-Chapter 8-

His steps were quick, well timed, and nearly soundless. His black clad figure blended expertly into the clouded blackness around him. His chestnut brown eyes flicked rapidly from one side of the room to the other, his mouth opened slightly to keep his oxygen flow even but silent. He slid his way down the nearest hallway, sticking close to the left side near the wall, listening acutely for any incoming voices.

"Yes. It should be delivered by Tuesday-I've accounted for every possible interruption."

He narrowed his eyes, rapt attention locking onto the room the male voice was coming from. The door was closed, but light was escaping from underneath. Stealing his courage, the shadowed figure all but tip toed past, chest clenching with anxiety at the idea of being discovered or noticed.

There were many prime target places to explore here, but he was assigned only one. Finding himself at a small intersection, the figure surveyed which direction looked the most familiar based on the schematics he'd memorized. An elevator faced him, but he went left. 'Thank god for carpeted flooring.' He thought, feeling the sound absorbent material under his light weight boots.

In no time, he found himself standing at the midway point of his mission; the main office. Taking another quick look to make sure he'd remained undetected, he then took out his lock picking tools with leather gloved hands. A few seconds later the knob turned and opened, the figure careful to keep the resulting noise minimal.

He slipped inside the dark room, hugging the wall before quickly pressing a button under his glove that then switched from red to green. He had two minutes before the alarm was sounded. The figure swiftly moved toward his main target, a hidden room behind the slightly out of place book shelf. He patted down the shelf, moving books and jiggling things around them for an activation switch. He couldn't find one. Thinking fast, he suddenly remembered the button disguised as a secondary security caller under the desk behind him. He gently felt around and under said desk before finding it. When the entire bookshelf jerked and slowly slid open, a small feeling of pride swelled in the figure's chest. Photographic memory had its moments of usefulness. He glanced at the timer on his wrist. 'A minute forty left.'

Stepping inside the secret room before it even opened all the way he saw it was relatively tiny, a little larger than an average closet, the only thing capable of putting here (besides clothes) being his prime objective. 'Finally, the safe.' Pulling out a digital lock hacker, he attached it to the keypad on the safe and watched anxiously as the gadget did its job. Numbers raced across its screen before finding a match to the pass code, the safe finally opening. Swinging the metal door open, the figure glanced inside with a small flashlight to see a set of manila envelopes. He furrowed his brows in confusion for a moment, not finding what he had expected. Mulling the problem over quickly, he thought it best to just take them. He'd spent too much time here as it was, he couldn't return empty handed.

He glanced at his watch again. ' A minute thirty-two.' Stuffing the envelopes in his boots of all places the figure fast walked his way out, pushing the bookshelf back in place and opening the office door and closing it upon exiting.

The cranking of a handgun caught him by surprise. "Don't. Move." It was the man from the office, his voice. "Thought I wouldn't notice you? This isn't your typical downtown office, son." The figure tensed, the sickening feeling in his stomach nearly eating him alive. But like always, he never let things go too far.

In the blink of an eye he was moving, ducking under the gun as the office worker pulled the trigger angrily, going four rounds before the figure retaliated, kicking the hostile's knees in from behind. He buckled, buying the figure some time to escape.

As he ran down the halls he had tried so carefully to sneak through, the alarm began to blare overhead. 'Wonderful.' He grumbled irritably. It was a matter of seconds before security guards came running up to stop him. He balled his hands into fists and braced for impact.

He ran at the first one he saw, squatting low before coming up with a strong uppercut, dodging as guns went off from the others. He side stepped, tripping a second guard, snatching the man's weapon as he went down. He pulled the trigger four times, missing only once. One bullet hit a shoulder, the second a leg, third a chest. The cries of pain confirmed it. The figure bolted, the stolen gun held tightly in his right hand.

The chilly halls and stair cases now flashing between blood red and pitch black as he ran, it became slightly more difficult to maneuver through. He was on the top floor of a small fifteen floor building. It was going to be murder to get to the lobby without the elevator, but he didn't want to risk the guards catching up with him.

To his surprise, the ear piece he had on cracked to life. "Code Amber, what is your location?" A female voice spoke.

The figure glared ahead of him in slight annoyance. "We didn't-agree on that name!" He yelled defiantly over the screaming of the alarm, in-between breathes. Running down stairs wasn't one of his hobbies.

"It was better than your real one." The woman mocked sarcastically. "Location?"

He inhaled again before speaking, glancing at the large painted number to his right as he passed it. "13th floor. Why?" There as suddenly a loud explosion sound coming from a floor below, the entire structure shaking at the force of it. He shot a hand to his ear piece. "What the hell was that?" He scolded.

"Your way out. Exit the stair case and prepare yourself."

Quickly making his way down the last set of stairs he needed to jog through, 'Code Amber' soon realized why the explosion had been so noticeable. "You blew a freakin HOLE in the wall?" he gaped at his temporary ally.

There hanging from some kind of wire was the woman he'd been assigned with, her dark nearly black colored eyes glaring at him impatiently, stands of hair of the same hue slipping out of the lazy bun she'd pulled it into with a strange feather hairclip. She wore a similar outfit as him, but obviously more feminine looking. The sounds of the alarm seemed to quiet and drift away at the even louder sound of a helicopter hovering over the building. Was all of this really necessary?

"Quit gawking and grab on!" The woman scolded, holding out her arm for him to latch onto.

'Code Amber' hesitated briefly, fearful of the death drop should he not jump far enough to reach her, but pushed the idea away and took a small leap of faith. The woman grunted as she caught a firm grip on him, pulling him to her side as the wire she was attached pulled them up towards the helicopter. In the process of jumping and sort of landing though, he lost his black hat, dirty blonde hair spilling out and getting in his face. He followed the clothing with his eyes as it fell below, panic building.

"Let it go. Your info's been wiped, they can't find you." That still didn't settle his nerves much. How could he trust the people who'd nearly killed him a few days prior for trying to refuse this mission?

The woman quickly released him upon reaching the helicopter and plopped herself in the nearest seat, a surprisingly casual look on her face as she struck conversation, changing his train of thought altogether. "You got it right?"

It took a moment for her male partner to fully process the situation and resulting question before forcing himself to answer. "I think so."

The woman looked to him instantly, her tone firm and intimidating. "Either you got it or you didn't. You took what was in the safe right?"

He stiffened at her slight mood change but nodded. "That's what I mean. I-" he stopped talking to pull the stolen item from his boot leg. "-opened the safe, but I didn't find stones or whatever you people want. I got these files instead." He held them up to show her.

The woman stood and took the papers from him, opening only one of the two folders, silently reading the first few sentences on the first page, before closing it again and relaxing her demeanor. "You did well. We know exactly what we're looking for now."

'Code Amber' folded his arms with a troubled furrow of his brows, but knew better than to question the statement. However, there was something else to discuss. "Okay then. You got what you needed me for right? Can you let me go so I can forget this crap ever happened?"

The woman chuckled with hollow amusement. "Surprising after everything you've been through, you still retain your childish ignorance." The implied answer, not the mention the awareness of his true age and past had his eyes widening.

"You-!"

"That's right, we know who you really are Code Amber, and we're not finished with you yet. So sit back and enjoy the ride." Seemingly bored with winning the conversation over the woman leaned back in her seat once more, closing her eyes to doze off, leaving her young charge almost trembling in fear of the unknown.

-[]-[]-[]-

"Courage. Noun. The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, and pain without fear; bravery." A small girl with short wavy black hair read off effortlessly in her childish voice.

Her big expressive grey-blue eyes blinked in wonder at what she had just read in the pages of what appeared to be a dictionary. She wore a traditional Japanese kimono, some of her hair gathered behind her with a bow while some was let loose to sway just above her tiny shoulders as her sandal clad feet dangled from a wooden dining room chair.

Light footsteps echoed into the room and the young girl turned her gaze to an older man with glasses. "Papa, why am I reading this?" She asked uncertainly, her left hand resting atop the large book while her right was pressed on her chair.

He smiled wisely down at her with a chuckle, walking to glance at the word definition over her shoulder and kneeling down to her level to explain. "You're my smart little girl, Kagome. Smarter than most your age. This is a very important word for you to learn for when you're a grown up like me." The aged man placed a loving hand at the crown of the girl's head and gently ruffled her hair, eyes full of love.

Kagome looked up at her adoptive father's calm expression with awe, always entranced at how much he cared for her though she was not his own. Her eyes instantly lit up before she closed them in an adorable toothy smile, dimples revealed on her rosy red cheeks, a small giggle sounding around them.

When her father's hand left her head she calmed enough to express her still lingering curiosity. "But why Papa? Why do I need courage to be a grown up?" Even saying the word out loud sounded strange to her young ears.

"Because sometimes grown-ups have to see things they don't want to. If you have courage, you won't be too scared to keep going."

The memory seemed like a horribly ironic and haunting thing for Kagome to recall now. Standing here in Miroku Boushin's personal quarters was not where she would have guessed a memory from her childhood would pop up. But given her self-induced problem at hand, it only made sense. The scene was enough for a normal sane person to shrivel up and die.

Kagome stood in the center of the room with her newly assigned counselor Myoga, who himself appeared horrified at her sudden presence beside him, while the boss himself studied the both of them with a firm if not angry stare. His seemed vaguely troubled and distracted, exhaustion clear in his tone as he spoke.

"Myoga, explain."

The old man quickly went into frantic and perfuse apologies for the interruption but Kagome didn't have the patience for long winded expressions of respect. Stepping a few inches ahead of the blubbering fool she unknowingly straightened her posture and locked eyes with Miroku, taking a deep mental breath. 'Courage Kagome. Courage.'

"My name is Higurashi Kagome," She started calmly. "I was rescued by one of your people a while ago and brought here without any clear explanation to my questions and I think I've waited long enough. I want answers, and if you need my help as badly as I think you do, you'll do whatever it takes to keep me here. Correct?"

The question hung in the painfully silent air of anticipation for some time before Miroku offered any sort of reaction. The heavy sigh that was heard was pity worthy. The man sat on the plain white bed behind him, leaning back on his hands long enough for Kagome to realize one was not made of flesh. She couldn't help but stare.

"I know who you are, Kagome," He started plainly. "And I can only imagine how hard this entire ordeal has been for you. However, I must ask you wait a while longer to be fully debriefed on certain matters."

Kagome stomped her foot angrily on the ground. "Why does everyone keep telling me that?" She scolded. "What the heck is there to hide? Some kind of warped conspiracy to kill the President or something? I don't freaking care about that!" She vented, before walking up to the man in charge with watery eyes and a wavering voice. "I just want to know if I have anything left to live for."

It was amazing how quickly her firm heated resolve had melted into a pathetic display of her true feelings, but the only reason there could be was exhaustion. She couldn't hold onto anger as long as most people probably could, when really deep down all that fueled it was anguish. Whatever the case, it seemed to work.

Miroku looked at the girl all but pleading with him, and a sense of nostalgia struck him. He knew the rules for revealing certain information to an unofficial member, but he also knew what it was like being in that much pain. He turned his gaze away from Kagome, standing up to walk over to the other side of the room with a sigh. A part of him knew if he were in a better state of mind he wouldn't be giving in so easily, but after the tide of emotion he'd struggled with in his office with Yasha, he hadn't the iron resolve left to resist.

He felt Kagome's eyes follow him in confusion and perhaps some hope before he turned around to look from Myoga (who had been standing quietly with a lost look on his face) back to her, and finally nodded consent. "Both of you, take a seat."

They did as told, and Miroku positioned himself against the wall, not feeling much like sitting. "I can't guarantee a full explanation, but I'll do my best, and you'll just have to live with it." He explained, before giving Kagome the okay to begin her 'interrogation'.

She eyed him for a moment before relaxing, taking a deep shaky breath, and speaking. "Fair enough. My first question is, do you know if my family is really dead? I know there was a fire, but I just-wanted to know for sure."

Miroku studied her expression, wondering if any information he gave in the state she was in would leave her too vulnerable, but answered anyway. "It is unlikely. From what I know, after you were taken, the house collapsed and everything inside was burned to nothing." He remembered watching the news report while waiting for Yasha and Sango's return.

Kagome lowered her head, her thick raven hued bangs casting a shadow over her eyes. She wiped a few tears away frantically, sniffling. "O-okay." She forced herself to say, pushing herself on. "Then, I guess the only other questions are why I was rescued, and what my necklace has to do with all this."

Miroku furrowed his brows confusedly. "Necklace?"

Finally Myoga saw the opportunity to speak up. "T-That's why I am here sir." He interceded somewhat awkwardly. "During my brief session with Miss Higurashi, while she was attempting to recall her time under her captors, she mentioned that they had possibly taken a necklace from her. One that I think you'll find of great importance." At that he pulled the sketch Kagome had drawn him from his pocket and handed it to his boss.

Kagome at this point secretly appreciated the small interlude in her own conversation, watching the exchange between the men quietly while she recovered herself.

Miroku took one look at it, and immediately got the same look in his eye Myoga had gotten when he'd first seen it. "This is-! Are you certain this could be-?"

"Almost positive sir."

Kagome chose then to cut back in. "Um, so, what is so important about my necklace?" All eyes locked on her, excitement shining in them, making her just a bit uncomfortable. "What?"

Miroku walked over to her with a smile. "You were probably unaware of this Kagome, but what you thought was just a necklace, is in fact much more than that."

"More how?"

"In laymen's terms, it's a type of data storage."

Kagome stared, leaning back in her seat in shock before confusion started to frustrate her. "Data-you mean like some kind of flash drive? But why would..." She trailed off, completely lost as to how to phrase the obvious question. 'Why would something like that be given to me? Did mom even know about this? Did Papa?' Then there was another obvious problem. "Just what kind of data is supposed to be on it? How do you use it?" She asked, still sounding lost.

Miroku shook his dead. "That I'm afraid I can't tell you."

Kagome rolled her eyes with a slight huff, before realizing something. "That's what you wanted me for isn't it? The necklace."

The silence that followed was answer enough.

"Alright then." She sighed. "I guess all that's left to do is sort out where I go from here. I'm directly involved now. What are you going to do with me?"

Miroku suppressed the urge to half smile at this girl's to the point attitude. "Most of that is for me and the other leaders to figure out. But as for you right now, I plan to have you trained."

"To be an agent I'm guessing?" Kagome spoke, her tone low with dread.

Miroku did smile at that, almost amused. "Yes. Not to worry though. You're trainer is to be Agent Eiyuu." He decided to leave out the fact it was more of an improvised punishment for the trainer rather than the trainee. He still had the tension to sort out with said agent as well, which would no doubt take some time to get around to. The way things were, it would be a miracle if Yasha didn't shoot him in his sleep.

In the meanwhile, Kagome nodded her somewhat reluctant agreement. "Fine I guess. When do I start?"

"Tomorrow." Myoga piped in, making his way to where Kagome was sitting to help her to her feet. "For now let's get you settled into your new quarters, and leave Mister Boushin to his job, ne?"

Seeing no real reason to argue in staying, Kagome allowed herself to be shooed out of the man's room, but not without looking over her shoulder at her now boss before remembering something. "Oh hey, what am I supposed to call you, 'sir'?" She said speaking to Miroku.

The man looked at her in slight surprise, not expecting the question so soon after such a heavy conversation between them. He'd expected a small amount of resentment in all honesty. Something about this girl really was different, he realized. She was certainly strong willed and driven like another certain agent he knew and missed, but she was also uniquely passionate and vulnerable. Perhaps because of this, instead of his usual preference, he told her with a misleading smirk:

"Miroku. Just, Miroku."

He was given a nod of acknowledgement from the girl and a look of suspicion from Myoga before they finally left, leaving the boss man to mull over what had just happened, and just what he was going to tell the higher ups. He glanced back down at the sketch Myoga had given him and scoffed, before pulling out his cell phone and making the call.