InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Love's Smirking Revenge ❯ Wolf in Sheep's Clothing ( Chapter 37 )

Love's Smirking Revenge

- Chapter Thirty-Eight -

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

It was quiet at the top of the hill. Detective Takahashi carefully shut the car door behind him and took a moment to survey his surroundings. The moon above was bright enough to light up the dirt road in front of him, making the rocks glitter like gems in the dark. He pulled his gun as he walked and checked his clip - it was nearly full. He'd have at least 10 rounds if he needed them, but every part of him hoped it wouldn't come to that.

His first stop was the car parked off to the side of the road in front of him. It was an onyx coloured import, new and screaming of money. Kobayashi's? It was his style, but he was careful about jumping to conclusions no matter how tempting they might be. If it was Kobayashi's, it answered a lot of questions. Until tonight he hadn't been able to figure how Rin fit into the puzzle. She was a little nobody from Gifu. What did the likes of Inagawa-kai want with her? None of it had made any sense, but Kobayashi was the missing piece

It was no secret that Inagawa-kai and Samiyoshi-kai were rivals. They'd been fighting over the same strip of clubs in Akasaka for almost 20 years. With the death of Naraku he'd been expecting someone to make a move to fill the power vacuum left behind, but he hadn't expected it to be Kagura. Somehow she'd learned about Rin and then used her to draw Sesshomaru out and weaken his hold. He had to commend her for her resourcefulness, even if she'd created one hell of a mess for him to clean up.

But that was assuming the car belonged to Kobayashi. Retrieving the flashlight he'd tucked into his pants, he approached the vehicle with caution. The small yellow beam from his light couldn't penetrate the darkly tinted windows and he held back to consider his options. If there was something about to go down, the last thing he wanted to do was draw unwanted attention to himself; the element of surprise was just about all he had going for him. Without it he was fucked, and so was his case.

Anxious and impatient, he trained his gun on the driver's side door and slowly pulled the handle. Locked.

Fuck.

Muttering a string of curses under his breath, he made his way round to the front of the car and aimed his flashlight at the windshield. Empty. Clicking off the flashlight, he tucked it back into his pants and pressed his palm to the hood of the car. It was warm to the touch despite the cool night air. Whoever had driven it there hadn't been gone long.

After a quick check for unwanted guests, he jogged down the narrow tire path that led into the woods. At the first bend he slipped soundlessly off the tracks into the trees and allowed his instincts to take over. His feet picked their way around fallen trees and dead branches while his mind mulled over past regrets and schemes for what lay ahead.

The promise of victory was a hollow one. How many people had died because he'd been too wrapped up in his own bullshit to piece the clues together? Were it not for Jeff's lucky discovery in the forensics lab and a surprisingly cooperative inmate giving him an ID, he'd still be in the dark. How many more victims would have been added to the list in the meantime? He didn't even want to think about it.

Closing this case was supposed to be the pinnacle of his career, the one he could look back on and crow about while reminiscing about the good old days at the local watering hole. That was how it was supposed to go down. Not like this. There wasn't a damn thing worth celebrating about this.

xXx

Sesshomaru Kobayashi was not the type of man who put affection before reason. He kept his distance, never got attached - affection was a weakness he did not possess. It'd gotten him all the things he'd ever wanted in life and it'd been easy `til now. But as he stood there and looked at her, noting every detail from the tears on her cheeks to the red marks on her wrists from where the rope had chaffed her skin, he found it increasingly difficult to abide by the philosophy to which his loyalty had once been so unshakable.

A rage was building inside of him that was unlike anything he'd felt before. It was raw, visceral and explosive, borne from somewhere deep and guttural that would not be satiated by anything but blood. There were things he wanted to do to the traitor standing before him that would make Rin look at him in horror. But even with all that rage pumping hot-headed adrenaline through his veins, Reason could not be shut out entirely. It was what reminded him that the man standing before him was not easily intimidated, and wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger if he made a single wrong move.

“This is over,” he stated, carefully reigning in his emotions and strapping them down under a tight net of control. “Let the girl go.”

“You might have noticed, but I don't take orders from you anymore,” Inokuma replied with a glib smile.

Sesshomaru lifted a brow in challenge. “Greater men than you have made the mistake of believing they held something over me.”

“Well, I do have one thing…”

At his words, Inokuma grabbed Rin sharply by the hair and jerked her head back. She cried out, a weak pathetic sound, and Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. The gun hidden in the small of his back grew heavy and prominent, demanding to be drawn. He resisted the urge, if only just.

“When Kagura said the girl was the key to luring you out, I didn't believe it at first. I've worked for you for years and never seen you give more than a passing interest to any of them. What's so special about this one?”

“How long have you been Kagura's lapdog?” he deflected, keeping his eyes averted from Rin. He had no intention of revealing just how much control Inokuma held over him with Rin at his mercy.

“Long enough,” he countered with a knowing look.

“What were your orders?”

“To kill the girl in front of you,” he answered with an indifferent shrug. “You've gotta hand it to Kagura - she's one vindictive bitch.”

Vindictiveness was only one of Kagura's many unflattering attributes. She was ruthless, power hungry, manipulative and demanding. Kagura was a child in adult form, obsessed with material things and physical perfection. In her world, the words “good enough” held no meaning; there was perfection and there was everyone else. It made her an impressive business associate when it mattered, cut throat and not easily impressed, but a terrible wife.

“So, what'd you do to get her all riled up?” Inokuma pressed him with a curious lift of his brow. “This goes beyond business.”

He gestured pointedly at Rin with his gun and Sesshomaru dared to look. The firm grip Inokuma had on her hair pulled her head back, exposing her smooth, white throat to the moonlight. An image of her blood coursing across that white plane gripped him and he was impressed by the beauty of it - blood and milk intermingling, as pure as new fallen snow. That's just how she'd been before she met him - pure, untainted and real.

It wasn't to assuage Inokuma's curiosity that he chose to answer. Of all the people in Japan, she was the only one he needed to answer to. He held her gaze as the next words left his lips, “Filed for a divorce.”

Those dark doe eyes of hers widened in surprise and for a moment her breath stilled. He watched the pieces fall into place and saw how the knowledge changed her, how it defeated her. She closed her eyes in resignation and silent tears slipped from beneath her lashes.

Inokuma whistled in mock appreciation, “I guess they don't make domestic disputes like they used to.”

Fixing the man in front of him with a cool look he asked, “What happens now?”

“That's up to you,” he replied, with a nod in Rin's direction. “I might be willing to make a deal for her.”

“A deal?”

The question was rhetorical - he knew where this was headed. What other reason could Inokuma have for taking on Kagura's contract? It wasn't about the money - it never was with him. She'd promised him fame and glory and she'd delivered.

“I've known you to be a man willing to negotiate when it's in your best interests,” Inokuma explained shrewdly, his eyes flashing. “I'm merely proposing an exchange - you for the girl.”

He wondered for whose benefit it was that Inokuma suggested such a scheme. They'd both been around long enough to know how this was going to end. He hazarded a glance at Rin and braced himself to find false hope shining in her wide brown eyes. Instead he found her staring blankly at the night sky, her shoulders slumped in defeat. She already knew, he realized with a jolt of surprise. She knew what fate awaited her and had accepted it. He wasn't sure what bothered him more, the fact that she'd lost her will to fight or that she believed he would let her die.

Sesshomaru made a show of thinking over Inokuma's offer as he stared out at the city on the horizon. He had no intention of handing himself over, but his options were limited. In every scenario he played out in his mind, Rin wound up with a bullet in her head and that was not a conclusion he was willing to accept. Exhaling a short sigh, he turned his attention to the bastard standing in front of him.

“I suppose bringing in the second in command of Samiyoshi-kai would earn you at least a handful of commendations,” he observed cynically.

“And perhaps a promotion, too, if I play my cards right,” Inokuma added with a self-satisfied smirk. “So, is that a `Yes'?”

The man behind her suddenly released her hair and Rin lowered her head. His answer didn't matter, she knew that. He wasn't going to let her live, not after she'd seen and heard all that she had. There was a part of her that was angry, with him, with her, with everyone who'd felt it necessary to insert themselves into her life and do as they pleased. Another part of her felt indignant over the unfairness of it all. She'd never imagined it could turn out this way. But mostly she was disappointed - in herself for being so damn naïve, and in him for being so utterly flawed while wearing a mask of perfection. Closing her eyes, she held her breath and waited for what would inevitably come next.

“Rin.”

Her eyes popped open in surprise at the sound of his soft baritone speaking her name. That word had always sounded so childish on the lips others, barely even a name. But the way his voice wrapped around it, it came out sounding like something refined, something she could be proud to call her own. And for the briefest of moments she'd thought she would die without ever hearing him say it again. Relief flooded through her even as she realized how ridiculous and foolish it was to feel that way.

Reluctantly, she turned her head toward him and braced for the mingled expressions of disappointment and annoyance that would harden his mouth into a firm line and narrow his golden eyes. She didn't expect to see apology, certainly not after what she'd done. He offered her a small, apologetic smile and the breath caught in her throat.

“Duck.”

Her body moved, blindly obeying before her mind was even aware of his command. A deafening explosion sounded next to her ear and she felt something hot against the side of her face. The first gunshot was followed by another, just as loud and just as close, all in the time it took for her body to hit the ground.

I've been shot, she thought as her cheek met soothing touch of the cool, soft dirt.

A small voice inside her head remarked, Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?

She smiled faintly and closed her eyes.

xXx

He'd known for weeks that Kouga was a traitor. Replaying the last few days in his head, he felt a familiar swell of frustration well up inside him. After countless dead end phone calls and long, exhausting nights spent hunched over his desk with a cup of burnt coffee and a highlighter until the wee hours of the morning, he had everything he needed. Bank records, phone records, forensics - it was all there, but something was off.

At first, Kouga'd been smart and covered his tracks. They never would have found him were it not for the partial fingerprint he'd left on that bullet. It wasn't until he started searching, really digging in deep, that he saw just how sloppy he'd gotten.

Kouga would have been diligent about using disposable cell phones for jobs, any idiot, he figured, could do at least that much, but this last job they'd called him on his personal cell. He hadn't even bothered to ditch the phone before bringing the girl here. All it'd taken was a few threats of heads rolling to get the forensics lab to trace the wireless signal and hook him up with a GPS tracking device. And now here he was, scrambling through a forest and preparing to arrest the man who'd once been the closest thing he'd ever had to a partner, or a friend.

Did Kouga want to get caught? The thought occurred to him as he pushed a low hanging branch out of the way. It wasn't like him to make mistakes and he wasn't the sloppy type. Maybe he'd finally had enough and was ready to come clean. Or maybe he'd just become complacent, over-confident in the knowledge that he'd cleaned up his tracks well enough that they'd never be able to pin any of it on him.

This thought rested uneasily in the form of a knot between his shoulder blades. The trees were beginning to thin and Inuyasha soundlessly ducked under the last few branches to reach the edge of the woods.

His vantage point was a little further away than he would've liked, but he could see everything clear enough. Kouga was there, as he knew he would be, face-to-face with Kobayashi. Rin was on her knees next to them, looking terrified. He felt a pang of sympathy for the girl and quickly tucked it into a far corner of his mind. He didn't have time for sentiment, especially not with someone like Sesshomaru Kobayashi to worry about. The guy was a loose cannon; he'd shoot you in the face before you even had the chance to open your mouth.

The moonlight reflected off the back of Kouga's gun, illuminating it as bright as daylight. He aimed it nonchalantly at Rin's head and said something he couldn't hear to Kobayashi. And then his hands were in her hair, jerking her head back, exposing the tear streaks on her cheeks. Inuyasha froze and grit his teeth, fighting every instinct that insisted he intervene. His eyes darted to Kobayashi and he noticed that he hadn't moved so much as a single muscle. If Kouga was attempting to intimidate him, he'd chosen the wrong man.

“Bastard…,” he muttered under his breath, with a glare aimed at Kobayashi.

He held back, watching and waiting for the right moment to make his move. The Superintendent had always given him shit for that - acting before knowing what was what. If he was going to nail Kouga's ass to the wall, he couldn't afford any mistakes. His gun began to feel slick against his palms and he hurriedly wiped them down on his pant leg. What the hell were they doing? Having a damn tea party?

He scowled, frustrated by his inability to hear what was being said. The risk of changing positions to get a better vantage point for listening was too great. If he moved now he might be seen, either by Kouga or Kobayashi. If was going to have any advantage to play in this, it was only going to be by keeping himself at Kouga's back. If it came down to it, he'd rather have one gun aiming at him to worry about than two.

The sudden rapid pop of gunfire sent his instincts into high alert.

Shit!

He watched wide-eyed as Rin fell, landing face down in the dirt. He hadn't been prepared for Kouga to shoot her. Suddenly everything was moving in fast motion. With the scent of Rin's blood on the air, his feet drew him silently into the clearing where Kouga was facing down the barrel of Kobayashi's gun.

Sesshomaru Kobayashi was not the magnanimous type. Whatever his relationship with Rin was, he didn't imagine he'd let him walk away from putting a bullet in her head without returning the favour in kind. But he hadn't come this far and fought this hard just to let the bastard take the easy way out.

Holding his gun at chest-level and aimed at Kouga's back, he moved closer and exchanged a brief warning glance with Kobayashi.

“Causin' trouble again?” he teased Kouga, making every effort to sound casual in light of the circumstances.

“Mutt face? What the hell are you doing here?”

He shrugged lightly, “I could ask you the same thing.”

He turned his attention to Kobayashi, his eyes drifted thoughtfully over the well dressed man with his gun aimed at Kouga's face.

“And you must be Sesshomaru Kobayashi.”

The man's cold amber eyes narrowed fractionally in response. A faint smile lifted one corner of Inuyasha's mouth as he found humour in the irony.

“So, you do exist. Never imagined I'd find myself on your side of anything, but stranger things have happened I guess.”

Kobayashi cast a sharp glance between him and Kouga, as though he were trying to make up his mind over who to shoot first. Inuyasha realized it was time to make his next move, before the bastard got trigger happy, and slowly circled around until he was between Kouga and Rin. Kouga hazarded a glance and lifted a brow at the realization that there were now two guns drawn on him instead of one.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he demanded, trying to keep one eye and his gun on Kobayashi while sending a glare in Inuyasha's direction.

“What should've been done a long time ago,” he answered gravely. “Put your hands up.”

Kouga was slow to comply, eventually raising his hands to shoulder height. He relieved him of his gun before he could do something stupid with it, like shoot himself in the head. He clicked on the safety and tucked it into the back of his pants before retrieving the cuffs from his pocket. A tingle of awareness snaked up his spine, letting him know that Kobayashi's gun was now aimed at him. Exhaling a sharp sigh of frustration, he glanced up and fixed him with a hard look.

“There's back up on the way. Unless you wanna spend the rest of your night in an interrogation room answering questions I suggest you get the hell out of here.”

Kobayashi's eyes were cold as he considered the warning. He was so damn unreadable that for a moment Inuyasha wasn't sure if he'd take the bait or not. He eventually put the safety back on his gun and tucked it into the back of his pants.

Inuyasha exhaled a private sigh of relief. With Kobayashi gone, it was gonna be one less problem he'd have to deal with. The last thing he needed right now was another witness. He watched Kobayashi expectantly and was caught off guard when he made his way towards Rin.

“Leave her,” he growled.

Kobayashi ignored him and loosened the ties around her wrists. She was unconscious but still alive and he wasted no time scooping her up. Not willing to let Kouga out of his sight, he was forced to watch as Kobayashi carried Rin down the worn tire path that led back to the main road. While losing Rin didn't sit well, he reasoned that at the very least Kobayashi would look after her. He could deal with that bastard later. For now, he had a much bigger pain in the ass to deal with.

With the departure of Rin and Kobayashi it was just the two of them left.

“So what's the big plan? Shoot me and say it was an accident?” Kouga wagered.

Inuyasha pushed the barrel of the gun against the back of Kouga's head and ordered him to get on his knees. If he let the justice system take its course, he might be out in 25 years or he might get off on a technicality. He had no intention of watching him walk out of some courthouse a free man, but he wasn't going to stoop to his level to get what he wanted.

“No,” he ground out with effort. “I'm not.”

“Coward,” Kouga challenged.

Slipping his gun back into its holster, he pulled out Kouga's piece and ejected the clip. The moonlight glimmered off the unusual golden rounds and he let out the breath he'd been holding. Until that moment he hadn't truly believed it. He hadn't wanted to. The only partner he'd ever had, the one who'd helped him find Kagome and get her back, the only person he felt close enough to to maybe consider calling a “friend” was a fucking traitor?

The weight of realization hit him like a two tonne truck and left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. He'd been willing to make excuses for him, but there was no explaining away the tangible evidence sitting in his hands.

“I'm guessing if I run these by forensics they'll be a match to the others,” he commented offhandedly, giving the rounds one last, long look before returning the clip to the gun.

Kouga shrugged said nothing.

Kikyou's father, Lucky Akita, Yoshi Ishii and who knew how many others, had died by his hand. Tonight Rin's name had nearly been added to that grim list. His mind began to turn over other possibilities in light of the evidence. At the warehouse where they'd gone to find Kagome, he'd been almost protective of Naraku. Memories came back, of Kouga's gun drawn and aimed at Kagome. He had no doubt now that he would have pulled the trigger if she hadn't given up the gun. A new wave of anger crashed through him. The bastard had played him for a fool.

Stepping in front of the man he'd once trusted, he gave him a long, hard look. “Why'd you do it?” he demanded.

“That's you're first mistake,” he answered with a grim smile. “Takahashi, you obsess over the `Why'. It's the `why' that gets you every single time. You think you would've learned by now.”

Inuyasha scowled and resisted the urge to punch him in the jaw. He'd be entirely within his right to break a few bones before taking him in, but he couldn't be bothered to write a three page report about it.

Kouga sighed wearily and gave him an exasperated look. “Come on, Inuyasha. You're telling me it never gets to you? Watching how they run this city, buying off everyone who matters?”

Inuyasha shrugged indifferently and resisted the temptation to entertain whatever twisted rationalization he'd come up with for being a yakuza hitman.

“I was just doing my part to keep the streets of Tokyo safe,” he said with a self-righteous smirk.

“Killing Kikyou's father for a gambling debt? Shanking Ishii in his prison cell? That's your idea of keeping Tokyo safe?”

“I wouldn't expect you to understand, but I never killed anyone who wasn't guilty of somethin'.”

“What exactly was Rin guilty of? Help me figure that one out,” he demanded with a pointed look at the hole that'd been dug to bury her in.

Kouga glanced dismissively at the hole. “She was collateral. I had to lure Kobayashi out somehow. She was my best chance to do that and it worked. I would've had him too if you hadn't stormed in here and fucked everything up.”

He turned a look of contempt on him and Inuyasha stepped back, amazed.

“Are you listening to yourself right now?” he asked, incredulous.

Kouga looked away and it took a moment before he could reign in the urge to toss his gun aside and throttle him with his bare hands. His mind flashed back to the day when he'd tackled the smug sonofabitch in the middle of the squad room floor and a faint smile teased at his lips. Nothing had ever felt quite as good as landing that first punch and wiping the smirk off the bastard's face with it.

The sobering realization that a battery charge might just be all Kouga needed to walk away from this a free man was enough to bring him to heel. Like hell the bastard was going to get a free pass on his account. Feeling more in control of himself, he crouched down in front of his former partner and looked him in the eye.

“There's a thin line in this business between being effective and being dirty,” he said evenly. “I thought you would've known the difference by now.”

“Don't tell me you of all people are going to read me the riot act about protocol,” Kouga countered with a look of disdain.

“I wouldn't waste my breath,” he said, standing up.

He needed to put a bit of distance between them before he really did crack him one across the jaw. Kagome would be proud of him for keeping it together, the Superintendent, too. He smiled a little as he looked out across the city and realized that when all was said and done she was what he was going home to.

He turned back to find Kouga watching him, his gaze speculative.

“You know you'd do it too if the money were right,” he challenged. “Every man has his price.”

He made a sound of disgust in the back of his throat and opened his mouth to object but Kouga didn't give him the chance.

“Oh, come off it! Everyone thinks they're beyond turning dirty until it's their ass on the line. Get off your goddamn high horse and look around, Takahashi! You're no different than me.”

A bit of his control snapped and he found himself with Kouga's collar held tight in his fists. He shook him, and then a bit harder when he saw the satisfied gleam in his eyes.

“Wrong,” he seethed, his voice like gravel. “I've had every offer under the sun to work for them and I never once accepted.”

With effort he released Kouga's shirt and removed himself so he wouldn't be tempted to try and throttle him again.

“It comes down to character,” he said softly, gaining back some of his lost control. “I may be a drunk, belligerent asshole but I'm still a better man than you.”

He retrieved his gun and checked the clip. Having it close by, with its familiar weight in his palm was oddly reassuring. As he slipped the clip back into place, a slow smile spread across Kouga's lips. He tilted his head towards the main road with a curious lift of his brow.

“Back up isn't coming, is it?”

Inuyasha knew he would always cherish the expression of shocked disbelief that crossed Kouga's face at the very moment the red squad car lights illuminated the clearing. Hauling him to his feet with a hand under his arm, he guided him to the nearest squad car. The constable driving it gave him an uncertain look. Kouga was a popular guy and he knew how it must look.

“Don't worry, the Superintendent knows about this. Don't listen to anything he says and get him to 29th division. The union lawyer will meet you there.”

The constable nodded his head in shaky agreement and got back in the car while Kouga was loaded into the back seat.

“See you soon,” he teased him with a wicked grin before shutting the door.

Kouga kept his eyes forward, his attention fixed on the bars of the cage he now found himself in. It would be a familiar sight for at least the next 25 years.

Inuyasha watched the squad car pull around in the clearing and then head back to the main road. He waited until the last of the red lights had been swallowed by the darkness. Only then did his body sag with relief and drop to its knees.

It's over, he thought as he clumsily wiped the dampness from his cheeks. It's finally over.

Author's Note: Long wait, I know! I'm sure this chapter could be a bit more polished, but I was too eager to get it posted before I headed away for the weekend. I hope you enjoyed it!

I'm curious to hear your thoughts - how many of you were able to guess that Kouga was the gold bullet killer? I hope it was at least a bit of a surprise for some of you. The next chapter is already half written since my muse doesn't like to be linear so keep an eye out for it!

Many thanks to my readers for your continued support. You guys are the best anyone could hope for!

Cheers,

Langus