New to the ICAF? This link will explain
(If your short on time you really only need to read number one to get it.)
-Johnny Walker
Around him fire ranged at the walls, seemenly held back from him by some unseen force. Here and there flames consumened A loose piece of wood or paper. The heat of the fire made the skin on his arms and face feel taunt.
He stared coldy over his gun into his love's amber eyes. She returned the gaze, just as cold, over her own pistol.
"Nothing to say InuYasha?" "Yeah. Why?" "WHY! WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO ASK THAT QUESTION?" "Fine. Doesn't matter."
The two guns went off simutanously.
InuYasha sat straight up. Sweat covered his face.
Damn... it was just that dream again.. his hand went instinctively to the scar just above his heart. He took a couple deep breaths. He had alot of bad memories that showed up in his sleep, but, damn, he hated that one most of all. That happened a long time ago, a life time ago, he was different person than he was back then. He supressed more bad memories. He smiled a little, hell, maybe it was a life time ago, if he remembered correctly he his heart did stop in the ER.
Fuck. He wasn't gonna sleep again for a while. He got up and looked around the campsite. It was still dark, four or five AM maybe. The remains of the fire smoldered orange. Beyond it Kagome's sleeping bag rose out of the darkness. He light a cigarette and walked around the fire to her.
Damn it, she was still wearing his jacket. Damn, he shouldn't of tossed it to her when he had to dig the shard out of that... thing. He suppresed a shrudder. Shit, he wasn't gonna look at the woods the same after that incident. Now she was holding his jacket hostage untill he stopped at a store so she could buy a new coat. Clever pain-in-the-ass. He couldn't blame her, it was getting cold out. Not that the cold bothered him. Eh there was probably a town nearby with a store in it.
With nothing else to do InuYasha sat back down on his side of the fire and waited for Kagome to wake up. He didn't get that kid. They had no home, no steady source of food, death could come for them at any moment, he couldn't protect her from a mysterious bullet from the tree line or a knife in that would come out of a crowd and into her back. Yet still she seemed to be satisfied with her new life. Didn't she know he couldn't protect her from everything? Didn't she know niether of them was likly to survive this? All it takes is one lucky round, or a gunman hidden in a crowd, or someone with a rifle, hell! How the fuck did she manage to stay so God damn upbeat!? Fuck.. well as long as she was happy and healthy, that's what he got payed for.
He kicked out his feet and hoped she slept a long time. He was not looking forward to going coat shopping with her...
And for good God damned reason! God, how fucking long will this take? She had been in that Godamn dressing room for a half an hour! In idea occured to InuYasha. What was she looking for? Jeans and a coat? He wandered away from the dressing rooms.
15 minutes later, not to InuYasha's suprise, Kagome was still trying on the fucking 15 things she picked out (And he carried, damn her.) Well that was about to end. He knocked on the door.
"Kagome! Come on, we gotta dissapper and quick"
He said none too loudly but with some force. He waited a minute while Kagome changed then stepped out. "What? What's wrong?" She asked. "Don't ask. Just come on."
InuYasha walked quickly towards the door. Kagome followed close behind him. InuYasha's eyes flickerd quickly over the whole store. They stepped through the door and into the brisk November air.
InuYasha immediately relaxed and grinned.
"What? What happened" Kagome asked. "Huh? Oh nothing, I just wanted to get the fuck outta there." "WHAT?" "Oh don't piss your self." He tossed her a plastic bag. "I got your shit." Inside was a pair of jeans and black leather jacket not unlike InuYasha's. "Damn it InuYasha! I wanted to pick out my jacket!" "Well, I would of let you IF IT DIDN'T TAKE YOU ALL GODAMN DAY"
"JACKASS! The jacket is five sizes too big!" "I don't know your damn size!" "So you got your own size!? Did it occour to you I'M SMALLER THAN YOU?" "AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT SHRIMP! I COULD TAKE YOU ONE HANDED! And if it's such a damn problem keep the one you have now and give me the new one! Jesus! No common sense!" Kagome silently waited for him to turn around. "OW! GOD DAMN IT WOMAN! FUCK!"
InuYasha held the door open and let Kagome enter the diner first. Half of it was chiverly, the other half just in case case she decied to vent her fustration on the back of his head again. Damn that smarted... a familar black hat on the coat rack coat his eye.He Immedatly searched the back of the customer's heads. He grinned. "Hey Kagome." "What?" She asked, still angry. "Look." He pointed at a pony-tailed head she had seen twice before. It was Miroku! Holy crap! What were the odds? He was talking to a waitress. Kagome started to walk over, but InuYasha put out his arm to bar her progress. He put his finger to his lips. "Sssh. Watch." He said, barely manging to keep himself from breaking out laughing.
Kagome watched Miroku's right hand extend past the waitress and he kept her preoccupied. he reached over and..
The slap filled the whole diner. Everyone turned briefly to look as the waitress stormed away.
The scene over, everyone went back to there meals. Kagome turned to InuYasha. He was had a familar, "I'm going to be an asshole and enjoy it" grin.
Kagome quickly decieded to get there first, before InuYasha could open his mouth. She sat down across from him. Miroku looked up in suprise.
"Hey kids! What brings you two out here?" "oh the usual stuff, looking for shards." Kagome answeared. InuYasha stood next to kagome's side of the booth and just grinned. Miroku didn't seem to see him. And that took some not seeing. "Still after those damned things? Well here, here's two more. Lord knows I got enough problems with out 'em." He handed two shards to Kagome. "Thank you." Kagome said accepting them. "Sit down InuYasha!" She scolded. He frowened but sat down.
"Speaking of which.." Miroku's tone darkened as he leaned forward. "I heard that a.. deal for the shards was going to take place tonight. My.. 'friends' from Chicago are apperatnly getting a hefty amount of arms in exchange for a shard." InuYasha stared with intent. "Who's buying the shards?" "I don't know, but I know some one that does. Back me up on this one, and the shards are yours." "Yeah? What do you get out of it?" Miroku smiled darkly. "I got my reasons."
InuYasha was silent for a moment. Kagome turned to look at him. She'd go along with what ever he decided. InuYasha stuck out his hand. "Alright, sounds good. Where is this guy?" Miroku shook his hand. "About 15 minutes away, follow me."
Miroku got up and reached under the table. He pulled out his old briefcase. "Still lugging that piece of crap around? You know you quit that job right?" "Hey, you know how many wroking models of these things there are in the world? Very fucking few." "What are you? Eighty years old?" "Oh shut up." Miroku swore taking his hat off the coat rack and stepping into the cold November afternoon.
Miroku threw on his hat and walked to his bike as InuYasha and Kagome headed for thier own. Miroku finished strapping the case to the side of the bike.
Miroku turned out on to the highway, InuYasha and Kagome following. Rather than searching for the handles below her seat Kagome just held on to him as soon as they start moving. He scowled in thought. Damn she never does that except when they really start movin' and even then she gets embarassed. But lately she just didn't care and just hung on to him. Damn. Well, it's not like he didn't have an idea why. she told him later what happened in the woods with that.. thing. he didn't expect anyone to go through a hell like that unchanged. In Kagome's case he guessed she had.. well grown up. Matured a little.
Miroku took an exit into a small town. The town was sprawled out along the highway. From the looks of it the town was built around a factory. Sure enough, a worn down old factory came into sight. Miroku turned into the factory parking lot. As he lead them into a back door he gave them a history lesson.
"This plant was built back at the turn of the century. Made steel parts for GM. They put 'em on trucks and shipped 'um up north. The plant closed back in the sixties but most of the people stayed." They walked into the old assembly line floor. The dying light streamed in through shattered windows and piecrced the dust they stirred up.
"Why are in this shithole?" InuYasha asked aloud. "Patiance, almost there." They reached the metal stairs leading to the control room. They creaked as the group ran up. Miroku banged on the door.
"Hacchi! Wake up you old bastard!" Behind the door something stirred. A voice came out from beyond the door. "Hold your horses! God damn kid..." A buzz resounded throught the factory and the door creaked open.
"God damn it you old Itialian bastard, can't you just keep the damned door unlocked?" Miroku swore stepping in. "Who the fuck are you trying to keep out? Seriously, who the fuck do you have to worry about in this God damn shit hole?"
The control room was worn down as much as the rest of the factory. The only thing new was an overwieght elderly man sitting at a table. Several bottles of gun oil and cleaning instruments were stacked in an orderly fashion at the edges on the table with a broken down rifle in the middle. Several chairs lay around the room.
"I'm trying to keep out Godamn miscreants who run around breaking my Goddamn guns!" the old man said looking up from his work. "Nice to see you again too, you fat sacka crap." Miroku retorted. "By the way, nice fucking job in Chicago. What part of low profile confuses you!?" the old man spat. "Shut it old man, you know a 'low profile' way to retire from my peticular vocation?" "I managed it didn't I?"
Miroku gave up as Hacchi noticed InuYasha and Kagome. "Well well well, what have we here?" He turned back to Miroku "Been chasing after the women again you pervert? One'a these days your gonna get stuck with a Godamn kid and I feel bad for who ever is unlucky enough to be the mom." "Don't even start down that fucking road old man! Remember when Leo put you in charge 'a security at the cafe?" Miroku turned to InuYasha and Kagome. "You know what this old fuck did all Godamn day? He sat in the corner and watched the waitresses all day! For six fucking months!"
"No one wants to here you damned stories, now are you gonna introduce those two or let 'em stand there all day and listen to your fucking blather?" The old man shot back. "Ah, my apoligizes. Hacchi, this is InuYasha and Kagome, they're backing me up on this one." Hacchi just looked at him. "Yes they're trust worthy, they helped me retire." the old man relented. "All right fine. Stuffs in the back as usual." He tossed Miroku a manila envelope. "All the info we got on these guys. Enjoy."
Miroku mointened to a door at the back of the room. "InuYasha, Kagome, load up over there. I gotta talk buisness with the fucking godfather here."
InuYasha headed for the door. Behind him he heard a chair being dragged over to the table. "Fix my damn rifle yet?" Miroku asked. Hacchi's reply was drowned out by the decade old door being forced open.
InuYasha felt the wall for a lightswitch. He found one and turned on the light. He stared in awe.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" He turned back to look at the men at the table. both of them had the same grin on thier faces. "Beautiful ain't it?" Miroku asked.
The room was a God damn arsenal to rivial the IRA! Rifles, Machneguns, Submachine guns, pistols and shotguns lined the racks on the wall. Some new, most old designs dating back to the second world war. InuYasha walked forward, looking over the weapondry. "Good shit's in the boxes!" Miroku yelled with out looking up from a paper pulled from the envlope.
Wooden crates lined the far wall. Inside rested the really fun toys. LAWs, PRGs, gernades, gernade launchers, mines. InuYasha yelled back. "How?" "I've been trying to get this old bastard to tell me that for years!"
InuYasha went back to browsing the racks and found what he was looking for. He removed an old Mossberg shotgun. It looked like it had been in military service sometime. A heatshield covered the barrel and it had a sling and bayonet lug. Yeah, this thing had been used in the service.
InuYasha sat down on one of the closed crates at the back of the room. The shot gun looked old. He inspected the action and breech. Damn, this thing needed cleaning.
Miroku strod into the room and quickly found his rifle. He pulled the bolt of the M16A2 open. "Did you fuck with my sights again Hacchi?" "No, you could drive a nail with that thing if you were sober." "Wise ass.."
Miroku sat down on a crate across from InuYasha. Miroku tossed him a cleaning kit wordlessly.
Kagome stared curiosly at the guns. Shit, she didn't know one from the other. They were all guns to her. She looked over to InuYasha and Miroku. They had both grabbed one. She scanned the row for the smallest looking one. She found what looked like a small rifle with the back end cut off. In it's palce was a foldable steel wire a quater of an inch thick. She picked it up. InuYasha looked over. "Word of advice kid, it would work better with the magazines." He muttered with out looking up. Kagome looked on the shelves above the racks and found the ones that fit into the gun. "Are there bullets in them?" Again InuYasha didn't look up from his work. Kagome checked then nodded. "Put the mag into the hole on the bottom of the carbine." Carbine? was that what it was called? She complied. "Tap it in with your palm." The magazine locked into place. "Now pull back the bolt all the way and release it." Kagome looked over the carbine. the bolt... the bolt.. the bolt was.. InuYasha sighed. "The handle kid, pull back on the handle." Kagome felt like an idoit, but hey, how was she supposed to know? She pulled back the handle all the way and let go. It snapped forward. "All right, your good to go kid."
InuYasha started loading the old shot gun as Miroku pressed rounds into magazines. "Find out who the buyer was?" InuYasha asked, sounding unintrested. "Yeah. Guy's name is Naraku, we don't know nothing about ths guy but rumors. Far as I can tell, he's collecting the shards two. Problem is, he's as evil as they come. Everyone who does buisness with him is found betrayed and very dead."
"What makes him so evil?" Kagome asked. "Well, all we have is rumors, but I heard that about a year ago he fell in love with a woman who was already taken, so he tricked the two into murdering each other."
Miroku's statment was cut off by the sound of InuYasha chambering a shell. He glared at Miroku with a fire in his eyes that Kagome had only seen once before.
"Where's the meeting place?" He growled dangerously.
"A.. a farm 5 miles east of town on the highway." Miroku stammered. InuYasha stood up and slung the Mossberg over his shoulder. He headed for the door.
"InuYasha! Where are you going?" Kagome asked as her walked past. "I'm doing this by my self! Stay back here!" The look in his eyes cuased Kagome to step back and let him pass in shock. He never shows any emotion, but his eyes were filled with such bitter hatred and rage.. Jesus, Kagome had never seen anything like it. It scared her.
Kagome stared at his back, speechless, as he walked out. She stood still for a moment. She had never seen him like this. Something was seriously wrong.. he was going to try and do this on his own, he couldn't try this on his own! And she hated to think what would happen if Miroku tried to help anyway.. she had to talk him out of this! She grabbed her rifle and and ran after him.
Kagome caught up with him as he stepped out into the dark parking lot. He turned at the sound of the door opening behind him. "Damn it, I said stay behind!" "InuYasha, you can't do this on your own!" "The hell I can't! Stay behind and let me do this!" "You can't do this! You'll be killed!" "Keh! What the fuck do you know about it?" "I know you'd be in serious trouble if you went alone!" "Yeah? How?" "I just have a feeling ok? If you won't accerpt Miroku's help at least let me come with you!" "What fucking help are you? Why the fuck would I let you come?"
Kagome was at a loss for words. She could only look at him while she tried to figure out that she wanted to say. That fire still burned in his eyes. "Becuase.. becuase I don't want you to die.. InuYasha.. please.." InuYasha was silent. He turned his head and closed his eyes. "Please?" He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. They were colder than anything Kagome had ever seen. "Get Miroku." His tone matched his eyes.
InuYasha watched Kagome enter the building. He wasn't as calm as he looked, on the contrary, He was still righteously pissed. But for a split second his anger subsided enough for his commen sense to take control. All he did was bring up a bad memory. No need to run off and do this like an idoit. More importantly, no need for Kagome to see him acting like an idoit over two people who death brought up a bad memory.
Kagome walked back outside. What the hell was wrong with InuYasha today? She doubted asking him would get her anywhere. The best thing to do was let him get over it himself. Still, she wished she could help. That look in his eyes scared her..
InuYasha and his shotgun were both leaning agist the bike. "Miroku said he'll be ready in 15 minutes, he wants to talk some last minute thngs over." She said sitting down on her seat, legs dangling over the side. InuYasha offered her the usual pre-op cigarette before lighting up him self. Kagome took it silently. She could tell something was still bothering InuYasha. They sat in silence.
Miroku exited the building, rifle in hand. He walked to his bike and opened his case. He slipped the Berettas in to two shoulder holsters and strapped the S&W to his thigh. He attached a seathed bayonet to his rifle. He slung the rifle across his back and got on his bike. No one spoke.
They rode in silence through the night untill a line of lights apperead in the distance. Miroku pulled off into a field. InuYasha followed him. The group dismounted and gathered around Miroku. They crouched down.
"Were about half a klick from the group of Farm houses." Miroku began in a low voice, opening the case and sarting to assemble his Tommy Gun. "If we stay low we can get right the fuck up there before they know we even fucking exist. Now, most of the guards will be at the back end, there" he pointed to the end of the group of lights farthest from the highway "Where the deal is taking place. But unless they are complete retards, and my luck hasn't been that good latley, were gonna have to make a stir and the people with the goods will freak and jet. And I personally don't feel like stopping a car with a six shooter. You guys want to, you can try, but I ain't catching up with em. So what the means is, stay the fuck quiet. We're gonna sneak up on these bastards from the rear and waste the assholes with the goods, then sweep through the silos and barns and shit for the other guards. Then all goes according to plan, by which I mean none of has trouble breathing, we get to go home. Simple as that." He pulled back the bolt of the Thompson.
"Yeah simple." InuYasha muttered. Miroko reached over his shoulder and pulled the seath off the bayonet on the rifle on his back. He set off in a crouch paralell to the lights, Tommy Gun in hand.
"Kagome, stay close to me and keep quiet." Inuyasha said as he set off after Miroku. Kagome complied. They stalked in utter silence through dirt and mud. They passed through a a field that once grew something in the summer. They passed the last of the lights and continued on for another hundred feet before turning towards them. Kagome saw the dim figure of Miroku in front of her lower itself into something. When she and InuYasha reached it she relised it was a rain drainage ditch. InuYasha quietly stepped in and turned aroudn to help Kagome lower her self down quietly. The mud squelched up her leg and into her shoes. She noted with disatisfaction that both Miroku and InuYasha wore boots.. she tried to keep quiet but the mud still squelched and pulled at her shoes.
InuYasha stopped. Kagome stood up enough to see over his shoulder. A shadow pulled it's self out of the ditch ahead of her. She followed it as far as she could before it got lost in the rest of the shadows.
Suddenly a sound came from the darkness. A sound like metal being rubbed quickly agaist something hard. Her heart jumped and she crouched as low to the earth as she could. Her heart pounded in her chest. She heard something being dragged towards them. She looked to InuYasha. He was following the sound with his head. He saw her looking at him out of the corner of his eye and leaned close to her. "Don't worry bout it. That's Miroku."
As the sound drew close InuYasha stood up and grabbed a dark shape. Miroku lowered him self back in, holding the other end of the shape. They both laided it on the ground and stepped around it. They continued on. As she stepped around it Kagome looked down at the shape. It was about the size of a human. It might of been the shadows but it looked like the thing was black, defidentaly covered in cloth. Ahead of her InuYasha stepped briefly out the way of the moon.
Kagome threw her self agaist the side of the ditch. Oh God, it was a man! She stared at it for a moment. She forced her legs to move and followed InuYasha.
The cold and mud were beging to get to her. Her feet were ice cold and wet. She wanted to get out of this damned ditch. Bad.
Kagome let out her breath in thanks when InuYasha helped her out of the ditch. He montoined to be silent as they worked there way up to the back of a house. As they approched Kagoem began to hear voices coming from the group of buildings. When they reached the house Miroku silently opened a window and slipped in. InuYasha followed the turned back to help Kagome in. He closed the window.
Inside the house InuYasha stepped silently into the living room. Miroku was pressed agaist the wall next to a broken window. Kagome stayed in the shadows of the doorway. Outside several man gathered around a van. InuYasha moved to the side of another window. Miroku rested the barrel of the Tommy Gun on the window sill.
Kagome hid behind the wall and covered her ears, muscles braced in antcipation. Still, silence. What were they waiting for? She tried to make her self as small a target as possible. What were they waiting for? Secinds stenched into minutes.
Even with her ears covered, it was deafening. She didn't hear the first boom. Her brain told her it happened but she didn't her it. But she heard the seemingly hundreds of booms that followed. Inbeetwen the metalic cha-chink of the action could be heard. InuYasha's shotgun exploded. The deafing chourus went on for what seemed like minutes, then stopped. Over the ringing her ears Kagome could hear screaming. InuYasha's shotgun exploded one more time and the screaming stopped.
Kagome peaked around the side. Miroku had laid the empty Tommy Gun on the floor and had his rifle up to his shoulder. InuYasha was reaching into his pocket and inseting shells into the belly of the Mossberg.
InuYasha began to head towards the door. "Not so fast, let's see who shows up to check it out." They stared out the window in silence. Two men came running towards the shot up van. Miroku followed them with his rifle untill they were far from cover. He fired four shots.
They waited for a minute longer. When nothing stirred Miroku slowly opened the door. InuYasha montioned for Kagome to follow him. In the head lights of the van, Kagome noticed that sometime in the night, Miroku had put on sunglasses.
InuYasha started along the side of the dirt road that ran through the cluster of sheds. Miroku took the other side. Kagome followed closely behind him. As he passed each shed he looked though the windows and doors.
Ahead of him some one kicked out a door from the inside. InuYasha and Miroku both took cover and took aim at the door. A head popped out and back in. Then a man caontionsly stepped out. Miroku was waiting for him to get father away from the porch but never got the chance. As soon as he took two steps InuYasha blasted him. The man doubled over but did quite go down. Before InuYasha could load the next shell and get off a second shot a bullet from across the road finished him.
Kagome watched InuYasha run up to the door the man came out of. She held her breath. She cluctched the carbine in her hand. InuYasha blizted into the shed. For a split second everything was quiet. Then a boom shook the windows. Kagome stared anctiously at the door and prayed InuYasha would walk out of it.
The wall of the shed was ripped apart by gun fire. Kagome's head instinctively snapped to the source of the sound. A man stood in the hayloft of the barn, lit by the muzzle flash of the gun kicking in his hand.
With out thinking she pointed the carbine at the loft. The gun kicked in her hands. She brought in back to about where she had it before and fired again.
Miroku followed Kagome's shots. He couldn't see where they were landing from where he was. He crossed the street and saw the shooter in the loft. He raised his rifle and fired.
Kagome watched the man topple out of the loft and hit the ground with a sickening crunch. Oh God. Did she just.. She turned around and saw Miroku, rifle to his shoulder and breathed a sigh of relife. Most of the guilt ebbed away. But still..
That thought was cut off with relief as InuYasha stepped out of the shed. He seemed okay. They resumed the sweep of the buildings.
InuYasha reached the last building. He looked in through a window then turned to Miroku and signeled. They both walked leisuraly into the middle of the road.
A wieght in Kagome's chest dissappered and she stood up and started to join them. Miroku had slung the rifle on his back again and InuYasha held the shotgun by the reciver with one hand. Miroku went to light a smoke.
A door bust open. Fire poured out of it. Miroku's right hand tightened around the lighter.
What happened next was one of the most amazing things Kagome ever saw. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. She saw a bullet cut through the air between InuYasha and Miroku. The muzzle flash from the shot seemed to hang in the air. Miroku's left hand flew to the revolver on his thigh as his right hand dropped the lighter. His hand found the S&W and flicked it into the air. A second bullet began it's slow motion journey at him. The revolver hung in air above Miroku's head. His right hand reached out. His finger slid through the trigger guard and his hand wrapped around the grip. He pivoted to face the gun man and brought the gun to bear. His thumb pulled back the hammer. Miroku fired.
Time snapped back to normal. InuYasha just stared in confusion like he had seen none of it. Kagome ran up to the two. "What the hell happened?" InuYasha mutterd. "What you didn't see that" Kagome asked. Miroku stared at her. "See, see what?" He asked startled. "How everything slowed down and-" "You SAW that!?"
Kagome stared at him in confusion. "Ya know what, never mind. Forget it." Miroku said walking back towards the van.
After a moment Kagome and InuYasha followed him.
As they stepped into the head lights of the van Kagome got a look at the side of InuYasha's face. His whole cheeck was covered in blood!
InuYasha heard Kagome let out a small gasp. He turned to look at her. She was staring at him. "InuYasha... your face" Oh, that.. "It's okay, I just got hit by some flying glass, that's all."
Kagome walked up to him and wiped some of the blood away with the back of her hand. She gently pushed his head to the side to get a better look. It really wasn't bad, but she'd better clean it just in case. "Damnit, can't you be more careful?" She scolded half heartly."
No one saw the camera in the van, sent to record what happened in just such an emreagncy. But some one saw them. Some one who knew InuYasha quite well..
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OH THE QUESTIONS! Who was watching? The fuck is up with Miroku's hand? What about Kikyo? Will I ever get off my lazy ass and introduce Sango? Tune in next week!
