InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Angel Israfel ❯ The Oathkeeper ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha. I really wanted him though, so I can personally clipped his adorable ears with a nail clipper if he started to act like a jerk and broke Kagome's heart again! (Oh, and the nail-clipper idea belongs to Rozefire aka Rosefire, geez, I don't own anything do I?)

A/N: Woa… I reached chapter four. I have already written 70 pages in English! My teacher would be proud! (Not that I'll ever show her my writings! p) Now, on with the fic!

Angel Israfel

Chapter 4

“The Oathkeeper”

Dear Commander Takahashi,

The Sun,

Walking its road of twilight,

As the tired squire,

greeted the Hevn,

to kidnap the keeper of oaths,

And kept him under her wings.

Sincerely,

ISRAFEL

“Honestly, Kagome! He was all cranky and moody today! I mean - I know he had that permanent PMS and all - but today he was completely unbearable!” Sango screamed over the phone on Monday evening.

Kagome laugh awkwardly, she didn't really know how to respond anyway. “I'm sorry you have a horrible day Sango. But I would have expected Inuyasha to bug Miroku, not you!”

“Exactly! That lecher turned all cowardly and hides in the kitchen all day! If that hanyou behaved this way every time he failed to catch Israfel, I swear I'm going to- I'm going to- to-,” Sango ended her sentence with a violent growl.

Kagome laughed nervously again. So Inuyasha was extremely `upset' that she had left him hanging with questions that she had ignored … not that she had given him the time to ask them all.

“I seriously thought to call you in! Oh Kagome, why do you have Monday for you day off!”

“Umm Sango, you forgot that Thursday is also my day off,” said Kagome, glad for the chance to change the subject.

“No! Kagome, don't you dare leave me alone surrounded with those loony testosterones! I'll go to the nut-house if I had another day like this!”

“Gomen ne, Sango, but I need time to catch up with my school works; I'm already late for submitting my mid-term project!”

“Couldn't you do them on the evenings?”

Oh, no. Not with all the tasks she had to do for the sake of her family's traditions! She wanted to scream out loud.

“Oh please be in this Thursday Kagome! Just this week! I'll give you a pay-rise!” said Sango in a pleading tone.

“Oh alright…,” Kagome replied reluctantly.

“Really! Is that a promise?”

Kagome was very tempted to say no, “Yes, if that's what you want,” she answered.

“Thanks, Kagome! You're the best!”

“You better give me that pay-rise!”

“No problem!” her friend answered cheerfully.

Kagome rolled her eyes.

“Oh, have you heard about the new item in the museum?” asked Sango.

Kagome who had buried herself in her school work all weekend blinked at that. “That's so unlike you! I thought you're not interested in artistic things?”

Her friend gave a flustered reply, “Yeah… that's true. But I'm interested in ancient weapons! They said it was a very beautiful sword, white as snow, the handle formed wings! I really wanted to see it!”

Kagome blinked again. “A sword?”

“Yes! It has a name too, you know… just like Hiraikotsu! It was a beautiful name, but it slipped me… hold on, it's the Oas… Orth….”

Kagome frowned, “Sango, are you talking about The Oathkeeper?”

“That's it! How'd you know that? Have seen it before?”

“Uhm… not really, just some pictures,” she replied. Kaede had shown her those photographs. Her grandmother always made sure she could recognize her next target; either gave her pictures or just descriptions. Usually that was followed by some of the artifact's history; almost all of her targets had a story of its own.

Sango continued blabbering on how she really wanted to see the sword. “Will you come with me to the museum tomorrow, Kag?”

`Nope, I have to steal it tomorrow. Come on, Kagome! Think of something!' “Sango, the restaurant's open tomorrow, remember?”

“Exactly!” her friend answered with a bit too much happiness.

Kagome sweat dropped. Guess Sango still want paybacks for her stress today… “Uhm… won't I be in trouble? Inuyasha won't tolerate that…”

“Don't worry, I'll think of something!”

Kagome laugh again nervously. `Just say no, Kagome, it's not that hard!' her mind screamed.

“C'mon Kagome, please! Pretty please, with cherries on the top!” that was so un-Sango-like. Perhaps Inuyasha had bugged her to insanity, and now Sango was an evil woman seeking for revenge.

It was always a loosing battle when someone used that tone to her, “… okay. I'll go….” Kagome sighed. Kaede wasn't going to like this, neither did Inuyasha. Hell, she didn't like this either!

“Perfect!” Sango replied, “Oops, I have to pick up Kohaku now! I better get going….”

“Soccer practice?”

“Yeah…. Bye, Kagome, see you tomorrow!”

“Bye,” Kagome answered then hung up.

She went to her bedroom and sat down her bed with a huff. Sango would most likely pick her right after school, they'll probably stay in the museum for two hours max, and then it'll be around sunset. That leaves her exactly an hour to go home and go back to the museum as Israfel (her notify said `the sun was walking its road of twilight' Kaede love poetic phrases.), and that's not possible at least you're superman. Woman, she corrected absently. And she's no superwoman; she's just a good ol' nineteen year girl who occasionally wears ninja clothes to steal things.

She sighed, “What have I gotten myself into?”

The Hevn (one of the five building in the Pentagon Museum) was extremely crowded by the time Sango and Kagome arrived on Tuesday afternoon. It seemed that the news of how beautiful the sword is had spread quickly. The two girls practically had to fight their way through the circle of visitors just to see it clearly.

As Kagome looked at the sword, her jaw dropped. Even if Kaede had shown her photographs, there must be something wrong with them. She had never seen a sword as meresmerizingly beautiful as The Oathkeeper. Deadly; yes, not beautiful! Pretty! Gorgeous! The sword was as white as snow, slim, and thin, she had no idea how the blade could stood still and not swaying. The handle formed a pair of silver wings. The sword appeared almost angelic.

“Oh my, it's beautiful!” a thirty year old career-woman gasped from Kagome's right.

“Look how it illuminates in blue from the spotlight? I bet it was more beautiful if the room's dark,” another man said from her left, across Sango.

The pony tailed girl stared in awe, “Kagome, it's so pretty! I mean… katanas are beautiful, too, but this one is… heavenly!” she breathed.

Kagome shook her head, and narrowed her eyes to study the sword. She couldn't feel any youki. Why did Kaede send her to `retrieve' the sword?

“KEH, my Tessaiga is better!” the familiar voice interrupted her musings.

The two girls turned quickly, “Inuyasha/Miroku!” they gasped simultaneously.

“Inuyasha, what are you doing here?” Kagome hissed as Sango had began her own bickering with Miroku (rub, rub “HENTAI!” slap)

The hanyou crossed his arms in front of him, “Do you really expect us to run the restaurant while the two of you are having fun?”

She rubbed her nose bridge, “You left the restaurant just like that?”

“I hang a note that said we had an emergency matters to attend. What are you doing here?”

“Sango wanted to see The Oathkeeper.”

“Then let her see! Why do you have to tag along?”

“Inuyasha! We're girls; we felt more comfortable in groups!”

Inuyasha didn't appear to understand her logic, “What? She'll be in a group when she arrived here; you're just making that up!”

“You missed the whole point!” she raised her voice. Why that stupid insensitive jerk!

“What point!” he retorted.

Kagome opened her mouth to yell back when suddenly she felt cold shivers ran down her body. She whirled abruptly and her eyes widened.

Now The Oathkeeper ceased emitting bright blue lights, instead it was dark purple.

Kagome had not realized that the crowds had gone silent until one man spoke with a dazed tone;

“I want that sword.” He made a dash through the line that separated the artifact from the spectators, and he wasn't alone. The rest of the crowds gave a raging roar and dove after him like they had just awaken from a trance, each one fighting, putting a claim to have the sword.

Kagome froze.

Somebody knocked her forward. She stumbled and suddenly a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back.

She twisted her head back, “Inuyasha?”

The hanyou did not reply or even looked at her as he fought his way out the chaos, growling and muttering curses under his breath. Somehow the spell didn't affect him. They neared the wall, because it was the farthest place from the fighting crowds.

“What the hell is going on!” he hissed.

Kagome watched the chaos in horror. Of all time the spell on the sword could have been activated, it had to be now. The sword was fine when she saw it earlier; something or someone had triggered the spell. Right in front of her. And she didn't even notice.

“You okay, Kagome?”

Inuyasha's question brought her back. She turned to him, “Y-yeah… I'm okay. Inuyasha, we have to stop them…,”

He stared at her like he was judging something, he was probably confused why she hadn't gone ballistic and fight with the rest of the crowds. His eyes hardened suddenly, “Stay here. If anything happened; call me.” he ordered before he leaped to the middle of the crowds again.

She didn't understand what he was doing at first, until he knocked out his first victim and dragged the unconscious man towards the other corner of the room. Inuyasha was knocking them out so they wouldn't fight each other.

Somebody broke away from the crowds, bruised and limping, he seemed to be sober. Kagome recognized him immediately, “Miroku! Miroku, over here!” she shouted, waving her hand to catch his attention.

The Houshi saw her and approached quickly, “Kagome-sama, you're okay! That sword is emitting strange youki! If it wasn't for my trainings I'll be affected too.”

“Yes, I guess my miko power helped, too.” Kagome suddenly realized they were short of one person. Fears wrapped her heart, “Miroku… where's Sango?”

His eyes turned painful, “I tried to stop her, but she-”

At that moment Inuyasha's yell reach her ears, “Dammit, Sango! Snap out of it!”

Kagome turned her eyes back to the crowd, and saw Inuyasha flew backwards and knocked a group of fighting teenagers, leaving them unconscious. In front of him was Sango, eyes dull like she was hypnotized, in her hand was The Oathkeeper.

Kagome went pale.

Sango's family studied the ancient martial arts of demon extermination. She was good in both short and long range battle; she could fight a hanyou if she had to. Kagome didn't even want to think how an enchanted Sango would fight, especially with a sword that was feeding her power.

The enchanted girl made another dash towards Inuyasha; she seemed to be particularly interested in him. The hanyou dodge her attack by jumping high, but she anticipated his move when she jumped herself and thrust the sword to him. Inuyasha twisted his body to avoid being hit but the sword still managed to graze the side of his stomach. He dropped roughly to the ground.

Miroku broke into a run, “Stay there, Kagome-sama! I'll try to help Inuyasha!”

Kagome gripped her back pack. She was not going to stay there and watch her friends fight each others! She had to purify the sword, and fast! But she couldn't do her magic if she still wanted to hide her identity as Israfel! Inuyasha knew her magic; he had sensed and witnessed it, purifying something in front of him was as good as taking off her mask!

Kagome did the only thing she could think at that moment;

She ran away.

snap

Camera flashlights burst from the highest branch of the oak tree facing the upper window of The Hevn. “Oh.. yeah, this is interesting,” the person holding the camera whispered.

He continued to capture the scene inside the building. The hanyou had recovered and now pulling a katana from inside his red jacket. The person raised his eyebrow and zoomed in to see the katana better.

“What did he expect from a rusty old katana?” he thought confusedly.

He snapped the camera again when the pony tailed girl clashed swords with the hanyou, some how the battered sword managed to stay in one piece.

Something caught the corner of his eyes, “Hm?”

He saw a girl in a mini-skirt and long black hair exit the building in a hurry. “Running away, huh? Well, I don't blame you….” He turned his camera to her, “Woa, nice legs!” he whistled as he zoomed his camera again.

But the girl was not running towards the museum gate, instead she went to the nearest bathroom building, slamming the door so hard he could hear it even from his position above the tree.

A strangled yell brought his attention back inside The Hevn. He did not see a woman in black rushing out the bathroom the girl had just entered.

Kagome needed privacy, so she ran to the nearest bathroom, slamming the door behind her and locked it. She grabbed her back pack and pulled out her costume. In a matter of minutes, Israfel stormed out of the bathroom door, muttering a concealing spell for her scent.

She ran as fast as she could back inside The Hevn.

She found all the visitors were already unconsious, and the only one who is still fighting was Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku. Inuyasha had bleeding wounds decorated his chest and arms, Miroku was in no better state. Sango had none but that's because both men didn't attack her, they were trying to disable her. The three of them didn't seem to realize Kagome's sudden absence.

Miroku made a move to grab Sango again, but the girl slashed him on the chest.

“Stop trying to grab her!” she shouted, “You have to knock the sword off her hand!”

She obviously did the wrong thing, because when both sober men turned to her in surprise, Sango wasted no time to thrust her sword through Inuyasha's stomach.

Kagome's mind froze.

Sango turned to Miroku and lashed another sets of attacks.

Kagome clenched her hands, her eyes burned. `If I don't do something soon, Sango will kill them,' her mind screamed.

She raised a hand and conjured her energy bow, the arrow followed soon after. She aimed the tip to Sango, `I- I have no choice… I'm sorry Sango!'

She released the arrow.

The line of energy cross the room unstrained and struck the enchanted girl. She screamed hoarsely and fainted; The Oathkeeper slipped off her grip and hit the ground with a clang.

“NO!” the two man shouted aloud. The Houshi quickly brought the unconscious girl to his arms. The hanyou only sat dumbstruck, still bleeding madly.

Kagome approached the now-purified-sword and picked it up. She turned to Miroku, “She would be fine, but you might want to call an ambulance.”

The Monk looked reluctant but he complied none the less.

After his exit, a tense silent fell between Inuyasha and her.

“Why did you shot her?” he asked coldly after a while.

She turned her back to him, “I had no choice.”

“So you will kill an innocent because you don't have a choice!” he barked back.

Kagome winced at his tone. She could feel his rage, his disbelieve, his… was that betrayal? “She's not dead,” she replied in the same cold tone, “That arrow won't kill her.”

“I know she's not dead!” he shouted, “I just couldn't believe you shot her! She's not your enemy!”

She whirled around, “Don't you dare use that tone to me,” she hissed. “I just want to bring her back, hence the harsh way, but she was about to kill you both. I had to choose between letting her be a murderer, or shoot her. What do you want me to do?”

He said nothing; she did not expect an answer.

She turned away again, “This is my fight, commander, I know what I have to do, but that doesn't mean I like it,” she said bitterly. She was about to walk away before he stopped her,

“What are you fighting? Who are you fighting? Who are you?”

She turned to him again, “My enemy has many names and many forms, I don't know much about him either except he likes to cause chaos like today. As for you last question….” She smiled behind her mask, “You don't really expect me to answer that, do you?”

He stared at her and sniffed. She knew he was trying to catch her scent. She thanked her ancestors again and again for the concealing spell.

“I'm going to catch you,” he gritted, “I swear I'm going to catch you and found out who you really are, and you're going to tell me what this is all about. That's a promise, and if you know me, you'll know that I kept my promises.”

She shook her head sadly and met his gaze, “Be careful with your promises, commander. Promise is a strong word, and you might not like where it would lead you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he snapped.

She leaped away to one of the upper window, the window unlocked magically. He was too wounded to actually follow her. “I had said it two days ago, and I'm going to say it again. You don't want to get involved in this mess.”

He snorted, “That's for me to decide, don't you think?”

She almost let out a sigh, almost, “Don't say I didn't warn you.” With that she leaped out of his sights.

When she landed just outside the window, under the oak tree, suddenly her eyes were blinded by a flash of light. Weird snapping sounds came from up the tree. She looked up. What she saw though, made her inside went cold.

Someone sat at the highest branch, camera in front of his face. She gasped as his flashlight burst again.

When the light died down, he removed his camera from his face, and smirked. His bright blue eyes pierced her.

“Hello, pretty angel, I hope you don't mind your pretty face on the front page of Shikon Daily News tomorrow!” he winked and before she could recover from her shock, a whirlwind appeared around him and he was gone from sight.

Kagome swear her heart had stopped beating. She stood there, thunderstruck. Her mind froze, her chest felt full that it was painful to draw breath.

It was the ambulance and the police's siren that snapped her out of her trance. She immediately rushed to the girl's bathroom. As she entered, the first thing she found was a mirror, that's when she remembered that she still had her mask on.

Her legs buckled and she fell down the floor. She couldn't stop the choked sob escaping her lips, tears threatening to fell. She was drowned in relief. She felt like she had just escaped a life and death situation. She had been scared. Even part of her still ached with fear despite the fact that her identity was still safe.

It terrified her. No one had managed to take her pictures that close before; photos of Israfel on the newspapers were never more than a dark silhouette from afar. And that person, that man, that youkai, had managed to have her in a close up. Though half her face was covered in mask, someone still might recognize her blue-gray eyes.

“It was sunset,” she whispered to herself. “The color must be off, I'm still safe….” She gathered her knees and buried her face in them.

Her cell phone suddenly rang. She jumped, startled. Reaching inside her yellow back pack she picked it up. “H-hello?” her voice still shook a little.

“Dammit, wench! WHERE - ARE - YOU!”

She jumped again. Inuyasha!

“DO YOU KNOW I LOOKED ALL OVER FOR YOU! I TOLD YOU TO STA- Hmmphh!” there was a brief sound of struggling, and Miroku was the one who continued the sentence, “Kagome-sama, you had us worried! Where are you?”

“I…,” she struggled, what should she say!

“Kagome-sama? Are you alright?” the houshi asked worriedly.

There was some struggling again, this time Inuyasha took over the phone, “Hey, you okay? What happened?” his voice was completely different from before.

“I…,” what should she say? Should she tell him she was in the girls' bathroom? Or should she tell him she was at home?

“Kagome, talk to me,” his voice had taken a desperate end; it surprised her how her name sounded on his lips without the usual gruffness and annoyance.

“I... I'm in the girls' bathroom,” There, she'd said it!

There was silence, and then, “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN A GIRLS' BATHROOM!” yup, that's Inuyasha, always easy to annoy.

“I THOUGHT IT WAS SAFER, OKAY!” she shouted back. Let him think she was a coward, anything but suspecting her as Israfel.

There was a long set of cursing words before he finally spoke again, “I'm picking you up right now, and this time stay there!”

She struggled to keep the panic from her voice, “Are you crazy! This is the girls' bathroom! You can't go in!” She pinned her cell phone between her ear and her shoulder while grabbing her normal clothes and started dressing.

“Do you think I care!” he shouted and hung up.

Kagome cursed mentally as she quickly pulled on her mini skirt, and zipped it. She had just slipped one hand through her shirt when someone knocked, no, banged the door.

“Kagome, open up!”

Her left hand gotten stuck in the tight shirt and Kagome decided that was the last time she let Sango talked her into buying clothes she don't usually wear.

“Kagome open this door or I'll break it down!”

She gave a grunt of victory when she finally managed to get her hand through, and quickly stuffed her costume inside her oversized bag.

“Don't say I didn't warn you!” she heard Inuyasha gritted.

“No! Wait! I'm coming!” she shouted back before Inuyasha broke the poor door. She zipped her bag, fastened the clasps then approached the door, unlocking it.

Inuyasha pulled it open before she had the chance to grip the handle, “What were you thinking running away like that? What if something happened?”

“Inuyasha….” she countered panicky.

His hand suddenly gripped her upper arm. “I don't want you hurt, wench! That's why I told you to stay at that fu-”

“Itai! Inuyasha, you're hurting me!”

He abruptly snatched his hand away like he was burned. “Sorry…,” he breathed, eyes hidden beneath his bangs.

The young miko shook her head, “It's okay, I know you didn't mean it.” She felt her abused arm throbbing but did not want to do anything that would upset the hanyou more.

He was silent.

She clenched her backpack. “You're wounded,” she acknowledged his now bandaged wounds, supposedly by the medics. Had it really been that long since she locked herself in the bathroom?

“Keh, I'll live,”

“How's Sango?”

He turned away, “She's just awaken, she asked about you but Miroku told her you've already gone home.”

She nodded though she knew Inuyasha couldn't see her. She noted to call Sango as soon as she was home, that if the girl hadn't already gone to sleep.

Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder, “Come on, I need to go back to the police, I don't trust that Hobo enough to leave the rest of the unit with him.”

“Are… are they going to interrogate me?” she asked, not really successful in hiding her nervousness.

“Why? Is that a problem?”

She shook her head, “No, It's just… I just want to go home.”

He turned back to her and nodded, “I'll drive you, but I still have some things to do.”

She swallowed, she didn't want to be interrogated, “Please, Inuyasha… I'm really tired. Can I go home?” she met his gaze, trying to appeared as exhausted as she could, which wasn't very hard because she really was tired!

He stared back at her for a second, “Have you been crying?”

Her hands automatically wiped her cheeks. “No,” she replied lamely.

She still could feel his gaze, though now she was avoiding it.

Then she swore she heard him sighed, “Fine, let's go home. Just give me a minute to inform the others.”

She nodded, “Thank you."

“Keh.”

TBC

Today's Artifact

I got “Oathkeeper” from `Kingdom Hearts' an RPG from Squaresoft and Disney. Originally it was supposed to be a key-blade, but I didn't want to use its original form in here, so I changed it into sword. I like that name, it sounded strong (at least mentally). Oathkeeper is my favorite sword in the game! “Oblivion” and “One-Winged-Angel” is good too, but I need something close to `promise'.

I had other plans for Oathkeeper, but I still doubt whether I should use the sword again or not. What do you think?

Translations

Houshi : Buddhist monk

Miko : Shinto priestess

Gomen : Sorry

Hentai : pervert

Hanyou : half-demon

Youkai : Demon.

Jii-chan : grandpa

(Not many Japanese terms. Hm… that's new)

Ramblings

Oh this is definitely longer than last chap (approx: 4000 words); I don't know why I'm protesting though. Believe it or not, this chapter is so hard to write, I kept erasing and rewriting it all, the chapter turned out different than my original planning (especially the length), that made me sad, because that means I had to remove some un-needed events (hint, hint). I realized the lack of humor though, I had tried to `lighten' Kagome's earlier phone calls… did it work?

Now let see… I wasn't planning to introduce `the new character' in this chapter… though I wasn't really trying to keep him in secret; some of you had probably known who he was the moment I mentioned his eyes… hehehe . Don't worry, he'll appear again soon, I hope Inuyasha's ready for some jealousy! Kyahahaha! o laugh maniacally

Next chapter's artifact is Schneewittchen! I had the rough idea, and some events I removed from this chapter. I'm still deciding though!

One more thing;

REVIEWS!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha. I really wanted him though, so I can personally clipped his adorable ears with a nail clipper if he started to act like a jerk and broke Kagome's heart again! (Oh, and the nail-clipper idea belongs to Rozefire aka Rosefire, geez, I don't own anything do I?)

A/N: Woa… I reached chapter four. I have already written 70 pages in English! My teacher would be proud! (Not that I'll ever show her my writings! p) Now, on with the fic!

Angel Israfel

Chapter 4

“The Oathkeeper”

Dear Commander Takahashi,

The Sun,

Walking its road of twilight,

As the tired squire,

greeted the Hevn,

to kidnap the keeper of oaths,

And kept him under her wings.

Sincerely,

ISRAFEL

“Honestly, Kagome! He was all cranky and moody today! I mean - I know he had that permanent PMS and all - but today he was completely unbearable!” Sango screamed over the phone on Monday evening.

Kagome laugh awkwardly, she didn't really know how to respond anyway. “I'm sorry you have a horrible day Sango. But I would have expected Inuyasha to bug Miroku, not you!”

“Exactly! That lecher turned all cowardly and hides in the kitchen all day! If that hanyou behaved this way every time he failed to catch Israfel, I swear I'm going to- I'm going to- to-,” Sango ended her sentence with a violent growl.

Kagome laughed nervously again. So Inuyasha was extremely `upset' that she had left him hanging with questions that she had ignored … not that she had given him the time to ask them all.

“I seriously thought to call you in! Oh Kagome, why do you have Monday for you day off!”

“Umm Sango, you forgot that Thursday is also my day off,” said Kagome, glad for the chance to change the subject.

“No! Kagome, don't you dare leave me alone surrounded with those loony testosterones! I'll go to the nut-house if I had another day like this!”

“Gomen ne, Sango, but I need time to catch up with my school works; I'm already late for submitting my mid-term project!”

“Couldn't you do them on the evenings?”

Oh, no. Not with all the tasks she had to do for the sake of her family's traditions! She wanted to scream out loud.

“Oh please be in this Thursday Kagome! Just this week! I'll give you a pay-rise!” said Sango in a pleading tone.

“Oh alright…,” Kagome replied reluctantly.

“Really! Is that a promise?”

Kagome was very tempted to say no, “Yes, if that's what you want,” she answered.

“Thanks, Kagome! You're the best!”

“You better give me that pay-rise!”

“No problem!” her friend answered cheerfully.

Kagome rolled her eyes.

“Oh, have you heard about the new item in the museum?” asked Sango.

Kagome who had buried herself in her school work all weekend blinked at that. “That's so unlike you! I thought you're not interested in artistic things?”

Her friend gave a flustered reply, “Yeah… that's true. But I'm interested in ancient weapons! They said it was a very beautiful sword, white as snow, the handle formed wings! I really wanted to see it!”

Kagome blinked again. “A sword?”

“Yes! It has a name too, you know… just like Hiraikotsu! It was a beautiful name, but it slipped me… hold on, it's the Oas… Orth….”

Kagome frowned, “Sango, are you talking about The Oathkeeper?”

“That's it! How'd you know that? Have seen it before?”

“Uhm… not really, just some pictures,” she replied. Kaede had shown her those photographs. Her grandmother always made sure she could recognize her next target; either gave her pictures or just descriptions. Usually that was followed by some of the artifact's history; almost all of her targets had a story of its own.

Sango continued blabbering on how she really wanted to see the sword. “Will you come with me to the museum tomorrow, Kag?”

`Nope, I have to steal it tomorrow. Come on, Kagome! Think of something!' “Sango, the restaurant's open tomorrow, remember?”

“Exactly!” her friend answered with a bit too much happiness.

Kagome sweat dropped. Guess Sango still want paybacks for her stress today… “Uhm… won't I be in trouble? Inuyasha won't tolerate that…”

“Don't worry, I'll think of something!”

Kagome laugh again nervously. `Just say no, Kagome, it's not that hard!' her mind screamed.

“C'mon Kagome, please! Pretty please, with cherries on the top!” that was so un-Sango-like. Perhaps Inuyasha had bugged her to insanity, and now Sango was an evil woman seeking for revenge.

It was always a loosing battle when someone used that tone to her, “… okay. I'll go….” Kagome sighed. Kaede wasn't going to like this, neither did Inuyasha. Hell, she didn't like this either!

“Perfect!” Sango replied, “Oops, I have to pick up Kohaku now! I better get going….”

“Soccer practice?”

“Yeah…. Bye, Kagome, see you tomorrow!”

“Bye,” Kagome answered then hung up.

She went to her bedroom and sat down her bed with a huff. Sango would most likely pick her right after school, they'll probably stay in the museum for two hours max, and then it'll be around sunset. That leaves her exactly an hour to go home and go back to the museum as Israfel (her notify said `the sun was walking its road of twilight' Kaede love poetic phrases.), and that's not possible at least you're superman. Woman, she corrected absently. And she's no superwoman; she's just a good ol' nineteen year girl who occasionally wears ninja clothes to steal things.

She sighed, “What have I gotten myself into?”

The Hevn (one of the five building in the Pentagon Museum) was extremely crowded by the time Sango and Kagome arrived on Tuesday afternoon. It seemed that the news of how beautiful the sword is had spread quickly. The two girls practically had to fight their way through the circle of visitors just to see it clearly.

As Kagome looked at the sword, her jaw dropped. Even if Kaede had shown her photographs, there must be something wrong with them. She had never seen a sword as meresmerizingly beautiful as The Oathkeeper. Deadly; yes, not beautiful! Pretty! Gorgeous! The sword was as white as snow, slim, and thin, she had no idea how the blade could stood still and not swaying. The handle formed a pair of silver wings. The sword appeared almost angelic.

“Oh my, it's beautiful!” a thirty year old career-woman gasped from Kagome's right.

“Look how it illuminates in blue from the spotlight? I bet it was more beautiful if the room's dark,” another man said from her left, across Sango.

The pony tailed girl stared in awe, “Kagome, it's so pretty! I mean… katanas are beautiful, too, but this one is… heavenly!” she breathed.

Kagome shook her head, and narrowed her eyes to study the sword. She couldn't feel any youki. Why did Kaede send her to `retrieve' the sword?

“KEH, my Tessaiga is better!” the familiar voice interrupted her musings.

The two girls turned quickly, “Inuyasha/Miroku!” they gasped simultaneously.

“Inuyasha, what are you doing here?” Kagome hissed as Sango had began her own bickering with Miroku (rub, rub “HENTAI!” slap)

The hanyou crossed his arms in front of him, “Do you really expect us to run the restaurant while the two of you are having fun?”

She rubbed her nose bridge, “You left the restaurant just like that?”

“I hang a note that said we had an emergency matters to attend. What are you doing here?”

“Sango wanted to see The Oathkeeper.”

“Then let her see! Why do you have to tag along?”

“Inuyasha! We're girls; we felt more comfortable in groups!”

Inuyasha didn't appear to understand her logic, “What? She'll be in a group when she arrived here; you're just making that up!”

“You missed the whole point!” she raised her voice. Why that stupid insensitive jerk!

“What point!” he retorted.

Kagome opened her mouth to yell back when suddenly she felt cold shivers ran down her body. She whirled abruptly and her eyes widened.

Now The Oathkeeper ceased emitting bright blue lights, instead it was dark purple.

Kagome had not realized that the crowds had gone silent until one man spoke with a dazed tone;

“I want that sword.” He made a dash through the line that separated the artifact from the spectators, and he wasn't alone. The rest of the crowds gave a raging roar and dove after him like they had just awaken from a trance, each one fighting, putting a claim to have the sword.

Kagome froze.

Somebody knocked her forward. She stumbled and suddenly a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back.

She twisted her head back, “Inuyasha?”

The hanyou did not reply or even looked at her as he fought his way out the chaos, growling and muttering curses under his breath. Somehow the spell didn't affect him. They neared the wall, because it was the farthest place from the fighting crowds.

“What the hell is going on!” he hissed.

Kagome watched the chaos in horror. Of all time the spell on the sword could have been activated, it had to be now. The sword was fine when she saw it earlier; something or someone had triggered the spell. Right in front of her. And she didn't even notice.

“You okay, Kagome?”

Inuyasha's question brought her back. She turned to him, “Y-yeah… I'm okay. Inuyasha, we have to stop them…,”

He stared at her like he was judging something, he was probably confused why she hadn't gone ballistic and fight with the rest of the crowds. His eyes hardened suddenly, “Stay here. If anything happened; call me.” he ordered before he leaped to the middle of the crowds again.

She didn't understand what he was doing at first, until he knocked out his first victim and dragged the unconscious man towards the other corner of the room. Inuyasha was knocking them out so they wouldn't fight each other.

Somebody broke away from the crowds, bruised and limping, he seemed to be sober. Kagome recognized him immediately, “Miroku! Miroku, over here!” she shouted, waving her hand to catch his attention.

The Houshi saw her and approached quickly, “Kagome-sama, you're okay! That sword is emitting strange youki! If it wasn't for my trainings I'll be affected too.”

“Yes, I guess my miko power helped, too.” Kagome suddenly realized they were short of one person. Fears wrapped her heart, “Miroku… where's Sango?”

His eyes turned painful, “I tried to stop her, but she-”

At that moment Inuyasha's yell reach her ears, “Dammit, Sango! Snap out of it!”

Kagome turned her eyes back to the crowd, and saw Inuyasha flew backwards and knocked a group of fighting teenagers, leaving them unconscious. In front of him was Sango, eyes dull like she was hypnotized, in her hand was The Oathkeeper.

Kagome went pale.

Sango's family studied the ancient martial arts of demon extermination. She was good in both short and long range battle; she could fight a hanyou if she had to. Kagome didn't even want to think how an enchanted Sango would fight, especially with a sword that was feeding her power.

The enchanted girl made another dash towards Inuyasha; she seemed to be particularly interested in him. The hanyou dodge her attack by jumping high, but she anticipated his move when she jumped herself and thrust the sword to him. Inuyasha twisted his body to avoid being hit but the sword still managed to graze the side of his stomach. He dropped roughly to the ground.

Miroku broke into a run, “Stay there, Kagome-sama! I'll try to help Inuyasha!”

Kagome gripped her back pack. She was not going to stay there and watch her friends fight each others! She had to purify the sword, and fast! But she couldn't do her magic if she still wanted to hide her identity as Israfel! Inuyasha knew her magic; he had sensed and witnessed it, purifying something in front of him was as good as taking off her mask!

Kagome did the only thing she could think at that moment;

She ran away.

snap

Camera flashlights burst from the highest branch of the oak tree facing the upper window of The Hevn. “Oh.. yeah, this is interesting,” the person holding the camera whispered.

He continued to capture the scene inside the building. The hanyou had recovered and now pulling a katana from inside his red jacket. The person raised his eyebrow and zoomed in to see the katana better.

“What did he expect from a rusty old katana?” he thought confusedly.

He snapped the camera again when the pony tailed girl clashed swords with the hanyou, some how the battered sword managed to stay in one piece.

Something caught the corner of his eyes, “Hm?”

He saw a girl in a mini-skirt and long black hair exit the building in a hurry. “Running away, huh? Well, I don't blame you….” He turned his camera to her, “Woa, nice legs!” he whistled as he zoomed his camera again.

But the girl was not running towards the museum gate, instead she went to the nearest bathroom building, slamming the door so hard he could hear it even from his position above the tree.

A strangled yell brought his attention back inside The Hevn. He did not see a woman in black rushing out the bathroom the girl had just entered.

Kagome needed privacy, so she ran to the nearest bathroom, slamming the door behind her and locked it. She grabbed her back pack and pulled out her costume. In a matter of minutes, Israfel stormed out of the bathroom door, muttering a concealing spell for her scent.

She ran as fast as she could back inside The Hevn.

She found all the visitors were already unconsious, and the only one who is still fighting was Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku. Inuyasha had bleeding wounds decorated his chest and arms, Miroku was in no better state. Sango had none but that's because both men didn't attack her, they were trying to disable her. The three of them didn't seem to realize Kagome's sudden absence.

Miroku made a move to grab Sango again, but the girl slashed him on the chest.

“Stop trying to grab her!” she shouted, “You have to knock the sword off her hand!”

She obviously did the wrong thing, because when both sober men turned to her in surprise, Sango wasted no time to thrust her sword through Inuyasha's stomach.

Kagome's mind froze.

Sango turned to Miroku and lashed another sets of attacks.

Kagome clenched her hands, her eyes burned. `If I don't do something soon, Sango will kill them,' her mind screamed.

She raised a hand and conjured her energy bow, the arrow followed soon after. She aimed the tip to Sango, `I- I have no choice… I'm sorry Sango!'

She released the arrow.

The line of energy cross the room unstrained and struck the enchanted girl. She screamed hoarsely and fainted; The Oathkeeper slipped off her grip and hit the ground with a clang.

“NO!” the two man shouted aloud. The Houshi quickly brought the unconscious girl to his arms. The hanyou only sat dumbstruck, still bleeding madly.

Kagome approached the now-purified-sword and picked it up. She turned to Miroku, “She would be fine, but you might want to call an ambulance.”

The Monk looked reluctant but he complied none the less.

After his exit, a tense silent fell between Inuyasha and her.

“Why did you shot her?” he asked coldly after a while.

She turned her back to him, “I had no choice.”

“So you will kill an innocent because you don't have a choice!” he barked back.

Kagome winced at his tone. She could feel his rage, his disbelieve, his… was that betrayal? “She's not dead,” she replied in the same cold tone, “That arrow won't kill her.”

“I know she's not dead!” he shouted, “I just couldn't believe you shot her! She's not your enemy!”

She whirled around, “Don't you dare use that tone to me,” she hissed. “I just want to bring her back, hence the harsh way, but she was about to kill you both. I had to choose between letting her be a murderer, or shoot her. What do you want me to do?”

He said nothing; she did not expect an answer.

She turned away again, “This is my fight, commander, I know what I have to do, but that doesn't mean I like it,” she said bitterly. She was about to walk away before he stopped her,

“What are you fighting? Who are you fighting? Who are you?”

She turned to him again, “My enemy has many names and many forms, I don't know much about him either except he likes to cause chaos like today. As for you last question….” She smiled behind her mask, “You don't really expect me to answer that, do you?”

He stared at her and sniffed. She knew he was trying to catch her scent. She thanked her ancestors again and again for the concealing spell.

“I'm going to catch you,” he gritted, “I swear I'm going to catch you and found out who you really are, and you're going to tell me what this is all about. That's a promise, and if you know me, you'll know that I kept my promises.”

She shook her head sadly and met his gaze, “Be careful with your promises, commander. Promise is a strong word, and you might not like where it would lead you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he snapped.

She leaped away to one of the upper window, the window unlocked magically. He was too wounded to actually follow her. “I had said it two days ago, and I'm going to say it again. You don't want to get involved in this mess.”

He snorted, “That's for me to decide, don't you think?”

She almost let out a sigh, almost, “Don't say I didn't warn you.” With that she leaped out of his sights.

When she landed just outside the window, under the oak tree, suddenly her eyes were blinded by a flash of light. Weird snapping sounds came from up the tree. She looked up. What she saw though, made her inside went cold.

Someone sat at the highest branch, camera in front of his face. She gasped as his flashlight burst again.

When the light died down, he removed his camera from his face, and smirked. His bright blue eyes pierced her.

“Hello, pretty angel, I hope you don't mind your pretty face on the front page of Shikon Daily News tomorrow!” he winked and before she could recover from her shock, a whirlwind appeared around him and he was gone from sight.

Kagome swear her heart had stopped beating. She stood there, thunderstruck. Her mind froze, her chest felt full that it was painful to draw breath.

It was the ambulance and the police's siren that snapped her out of her trance. She immediately rushed to the girl's bathroom. As she entered, the first thing she found was a mirror, that's when she remembered that she still had her mask on.

Her legs buckled and she fell down the floor. She couldn't stop the choked sob escaping her lips, tears threatening to fell. She was drowned in relief. She felt like she had just escaped a life and death situation. She had been scared. Even part of her still ached with fear despite the fact that her identity was still safe.

It terrified her. No one had managed to take her pictures that close before; photos of Israfel on the newspapers were never more than a dark silhouette from afar. And that person, that man, that youkai, had managed to have her in a close up. Though half her face was covered in mask, someone still might recognize her blue-gray eyes.

“It was sunset,” she whispered to herself. “The color must be off, I'm still safe….” She gathered her knees and buried her face in them.

Her cell phone suddenly rang. She jumped, startled. Reaching inside her yellow back pack she picked it up. “H-hello?” her voice still shook a little.

“Dammit, wench! WHERE - ARE - YOU!”

She jumped again. Inuyasha!

“DO YOU KNOW I LOOKED ALL OVER FOR YOU! I TOLD YOU TO STA- Hmmphh!” there was a brief sound of struggling, and Miroku was the one who continued the sentence, “Kagome-sama, you had us worried! Where are you?”

“I…,” she struggled, what should she say!

“Kagome-sama? Are you alright?” the houshi asked worriedly.

There was some struggling again, this time Inuyasha took over the phone, “Hey, you okay? What happened?” his voice was completely different from before.

“I…,” what should she say? Should she tell him she was in the girls' bathroom? Or should she tell him she was at home?

“Kagome, talk to me,” his voice had taken a desperate end; it surprised her how her name sounded on his lips without the usual gruffness and annoyance.

“I... I'm in the girls' bathroom,” There, she'd said it!

There was silence, and then, “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN A GIRLS' BATHROOM!” yup, that's Inuyasha, always easy to annoy.

“I THOUGHT IT WAS SAFER, OKAY!” she shouted back. Let him think she was a coward, anything but suspecting her as Israfel.

There was a long set of cursing words before he finally spoke again, “I'm picking you up right now, and this time stay there!”

She struggled to keep the panic from her voice, “Are you crazy! This is the girls' bathroom! You can't go in!” She pinned her cell phone between her ear and her shoulder while grabbing her normal clothes and started dressing.

“Do you think I care!” he shouted and hung up.

Kagome cursed mentally as she quickly pulled on her mini skirt, and zipped it. She had just slipped one hand through her shirt when someone knocked, no, banged the door.

“Kagome, open up!”

Her left hand gotten stuck in the tight shirt and Kagome decided that was the last time she let Sango talked her into buying clothes she don't usually wear.

“Kagome open this door or I'll break it down!”

She gave a grunt of victory when she finally managed to get her hand through, and quickly stuffed her costume inside her oversized bag.

“Don't say I didn't warn you!” she heard Inuyasha gritted.

“No! Wait! I'm coming!” she shouted back before Inuyasha broke the poor door. She zipped her bag, fastened the clasps then approached the door, unlocking it.

Inuyasha pulled it open before she had the chance to grip the handle, “What were you thinking running away like that? What if something happened?”

“Inuyasha….” she countered panicky.

His hand suddenly gripped her upper arm. “I don't want you hurt, wench! That's why I told you to stay at that fu-”

“Itai! Inuyasha, you're hurting me!”

He abruptly snatched his hand away like he was burned. “Sorry…,” he breathed, eyes hidden beneath his bangs.

The young miko shook her head, “It's okay, I know you didn't mean it.” She felt her abused arm throbbing but did not want to do anything that would upset the hanyou more.

He was silent.

She clenched her backpack. “You're wounded,” she acknowledged his now bandaged wounds, supposedly by the medics. Had it really been that long since she locked herself in the bathroom?

“Keh, I'll live,”

“How's Sango?”

He turned away, “She's just awaken, she asked about you but Miroku told her you've already gone home.”

She nodded though she knew Inuyasha couldn't see her. She noted to call Sango as soon as she was home, that if the girl hadn't already gone to sleep.

Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder, “Come on, I need to go back to the police, I don't trust that Hobo enough to leave the rest of the unit with him.”

“Are… are they going to interrogate me?” she asked, not really successful in hiding her nervousness.

“Why? Is that a problem?”

She shook her head, “No, It's just… I just want to go home.”

He turned back to her and nodded, “I'll drive you, but I still have some things to do.”

She swallowed, she didn't want to be interrogated, “Please, Inuyasha… I'm really tired. Can I go home?” she met his gaze, trying to appeared as exhausted as she could, which wasn't very hard because she really was tired!

He stared back at her for a second, “Have you been crying?”

Her hands automatically wiped her cheeks. “No,” she replied lamely.

She still could feel his gaze, though now she was avoiding it.

Then she swore she heard him sighed, “Fine, let's go home. Just give me a minute to inform the others.”

She nodded, “Thank you."

“Keh.”

TBC

Today's Artifact

I got “Oathkeeper” from `Kingdom Hearts' an RPG from Squaresoft and Disney. Originally it was supposed to be a key-blade, but I didn't want to use its original form in here, so I changed it into sword. I like that name, it sounded strong (at least mentally). Oathkeeper is my favorite sword in the game! “Oblivion” and “One-Winged-Angel” is good too, but I need something close to `promise'.

I had other plans for Oathkeeper, but I still doubt whether I should use the sword again or not. What do you think?

Translations

Houshi : Buddhist monk

Miko : Shinto priestess

Gomen : Sorry

Hentai : pervert

Hanyou : half-demon

Youkai : Demon.

Jii-chan : grandpa

(Not many Japanese terms. Hm… that's new)

Ramblings

Oh this is definitely longer than last chap (approx: 4000 words); I don't know why I'm protesting though. Believe it or not, this chapter is so hard to write, I kept erasing and rewriting it all, the chapter turned out different than my original planning (especially the length), that made me sad, because that means I had to remove some un-needed events (hint, hint). I realized the lack of humor though, I had tried to `lighten' Kagome's earlier phone calls… did it work?

Now let see… I wasn't planning to introduce `the new character' in this chapter… though I wasn't really trying to keep him in secret; some of you had probably known who he was the moment I mentioned his eyes… hehehe . Don't worry, he'll appear again soon, I hope Inuyasha's ready for some jealousy! Kyahahaha! o laugh maniacally

Next chapter's artifact is Schneewittchen! I had the rough idea, and some events I removed from this chapter. I'm still deciding though!

One more thing;

REVIEWS!