Lab Rats

"It's not here."

"What do you mean it is not here?"

"I mean, it's not here. I've looked everywhere and I can't find any (R)-3-hydroxybutyric acid or its dimer."

"Perhaps your research has misled you."

"My research was fine. This is the lab where they are conduction the experiments on Latrodectus hasselti, the black widow spider. I am not wrong."

"Obviously there has been a mistake."

"Are you trying to say this is my fault?"

"This was your plan."

"Oh yes, and you are being ever so helpful."

"You requested I gain you entrance to this 'lab'. I have accomplished that, have I not?"

"You don't have to be so bloody smug about it!"

"Woman."

"Kagome!"

"Would you prefer bitch?"

"Wouldn't that imply you are calling me your bitch?"

I sighed. Things were not going well. In fact, they were going very poorly

It was well past midnight and I was in some sore need for some beauty rest. And Mr. Perfect, well, he might not have needed any sleep, but he sure wasn't getting any more pleasant to be around.

We had been searching the lab for at least twenty minutes. Correction, I had been searching the lab for over twenty minutes. He had just been standing there watching me. He had gotten us into the lab, and for that I was grateful; but all he had done was melt a window into glowing green pile of window, while I had to search through cabinets, drawers, fridges, and fume hoods looking for the chemical I needed. But despite all of my searching, I hadn't found the pheromone.

"They must keep it somewhere else, but where?"

In my musing over where the laboratory would keep their working chemicals, I missed the fact that Sesshomaru had moved away from me. I was only alerted when I heard the door slam. I wheeled about and saw that Sesshomaru was holding a man dressed in a janitorial uniform up by his throat.

"No!" I screamed. "Let him go Sesshomaru!"

Both of the men turned to look at me.

"Kagome?"

Oh dear lord.

"Hojo?"

Sesshomaru released Hojo upon my recognition of him, causing him to collapse onto the floor. I ran over to help him to his feet.

"Oh Hojo, I'm so sorry about that. What are you doing here?"

"I work here," he told me when he was back to standing on his own. "I'm saving up for college."

How could I forget? Normal teenagers do normal things; like have jobs. Whereas I, I get to bound around the feudal era hunting demons and a cursed jewel.

"What are you doing here Kagome? The building has been closed for hours, and this lab is off limits to the public."

I had no idea how to answer his question. I figured saying that I had been lost on a tour was pretty much out of the question, and I'm not very good at coming up with far-fetched tales on the spot. More than that, I don't really like lying. I decided that if any far-fetched tale was going to be used, there was no better one than the truth. I stepped in front of Hojo and took hold of his shoulders so that he was focused only on me and not the mess that I had left of the lab.

"Hojo, I need you listen to me very carefully. What I'm going to tell you may sound very strange, but I want you to know that I'm telling the truth."

"It's alright Kagome." Leave it to him to be trying to comfort me when I was the one who had broken in to his workplace. "Just tell me."

I took a deep breath and began my story.

"I'm not the person you think I am. All of those times when I have missed school were not because I was sick. You know that I live at a shrine, but what you don't know is that I am a miko. I am a real, live priestess, and I do what all priestesses do: fight against the forces of darkness. Ghosts, spirits, demons, monsters, youkai; I have battled against them all as I have traveled the land to give hope back to the people. That is what has brought me here tonight. There is one demon of such hideous darkness that he threatens all life. There is a chemical used by this lab which will be able to draw him out, and I have come to obtain it."

"I know that all of this seems like a dark fairy tale, but I can prove it. My friend," I gestured to Sesshomaru, "He is not human, he is youkai. He possesses many abilities which we humans can only dream of. It is because of him that we were able to enter this lab tonight without being seen."

I turned to Sesshomaru, asking him silently to back me up on what I was saying. He could have done anything: melted a glass beaker with his poison, allowed his eyes to bleed the crimson of the beast, even showing off his fangs would have been fine; but all he did was narrow his eyes at me.

I'm sure I knew what that meant. 'Do not assume me to be your dog that will jump at your command' is what he said to me.

"Arg! You are impossible!" I scolded him before turning back to Hojo.

"Look Hojo, you just have to believe me."

"I do believe you Kagome." Well that was certainly unexpected. "Such a fantastic tale is hard to believe a lie when I see how determined you are about it. I always knew there was something special about you."

He reached out and brushed his hand across my cheek. His touch was soft, almost timid; and his eyes shone with something I could only describe as adoration. He held my eyes for a moment, a warm smile spreading upon his lips, before he continued.

"I had only hoped that one day you would deem me worthy enough to share it with me."

I was blushing uncontrollably. I wanted to say something. But truly, what can you say to something like that? Hojo had always been over the top, showering me with presents, persistent in his pursuit of me; but never, never had he said something so intense to me. I was at a complete loss for words, but thankfully, he didn't wait for my response.

"I think I know where to find what you're looking for. I'll take you there."

"No Hojo. I don't want to get you involved in all of this."

"I'm already involved," he said to me as he took hold of my hand and began leading me towards the door.

I looked back to Sesshomaru to see if he would follow, but he wasn't there. He had vanished without a sign, leaving me to finish my mission with Hojo. I wish I had had time to figure out what his problem was, but with Hojo pulling me out of the lab and down the hallway, I barely had time to keep track of where I was going in the large building.

After several minutes of being led down a series of corridors which all looked to be exactly the same, not only was I hopelessly lost, but I was beginning to get the feeling that we were not alone. The sound of footsteps echoing down one of the hallways ahead told me that my feeling had been correct. Hojo pulled me close to him so that he could whisper his directions to me.

"Down that hallway to the left you'll find a black door. That is the vault for all the hazardous and expensive chemicals used in this building. Here," He handed me his key-ring, one key facing upwards and placed in my hands, "Take this. It will open the door. Find what you need quickly. I'm going to divert the security then I'll come back for you."

"Thank you Hojo. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"Marry me."

What! Ok there was no way he had just said what I thought he said. Even if he did he was just joking, right? I hadn't just been proposed to while in the middle of robbing a laboratory by a guy who had only been pulled into my illegal act because of bad timing. There was just no way.

He didn't give me a chance to answer (Not that I could have. My tongue was officially tied and I couldn't have spoken if I wanted to), because he stole a quick kiss from me while I was too dumbfounded to do anything about it, wished me luck, and then was off, disappearing down one of the hallways to confront the approaching person.

I stared after him for a while, too shocked to even move, but eventually I gathered myself again and regained my purpose. I clutched the key tightly and turned down the hallway Hojo had directed me towards. Ahead, the black door of the vault cam into view and I quickened my pace to reach it. When I was within range of the door, I readied the key by the lock. I was about to slip the metal together when…

"Woman."

I jumped at the sound of his voice. The key-ring flew out of my hand when I whirled around to see him, but with his lightning reflexes he caught it before it hit the ground.

"Why must you always do that!" I accused in the loudest whisper I could manage. "One of these days you're going to give me a heart attack!" He didn't even blink. Go figure. Mr. Stoic just had to scare the crap out of me and then stand there and completely ignore the blame as though I was the one who had been at fault.

"What are you doing here anyways?"

"I brought you here."

"Well yeah, but then you just disappeared. What was that all about anyways?" Nothing. You know, sometimes I wish he could be just a bit more like Inuyasha and actually speak about what he is thinking. Even some of Inuyasha's colorful words would be welcome in the place of his annoying silence. I gave up on waiting for an answer.

"Just give me the keys. Then we can get out of here." I reached out to take the ring of keys from him, but he pulled it away. I looked to him confused.

"What is that boy to you?"

"Hojo? He just a friend."

"Friend, like you told him I was to you."

"That's different. I was just trying to get him to listen to me."

"Then I am not your 'friend'."

"I didn't say that. You are…wait. Why do I have to explain myself to you? You haven't given me any answers about what I am to you, so I don't have to answer what you are to me."

He lifted an eyebrow, and I scowled at it figuring I was just as likely to get a reaction from that piece of his anatomy as any other.

"What's all this about anyways? Don't tell me you're jealous."

And that was so not the right thing to say. Before I could even blink, I found myself pinned against the black metal door behind me with his hand once again wrapped around my throat.

"Know your place bitch." He growled into my ear.

My fear instantly vanished. I twisted in his hold so that I could look at his face.

"Doesn't that imply…" but before I could finish, he had disappeared again.

The echoing of footsteps down the hall spurred me into action before I could figure out what had just happened. I looked down and saw the key-ring which had been abandoned by Sesshomaru when he had took hold of me. I picked up the ring hurriedly, flipped through the array of keys until I found the correct one, and then slipped it into the lock on the door.

The door opened smoothly, and in seconds I was within the vault. I scanned the shelves of chemicals for what I needed, and to my relief, found the pheromone with little difficulty. I picked up one of the bottles of the pheromone and slipped it into my pocket. I was just in time.

"Kagome."

Hojo's voice sounded from the other side of the door. Either I had already used up all of my jump reflex, or there is just something about the way that Sesshomaru sneaks up on people that startles me so badly every time he addresses me; but Hojo's voice from beyond that door didn't even make me flinch.

I opened the door and smiled at him.

"Do you have what you need?" he asked. I nodded and he smiled at me in response. "Good, now I will get you out of here."

He took my hand and led me back down the maze of hallways. We reached a stairwell which must have been employed by only the maintenance staff given its condition. I was a little wary of the metal structure, but Hojo reassured me of its safety and led me down. After several flights of the stairs we reached a door. Hojo took a moment to punch in a code on the security panel positioned by the door; then he swung it open.

I could see the outside world again. Granted the view of the back alley definitely left something to be desired, but I was just happy to see the vast reaches of the nighttime sky and not another hopelessly long or winding corridor lit dimly by artificial lamps.

I stepped out into the alleyway, but turned back to offer my thanks to Hojo.

"There is no need to thank me Kagome. That was exhilarating! I haven't had such an exciting adventure in my life." He paused to take hold of my hand. "Your life is so incredible Kagome. Allow me to be a part of it with you. Marry me," Oh no, not again. "And I swear I will do everything in my power to protect you."

I had to do something. I couldn't let him continue believing that he had a chance of becoming my husband. It's not like he's a bad guy or anything, but I just can't bring myself to be attracted to him in that sense, let alone be willing to spend the rest of my life with him. And on top of that, that had been the second Hojo who had told me of his desire to make me his wife. As if shutting down one wasn't bad enough. Sigh.

I pulled my hands away from his.

"You don't understand. My life isn't exhilarating or exciting; it's terrifying and painful. There is blood and death, suffering and loss. You have such heart Hojo. Do not darken it by opening it to a world that would give you no love. Be happy here with what you have, with what you can gain by being who you are."

"But Kagome…"

"No Hojo." I sealed his lips with my finger. "Protecting me is the job of another." I leaned in to him and kissed his cheek, whispering my goodbye into his ear before I turned away and walked into the night.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That chapter took forever! But now that it's over, I think I like where it has left me. I will explain some of Sesshomaru's unusual behavior next chapter, or at least try to, so bear with me for a bit while my brain tries to put into order all of the chaos I so enjoy creating.

Anyways, cheers.

ShadowsWeaver1

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters I am about to weave into my web of chaos. Any and all definitions have been taken directly from Wikipedia the online encyclopedia because I am far too lazy to do any further research to support my Inuyasha obsession.