Mission Completed - Chapter 4
By: Sakura Katsana
Disclaimer: It's FANfiction, take a hint.
Sakura's Note: Hello everyone!
It seems that almost everyone that ventured out with a guess guessed correctly for who was under the jacket. For everyone who didn't, I won't say it here. You'll find out before a fourth of the chapter is over, so it doesn't really matter anyway. I also decided to stop having ending author's notes for the majority of my chapters because it kind of takes away from the chapter's dramatic ending.
I'm trying to improve my writing skills at the moment, you know, before high school, so you might notice a change in my writing style. I have no idea if it'll be any better than the old one, and glints of my classic style will still shine though. ;; feels insanely pathetic
Onto more interesting topics. . .
When I post this, it will be Saturday, therefore all of my tests and finals will be complete! Monday I graduate, sniff sniff and some of the people I'll never see again. sigh And we're not even off to college yet. . .
But, for you guys, they'll be at LEAST four new stories this summer, all the others will finish by the latest--September, and the updates will be QUICK.
Also I was happy with the feedback from the Kouga and Ayame filing cabinet scene, it got the response I was looking for!
I noticed with the HTML format, sometimes smilies don't come out, so if there are any random colons or anything, you know where they're from.
Shout outs:
Dragon Man 180- I'm guessing Rin was hiding under Inuyasha's jacket. But how would he not hear anyone hiding in fang with his ears?
He was kind of off guard with everything going on, Sesshoumaru and Kagura, him being a God Uncle, SJH, the Shikon Jewel, and Kohaku and Sango excited to see one another again. Plus his usual oblivious self. ; Thanks for the review!
Thanks to: Okibi Usagi, Scorpio Angel 3000, Yun Fei, kureejii joshin, eX Driver Liz, Queeney, morlana, firehottie, chandra16, Dragon Man 180, TaintedInuShemeeko, Pitygurl, and xXdArKflAimEXx. Hope I didn't forget anyone.
Chapter 4: Set Up
Miroku had long gone with Sango to get some food from random vending machines, leaving Inuyasha alone to mumble and Kagome to cuddle up to a hoodie of unknown origins in peace.
Inuyasha groaned, turning over in protest to the sun. "Not now, Sango. . .Go play with Kirara instead. . ."
Across the hall Kagome blinked away the sleep and the glazed over eyes that came with it. She sat up, looking over at Sango's bed, neatly made, and then the door. "Food. . ." she mumbled, the same way she did when she was five.
She reached out her leg, preparing to get out of bed, only to find herself falling rapidly to the floor. During her nighttime nightmares she's become entangled in her sheets. Every movement she tried to free herself only caused her to get more wrapped up.
Morning irrationality was still with her, causing her mind to jump to conclusions. "I'm gonna die in here! I'll be the first self-wrapped mummy!"
Slowly her state of mind cleared and she emitted a slow, painful-to-the-ears, whine. Obviously she wasn't a morning person. She managed to free her right hand, all she needed to disentangle the rest of her. With a delighted sigh of victory she got up, carelessly if not angrily, throwing her bed sheet back onto her mattress.
As her eyes gradually readjusted to the sunshine, the young agent exited Sango's room, walking down the hall towards the nearest vending machine and then off to find her friends.
A loud, masculine yelp came from across the hall, causing Kagome to jump back against the wall waking her up entirely. "WHAT IN ALL THE HELLS-?!"
She finally registered the voice and dashed down the hall, managing to reach his room right before another run of swearing made her wish for earmuffs. "Inuyasha! Inuyasha are you-" The one thing, if nothing else, that Kagome hated the most about just waking up was the clumsiness. The stormy eyed girl slipped on a racing magazine, sliding right up to the bed.
Seconds later both adults could hear a young girl's giggling, and the squeak of mattress springs as something--rather someone--jumped on the bed.
She searched her memory for the right name, coming to the 'R's before finally realizing. "Rin?" Kagome grabbed onto the bedpost, pulling herself up to Rin's eye level. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?!"
"I was with you, silly!" Rin squealed in delight at her realization, directing her answer to the groggy half demon even though she was still studying Kagome's face intently. "I thought Uncle Yasha would smell me but he didn't! I got you!"
Her twin cinnamon eyes swung over with the rest of her body to Inuyasha, who still had a hand clutching where his heart was.
"You scared me half to death, girl!" Inuyasha breathed, grabbing her around the waist to look him in the eye. "Don't do that again!"
Her giddy look quickly changed to one of terror. "I scared Uncle Inu to death?! That means. . .if you're scared again you'll die!" Tears welled up under her eyes, slowly splattering onto her uncle's dark blue comforter.
Kagome continued to watch as Inuyasha looked guiltily from Rin to the ceiling, mouthing 'Why me?' to an unknown being. "Rin, don't cry. . .It's ok. It's just an expression, I'm not gonna die-"
"Not YET!" Rin wailed into his bare chest.
"What's going on in here?" Ayame rushed into the room, "I heard a child crying."
Kouga walked in next, a towel wrapped around his shoulders and the front of his t-shirt covered in sweat. "Gods. . .We could hear you from in the gym. What's-" both wolf demons stopped questioning the other pair at the sight of a little girl, her shoulders still bobbing up and down in somewhat silent sobs.
"Isn't that Yura's kid?" Kouga asked, pointing meaninglessly at the little youngster.
Ayame finally rediscovered her voice, "She looks familiar. . ."
"She's my niece." The hanyou sighed, patting the girl on her back. "Kagura and Sesshoumaru got married. And since they're her god parents she calls me her uncle. . ."
"How'd she get here?"
"She says under a jacket."
"Aw!" Ayame squealed in delight. "Rin is so adorable!"
Inuyasha made an effort to smile, perking up when he heard his niece sniffle, showing she was stopping."Hey, Rin, are you ok now?" Kagome cooed, poking the girl playfully in the side. Obviously, by the way the girl laughed, she was.
In the blink of an eye she was standing behind the half demon, tugging at his ears in classic child adoration.
The redhead squealed again, tugging on her still half asleep boyfriend's arm. "I want one!"
"We're not even engaged yet!" Kouga objected, terror written all over his face.
". . .why is that?"
"Um. . ." Kouga shuffled around for the right words.
"You're taking too long." Ayame huffed.
"We've been dating for three months!"
"Are you saying you forgot about all the time when we were in Tokyo?" he could sense the tears forming, working their way through her body into her tear ducts.
"No! I mean, consistently. Recently! I could never forget about all the time we were together. You know that, Ayame."
Kagome looked wistfully at the couple, silently wishing it could be her and Inuyasha standing there, arguing over children.
"Come on, I'll go grab us some of the food from a vending machine." Kouga soothed, Ayame perking up instantaneously. His woman was not a fancy food kind of girl, she preferred York Peppermint Patties over a box of heart shaped chocolates and Trolli Worms over Escargot.
"Ok. . ." she leaned into him. Right before he steered her into the hall she gave another 'aw', "It's not really safe for her to be wandering around in the agency. You should call your brother to let him know where she is."
"I have a feeling he already knows," Inuyasha said annoyed. "He didn't think that she'd been wandering around aimlessly for a day or so before she decided to jump on me, yell in my ear, and tug on my hair to alert me of her presence."
Kouga cracked a smile, "I gotta admit, she is cute. See you three later."
"Uh huh," Kagome tickled Rin's cheek, totally forgetting about the awkward position she was in; kneeling on Inuyasha's floor, in her pajamas and fuzzy pink slippers, five inches from his face playing with his 'niece'.
Finally the hybrid yawned, catching Rin as she tripped over the covers. "Where's Kohaku. . .? I think he'd been happy to see you."
Kagome blushed, trying to wave the redness in her cheeks off as personal space issues. "I guess it'd be alright to leave her with him."
"No!" Rin wailed, clutching onto the hanyou's neck.
"Come on, Rin. It's too dangerous to be hanging around us right now. We're after some bad people," Inuyasha tugged at the girl, expecting his demonic strength to be enough to pull her off.
He was wrong."Gods, girl. You've got me in a death grip!" Inuyasha clenched his teeth, giving another gentle yank, only resulting in the little tyke gripping on tighter.
This was going to be a long day."Kagome!" Sango jumped up from the table, tearing herself away from her bagged, ready-to-eat calories-I'll-regret-tomorrow on the table. "Where have you been? Where's Inuyasha?"
"Right here," he grunted, walking in like nothing was wrong.
The couple gawked at him, Miroku blinking in surprise. "Um, Inuyasha-"
"I have a midget around my neck, I know." The ginger-eyed girl giggled, showing her first-rate arm strength. She had to have some demon blood running through her veins to hold on this long.
"Um, isn't that-"
"Rin? Yes." Sango opened her mouth with a questioning look on her face, but was cut to the quick by her best friend, "She says she was hiding out in my jacket on the way back yesterday."
"Well, you're grumpy this morning. . ." Sango muttered, plopping back down next to Miroku to finish off her water bottle. "Sleep well?"
"Slept well, woke up bad." the magenta-eyed agent nodded, mouthing an 'O'. "Have you spoken to Sesshoumaru yet?"
". . .No." Inuyasha grumbled, staring down at a clawed finger. Personally, he was dreading the call more than anything. It seemed weird to be calling a brother he'd barely ever spoken to before about something this important.
"Well, you should go do that. We have to start looking for leads, hit the alleys and local bars." Sango aimed for the recycling bin, tossing her empty water bottle--stuffed with candy wrappers and chip bags--in perfectly. Miroku, trying to keep his self-image, aimed and tossed, his trash bouncing off the rim of the bin and onto the tiled floor.
Grumbling about distance injustice he went off in search of more junk food to tide them over until lunch as Inuyasha was practically forced to dial Sesshoumaru's number.
Kagome sat cross-legged on her bed, turning page after page of Sango's CDs, forcing herself not to alert Sango that she knew she was studying her. She wasn't stupid, she knew what was whizzing through her attached friend's mind. As long as she continued to stare and not to speak everything would be fine. . .
"Kagome?" the agent took no notice of her friend's shoulders go rigid. Figuring that this would break the ice on the subject, she continued. "I noticed you two seemed to have buried the hatchet, so to speak. Or bury the Kikyo, as the case may be."
The younger of the two girls had to laugh at that, although it was somewhat halfhearted. "It's just, when I get near him I sometimes forget about what happened in Tokyo. . . I tend to get caught up in the moment, not able to stop myself."
"Not a good thing to do around a hot guy like Inuyasha."
"Sango!"
"What? Next to Miroku he's as good as it gets! And that's saying a lot." Sango placed the teddy bear her loving boyfriend had gotten her back onto her bed, smiling at it lovingly. "You know that as well as I do."
"Seriously, Sango. All humor aside here, I want to show that I'm mad at him, but every time I see those two honey colored orbs. . .I just melt."
"Just what I thought." the pomegranate-eyed girl nodded sagely, quickly reverting back to girl talk mode.
"What? What have you thought?" Kagome ordered anxiously.
"Well," Sango gave a sly grin, "sounds to me like L-O-V-E."
"You told me that before you left Tokyo, it doesn't mean it's mutual."
Sango laughed out of disbelief, "Are you friggin' kidding me?"
"I'm serious!" Kagome said assertively, sighing when her mattress sank down beneath Sango. "He can't. . ."
"Why not?" Sango grasped her friends shoulders, shaking them enough to knock some sense into her, "Why can't he love you? Is it that hard to believe?"
Kagome couldn't look her friend in the eye. If she did she might see something that, no matter how much she wanted it, could also hurt her. She might as well voice her feelings to the one person she could trust as much as Miroku.
"Kagome?"
"If he does love me. . .what if it's because I remind him of my sister? I'd never know." She felt her hands being held tightly, a reassuring squeeze being administered before she was given the fiercest hug she'd received in a while.
"Don't ever say that, Kag. He's not like that. He wouldn't love anyone because of who they remind him of. If he loves you its because you found a way to unfreeze his heart that's been broken more than once before. Since he was fifteen his love life hasn't had an ounce of luck." Sango gave a humorless laugh, "Neither has mine. I was engaged to Juuroumaru for goodness sakes! Hey, why are you crying?"
"It's all so complicated. . ." Kagome murmured, resting her head on Sango's shoulder as a younger sister would to her senior. "There are too many ifs involved."
"Who ever said love was easy? I was lucky how fast Miroku and I realized, but some people never do. You were given a second chance!" She pulled her rustled hair over her shoulder, "I could sit here and say he loves you a million times. But until you admit it to each other it'll never amount to anything but pain."
Sango patted Kagome on the back, standing up. "Ok?"
There was a pause. Sango began to worry all her experience in love wasn't helping then she heard a vague answer. "What?"
"Ok." Kagome nodded, wiping the tears that had filled her eyes away, leaving her mascara slightly smeared.
"Good."
Inuyasha laid back in bed, staring over at his calendar in a very dedicated trance.
Eighty-five, eighty-six, eighty-seven. . .ninety days. He'd gone ninety days without seeing her, or hearing her voice. The hanyou quickly shook his head, coming back to reality and back to the file in his hands.
A list of all the most recent black market trades, given to him by Kagura.
Any other time he might have reported her for still being involved in such a thing, but seeing how they were now related he couldn't find it in him.
He cringed at the memory of the phone call to his brother, which had been so awkward Sesshoumaru had the phone grabbed away from his ear by his wife. Next thing Inuyasha knew he was talking to his sister-in-law, getting the information faxed over, and then answering over twenty questions about Rin to her mother.
He turned the page, his eyes greeted by another page full of 9 point font, single-spaced, virtually margin-less, black market items and who had purchased them. "You know, with this we could arrest half of the Yakuza clan, Mafia, MS13, and basically every other deadly gang out there?"
Miroku looked up from his copy of Naraku's final note, "How many pages have you gone through?"
"Nine."
"How many are there?" Miroku asked with a chuckle at his friend's bloodshot eyes.
"Twenty," Inuyasha grumbled, "How about you finish reading a few of these pages, continue marking down all the SJH activity and I'll-"
"Go tell Kagome you're madly in love with her?"
"Yes." He answered triumphantly, only to do a double take a minute later. "I mean, NO! Miroku, what the-"
The perverted agent crossed his arms over his chest, nodding slowly to feign wisdom. "I speak only the truth, my young friend."
"Young? I'm older than you!"
"In love, I'm a hundred years older than even your father, Inuyasha."
"So basically. . ." Inuyasha drawled, "You're over four hundred years old?"
Miroku gaped at the hanyou, detecting only dead serious energy radiating from him. ". . .Let's try demon years."
"So you're fifty seven." Inuyasha mumbled from behind the massive list of trades.
"Much better. Wait-" the hybrid looked up from scanning the tenth sheet. "How old are you, you know, in human years?"
". . .Twenty-one." Inuyasha answered, right before muttering, "Hey, this guy owes me money!" he quickly jotted down the Yakuza's name and address.
"But that would mean you're-" Miroku began doing mental math, quickly looking back in shock at the hanyou. "-three years old?!"
Inuyasha gave his fellow agent a truly deadpan look, then, without a word walked over and smacked him on the head. "If I've known Sango since we were toddlers I think I'm older than that! Hanyou's age the same as humans, they have no demon years, idiot!"
"Ow!" Miroku whined, rubbing the swelling bump on his head, "That hurt!"
"And hopefully it knocked some sense into you!" Inuyasha retorted, crossing his own arms.
"All this for saying you're three years old?"
Silence.
Miroku looked at the hanyou, his arm slowly falling back to his side. "That's not what this is about, is it?"
"Can we please get back to the important stuff here? We need to hit the local gangs, see what they know. Research!" Inuyasha slapped his packet of info for emphasis, "This is what's eminent here."
"Not when love is involved," Miroku sang, setting his folder aside. "And stop changing the subject. I know I should be expecting another smack to the head, but I don't think you will. You're in the world that is Kagome at the moment."
"What are you spouting now? I swear you're like a fountain that never shuts off!" Inuyasha collapsed back on his bed.
"Kagome's said that exact same thing. You two have a lot more in common than you think." Miroku ignored the glares Inuyasha shot him and began to rub his chin in thought. "Sango said you two would make a cute couple."
"Who would make a cute couple?" Both men looked at their door, where Kohaku stood with Rin holding onto his hand.
"No one!" Inuyasha barked, causing Kohaku to take a step back and a knowing smile that must have run in Sango's family to appear on his face.
"Kagome and Inuyasha."
"Why you-" the hanyou looked over at Rin, who was waiting expectantly for him to finish his sentence. "-very funny, funny guy. Making all these jokes to try and lighten the mood."
"Oh yeah. I agree." Kohaku nodded, returning to the subject and unmindful of his sister's shocked hanyou friend. "Rin dragged me here, think you can watch her? Sango wanted to see me and seeing how she's tired. . ."
"No problem," Miroku nodded, smiling at the little girl. She blushed at the gesture, running over to Inuyasha. He had to admit, the little girl was growing on him.
Kohaku nodded his thanks, heading off down the hall to see his big sister.
"Does everyone here know about my personal life?" Inuyasha asked his niece, falling onto his back. He tried to hide his smirk when Rin mimicked him, even copying his sigh and blowing the hair out of her eyes.
"I think so," she nodded, trying to sound as grown-up as she could.
Both men had to laugh at that, watching as Yura's little girl fell asleep soundly.
Kagome looked up from a list of places she would be visiting that day. The list had been contributed by Sango, who said that she'd be able to handle those places, considering she was from Japan.
Some of Japan's gangs could put those from New York to shame, she'd said proudly.
"We should start asking around tonight, none of them are out at this time of day." Sango clicked her mouse, bringing up a side view of the jewel fragment. "It looks like Shippou was right after all. . ."
The Japanese agent made her way across the room, sitting down next to Sango. "You mean there are fingerprints on it?"
"Yep." Sango motioned at a small circled area of the screen. "Actually, only one, but if whoever owns them is in the national birth records we're well on our way to figuring this out."
Kagome could harden contain her anticipation, jumping up to keep from acting totally insane. If she stayed still too long she'd go crazy. "How long will it take?"
The older girl's jubilant expression was squashed the second she glanced at the screen. "It says seven hours."
"Seven hours?! What the hell is it looking through?"
"Calm down, Kag-chan. . ." Sango ran a hand through her hair, displeased. "We'll just come back from chatting it up with a few gangs and see that our hard work has paid off in more than one way."
The young and nervous agent nodded to the air, looking back down forlornly at her list. She had to visit six different ones. Sango had even been thoughtful enough to include a map with color coded circles, showing the different areas they inhabited.
What Kagome couldn't understand was why she was going out alone, in a city she'd just gotten to, to talk to gangs. But, Sango hadn't seemed the least bit nervous giving her the task, and that really made her uneasy.
"I know you can do it, Kagome-chan. Look at it this way, you're getting a free tour of New York and you get to harass outlaws the entire time! It's like killing two birds with one stone."
"Come on, Kagome." Sango motioned for her to follow out the door, her own list in hand.
Sango looked over casually, noticing Kagome's vexed look. It wasn't only her face that gave her away, there was also the twiddling of her fingers and the nervous tapping of her foot. These were all very subtle ways of showing her anxiety, what for, Sango was pretty sure of.
She knew what Kagome was thinking. . .
She was worried that she was being left in the middle of one of America's fastest cities alone. In fact, it was rather insulting that the younger agent had thought she would leave her out there as shark bait this entire time.
Her pomegranate eyes darted back to the road, finally entering the busy streets of New York city. She muttered under her breath, tapping the wheel of the her car impatiently. "You know, in front of all these cars there's that one car that is driving so slow and holding everyone else up. I mean, why else would it be this congested all day and night?"
"I think you're right." Kagome agreed, abandoning her nervous habits. "It must be that way in Tokyo too."
"They should find that one Granny-driver and make them speed up." Sango continued, gradually bringing her friend back from Fretfuland.
"Seriously." Kagome looked over at Sango, who was trying very hard to keep her eyes on the road, before opening her mouth to speak.
"Hey Kagome," Sango quickly cut her off, "Can you look back there and make sure that Rin's not hiding in here? I know Kohaku got her out of my car and Fang but I still can't shake the feeling someone's back there."
"Uh, sure." Kagome shrugged, unbuckling her seatbelt and climbing back halfway to move around the agent's different weapons and clothing items. "How long have you been neglecting this car?"
Sango blushed with embarrassment, "Since Inuyasha finished working on Fang. After that this simple little agency bought car seemed a little simplistic."
Kagome nodded, picking up the final magazine from five years ago. "Yeah, when I first saw his car you wouldn't believe how jealous I-"
"Kagome, sit back down NOW."
"Huh? Why?"
"Just do it." she seemed serious enough. The stormy-eyed girl eased back into her seat, mindful of the low top of the car.
"What's wrong?" following Sango's glare she got her answer.
Three men, Kagome's guess was in their late 30's, sat there, staring at her through the windshield, degenerated smiles on their faces. One even had out a camera.
"PERVERT!" Kagome screamed, beginning to think up every insult she had ever heard. With one swift movement the door was unlocked, open, and Kagome was cursing directly at their car in the middle of the traffic standstill.
"Oi, Kagome-chan. . ." Sango shook her head, trying to look embarrassed. But actually, it was all she could do not to laugh.
"So you have your list?"
"Uh huh."
"And you're gonna try not to beat up too many people?"
"Uh huh."
"Inuyasha."
"Uh huh."
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Uh huh."
Miroku sighed, looking heedlessly out the window, across at Saks Fifth Avenue, and casually gazing at the bottoms of many New York women. "Nope, none of them are as good."
"What are you talking about, Miroku?" Inuyasha glanced over at the man, "Oh gods, Miroku! You're going out with Sango, you can't look at other women like that! Pervert!"
"Hey! I was only comparing!" Miroku argued, "Like I said, none of them are as good as Sango's. . ."
"Thanks for sharing."
"You can't sit there and tell me you haven't compared other women to Kagome." Miroku stated in monotone, watching in amusement when the hanyou's cheeks flared. "Ah, so you have."
"Shut up."
"Nope."
It was the hybrid's turn to sigh, "You never give up, do you?"
"Nope."
Suddenly Inuyasha pounded his foot on the brakes, causing Miroku to fly forward, inches from the windshield. "We're here!" He announced eerily cheerfully.
"We're here!" Sango squealed, coming to a halt in front of a bar. The sounds of yelling and drunken men flowed out to them. "Ok, you have your cell phone to call with any results. I've already made it so when you press 7 you get me, and 1 Inuyasha."
"How convenient. . ." Kagome drawled, staring down at the '1' on the phone.
"Ain't it?" Sango smiled, "Good luck. And don't take any crap from anyone in there. I shouldn't worry, you can take care of yourself, right?"
"Alright, I'll see you soon then. Call if ya find anything." Miroku nodded that he understood, heading towards the location of the first gang site.
Inuyasha looked down at his paper, "Where's Sango telling me to go. . ." he murmured.
Kagome walked through the entrance of the bar, instantly met with the smells of alcohol, smoke, and the pungent scents of various body odors. But, above all else, was the faint aroma of Windex and Lysol.
What a pleasant place.
Kagome cleared her throat softly, putting on a tough expression and walking towards the bar. There were a few catcalls, and some very repelling offers, none of which Kagome was fazed by. These men were desperate and anyone who looked at them could tell. She had no use of them unless they were the gang on her list, or someone that could tell her something of importance.
The bartender was working away, washing the grime from some shot glasses. With a sly smile Kagome walked over, sitting down on a free barstool. "Excuse me, have you seen any of the Untouchables around here?"
The gruff man looked up at her from his current glass, eyeing her irritably. "Who the hell wants to know?"
"Well, I am the one asking." Kagome retorted, making sure to keep her cool. One wrong move and half of the bar could be on her.
Not that she couldn't handle it.
"A smart one, huh?" He gave a laugh, "You're not fooling me. I know you're the cops. We don't take to them being in here, sweetheart."
Her pearly-gray eyes stared at him with a firm gaze, "Then I must be in big trouble. . ." Kagome motioned for him to come closer, "Because I'm not wearing a badge."
"It don't prove a thing, missy." He filled up a beer glass, sliding it across the table to reach a man at the end of the bar. "There's not a way in hell that you can prove it."
Kagome nodded in understanding, "Well, thank you for your time. I'd ask for a beer, but at the look of this dump I'd probably get some rare disease." she tossed a glass into the air, balancing it on one finger upon its return. "You should fix this place up, I might just have to call in the authorities to clean up for you."
"Wait!" he immediately looked nervous, signaling her to come closer. "They're here, but if you say you found out from me then I'm dead."
"Deal."
"See the man in the corner?" Kagome glanced over fleetingly, giving a curt nod when she looked back. "He's the only one of them in tonight. He was talking on his phone earlier, but now he's just sitting there."
"Thanks." Kagome gave him a generous smile, causing him to turn a light shade of cherry.
"You know, if you're not busy after you talk with 'em, and you're still alive. . .You can always come back to my place and-she's gone."
The raven-haired girl calmly made her way towards the table, Ok Kagome, you're doing great. Just see if he has any information and then leave.
The man caught her eye, looking up at her from a laptop. He held something in his eye, like curiosity mixed with knowing. "So, you're a cop. What else is new?"
Kagome smirked, sliding into the booth casually. "No, just someone looking for a man who owes me." His eyes reminded her of coffee. What she'd give for it right now. . .
"Typical story. You gotta be a bit more convincing, babe." He went back to his business, finding it incredibly annoying that she wasn't talking.
"I made him something a little while back, heat conductive, heat sensitive. Top of the line." she noticed the typing had stopped, but continued to look off into space. "The perfect imitator to the Sacred Jewel. You know, the Shikon? Well, he took it--without paying--and now I heard he's here."
"And who would this he be, babe?"
"Goes by the name SJH." The laptop was snapped shut abruptly, and Kagome found herself an inch away from the man's face.
"I've heard of 'em."
"Now we're getting somewhere. . ." Kagome reached under the table, pressing a button hidden in her jacket lining. "What can you tell me about him? Where can I find him?"
"You already know he goes by SJH, not many know his real name. I only know him by association." he lowered his voice another three notches until she could barely hear him. "He came over around three or four months ago."
A couple of women walked by, distracting him from answering her question. He quickly continued, causing Kagome to roll her eyes.
"They say he's trying to be better than that guy back in Japan somewhere."
"Tokyo?"
"Yeah, that's the place. Naraku I think his name was. But he has a big interest in the Shikon Jewel, tried hiring my boss to find it for him. When the leader refused he tried to kill him, but who can touch the Untouchables?" The man gave a dark laugh, "That's all I know. He never gave out a location, and he was never the one to talk to us first on the phone. All phones he used were traced back underwater after he used them, too."
Kagome got up, "If you find out anything else, let me know."
"How's that even possible?" he eyed her, "I know you're a cop. Just as long as you don't come after us, you'll be safe."
"You'll see me around." She winked, walking towards the exit of the bar.The man quickly pulled out his cell phone, dialing a number and waiting as it rang three times. "Yeah, it's me. Look, we got a woman after him, boss. No, doesn't seem to be a cop." his eyes followed her to the door. "Looks more like one more person he pissed off wanting her money."
Inuyasha dusted off his hands, leaving the bar contentedly, unlocking Fang from his key chain and sliding inside. The engine turned and he pulled off the side of the busy street, heading down a back road to avoid the traffic.
Not a single piece of information that could help them, only a bar fight--that he of course hadn't started--that had kept him busy for thirty minutes until he had taken care of all of them.
He looked down at his list, the next was a bar about a block away. The Young Guns supposedly liked to hang out there before a big kill.
He turned the corner, zooming down the empty side street towards the next gang infested area of the night.
Sango sighed, rubbing her temples. She walked out of the alley with only a scratch on her arm, seeing Miroku leaving the bar across the street.
They were in the shadiest part of town, and surprisingly everyone they talked to didn't know anything but the name and the same offer.
SJH had asked them for a favor, but they had all declined. The question was, why? He was offering them generous amounts of money, just to do something. Weren't gangs always looking for a way to earn money?
Sango slid back into the drivers seat of the car, unlocking the door for Miroku.
"Any luck?"
Miroku shook his head. "Do you think Inuyasha and Kagome have found anything yet?"
"I don't even know if they've met up with each other yet." Sango admitted, "I made it so they'd each reach a different place first, then run into one another at a bar a few minutes from both places they were in."
"Playing matchmaker is tiring," Miroku groaned, leaning back and reaching for Sango's list. "I don't even know how you came up with the idea in the first place."
"They're my best friends and they're meant for each other. You forget that I'm creative when the time calls for it."
Miroku smirked, grabbing her hand before she could turn the key in the ignition. "That's yet another reason I love you." Sango blushed, looking into his eyes for a moment.
"I love you too."
They both leaned in, stealing a moment for themselves.
Kagome looked back at the door, she could feel something. She didn't know what, the feeling someone was coming. . . Of course that was superstitious mumbo jumbo, stuff you don't worry about on the job.
She ordered a coke, glad for a clean looking bar slash restaurant. The entire place had a wine colored motif, a single waitress walking around to tables to get people's orders. It wasn't what she would call fancy, but it was above the dirt and grime level.
Street music played in the background, attracting a younger crowd. All in all the place's theme was all over the place.
The woman came back over with her soda, naturally in a red tumbler, with a smile. "Anything else?"
"Not right now." Kagome smiled, looking back at the door suspiciously.
"Got stood up?"
The agent's head shot up instantly, "What?"
"I've seen looks like that before, the one girl's get when they've been stood up by some jerk." she seemed to be speaking from experience. "I'm right, aren't I?"
"No, I'm not waiting for anyone." Kagome looked down into her soda, watching her reflection thoughtfully.
"Well, I'm glad. I'd hate to see it happen to you." the waitress smiled, leaving Kagome with her thoughts as she made her way down the bar, jotting down orders.
Inuyasha pulled off the road, parking in front of the bar. With one look he could tell he'd been there before, "Abi's place. . ." he slapped his forehead, asking God why Sango--his best friend--could have sent him to this bar.
Asking himself why he was scared of this woman, he got out and locked the silver sports car. It beeped, showing it was locked just as he grabbed hold of the door handle.
Kagome gave the bar another once over, not seeing anyone that resembled any type of gang member. Maybe they weren't there yet, maybe they were still out ransacking jewelry stores.
Just as she was about to leave she heard a drunken remark made by a man at the end of the bar, then the sound of crashing glass.
Upon looking she saw the familiar face of the waitress, cursing out the man and his group of friends as they hooted heartlessly. She noticed blood trickling down from a cut in her leg and hand. Kagome glared at them with discontent, jumping over the table to the woman's aid.
By the time she got there, which was only a matter of seconds, two of the men were sprawled out on the floor, sure to don very black bruises the next morning.
"Are you ok?" Kagome grabbed the woman's hand, examining it to see a glint of glass still embedded in the flesh. "We have to get this out before it gets deeper."
"I'll be fine, just some tap water from the back. . ." the woman shot the remaining men a glare, "Get out of here before I get back."
They all hastily left, almost forgetting their unconscious friends.
"They never cease to amaze me. . ." she murmured, "This time I'm banning them."
"You mean they've done this before?" Kagome stated, taken aback.
"In this business you put up with most of them to get the money." the waitress replied, hissing as Kagome dabbed at the cut with some liquor.
The stormy-eyed agent nodded, she could understand some of what she was saying. "I'm Kagome by the way."
"Abi."
"Hold on, I have to take this out." Kagome grabbed up a napkin, getting a hold on the shard of glass and gently extracting it. She could hear Abi take a quick breath and knew how it felt. She'd had more than one piece of glass cut into her before.
Kagome then tended to the much less severe cut on her leg, wrapping it with a cloth napkin. "I didn't see any of these out there. . ."
"I don't use them out there often, only when someone important comes. Like while the leader of the Young Guns comes in."
That instantly caught Kagome's interest. "Have they come in here today?"
"Nope, the napkins are still clean. And free of very generous tips." Abi smiled at the thought. "They put me through college without even knowing it." She gave a jovial laugh. "Hey, can you do me a favor? I have to try and get this blood out of my blouse. . .I know it's a lot to ask, and you barely know me, but can you stand guard, make sure no one leaves without paying?"
"Sure," Kagome nodded, giving a comforting smile.
"Thanks." Abi looked down at her shirt sleeve, quickly turning on the hot water.
The agent walked out to the bar, giving the place a once over. It didn't look like anyone had come or gone yet, the same people were sitting down, helping themselves to the food in front of them.
"'Scuse me, can I get a beer?"
"Um, right away!" Kagome grabbed up a glass, scanning the assortment of different colored levers. When she found the correct nozzle and filled the tumbler to the brim she tried her hand at sliding it down the table. With one eye closed she mentally celebrated when it reached the man like in the movies, him nodding thanks before downing it in one gulp.
With that, the man paid and left, obviously not one to get insanely drunk before he decided it was enough.
"Um, Abi?"
"Yeah?" her voice seemed frustrated, she could tell the blood wasn't coming out.
"Where's the cash register?"
There was a quick laugh, "I totally forgot to tell you!" The ruby-eyed woman came out from the back, "It's right there. I'll be right back, it's not coming out, so I gotta go get another shirt from my car."
"Alright." Kagome nodded, bending down underneath the counter to work with the lock.
"Hey, can I get a beer?"
"Um, sure. Hold on. . ." Kagome made a proud gesture, finally able to open the lock, and jammed in the cash. "What'll it. . .be?" She found her staring at a pair of honey globes, outwardly shocked. "Inuyasha?"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Inuyasha hissed, giving her a swift scan, "And why are you pretending to be a bar tender?"
"What are you talking about? Sango gave me this list to go to these places. Abi just needed a hand real quick-"
"Abi?" Inuyasha looked around frantically, "You mean she's here?"
"Well, yeah." Kagome rolled her eyes, pointing to the back, "She got some blood on her shirt, so she had to go get a new one. What d'you mean? You know her?"
He looked at her grudgingly, studying her for a moment as if debating if it was wise to tell her. "We have a. . .history." He turned, ready to run out the door. "Do you have all the info you can get out of her?"
Kagome nodded numbly, looking down at a familiar paper in his hand. "Where'd you get that?"
"What do you mean where? I got it from Sango, of course. Keh, what's with the third degree anyway?" He crossed his arms defiantly, along with setting his jaw.
"Because it looks a lot like mine," Kagome caught a large beer glass before it slid off the table, grabbing the somewhat soggy payment from inside before beginning to scrub it. If she had been paying attention she would have noticed a glint of approval in the hanyou's gold orbs at her quick reflexes.
"Meet me at Fang when she comes back, I'm not going to start nothing I don't need to." Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders, his spine cracking at the action, before heading out of the bar.
So she was helping out Abi. . . Inuyasha got into Fang, reclining casually as he glanced back into the restaurant. Even though she's so busy, she could still find time to help someone she just met. He didn't even notice the small smile playing at his lips, She's always been so considerate.
He quickly shook the thoughts of her out of his head, only to find them replaced by Miroku's words from earlier that day.
You can't sit there and tell me you haven't compared other women to Kagome.
"This is going to be a long night."
Kagome continued to stare at the vacant door, not even hearing someone order another Budweiser. "Kagome?" The young woman looked behind her somewhat startled, her stormy orbs meeting with Abi's ruby ones.
"Y-yes?"
The young owner of the bar looked around suspiciously, eyeing all the booths and barstools with caution. "I thought I heard. . ."
Kagome looked around to humor her, "What'd you hear?"
Abi ran a well-manicured hand through her hair, "Never mind. I thought I heard someone I knew, but I guess I didn't." Kagome nodded, interrupted from the gesture by Abi hastily turning around again. "On second thought, did a guy come in just now? Silver hair, too perfect to be a dye job, golden eyes to pure to be contacts. You know, one in a million?"
By the way she'd just described him, Kagome could tell that there in fact had been a relationship once. Inuyasha had said it, but she had tried blocking it out, denying that she had met yet another person that was luckier with him than she was.
"Kagome? This is the second time you spaced out, sure you didn't take a few extra nips while I was gone?"
The agent laughed it off, "No, I didn't see anyone like that." She noticed a few people she thought to be regulars give her a glance but said nothing. A new song began, reminding her she had someone waiting to talk to her outside. Kagome looked down at her watch, feigning shock, "I'm gonna be late if I don't leave now."
"Alright," Abi nodded, looking a little down. "Thank you, for everything. Be sure to come back one day, and if you're ever looking for a job then you know where to come first."
Kagome gave her a gracious smile, "Alright. I will. And if I ever am looking for a job, you'll be the first to know." Even though her pension alone after she retired would be enough for ten years without lifting a finger she still silently swore to keep the offer in mind.
She left, realizing just how cold it had become since she had went in. Kagome pulled her collar up around her neck, banishing the cold air from her chest. When she saw the one of a kind silver car across the street she rushed across, mindful that Abi might still be watching.
"Hey."
The nineteen year old whirled around, surprised to see him outside the car. She whapped him on the chest, "Don't do that! You scared me!"
"Well I wasn't going to wait around in my car forever. I had to get some fresh air." He scratched his arm, alerting Kagome to the fact that he was sleeveless.
"Where is your jacket?!" She cried, her voice full of worry. "You're going to catch a cold, pneumonia, the flu!" The entire time the hanyou only looked up at the sky, asking wordlessly why him? "Are you even listening to me?"
"Are you even listening to yourself?" Inuyasha retorted, grabbing the girl's arm. "People like me don't get cold, baka." The way he said baka made it sound like he didn't mean it, so she let it go--most of it.
"What do you mean people like you?" Kagome gave him a once over, "If you mean agents that's wrong, I'm freezing!"
"For your information, I didn't mean agents. Now come on, get in the car before you turn into some femme fatale Popsicle. Aw, damn. Miroku's words are rubbing off on me. . ."
"What did you mean, then?"
Inuyasha stopped thinking, looking at the girl instead pointedly. "For an agent, you sure don't know when to stop, do you?" Kagome gave him a fixed stare, making him a bit awkward under her gaze.
She heard a low, mumbled, sentence. "Sorry, I couldn't hear that."
"I was talking about half breeds!" he snapped, starting the engine. "Now get in and explain to me what you were talking about in Abi's place."
Kagome complied, "Just one more question--"
"Gods woman! What now?" she didn't even flinch, she just looked at the ceiling, noticing that since she had been gone he had added sunroof.
"Why did you seem so ashamed to say it?"
Inuyasha turned up the heat, making wonderful bursts of heat warm up Kagome's feet. "Say what?"
"Half breed." she saw the way he slightly flinched at the word, although not much.
"You wouldn't know anything about it. Shiori might, but not you." Inuyasha decided to look out the sunroof as well, watching as the stars popped up here and there.
"But I thought I heard you say it before," Kagome interjected, looking over at him. He refused to look over at her, instead glaring at the stars as if wishing they would save him.
"You heard me say half demon, hanyou, not half breed." Inuyasha looked to the left of the sky, managing to see Orion's Belt. "I didn't even mean to say it now, it just came out. So drop it ok?"
Kagome grew silent, lost in her own thoughts.
"Now tell me what you were talking about when you said my list looked familiar." he said gruffly, pulling out of his parking space and onto the now somewhat busy street. At this time of night even the most deserted alleys and quiet New York streets became traffic jams. Kagome could see Abi's place filling up by the second now.
Kagome pulled out her own list, taking his when he offered it. "I'm gonna kill Sango!"
Inuyasha looked over at the girl, then scanned both sheets. "We were set up."
"And they're probably off somewhere beating people up together. . ." Kagome sighed, "I wish I had someone to fight next to like that. . ." She could have bitten her tongue off for saying it, for thinking it out loud, but instead she chose to freeze, watching to see how Inuyasha would take it.
After a moment he coughed, building up his courage. The tension in the car was getting heavier, both thinking the other meant something by their actions. He was always one to work well under pressure, and now was the perfect time. . .
"Well, maybe one day soon you'll have that."
Her breath caught in her throat from the piercing gaze he was giving her. The stormy eyed girl quickly recovered, whispering 'yeah' before Fang took off at full speed down the back street, heading towards their newest destination.