InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Hunt ❯ Dilemma ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or its characters.

A/N: Cool! Reviewers rock! Hehe. I love my reviewers. Most of them (actually, all of them for this story) have managed to constructively criticize me without bringing on the blowtorch! NE way, sorry I'm so late in updating… I'll be honest, I've just been a lazy ass and neglected my story.

… Chapter 4 - Inuyasha's Dilemma …

Kagome drove quickly to Sango's. She hurriedly parked across the street and dashed toward the stairs. Kagome reached the third floor of the apartment building and knocked briefly before opening the door.

"You guys, I am sooo sorry… I -" Kagome began. She cut her sentence short when she saw who was in front of her.

"Hi, Kagome. Miss me that much, to come bursting in here like that?" an arrogant voice called out. He stood in the hallway, his long black hair tied neatly back. His crystal blue eyes glinted, and his smile was a self-satisfied one. Apparently, he had just arrived as well. 'Kouga…?'

"Dr. Higurashi. You can call me Dr. Higurashi." Kagome said coolly. Kouga merely smirked at her tone. He opened his mouth to say something, but thankfully (for Kagome) Sango poked her head into the hall.

"Kagome-chan! We were wondering about you. What happened?" Sango asked, her eyes slightly worried. Kagome shook her head.

"Nothing." She answered. Kagome thought briefly about Inuyasha and smiled slightly at their thrilling race a few minutes before.

"Yeah, but… you sounded rushed. What were you doing? Did that Inuyasha guy give you some problems?" Sango inquired. Kouga's eyes glinted at the mention of another guy. He grabbed Kagome's hands and held them, looking into her eyes.

"Some bastard lay his hand on you, on my woman?" Kouga asked. Kagome lightly slapped his hand away.

"Of course not. You think I'd let a guy like him get on my case? We… we had a rather heated discussion, though." Kagome said, stepping back from Kouga's intimate position. Her face was flushed pink, partially from running to Sango's, partially at the surprise and slight irritation of Kouga touching her like that. Kagome inched away from Kouga, grabbing Sango's arm and pulling her out of Kouga's hearing range.

"What is he doing here?!" Kagome whispered furiously.

"I don't know either, Kagome! He called and asked about the expedition; I told him we were discussing it here, and I guess he decided to invite himself! It's not like I told him to come by!" Sango whispered back. They turned and smiled somewhat nervously at Kouga's questioning glare. He shrugged and walked to the living room, where he and Miroku fell into conversation. 'Invite… him…' Kagome thought, Sango's words striking a chord within her. She turned to Sango, an awkward smile on her face.

"Kagome chan… daijobu?" Sango asked, her features etched with confusion.

"Uh… speaking of inviting… um… not like he might even come by… but… I told that Inuyasha guy that maybe he could stop by." Kagome said. Noticing Sango's concerned, shocked expression, she hurriedly continued.

"We both tried to get each other to refuse the offer… but of course, you know me, there's no way in hell I'd do something like that… well apparently he's as stubborn as an ass, and he wouldn't back off either… so… after…" Kagome stopped, thought better of revealing her and Inuyasha's heated race to Sango. "… After I decided maybe he's not so bad and I asked him to come by if he was interested in teaming up!" Kagome finished. She drew in a deep breath, replacing all that she had lost in her incessant rambling. Sango blinked a few times. She had only caught about half of it, but the bottom line was, Kagome had just invited a damn treasure hunter to join their party.

"Kagome! What were you thinking?!" Sango asked.

"Sango… Come on! Trust me a little, would ya? I… there's something about this Inuyasha guy. He's not as bad as he seems… I… I can sense it, somehow… besides… he might not even come…" Kagome trailed off. 'That's right… I can sense it, somehow…' She thought to herself. At that moment, she realized that intuition of hers brought a tiny bit of fear into her heart. 'Where were all these feelings coming from? Why do I have them?' Kagome thought, frustrated. Sango exhaled, and was silent for a moment.

"Well… all right… you're my friend, Kagome, so I'm trusting you on this." Sango said reluctantly. She walked toward her living room, pulling Kagome with her. "Come on. We've got lots to discuss. Miroku already went through his library and brought some books regarding the 'four souls'. Maybe, if we know what they are, we'll find some clue as to where to start looking." Sango said.

.-*****-.-*****-.-*****-.

Inuyasha drove mindlessly, not really paying attention to anything but the reflective lights signaling the road's path. Briefly he considered his decision. 'Really… should I…?' He thought. What was it about this girl, Kagome Higurashi? There was something about her that just seemed so… trustable. Judging from their earlier race, she was just as gutsy as he was, and she was just as stubborn, too. Strange how they had so much in common, personality-wise. Realizing he was close to his brother's mansion, he decided to drop in. Inuyasha turned into his brother's massive six-car garage, parking neatly behind a brand-spanking-new black Jaguar XK convertible. He shook his head. His half brother never settled for less than the best. He opened the door leading inside the mansion.

"Oi! Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha called. A toad like creature frantically ran down the curved staircase.

"You should know better than to come barging in like that, half-breed! Sesshoumaru-sama deserves much more respect, especially from the likes of you!" the creature scoffed. He was immediately silenced by Inuyasha's blade at his throat.

"Shut up, Jaken. Now… where's that dear brother of mine?" Inuyasha asked.

"Put the sword down, Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru said in his usual emotionless tone. Inuyasha smirked and placed the blade back in its sheath, much to the relief of Jaken. Sesshoumaru looked at him, the question obvious in his eyes. What do you want?

"You worry too much, Sesshoumaru. I just wanted to crash for the night." Inuyasha smirked. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, but turned and waved Inuyasha off.

A few hours later…

Sesshoumaru glided (a/n: isn't it kinda sad that he walks more gracefully than I do? *winks*) through his manor. He was restless. A light in his library caught his eye. His features contorted to a suspicious look as he walked toward the library. Sesshoumaru glanced in the dimly lit room. 'Inuyasha?' he thought, noticing the way his brother was slumped over an open book. He shook his head as he walked silently behind his pathetic half-brother. He stood, not saying a single word, just staring at the hanyou. Suddenly his claw struck out, slicing a gash into Inuyasha's red-cloaked shoulder. Inuyasha's eyes snapped open, glowed red for a moment as he registered the pain.

"ITAI!" Inuyasha yelped, arching his back to get away from his attacker. He turned, his claws ready to assault his foe. He froze when he saw it was Sesshoumaru, his eyes narrow slits.

"You bastard." Inuyasha said simply, rotating his shoulder so that it would crack. He glared at him briefly before connecting his fist with Sesshoumaru's handsome jaw in a hasty blow. Sesshoumaru's head snapped back ever so slightly, but he never moved from his stance.

"What are you doing, Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru asked in his usual emotionless tone.

"Keh! None of your business." Inuyasha replied, wiping the blood from his shoulder. It irked him, the stinging pain of the gash, but he knew it'd be gone within the next few hours.

"It is my business when you use my resources." Sesshoumaru said. He briefly glanced at the book that lay before Inuyasha. Inuyasha had managed to drip a few miniscule drops of blood onto the open pages. Sesshoumaru eyes narrowed. "How dare you defile my books with your dirty blood." The young demon lord said coldly.

"Shut up, baka. I wouldn't have bled if not for you, bastard." Inuyasha replied matter-of-factly.

"Inuyasha. You never answered my question." Sesshoumaru asked. He took another look at the open hardback. "Shikon no Tama… Is that the item you were hired to find?" Sesshoumaru asked. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Ba-ka. No, I'm reading this for fun." Inuyasha growled sarcastically. He sighed. "This is actually not going to be as easy as I thought. All the information is vague." Inuyasha said thoughtfully. Sesshoumaru quirked an eyebrow.

"You never seemed to have a problem with this before." Sesshoumaru said in a straightforward tone.

"Yeah… well…" Inuyasha said quietly. He glanced at his brother briefly. "Sesshoumaru… you ever heard of a Dr. Kagome Higurashi?"

"Dr. Higurashi…" Sesshoumaru said, trailing off into thought. "I believe she is a young, fairly well known archaeologist, is she not?" He replied (a/n: remember, Sesshoumaru is a freaking business lord, he would be well acquainted with any other famous names…)

"What else do you know about her?" Inuyasha pressed. Sesshoumaru looked at him, the slightest hint of curiosity in his tawny eyes.

"Do you think I'd waste my time learning more about a simple human girl like her? All I know is that she's a successful archaeologist who teaches at the main university." Sesshoumaru answered, a hint of disgust in his voice. "Inuyasha, are you becoming infatuated with another human?" He asked, his disgust even more evident. Inuyasha glared at him.

"As I recall, last time you fell for a human, you ended up with a bullet through your shoulder." Sesshoumaru said tauntingly.

Flashback

"You lied to me! You stole the Scroll of Shikon! You threatened MY LIFE! You… how could you?!" a female voice resounded, betrayal and hatred in her usually calm voice. The beautiful woman turned away.

"Kikyou… Kikyou! Listen to me! I… I swear! I didn't take the damn scroll from you!" Inuyasha replied. Anger began to burn in his amber eyes.

"Liar! How do you explain the scroll at your feet? You lied to me, hanyou!" Kikyou yelled, the final word hitting deep in Inuyasha's heart. Noticing his change of expression, she smiled satisfactorily.

"Yes, you heard me! You thought you could hide that! I could never have trusted you!" Kikyou said angrily. Suddenly she whipped around, drawing a simple revolver from her loose sleeves. Inuyasha stepped toward her.

"Stay away from me! Filthy creature…" She whispered. Inuyasha's heart tightened at her comment, but his eyes simply flashed. He took another step.

It happened all too fast. The echoing snap of the bullet leaving the gun's barrel… the sickening sound of a shot connecting with flesh. The thud of his body as it hit the floor, blood seeping from the bullet's path deep into his right shoulder.

"A bastard like you deserves to die…" Kikyou whispered, boldly walking out of the tent.

End flashback

"Fuck you." Inuyasha said, shaking his head to clear the images. "Bastard. Who said anything about falling for this girl? I just heard of her and wondered if she'd be any use." Inuyasha said in a dangerous tone.

"Hmph. Whatever you say, dear brother. If that's all it really is…" Sesshoumaru said in a doubtful tone, "…Then Kagome Higurashi is the best among the best." He said before walking out the door. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. 'Bastard. As if I'd be stupid enough to make the same mistake twice. I'll never trust again… EVER!'

*** Ok, pleeeaaasseee like this! Pretty, pretty pleaaaasssee… I worked really hard on this chapter. In fact, I redid the whole second half of this chapter because the first version sounded… off. I hope everyone liked this one. R & R, no flames onegai! Ja ne!***