kagome and Inuyasha. The two of them sat together in the alley, leaning back against a wall side by side. Something about them reminded Robin of how she and Amon used to sleep on the train or the bus or the airplane. She looked back at Amon just in time to see him get up and glide back towards her. She read his blank expression and knew that he was worried. She moved slightly so that her arm brushed lightly against his as he went past her onto the fire escape. That always seemed to make him feel better when they were on the road, hungry and home-sick. He paused for a split second, acknowledging the gesture, and then continued on down into the alley. Robin followed him as always. She didn't want to be away from him, not now.