Don't own Inuyasha. If I did, I wouldn't be here.
Summary: In order to keep the thriving Underground alive, Kagura, known to the world as Twisted Elegance, seduces and kills those who stand in the way of it's evolution. She's succeeded every time, until she has to go after the one man who could bring her down first, Sesshoumaru. Despite their duties to both their organizations, the assassin and the "detective" become entwined into a possessive affair that could mean a fate worse than death for both of them.
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Twisted Elegance
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Bonnie and Clyde
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"He knows my name!"
"Calm yourself, Kagura," Kikyo replied. The long haired woman sat down in front of the small table before her, folding her legs neatly beneath her
"Why should I?" she shot back, "First, I get to hear half the truth from Miroku-"
"Miroku?"
"-then I get the rest from him!"
Kikyo turned towards the young man in the corner. "Miroku, would you care to explain to me exactly what you were doing?"
Miroku shifted uncomfortably against his superior's calm, yet deadly, gaze. "She was going to find out anyway," he reasoned.
"Just like Gullotine is going to find out about your little "tete-a-tete" with certain women?"
"Sango?" His eyes widened.
"I want an answer!" Kagura snapped impatiently.
The older woman gave a bored look. "T'was his idea," she replied flatly, "he wanted to see you in action. You failed."
"And you lied," she shot back, "The bastard is a fucking psycho! What the hell does he have to do with me anyway?"
"I have another mission for you," Kikyo stood back up, neatening the folds of kimono as she did so, "you know who Naraku is."
Kagura rolled her eyes. Of course she knew who he was, not a person in The Underground hadn't heard his name at least once. He was supposed to have been next in line as head of the Underground, but Kikyo had refused to let him have her family's title, taking the thrown herself, the first woman to ever rule the organization. She was resented for that, but most would rather listen to a woman than a demon.
Kagura felt her ears subconciously. They were pointed at the top, a sure sign of her demon blood. "Let me guess, he's trying to overthrow you again."
"This time it's not that simple, he's got allies all over the city. Several of them were part of this organization. They're now locked in the catacombs waiting to die."
"So what does this have to do with him?"
"He's your partner. Now, enough talk, Sesshoumaru is waiting for you in the catacombs."
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She hated the catacombs.
It was the once place were heroes and traitors lay side by side. It was where the nobles of the Underground were laid, it was where the criminals were tortured and locked. With her acute hearing, she hear the muffled sound of the tortured and dying through the brick walls and cement in which they had been trapped. The entire dungeon covered about half of inland Tokyo, about ten feet beneath the cement floor the ocean lay beneath it. It had been there since the beginning of the Underground during the Meiji era, where the first were buried, and where the last would be buried. It was where she herself would be put to rest. It was by far the darkest part of the Tokyo Underworld.
Shaking off the chill, she hurried on, following Kikyo's directions exactly. It was more than easy to get lost. The fallen corpses on the floor proved so. Why he wanted to meet her here, she didn't know.
"You're late."
Completely ignoring his comment, she leaned across the hall from him. He was standing near what seemed to be a freshly covered chamber, the bricks and cement still lying nearby. She didn't have to ask to know it was one of the traitors, his muffled cries still barely coming through the large bricks.
"I failed your little test?" she asked.
"Had I not known who you were, I would've killed you before you came through the door."
Again ignoring him, she set her gaze over him, to the swords hanging at his side. "You carry a sword. Only nobles are allowed to carry swords."
"Then that should tell you something, shouldn't it?" he replied, turning around to face the wall, "I'm sure you're wondering why I brought you here."
"The thought crossed my mind."
A moment of silence passed, even the howls and moans of the unforgiven seemed to cease inside their chambers. Sesshoumaru moved towards his sword, the sound of scraping metal was heard as he removed the weapon from its sheath. It's metal flashed an unknown light, despite the darkness.
Finally, she heard him speak. "Attack me- with everything you have."
Slightly taken aback at his request, she felt at the weapons, which consisted of aher gun, a blade, and her kunai. And of course there was her fan, which she used to conduct her demon powers. It was illegal for demons to use their powers, even having to get inoculations to make sure. Lucky for her, she hadn't gotten one of those shots since her family was alive, and that was more than five years ago. Besides, since when was anything she did legal?
"Everything?" she asked, gasping her kunai between her fingers.
"Everything."
She smiled. She would enjoy this.
Kagura released one of her kunai, aimed dead between his shoulder blades. It landed an inch away from her face. She hadn't even seen him move.
Sending several more of her kunai. Each one- despite being perfectly aimed- was not even able to touch its target. Frustrated, she reached for her gun.
The gun went off, breaking the long silence through the tomb. He dodged it as if it were nothing. She shot off several more times, giving no remorse about practically trying to kill him. He continued to dodge, each time landing gracefully without breaking a sweat. It wasn't even a minute before she was disarmed and pinned against the floor.
He loomed over her, his face showing no signs of mercy or compassion. His heel pressed into throat, slowly cutting off what little breath she had.
"Pathetic."
Her red eyes turned to slits. While one of her hands reached to take the weight off of her throat, her other aimed open-hand towards him. Suddenly, a gust of energy erupted from her palm, sending him backwards. He had expected the attack, landing gracefully on his feet on the other side of the tomb.
She rose, her hair and clothes dancing around her form from the breeze she had created.
"You're an elemental," Sesshoumaru stated, his voice even.
"And you're a canine," Kagura replied.
She reached for gun, suddenly realizing its positing halfway down the hallway. She was out of kunai, and she knew she couldn't use her demon powers to the extent she liked for fear of destroying the tombs. He seemed to have read her mind, suddenly tossing away his swords.
Without warning, he sliced at her, the tips of his claws glowing a birght green. He severed parts of her clothing, purposely missing the carving of her arm. He smirked in satisfaction, his eyes holding a sardonic gleam in them. He seemed to have no qualms about killing her either.
Reaching his hand out, his claws glowing once again, this time secreting a hot acid from his talons. It dripped onto the cement, sizzling and eating through the floor, an almost foglike gas filling the room... and her lungs.
She broke out into a fit of coughs, her eyes, lungs, and throat burning from the secretions. Her small frame wobbled on unsteady feet, still inhaling the toxic substance. Without warning, her legs gave way, and collapsed on the cold cement.
Sesshoumaru loomed over her unconcious body. The gas would clear out within a few hours or so. Reaching down, he hoisted her limp form over his shoulder. It would be best to get her out the gas soon, a few minutes and the poison would kill her.
He was suprised she had lasted as long as she did. She would do.
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It was then she realized just how much she hated Sesshoumaru.
She cursed, rubbing her sore muscles. Apparently she had gone unconcious during their battle, for she was now in the backseat of an empty car. Looking around, Kagura found her weapons sitting in the front passenger seat. She tried to open the car door. Locked.
Slumping into the back seat, she looked out the window. The car was parked in front of what seemed to be an old apartment building. In a third story window, she saw him, standing, talking to someone. A young woman appeared into the window, seeming almost upset. He, however, showed no concern for her. 'Figures...'
The figure of a woman was replaced with that of a little girl. She seemed to be doing most of the talking, something which didn't suprise Kagura at all. The child passed something to him, and he left.
Mindful of her wounds, she hoisted herself up to the front seat, silently waiting for her "partner" to come down from whatever he was doing. Squinting towards the doorway. She eyed the intercom, reading off the names.
Third Floor- Kagome Higurashi
She had a few questions to ask him.
Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru exited the building, feeling the folded paper his coat pocket. He caught the red-eyed woman's gaze as he walked towards the car, but gave no motion of responding to it. Setting himself in the driver's seat, he started the car.
"You're married?" she asked.
"That woman is not my wife," Kagura flashed him a dry look. "Or my mistress, nor are we courting."
"So..." she turned towards the window, "that was a low move, poisoning me."
"My intention was not to defeat you, simply to see how you were in combat. "You were satisfactory for the tasks you must perform. If you were actually trying to attack me, you would've been dead."
"Then why the hell do you even want me here if I'm so fucking obsolete?" she snapped.
His response was simply: "Because you are a slut."
She seethed, clutching her weapons in a death grip. "You bastard..." Whipping out one of her kunai, she held it at his throat. He didn't even flinch.
"Now you listen to me, Sesshoumaru. I don't know you, and I don't like you. Whether you like me or not, I don't particularly care. Despite what you may think, I'm not some homewrecker who sleeps with fat rich bastards for a few hundred dollars. You think I'd actually let those fuckers touch me? I'm too good for them. And as for you," she held the blade tightly against his throat. "I've killed men higher on the food chain than you."
"There is a severed cadaver in the trunk of this car," he replied, "if you continue to speak to me in such a manner, you will continue this ride with it.You know as well as I do I fulfill my threats.You are expendable to me, and a waste of air. And as a word of advice, do not threaten a person unless you can actually defeat them."
Hestitantly, she let down her weapon. "...So, where are we going?"
"Kyoto. Naraku is residing there, but first we have to gather our information from his lackeys and other pursuers."
"First name on the list?"
"Kouga."
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NOTES:
kunai- small throwing blades, usually used by ninjas. (If you watch Rurouni Kenshin, they're the little blades Misao uses)
Chapters are slowly getting longer, got to over 2,000 words. I'm getting more and more used to writing, and hopefully I can manage a constant update schedule. The fight scene was a pain in the ass to do. I saw a few episodes with both characters, went to a few shrines, and I think I have their personalities down, for now at least. If they start to get OOC later on, LET ME KNOW. Especially since I don't have the energy to stay up and watch Inuyasha episodes at one in the morning.
And by the way, the story's rating will be moving up to an 'R' for violence and adult situations. There's probably going to be a lemon of it on the adult fanfiction site, just a warning. It was always meant to be an 'R', but since those stories don't show up on the main page I lessened it slightly to gain an audience.
Next Chapter: Pandora
FA- 12/25/04 Merry Chirstmas