Chapter 8: The Burning Spider.
Kagome watched her two daughters get ready in the large family bathroom. She loved how both acted so naturally after all the horror that had happened to them. Izaoi's father, her biological father was a horrible man who would have killed anyone to get back at her and Izaoi. If Kagome had met her daughters on the street she'd have guess they came from separate fathers. Tip-toeing back down the stairs Kagome decided to keep the news she had for another time. Her daughters were at peace and Inuyasha, well, he was being himself.
Protective and loving to her and their family.
Kagome knew the search for Renkotsu yielded nothing so far. Kagome worried about Kyoko and his meeting in the future. She worried about what the young man would do to her daughter should no one else be there to help her. The thought of Kyoko in more danger with Renkotsu loose made her skin prickle with the familiar sense of dread. Inuyasha and Koga had made a peace-treaty in order to come up with a plan with Sesshomaru and Miroku on how to protect Kyoko without her knowing it. Kagome had gotten Kyoko and Izaoi to start carrying cans of pepper spray as a form of protection should they be attacked. It had been difficult but made her feel a little bit better in letting her two girls leave the house.
Walking to the kitchen Kagome shuffled through her refrigerator for sushi and strawberry frosting. Kagome knew she was with child when she began craving strawberry covered sushi once again. During her first two pregnancies, she had eaten the strawberry sushi almost nightly. The taste somehow soothing to the horrible nausea she's get. Seating herself at the table Kagome began to eat the sushi like she used to.
"MOM! There's a package for you!" Kyoko shouted from the front door.
"We'd open it for you but we're late for our date!" Izaoi said shoving her sister out the door. "It's on the vanity mirror stand!" Izaoi added before the door slammed shut before Kagome could tell her not to slam it. Cringing Kagome sighed and waited a few minutes before deciding to stand up and check her package. She hadn't remembered hearing the door bell ring or a knock at all that day. Yuna, the mail lady, usually always left a note instead of the package in order to keep it safe if she didn't answer the door.
Sweeping her hair into a messy ponytail Kagome made her way to the front door and her package. Sighing at her own image Kagome lifted the package and marveled at the weight of the package. It was small and rectangular, something a bottle of wine would come in or a few roses from a lover. Curious Kagome looked at the sender section and stared at it for a second.
"Who is Runi Maaka?" Kagome mused aloud before taking the box into the kitchen and sat down with it. She didn't have any relatives named Runi and as far as she knew neither did Inuyasha. Runi seemed so familiar to her some how. A nickname she gave someone long ago? She couldn't remember but maybe it was an old friend sending something she might have forgotten. But that didn't really make any sense, why wait some sixteen years later to send it unless they just now found it.
"Possibly." Kagome murmured taking off the brown wrappings to see a plain white box with a large red bow. Tilting her head to the side Kagome pulled one end of the ribbon and slowly removed the ribbon from the box leaving it completely bare. Studying the box Kagome debated opening the box fully. She knew something wasn't right with the box, something about it gave off a bad vibe that made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
Rubbing the back of her neck, Kagome rested her free hand on the box. The feeling of death loomed around the box now that she tried to sense out the eerie feeling. Pushing the box away from her Kagome stood up and walked to the hallway phone. Picking it up Kagome dialed Inuyasha's cell phone number and waited as it rang three time before his voice came over the speaker.
"Is everything okay?" Inuyasha asked instantly.
"I can't just call to say I love you?" Kagome asked innocently.
"Kagome, I know you, you wouldn't call unless you're worried about something." Inuyasha replied seriously. Kagome sighed.
"I got a package today. The sender's name is Runi Maaka. The only thing is, I don't know anyone named Runi Maaka. I thought maybe it was someone for your family that you've forgotten about." Kagome prodded softly. Could someone from Inuyasha's family or past send a box of death?
"No, I don't know any Runi Maaka." He paused on the phone and Kagome felt something dawning on her husband.
"What is it?" Kagome asked unsure she wanted an answer.
"Maaka is Naraku's mother's maiden name. I think her name is Runi Maaka, but I heard she had died several years before you and he had met." Inuyasha said as dread filled Kagome's body. Naraku had mentioned his mother once when they were first dating. She died of breast cancer five years before they had met.
"She died of breast cancer five years before we met." Kagome confirmed. Her body felt numb and cold as she looked at the box again. Death was in that box, but she didn't know who's or what's death was in the box.
"Kagome, don't touch the box anymore. I'm going to call the cops and come home with Sesshomaru." Inuyasha ordered his voice slightly panicked. Kagome didn't plan on touching the box anymore, she didn't want death on her hands. "Where are the girls?" Inuyasha asked quickly.
"Double date. They had left about a half hour ago. Yosuke and Bankotsu are with them. They won't let any harm come to the girls." Kagome replied hoping it was true. She didn't know much about Bankotsu but she knew Yosuke would fight until his last breath left his body to protect her daughters. Kagome had always admired that quality in Koga that had passed down to his son.
"Call them and make sure they're okay. If this is from Naraku's family, who ever it is maybe trying to seek revenge for what happened to him." Inuyasha suggested quickly, Kagome could hear other male voices in the background but couldn't make out what they were talking about.
"Is that Sesshomaru and Koga?" Kagome asked.
"Yeah, Koga just showed up and said he'd go keep an eye on the kids just in case someone is planning on hurting them." Inuyasha answered knowing Kagome needed some reassurance.
"Okay, let me text the girls." Kagome whispered picking up her cell phone and text Izaoi. Waiting a few seconds Kagome smiled softly at the phone. "She says they're at the movies watching a horror movie. Bankotsu and Yosuke have her and Kyoko between them." Kagome told Inuyasha giving him the name of the movie theater and movie title. "Tell Koga thank you for me, and hurry home." Kagome added needing to gather herself before seeing anyone. She knew Inuyasha had called the police to investigate the origins of the box and to see what the box held inside.
The ten minute wait seemed to take an hour. Kagome had washed and re-washed dishes before getting something to settle her uneasy stomach. The feeling that she needed to vomit up most in her mind when she sat down on the bar stool. She couldn't just sit down and wait, she could never just sit and wait. Her legs bounced when she tried to calm down and just wait. Fears that someone wanted to hurt her and her family bounced around in her head, unable to stay concentrated on one idea of safety before shooting to something more sinister and evil.
Naraku's voice haunted her thoughts the last stretch before Inuyasha arrived home with Sesshomaru and Miroku in tow. She had never told Inuyasha that Naraku had called the house when Kyoko was three years old. Kagome hadn't been feeling well and Kyoko had answered the phone like she had been asked too. The cordless phone looked so large compared to Kyoko's size as she came to Kagome talking to someone Kagome had wished her daughter would never be touched by.
"No, Mommy's right here. She's not feeling well right now." Kyoko told the unknown caller. Kyoko shook her head no before answering the caller. "No, my sister is in school right now. She'll be home later and then we'll play games and she'll teaching me the song again." Kagome smiled at her daughter's intelligent answers. Both girls had been blessed with high brain functions and quick wits. "I don't know, Papa Inu is Iza's daddy." Kyoko replied as tears filled her eyes. "I'm not lying! Momma and Papa even said so! Iza said he was a bad uncle! I'm not lying!" Kyoko wailed into her phone before looking at her mother for help. "Mommy! He'll yelling at me! He says I'm lying!" Kyoko cried when Kagome grabbed the phone and listened to the voice shouting a string of curses at her three year old.
"Naraku! You bastard, how dare you yell at my daughter! The judge said you cannot contact my family ever again!" Kagome shouted into the phone before hitting the end talk button and grabbed up Kyoko. "It's okay baby, it's okay That was just a bad man that doesn't like Mommy and Daddy because we put him where he belongs." Kagome cooed to Kyoko before having the girl promise never to tell Inuyasha about the phone call.
Kagome hung her head, she should have told Inuyasha about the phone call. She should have told him at least.
"Kagome, honey, how are you feeling?" Inuyasha asked seeking Kagome out when he entered the house. Kagome stood with her arms open and wrapped them around Inuyasha.
"Why Inuyasha, why?" Kagome asked sadly. Her gray-blue eyes larger than normal. Inuyasha kissed the top of her head as three police officers were escorted into the kitchen by Miroku and Sesshomaru.
"Inuyasha, Kagome." Chief Ken Ryuu greeted taking his hat off and bowing. Ken had handled the case on the police end with Naraku. "These are Officers Mika Hitsugaya and Officer Mutsumi Kai. How are you feeling Kagome?" Ken asked.
"Shaken. Have you checked on Naraku lately?" Kagome replied worried.
"Still in isolation. He doesn't get along with the other inmates and so get's in fights. He's not getting out any time soon. And he hasn't sent out any packages." Ken answered honestly. "Is this the box?" he asked looking at the white rectangle.
"Yes, I don't have very strong psychic abilities but I can feel death from that box, and Runi Maaka is the name of Naraku's mother." Kagome said stepping with Ken to the table. "I haven't opened the box, but the ribbon and the wrapping the box came in is right here. One or both of my daughters touched the box too." Kagome added quickly hoping that if they dusted for prints they wouldn't try to pin any sinister plan on them. "But it was only the outside wrapping, not the ribbon or the actual box."
"Got it." Ken murmured slipping gloves on as the other two took down notes and taking photos of the box, wrapping, and ribbon. Ken spoke quietly with his co-workers as they worked slowly to collect evidence from the items. "Kagome, has Inuyasha touched the box?" Ken asked.
"No, no one but me and my daughters have touched the package. I don't know when it was delivered because Yuna wouldn't just leave a package outside our house. She always knocks and if no answer leaves a note and takes the package with her for safe keeping. I asked her to start doing that after a Christmas gift had been left and rummaged through when we were out." Kagome answered watching Mika write down what she said. Ken nodded before going back to the box and carefully lifted the lid up. The smell of rotting flesh rolled from under neath the lid to shock everyone in the room. Kagome gagged, her stomach revolting as she ran to the sink and hurled her stomach contents into the sink. Inuyasha ran water to rinse down the contents down the drain.
"Are you ok?" Inuyasha asked rubbing Kagome's back.
"Didn't you smell that? It's horrible. Who would send that?" Kagome asked whipping her mouth with a wash cloth. "Inuyasha, that corpse is Luna. Kyoko's kitty that we thought ran away two months ago." Kagome gasped when she recognized the familiar white tipped tail and white left paw. Inuyasha stared wide eyed at the cat he had bought Kyoko two years earlier.
"Ken, that's our daughter Kyoko's cat, Luna. We thought she ran away two weeks ago." Inuyasha told the officer holding Kagome close to his chest. Inuyasha looked to his brother and best friend. Both nodded and left the room. Ken nodded and looked the cat over.
"Mutsumi, come here." Ken ordered as the small young woman came to her boss' side. "Can you get that out?" He asked noting a small white paper in the cat's mouth. Mutsumi used small tweezers and lifted the paper from the cat's mouth. Ken took it into his hands and unfolded the paper.
Inuyasha shooed Kagome out of the kitchen when her face turned a shade of green. He told her to get fresh air and to drink some water. She left without a sound and went to find Sesshomaru and Miroku. She needed comfort and knew that her brother-in-law and friend would help with that need for comfort.
"What does the paper say?" Inuyasha asked walking to stand beside ken.
"It's just a picture of a spider burning in a blue flame." Ken mused unsure what the picture meant.
"That's Onigumo's signature. He's known as The Burning Spider in the underground world. He's a ring leader and Naraku's older brother." Mutsumi said softly. Ken looked at Mutsumi then Inuyasha.
"How do you know that?" Inuyasha asked.
"I worked for the undercover police force before switching to work for Mr. Ryuu. I was really close to being in the inner circle when another undercover cop had gotten his cover blown and put me and my team in danger. I was pulled out and decided my family shouldn't be put through that worry again. But Onigumo had been scarred from head to toe from a fire that had been set as an assassination on his life by a rival gang. When he got better the burning spider became his mark when he retaliated and basically eliminated the lives of every gang member and the lives of the leader's family." Mutsumi answered shocking both Inuyasha and Mika.
"Dang, I didn't think you'd been involved with that kind of life." Mika said shocked. Mutsumi shrugged her shoulders.
"I know, that's why I was chosen." Mutsumi replied. "But if Onigumo is involved this will get messier than it had been when Izaoi was a baby." Mutsumi added looking at her boss. "Don't expect this to go away Mr. Takashi. If Onigumo is trying to get retribution for his brother, he'll do anything to get at you and your family." Mutsumi warned before looking at her boss. "I have to inform the Tactical Squad about this." She said softly.
"I understand Mutsumi, if this is going to get worse we'll need a lot of help to protect this family." Ken said taking Mutsumi aside leaving Inuyasha to worry about his daughter's.
"Ken," Inuyasha called not wanting to disturb Kagome should she be near. Ken looked at Inuyasha. "Don't tell Kagome. I think she's pregnant again. I don't want her to lose the baby if she is. She can't lose the baby, she won't be able to cope well with that." Inuyasha said hoping Ken would try to keep everything on the down low for a while. Ken nodded his head.
"You know I will Inuyasha, but I won't be able to keep it a secret for long. You have to ease her into the changes that are going to happen. Every person your family has just met or has moved around your house we'll have to investigate. I heard your daughters are dating. Who are their boyfriends?" Ken asked in his police tone.
"Koga's son, Yosuke is dating Kyoko. And a boy named Bankotsu thinks he's dating Izaoi. I've heard he's part of a gang that calls themselves The Band Of Seven. But they're down to six now." Inuyasha growled out.
"What happened?" Ken asked taking down notes.
"One of the boys, Renkotsu, attacked Kyoko after a date at the movies. According to Bankotsu, they disowned the boy and haven't seen him since." Inuyasha said sourly.
"Do you believe it?" Ken asked.
"I don't think that any of the kids would dare cross Bankotsu for a sexual harasser. As I know it, the boy Renkotsu got Bankotsu's sister in danger and got the wholly hell beat out of him for it." Inuyasha replied rubbing his neck. Stress was starting to wear down on him and the thought of Renkotsu made his joints ache in danger. Ken nodded.
"We'll take this box back to the lab and try to figure out where it was sent from." Ken said nodding to his team to disband to the car. "And Inuyasha, good luck. You know you can call at anytime. You're family is our top priority." Ken added before bowing and leaving the house. Inuyasha sat down at the table and stared at the floor. How could he protect his family from a man like Onigumo? A career criminal that they're lives have to be altered now?
"Honey, Koga called and said that the girls are fine and are on their way home with the boys." Kagome's voice came as a blessing. Lifting his head Inuyasha smiled at her. "What did Ken say?" Kagome asked seating herself on his lap, her arms wrapping around his neck.
"they said they'll have to put a protection detail on us. Who ever this is has been watching our family and been able to get close enough to get Kyoko's cat." Inuyasha said watering down the news. "I guess Naraku has family that is a bit shady and they might be the responsible party." He added slowly working the new to Kagome.
"I see." Kagome said softly. "Inuyasha, what are we going to do to keep the girl's safe? What about our niece and nephews? Most of them are too small to protect or even know how to keep someone who means them harm from harming them." Kagome gasped her eyes large.
"I've been talking with Sesshomaru and Miroku about that on the way here." Inuyasha replied. "All the children will be wearing tracking devices in their shoes and a small, wireless nanny in a piece of jewelry, like a bracelet or necklace. The children will not be told so that they can't tell anyone. Sesshomaru is already contacting an old friend about this project so that it's discrete and quick so that we can know what they are doing at all times." Inuyasha added kissing Kagome's cheek.
"I'm so glad I have you." Kagome whispered kissing Inuyasha's forehead. "I know this isn't really the time, but what would you feel about welcoming a little boy into the family?" Kagome asked as a collection of gasps came from behind her.
"You're having a baby?!" Izaoi and Kyoko asked rushing their mother and father.
"We get a little brother?" Kyoko asked hugging Kagome.
"Girls, give your mom some space. You'll suffocate her." Inuyasha joked as the two jumped back instantly.
"Yes, I'm about nineteen weeks along now. The doctor said that the baby is healthy and is going to be a little boy." Kagome said softly looking to Inuyasha.
"Oh this is great!" Inuyasha shouted lifting Kagome up and spun her around. "I didn't think we were going to have anymore kids after we saw how these two turned out." Inuyasha joked his daughters.
"I've always wanted a little brother!" Izaoi cried out hugging her parents.
"Congratulations." Sesshomaru said smiling. Everyone knew Inuyasha longed for a son, but they never conceived despite all the treatments they tried. Miroku just grinned like a baboon.
"Just what we need, another Inuyasha running around this place." Koga joked good naturally. Inuyasha couldn't being himself to shout or even give Koga a dirty look. He just grinned and held onto his wife with happiness. Finally his family would be complete.