The Lies That Bind Us – Part One:  The Taijiya

A new fic is finally here! Took me long enough, huh? I hope you enjoy it, my friends!

Disclaimer: I own the Inuyasha characters. Hmm. I think there ought to be a 'do not' in there somewhere... Ah, well.

The man rushed down the alleyway, shoving trash cans and kicking the occasional stray cat out of his way. His eyes were frantic, almost rabid; he glanced back every couple of seconds to make sure that he wasn't being followed, while at the same time knowing that his checks would make no difference.

If she didn't want to be seen, she wouldn't be.

No one on the outside really knew what she looked like; those who had seen her in action either worked with her or were in custody. However, there was no mistaking the chill that permeates the body when being chased by an expert predator.

He huffed and wheezed as he turned a sharp right into an even darker alley. The cluster of fire escapes above him blotted out the feeble light that he was getting from the moon, and he blinked in the sudden darkness before pausing, clutching the stitch in his side.

"Did I... lose her?" he huffed, wiping sweat from his bald pate and squinting around at his surroundings. When the alley remained silent, he barked out a short laugh that was really a sigh of relief. His harsh chuckles quickly escalated to hysterical laughter and he hugged his stomach tightly at the pain that it caused his strained muscles.

"I did it! I escaped the Taijiya!"

"Ahem."

The man's beady eyes snapped upward and widened. "Shit..."

A figure stood on one of the lowest fire escapes, aiming what was unmistakably a gun in the man's direction. Long brown hair drawn into a ponytail floated on the gentle night breeze. The voice had already portrayed her as a female, and her poise showed it even more. Though she was mostly hidden in shadow, the hunted recognized her immediately.

"No!" He whirled and began to run, only to stop again when a bullet chipped the pavement in front of his left foot.

"I would suggest not trying that again," the Taijiya called, descending the ladder while keeping the gun leveled with one hand. "Zuma Manten, you're under arrest for betraying priviledged information."

Manten smirked. "So what are my rights, officer?"

She touched down softly on the ground and took a few steps toward the man, who by now had his hands in the air. "What rights?" she asked dryly.

Applause echoed down the alley. She froze, momentarily stunned, then groaned and rolled her eyes. "Naraku..."

Her ebony haired boss stepped into the dim light flickering through a break in the overhead structures. "Yes?"

Sango holstered her weapon and folded her arms, glaring. Manten let out a peal of guffawing laughter. "Not again! I have better things to do with my time than carry out your mock missions!"

Naraku just grinned smugly. "But 'Jiya, you must keep your senses sharp. I want to make sure that you do not lose your touch. Manten, here, was more than willing to participate in our little practice. I thought that you would enjoy the experience as much as he did." He gestured to Manten, who was still choking with laughter. "He is our newest operative. I thought this would be a nice way to welcome him."

"Right," Sango muttered, rolling her eyes in irritation. "I hate you, do you know that?"

"I do. Such is the way of life."

Sango sighed and shoved her hand in the inner pocket of her black overcoat, digging for her car keys. "I'm out of here. If you need me, please, hesitate to call."

Her boss let her get a short way from him before he called out, "I hope you aren't headed for home, 'Jiya. A new mission is ready and waiting for you at headquarters."

Sango froze, then turned slowly, her eyes disbelieving. "Another mock, I presume?"

An indecipherable expression flashed across Naraku's face for a split second, then his features curled into a cold smile. "No. Your tech has the details for you. I want you on the case by midnight tonight."

"Midnight? Are you insane? It's already 11:00!"

Naraku just chuckled and turned away. "I believe that you are up to the challenge. Come, Manten." The two vanished down an alleyway, Manten still giggling slightly.

Sango just stared after him, her keys dangling from her right hand. He can't be serious... When the spell of incredulity passed, she let out a frustrated groan and reached for her pocket once more, drawing out a company-issue cell phone. Perks of the job, she mused, pressing and holding '1', the auto-dial for her technical support.

She began to retrace Manten's path through the alleyway, winding her way back toward her car. The phone rang four times before she reached the first alleyway... five... six...

There was a click, an unintelligible shout, then a frustrated, "Hello?"

Sango rubbed her temples as she walked. "What does he want now?"

A few moment of confused silence, then, "Oh! Sango! How are you? How did the mission go?"

"I'm fine, if you ignore the fact that I'm out for my boss's blood. And you know perfectly well that the mission was a mock, Higurashi Kagome."

"Eee..." Sango could envision the girl holding the phone away from her ear as if expecting a tirade. "Sorry?"

Sango had reached her car and slid inside, thudding her head against the steering wheel without sounding the horn - a talent of hers that had developed with time. "Whatever, Kagome. Can you brief me? Maybe I won't have to cross town again tonight."

Papers shuffled from the other side of the line. "Mmm... I can give you the basics, but you still need to come in. There's a huge sealed envelope that's for your eyes only."

Thud. Thud. "Fine. What do you have?"

"A terrorist. The name must be in the F.Y.E.O. envel, though. I don't see it here. Anyway, he's allegedly connected with those arson cases that the local police have been failing to deal with lately."

"Arson?"

"Where have you been? You know: police stations, unexplained blazes, exploding cars, desires for world conquest?"

Sango lifted her head, freeing her face so that she could lift an eyebrow. "World conquest?"

"Okay, so that's a little far-fetched. But still... this guy's making a lot of trouble." More paper shuffling. "It says here that he's 24 - perfect age for you, Sango..."

Sango rolled her eyes. "If you'd say that about my targets, I don't want to know what you'd say about random cute guys on the street."

"Ooh. Speaking of that, Houjou's been following me around again. You think he likes me?"

"Nah." Sango started her car and pulled off from the curb. "I'm sure he's plotting a very violent death for you, and is just waiting for the perfect opportunity to ask you out so that he can fulfill his violent fantasies."

"...Eee..."

"Or he could just like you."

"Sango, your sense of humor is very warped."

"Thanks. I'll be there in twenty." She hung up. One thing about the Taijiya: she never said good-bye. It was a superstition that she had harbored ever since her parents' deaths.

They had been slain years ago, when she was only sixteen and her brother, Kohaku, was eleven. Out for a night on the town, they had chanced upon a gunfight between two rival gangs. She'd been given the identity of one of the the leaders, as well as his girlfriend, but she'd been unable to locate either one. It was the one thing that she didn't mention about her officially flawless career. Though she hadn't been assigned to bring them in, she had made it her mission to find her parents' killers... and she had failed.

She wished that she had said more at their last meeting than 'Good-bye'.

These thoughts ran though her head as she drove through the empty streets. The darkness was interspersed with the occasional streetlamp; Sango sighed at the symbolism. Her life was night - minus the lamps that took the edge off of the darkness.

People scurried out of the way as Sango stormed into the building, walking so quickly that her coat had trouble keeping up. One of the techs (Shippou? Sango thought) ventured a wave, and she shot him a glare that would have frozen flame.

"Uh, Sango?"

Sango stopped, then turned to look back at the tech. He pushed his chair back from his desk and turned it to face her. Shippou was very young, in his late teens at the most. He had been a sort of prodigy, and his accelerated level had lifted him to FBI before he was nineteen.

"What the hell is it, Shippou? I'm sleepy, I'm pissed, and I'm not feeling pro-people at the moment. I just want to get my case from Kagome so I can get on this and be done-"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about... here's your info. Kagome left early." He handed her a sealed envelope with a manilla folder on top. For the second time that day, Sango was shocked. Also for the second time, she was outraged.

"She left?!"

"Yeah. Something about picking her little brother up from practice-"

"What could he be practicing at 11:30 at night?" Sango tapped her foot in irritation.

Shippou shrugged. "I only work here. Want a latté? I finally got around to fixing the machine in the lounge." The teen didn't work in the same capacity as Kagome. He tended to stick to electronics and gadgets, and he produced many of the specialized weapons that the team used.

"That'd be great. Thanks."

As Shippou slipped from the room, she sat in his vacated spot. Setting aside the general information envelope, she picked up the sealed one, reading the words on the front:

Tenaka Sango

For Your Eyes Only

From the Desk Of:

Waru Naraku

Naraku always insisted on scrawling his signature on F.Y.E.Os, and this time was no different. His name was written in a spidery script across the front of the envel. Hoping against hope that it wasn't an out-of-country mission or one that required her to take up a bizzare alias, she tucked her finger under the sealed edge and ripped the envel open.

The first thing she withdrew was an Extended Profile form. It would give her the information that Kagome had been lacking in the brief. She scanned it quickly.

Nakano Miroku. Hm. She buried herself in the information in her typical style, tuning out the rest of the room and absorbing the facts. He was a part-time bartender that had a passion for art. Typical romantic tragic hero, huh? Now where's the ex-wife that died in a tragic accident? She glanced farther down the sheet. Never married. Oh, well.

As she read about him, she began to formulate a picture of him in her mind. He's a bartender, so he probably has a beer belly... mustache... long, unkempt hair... I bet he's- Sango's brain ground to a halt as she drew a photograph from the envel. She stared.

She stared until a voice chirped, "Here ya go!". Then she jumped.

"Oh, uh, thanks, Shippou." Sango put the picture face-down on the desk and took a sip of her latté. Mmm. Late-night caffeine.

"So, that's your new target, huh?"

Sango blinked when she realized that Shippou was perusing the picture that he'd somehow snatched off of the desk. "Hey! Give me that! Priviledged information, you know!"

Shippou handed her the photo, then shrugged. "My desk, my rules. Besides, that guy looked more like an ex-boyfriend than prey for the great Taijiya."

Sango glanced at the picture once more, and realized that she agreed. The picture showed a completely gorgeous young man leaning on the door of what looked like a club. His hair was in a short ponytail at the nape of his neck, and his grin was utterly confident and endearing.

To hide her rapport with Shippou's statement, she huffed. "He looks like a whore."

The teen just sighed and waved Sango out of his chair, returning to his computer and his 90 words per minute typing.

Sango moved further into the room, finally reaching her own desk and slipping into it. She lay the picture and the info sheet aside, then weighted the envel in one hand. It was still quite heavy, even though she had already removed the two things that she usually received for a new mission. She upended the envelope, and another large bluish envel slid out, followed by a plain white one.

Oh, great. I'm going to have to pretend to be his long-lost sister and those are my background papers. She ripped the end off the white envel and slid out the letter, taking in the words without really reading them. Or maybe I'm going to be an ex that's returning because she wants him back so desperately. Or-

She paused. Her eyes had just caught sight of a single word on the paper that she had never seen before in an order, written in Naraku's usual style.

'Objective: Kill.'

The blood rushed from her face. What the hells... She had always been able to bring down her targets without killing them, so that they could be brought in for questioning. Though she'd never failed on an official mission, she'd never had to take another's life. What sort of information did they have on Nakano that they'd order her to...?

And why me?

Sango's trembling fingers dropped the letter on her desk; she had finally figured out what was in the blue envel. It was an application.

An application for her license to kill.

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