Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

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-June 7th-

Entry at 1:27AM

I looked to the clock again- 1:27am and he still hadn't called. Miroku and Sango had left about midnight and I was still at the office desperately awaiting word from Inuyasha or Bankotsu. It was really beginning to worry me, so I decided I'd look over the clues again to keep my mind off things.

As I sorted through pages of notes- something clicked.

"Kagura said that tape was from late the fourth or early the fifth, but Bankotsu had talked to Renkotsu not long after he realized Jakotsu was missing. How did Renkotsu pull it off if he was still able to be in that alley about thirty some minutes after Jakotsu was last seen…"

I glanced at the clock again- 1:51. It was late, but I could at least leave a message. I picked up the paper that had her number written on it and dialed- waiting for her answering message to come on. Instead, I heard a reply.

"Hello?"

"Kagura? I'm sorry I called so late. Did I wake you?"

"No. But if you're worried about Inuyasha- he's still not home yet. Sesshoumaru just left to go and find him and I'm staying here at the house with Rin while she sleeps."

"Well yes, I was worried; but that's not why I called."

"Something else come up?" She questioned.

"Sort of. I just needed to ask you something."

"What?"

"I know you can't disclose Naraku's exact whereabouts without the risk of exposing your undercover status, but how long do you think it would take a person to get from an alleyway at 162nd street to where Naraku is and back to the alley?"

"162nd street? The one in the Shichinin district?"

"Yeah. That one."

"Well, walking slowly, I'd guess about thirty minutes or so."

"So about fifteen each way?"

"Unless they were running, I'd say so."

"Suppose- they were carrying someone else."

"You thinking that Renkotsu did something in that alley?"

"Bankotsu found him in that alley about thirty minutes after he started searching for Jakotsu. And- Renkotsu had Jakotsu's hair pin with him at that time."

"That bastard. He's trying to set us up to lay all the blame on Naraku."

"Exactly. Renkotsu's got some reason for helping Naraku, but he's also trying to make Naraku take all the blame."

"Wait a second- isn't that who the guys were going to go talk to?"

"You think that maybe that's why it's taken so long?" I bit my lip, thinking up all the horrible scenarios that could have occurred.

There was a pause before she spoke again, "You up to going in and kicking some ass tonight?"

"What?"

"Renkotsu doesn't know either of us. And if he's seen us, it's just a brief glance- so for us to get the jump on him will be a lot easier than the guys. Let's see, I can drop Rin off over at that female associate's of yours, okay?"

"I guess Sango wouldn't mind…"

"All right then, get in some causal clothes and I'll meet you at your office in about fifteen to twenty minutes."

"Okay."

I hung up the phone and went to dig through the spare clothes I kept stored in the closet.

Part of my brain kept saying, "Kagome, what in the hell are you doing?" but if it would help close this case, I was willing to try it. Plus, Kagura seemed to know what she was doing. I pulled out some jeans and a red tank top. Then I located my black leather coat- for use in concealing my gun holster and quickly changed.

A quiet knock at the door let me know that Kagura had arrived. I looked out through the crack and once I was certain it was indeed her- opened the door. Wearing an oriental shirt, similar in pattern and design to the dress she had before, and a pair of jeans stood Kagura holding the hand of a sleepy Rin.

She rubbed her eyes and muttered, "Hello Miss Kagome."

I just smiled and replied, "Don't worry Rin, you can go back to sleep once we get you to Sango's house."

"You ready?" Kagura asked, drawing my attention back upwards.

"I think so."

"Good, I just got a text message back from Sesshoumaru. Apparently they still hadn't even found Renkotsu when he caught up with the three of them. I got a general location though, so we just have to catch up with them."

"What are we doing again?" I asked, not wanting to brashly try something.

"Well…" She picked up Rin and sat her on the couch as we talked, "I figure the boys are going to be fairly tense so we can single out Renkotsu and get some answers that way. Or in the case they've already started a fight, we can go break it up before someone calls the cops and they arrest our lead and your client."

I nodded and listened as she explained things.

"So, as long as we act tough and get the boys to play along, it should work just fine."

"Yeah, it should." I thought to myself, wondering how she thought this up on such quick noticed.

We worked out a few more details for the before loading into the car and heading over to Sango's to drop off Rin.

The lights were out, and I really hated awakening her at this hour; but it couldn't be helped. I rang the doorbell and awaited a reply. I could see Sango peer out before unlatching the door.

"Kagome? What's wrong?" She questioned.

"Can we come in? I'll explain then," I said, gesturing to Rin, who was about to fall asleep standing up, "We need someplace for Rin to stay while we're out."

"Oh okay. Come with me, Rin. I'll pull out a sleeping bag and you can stay with Kohaku." She said leading the little girl by the hand.

I followed her as Sango tapped lightly on the door to her brother's room.

"Will she be okay with this brother?" Kagura asked.

"Oh, don't worry. Kohaku's a nice kid, he wouldn't hurt her or anything."

"I would hope not. Sesshoumaru would kill him otherwise."

"He's that protective?" I stammered back.

"Surprisingly, yes," Kagura shrugged, "I guess he doesn't want anything else to happen to Rin. She's gone through so much already."

"Oh…yeah…"

I heard a muffled voice from the room, "Sis, what's going on? I'm trying to sleep."

"Kohaku, I just need to set up a place for Rin to sleep. She's going to stay here for the night."

"Rin?" He questioned, sitting up and looking at the sleepy young girl.

Despite her tired appearance, Rin's face stretched into a smile as she rushed forth and stuck a hand out for Kohaku to shake. "Hi! I'm Rin, nice to meet you."

"Uh…hello," Kohaku said nervously in reply. He was blushing a bit too.

Sango laughed as she whispered to us, "I think he likes her."

Kohaku looked to the sleeping bag Sango had rolled out onto the floor and back to Rin, "Um… you can take my bed if you want. I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

If it was possible, Rin's smile got even wider then and she hugged the shocked boy, "Kohaku you're so nice! Rin likes you! Why don't we have a slumber party and we can talk about the things we like and you can tell me about yourself and I can tell you about myself and then we can talk about other things."

"Uh okay…." Kohaku said shyly.

"It looks like they'll be just fine." Sango remarked to us closing the door- obviously slightly amused at her brother's reaction to the little girl. After walking back into the living room, she spoke again, "So what's up?"

"Kagura and I are going to try going in and handling this Renkotsu lead ourselves. The guys haven't come back yet, so we aren't sure what's going on and of course, we needed somewhere for Rin to stay that would be safe."

She nodded, "Okay, you two be careful and don't hesitate to call if you need me to call in the cops or something."

"All right, we will."

"And I'll make sure Rin and Kohaku behave themselves, even though it looks like Rin's just going to talk until she falls asleep."

I laughed a bit, and Kagura replied, "I wouldn't put it past her. She does that quite often."

Once we finished up there, we headed towards the location where Sesshoumaru had indicted they were at. It turned out to be down by the docks on the harbor. We parked the car, and went by foot into the areas amidst the warehouses of the wharf. I had my hand on my gun the entire time, listening for anything at all.

I looked to Kagura, whose eyes were darting about searching for any form of movement. Her hand was also to the holster about her waist. We weren't risking anything, so we had to be careful because we didn't want to shoot someone we knew.

As I was just about to turn a corner- Kagura stopped abruptly.

"There's Sesshoumaru," She whispered pointing to a shadowy figure pressed against a nearby wall. I could barely discern his white hair against his dark attire in the dim lighting.

He tilted his sunglasses down a bit, looking to Kagura. His lips dropped from their usual 'uninterested' state to a frown. She just put her arms to her hips in reply. It was if they communicated merely through facial and physical gestures.

I watched as the silent conversation continued and was able to deduce a few things. One, Sesshoumaru wasn't very happy that we were down there and planning something. Two, Kagura told him off and stubbornly argued that we could handle it. It seemed they were just about to start up another silent argument, when a voice caught my ears. One that was speaking Japanese- angrily. I couldn't understand him, but Bankotsu's voice that followed pretty much explained it all.

"I don't care if you are second in rank, that doesn't give you the right to go and do something like this!"

The next voice that spoke, the same as from the tape, had to be Renkotsu.

"I didn't think the asshole had this up his sleeve. That was the only reason I lied to you then- Naraku told me I wasn't to speak of him to you. He'd sent me back to get the hairpin so you wouldn't find it. I just thought he was going to ask Jakotsu some things about the heist. If I'd known he was planning this- I wouldn't have helped him at all!"

"And why don't I believe that?" Bankotsu demanded angrily.

"The man shot me, Bankotsu. I'm not helping him anymore," He retorted.

"Okay, but you had been helping him and Jakotsu's gotten hurt and who knows what else because of that! So, until Jakotsu is safe back with me I'm not forgiving you for this incident. I don't appreciate people stabbing me in the back, Renkotsu." The voice was calm, yet clearly commanding.

"I'm sorry, damnit! I tried to get him out and all I got from it was a bullet wound."

I heard something else from Suikotsu in Japanese before Bankotsu spoke again.

"Renkotsu- you are to stay with Kyoukotsu and Ginkotsu 'til this is over. I'm not in a very trusting mood right now, got that?"

"Understood," Renkotsu reluctantly responded.

I saw Kagura motion to me and I followed. Our plan was to jump Suikotsu and Bankotsu, let them know to play along and get the facts we needed from Renkotsu.

Apparently, she'd already told Sesshoumaru what was going on and I could see him gesturing to someone else. I looked closer and could see InuYasha, who was along another wall in the shadows, using his best-unspoken form of communication in reply to his elder brother. Namely- his middle finger.

I held my breath. I'd pulled some crazy stunts in the few years I'd been a detective, but this had to be one of the craziest. "Jumping your own client in an attempt to get some clues. Oh well, here goes nothing…" I thought to myself as I edged my way around the corner.

Kagura rushed past me. A knife, drawn out of what I think was her cleavage, glinted in the light as she tackled Suikotsu to the ground. I moved next, gun drawn smoothly and forced against Bankotsu's forehead.

"Don't move," I said firmly, grabbing his arm to prevent him reaching for his own weapon.

Kagura on the other hand, was still struggling with Suikotsu.

"Baka no onna! What's going on, I thought that you…"

She clamped her hand over his mouth before he could say anymore, whispering to him, "Shut up, will ya?"

I looked up to see that Renkotsu was glancing around, obviously trying to see if there were others. But he was trapped in a dead end, so we had he right where we wanted him.

Suikotsu's struggles brought a nearby trashcan clattering to the ground, and finally Kagura was able to say enough to him to get him to calm himself.

Meanwhile, I used the distraction to inform Bankotsu of what was going on.

"Hey Bankotsu," I whispered while my eyes watched to see if Renkotsu was watching us, "Just play along, we're trying to force some clues from Renkotsu."

He nodded, and whispered back, "Tell me to throw down my weapon then."

"Okay," I replied, speaking up in a commanding voice, "Come on, put down your gun."

"Fine fine," He said, slowly handing me his weapon.

"What's the meaning of this?" Renkotsu demanded, about to draw his own gun when Kagura fired. The bullet grazed the side of his head, a trickle of blood running down.

"Listen here. We heard a rumor that you're helping Naraku with something and we want the details and now."

"And why should I tell you?" He retorted.

"Renkotsu, do what they say. They're members of that all female gang from the South district I heard about once. They skinned a man alive once for trying something, so just answer them," Bankotsu stammered, trying to act semi-afraid.

"Thanks a lot, Bankotsu." I thought to myself before speaking, "Hey now, who said you could talk? Eh?" I pressed the gun further against his head and turned to Renkotsu. "Okay, now start talking. We need to know why some two-bit members are working for Naraku without their Leader's orders."

Kagura spoke up next, "And if you don't answer us soon asshole, you and your two pals will be regretting it in the afterlife."

"So you want to know what's up with Naraku? Is that all?" He asked.

"Just talk!" I demanded.

He looked around again, and once he realized he was indeed trapped, spoke. "Okay then, I guess I have no choice…"

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Preview for Chapter 9:

Will Kagome and Kagura be able to pull of their little stunt and get the clues they need? Or have they gotten in deeper than they can handle with a member of an infamous gang?