Inutori: I have finished another chapter! You know the drill. I don't own Inuyasha, but I own the plot of the story and yaddi yadda yadda.
Kagome: I'm still injured, so it's not that great.
Inuyasha: If I had been shot, I'd be healed already.
Kagome: That's because you're a hanyou. I'm not, so it'll take me awhile to get better.
Inutori: Anyways, I'll let you all go and read this next, much anticipated (by me…and maybe you too…) chapter of Japanese Snake!
Tight Spot
Kagome fell back onto the bed, her wet hair braided loosely to keep it from becoming a mess. She couldn't seem to stop the pounding in her chest or take the flush from her cheeks. In her blissful state, she didn't even notice the pain that seared through her arm and leg at the sudden drop.
After her shower with Inuyasha, she had changed back into his gray sweatpants and put on a clean black sleeveless shirt. It definitely helped her feel better to not smell like body odor and blood and to have clean hair. That, and Inuyasha's protectiveness and gentle touch just made her feel so good.
She adjusted her position so that she could look at the wall instead of the ceiling. Now really wasn't the time to be basking in being boy crazy. They had Naraku to deal with.
Inuyasha had taken off as soon as they had finished washing her hair, having received a call from headquarters. He had offered to bring her along, but she didn't really feel up to going anywhere. Especially FBI headquarters. Something about being there the last time gave her the heebie-jeebies.
"Well, I suppose I could always read up more on Naraku." Kagome didn't really want to, but she knew that in order to get back home, she needed to do this. Besides, Naraku had stolen her sister from her…and changed her into a cold-blooded, murdering machine. There was no way she'd let him get away with that.
Reluctantly, Kagome sat up and prepared emotionally for the task she was about to embark on. Reading up on her worst nightmare wasn't exactly her favorite pass-time, after all.
She stood up and left the bedroom, pulling up her pants and tightening the drawstring when they started to droop a bit too much for comfort.
In the living room, Kagome sat down at her computer and shook the mouse, letting the computer wake up. Was this really what her life had become? She was the criminal who brought other criminals to justice? Bizarre.
The computer fully on, Kagome pulled the next CD out of her collection hidden in the drawer of the desk. She swallowed and put it into the CD-ROM drive. For some strange reason, Kagome got the gut feeling that she wasn't going to live past her twentieth birthday. At least that gave her another two and a half years to kill Naraku.
Kagome smiled slightly, opening the first file on the disk and almost instantly staring in shock and awe. It was a sort of "employees" list. On it were the positions that Naraku seemed to have an insider working. One of them was an FBI investigator.
Confused, she went to the next part of the file, looking for something about this FBI employee. If she knew who was on Naraku's payroll, perhaps…
Sango sat with her legs crossed and her hands pressed together in front of her chest with her elbows held parallel to the ground. She took in a slow, deep breath, held it for a split second, and then let it out again slowly. Her nerves had been so on edge that she couldn't get any proper training done, and so decided to solve this with some meditation.
Kirara mewed at her, bored with the lack of excitement Sango was bringing.
They were far from the city, giving the pair the opportunity to rove without worry of curious eyes.
Another mew from Kirara had Sango cracking an eye open to look at the small form of the two-tailed neko youkai. Kirara was sitting in front of Sango and had her small head cocked to the side; her large eyes focusing on her master and begging for some action.
"Alright, Kirara. Let's get this Taijiya back in shape, ne?" Sango stood up and stretched her arms above her head. The excited cat demon jumped up to stand on all fours and transformed into her true form: the large fire cat.
Kirara crouched, preparing to lunge at Sango and the Japanese agent was barely able to roll out of the way in time to avoid getting pinned. Sango jumped to her feet and drew her sword, spreading her legs and bending her knees to be in a proper fighting position.
The fire cat charged at Sango again, but this time Sango pulled around and kicked at her companion. Her kick never made contact as Kirara jumped back again quickly, giving Sango a second to do a hand spring over to her Hiraikotsu lying useless in the grass.
She clenched her teeth with the feelings of protest her muscles were giving her. Obviously it had been far too long since she had worked out fully. After all, the match had barely begun and her arms were protesting. Kirara and she used to be able to spar for hours.
Sango lifted the boomerang forged from a demon bone and readied it, circling with Kirara silently. A growl echoed in Sango's ears and she instinctively crouched just as Kirara came flying over her head. Not wasting a moment, Sango swung her legs and pushed off the ground with her arms, landing to face her opponent.
The movement made her stomach jerk slightly and Sango just clenched the handle of Hiraikotsu tighter to hide the pain.
This time is was Sango to charge Kirara, already sick of being on the defensive for the few minutes they had been sparring. Sango flung her weight forward and pulled the boomerang from behind her and released it just as it came in front of her. She dropped a foot forward to keep from falling after throwing herself so much off balance, and watched intently as the boomerang spun towards her partner.
Kirara dodged the weapon at the last moment and soared towards Sango, throwing the girl off for a moment. She watched in what seemed to be slow motion as Kirara dived at her, claws outstretched, and her boomerang make its way back around and towards them again.
Sango collapsed to the ground with Kirara pinning her and holding a claw centimeters from her delicate neck. The cat seemed to have let her guard down, because next thing Sango knew, Kirara met Hiraikotsu in what had to have been a painful manner.
The cry from Kirara made Sango jump in fright and rush to the neko youkai's side. A few feet away stood her boomerang, one end embedded in the dry ground.
"Kirara! Are you alright?" Sango dropped to her knees next to her friend, worried as to what damage she may have caused.
When Kirara's annoyed growl came followed by a fierce flick of her tails Sango couldn't help but smile. Apparently Kirara wasn't injured too badly, just embarrassed that she had been caught off guard and lost the match because of her carelessness.
Sango let out a chuckle, stroking Kirara's creamy coat and sitting down on her butt. "You silly girl." The Taijiya leaned against Kirara's side and closed her eyes, feeling the slight soreness of her torn muscles.
Sleep overcame the pair quickly and Sango fell into a content dream.
She straightened her pink and white sundress, looking over to her friend with a smile. "Kagome-chan, hurry up or we'll be late for the picnic!"
The blue-eyed girl turned to look at Sango with a smile. "Don't I know it! But otou-san told me to look my best!" Kagome stood up and twirled in her summer outfit. She had on a blue skirt that came down to mid-thigh and a red tank top trimmed in the same blue as the skirt.
Sango nodded her approval, her smile getting even bigger than before. "Are you sure it's your dad that you're trying to impress…or Hojou-kun?"
Kagome blushed slightly, swatting playfully at Sango. "Sango-chan! I don't like him that way! He is just my dad's new apprentice, you know that."
Lifting her purse from the dresser and rolling her eyes, Sango let out a sly, "Sure, that's why you're blushing."
"It doesn't matter, he seems more interested in Kikyou."
"Well, you'll just have to flaunt a little, won't ya?"
With a yelp Sango ran from Kagome all the way out of the house and began to run behind the main shrine to the woods. After a few moments, Sango slowed down and allowed Kagome to catch up with only a minimal indignant huff.
"Sister!" Up ahead, the two girls spotted the picnic blanket already laid out. The boy that had called to them was none other than Sango's twelve-year-old brother Kohaku in all his freckled-face glory.
Sango jogged ahead, feeling tears well up in her eyes despite her trying to suppress them. "Kohaku! It's been so long!" She ran forward and embraced her little brother, too happy to care that he didn't hug her back.
Kagome joined her again and the three walked into the small clearing, laughing about some silent joke. Sango noticed smugly the way Kohaku glanced over at her best friend and blushed slightly. So her little brother had a crush on Kagome, did he?
"Papa!" Kagome dashed ahead of them to go hug her father who was lying in the grass just before the woods picked up again. "Kikyou-onee-chan!"
Sango felt fear well up in her as she realized that Kikyou was indeed here: she was leaning casually against the tree closest to their father. For some reason she felt that Kagome shouldn't go over there. "Kagome-chan, help me serve out the food!" Her cry fell on deaf ears as Kagome jumped on her father and hugged him tightly.
Kagome's scream echoed through the clearing and Sango ran to her, holding Kohaku's hand tightly so he could keep up. She stopped dead in her tracks as Kagome looked to her, tears streaming down her face and smearing some red substance that covered her.
Horror filled her as the smell of blood filled her senses and made her realize that Kagome was covered in it.
"Kikyou-onee-chan…" Sango focused on Kagome again, but Kagome's head was turned the other way, towards her elder sister who was Sango's age. "Why…why did you…I don't get it…"
Her heart clenched as she watched Kikyou smile maliciously and stand up from her slump against the tree. "Naraku."
The hand that held Kohaku's suddenly closed into a fist and Sango jumped in frightened surprise and turned to look at her brother.
He…was…covered…in…blood…
Sango sat up with a scream, burying her head in her hands as she felt the sobs coming to torment her body. Kirara stirred from behind her and lifted her head to look at Sango with concern.
The dream she had flashed through her mind again and again, not loosing any of its clarity as she wished it would. Her thoughts jumped to the night she had actually lost Kohaku and Kagome had lost her father. To Kikyou, of all people.
Cold steal walls that seemed to be a maze, a bone chilling laughter, screams of pain, thunderous noise, fire. Her thoughts became muddled and she curled into herself tighter, the sobs becoming more painful.
She felt Kirara nuzzle the side of her ear and she tried to calm down so the cat demon would not worry about her as much. Tentatively she reached out a hand and stroked the top of Kirara's head, grateful that the action was able to settle her mind on things a bit more pleasant.
Inuyasha shuffled slowly through the papers on his desk, having received a mouthful from Agent Sutruss and not really in the mood to do anything productive. The old lady had been ticked at him for going into dangerous territory without backup or at least telling the Bureau so that they knew what was going on.
After getting yelled at for a good half hour for that, the hag then continued by slapping a gigantic folder on the desk and telling me that there was new information in there on the case.
Grumpily looking around his nearly-abandoned office, Inuyasha Jidai picked up his office phone and called his cell phone. He had left it at the apartment with the intent that he could easily get a hold of that stupid thief.
After four rings his voice mail picked up and so Inuyasha slammed the receiver into its cradle with a growl. Waiting half a minute, Inuyasha pressed redial and waited.
Three rings later, a soft voice answered, "Moshi, moshi, Inuyasha Jidai's residence."
"Oi, wench, get down to HQ now." Inuyasha growled into the headset, hoping that he was scaring the girl.
"Inuyasha! You told me I didn't have to come." She sounded surprised that he had called, but oh well, that was her problem.
"Just get down here. We have some stuff to look over and discuss."
He listened to her breathing, trying to determine what she was thinking. "I have a question for you, and whether I come or not is contingent on how you answer."
Inuyasha paused, trying to think of what she could possibly ask him. "Shoot."
"Is Hojou in today?"
The FBI agent felt his blood boil. "What, do you have a crush on him or something? I thought you already HAD a boyfriend."
"Just answer the question, Inuyasha." Her voice sounded irritated, yet firm.
"I don't know."
"Then go find out and call me back once you know. Sayanora." He then heard the click of the phone and cursed under his breath.
Not being able to do anything else, Inuyasha exited his messy little office and hunted down the nearest employee. The first person he came across was a disheveled looking guy that was probably a newbie.
"Oi, kid." The red head turned around. "Is Hojou in today?"
The kid looked at him for a moment before trying to flatten down his hair and smooth the wrinkles out of his suit. "Er…Hojou, sir? Isn't that the guy who was just transferred to Miami?"
Inuyasha stared at him strangely for a moment before continuing on his trek. Just because the kid answered him doesn't mean he would just take his word. He'd been train to investigate fully.
That thought made him stop. Why did he need to investigate "fully"? This wasn't one of his lethal investigations that couldn't afford a mistake.
With that in mind, Inuyasha turned on his heel and locked himself back in his office to call Kagome again.
Kagome slouched in the hard wooden chair, staring across the top of the desk at Inuyasha. Stupid, arrogant, stubborn, silver-haired, golden-eyed, well-toned, gorgeous…Kagome stopped her train of thought as she realized what she was doing. A slight warmth spread across her cheeks and she only sunk down further into her chair.
Inuyasha was flipping through another one of those information files, looking for a document that he wanted her to read. Couldn't he have been a bit more prepared? Honestly.
"Time's a wastin', Inuyasha." Kagome wasn't exactly famous for being patient, especially with guys that made her stomach do somersaults.
Inuyasha just grunted noncommittally back at her, not looking up from the papers just under his nose. The silence stretched between them again and Kagome was bored out of her mind.
"I'm going out again tonight." Kagome ran her hand along her left leg, feeling the bandages just below the gray sweats she was still wearing. She had thrown on one of Inuyasha's sweatshirts as well before leaving the apartment seeing asshe felt no need to look professional like Inuyasha did with his dress pants, button-up shirt, and tie.
"No you're not." Inuyasha didn't look up at her, just continued shuffling through the papers. "Here it is." He pulled out a few papers that were stapled together and passed them over the desk to Kagome.
She took them quietly and began to scan the contents. This stuff was just a whole bunch of numbers. "Eh…" Kagome looked back up at Inuyasha in confusion, not understanding the meaning behind the sheet of numbers. Flipping to the next page, Kagome saw that this one too was just numbers. Through all of it she couldn't see a pattern.
"I'm going out tonight and you can't stop me. What's with the numbers? Did someone think this was a sick joke?" Kagome glanced back at the first page, and then the other three. Yep, all numbers.
Inuyasha set the manila folder on his desk and leaned back in his chair with his arms folded. "I was hoping you could figure it out. It was found in a suspicious email to an employee in this building. I can stop you if I want. You're staying home."
Kagome shook her head. "You're not my father, I can come and go as I please. It may be some sort of code. No, it has to be some sort of code. The employee could be a double agent and this is how the emails are kept unnoticed."
"The employee that received the email is the one who turned it in for evidence. If they were a double agent, they wouldn't turn it in unless they wanted to be caught. Of course I'm not your dad, but I'm not going to let you out. Remember what happened last time you wandered out on your own?"
She didn't say anything for a moment, licking her lips and thinking things through. "That was an accident. I would have been fine if you hadn't shown up. I've been a thief all of my life, remember?" Kagome only paused to take a breath, "Unless the guy was so confident that no one could crack the code and he wanted the suspicion to get off his back. What better way to divert the truth than to turn something in that wouldn't be reported otherwise and people knowing that if you were involved it would be the same as turning oneself in."
"That was a mouthful." Inuyasha stood up and walked around the desk to tower over her. "But you could be right. It wasn't exactly something I discarded as a possibility either. If I hadn't shown up it probably would have been worse for you."
Kagome looked up at him, but he was staring at the door with narrowed eyes. "Wh-"
Inuyasha shot her a look to silence her and then looked back at the door to his office.
Something clicked in her mind from his actions. Someone was listening to their conversation. "What are you talking about? If you hadn't shown up, I would have been just fine, if not better than I was with you around."
She shot glances at the door every few seconds, but trained her focus mainly on Inuyasha. He had yet to look at her again since he warned her to be silent. "Had you been alone, you probably would have been shot. As it is, my ties in that gang allowed for some slack to be cut for you."
Kagome glared at him and clenched her teeth. What was he doing? She had been shot, and his brother had tried to kill him. But if someone was listening outside, she had better play along. "How was I supposed to know that you were still on their payroll? You covered your tracks pretty well and if it weren't for my own record, I'd turn you in this instant."
With narrowed eyes, Kagome caught a glimpse of the shadows under the door shifting. "That's exactly why I can't let you go out on your own. You know too much. I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow's headline is about a girl found dead in an alley, too mangled to be identified. Appeared to have been attacked by wild animals."
The threat hung in the air, and though Kagome assumed it was made up, the malice in Inuyasha's voice scared her. "It's not like this is the first time you've threatened me." She raised her chin and jumped up to her feet forcibly, sending the chair sliding across the floor.
Inuyasha used that moment of noise to rush forward and fling open the door. Kagome only caught a glimpse of sandy-brown hair as the eavesdropper took off down the corridor. Inuyasha didn't waste a heartbeat in pursuing the man, and Kagome tentatively stepped out of the office and glanced down the hall in the direction she had seen Inuyasha turn. She didn't see either figure.
Hairs on the back of her neck rose and she instinctively dove back into Inuyasha's office, slamming the door closed behind her just as she heard a single shot being fired in the hall. Next thing she knew her small hand reached for the lock and she heard its resounding click. Grateful that her sixth sense had not yet failed her, Kagome shuffled through the papers on Inuyasha's desk, something had to be here that would be useful.
She spotted a briefcase lying haphazardly in the corner of the room and she immediately went to it and laid it on the desk. To her fortune, the case was not locked and she was able to open it without trouble. Figures that Inuyasha would be careless like that about his belongings.
As her eyes landed on the contents of the box, she froze. There were little knick-knacks and what not, but the face of her sister was not something she had expected to see. Her hands were shaking as she reached forward and picked up the glossy paper. She flipped it over and looked at the back.
A date was written on the back in what Kagome recognized as Inuyasha's handwriting, but there was a long letter written with a calligraphy pen in neat, small words.
If you are reading this, Inuyasha, then I am dead. I knew it would come to this and I am sorry for not telling you sooner. My involvement with shady figures in the past has brought me to this end. May you find Naraku and dispose of him like the garbage he is.
Kagome felt a soft rock blocking her throat. It was signed Kikyou Higurashi. From there, the handwriting changed slightly, but she continued reading.
You are foolish if you believe you can stop me, Higurashi Kagome. Kikyou knew this before she met her end, albeit by other hands than mine, in that presumption you were correct. And it is unfortunate because I had been so looking forward to making love to her and slitting her throat myself.
I will go to any means necessary to get what I want. You already know what that is, so I don't need to tell you. But if you get in my way again, I will destroy everything you love before allowing you to kill yourself. Your little brother, mother, grandfather, the Taijiya, her brother, Agent Houshi, Shippou, Kouga, and Agent Jidai. I will make sure you have front row seats to each of these deaths as they promise to be truly spectacular.
Do not cross me further if you want to protect them. Bend to my will, child, and they may yet live.
Naraku
Her jaw trembled and she placed both hands on the desk for support. There was no way. No way could this be happening. He had known that she had all of that information. He had let her know as much as she did, and now she had put anyone she was close to in danger.
A single tear slid down her cheek as she felt overwhelmed with what was happening. She had certainly wiggled herself into a tight spot, hadn't she?
Taking a deep breath, Kagome put the picture of Kikyou back into the briefcase and picked up the manila folder Inuyasha had been looking through to shove into one of the pockets. She picked up the pages of numbers and stared at it for a moment.
Looking back at the open briefcase, Kagome decided it would be better to keep with her rather than in the case that could be stolen. She sloppily folded the papers and shoved it under the sweatshirt and tank top and secured it in her bra.
Nodding, Kagome began picking the locks on the drawers on Inuyasha's desk until she found a drawer with a handgun and two rounds of ammo. She put her foot up on the desk and slid one of the rounds into the side of her sock, putting the other round in her other sock.
For the gun, after checking to make sure it was fully loaded, she stuffed it into the right side of her underwear so that the handle stuck out for easy access. Kagome pulled to sweatshirt over the gun to hide it from prying eyes, suddenly grateful that she was wearing men's clothing that were five sizes too big. Bagginess could definitely be a good thing at the moment.
Glancing around the room one last time, Kagome checked to confirm that her dagger was still safely tucked into the back of her tank top, handle facing down, and closed the briefcase.
Inuyasha hadn't come back yet, and she had to assume that he wasn't going to ever. After all, this was a crime ring they were dealing with, not the local golf club.
She swallowed, gaining her courage with that heart-wrenching thought and pressed an ear to the door of the office. With surprise she heard guns firing left and right and shouting. Why hadn't she noticed that before. Kagome stepped away from the door, realizing that yes, she could still hear the shoot out. She must have been so distraught that she had stopped paying attention to her surroundings.
Luckily she hadn't been killed while doing so, but she could have if she had been out of it and left the office.
There was a small window in the room, and Kagome immediately went to it, hoping that there would be someway for her to get down from the fifth story office. She opened the window and cautiously leaned her head out, surprised to find that the sun was almost entirely below the horizon.
Time seemed to have slipped by and she hadn't realized how late it had gotten.
Along the side of the building, there were two-inch wide divots; quite narrow, but Kagome knew she could manage.
She glanced back around the room, eyes searching for something that she could use. Her eyes fell on Inuyasha's discarded suit jacket. It would have to do. Pulling out her knife, Kagome cut several strips out of the sleeves and tied them together to make one long strip.
Taking the briefcase, Kagome securely tied the handle of the piece of luggage to her makeshift rope and then quickly worked to turn the briefcase into a backpack that's straps crossed on her chest.
Realizing that the case would hinder access to her knife, Kagome moved both dagger and sheath to her stomach and proceeded to the window. One day she would thank her mom for teaching her how to be the best thief in Japan; she really was grateful.
I
Do
Not
Sleep
Inutori: Did you know that if you look up Japanese Snake on Yahoo!, that there is a sight about Japanese snakes that has a link to this story? It was weird, to say the least.
Kagome: And we care why, exactly?
Inutori: Well, you probably don't, but I was just curious one day so I did the search and to my surprise someone had put a link to my story on a website ABOUT SNAKES!!!
Kagome: (indignant) I am NOT a snake.
Inuyasha: Are you sure?
Kagome: Inuyasha!!!
Inutori: Anyways, (cough, cough) I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter that I made sure to not skimp out on length of. It's even longer than chapter 11 and that was 10 pages! Please review so I know that people liked it! Ja ne, minna-san!