Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.
-------------------------------------------------------
-June 8th-
Entry at 8:53pm
My fingers felt numb as I shakily attempted to redial the number. The line nothing but a fuzzy static until a mechanical operator's voice informed me what I already had a sinking feeling was true. The line- was dead.
Taking a deep breath and ignoring the probing questions of those around me- I hastily tried the other number- hoping and praying that perhaps someone might answer.
The hollow rings echoed over the phone, each one, each moment filling my veins with dread.
Sesshoumaru's phone was dead and Kagura's was going unanswered.
After letting it ring for what seemed like forever, I gave in and hung up. Turning towards the other three with me, I was just about to suggest having us send someone to Okugi city as backup when I heard the distinct sound of a gunshot coming from the direction Bankotsu and Musou had gone in.
We all froze, our eyes intensely focused on the walls between us and them.
Another shot. Then two more.
I could hear the sound dancing down the concrete hallways as someone unloaded a full round into whatever- or whoever their target might be.
"That was more than four shots. Oh god…"
"Shit!" I heard Inuyasha curse under his breath before feeling his hand grab me by the wrist, "Kagome- we've got to go."
I felt my head slowly turn in his direction, my feet feeling like they were implanted in the ground.
"Inuyasha…"
"Kagome- snap out of it! We've got to…"
"The situation is overwhelming her. Try to stay calm if you want her to calm down," I vaguely made out Kikyou's voice in the background.
"Kagome…"
My eyes seemed to regain their focus as the whole predicament rushed into my mind. And it was then that I realized- Inuyasha had his arms wrapped around me and my head was against his chest.
"I won't let anyone get hurt. But I can't do anything without you…beside me…"
His voice was a hoarse whisper into my hair, his tough façade gone in seconds on seeing me in my state of shock.
"Inuyasha," Reaching up, I clasped the front of his shirt. Bringing my eyes to meet his, I smiled, "I'm sorry. I'm coming now."
Relief washed over his features on seeing me back to myself, and taking his hand in mine- I turned to the others.
"We need to go, please- be careful. The police will be here soon to attend to those men, but Suikotsu- you can't let yourself be seen."
"Okay," He nodded, "Miss Kikyou and I will wait nearby in case Bankotsu needs help."
"All right. If you see Miroku or Sango, please tell them to have reinforcements sent to Okugi city for Sesshoumaru and Kagura."
"We shall," The brown-haired man reassured me, his hand lightly resting over where the bullet had hit him.
Turning to give one more reassuring smile in their direction, I continued to run down the hallways.
It was now up to me and Inuyasha to step in. And as my feet continued to race forward, I realized that I was still tightly grasping his hand in mine.
"I can't do anything without you… beside me…"
His words seemed to reverberate in my mind. It made me feel- confident that we'd pull through. All of us would- somehow. We each had our support.
Suikotsu was hurt, but Kikyou was a nurse and his girlfriend. If anyone would make sure he'd be okay, it'd be her. And, despite my worries over Kagura, I knew that if Sesshoumaru had anything to say about it- she'd be just fine. Bankotsu would do all he could for Jakotsu- he even risked teaming up with detectives that a week before would have thrown him in jail had they the right evidence.
But it was how devoted to not only Jakotsu, but to all his friends Bankotsu was that made me worry the most. I hadn't really known him long, or gotten the chance to talk about much outside of the case, but I had a feeling that he'd die if it meant saving Jakotsu's life. And that aside, even if he said otherwise, I wasn't sure he'd be able to draw a gun on Renkotsu.
If there was one thing Bankotsu was deeply loyal to, it was his friends. And even if they had betrayed him, I'm not sure if he could bring himself to kill them.
And now, my last minute analysis of him was slowly fitting in pieces that spelled disaster.
The more I pondered it. The more I thought over all I knew. I could only think up one conceivable situation in which Bankotsu would not hesitate to kill one of his own men.
Much to my dismay, that was the situation we were in.
If it came down to Jakotsu's life or someone else's, he would be willing to kill. And since I didn't want the gang leader to be locked away for murder, I knew we had to stop him before he did anything too irrational.
"Kagome?" Inuyasha's voice seemed tentative, as if he wasn't sure that disturbing me while I was so deep in thought was the best of ideas.
"Hmm?"
"You're kinda quiet."
I tightened my hold on his hand, "Just thinking things over. I'm kind of worried."
"Keh! Kind of?"
"Okay okay, I'm very worried. I'm just hoping we aren't too late."
We turned the corner and continued to follow the trail of lights towards where Musou and Bankotsu had headed.
"For…Jakotsu?"
I bit my lip, "Or for anyone else. Bankotsu might…"
"Might kill if it meant saving Jakotsu. I know."
Our silence was only prolonged as we came to a fork in hallways, both directions having lights lit as if it was the path.
"Which way?" He asked after a moment.
I paused, closing my eyes and straining my ears for any possible noises from either direction. Muttering under my breath, I sighed.
"You have the better ears here. Try listening to see if you can hear anything."
"Keh!"
He protested, but I knew without opening my eyes yet that he was indeed trying just as I was to find any signals of life.
"Looking for someone?" A third voice piped in, and I snapped my eyes open.
Turning around to face them, I made out the silhouette walking towards us from further down the left hall.
"That's…"
"I thought I asked you to watch out for those police officers or, at least I think I asked you to do that."
The brown-haired man reached up and scratched his head in confusion, my eyes making out the faint scribbling on his arms.
"Musou," My eyes narrowed, looking for anything that might be taken as suspicious. Aside from any previous suspicions, that is.
"Okay Mister- what the hell's up? You're acting really weird!"
Leave it to my partner to outright confront him on the matter. I ran a hand down my face, yet casually reached for my gun while I was at it. The last thing I needed was to have a possible suspect pull a gun on us when we confront him.
His eyes widened, giving him almost a blank and innocent appearance, "Oh me? Well, I suppose you are better detectives than you let on. But first…"
"But first my ass- spill it, we know you're up to something fishy!"
I edged up behind Inuyasha, preparing to cover him if Musou countered his verbal assault with bullets.
Looking down at one of the many things written on his arms, he sighed, "No really, there is something much more important than this right now. Bankotsu needs you guys."
Part of my instincts said that it was a trap, or that he'd gotten rid of Bankotsu by some means. But, the other part of me saw the sincerity and worry in his expression, and I couldn't help but think back to how he helped Kagura watch out for Jakotsu for the time he was under their guard.
"What happened?"
Taking a step forward, I placed a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder to calm him for the moment. Yes, Musou was acting strange. Yes, this could be a trap. But if it was true, then it meant that Bankotsu was in trouble. And if that was the case, then there wasn't any time to doubt Musou.
"Just please- come with me."
His statements seemed so serious, his head hung forward as he began to retreat down the corridor.
And perhaps it was the fact that Musou was being so forthright and serious that made me all the more suspicious as to who he really was.
"Well, I suppose you are better detectives than you let on."
What was that supposed to mean? Was he so confident in his charade that he didn't think we'd see anything strange about him? Or was there some other angle that I wasn't thinking of just yet? Who was the real Musou- the serious, yet obviously hiding something person that walked in front of us now, or is it the absent minded man who helped Jakotsu when he was hurt?
Which one was I supposed to believe in?
But my inner debate over that was interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone. Halting, and watching Musou closely from the corner of my eye, I answered.
"Hello?"
"They're sending more that way. Be prepared."
My eyes widened. There was no one else that could be.
"Sesshoumaru?"
My breath seemed to stop for the moment, my unanswered question about Kagura's safety hanging in the air.
"One of our old rivals got in a hit."
My eyes widened. I knew that Sesshoumaru and Kagura had dealt with some of Naraku's underlings before, but now it seemed that one had upstaged them.
"Only a graze. She's returning the favor now."
Taking that he meant the loud gunfire nearby was from Kagura and not their rival, I let out the breath I'd been holding.
"What happened?"
I could see Inuyasha edging closer in hopes he could listen in, but I was concentrating on watching Musou. He kept looking between us then back down the hallway. It made me wonder how serious Bankotsu's predicament was. Or, was the trap he'd set timed?
"She'll explain," Sesshoumaru stated simply before the rustle of the phone switching users distorted anything else he might have said.
"Kagome?"
"Kagura- thank goodness. I heard a gunshot before the phone cut out."
She laughed lightly and I knew that all had to at least be somewhat okay.
"Two of our old friends decided to try and get the upper hand on us by shooting at me directly. Sesshoumaru dropped the phone when it happened."
Thinking back to it, I did find that noise as the line cut off strange.
"So you're okay?"
"Just grazed my shoulder. I'll live. Though you should have seen Sesshoumaru attempting to bandage it with his one hand. It was rather amusing."
Hearing her talk in such high spirits despite it all made me smile.
"I bet. So they're sending more this way?"
"That's what Kageroumaru said."
"Kageroumaru?" I questioned, not recalling that name as someone involved with Naraku.
"Him and his brother were a case Sesshoumaru and I had a few months back. They got away, but not after we knocked them down to size a bit. Apparently they hooked up with Onigumo though, so when they saw our familiar faces they came to welcome us to the neighborhood."
"And they sent more our way?"
"Juuroumaru might be a bit slow, but Kageroumaru isn't. He knew the second he saw us on the cell phone that we were corresponding with someone at the warehouse. So yah, expect more coming your way. They're out for those goods."
"Gotcha. We've got to go. Something's up here, I'll call back once we know more."
"Okay."
Hanging up, I looked up expectantly to Musou. My eyes ready to read any strange expressions or behaviors that might shed more light on what he was up to.
"We can go now. We have to hurry right?"
He offered a slight smile, "It would probably be the best if we did."
I'm not certain how many more hallways we went down, and I kept looking back to Inuyasha to see if he was noticing anything out of the ordinary with his acute hearing. We communicated back and forth with simple nods and gestures until we were in front of a door to one of the storage rooms.
Musou reached for the doorknob, then opened it up a crack.
"In here, walk in slowly. He might still be…"
Whatever it was he intended to warn us about was cut of by the sharp clatter of something metal skidding across the floor followed by a loud curse.
"Just fuck!" I made out Bankotsu's voice as it hitched and withheld a sob.
Coming into the room slowly, I could barely make out anything save the shadowed figure of the dark-haired gang leader pacing back and forth. His gun was clutched tightly in one hand and whatever it was he'd just kicked laid a few feet in front of him.
As I drew closer, I could make out the remnants of tears on his face and my stomach lurched at the possibilities of what had happened.
"Bankotsu?" Musou spoke first, walking forward.
"I thought I said to leave me the hell alone! Shit!"
"Your detectives are here. They probably want to be filled in."
He cast a sideways glance at us before reaching into his shirt pocket. I could hear the sound of the new bullets being loaded into place.
"Filled in, eh?" Bankotsu asked, his tone sardonic.
Then looking to us with a blank stare, he pointed the gun right at my heart.
"So what do you want to know, Mr. and Mrs. Detective?"
-----------------------------------------------
Preview for Chapter 30:
Bankotsu's been hiding some things from the detectives…and now Kagome's wondering if it was such a good idea to help out the leader of a ruthless gang after all.