AN: New KK, yay!!!!! This one's alllllll mine. Let me know how I did!
Disclaimer: We do not own Inuyasha and we are making no money off this
"Where do you think Miroku is? It's been fifteen minutes." Kagome asked, glancing at the watch she had hidden away in one of her sleeves.
Sango rolled her eyes, absently balancing a kid on her hip. "Who knows, though he did almost choke on his soda just now." she shrugged, not overly concerned. "Mind hunting him down and breaking his neck for me? I can watch the kids."
"Oh I'll take care of him for you, don't worry." She responded looking as tough as she could, which was not very. She smiled gratefully, knowing Sango was subtlety telling her to go take a break, though she really could break his neck if she was serious.
"You're just sweet as sugar you know that?" Sango said, rolling her eyes before turning back to the kids. "Alright, enough story time kids, now do you want to see how a slayer would have taken care of those demons? And trust me, it's not by tripping down a hill." Sango asked the kids as she placed a hand instinctively on the sword by her side.
The kids cheered and the child Kagome had been holding squirmed out of her arms, running after the group following Sango back to her battle field, hanging on her every word as she described exactly how a slayer would disable the demons. "First I would use poison gas, making sure to wear my mask first and…" Sango's voice carried back to Kagome even with the sound of the festival trying to drown her out.
Kagome sighed, stretching to try to work some of the kinks out. It would be a long three days if she was already wiped out after a few hours.
"Hey, move it!" a feminine voice snapped as she pushed her way through the crowd. Kagome wince with the realization that everything she had been avoiding since that day in her office was finally coming to haunt her.
Ayame stomped her way out of the crowd before stopping just in front of Kagome, fists on her hips and her eyes glaring. "Kagome Higurashi" she gritted out from between her teeth. "Where. The. Hell. Have. You. Been?"
Kagome nervously tucked her hands into her sleeves, trying to calculate how far away the closest exit was and if she would have a chance to reach it before the pissed off red head caught her. If it was possible Ayame's frown deepened, as if daring her to try and run….so that was probably no on the escape plan. "Ummm, what are you talking about? I've been around-"
"Ok then why have you been avoiding me a week? I must have sent you twenty emails, called you a gazillion times and every time I tried to come over you were 'busy'. What's going on?" Ayame demanded.
Kagome glanced away guiltily. "I'm really sorry Ayame." she told her, unwanted thoughts bubbling up from where she had refused to acknowledge them. The well. The curse. That damned book. She rubbed her forehead, suddenly feeling tired and weary. "I shouldn't have ignored you because of my own problems. I'm on break do you want to go talk-" Kagome's phone buzzed, interrupting her peace offering though she could see Ayame was softening already. She flipped her screen open, a text message from her mother blaring:
SUM1 AROUND WELL. GO CHECK IT OUT
Kagome frowned, annoyed by the request and her mother's use of text speak. "Mom thinks someone's lurking around the well, want to go chase them out with me? It's private so we can talk to."
"Sure." Ayame said, easily falling into step next to her. "What happened anyway? Sango told me something about it being destroyed, but she didn't elaborate."
Kagome tucked the phone away, glad for the company even if she really didn't want to go back to the well. "We're still not really sure ourselves. When Gramps went to go sweep the leaves up, he found the well and the hut that covered it looking like someone had set a bomb off inside, though the police couldn't find any traces of explosives. Everyone's clueless on how it could have happened." Kagome explained, the noise and music of the festival fading with each step they took.
"We don't have the money to reconstruct it, so we'll probably have to bulldoze the remains, but we've got the government jumping down our throats about that too since the well's a historical site." Kagome let out a disgusted noise.
"It was that old?"
Kagome nodded, her long hakama swishing across the leaves that covered the courtyard more thickly. "It was more than 500 years old, it's actually older than the temple."
Kagome's stomach tightened when the charred and burnt remains of one of her temple's greatest treasures came into view sight. The well house had huge portions of the walls gutted out and the stairs, two of the walls and most of the roof ripped away. The well itself had only a few planks left, black ash blasted onto the dark wood so deep it could never be washed off.
"Damn. And the police couldn't find anything that caused it?" Ayame asked, shocked.
Kagome shook her hand, scanning for any figures that was loitering around the building. "Not one thing. No fire, bomb, or chemical did this."
"I don't see anyone." Kagome decided after a moment of looking around. "Mom must have been seeing things."
Ayame nodded, agreeing with her. "So anyway, I don't have anything quite as dramatic as your well mysteriously exploding, but I do think I found out something about that jewel."
Kagome's hand played with the jewel at her neck, rolling the little gem between her thumb and forefinger. "Ok." she said cautiously. "Shoot"
"Thank you, I think I will." Ayame cleared her throat. "So I've been going crazy researching the jewel you found since I was pissed off I couldn't identify it and because I promised you I would, despite the fact you didn't follow through on your promise to listen to my conclusion-"
Kagome frowned, "I never promised to listen." she argued.
Ayame gave her a look. "We're friends. You're automatically honor bound to listen to anything and everything I say, even if I'm ranting about how green the sky is today or how purple the sun is. Anyway, I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what this jewel could possibly be. And I have one, very solid theory: I have no idea."
Kagome blinked in confusion. "What?"
Ayame sighed and raked her red hair across her head. "I've researched every single jewel known to mankind and I've found a few that come close but none of them are enough like this one, there's always something off about them." her brow furrowed thoughtfully. "I mean, we may as well assume that you discovered some new type of gem but..." she shook her head, trailing off. "I dunno, there's just something about this rock that's got my gut screaming."
The jewel...gem...rock...whatever, rolled between Kagome's fingers as she toyed with it. "Is it something manmade?"
"I thought that but it doesn't have any marks or signs that it was made by machine or even by hand. It's just to smooth, kind of like a river rock that's been in the water for hundreds of years, and it's perfectly round, something almost impossible to accomplish. This gem has really got me stumped. But that wasn't the most important thing I wanted to tell you."
"There's more?"
Ayame looked irritated. "Do you really think I sent you twenty emails just to tell you I didn't know what your rock is?" Her face lost the glower as her eyes rested on the purple stone peeking out through Kagome's fingers. "I was talked to a few people in the business, some sources I sometimes use when I get particularly difficult custom order. Apparently there were two buyers that have been asking about a jewel described as very, very similar to yours. Sesshomaru Taisho and Naraku Yamato."
Her eyes widened. "Oh wow, Taisho is that insanely rich guy right? I haven't heard of Yamato though."
Ayame shifted uncomfortably. "He's not as well known as Taisho but he's insanely rich. And...well I haven't heard very nice things about him. He's one of those guys who's probably heavily involved in the dark side of business but no one's ever been able to pin anything on him. It just really worries me that he's looking for a jewel that sounds like the one you have. I just want you to be careful."
Kagome titled her head, "Are you sure you're not being a little over dramatic Ayame? How bad could he be-"
"Bad." Ayame interrupted, her eyes haunted. "Just don't go flashing it around, ok?"
Kagome studied her before nodding. "Of course. I'll be careful. I'll even promise."
The strange look on Ayame's face was quickly replaced by relief. "Thanks Kag. You're probably right, I bet I am being dumb-"
Crunch...Crunch...Crunch
Both girls jumped at the sound of rustling leaves, their hearts suddenly pounding. "What was that? Is someone coming Kagome?" Ayame whispered.
Kagome instinctively made a grab for the bow across her shoulder only to remember it wasn't there. "Shh for a minute." Kagome ordered, trying to peer into the darkness.
Scarppppppppppp. Scarpppppppppp. Scarppppppppppppp.
Grabbing Ayame's wrist, Kagome pulled her towards the well house and forced her to crouch down next to her as she peeked over the wall at the figure that was slowly become more visible as he walked strangely towards them, dragging something behind him.
Kagome's hands groped the ground until she found two thick pieces of wood. She handed the one piece to Ayame and motioned her to wait. Ayame nodded, understanding Kagome's silent cue.
The figure got closer, but his/her features still weren't clearly visible as he stopped beside the destroyed structure, looking around.
Quietly, Kagome and Ayame crept along the side of what was left of the wall, coming so close to the stranger they could almost hear him breath.
Kagome held up her hand as Ayame held the wood above her head. Three...
The stranger shuffled, scratching his head curiously.
Two...
Ayame clutched the wood tighter.
One...
"ARRRRRRRR!!!!" Ayame as she rushed out of the shadows, the wood flying down onto the man's shoulder.
And Hojo fell to the ground, arms flaying, his scream of pain almost louder then Ayame's battle-cry.
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Inuyasha passed up the sidewalks, preferring to leap across the rooftops as he made his way across town, the moonlight lighting his path like beacons. He didn't hear the slap of his feet, couldn't feel his blood rushing fast through his veins, and never noticed how hard his heart was pounding, both in exertion and in anticipation of the hunt. His entire focus was centered on only one purpose: to find that woman.
He could curse himself for letting her go the first time. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
His leap from the building was unusually graceful as he landed crouched in front of the stairs Miroku had promised would lead him to the festival and to the woman. He licked his lips hungrily as he slowly rose, remembering how she tasted. And how sweet she would taste again now that he had finally found her.
And of course it would be all the better with the jewel clutched tight in his palm.
...or maybe safely in his pocket, since he had other plans for his hands.
He stalked up the stairs, not feeling the strain as he got closer and closer. He closed his eyes and breathed deep, desperately needing to feel her scent tease him. His entire body was tense and almost trembling, primed to chase her down as soon as he let himself go.
There
Inuyasha's lips lifted, baring his teeth predatorily rather then in a smile as her scent just barely filtered through his senses.
She was his.
Flying up the remainder of the steps, he moved without thinking, every inch of his being targeted towards finding her. Her scent grew stronger as he ran, not noticing the wide berth the rest of the festivals revelers gave him, or the dark look that crossed some of the warriors faces.
Vanilla and cinnamon led him past the celebration and to a secluded part of the festival. He nearly growled in pleasure at the thought of having her all to himself, only to nearly gag at the female and the...male scent that dirtied hers. She didn't know it yet, but that male was definitely something he wouldn't allow.
His superior hearing twitched as he picked up conversation and he forced himself to slow down when everything in him was screaming to go faster.
"...I'm really, really sorry. We thought you were a creep...you know what, I'm not sorry! What the hell are you doing creeping around at night?!"
"Ayame! Hojo I'm sorry, how's your shoulder?" the woman's voice drifted over to him.
The demon inside him clamored for release. This was it. He had found her. She was his.
Having a lock on her now he leisurely walked towards her, not wanting to scare her by snatching her up without a word. He wanted the transition from here back to his home to be as smooth as possible.
"Oh Kagome it hurts." a male's whiny voice cut through Inuyasha's calm. He sniffed. "The chair is for you by the way."
"Is it? Um, thank you, it's a...that isn't a birthing chair is it Hojo?"
"It isn't only handy with pregnancy Kagome! It's also a excellent way to relieve back pain!"
"...er..."
Inuyasha quickened his pace. There was nothing wrong with a little fear was there? Hell, it might add spice and make a great 'how-we-met' story for their children one day.
He smirked when the woman stiffened her spine as soon as she was aware of him. "Hello?" she called out cautiously.
Inuyasha stepped closer, delighting in her gasp and the shock on her pretty face as she finally noticed him. "Hey babe. Told ya I'd be back."
His smirk faded though when he noticed the Sacred Jewel tucked tight around her throat.
And some bastard's hand on her body….