InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lemonade, Too ❯ Horseshoes and Hand Grenades ( Chapter 12 )

Lemonade, Too

By

Fujifunmum

Chapter 12: Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Shippou and Miroku walked Yash and Kagome back to their limo. They were all leaving Kaede's together after the revelations of the possibilities for containing Toukijin. Yash was encouraged, but that was only half the equation; they still had to find the evil killing sword. Shippou had been following up every possible lead since Yash had alerted him to the problem early Saturday morning. It had been barely over twenty-four hours and Shippou had already made a huge start in tracking down demons who might have an interest in the sword. He had contacted a great many pawn shops to ask them to watch for it as a possible hot property, and culled the data base of all reported crimes since the Artist's appearance at the Coors Amphitheatre for any indication that the cursed sword might have been involved. It was way too soon for any results beyond dumb luck, but that didn't keep Yash from barking orders like a possessed madman. Finally, Kagome came to Shippou's rescue.

"Leave Shippou alone, Yash. He's done everything either of us can think of to get the search for the sword done as quickly as possible. What more can you ask of him?"

"That he find that fucking sword. Now."

"Thanks Kagome, I appreciate your support, but Yash is right. None of us can rest until this sword is found. It will kill indiscriminately: humans, demons, hanyous, anyone."

Ignoring Yash's fuming, Kagome gave her young protégé a warm smile. "We'll find it Shippou, don't worry. Get some rest tonight, I'll see you at the precinct first thing tomorrow and we'll work on it together."

Shippou's warm smile under Kagome's attention faded fast and he began to cast furtive looks in Yash's direction. Avoiding Kagome's eyes, he mumbled a quick, "Ah…Yeah, whatever," and made a dash for his car.

Kagome turned her wide eyes quickly to Yash in time to catch the storm clouds he'd shown to Shippou before he schooled his face into a more neutral appearance. "What was that about?" Kagome demanded.

"Keh."

Before this conversation, or lack thereof, could deteriorate any further, Miroku cleared his throat to gain the couple's attention. "I'm leaving, too, Yash. I'll stop at Sango's to see how she's doing with the project that ate the world. If she'll let me in, that is. She hasn't slept since she talked to you yesterday morning, so don't think she isn't giving this her full attention. If anyone can find a needle in that haystack, it's Sango."

"I'll call her later."

"Don't bother, she'll call if she finds anything and if she hasn't, she won't want to talk to YOU."

"Keh. She'll talk to me, Miroku, and she'd better find something. She's our absolute best hope of finding that damn sword and you know it."

"What's she doing, Yash?"

"I'll explain on the way home. Keep the staff with you, you might need it. Later, Miroku."

Kagome waved goodbye to Miroku as she got into the limo. Yash took just a second to survey the area before he joined her in the back and directed the driver to take them home.

Kagome sighed and leaned against Yash. "I'll be so glad to get home, Yash. This was not exactly the restful vacation I was expecting. It's going to be tough to get back to work tomorrow, but Shippou needs my help. You're right, finding that sword needs to be our top priority."

"Yeah, there's no question it needs to be my top priority, but why don't you take a few more days off and rest up? I don't want you to overdo it."

"Right. I can tell by the way you're the main reason I'm so tired. It'd be nice if we actually spent some time sleeping." Kagome tossed off the retort without thinking about it until she connected it with Shippou's last rush-off after she had told him she'd see him tomorrow. She studied Yash's face, but couldn't identify the undercurrent of something she was picking up on. Before she could follow up on it, Yash got out his cell to call Sango.

His expression darkened as the line rang and rang without either Sango picking up or a phone mail response. "Shit. She's disconnected the phone. Right, like that will help. I'll IM the bitch."

"Oh, so I'm not the only woman you grace with your disrespect. I'm sure Sango will be very honored to hear it. If she's already disconnected her phone to escape you, I wouldn't be calling her 'bitch' on IM."

"Goddamn fucking bitch! She blocked me."

"Oh? I'll have to do that the next time you're irritating me. Sounds like a very handy feature."

Instantly, she had Yash's full attention. "Don't even joke about that, bitch. I want to know exactly where you are and what's going on with you every second until Toukijin is contained."

"Oh, just another unreasonable demand from my loving mate and husband. You know how ridiculous that is, Yash, do I have to tell you again? Don't make me say it."

"I'm not being at all unreasonable Kagome, and you know it."

They had arrived back at their beach house. Kagome raised the wards Miroku and Kaede had placed on their house and they went inside. They were grateful to be home after a very long and trying week away. The driver brought in their luggage, including a few extra pieces she didn't recognize. While she eyed the mysterious extra luggage, Yash had a few private words with the driver before closing the door behind him. Kagome was about to reset the protective spells, but Yash stayed her hands. She turned to Yash, expecting him to pick right up on his demands to her, but instead, he spent a few minutes inspecting the door and the surrounding sidelights. Then, he promptly made a circuit of the house, checking every single window and door, including the crawl space and the attic. She was ready to demand that he tell her exactly what was going on, when he entered a few numbers on a new keypad next to the front door and left without a word. She could see him making a complete check of the outside of the house, the deck and the garage. She could hear his footsteps on the roof. He was giving a whole new meaning to the word "possessive". She could feel the showdown coming and she was determined to win this round. If she didn't, how would she ever have anything on her own terms with him?

Yash came in through the garage, again locking the front door after he carefully checked the connecting door to the garage. He turned back to face her and he could tell this was going to be a long and difficult evening. Perhaps he could diffuse the situation before it got out of hand.

As she reset the protective spells, Yash tried to set her mind at ease. "Oi, I'll show you the new security system I had installed yesterday. It's easy to use, I'm sure you'll hardly know it's there once you get used to it. It's state of the art."

Kagome scowled at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "And we need a state of the art security system because…?"

"Because last month that bitch Kikyo and her main fuck Naraku got into this house and tried to get the Shikon no Tama. And you don't remember this because…?"

He couldn't believe it when that actually seemed to calm her down. Her face softened and she uncrossed her arms and walked casually over to put her arms around his waist.

"But now I have my big strong handsome hanyou mate to protect me, don't I?"

Holding her close, he stroked her back and nodded his head in complete agreement. "Damn straight, bitch, and this security system is just part of how I'm going to make sure you are safe. I can't be here every second, you know."

She smiled against his chest before she pushed away so she could look him in those wonderful golden eyes when she gave him her retort. "That will work out fine, mate. You'll have all the time you need to do your thing while I'm at work. Starting tomorrow morning at eight."

"No way, bitch," he said, lifting her up against his chest as he walked them both into the living room. He settled her on the couch facing the ocean and crouched down in front of her, locking her in place with one arm on either side of her. Now that he had her complete attention, he dropped down into a cross-legged seated position in front of her, taking her hands in his. "I asked Shippou to get you put on disability leave due to health conditions."

"You fucking what?" Kagome leaped to her feet, held in place only by Yash's firm hold on her hands. She was trapped between him and the couch and didn't even have room to stamp her feet at him. She was ready to give him a swift kick in the chest when he suddenly tugged on her hands, toppling her back to her seat on the couch. She leaned over to scream at him. "Who the hell do you think you are to do such a thing, and what makes you think that I'll have anything to do with such a stupid plan? It's not even true you asshole! I could lose my job over this. You KNOW how hard I worked to get my detective rank! Who the hell died and left you in charge of my life?"

He kept his hammerlock on her hands, leaning forward to catch her legs under his arms to keep her seated. He couldn't risk her getting away and hurting herself. The pain in his eyes was clear to see; not that Kagome was in any condition to notice. She was too busy fuming and seeing red. She stopped yelling, took a deep breath and spent a long moment trying to calm herself. The icy tone she continued in wasn't an improvement. "Yash, you can't keep making these decisions for me. I expect to participate in every important decision for the rest of our fucking lives. No more unilateral idiocy and no more decisions without consulting me. Our marriage, our mating is going to be over before we even have our baby if you keep up this shit."

She paused and he took the opportunity to catch both of her hands in one of his so he could use the other hand to gently grasp her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"It's true." Yash hated this. He didn't think he'd ever seen her eyes that big.

"What do you mean, it's true? Why am I disabled? What's this threat to my health?"

"Didn't you listen to Kaede? You know Naraku wants the Shikon no Tama. If he has the sword, he'll be looking for you and the Jewel and he knows right where to find you. If he has both the Jewel and the sword, I'm not sure anyone can stop him."

"Yash, that's a reason to be careful, but there are a lot of 'ifs' in that sentence. We don't know that Naraku has the sword. Besides, none of that makes me disabled or anything close to it." Kagome paused and her eyes narrowed. "Wait, you didn't even know about Naraku before this afternoon!" She scowled darkly at him, daring him to give her the real reason.

Yash leaned in a little further, giving her a quick kiss before he continued. He didn't want to tell her. He didn't want her scared. Now it was clear that this was the only way she'd listen to him. He made sure she was paying strict attention to him as he began again.

"The sword wants my blood Kagome."

Her voice rose again as she responded. "Don't you think I know that? You've had security guards crawling all over us since we left Minnesota. I know you're worried about the sword attacking you. I'm worried about it, too." Kagome's face had softened and she yanked her hands free to take Yash's face in her hands. Running her thumbs over his cheeks, she gently rubbed her forehead against his.

Yash closed his eyes briefly. He really didn't want to tell her, it was so frightening to him that he could barely bring himself to say it. "I'm not the only one with my blood."

He watched her eyes carefully, and the moment he saw the truth revealed in her expressive eyes, he wrapped both of his arms around her and tried to quiet the trembling he could feel increasing as she realized none of the security had been for himself. It had all been for her and the precious cargo she carried within her. Tears dripped down her cheeks. Tears he had desperately tried to spare her, to spare both of them.

"Don't cry Kagome. I won't let anything happen to you or the pups, I promise." At that Kagome broke down completely, and Yash held her until her wracking sobs appeared to subside. Then she wrapped her arms across her stomach, blanched and hiccuped herself into more crying. She was nearly hysterical. "That's it, Kagome. I'm taking you to bed right now. You're not doing yourself or the pups any good by getting this upset."

"I know." She squeaked out, as he carried her to the bedroom. She calmed considerably, but couldn't seem to stop crying as he gently undressed her and tucked her into their bed. He climbed in next to her and wrapped his whole body around her, trying to ease her discomfort with his warmth, whispering nonsense into her ear to try to calm her. When her crying finally slowed, she felt drained and very, very afraid. "Could Toukijin really seek out the baby Yash?"

"Shhh. Don't think about it. I'm doing everything I can think of to make sure that fucking sword doesn't get anywhere close to any of us."

"What about my blood? Our baby will be more than half human, won't that help?"

"Maybe, but I can't depend on it. Youkai blood is dominant; you should know that after the Marking. As a hanyou, or half-human, I'm still just as strong as a demon. The Youkai blood completely dominates my human half, except for the night of the new moon."

"Then you and your brother have the same, um, talents?"

"Half brother. No, not quite. He can transform into his full demon form at will. My Youkai form is quite different, although it is nearly as powerful. He is faster than I am, and there is the small matter of the poison claws, but he may have gotten both of those traits from his mother. I really don't know. He and I are the only Inu Youkai left, until you whelp, that is."

She turned in his arms and snuggled into him. "Don't leave me Yash. I don't know how to defend myself against a killing sword, with or without Naraku." He just stroked her hair and her back to try to comfort her, nuzzling his face in her hair. He was glad that the scent of her fear was abating. "I'll call the precinct tomorrow, Yash. I'll take a leave of absence without pay. I may be sick about this, but I'm not disabled." Her trembling finally quit and he felt she might be as recovered as she was likely to be for quite a while.

"Can I get you something to eat or drink, babe? I had the security guys stock the fridge with everything on that list of foods you got from your doctor. There's salad, fresh soup and rolls from that restaurant down the beach I took you to a while ago. You know, the one we both liked so much?"

Kagome was recovered enough to think back and remember that dinner on the beach. She reached up to grab his forelocks so she could drag his face down to look him directly in the eyes. "I remember that place. It was after we met at the Naguashi kid's condo and you tricked me into this very bed as I recall." Her eyes glazed and he could tell she was thinking about what they'd been doing in this same bed that very night. She'd been such a tasty dessert. Again, he could tell when her very expressive eyes lit up that she had figured it out. "That's the night, isn't it? That's the night you got me pregnant?"

"Maybe. A dog demon's got to have a few secrets, you know. Especially from a sneaky bitch like you."

She gave him a weak smile, but his heart wrenched when she begged him in that whispering little girl voice of hers, "Don't let that sword get us Yash."

"Not a chance, mate."

After Kagome finally fell asleep, Yash set up his laptop and starting hunting down Sango with a passion. She wasn't on IM and still had him blocked. She wasn't online. How could that be? The project he'd given her would require her to use all of her very excellent computer skills. That and a great deal of luck might actually lead them to Toukijin. He was checking his email to make sure he hadn't missed any data to send her or any emails from her.

"Damn."

After about an hour, Kagome came out to join him, wrapped in his favorite silk robe. He nuzzled her side, inhaling deeply of her lovely pregnant scent as she leaned on his side and put an arm around him to look briefly over his shoulder. She stifled a yawn as she asked, "Been able to contact Sango yet?"

"No. She's completely blocked me out and hasn't sent me any email, either. Why don't you go back to bed, Kagome, or are you hungry? I'll get you something."

She just gave him another weak smile. "No, all those tears tired me out, but I think I should eat a little something. I'm going to zap some of that soup in the microwave, can I fix you some, too?"

"Let me take care of you, babe." Yash got up and took her by the hand to lead her into the kitchen. "I'll get it."

"Right. Like you know how to work the microwave."

"I'm not completely inept, you know."

"In any room except the kitchen I'd agree with you, but let's face it, all you make is coffee and that doesn't use the microwave." She gave his hand a squeeze as she got him to sit on a stool at the kitchen counter to keep her company while she looked in the refrigerator for the carryout cartons. Finding them, she got out the bowls and plates for salad and rolls. "Tell me about this massive project you've got Sango working on while I heat this up for us."

Yash hesitated before answering, watching her movements to make sure she wasn't doing too much. She looked drawn and tired, but beautiful. She kept pushing up the sleeves of his robe to keep them out of her way. He loved seeing her here like this, doing small things for both of them, and treating him like her mate and her husband. He felt a strong pressure in his chest; it was a potent mixture of pride, happiness and the profound pleasure of knowing that he was at home with his pregnant, marked mate. Even the killing sword of his brother couldn't ruin this moment for him.

Once she got the dinner organized, she turned and tapped her fingernails on the counter, urging him to get on with it.

"The Asshole appeared at the Coors Amphitheatre six months ago. I've got Sango compiling information on all of the tickets purchased or given away in order to set up a data base of every person who attended. Hopefully she's got that piece done so she can start manipulating the data. Then we can see if there's a lead to who might have the damn thing. Even knowing that Naraku is the most likely perp behind the theft of Toukijin won't help. We don't know where Naraku or Kikyo is either. I'm concerned that we won't find either of them until we find Toukijin, unless we find them all at the same time."

Kagome put their food on a tray and Yash helped her carry things into the dining room. "Where did you get the information to even attempt to put together that data base? That's one of the largest venues around. I'm not even sure my department could do that kind of a comprehensive search for you."

"You don't have Sango. She's not just your best friend, Kagome. She understands computer records and how to massage them into different pools and squeeze the records until the needed information rises to the top. She's a whiz. Of course, if you tell her I said that I'll deny everything."

"So where did the information come from?"

"I called in every favor I have in this town, bitch. I would have hacked into the credit card records myself, but a highly placed friend in the Coors front office owes me big time, so the majority of the records came from her. She also got me the employee records for the Amphitheatre and the details of all of the local radio, TV and media folks who were given tickets."

"How many shows?"

"Three."

"Three? You'll be lucky if Sango ever speaks to you again, asking her to process and compile all those records."

"It's around twenty thousand a night, but there's more to it than that. I also got all the Asshole's information from Jaken, that fucking toad. You wouldn't believe how many idiots he needs to make an ass of himself every night. Plus all the show people involved in the making of the video the sword was in, and all the service people who had access to both the concert venue, the studio shots and the location shoots. My brother is a fucking corporation all on his own, plus the known hangers-on and loser associates. That doesn't even count the permanent and temporary musicians. Don't even get me started on the groupie potentials. All in all, that's probably going to add another two thousand people."

"What's Miroku doing while Sango loses her mind for us?"

"Watching television."

"Huh?"

"I got him tapes of all the shows, all the security camera footage, all the video footage, and all the security camera footage for the studio and remote locations. Everywhere the Asshole goes he is on camera, and Miroku gets to look at all the L.A. footage."

"Lucky him. What's he looking for?"

"He's going through it frame by frame looking for a glimpse of Kikyo or Naraku. He's only just started, since he and Kaede had to work out the spells for containing Toukijin before he could get started."

We're going to owe them both big time."

"Don't worry, bitch. I've already taken care of it. I didn't really have the room at The Bellagio villa redone for us. It was originally for them as a wedding present. I just thought we might as well try it out while we were there. Pretty special, eh?"

"Special? That's not the word I would have chosen. You think Miroku and Sango deserve to have that really red room inflicted on them because….?"

"Do you like the new Jag?"

"Of course, although I didn't understand why you needed a new Jag."

"Miroku and Sango left me a little present in the last one, this is just my way of repaying them."

"I must be more tired than I thought, this doesn't make any sense to me. Am I supposed to understand it?"

"Nope. Why don't you finish your soup and let me put you to bed? You look really tired, mate."

"Wait! You knew!"

"Knew what?"

"You knew that place was hideous, and you still took me there for our wedding night?"

"Of course, I knew. Does this place look anything like that horror? I decorated this, too, you know."

"Then why?"

Yash shrugged. "I thought it would be fun." Seeing the incredulous look on her face, Yash took one of her hands in his and gently rubbed a thumb over her palm. Then he began again.

"Look, we tried for the sweet hometown wedding fantasy in Prairie du Chien and that didn't work. The threat of Toukijin changes everything. The Marking was wonderful; it couldn't have been better even if it had been here, in our own home. Just in case something happened to me, I wanted us to be married. I wanted there to be no question that this house and everything of ours would be yours. The quickest and easiest way to accomplish that was to marry you before we came home.

"There was no way I could give you any semblance of your dream wedding, so I decided to go for fun. With the new moon as a driving factor, I figured we might as well do Vegas. Once I decided on Vegas, the Elvis thing just somehow seemed like the most fun.

"Oh, damn!"

"What?"

"I forgot to turn on the bed."

"If I recall correctly you were pretty turned on."

"Not me, bitch. The bed. It revolves."

"Geez, to think I could've been seasick in that bed in addition to the headache the colors in that room gave me."

"Keh. You know it was fun, admit it."

"Not likely, Yash. Consider yourself officially fired as our family party planner. I'll take over from now on."

"Why don't you finish up and let me tuck you in? You need more sleep, babe."

Kagome put her spoon down and leaned on an elbow. "I'm finished now. You're right, I'm tired, but I don't want to go to bed just yet. How about if we watch a movie or some TV? I just want to sit next to you and forget I ever heard about Toukijin, just for tonight? OK?"

"No problem, babe. Don't worry, I'll take care of you." Yash said this with far more conviction than he currently felt. It was in this very room not so long ago that Kikyo had ripped the Shikon no Tama right out of Kagome's body with her damned arrow. Naraku had slipped out of his grasp here, too. The next time would be different. It had to be. At least he had Tetsusaiga back.

"By the way, where are you planning to confine Toukijin when we find it?"

Yash led Kagome into the living room and rummaged through some DVDs to find one to watch. "I was thinking about right over there, on the wall over the couch?"

Kagome looked at Yash like he was on really bad drugs. "Are you crazy? We're about to have a new baby here and you think this is a good place for a killing sword that craves our baby's blood? I don't think so. Get another plan, mate. That one sucks."

"How about a special closet constructed for it in the garage. I'll have it locked, wired and secured with laser beams. That's in addition to the special wards you'll be helping Kaede and Miroku place on it to protect us and anyone else who comes around. Will that do?"

"Why do you want to keep it here? Why not send it back to your brother?"

"Half brother."

"OK, half brother. Why not send it back to him?"

"The old adage, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

"What about mates?"

"I'm keeping you closest of all, Kagome."

August 21, 2003