Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.
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-June 8th-
Entry at 2:09AM
We talked over some details with Sesshoumaru, having him fill us in on what Kagura had planned.
He wouldn't come out and say it, but it sounded like she'd merely called him in as a backup in case her plan backfired. Surprisingly, I think he still came even knowing that.
"So, you are to wait here unless I inform you that your assistance will be required. Which, it won't," Sesshoumaru stated quietly, walking off with a stately air to a closer hiding spot outside the warehouse.
My adrenaline was still pumping hard in my veins from the incident moments before with the fire, so I decided to sit down for a while.
"Kagome, what are you doing?" Inuyasha muttered reaching down to pull me back up again.
"I just lived through a blazing inferno; can't I at least sit down?"
"And let that good-for-nothing idiot half-brother of mine take all the glory on this case? I think not!" He defiantly crossed his arms.
"Then why don't you go tell him what-for and I'll wait here," I replied flatly, I was not in the mood for one of their brotherly feuds.
"Keh! I'll do better than that. I'm going to sneak into that place the back way and get Naraku myself."
I narrowed my eyes, "Are you really that much of an idiot?"
He glared in return, "Then what's your genius plan? Call back up the gang-members and naked boy for help? Or should we just go and get that Renkotsu guy since he's such a nice person too?"
Grabbing one of his arms, I applied enough pressure to get my point across, "I'm not saying that we should let Sesshoumaru get all the credit, but I'm not wanting to rush in there hastily either. Now just calm down and we can work out a course of action, okay?"
Grumbling something under his breath, he slowly pried my hand off his arm, "Jeez Kagome, I get the point. Okay, so what's this course of action?" He said crouching down.
I sat beside him, and began to explain. "All right, Kagura is inside trying to lure Naraku out so she can corner him in that alley by the exit. Sesshoumaru is waiting on the roof by there in case he's needed, now, we just have to figure out where we can go that won't interfere but will still get us in on it."
"There's a warehouse across the way, you can see the alley from there," Inuyasha muttered quietly.
"And how will that help?"
"You can shoot long-distance, right? Then hide over there and wait for Naraku to come out with Kagura. Hit him well enough to incapacitate him and I'll jump him from above."
"Wait a second," I saw where this was headed, a 'which brother is better' contest, "Isn't that what Sesshoumaru's planning on doing if Kagura needs help too- coming from above?"
"Well, look at this alley." He said pointing to the old metal laddering that graced the building's side. "When you're about to shoot, blow the dog whistle, I'll climb up and over this building and get him from this side."
I blinked, "You know- that might actually work."
He reached into his coat and handed me a few bullets, "There, now don't screw up on your aim."
"It should only take one," I started.
"I'm allowing for three misfires and the actual hit."
"Thanks for the support," I said sarcastically in reply.
"Go on, we don't have all day," He said pushing me off in the direction of the other warehouse.
"I'm going," I retorted, storming off, as quietly as I could to my position.
We waited for a few minutes, until I heard gunshots from inside the building. I readied myself and took a general aim into the alley, waiting for my target to appear. That's when the plan fell completely apart.
First of all, I saw Sesshoumaru jump down into the alley. His cell phone was in his hand, so I could only assume that Kagura had contacted him. Something had gone wrong.
He waited a few seconds before leveling his gun with the coded lock on the door and firing it off. Kicking the door in, he entered.
Not knowing what else to do, I stood up quickly and ran across the street.
I cautiously peeked into the knocked-in door, looking for any signs as to where they'd gone. It was then that I heard another gunshot, and ran in the direction of the sound.
Stopping abruptly on seeing the situation before me, I hid behind some nearby crates.
In a nearby open space, Kagura was laying on the ground, clutching her side. She'd been shot, and apparently, lost her weapon during the scuffle. Naraku was now leveling his own gun at her, and I prepared to shoot him if I had to. I had no idea where Musou or Sesshoumaru were at and so I was ready to save Kagura if I had to.
"Undercover agent eh? That's not a nice thing to do to someone who trusts you, Kagura," Naraku intoned, walking forward slowly.
"What are you going to do? Even if you kill me, the information will still get out. You can't win," She replied, staggering to her feet.
"Oh, but I always win." He said, pressing the gun against her forehead. "Let's see if we can flush out that little pretty boy partner of yours, unless he'd rather stay hidden and watch you die. Then again, he wasn't too happy when I did that to that brat's parents, so I doubt he'll stand back and watch this time."
He was trying to lure Sesshoumaru out and I was running out of time. I knew if I wasn't careful, I might hit Kagura with my shot or if he did indeed show himself, Sesshoumaru. It was then that a shot ricocheted off a light on the ceiling, sending it crashing down to the ground. Now only light left in the room was that from a skylight, letting the soft-rays of moonlight shine in.
Naraku turned in the direction the shot came from, and then winced in pain. Kagura had pulled a knife from her cleavage and stabbed him in the side.
"Bitch!" He swore, turning and grabbing her by the hair.
She smirked, before kicking him right where the wound was on his side. He doubled over in pain, dropping her roughly to the ground as he fell.
Pushing herself up, she began to look about. Whether it was for her own gun or for Sesshoumaru, I wasn't certain.
I was just about to try shooting the gun from Naraku's hand when a blur of movement caught my eye.
Sesshoumaru had snuck up from behind Naraku, but in a flash, Naraku had turned, wrenched the gun from Sesshoumaru's hand, and had his own gun pressed against his temple.
Kagura froze. "Sesshoumaru…no…Naraku stop this!"
An evil laugh escaped the man's throat as he reached down and pulled Sesshoumaru's knife from his coat pocket. "And don't even think about using this, I'm onto you." He said, slowly cutting two lines into the side of Sesshoumaru's face, the blood beginning to run down his neck.
I tried to aim, but every time I had a clear shot, Naraku would move to where Sesshoumaru blocked my way. It was as if he knew I was there, and as scary as it was to consider, I think he did.
"Now my dear Kagura, why don't you go and get all that lovely information you gathered on me, and I'll watch over your nice partner while you're retrieving it."
"It's nice of you… to kill him when I don't have to watch," Kagura said slowly walking towards him.
Naraku smirked sadistically, "And how did you know that's what I had planned?"
"Because I know how your sick mind works."
"Well then, would you rather stay and watch?" Naraku questioned.
"I…" Kagura dared to walk a bit closer, "Just, let me say goodbye. Please…"
Naraku's smirk widened, "How sentimental we're getting, aren't we Kagura? Go on, say goodbye then."
"No, I mean…I wish to…" I caught a glimmer of something in her eyes and noticed that Sesshoumaru seemed to nod slightly to her in reply.
Pulling off Sesshoumaru's long trench coat to assure he wouldn't be able to draw any more weapons from it, Naraku gave him a swift push in Kagura's direction. "There, say your goodbyes." He stood closely to them, still keeping the gun to Sesshoumaru's head.
Once again, I couldn't find a safe opening to fire at him. He made sure that I always ran the risk of hitting Sesshoumaru or Kagura along with him, knowing that would keep me from firing.
Kagura slowly reached up, pushing Sesshoumaru's hair from his face and wiping the blood from his cheek. "I'm sorry I screwed up," She muttered softly.
"He's just going to kill you too," Sesshoumaru said quietly in reply.
"I know I just hope Kagome or someone can take care of Rin."
That was it! They knew I was there and were going to distract him to give me a chance to fire. I waited, aiming at Naraku and looking for the opening.
Sesshoumaru nodded slightly to Kagura as she continued, taking his face in her hands, "Goodbye, Sesshoumaru…"
She leaned in, pressing her lips to his.
Naraku pulled back the gun just a slight bit as Sesshoumaru leaned into the kiss, "Well isn't that touching," He said sarcastically.
Kagura's left arm began to reach up and around to seemingly embrace him. That was my clue. Instead of putting the arm around Sesshoumaru, she pushed Naraku away, pulling Sesshoumaru towards her and down as Naraku's gun fired.
I took the opening and fired, the bullet embedding itself in Naraku's shoulder.
Scrambling up from the ground, Sesshoumaru was making a move towards his discarded trench coat; Kagura for the knife that lay nearby.
Naraku staggered a bit, and then sent an icy glare in my direction. "Nice try little girl, but you only get one chance." With that, he fired directly at me and I just barely dodged, the bullet grazing my cheek.
Things were getting bad and I had to think of something fast.
Naraku then set his sight on Sesshoumaru, firing two shots into his left arm. He skidded to the ground, landing awkwardly on his side, then reached over to the coat and rummaged inside for his own weapon.
Sesshoumaru pulled out a small gun, and aimed- but it didn't fire.
Naraku laughed, "Looking for these?" He asked tossing a few bullets in the air, "Sorry to borrow them, but I was running low." Loading the bullets quickly into his own gun, he prepared to fire.
Kagura had managed to grab up her knife and was now running towards Naraku. Throwing the knife with great accuracy, it now stuck out from Naraku's shoulder, the same spot I'd shot before.
He winced in pain and fired a wild shot into the air before wrenching the knife from his back.
"Damn bitch, I should have killed you when I had the chance," Taking aim at Sesshoumaru again, he cocked the gun, "But I guess he'll have to go before you."
Kagura's eyes widened as she realized that Sesshoumaru couldn't move due to the injury on his arm and the way he'd landed. As the bullet shot forth, she ran between it and her partner, "Sesshoumaru get down!"
She threw herself on top of him, pressing them both down as the bullet flew by. I could hear the sound it made as it hit the far wall.
"Kagura?" Sesshoumaru questioned; his voice in its usual tone.
"It's okay, it just grazed my back," She replied sitting up and then helping Sesshoumaru sit up as well. "What about your arm?"
"Numb. Hit a nerve ending. Could be serious," He stated as if it was nothing.
Their conversation stopped as Naraku's footsteps echoed off the concrete floor. Kagura put herself as a shield between the two men, placing her hand on Sesshoumaru's shoulder for support, unable to stand herself given her injuries.
He was about to take aim again and not knowing what else to do given the fact he could very easily turn the gun on me, I blew the dog whistle in hopes Inuyasha could hear it.
And that's when he snapped. Like I'd heard about from Musou and Kagura- it was as if I was looking at a completely different person, as Naraku began to shake uncontrollably and mumble to himself.
He looked to Sesshoumaru and Kagura, and then to the gun in his hands. "No, no… why am I doing this? Why?" He threw down the gun and sunk to his knees, burying his face in his hands. "Why? I don't want to kill anymore. Stop it! Stop making me kill people!" He pleaded with some unknown being.
Kagura and I had both began to move ever so slowly towards the discarded weapon in hopes we could get it while he was in this strange state. That's when I heard a distinct yell.
"Kagome! Get back!" Inuyasha jumped down from some of the crates nearby, tackling Naraku completely to the ground and pressing his gun to his head. "Someone call the damned police, we've got him," He said pulling Naraku's arms back behind him and quickly clamping handcuffs on him.
"It's not proper protocol to tackle one's intended target. Reckless behavior isn't conducive in a job like this," Sesshoumaru spoke, using Kagura to balance him as he stood.
"Keh. And like a true detective ends up making out with his partner while trying to take down the target?" Inuyasha replied with a glare.
"Given a similar situation, would you rather have had a bullet through the head?" His brother retorted as calm as always.
"Oh yeah, well…"
"Wait a second, Inuyasha- how did you know that they'd done that to distract Naraku?" I asked, wondering how long he'd been nearby.
"I hear the gunshots earlier, went to find you," He paused to frown, "And when I couldn't find you where you were supposed to be, figured you'd come over here. I happened to walk in right when my brother had his tongue down her throat."
"You shouldn't exaggerate things," Sesshoumaru retorted.
"True. You being romantic doesn't need exaggeration, does it?" He shot back.
"It looks like he snapped again," Kagura said, changing the subject back to the now sobbing form on the ground.
"Is this like what happened to him earlier when we were trapped in the room?" I asked, trying to piece things together.
"Pretty much. Similar reaction, only difference was that in that case, he switched back in a few minutes." She replied.
"I think he's somehow been controlled using the sound of a dog whistle," I said making my deduction. "Earlier, when he switched back, you said you heard a second whistle that I didn't blow, right Inuyasha?"
"Yeah, I heard two." He answered, looking up from his staring match with his brother.
"But who would be controlling him like that?" Kagura questioned.
I knelt a safe distance from the man and slowly helped him sit up, "Naraku? Naraku, can you tell us what's going on? Who's doing this to you?" I asked, trying to remain calm as to not startle him.
"I…I don't know." He replied shakily.
I stood then, and walked a bit to the side. I pulled out my cell phone and quickly called up the police. I was about to call an ambulance for Sesshoumaru and Kagura, when Sesshoumaru stopped me.
"That won't be needed."
"But, your arm…" I started.
"I can still drive. Don't bother with the ambulance," He said leaning back against a wall.
"Don't worry Kagome; we'll leave for the hospital once we get things worked out with the police." Kagura said sitting down beside him.
I was about to protest again, I mean they were still bleeding, when I heard Naraku speak up and light footsteps approaching.
"Kanna! Kanna get out of here! Kanna please, I don't want you hurt! Go back home," He pleaded with a small girl that was walking in from the other side of the warehouse.
I looked closely at the small girl- her complexion pale, her hair would be considered white, and her eyes were a grayish tone. I wondered if perhaps she was classified an albino. In her arms she carried a somewhat deformed white rabbit, and around her neck there was a silver chain tucked into her white dress.
I paused…silver chain… I pulled off the dog whistle from around my neck and inspected it. A silver chain…Just like this one!
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Preview for Chapter 16-
Naraku's being controlled? But by whom? And how? And what about Jakotsu?
