Between a Rock and a Hard Place

BY captain obvious

FOUR

"We must hang together, or surely we shall hang separately" - Benjamin Franklin

Kagome was nervous. It was not in her routine to spy on her boss. Up until this point, she worked and he paid her. Their relationship did not get more complex than that. Now, Mr. Naraku wanted her to upset the gentle balance, the tender flow of her life with some conspiracy nonsense. Kagome knew that the only reason she was going along with this was because it wasn't nonsense- perhaps Judge Sesshomaru was trying to get rid of him.

Why, was the question she had to answer, or at the very least she had to come up with some good theories. "What should I be looking for? I can't exactly search the man's house with no specific object in mind. I can't get fired for procrastination. Judge Sesshomaru gives ten minute break, so I'll have to do it then," Kagome turned to the man sitting on her floor, pretending to meditate.

Mr. Naraku was thinking, and it involved seeing his uncle and Sesshomaru together at his execution. "Look for letters in the Judge's office addressed to or from my uncle,"

Kagome frowned. "What's the Judge have to do with your uncle? Why would Judge Sesshomaru associate with a man like Mr. Oniguma?" Kagome reddened when she realized that she had insulted Mr. Naraku's uncle to his face, but calmed with he did not appear angry.

"Sesshomaru is a crooked judge and my uncle is a conniving criminal. Why wouldn't they socialize with each other?" Kagome had no answer that seemed respectable for that, so she remained quiet.

"Don't look so nervous. You are going to give yourself away. Keep your eyes open for anything," Mr. Naraku instructed.

"What are you going to do all day? Make yourself useful and do something productive," Kagome continued her thoughts in her mind, "You are staying in my house against my will…"

"I do not do manual labor. Once my innocence is proven, you will be paid for your services,"

Kagome just nodded curtly at him; she was not at all sure if he could be trusted, but she decided to believe him until she found a reason not to. Kagome left her hut without another word, and hoped that she would come out of the day unscathed.

Kagome walked onto the main path, which led to the Judge's house. She dove into the wave of workers off to serve Sesshomaru, yet again giving him another day of their precious lives.

She marched up to the servant's door, when the heavy traffic had cleared. Her breath was coming out of her lungs in short puffs, and she hoped no one noticed. She shook her head, and made the decision not to think about what she had to do.

"The sooner I do this, the sooner that man can get out of my house," she whispered in her mind.

"You got Inuyasha's room again, Kagome," Kagome bit her lip with intense anger.

"What?" She said, trying to remain calm. Kagome looked up to see Sango smiling sadly at her.

"They supposedly drew names, and yours just happened to be the lucky one again. Sorry,"

"But we were rotating," Kagome protested.

"The rotating landed on the "Queen" herself, and so naturally that did not sit well with her." The "Queen" was the head cook's daughter, and she thought that the world was her palace. Kagome wondered how she could think that when she had to scrub the Judge's floors everyday...

"I'm so angry, but there's nothing I can do,"

"You can't make a scene," Sango said sadly, as she fastened a loose string on her uniform.

…………………

Cleaning Inuyasha's room was not such a bad thing, in itself. It was dealing with Inuyasha that was the hard part. He was surly and enjoyed his room as he left it, but he knew the rules as well as Kagome. All the rooms had to be cleaned everyday, including the most difficult ones. The Judge was a hard man to defy.

Kagome knocked on his door, and waited for the door to swing open in anger. When the expected happened, she was forced to look into the enraged face of her employer's son. "Good Morning to you sir," She greeted.

"What do you want?" He snapped.

Kagome withheld a sigh, "I've come to tidy the room, Master Inuyasha," Kagome kept her voice light and polite, despite his attitude.

"It's fine the way it is," His yellow eyes burned with unneeded anger. His cheeks were flushed with red blood.

"That's not what your father thinks," Kagome continued to speak in her extremely perky and even faker voice.

Inuyasha glared down at her. His face swooped down, and it was directly in front of hers, and the heat from his breath fell on her virgin cheeks. "Kagome, you know as well as I that this room will look the same if not worse tomorrow. Why do you bother?" He spoke to her on familiar terms; they had grown up together. He expected to see the fire fairy he had always remembered to finally rear her pretty head. He missed the way Kagome had once been, before she became a heathen and he became a god.

Kagome sighed, as she did not meet his sweltering eyes. She had given up a long time ago. "Because it is my purpose in life,"

Kagome pushed past her master, and entered his bedroom. She expected him to stomp down to the breakfast table and throw food down his throat, but he followed her instead, pushing the door close.

"I won't accept that. There's more to you than that. You have more purpose than I ever shall. I am here to drink strong spirits, entertain several blushing maids, and then die a fat and fickle man. You, Kagome, are so much more,"

"Oh! What do you know, Inuyasha?" She grumbled in anger. His unexpected praise brought a humiliated blush to her cheeks.

"For an ignorant snob, more than you would think. I would love to see the look on your face when you realize that I am right,"

"What's stopping you?" She said, as she began to pick up his carelessly laid clothes off the floor.

"I'll most likely be dead by then. Worthless men like myself don't live long enough to tell our tales to future worthless men. We die before we can stop the cycle," Fully shaken by his words, Kagome inhaled, before continuing to act nonchalant.

"Don't be silly Inuyasha! You will live to be a ripe old man," Kagome realized she was speaking more for her comfort than his.

Inuyasha continued to speak, as though she'd never spoken. "It's sad fate I have befallen, but I only have myself to blame for the account of my life. What a needless amount of space I have taken up, from a child who needs it more. What a needless amount of space," He looked at the shining sun that lit his angelic face, not stopping to shade his eyes from the harsh sunlight. Kagome moved his body away from the harming sunlight, and struggled to keep back tears.

…………………………..

"Judge, I have a proposal for a new schoolhouse. The one we have now is just too old, and it's not safe for the children and Miss Ami. I think we could build a new school rather cheaply, and it would only help you when election time comes round again…" Kagome poked her around the corner and watched as the town sheriff pitched an idea to Judge Sesshomaru. It was well known that the sheriff was a talkative man, who never quite grasped the idea of keeping his mouth shut. He'd keep the Judge occupied long enough.

Once the two men had rounded another corner, Kagome dashed from one side of the hallway to the other. She searched the area for signs of life, and found none. She then turned her attention to the door in front of her. She slowly opened the door, and made sure no one else was in the room. When she was sure she was alone, Kagome stepped into the room, and shut the door behind her. She had to make this quick.

With her breath caught in her throat, Kagome walked over to the Judge's desk. She began to carefully scan all the neatly stacked papers on the desk, making sure to put them back exactly where she had found them. Kagome found nothing at all resembling what she was looking for.

"This was an idiotic idea," she muttered, preparing to give up. She was uncomfortable with the entire idea, and wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible. She began to go to the door, when she heard voices down the hall. Kagome froze, and listened closely. The voices were coming directly towards her, so she hid in the closet nearest the door. She left the closet door slightly ajar, so she could see who came through the door. The Judge himself jiggled the door handle, and entered his office.

"Yes, I completely agree with you. If it were up to me, you would have your school, but it is not completely up to me. I must talk it over with my business partner," The Judge walked over to his desk, after shutting the door to his office. He left the sheriff in the hallway, while he wrote a note to his "business partner" concerning the town's need for a new school. Judge Sesshomaru pulled a key out of his pocket, and used it to open a small drawer that was hidden under all of his papers. The Judge lifted up the small drawer, and pulled out a random letter. He needed to copy the address, so he could send the note via messenger. After copying the address and scribbling a quick note, the Judge rolled up the parchment and went outside to call for a messenger.

Kagome waited for the Judge to close his door, before scrambling over to the secret compartment that he had carelessly left open. She opened the compartment, and read the name on the letters: Oniguma.

………….

I warn that this is not edited, I didn't want to delay the deliver of this chapter any longer. I'm very sorry for the lack of updates… Minor writer's block.

Obvious.