InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Making Things Right ❯ Strategic Strikes ( Chapter 28 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: inufan625 
Puttting life to his plan...
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 06.25.2005 | Updated On: 07.09.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 3.0K | Status: Work In Progress
Puttting life to his plan...
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 06.25.2005 | Updated On: 07.09.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 3.0K | Status: Work In Progress
A/N: Here is the beta-ed chapter. I would like to thank Azelle for her hard work.
Here are the name translations
Takeshi - brave
Makoto - sincere
Kishin - noble
Hogosha - protector
I would like to thank all who have reviewed so far and I would really love some more of you to review. TODAY IS MY 25TH BIRTHDAY and it would make me really happy to get some reviews. Please... Ok now on with the story...
“How’s your mother?” InuYasha asked.
“She’s fine, but I can tell she is worried and wants to come home,” Kagome replied.
“Have we gotten a postcard from her?”
“I don’t think so. When did she send it?” he asked.
“A few days ago,” Kagome told him. “I guess it just hasn’t come yet.”
“She say anything else?” he questioned.
“Mama did say that Shippou and Souta are having a wonderful time, though she would like to know where they are getting all the money they have been spending. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” Kagome sat up on her knees and scooted closer to him. Leaning forward, she placed a soft kiss on his lips.
“I might have given then a little money of their own,” InuYasha answered dismissively. He pulled her into his lap and slid one hand up her shirt as he kissed her neck.
She struggled to free herself from his grasp before she got completely distracted. “From what Mama said, it didn’t sound like a little.” Kagome managed to rasp out as InuYasha assaulted her mating mark with his lips and tongue.
“It’s no big deal: just 20,000 yen a week,” he murmured against her neck.
Kagome pushed away from him hard. “You’re kidding right?”
“Keh, it’s not that much,” he replied. “Neither one of them has been spending it all. I checked.”
Kagome sighed. “Our kids are going to grow up spoiled brats.”
“Not with you as their mama,” he said pulling her close to nip at her neck once again. “They might end up spoiled, but they won’t be brats; not with such a wonderful woman for their mother.”
“You’re just saying that because you want to get some,” she laughed.
“Can’t blame a guy for trying, when he has a girl like you,” InuYasha told her.
“There you go again,” she replied.
“Is it working?” he asked.
“You’re such a dog,” she mumbled as he trailed kisses along her jaw.
InuYasha changed their position, so that she was lying beneath him.
“Can’t argue there,” he admitted. He pressed his lips to her ear. “Do you want me to beg?”
Kagome shuddered as his hot breath caressed her ear. “Maybe I’ll have you beg next time,” she gasped.
It had been pathetically easy to sneak past both the human and youkai security on the property. He only wished that he hadn’t been forbidden to kill on the way in, but he knew it was to avoid alerting anyone to his presence. A soft, dark laugh escaped him. On the way out, after his job was done, however, it would be an entirely different story.
The balcony door was locked, a slight annoyance, but one that was easily remedied. He prepared himself to strike, his blood boiling, hungering for the kill. A fist shot out and behind it came the force of his youkai strength, obliterating the door.
An alarm sounded as the Minister and his lovely wife sat up in bed. They didn’t even have time to scream before he was upon them. The assassin thought of how much fun it would have been to spend time torturing them both and perhaps even having his way with the woman, even if she was only human, but he had his orders. A quick slash with both of his clawed hands slit their throats, and he laughed as the blood sprayed across his face.
The door burst open and three humans and two youkai came running in. The killer wasted no time. He sprang at them driving each fist into the stomach of one of the youkai, pulled his hands free, and licked the blood from one of his claws.
While they were staring at his gruesome display, he threw out his other hand and sent with it an electric shock created by his youki.
One human, to his amusement, turned and ran. The other stood completely still, showing no sign of fear. Before he could puzzle out what exactly that could mean, something slammed into his chest, falling back as shocks coursed through his body.
The last thing he saw was the holy staff of a monk crashing down upon him, and then, he was no more.
An hour ago, Sesshomaru had called giving him an address and telling him that he “must go there at once.” He was also instructed to bring Miroku and Sango with him for security. Sesshomaru himself was needed at another attack across town. InuYasha hadn’t wanted Kagome to come along, but she had insisted.
Because of the nature of the attack and the target, the normal police forces had been bypassed entirely and the Youkai Enforcement Agency was called in. It was a special government branch designed specifically to handle renegade youkai and to make sure the secret of their existence didn’t leak out to the general population.
One of the guards at the door recognized InuYasha and bowed respectfully. “Taisho-sama we were informed that you would be coming,” he said. “Go right in.”
Sango gasped as they entered the room. Kagome at first thought it was because of the horrific sight before them, but when she followed Sango’s line of sight, Kagome realized that it was because the former exterminator’s father was there.
InuYasha strode right over to Sango’s father. “Are you the one I am supposed see?”
“Father… ” Sango said softly. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same,” he replied, “and I will once we have dispensed with the more pressing matter at hand.”
Sango’s father then directed his attention to InuYasha. “Taisho-sama, I am Takeshi Makoto. I am head of the Youkai Enforcement Agency. We are very pleased to have the cooperation of both you and your brother. We have been working closely with him in this matter and would like to extend our thanks for the effort that was done to expose the atrocities bring committed against youkai in the name of research.”
“So what’s going on?” InuYasha asked. “What happened here?”
“Apparently, a youkai broke in through the balcony and slashed the throats of both the Minister and his wife. When security arrived, it was already too late. The youkai then drove his fist through the stomachs of the two youkai guards. Both survived but won’t be able to be questioned for at least twenty-four hours. He then killed one of the human guards with an electrical youki attack,” Takeshi explained. “This, we know, from a houshi who worked for the Minister. He remained while the other guard went for help and used a sacred sutra and his staff to defeat the youkai.”
“What’s your take on why the Minister was targeted?” InuYasha asked.
“The Minister was not the only target tonight. So far, four other important government officials have been assassinated,” he replied. “Our theory as to why is based on the connection they all share: all five victims were involved in the youkai aspect of their departments. We believe that it was done in an attempt to take out those who would be in positions to prevent a panic if youkai were to be exposed.”
“That makes sense,” InuYasha offered. “I don’t suppose anyone was able to pick up a trail to follow back to where he got his orders from?”
“Unfortunately, even our best trackers were unable to pick up the slightest trace of the assassin on the property, or around it,” Takeshi told him. “You are, of course, welcome to see if you can find anything.”
“Sango, stay with Kagome while Miroku and I go have a look around,” InuYasha said. “I doubt we’ll find anything, so we shouldn’t be long.”
“I think now would be a good time for you to explain what you are doing here, Sango,” her father started.
“My job, just like you are, I assume,” Sango replied. “I am part of Taisho Sesshomaru’s personal security team because of my skills as a demon exterminator.”
“Since when have you been a demon exterminator? And was the monk with you not your boyfriend, that bartender, Miroku?” he questioned.
Kagome didn’t miss the obvious disdain Sango’s father had for Miroku.
“Miroku is my fiancé, and he isn’t that bartender… He is a monk with great spiritual powers,” Sango explained. “Kagome is a powerful miko, and when she mated with InuYasha, she was given a vision. She was shown how to awaken us all to our previous lives, in which I was a demon exterminator. You were the headman of our village and an exterminator, as well. It seems both of us ended up in the professions from our past.”
“How is a monk going to support you?” her father asked.
Miroku cleared his throat from behind them. “I assure you, Takeshi-san, Taisho Sesshomaru pays very well.”
The way the two men stared at each other, Kagome couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Sango. It was obvious her father didn’t approve of her and Miroku and Kagome decided to change the subject. “Did you find anything?”
“No,” InuYasha replied. “We might as well get out of here. Takeshi-san, we will be sure to let you in on any information we may come across.”
“Sango, I wish to speak with you privately before you leave,” her father said.
Kagome noticed that Miroku didn’t look pleased at all. “We’ll wait for you at the car,” Kagome told Sango.
Miroku led the way out of the room and Kagome and InuYasha followed closely behind him.
Sango watched them leave. She had a pretty good idea what her father was going to say, and she didn’t really want to hear it. He had never liked Miroku.
“Daughter, I will not give my blessing if you chose to marry him,” Takeshi said. “He is not a fitting husband for you. I also do not care for your new profession. It is not proper for a woman. If you persist in either of these areas, I will be forced to do something you will not like to make you see reason. Surely, you would not want your brother to suffer when you are no longer allowed to visit him.”
“That- that’s not fair…” Sango stammered. “You can’t do that. Kohaku needs me. I love both Miroku and my job. Why can’t you accept that?”
“I have given you your choices,” he replied.
“Fine,” Sango spat. Turning on her heel, she stormed out of the room before her father could see her tears.
Sango walked right past the others where they waited for her, and climbed in the car.
Miroku turned to go back inside but InuYasha grabbed him.
“This isn’t the time,” the hanyou said. “First, worry about Sango, and then you can deal with her father.”
“You’re right,” Miroku said at last.
Sango stared out the window the entire time. In fact, the only sign she gave of knowing they were there was taking Miroku’s hand when he sat beside her.
When they got to the house, Sango went inside and grabbed her Hiraikotsu and left for the gardens, Miroku following her.
InuYasha put his arm around Kagome, who was near tears. He would never wish that Kagome was less compassionate toward her friends, because that was part of why he loved her so much, but it was hard to see her upset and not be able to do anything to make it better.
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “It’ll be all right, koibito. Whatever happened, Sango is strong, and she and Miroku will find their way through it together. Just like we did.”
Kagome nodded and let him lead her to the sofa.
InuYasha sat down and pulled her into his lap. He turned on the television and smoothed her hair as they waited for Sango and Miroku to return.
When it returned to her, she threw it again and again, until she caught it one last time and sank to her knees. A few moments passed and she let go of the strap, the giant bone falling to the ground beside her. She covered her face with her hands, and though he couldn’t hear her, he had not doubt that the tremors that racked her body were because she was crying.
It broke his heart to see his beautiful Sango, who was the strongest woman he had ever met, so broken. He went to his knees beside her.
Miroku wasn’t sure that she knew he was there until she flung her arms around his shoulders and sobbed into his neck. Slowly he was able to make out her words.
“Why…Why can’t he be happy for me…?” she cried. “He can’t stop me from seeing Kohaku… I won’t give you up…Why is he doing this?”
Miroku rubbed her back. “Please, my love, don’t cry,” he soothed. “Everything will be all right. We won’t let him keep you from your brother. We’ll think of something. Just don’t cry.”
Sango pulled back and looked into somber blue eyes. “He said he won’t give us his blessing to marry and that he doesn’t want me to work for Sesshomaru, either. That if I do, he won’t let me see Kohaku anymore. Why can’t he be happy for me?”
She was no longer crying, but she was holding to him tightly, trembling in his arms.
“Do you still wish to marry me?” he asked.
“Of course I do. I love you,” Sango assured him. “We’re meant to be together. I won’t let him blackmail me into giving you up, and I won’t quit my job either. Kagome and InuYasha are counting on me to help them. I can’t let him rule my life.”
This time when Sango raised her head, she looked determined, and Miroku was grateful to see the change in her.
“Good, because I wouldn’t want to be without you. Soon, Kohaku will be old enough that your father will not be able to keep you from him, and until then, if I have to use my powers to enspell the entire hospital staff, you will see your brother,” Miroku told her.
The radiant smile Sango bestowed upon him at his offer made him even more sure that he would indeed do what he said just to see her happy.
InuYasha’s ears twitched and turned in their direction. Once his senses had recognized them, his ears were still, and he returned to a deeper sleep.
Sango couldn’t help but smile at her friends. They were so happy together and absolutely perfect for one another. Surely, with all that they had to over come, she and Miroku would be able to do so as well, and be happy together.
She draped a blanket over the sleeping couple and let Miroku lead her to bed.
InuYasha sighed and turned off the television. If they didn’t find the youkai behind these attacks soon, they were likely to be exposed and all the work that had been done over the years to protect their secret would have been for nothing.
He glanced over at a still sleeping Kagome.
The miko’s arm wrapped around one of his legs as InuYasha sat up against the headboard. He brushed the hair back off her face, and in response, she snuggled closer to his leg. He couldn’t help but smile.
InuYasha couldn’t wait for all this to be over, so they could have the wedding he knew she wanted, and then, spend the rest of their lives together.
They were still a good distance away when he realized that something didn’t feel right.
Shippou stopped walking and tried to figure out what his instincts were telling him. He didn’t smell anything or sense any dangerous youki, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
He thought over the worst that could happen, his actions depending upon which of the two choices he made.
First, he could ignore it - but then he ran the chance of letting Kagome’s mother and brother walk into danger.
The second option was to call InuYasha and tell him what was happening. InuYasha might be mad if it turned out to be nothing, but he figured it would be far better to make InuYasha a little angry than to make him furious by letting him down. Shippou had given his word that he would protect Kagome’s family.
“Um… Mrs. H, do you have the cell phone?” Shippou asked.
“Of course,” Asami replied. “Why?”
“I think maybe we shouldn’t go back to the house until I talk to InuYasha,” he told her.
“Is something wrong?” Asami questioned.
“I’m not sure. It could be nothing… ” Shippou explained. “Something doesn’t feel right. InuYasha is always telling me to trust my instincts, and right now, they are saying not to go into that house.”
Asami handed Shippou the cell phone, telling him, “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Shippou called InuYasha and waited for him to answer the phone.
“Hello.”
“InuYasha, I need to know what I should do,” Shippou said.
“About what, runt?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”
Kagome, who was sitting beside InuYasha, looked at him with concern.
“It could be nothing, but we were all down at the beach, and as we headed back to the house, I started to have this feeling… ” Shippou explained. “I don’t smell anything or feel any dangerous youki, but I still think that there is someone in the house that shouldn’t be there.”
“You did the right thing calling me,” InuYasha said at once. “Don’t go back to the house. Let me talk to Kagome’s mother.” The next thing InuYasha heard was a gritty sound and voices he couldn’t make out. “Shippou… answer me! ”
Kagome grabbed his arm. “What’s happening?” she asked frantically.
“I don’t know,” He replied.
“Taisho-sama, my name is Hogosha Kishin and I am employed by Sesshomaru-sama. We have been seeing to the security of your mate’s family,” a man’s voice said.
“Put the kit on,” InuYasha ordered.
“InuYasha-” Shippou said.
“Who’s with you?” he asked.
“There are two youkai. The one you just talked to is a horse youkai and the other is a. . . . a hawk I think,” Shippou told him. “He wants to talk to you again.”
“Taisho-sama, you may call Sesshomaru-sama and verify who I am. We have been guarding your mate’s family for quite some time on his orders,” Kishin told him.
“I’ll do that,” InuYasha assured him.
InuYasha turned to Kagome. “Get Sesshomaru on the phone, now. Ask him if he has a horse youkai and a hawk youkai watching your mom, brother, and Shippou”
Kagome hurried to the phone and did as InuYasha instructed. She desperately wanted to know what was going on, but knew that wasting time asking questions might put her family in danger.
Sesshomaru answered on the second ring and told her that he did indeed have her family under surveillance.
After hanging up, Kagome returned to InuYasha’s side. “He said that they work for him.”
“All right. Sesshomaru says that you’re his men,” InuYasha confirmed.
“Don’t worry, Taisho-sama. We are having the house swept as we speak,” Kishin said. “The two humans and the kitsune will be taken to safety and guarded until we have further instructions from Sesshomaru-sama.”
“Let me talk to the kit again,” InuYasha told him.
“Are they all right?” Shippou asked.
“Yeah. Sesshomaru had them watching you,” InuYasha informed him. “What’s going on now?”
“The hawk youkai just went up to the house where a couple more youkai are dragging two unconscious bodies out of the house. They’re going to take them to Sesshomaru to be questioned,” Shippou replied.
“I knew I could count on you to take care of Kagome’s family, Shippou,” InuYasha praised. “You did good today, kid. You need to go with them to a safe place. I want you to call me when you get there and tell me where they have taken you. Now, let me talk to Kagome’s mom.”
“InuYasha… ” Asami said, her voice holding a slight tremor.
“Hey Mom, everything is fine, so don’t worry,” InuYasha assured her. “The people there with you work for my brother and are going to take you all somewhere safe. I’m really sorry about this. I hate that you all are involved in this because of me.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Asami said. “You are doing everything in your power to protect us. Just keep my daughter safe as well. They say we have to leave now… ”
“All right. Just call back whenever you get to where they’re taking you, InuYasha replied. “And don’t worry, I’ll protect Kagome with my life.”
When he hung up, Kagome looked at him. “Are they all right?”
“They’re fine. It turns out Sesshomaru had them protected,” he told her. “I guess he was figuring on that demon locating your family and going after them. They captured two men, probably youkai, and Sesshomaru is going to be questioning them. If they know anything, he’ll get it out of them.” InuYasha paused. “I guess I ought to thank him for having them watched, even if it was just because he was hoping to get a lead on Kousotsu.”
“I hate this,” Kagome said at last. “I can’t stand that my family is in danger because of me…”
InuYasha pulled her to him. “It’s all right, koibito. We are going to find this bastard and make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else, I promise.”
Here are the name translations
Takeshi - brave
Makoto - sincere
Kishin - noble
Hogosha - protector
I would like to thank all who have reviewed so far and I would really love some more of you to review. TODAY IS MY 25TH BIRTHDAY and it would make me really happy to get some reviews. Please... Ok now on with the story...
*****
“That’s really great. I’m glad you are having a good time… I hope so too… I know. We will… I miss you, too… I love you… All right. Bye, Mama.” Kagome hung up the phone and sighed.“How’s your mother?” InuYasha asked.
“She’s fine, but I can tell she is worried and wants to come home,” Kagome replied.
“Have we gotten a postcard from her?”
“I don’t think so. When did she send it?” he asked.
“A few days ago,” Kagome told him. “I guess it just hasn’t come yet.”
“She say anything else?” he questioned.
“Mama did say that Shippou and Souta are having a wonderful time, though she would like to know where they are getting all the money they have been spending. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” Kagome sat up on her knees and scooted closer to him. Leaning forward, she placed a soft kiss on his lips.
“I might have given then a little money of their own,” InuYasha answered dismissively. He pulled her into his lap and slid one hand up her shirt as he kissed her neck.
She struggled to free herself from his grasp before she got completely distracted. “From what Mama said, it didn’t sound like a little.” Kagome managed to rasp out as InuYasha assaulted her mating mark with his lips and tongue.
“It’s no big deal: just 20,000 yen a week,” he murmured against her neck.
Kagome pushed away from him hard. “You’re kidding right?”
“Keh, it’s not that much,” he replied. “Neither one of them has been spending it all. I checked.”
Kagome sighed. “Our kids are going to grow up spoiled brats.”
“Not with you as their mama,” he said pulling her close to nip at her neck once again. “They might end up spoiled, but they won’t be brats; not with such a wonderful woman for their mother.”
“You’re just saying that because you want to get some,” she laughed.
“Can’t blame a guy for trying, when he has a girl like you,” InuYasha told her.
“There you go again,” she replied.
“Is it working?” he asked.
“You’re such a dog,” she mumbled as he trailed kisses along her jaw.
InuYasha changed their position, so that she was lying beneath him.
“Can’t argue there,” he admitted. He pressed his lips to her ear. “Do you want me to beg?”
Kagome shuddered as his hot breath caressed her ear. “Maybe I’ll have you beg next time,” she gasped.
*****
A pair of bright green eyes peered through the window of the large stately house of the Human Minister of Youkai Affairs. The owner of those eyes had been specially chosen for this mission because of certain skills he possessed, namely the ability to completely mask his scent and youki. He knew there were others around in much the same position as he: others who had jobs of their own.It had been pathetically easy to sneak past both the human and youkai security on the property. He only wished that he hadn’t been forbidden to kill on the way in, but he knew it was to avoid alerting anyone to his presence. A soft, dark laugh escaped him. On the way out, after his job was done, however, it would be an entirely different story.
The balcony door was locked, a slight annoyance, but one that was easily remedied. He prepared himself to strike, his blood boiling, hungering for the kill. A fist shot out and behind it came the force of his youkai strength, obliterating the door.
An alarm sounded as the Minister and his lovely wife sat up in bed. They didn’t even have time to scream before he was upon them. The assassin thought of how much fun it would have been to spend time torturing them both and perhaps even having his way with the woman, even if she was only human, but he had his orders. A quick slash with both of his clawed hands slit their throats, and he laughed as the blood sprayed across his face.
The door burst open and three humans and two youkai came running in. The killer wasted no time. He sprang at them driving each fist into the stomach of one of the youkai, pulled his hands free, and licked the blood from one of his claws.
While they were staring at his gruesome display, he threw out his other hand and sent with it an electric shock created by his youki.
One human, to his amusement, turned and ran. The other stood completely still, showing no sign of fear. Before he could puzzle out what exactly that could mean, something slammed into his chest, falling back as shocks coursed through his body.
The last thing he saw was the holy staff of a monk crashing down upon him, and then, he was no more.
*****
InuYasha wrinkled his nose at the pungent odor of death and blood that clung to the air as they ascended the stairs. He glanced briefly at Kagome. He wasn’t sure he wanted her to see what lay behind the doors ahead.An hour ago, Sesshomaru had called giving him an address and telling him that he “must go there at once.” He was also instructed to bring Miroku and Sango with him for security. Sesshomaru himself was needed at another attack across town. InuYasha hadn’t wanted Kagome to come along, but she had insisted.
Because of the nature of the attack and the target, the normal police forces had been bypassed entirely and the Youkai Enforcement Agency was called in. It was a special government branch designed specifically to handle renegade youkai and to make sure the secret of their existence didn’t leak out to the general population.
One of the guards at the door recognized InuYasha and bowed respectfully. “Taisho-sama we were informed that you would be coming,” he said. “Go right in.”
Sango gasped as they entered the room. Kagome at first thought it was because of the horrific sight before them, but when she followed Sango’s line of sight, Kagome realized that it was because the former exterminator’s father was there.
InuYasha strode right over to Sango’s father. “Are you the one I am supposed see?”
“Father… ” Sango said softly. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same,” he replied, “and I will once we have dispensed with the more pressing matter at hand.”
Sango’s father then directed his attention to InuYasha. “Taisho-sama, I am Takeshi Makoto. I am head of the Youkai Enforcement Agency. We are very pleased to have the cooperation of both you and your brother. We have been working closely with him in this matter and would like to extend our thanks for the effort that was done to expose the atrocities bring committed against youkai in the name of research.”
“So what’s going on?” InuYasha asked. “What happened here?”
“Apparently, a youkai broke in through the balcony and slashed the throats of both the Minister and his wife. When security arrived, it was already too late. The youkai then drove his fist through the stomachs of the two youkai guards. Both survived but won’t be able to be questioned for at least twenty-four hours. He then killed one of the human guards with an electrical youki attack,” Takeshi explained. “This, we know, from a houshi who worked for the Minister. He remained while the other guard went for help and used a sacred sutra and his staff to defeat the youkai.”
“What’s your take on why the Minister was targeted?” InuYasha asked.
“The Minister was not the only target tonight. So far, four other important government officials have been assassinated,” he replied. “Our theory as to why is based on the connection they all share: all five victims were involved in the youkai aspect of their departments. We believe that it was done in an attempt to take out those who would be in positions to prevent a panic if youkai were to be exposed.”
“That makes sense,” InuYasha offered. “I don’t suppose anyone was able to pick up a trail to follow back to where he got his orders from?”
“Unfortunately, even our best trackers were unable to pick up the slightest trace of the assassin on the property, or around it,” Takeshi told him. “You are, of course, welcome to see if you can find anything.”
“Sango, stay with Kagome while Miroku and I go have a look around,” InuYasha said. “I doubt we’ll find anything, so we shouldn’t be long.”
“I think now would be a good time for you to explain what you are doing here, Sango,” her father started.
“My job, just like you are, I assume,” Sango replied. “I am part of Taisho Sesshomaru’s personal security team because of my skills as a demon exterminator.”
“Since when have you been a demon exterminator? And was the monk with you not your boyfriend, that bartender, Miroku?” he questioned.
Kagome didn’t miss the obvious disdain Sango’s father had for Miroku.
“Miroku is my fiancé, and he isn’t that bartender… He is a monk with great spiritual powers,” Sango explained. “Kagome is a powerful miko, and when she mated with InuYasha, she was given a vision. She was shown how to awaken us all to our previous lives, in which I was a demon exterminator. You were the headman of our village and an exterminator, as well. It seems both of us ended up in the professions from our past.”
“How is a monk going to support you?” her father asked.
Miroku cleared his throat from behind them. “I assure you, Takeshi-san, Taisho Sesshomaru pays very well.”
The way the two men stared at each other, Kagome couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Sango. It was obvious her father didn’t approve of her and Miroku and Kagome decided to change the subject. “Did you find anything?”
“No,” InuYasha replied. “We might as well get out of here. Takeshi-san, we will be sure to let you in on any information we may come across.”
“Sango, I wish to speak with you privately before you leave,” her father said.
Kagome noticed that Miroku didn’t look pleased at all. “We’ll wait for you at the car,” Kagome told Sango.
Miroku led the way out of the room and Kagome and InuYasha followed closely behind him.
Sango watched them leave. She had a pretty good idea what her father was going to say, and she didn’t really want to hear it. He had never liked Miroku.
“Daughter, I will not give my blessing if you chose to marry him,” Takeshi said. “He is not a fitting husband for you. I also do not care for your new profession. It is not proper for a woman. If you persist in either of these areas, I will be forced to do something you will not like to make you see reason. Surely, you would not want your brother to suffer when you are no longer allowed to visit him.”
“That- that’s not fair…” Sango stammered. “You can’t do that. Kohaku needs me. I love both Miroku and my job. Why can’t you accept that?”
“I have given you your choices,” he replied.
“Fine,” Sango spat. Turning on her heel, she stormed out of the room before her father could see her tears.
Sango walked right past the others where they waited for her, and climbed in the car.
Miroku turned to go back inside but InuYasha grabbed him.
“This isn’t the time,” the hanyou said. “First, worry about Sango, and then you can deal with her father.”
“You’re right,” Miroku said at last.
*****
The car ride home was a tense one.Sango stared out the window the entire time. In fact, the only sign she gave of knowing they were there was taking Miroku’s hand when he sat beside her.
When they got to the house, Sango went inside and grabbed her Hiraikotsu and left for the gardens, Miroku following her.
InuYasha put his arm around Kagome, who was near tears. He would never wish that Kagome was less compassionate toward her friends, because that was part of why he loved her so much, but it was hard to see her upset and not be able to do anything to make it better.
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “It’ll be all right, koibito. Whatever happened, Sango is strong, and she and Miroku will find their way through it together. Just like we did.”
Kagome nodded and let him lead her to the sofa.
InuYasha sat down and pulled her into his lap. He turned on the television and smoothed her hair as they waited for Sango and Miroku to return.
*****
Miroku stood back and watched as Sango threw her weapon with a mighty cry that sounded much less like the battle cry he was used to hearing, and much more like a cry of anguish.When it returned to her, she threw it again and again, until she caught it one last time and sank to her knees. A few moments passed and she let go of the strap, the giant bone falling to the ground beside her. She covered her face with her hands, and though he couldn’t hear her, he had not doubt that the tremors that racked her body were because she was crying.
It broke his heart to see his beautiful Sango, who was the strongest woman he had ever met, so broken. He went to his knees beside her.
Miroku wasn’t sure that she knew he was there until she flung her arms around his shoulders and sobbed into his neck. Slowly he was able to make out her words.
“Why…Why can’t he be happy for me…?” she cried. “He can’t stop me from seeing Kohaku… I won’t give you up…Why is he doing this?”
Miroku rubbed her back. “Please, my love, don’t cry,” he soothed. “Everything will be all right. We won’t let him keep you from your brother. We’ll think of something. Just don’t cry.”
Sango pulled back and looked into somber blue eyes. “He said he won’t give us his blessing to marry and that he doesn’t want me to work for Sesshomaru, either. That if I do, he won’t let me see Kohaku anymore. Why can’t he be happy for me?”
She was no longer crying, but she was holding to him tightly, trembling in his arms.
“Do you still wish to marry me?” he asked.
“Of course I do. I love you,” Sango assured him. “We’re meant to be together. I won’t let him blackmail me into giving you up, and I won’t quit my job either. Kagome and InuYasha are counting on me to help them. I can’t let him rule my life.”
This time when Sango raised her head, she looked determined, and Miroku was grateful to see the change in her.
“Good, because I wouldn’t want to be without you. Soon, Kohaku will be old enough that your father will not be able to keep you from him, and until then, if I have to use my powers to enspell the entire hospital staff, you will see your brother,” Miroku told her.
The radiant smile Sango bestowed upon him at his offer made him even more sure that he would indeed do what he said just to see her happy.
*****
Both Kagome and InuYasha were asleep when Sango and Miroku entered the house.InuYasha’s ears twitched and turned in their direction. Once his senses had recognized them, his ears were still, and he returned to a deeper sleep.
Sango couldn’t help but smile at her friends. They were so happy together and absolutely perfect for one another. Surely, with all that they had to over come, she and Miroku would be able to do so as well, and be happy together.
She draped a blanket over the sleeping couple and let Miroku lead her to bed.
*****
The next morning, it was all over the news. Five assassinations of government officials all in one night. It was enough to have the public up in arms demanding to know what was going on, and every news station had its own theories. It was everything from terrorists to a governmental conspiracy, and one disreputable station was back harping on the UFO idea. About the only thing that no one mentioned were demons, which was a good thing.InuYasha sighed and turned off the television. If they didn’t find the youkai behind these attacks soon, they were likely to be exposed and all the work that had been done over the years to protect their secret would have been for nothing.
He glanced over at a still sleeping Kagome.
The miko’s arm wrapped around one of his legs as InuYasha sat up against the headboard. He brushed the hair back off her face, and in response, she snuggled closer to his leg. He couldn’t help but smile.
InuYasha couldn’t wait for all this to be over, so they could have the wedding he knew she wanted, and then, spend the rest of their lives together.
*****
Shippou walked alongside Kagome’s mother and Souta as they headed back to the small cottage on the beach that had been their home for the past several weeks. In truth, as much as he enjoyed being out of school and at the beach, he hoped that soon they would be able to go home. He missed Kagome, his friends, and as strange as it was to admit to himself, he missed InuYasha as well.They were still a good distance away when he realized that something didn’t feel right.
Shippou stopped walking and tried to figure out what his instincts were telling him. He didn’t smell anything or sense any dangerous youki, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
He thought over the worst that could happen, his actions depending upon which of the two choices he made.
First, he could ignore it - but then he ran the chance of letting Kagome’s mother and brother walk into danger.
The second option was to call InuYasha and tell him what was happening. InuYasha might be mad if it turned out to be nothing, but he figured it would be far better to make InuYasha a little angry than to make him furious by letting him down. Shippou had given his word that he would protect Kagome’s family.
“Um… Mrs. H, do you have the cell phone?” Shippou asked.
“Of course,” Asami replied. “Why?”
“I think maybe we shouldn’t go back to the house until I talk to InuYasha,” he told her.
“Is something wrong?” Asami questioned.
“I’m not sure. It could be nothing… ” Shippou explained. “Something doesn’t feel right. InuYasha is always telling me to trust my instincts, and right now, they are saying not to go into that house.”
Asami handed Shippou the cell phone, telling him, “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Shippou called InuYasha and waited for him to answer the phone.
*****
InuYasha was sitting on the couch when his cell phone rang.“Hello.”
“InuYasha, I need to know what I should do,” Shippou said.
“About what, runt?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”
Kagome, who was sitting beside InuYasha, looked at him with concern.
“It could be nothing, but we were all down at the beach, and as we headed back to the house, I started to have this feeling… ” Shippou explained. “I don’t smell anything or feel any dangerous youki, but I still think that there is someone in the house that shouldn’t be there.”
“You did the right thing calling me,” InuYasha said at once. “Don’t go back to the house. Let me talk to Kagome’s mother.” The next thing InuYasha heard was a gritty sound and voices he couldn’t make out. “Shippou… answer me! ”
Kagome grabbed his arm. “What’s happening?” she asked frantically.
“I don’t know,” He replied.
“Taisho-sama, my name is Hogosha Kishin and I am employed by Sesshomaru-sama. We have been seeing to the security of your mate’s family,” a man’s voice said.
“Put the kit on,” InuYasha ordered.
“InuYasha-” Shippou said.
“Who’s with you?” he asked.
“There are two youkai. The one you just talked to is a horse youkai and the other is a. . . . a hawk I think,” Shippou told him. “He wants to talk to you again.”
“Taisho-sama, you may call Sesshomaru-sama and verify who I am. We have been guarding your mate’s family for quite some time on his orders,” Kishin told him.
“I’ll do that,” InuYasha assured him.
InuYasha turned to Kagome. “Get Sesshomaru on the phone, now. Ask him if he has a horse youkai and a hawk youkai watching your mom, brother, and Shippou”
Kagome hurried to the phone and did as InuYasha instructed. She desperately wanted to know what was going on, but knew that wasting time asking questions might put her family in danger.
Sesshomaru answered on the second ring and told her that he did indeed have her family under surveillance.
After hanging up, Kagome returned to InuYasha’s side. “He said that they work for him.”
“All right. Sesshomaru says that you’re his men,” InuYasha confirmed.
“Don’t worry, Taisho-sama. We are having the house swept as we speak,” Kishin said. “The two humans and the kitsune will be taken to safety and guarded until we have further instructions from Sesshomaru-sama.”
“Let me talk to the kit again,” InuYasha told him.
“Are they all right?” Shippou asked.
“Yeah. Sesshomaru had them watching you,” InuYasha informed him. “What’s going on now?”
“The hawk youkai just went up to the house where a couple more youkai are dragging two unconscious bodies out of the house. They’re going to take them to Sesshomaru to be questioned,” Shippou replied.
“I knew I could count on you to take care of Kagome’s family, Shippou,” InuYasha praised. “You did good today, kid. You need to go with them to a safe place. I want you to call me when you get there and tell me where they have taken you. Now, let me talk to Kagome’s mom.”
“InuYasha… ” Asami said, her voice holding a slight tremor.
“Hey Mom, everything is fine, so don’t worry,” InuYasha assured her. “The people there with you work for my brother and are going to take you all somewhere safe. I’m really sorry about this. I hate that you all are involved in this because of me.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Asami said. “You are doing everything in your power to protect us. Just keep my daughter safe as well. They say we have to leave now… ”
“All right. Just call back whenever you get to where they’re taking you, InuYasha replied. “And don’t worry, I’ll protect Kagome with my life.”
When he hung up, Kagome looked at him. “Are they all right?”
“They’re fine. It turns out Sesshomaru had them protected,” he told her. “I guess he was figuring on that demon locating your family and going after them. They captured two men, probably youkai, and Sesshomaru is going to be questioning them. If they know anything, he’ll get it out of them.” InuYasha paused. “I guess I ought to thank him for having them watched, even if it was just because he was hoping to get a lead on Kousotsu.”
“I hate this,” Kagome said at last. “I can’t stand that my family is in danger because of me…”
InuYasha pulled her to him. “It’s all right, koibito. We are going to find this bastard and make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else, I promise.”