InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Haunted ❯ The Ruse ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7

The Ruse

Hunting you, I can smell you - alive
Your heart pounding in my head

Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Saving me, raping me, watching me

Only one light remained on in the office to signify its occupancy. Naraku sat at his desk, the small lamp illuminating his restless fingers as they kept the beat of his impatience. His moment of triumph was almost at hand, and he could not sleep. He stood up and began to pace the room, hands clasped behind his back. His eyes saw nothing, as his minds inner vision took over.

Although he always knew Kikyou could not stay away from him, these past months without her had made Naraku furious. Did she really believe that giving him the jewel would buy her freedom? He grinned as he thought that she was just being proud, for truthfully she loved him as he loved her. Giving him the jewel was just a ruse, she wanted to be forgiven and be his again. And when he was the most powerful Oyabun of the Yakuza, she would be by his side…

Turning on his heel, Naraku picked up the remote and opened the door to his dungeon. He flicked the light switch, and spot lights shown on his equipment of torture. Trailing his fingers over a bench, he longed to have someone to beat and soothe his frustrations on. That Kagura had not turned up, her time was running out. When he found her, she would be killed for her disloyalty. Grimacing, he turned his thoughts back to Kikyou. Over at the rack of his instruments of torture, he took down a short cane whip, one of his favorites to use on Kikyou, and remembered their first time together.

The chime of his cell phone knocked Naraku out of his reverie. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it, frowning. Whoever it is better have good reason to be calling at this hour…

“Who is this and why are you calling me now?” Naraku said impatiently.

“It's InuYasha…I have the jewel and I have Kikyou. If you don't meet me personally to assure my safe passage out of Japan you will never see either of them again…”

~*~

Waiting was getting on Kagura's nerves, and she was getting on her sometime boyfriends nerves. Sesshomaru had left for work an hour before, after having a bitter argument with her about her current situation. He worked at the Diet, as a high ranking city official - you would think he would have been able to get rid of Naraku for her already. But no, here she was trapped in a house in Chiyoda waiting for a call from Kikyou.

Sitting in a fluffy white robe on the living room couch, Kagura put her chin in her hand and glumly stared at the TV. On the coffee table in front of her, her cell phone lay and she debated on making a call. Instead, the phone started ringing. She picked it up - damn, it was Kanna! She had been avoiding the other woman, but this time…she answered it.

“What do you want, Kanna?” Kagura said.

“I believe you have your reasons for not returning,” Kanna said. “The Oyabun is very angry with you. But if you want to redeem yourself, now is your chance.”

Kagura gave a short, sharp, laugh. “I am not coming back,” Kagura sneered. “I have it on good authority that our dear Oyabun is going down soon.”

“Our Oyabun is about to become an even more powerful man,” Kanna replied. “InuYasha has the jewel and Kikyou and is making a deal with Naraku for them. Of course, he will take InuYasha out…”

Kagura did not answer. Her eyes became hard, and she gripped the phone tightly. “I don't believe you,” Kagura finally replied. “This is just some ruse to get me back into Narakus clutches. I repeat I am never coming back, and don't try and find me.”

Angrily Kagura clicked the call off. She slammed the phone on the table and rubbed her face with her hands, as if trying to rub what Kanna had said out of her brain. There was no way InuYasha would turn on Kikyou, - that was not in his character according to those who knew him well. She stood up and walked over to the window. Opening it, she let a cool breeze ruffle her hair and she breathed deeply to calm her racing mind. Kikyou would call her and let her know Naraku was dead, she believed it…

~*~

Long lost words whisper slowly to me
Still can't find what keeps me here
When all this time I've been so hollow inside
I know you're still there

Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Fearing you, loving you
I won't let you pull me down

The crowds at Shinjuku Station were a blessing to Kikyou. She had stashed away her distinctive compound crossbow case before getting on the train, and was wearing her disguise from the previous night. She quickly pushed her way through the throngs of people, and on to the busy sidewalks of the commercial district. There was no need for her to even look up - she knew just where she was going. At the shop door, a bell chimed when she entered. It looked like any electronics store, but she was not there to buy a new flat screen TV. The clerk behind the cash register nodded his head to her. She told him she had an appointment, and he picked up the phone and made a call. In a moment the person he called stepped out of a door at the back of the shop and approached her.

“Lady Kikyou?” He said.

“Yes,” Kikyou replied.

“This way.” He said, and she followed him.

He led her into the back room, passed shelves crowded with store inventory. They reached the far wall, and he opened another door to what seemed to be a large, walk in closet. There were no electronics in there…

Specialized weapons were on the racks lining the walls of the walk in. They were custom made shuriken, and only those in the know could come by them. Kikyou scanned the items, and then pointed. The shop keeper picked up the weapon and handed it to her for inspection. It was worn on the wrist, and shot poison darts or knives. Turning it over in her hands she inspected it carefully.

“Do you have any experience with wrist launching weapons?” the shop keeper asked.

“A little,” Kikyou replied. “Can this be used in close range?”

“Yes, just flick your wrist back.”

Under the sleeves of her coat, it could easily be concealed. Kikyou nodded, and purchased some darts and daggers to go along with it. They finished the transaction, and Kikyou stashed her new weapon in a deep pocket in her coat and left.

~*~

In the house in Chiyoda, Kagura flipped restlessly through The Japan Times. She desperately needed distraction from her anxious thoughts. Her eyes scanned the print, reading the same old stories about how the government was shoring up the banks again. But her mind kept slipping away, turning over plans of what to do if Kikyou failed. Damn that Sesshomaru! He did not want to help her out of spite, she was sure of it. He never approved of her being Yakuza, but she had been born into it. She had ambitions at one time, but then Naraku became her Oyabun and Kikyou ran off…

The cell phone rang again. Kagura stared at the number a moment. She did not recognize it, but a tingling up and down her spine told her to answer the call.

“It's Kikyou,” the voice on the other end said.

“I knew you were not a prisoner of InuYasha!” Kagura crowed triumphantly.

“InuYasha make me a prisoner?” Kikyou said in surprise. “Where did you hear that?”

“I got a phone call from Kanna,” Kagura replied. “She said InuYasha had you and the jewel and were exchanging them for a deal tonight.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Kagura did not like this, something obviously was not right. She clenched her teeth as she thought for the first time that Kanna had not been faking her out…

“I spoke to Naraku late last night. I have the jewel, and I told Naraku where to meet me,” Kikyou finally replied. “Call Kanna back and tell her you want to come back, and ask when and where Naraku is meeting InuYasha.”

“Okay, I'll call you back in a few minutes,” Kagura said and the call ended.

Damn, what was going on? As she called Kanna she wondered if she should be there for the exchange anyway…if Kikyou failed, there was no way she was going to live a life on the run. She would be better off if she took one of Sesshomaru's guns and finished Naraku herself…

~*~

The sun was setting, and InuYasha and Kagome waited on the north side of the Shisei Kaikan at Hibiya Park. All of InuYasha's keen senses were on alert, knowing full well Naraku might pull a double cross. To make their charade believable, InuYasha held an (unloaded) gun to Kagome's back. The loaded gun was in a holster on his ankle…

In front of InuYasha, Kagome stood flexing her fingers nervously. They had spent the day getting her dressed for the part of Kikyou, including hair and make up. Her bushy bangs had been thinned out and tamed, and her long hair pressed flat. She wore a red dress under a big overcoat, and her lipstick and shoes matched. Even though it was night, she wore sunglasses identical to the ones Kikyou wore. And so she now passed for Kikyou, as much as they could hope for. InuYasha had equipped her with a gun, holstered under her coat. He had been giving her shooting lessons, and she was as prepared as she would ever be…

“Get ready, I hear someone coming,” InuYasha whispered.

Squinting, Kagome saw the silhouettes of a group of people approaching. The man in the center had long, flowing hair…Naraku was here.