InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Puppet Without Strings ❯ Cover Up ( Chapter 3 )

Puppet Without Strings

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Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Pairings: InuKag for now. Spoilers if the rest are revealed.

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- Chapter 2 -

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Sesshoumaru flicked the screen of his com-link close just as his half-brother's recorded message started to unleash a train of its most colourful language on him. The idiot just didn't know when to quit. He muted the com-link and focused his eyes on the road once more.

Inuyasha could wait.

Sesshoumaru had much more pressing matters to attend to. He'd been woken abruptly from his slumber forty minutes prior and told to hurry to Sengoku City's Central Government Headquarters. An urgent meeting had been called with the Chief of Defense.

He wondered what issue would deem itself so critical that a private council had to be called at five in the morning on a non-working day such as this. His musings were cut short when he pulled to a stop astride the guard unit of the headquarters. He flashed his name card and put his thumb to the print scanner before the guards let him through.

He parked in his usual spot behind the storage block of the immense fifty-storey structure that was his work place. He'd liked that it was secluded and had claimed the lot for his own when he'd started working here as the military's Youkai Devision Chief two years ago.

The sun had just begun to break the surface of the horizon as Sesshoumaru headed briskly toward building 1A's lift-lobby. He was surprised to find General Makoto already there and awaiting his arrival. Sesshoumaru immediately grasped that the direness of the situation when he saw General Makoto flanked by not his usual entourage of bodyguards, but accompanied by only his head of security Hidetoshi Akio. To Sesshoumaru, this meant the meeting was to be of utmost confidentiality.

Hidetoshi lead the two men into the elevator and inserted his access key into the control panel. Various keycodes were entered before an additional option to travel down to the lowest underground level of the complex became available on the panel. Not many people knew of this additional level. It had been designed during the war to house leaders of importance in the event of a nuclear fallout. Sesshoumaru had scoffed at the absurdity of this idea. Saving themselves so they could emerge later on to govern a people that would hate them for their cowardice? He failed to see the point.

Now this place served to provide an environment of privacy for ones who would need to pass on classified information. Much General Makoto would probably do in a bit.

The elevator doors slid open and the three men stepped out. Makoto motioned for him to enter one of the sound-proof rooms in the vicinity. When the two men were inside, Hidetoshi shut the door and stood watch outside.

General Makoto was a stern man in his late fifties who sported a coarse moustache and head of graying tresses. He had been made Chief of Defence by President Higurashi and was now serving his fourth year in that position. His gray eyes met Sesshoumaru's golden ones. Funny how so much about the man was gray. He started speaking.

`I know you are one who does not like to beat around the bush so I'll get straight to the point.'

Sesshoumaru waited for him to continue.

`President Higurashi did not die of a heart disease. He was assassinated in his own summer home. The killer was never identified. I doubt he even saw it coming.'

He paused to allow Sesshoumaru to contemplate this bombardment of information. It did not take long.

`He'd wanted to take time off to spend with his kids. He had not wanted an entire brigade of guards trailing after him. He allowed just one unit. However, almost all personel present at the time were killed trying to protect him.'

- An entire unit defeated?-

`How many attackers were there?'

`According to surveillance videos and accounts from the general's children. Just one.' The General frowned at the absurdity of it all.

The slight raising of Sesshoumaru's right eyebrow forced Makoto to continue.

`The president was well-protected. Do not doubt it. The guard unit was eight-men strong and included three elite youkai, one of whom was from your very own Faction Alpha. Does the name Hizashi Kouga ring a bell?'

Sesshoumaru was stunned. Though he showed no outward sign of it.

`I served with him in the war. Why was this not brought to my attention? Was he killed?'

`As you know we have kept this matter under a tight government leash. Hizashi Kouga was probably the only individual at the scene who was able to actually harm the intruder. It seems that whoever he was, was wearing some sort of protective suit. Weapons were useless against it. The attacker had assassinated the President and been going for the daughter when Kouga confronted him.'

The General sighed.

`God only knows how but one of his punches was able to rip through the suit and injure the intruder. He seemed to have been scared off after that. Probably didn't count on sustaining any injury at all. However, Kouga took a severe beating in the process, he's now in a coma and is being held in Basement Four of this very building. There's the risk that the assassin might return to finish him off.'

He hadn't been sent to a hospital. That why he had not known about Kouga's condition. Come to think of it he hadn't heard from the wolf demon in almost a year, ever since he'd started his body guarding duties. However, Sesshoumaru could not deny that keeping Kouga here was a wise decision on General Makoto's part. He waited for the man to continue.

`However, the fact remains that had he not intervened, Higurashi Kagome and her brother Souta might not be alive right now. This was no young radical. Whoever it was has certainly been trained to perfection. My guess is he was probably working under someone else's orders.'

`A hired killer?'

`Perhaps.'

Sesshoumaru was troubled. Why would someone want the Higurashi's dead? As far as he'd known, the late President was well-loved among humans and demons alike. He'd put an end to prejudice between the two races by willingly fighting side by side with demons in the war. So he posed a question.

`What about all the cover-up?'

`We believe there are still radical factions out there who still desire the segregation of humans and demons. But not everyone knows this. Most of our people have struggled through the hardships of war. They now cling to the fervent belief that this hard-earned peace will not just shatter from under them. Think of the unrest that would be caused. Humans would blame demons because no normal human being would have been able to accomplish what this assassin has accomplished. Demons would retaliate. It could start an internal conflict.'

Sesshoumaru nodded in silent understanding.

`So what would you require me to do?'

`I'm putting you in charge of the investigation. All possible eye-witnesses were taken care of by the assassin. The Higurashi children aren't of much help since they never actually saw the killer up close. The only reliable source we have is lying in a coma six floors up. We still have the traces of the assassin's blood that we retrieved from under Kouga's claws. But all DNA testing has pulled up nothing. No files. No matches. Your heightened senses would probably be of far more use to this investigation than any technology we could provide.'

`I see. And what of the young Higurashi's? The assassin might strike again.'

The General waved this off.

`They have already been assigned bodyguards.'

Sesshoumaru once again fell into his quiet musings. In the event that the assassin returned, there was a chance he would not be present at the scene to capture or identify him. In such a case he wouldn't want strangers protecting the General's children. He'd want somebody who understood his investigations. Someone he could trust with his findings. He'd need someone who was strong enough to fend off such a strong assailant. Someone whose senses worked as similarly to his as possible so he could relay information that Sesshoumaru could understand and use.

This someone his mind was conjuring. He looked awfully similar to…

Sesshoumaru cringed. Inwardly of course. He tried sifting through his thoughts for other alternatives but that one face just kept on popping up.

`General Makoto. Might I suggest that I assign people of my own choosing to guard the Higurashi children?'

Makoto looked inquisitive.

`Who do you have in mind?'

Sesshoumaru sighed. There was no other choice then. God, how he hated life sometimes.

`My brother, Inuyasha.'

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