InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Puppet Without Strings ❯ Physical Test ( Chapter 12 )

Puppet Without Strings

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Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Pairings: InuKag, MirSan. SessKagu. I might add to this or I might not. It all depends.

A/N: Suaru, Allin646, Devilblondie, Hellkeeper, the Anonymous reviewer and Nefcanuck. I hope you all know by now how much I appreciate your comments.

About the cliffhanger… well, to put it simply I just didn't really know where to end the last chapter and couldn't be bothered thinking up a proper fight scene at that point in time. It was pure laziness on my part and I apologize for that. You should have seen my sheepish grin when I read some of your reviews. Devilblondie, I'll keep your advice in mind. Thank you for that.

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- Chapter 11 -

Inuyasha felt the bones in his arm jar violently when its claws collided with the flat of the strangest blade he had ever seen. The sickening scratch of bone on steel lasted a mere second before the narrow piece of metal that had parried the swoop of the hanyou's claws jerked and retracted.

"So impatient, Inu-chan!"

Jakotsu admonished playfully somewhere to his left. Inuyasha growled when he felt the throbbing in his right arm. His intended target's lips quirked in mockery at the hanyou's failed attempt to do him harm. Bankotsu hadn't moved an inch.

The force of the blow, amplified ten-fold by the sheer velocity that the hanyou had been moving at before he'd been thwarted, reverberated through his body as he flipped to the side. In that instant, Inuyasha, dehumanised as he was, became aware once again of the fact that his wrists had been broken only minutes before. The pain had barely time to fully register before his canine ears twisted instinctively round as it picked up the whizzing of metal through air several feet behind him. Years of combat experience kicked in, as strong legs propelled the half demon into the air and away from danger, scarcely saving their owner from being halved by Jakotsu's next deadly strike.

The boy's weapon was like no other Inuyasha had ever encountered before. Its blade comprised not of just one single long strip of sharpened metal like other swords, but appeared multi-parted, made up of several deadly blades, each a replica of the next, all linked together. With a small heave of his arm, Jakotsu sent the tip of the sword barrelling towards an air-borne Inuyasha, who promptly twisted his body out of the way just in time. But the hanyou's triumphant smirk fell when he realised that his opponent was far from finished. The impromptu evasive manoeuvre had unbalanced him. He found himself plummeting to the ground at a completely unsafe angle, leaving his body vulnerable to Jakotsu's next attack as it made its swift decent. The still-smiling boy gave a flick of his wrist and the end of the blade twisted round to intercept Inuyasha in mid-fall. The hanyou felt the cruel bite of steel when it sliced past his chest, opening up a sizeable amount of flesh that oozed sticky crimson.

"I guess that's a point to me, Inu-chan!"

In barely under a minute, first blood had gone to Jakotsu. Skinny, feminine, harmless-looking Jakotsu. Inuyasha felt his mood sour even more as he landed on his side clutching a hand to the gash in his torso. He rolled clear of another swooping slash from the all-too-delighted boy and forced himself to ignore the pain. If anything, this snapped him to his senses. He realised that he could not afford to underestimate his opponent for a second time.

Jakotsu's weapon seemed unstoppable. It allowed him to neither retreat from nor attack its handler. All Inuyasha found him self able to do was dodge and duck each equally powerful swipe at him.

What alarmed the half blood the most as he evaded his assailant's next dozen swipes however, was not the long reach of the unusual weapon, but the sheer amount of power and accuracy Jakotsu was able to muster despite the length of its blade.

Inuyasha now realised that the reason he had never seen a weapon like that before was because no one else would have been able to use such a thing. The sheer weight of a blade like that would have made the weapon un-balanced, its length and dexterity would have made it cumbersome, like an oversized length of chain. Limp and heavy.

It worked like a whip, swift to cause pain, and swift to escape its opponent's retaliation. But Jakotsu's sword had to have been dozens of times heavier and ten times longer than any mere whip, yet the kid manoeuvred it with ease.

Had he not seen it with his own eyes, Inuyasha would have been hard-pressed to believe what the human boy was capable of. With a slight tug of his skinny wrist, Jakotsu would demonstrate his mastery over the tool. The extended blade would twist and change direction without so much as a hitch. Inuyasha would barely have time get his bearings after dodging one attack before the next one would fly towards him unrelenting from a completely different direction. There was hardly time to think.

However, he didn't think that Jakotsu had really gotten serious yet. He appeared to be toying with him, like a cat taunting a mouse before it swooped in for the kill. Through it all, the boy hadn't stopped smiling. And this irked Inuyasha.

But it would do him no good to lose his head. Like all fighters, Jakotsu had a weakness. And, like every other strong opponent Inuyasha had ever faced, that weakness was over-confidence.

Inuyasha would let Jakotsu underestimate him for a little longer. He would play along and observe.

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Miroku stared round the humongous facility in absolute unbelieving awe.

Try as he might to keep his jaw in thorough control, it gaped open shamelessly as his eyes appraised each smoothly efficient and mouth-wateringly high-tech piece of equipment they had the pleasure of swooping over. Several times, one of his hands would find itself having to physically restrain its twin from reaching out and running itself over the cool metal of some of the machinery he walked past. The only time his eyes strayed further than two inches from any part of the laboratory was when a group of female interns strolled past.

Had Sesshoumaru not been on his determined quest to find the eccentric inventor, Toutousai amongst the metropolis of weapon-making apparatus, he might have been exasperated. Time changed many things. But it scarcely touched Miroku.

When Kaede had first informed him of Inuyasha's instantaneous, not to mention highly-destructive, bond with the monk so many years ago, Sesshoumaru had been as surprised as his composed persona had allowed him to be. The thought of his uncouth and violent little half-brother mixing with a child bound to walk the path of holiness had seemed surreal and unbelievable. That had been until he'd met the black-haired youth in person. Now Sesshoumaru, being the demon that he was, had been far from obliged to follow in the path of righteousness that Buddhism promoted. However, he'd never before doubted the respectability of the peaceful religion.

Ten year old Houshi Miroku had given him his first real reason to do so.

And it appeared, as the monk eyed up yet another passing female, that a decade of holy instruction hadn't changed a thing. Sesshoumaru stepped out of the main research centre and strode down the next corridor. He stepped through the doorway that led to Toutousai's private laboratory with Miroku in his wake. There, hunched over a small metallic concoction, the old man stood.

"I thought I said I didn't want to be disturbed?"

The voice wasn't irritated, merely inquiring. Sesshoumaru kept on walking forward, his agenda fixed and unwavering in his mind. Miroku was the exact opposite. His starry gaze wandered anywhere and everywhere. Across chemicals and equipment, over blue prints and plans pinned haphazardly across the wall to finally rest on the infamous scientist known only to him as Toutousai.

"We need to ask you some questions, old man."

The inventor glanced up at his two visitors, instantly recognising the controlled voice that had spoken.

"Oh. Sesshoumaru! I haven't seen or heard from you in ages!"

"I spoke to you on the com-link an hour ago."

"Oh right. I was speaking figuratively."

Miroku raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

"What are you here for again?"

The old man brought a skinny finger up to scratch the top of his head. Sesshoumaru seemed unfazed. Miroku guessed that he must have been used to this.

"Questions."

"Oh right. Fire away then, my boy."

The monk observed that Toutousai had unnaturally poofy eyes. It was strange hearing someone, no matter their age refer to Sesshoumaru as such. The dog demon's serious demeanour and no-nonsense attitude made it hard for people to see him as anything but a full grown adult. Again, Sesshoumaru seemed unaffected. As was typical, he got straight to the point.

"Toutousai. How much do you know of defensive weaponry?"

The old man cast the white haired demon what Miroku guessed was a curious glance. But one could never be sure with Toutousai's crazy eyes.

"In what form?"

Miroku stepped up and held a digitally enhanced photo of the president's assassin to the old inventor's face.

"Protective suit. Full body, including the head. Bullet-proof. Able to withstand shots from a point four-five calibre semi-automatic; maybe more. Light. Allows its user free movement and… what we're quite certain is optimum speed."

Toutousai stared at him as if he'd grown a third eye.

"Impossible."

Miroku nearly rolled his eyes.

"You're telling us."

Toutousai jabbed a finger into the picture.

"No. I mean literally. That's impossible."

Miroku tilted his head in question.

"How can you be certain?"

The old man still looked at him as if he'd sprouted wings.

"I've been in the business a long time, sonny. Never seen that kind of bullet-proofing material. Its way too thin. Even the most effective light-weight suits have to be of a certain thickness. You know…

Toutousai gestured blindly with his hands.

"…to counter the velocity of a bullet with. Even then, the sheer amount of force that an object travelling at such a high speed would produce would almost definitely cause its user to be affected physically. Severe bruising for example or loss of consciousness."

The old man grabbed the photo with both hands and brought it even closer to his face.

"That suit is about the same thickness as cloth. There is absolutely no way it could be made of any kind of bullet-proofing material I know of."

He spent the next few minutes tilting and examining the image. He held it up to the light a few times, as if doing so would provide him with some sort of answer. After a few minutes of nothing, Sesshoumaru, though deep in thought, stepped up and plucked the piece of paper from Toutousai's fingers.

"Toutousai, is it possible for a suit to be… demonised?"

Toutousai's bulging eyes widened even more.

"Huh?"

Sesshoumaru sighed.

"Is it possible for a suit to be magically enhanced… with demon-power."

The old man brought to his beard in consideration.

"Never been done before."

And with good reason too. There was hardly any point. Humans were too vulnerable to magical energy. The jaki produced by something like a demonised suit would more likely cause them to go berserk than protect them from external harm. And demons… well, why would a demon need a demonised suit? The idea of using one was far from practical.

However, Sesshoumaru never ignored a hunch.

"It's possible though?"

Miroku stared at the white-haired demon in bemusement. What was Sesshoumaru on about?

"It would need a hell of a lot of youki to be able to stop bullets."

Sesshoumaru wanted a definite answer.

"Is it or is it not possible, old man?"

For the first time that day, Toutousai seemed unsure of himself.

"I can't answer that yet. Perhaps after I do some tests…"

"How long?"

Toutousai pondered. He couldn't even remember half the things on his schedule. That meant that there really wasn't anything of importance to be done. So he guessed he'd be able to make time for the son of one of the few individuals that had been able to earn his respect.

"A week. Two at most."

The dog demon, though not completely satisfied, decided that he would have to make do with that for now. If there was one thing he knew Toutousai did not like, it was not knowing a definite answer to something. He trusted that he'd get his information soon enough. The beeping of his cell phone prevented him from delving too deeply into his thoughts. Sesshoumaru flipped it open with practiced ease.

"Yes."

Jaken's voice filtered through from the other end.

"It's me, Sesshoumaru-sama."

The dog demon frowned and narrowed his eyes. This call was unscheduled. Jaken would not have done so unless… Sesshoumaru sighed in annoyance.

"What's the idiot done now?"

Miroku perked up and turned his head toward Sesshoumaru with great interest. The white haired demon looked blatantly irritated. And he knew of only one person that could have been capable of causing such an obvious show of facial expression in the ever-impassive dog demon. He wondered how much trouble Inuyasha had gotten himself into.

Sesshoumaru's subordinate's reply was hurried.

"Sir, Higurashi Souta and Higurashi Kagome have already returned from the boy's weekly soccer practice. Your brother wasn't with them. It's been almost a half hour since they arrived, but he's still no where to be found, sir."

The dog demon was already moving. His half-brother might not have been the most compliant of souls, but he knew when or when not to go against his orders. Something must have happened. Either that or Inuyasha had found some sort of lead that his idiotic-self had deemed too important to waste time reporting and had gone after it himself. It was just like his brother to act totally on impulse without first thinking the consequences through.

"Give me the location of the soccer field."

As Jaken recited the address, Sesshoumaru committed it to memory. The area wasn't far. He'd probably make it there in fifteen minutes if he avoided the crowded roads and went on foot instead. Miroku struggled to catch up to the dog demon as he strode briskly towards the room's double doors. Sesshoumaru gave one bemused Toutousai a curt nod before flipping his cell phone closed and turning to push one of the panels open.

"Oi, Sesshoumaru! What's going on?"

Miroku's question made him pause. He turned to face the monk.

"Houshi, you are staying here as planned. Arrangements have been made for you to lodge in the staff quarters."

This did not please Miroku. But who was he to disobey a direct order.

"Assist Toutousai in his research and make use of the facilities available to identify Satsugawa Bankotsu's drug."

Toutousai seemed all the more curious.

"Huh? Who authorised that?"

Sesshoumaru responded without a hitch as he turned on his heel and exited the room.

"You did."

"Oh right."

The sound of the door swinging shut permeated the silence the Sesshoumaru had left in his wake. Miroku turned to find the old man scratching his head.

"Eh…what's your name again?"

He sighed.

"Houshi Miroku."

"Oh right. What are we supposed to be doing again?"

Miroku wanted to run after Sesshoumaru and beg to be taken along with him. Like a young child, desperate for his mother's presence on the first day of school. He would never in a million years have thought that he'd willingly choose Sesshoumaru's presence over another. Irony was such a bitch.

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"Inu-chan! Stop jumping around! I want to see you bleed!!"

Jakotsu stomped his foot like a petulant child.

Inuyasha now knew for certain that the boy was not the president's killer. He dodged another slash to his head.

Not only did Jakotsu not fit the official profile given in the assignment report, his fighting style seemed entirely too different. While the nameless assassin had been swift and precise, taking down each individual without missing a beat in one fell swoop, Jakotsu seemed to like to toy with his opponents. The cross-dresser savoured their pain, revelled in the control he held over his deadly weapon.

Inuyasha had originally intended for his impromptu attack to test the fighting techniques of the various members present in the warehouse. However, it seemed his reckless decision was not paying off as well as he'd imagined. He'd planned to have a little bout with each of the Kotsu's to test their fighting styles. He'd hoped he would be able to match at least of one the Shichinintai members to the assassin by doing so.

But, as he'd come to realise, the self-appointed task had not gone as smoothly as he'd have liked. Jakotsu wasn't allowing him to get anywhere remotely close to their leader. And Inuyasha had pretty much gathered by then that neither Ginkotsu nor Kyokotsu could have been who he was looking for. They were too big, too slow and most of all, too stupid. Also, as he'd found out rather painfully, Jakotsu as the killer would have been highly unlikely too.

So that left only Bankotsu to be `assessed'.

The hanyou was starting to feel the first inklings of exhaustion. Now that he'd decided that fighting Jakotsu was pointless, he decided to step up his offence. It would do him no good to hold back any longer.

His claws were of no use to him in this situation. He needed a long-range attack.

Channelling energy into his abused chest, Inuyasha leapt into the air. He dug his claws into the already-healing wound on his upper torso and brought forth fresh blood to the surface.

"Hijin Kessou!"

The slight widening of his eyes was the only give away to Jakotsu's surprise at the sudden, deadly bombardment of Inuyasha's hurtling blood-made projectiles. He pulled back from his initial attack to the air-borne hanyou to deflect each of the razor-sharp blood-claws away from himself.

With a speed that he had not yet used in his previous pathetic evasions of his opponent, Inuyasha kicked off the ceiling in the instant that Jakotsu withdrew his intended attack on him and hurtled through the air towards the boy. He buried his claws into his wound again and sent off a second wave of crimson blades at the boy. Jakotsu, caught by surprise by the sudden unexpected aggression on Inuyasha's part, fended off the rain of blood with his extended sword.

When Jakotsu swung his blade to the side to deflect one of the wayward crimson projectiles, it was all the opening Inuyasha needed. Even with his masterful control over the snake-like sword, Jakotsu could not bring its blade round fast enough to counter Inuyasha's immediate follow-up attack. The hanyou flew past his guard, claws poised and canines bared, and landed his first solid hit… on the hilt of Jakotsu's sword. In a last attempt to defend him self, Jakotsu had brought the sturdy grip up in front of Inuyasha's intended targeted area on his upper body. It took the brunt of the hanyou's attack.

Nevertheless, the force of the blow knocked Jakotsu to the ground and sent him skidding halfway across the warehouse floor. It hit the blade from his grasp and it clanked loudly to the concrete floor. Inuyasha didn't miss a beat. Jakotsu would never be able to defend himself now. He leapt into the air and tore his claws into his chest wound once more.

"Hijin-"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

With his adrenaline still pumping wildly from his previous workout, Inuyasha almost failed to catch the softly spoken threat. He smirked in the direction that he thought the speaker was in and continued drawing out more blood from his injury.

Inuyasha saw the dark figure of Satsugawa Bankotsu leap down from the second floor landing to stand in front of his fallen comrade before he sent out another rain of blood.

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Sesshoumaru followed his nose to the exact spot on the soccer field that his brother had stood a little less than an hour ago. As he neared the unused goal post at the far end of the field, the dog demon instantly caught the unmistakeable whiff of blood and hastened toward the source.

He crouched before a sunken patch of grass that he guessed was where his brother had stood, unmoving for the two hours that Higurashi Souta's soccer practice had lasted. The blood couldn't have come from Inuyasha. It was unfamiliar. It smelled…human. Sesshoumaru followed its faint scent towards the rickety gate at the corner of the field.

He kept on going past the gate and down the footpath until his nose became over whelmed by the foul stench of garbage when he turned to walk down a wide alley. There was no way he could rely on his sense of smell now.

Nevertheless, Sesshoumaru didn't find him self alarmed. His eyes skimmed over the trail of utter chaos that his brother had undoubtedly left. A couple of fallen trash cans here, a huge, foot-made dent in the dumpster there, a couple of smashed glass bottles up ahead…

Inuyasha couldn't have left a clearer message. His brother had known what he was doing. Maybe he wouldn't kill the idiot off after all.

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Ginkotsu and Kyokotsu gave startled cries when Inuyasha's claws of blood impacted with the second floor landing they had moved to stand upon after Jakotsu had started fighting. The platform crumbled and fell apart, taking them along with it.

The hanyou had had his entire attention focused on Bankotsu when he'd unleashed his deadly crimson blades in a totally different direction from where the leader of the Shichinintai had stood. The hulking pair had been so focused on the potential fight between their leader and the half-demon that they'd been unprepared for the surprise attack. As they fell amidst the metal and debris of the platform they had previously occupied, the last thing they saw was Inuyasha Taisho dropping to land somewhere in front of them.

The hanyou gave him self a mental pat on the back as he moved to kick Jakotsu's serpentine blade to the far end of the warehouse, away from its wielder who was now picking himself off the ground. If Bankotsu had been in any way angered by Inuyasha's attack on his comrades, the human boy didn't show it. He cast a brief glance in their direction to ascertain their physical status. They were unconscious but indisputably still breathing. Inuyasha had missed the two on purpose, choosing instead to knock the ground out from under them, effectively rendering the pair unconscious. His assignment couldn't afford the publicity that would undoubtedly arise if he managed to kill off members of the Shichinintai.

But he had needed the chance to fight Bankotsu uninterrupted.

"Well, well, well. You're quite the devious little hanyou aren't you?"

The voice of the boy in question betrayed nothing.

"You made Jakotsu complacent by holding back and you tricked my brother and Kyokotsu into thinking that the attack that you dealt them had been intended for me… I don't know if I approve of this mockery to our group."

Bankotsu sauntered slowly towards the half-blood, rolling up his long sleeves in a lazy and distracted fashion. Inuyasha scoffed and stood his ground.

"The Shichinintai is a pile of useless shit if four of you can't even bring down one devious little hanyou."

The boy was entirely too calm for Inuyasha's liking. If he wanted a fight, he'd have to get Bankotsu riled up. The black-haired youth waved his hand dismissively.

"Pft. If Jakotsu had wanted to kill you he could have. He likes you too much. Eh, Jakotsu?"

The younger boy grinned in reply, cradling his broken right wrist to his chest. His voice betrayed none of the pain he might have been feeling.

"Where's the fun in killing someone like you off so quickly? I'd have preferred to watch you bleed to death slowly. That would have been beautiful, Inu-chan!"

Inuyasha growled in reply and flexed his claws in anger.

- Fucked up pervert. -

He chose to ignore the offending youth and turned to his leader instead.

"Hn. So much confidence in your little lackey. How about doing some of the dirty work yourself for once!"

With that the hanyou rushed towards the dark-haired boy before him. His claws found air when they swooped over the area where Bankotsu stood. Or, to be precise, the area where Bankotsu had once stood. The hanyou skidded to a halt.

- What the…?-

A hard-kick to his back informed him as to the whereabouts of his opponent. He broke his fall with a roll and leapt back to his feet. He swung round just in time to bring his arms up to protect his face from Bankotsu's follow up kick.

"Oi! Ban-chan! Not the face remember?"

Jakotsu called from his corner of the warehouse.

"Right, right."

Inuyasha growled. The bastard wasn't even taking him seriously. He caught Bankotsu's next attempted blow to his abdomen and swung the boy over his shoulder and onto the floor under them. But Bankotsu seemed unfazed. With a speed that left Inuyasha's mind-reeling, the boy swung his legs round and kicked the hanyou's legs out from under him. He saw the ground rushing up to meet his face. The force of impact seemed to magnify ten-fold because of the injuries he had already sustained from his previous bout with Jakotsu.

The pair flipped themselves to their feet immediately and Inuyasha charged once more.

It was mind-boggling, the way the human boy was able to keep up with his demonised speed. Bankotsu's status as a primary suspect in his mind grew with each passing minute that the two exchanged blows in gruelling hand to hand combat. And through it all, the slight smirk on Bankotsu's face never faltered.

"What's the matter, hanyou? You run out of blood to do your little trick with?"

Inuyasha spun round to deliver a sound kick to the side of Bankotsu's face. The boy stumbled back some and took his defensive stance again. The hanyou frowned. Nothing seemed to permanently faze his opponent. His endurance was frustrating and he seemed to have an impossibly high tolerance for pain.

"You want it? Be my guest. Hijin Kessou!"

Inuyasha sent a wave of crimson blades in the human boy's direction. He frowned when he found that the pain in his chest seemed to intensify after his attack. That meant only one thing. He had lost too much blood. He couldn't afford to use that technique again, for it would likely put his body in serious danger.

Unlike Jakotsu who had been unprepared for his assault, Bankotsu seemed totally unaffected by it. He'd seen how the attack worked and so it posed him none of the threat it had his comrade. He evaded the first projectile, twisted clear of the second and leapt over the rest altogether, all the while sustaining only a slight scratch to his right cheek.

"What business does the Shichinintai have in a private school in the city?"

Inuyasha questioned as he leapt up to avoid a well-aimed high kick from Bankotsu. The boy let out a humourless chuckle.

"Heh. I don't think that you're in any position to be asking questions, hanyou."

Inuyasha felt the heaviness of his limbs. He cursed himself for letting the fight with Jakotsu last for as long as it did. It had drained him. He had barely any strength left to last through a fight with the obviously even more highly-skilled Bankotsu. And as the bout wore on, Inuyasha started to feel the first inklings of unease. A hard kick to his mid-section sent the hanyou crashing into the wall behind him. It took all of his strength not to crumble to his knees then and there. He tried to still his heavy breathing.

"If you bastards are so… confident in your abilities, why the fuck haven't you been able to kill me yet?"

Bankotsu let out a loud scoff.

"Please. You're worth nothing to us dead. The people we kill, we kill for a price. This is merely a little warning."

Inuyasha leapt at him.

"The fuck are you on about?!"

It was as much an act of self-preservation as one of an offensive nature. In order to prevent him self sustaining any more serious damage from Bankotsu's ever strengthening attacks, he needed to weaken the other boy. Inuyasha caught Bankotsu's fist in his hand as he tried to throw another punch to his left cheek. He yanked the human boy forward and delivered a powerful upper cut to his jaw. Bankotsu flew through the air to land several feet away from him. He brought a hand to his abused chin as his jaw flexed experimentally. Inuyasha heard a few satisfying clicks as the bone re-set itself. The boy smirked and got to his feet, taking on the same defensive stance he had used before. The pair circled round, each gauging their opponent's intent. Inuyasha spoke first.

"See. This is what happens when you take your opponent too lightly."

Jakotsu's all-too-cheerful voice interjected.

"You're mean, Inu-chan, spoiling Ban-chan's face like that."

Bankotsu caught Inuyasha's clawed fist in mid-strike and used his momentum to fling the white-haired hanyou away from him. His body made a heavy thud against the hard, grey floor. Still, he forced himself to his feet and turned to face an advancing Bankotsu who had begun an explanatory monologue.

"Your people have nothing on us, hanyou. A few filthy rumours about our suspected involvement in various crimes. That's hardly substantial enough to convict us. And we're not stupid enough to give your government any reason to do so."

Of all the things Inuyasha had learnt today, not underestimating one's opponent should have been at the top of the heap. And yet, the hanyou found himself unable to fully grasp that concept. Without warning, he felt an overwhelming force barrel into him from behind. With a strength that was uncharacteristic for an injured individual, the iron-fisted youth that he had previously deemed out of commission had launched him self up from his fallen position and slammed the unsuspecting hanyou to the ground. Before Inuyasha had time to recover from having the wind knocked out of him, he felt the coolness of metal being plunged into his left shoulder.

"Ginkotsu!"

The firm voice of his aggressor's older brother stopped the boy from tearing the hanyou apart in a mad rage. Inuyasha growled and struggled to free himself. But Ginkotsu held him down firmly. His older brother knelt before Inuyasha and yanked his head up to meet his gaze.

"Listen well, half-breed. We're not going to kill you today. Consider it a form of thank you for sparing Ginkotsu and Kyokotsu's lives before."

Inuyasha growled loudly.

"Bullshit! You just don't want to give the people I work for any reason to step up their investigation."

Jakotsu giggled.

"Good, Inu-chan! You catch on fast."

It was then that the half-blood sensed a familiar presence approaching the warehouse. Even with his mind pre-occupied trying to keep his body from losing consciousness, it still managed to recognise the unmistakable scent of Sesshoumaru. Not since he'd been stuck at the orphanage more than a decade ago had Inuyasha so welcomed the impending arrival of his older brother.

The hanyou felt new found energy as adrenaline pumped hard through his system. All he needed to do now, was buy some time. Bankotsu's expression became deadly serious. He yanked Inuyasha's head up more roughly.

"I'll say this only once more, hanyou. Currently, your people have no substantial evidence to accuse us of anything at all. We do not want for that to change so keep your filthy nose out of our business."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"You just beat the crap out of me. You think they'll take lightly to that?"

Ginkotsu twisted the steel rod that had the hanyou pinned to the ground. Inuyasha forced himself not to make a sound as pain shot through left shoulder. Bankotsu grinned.

"They will. We'll make sure of that."

He lowered himself until his face hovered mere inches above Inuyasha's.

"Because you are going to tell them nothing of our little encounter, nor anything that you might have discovered about us during your short stay at the academy."

Inuyasha scoffed. He needed to keep them talking until his brother arrived. He'd found their first possible suspect, but in his current state, he wouldn't be able to bring the boy in without assistance.

"Keh. Like hell I won't."

He heard Ginkotsu's angered growl as his hair was twisted painfully in Bankotsu's grasp. The dark-haired leader's voice grew deadly calm.

"Oh, I think you'll be inclined to agree with us. Because if you so much as rub us the wrong way from now on, we'll be forced to resort to… certain drastic measures."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes.

"What the hell are you trying to say?"

Bankotsu's sardonic smirk widened in amusement at the hanyou's show of aggression.

"Well, the academy alone has so many potential hazards. The students there are totally unsuspecting…"

The hanyou growled and thrashed a little.

"You bastards wouldn't dare. You really think you'd be able to get away with murdering innocent children-"

"Who said anything about murder? I have a number of depressed clients at the institution. Life's been hard and they've come to rely on the… goods I sell them. All it'll be is a little mix-up on my part."

Bankotsu's grin never wavered as Inuyasha's eyes widened a fraction.

"Ingestion and overdose of toxic substances is a rather common form of suicide in the society of today, you know."

"You piece of-"

The leader of the Shichinintai continued speaking as if he hadn't heard the hanyou.

"And, as you would probably also know. Your president's tragic demise still weighs heavily on the people of Sengoku. You wouldn't want them to have to face the death of a second member of the Higurashi family… now would you?"

Inuyasha felt intense fury boil within him at Bankotsu's none-too-subtle implication. The boy's grip in his hair loosened and disappeared altogether. His voice grew faint as he spoke his next words.

"Remember, half-breed. It's all up to you. If we find that we've come under threat from your government in any way. We will not hesitate to follow up on our promise. You take care now!"

The sound of footsteps echoed in the silence before fading away.

It was rage that saw Inuyasha pushing his body up from its sprawled position on the floor immediately after Ginkotsu's hold on him disappeared. His arms shook with the effort it took him to wrench the steel rod that had impaled him to the floor, out of his shoulder. He grit his teeth let out a loud growl when finally, the metal shaft pulled free.

But when he got to his feet and glanced around, all four members of the Shichinintai were no where to be seen.

Inuyasha snarled in anger and punched the wall hard with his uninjured arm.

"Fuck!"

In his rage, the hanyou had failed to notice that the scent of his brother too, had disappeared.

-----------------------

Bankotsu flipped open his cell phone at exactly six o'clock in the evening and dialled an unfamiliar six digit number. He leaned against the subway wall and waited for someone to pick up on the other end. The call was answered after exactly five rings.

"It's me."

The deep voice that filtered through the hand set was low and calm.

"Is it done?"

Bankotsu shut his eyes.

"We took care of it."

"You killed him, then."

The dark haired youth frowned in annoyance.

"What kind of idiots do you take us for? Of course we didn't kill him. It would arouse too much suspicion."

"Do as you must. But I warn you.He might pose quite a threat. His job is to expose the Shichinintaiafter all…"

Bankotsu replied calmly.

"Look, we did what we had to. He won't be much of a problem anymore."

"I still suggest that you silence him for good."

Bankotsu's eyes snapped open in annoyance.

"Look asshole. You paid us to do a fucking job at the institute. Not to play assassin to some loud-mouthed government lackey. If you've got some vendetta against the bastard then deal with it yourself. We don't do jobs for free."

The voice on the other end sounded unfazed.

"I assure you,my intentions toward the hanyou have nothing to do with this whatsoever. The information I gave you on the boy is entirely accurate. He is after the Shichinintai."

"Good. Because if that was some sort of cheap way of tricking us into killing the hanyou for you, then you can go right ahead and fuck yourself. No one plays the Shichinintai for fools."

With that Bankotsu snapped his phone shut and stalked toward the bench where his comrades sat waiting.

The four-person group then proceeded to leave the subway station.

-----------------------

From a phone booth several miles away, a dark-haired figure emerged and went on his way.

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Sesshoumaru stepped out from a shadowed corner beside the staff room doors of the Teruyama subway station, where he'd followed his brother's aggressors to. He ran the telephone conversation he'd listened to from his hidden spot over in his head.

- Interesting. -

The day just kept getting better and better.

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A/N: Work, life and overall laziness are to blame for the late release of this chapter…

I hope no one took offence to the comment on the Buddhist religion in the early part of this chapter. No insult was meant by that, I assure you. I just needed it to emphasize Miroku's `uniqueness'.