Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha… but the plot belongs to moi!

Chapter 2: Some Explanations Revealed

"Miroku! NOOOOO!" Shippou screamed as Miroku's arms flailed uselessly around him. Soon, he vanished from sight, leaving Shippou dangling there in open air. For a moment, he forgot about the current danger he was in as he continued to stare in disbelief at the empty void below him. Time itself seemed to have frozen and turned black and blue. "Miroku…" Shippou muttered to himself.

"SHIPPOU! Snap out of it! We don't have time to deal with Miroku's death right now!" Inuyasha's voice seemed to bring color back into Shippou's vision, slicing through his frozen time of grief like a knife through butter. Shippou averted his gaze from the seemingly bottomless pit below him to Inuyasha who was directly across from him. "COME ON!" Using his feet, Inuyasha pushed off the glass, and then back on the glass, slowly gaining his momentum until he rammed feet first into a busy office. "Remember, there's nothing we can do about Miroku, so lets go!" Nodding numbly in affirmation, Shippou did as Inuyasha did, while Sesshoumaru released his grip on his gun.

Sesshoumaru fell a couple feet before his left hand quickly grabbed the jagged edge, and lost its hold. For a moment, Shippou thought that Sesshoumaru was also going to die, but Inuyasha quickly stepped forward, receiving some bullet wounds, and grabbed onto Sesshoumaru's fuchsia striped wrist. Using all the demonic strength left in him, Inuyasha started to pull Sesshoumaru up, but was slowed when a horde of bullets attacked him getting his arm. "Come on, dammit!" He shouted. Shippou immediately stepped forward and helped the hanyou drag Sesshoumaru up to safe ground before the trio quickly retreated to safety. Inuyasha seemed barely able to run, provided that his legs were full of bullet holes, yet he managed.

"Oh shit!" Shippou muttered, "I forgot about the file on our computer at home."

"Fuck that. As long as we have this, we're fine. Let's first find a safe place for the time being and help Inuyasha out here." Sesshoumaru sternly reprimanded the kitsune. Inuyasha looked thoroughly exhausted and was only supported by the weight of both Sesshoumaru and Shippou. Shipou stood to his friend's left and Sesshoumaru was on the right, together, they made their way down the stairs. They had been running for a while, when suddenly Shippou stopped, annoying Sesshoumaru. "Now what?"

"I have a bad feeling, let's just escape through a hover car."

"Look, we don't have a hover car!"

"We can steal one! Come on! We're hackers, remember? If we can deal with computers, we sure as hell can deal with a damn computer-run car, right?"

Sesshoumaru stopped running and looked pensive for a second. "Hmm… you have a point. Come on!" The trio quickly changed courses and headed towards the rooftop where the computer run hovercrafts were. Sesshoumaru kicked the door down and with the help of the extension of Shippou's claw, they picked the lock and got into the car. Sesshoumaru took the wheel, quickly punching his fingers across the pad before him. He reached into his pocket and took out a small pocket computer. Using a wire to connect the computer to the computer on the car, he quickly set his system up.

Using his skills in speed, Sesshoumaru immediately disarmed the car alarm and started the engine. Meanwhile, Shippou was helping Inuyasha tend his wounds in the back seat. "This doesn't look too good Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha looks as if he can't hang on any longer."

"Don't just sit there and help him. Suddenly a black car zoomed past them, upsetting the car so that it spun around crazily. "CRAP! They're STILL on us!" Sesshoumaru shouted through gritted teeth. His fangs were bared with anger and annoyance. Meanwhile, Inuyasha sat up and groaned in pain. Shippou helped him out of his shirt and started to eye his wounds.

"Shippou, let me tell you something before you start yanking the bullets out. Do it quick and fast, I don't want you to just pull it out slowly. Okay?" Shippou nodded. Suddenly, the sound of gunshot tore through the silence. Sesshoumaru swore once more and swerved the car so that they were in the other lane. They were utterly defenseless.

"Okay, guys, hang on, we're going down! Buckle your seat belts!" Sesshoumaru suddenly stopped the car, making the one in front of him screech to a halt. Immediately, he made it so that the car was now standing vertically tall and floored the gas petal. The car zipped forward occasionally dodging the cars below, and continued to plummet into the ground. "We just snazzed a damn good car!" Sesshoumaru shouted over the chaos that they were creating. Immediately, the police sirens echoed through the city, making the once excited inuyoukai swear loudly. "Why the hell do we have to go through all this shit? We don't even have a fucking…" Sesshoumaru's hand suddenly connected with the cool metallic handle of a gun. "Gun."

"Give me that!" Inuyasha popped forward, his bullet wounds already fully healed. He snatched the gun from Sesshoumaru's hand, "Keep your eyes on the road." Shrugging, Sesshoumaru kept his eyes on the road, or in this case, the ground.

"Hold your fire until…" Grinding his teeth together, Sesshoumaru abruptly pulled away from their close call to crashing and the car swerved upwards, throwing everyone to the back of the car, Sesshoumaru excluded. One of the police cars that had been hot on their tail slammed into the ground exploding into a huge, infernal fireball. The car shook like mad throwing it off course. Sesshoumaru quickly turned the steering wheel while slamming his feet down on the brakes. The car screeched to a sickening halt, and this time, everyone bolted forward. Inuyasha banged his head on the roof of the car for some crazy reason, and Shippou hit the windshield, but was unharmed. "You guys okay?" Sesshoumaru turned around and have Inuyasha and Shippou a quick once over.

"Do we fucking look okay to you? I've got a shitload of bullet holes in my clothes, and I just banged my head on the ceiling, oh geez, I am so okay!"

"Good, because we aren't finished yet."

Inuyasha smirked and asked his brother if he thought he didn't know that. Sesshoumaru smirked back, before he peeled Shippou off the windshield. "Ooh… a shotgun! This should be so much more fun than a shitty hand gun!" Inuyasha pumped the lever before he broke the window of the car and aimed the gun behind him at the police cars behind him. "If you guys value your fucking lives, get the hell out of my way!" He shouted at the policemen. The policemen ignored his warning and continued to chase them, so instead, Inuyasha pulled the trigger and the explosive bullet slammed into the car, full force. Another police car blew up into smithereens. Inuyasha whooped, while Shippou had his fingers in his ears. "I warned you, so blame yourselves, now get the hell away out of my way because you guys aren't my target!" The police cars didn't even have time to reply or do anything, because the black car with Hakudoushi and the other two EA shot forward, not caring if they blew up seven police cars.

The black car shot forward, and Inuyasha didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. The bullet immediately popped out from the muzzle and shattered the windshield of the said car. Sesshoumaru congratulated Inuyasha for a good shot, and immediately pulled the car up so that it shot forward and up out of the dirty ground street. As the car flew upwards, Inuyasha stuck the shotgun out of the car window and fired several grounds at the gas tank of the black car.

As their car zoomed away from danger, a huge mushroom cloud formed and flew up around the buildings and out. Without needing any frantic yellings from Inuyasha or Shippou, Sesshoumaru immediately turned the steering wheel so that the car was now flying away horizontally. Sesshoumaru instantly pulled the steering wheel out so that the car turned back into the verticle position, the fiery ball from the explosion still hot on their backs. He immediately floored the accelerator and abruptly turned the car so that it dashed out through the side and up again. By this time, the explosion got them, and Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, and Shippou found themselves huddling into the corners as the car flew across the streets and sailed up slamming into several other cars on it's way up. More cars slammed into the hovercraft and before long, the car slammed into a building, shattering the glasses. The car skidded across the office, upsetting tables and workers and bounced along conference tables before it came to a complete halt.

The workers looked completely mortified. They were sure that such an accident would have killed someone. Three people dead, in their office, at least they had some sort of ridiculous story to tell.

Bankotsu's cerulean eyes gleamed with annoyance. One of the four banes of his existence was not dead as he anticipated or as Kagura had reported. He stood at the lowest of the lowest place in the city, the place where the buildings finally touched the ground. The location where one of his eight, number one targets had supposedly died was empty. There was not even a dust particle that had been disrupted. This meant that these four men were gaining the aid of the same person behind the four women who he had been chasing for three years. Three years, how great was that supposed to be? Usually, the pesky hackers were caught within minutes, maximum, hours.

Muttering to himself about annoying "criminals" Bankotsu started to get into his car, when three people began to emerge from the dusty and foggy cloud before his eyes. There was a lavender-haired man in the middle and directly behind him was a girl with long white hair and another one with black hair that was supposed to be put up. All three of them were completely naked. "Hakudoushi, you have failed."

"I am sorry sir, but Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru got away."

"I can tell. Got into an explosion, have we not?" Hakudoushi bowed his head apologetically. "Kanna, Kagura," Bankotsu nodded coldly to the respective women before him, "But some clothes on. There hackers aren't the average types. This Miroku person is still alive. We cannot find any pieces of evidence that relates to his death like the briefings you've given me over the phone." Bankotsu flashed a glare at Kagura.

"I'm sorry, Sir."

"Programmers, I want you to do something about this incessant apologizing, it's really starting to fucking piss me off."

"Yes sir." Came a voice. Immediately, A girl with long black hair stepped forward along with another person.

"I expect you to find another strategy to rid these people, they are the bane of my very existence. If you do not do your job correctly, I will kill all three of you." Bankotsu glared at Kanna, Hakudoushi, and Kagura. He sat in the car, and let the driver slam the door shut. Bankotsu sighed. He was determined to find this Higurashi woman, especially after she had killed his younger brother Jakotsu. The problem was that she was just too damn beautiful to kill. Bankotsu sighed as he rubbed his temples with a free hand as he crossed his long, lean legs. He bent forward and pulled out the necessary files and promptly flipped it open to the necessary pages. Kagome Higurashi's face loomed forward. He both hated and loved her, which was something he honestly was not supposed to do. The picture was taken three years ago in New York City. It had taken him forever to find her. And he finally did, here in Seoul. "I will kill you for what you did."

The car screeched to a halt as Bankotsu closed his files and placed them back into his slim, black briefcase, which was opened. Bankotsu shut the briefcase and locked it. Just as he was lifting the briefcase, the driver opened the car door. Bankotsu stepped out, his leather shoes twinkling in the sunlight. He straightened until he stood a good six foot two inches tall. Bankotsu straightened his immaculate, black suit and took large confident strides towards his home, his apartment. It was generally white, and very modern. When Bankotsu stepped up to his apartment, a computerized, female voice asked pleasantly, "Good afternoon, Mr, Shinji, please place your palms on the keypad. Bankotsu lazily placed his tanned hand down on the keypad. His hand immediately lit up, and the door unlocked. Sighing to himself, Bankotsu entered his apartment.

The moment he stepped into his apartment, the lights immediately turned on. But once it turned on, the lights flicked on and off, which was quite strange since he just had the bulbs changed the day before. The next thing Bankotsu noticed was that his apartment was in a complete wreck. The pillows had been slashed, and the drawers of his desk had been torn out, its contents dashed on the floor. The computer was on, and flickered slightly from some sort of static problem. The piano's top had been torn off and its strings cut and torn out so that they hung down the sides of the piano. The television had been completely taken apart and it's chips and contents had been scattered across the floor, some of them had vital parts torn off. Bankotsu glared around him, and immediately dropped his briefcase and pulled his gun out. He immediately flattened himself against the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room.

Breathing deeply to himself, Bankotsu steadied his gun and with lightening speed burst into his kitchen firing one round of bullet. The kitchen lay empty, also torn down. Sighing to himself one more time, Bankotsu lowered his gun. His home was ransacked and now lay empty. It was no doubt that this was the work of Higurashi, Yukama, Myaki, and Tajiya. He was certain of it. He wondered why they had come into his apartment on a giant search party. He had nothing they needed, and they were the ones that needed to be searched. Deciding that his computer was the first priority, Bankotsu moved to his computer that flashed and fizzled with static. He glared at the computer. Now he understood: his computer had been affected by the virus that the GTC sent to hackers. Obviously, the four heinous women had used his computer. DAMN! They were smart. Bankotsu angrily swept his hand across his desk andknocked allthe contents off his desk. That waswhen he heard a clatter on the floor followed by the sound of glass breaking. He stopped, it sounded like a disk clattering.

Very slowly, Bankotsu turned his head towards the direction where he had swept the things on his desk off. He walked calmly over and crouched down slowly. He diligently picked through the glass on the ground until he found a USB on the floor. He held it up and noticed it had a label that read: KAGOME. It was the woman. Bankotsu bared his teeth, so his estimation had been correct. Beneath the Higurashi woman's name were small letterings, which Bankotsu could not read. He lifted the USB and brought it close to his eyes to read the small lettering: Please insert USB into your fucked up computer if you want to know what this is… asshole. Bankotsu scowled. Who did this woman think she was to call him an asshole?

Bankotsu only needed one step to get to his computer to plug the USB into his computer. The static bounced around more wildly before it settled and a woman with long blue-tinted black hair stood before him. Her large hazel eyes glared at him through the screen clearly showing her hatred towards him. She was sitting on his high-backed chair and had her hands in front her, so that her fingertips touched each other. There was no mistaking that this woman was Higurashi, she had changed quite a bit from the last time he had seen her. Her eyes seemed larger and her hair also seemed considerably longer than he remembered. Higurashi raised one of her pencil thin eyebrow at him, but the cold glare never left her eyes. "Bankotsu… I know you're going crazy trying to hunt my friends and me down, don't even think about it. We know a shitload more about you than you think, so watch it. First of all, I'm sure you would like to know why we broke into your apartment, and maybe you've already figured it out, since you GTC fuckers are so smart. But just to clarify things, I came here so I could use your computer to hack into GTC's systems, and believe me, they where quite polite about it."

Higurashi disconnected her fingertips from each other and examined her now immaculate nails. Then she placed both hands on the armrests of the chair and leaned in, her expression of cold amusement left her eyes and was replaced with a look of anger and fiery hatred. Her eyes seemed to flare and dance like the flames of fire as she spat her words out at him, "Bankotsu, I swear to god that once we are free from running from you, we will tell the rest of the world what the type of files we are holding really are. We will take you down, and I swear upon it." Higurashi smirked and sat back in her chair, "Now that would be something I would just love to see. I hope you spend the last couple years of yours with great splendor, because once we bust this case wide open, your life would be in shambles, just like the way you ruined other peoples' lives." Higurashi cocked her head, "Goodbye, I will be waiting for you."

The screen turned black before it reverted back to the mad crackling of the static in his screen. The computer seemed innocently calm, maybe too innocent. The static seemed to get crazier and crazier, then it struck him, the place was going to blow! Cursing to himself, Bankotsu tried to open the window, but found that it was jammed on the outside. Damn that Higurashi! He thought to himself as he pushed and shoved. Finally, he grabbed the chair and threw it out the window. The glass shattered into a thousand pieces. Placing his hands on the window panel, Bankotsu neatly hauled his body out and jumped. Just as he jumped out the window, the top floor of the apartment exploded into a fiery, black cloud. The glass from the window floated around him, some slicing his skin open into slits.

In the meantime, civilians below screamed in horror and shock as the ground rippled underneath them from the impact of the explosion. Bankotsu nearly fell onto the ground, but with him being trained to do dangerous stunts, Bankotsu reached out with one hand and used that to propel him off the ground. He landed neatly on his two feet, and the only injury he received here the tiny cuts on his face and arms and a dislocated wrist. His clothes were torn from the pieces of glass that cut through his shirt. Bankotsu glared around him, his cerulean blue eyes glaring around the place hoping to catch the culprit. Suddenly, he saw a flash of blue-black locks fluttering behind a corner. "HIGURASHI!" He shouted, pushing past the crowd of shocked people that crowded around him. Bankotsu literally threw people out of his way, "Higurashi! I will kill you!" He finally managed to break loose from the mass of people and triumphantly reached over to grab the woman's arm. "Gotcha!" He shouted triumphantly. He then whirled Higurashi around. After three agonizing years of searching, he finally caught her, the woman that hacked into his system, and the same woman who killed his squad, including his younger brother Jakotsu.

The figure whirled around to face Bankotsu, for a second, he didn't know what else to say. The woman he was grabbing onto glared at him, making him release her arm. The figure that Bankotsu had seen was not Higurashi, it was one of his fellow agents Kaguya. Kaguya glared at Bankotsu, her eyes flashing in annoyance. "Bankotsu, what the hell are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw Higurashi ducking into the crowd so I ran after her. However, thanks to you, I lost her." Together, Bankotsu and Kaguya stared into the empty street before them. The only signs of blue-black hair was from Kaguya.

"Damn her." Bankotsu murmured to himself. "I lost my fucking home thanks to her."

"Too bad."

Kaguya was not exactly on good terms with Bankotsu. They hated each other, and were determined to catch Higurashi and her friends before one another. Kaguya had her long blue-black locks hanging around her. "Remember Kaguya, I will find that bitch first." Kaguya humphed; earning a well-deserved glare from Bankotsu. When Bankotsu glared at the woman, she smirked, her gray-blue eyes glistening maliciously. "I make no mistakes."

"Oh? And can you please describe what happened to your apartment over there?" Kaguya asked, gesturing at the remains of Bankotsu's apartment.

"Woman, I suggest you pull out of this investigation, unless you want your home to be demolished like that."

"Ha! It won't happen to me, besides, I'm not as incompetent as some one here."

Bankotsu scowled, this woman was asking for it. "Do whatever you wish, but don't plant the blame on me when you lose eleven of your best squad and your home all in one night. Because these hackers are a lot harder to crack than you think." Ignoring the glare from Kaguya, Bankotsu walked away. He raised his cell phone, which was in his suit pocket and punched in a number. "Agent Goshinki? Yes, this is Agent Bankotsu here… yes, yes… uh-huh… oh… Higurashi just struck my home. Can you run a technological scan on Seoul? Umm… that would be Chungdam Dong. Okay… do you have visual? Good." Smirking to himself, Bankotsu plugged his earphone into his cell phone and stuffed the earplug into his ears. "Are you online?" The reply Bankotsu got made him smirk, "Excellent, now tell me where this woman is…"

The door of the hovercraft was kicked open by a coughing and sputtering Shippou, directly behind him was Sesshoumaru. Black smoke billowed out from the front of the car. "Hey, did you see Inuyasha?" Shippou asked Sesshoumaru as they scanned the room for their third remainder.

"No."

"I'm here, you nitwits." Came a growl. Inuyasha angrily shoved the desk out of his way and arched his back so that a loud pop echoed through the air. Shippou and Sesshoumaru looked at each other. Inuyasha raised the shotgun to examine it, and much to his disgust, it was completely mangled. Cracking his neck, Inuyasha tossed the shotgun into the rumble he caused when he jumped out the window of the hovercraft. "Okay, so now what? We have the files, we blew the shit out of this Hakudoushi bastard and his fellow followers… so what's next?"

"I'm next, that's what?"

"Huh?" Inuyasha asked dumbly while Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at his brother. A woman with jet black hair stepped out from the still gawking crowd. She had thick eyebrows and her brown eyes glistened with something neither of the four men could describe. She wore an iron-gray business suit, and her long black hair was done up in a messy bun. She had long slim legs and had black high heels on.

"Look, it's not a good idea to speak here. Come with me."

"Wait." Sesshoumaru said, quickly putting his arm out to stop both Shippou and Inuyasha from complying, "How do we know if you're one of them?"

"Well, I suppose you know who Naraku is, that is if you met him yet?" Sesshoumaru didn't lower his arm from Shippou who still looked as if he still wanted to believe him. Inuyasha, however gave the woman a suspicious look.

"You mean the asshole that suddenly appears in people's computer in the form of words?"

"Yes. That's what I mean. I cannot say anything else, they are all over the place."

"They?" Shippou inquired.

"Just follow me, the longer we stay here, the faster they can catch us. You blew them up, remember?" Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru looked at each other, while the woman raised an eyebrow at them. "Come on." Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru reluctantly sighed and followed the woman into the garage. She opened the door of her car and got into it. The three men followed her into the car while she started the engine up. "My name is Kaede Yukata. I am also a hacker for Naraku. I'm sure there are many unexplained answers floating around you. As of now, it is best that these questions go unanswered. By the way, THEY is referred as GTC. I'm sure you've heard of them, no?"

"Well… I didn't know that."

"You should have a file on you that is in the form of a ring. Inuyasha, you must be the one that bears it around your neck. And you still have it. Good."

"Look, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, and I know that you probably are reluctant to tell us anything, but can you please tell us where the hell you're taking us?" Inuyasha asked, sounding hotheaded.

"Certainly. I'm taking you to one of Naraku's base. There, you are to change out of your clothes and receive the necessary weapons, provided that you are poorly equipped. I trust Naraku's left a few nuts and bolts for you?"

"Huh?"

"Well, those guns; the shot gun, the hand guns? You know, the weapons you've been using up until now."

"Naraku left those for us?"

"Yes. He wanted to test you and to see how well you can survive with very limited equipments. If you made it to the office I was in, then you pass the test. Now, it's time to get you fully equipped." With that, Kaede floored the gas petal and the car shot forward, leaving nothing but dust and tire marks in the garage. Sesshoumaru sat in silence as the car zipped through the city. "We're using an older model of the cars, so it would be harder for GTC to find us. Once we get to our destination, you will speak to Naraku and then get dressed."

"Okay, if you really know Naraku, why don't you take us to him?" Sesshoumaru asked Kaede raising an eyebrow at her.

"That was exactly what I was planning to do."

Without further ado, the car zipped down the streets past Chungdam Dong and towards Banpo. It drove over Banpo Bridge, the one closest to the water. Banpo bridge had changed dramatically from a double-decker bridge to a multi-decker bridge. There was at least ten roads above the one they were driving. The Han River had gotten generally cleaner and people were sitting by the artificial beach having a nice picnic by the large river. In fact, the Han River was so clean that when Sesshoumaru looked out the window, he could see straight to the bottom, if that was possible. "The Han River has gotten pretty clean in the last ten years." He commented aloud. Inuyasha craned his neck to look around at the strange city that he was staring at. Sure, he had been living in Seoul for five years, but he never really got to cross the river to the other side, he just stayed around Tehran Road and a new road built for the poorer people called Moogunhwa Street. Northern Seoul gleamed before them surrounded by colorful lights and bright spotlights. The city was generally more modern, but there were still traces of the older buildings, but they had been rebuilt or renovated and changed to clubs and cafes.

Kaede drove out from the ground level and up so that they hovered around the upper buildings towards the top. She passed Itaewon and out towards Jungno where she circled pass Kwanghwamun and stopped in Insa Dong. The place that was once considered the cultural section of Seoul had changed into the savviest places to live. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha had heard a lot about it on television, but they never even dreamed that they would be standing there in person. The buildings where white and expensive looking; contrary to it's expensive aura, they were simplistically beautiful. There were lots of street computers and metal along with concrete. Kaede maneuvered her car so that they came into the garage. She set the car to park and then led the trio out and into her apartment.

The apartment was well polished and simply decorated; everything in the home was white, silver, or both. Kaede took swift strides across the plush white carpet that covered the ground. She quickly deposited her keys in the key pot and picked up a remote control. She pressed a button and immediately a long curtain came down covering the place. As if she read Sesshoumaru's mind, she said, "Do not worry, these are simple means to protect you. GTC is constantly on the watch of every home in existence. This so-called curtain has been specifically designed to give off a fake perception of what is going on in the inside. You told me that you wanted to see Naraku, well, here he is." Kaede pressed another button on her remote control and the huge television screen above flicked on to show a man who had long black hair that was wavy and tied up in a sweeping ponytail. His eyes were red and the pupils twinkled under his red eyes. He was dressed in a silk, black button-up shirt and had a white suit over that. He seemed to be sitting in a chair with his legs crossed and was holding a glass of expensive-looking red wine in his left hand. On his right he had a small laptop, but was not concentrating on it.

"Ah… Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, and Shippou! I am glad that you've made it this far. As for your friend Miroku, please do not worry, he is alive and well."

"WHAT? MIROKU'S STILL ALIVE?"

"Yes. I met him an hour ago, and there is no need to get angry, you will meet him eventually, but not anytime sooner. I trust you have the USB on you, no?" Inuyasha grimly reached into his dirty and holed button-up shirt and pulled the golden chain out. The ring shone brilliantly in the bright studio lights. "Excellent." Naraku calmly took a sip of his wine before putting it down and shifting slightly in his seat. "Now, I'm sure you all have questions about what's going on, so please feel free to ask." Naraku calmly folded his hands on his lap and waited for one of the tree to speak. Sesshoumaru looked at Inuyasha who looked at Shippou. "No questions? Funny, you should all be bursting with questions by now." Finally Sesshoumaru spoke first.

"Who were the three people that were chasing us?"

"You mean the ones with the purple, white, and black hairs?" Naraku did not wait for Sesshoumaru's affirmative reply and continued on, "Those three were once a part of my network of hackers. They were the first ones to successfully get their hands on the file, which you are holding with you right now. Unfortunately, like all the other hackers that tried to take that file, they failed and were converted into what we call EA, Electronic Agents. It's a very grotesque process, and I know you've already read the contents. This I know, because Ms. Higurashi gave me an insight on the file, but was intercepted. At any rate, the EA are also known as the chasers, and they cannot be killed easily. How they can be destroyed is beyond our knowledge at this moment, but so far, my hackers have been running from them. Hakudoushi has already introduced himself to you, so there is no need for explanation from him. The woman with the white hair is Kanna and the one with the black hair is Kagura. All three of them are extremely loyal to the GTC, and they all move according to their boss, Bankotsu Shinji."

"Who's that?"

"Agent Bankotsu is the lead agent of all the agents that work in GTC. Although the said leader is Tatemaru, it is said that Bankotsu may be the top dog of all of GTC. At any rate, either one are very dangerous to my hackers."

"So, what's our job? To safe-keep this stupid piece of shit?" Inuyasha asked.

"No, your job is to find the Shikon Jewel, one of the primary things that is needed. You see, I've told you that the Chasers cannot be killed, am I correct?" The three men nodded. "Well, in my last communication with the girls, about two years ago, Ms. Tajiya and Ms. Myiaki told me that there may be a way to destroy the Chasers. According to those girls, the Shikon Jewel is the central command for all the Chasers available. If the Shikon Jewel is destroyed, the Chasers would be no longer connected to the system and will act on their own accord."

"What do you mean? Isn't that a bit dangerous? They may be no longer a part of the system, but they could be dangerous killers that had been used as their faithful agents. If these things act on their own accord, they may kill millions of innocent people."

"Sesshoumaru, there is more to the Shikon Jewel than just keeping a bunch of metal and flesh in check. These control their life span. Once connected to GTC, the Chasers are promised an unlimited lifespan. According to Ms. Tajiya, if the Shikon Jewel is destroyed, it would be much easier to kill the Chasers."

"Okay, but why do we have to hold onto the USB?" Shippou asked with his hands across his chest.

"First off, all of you are skilled Hackers, and second of all, neither of you are full humans. Thus, it is much easier for you to dodge GTC and their chasers. As for Miroku, he is much different from the rest of you. Although all of you are shrewd, Miroku is wily enough to manipulate GTC. So far, they still haven't tracked him down, and he's been into several of their important files undetected. Therefore, he is one of our most valuable hackers."

"What? But he's only been gone for three hours!"

"Three hours is a record compared to the rest of the hackers, even Ms. Higurashi, who managed to pull out of their system before being found on the system. However, Ms. Higurashi's location was found out as she was on the system."

"Wait, so who is this Ms. Higurashi?" Inuyasha asked, his eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"That I cannot answer, but I'm sure Sesshoumaru has met her somewhere. You will all meet her a week later, but not now. And now I will kindly take my exit, GTC is on my back now." The screen went blank, while Kaede quickly scrambled over to them and yanked them out of the plush apartment. Sesshoumaru opened his mouth to say something, but Kaede shushed him and forced him into the car. She paused at the door that separated the garage from the house and typed a code in. Then she jumped into the car and pulled away.

"What did you just do?" Inuyasha asked her.

"I set a virus in all the computers inside the apartment. All identities inside the apartment are false, so they will not be able to find us. The Chasers won't be able to get inside without having their files corrupted."

"Hmm… smart move." Inuyasha muttered to himself as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Kaede gave them a simple nod as she turned her steering wheel so that the car swerved left. "So, where are you taking us now?"

"I knew that GTC would be on your backs, so I took you to a completely clean place so that they can be thrown off track. I left some fake bodies there, so it will take some time for GTC to track us. Maybe two days maximum. But by the time they scan the bodies and find out that it's not you three, you'll all be long gone." Kaede stopped at a red light and continued to speak as she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, "And they won't find me. Every time they think they've found me, it's always a fake body with a different identity. In order to escape GTC, you have to be a fast runner, but that's not all you can have. In order to even barely slip out of GTC's grasp, you have to learn to outsmart them."

"What do you mean by outsmarting GTC?" Shippou asked leaning forward from the backseat in anticipation. Inuyasha sighed and bopped him on the head once.

"Can't you shut your stupid foxy mouth for once in your life?"

"No."

"Oh, so you're saying that you won't listen to me, is that what you're saying, you little runt?"

"Hey! Who said that I was the runt? You're the runt!" Shippou pointed accusingly at Inuyasha, who looked taken aback for a while.

"Me? Oooh, why you little…"

TWACK! Inuyasha, who had his claws posed, fell face-flat onto the ground. Sesshoumaru kept his arm sticking out calmly, before he smoothly dropped his arm and repositioned his arms so that he had his arms across his chest. Kaede raised an eyebrow into the rearview mirror. "We don't always get along." Kaede nodded calmly while Inuyasha angrily pushed himself off the ground as he rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "You fail to act dignified. I wonder what father would have said if he were still alive?"

KEH!

TWACK!

"OY! What was that for?"

TWACK!

"Mr. Taisho, I suggest you just drop the subject. Now to answer your question, we always have some things to consider. What is GTC's weakness, and what is our strength? GTC is big. Their big-ness scares off many people, and we're small. Big-ness may be GTC's strength, but we can use their strengths and turn it around so that it becomes their weakness. We, on the other hand, are small, and thus it is harder for us to become detected. What is big, is usually stupider, what is smaller, is usually smarter." Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru stared at each other before staring back at Kaede, who seemed quite proud of herself. "And because we're smarter than them, we can worm past them easily and we're more agile. Are you guys following along here?"

"What the fuck do you think, bitch?" Inuyasha snapped, "We have no idea what you're trying to say here."

"Well, what I'm trying to say is that we have an advantage. You've all fought youkai when they once roamed the lands. Which was easier to fight, the big ones or the small ones?"

"BIG ONES!" Inuyasha shouted immediately pumping his fist in the air. "THEY'RE SO FUCKING SLOW, YOU CAN JUST SLICE AND DICE THEM TO PIECES AS LONG AS YOU'RE FASTER!"

"EXACTLY!" Kaede shouted so suddenly that even Sesshoumaru joined Inuyasha and Shippou in flinching. "We are so much smaller than GTC. Everyone knows about GTC, but who the hell knows about us? Nobody knows who we are or where we came from, in fact, they don't even know that we even exist!"

"Oh yeah? So then why are they following us like crazed freaks, huh?"

"That's because you're targeted. Most of the hackers in the system are unknown. They hold other jobs and occupations. In my case I am a business woman working as a director between Samsung and GS, because they are planning to merge into GS Samsung. There are so many hackers in the system, the only person who knows the exact amount of underground hackers is Naraku himself. Otherwise, there can only be us and Kagome, Sango, Rin, and Kikyou or there can be millions and millions of hackers, who knows?"

"So, we're one of the special few that are known huh?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "Oh gee, I feel just sooo special!" Inuyasha made dramatic hand gestures before he grudgingly crossed his arms across his chest and sat back with a loud: "KEH!"

After that, not much was said. Kaede drove the car in silence, while Inuyasha continued to mutter swearwords to himself. Other than that, a huge heavy silence clouded the car. Shippou twiddled his thumbs around nervously while Sesshoumaru gazed out the car window a dark, angry storm clouds began to fill the skies up. A few moments later, Seoul found itself illuminated with bright yellow lights before the actual thunder exploded out of the night sky. Inuyasha scowled for the umpteenth time as he tried his best to flatted his ears on his head, while Shippou and Sesshoumaru clamped their hands over their ears to block out the loud, offending noise. Kaede, on the other hand, did not flinch even once. She calmly turned the car so that it cruised past an old neon sign that said: "Myung Sung's Fortune Telling." The neon buzzed and flashed brilliantly, but it certainly didn't look very nice provided that a third of the sign needed to be replaced with new neon-letterings. Kaede drove the car towards shutters that were closed. In the meantime, as she was driving, she simply pulled down the rear-view mirror and a whole bunch of buttons and switches came sliding down. She calmly pressed one of the many gadgets and the shutter door began to open to reveal a completely different looking setting.

Unlike most garages, this one was completely white and had no such things as spare tires, wheel plates, extra sparkplugs, nails, tool-kits or anything else. This place was filled, instead, with old computers that had been supped up and installed into the sides. Kaede briskly opened the door and stepped out of the car. Without needing much instructions, the three men stepped out of the car. Kaede calmly walked towards a sliding door and pressed two buttons (one green, one red) before she stepped into wherever she was planning to take them. A loud buzz sounded throughout the garage and before the three men knew it, the garage door closed. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha looked at each other then they looked at Shippou. Shippou shrugged and the three of them followed suit.

They expected to see a very nicely furnished area with some classy stuff, but all they saw was a boring room that was completely vacant and also completely white. In fact, the room was so white that neither of the new hackers could decipher the dimensions of the room. To them, it looked vast and empty. Kaede walked to what they thought was the middle of the room and motioned them to follow. Once everyone was in the "middle", Kaede calmly lifted her wrist and turned the ring around her watch. Just in front of Kaede, a small panel appeared. "So, what do you want to take care of first?" Both Inuyasha and Shippou raised an eyebrow at her, while Sesshoumaru crossed his arms across his chest and put on a sour look. This sour look clearly indicated that he didn't know what she was talking about. After all, Sesshoumaru really hated it when he didn't know what was going on. "Well, I suggest we start with clothing, all of you look like a mess." This time, Inuyasha arched his eyebrows at the woman, showing that he was clearly very angry with her. Ignoring Inuyasha's malevolent glare, Kaede placed her right hand on the panel and after wiggling her fingers several times, the white room was now filled with racks and racks of clothes and shoes. They were of the finest material and there were so much to choose from. The white room was no longer boring, but filled with so much color and variety. There were shoes of so many different sizes and there were leather, silk, polyester, cotton, and so much more. "So, you're still satisfied with what you're wearing?" Kaede raised her eyebrow at them, "Personally speaking, you all look like a mess, and I'm sure Bankotsu would be searching for people that are in the state you're in right now. Besides, there's a cocktail party that is going to happen in about, an hour. You must be there."

The first one to react was Shippou. Whooping excitedly, Shippou vanished into the labyrinth of clothes, accessories, and shoes before Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru could even blink. When Shippou came back, Inuyasha and even Sesshoumaru fell onto the floor laughing until they cried. Shippou, obviously, did not have a very good taste in clothes. For some crazy reason, he donned a bright pink silk, button-up shirt along with a pair of holed up jeans, a brown corduroy hat, a long flashy necklace encrusted with tiny one-carat diamonds, and a pair of Nike pump-up shoes. "Oh? The hat doesn't look good? I knew that! That's why I brought this one with me!" Shippou tossed the corduroy hat off and pulled on a San Francisco Giants hat, but that only made Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru laugh harder. Both were on the verge of collapsing and were swaying and supporting each other like good old drunken friends. Shippou frowned and turned the hat so that he wore it backwards.

"How long…" Sesshoumaru managed to gasp between laughter and tears, "Did it take you… to—he, he—choose those?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha chimed in after having fallen onto the floor when Sesshoumaru lost his balance. "You look like those freaks that don't even know how to dress!" Sesshoumaru burst into hysterical laughter as Inuyasha untangled himself from his brother. "Listen, I can help you look much better, just come and follow me and do as I tell you and you will look absolutely… let's just say that all those eighteen and nineteen-year-old girls will come running to you like there's no tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Yup, yup! Come on Sesshoumaru! Get your lazy-ass up and let's find something descent to wear!" Inuyasha placed one arm around Shippou's shoulders and walked away while laughing his head off. Shippou looked quite annoyed, and even more when Inuyasha said: "You look like you're going to need some tips on dressing from this old Inuyasha. I'll teach you all there is to fashion and once you're done, you'll look like you just stepped off the fashion plate in Milan!"

"Oh, you think you're so cool don't you?" Shippou asked annoyed, "Well we'll see how well you're little spree goes!"

"Just don't wish that you were me!" Inuyasha chipped with a lopsided grin.

"HEY! WAIT FOR ME!" Sesshoumaru shouted, after he had finally stopped his maniac laughing. Sesshoumaru ran after the two friends while grabbing random things he thought looked okay from the racks.

When Sesshoumaru stopped he had donned a white haori with red-and-white hexagon and flower prints. He had on white pants and an armor that had yellow, white, and blue wavy patterns on it. He wore black books and the most characteristic part of all was the furry, white pelt he had proudly displayed on his left shoulder. Inuyasha and Shippou looked at each other then back at the oldest of the group. "Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha started, "Did you know that you look like you landed your ass in a time warp and came into the future?"

"What? Don't I look nice?"

"No. You look like a grandpa."

"My handsome face is too young-looking to make me appear as an old man."

"Well trust me, brother, with that on, it adds at least a couple thousand years to your face."

After having thrown an angry fit, Sesshoumaru stomped away from them. In the meantime, Inuyasha had disappeared with the small bit of clothes he had been picking along the way. When he came back out, the other two grudgingly admitted that he did indeed look extremely fashionable. Although he wore something colorful, it looked very nice. He wore a red silk, collared shirt with a maroon, but almost black suit with black shoes. "Maybe you are the "fashionesta", but that doesn't mean that you can rub it in our faces!" As Shippou and Inuyasha got into an argument about cocky elders, none of them noticed Sesshoumaru who had, for some crazy reason, come through a rack of clothes. So, it was pretty obvious that Inuyasha and Shippou freaked out when Sesshoumaru appeared before them. He had on a white shirt and a tuxedo-style suit with fashionable black shoes. For some reason he had used the yellow ribbon to tie his hair up into a ponytail. When they had calmed down, Inuyasha was the first to speak.

"You know, maybe you should dress up as a girl, I mean, you do look like one."

"Excuse me? I do not wish to look like a woman. That is the very motive of me choosing to tie my hair with this sash. You both are extremely annoying."

"Not that you're any better." Shippou shot back.

"Why you spoiled little…" Sesshoumaru started.

"I'm sorry to break up the little reunion here, but both of you look great… and no, not you Shippou, but that shall be arranged." Kaede had somehow appeared out of nowhere. Inuyasha, who was standing behind Sesshoumaru quickly reached up and untied that huge floppy bow that had Sesshoumaru's hair tied up. While Kaede was speaking, Sesshoumaru glared at Inuyasha as he tried to reach over and snatch the sash away from him. In the end, Inuyasha had clawed the sash up and ran with Sesshoumaru directly behind him. "…So now, you've chosen your watches, as I can see them twinkling on your wrists at this moment, and so we shall move onto the artillery section." Kaede calmly walked away and the clothes had vanished as fast as they had come.

Inuyasha had been hiding behind a rack of clothes when this happened. He jumped up and whistled around for a second. Just as Sesshoumaru was about the pounce, he was knocked down by a rack of hardcore weapons. "Now this was what I have been waiting for!" Inuyasha shouted happily. "Oh no, not the part when you got run over!" He added quickly, "I mean this part! The weapons!"

"Oh yes! I can use some weapons right now! In fact, this bazooka looks very beautiful to me right now!"

"Oh yeah? I choose this dude!" Inuyasha plucked an old-looking sword from the stack.

"Sword fight, huh? FINE!" Sesshoumaru tossed the bazooka at Shippou who caught it with ease. "I choose this one!" He had chosen a newer-looking, yet similar sword and had taken it out. The blade was long and thin, and looked a bit deadly. When Inuyasha pulled his own sword from its scabbard they all found it to be old and rusted.

"HEY! What's the deal with this…" Suddenly the sword transformed into a huge, broad-bladed sword, "Hmm… now this is something that would be of great help to me!" With that Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru charged at each other. Shippou had already chosen twin guns and a holster, which he had already put on. With Kaede, the two shook their heads, this was going to take a long time…