Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter Eight: September 3rd

I was awake long before I was able to open my eyes. I felt stiff and cramped, though when I went to stretch out my limbs, my arms wouldn't give. Fighting to remain calm, I forced my mind to analyze my surroundings, all while working through my grogginess to open my eyes.

Eventually I was able to tell that I was sitting in a chair, my arms restrained behind me with what felt like a zip tie. The feel of the hard wood against my back led to realize that my shirt had been removed, though the rest of my clothing remained in place. I vaguely registered that my hair was still a little damp from my shower and was hanging loose on my shoulders, and I came to the conclusion that I hadn't been out for very long. Still, working my eyes open seemed almost impossible.

Opening them, however, did little to help me out as I quickly realized that there was a pillowcase thrown over my head. I tried lowering my head to shake it off, though it was hard to lean forward with my arms tied behind the chair. Finally I gave up. Having a very strong inkling just who would do this to me, I decided to risk speaking.

"Hello?"

The pillowcase was removed from my head, and verifying my suspicions, my female assassin stood before me, the hint of a smirk in her hypnotizing brown eyes.

"You're awake? Good, I was worried I was going to have all the fun while you were out." Was she purposefully trying to make everything she said to me sound sexual?

She still had the same mask on as before, and the same black leather pants and gray leather jacket. I sighed inwardly. She looked just as enticing as the last time I saw her.

She turned away from me and walked towards the dresser. I spotted a physician's bag sitting open on top of it, and I couldn't help a brief fantasy of "playing doctor" from crossing my mind. I shook my head and tried to stay focused on the fact that tonight was the night I most likely was going to die. Even with that in mind, I still wasn't afraid of her; I was almost glad to see her back, like I had missed her. Apparently, I was very forgiving of her recent torment of me.

As if reading my mind, she called over her shoulder, "Did you like my notes? I have to say, it was a welcome challenge trying to place them in just the perfect spot."

I didn't respond, instead fixating on her hands as they reached up behind her head, going for the tie that secured her mask. Was she really going to take it off? I supposed it didn't matter if I'd be able to recognize her after tonight, since she was going to off me and all. When her hands moved back in front of her and out of my view, I couldn't quite tell what she was doing, though as they traveled down her front slowly, I realized that she was unzipping her leather jacket. My eyes widened.

Holy shit. It was like she was giving me a strip-tease. This was more than likely untrue—she was probably just settling in for a long night of torture and killing, though it still caused my blood to rush to a place that really shouldn't be fed in a situation like this.

"What're you going to do to me?" I heard myself ask, wincing as I realized I sounded more anticipative than nervous.

"Oh," she mused casually, digging around enthusiastically in her bag. She still hadn't turned around to face me since taking off her mask. I was dying of curiosity. "A little bit of this, a little bit of that, you know…" she trailed off as she finally faced me.

I stared, open-mouthed and unashamed. She was absolutely beautiful. Her eyes, of course, were captivating, but I already knew that. But it was something else altogether to see the picture completed. Her nose was small and pointed, her mouth almost pouting and her lips were the same pink color as her eye shadow. My eyes traveled down, lured by the strip of pale skin showing that was once hidden by the high neck of her jacket. She was wearing a pink cotton shirt underneath, as tight-fitting as her leather apparel, though the lower half of her midriff was exposed. I found myself mystified by the little dimple of the half of her navel that I could see before I finally trailed my eyes back up to her face. I failed in my admittedly pitiful effort to avoid staring at her ample chest for too long.

She hadn't seemed to notice my rather obvious gawking, and continued her almost forgotten sentence from before: "The usual."

I had no idea what was entailed by "the usual," though in light of everything that she had unwittingly revealed to me, I found I didn't particularly care. It was slightly disturbing to admit to myself that I'd let this beautiful woman do anything she wanted to me, though. Great. Now I had the beginnings of an inappropriate arousal and a death wish. I was suddenly beginning to understand why Kagome-chan called me a pervert all those times.

Seeing as how I was certifiably insane by now anyway, it didn't seem like too much of a risk trying to strike up a conversation with her. "What's your name?"

She promptly shook her head. "Too soon. Ask me later."

I was bemused. So, she would tell me after all, I just had to wait. "Okay," I agreed slowly. I noticed she held something in her hand. "What's that?"

"This?" She unfolded her palm to better show me. "It's just a syringe. Simple, you can buy it at a drug store for pretty cheap." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing special."

She opened a compartment on her belt, and for the first time I noticed just how decked out her belt was. That thing could make Batman jealous. Withdrawing a small vial, she held it up for me to see. It was half-full of a purplish liquid, and the bottle had several small black lines to show proper dosage amounts.

"This, however," she dangled the vial in front of my nose tauntingly, "Is special. It's a particularly potent toxin—but, it's not lethal. She grinned malevolently, then brought the vial up to her own face, studying it thoughtfully. "And you know, it's naturally colorless and odorless, the purple's just an artificial dye. Makes it pretty."

I nodded, as if genuinely interested in her methods of torment. "But it's not lethal?" I asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. "I thought you were sent to kill me."

"Oh, I was," she assured me quickly. "But like I said, I wanted to have a little fun. You see, this toxin here is new. I've never used it before. I'm told the symptoms include nausea, lethargy, dehydration, excruciating muscle pain and migraine headaches." She flicked it into the air and caught it deftly. "Well, we'll just see, won't we?"

I gulped, momentarily brought down from my depraved cloud nine. I didn't have a very high tolerance for pain. With the promise of agony, I relentlessly trudged forward with our conversation.

"You work for Kumo." I meant it as a question, though it came out sounding more like a statement.

"That I do," she said airily. "It's not bad, you know. Of course, it would've been better if you funded us, but then I'd be out of a job now, wouldn't I?"

I surprised her—and myself—with a laugh. Maybe it was that I could tell she was lying that caused it to be so funny to me. She frowned, before turning away from me to dig in her bag once more. She produced a thermos, unscrewed the lid and tossed the vial of toxin inside. Upon my puzzled look, she gave the thermos a small shake, letting me know it was full of ice.

"It's supposed to prolong the effects if it's administered cold," she explained dryly, her behavior much more terse with me since I'd laughed at her.

I nodded again, and silence fell between us. I thought back on what she said about working at Kumo. The pain that was evident in her eyes had grown when she spoke, which is what had alerted me to her dishonesty in the first place. I could only gather that she hated Kumo, though this only gave me more questions. I wondered how much I could eke out of her tonight.

"Do you report to Hakudoshi-san or Ueno Naraku?" I asked innocently.

She frowned, not amused by the path our conversation had taken. Inexplicably though, she answered. "Naraku. Haku is nothing more than a wannabe."

I figured Haku was a nickname for Hakudoshi-san. "So, were you behind the bomb in my building and all of those threats?"

"No," she scoffed, crinkling her nose in obvious disgust. "That was Haku. Don't insult me by lumping me in with that barbarian."

I sniggered. I gathered she didn't have the highest opinion of Hakudoshi-san. "Why did Naraku send you then, if Hakudoshi-san started it?"

She smiled, a spiteful smirk that once again didn't reach her eyes. "Because I'm the best at what I do. Naraku's not sparing any effort to get you taken down."

I shrugged understandingly. Then something occurred to me. "Wait, you must know Kagome-chan is here too; are you going after her tonight as well?" I was afraid for my personal assistant's life, and my heart clenched painfully as I realized I'd probably long ago forfeited my chance to save her by keeping my female intruder's initial visit a secret.

Something strange flicked across the intruder's face and she turned away from me again, digging around halfheartedly in her bag. "I can't," she finally said, sounding a little too defensive. She didn't turn around to face me as she spoke. "She's with that cop all the time. It's going to take some skill to get her alone."

"Well, it is after midnight," I informed her stupidly. "She's probably alone right now." What the hell was I saying? If by some grace of God I made it through the night, I vowed never to tell Kagome-chan that I'd almost left her for dead.

My assailant whipped around to look at me, an incredulous look on her face. "Are you kidding me? She and that cop have been going at it like rabbits since ten! How do you think I've been able to sneak in here so easily these past few nights?"

I hung my head in acquiescence, though that still didn't explain how she'd been able to sneak in here all those times with the one-key lock and alarm system in place. Then what she said hit me fully and I balked a little.

"Wait—Kagome-chan and Inuyasha are sleeping together?" My voice had risen some with disbelief and I grimaced at the volume. I don't know why this struck me as unbelievable; I figured some part of me must have known what was going on, though it was still a little shocking to hear it verified.

"Duh," she asserted mockingly. When I still looked surprised she scoffed. "Oh, come on! You live with them; it had to have been obvious!"

Again, I had to acquiesce. I remembered my earlier initiative to figure out why she hated Kumo and tried to delicately steer the conversation away from the awkward conversation of Kagome-chan and Inuyasha's sleeping habits and back to more important matters.

"If you hate working at Kumo, why do you stay?" Okay, maybe not so delicate.

She seemed surprised at the sudden reversion in conversation and at the question in general, though she quickly composed herself and shot me a dirty look.

"I don't hate it," she insisted vehemently. "I never said that."

"Oh," I was backpedaling. "Well, I just assumed, because you don't seem to completely enjoy it either." I groaned inwardly. I was sorely tempted to give up all hope and just beg her to kill me now.

Again, she seemed taken aback, though this time she was unable to restore herself so quickly. Finally, she glared at me coldly, even a little apprehensively, and again, I was lost in the emotion housed in her eyes.

"I'm going to give you a little piece of advice, and tell you to shut the hell up right now. You have no idea the mess you've made by going against Kumo, and you have no idea who you're dealing with right now." She straightened herself up, trying to make herself imposing, but I was still obsessing over her passion. "I've been in the game for nine years."

I blinked back to reality. Nine years? But she looked so young. I studied her face quickly again; she didn't look much older than Kagome-chan's twenty-three years, but even then that would still put her at just a kid when she started. I wondered how a teenaged girl could get caught up in an organization like Kumo, and the guesses made me sympathize with her even more.

She checked her watch, then moved back to the dresser to retrieve the thermos. She tipped the whole thing upside down, carelessly dumping the melting ice all over the floor as she caught the chilled vial in her open palm. Retrieving her syringe, she carefully stuck the needle through the sealed opening of the small bottle, slowly pulling the pump on the syringe backwards until she deemed the amount of the purple toxin sufficient.

She approached me swiftly, taking ahold of my hair and tipping my head back violently. I made a pained noise of protest.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, my breathing hitching as I felt her place two gloved fingers on my neck.

"Shut up." She applied a slight pressure behind her fingers, methodically moving them up and down in a small, predetermined area near my pulse point. "I'm trying to find a good enough vein. Trust me; you don't want this stuff injected into an artery, and it's harder to find a smaller vein when you talk."

I was stymied. If she was going to inject me with a toxin whose sole purpose was to cause me pain, why was she trying to save me from more agony by avoiding the artery? She leaned her head in closely, and curiously, I angled my own head, trying to get a better look at her while still allowing her sufficient room to search for a vein.

Again, I was distracted by her looks, even more so when she was so close to me, and unsurprisingly, this caused me to stick my foot in my mouth for the umpteenth time tonight.

"Thanks for not wearing the mask," I said, straining to get a good look at her eyes as she studied my neck.

She pulled back a little. "What?"

I relaxed my kinked neck, grateful that she'd withdrawn some so I could study her face in full again. "Your mask. It covered a lot of your face. It must be uncomfortable." My tone was remarkably candid.

She huffed, standing up fully and tapping the syringe expertly, ridding the toxin inside of any errant air bubbles. "I gotta say, Tsujitani," she mused coolly, "You're surprisingly calm in the face of your eventual death."

I grinned slightly, as if we were joking instead of actually discussing the events that were undoubtedly going to happen in the very near future. "Thank you," I said modestly. She gave me a weird look upon hearing me express gratitude. I continued, "Though, I must admit, it isn't out of any sort of bravery."

Putting her hand on her hip and shifting her weight onto one shapely leg, she studied me for a moment. She held the syringe up at an angle and away from my neck uselessly, though her thumb remained at the ready on the pump. "Really?" she asked, sounding mildly interested. "And what do you mean by that?" By her tone, it sounded as if she was legitimately fooling around with me now.

"Nothing bad," I assured her smoothly, feeling far more courageous and playful than a man in my position should be. "I mean, you're very pretty." Gorgeous, sexy even. I really want to do you.

She looked thoroughly caught off-guard and she tensed involuntarily, causing a small squirt of the toxin to be sprayed negligently into the air. Silence fell heavily between us and I never let my eyes stray from hers, studying her attentively. I had a strong desire to shower her with more compliments, if only to draw the same appealing fluster from her, though I held my tongue. I had to see what she would say first.

Finally, she stepped towards me again, her hand fisting in my hair again as she forced my head back. My heart sank as she quickly found a suitable vein; though this was probably do to her ignoring my praise rather than the far more appropriate reaction to getting pumped full of an unknown toxin. I felt the slight prick of the needle bite into my skin and I winced, calling out for her to stop once more.

"Wait!" Thankfully, she halted, though with a considerable air of impatience this time around. "Can I ask your name now?" I pressed. I tried to get a good look at her again.

She hesitated briefly, looking a little perplexed at how to answer before she shoved the needle of the syringe all the way into my neck without warning. I cursed in pain.

"Mizushima," she finally said, her voice surprisingly soft. I momentarily regretted only receiving a last name until I saw the muscles in her forearm flex slightly as she pushed the pump down steadily, and another stream of curse words flew from my mouth as an immediate burning seeped out from the injection sight.

"I thought you said that cooling it would slow down the effects!" I seethed, clenching my teeth as I fought the instantaneous urge to vomit.

Mizushima didn't answer, pulling back and walking back to her bag on the dresser. She seemed hesitant to turn around to face me again, and I was left to sit in agony as the toxin wreaked havoc through my veins. I was groaning in pain and gagging uncontrollably with dry heaves, and my fleeting hatred towards this woman came screaming back.

Abruptly, she spun around to look at my door, and in my anguish it took me a moment to register that a sliver of light was shining through the crack between the door and concrete floor. Inuyasha and Kagome-chan were still awake!

Mizushima looked back at me, a threatening panic evident in her eye. She hastily grabbed her bag and dove for the small closet, which conveniently for her was located next to the door. Before she slipped in she addressed me.

"If you tell anyone I'm in here, I'll kill all three of you now." Her hand ghosted over a small pistol strapped to her thigh. She seemed to sense my desire to call out to whoever was hopefully in the hallway.

"Fuck!" I spat, defeated. I knew even if she didn't threaten me, I still wouldn't tell Kagome-chan or Inuyasha about her, though I did need help. Mizushima disappeared into the shadow of the closet and I finally called out desperately.

"Hey!" My voice was weak with pain, and it took me a moment to gather the strength to call louder. "Hey!"

"Miroku-sensei?" Kagome-chan called hesitantly through my door. I'd never been so grateful to her voice in my life. "Miroku-sensei, are you alright?"

"Kagome-chan!" I was losing the strength to shout through the door as the promised lethargy starting taking its toll. "Kagome-chan… Inuyasha…"

I heard Kagome-chan step away from the door momentarily, and I bowed my head as the pain started edging me into delirium. My head began to pound.

My door was thrown open and both Inuyasha and Kagome-chan ran into the room, rushing to my side. Kagome-chan let out a horrified gasp upon seeing me tied up in the chair, and I vaguely wondered if this toxin had a physical side effect that Mizushima had neglected to tell me about.

Remembering that she was still in the closet, my eyes darted back to her hiding spot, my heart clenching as I caught sight of her heel as she slipped undetected out of my room. She made it out. Even through my current hatred of her, I felt relieved at her successful escape. I let my eyes roll up into my head as the back of my skull continued to throb obnoxiously.

"Where is he, Miroku?" I heard Inuyasha demand angrily, and I willed myself to raise my head once more. He was tearing apart my room, cursing as each corner kept turning up empty. "Where is he?" He ran out of the room, supposedly checking the rest of the cabin thoroughly.

Even through my suffering I smirked to myself. She's not a he, I informed him mentally.

"I'm going to get some scissors," Kagome-chan announced, and I realized that she'd been tugging at the zip tie still restraining my arms behind the chair. Holding my cheek comfortingly, she said, "I'll be right back." She hurriedly disappeared from the room.

Inuyasha returned, seeming far less sympathetic of my current state. He got in my face. "Who did this to you, Miroku? Who was in here?"

"I don't know," I answered lamely, then I shook my head, wincing as the action made the room spin. I changed my answer. "Kumo."

"Kumo?" Inuyasha repeated roughly. "Who from Kumo? Was it Hakudoshi?"

I shook my head again, sending the room into a tornado of unsteadiness as Kagome-chan reappeared in the doorway with scissors in hand. "I… I don't know who it was. They said they worked for Kumo."

There, Mizushima, I spat viciously in my head, I vouched for you. Are you happy now?

I felt the cold metal of the scissors' dull blades against my hands as Kagome-chan snipped the zip tie in two and I immediately collapsed to the floor. She followed after me, putting a hand to my forehead and rubbing my back with the other.

"What did they do to him, Inuyasha?" She asked, looking up at her newfound lover with worry.

Inuyasha shook his head, crouching down to continue his interrogation. Fuck this stubborn dick.

"You gotta give me answers, Miroku. I have to be able to protect your sorry ass."

I gagged again, my body heaving painfully with the motion. Yes, my ass was indeed sorry.

He persisted. "Who was here, Miroku? What did they do to you?" I was becoming angrier and angrier with his demanding impatience.

I shook my head for a third time, dry heaving again and struggling to support myself on my hands and knees as my muscles began to twitch irritably. I retched again, losing control on my vomit reflex and spilling bile and stomach acid onto the floor.