A/N: To those reading out there--yay for you. I really enjoy writing and I hope you all are enjoying reading, too. While I love to write, a little encouragement now and then is good for the ego, saavy?

Seriously, though, thank you for reading.

Just remember that I don't own deese guys so you no suey me, kk? Thanks.

Sango was a rational creature

Sango was a rational creature. She liked to be in control of a situation, to know who all the players were and what kind of a threat they may pose at any given time. Perhaps it was that which had originally attracted her to Miroku--the man was impossible to understand. She never knew what he was thinking beyond the next grope. While he infuriated her in that way, she still couldn't bring herself to dislike him. In all actuality, he was the only man she'd ever met that was able to keep her so unbalanced.

...And the fact that he could be absolutely adorable when he wanted something didn't hurt either.

Unfortunately for Sango, however, Miroku knew exactly what she was thinking. And he liked it that way. While spending years honing his lecherous persona, Miroku had come to accept that there were some things about him that others just couldn't understand. There were moments with Sango, though, where she came disturbingly close to seeing said things which had been so carefully hidden.

At this moment, however, Miroku couldn't decide how to react. Sango was home, even though her car wasn't. That was most unusual. Then, the lights were off. At first, he thought that perhaps she was still at work when she didn't answer after the first knock. Then he heard someone moving around inside the apartment.

He knocked again. He pressed his ear against the door to listen: fabric rustling... couch creaking... silence... and suddenly a solid and dull THUMP as bone contacted with something heavy and solid. He winced at the thought of the pain attached to the sound.

He knocked again, feeling slightly annoyed for some reason. This wasn't like her at all. Perhaps she stayed up too late and decided to take a nap after she got home from work? From experience Miroku knew better than to hurry Sango when she'd just woken up; but still... His inner mischief maker won over his common sense and he decided to tease her a little.

In a stroke of genius, he put on his most annoying voice--sounding like something out of a Disney musical, "My love? Whither thou be-ith?"

He heard Sango swearing under her breath and smiled softly to himself. He imagined her as she might be right now: shirt partially un-tucked... hair untidy and falling out of her usual ponytail. Her lovely eyes maybe haven't even been made up yet. Miroku considered himself somewhat of a purist. The less make-up, the better, so far as he was concerned. For some reason, though, his girlfriend always got embarrassed when he caught her without any make-up on.

He heard her trip again but this time the muffled noise was not feminine. Not at all. In fact, it sounded very much... masculine. As in... made by a man.

... Crap...

Sango had found her jeans lying on the floor, pinned underneath the still comatose Koga. Outside the door Miroku had gotten quiet. Good. That perv is probably imagining things right now in his dirty mind. That should buy me a little more time...

She tried pulling her pants by the legs from beneath the sleeping demon, but nothing doing. Now Sango wasn't weak by any means but a full grown man is a lot of meat. Heavy meat. She grunted and braced a foot against Koga's hip for leverage. Still the jeans wouldn't move. Finally she reversed her position. With her back to Koga, she pulled the free legs of the jeans through her legs until they were taut under the limp body. Then she pushed one foot against Koga's inert form and pulled the jeans with all of her might.

...Which seemed to be considerable when she saw Koga flip from his stomach to his back and off the couch to the floor where he once again tumbled from bottom to top. Even the wolf demon couldn't sleep through that. With each change in position he grunted, yelped and groaned more loudly.

By now Sango was in total panic. Wildly she jumped into her jeans, no longer caring if Koga made noise. Surely Miroku had already heard a man's voice and jump to conclusions. Quiet frankly Sango didn't even know if the conclusions were justified or not and that was the worst part.

As she desperately tried to finish tidying herself up, she heard a great sob from behind the door followed by the pathetic wail:

"SANGO, MY LOVE HOW COULD YOU BETRAY MEEEEEEEEEEE?!"

Inu Yasha was a solitary creature. He did not enjoy "hanging" around with others- human, hanyou, or demon. He was barely comfortable with himself for Pete's sake. So having this human girl with him was really not feeling right. He was short tempered and abrasive and he knew it. But Inu Yasha didn't mind. He'd always been prone to the path of self-destruction--and when you don't really like yourself to begin with, it doesn't seem such a bad path to be on.

It was weird enough for her just being so near to him but when you add on all the odd things about her... Like how he always caught her looking at him. At first it was kind of flattering. But now it was just annoying. And it was more than a little unnerving how well she played mind games with him. Sometimes she was such a child but still... there was something else... something almost like... an urge to protect her or something... Just thinking like that got him pissed off, though. Keh. Turning soft.

He didn't want her with him. Kagome was baggage that he didn't need right now. He needed to focus on putting a serious amount of road between New York City and Tetsuaiga. This trip was going to be plenty unpleasant enough without having to worry about some random chick that was infatuated with him.

And there were quite a few technical problems with the whole situation anyway.
1. This was technically a stolen car. It wasn't Kagome's--she had reminded him of that every time he went over 50 mph. If it wasn't his or Kagome's and they got pulled over, it could mean serious trouble. Not that he was worried about prison--its just that it would make it a whole lot easier for Fluffy and his goons to find him, take the sword and leave him to rot.
2. Technically he didn't have a license. So being pulled over was NOT an option. That meant that he had to play it safe with the speeding. And that meant that Jakken and the others were probably gaining on them. He wasn't about to let the girl drive! She didn't even know the way, for one thing. Besides, he wasn't ready to trust her yet. Sure he told her the story with the sword, but he hadn't really warned her about the people she was getting involved with...
3. They both were technically out of money; or would be the next time they filled the tank. They didn't have time to work their way to Las Vegas and she certainly didn't seem the kind who could pull off a decent con...

Oh yeah. This is gonna be great. Sunshine and butterflies. ...Shit...

Kagome was not a solitary creature. Nor was she particularly rational. She lived by her emotions and often took comfort in the presence of friendly faces. So being stuck with an arrogant, foul-mouthed, ill-mannered and self-absorbed piece of beef cake was like torture. Sure he was handsome, but so what? Like the truism says, never judge a book by its cover. She was scared right now and really needed someone to talk to, to take her mind off of things and just chill out with.

Instead she was with a hostile hanyou in her friend's car on a trip across the country to seek the protection of his ex-girlfriend/Mafia boss all-the-whilst being chased by his cutthroat brother's henchmen.

She shuddered at the thought of what she was doing right now. It was Saturday morning but something told her she wouldn't be ready for class on Monday. She was about to throw away her chance to study in America for a guy that was:
1. A stranger so far as she was concerned. It still felt odd to be around the same person for so long and in such a small space. And after she'd been in America for so long she thought she'd gotten used to being called by her first name by strangers. But for some reason hearing Inu Yasha call her by her name made her heart beat a little faster. Sure it wasn't often that he said it, but... maybe it was the fact that he was Japanese that made her feel so ...weird... about him using her first name already.
2. A hanyou--and an unstable one at that. She didn't know much about demons and hanyou other than that they were incredibly strong and they weren't entirely human. When she saw Inu Yasha transforming in the parking lot yesterday it reminded her that he really wasn't human. That didn't make him evil or beneath her or anything else like that--just different. …And potentially dangerous.
3. Incredibly attractive. It was starting to get annoying, actually. Pretty boys like Inu Yasha didn't have the same worries as pretty girls. Girls still had to worry about hair, make-up, clothes, etc, to better showcase their prettiness while boys just had to get out of bed every day. So. Not. Fair. Not that Kagome considered herself a "pretty girl". She wasn't ugly but she was no contest for some like Sango. She never put a lot of effort into her appearance and it never really bothered her until spending 36 hours in a car with Inu Yasha. She felt and looked like Death (and not warmed-over Death, oh no. More like Death left in the sun to rot.) –while he looked ready for a photo shoot.

Add to all this the fact that they were one bored cop away from being put in jail for driving without a license, carrying a weapon without a license, oh, and driving a stolen vehicle. Kagome knew that Sango was probably going crazy with worry/rage right about now. Another wave of guilt hit her. This was a really bad idea.

Kagome sighed quietly to herself and looked at the passing country outside her window for comfort. Her life was falling apart and turning into an "adventure" destined to end in prison or worse.

They had the windows rolled down and the sound of passing cars to fill the silence. Kagome felt the gentle rhythm of the wheels on the road rock her to sleep. Her head was resting against her right shoulder; her wavy black hair blown aside by the wind and her cheeks warmed by the sunlight.

Somehow, things still didn't seem so bad...

Kagome's mother was a worry-wart. It had been hard enough for her to let her only daughter leave home, much less the country to go to school. Kagome had always been a bright and determined child. She shone with confidence and a good nature that had made her many friends in school. Unfortunately, she also had a bit of a temper, a sharp tongue to match and a stubborn streak a mile wide. And so it was with these facts in mind that Mrs. Higurashi had been throwing anything male and between the ages of 18 and 35 at Kagome since she started college.

The last thing my child needs is more independence. She needs to learn to depend on someone else for once.

Mrs. Higurashi had high hopes when she first saw Kagome walking with a well-groomed young man when she was in high school. His name was Hojo and he came from your run of the mill family. His manners were impeccable. He was certainly cute enough to garner attention from many young ladies--just walking down the street girls would giggle as he passed their way.

There was just one tiny problem...

"...Nani? Kagome-san wa Bouston ni aimasenka?"

"... What? Am I not meeting Kagome in Boston?"

He may be sweet but this was NOT a bright child.

After she explained to Hojo that no, he was not supposed to be in Boston and told him to sit tight while she checked in with Kagome, she spent five minutes trying to compose herself. Kagome was a good girl. She should have said something if Hojo never arrived. Surely she could have figured out that he didn't fly to New York. Then why hadn't she called home?

When Kagome's phone went straight to voicemail, she began to go into full-blown panic. Something wasn't right. She could feel it. She dug through all her address books until she found the number for Kagome's roommate, Sango.

A million things were running through her mind but only one word came to her lips:

"…kuso…"

"…crap…"

Koga was a sound sleeper. But even the soundest sleeper will usually stir after tumbling suddenly from a warm place and landing on hard and cold ground. Add to that a piercing wail and nobody could still be asleep.

"SANGO, MY LOVE HOW COULD YOU BETRAY MEEEEEEEEEEE?!"

Koga's hands crept slowly in a vain effort to save his keen ears from the loud cry. He probably could've moved faster if he wasn't currently in a tangled heap on the floor. His head was still fuzzy as he tried to shake the remnants of sleep off. It'd been a while since he'd slept so soundly. He rubbed his ears gently and began a deep and luxurious yawn/stretch combo.

Unfortunately, his mind was still a few steps behind his hearing. He was only vaguely aware of the semi-dressed human woman dancing around him, trying to finish buttoning her jeans and smoothing her ruffled hair. She had a hair tie in her teeth while muttering to herself, "…shitshitshitshitshit…" as her hands moved swiftly behind her head to form a ponytail. As she finished tying her hair she ran to the door and hesitated only a moment before wincing and flinging the door open.

From his vantage point on the floor, it seemed to Koga that the hallway was empty. Apparently it looked the same to Sango, too, since she tentatively stuck her head out into the hall to inspect further. Koga's demon eyes were barely able to see the moment of shock before the voice from earlier returned, draping the corresponding body heavily around Sango's neck. Another pitiful wail resounded from the sobbing man. Koga once again found himself rubbing his ears.

Sagno let the poor man fall to the ground with a pained expression on her face.

"Miroku. Don't make this—"

Miroku whipped his head up to face the woman. "'Don't'? Don't?!"

Sango and Koga both stopped at the tone of his voice. Koga could only imagine what was really going on. This man called Miroku may have been acting like a fool before, but a wolf demon's nose knows when a man and woman have a shared scent. This was her boyfriend and he was really upset.

It was at this point that Koga realized why the boyfriend was so upset. A small "eek" escaped as he noticed he was somehow in his boxers in a woman's apartment. The events leading up to this moment suddenly swelled in his memory once more. Jumping to his feet he managed to stay vertical for long enough to catch the attention of the couple at the door.

"Where's my woman?!" he roared. He would have made a break for the door if his feet hadn't been tangled up in the blanket which had been previously covering him.

This was not going well. Not that Sango thought this would end in anything but disaster… Still, when Miroku looked at her like that… she was shocked. Shocked at how honest he looked and how hurt. And shocked at herself for feeling her heartbreak for making him give her that look.

And THEN! As if this wasn't hard enough, the half-naked demon suddenly 'wakes up' and decides to use the worst choice of words possible.

Just peachy. Now she had to explain to Miroku the whole story—hopefully with a fully dressed Koga to back her up. Except that Koga was already almost out the door and still half-naked. She tried to call out to stop him as her hand reached out to grab for his arm but was stopped by her boyfriend lunging out to grab her legs. Inertia being what it is, Sango (body in motion) was acted upon by an outside force (Miroku), thus stopping the motion but not the momentum. Koga was not really into physics so he was totally unprepared for when Sango crashed into him, knocking them both over and into the hallway with a screaming Miroku in tow.

At which point Miroku reached over Sango's exposed rear-end and began trying to flick Koga's ears. The first time he made contact Koga whelped in surprise and growled threateningly. Miroku's smile was vicious as he flicked and flicked again, all while Koga was twisting and turning to avoid Miroku's attacks. Sango, however, was quite literally stuck in the middle of all of this. After she got an elbow to her ribcage, she let out a bellow of rage.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!"

Both men flinched and froze as Sango untangled herself from between them. Miroku peeked first and tried to defend himself. All he got out was a pointed finger and a breath before Sango cut him off with a death glare. Koga obviously was planning on revenge instead of looking at the goddess of wrath now standing before him. He flicked Miroku's ear only to leave a bright red gash where his claw had struck. Whoops he thought to himself as Sango's screaming resumed.

"Okay, both of you just stop right there! You are both going to listen to me—without interruption—understood?"

Both boys lowered their heads submissively and answered in unison:

"Haiiii…"

"Yes, ma'am…"

Cold eyes locked the toad demon into a cold sweat. Jakken had never been called brave until he began working for Lord Sesshoumaru. Now anyone who knew him thought him very brave indeed. Stupid, but brave.

"What is our policy on tardiness?" A chilled voice came from the deep leather chair. Lord Sesshoumaru hadn't broken eye contact with his henchman since after he had bowed deeply in greeting to his boss and master.

A perky and high-pitched female voice popped into the frozen air between the two demons. For just a moment the icy eyes lost their intensity; just long enough to allow a small twitch of agitation.

Taking in a deep breath the woman began, "It says in the employee handbook, page 443, section 15: 'Boo-boos', clause 9, paragraph iii, sentence 2," she inhaled deeply to continue her barrage of bureaucracy.

Sesshoumaru lifted a finger and the woman halted in mid-breath. She looked expectantly at him. "Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"Rin. Did I not instruct you to personally revise the handbook this year?"

"Yessir, you did, my Lord! I know it ALLLLL by heart." She grinned impudently. "Why do you ask?"

He seemed irritated to even be saying it. "'Boo-boos'?"

She cocked her head to one side in confusion. "Uh-huh. You know, like you did something wrong: a boo-boo!" She was a human and drastically out of place in the office. She was dressed in a pink sundress, light and short-sleeved with a soft floral design. The shade complimented her creamy complexion and made her eyes an even deeper shade a brown. Her short black hair was curled impishly and the coils seemed to match her innate energy. From the top curl to her pink pumps, she was the perfect example of bubble-gum girly-girl. And she was surrounded by demons thousands of years old and wealthier than small countries.

And she didn't seem to mind in the least, unlike her boss.

Sesshoumaru's eye twitch again, more deeply. "…proceed."

Rin nodded smartly and began again the gigantic breath. "Punctuality is of great importance. Time is money. We lose time, we lose money." She looked at Sesshoumaru who nodded sharply and only once. Satisfied, Rin bowed deeply to excuse herself and headed towards the door.

"Jakken."

The toad flinched. He wasn't able to verbally respond but merely nodded and stepped a tiny bit forward in response to his summons.

"Jakken. Time and money I both have. It is the Tetsuaiga that I have assigned you to bring. Tell me, how much time and money do you have?"

The thinly veiled threat was not lost on Jakken. He swallowed hard. Before he could answer, his master answered himself. "Jakken. You must take the sword. I will have it or you will have nothing." The way the demon lord said the word 'nothing' spoke loudly of what would come if Jakken should dare to fail. Nothing. No money, no home, no possessions, no family, no friends, no joy, no pain, no tomorrow. Nothing. Lord Sesshoumaru had this power. "So, how much time and money do you have?"

Jakken swallowed painfully. "I-I I could perhaps have a better chance of success if I knew …where he was going, my Lord…?" He bowed again.

Sesshoumaru turned in his chair, letting warmth once more return to the toad. He thought only for a moment before a small muscle started to spasm at the corner of his mouth. If one didn't know the great Lord Sesshoumaru, they might be foolish enough to call it a smile…

"The puppy is running to the witch." He turned once more to face Jakken, now that the spasm was over. "Find Kikyo. There you shall find the mutt and my Father's sword."

Jakken bowed deeply and began to back away towards the door.

"Five."

Jakken nearly fell over at the abrupt command. "M-my Lord?"

He nearly fell in the opposite direction when Rin appeared from behind him and shoved a large briefcase towards him. "Five!" She repeated vapidly. When he still looked confused, she explained as one would to a child, "That's how many days you have."

He opened his mouth to protest at the short amount of time when once more the dog demon overrode him. "Time is money. You have in your hands five million dollars. Succeed and you will be paid five million per day." Jakken was beginning a foolish smile while calculating what kind of money that would be when his blood was once more stopped by a pair of unyielding gold eyes. "Remember, failure will yield your destruction. Your time begins at midnight."

At that, Rin pulled and pushed the terrified demon out of the office and closed the door.

Inu Yasha shivered suddenly.

Kagome looked over lazily. "What, is the AC too high?"

He rubbed a clawed hand over the back of his neck. "Nah. Just a chill."

"Speaking of chills, I need one. Badly."

Inu Yasha paused and re-ran the past few lines through his head. "No, sorry, you lost me."

Kagome sighed theatrically. "Look. We've been driving almost non-stop since New York. I haven't showered or changed close in 48 hours. My cell phone is dead and I haven't had a decent meal since yesterday morning. I. Need. To. Chill. Wakarimasuka? Understand?"

"Oi. I didn't ask you to come, alright. This has nothing to do with you. You are just some clingy chick who drools over me and won't take a hint and beat it!"

"Oh, really nice. You know what's funny. YOU DIDN'T ASK ME TO COME. Actually, it is more like you kidnapped me. You're dragging me and my best friend's car across the country running from these bad guys that your brother 'Fluffy' has sent after that stupid chunk of metal in the back seat. I'm helping to pay for food and gas and trying to be good company while you are being a royal jerk." Kagome was particularly proud of the fact that all this was said in a clinical and calm manner. She kept her eyes forward and her face unreadable as possible.

Inu Yasha looked at her a few times before swearing softly to himself and exiting the highway. He saw her trying to not react, and caught himself smiling at it. She was trying to keep her face impassive, but her neck was craning and her eyes searching to see where he was taking them.

They turned and turned again, over and over until Kagome thought perhaps he'd finally lost it and had gone senile. The sudden image inspired by that thought was of an ancient and wrinkled Inu Yasha chomping his gums together and looking for his dentures was quite amusing.

Finally they pulled into the parking lot of a solitary motel. It was fairly new, on the edge of the city and in an area that was obviously still being developed. The only other building within eyeshot was a gas station about a quarter of a mile away.

By now the sun had set and a comfortable darkness was easing over the parking lot as Kagome silently followed the hanyou into the lobby of the motel. He obviously didn't feel like talking, and since the ball was in his court Kagome decided to be patient for a little bit longer.

While he was in line to check in, Kagome remembered the sword was still in the car. They didn't have any other luggage to speak of, but she figured maybe keeping the tetsa-whozit with them at all times might be a good idea.

Out in the parking lot the air was cool and fresh. The smell of wet grass reminded her of summers back in Japan and she was smiling as she went to open the back door to Sango's car. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she almost didn't notice the movement.

Her eyes had barely noticed something moving out there, in the dark. They were parked on the side of the motel. Most of the room lights were already off and the only light she had to see by was the single lamp of the parking lot and a sliver of moon. But she had seen something. She froze and felt the hair raise on the back of her neck. She wasn't exactly a chicken but her imagination had been known to get the better of her every once in a while…

Then she saw. The last window, bottom floor. All the lights were off in the room but she could see the shadows cast against a figure as they drew the drapes aside. She saw a small red dot from a cigarette as it was inhaled and felt her knees buckle when she realized that this person was looking right at her.

Her heart immediately began hammering inside of her chest; it felt as if it was trying to break out and run away by itself, since she couldn't move. Forcing a deep breath, she tried to act casual as she pretended to "hear" someone calling her. She turned and waved, pretending to not be alone. Slamming the door shut she plastered a smile across her face and ran all the way back to the lobby of the motel where Inu Yasha had just finished checking in. He was turning to leave the counter when Kagome plowed into him, panting and jabbering in a mild state of hysteria.

"Oi! What is it?" Inu Yasha seemed disturbed and almost intrigued by what could have freaked out the girl so much. "What's the matter? Is the boogey man out there? Keh. Didn't think you were afraid of the dark."

Kagome was still panting so she calmly reached up with both hands and took one fuzzy ear in each. As she pulled them down to her height, the cocky smile was replaced by one of pain. She put the fake smile back on for effect as she gritted out between her teeth. "I went to get the stupid sword out of the damn car. There was someone sitting in a dark room, smoking a cigarette and watching me. Get it now?" Disgustedly she threw her hands down and to the side, sending the hanyou off-balance and nearly to the ground.

"Wait a minute. I thought you went to get the sword. Where is Tetsuaiga?"

She slowly turned and sent him a level stare daring him to say anything. "Let's go get it, shall we?" She said each word deliberately, hoping he would catch the warning. When she saw that his ears were pressed flat against his head in response, she turned without further ado and they marched back into the night.

"For the last time: N-O-T-H-I-N-G H-A-P-P-E-N-E-D." Sango had administered first aid to the boys and herself while trying to explain to Miroku that the real problem was that Kagome was still missing. As was Sango's car. She turned her back to the sulking pair as she started making breakfast.

Miroku still had a martyred expression between throwing dirty looks at the wolf demon, but wasn't so foolish as to argue with his girlfriend at the moment. He was working on timing sticking out his tongue at Koga while he wasn't looking when Sango caught him. Literally.

"AGK! Thweede, peez et o ob 'aye 'ongue…"

"You are so childish!"

Despite the humiliation of having his tongue between a pair of tongs, he was quite impressed at what a firm grip she had. Whatta woman! He thought, once more overcome by her beauty and deadly skill with cooking utensils.

As she began slowly twisting the tongs, the moment was shattered by a muffled vibration coming from Sango's back end. Muttering to herself she threw the tongs into the sink and turned on the hot water as she took her cell phone out of her back pocket.

"Moshi mosh—"

"Hello—"

"SANGO-CHAN!! DOKO…KAGOME-CHAN WA DOOOOKO?!"

"SANGO!! WHERE… WHERE IS MY KAGOME?!"

--

Jakken closed the door and sat for a moment in the darkness. This was not going to be easy. Oh, sure, finding the Master's half-brother would be a breeze. It was what happened between finding Inu Yasha and returning the sword to Lord Sesshoumaru that was unclear to the toad. Inu Yasha was nearly as unscrupulous as his brother in many ways—what made Inu Yasha dangerous was his connections. He knew how to work the less glamorous side of the ah, "business" world.

He looked again to his watch. 11:59pm. He was going to have to call in a professional. Short notice meant more money, though. Five million may sound like a lot to the average schmuck, but Jakken had worked for Lord Sesshoumaru long enough to understand that the demon lord lived in an entirely different world than everyone else. Jakken would be lucky to find a decent demon to track down the sword for less than 10 million, much less five!

Midnight. Only 120 hours left.

A/N: Tee hee! And the count-down begins! Hopefully this will force me to wrap up this freaking thing before 20 chapters... --;;

Let me know what you think!