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

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-June 7th-
Entry at 9:52PM

Silence hung in the air and I could feel the tension rising. It had been a long, very stressful day and we were still no where close to figuring out where Jakotsu was, or the condition he was in.

"Bankotsu, do you think it would be okay if I had Inuyasha talk to Renkotsu tomorrow?" I asked quietly.

"Hey! Why do I have to talk to him?" Inuyasha spluttered as he stood up.

"Because I'm not a female gang member and he might notice that," I retorted, eyes narrowed in irritation.

"Oh yeah. That," He mumbled, finally remembering the little stunt Kagura and I had pulled.

Bankotsu looked up and quietly replied, "It shouldn't be a problem at all. I would go tonight, but I'm not in the mood to deal with him now."

"That's understandable. Why don't we all just call it night for now and get up a bit earlier tomorrow to handle things?" I suggested, hoping a good night's rest might clear my muddled thoughts enough to figure out the missing piece to the puzzle.

"Okay," Bankotsu consented, walking over and picking up one of the blankets from the arm of the couch. He was just about to lie down, when he paused. "You have a fan in here? It's kind of hot."

"Um... we haven't been able to afford one yet," I said, laughing a bit nervously to myself.

"Oh, that's all right," He shrugged, pulling off the blue shirt he'd worn over his tank top.

Inuyasha glared, "I'm not going to let you sleep in the nude."

Bankotsu quirked an eyebrow, then asked with a smirk, "Afraid you won't measure up?"

"No! It's just I don't want you to- so there!" He retorted, pulling off his shirt defiantly. Turning back to Bankotsu to taunt him some more, Inuyasha found that the Kotsu gang leader was looking off out the window.

"Looks like we're in for another summer storm. The humidity just confirms it," He said quietly before pulling his eyes away from the darkened skyline.

"Yeah, the weather forecast said we might get a front in tonight and tomorrow," I remarked after a moment.

"I hope he's not out in this weather then..." Bankotsu whispered before lying down and rolling over onto his side. It was then I noticed that Jakotsu's hairpin was clasped tightly in his hand.

I sighed quietly to myself. It had been three days since Bankotsu last saw him and I was already fearing that this whole thing was going to have a huge mental impact on both Bankotsu and Jakotsu. We needed to find him soon, before things got any worse.

After watching to see that Inuyasha had gotten to sleep okay, I curled up on the couch and was just about to doze off when I heard a phone ringing quietly. I peaked open one eye and saw Bankotsu digging around in his shirt pocket for his cell phone.

"Hello?" He questioned. "Ah, hey, just a second."

Standing quietly, he looked around to see if he'd disturbed Inuyasha or me, and I quickly feigned sleep to put him at ease. He walked quietly out the door and shut it softly. Once I was certain he would notice me following, I stood and went over; pressing my ear against the door to listen in.

"Okay Musou, what's going on? You got it set up? Really? And you've already called up the others? Uh huh, what about Renkotsu? Oh, Ginkotsu's going to stay with him? Okay. What street are we meeting at again? 71st? Right, I'll be there as soon as I can get there. And Kagura's gonna keep Naraku out of the way? Great. I'm headed that way now. Bye."

I peered out through the crack in the doorway and saw him shoot a glance back at the door before muttering, "Sorry guys, but I can't wait any longer." With that said, he turned and started down the stairs.

I hesitated a moment, then I quietly went and pulled my jacket off the back of the desk chair and grabbed the gun from the drawer. On instinct, I picked up the dog whistle and put the chain it was attached to around my neck.

"Sorry Inuyasha, but I've got to do something to help them," I said stopping to pull a blanket up over his sleeping figure. As I was just about to close the door, I thought I heard him move; but with a shrug I dismissed it and raced off to follow Bankotsu.

Reaching the front doors to the building, I saw Bankotsu's retreating figure as it turned the corner two blocks up and hastily ran after him. I knew 71st street wasn't that far away and so if I kept up with him I could find out easily what was going on.

He paused briefly at a convenience store and I started hoping that this wasn't some robbery of sorts. To my relief, he came back out, a glass bottle gripped in his left hand and a bag in his right; then he continued towards 71st street.

As he arrived at the corner to the darkened alleyway, I could hear some familiar voices from the area.

"Kuso, why is he taking so long? Hush. I just hope he's okay."

"He might have had to wait for lovely Miss Kagome and that other detective to go to sleep."

I waited for Bankotsu to go into the alley and then went and catiously looked around the corner.

"Yo kid, what took ya so long?" A brown haired man with shoulder length hair commented. I figured this was Musou.

"Sorry guys, stopped to get some drinks," Bankotsu replied, holding up the bag.

Suikotsu was the first to reach in and pull something out. "Ooooh, Sunkist. Thanks Bankotsu."

"I knew you wouldn't want any caffeine if they had the Sunkist back in stock."

The others each pulled out various beverages until there was just one remaining in the bag.

"Who's that one for?" Musou asked.

Bankotsu smiled weakly, "Bad habit I guess. I got two root beers- one for me and one for..."

Suikotsu placed a hand on his shoulder, "Well we can give it to him when we get him out of there then."

A tinge of hope made it's way into Bankotsu's smile as he replied, "Right."

"Or you can just give it to her," Musou said calmly, pointing in my direction.

I quickly pressed myself back against the wall and hoped that they didn't come to inspect the area.

"Who?" I heard Suikotsu's voice ask.

"Ah, just that main girl detective you've been hanging out with, Bankotsu. She's trying to hide behind that wall."

My eyes narrowed and I frowned. I was starting to not like this Musou guy very much at all.

I could heard footsteps coming closer and I really had no choice but to wait or run.

"See," He remarked, tugging me back around the corner with him.,"This pretty girl's that detective right?" Musou asked the others.

"Kagome, what are you doing here? Is everything all right?" Bankotsu questioned, his eyes telling me that he already suspected why I was there.

I hung my head, "Sorry Bankotsu, I didn't mean to pry, but I overheard the conversation on the phone and I thought I could at least help."

"So you ditched Inuyasha back at the office then, didn't you?" He asked.

I nodded in reply.

"Well then, you guys mind having another person tag along? We might need her deduction skills."

"Fine with me," Suikotsu remarked.

I felt someone looming above me and looked up to see the large figure of Kyoukotsu, crunching away at something, "S'okay with me."

"And I'll protect her from any harm that might befall us," Mukotsu added, scooting closer to me.

Great. I'm with a bunch of weirdos, I thought to myself.

"Plus, it'll give her a chance to demonstrate her detective skills," Musou said, walking towards me, "Name's Musou, Miss. Pleased to me you."

"Oh, hello," I extended a hand which he shook, "I figured that's who you were."

"You know," He continued, squinting closely at me, "You remind me of someone, can't remember who though...oh well. Anyways, let's go over this plan once again so we all know what's going on."

"Okay guys listen up," Bankotsu said, sitting his empty bottle down.

"Here's the plan: We go down to the warehouses and wait in a nearby alley. I'll text message Kagura to make sure she's gotten Naraku away from where we're going and then we'll head in. We'll go to the room where we'd been keeping Jakotsu, look for any signs as to where he might be, hopefully find him and get out," Musou summarized.

The four Kotsu gang members nodded their heads in understanding, and I did as well.

"You going to be able to run in those heels, Kyoko?"

"Ehh...my name's Kagome."

"Oh sorry about that. I'm horrible with names," Musou replied with a shrug, pulling off his white shirt slinging it over his shoulder. "Jeez it's hot in this city."

"You're not from around here?" I questioned. It was always like this in early June.

"Oh, I was...just remembering what it was like in my childhood town," He said, looking off nonchalantly.

I figured he was covering his identity and so I reassured him, "It's okay, Kagura already mentioned to me you're from a rival gang to Naraku's working undercover."

"She did? Well whatdya know... Yeah, I travel quite a bit with my position being what it is."

Position? I thought to myself. Maybe it was a stretch, but I was beginning to wonder if Musou was part of the Mafia or something-sort of an organized crime ring. I shook it from my head. My job wasn't to figure out Musou, it was to find Jakotsu and try and get Naraku in jail on a legitimate charge.

"We ready for this?" Bankotsu asked the group with a smirk.

"Yup," Mukotsu replied.

"Count us in," Suikotsu spoke up for both of his sides.

"Sure," I replied with a smile.

Then we just heard a loud crunch and we turned to Kyoukotsu.

"Is that something from the garbage?" I stammered, glad I didn't eat that much for dinner.

"Kyoukotsu, you idiot. We'll eat later!" Mukotsu reprimanded him.

"Well he's a lively one," Musou said with a laugh.

Kyoukotsu finished eating whatever it was, and spoke up, "Yeah, I'm in."

"Okay then, let's head out," Bankotsu said, taking on the natural leader position easily, and directing through the back-alleys and dark streets of the sleeping city.

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It was hard to keep up with those so accustomed to running in and out of cars and through the alleys. I know I tripped a couple of times- after which, Mukotsu or Musou gladly helped me up. It looked like I was going to have two unwanted protectors for this little mission.

Finally, we reached the alley we were instructed to wait in. Musou pulled out his cell phone and sent the message to Kagura; then we waited for her response.

I noticed Musou looking questioningly off down the alley, narrowing his eyes as if trying to make out something.

"What is it?" I whispered to him.

"I think someone was following us, Kasumi."

"It's Kagome."

"Oh sorry."

"Following us? But who?"

"Dunno, could just be a deliveryman for the warehouses over there though. Whoever it was had a hat on, so that's most likely it."

He paused then and pulled out his ringing cell phone. "Hmm...was one the signal for all clear or was that two?" Musou murmured to himself.

Bankotsu narrowed his eyes, "You better make sure before we go in there."

Musou scratched his head, "I could have sworn I would remember something like this. Huh? What's this?" He squinted at something written on his arm. "Oh look, I wrote it here so I wouldn't forget. See?"

He stuck his arm into Bankotsu's face, pointing to the scrawled handwriting on it.

"Lovely. But I can't read your writing worth shit," Bankotsu remarked, obviously irritated.

"Hmm, I think it says one is all clear- or is that a seven? Can't tell..."

Mukotsu walked over and examined the text. "One is all clear, two is wait a little while and I'll get him further away, three is not yet and four is Naraku's being an ass give me an hour."

"You can read that?" Musou questioned, apparently unable to decipher his own handwriting.

"As a true connoisseur of the medicinal arts, you must learn to read the most scrawled and deformed writing patterns," Mukotsu said proudly.

"So it said one, right Musou?" Bankotsu asked, standing up from his seat on the ground.

"Huh? What did?"

"The message from Kagura. What number did it say?"

"Oh, yeah it said one," Musou said, still seeming partially confused.

"Then we're supposed to go in now," Bankotsu stated, as he headed towards the warehouse.

"Ah, that's right. Okay it's this way," He replied, leading us towards the proper doors.

"It's got a keyed in password Musou, please tell me you remember it," The Kotsu gang leader asked, his patience wearing thin.

"Nope. Don't remember it at all."

"I can break the door down," Kyoukotsu offered.

The rest of us just stood there- all about to strangle Musou into remembering.

"But, I do have it written down somewhere," He said proudly, beginning to look at the various scribbles on his arms and legs.

When he started to unzip his black shorts, I decided to shift my vision elsewhere.

"Musou, what in the hell?" Suikotsu exclaimed as quietly as he could given the situation.

"What? It's not on my leg, it must be on my thigh."

"We need to hurry," Bankotsu muttered with a sigh.

"Oh, there it is! See there's the password right there."

"Baka! I don't want to look at your crotch! Um...pardon my asking, but doesn't it chafe to go commando like that?"

I just stood with my back to them, cursing my curiosity that got me into this in the first place.

"Okay, door's open," I heard Musou say as someone tapped my shoulder.

"I hope you're talking about the one to the warehouse," I retorted.

"Yeah," Musou laughed, "Come on. We don't have much time."

I turned slowly; making sure that Musou was indeed clad before opening my eyes completely. Then with a relieved sigh, I followed them into the building. We quietly walked down halls and in between crates and boxes, finally we stopped at a metal door. Musou took out a key from his pockets, and unlocked it.

"He was in here. Then, he just disappeared. Only Kagura, Naraku and I have a key, and that door back there," He said pointing to one across the room, "Was bolted with that wooden bar from the inside as well as having a lock on the outside of it."

I looked over to see that Bankotsu's face had gotten very serious, his eyes scouring the dark room for anything at all.

"Okay, look around for anything that seems out of place. Don't move it or touch it until I see it first though," I said, hoping that we might get a clue this way.

They all nodded and went about looking for things. Meanwhile, I went over and examined the other door to the room.

"Oi Kodachi, I think I found something."

"It's Kagome," I muttered more in instinct now than in correcting nature while walking over to where he pointed at the floor.

There were tiny shreds of purple fabric lying there along with some bloodstains.

"Those weren't there the other day. I would have noticed it." Musou noted.

I heard Bankotsu walk over and his saddened voice spoke up, "That was the color of the tank top Jakotsu was wearing."

I bit my lip, noting how much blood seemed to be smeared onto the concrete floor. Then I noticed something, the bloodstains made a somewhat shaky path across the floor. I started to follow it, and as I suspected, they led to the other door. I stood and looked closer at the frame.

"Kagome?" Bankotsu asked quietly, "What happened to him?"

I pointed to the doorframe. "There's also blood here. Whoever took him must have carried him out this door, leaving the blood smeared here as well."

"But that door had the wooden bar in place," Musou stated, walking over.

I looked all around the door. The whole scenario making itself clear to me as I took in a few things. "There's a strand of white thread here. Apparently they used a string to lift the wooden bar up from the other side of the door."

Everyone looked at me perplexed, so I explained.

"The key hole was probably picked from the outside, then, they used this small bullet hole here to stick the string through. With a loop on the other end of it, the string was lowered and used to move the wooden bar up just enough to get the door open and sneak in. Then, something happened to Jakotsu, during which he was either given new wounds or his old ones were reopened. The first is more likely, given the shreds of clothing. After Jakotsu was to the point he couldn't struggle, the intruder lifted his limp arms around their shoulder and they went out the door. Jakotsu's arm smearing blood onto the doorframe as he passed."

"So he's severely hurt and missing..." Bankotsu concluded quietly.

"Wait, there's something stuck over here," Musou said, pointing to something in the corner. It was stuck back behind several heavy crates, and so we started to move them from the area.

Just as we were about to get to the item, I froze. I smelled smoke, and it was coming from somewhere nearby.

"Guys, what's burning?" Suikotsu questioned as well.

It was then that I noticed the flames beginning to emerge from the air vent in the ceiling.

"Shit! We've got to get out of here!" Bankotsu yelled grabbing my arm and one of Suikotsu's and heading for the door we entered from.

Right as we were a few feet away, the door slammed shut; trapping us inside with the fire.

I could barely make out a muffled voice from the other side, "Did you find your clues detective? Well then, you and the clues can both disappear together with the rest of them."

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Preview for chapter 14:

Kagome's trapped, and the suspect they've been after is right outside as the fire consumes the small room. Can Kagome, Musou and the Kotsu gang members escape? Is there help on the way?