InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Zero-G ❯ 72 Hours Ealier ( Chapter 2 )

Author's Notes: Super duper fast update for all you lovely people! A lot of people are wondering who the 'platinum blonde' guy is so you'll be happy to find the answer in this chapter. :) But honestly, I think you all know already…

(By the by, this chapter is much longer. The first was only a prologue so that's my excuse as to why it's so flipping short…)

Zero-G

Chapter One

72 Hours Earlier…

Inuyasha knew he'd found the right flat when he saw the scribbled nametag next to the intercom button.

"Fukurou Mizutani." he read the name off before pressing a digit against the button next to it. A harsh buzz rang out and Inuyasha looked around the street, casually sussing out any onlookers.

The intercom crackled. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Pizza delivery!" Inuyasha proclaimed with as much enthusiasm as necessary. Beside the intercom was a camera set into the wall, and the hanyou lifted the pizza box he was carrying to show proof.

"I didn't order no pizzas…" the gravely voice sounded from the speaker.

"But… you are Mr Mizutani, right?" Inuyasha looked down at the scrap of paper taped to the pizza box.

"Yeah, but I didn't order the pizza." was the testy response. "Beat it, punk."

With a sigh, Inuyasha snapped up the visor of his helmet. "Look, man, I've just driven all the way from downtown on my bike. That's three miles! Do you know how much fuel costs these days?"

"That's not my problem-"

"Please just take the pizza - I'll chip in some of my own money, but if I go back with nothing to show for the trip, then I'll be fired." Inuyasha shifted his stance and gave the camera a pleading look. "Dude, if I lose my job, I lose everything! I have a girlfriend and a little baby girl who need clothing and shelter and my boss is just looking for one more excuse to send me back into the gutter!"

"But-"

"You gotta help me!"

The intercom crackled as the silence stretched on the other end. Inuyasha waited anxiously, his palms beginning to sweat. If I don't win this guy over, I'm in deep shi-

"What kind?"

Inuyasha blinked. "Excuse me?"

"The pizza. What kind is it?"

"Oh…" Inuyasha looked down at the box. "Uh… mixed vegetables."

"No pepperoni?"

"Of course there's pepperoni!" Inuyasha said eagerly. "We always throw meat into the vegetarian special."

"How much?"

"Six hundred yen." Inuyasha informed him. "But for you, it can be four hundred."

"Fine." the intercom speaker surrendered reluctantly. "Bring it up."

The intercom buzzed again and the door beside Inuyasha opened with a heavy metallic clank! "Thank you!" Inuyasha waved at the camera one last time before entering through the door. The man's flat was two floors up and the young man made light work of the stairs.

It was a nice hallway with a nice banister and nice doors with quaint golden numbers painted on them. Mizutani lived at Number 4… a door which kind of let the whole place down. Chipped blue paint was peeling onto the carpet, a carpet which had been visibly worn just beneath the door itself, and there were several suspicious looking holes in the wood around the doorknob like someone had been awfully clumsy with a hammer and nail.

Inuyasha rapped on the door.

The light beneath the doorway flickered and shifted with movement behind it. A few moments later and the door had been swung wide open to reveal a rather irritable looking man standing there in his boxers whilst scratching his unmentionables.

"Pizza deliv-"

"Yeah, I heard you the first time." Mizutani grumbled as he snatched the box out of Inuyasha's hands. "Here's your money."

"Thanks, man." Inuyasha accepted the small wad of bills and pretended to count them. To be honest, he didn't particularly care if the man had short-changed him; he was too busy scanning the stairwell for other flat tenants.

"Hey, punk!" Mizutani suddenly whirled on him, in the process of closing his door. "What the hell's the big idea?"

"Excuse me?" Inuyasha contrived to look innocent as he leant forward to see what was upsetting the man. The money disappeared into the pocket of his jeans. "Is something wrong?"

"This pizza has already been half-eaten by someone!" The man brandished the box at Inuyasha. Looking inside, the delivery boy noted that yes, half of the pizza seemed to have been eaten already. And it was old. Two days old, in fact.

"Yes…" Inuyasha said slowly. "That was you."

The man spluttered in outrage. "I seriously doubt that!"

"Oh no, it's true." Inuyasha nodded at the box. "Remember Pizza Hut the day before yesterday? I guess you ate all the pepperoni off the top…"

Mizutani just stared rather incredulously at him. "What's going on here?" he demanded. "Why have you brought me a leftover pizza?"

"Because when the police arrive and find the half eaten pizza, they'll conclude that you must have been alive after I left." Inuyasha slipped a hand into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out an Ikea issue kitchen knife. "If you catch my drift?"

The man looked distinctly like he was about to wet his boxers the moment he spotted the knife. The terror was plain to see. Inuyasha felt a small twinge of pity for the man and wondered if he could just stop now and walk away.

The simple answer was no.

Mizutani took one step back, and in that fraction of a second, Inuyasha swept forward to push the man against the wall. One hand clapped over his mouth to silence his screams, and one blade slid between his ribs to silence him forever.

There seemed to be no such thing as a light dimming in a dying man's eyes, as this man's eyes remained bright even after he'd drawn his last breath. But Inuyasha felt his rigid, shocked body loosen and saw his irises expand, almost as if he was looking far into the distance the very moment he died.

Blood now stained his gloves, and a little of the warmth was trickling down the sleeves of his jacket, but he didn't waste time trying to clean himself up. The faster he got out of there, the better. Stepping back, and taking his knife with him, Inuyasha let the body crumple to the floor and stood for a moment inspecting his work.

The man probably lived alone so it would be better to leave the door ajar in order for him to be found. There was no need to try and hide the body since the smell would eventually alert the other occupants anyway. The pizza box lay discarded on the floor close by… too close. Inuyasha shuffled the box with one foot into the pigsty of a living room and managed to kick it onto the sofa. This way it would look like Mizutani had been busy enjoying his pizza when his killer had rung the doorbell. And said pizza had been frozen for two days to give it that just cooled down look rather than the shrivelled, mouldy two day old food look. Mizutani's saliva would be on the food as well, so that was another hurdle crossed.

The murder weapon was coming with him, just in case it was ever linked back to him.

Moving back to the front door, Inuyasha fished around the coat stand for a moment, in search of the man's wallet. When he found it, he extracted the cash and let the leather pocket fall onto the man's chest. Perfect. Now it simply looked like a punk in search of quick money had assaulted the man, rather than a contract killer.

"Sorry about this." he told the dead man as he counted the money in his fist and wondered how much food he could buy with it at the local supermarket. "But you shouldn't have messed with the Coalescence…"

Inuyasha pocketed the bills and left the flat without a word. He didn't hurry as he left the building and got on his bike like it was the most normal day in the world. He was just about to set off when his phone rang off in his pocket. Inuyasha had to turn off the engine and remove his helmet before he could answer it. "Yeah, what?" he demanded abruptly as he combed out his hair with his fingers.

"Have you done it?"

"Sure." Inuyasha glanced around yet again for more eavesdroppers, but the only people on the street were just passers-by who weren't listening to anyone outside their own head.

"Clean?"

"Spotless." Inuyasha pulled off a glove to examine the blood beginning to dry under his claws.

"Good. In that case, I have a new mission for you."

Inuyasha scoffed at his boss. "Two in one day? You're pushing it a little much, aren't you?"

"Perhaps. But this one's a personal request from a friend of yours."

The hanyou's interest was piqued. "Go on."

"Kikyo's calling in a favour."

There once was a time when Tokyo had been a bright and lively place to live. People had worn whatever they pleased, from tracksuits to business suits, from miniskirts to jeans, from breezy little dresses in summer to warm knitted cardigans in winter. Colours had been everywhere, painting the signs outside shops and giving life to the occasional festival that paraded through the streets.

It hadn't been that long ago. Maybe three or four years. The change hadn't been all that sudden, otherwise Kagome would have remembered it a little better

But a few of the changes had been overnight. Kagome distinctly remembered the day that she'd arrived at school, only to be called into an unexpected assembly in the Hall. There, all the children were informed that the school uniform was changing. The green, white and red colour code would be dropped in favour of black, grey and white, and all girls were to wear their skirts no shorter than six inches above the knee. Socks were to be pulled up at all times and no coats were allowed - only the uniform fleece pullover.

This was actually received with great enthusiasm. Darker colours were more trendy at the time, and longer skirts meant fewer accidents involving gusts of wind.

But not long after this new rule was enforced, a new law was introduced. All school children were not permitted to change out of school uniform on school days, even after school had ended. The reasoning for this was so that troublemakers hanging around after curfew would be identified more easily thanks to their school badge.

This hadn't bothered Kagome. She'd never found it practical to change out of uniform in the first place since there wasn't much day left after school had finished (at least, not after they extended the school hours from nine am to six pm on Mondays and Tuesdays). However, it was only a few months later that this law was then extended over Sunday, and soon every child in Tokyo found themselves wearing a uniform twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

And that was when Tokyo had turned black.

Kagome's school wasn't the only one enforcing this black uniform. Walking through her home district, Kagome saw several other students who wore exactly the same uniform - different only for the white logo on their black caps. Even Souta's school was using the same uniform, and as a result the two siblings had often taken the wrong hat to school.

Too many times had Kagome paraded around with the 'baby school' hat on her head.

It wasn't just the kids either. Soon enough, all the adults were wearing black and grey - even Kagome's mother. Grandpa tended to wear black and grey, so there wasn't much change there.

Even now, Kagome couldn't quite remember just when or how it had all happened. More often than not, she had heard her Grandpa muttering about the Coalescence having something to do with it. Kagome just rolled her eyes whenever she heard this. The Coalescence was some kind of underground mafia thing that was trying to disrupt society in all sorts of destructive ways - it was mostly run by demons… which said it all, really. Demons were always trying to get one over on humans. They claimed to be fighting for 'equal rights' when all they really wanted was complete and total domination. But Kagome reckoned that if the Coalescence had enough power to bring around such laws as these, then why would they be resorting to terrorist actions to get noticed? Surely, if they were in power, more people than just Grandpa would know about it?

But Grandpa wasn't the only one getting into the conspiracy theories. It was a popular hobby amongst young people too…

"You know Mrs Ingleham?"

Kagome looked down at her little brother with a raised eyebrow. "The English teacher at your school?" she recalled. "Stop messing with your hat." Walking him to school was always a trial…

Souta obliged by jamming it back over his head at a quirky angle. "She's in the Coalescence."

Kagome scratched her cheek. "Oh?"

"Yeah. She's always got this shifty look about her - and she's always on the phone talking in code-"

"Souta, that's English." Kagome smacked him gently around the back of the head - just enough to upset his hat. "Of course, you wouldn't know that considering how much attention you pay in your language classes."

"Language is boring." he complained. "I wanna go dissect frogs!"

"You perfectly horrid child." Kagome admonished as they turned the next corner, vaguely distracted by the sudden volume of people she was having to push through.

This was where the pair would usually catch the bus to go to school. The station was nearly always crowded… but not this crowded. In fact, there were so many people around that the traffic was simply stationary. No one was moving.

"What's going on?" Souta stood on tip toes, futilely trying to peer through the crowd of gathered citizens.

All their attention seemed focused ahead… and was that the flashing light of an ambulance? "Something's happened…" Kagome frowned. And ever the curious cat, she grabbed her brother's hand and began dragging him through the crowd, elbowing her way past the ones who didn't move.

"Jeez, Kagome… you're so aggressive." Souta stumbled along behind her helplessly.

But it paid off, as they soon found themselves at the front of the crowd, standing behind a long white barrier of police tape. "Oh god…" Kagome pressed her fingers against her mouth in shock as she stared at the scene before her.

One of the buses was on fire. But not only was it on fire, it also looked like it had exploded first. The carriage bulged outwards, the roof curved upwards and the windows were either spider webbed or completely shattered. Metal shrapnel lay everywhere… as well as people. So far, only a couple of civilians had been moved into ambulances.

That's when Kagome saw the broken, flickering number plate above the demolished bus. "Hey… that's the 747." she gaped. "That was our bus."

"Good thing we weren't early…" Souta said, looking somewhat pale as he watched another wailing passenger be lifted onto a stretcher.

"What happened here?" she wondered aloud, not really expecting anyone to answer.

"The Coalescence." A woman dressed in the grey uniform of a business employee leant over to tell her. "It was a terrorist attack."

Suddenly, the shock of the entire situation lessened a little for Kagome. This happened practically everyday and the less you involved yourself, the better. "Come on, Souta." Kagome caught her brother's hand again. "We have to get to school."

"But there's no bus-"

"Then we'll just have to walk."

They'd undoubtedly be late, and Kagome would undoubtedly be held responsible for Souta's tardiness as well, but it couldn't be helped. Better to be late than absent completely… the new law enforcement didn't take kindly to children who skipped their education.

"Kagome…"

"What is it?" she snapped at her younger sibling, feeling on edge after what she'd just witnessed.

"It's happening more often, isn't it?"

Kagome glanced distractedly down at Souta. "What are you talking about?"

"The Coalescence… they're doing more stuff every day. Killing people and that." Souta gratefully came to a stop when his sister slowly let go of his hand. "I mean, like, the day before yesterday there was some guy on the news who owed the Coalescence money and they just killed him in his home, and took the money from his wallet."

Kagome gave her brother a pained expression. This wasn't a safe topic of conversation. The only safe thing to do these days was to shut up, keep your head down, and obey the rules. "Souta, what are you worried about? It's not like there's any proof that the Coalescence blew up our bus."

One pointed look from her brother and Kagome knew she was being an idiot. Who else would have the resources and desire to blow up a bus full of people? "Look, don't stress over it. It's nothing to do with us."  She bent down and tugged his cap so it was cock-eyed again. She smiled reassuringly. "You're a good kid, Souta. You keep out of trouble and trouble will leave you alone."

He didn't look convinced. "But what if Mama hadn't moved my shoes last night and I'd been able to find them this morning… what if we'd been early and we'd caught the bus before it blew-"

"But we didn't. We're ok." She took his hand again. "And now we're going to school."

"But what about the next time?" he asked as he reluctantly dragged his feet after her.

"There will be no next time - pick your feet up - and near misses like that happen once in a life time. Actual hits never happen. Things like that only ever happen to other people, Souta. Trust me."

"That's what people say after really bad things happen to them." he muttered before miming, "You always think it happens to someone else until it happens to you!"

"And notice how they are other people?"

"Yeah - for now!"

"Urgh - whatever! Just stop talking to me!" Kagome barged her way past another black-clad pedestrian and forked between two business men in grey. Souta was still dragging his feet, but at least he was keeping up better than before. "We're going to be so late." she groaned more to herself than her brother as she rounded another street corner and crashed into another lattice of slow moving commuters. Souta's school was at least three blocks away, and hers was two in the opposite direction. It might be quicker for her to let him travel there on his own, but there was no way she trusted Tokyo to take care of a ten year old boy.

Naturally, the school bell had already rung by the time Kagome shoved Souta through the gates and began scampering back the way she'd come. It was a good thing that she'd joined the school track team; otherwise, her stamina wouldn't have been near good enough to-

"Ow - stitch - ow - ow!" Her gallop slowed to a mere power walk as she pressed a hand against the pain in her side.

She had to draw to a stop outside the local supermarket and sit down on one of the handy benches to catch her breath. It pained her to think that every gasp of air she took was another second of tardiness. Her teacher was going to commit bloody murder if Kagome turned in late one more time. Maybe she should just feign illness and go back home?

A flash of colour caught Kagome's eye, and her head tilted up to focus on the source.

A motorbike. A very swish one at that. Shiny and black with silver symbols and lettering over the frame. But there were daring splashes of red, too, like the bold Chinese symbol for "fire" at the front of the bike. The owner of that bike must have been a very rebellious man. The owner of that bike also seemed to be somewhere else.

Like a magpie to glitter, Kagome stood and shuffled closer to the bike with red splashes. Kagome was almost certain it was illegal to have more than two basic colours decorating one's mode of transport, and bikes had gone out of production three years ago. Hardly anyone drove them these days.

The schoolgirl touched the handlebars hesitantly. She'd never admitted it to anyone before because it wasn't a very proper thing for a young lady to think that way… but Kagome liked a lot of raw power between her legs.

"Hands off the bike, princess!"

Kagome practically started out of her skin as two hands clamped over her shoulders and jerked her backwards. She quickly pulled herself from the stranger's grasp and whirled around. Now, if she'd thought the bike was flashy, she was sadly mistaken. That bike didn't hold a candle compared to how daring its owner was.

He wasn't wearing the official biker outfit, just black jeans and a black jacket. Enough to keep within the law. But what almost appalled Kagome were the red chevrons running down his sleeves and across his helmet. Was it allowed to wear such things in public?

"Um… I was just admiring it." she apologised quickly. "I'm sorry."

The man shrugged. But with his visor down, it was hard to tell if he was angry or if he had even accepted the apology. He moved around her and began loading his two bags of shopping into the cargo panniers behind the bike's seat. Kagome watched him awkwardly. "It's really nice… where did you get it?"

"Gift. Overseas." was the grunted response.

"Ahh…" Kagome nodded. "It's nice."

"You said that already."

"Oh, did I? Sorry."

"That too." The man turned to her. "Is there something you want?" he asked as he snapped the panniers shut.

"Oh… no… I was just… wondering about your jacket." Kagome gestured towards his clothes. "It's not… technically legal, is it?"

"What, are you going to report me or something?" he challenged coldly.

"No!" Kagome quickly waved her hands. "No - I was just admiring them and-"

"Admiring. Right. I get it." The stranger lifted his leg and straddled the bike in one smooth manoeuvre. Kagome watched him with keen interest, mentally taking notes for the unlikely day that she ever got one of these vehicles for herself. Suddenly, the helmet turned towards her. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

Kagome looked at him. Or tried to. There wasn't an inch of bare flesh available for her eyes… there was no way for her to recognise him even if they were next door neighbours. "Uh… no, I don't think so."

"You look really familiar."

"I must have that kind of face." she grinned sheepishly. "Hey… I think you have a little brown paint on your watch."

The biker glanced down at his wide-strapped leather watch. "Oh… yeah, that's paint. Definitely." It was almost self-conscious, the way he tugged his jacket sleeve further down.

That's when Kagome remembered the time. "Oh crap! I'm supposed to be at school!" Not hanging around supermarkets and talking to strangers with cool bikes! However preferable it was. "I'm sorry, I'd better get going before-"

"Where's your school?" the stranger suddenly asked.

"About five blocks that way." She pointed down the road. "Block four, building seven."

"Right." The man's foot moved, and suddenly the motorbike was roaring to life. Kagome skipped back a few steps, startled again. "Hop on."

Kagome deadpanned. "What?"

"You want to get to school, don't you?"

"You can't just order young girls to get on your bike!" Kagome burst out.

"Why not?" the stranger challenged.

"Because you sound like a paedophile!"

"I'm just trying to be nice. I need some good karma." He shrugged.

Kagome huffed. She glanced at her watch and grimaced. She had about five minutes before registration started, and if she didn't get there before then, she'd suffer a permanent black mark on her record. And tardiness was quite possibly one of the worst offences a student could commit; punishable by lines, two week detentions, and in some cases expulsion. Yep. Tardiness was quite serious. More so than setting fire to a teacher's beard (that was only a three day detention).

If Kagome walked, she would never make it… but this guy was offering her a free ride. "Wait - it is free, right?"

"Look, if you don't get on within the next couple of seconds, then I'm driving off. I have ice cream in those bags, you know." He tipped his helmet towards the cargo containers.

"But I don't have a helmet." she protested. Yet even though her mouth said 'no', her heart was screaming 'Yes! Yes! Take me!'.

"Then I promise I won't crash." He held a hand over his heart.

It was probably an astoundingly bad idea, but Kagome really didn't want to be stuck writing hand-cramping lines for the next three weeks about how she was never going to be late again. Biting her lip, she ignored the voice of reason in her head and slipped onto the seat behind the driver. For a moment, she didn't quite know where to put her hands-

"Around my waist, pet."

"Oh, sorry." She locked her hands together in front of his stomach, wondering how on earth she'd managed to find herself embracing a man she'd only known for thirty seconds or so.

"Keep your feet on the rests and no screaming. You'll lose your legs and I'll crash otherwise."

"Noted." Kagome clenched her fingers tightly and concentrated totally on keeping her feet against the available foot rests. Then the bike was vibrating and roaring beneath her and the ground was beginning to move. Kagome suppressed an excited squeak as she clutched the man's waist tightly and the exhaust fumes washed over her.

One break in the traffic and they were away, weaving in and out of slower moving cars and daringly skipping along the white line. It was tricky stuff, but Kagome wasn't all that scared. She loved theme park rides, loved standing on the glass floor of Mizuka tower looking down at the roads and buildings beneath her, loved hanging off the rail of boats when on lakes, and apparently she loved high speed 'zoom zoom'.

She tried to stop herself, but the happy scream gurgled up in her throat as they shot around another corner, sending shivers along the hairs on the back of her neck.

"Scared?" She heard him call, almost smugly.

"No!" she laughed, though she knew he was probably trying to frighten her.

And because Kagome was a romantic (a discreet one, but a romantic nonetheless), she pictured this scene in her head from an onlookers point of view and realised that this person she was holding might look like her boyfriend. Kagome certainly wouldn't mind having a boyfriend who would drive her places on his bike… but perhaps not this guy. This guy seemed to struggle with normal conversation.

The school arrived almost too quickly, and before Kagome knew it, they were slowing to a stop outside the gates. Thirty seconds before the bell went, according to the giant clock tower on the face of the building, and as usual, Kagome's friends were still waiting around the entrance for her. Even from here, Kagome could see the shock on their faces and could already imagine the questions they'd ask once she was in their grasp.

"Thank you so much." Kagome bubbled as he helped her off the bike. "You've probably saved my life."

"And you've probably saved my soul." It was probably a joke, but Kagome couldn't detect any humour or sarcasm in his voice.

She smiled anyway. "My name's Kagome Higurashi, by the way. And if you ever need a favour-"

"Doubtful. But thanks." He shrugged. "I'm Inu - uh… Inokku. Inokku Yoshikawa."

"Well, thank you, Inokku Inokku Yoshikawa." She bowed gratefully. "See you around maybe."

She turned and ran off towards her waiting friends, and Inuyasha leant back in his seat to square his shoulders. "Yeah… that's likely."

So this was the school that Kikyo was always on about. That girl was related to her… and the name only proved it. Kikyo always talked about her… but it was hardly ever pleasant things that passed her lips.

Inuyasha's pocket began to vibrate. Someone was trying to contact him. He spared a hasty glance around - checking that Higurashi had gone inside with her friends - before pushing off his helmet and bringing his phone to an ear. "Yeah?"

"Something's come up. We need you back at base." a slow, smooth voice told him on the other end.

Inuyasha smirked. "Sure, whatever. But you'll never guess who I just met..."

………….

"Kagome! What are you doing accepting rides off strangers!" Yuka was three inches away from grabbing her friend by the lapels and shaking some common sense into her head. "That's dangerous! He could be some kind of psycho! He could have driven you off to god knows where and done away with you!"

"Relax!" Kagome leant back in her chair. "I'm here safe and sound, aren't I? And before the bell, I might add."

"That still doesn't excuse you." Eri added reproachfully. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to speak to strangers?"

"Actually… no." Kagome pursed her lips. "But not every stranger has a super cool bike like that one."

Now it was Ayumi's turn to berate her. "He looked like a law-breaker to me. Did you see those red chevrons on his jacket? No way is that guy going to last another week without being pulled up by the police for breaking Section 20A."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "What does it matter, anyway? It's not like I'm likely to ever meet him again. I don't even know what he looks like-"

"And I bet you don't even know his name." Eri lectured.

"Inokku Yoshikawa." Kagome filled in primly. "He told me. And I told him mine."

"Urgh… Kagome." Yuka groaned. "Now he'll probably be able to find out where you live… there's only one Kagome at one Higurashi Shrine in the entirety of Japan!"

It was Kagome's turn to refrain from shaking her friend until her black crest cap fell off. "Look - not everyone is a crazy psycho, Yuka. He was just giving me a lift! He wanted good karma."

"Then he's one of those crazy religious types." Yuka exclaimed.

It was no use. Her friends were the three most paranoid schoolgirls in their district and together, they could be intolerable. It was better to just change the subject. "Hey, Yuka, can you tell your Mom that I want a raise?"

"Tell her yourself. You're working tonight, right?" Yuka returned.

"Yeah… but it sounds better coming from you." Kagome said sweetly.

"Hey, when you finish that formula for that crazy anti-wrinkle cream and you make our salon a bundle, then we'll pay you a bundle too." Yuka grinned. "Not that you'd still be working for us, Miss Millionaire."

At that moment the door opened, and the class hastily rose from their seats to stand to attention as the teacher entered.

"Don't worry, I'll give each of you guys a million." Kagome whispered to her friends, who grinned back at her.

………………….

Jaken coughed and wheezed up the steps to Naraku's office, his small legs making it difficult to be much faster than the asthmatic ant he resembled. He knocked on the office door and waited for Naraku's even "Come." before entering.

"Mr Naraku, sir." he panted. "Inuyasha has arrived."

"Then where is he?" Naraku asked without looking up from his desk.

"Brawling with Kouga down in the parking lot."

"Hmmm." Naraku hummed. "Good. Perhaps the grease and oil will make it too difficult for them to tear flesh."

"Sir…?"

"Fear not, toadman-"

"…it's Jaken, sir."

"-for I will go and break up the fight."

The Coalescence was based in a downtown office block, complete with adjoining car parking facilities. Directly across the road was the Police Headquarters of Tokyo, but there was no better place to hold their base of operations… other than right under the enemy's nose, so to speak.

Naraku found the two culprits wrestling around on the car park concrete, second floor, surrounded by a group of twenty other Coalescence cell agents.

"Say it!" Inuyasha was shouting as he sat on Kouga's chest.

"Fuck you!" the wolf cried back.

Inuyasha punched him around the jaw. "Say it!"

"Fuck! You!" Kouga snarled back, and suddenly surged upwards to deliver a nasty head butt for Inuyasha.

"Ow… fuck you!" Inuyasha growled and lunged at the other agent again.

"People, people, nothing to see here." Naraku called drolly as he ushered the chanting spectators away. He then proceeded to collar Inuyasha in order to drag him off the wolf. "What's all this about then?"

"He said my bike looked like a girl's bike!" Inuyasha raged, glaring daggers at Kouga.

"Kouga's entitled to his opinions, Inuyasha." Naraku told him.

"It wasn't an opinion, it was a fact!" Kouga spat blood onto the ground beside him.

Inuyasha made to throw himself at the wolf youkai again. "Why you-"

"Calm yourself, Inuyasha." Naraku literally reined him in. "You look a state already, so let's not make it any worse. Besides… we have an important meeting to attend to."

"Fine." Inuyasha tugged himself free of his boss's grasp and shot a ferocious look at Kouga as well as a pointed finger. "Next time I see you, you're dead!" he hissed, before whipping around to follow Naraku back inside the office.

Kouga crowed after him like he'd won the fight. "Who's a good little lap dog then?" His laughter rang out till the door swung shut behind Inuyasha.

"I'm sure we've kept her waiting long enough, thanks to your antics." Naraku reprimanded the young hanyou as they climbed the stairwell. "You know how uptight she is about being punctual."

"She puts the anal in beauty analyst." Inuyasha grumbled.

Naraku led him to an empty room on the top floor of the office. It was dark in there, filled with a dim orange light from the lamps at the corners of the room. Most of the natural light had been blocked off with the tinted window panels. Naraku had most of the windows like this… after all, the building was facing the police station.

Kikyo sat at the very end of long and empty meeting table. She had a portfolio laid out before her and greeted the two men with a mild and rather vacant smile. "Good morning." She tipped her head.

Naraku returned the greeting, but said nothing. The boss took his seat opposite the young woman and Inuyasha was forced with the choice of sitting next to either Naraku or Kikyo… it was a matter of who he hated less.

Kikyo it was.

"The reason why Kikyo has called you here today, Inuyasha, is because she has a little job for you." Naraku began.

I've seen your record, Inuyasha." Kikyo turned to the youth beside her. "In all your years, there has never been even one occasion that you've been cornered for murder. Your work is efficient and planned… exactly what I need. I have a job for you that cannot be linked back to me whatsoever. My career depends on it."

"What do you have in mind?" Inuyasha asked casually, already well aware of what she wanted as Naraku had briefed him two days beforehand.

Kikyo opened her portfolio and took out a photograph. "I have a cousin. Still in middle school. She's fifteen and lives at the Higurashi Shrine."

Inuyasha accepted the photo and looked over it to find two girls beaming back at him. One was obviously Kikyo as the smile didn't quite touch her eyes. But the other girl was a several years younger, in her early teens, and smiling like the world was offering her everything she ever needed to be happy. He recognised her instantly as the girl he'd offered a ride to only a few hours ago. Kikyo's arm was cast fondly around the girl's shoulders, holding her close for the photograph.

"I want you to kill her." Kikyo told him bluntly.

Suddenly the photo seemed too much of an abomination, too much of a falsity to look at. Inuyasha let it drop back against the table. "Why?" he asked, equally as blunt.

"It is not your job to ask why." Naraku reminded him.

"It's alright, I don't mind." Kikyo glanced across at the Coalescence leader before turning back to Inuyasha. "I love her dearly, but she's in my way. Our grandmother invented a miracle cream that will conceal practically any kind of disfigurement you can imagine… scars, blemishes, wrinkles, stretch marks, you name it. However, Kagome was the one who managed to get her hands on grandmother's research, and she's managed to crack the perfect formula."

Ahh… it all made sense now. "You're jealous. You want her out of the picture so you can take credit for the formula."

Kikyo smiled tightly. "Exactly. She has the brains to make this work - but she's refused to hand over the research to my company because she thinks it's monopolising our grandmother's dream. You have no idea what kind of breakthrough this cream is. It is perfect. If Kagome starts retailing, even selling it as a local salon product, the merchandise will explode and she'll be getting offers of billions from companies like L'Oreal and No.7. Our competitors will profit horrendously and my company Regenis will miss out, just because she went to Grandma's funeral and I didn't."

Inuyasha was beginning to wish he'd chosen to sit next to Naraku instead. "What exactly do you want me to do? Any specific details? Do you want her stabbed by a mugger for her purse? An unlucky victim of a Coalescence terrorist attack? Her shine torched?"

"No. No Coalescence strings." Kikyo shook her head. "Make it look like a mugging. She works at this address on weekdays after school." She handed him an address from her folder. "It's on a pretty empty street. Not exactly the posh end of the district. Get her as she leaves… and make it look-"

"Clumsy?" Inuyasha guessed. "Like a mugger with nothing to lose? How about I brain her with a rock?"

"Perfect." Kikyo folded her hands on the table. "Take her bag. She should be carrying her research with her as I know for a fact that she uses the salon's facilities to work with the formulaic ingredients."

"And what if she doesn't have the research on her?" Inuyasha frowned.

"Then will you be prepared to search the salon and her home for the notes?" Kikyo asked evenly. "You'll know them when you see them. Her notes are in a thick, hardback notebook. It's blue with 'Zero-G' written on the front."

"Zero-G? Why that?" Inuyasha asked.

Kikyo shrugged. "I haven't a clue. But that's what it looks like. Bring me that notebook and I will pay you… nine hundred thousand yen."

"Shit!" Inuyasha exploded. "How much?!"

Naraku sighed. "Kikyo, you're spoiling him. Assassination is only worth ten thousand at the least."

"Nine hundred thousand is nothing compared to the profit that my company will make with this formula." Kikyo told him. "Besides, I want to encourage Inuyasha to do the best job he can."

"You can bet on that!" Inuyasha watched her eagerly. "When do I get the money?"

"When you hand me that notebook and the rock with my cousin's blood on it."

Next Update: Chapter Two: The Murder