A Tempting Fate

Chapter Four

By Kaguya's Chaos

Before I begin….I would like to say that I am now officially hooked on Rob Zombie's 'Living Dead Girl.' Thanks a lot Kelli. I hope you are happy. :puts head phones back on and bangs head as the music is cranked up:

Previously:

:Dreamland:

Kagome looked over at the bed and shook her head in horror. She knew where she was and she didn't like it at all. The small body shaped lump on the bed shifted and a pale, bony hand slid out from under the numerous comforters. A rattle-like wheeze sound came from the figure and breathy word was barely made out.

"Kagome…"

Kagome shook her head and shrank against the wall, tears falling down her face. She watched in wide-eyed horror as a twelve year old version of herself slowly walked to the side of the bed. The bony hand shot up and grabbed onto her clothes with surprising strength and jerked the twelve year old Kagome toward the bed.

"Listen, my child. You must believe the stories, and you must protect it with your life, do you understand?"

Kagome looked away from the figure laying in the bed and down at the floor. The hand shook her and demanded an answer yet again. "Kagome! Do you understand!" The younger Kagome sniffed and nodded, while the older Kagome stifled the urge to scream out in grief.

"Yes, Momma, I understand."

Now:

Kagome woke up with a gasp and turned to her side to retch on the ground. Dry heaves gripped her body and tears fell from her eyes. Beside her, Inuyasha placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder and gently rubbed her back. A little farther away Kouga held both Rin and Shippo in his arms as they watched with wide eyes. Sesshoumaru stood the farthest away, watching Kagome's every breath with a cold mask.

Inuyasha watched on in worry as trickles of blood left her coughing mouth and splattered to the ground. It seemed the poison was working fast. Everyone else smelled the blood and Rin and Shippo leapt from the wolf's arms and toward Kagome. Kouga, not one to be left behind, jumped up as well and over to Kagome.

Sesshoumaru followed along at a slower pace. No one said anything as Kagome slowed her bloody coughs and sat up shakily. Her eyes were glazed over in pain and her cheeks were extremely pale. Flecks of blood coated her dry, cracked lips and dribbled down her chin in a lazy stream.

"Are you ok, Kagome?" Shippo asked quietly and Kagome tried to focus her eyes on the hazy figures before her. She attempted a smile and sat back with the help of Inuyasha. "Y-yeah. Just a bad…dream." She hesitated on the last word, not knowing what to call it exactly. It was a memory…but she didn't remember most of it.

'I thought I had suppressed those awful memories for good. Why now, of all times? What was it I was supposed to protect? What were these stories I was supposed to believe?' Kagome lost herself in her thoughts, trying to stop herself from freaking over the fact that she couldn't see very well.

Inuyasha watched the girl drift off mentally and cast a worried glance to his older brother. He may hate him, but Inuyasha knew Sesshoumaru better then anyone and what he saw in his older brothers face made him panic a little. His face was as stoic as ever, but his eyes were a faint pink. No doubt he was frustrated over the new "game" they were forced to play and the fact that he didn't know how to cure the girl.

They had watched over Kagome the whole day since the bastard, Naraku, had left and had been slightly alarmed by the affects the poison had on her. Her body had gone through a series of convulsions and her temperature had risen and dropped at dramatically fast rates. Kouga, Sesshoumaru, and himself had tested her blood to see if they could identify the toxin, but were unsuccessful.

Inuyasha's thoughts stopped when Kagome's weak voice drifted passed his ears. "What happened?" She asked softly as she gazed at them in a scary, far-away look. 'She…she can't focus right.' Inuyasha thought sadly as he noticed she seemed to squint her eyes to see better.

"It seems this island isn't as remote as we thought." Sesshoumaru answered, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. His face was set in its usual mask and his eyes showed nothing of his inner frustration.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked after a brief silence and tried to focus on Sesshoumaru's figure. 'What the hell is wrong with me!' She screamed internally as she tried to listen to the words being spoken.

"A…man, named Naraku, appeared and knocked you out. He issued a challenge to a sort of game. We have to find him on this island somewhere before a week is up." Kouga continued, skirting around the whole youkai issue. Kagome frowned.

"Like hide and seek? Why the hell would a grown man want to play hide and seek? Why did he knock me out! Is there anymore civilization on this island? Come on guys! Give me some real answers! Not all this vague stuff!" She demanded as she tried to glare at everyone. " And why is my vision all messed up!" She ended on a panicked sob, putting her hands over her face.

Kouga placed an arm around her shoulders and Rin and Shippo launched into her lap. Sesshoumaru sat down and Inuyasha put his hand around Kagome's waist. "This man is psycho. He is sending out…assassins after us during the week we have to find him. If we don't find him in a week we die." Inuyasha finished and squeezed her waist to comfort her crying frame. Kouga frowned and decided to answer her last question…with a lie. "And your sight is off because he may have hit the pressure point, to knock you out, a little too hard."

Kagome slowly calmed and relaxed a bit. Rin and Shippo both gripped her shirt as their tears soaked into the said fabric. 'They're not telling me something.' She decided, as she gazed, or tried to, at the ground. A throb of pain pulsed at her side and spread through her chest to squeeze her lungs. Pushing the children away and standing up, Kagome vaulted into the trees, promptly vomiting up blood.

Grasping a tree for support, Kagome sagged to the ground and coughed. 'Ugh. Some vacation I got here.' She thought to herself as she stumbled back up and whirled around to face the white blur known as Sesshoumaru. He leaned forward and dabbed a cloth over her face, wiping away blood and sweat. "Don't do anything to tire yourself out." He said softly as he grabbed a hold of her arm and lead her over to the camp again.

Before she even made it to her spot again, her eyes rolled back into her head and her last thought was of how strange the man, above them, looked with wings.

:with M/S:

Miroku sat behind the large cherry wood desk and stared down at the papers before him, blankly. Numbers and figures made his eyes cross and his already frustrated mind scream in agony. His eyes wandered over the desk and to the picture frame on the corner. It was a picture of him and Sango the day of their wedding. Kagome had taken the picture, so it wasn't very straight, but that's what made it so special.

On the other side of the desk was a purple stapler and a blue container filled with pencils. Sharpened pencils. Hmmm…

:change of POV:

Sango sighed as she once again found herself staring at Kagome's office door. With an angry huff, she got up and walked down the hall toward the elevators and onto Miroku's office. Entering the elevator, Sango pressed the 31st button and watched as the doors slid shut. She sagged slightly against the wall of the small compartment and closed her eyes. 'I know that pervert is doing something stupid right now. Most likely throwing sharp pencils at the ceiling…or at his secretary. The poor boy.'

Kagome had given the position of Miroku's secretary to a male, which caused Miroku to scowl and the other female employees to giggle. All of them were aware of the CEO's perverted nature and were secretly relieved they weren't given the position. Sango smirked when she remembered Miroku's face the first day the new secretary had come in.

Sango was brought out of her thoughts as the loud "DING" from the doors sounded and a man in a business suit walked in. he pressed the 23rd button and leaned against the wall of the elevator. "Did you hear?" The man's weird scratchy-like voice asked and Sango looked at him in confusion. "That Miss Higurashi went missing in that bizarre plane crash? What do you think will happen to the company now?"

Sango clenched her hands at her sides and grit her teeth. "Nothing will happen to the company. Miss Higurashi will be back before you know it and everything will be fine." Sango paused as the doors again opened signaling the fact that they had reached the 31st floor. "Good day to you." She huffed and walked out the elevator leaving the shocked man to stare after her.

Miroku paused in his favorite game of "Secretary Dart Throwing" when the strangely familiar sound of feet stomping reached his ears. He slowly turned his head from where he sat and his frightened secretary, Hachi, poked his head up from where he was hidden behind the small, over-turned couch. Both sets of eyes widened at the approaching sound. Miroku stared in fright and Hachi in relief as they both realized why the sound was so familiar.

Sango burst through the door and her fiery eyes landed on a frozen solid Miroku and a sobbing secretary. Hachi leapt to his feet and ran through the door as fast as he could, Miroku gulped and slowly lowered his lead-filled "dart". "Sango, my love-"

"Don't even start, Miroku! I knew you were fooling around!" The woman said as she walked toward him. "Have you finished those reports! What will Kagome say when she comes back to find the company in shambles? What will she say if she is proved right in your incompetence?" Miroku flinched every time Kagome's name was thrown in. Earlier, the couple had decided that Kagome was to stubborn to die by a plane crash.

"Ok, Sango, calm down." Miroku tried to calm Sango down and stared in horror as she broke down into tears. He held her tightly to himself as he wondered if fooling around really was THAT bad. "Sango, love, what is wrong?" He asked softly.

Sango backed away and wiped at her tears with fury. "Nothing. Just…just tired I guess." Miroku didn't press her and instead allowed his trusty hand to reach it's destination. Sango's head snapped up and, on reflex, her hand connected with the pervert's cheek. "Can't you be serious for one minute!" She nearly screamed and stormed out of the office.

Miroku smiled briefly, proud that his little distraction worked. 'Can't have my little flower depressed.' His head snapped up and his body went to attention at Sango's next demand. "Finish those reports, Miroku!" With her parting words, the door was slammed shut and Miroku sighed. Sitting down in his leather chair, Miroku stared at the meaningless words again. 'How does Kagome put up with this?'

His eyes once again slid from the paper and to the now half empty container of sharpened pencils. 'Hmmm…' "Hachi! Oh, Hachi!"

:With the bad guys…well, one of them.:

Hojo sat at his desk and reviewed over the reports scattered over the top. His search team had not found hide nor hair of Kagome and it was seriously starting to annoy him. On top of that, the Taisho company has sent out their own search team, lead by a Myoga Myojin, which constantly got in the way of his team, lead by Onigumo. Not surprisingly, Shikon Inc. sent their own search team lead by a Miss Ayame. But the real thorn in his side was the duo detectives also on the search. Ginta and Hakakku Sekka.

Onigumo had sent in many complaints over these two gumshoes and their meddling. Hojo sighed as he reclined in his seat again and stared out of the large window in his spacious office. 'Where are you, Kagome? To what islands have you drifted to? I know you are on one of the islands in the tropics…' Hojo looked back down at the most recent report that had confirmed his suspicions on her whereabouts.

'…off the western coast a floating piece of flotsam was found. The lingering scent of that of Miss Higurashi and a group of others was found on the surface. There was also a large red stain we believe was Higurashi's blood. The lab tech's have confirmed it is indeed Higurashi's. Most likely from the crash.'

'The other scents found on the flotsam must be the other missing passengers…' Hojo's thoughts were put to an abrupt stop as the office door swung open and his giggling secretary, Eri, stood before him. Hoko immediately pasted on his goofy-innocent smile. "What can I do for you, Miss Eri?" he asked in his artfully fake cheerful and carefree voice.

Eri giggled and blushed. "Oh, Mr. Masaru, so sorry to disturb you! You have a visitor, a Mr. Myojin." Hojo nodded and told her to show him in. Just as the door shut, Hojo stiffened as he remembered where he had heard that particular name before. 'He's the one leading the search for-'

The door swung open again and an old man with a bald spot and large gray whiskers walked in. He was short, Hojo realized as he stood to shake hands with the detective. 'Barely comes to my chin.' he thought in slight male satisfaction and sat back down. "What can I do for you, Mr. Myojin?"

:Change of POV:

Myoga shifted in his chair and stared at the business man before him. He easily saw through the fake dopiness and innocent air. 'This man is a con-artist.' he affirmed in his mind as he thought back to what his superiors told him. 'He is sneaky, but we need his help on finding Lords Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha.' Myoga reminded himself and relaxed in the chair.

"I have been in search of the missing passengers of the private jet that recently went down a week or so ago. Our search team has bumped up against your own search team during our investigation and I was sent here to ask if we may join forces to find the missing persons." Myoga said in an uncomfortable tone and with a stiff back. It was obvious what he thought of this soon-to-be merger.

Hojo Masaru sat forward and placed his elbow on the desk. "Really? Well, this solves one of the problems in my own search. I only have one condition to this."

Myoga raised a bushy eyebrow and leaned forward. "A condition?"

"No one is to touch Miss Higurashi." Hojo's voice came out steely and intimidating. Myoga raised both eyebrows at this and confused shock washed over his face. "She is to be my fiancée and I won't have anyone else touch what is mine."

Myoga nodded his head slightly and vowed to think over this later. "Deal." he stuck out his hand and Hojo relaxed slightly. A small smile curled his features and he grasped the detectives hand.

"Deal."

:Hehehehe:

KC: Ahem…that's all I have for you today…I know it's short but it's all I had time to write cause of the pressure of school. As always…Please read, review and rate!