InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ 'life' and 'death' ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

Here's a list of mafia related terms used in this chapter. I thought it made more sense to place this list before you guys read than to have it after. Enjoy. ~Aitu

Babbo: A dope, idiot, useless underling; once one becomes one of these it usually means that time is limited before they are eliminated.

Broken: demoted in rank; "knocked down."

Capone: a phony or embarrassment to himself and others; "gavone" (slang pronunciation)

Capo: ranking member of a Family who heads a crew (or group) of soldiers; a skipper, short for capodecina.

Crew: a group of soldiers that takes orders from a capo.

Made: to be sworn into La Cosa Nostra (the mafia, literally meaning "our house"); synonyms: to be "straightened out," to get your button.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything regarding Inuyasha.

Previously:

They took a seat in a small booth up against the corner and both nearly died laughing. The music was still blaring, and the strobe and laser lights still filled the building. As she leaned back against the plush white velvet back rest, Sango realized something: Inuyasha had changed.

Tai and Kagome made stepped up the cement staircase and he opened the door for her. They were in the room where the club received their shipments. Boxes were scattered every where most likely due to the hustle of opening night. Tai was looking for a light switch when they heard a voice from the darkness that surrounded them. "It's her, boss."

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Chapter Six

"Fuck," Kagome said out loud. She shoved Tai back out the door hoping to send him flying to the safety in the blackness of the night right before reaching into her purse to grab out her first line of defense. His back hit the lever on the door as his eyes displayed utter shock and surprise; the pressure on the door's handle caused it to fling open. He was pushed with such force that he flew backwards, stumbled down the cement stairs, but was able catch himself just in the knick of time by gripping the iron railing with all of his strength. She slammed the door behind him and locked it in order to lock him out of her life. It was the only way to protect him from the epitome of what she is.

She turned in the direction that she had heard the voice. Two men stepped out of the shadows and turned on the light and she recognized one of them instantly.

"Naoki, I'd like to say nice to see you again but I think this has to do with business rather than pleasure."

"You're intuition is correct Kagome. Now if you come with us peacefully no harm will come to you or your friends."

"I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with you on that, Naoki. The only people getting hurt tonight will be your friend and you."

She had known him for about four years now. He used to be on her father's crew but now he worked forKoyo, Daichi and Nori's cousin from their mother's side. After Ryo was terminated, Koyo was made and became a capo; he resumed all of Ryo's old responsibilities. Naoki was one of the knock around guys: they guy who the other's used for simple tasks such as picking up food, the dry cleaning, or used when working surveillance. Something about him had always gave her a bad feeling, it was like she had always known that he would betray anyone if the price was right.

"Who's your friend?" she asked.

They said nothing. Instead the unknown man ran towards her in an attempt to tackle her. Kagome leapt out of the way and stabbed her knife into his bicep and slid it all the way down the length of his arm. He swore out of frustration and pain while grabbing his arm with his other hand while silently motioning with his eyes for Naoki to make an attack.

Naoki charged at Kagome with a gun in hand. He had no actual intention of using it on her because his orders were to bring her in alive. But she didn't know that; as far as she knew they were here to kill her. It wasn't the first time someone had placed a hit on her and as long as she was in this profession, it probably wouldn't be the last.

She used her knives to grab a hold of him, stabbing him under the arm pit with one dagger and in the side with the other. She drove her knee to his abdomen hard. The pain in both his sides and abdomen caused him to release his death grip and drop the gun to the floor. Kagome kicked it under some shelving units. His blood began to trickle down his sides and pool onto the floor.

"Still taking orders, huh?" He wouldn't even look her in the eye. "Well it figures Naoki, it really does. Everyone always knew that you'd stab `em in the back as soon as it was turned. I just didn't know that you were stupid enough to think you could get away with it. You know that as soon as Daichi and Nori find out, they're going to kill you, that is, if I don't kill you myself," she said with malice and hate.

"Or maybe they already had you broken and you think that by coming after me will serve as some sort of revenge?"

Without a single thought she kicked his knee, bending the entire knee inward in an unnatural way towards his other knee. He screamed out in pain at the sound of bones cracking and breaking and his entire body crumpled to the floor.

Kagome spun around, looking at her other opponent as she inwardly cringed but allowed no emotion to pass through her face. She would not give her enemy the satisfaction of knowing what was going on in her head.

The other unknown man looked over at Kagome with amusement in his eyes. "I guess it's just you and me, doll."

*************

Tai all but jumped up the stairs and tried to open the door but it refused to budge, someone must have locked it from the inside. He pounded on it for awhile, desperately trying to make someone answer his fists. He realized that his attempts of getting in this way were being done so in vain. Kagome didn't want him in there and he highly doubted that who ever else lay hidden in the darkness would welcome him with open arms. He felt as if he had just made the biggest mistake ever and that he might just pay for it with his life. Without a second thought he was running down the alley. His feet seemed to be moving faster than humanly possible; but then again, that is what adrenaline does to you.

He rounded the corner nearly falling from running and attempting to turn so fast, but something within would not allow him to fumble. He ignored the regular people on the street and the traffic that was driving by. As he got closer to the front door, he noticed several limos waiting to pick up their occupants. Several people were standing out side, chit chatting idly about how spectacular the grand opening of Club Elite had been; others were simply waiting for the valet to return with their cars. He wasted no time in going around the red velvet ropes and opted to jump over them instead. His feet landed firmly on the red carpet, covering it with the dirt and muck which the alley had possessed.

There was no longer a door man at the door, yet, even if there was, no one would give him any trouble. He ran through the twisted hallways which seemed to be more like a tunnel or a maze. There was no time for manners or politeness. He pushed who ever was in his way; it had earned him many "hey, watch where you're going asshole" jeers.

Tai ran all the way to the VIP floor and desperately searching for Sango and Inuyasha. In any normal situation, Inuyasha would be pretty close to, if not the last person on Earth that he would ever ask for help. This situation was far from normal and Inuyasha's fighting skills would no doubt come in handy.

He wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed since he heard that eerie whisper and was flung out the door. It felt like hours, but in all reality not more than three or four minutes.

Just as soon as he thought it was hopeless to find them, there they were.

***********

"Don't ever call me "doll."

He grinned at her maliciously. "Come on little girl, give me all you got," he taunted her. `She's only a woman; she must have gotten lucky with those blows she delivered before.' He even held up both hands in the air as if submitting to her.

`He really has no idea who he is fucking with, does he?' Kagome thought to herself as her confidence flared up giving her the strength she needed to survive.

With the utmost speed and grace, she took the dagger that she held in her right hand and threw it at the man which landed dangerously close to his "family jewels. "

"Damn," she said. "I missed….. I NEVER miss…" She raised an eyebrow towards the assailant and spoke in the most demeaning voice as possible; "they must be smaller than I thought." When she knew she had the upper hand, she became a little cocky, to say the least.

After flashing the man a smile she ran for the door and jumped off of the top step, searching for the other guy who she had recognized who had cowardly tried to escape after getting slashed by her swift blades.

Naoki had dragged himself towards the wall. He may have thought that he was crawling towards freedom but he was completely wrong; he had crawled towards a dead end. Kagome wanted to do nothing more than finished him off but she was stopped by a large boot that planted its self square on her back.

She gasped as it made impact with her back causing her to fly forward, head hitting the corner of the dumpster. She ignored the throbbing sensation coming from her head and quickly spun around.

The man took another swing at her but she managed to duck. Her fighting skills may have been slightly off due to the large amount of alcohol that had been consumed that night, but she was still better than many people would ever dream to be.

Kagome held her fists up around her face, ready to block her opponents swings, and possibly to throw one as well.

The man dropped to the ground while extending one leg; his arms landed to the side of his body and he swung the one leg around with great force across the back of Kagome's ankles. She lost her balance and fell hard onto the cement below. He stood up as fast as he could and began to drag her against the pavement for a short while. The unforgiving ground scraped up against her cheek, arm and shoulder causing the skin to tear and bleed.

She was able to kick free of his grasp by kicking him square in the balls. He dropped to the floor holding his crotch with both hands as he screamed bloody murder. She knew it was a cheap shot but some situations called for such actions.

Kagome took this opportunity to return to Naoki. His breathing had slowed and he was taking small shallow breaths. Kagome looked him in the eyes. His eyes begged for mercy while hers radiated with an unforgiving hate. Any one who betrayed her or her family deserved to die. "Who the hell sent you?" She asked.

The only response she got was a few muffled words. She was growing impatient as her time was running shorter. "I said who the fuck sent you and why the fuck are you after me you cafone?"

He closed his eyes and his body went limp. Kagome knew that he was dying and would be dead soon.

Completely forgetting about the other guy, she let down her guard as she felt that the death of Naoki was the end of this evening.

She let out a soft scream as someone grabbed a handful of hair and yanked it back with force. She felt the barrel of a gun against the back of her neck.

"You've caused enough trouble for one night. I think that it's time for us to go Miss Hiragarshi. He dragged her all the way, letting the cement and pavement tear and rip up her skin until they got to a car that was parked on the side street that had obviously been waiting for them.

They drove for about a half an hour until they were out of the city. No one had said a word. Well, Kagome asked a few questions at first but after realizing that `the asshole in the back' and `the asshole in the front were not going to speak to her, she decided to give up and save her energy.

************

Inuyasha and Sango were laughing over some unknown joke as a man slammed his hands violently into their table attempting to slow down. They both looked up to see an exhausted Tai.

Without even waiting to catch his breath he began to tell them what had transpired. "Kaah- Kagome's in trouble. Hurry up, we have to help her; someone's after her. They're in the back storage room right next to the loading docks."

Without question, Inuyasha and Sango both stood up as Tai led them to the back room. They knocked over tables, pushed cursing waiters and waitresses to the floor, and all but destroyed any chair that crossed their path.

A thousand thoughts crossed Sango's mind. She knew that Kagome was tough and could take care of herself but something was very wrong. While making their way across the club, Tai had told them how she pushed him out the door and most likely locked it behind him. Sango knew that if Kagome was in danger, she wouldn't think twice about saving somebody else from that same danger, even if it meant the death of her.

Inuyasha didn't know what to think. `What kind of trouble is this girl in if people are after her?' `Who would want to harm her?' `For fucks sake she is only a small fragile girl!'

The back storage room's door was also locked. "Fuck!" Inuyasha and Tai both swore at the same time. They looked at each other and seemed to have a moment of understanding as they both flung their bodies, shoulder first, into the flimsy wooden door. It flew open without haste.

Much to their surprise, the room was empty. The bright light illuminated the scene before them; everyone's heart skipped a beat. Blood was everywhere. It was on the floor, it was sprayed onto unmarked cardboard boxes, and it was puddle on the floor and made an eerie trail leading out the back door which remained open.

Sango's eyes focused on a green and gold handbag which was currently resting one of the puddles of blood. She wanted to scream. `It's Kagome's.' She started to run towards it when Tai grabbed her arm. "Don't."

"Why the fuck not?!" She growled back at him. `Kagome was her best friend, she saw her like a little sister, and no one was going to get in her way when it came to Kagome.

He was not able to hold her back, yet he feared what lay beyond the open door, and past the trails of crimson blood. The scene was heart wrenching.

Sango dropped down to her knees and carefully picked up the purse, not caring about the blood that was now staining her white dress. She opened the purse hoping to find something, anything that might let her know what had happened. She knew that a purse couldn't tell her what happened. Sighing because she didn't find anything abnormal, she looked over her shoulder to see what the guys were doing and inadvertently spotted something else. . "It's Kagome's…" she whispered almost to herself. They guys looked at her questioningly as they had heard her whisper.

`She never uses just one…' `Where is its partner?' `Does that mean that somewhere the other one is still with Kagome?' `She never goes anywhere without her twin daggers.' `Is that what she forgot before we went out?' The silent questions continued to plague Sango's mind. She rose up off of her knees and walked in the direction of the lone dagger. It was stuck in the woodwork of the door that led to the club. She pulled it out effortlessly and examined it closely. There was a little bit of blood on and handle and some on the blade it's self. Kagome never really talked about why her knives or daggers were so important to her. Sango noticed how beautifully they were crafted. This one was green and blue and engraved onto the blade was the word "life."

Tai and Inuyasha kept inspecting the other areas of the store room for any life or perhaps even any signs of life but failed to find either. All they could know for sure is that there had been a big struggle right in front of the back door.

Tai's anger, fear, and guilt were rising by the minute. `I should have protected her.' `What the hell was she thinking of pushing me out and locking the door behind?'

Inuyasha was more confused than anything. How could one girl be such a mystery? Basically, all girls were the same, with the exception of his mother, Sango, and now possibly Kagome?

"Guys, give it up, she's gone." Sango walked outside following the trail of blood that had diminished into practically nothing. A single tear escaped from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek. She looked around the dark alley but could only make out a few dumpsters, brick walls, several crates, and the occasional rat that ran rampant in the night.

Inuyasha and Tai followed Sango outside. Something caught Inuyasha's eye. "There's someone behind that dumpster," he said in a deep threatening voice. He pointed in the direction of the dead end where the dumpster lay against the brick wall.

The three carefully made their way over who ever Inuyasha thought that he had seen or heard. Sure enough, there was a man covered in blood. Whether it was all his or not remained to be a question.

Sango kneeled down once again to get a closer look. Who she saw gave her a shock. "Naoki," she stated coldly. "Where there's one, there must be more… where the hell are the other babbos?" No response. "Who sent you?" Still no response. "Look at me God damnit!" She raised her hand and back handed him.

Naoki opened his eyes and looked up at Sango. He couldn't quite place who she was, but she looked familiar. The darkness was becoming greater as he slipped into the clutches of death. With his last breath he muttered "he's coming for her."

"WHO THE FUCK IS COMING FOR YOU HER YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Inuyasha shouted. `What the fuck is going on?' `Who the fuck is her? `Who the fuck is he???" If he doesn't have her, than is she okay?' Inuyasha had questions that needed some answering. If anyone asked he might deny it, but he was sincerely worried for her.

Tai was pretty much thinking the exact opposite of Inuyasha. It was probably time to come clean with the group-this wasn't going to be good.

Sango frantically dialed a number on her cell before raising the phone to her ear. `It can't be him,' she thought; `he's been dead for two years.' She waiting until that all familiar voice mail came on. "Hey it's Kagome, I'm not here, leave me a message."

"There's no answer," she solemnly said, as if confirming her worst fear.

"Sango what the fuck is going on and why did you get all rigid all of a sudden Tai?" This was probably the longest amount of time that they had spent together not trading insults and or physically fighting but things were about to change.

**************

Kagome gasped for air as her head sprung free from its watery captor. Their final struggle had sent them plunging into the river, car and all. Somehow she had managed to get a hold of the guy's gun, kick the driver in the head with her heel, and pistol whip the guy who had been holding her hostage in the back seat knocking them unconscious. Without anyone steering the car it veered off the road and rolled multiple times down the steep ravine until it landed in the river below. She fought against the doors and windows as the car plummeted into the dark waters. She had thought that it was too late and she was going to die in the car but with the help of the gun she was able to knock out a window and swim to the oxygen above. To the best of her knowledge, she was the only person who came out alive. She hadn't seen anyone else swim out and there's only so long a person can go without air.

She pushed the hair back out of her face with one hand as she started to paddle towards shore with the other. The cold water chilled her to the bone and burned her various cuts and scrapes. She raised one arm over her head, and repeated the same procedure with the other until she had reached the muddy banks of the river. It took almost all of her strength the pull herself up and out of the water. Somehow she was able hoist herself up and while throwing a leg up on the steep bank. She inhaled and exhaled deeply trying to calm her racing heart. Kagome rested on her hands and knees for a second before She felt so weak but wasn't about to give up now. `Pain is only weakness leaving the body', she reminded her self.

After a few minutes she began to collect her thoughts. Somewhere along the line she had lost her shoes, her purse, her cell phone, which was now resting snugly at the bottom of the river, and one of her daggers. If she was lucky, she would be able to sneak back into the club and removed it from the door frame where she had left it.

*************

"Sango, it's not your fault, it's mine… I was sent here to protect her; but the job wasn't supposed to start until tomorrow. It looked like you guys were enjoying your selves tonight so I didn't want to ruin the moment."

"You ruined the moment when you came here Tai," Inuyasha interrupted.

Tai didn't reply to Inuyasha and just kept on explaining himself. "But now I can see---"

"How fucking stupid you are Tai!" Inuyasha filled in the words for Tai before he had a chance to finish his sentence.

Sango was staring in disbelief at Tai. `Why didn't he say something before' `How could he put Kagome's life endanger like that? Her eyes displayed sadness, betrayal, and angst all at once.

"What the fuck do you mean `I was sent here to fucking protect her'? Am I the only fucking one who doesn't have any fucking clue as to what the fuck is going on here??? Maybe if you were fucking doing you fucking job then she wouldn't be in this fucking position!"

Footsteps could be heard approaching the group. For split second everyone thought that it was Kagome. Their hearts all skipped a beat just thinking of the possibility but as the sound neared them the foot steps seemed to be too heavy. When they turned around they saw it to be a man.

"Little brother, has that certain word that used to get you in trouble when you were little became so engraved into your vernacular that it simply has lost it's meaning to you?"

"Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha and Tai both said at the same time. Obviously, they both said it with different connotations and different tones of voice.

"So this is your brother? He doesn't look as bad as you described him Inuyasha. In fact, he looks a hell of a lot like you."

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