InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Codename: HANYOU ❯ Mission 001: HOSTAGE ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: And yet…another story I have started. When this is to be posted for the rest of my fans, and moreover, fans of Inu-Yasha to read, I don't know. I hope you enjoy this, R+R, and as always, Inu-Yasha does not belong to me. He and the rest of the gang belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Commencing programming for first mission…engaged!

Mission001: HOSTAGE

Feet resting on the oak desk, eyes leisurely closed, while trying to drown out the bustling sounds of the busy JI headquarters, Japanese Investigators, a young agent was roused from his doze by a smart knock on the head. "Hey, Miroku," he cracked an eye open, scrutinizing reproachfully at his dark haired partner as the other joined it, "what was that for?" He squinted for second, adjusting to the light streaming into the room from the slats of the horizontal blinds.

Though looking somewhat perplexed, Miroku grinned, taking a seat backwards on one of the grey rolling chairs of the office across from the other man. His eyes lazily glanced around at the stray photographs lining the walls, with the company of numerous certificates and degrees. A white, Styrofoam coffee cup--devoid of any coffee--sat beside a black placard that bore the name 'Tanaka Inu-Yasha' in gold leaf characters. "Sesshomaru says he has case for us." He tossed a file stamped in red with the words 'CLASSIFIED' on the front onto the paper-littered desktop.

The young man slid back into a normal position in his computer chair, scoffing at the news. "Keh! And what exactly is he going to have us do? Better not be rescuing the American Ambassador's daughter's kitten or something ludicrous like that."

"Actually," a cool, even voice said tersely from the doorway, "my dear, insolent little brother, it's an abduction case." The speaker stood there, a clawed hand drumming agitatedly on the door jam. His cool, ocher eyes stared intently at Inu-Yasha.

"Oh, wow, even better, Sesshomaru. Be still my beating heart," he drawled sarcastically, crossing his arms, faking dramatics as he curved a hand to lie over his heart.

He raised an eyebrow. "Inu-Yasha, this is rather difficult, but if you are not up to it, I will understand." He gave the faintest of smiles, just waiting for the inevitable.

Inu-Yasha glared at his brother, uttering a slight growl, having gone for the bait. "Shut the hell up! I am the best fucking agent you have in this department and you know it!" He smacked his hand down on the heap of files on his right for emphasis, rising from his chair slightly.

Miroku cleared his throat, an angry sweat drop sliding down the side of his face. "Ahem, excuse me, but without my guidance, you'd probably have gotten yourself killed scores of times."

"Feh."

"Such a pity it didn't…" Sesshomaru mumbled.

Dog ears twitching, Inu-Yasha's growling continued. "And what exactly is THAT supposed to mean?" he queried snappily, sitting lightly on the chair, his gaze not shifting from his brother.

Merely ignoring the question, and taking a brief interest in running his fingers of his free hand through his long, silvery hair, Sesshomaru went on. "In any case, I'm sending you two to the lobby on floor eight. The other member of your team will be waiting to fill you in." He dusted off the front of his black suit.

Craning his neck to catch a glimpse of their supervisor, violet orbs curious, Miroku inquired, "Just three of us?"

Resting a glower on him, which didn't intimidate the other young man much, he rigidly replied, "Yes, this is a delicate case. We can only have few operatives; too many and we'll be noticed. All the information you'll need is in that file. Read it on the ride to Tokyo. And don't screw up." He began his exit before stopping to poke his head in. "Oh, and, Inu-Yasha, your tie is crooked again." With that, Sesshomaru quietly sauntered perfectly poised out of the office, silently chuckling to himself.

Watching as the elder dog-demon departed, Inu-Yasha stretched. He jerkily messed with his tie, and, after coming to the conclusion that he wasn't having very good luck with it, gave up with a huff. "Well, hopefully, this'll be worthy of our talents." He rose, snatching the file betwixt his claws. He caught a glimpse of a picture of a beautiful, young woman, but pushed it aside in his mind as he put the computer in sleep mode. The white office grew a bit darker as the monitor light dimmed. "Let's get going."

Together they made their way to one of the twelve half-circle, metallic elevators; numerous other uniformed people passed by them, a whole sea of black and white. Miroku pressed the circular button for the eighth floor and a blue ring glowed around it as it engaged. Catching snippets of the other floors through circular hole in the middle of slide-away door, they arrived in near silence in their solitary lift.

"What do you think the case is about?" Inu-Yasha asked, stepping out onto the lobby of the designated level. The scent of sanitizers rushed into his nose as a group of janitors hastily went about their work of cleaning the other half of the floor. An old man sat behind a reception desk, quietly snoozing with his head lolled back a bit of spit creeping out the corner of his mouth; a passing agent smacked a thick, manila folder on the top of his head as she walked by.

"Other than a missing person's case, I think it might have to do with some touchy stuff. Apparently someone has been kidnapped as a ransom to gain the Shikon no Tama." Miroku scratched his head with a gloved hand, a set of lavender prayer beads snaking over it, his light-haired partner's eyes growing in surprise. "I kind of skimmed the outline of the case. I only had it in my possession for about thirty seconds before turning it to you."

Slowly, he nodded. The Shikon no Tama…I wonder who'd be dumb enough to go after that? That thing's heavily guarded by our guys and by one of the most powerful priestess of our era. "Do you know anything about the abducted?" asked Inu-Yasha, starting to thumb through the pages of his own manila folder.

Miroku sighed, his ungloved hand tucked into the pocket of his suit coat. "Sadly, I do not but…." He stopped as soon as he noticed the young woman that had bopped the old, befuddled receptionist on the noggin. "Ah, Sango, so good to see you," he greeted, bowing politely, grinning brightly.

She rolled her chocolaty eyes, her grip on the folder getting a bit stronger. "Good morning to my favorite lecher and hanyou. This way." She waved her other hand as she changed directions and began leading the pair through a set of double doors, Inu-Yasha's nose pressed firmly into the finite details of the file.

A loud whirling racket blasted the threesome's eardrums as they strolled onto the slate runway. Several jets and helicopters sat motionless, mechanics circling around their precious babies.

Without glancing up, totally ignoring the clamor, the half-demon mumbled, "So, this boy, Sota, has been taken captive?" He turned a photograph of a young boy, probably no more than nine-years-old, up to his eyes.

"Right," Sango replied, not moving to look at him.

Tapping the boy's face with a claw, the hanyou couldn't help but feel sorry for this child; he was probably just an innocent kid that didn't really have much to do with the whole ordeal other than being in the care of the guardian of the Shikon no Tama. Inu-Yasha slipped it back in case file, snapping it securely shut in his palm.

A chopper sat waiting for them on the built-in runway, its propellers already gyrating. The woman yelled back to them, as they clambered inside, "No one knows who took the boy. The Sacred Jewel is safely in the hands of its protector, but this situation is hot off the press! Maybe…half an hour ago?"

"I'm guessing that the reason our superiors, Myoga, Toutousai, and Sesshomaru are having us take the government chopper is that there's some danger involved." Sliding in beside Sango, Miroku made room for his partner, who bounded in with a single hop.

"Yeah, someone left a message carved in the wood of the shrine where the Sacred Jewel was being housed. It was something like…" she flipped open her notes carefully, just long enough to glimpse at them, "'Protect what is most precious, or lose even more. Which will mean more to you?' Rather cruel if you ask me." Frowning, Sango clutched her annotations to her chest. "There will be a car waiting for us at the landing site. We should arrive in about twenty minutes."

~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Where's my brother?!" cried a raven-haired young woman frantically. "Is he ok?! Have you found him yet?"

"Pl-please, calm down," a nervous man was stuttering, holding up his hands innocently, backing away from the flustered girl a bit. "Th-the agency is sending their best to track him. Please, try to calm down."

Her jaw hung open for a second. "Calm down…?" She waggled her head as she initiated pacing in circles, taking deep breaths. "You're right, sir, you're right. I'm very sorry. I'm just…worried about my brother." She anxiously twirled a lock of hair round her slender index finger. "I-I'm sure your people are doing everything possible to get Sota back…right?" The young woman peered at him quizzically.

He nodded vigorously. "O-of course, Miss Higurashi." The agent winched his neck, straining to see the newcomers trotting up the stairs. He smiled with relief at seeing three familiar associates. "It seems they've arrived."

Miss Higurashi watched as a young woman and two young men come striding up to her, the agent beside her bobbing his head. "These three?" She looked at them.

The young woman had long, dark brown-almost black-hair, which was fastened at the far bottom the fall of hair, and dark brown eyes that was framed by cherry eye shadow. The young man on her right, whom she'd just smacked, had black hair-when he turned around to speak to her, Miss Higurashi saw he had a small ponytail-and lavender eyes. The other man, the taller of the two, had the most stunning platinum hair, with forelocks spilling over his shoulders; his dog ears were the exact same color. His eyes were rich pools of gold, each bearing a cat-like pupil in the center. All of them were clothed in black suits with white shirts and the boys both had black ties.

"Thank you, Nobunaga," the dark haired man said, giving a nod of his head. "Please…" he glanced at the eager agent's adoring eyes, his mind quickly racing for a good way to dismiss the guy, "uh, go and make sure our car has plenty of fuel in it."

Nobunaga bobbled his head. "Y-yes, sir!" He scampered off quickly, rushing as he descended the stairs.

"I'd go a bit slower if I were…" the amber orbed man winced as the young operative tripped and went careening down the stairs, "you," he finished flatly. "I tried to tell ya, but you wouldn't listen."

The young woman shook her head as she extended her hand. "I'm Yoshida Sango and these are my, unlikely, partners Mr. Saragaku Miroku and Mr. Tanaka Inu-Yasha."

Miss Higurashi clasped hands with Sango. "I'm Higurashi Kagome…. Please," she gestured to the shrine-turned-house, "come inside."

Miroku nodded. "Yes, that seems like a good idea." His mauve orbs scanned the vicinity, taking in the quaintness of the shrine grounds, which was now congested with CSI units sniffing around. Catching a glimpse of a small grove, he continued with, "It's late autumn, so it's getting quite drafty as the weather is gliding into winter."

Trekking to the house, Inu-Yasha glanced up from his case file again. It was odd, after peering at the picture of Kagome and her younger brother Sota, how somber this girl looked now. In the photograph, she was smiling and seemed rather lively. For some reason, it bothered him that her expression was so crestfallen, though he couldn't completely blame her for being as such. It just reminded him too strongly of someone he hadn't spoken to in a while…. Sighing, he re-read the same paragraph as she graciously ushered them all inside.

"Possessing a rare gift of purification, and managing to keep such a cheerful disposition, Higurashi Kagome of the Sunset Shrine, a family shrine, was entrusted with the Shikon no Tama. The Jewel had been terribly corrupted by the numerous demons and humans that had utilized it for terrible purposes. With one touch, it was purified, and young Kagome was given the Jewel of Four Souls as its destined, lifelong guardian. Her parents and grandparents passed away when she was ten-years-old and since then, Kagome has worked doubly hard by finishing school at the age of fourteen, which took quite a toll on her, protecting the Sacred Jewel, tending to the shrine, and taking care of her younger brother Sota…"

Poor girl, he thought sympathetically, careful not to show it too much on his face as he took a seat beside Miroku at the small tea table. Sango was across the way from them, her eyes showing how troubled she was by the girl's predicament.

Drawing a deep breath, Kagome looked at them and smiled. "W-well, I'll get you some tea."

"Whatever makes you most comfortable, Miss Kagome," murmured Miroku soothingly.

"Please, just call me Kagome…." She shuffled out of the dining room and into the kitchen, sucking in inhalations at a rapid pace; the kitchen door swung closed behind her.

Inu-Yasha was about to read a tad more of his 'homework' when he heard the most saddening sound: the girl was crying. She probably figured they couldn't hear her, well, she was right that Miroku and Sango couldn't, but he sure as hell could. The hanyou was, to say the least, puzzled at the situation. By nature, he detested it when women cried, and he had yet to think of a way to cope, other than yelling; however, all of his job training had at least given him some restraint and calm when this sort of thing arose.

Nonetheless, Inu-Yasha was uncomfortable and attempted to isolate himself from his uneasiness by returning to the notes. So she turned fifteen back in October…only about a month ago. He watched as Kagome returned, carrying a teakettle with four tea cups around it on a silver tray. She had managed to mop herself off fairly well, although her cobalt eyes were still on the puffy side.

Quietly, Kagome placed a cup before each of them and started filling them with green tea. She took a place directly across from the dog-demon. "So, what do you need to ask me?"

"The basics," Inu-Yasha said, speaking up prior to the other two, which took them aback in surprise. "What were you doing and all that good shit?"

Miroku leaned over and bonked the hanyou. "Can't you ever speak without cursing?"

"Oh, and you're one to talk," mumbled Sango.

"Well…" Kagome didn't really notice Inu-Yasha's choice of words. "I was here in the shrine attending to my duties, cleaning, speaking to visitors, and all that stuff, while Sota was outside practicing with his soccer ball. I went outside to check up on him and I heard noises from the mini-shrine where the Shikon Jewel was being kept." Unconsciously, the girl's hand grasped the chain round her neck. "That's when I ducked around to grab my bow and arrows, but something had departed before I could fire a single arrow. I ran outside to find Sota…and he was gone." Her gaze shifted downwards, her eyes coating with frustrated tears. "I searched and searched…but he was gone. The mini-shrine was a bit of mess, and then I informed your superior Mr. Sesshomaru and…here we are," she finished weakly.

The threesome quietly nodded, sipping their tea at random intervals.

Sniffing the air a bit, Inu-Yasha rose, leaving his teacup on the table. "Where did you and your brother sleep?" He locked eyes with Kagome for a moment.

"We sleep upstairs. His room is the third door on the left side of the hallway, Mr. Inu-Yasha."

Giving a curt dip of his noggin, the hanyou excused him self and hustled out of the room and up the staircase. His leather dress shoes were muted as they jogged up the beige-carpeted steps. Along the white walls were photographs of the young woman's family. Continuing along the corridor, he passed a bathroom, Kagome's room, a storage room, and finally Sota's room.

Gingerly opening the door, a stark-white handkerchief over his palm, Inu-Yasha entered the boy's room. Posters of soccer players and favorite movie and cartoon characters decorated the chamber proudly. The bedspread was slightly ruffled, and a few video games littered the area around the TV and PlayStation. The kid had an obvious love of the fighting genre.

Ignoring his first findings, the half-demon investigated all the aspects of the area carefully, sifting through papers on the ground. At least his nose was creating a brief record of the boy's scent.

Going along, he noticed something flashing on the computer. Venturing closer, Inu-Yasha saw it was the screensaver-two guys dribbling a soccer ball between each and other and scoring a goal. Handkerchief still tightly wound over his hand, Inu-Yasha wiggled the mouse, breaking the monitor onto the last action preformed. What popped up was a cryptic message, apparently a decoded e-mail. Baffled a bit, not like he could read computer script naturally, the hanyou printed off the memo and carefully slid it into the camel-colored folder for the CSI lab to decipher later. All he could infer was that it wasn't going to be a good thing, whatever it was.

Not finding much else of interest, he thought it best to return to his companions and the girl.

"Restrain him!" someone outside bellowed. "He's after the Shikon no Tama!"

Not stopping to have second-thoughts, Inu-Yasha bound out of the sliding window of Sota's room. He landed light-as-a-feather on the stone floor, and bounced off in the direction of the commotion. Streaking past a rather large tree, the hanyou skid to a halt alongside of Sango as he glanced around at the harried agents and CSI units, the air tense. "What the fuck is going on here?!"

She shook her head, seemingly in disbelief, taking the folder from his hands. "I can't believe someone would try and break into the shrine again today."

"Where's the girl?" Inu-Yasha asked, peering hurriedly around.

Sango joined him in the hunt before pointing over by the shrine where a few operatives were attempting to contain the thief. "She's over there!"

He took a few heavy steps towards her. "The hell…?" He didn't get to finish his sentence as he watched Kagome knock an arrow onto her bow and fire, her fingers having registered their work deftly. A large trail of light streamed after the arrow and grazed the attempted-thief's shoulder. Even Inu-Yasha was a little speechless when the guy's arm vaporized. "So, he was a demon…a weasel demon…." He sniffed slightly.

Kagome lowered her weapon, replacing a second arrow she'd drawn into the quiver upon her back. Striding over to the side of one very bemused agent, she said, "It seems someone was trying to get my brother and the Jewel."

The weasel demon, who was taking on a humanoid form, shakily looked up at her from his position on the ground. "P-please, I was told to try and steal the Shikon Jewel…."

"And why the hell would you go after it if you have a hostage for leverage?!" Inu-Yasha shouted, having popped up beside the girl in the blink of an eye.

The demon gulped; sweat creeping fearfully over his visage. "D-decoy…" he choked out.

Snatching the guy by the front of his navy blue shirt, the hanyou brought him up to eye level. "Decoy? Decoy for what?"

"I-I don't know! I don't know!" he blurted out, looking frantically around at the operatives pointing guns at him. "He just…came and gave me lots of money!" the guy stuttered, his form quavering.

"And what did he look like?"

"I…don't know. He had a silvery cape on, and he kept his face covered the entire time." The body within Inu-Yasha's grasp shuddered more.

Tossing the man to the awaiting agents, Inu-Yasha snorted in disgust. "What a spineless shit," he grunted while watched the weasel-demon being lead off down the shrine stairs. He shifted his ambry gaze to the young woman; she trembled, lurching forward. The hanyou swooped over and caught her in his strong grip. "Are you all right?"

Kagome deafly nodded. "Y-yes…just…shaken up…." With help from Inu-Yasha, the girl staggered onto her own feet, a hand up to her onyx-haired head. The stormy eyes were sparked with alarm. "I think…I think I just need to sit down…."

Gently, the dog-demon led her by the upper arm. He crouched with her as he set the shaky girl on an overly large root beneath a massive tree. Seeing Miroku and Sango motioning for him to come, he mumbled, "Excuse me for a minute…." Waiting as she bobbed her head slowly, Inu-Yasha got to a standing position and made his way to his partners. It was rather strange…he must've been going soft; normally, he wouldn't spend such care with anyone in a case. He'd count on another member of the squad to deal with emotional business. Yet, somehow, this girl was different. Quickly glancing back to her, Inu-Yasha thought, I understand what it's like to have to work through life without really any family left…. The last person she had was taken from her. Concluding that was the reason for his odd behavior, the hanyou sauntered to his partners. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Well, they've managed to scrap some evidence together from the scene, although not much," Sango replied with a sigh, handing the case file to the head of CSI team; he trotted off to the thick of his company. Unfortunately, letting her guard down for the brief instance attracted some undesired attention. "PERVERT!" She smacked Miroku, flat-palmed, across the face, who gave her the most innocent eyes his lavender pools could muster.

Clearing his throat, the young man regained his composure. "Due to this…unexpected attack," he inadvertently looked to his female counterpart from the corner of his eye, "even with the JI here, the head honcho herself Ms. Kaede thinks it would be a wise decision to put Kagome, along with the Shikon Jewel, into a protection program." Running his fingers through his bangs, Miroku grinned. "And our superior also believes that the young woman should stay with one of us."

"And she's not staying with you, you lecher," Sango said firmly, crossing her arms in such a huff that her black suit jacket rode up her stomach a bit.

"All right then, if not with me, how about you, Sango?" The man raised an eyebrow in question as he awaited her answer.

She shook her head. "I can't at the moment. Kohaku and I can't fit any more people in our apartment. My brother and I have the perfect amount of space for two."

Thinking in unison, with matching grins to boot, the couple turned to Inu-Yasha.

He remained silent and still; maybe that tactic of staying quiet while around bears would work around these two. A few seconds of awkward silence passed.

"Well, Inu-Yasha?" asked Miroku. "It's only logical that she does."

"…Fine!" he exhaled loudly, tossing his hands up in the air. "Keh, whatever…the girl can stay with me…."

As the pair turned, they could hear faint mutterings of 'sure, pin this on me' and 'just because I'm not a lecher and I live alone'. Choosing to ignore him, they moved to Kagome, who was looking a lot better than she just had.

"Kagome," Sango started softly, remembering the girl's request, "we're going to have to get you out of here immediately, understand? You're going to stay with Inu-Yasha."

She nodded her head. "Yes, Miss Sango...I'll think about it."

Glancing at her watch, her expression remorseful, the female operative said, "I'm very sorry, but Miroku and I have to report to our superiors on the situation. Don't worry," she patted the girl on the shoulder, "you're in good hands with Inu-Yasha."

On that note, Miroku and Sango strolled away, chatting between each other.

"To go…or not to go?" Kagome mumbled to herself, peering at the ground intently.

"Hey," a gruff voice made its way to her.

She glanced up to meet with the honey-colored pools of the youthful detective she was scheduled to be staying with. "Hi," she murmured, giving a slight sigh.

Inu-Yasha sat on another large root across from her. "So…" he looked around for a moment, thinking of a nice way to phrase his wordage…damn that hurt, "you're going to be staying with me, huh?"

Kagome, still gaping at him, shrugged her shoulders. "Not matter the danger, I can't just up and leave."

"What?" He stared at the girl incredulously. "What do you mean you can't leave? Your life was just threatened, you stupid wench!" Ah, oops, there went understanding right out the window….

Blinking, and giving a petite growl, rather odd coming from a human, she glowered at the hanyou. "What if the kidnappers call, or what if Sota manages to escape and no one is here?" she exasperatedly interrogated the operative, leaning towards him, her index finger waggling. "I can't just leave! What about the people who come to the shrine that might need me? What about them? I have duty here, I can't just runaway!" Tears were beginning to coat her eyes. "Tell me, Mr. Inu-Yasha, if you have some sagely answer, what am I supposed to do?!"

He stared at her for a moment, taken aback at the flurry of questions that flew at him. He swallowed, pretty sure insulting Kagome was a bad choice, and now on top of it, she seemed to be on the brink of crying. Inu-Yasha absolutely hated it when people cried, women above all. Trying to regain some poise, his words staggered out as he formed an answer. "W-well, if you stay here, someone could attack you."

"I'm ready to fight and protect myself," she interjected firmly.

Inu-Yasha took a deep breath. Don't get mad, don't get mad…. "We will have some agents here and will hire another priest or priestess to take over your duties while you're away."

"If there are other people here, shouldn't I be safer?" She locked eyes with him.

Feeling a growl rising up through his throat, the hanyou battled it absent, not turning away from the stare-down. "After seeing that there was an attack here, who's to say that the kidnappers would hesitate coming here with operatives present? We're trying to keep you safe."

"I'm sorry, sir, but," Kagome started, rising to her feet, "I really don't think this will work out-"

"Aw, fuck, girl!" Inu-Yasha finally burst out, his snarl peaking as he hurried over to her, grabbing her shoulders. "If I don't protect you from the assholes that want the Shikon no Tama, and probably life while they're at it, even if they release your little brother, there won't be anyone there to look after him because you're dead and he'll end up in The Citadel all alone!" The hanyou took in a few big inhalations, his heart hammering from the vehement shouting. His grip on her shoulders went slack and the slid off and his arms hung loosely at his sides. "I'm…sorry…Kagome…" he muttered to himself, his body hunched over.

She peered at him, tilting her head, eyes pensive and a saddened; though this time, it wasn't because of her situation, but the wondering of what 'The Citadel' was and why Inu-Yasha was so adamant about his duty. Kagome's mind took in the dimensions of his visage. A strong chin, dark eyebrows…his hair and eyes had already caught her attention, and really did have a handsome face, now that she noticed. Observing the way he looked so sheepish, she remembered what Miss Sango had said before she left: "Don't worry; you're in good hands with Inu-Yasha." The agent's gaze shot everywhere but at her, she detected. Kagome's eyes glanced at the small grove they were sitting in; they were beneath her favorite tree, the one-thousand-year-old Goshinboku. She could see the shrine grounds with the throng of people from the JI hustling about their jobs. Should I trust him…? This hanyou-man? "Mr. Inu-Yasha…" she whispered softly.

"Y-yes…?"

"I have considered what you said and," she slid off her root again, "I will go with you…on one condition."

Surprised, he gawked at her. "And that would be…?"

"You alert me of every known detail on this case and every single lead on my brother's whereabouts. Understand?"

Inu-Yasha nodded mutely. "Fine."

Kagome began to trek on home, a mixture of sobriety and joy in her stomach; all it ended up being was confusion. Why…why did they have to involve Sota in this? Kagome pondered, head cast downwards, at least thankful that she was to be kept informed. He's just an innocent child…he's no part of this! She felt a silent tear slide down her cheek, but she made no move to brush it away. Sota…I hope you'll be all right.

Inu-Yasha watched in awe as the girl ambled her way to her destination. The tear glistened a bit in the fading sunlight, yet she remained firmly resolved to make no noise. He couldn't help but feel some kinship with the poor girl. She lighted upon a small landing, lightly icy, and Kagome ending up slipping backwards…or, she would have if he hadn't rushed over to catch her from the rear.

Peering up at him with a pair of dazzling, blue-grey eyes, she murmured a small, "Thank you," and managed a tiny smile before attempting to enter her home.

"I'll go with you. You know, to make sure there isn't some bastard in here that wants to harm you." The words flew from his mouth without him even taking into account of what he was uttering.

Kagome's smile grew a bit more as she tilted her head. "Thank you, Mr. Inu-Yasha."

"Keh, whatever. Don't mention it, girl," he mumbled, holding the door open for her. Weird….

They trotted up to her bedroom. A few posters of animals were on her walls-huh, one of them even looked like him. Go figure. Her bed was covered in rose pink coverlets and matching pillows.

Kagome hauled a large, yellow knapsack from her closet and haphazardly tossed some clothing into it from her dresser and closet. She snatched a few personal items and finally, she turned and looked at Inu-Yasha curiously. "Um, Mr. Inu-Yasha?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh, well, would it be ok if I brought Buyo with me?" She pointed to the obese fuzz ball curled up on her bed.

The hanyou boy sniffed for a second. "A cat, huh?" he murmured to himself. He peered at her pleading eyes, and his heart softened and he emitted a low sigh. "All right, the cat can come."

Grinning somewhat happily, Kagome seized her cat from the bed and cradled him in her arms. "Come on, Buyo…we're gonna have a new home for a while."

The fat cat merely stared up at her and mewed.

"Let's get going."

She nodded. "Ok."

Together, with Inu-Yasha carrying her bag, they scuttled to the first floor, out of the house, and finally down to the street below where several sleek, black cars waited. The sky was growing dusky as Inu-Yasha tossed the bag into the trunk. Kagome slid into the shotgun seat and waited for her guardian to climb into the driver's seat and start the car.

Their half hour drive to his home was on the peaceful side. Ever-so-often, Inu-Yasha would ask if the girl was warm enough, as some small flurries adhered to the windshield, and she insisted she was fine. It was about ten minutes in, actually, that he stopped getting responses. As he paused at the intersection, allowing a white SUV to drive fore them, he sensed a newfound heat supply coming on his right side.

Glimpsing down, waiting for the light to turn green, Inu-Yasha found Kagome snuggled up against his arm, asleep, her head inclined near his shoulder. Her face was buried in his black suit jacket; he flushed a little as he realized that his right palm was lying on top of her hand. The fat cat, Buyo, was asleep in her lap; she was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a pink turtle neck with black bows on the collar, the Shikon Jewel glowing a little brighter as he stepped on the accelerator and continued on home. He was so dazed he didn't even notice that there had been car horns honking irately to the rear of him.

Upon arriving, Inu-Yasha debated whether he should wake her up or not while parking the car about midway in the parking lot. Deciding on the latter, the hanyou didn't say anything as he removed the key from the ignition, pocketed them, and cracked open the car door, venturing to the trunk. He retrieved the knapsack and slung a strap over his shoulder, quietly shutting the trunk lid. With utmost forethought, Inu-Yasha slinked to the passenger side and swung the door open. Moving like a ghost, he slipped an arm under her knees, the other going round her backside; the cat remained stationary. Creeping lightly, Inu-Yasha went around the front of the little, black car and headed towards the apartment building's landing.

A cool breeze, bearing the testaments of fast approaching winter, pierced through him; the girl in the cradle of his arms shifted nearer to the closest heat, i.e. his chest. She moaned softly enough that only he caught the sound, and blushed at her proximity as she adjusted herself. Not desiring to rouse her due to the rapid tattoo of his heart, Inu-Yasha gulped and determinedly ignored his whacked out faculties.

Only one problem made itself known. Good job, Sherlock, but you can't reach your keys to get inside without waking the girl…Kagome, up. "Feh, no problem," he whispered faintly, the frigid air incarnating his breath into something visible. He balanced her in the cradle of his arms again; checking that she was secure, he wrapped on hand over the top of her thighs and the other laid over her stomach. The hanyou stared up through the cold wind that stung at his eyes up to the sixth floor. Smirking, Inu-Yasha leapt up in the air, landing over the railing of a balcony on the aforementioned level. Using his foot to slide his door open all the way, the young agent made his way into his apartment, and, in the same way, he shut his entryway.

Inu-Yasha snuck to his bedroom and tenderly lowered the quiescent girl, complete with cat, onto his bed. He slipped off the pack, and set it beside the bed. Turning away, he rummaged through his closet for extra blankets for the both of them. When he whirled around, he froze.

The girl, Kagome, was so…pretty? No, a stronger word than pretty…breathtaking? Yes, that was it. Her dark locks cascaded smoothly about her face, framing it just so. Her delicate hands were lying daintily upon the claret bedspread, her lissome body resting in the same such manner. He could hear her even breathing as her chest rose and fell, her lips lightly smiling, slightly in a pout, with wind-touched cheeks of pink.

Inu-Yasha blinked several times, warmth spreading over the bridge of his nose; he'd been staring at her…. He swallowed nervously before dropping the blankets to the floor, spare two, and covering her with them. Regarding his work for a moment, the hanyou backed away, gathered his night attire and coverlets, and sauntered out of the room.

He quickly changed out of the suit and annoying black tie, and into a pair of black boxers and a white T-shirt with the words 'It's only funny until someone gets hurt…then it's hysterical!' written over it in navy blue. He seized the keys from his pants pocket, slid open the balcony door and found the little grey button for the automatic locking system for the car. Upon hearing the click, he hurried back inside, for fear of literally freezing his ass off. And to think it hasn't even snowed all that much yet. Using one of the cushions for a head rest, Inu-Yasha sprawled out over the couch, dragging his blankets over himself and nodded off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N: Ack! I can't stop the writing frenzy! AHHH!! Ok, ahem, I'm finished. My friends that have known about this story coming out have been berating me so, violá! Here it is! R+ R, I've been feeling unloved as I haven't been getting many reviews. That doesn't encourage me to write, people! Right now, I am planning on to work on "The Mysterious Little Visitor" more. Why? It's my closet done story, so the others may not be updated as much. I don't know, I'm like water; can't contain me. Anyways, thanks again!

Inu-Yasha: I think…I'm gonna like this spy gig.

Good, I thought you would. Come on, people, imagine him in a suit. A black suit.

Inu-Yasha: *grins* Heh.

Anyways, feel free to write me at: hanyou_miko_dreamer@hotmail.com Please read my other fics, "The Mysterious Little Visitor", "On Vacation", "On a Leash", "Shikon High", and check out my set of one shots named "Hugs and Kisses (And Other One Shots)".

Ja ne,

~Moonlight Shadow

Japanese used:

Shikon no Tama-Shikon Jewel, Jewel of Four Souls, etc.

Ja ne-later

Hanyou-half-demon