InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Snow White and the Seven 'Dwarfs'...Sort of ❯ BANG! ( Chapter 48 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Penthesileia 
"Hit the ground in three, two, one-"
BANG!
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.18.2007 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.6K | Visits: 333 | Status: Completed
"Hit the ground in three, two, one-"
BANG!
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.18.2007 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.6K | Visits: 333 | Status: Completed
AN: Sorry, the chapters a little late, so I made it a little longer then usual.
inu+kag4ever!- Don't worry, almost everyone is going to end up with someone. Just not yet. (hehehe...)
kagome123- Thank you!
Disclaimer- I do not own Snow White and I do no own Inuyasha.
Rin
Rin's hands shook as she tried to dust a table, cursing when her trembling fingers couldn't grasp the cloth properly.
"Long live Kikyo!", "Death to Imposters!" caused her to wince every time she heard someone call out the phase. All morning, servants had been excitedly talking about joining the army, making bets with each other about who would get to score a hit on that 'evil fake bitch-leader' of the rebel forces. When a cocky groomsman started talking in detail what he would do to the leader if he ever got his hands on her, Rin wanted to faint.
She gritted her teeth into her lip, trying to calm herself. She would be no good to anyone if she freaked out. She had to keep her head and come up with a way to stop so many people from showing up, without harming them. They were innocents twisted by Naraku's words; she couldn't harm them unless there was no other possible way out of it.
She rubbed the back of her hand across her forehead, trying to clear the sweat pooling on her skin. The room she was supposed to be cleaning was still a mess after nearly a hours work. She had to focus and finish the room before Hari came back. Kami knew the woman hadn't shut up when leading her here, how important this room was to be cleaned. Honestly, she didn't know what was so special about it, it seemed like a normal room. Kind of plain, with a dusty book looking slightly out of place sitting on a table next to the bed, but normal nonetheless.
Rin forced herself to neatly brush the dust off the table and book (though the dust was so thick it was slightly hard to clean off) and tided the room, plotting while she did so. She had already crossed out spreading more rumors since that obviously hadn't done anything expect give Jakotsu a chance to scare/annoy people. And they didn't have the resources or the time for a secret propaganda campaign in Kagome's favor. Kami what could they do?
Maybe Oda could steal the sign up sheet so there wouldn't be enough uniforms and weapons to go around? But that was a horrible idea, couldn't she come up with something-
Thump.
While Rin was on the floor, she banged her head against the wood. Of all the incredibly stupid things to do, she tripped over her own feet. What a-
Rin frowned. Something was strange. Slowly, she rapped her fingers against the wood her head has just hit.
There it was again. It sounded like her knock was echoed back to her instead of being absorbed by the floor. As if it were hallow...
Immediately, Rin was up on her knees, skimming her hands along the floor looking for some kind of crack or catch....there. Thankful she had thought to hide Sango's thin curved wrist blades under her wrist, she carefully slid the knife along the crack until she managed to work it under the wood and lift it up. She placed the wood panel aside and reached into the small, hallowed-out square, her fingers encountering only a single scroll.
She eagerly lifted it out and spread it open, glad to finally be finding something.
She frowned, slightly confused by the list.
Spy 1...bakery.
Spy 2...Coral Inn
Spy 3...Police Force
Spy 4...Beggar
Rin scanned the list, realizing whoever had left that list here was smart enough not to put all the information on one sheet. She had no idea who the spies were, only where they were located.
Rin's eyes ran down the list, not really finding anything that could help them, until she saw four words that made her go cold.
Spy 490...Rebel's Camp.
The Dwarfs
Kouga stared into his glass of sake, before quickly drowning it down in one gulp and giving himself another large helping. He took a slower sip this time, so he could look up and glare at Hojo's fucking back.
Hojo.
Now he knew the name of his enemy, but he wished he didn't. Hojo. What kind of name was that? It sounded like the name of one of those wussy, weak, soft guys.
Which of course was what chicks went totally nuts for. He transferred his scowl over to Ayame, unable to believe she wanted this idiot she and the rest of the girls were spending all their time gushing over.
'Because they should be gushing over the moron who's set on getting pissed face drunk, right?' Mini Kouga snarled at him, having no sympathy for Kouga.
Kouga didn't bother to respond, he only took another shot, trying to drown his demon's voice out.
Kouga watched Ayame place her hand on Hojo's arm, her laugh sounding like a angel, and decided he wanted to tear out his fucking arm and shove it down Hojo's throat.
And then toss Ayame over his shoulder and stalk off to a cave somewhere to lay his claim privately and with no interference from oh-so-perfect Hojo.
That bastard. Who did he think he was, stealing Ayame away from him? Had he been the one for the last three years, looking out for her, protecting her, and making sure she was ok?
'Did he ignore her for the last three years, spurn her affections and hurt her feelings?' Little Kouga asked sarcastically back.
Kouga brought his attention over to the nearly empty sake bottle, wondering if Hiten or Kagome had tried to hide another bottle from him again, and how he could convince them to give it up. He could try stripping again, but he was afraid Hiten might carry out his threat and throw him in the river.
Kagome finally looked over from Hojo and frowned at Kouga, noticing the sake bottle. Kouga sneered at her and brought the whole bottle to his lips, the burning liquid nothing compared to how his heart was breaking.
Sesshomaru (Later)
Sesshomaru waited as patiently as he was able to in the woods just outside the palace's gates, twilight beginning to fall. The other Seven members hadn't shown up yet, so he was left alone with his thoughts, something he was perfectly comfortable with until Rin. Last night he had barely been able to sleep at all because Botan firmly insisted on her daughter resting in her own room. She must have been able to sense how desperately he was starting to yearn for Rin. Last night had been horrible without her by his side and separated by more then a few walls. If he could not convince Rin to go back to the inn, tonight would only be a repeat performance of the night before, something his demon would not be happy about at all.
And at this moment, he felt himself want to do some as undignified as fidget, while he wondered when Rin was going to walk out of the palace gates. He hoped she got all of this spying and adventuring out of her system, because once she was his mate he would not allow her to be in so much danger. When she was his, she would be fortunate to walk around the palace grounds without his supervision. Kami only knew what trouble she could find herself in otherwise. Or perhaps it would just be safer to keep her constantly pupped and therefore confined to the house...
Suddenly the scent of forest, dead pine needles and unwashed skin assaulted his nose. He allowed himself to close his eyes in annoyance, quickly realizing these days of relative peace had come to a end.
"Yo, do you know how fucking hard you are to find?" Inuyasha complained as he settled down behind Sesshomaru's back. "I've been looking for you all day. Just where the hell do you go? I thought you were only 'observing' Rin and Seven. ...or did you finally get your thumb out of your ass and decided full on contact would be a better approach with Rin?" Inuyasha asked slyly.
"Why are you here?" Sesshomaru asked his brother calmly, completely ignoring his last statement.
Inuyasha grunted and came to stand beside Sesshomaru. "Kagome was getting worried about you guys. I told her I would come and hurry your asses up."
"Sorry Cutie, you can no longer have any right to have any access to my ass, despite your adorable little ears." Jakotsu told him cheerfully as he and Seven finally walked up.
Oda growled under his breath, glaring furiously at Inuyasha. "Why the hell would you have any access to his ass period?"
Inuyasha snorted and folded his arms across his chest, "What the hell is it to you?"
Oda snarled and knocked Inuyasha down, grabbing and twisting his ear painfully. "Since Jakotsu likes your ears so much, maybe I should cut them off and give them to him as a present."
Inuyasha's hand went for his sword as his eyes glowed red.
"Oda! No!" Jakotsu said frantically, pulling him back.
He smiled nervously at Inuyasha , holding Oda firmly back. "I'm sorry, but I'm sure you know how possessive a lover can be." He tittered cheerfully.
Inuyasha rolled his still slightly red tainted eyes, not moving in the defensive position he had instantly sprang into. "You have a jealous boyfriend? What the hell where you chasing after me for?" he demanded.
"For practice!" Jakotsu shot back, still trying to control a livid Oda.
Inuyasha blinked as something suddenly occurred to him. "Wait, so your officially taken now? You can't chase after anyone?"
"Yep! It's just me and my Oday from now until forever."
"Hah, yes!" Inuyasha pumped the air, the red fading from his eyes entirely. "I'm free! You can't chase after me anymore! Thank fucking kami!" he ran up to Oda and shook his hand, stepping back quickly when Oda's free hand swung out towards him. "You're a good man! I hope you two are very, very happy." he told him sincerely.
Sesshomaru held in the growl that wanted to spill out, "Inuyasha, control yourself." He ordered, his annoyance being replaced with relief when Rin's scent carried towards him. She must be nearly to the gates now.
Rin picked through the woods carefully, her normal cheerful face at seeing her men nonexistent.
Everyone instantly settled down at seeing her solemn face.
"Is something wrong Rin?" Bankotsu asked.
Rin sighed and leaned against a tree, "Naraku has officially declared war on Kagome. He got the townspeople so fired up; they were beating each other up to be first in line to sign up for the army."
Seven exchanged worried glances, "We heard about that today in town, but we were hoping most of it was exaggerated rumor." Renkotsu explained, looking troubled.
"But that's not the only problem, is it?" Bankotsu asked thoughtfully.
Mutely, Rin shook her head. "There's a spy in our army." She announced bluntly.
Seven drew in their breaths sharply, as Sesshomaru's and Inuyasha's eyes narrowed.
"A spy? Are you freaking crazy Rin? Who the hell would work for Kikyo?" Inuyasha barked.
"If she says there’s a spy, she's sure there's a spy dumbass." Bankotsu snapped back at Inuyasha.
"But who could it be? Everyone working for us as been harmed by Kikyo and wanted revenge." Renkotsu pointed out.
Rin shook her head, "Not everyone."
Inuyasha swore again, "Come on, you can't mean Soten. She's just a kid. Naraku would never trust her. Besides, she's Hiten's kid sister." he argued.
"She's also the only one Naraku or Kikyo hasn't harmed directly. She may think she's giving her loyalty to her 'lord'." Rin shot back.
Renkotsu raised a hand for silence. "We will send a pigeon to Kagome as soon as possible, and she can decide for herself who it could be, that isn't our job. Our job right now is to devise a plan that will stop so many people from fighting for Naraku's side." He explained calmly, looking expectantly towards Rin.
Rin inwardly froze, still not having come up with a plan that would stop an army without actually hurting them. She blinked when a sudden idea almost literally hit her.
"Jakotsu." she began slowly. "I remember you've never been responsible for preparing meals, someone's always done it for you or you've done other jobs. Why is that?"
Jakotsu looked at her, slightly surprised she had noticed such a thing, "I can't cook." he said bluntly, "Whenever I try, I usually end up nearly killing someone. Why?"
Rin's grin finally came back, "I'll explain on the way, but we have to hurry and tell Mayu she's not going to be able to come into work tomorrow."
END OF DAY 1
Rin vaguely listened to Oda lecturing Jakotsu on safety, her mind still reeling from what Sesshomaru had finally mentioned the night before.
The jerk had known where Kikyo's 'secret' bedroom was and almost never told her!
She still had to grit her teeth in anger when she thought about it. Stupid male, realizing it might have been important to mention that before she explained how she found out about the spy. But never mind about that, she would have plenty of time to search through Kikyo's rooms while Jakotsu and the other Seven provided a distraction.
"-and remember, do NOT look weak, or stupid, or spineless. Look like you have a purpose and you should be left alone." Oda continued to nag Jakotsu.
Jakotsu rolled his eyes, fixing his headband absently. "I know Oda." he told him, annoyed. "This isn't my first walk in the park. Or my first covert mission for that matter."
Oda sighed, his arm aching to wrap around Jakotsu's shoulders but knew he couldn't with so many guards and servants around. "Just promise me you'll be careful. This is dangerous." he begged.
"I will. Now be cool Oday Pie. This is going to be so much freaking fun." Jakotsu said cheerfully before they walked into the palace back doors.
The servants immediately started to bow before Oda, recognizing him as an important member of the military.
"My lord." Hari purred, sliding right up to him, "What is it you require?"
Oda fixed her with a hard glance and impersonally handed out the note Mayu had quickly written last night. "Your cook will be temporally dispatched. This is her replacement. All of his wishes are to be followed quickly and well." he ordered.
Hari nodded her head gracefully, not looking like she was wondering at all why military officer was bringing her a replacement cook himself, "Very well. Thank you my lord." she replied and sent him a sweet smile until he was out the door. She spun around and pursed her lips at Jakotsu.
"Hmm. You'll do for now I suppose. You will bring lunch out to the training armies at noon. Do not be late and make sure you make enough. You, follow me." she ordered curtly.
Rin sent one last glance at Jakotsu who winked back at her, before following Hari out the door.
Jakotsu looked towards the kitchen area and smiled with almost maniacal glee.
Rin
Rin barely waited for the door to close behind Hari before taking off her uniform and putting her weapons on their proper place around her waist. Her all black, skin tight outfits reminded her vaguely of Sango's demon slaying leathers, but without the pads. Since it could be awhile before the distraction, Rin settled down on the bed she was supposed to have made and slowly re-sharpened her weapon.
Jakotsu
Jakotsu looked over his weapons of choice, picking at one here, selecting one and bringing it closer to his eyes to examine it better. A scullery maid waited anxiously off to the side, slightly scared of what he would ask her next.
Jakotsu shook his head, "This is not good, do you not have something better?" he demanded.
The girl shook her head desperately, tears in her eyes, "No my lord please, those were the oldest I could find-"
"Well they are not old enough!" Jakotsu snapped and dropped load of vegetables on the floor, kicking at them, "I want the most rotting, disgusting, pieces of garbage you have!" he roared.
"My lord, please, why-"
"Do not ask me why! I am the cook here not you! Go find me what I want!" Jakotsu growled and the girl finally ran off.
Jakotsu looked over the potatoes, making a mental note to send the girl something sparkly and pretty when this was all over.
Though this was turning out to be such fun, he hoped it never ended!
Renkotsu
Renkotsu crept along the grounds, being careful to avoid the guards. Though Oda had given him a schedule last night on the soldier’s rounds, he didn’t want to leave anything up to chance.
He slowly came upon one of the weapon huts, amazed at how pathetically easy this had been so far. Only three guards were on duty, one was arrogantly swinging a set of keys around, one looked bored, and the other looked as if he was about to fall over.
Quickly, Renkotsu took out the tired one without a sound, catching his body so the thump wouldn’t alert the other guards. The bored one was just as easy, and the pompous guard went down with a quick jab to the neck.
Pitiful.
Renkotsu shook his head as he palmed the keys. Oh well, their stupidity was his gain.
He propped one of the guards up against the building, so anyone glancing over would only see a man resting against the wall, before unlocking the door and letting himself in.
He looked at all the gleaming swords hanging from the walls and sighed, resisting the urge to help himself to some. There would be plenty later.
Skillfully, Renkotsu began to set explosives in the center of the room, not wanting to destroy it completely, only intending to set it on fire.
His work done, he settled down to wait for the signal. They were all depending on Jakotsu now.
Jakotsu
Jakotsu bent down and looked closer in the reflective surface of the metal pot. Was his make-up smeared?
"Cook, it is almost noon. The soldiers are getting hungry." one of the servants helpfully reminded him.
"Coming!" Jakotsu sang, finally drawing his attention away from his face. After a nanosecond of thought he dumped about half of the rotten spinach into the boiling pot, added some apples he saw had worms in them, and just a handful of salt.
"It is finished!" Jakotsu announced after making sure the carrots were soggy enough. He grabbed two pot holders and proudly carried the pot of ‘stew’ out, either not noticing or not caring when one of the servants passed out as the smell hit her.
"Finally. The army is-" Hari stopped in mid sentence, her eyes watering. "What is that?" she asked, horrified.
"My family’s old recipe, guaranteed to give a man the strength of six." Jakotsu replied cheerfully.
Hari sniffed, "Well we certainly need that. Follow me." she ordered, being careful not to breathe through her nose.
Jakotsu indicated to the other servants to grab the other pots of stew as he walked along beside her, flower’s wilting and men crying in their wake until they finally reached outside where men were outside waiting for their lunch.
One of them immediately gagged at seeing the stew. "What the hell is that? Cow piss?" he sneered.
Jakotsu haughtily lifted his nose at the man, "It’s the food that’s going to turn you from useless momma’s boys into men. Eat a bowl and you’ll have the strength of six men." Jakotsu boasted.
"Hah! Prove it." One of the men shouted back.
Arrogantly, Jakotsu bent down and pretended to take a sip from his stew. Then he crawled under one of the tables loaded with heavy men, ignoring the laughing and jesting.
Because once he stood up, holding up the table and the men sitting on it with one hand, the laughing stopped.
"Give me some of that!" one of the men frantically called out, and almost immediately, men rushed the other servants holding the stew, demanded a bowl.
Jakotsu hid a small smile of satisfaction to himself and slipped away into the crowd, knowing it was only a matter of time.
Renkotsu
Renkotsu grinned when outside the weapon’s hut he heard loud cries of pain and men begging for their mothers. He resisted the urge to look outside, knowing Jakotsu’s stew had done the work and a good portion of Kikyo’s army was deadly ill with food poisoning.
Jakotsu loudly knocked on the door three times, giving him the signal. Swiftly, Renkotsu got to his feet and lit the fuse, and ran out the door, pulling Jakotsu and Oda with him.
"We have about thirty seconds before the fuse goes off and the remaining healthy members of Kikyo’s army are racing to save their weapons. Is everyone else in place?"
Oda nodded. "Bankotsu, Suikotsu, Inuyasha and my men are waiting nearby to steal the other weapons while the troops are occupied. If anyone asks, we’ll claim we’re saving the weapons in case the fire further spreads and by the time they think to look for us, we’ll be long gone."
Jakotsu groaned, "Kami, you are so freaking sexy like this."
"You to love." Oda purred.
Renkotsu fought the urge to roll his eyes. "And Rin?"
"Rin should be in place also. Sesshomaru will wait for her while we move ahead, as we decided last night." Oda said crossly, still unable to believe Seven was that upset at ‘leaving’ her.
Renkotsu forced himself top brush his worry off. Rin would be fine. He was sure Sesshomaru would see to that.
"Hit the ground in three, two, one-"
BANG!
Rin
The resulting explosion shocked even the palace and almost threw Rin off her feet. She waited impatiently by the door as servants screamed and ran for the exits. Only when everyone was clear of the hallway did she leave.
She jogged down the corridor, wanting to move quickly in case she had been wrong. Soon she was sliding the door to Kikyo’s bedroom open and walking in, her eyes focused on the bed.
She sat down and got comfortable, Sesshomaru having explained it was a long ride. Slowly she reached out and pulled the book up, almost jumping when the bed started to glide down.
She took her sword out and rested it on her lap as she lost sight of Kikyo’s fake bedroom and descended into the dark.
Kagome
"You can't get me Kagome. Nna nna nna na!" Kikyo taunted, spinning around and swinging her butt at me.
I scowled, getting seriously annoyed, and lined my target up again before letting my arrow fly.
Kikyo moved quickly to the side, missing the arrow and stuck her tongue out at me. "Missed me stupid!"
I gritted my teeth and firmly led my stance and waiting for the perfect moment to strike as Kikyo began to dance around again.
Now.
I let my arrow fly, right when Kikyo turned her back on me again and pumped her hips up and down making strange noises.
Twang.
"Ow!" Shippo cried as he reverted back to his own self. He whimpered and rubbed the aching spot on his butt where the rubber sucker on the end of the arrow shaft struck him. "That hurt Kagome." he whined.
I kneeled down and dragged Shippo into my arms, "I'm sorry Shippo." I soothed, "But you were a huge help today, thank you so much. The chocolates are in the chest in the living room."
"Thanks Kagome!" Shippo cheered up, forgetting all about his 'wound' and raced off back towards the house.
I chuckled to myself before starting to pick up the arrows that Shippo has missed. I should probably go see if Hiten and the others need help in clearing the forest for the coming army. Since Kouga was so focused on getting drunk he wasn’t going to be much help, the idiot.
"Kagome." Hiten yelled as he emerged out of the woods. "I need to talk to you."
I looked up and frowned, concerned by his white face and terrified eyes. "Hiten, what's wrong?"
He held out a paper to me, "This just came in from Rin and the others." he said shakily, nervously playing with his braid while I took and read it.
I gasped, and looked guiltily up at Hiten. "Hiten, if this is true-"
"Look, I know it looks bad, but Soten can't be the spy Rin's talking about. She isn't evil." he said desperately, "It must be someone else, it has to be."
I sighed, "Hiten, who? You've all been here together for the last 4 years. There's no way any of the dwarfs could be a spy." I said gently.
Hiten shook his head, "I don't know, but I'm certain Soten has nothing to do with this. Please Kagome, you have to know I would never put you or the dwarfs, or Kagura in danger if I wasn't sure."
"Not even for your own blood?"
Hiten shook his head, "Not even for her."
I stared at him, "What are you asking me to do Hiten?"I asked slowly.
"Destroy the page where Rin talks about the spy." Hiten said bluntly. "You know they'll all accuse Soten and she'll never get a chance to prove herself innocent. We tell them about the other things but please, leave Soten out of it." He begged.
I looked down at the page I held, indecision churning in my gut.
“Once they get back, you know this is going to come back” I warned him.
He nodded, “I know, but please, give me time.” he begged.
I glanced back up at Hiten, and his hopeful, tortured eyes made me sure. Quickly, I summoned up some of my miko flames, and set it on fire.
I dropped the burning paper, both of us watching it swirl to the ground before dying out as it consumed the entire page.
"I hope I won't regret that Hiten." I told him quietly.
He shook his head firmly. "You won't." Softly, he reached out and touched my hand. "Thank you Kagome." He told me before turning and striding off, his walk more confident then before.
I watched him go, not entirely sure I had made the right choice.
Rin
Rin sneezed when another layer of fine dust settled over her, shivering slightly. She was glad that once she got to a certain point, torches started to flick to light so she wasn’t in darkness, but honestly, she think she preferred the dark. This entire ‘ride’ was so creepy. Dust, cobwebs, dirt. Kagome would go crazy if she was ever down here.
Finally the bed reached the ground and Rin cautiously got up, being careful not to trip over any of the holes in the floor. This did not seem like Kikyo’s type of place at all.
She stopped at the end of the hallway, Sesshomaru having warned her about this. Carefully, she placed her hand on the wall and pushed, almost squealing when the wall swung out and launched her onto a fluffy black and purple bed.
Rin shuddered and quickly rolled off the mattress, not wanting to spend a lot of time around the bed Kikyo and Naraku (and probably a whole lot of other guys...)shared.
Sesshomaru had been right about the room’s layout. It was still the same bedroom/laboratory/sex dungeon he had described before.
Rin forced herself to go carefully through Kikyo’s drawers and dressers, finding nothing besides items that would blind her for life if she stared to long. Her gaze kept getting drawn to the painting on the wall, but after promising Sess a million times she wouldn’t touch it, (it had been so hard not to laugh in his face when he told her he had gotten shot across the room by it), there wasn’t much she could do about it.
Finally, after searching every possible hiding place, there wasn’t much more Rin could search through. She sighed and took one more look around the room, looking for something, anything she might have missed.
Wait...Sesshomaru didn’t say anything about that.
Hanging on the wall was a picture of Naraku and Kikyo doing...things. The things part of the picture was normal, it was what was above their heads that wasn’t.
It was a large strand of olive branch. It would make sense if Kikyo was using it in some way in the picture, but it was just kind of hanging above her head.
Rin walked up to the picture and took it off the wall. Some kind of lever had been hidden underneath it.
Rin eagerly pulled it down, knowing she should really be getting out of the room, but unable to resist. The wall next to the lever slid up and more stairs were exposed. She slowly walked down the steps, being careful to look out for any possible traps in her way.
The staircase was short and soon she was in a smaller version of the lab upstairs. It was nearly an exact copy expect for the roaring fire in the hearth and the strange jar fulled with a red substance strapped down on a table. Rin ignored them, seeing no real importance and carefully searched the room.
And like the lab above, there was really nothing to be found.
Rin sighed, and halfheartedly flipped open a rectangular wood box. She couldn't waste any more time here, she had to leave-
She clapped her hand over her mouth to hold the scream about to come out.
And sixty little people glared up at her.
AN: REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
inu+kag4ever!- Don't worry, almost everyone is going to end up with someone. Just not yet. (hehehe...)
kagome123- Thank you!
Disclaimer- I do not own Snow White and I do no own Inuyasha.
Rin
Rin's hands shook as she tried to dust a table, cursing when her trembling fingers couldn't grasp the cloth properly.
"Long live Kikyo!", "Death to Imposters!" caused her to wince every time she heard someone call out the phase. All morning, servants had been excitedly talking about joining the army, making bets with each other about who would get to score a hit on that 'evil fake bitch-leader' of the rebel forces. When a cocky groomsman started talking in detail what he would do to the leader if he ever got his hands on her, Rin wanted to faint.
She gritted her teeth into her lip, trying to calm herself. She would be no good to anyone if she freaked out. She had to keep her head and come up with a way to stop so many people from showing up, without harming them. They were innocents twisted by Naraku's words; she couldn't harm them unless there was no other possible way out of it.
She rubbed the back of her hand across her forehead, trying to clear the sweat pooling on her skin. The room she was supposed to be cleaning was still a mess after nearly a hours work. She had to focus and finish the room before Hari came back. Kami knew the woman hadn't shut up when leading her here, how important this room was to be cleaned. Honestly, she didn't know what was so special about it, it seemed like a normal room. Kind of plain, with a dusty book looking slightly out of place sitting on a table next to the bed, but normal nonetheless.
Rin forced herself to neatly brush the dust off the table and book (though the dust was so thick it was slightly hard to clean off) and tided the room, plotting while she did so. She had already crossed out spreading more rumors since that obviously hadn't done anything expect give Jakotsu a chance to scare/annoy people. And they didn't have the resources or the time for a secret propaganda campaign in Kagome's favor. Kami what could they do?
Maybe Oda could steal the sign up sheet so there wouldn't be enough uniforms and weapons to go around? But that was a horrible idea, couldn't she come up with something-
Thump.
While Rin was on the floor, she banged her head against the wood. Of all the incredibly stupid things to do, she tripped over her own feet. What a-
Rin frowned. Something was strange. Slowly, she rapped her fingers against the wood her head has just hit.
There it was again. It sounded like her knock was echoed back to her instead of being absorbed by the floor. As if it were hallow...
Immediately, Rin was up on her knees, skimming her hands along the floor looking for some kind of crack or catch....there. Thankful she had thought to hide Sango's thin curved wrist blades under her wrist, she carefully slid the knife along the crack until she managed to work it under the wood and lift it up. She placed the wood panel aside and reached into the small, hallowed-out square, her fingers encountering only a single scroll.
She eagerly lifted it out and spread it open, glad to finally be finding something.
She frowned, slightly confused by the list.
Spy 1...bakery.
Spy 2...Coral Inn
Spy 3...Police Force
Spy 4...Beggar
Rin scanned the list, realizing whoever had left that list here was smart enough not to put all the information on one sheet. She had no idea who the spies were, only where they were located.
Rin's eyes ran down the list, not really finding anything that could help them, until she saw four words that made her go cold.
Spy 490...Rebel's Camp.
The Dwarfs
Kouga stared into his glass of sake, before quickly drowning it down in one gulp and giving himself another large helping. He took a slower sip this time, so he could look up and glare at Hojo's fucking back.
Hojo.
Now he knew the name of his enemy, but he wished he didn't. Hojo. What kind of name was that? It sounded like the name of one of those wussy, weak, soft guys.
Which of course was what chicks went totally nuts for. He transferred his scowl over to Ayame, unable to believe she wanted this idiot she and the rest of the girls were spending all their time gushing over.
'Because they should be gushing over the moron who's set on getting pissed face drunk, right?' Mini Kouga snarled at him, having no sympathy for Kouga.
Kouga didn't bother to respond, he only took another shot, trying to drown his demon's voice out.
Kouga watched Ayame place her hand on Hojo's arm, her laugh sounding like a angel, and decided he wanted to tear out his fucking arm and shove it down Hojo's throat.
And then toss Ayame over his shoulder and stalk off to a cave somewhere to lay his claim privately and with no interference from oh-so-perfect Hojo.
That bastard. Who did he think he was, stealing Ayame away from him? Had he been the one for the last three years, looking out for her, protecting her, and making sure she was ok?
'Did he ignore her for the last three years, spurn her affections and hurt her feelings?' Little Kouga asked sarcastically back.
Kouga brought his attention over to the nearly empty sake bottle, wondering if Hiten or Kagome had tried to hide another bottle from him again, and how he could convince them to give it up. He could try stripping again, but he was afraid Hiten might carry out his threat and throw him in the river.
Kagome finally looked over from Hojo and frowned at Kouga, noticing the sake bottle. Kouga sneered at her and brought the whole bottle to his lips, the burning liquid nothing compared to how his heart was breaking.
Sesshomaru (Later)
Sesshomaru waited as patiently as he was able to in the woods just outside the palace's gates, twilight beginning to fall. The other Seven members hadn't shown up yet, so he was left alone with his thoughts, something he was perfectly comfortable with until Rin. Last night he had barely been able to sleep at all because Botan firmly insisted on her daughter resting in her own room. She must have been able to sense how desperately he was starting to yearn for Rin. Last night had been horrible without her by his side and separated by more then a few walls. If he could not convince Rin to go back to the inn, tonight would only be a repeat performance of the night before, something his demon would not be happy about at all.
And at this moment, he felt himself want to do some as undignified as fidget, while he wondered when Rin was going to walk out of the palace gates. He hoped she got all of this spying and adventuring out of her system, because once she was his mate he would not allow her to be in so much danger. When she was his, she would be fortunate to walk around the palace grounds without his supervision. Kami only knew what trouble she could find herself in otherwise. Or perhaps it would just be safer to keep her constantly pupped and therefore confined to the house...
Suddenly the scent of forest, dead pine needles and unwashed skin assaulted his nose. He allowed himself to close his eyes in annoyance, quickly realizing these days of relative peace had come to a end.
"Yo, do you know how fucking hard you are to find?" Inuyasha complained as he settled down behind Sesshomaru's back. "I've been looking for you all day. Just where the hell do you go? I thought you were only 'observing' Rin and Seven. ...or did you finally get your thumb out of your ass and decided full on contact would be a better approach with Rin?" Inuyasha asked slyly.
"Why are you here?" Sesshomaru asked his brother calmly, completely ignoring his last statement.
Inuyasha grunted and came to stand beside Sesshomaru. "Kagome was getting worried about you guys. I told her I would come and hurry your asses up."
"Sorry Cutie, you can no longer have any right to have any access to my ass, despite your adorable little ears." Jakotsu told him cheerfully as he and Seven finally walked up.
Oda growled under his breath, glaring furiously at Inuyasha. "Why the hell would you have any access to his ass period?"
Inuyasha snorted and folded his arms across his chest, "What the hell is it to you?"
Oda snarled and knocked Inuyasha down, grabbing and twisting his ear painfully. "Since Jakotsu likes your ears so much, maybe I should cut them off and give them to him as a present."
Inuyasha's hand went for his sword as his eyes glowed red.
"Oda! No!" Jakotsu said frantically, pulling him back.
He smiled nervously at Inuyasha , holding Oda firmly back. "I'm sorry, but I'm sure you know how possessive a lover can be." He tittered cheerfully.
Inuyasha rolled his still slightly red tainted eyes, not moving in the defensive position he had instantly sprang into. "You have a jealous boyfriend? What the hell where you chasing after me for?" he demanded.
"For practice!" Jakotsu shot back, still trying to control a livid Oda.
Inuyasha blinked as something suddenly occurred to him. "Wait, so your officially taken now? You can't chase after anyone?"
"Yep! It's just me and my Oday from now until forever."
"Hah, yes!" Inuyasha pumped the air, the red fading from his eyes entirely. "I'm free! You can't chase after me anymore! Thank fucking kami!" he ran up to Oda and shook his hand, stepping back quickly when Oda's free hand swung out towards him. "You're a good man! I hope you two are very, very happy." he told him sincerely.
Sesshomaru held in the growl that wanted to spill out, "Inuyasha, control yourself." He ordered, his annoyance being replaced with relief when Rin's scent carried towards him. She must be nearly to the gates now.
Rin picked through the woods carefully, her normal cheerful face at seeing her men nonexistent.
Everyone instantly settled down at seeing her solemn face.
"Is something wrong Rin?" Bankotsu asked.
Rin sighed and leaned against a tree, "Naraku has officially declared war on Kagome. He got the townspeople so fired up; they were beating each other up to be first in line to sign up for the army."
Seven exchanged worried glances, "We heard about that today in town, but we were hoping most of it was exaggerated rumor." Renkotsu explained, looking troubled.
"But that's not the only problem, is it?" Bankotsu asked thoughtfully.
Mutely, Rin shook her head. "There's a spy in our army." She announced bluntly.
Seven drew in their breaths sharply, as Sesshomaru's and Inuyasha's eyes narrowed.
"A spy? Are you freaking crazy Rin? Who the hell would work for Kikyo?" Inuyasha barked.
"If she says there’s a spy, she's sure there's a spy dumbass." Bankotsu snapped back at Inuyasha.
"But who could it be? Everyone working for us as been harmed by Kikyo and wanted revenge." Renkotsu pointed out.
Rin shook her head, "Not everyone."
Inuyasha swore again, "Come on, you can't mean Soten. She's just a kid. Naraku would never trust her. Besides, she's Hiten's kid sister." he argued.
"She's also the only one Naraku or Kikyo hasn't harmed directly. She may think she's giving her loyalty to her 'lord'." Rin shot back.
Renkotsu raised a hand for silence. "We will send a pigeon to Kagome as soon as possible, and she can decide for herself who it could be, that isn't our job. Our job right now is to devise a plan that will stop so many people from fighting for Naraku's side." He explained calmly, looking expectantly towards Rin.
Rin inwardly froze, still not having come up with a plan that would stop an army without actually hurting them. She blinked when a sudden idea almost literally hit her.
"Jakotsu." she began slowly. "I remember you've never been responsible for preparing meals, someone's always done it for you or you've done other jobs. Why is that?"
Jakotsu looked at her, slightly surprised she had noticed such a thing, "I can't cook." he said bluntly, "Whenever I try, I usually end up nearly killing someone. Why?"
Rin's grin finally came back, "I'll explain on the way, but we have to hurry and tell Mayu she's not going to be able to come into work tomorrow."
END OF DAY 1
Rin vaguely listened to Oda lecturing Jakotsu on safety, her mind still reeling from what Sesshomaru had finally mentioned the night before.
The jerk had known where Kikyo's 'secret' bedroom was and almost never told her!
She still had to grit her teeth in anger when she thought about it. Stupid male, realizing it might have been important to mention that before she explained how she found out about the spy. But never mind about that, she would have plenty of time to search through Kikyo's rooms while Jakotsu and the other Seven provided a distraction.
"-and remember, do NOT look weak, or stupid, or spineless. Look like you have a purpose and you should be left alone." Oda continued to nag Jakotsu.
Jakotsu rolled his eyes, fixing his headband absently. "I know Oda." he told him, annoyed. "This isn't my first walk in the park. Or my first covert mission for that matter."
Oda sighed, his arm aching to wrap around Jakotsu's shoulders but knew he couldn't with so many guards and servants around. "Just promise me you'll be careful. This is dangerous." he begged.
"I will. Now be cool Oday Pie. This is going to be so much freaking fun." Jakotsu said cheerfully before they walked into the palace back doors.
The servants immediately started to bow before Oda, recognizing him as an important member of the military.
"My lord." Hari purred, sliding right up to him, "What is it you require?"
Oda fixed her with a hard glance and impersonally handed out the note Mayu had quickly written last night. "Your cook will be temporally dispatched. This is her replacement. All of his wishes are to be followed quickly and well." he ordered.
Hari nodded her head gracefully, not looking like she was wondering at all why military officer was bringing her a replacement cook himself, "Very well. Thank you my lord." she replied and sent him a sweet smile until he was out the door. She spun around and pursed her lips at Jakotsu.
"Hmm. You'll do for now I suppose. You will bring lunch out to the training armies at noon. Do not be late and make sure you make enough. You, follow me." she ordered curtly.
Rin sent one last glance at Jakotsu who winked back at her, before following Hari out the door.
Jakotsu looked towards the kitchen area and smiled with almost maniacal glee.
Rin
Rin barely waited for the door to close behind Hari before taking off her uniform and putting her weapons on their proper place around her waist. Her all black, skin tight outfits reminded her vaguely of Sango's demon slaying leathers, but without the pads. Since it could be awhile before the distraction, Rin settled down on the bed she was supposed to have made and slowly re-sharpened her weapon.
Jakotsu
Jakotsu looked over his weapons of choice, picking at one here, selecting one and bringing it closer to his eyes to examine it better. A scullery maid waited anxiously off to the side, slightly scared of what he would ask her next.
Jakotsu shook his head, "This is not good, do you not have something better?" he demanded.
The girl shook her head desperately, tears in her eyes, "No my lord please, those were the oldest I could find-"
"Well they are not old enough!" Jakotsu snapped and dropped load of vegetables on the floor, kicking at them, "I want the most rotting, disgusting, pieces of garbage you have!" he roared.
"My lord, please, why-"
"Do not ask me why! I am the cook here not you! Go find me what I want!" Jakotsu growled and the girl finally ran off.
Jakotsu looked over the potatoes, making a mental note to send the girl something sparkly and pretty when this was all over.
Though this was turning out to be such fun, he hoped it never ended!
Renkotsu
Renkotsu crept along the grounds, being careful to avoid the guards. Though Oda had given him a schedule last night on the soldier’s rounds, he didn’t want to leave anything up to chance.
He slowly came upon one of the weapon huts, amazed at how pathetically easy this had been so far. Only three guards were on duty, one was arrogantly swinging a set of keys around, one looked bored, and the other looked as if he was about to fall over.
Quickly, Renkotsu took out the tired one without a sound, catching his body so the thump wouldn’t alert the other guards. The bored one was just as easy, and the pompous guard went down with a quick jab to the neck.
Pitiful.
Renkotsu shook his head as he palmed the keys. Oh well, their stupidity was his gain.
He propped one of the guards up against the building, so anyone glancing over would only see a man resting against the wall, before unlocking the door and letting himself in.
He looked at all the gleaming swords hanging from the walls and sighed, resisting the urge to help himself to some. There would be plenty later.
Skillfully, Renkotsu began to set explosives in the center of the room, not wanting to destroy it completely, only intending to set it on fire.
His work done, he settled down to wait for the signal. They were all depending on Jakotsu now.
Jakotsu
Jakotsu bent down and looked closer in the reflective surface of the metal pot. Was his make-up smeared?
"Cook, it is almost noon. The soldiers are getting hungry." one of the servants helpfully reminded him.
"Coming!" Jakotsu sang, finally drawing his attention away from his face. After a nanosecond of thought he dumped about half of the rotten spinach into the boiling pot, added some apples he saw had worms in them, and just a handful of salt.
"It is finished!" Jakotsu announced after making sure the carrots were soggy enough. He grabbed two pot holders and proudly carried the pot of ‘stew’ out, either not noticing or not caring when one of the servants passed out as the smell hit her.
"Finally. The army is-" Hari stopped in mid sentence, her eyes watering. "What is that?" she asked, horrified.
"My family’s old recipe, guaranteed to give a man the strength of six." Jakotsu replied cheerfully.
Hari sniffed, "Well we certainly need that. Follow me." she ordered, being careful not to breathe through her nose.
Jakotsu indicated to the other servants to grab the other pots of stew as he walked along beside her, flower’s wilting and men crying in their wake until they finally reached outside where men were outside waiting for their lunch.
One of them immediately gagged at seeing the stew. "What the hell is that? Cow piss?" he sneered.
Jakotsu haughtily lifted his nose at the man, "It’s the food that’s going to turn you from useless momma’s boys into men. Eat a bowl and you’ll have the strength of six men." Jakotsu boasted.
"Hah! Prove it." One of the men shouted back.
Arrogantly, Jakotsu bent down and pretended to take a sip from his stew. Then he crawled under one of the tables loaded with heavy men, ignoring the laughing and jesting.
Because once he stood up, holding up the table and the men sitting on it with one hand, the laughing stopped.
"Give me some of that!" one of the men frantically called out, and almost immediately, men rushed the other servants holding the stew, demanded a bowl.
Jakotsu hid a small smile of satisfaction to himself and slipped away into the crowd, knowing it was only a matter of time.
Renkotsu
Renkotsu grinned when outside the weapon’s hut he heard loud cries of pain and men begging for their mothers. He resisted the urge to look outside, knowing Jakotsu’s stew had done the work and a good portion of Kikyo’s army was deadly ill with food poisoning.
Jakotsu loudly knocked on the door three times, giving him the signal. Swiftly, Renkotsu got to his feet and lit the fuse, and ran out the door, pulling Jakotsu and Oda with him.
"We have about thirty seconds before the fuse goes off and the remaining healthy members of Kikyo’s army are racing to save their weapons. Is everyone else in place?"
Oda nodded. "Bankotsu, Suikotsu, Inuyasha and my men are waiting nearby to steal the other weapons while the troops are occupied. If anyone asks, we’ll claim we’re saving the weapons in case the fire further spreads and by the time they think to look for us, we’ll be long gone."
Jakotsu groaned, "Kami, you are so freaking sexy like this."
"You to love." Oda purred.
Renkotsu fought the urge to roll his eyes. "And Rin?"
"Rin should be in place also. Sesshomaru will wait for her while we move ahead, as we decided last night." Oda said crossly, still unable to believe Seven was that upset at ‘leaving’ her.
Renkotsu forced himself top brush his worry off. Rin would be fine. He was sure Sesshomaru would see to that.
"Hit the ground in three, two, one-"
BANG!
Rin
The resulting explosion shocked even the palace and almost threw Rin off her feet. She waited impatiently by the door as servants screamed and ran for the exits. Only when everyone was clear of the hallway did she leave.
She jogged down the corridor, wanting to move quickly in case she had been wrong. Soon she was sliding the door to Kikyo’s bedroom open and walking in, her eyes focused on the bed.
She sat down and got comfortable, Sesshomaru having explained it was a long ride. Slowly she reached out and pulled the book up, almost jumping when the bed started to glide down.
She took her sword out and rested it on her lap as she lost sight of Kikyo’s fake bedroom and descended into the dark.
Kagome
"You can't get me Kagome. Nna nna nna na!" Kikyo taunted, spinning around and swinging her butt at me.
I scowled, getting seriously annoyed, and lined my target up again before letting my arrow fly.
Kikyo moved quickly to the side, missing the arrow and stuck her tongue out at me. "Missed me stupid!"
I gritted my teeth and firmly led my stance and waiting for the perfect moment to strike as Kikyo began to dance around again.
Now.
I let my arrow fly, right when Kikyo turned her back on me again and pumped her hips up and down making strange noises.
Twang.
"Ow!" Shippo cried as he reverted back to his own self. He whimpered and rubbed the aching spot on his butt where the rubber sucker on the end of the arrow shaft struck him. "That hurt Kagome." he whined.
I kneeled down and dragged Shippo into my arms, "I'm sorry Shippo." I soothed, "But you were a huge help today, thank you so much. The chocolates are in the chest in the living room."
"Thanks Kagome!" Shippo cheered up, forgetting all about his 'wound' and raced off back towards the house.
I chuckled to myself before starting to pick up the arrows that Shippo has missed. I should probably go see if Hiten and the others need help in clearing the forest for the coming army. Since Kouga was so focused on getting drunk he wasn’t going to be much help, the idiot.
"Kagome." Hiten yelled as he emerged out of the woods. "I need to talk to you."
I looked up and frowned, concerned by his white face and terrified eyes. "Hiten, what's wrong?"
He held out a paper to me, "This just came in from Rin and the others." he said shakily, nervously playing with his braid while I took and read it.
I gasped, and looked guiltily up at Hiten. "Hiten, if this is true-"
"Look, I know it looks bad, but Soten can't be the spy Rin's talking about. She isn't evil." he said desperately, "It must be someone else, it has to be."
I sighed, "Hiten, who? You've all been here together for the last 4 years. There's no way any of the dwarfs could be a spy." I said gently.
Hiten shook his head, "I don't know, but I'm certain Soten has nothing to do with this. Please Kagome, you have to know I would never put you or the dwarfs, or Kagura in danger if I wasn't sure."
"Not even for your own blood?"
Hiten shook his head, "Not even for her."
I stared at him, "What are you asking me to do Hiten?"I asked slowly.
"Destroy the page where Rin talks about the spy." Hiten said bluntly. "You know they'll all accuse Soten and she'll never get a chance to prove herself innocent. We tell them about the other things but please, leave Soten out of it." He begged.
I looked down at the page I held, indecision churning in my gut.
“Once they get back, you know this is going to come back” I warned him.
He nodded, “I know, but please, give me time.” he begged.
I glanced back up at Hiten, and his hopeful, tortured eyes made me sure. Quickly, I summoned up some of my miko flames, and set it on fire.
I dropped the burning paper, both of us watching it swirl to the ground before dying out as it consumed the entire page.
"I hope I won't regret that Hiten." I told him quietly.
He shook his head firmly. "You won't." Softly, he reached out and touched my hand. "Thank you Kagome." He told me before turning and striding off, his walk more confident then before.
I watched him go, not entirely sure I had made the right choice.
Rin
Rin sneezed when another layer of fine dust settled over her, shivering slightly. She was glad that once she got to a certain point, torches started to flick to light so she wasn’t in darkness, but honestly, she think she preferred the dark. This entire ‘ride’ was so creepy. Dust, cobwebs, dirt. Kagome would go crazy if she was ever down here.
Finally the bed reached the ground and Rin cautiously got up, being careful not to trip over any of the holes in the floor. This did not seem like Kikyo’s type of place at all.
She stopped at the end of the hallway, Sesshomaru having warned her about this. Carefully, she placed her hand on the wall and pushed, almost squealing when the wall swung out and launched her onto a fluffy black and purple bed.
Rin shuddered and quickly rolled off the mattress, not wanting to spend a lot of time around the bed Kikyo and Naraku (and probably a whole lot of other guys...)shared.
Sesshomaru had been right about the room’s layout. It was still the same bedroom/laboratory/sex dungeon he had described before.
Rin forced herself to go carefully through Kikyo’s drawers and dressers, finding nothing besides items that would blind her for life if she stared to long. Her gaze kept getting drawn to the painting on the wall, but after promising Sess a million times she wouldn’t touch it, (it had been so hard not to laugh in his face when he told her he had gotten shot across the room by it), there wasn’t much she could do about it.
Finally, after searching every possible hiding place, there wasn’t much more Rin could search through. She sighed and took one more look around the room, looking for something, anything she might have missed.
Wait...Sesshomaru didn’t say anything about that.
Hanging on the wall was a picture of Naraku and Kikyo doing...things. The things part of the picture was normal, it was what was above their heads that wasn’t.
It was a large strand of olive branch. It would make sense if Kikyo was using it in some way in the picture, but it was just kind of hanging above her head.
Rin walked up to the picture and took it off the wall. Some kind of lever had been hidden underneath it.
Rin eagerly pulled it down, knowing she should really be getting out of the room, but unable to resist. The wall next to the lever slid up and more stairs were exposed. She slowly walked down the steps, being careful to look out for any possible traps in her way.
The staircase was short and soon she was in a smaller version of the lab upstairs. It was nearly an exact copy expect for the roaring fire in the hearth and the strange jar fulled with a red substance strapped down on a table. Rin ignored them, seeing no real importance and carefully searched the room.
And like the lab above, there was really nothing to be found.
Rin sighed, and halfheartedly flipped open a rectangular wood box. She couldn't waste any more time here, she had to leave-
She clapped her hand over her mouth to hold the scream about to come out.
And sixty little people glared up at her.
AN: REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1