Undercover Wife

Chapter Five: Underlying Motivations

Inuyasha was summoned away by the Empress as Miroku and Sango continued their tutelage in prepping Kagome to become Lady Jiang. Kagome was becoming exhausted, and it was an understatement to say she was having major doubts if she could pull this off. Not even Sesshoumaru's odd moment of comfort sated her rocky nerves, and things only worsened when it became more of a reality, and the Empress sent more helpers to her new room to prepare her new look, drown her in masking scents, and help her learn how to walk dignified, at least with Sango's help, walk like the former Lady Jiang.

Kagome stood in front of a fully length mirror, and after hours of primping with new makeup, clothes and Lady Jiang's trademark hairstyle, she barely even recognized herself, and she stared in awe on how closely she was starting to look like the late princess. She was pulled out of her frozen thoughts when Miroku told her to look snottier and meaner, and Sango chuckled beside them as she rubbed more masking oils into her perspiring skin.

"I think you'll fool everyone, but you must be careful. There are a couple people we may have to look out for," Miroku said, his hand on her rear to straighten her posture, though the grin on his face indicated he was enjoying this far too much, as Sango threw him a few warning glares. Kagome began to watch them, realizing they were more than just agents together.

"Yes, the one person you'll need to fool more than anyone is Lady Jiang's uncle. Her parents, of course, have passed away, so he rules Fang Commonwealth now, but he's getting up in age and is eager to marry his niece off to secure the country of new ruling blood. Still, his scent is more in tuned with Lady's Jiang's because they are related; plus he's known her since birth, so even the slightest oddity in her behavior may make him suspicious," Sango explained, stepping back after she applied the last of the oils onto Kagome's skin. Kagome sighed a little in relief now that the oils were finally drying. She couldn't smell anything else but sandalwood, and she almost wanted to sneeze.

"We may have one thing to our advantage," Miroku said, turning to Sango. "The Lady Jiang and her uncle the Emperor were never on good terms. He is a kind, gentle man, and he doesn't know much about the dealings going on in his parliament. Many of his parliament and cabinet want to overthrow him. Lady Jiang has made several backdoor deals with them. She's been mostly in the background, but she has a hand in almost every conspiracy going on against the Emperor."

Sango winced. "Yes, he started to suspect something right before Sesshoumaru's marriage proposal. I think the publicity of the arranged marriage has distracted him somewhat on her involvement, especially her ties to the drug wars."

Miroku nodded. "Lady Jiang was a known methadone user. Though it isn't as potent to hurt youkai, the drug causes a more dangerous effect for them." He paused and Kagome stared at them with wide eyes as the two agents exchanged glances. "It's seldom known but the drug increases a youkai's ability. It makes them super strong, and for certain demons, like wolf demons, make them pretty much bullet proof. Lady Jiang's special side effect was super speed. She was addicted to it, so she got more involved in making and selling the drug."

Kagome gaped. "So, it's worse than Sesshoumaru thought," she said. "Why are you telling me this?"

Miroku and Sango looked at her with solemn expressions, but Sango spoke first. "We don't know how long the Empress plans to have you stand in for Lady Jiang, but it may be long enough where you'll be exposed to the dealings, and several of her contacts may try to reach you. We'll have to work that out with the Empress, but you must have fair warning about just exactly Lady Jiang was a part of."

"Not only that, but one of Lady's Jiang's drug lord rivals was Naraku, who was also her former lover. She knew things about him that even we don't know," Miroku said. "We'll brief Sesshoumaru on it, of course, but you must be aware of the danger this role entails."

Kagome swallowed hard. "I really don't have a choice, do I?" Kagome bit her lip, but then she got an idea. "You said Naraku was her former lover, right? So there's no way he'd try to contact me. They're done, and I'll try to make excuse to avoid any drug deals, and I'm sure Sesshoumaru will help me on this."

Sango shook her head. "We hope it's that easy, but Naraku is the jealous type. He's already made it known he's not happy with the arranged marriage, and Miroku and I have heard from our sources that he may even try to crash the wedding. He still wants Lady Jiang, for her name, her riches, and more than anything, her ties to the drug ring. He's pretty powerful himself, but he doesn't always have the funds. Lady Jiang was a goldmine for him, and it was against his choice that she broke things off with him. He's been trying to get back with her since the first day she told him things were over."

Kagome thought she was going to faint, so she walked over to lean onto a table. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath; she almost wished Inuyasha was here. She perked up when she heard footsteps behind her, but she felt wilted when she met Sesshoumaru's golden eyes.

"She looks near perfect," he said with a sniff. "And I can no longer smell the human on her."

"Well, I rubbed her raw with that oil you gave us," Sango said. "And once Kagome learns to scowl and frown more, I think we'll have the look down perfectly."

"So do I smell like a demon now?" Kagome asked Sesshoumaru as he continued to sniff her and then backed up. Their eyes met, and Kagome felt a wave of unease as he inspected her.

"Not at all. The sandalwood mixture is masking the human scent. My mother's top chemists are concocting the demon scent to match Lady Jiang's now. I doubt it will perfectly smell like her, but with the time we have, it is good enough," Sesshoumaru said, circling around Kagome like she was an art piece, not a person. Kagome pursed her lips.

"We were just telling Kagome-sama about Emperor Fang and Naraku," Miroku said, and Kagome watched Sesshoumaru's lip curl at the mention of the latter name, and Kagome found that curious.

"Of course, teach her as much as you can, and I will fill in the rest," Sesshoumaru said, and Miroku and Sango nodded.

"So you know this Naraku guy," Kagome blurted, wondering if she should have brought him up for a later time. The more she knew about him the better, and quickly too.

Suddenly, Sesshoumaru's demeanor changed. His eyes narrowed, and she watched him as she could see a memory wash over his usually impassive face. "He is a formidable drug lord. We've had problems with him here, as well as with our Japanese allies. It's no question his origin is of Fang Commonwealth, and we've always suspected his tie to Lady Jiang was the reason he was able to get into our country so easily. I have crossed paths with him once," he said and Kagome watched him pause, his teeth grinding. "His ambush scarred my arm so badly I have permanent nerve damage."

Kagome watched as Sesshoumaru quickly unbuttoned his dress shirt and showed her the scar on his left arm. She gasped, and she pushed back her desire to trace her finger over the damaged, gnarled skin, so out of place when the rest of Sesshoumaru was so smooth and perfect.

Sesshoumaru cleared his throat, and quickly he buttoned up his shirt and met Kagome's curious eyes. "If I see this Naraku ever again, I will kill him. Let me assure you, I will have no regard for Lady Jiang's country, this ridiculous rouse, or politics. He deserves to die, and I have been hunting him a long time."

"Surely you don't buy into the rumors, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Miroku chimed in, breaking apart the unusual spark that had flared up between her and Sesshoumaru. Both turned to meet the agent's violet eyes. "You really believe Naraku is the famed Shikon Jewel?"

"I have no tangible proof, but my intuition says otherwise, and that is all I need." Kagome watched his eyes for a moment, so full of fire and vengeance.

She spoke up, remembering that Miroku and Sango believed Naraku would come to find her here. "You may not have to hunt him any longer. Miroku-san and Sango-san say that Naraku is still in love with Lady Jiang, and he will probably come to sabotage the marriage." She shuddered at the thought of seeing Sesshoumaru rise to his full anger and attack Naraku. War would be inevitable, and she would be relieved at being free to not play this role as Lady Jiang. However, was war with another country and the lives of others worth Sesshoumaru's vengeance?

Strangely enough, Sesshoumaru looked down at her with a terrifying smile she'd never seen before. He was cooking up a plan in his head from this news, and she knew that she'd be part of it. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru was seeing this charade to marry a doppelganger Lady Jiang as beneficial to him.

Kagome doubted that he was against this idea now. In order to bring Naraku out of hiding and up to his doorstep, he would need her, and confrontation would be more than immanent. Even worse for her, she'd have to play this role, and she'd know that Sesshoumaru, as adamant as he'd been before, would no longer be against getting close to her.

She wondered just how far he would play his part, and how much he'd really be enjoying it.