InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Ichi no Tama ❯ Into the Lions' Den ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I got some Wheat Thins…they're yummy. But they're not Inuyasha…

A/N: Ahh more reviews! I love you all. I think updates might slow down a little, though, because I'm now doing both my school's musical and the winter play, so I'm doubling up on rehearsals, and I have to see my horse every other day or so…but not to worry! It shouldn't ever take more than two, three weeks between chapters (maybe).

 

 

Chapter 5: Into the Lions' Den

 

Kagome pushed the eggs on her plate around with her fork nervously. She couldn't eat. She could barely find the energy to lift the glass of orange juice to her lips.

 

Kagome Higurashi was scared shitless.

 

“Inuyasha?” she inquired in a voice tinny with fear. “How...how do you do this?”

 

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, folding the newspaper he had been reading back together. “First you get the eggs on your fork, then you lift the fork to your mouth, and then you stick the food inside it. Tada! You're eating,” he replied sarcastically. Kagome's fear was getting on his nerves; he had been assured that the fiery police agent would be up for anything, and now she looked like she would piss herself if she so much as glimpsed a member of Ichi no Tama. And if she was scared, then he'd have to worry about her, and that put their whole mission in jeopardy.

 

“That's not what I meant,” Kagome protested snappishly. “I meant how do stop being scared? I can't do it!”

 

Inuyasha sighed and rubbed his temples. “Kagome,” he began, “you're thinking about it too much. All that shit that you know could happen…it won't, ok? Not if you calm down. We're going into demon territory, and youkai can smell fear on you, you know they can. And right now, you reek of it.” He reached over and grabbed her hand on impulse. “Just take a deep breath, ok? I'll keep you safe. That's half the reason you're here, remember?”

 

Kagome gave Inuyasha a grateful smile. “Yeah, I know,” she murmured. “It's just hard. I've never done this before.”

 

Inuyasha smirked crookedly. “Just remember your character. You did some acting in high school and college, right? Just think about Hanako Kimura. That's all it takes.”

 

“Thank you,” Kagome breathed, looking down sheepishly.

 

“Keh! I just want to make sure you don't fuck this whole thing up.”

 

Kagome laughed easily. “I'll do my best, Inuyasha.”

 

Inuyasha shook his head, fighting a grin. “What the fuck ever. Now, if you're done worrying, let's go. It's getting late, and we should get to Meeting a couple minutes before it starts…”

 

Kagome sighed and picked up the dishes from the kitchen table, carrying them over to the sink where they joined the dinner plates. She made a face. More clean-up for later…

 

“Kagome! Let's go!” Inuyasha barked from the genkan.

 

Kagome rolled her eyes, but followed his voice to the apartment's entrance dutifully.

 

“All right, Hanako, it's time,” Inuyasha informed her snidely as he took her hand in his own. They left their floor and then the complex, taking care to smile and chat about mundane things with each other. To anyone else, they looked like a very happy couple, newly married and very much in love. Kagome was intensely aware of this impression and she found it becoming easier and easier to believe it herself. Inuyasha was acting like a perfect gentleman - well, perhaps that's going a little far, she thought as her companion swore loudly at a car that nearly ran them over, but he was acting like the kind of man Kagome herself would like to date.

 

So, she allowed herself to slip into the mindset their premise so temptingly offered for the time being, content to walk with her “husband” through the streets of Tokyo.

 

The trip to Ichi no Tama's flagship Meeting House was just long enough for Kagome to forget why she was so afraid, but the sight of the elaborate temple was enough to jog her memory. She gripped Inuyasha's hand a little tighter as she stared up the imposing white marble steps, inlaid with gold filigree in complicated patterns.

 

As ornate as the stairs were, the temple itself was grander. The silhouette awakened a sense of familiarity to Kagome, so close was the general shape to that of the buildings that composed the Shinto shrine she had lived in for the first 18 years of her life, but the details shook her to the core. Instead of the warm, dark wood that composed the skeleton of her shrine was the same cool, expensive marble from the steps, veined with gold. The traditional paper of the shoji screens was instead replaced by shimmering mirrors. But by far the most disturbing difference was located on the roof above the entrance: there stood an ominous marble sculpture of a spider youkai, presumably modeled after Naraku, holding a brightly shining golden orb - Ichi no Tama, the One Jewel.

 

Kagome suppressed a shudder as Inuyasha led her up the stairs. There were sixteen; she counted as they set foot on each one. Then again, she had known there would be. Sixteen (or four fours) was the sacred number, specified in Ichi no Tama's founding scripture, Shikon no Hon, or the Book of Four Souls. Kagome had read the scripture from back to front long before the idea of an undercover operation had been conceived of for her.

 

And now she was preparing to live it.

 

The idea was nearly enough to make her want to vomit.

 

“Kagome,” Inuyasha muttered, so quietly that Kagome almost didn't hear. “You have to relax, ok? All I can smell off you is anger and fear. That's not a good way to start this whole op.”

 

Kagome nodded and took a deep breath. He was right, of course. Now was a time for careful calculation, not strong emotions like the ones she was letting roll off her in waves. Kagome focused on the intake of air, settling into a state of semi-meditation as Inuyasha led her to the hated entrance. She felt her aura calm, but as it did so, she became aware of something much more disturbing.

 

“This feeling…” she murmured to Inuyasha. “There's some really strong jyaki here.”

 

Inuyasha looked down at his companion in mild surprise. “You can sense it?” he asked curiously, stopping a few feet from the doorway.

 

“Yeah,” Kagome breathed. “I'm a miko, stupid. Didn't you hear me last night when I said I grew up in a shrine?”

 

Inuyasha frowned. In truth, he hadn't come to that conclusion from the story of her childhood, but the fact did make him feel a lot better about this whole thing. If Kagome could hide her miko powers from him, that meant she was very strong.

 

Before he could reply, the mirrored shoji slid open noiselessly, and the deep ringing of a bell reverberated from the back of the temple. Inuyasha took a stronger hold on Kagome's hand, but while his protective instincts kicked in on the inside, he kept up his calm outward appearance.

 

A tall, red-eyed woman stepped into the light from behind the shoji. She was dressed in a traditional kimono and she held a matching fan. She smiled at the couple thinly.

 

“Can I help you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Services are about to start.”

 

Kagome cleared her throat quietly. She knew that, were Inuyasha to speak to this woman, he would be regarded as a single man…or a particularly lecherous taken one, according to Ichi no Tama's customs. “Ah…we're new to the area,” she told the woman with a nervous grin. “I'm Kimura Hanako, and this is my husband, Kimura Inuyasha.” Kagome bowed, but Inuyasha continued to stare in another direction. “We were hoping to join this congregation.”

 

The woman's eyes narrowed fractionally as she looked between the two. Finally, she nodded. “You are, of course, welcome,” she informed them in a manner that implied they were not. “I am Kazeko Kagura, and I am the high priestess at this temple.” Kagura bowed curtly, barely more than an intonation of the head. “If you would care to follow me…? I am afraid we need to get some records on the two of you.”

 

Kagome gulped, but Inuyasha put a steadying hand on her shoulder. “It's not a problem,” he said to Kagura. Now that they had been properly introduced as members of the community, they could converse almost freely. It was quite a relief to Kagome, who was not sure how much longer she could ignore the aura of evil that surrounded Kagura and the rest of the temple.

 

Kagura nodded, turning on her heel sharply. “If you would follow me.” It was not a request.

 

Inuyasha fought the urge to roll his eyes as he walked behind Kagura, Kagome's hand tight within his own. This is going to be a long day…

 

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Kagura had known immediately this Kimura's identity. His resemblance to his brother was astonishing, though Sesshoumaru had always possessed much more refined bone structure. She had never before met Arakaki-sama's second son, but she had known of his existence - a fact precious few were aware of. The question of why he would come here, to Ichi no Tama and the temple, was a confusing one. Kagura knew well that Inuyasha was nothing like his elder brother, but she had not known he subscribed to the youkai supremacy view. And hadn't Inutaisho's secretary's surname been Himezu?

 

The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. Resolving to keep an eye on the couple, Kagura turned her attentions to registering the pair with the church.

 

She opened the door to the Records Room, a huge library of books and journals that contained revelations, life stories, and the names of every person who had ever been a member of that temple. She pulled out a white leather volume. The cover, stamped with gold kanji, read simply “Members, Vol. 224.” She sat at the desk in the back of the room, motioning for Hanako and Inuyasha to sit down on the opposite side, and opened the book to the last page.

 

Kagura pulled a gold fountain pen and a pot of ink from one of the drawers. Looking down at the page, she filled in the space marked “Name” for Inuyasha and Hanako.

 

“Maiden name?” she asked the woman dully.

 

Kagome glanced at Inuyasha, but answered smoothly, “Keizo.”

 

“Dates of birth?”

 

“November 11, 1983,” Kagome replied. Kagura looked to Inuyasha.

 

“August 23, 1982,” he intoned. This is so fucking boring.

 

“Previous temple?”

 

“We're from the shrine in Aomori City,” Inuyasha told Kagura, putting on a convincing display of anger and sadness.

 

Kagura frowned. “The one that burned down?”

 

Kagome jumped into the act. “Yes,” she breathed, biting her lip. “I was initiated right before the…incident.” She looked to Inuyasha for reassurance. He squeezed her hand.

 

“We're not sure if the paperwork came through for her,” he finished.

 

Kagura nodded. “Of course, I understand. We had some trouble with that before.” She looked down at her records with a tiny scowl. “Well,” she said slowly, “I think that's all I need. The Meeting is just getting started by now, if you'd like to join.”

 

Kagome smiled cheerfully. “We'd love to.”

 

Kagura's lip lifted in the smallest of sneers. “Of course you would. I'll introduce you to the congregation formally at the reception after Meeting.” She shut the records book curtly. “Now, if you would excuse me.” She stood without waiting for an answer and marched out of the library, leaving the door open behind her.

 

Inuyasha and Kagome looked to one another.

 

“Here goes nothing…” Kagome muttered as her partner pulled her out into the entrance hall, then filled with men, women, and, most of all, youkai on their way to the Meeting Hall. None of them noticed the two spies in their midst.

 

The ease with which they had infiltrated Ichi no Tama's most sacred temple left Kagome feeling distinctly wrong-footed. She had expected to be tested much more intensely. It made her nervous, really - somehow, she felt like she and Inuyasha were cheating fate and that it would soon catch up to them.

 

Shaking her head to rid herself of this disconcerting thought, Kagome quickened her pace to keep up with Inuyasha's long strides. Even through her anxiety, she could appreciate the beauty of the space they were in: with all the marble, gold, and mirrors, the building was simply stunning. Kagome tipped her head back to gaze at the mile-high ceilings: thousands of tiny tiles covered the surface, reflecting the world below in a fractured manner. She let her eyes drift down to the walls: they were the same expensive white stone that she had seen outside, inlaid at the top and bottom with a golden repetition of the cult's symbol: the outline of a circle enclosing within it another circle, and finally stamped in the middle with the simple character for “one.” To Kagome, it looked something like an eye, and the feeling of being watched from all angles put her on edge.

 

Shaking off the feeling, Kagome looked to her feet. The floor was by far the most beautiful aspect of the main hallway: the same marble had been applied here in a parquet pattern that echoed heavily the Louvre's Grand Gallery, though between each marble chevron was a golden one. The effect was dazzling: now that she had noticed it, Kagome found it hard to take her eyes away.

 

“Hanako,” Inuyasha whispered, voice a little sharp. Kagome looked to him. “Remind me when we get home: I got somethin' to talk to you about.”

 

Kagome nodded, a little confused, as Inuyasha led her into the narthex of the temple. The setup of the grand hall surprised her a little: she had, for some reason, been expecting something more like one of the few traditional Christian churches she had visited. Instead, the room she was presented with was a perfect circle, with benches arranged around the sloping walls to face the very center, where a round platform was placed.

 

Theater in the round, Kagome thought grimly. Part of her was excited to finally see the inside of a temple - Ichi no Tama was notoriously secretive about the innermost area of their houses of worship - but the feeling was almost completely overshadowed by the chills running up her spine.

 

As if sensing her apprehension, Inuyasha placed a strong hand on her shoulder. He steered her gently into a pew towards the middle of the endless rows. There were a handful of others on either side of them - mostly youkai with humanoid appearances, but three or four humans, too, and one Kagome guessed was a hanyou. Two of the demons looked at her curiously, so with a huge effort she pulled in the probing tendrils of her mind. Her miko energy, she knew, would tickle their senses, and neither she nor Inuyasha needed the extra attention.

 

The last of the stragglers found their seats just as a deep, golden chord chimed from all around. The indistinct chatter of voices dropped off sharply, and Kagome could pick up a vague, far away chanting from the opposite side of the hall. The Meeting was about to begin.

 

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Kagura frowned as she droned the opening mantras. She could not keep her mind off Inuyasha and his wife - what had her name been? Haruko? Something like that - and the questions the pair raised with their strange behavior. For one, they had not been wearing traditional Japanese clothes, Kagura noted, instead opting for Western styles, and while this particular fact was not considered odd in the Tokyo temples, she knew that farther north (like in Aomori, for example, where they claimed to be from) it was essentially a requirement. And the woman - Hanako, that was it - looked strangely familiar, and not in a good way.

 

Indeed, the whole thing was quite suspicious. Kagura wondered whether she ought to inform Naraku later - he would want to know about something like this, but if Kagura turned out to be wrong…

 

I'll wait it out, she decided. If they're lying, they're bound to make a mistake sometime soon.

 

Satisfied with her decision, Kagura turned her heart and thoughts back to the service. The Jewel is Truth. The Jewel, and the Jewel alone.

 

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Kagome was exhausted by the end of the service two hours later. The effort it had taken to keep her miko energy in check had been monumental - with all the jyaki and youki in the hall, it was amazing that she hadn't passed out. As it was, she had to get out of the temple as quickly as possible before she lost control.

 

“Inuyasha?” she whispered to her partner as everyone in the room stood to adjourn. “I have a really bad migraine. Can we skip Gathering today?” she begged, referencing the tradition where the entire congregation talks amongst each other and the clergy after Meeting.

 

The hanyou frowned. “Yeah, I guess,” he replied slowly. He wondered what was bothering Kagome - he could practically feel the energy being sapped from her body. While he was loathe to call attention to themselves by missing their first Gathering - when he assumed Kagura would introduce them to everyone - he knew that having his wife pass out in front of everyone would be worse.

 

Kagome smiled in relief. “Thanks,” she breathed.

 

Inuyasha shrugged off the appreciation and took her hand to lead her out of the temple. It seemed to take much less time to get out than to get in - but he supposed that had more to do with the lack of need to work around the crowd that had been there earlier than anything else.

 

He glanced at Kagome. Now that they had left the building, the color was returning to her face and she looked much better, but he could tell she was still straining to do…well, something anyway. He shoved his concern away irritably and let go of her hand as they crossed the grounds to the steps that would lead them to the street.

 

Kagome took a deep breath as she stepped onto the sidewalk. “Ahh,” she sighed, “that's much better.”

 

Inuyasha made a face. “Crazy bitch,” he muttered.

 

Kagome stuck her tongue out at him. “It's not my fault! It's really hard to keep my miko energy in control like that, especially with all that gross ki in there. It's terrible!”

 

Inuyasha felt the edge of his irritation soften - he knew, after all, how hard it was to keep your ki hidden for so long - but said nothing. Instead, he merely reached for her hand.

 

Kagome looked at him oddly. “You're really confusing, you know that?”

 

Inuyasha felt the corners of his lips twitch upward. “Gotta hold up the appearance,” he replied shortly.

 

Kagome laughed at this, and took the offered hand. “Baka,” she chuckled.

 

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, but squeezed her hand affectionately. Kagome felt a blush rise in her cheeks, but somehow managed to keep it at bay. She stole a glance at him - he really was quite attractive, and actually kind of nice…in his own gruff, totally annoying sort of way. She wondered if maybe, just maybe, she could become friends with this irritable hanyou. The thought made her smile.

 

Removing herself from this dangerous train of thought, Kagome cleared her throat. “So…um…should we pick up some more eggs on our way home?” she asked weakly.

 

Inuyasha let out a bark of laughter as he remembered the previous evening. “Only if I can carry them,” he teased, making Kagome redden with both embarrassment and anger.

 

“Hey, that was SO not my fault!” she countered, jabbing a finger into his chest, but the protest only made him laugh harder.

 

“Whatever you say,” Inuyasha snickered, making Kagome wrinkle her nose at him in irritation.

 

“Exactly,” she proclaimed.

 

Inuyasha grinned. Bitch is a lot more fun when she's angry, he thought.

 

 

 

A/N: Ahhh sorry sorry! I can't believe it's taken me so long to get this chapter done! It's still not as good as I would have liked it to be - I got really bad writer's block for almost the whole thing - but oh well. I got to where I wanted to be in the end. Next chapter: Kagome and Inuyasha finally meet up with Sango and her partner…and shit gets ugly! Haha, it's gonna be SWEET.