“What is it?” Sango cocked her head in curiosity at the new garb.
“Well, in my time, we call it a swimsuit.” Standing in her own orange and red-striped one piece swimsuit, Kagome held another one in front of her for Sango to look at.
“A swim... suit?”
“Yes. It’s something somebody came up with a long time ago-a long time ago where I’m from, anyways-so people wouldn’t have to swim naked.”
“I see. How can you be sure it will fit me, though?”
“It’s one-size-fits-all,” Kagome said, streching the suit out to twice its size to put emphasis on this fact.
“Interesting. But why are you giving this to me?”
“I’m going swimming for a bit, since I’ve been here for a day or two and I’m starting to feel kind of dirty. I was just wondering if you wanted to join me.”
“Well, I must admit, I haven’t had a good swim in a long time,” Sango said. “And even though that pervert Miroku ran off after that woman 10 minutes ago, you can never be too careful.” With that, she went inside the inn and came back a few minutes later, wearing the swimsuit and carrying her clothes over her shoulder. The suit was purple and had a neckband that tied around the back of the neck, which Kagome happily helped Sango tie.
“I never really figured out why Inuyasha left. Something to do with Sesshomaru, was it?”
“Yes. Sessomaru managed to find a statue imbedded with a pair of jewel shards and take them both. Inuyasha caught wind of it and quickly went after him. But he doesn’t want us to abandon the search for the jewel shard here, so he wants us to stay here until he returns with the shards. I hope he’s still okay...”
“Inuyasha’s defeated Sessomaru before, Kagome. I wouldn’t worry too much about him.”
“Yeah... I guess you’re right.”
“Besides, if anything, you should probably worry about yourself. We’re still in the territory of that lord who wanted your head before, so we should both stay a little vigilant.”
“I suppose so. Even though he did retract the bounty, he seemed pretty angry when I turned his offer down. I can’t be entirely sure that I’m out of the woods just yet. But what are we going to do if somebody does come for me?”
“I’ll be bringing the Hiraikotsu along with me, in case we need any protection. And Kirara and Shippo will be standing guard here, as well, so we shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”
“Alright. So, shall we go, then?”
The assassin went through his implements one last time to make sure he had them all: a bottle of dreamberry ether, a handful of rags for various purposes, coils of rope, and a ceramic pot filled with a special sleep-inducing incense. Everything was, indeed, there, so he set out to find his victim. He carried the sketch his client had given him, and asked bystanders if they had seen her. For a while, this effort was unsuccessful; either the person had either never seen her, hadn’t seen her recently, or could guess to the assassin’s ill intent and refused, even on a threat of death, to reveal where she was. Then, finally... success.
The person was an old man, leaning on a cane. At first the assassin hesitated, but eventually decided to ask him about his target.
“Excuse me... sir?”
“Yes? What do you want?”
“Could you tell me if you’ve seen this girl recently?” With that, he unfurled the sketch.
“Hmm... indeed I have. She was doing amazing tricks yesterday. You wouldn’t believe-“
“I would. I’ve heard of her. That’s why I’m asking... do you know where she is right now? I would like to see some of her tricks.”
“Hmm... I believe she was staying with her party at a local inn downtown. Nice place, actually...”
“I see. Thank you very much old man.” With that, he went to the inn the old man had pointed out to him. Indeed, it was a decently-sized inn. Talking to the clerk revealed that the two girls had gone swimming for the afternoon, so they would be at the water hole near the back of the inn. The assassin thanked her as well and went in that direction, when suddenly, he saw something that could be a problem: a little yellow cat and demon, sleeping together. At first glance, they didn’t seem too threatening, but eventually the assassin realized that they were a nekomata and kitsune, both of which could be a royal pain if he found himself entangled with both of them. So he snuck over, set the pot of incense down, and lit it up. Immediately, the smoke drifted up from the pot and over the heads of the two demons, ensuring that they wouldn’t wake up any time soon. With that out of the way, the assassin continued towards the water hole.