Chapter 13: Kagome Outwitted

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha

A/N: Okay, sorry I had that breakdown. I should've known that flamers wouldn't read my fanfic…yeah. So anyways, enjoy the chapter! Oh yes, Vanni, I believe that you were threatening me with your review…lol. Would you really want that?

Koga looked out the window, rather tired. They had been in Sesshomaru's interesting (and personal) limo. He and his friends (excluding Sesshomaru) would not have been sitting here if Kikyo hadn't stepped in and negotiated with the cold youkai. So here he was, at twelve am, in a comfy limousine, about to fall asleep. Kikyo and Sango were in the same condition. Only Kagome, who was going over her scheme over and over again, and the two dog brothers, who just weren't tired, weren't sleeping. There was too much going on to be asleep and relaxed.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Sesshomaru announced in his cold tone, "We're here. Get your lazy selves out of this limo of mine and stop dirtying my brand new limousine. I don't like humans dirtying my possessions." Glancing at the scowling hanyou, Sesshomaru stepped gracefully out of the car and 'floated' to the back, where Sango was rubbing her eyes and Kikyo was glaring at Sesshomaru.

"Well, if you don't like that, you should just have shooed us out. Why, were you too weak to do so? Or are you just bitter about me and my PERFECT negotiation skills?" Kikyo said just as coolly, despite her furious expression. Getting just as gracefully out of the limo, the high school girl gently removed Rin's body (which was wrapped in a purple cloth) off Kagome's lap and stood there, waiting for everybody else to get ready. Nobody could miss the happier look on InuYasha's face as he stuck his tongue out at his older brother before glancing at Kagome, still chewing her lip inside the car.

"Oi, wench, are you getting out or not?" the acrobat laughed, and he promptly received a stomp on the toe from Kagome, who was suddenly in front of him. "Let's go," was all the teenager said, before she moved away towards her roaring girl friends.

Naraku was already at the end of Ronaldo Road as the gang was arriving.

"Well, look who showed up," Naraku smirked, flexing his tapered fingers. Craning his neck slightly to look around Naraku, Koga observed that Naraku had two girls behind him. Both wore the old fashioned kimono and obi from the Feudal Era of Japan. The shorter one had whitish hair, and was carrying a mirror. She looked like a miserable child with a mirror. Suppressing a snicker, Koga's gaze moved onto the taller one, who had black hair in a bun and wielded a fan. Her red pupils bored a hole into the wolf demon's blue orbs, and sent a shiver down Koga's spine. Returning his gaze to their master, Koga began to listen for signs on when Naraku would ask for Rin.

The wolf demon was not a minute too late. "May I have Rin now? No harm will come to the world if you hand her over to me," Naraku said, now examining his fingers. Stepping in between Kikyo, Rin's body and Naraku, Koga announced loudly, "Actually, we just decided that you'd have to answer a few questions of ours, and you must answer every single one with the answer 'yes'."

"Yes, yes, whatever," Naraku answered lazily, still eyeing the body hungrily as if it were actually a piece of meat. Hiding a glare, Kikyo began to ask Naraku the questions Kagome had written on a piece of paper. The high school girl knew that her friend had given her this part because she was a good negotiator and that if anybody messed up, their scheme would be in vain. Taking over the conversation, Kikyo began to speak.

"Will you promise not to harm the world?"

"Yes."

Kikyo knew that Naraku was lying, from the way she observed him say the words carelessly, but she pressed on, for she knew that if she said something about it, the evil, heartless idiot would just forget about his promise altogether.

"Do you promise to let everybody you've terrorized go after we give you Rin's body?"

"Maybe, but I'll say yes, seeing that your friend wanted me to answer everything with the word 'yes' in every sentence."

Koga growled slightly, not noticing the child with the mirror holding shifting and aiming the mirror in Kagome's direction. Sesshomaru, who was feeling bored, simply looked around, searching for an escape route in case his precious limousine was crushed. This Naraku, the youkai felt, was not someone to be trusted. Sesshomaru just did not know why his brother had had to consort with this beast in the first place. Didn't he remember that that b…… had hurt InuYasha both mentally and physically? Not that he cared…

A sudden thud on the ground caught everyone's attention, and Naraku's laughter filled the air as everyone saw Kagome on the ground, looking rather lifeless. Everyone saw a line connecting to the child's mirror. Everyone heard Kikyo screaming obscene things at Naraku and the two girls behind him.

"You promised not to harm the world!"

"Yes, but you didn't ask me to not harm the people living inside it. Kanna, have you finished with that girl's soul yet?"

"Too…full…" InuYasha heard the tiny child murmur softly. Sango stared as Naraku's pupils widened slightly, then knew what they had to do. Grab their helpless friends and make a dash for it. Although it would probably be committing suicide, they had to at least try something.

"Run!" Sango roared to her remaining friends. "Grab Kagome, Rin, and run!"

Just as Sango began to dash for the escape route Sesshomaru had secretly pointed out, a huge whirlwind rushed by, slashing a little cut on the girl's left arm. Knowing somehow that the whirlwind was from Naraku's taller henchman (or rather, henchwoman), Sesshomaru ran lightly and reached the car door first, using his natural demonic speed Opening both limousine doors, the youkai waited for his peers to arrive, dodging a few weak but vicious whirlwinds from time to time. Kikyo and Koga were the first ones to arrive.

"Why were you waiting for us? Knowing you, we'd thought that you'd jump in and save your own coward skin. I've never seen anybody run as fast before, Kikyo panted, smirking at her jibe.

"I was simply waiting here for you, not wanting you to get lost. It's hard for a woman to not be able to spot someone as good-looking as me," Sesshomaru shot back, pushing the high-school girl in. Not wanting to be involved in the previous spat, Koga hurriedly entered the limousine just as the other people arrived. When everybody was ready to drive away from the chaos scene, however, InuYasha thought of something, and he refused to close the door.

"Close the door, you moron, or we'll never be able to get out of here in time!" Koga yelled furiously at his companion, strapping his seatbelt on.

"Oh yeah, we might escape, but that's going to sacrifice Kagome's life! Her life force will be stuck outside this cursed limousine (glares from Sesshomaru) and then she'll die! Didn't you see that thin blue line?" the hanyou argued. Everybody froze, unsure of what to do, when Kagome suddenly opened her eyes. The noises outside died away and the blue line connecting Kagome to the mirror all rushed back to its original owner's body. The sound of squealing tires and evil laughter could be heard.

"Looks like Naraku told that creepy pupil-less henchwoman of his to forget about taking Kagome's soul," Sango said. "I heard the girl mutter something, but I didn't hear it."

"She just said that Kagome's soul couldn't fit into the mirror. Probably because of that big butt of hers," InuYasha laughed, and Kagome, who was awake and lying in the back seat, sat up and slapped the back of InuYasha's head. Ignoring the glares the hanyou sent her and the others' cries of 'you're awake!' and 'Kagome, are you alright?', the high-school girl proceeded to throw herself into the middle row and sit in between Sango and Koga.

"I'm fine, no need to worry about me," Kagome said absent-mindedly, twisting a lock of her raven black hair on her finger. "InuYasha, did you know that you actually have really nice hair? It's better than Sesshomaru's…"

That was when the youkai snapped up. Instead of the furious reply that Kagome was expecting, Sesshomaru shoved InuYasha into the driver's seat, grabbed Koga by the shoulders and cried out, "Koga, tell me, does my HAIR look bad? Do I have any split ends?"

Kikyo and Sango roared, while InuYasha tried very hard to drive without laughing and crashing the car. Koga, who was looking rather happy that some guy was actually having hair problems too, answered with a 'yes you do, but I recommend not using a hair dryer as much…', and soon, the two demons were talking happily about hair products like two neighbouring women at a marketplace. It was hard for the teen girls not to laugh at the way InuYasha was pricking his slightly visible ears at his two elders, trying to catch what they were saying, for it sounded as if he were trying to find out which hair products were good to use. Kagome strongly felt that this was something she could tell to her other friends back in Tokyo.

That was when it hit Kagome. Her plan hadn't worked. Naraku had probably known better and taken those two women, whoever they were, with him in case there was some physical fighting done. For the first time in two weeks, Kagome had been outwitted by somebody, and this made her mad. She had been outwitted by somebody and nearly gotten killed in the process! That Naraku guy didn't have to go that far! But what did he want with her soul…

That doesn't matter, Kagome's conscience told her. The only thing that matters is that you get even with Naraku, and you can't accept no for an answer. Nodding and receiving weird looks from Kikyo and Sango, Kagome responded to her conscience with a happy 'of course'. Kagome didn't feel like answering that question yet, and she wanted to avoid it as much as possible. InuYasha, who detected part of what Kagome was thinking about, accused loudly, "Kagome, it's YOUR fault that the plan didn't work. It's your plan, and therefore, I shall blame you for dragging us into all of this." The hanyou didn't realize that he had said Kagome's name in full, and continued driving with a retarded smirk on his face as everybody, excluding the two youkai, stared at the hanyou with astounded expressions.

It took InuYasha five minutes to realize what he'd said and why the girls were staring at him as if he were a crazed lunatic. Taking the defensive, the hanyou began to protest.

"What's wrong with saying that wench's name? I mean, you idiots say her name and yet none of you think the other is a freak."

"It's not that," Kikyo said, deciding to be mischievous. "It's just that we think that you have a crush on our dear friend Kagome."

"In your dreams, woman! I would never have a crush on that good-for nothing b…. (Kagome gasps and attempts to slap the driving hanyou), and if I did, then it would be one I'd regret having for the rest of my life!" the hanyou retorted rudely, and at that moment, the careless acrobat made a big mistake, one that he would surely regret for the rest of his life. InuYasha turned around, abandoning the steering wheel, to taunt Kagome a little more. He didn't see the red light coming his way, or the car that just happened to be passing by. At least he was with people who were still watching the front.

"InuYasha, stop the car! Watch out!" Sango and Kagome screamed in unison...

A/N: Another cliffhanger, oh yeah. Once again, I apologize for my sudden breakdown and I'd like to thank you for all that support you gave me to keep me going. Please review!