A/N: Sorry, I've been super busy lately! I miss my laptop :'(

Disclaimer: I own nothing InuYasha.

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Tricky Business

Chapter Five

Nobody ever wants to wake up to the sound of a gun clicking, trigger ready for a finger to pull it. The bullet was waiting for the signal, for that perfect moment when it could complete it's task and fulfill what it's purpose was: to harm, or kill. I've woken to that sound, and I've caused others to wake up to it as well, only to be greeted with never-ending darkness afterwards. I knew the expression on Koga's face all too well, as his body jumped up straight to attention.

His eyes were large, with fear and anxiousness dancing within them. He looked like a child; too many often do before death. His hands gripped at the blankets and his expression was unbeatable. I had never before seen somebody so afraid to die. I watched him close his eyes and swallow, waiting for the impact into his skin. It never came.

I sighed and returned the gun down to my side. "Why were you going through my phone and why the hell did you answer that phone call by Xavier? Do you honestly know how far you're getting us in? He'll find out who was talking and he'll be prepared to kill us both."

He opened his eyes, and looked at me. He was obviously stunned. I sat at the edge of the bed and threw the gun to the floor before running a hand through my hair. I couldn't help but take note of his tanned, muscular arms. I wanted to touch them immediately, run my finger tips over them. And then the blanket fell to his hips and I caught a glimpse of hardened abs (and I couldn't help but unconsciously lick my lips). Was he naked? I couldn't tell. I wanted to find out.

"I thought that it might have been a set up or something. I didn't want to stay in a house where you and you're little boyfriend might be planning on killing me. I didn't know if I could trust you or not." He admitted before I caught his eyes drifting over my body.

"Look," I said and his eyes shot up to my face and he got this little smirk (like the little boy who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar), "I know this might be hard to believe because I've been in your place but you can trust me. I don't plan on lying, to you or to anybody other than my psycho ex and his connections."

"Do you really sleep in that?" he asked as his eyes went flashing between my body and my face. I was in a tight Colts belly tank top jersey thing that had one strap off the shoulder and tiny spandex white boxer shorts.

"No, this is just what I walk around in after I get up. I can't sleep with clothes on, it doesn't feel right. I like the feeling of stuff against my skin, clothing prevents that." I explained with a shrug. I didn't really care what he thought about me.

"Sounds nice. I should probably get going soon." Koga replied, although he made no move to get up from the bed. I couldn't imagine he would. He probably never felt such a nice bed. Maybe he never even had a bed at all.

"Do you actually think you're leaving this place and going home after that stupid little stunt you pulled last night?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "You're not going home. You're only going to sign yourself, and your family, up for a bloody death."

"What are you suggesting I do?" He asked, a little annoyed. "I don't exactly have a million places to go. If I'm meant to die than I guess I'm gonna die."

"You're staying with me. I'm not letting you die. I don't believe any more people need to die, especially because of me. We're going shopping; you're gonna need clothes and everything if you're going to stay with us."

"Look, I'm not staying with you, okay? You can't force me into staying here and I'm not going to. I have places to be. I have people that I need to care for. You're worry free now, you don't have to worry about run-down gang members like me, okay? Stop the pity, Oprah, because I don't need your help." He snarled.

"I'm only trying to help." I pointed out quietly, pathetically, before getting up and gently touching his black and blued neck. "People like you need to stop being so damn stubborn and take up good offers when they come to you. It's good to have pride, but not so much that it could lead you to your death."

Koga

I watched as she spun around and slipped out the door. She wasn't even going to fight me anymore. Maybe being a gang caused her to be a pacifist? I sighed and crawled out of bed. My muscles felt slightly less tight and my body was overall less tense. Stretching I noticed at mirror and stopped, mid stretch, to take in my appearance.

My neck was no longer covered by the dress shirt. It was ugly bruise. It was blue and green and brown and purple. It looked miserable. It was no wonder my neck hurt so much. There was a small cut in my thigh from where he just barely stabbed me before I beat him back so bad he couldn't get up.

Stay strong, boy. That was really all I could say to myself. I had to be strong in order to make it through this life I was given. I dressed myself, not really wanting to leave that large bed behind, or my curious (and crazy hot) new acquaintance. I shoved the pistol in the waistband of my jeans and I was gone. I didn't say bye to her and she didn't bother to even come out of her room. Shrugging off the fact that my feelings were a little hurt, I left the mansion behind.

My tux jacket was strewn across my arm and I kept an eye out for anything sketchy, although nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I was in the clear.

"Where the fuck have you been, boy?" my mother asked as she lit another cigarette. I closed my eyes, never being one of those people to submit to the drugs or alcohol, because the scent was so strong. She had only a few teeth locked in her destroyed mouth and what was left was, slowly but surely, decaying.

"I was at a friend's house." I mumbled as I backed away.

"What was this friend's name?"

"Ayame." I sighed.

"You better not get any girl knocked up. You know you don't have the money to be able to afford that. Especially since they cut back your work hours. There're bills to pay." She growled with her rough smoker's voice.

"I know." I replied as I went into my room and dropped the tux jacket on my bed. I went to the bathroom and tried to turn on the shower but the water wouldn't come on. Mom never sent my money in to pay for it, it seemed. I sighed as I packed a gym bag and left the house to go to my friends, exposing myself, once again, to the mean streets.

"Koga!" a little girl called out as she came barreling towards me. I smiled and caught her. Kita was like my daughter when I was around her. There was nothing I wouldn't do to protect her five year old life. Her dad had been one of the fourteen men who ditched her mother the moment she found out she was pregnant and the mother was a whore, hint about the fact that she had fourteen men to figure out who she was pregnant to.

"So where have you been?" A sultry twenty-one year old voice questioned, the same age as me. I looked up to see Trixie, Kita's mom, standing before me and eyeing me up and down. I immediately felt disgusted.

Ayame

"Are you crazy?" Sango asked in a worried voice as she rushed to keep up with me. Her eyes were large and fearful. "That's a stupid question to ask a girl with a gun shoved in her jacket, ready to blow somebody's brains out while she ventures to the one place that equals certain death for her."

"Enough people have died, Sango. I know they're going to be targeting him and it's better to hurry so that only the gang member will be at him, beating him until he loses so much of his blood, so they won't have any trouble in taking him back to Xavier. Just because he's stubborn and curious, doesn't mean he deserves to die." I pointed out.

"This is ludicrous." Sango pointed out. She was right. I was in my tiny cheerleading outfit, a long sleeved belly skirt and flirty mini skirt, with lime green and black and silver colors. A sparkling silver bow, which matched my outfit accents and lettering, was holding back my sunset streaked hair. A black jacket was the only thing keeping the chill air from biting my entire flesh.

"We're behind enemy lines now." I warned as I maneuvered my way, with many stares and flirting calls, to the place where Koga had taken me just the night before. I didn't even waste my time taking a deep breath as I plunged myself down the steps.

"What the fuck?" One yelled and they all jumped to attention, pointing their guns and ready to kill. Sango screamed and I stepped in front of her quick, in case they would shoot, as she cowered behind my form.

"I told you to stay home." I growled quietly to her before turning my attention to the deadly gang before me. "I know this is stupid and you have every right to shoot me dead, no questions asked, but I need to know where Koga is. He could be in serious trouble after the little stunt he pulled last night, and the fact that he left this morning. I don't want him to die."

"Has Ayame Wind fallen in love with the opposing gang from the one in which she belonged to?" Walker's black eyes flashed with interest, morbid curiousity.

"Walker, this isn't a game. I'm serious. He could be in danger. I'm not letting somebody innocent die." I shot back angrily. "Do you want him to die? We're wasting time!"

His smile dropped. He walked over and grabbed my arm, jerking him back up the stairs of the abandoned subway with him. "We're leaving, watch over her little friend." And, with that, we were leaving the rest of them behind.

"They won't hurt her, will they?" I asked, concerned.

"If they do I'll hurt them. We have an understanding now." Walker replied coolly. It was beginning to get dark out and my worry was rising. There was a chance that we were already too late to save Koga. I hoped he was holding them off long enough for us to get there, since I was positive they would have attacked by now.

A gun shot cracked through the air, splitting through oxygen and nitrogen atoms themselves. Without thinking I had rip myself from Walker's grasp and bolted towards the sound in a split second. The cold wind put pressure against my face and stung my ears but I ignored it. My legs were moving faster than ever before.

I skid into an alley with four boys surrounding one gripping himself and fallen, but bracing himself up against a rusted car. I took my gun and used the butt to crack it along the one man's temple, who was nearly an inch away from me, and then I fired three shots into the other figures, making them fall. Point blank in the head. Blood splattered against windows and brick.

It seemed like an eternity as I just stood there and looked at the mess I had created. Deaths, more and more, at my hands. I looked down at them, they were trembling. Not just my hands now, my whole body. I stared blankly at my hands though, nonetheless. The gun had fallen to the ground after the last shot.

"We need to get the fuck out of here, now!" Walker yelled as he rushed in and tossed one of Koga's arms around his neck. "I saw more people running this way! Ayame, let's go! We don't have any time to waste!"

I snapped out of my trance, where everything moved in slow motion. I felt like I had whiplash but I didn't, it was that little piece on my consciousness trying to let in the feelings I've repressed; I pushed it back in my mind, where it belonged, with all the other feelings. I didn't have a conscious; I did have a hell of a lot in my unconscious mind though.

I flung Koga's other arm around me and demanded that Walker ran. We moved as fast as we could, fast enough to get out of distance and far from the vicinity of Xavier's boys. Once again I found myself in that abandoned subway with the rest of Walker's crew. Walker lowered Koga's form to the ground, while he gritted his teeth and held his abdomen. Nothing could stop the flow of blood coming out.

"Fuck, it hurts so bad!" Koga growled as his eyes rolled up into his head. Sango held her mouth as she gagged and made a run for the outside, so she wouldn't puke within their headquarters. I ran a hand frantically through my hair. I only had one choice. I picked up my phone.

"Kane, we have a man shot. He's in the old hood in Walker's territory. I need you to drive down here, quickly; he needs to go to a hospital." I said. Kane didn't ask any questions, didn't even hesitate. He agreed and hung up. That was Kane, he was raised with me. He reacted in a heartbeat, too. He was smart though, he never became involved with gangs.

"Your brother?" Walker raised an eyebrow. Everybody knew Kane. He was that guy who was always around to help everybody and he would, but if you tried to attack him he would fight. He was too strong for a gang. He didn't need protection. I nodded. Sango came back down looking sick and wiping her mouth. It was rather disgusting. He turned towards her, "Laura, show her the bathroom so she can rinse her mouth out and everything."

A thin girl, obviously suffering from drug addiction, frantically got up and led the girl elsewhere, twitching. I got on my knees next to the boy who was curled up in a ball on the floor. I sighed and swiped his bangs from out of his face. "I told you not to leave." I whispered before kissing his forehead and holding him to my chest. To my surprise he cuddled into the embrace, though he still held his bloody stomach (which was officially staining my jacket but thankfully not my cheerleading suit).

"Who knew you'd leave Xavier for somebody completely opposite the tracks from him?" Walker asked with a bemused smile on his face.

"Koga and I are not together. We stumbled upon each other when our friends decided to set us up on a date. Ironically, the girl didn't know about my gang-filled past and she just managed to set me up with a rival gang member. But he's in love with her and I'm in love with her boyfriend so we're definitely not right for each other." I explained.

"I say you two look just right for each other. But, then again, what do I know? I still haven't managed to find a girlfriend who isn't working for Xavier and doesn't want to slice my throat just to get his good blessings." Walker mumbled, though he couldn't quite seem to take his eyes off of me cradling Koga's head against me.

"It… hurts… so… bad!" He yelled as he kicked his feet.

"I know, I know." I soothed as I took out his ponytail holder stroked his hair.

My cell phone rang.

"I'm here."

Is all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream? – Poe