InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Wild West and the Gang of Four Souls ❯ A Friendly Game of Poker ( Chapter 12 )

Formatting is just about driving me crazy. This is the forth time I'm uploading, so if you see any problems please tell me.

Warning- This chapter contains a major asshole whose beliefs in no way reflect those of the author.

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The journey to Perdition had been a tense one. Kagome refused to talk to Inuyasha directly, and Inuyasha was hell bent on trying to figure out why Kagome was riding her own horse.

To Kagome, Inuyasha's prank, though deserving vengeance, couldn't have come at a more convenient time. It allowed her to stay mad and not answer any questions what so ever that the confused sheriff sent her way.

Kagome road her horse like there was absolutely nothing strange about it, and why not. Her cover had been to keep people from discovering who she was, and since that was blown all pretenses could be dropped as well. This meant that Kagome was going to tell Inuyasha everything, but she decided that she would wait till the most opportune moment arrived, and if that never happened, o well then he would never find out.

As soon as the group reached Perdition they checked into one of the hotels and split up. The guys wanted to do their own thing without the women weighing them down. Getting stuff done without the women being moral consciences would be much easier in their opinions. Ironically the girls shared the same point of view towards the men, and so fully supported the split up for the time being. Without Miroku and Inuyasha breathing down their necks, Kagome and Sango could talk about, and more importantly do, anything they wanted to.

Perdition was a town a girl could have fun in, especially Kagome's and Sango's type of fun. It was also a town with a fair amount of money running through it; do to the number of silver mines it was a life line to. This allowed the town to support a number of stores and people that were of great interest to both Sango and Kagome.

It was going to be a busy day for the girls.

- - - - - - - - -

"Sango look at this beautiful fabric. I haven't felt something this soft since before I left the traveling show." Kagome ran her hand over the fabric again taking in its softness.

"Ooooo" was Sango's reply when she joined in.

After walking around town a bit girls decided on a shopping expedition. Sango hadn't gotten any time to shop for dresses in Mercy and Kagome hadn't seen anything new in half a year. Shopping, was the never fail answer for how they spent the afternoon when the guys asked, because no guy really wants details on your purchases or findings, and so shopping became Sango's and Kagome's perfect alibi to cover up their main objective in visiting the shops, acquiring the local gossip.

The first stop was a dress shop, because what better place to here all the local gossip than a shop full of busy bodies who don't keep their mouths shut.

Kagome and Sango made their way very slowly around the store, examining each piece of fabric, while they eaves dropped on a group of four women in the corner.

The gossips were certainly in fine shape that day bragging about their own husbands and endeavors, while casting suspicions on any lady in the town who wasn't currently in the room.

"Shirley," screeched a fat woman who was sitting in a chair watching a younger woman get fitted for a dress. "Suck it in. I don't want that beau of yours getting one look at the weight you have put on and turn tail. You know it is hard enough finding a good man these days. I don't want you to screw this up."

The girl standing on the stool stood up a little straighter and tried to make herself look as thin as possible. "Yes mama." She replied half heartedly.

"Don't give me that type of attitude young lady. He's the best you can do and you know it, so it would bode well for you to abide by my wishes."

The girl gave a small nod and continued trying to make herself look as skinny as possible.

"Speaking of men, did you here about the amount recruited for the other night's bounty hunt?" Said a thin and sallow woman sitting in another chair close by.

"Ya," replied the fat one, "The sheriff went to every one of his usual sources and then some. Must have been some one big they were hunting down."

"I hear that they only injured the target too. Worse yet the two Jones boys, old McCarthy, elder and young Jim, a few miners, and a bunch of those ranch hands didn't come back." Said the skinny one with an indifferent air that spoke of this being a common occurrence.

"There is a lot of movement to and from the ranch lately." Said short woman who was fitting the dress. "I wonder if any of it will involve Shirley's beau. You know that Goshinkishi is very high in the master's favor."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Was Shirley's very timid and quiet reply.

"Hun if it's the boss you're afraid of," said the dress maker, "its better that your man is on his good side. Mine wasn't, and look where it got me, working all day with tired and sore eyes just to keep food on the table. It is a hard life out here in the West, and it is better to have friends in high places or in this case low circles to watch your back."

"I think I am more scared of Goshinkishi. If I try to get away from him, the Bla… I mean the ranch hands would just track me down." The young girl's eyes were glistening and her face told the she was under great pressure in trying to conceal her emotions.

"Shirley, you should know better than to almost slip like that," barked he mother, "and you should be grateful of every thing the master has done for the town and us. After your father was killed, I didn't know what we would do until we were invited to live on the ranch."

That was the limit for Shirley's timid nature, and as she raised her head to meet her mother's eyes defiantly, she almost shouted her response. "It is because of that man we are all orphans and widows. I will not stand by and watch more of us die for that man's sick and twisted ambitions. I swear he would best not get near me, because I will stab a dagger in his heart if he gets close enough."

The mother stood up and slapped her daughter, "HUSH, you idiot of a daughter. You and your dim-witted bursts of defiance will end up costing us much if you don't learn to control them, and that is something you must do before your marriage unless you want me to live a very painful existence. Do I make myself clear, young lady?"

Shirley deflated, and stood there sorrow and hopelessness obvious in her eyes, "Yes mama."

"Good, now stand up straight and suck it in. We are expected for dinner tonight and it would be frowned upon if you didn't have a nice pretty dress to wear."

Kagome realized that they both had been rubbing the same piece of fabric since the conversation began, and nudged Sango to move to another part of the store so that they would be less obviously eaves dropping.

After a little while longer Kagome bought a hat and both women left the store. They had gotten the lead they needed, and there was still a lot of work to be done before they had to return to the inn.

- - - - - - - - - -

Miroku slowly picked up the cards dealt to him and glanced around the table slowly, studying each person's reaction to the cards they got.

The game was intense and serious. The men Miroku and Inuyasha were playing with were no armatures, and the stakes were high. It was just the type of game Miroku loved to play especially when he himself was playing dumb.

He was dressed in the classic traveler's outfit which showed no that wealth nor knowledge was known to him; it was the type of outfit that put people off guard. Inuyasha was in a ranchers outfit with his hair stuffed into a hat that was pulled low over his eyes. No matter how well he was known in Mercy people outside the town didn't look too kindly to his Inu heritage and he would rather keep the attention to a minimum.

So far in the game Miroku had lost three- fourths of the money he had started with, but he did not view this as a bad thing. On the contrary, Miroku's plans were working perfectly. He knew all of the giveaways the other players possessed. Poker was a game of deception and seeing through other people's defenses, once you had that beat the game was as easy as taking candy from a baby. Up till now he had put the other players in a false since of security about him, now it was time to show them who he was.

Inuyasha's job was to attract the attention away from Miroku and make him the player to be wary about. So far he had been doing fairly well but it was Miroku's job to rack in the real money, and as Inuyasha caught the barely perceptible wink from his partner, he knew that the fun was about to begin; Miroku was getting serious.

"I'm in, and I'll raise you 50." Said Inuyasha after the man to his left threw in a 20.

They went around the table a few times, each man too prideful to drop out until he knew what the others were playing with. Eventually Inuyasha pulled out and the person up against Miroku put everything he had in to the pot. When Miroku laid down a three aces an intensity started building in the room, and Miroku racked in his winnings.

Both Inuyasha and Miroku loved when the game got to this point. They knew enough about poker to be able to beat the average man with their eyes closed. The true challenge was to trick everyone at the table, and then compete against each other like they weren't acquainted. It made people less wary with their money if they didn't know they had two people working together to swindle it out of them.

The game got heated with Miroku quickly earning back his lost money and Inuyasha staying evenly at what he had. A few men called it a day and headed home, while the proud and the drunk hung on.

"Damn liar is what you are." Said a particularly drunk and obnoxious man who was sitting next to Miroku. "I don't know what you are playing at but no man starts off that bad and wins it all back like that. What did you say your name was?"

"I am Sid Hartha." Said Miroku in his normal silky way. He loved to test the guys he played against with the names he used. It showed who had a brain in their heads. "I'm just passing through here on the way to the West coast to buy some land and make an honest living."

The drunken man snorted and took another swig of his whiskey; he seemed completely oblivious to the obvious falsehood behind Miroku's words. The man next to Inuyasha raised his eye brows a little and furrowed his brow. Miroku took one look at this man and knew he was the one they needed to watch out for. He actually had a brain.

The game eventually came down to one hand that every one bet the farm on. Miroku knew more or less what everyone else had. You can't have lived off of poker half your life without having learned to read people like the back of your hand, and Miroku was practically raised sitting on a poker table.

Inuyasha's hand was a three of a kind nines; next to him the man folded throwing out a pair of aces and fours. The drunken man sitting next to Miroku looked really anxious and excited until Miroku laid out a royal flush, and then his face looked like it had hit the floor.

Miroku's victory was short lived as the drunken man found himself again, turned to grab Miroku by the collar of his shirt and lifted him out of his seat.

"I don't know who you are or what you did to win, you dirty lying son of a bitch, but I swear that when I find out how you cheated you won't remember a day you weren't in pain."

Miroku held his hands up in a non aggressive manner, "I assure you sir I did nothing to wrong you in this game, and I have no wish to fight you."

The man threw Miroku back down and stormed out of the bar.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrow at Miroku and then returned to counting the little money he had managed not to place on the table in the first place. The big man next to him got a disgusted look on his face and then hit Inuyasha's hat across the room.

"I thought so. I knew you were a dirty injun the second you walked in that door. Where the hell did you get all that money? I here that some settlers were robbed not far from here, I wonder what the sheriff would think if I brought you in."

Inuyasha froze when his hat was thrown off and listened to the man's words with barely restrained anger. Miroku saw the glint of red in Inuyasha's eyes and took a step back.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Inuyasha stood and jabbed his gun up and under the other man's jaw, driving it in farther in with every word.

The man however, as Miroku had observed, was not a slow thinker, and as Inuyasha had his gun under the man's jaw, the man had his leveled against the side of Inuyasha's head.

"I know who you are savage." Spat the man through his teeth. "Everyone knows the bandit with not enough balls to come out of the town where he can hide behind his badge. Your very blood is a disgrace to any lawful job, you dog. What could your mother not find a civilized man to fuck her?"

The man sure as hell did not see the hit coming but as he straightened again and looked back at the Dog Demon Bandit, the famous blood red eyes told him that he had cracked the half breed in front of him.

The man grabbed Inuyasha by the collar and threw him against the wall. Inuyasha retaliated and hit the wall feet first, pushing back towards the man driving both of them into a nearby table.

"Someone call the sheriff and get these men the hell away from my saloon." Yelled the bar tender as he picked up his shotgun and loaded it.

"Come on Goshinkishi, let's get out of here." Said a guy who looked a lot like a rat, as he grabbed the man fighting with Inuyasha.

"Sundown, center of town savage. I hope you aren't too yellow for that."

"I'm going to make you regret the day you were born." Inuyasha spat back. He turned and then walked through the front door and heading down the street.

Miroku shoved the rest of the money into his saddle bag, thanked the saloon owner, and headed to the kitchen and out the back door. He needed to go make sure everything was packed incase they needed to make a speedy exit from town in the near future.

- - - - - - - -

Sango and Kagome tied up Kirara and Flecha up near some trees on a river bed just outside the fence of the ranch.

Sango reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a mouse.

Kagome looked at it questioningly, "Um Sango, I know you like animals but isn't keeping a mouse in your bag a bit much?"

Sango laid the mouse down and stood up to continue shuffling through her bag, "It's Miroku. He thinks by putting things in my stuff he'll get his revenge for out prank. So far I have found two mice and a harmless snake in my bags, not to mention him also trying to do what Inuyasha did and spike my soap with itching cream. What he hasn't figured out yet is that I was raised with a bunch of boys; no way will he ever be able to get me with a prank. I'm the queen of them."

After a bit more looking Sango found what she was looking for and handed Kagome a black bandana to put on her face in case they were spotted. Both women also donned hats over their hair and black clothe before jumping over the fence and going through the underbrush towards the main house. This wasn't a sneak attack. They were going to try to avoid conflict at all costs so they didn't need to load up on weapons. This was a reconnaissance mission to figure out with whom they were dealing.

The first building they past was a barn. It was fairly large and filled to the brim with well trained horses.

Sango took one look in there and kept moving. "My bet is that is only one of their barns. Ten to one they have twice as many horses housed on this ranch."

Sango made her way farther into the complex and spotted one of the look outs just in time to drag Kagome with her into the doorway of the nearest building.

"It's locked Sango we should try the next one." Said Kagome as she watched the man start to turn and make his way towards them.

"O no, a locked door just means there is something we really want to see behind it."

Sango took a hair pin and worked with the lock a second before it sprung open admitting them entry to the room just in time.

Kagome let out a low whistle as she looked around the room.

"Wow, you think they are preparing for war?"

Sango stepped away from the door that she secured to look at the weapon storage they happened upon.

"They must have enough guns in here to take on the whole Eastern army," Kagome continued, "not to mention enough TNT to blow the entire ranch sky high."

Sango started looking around investigating every weapon they had with the grace only someone raised in the business of lawwoman could have. She agreed with Kagome's assumption about the dynamite, if this thing caught fire there was no way they would make it out of there alive.

"Mmm Sango do you mind if we get the hell out of here? This place is making me nervous."

"Ya we need to figure out what they are going to use this for."

Opening the door Sango checked both ways before slipping out and continuing her way towards the most promising house.

After a lot of continuous dodging into other buildings and away from guards, both women made it to the main building.

It was a sprawling ranch style, one floor with very high ceilings. From the looks of it the house was older, and most likely had an inner court yard at the center of it. The window they approached was one that led to some sort of study. Both women stopped and listened when they heard a chilling voice come through the window.

"I know they survived the attack, what can I expect from sending puppets to do the work only I can take care of. You realize however, that if one more thing goes wrong your head is going to be mine."

Kagome froze; something in her mind warned her of that voice. She knew it from the past but didn't dare look into it because the only thing the past could bring to her was memories she didn't dare confront.

Sango caught the falter on Kagome's face and took it as a bad sign. Kagome only got that look when someone got too close to the past she was trying to shut out. If Sango guessed right, this was the man that they needed to take care of first.

Kagome took a deep breath and relocked her past. She then stood up to hear the conversation better.

"My lord, I am sorry that they have made it through the trap we set. We will not fail next time." A weasily little voice groveled back.

A person was heard walking into the room and a voice spoke up, "I am sorry to interrupt, my lord, but I have just received word that our second trap it set."

The master spoke up, "Very well, come into the courtyard and explain the plan to me while I have something to eat."

-Damn it we need to find out what that plan is.- Thought Sango as she scanned the roof above her.

It was too tall for her to get up there and the roof was the only way they would hear what the men were up to.

That is when Sango notice Kagome eyeing the wall in front of her with a little more optimism.

"Kagome," Sango whispered, "any chance you can make it up there?"

Kagome smiled slyly, "I wasn't half raised in a circus for nothing, well actually it was a traveling Western show, but that is beyond the point. Ya, I can do it with my eyes closed. Just stand still and brace yourself."

Kagome glanced both ways and took a few steps back from the wall as she readied herself. -Deep breath Kagome, just like old times.-

She took a running start, and using Sango's shoulders vaulted herself up onto the roof. After buckling and rolling to make sure she didn't make too much noise, she edged her way along till she was at the edge of the inner court yard roof and laid down to listen. She wasn't stupid enough to try and see the men talking.

The underling spoke, "The half breed sheriff is going to fight Goshinkishi at sundown. All are men will be in position to take him out as soon as he is in the open. The half savage doesn't stand a chance."

Kagome gulped, shit.

- - - - - - - - - -

Inuyasha felt like he was in one of those cheesy dime novels. As he walked down the street he could almost swear that people were closing their windows and doors at his approach.

Inuyasha saw his target walking down the street slowly, having much of the same affect on the houses he passed.

Goshinkishi was the first to speak, "I would rather not have to waste bullets on filth like you," He said as he threw his gun aside, "but you need the extra help."

Inuyasha spat on the ground and removed his holsters as well.

"I can make you scream for your parents without needing a gun."

Goshinkishi smirked, "I wonder who you will be calling for, you filthy bastard."

Inuyasha lunged for Goshinkishi and took a swing, but it was easily dodge and dealt one to his back.

"You have to do better than that. Your fighting style is so unrefined and predictable. I can read your mind before you ever make a move." Goshinkishi kicked at Inuyasha to enforce his point but the sheriff rolled away in time and was back on his feet.

Inuyasha attacked again, this time getting a square hit in the center of the man's chest. Goshinkishi was unfazed. -Damn it, I can't get to this guy. My punches have no effect.-

Inuyasha tried another move, and this time caught Goshinkishi off balance. The man recovered fast enough, but not before Inuyasha saw what the problem was in his punches; the other fighter was wearing padding and metal under his clothes.

-Damn, I must be really losing my touch not to notice that.-

Inuyasha changed his fighting style to a more lethal and swifter method. It left him more open, but it was the easiest way to go for the head and throat.

Goshinkishi took the bait and took a swing at Inuyasha who quickly back stepped and did a round house kick to the head of the larger man.

Goshinkishi looked stunned; he didn't understand this sudden change in fighting styles he was sure he had the smaller man beat. His confusion showed in the expression on his face.

Inuyasha smirked and spat some blood that was in his mouth from the earlier hit. "What's wrong Goshinkishi, I thought you could read my mind?"

The next attack Goshinkishi made proved to be even more of a mistake than the first one, and when the dust cleared Goshinkishi was on his back with Inuyasha's foot pressing down on his throat.

"I would kill you," sneered Inuyasha, "but I have enough honor to not kill a man I have clearly beaten."

Inuyasha was about to lift his foot when Goshinkishi managed to insult him one last time. "A beast like has no honor. I'll show you how to finish someone off like a real man as soon as I get that little bitch traveling with you into my grasp, but first I'll have a little fun with her. Then she'll learn why people don't fuck their pets."

Crack was the last sound the man ever made, as Inuyasha stepped his boot down crushing the other man's trachea. He turned around, his eyes glinting red and face full of rage until he heard a gun cock. That was when he finally realized he was completely surrounded.

-Great, just fucking great.-