Author's Note: This is a little mini-sequel to How to Kill Me. I'm honestly sorry, but if you never read the first story then this will be a bit confusing. I tried but... No luck.

Day 6 of the 12 Days of Witchyness

Warnings: While there is definitely no actual sex, there is mention of it (i.e. "let's have sex right now please"). Any sex is off-screen. The most that happens is some making out and Kagome appreciating Inuyasha's abs, because yes. If you have any questions or concerns, let me know!

Slaying It

"You can't bribe the door on your way to the sky. You look pretty good down here, but you ain't really good."

- Sign of the Times, Harry Styles

I knew something wasn't right the moment unconsciousness suddenly bled out of me. There was calmness, darkness, the lull of sleep and barely-there dreams.

And then there was growling.

Without hesitation I was reaching out for my gun, the Glock I was far too familiar with for a woman who'd never killed a human. Or, rather, a human that wasn't possessed or couldn't be saved. Demon hunting wasn't exactly a moral black-or-white job. There was so much grey, barely any other colour existed.

Even with the weapon in my hand, the arm around my waist tightened, clawed fingers digging into my hip as the growling continued. "It's him."

I sighed loudly, groaning. "You couldn't have told me that before?"

I couldn't see his face but Inuyasha was surely glaring at me. Together as we were, some things just didn't change. "You don't exactly reach for it slowly," he replied, surly. "And he's fucking saying all this shit at me."

Demonic hearing, wonderful. Fantastic. But at this moment, useless. "Can you enlighten me, then?"

"He's making dog jokes, again." Inuyasha's grip left my side as the half-demon sat up, golden eyes still leveled unhappily at the motel door. His demon ears were covered by the enchantment but I could practically see them anyways, straining towards the outside. His roots were coming in, so much silver contrasting heavily with the black. I would need to force him into dying it again. He was going to be so cranky, Christ. "Can I kill him, please?" Inuyasha asked, and now he was smirking.

"Not yet," I answered, just like I always did.

Inuyasha glared up at the ceiling. "Shut up, for fuck's sake Astaroth or I swear I'll fucking tear out your throat–"

So we were already at that stage. Perfect. Wasting breath with insults when the Duke of Hell outside couldn't hear us anyways, thanks to the protections on the room. I tossed off the blankets and rummaged through my bag for a sweater and pants, knowing that Astaroth likely wouldn't be held by the protections and wards surrounding the motel room door for much longer. I'd rather he didn't see me in a tank top and underwear. "Has he said what he wants?"

Inuyasha growled some more, which wasn't an answer. As much as I wanted to strangle the Duke of Hell for this nighttime visit, Inuyasha's stupidity was making it harder than it had to be.

"Inuyasha," I snapped. "Has he said what he wants?"

"No. He hasn't. Happy?"

"The opposite," I grumbled. Dressed, I grabbed my gun and slid the safety off, headed towards the motel door. Inuyasha wasn't far behind me, now in sweatpants. His growling hadn't ceased. I opened the door and glared outside, letting my extreme irritation show. "What do you want, Astaroth?"

The red eyes didn't bother me anymore, the glint of amusement that always lingered every time the Duke of Hell graced us with his presence. His mocha-coloured skin was shadowed by the poor lighting but it did nothing to take away from his incredibly large smile. If I wasn't so used to him, it would creep me the fuck out. "My star," Astaroth started, his accented voice lilting strangely on the –ar. "Could we possibly take this matter inside? Private discussion and all. You never know who could be listening in."

I rolled my eyes but broke the salt barrier and in a moment the demon before me was gone. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I took a deep breath before turning around. Give a demon an inch and they'll apparate a whole goddamn mile. "Astaroth," I hissed, warningly.

The Duke of Hell put up his hands, red eyes focused on not myself but Inuyasha, who was still – unsurprisingly – growling. He was like a broken goddamn record. "Sorry," he murmured. "I slipped."

"I'll gleefully rip out your throat–" Inuyasha started to threaten but the demon rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes, mutt, I'm aware. Listen. I need you to protect the door. Make this room as soundproof as possible to outside ears."

I narrowed my eyes, disbelieving. "You want us to trap you in here with us?"

At this, Astaroth's jaw clenched. His normal, nonchalant demeanor shifted so quickly, I was reminded exactly of how dangerous he was. The Duke of Hell was so familiar to me, having saved our lives at times when convenient and generally not killing humans. Or doing it well enough I could never catch him. But he was near the top of the demonic hierarchy for a reason. "It is a choice I must make," he said, almost casually. "Besides, we've come too far now for you to kill me without provocation, isn't that right?"

"Who says I'm not provoked?" Inuyasha asked, smirking wickedly and flashing his claws.

"Cute." Astaroth waited until I went back to the motel door, replacing the salt and mullein herb mixture until the line was no longer broken. "Thank you, Kagome. Now, I have a matter to discuss."

Inuyasha trailed me as I moved to sit back down on the bed, although the half-demon remained standing, poised to attack. "Go on," I encouraged, waving my gun at him.

The Duke of Hell looked distastefully at the gun but spoke anyways. "I am under siege by a foe and need some…assistance in removing him from play."

I frowned. "Under siege? Someone's attacking you?" No human could do that, as I was the only Chosen One. A human would never be able to bother someone like him and survive, so that left us with–

"The asshole known as Carreau," Astaroth finished, practically spitting out the name. "A lesser demon. He once was a prince of Powers before he Fell. He's apparently one of the most loyal and yet, here we are." Astaroth took a deep breath and let it out. "He's the demon of heartlessness and sadness, as you humans have noted."

"And what does he want with you?" Inuyasha asked. "Other than to kill you."

"He wants my power," Astaroth conceded, looking prissy about it. "Killing those above us doesn't typically mean for a rise in title, but with myself… It would be enough." He grinned then. "I'm quite the popular one in the right circles."

"So why can't you just kill him yourself?" Inuyasha demanded, frowning. "It's not that hard to kill another demon."

"Coming from a half-blood that spends his time with a Chosen One," Astaroth retorted. "Demons were not made to kill other demons. We kill beings lesser than us all–"

"So humans," I muttered.

"–and if a demon were to be particularly troublesome, we'd force them back to Hell. Torture them a little. The business, you know. Carreau, however, is proving to make this difficult. We can only summon a true demon's form to Hell, not our transient state. Carreau continues to possess humans and therefore, I have no means of sending him back to where he belongs."

"Bringing out the big guns, huh," I suggested, letting the gun sit aside so I could cross my arms. "You want me to exorcise him."

"Purify him, actually. I'd rather he cease to exist than go back to Hell," Astaroth admitted, nodding. "And since I've done so much for you and your little mutt, I'd rather call in a favour."

"Would you help?"

The Duke of Hell smiled. "Now, why would I side with a demon slayer against my own kind? Surely, you can't be that stupid, my star. You're lovely, but there's only so much I can do."

"How about I just don't help?" I suggested, shrugging. "And maybe eventually Carreau will do me a favour and kill you. I'll owe him then, fancy that."

Instead of getting frustrated, like I expected, Astaroth merely grinned harder. "Oh Kagome, how I love your fire. Well, my little demon friend has killed at least five humans the past two weeks alone. Local police think it's just an increase in violence in the city, but I know better."

Fuck. Of every card to pull, that would always be my truest weakness. My purpose was far too important to stop and let a demonic feud last while human bodies dropped. "Fuck you," I snapped, irritated. "Where?"

"Chicago," the Duke of Hell responded. "Pack up your bags, my star. You're going to the Windy City."

Chicago was, well, windy.

I stopped and parked the Acura at a lot across the street from the police station, idling. "This is bad," I muttered, mainly to myself even though Inuyasha could easily hear. This was honestly maybe one of the dumbest things I had ever done. At the end of the day, I hadn't seen another option.

"So what, we're going as FBI Katsuki and Nobutoshi again? Haven't used those aliases in a while." Inuyasha reached into the back seat where, as of recent, our new IDs were.

I grimaced. "Not exactly."

Inuyasha stared at me with those golden eyes, assessing. He knew me well enough, being practically attached at the hip for a couple years. Ever since taking down Naraku, it was rare for one of us to be on our own. Near-dying does that to you. "What aren't you telling me?" he asked, voice already growing rough. His growling was getting worse as the years went on.

"In two weeks, there have been five people killed," I started, trying to think on the fly of the best way I could explain this. "But I had to practically assault Astaroth for him to give me any sort of details on these cases. I mean, even I couldn't find a lot of details on them and this is what I do. The deaths were so random – two ruled accidental, one murder and two suicides. Pinpointing what was demonic activity and what was just human…" I shrugged, stopping myself. "Chicago isn't exactly crime-free," I pointed out. "And while all of the deaths were in Chicago, they cut across several districts. Two of them from here, Austin, which makes it our best bet."

Inuyasha scowled. "But?"

"But only one of the crime scenes is still blocked off. Every other site has already been given up to family or the workplace, or wherever else it was. We can still break in but it'll be significantly harder." I shrugged. "The FBI wouldn't have a place in this so: that leaves one option."

Sighing out loud, the half-demon glared at me. "I'm not going to like this."

"You will!" I lied, because I had to. Maybe things had changed and Inuyasha would never, ever know. "There's nothing bad about it. I have a connection here. We can use him to get information on the cases. He owes me anyways."

The glare didn't lessen and if anything, his gaze narrowed. "Uh huh."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on. The faster we talk to him, the faster we get clues to find this Carreau demon. Astaroth can go back to ignoring us for a while." A blatant lie but at this point, whatever would work.

Inuyasha snorted but got out of the car. I watched him for only a moment before following suit, staying as calm as I could. Giving the half-demon the side-eye as we crossed the road would only make him wonder more. At this point, my best option was to play everything off like it was nothing. It had been years. Years. Chances were that I was making a big deal out of absolutely nothing.

Nothing at all.

Inuyasha looked at me suspiciously again. Great.

The police station was decently quiet at the front, the officers on reception duty giving us the eye from the second we walked in. Inuyasha was still scowling, so that was probably why. Internally I sighed, knowing I was forever doomed to deal with this.

"Can I help you?" one of the officers asked. He seemed nice enough but his gaze definitely lingered on my half-demon companion.

Grinning and trying to casually step in front of Inuyasha, I nodded. "Hi! I'm so sorry but I'm here to see Detective Hojo?" I couldn't see it but I knew, without a doubt, that if I turned around Inuyasha would be glaring daggers at my back. I could only pray that the officer wasn't paying too much attention to him. "I'm not sure if he's in today but we were supposed to connect this week."

The officer raised a brow. "Is this for a case?"

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "For volunteer work. He's just so great with the kids and they get so excited every year to see him." I forced a cheerful laugh, looking up at the ceiling as if the story embarrassed me greatly. "It's like they think he's superman or something."

I wasn't sure if the officer believed me or not but he leaned back. "Your name?"

"Kagome Higurashi."

The second the man was distracted with the phone, I turned around. And yep. Of course. Inuyasha's golden gaze was like liquid fire. "Hojo?" he hissed.

"Coincidence," I scoffed, waving dismissively at him. "His name is Akitoki. Sango and I met him working one of the first cases I had ever taken on."

This didn't make the half-demon any calmer. In fact, he seemed way more irritated. "I don't like it."

"Too damn bad, dog boy," I replied, making a face before smiling serenely at the officer at reception. "Is he in?"

The guy still seemed hesitant but he pulled out a giant binder of papers. "Hojo'll be here in minute but he told me to get you both visitor badges." It wasn't the first time I had ever done the process, so it was relatively quick and painless. We finished before Akitoki arrived which meant I had to deal with the crazy half-demon in the lobby while we waited.

"I told you, there is nothing to even worry about. Why are you acting so strange?"

Inuyasha's scowl deepened. "Why are you acting strange? You're the one that's all hesitant and shit. And you? Are never hesitant. So don't lie."

Ugh. I hated his stupid attractive face. Even staring him down, like I was trying to do, all I could think about was how much I wanted to kiss him. It was a common problem. Easier now that we were together but Christ, he drove me nuts. Still, he had a point. "It's probably nothing," I started. "Just… I met him years ago, right? Well, he had a tiny crush on me. It was no big deal. I was still trying to deal with the whole Chosen One thing so I wasn't interested. But he was a nice guy, just persistent." Persistent was putting it lightly, but what the half-demon didn't know wouldn't kill him. In all truthfulness, what the half-demon did know would absolutely kill Detective Akitoki Hojo, and that meant a dead end.

Inuyasha's face didn't even shift. He stared at me, waiting.

"But again, it's been years. Surely, that little crush has disappeared." I smiled at him, poked at his chest. "I know you get possessive though so I thought maybe things would get weird."

"Kagome!"

Inuyasha looked up and it didn't take a genius for me to know that Akitoki was standing behind me. Probably smiling all nice and kindly. The half-demon in front of me actually curled his lips up. Like a damn fucking dog. Oh shit, no.

"Hi!" I greeted, whirling around quickly. Akitoki's familiar sandy-brown hair and blue eyes were no different than when I saw him last. He was older, a little more weathered than the innocent face I'd known all those years ago. "How are you?"

"I'm wonderful, this is a surprise!" He looked so genuinely fucking happy. "Come on, let's go to my desk. You'll have to forgive me; things are backed up right now so it's a complete disaster." Akitoki's eyes wandered past me and he blinked, startled, no doubt looking at Inuyasha who was probably murdering him with a glare alone. "And who is this?"

"Akitoki," I started, "this is Inuyasha. My partner." In many senses, but the officer on reception was still staring at us oddly, and there was only so much I could wade through. "Inuyasha, meet Detective Hojo. He's been a great help and inspiration to the kids."

Akitoki gave me a strange look before laughing – so awkward, fuck just kill me – and then reaching out to shake the half-demon's hand. "A pleasure to meet you."

Inuyasha didn't uncross his arms. "Right."

Christ on a cracker.

"Why don't we go to your desk, huh?" I suggested, pushing at the detective just enough to spin him. "And we can talk about the event you're volunteering so graciously for us at."

Akitoki gave yet another awkward, painstaking laugh before leading the way. The bullpen held the low-grade buzzing of constant voices and phones ringing. I felt Inuyasha's tight grip on my arm so I slowed my pace, letting the detective get a little ahead before gesturing for him to speak. "What?"

"You didn't tell me that he looked exactly like the other Hojo," Inuyasha growled, directly into my ear. "He looks like a twin."

I nodded. "Coincidence. Really. Super weird, I know."

"And, if I remember correctly, the other Hojo had a fucking crush on you too. And he was possessed!" Inuyasha's grip tightened slightly and I turned a bit more, glaring myself.

"If you don't let me the fuck go I'm going to seriously punch you in the face," I muttered, as low as I could. This wasn't exactly the conversation we should be having in the middle of a police department. "Stop being a jealous piece of shit and let's work this case. Lives are at stake, got it?"

Growling a bit more, Inuyasha let me go. Good. That kind of behaviour is un-fucking-acceptable. "Sorry," he murmured, low. "But we're talking about this later."

"Sure, whatever." Rolling my eyes, I surged forward to try and catch up, the half-demon on my trail. We could make it through this meeting and then go on the hunt. Once we knew a little more, I could figure out a plan. Already, something was forming in my mind. The research we had done before driving to Chicago had been rattling in my brain the whole drive up.

We took the visitor chairs as Akitoki tidied up some papers. He looked around the bullpen before leaning forward, elbows on the desk. "So, am I right to assume there's a demon in the city?"

"Based on your crime rate, probably a bunch," Inuyasha replied, more cheerful than I had ever heard him.

I sent a glare his way before interrupting. "But we're here for one in particular. There have been a bunch of deaths and while on the surface, they're totally unrelated, I have a source that claims otherwise." Pulling up the notepad on my phone, I slid it over. The names of all the victims Astaroth gave us were listed. "I need you to pull some strings."

Akitoki frowned, eyes narrowing on the phone as he took it all in. "All of them?"

"Within the last two weeks," I confirmed, nodding. "This demon is bad news and it'll only get worse. I have a chance to put him down but I need to get more details. Particularly the ones who appeared to be suicides." Wincing a little, knowing how harsh it sounded, I plowed on. "For obvious reasons I can't find any details on their deaths so I can't even triangulate anything."

The detective, surprisingly, looked at Inuyasha for a moment before returning to me. "He has gold eyes."

Fair. Akitoki was many things, but stupid wasn't one of them. Not anymore, at least. "He does."

"Got a problem?" Inuyasha asked. His arms were still crossed and the scowl on his face hadn't shifted one bit since the moment Akitoki stepped into the lobby. Strangely enough, the question was asked in the most careless way possible. It wasn't a threat; simply a question.

"Are you…one of them?" the detective asked. He looked so confused.

"No," Inuyasha replied, before I could get a word in. "I'm not a demon." Which wasn't even a lie. "You could say that I'm familiar with them."

I almost rolled my eyes but suddenly, Akitoki smiled, small and wry. "It's how you met Kagome, yeah?" At the half-demon's confirmation, he went on. "Yeah, she's always had a thing for saving those of us who've had a brush with demons. I would've been dead a long time ago if it wasn't for her. Never would have met my wife."

I shouldn't have felt any relief but oh god, that was great to hear. Not about the fact that I was good for saving people; I honestly couldn't give a shit about that. Old news. But the wife thing – brilliant. "Oh, that's great! Since when?"

"A few years now," Akitoki explained, almost beaming. "She's really wonderful."

I was always bad at this kind of personal talk. I never wanted to reciprocate. Generally, if I was playing a role I could lie my way through anything. But this wasn't a role and Akitoki knew Sango, still kept in touch with her every once and a while. He seemed genuinely happy though, so I figured talking about his wife was a safe subject. Inuyasha even seemed to relax a bit beside me and that was something I could be grateful for. "What's her name?" I asked, trying to be friendly.

The detective laughed then, bright. "It's Kagome."

Ah. Well. There goes the relaxation. "Oh?" I forced a smile. "What a coincidence, right?" Another coincidence. Hilarious. So great. I was truly loving this. Really. How could it get any better?

"Oh no, she legally changed her name to that." Akitoki snorted, amused by such a thought that there could possibly be another Kagome.

And just like that, in not even a second, Inuyasha was as tense as a motherfucker. Wonderful.

"So are you able to get the files or not?" I pressed, hoping to convey a sense of urgency. Not for catching Carreau the big, bad demon. No, the urgency was for dear Akitoki's life, hanging in the balance of Inuyasha's claws.

The detective grimaced but nodded. "It'll take me a couple hours though. There's a coffee shop three blocks north of here. Meet there at three? I can give you all I have."

Inuyasha was growling, low but definitely there so I grabbed his wrist and nodded. "Yep, sounds great. We're going to go now. See you later!"

I jumped up and all but dragged Inuyasha with me. At first he was slow to follow but as we got closer to the reception area, he was suddenly right against my back.

"We need to talk," he muttered, displeasure in every word.

"Uh huh, okay. At the motel."

Inuyasha growled a little more but he didn't do anything drastic like punch a hole in the wall, so I counted it as a win.

A small, tiny, barely there win.

But a win nonetheless.

"Let's talk," Inuyasha repeated, pressing me down on the mattress. And that– That wasn't fair.

"Asshole," I muttered, barely getting the word out before his lips crushed against mine. It was a terrible kiss. Awful. Literally the worst. But oh god, the way he moved on top of me. I ran my hands along his side before touching that jawline of his, pushing him back a bit to ease the kiss into something far less desperate and a lot more normal. This wasn't the first time we've had sex. Not even the hundredth. I knew, because I knew him, that this was some stupid possessive thing. He'd claim it was all because of his demonic side, but he was just a raging asshole and that was the end of that. "Inuyasha," I whispered, pushing back a little more. "I thought you wanted to talk."

"I don't have much to say," Inuyasha replied. His golden orbs watched me, looking for something before he carefully and slowly lowered, his mouth brushing against my collarbone. He kissed there, a far gentler cry than earlier. "You, however, should have said something."

"I told you," I groaned, running my fingers through his dark hair. The silver roots were starting to become a problem, but a part of me wished that I could see him with his natural hair always. Maybe one day, when we weren't doing this full-time, we could strip the dye and let him have it his way. "I told you," I repeated, "that there wasn't anything going on. He had a crush, it was a bit strange. It's clear that he's a bit strange. But he's the only opportunity for a lead that we've got."

"Still should have told me," Inuyasha growled. He kissed up my neck. It was horribly, amazingly distracting.

"And what, have you freak out before? Demand that we find another way?" Even as my body responded, hips straining upwards for some kind of pressing claim, I couldn't help but snort. "You wouldn't have let us go in the first place."

Inuyasha sighed, not the sexy kind, and sat up. His shirt was still on. That was honestly the worst part of today. Inuyasha should be shirtless always. "Kagome, I'm not that much of an asshole."

"You can be," I pointed out. "You have been. Remember when we were in Victoria?"

"He practically tried to kiss you," Inuyasha hissed, eyes flashing.

"And I can handle myself, dog boy," I snapped right back. "Like always. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm really fucking in love with you so shut up, stop being completely stupid about the Akitoki Hojo thing and let's have sex right now." I made grabby hands at him, tugging at the bottom of his shirt. It needed to come off yesterday.

Inuyasha growled and rucked up said offending piece of clothing. "And that's another thing! He looked exactly like that fucking doctor, the one that almost killed you! The one you dated."

"A mistake! And holy fucking shit, we weren't dating then so you had absolutely no say on who I went out with!" I glared at him while spreading my palm over his abs. Jesus, he was built. "And let me make this clear, you fucking jerk: I love you. You love me. It's a great fucking story for the books. Romance and supernatural wonder and all that shit."

The half-demon was practically twitching but he didn't get off of me. He hovered, face torn between horror and frustration. It was a look I was all too familiar with. "Why are you making this weird?"

"Because you haven't said you love me back yet and so I'm torn between punching you or kissing you." I took a deep breath and let my hands roam up his sides until they cradled around his neck. I felt the tension slowly creep out from his shoulders and when I caught his golden gaze, the half-demon was looking at me with something like uncertainty.

Slowly, he leaned down until his lips were a bare millimetre from mine. I wanted to close the distance so desperately, but this was important. I hated being the one to always cave and with Inuyasha I did it more than I ever have. Years on my own made things difficult to surrender to. When Inuyasha joined me, we were two rough pieces with jagged edges, trying to fit. And even now that we made ourselves fit, the edges still weren't smoothed over. There were things that made me feel vulnerable and things that made Inuyasha angry.

But we worked it out. We always did. He was everything.

"Kagome," he whispered. His lips brushed mine on accident but it sent tingles all down my spine. I was a fucking wreck for this man. A part of me loved it as much as I hated it. "You know I love you."

"I know," I whispered back.

"But you drive me up the fucking wall."

His golden gaze was made even bigger by his raised eyebrows, a pointed expression on his face that I knew too well. I couldn't help but laugh, loud and harsh, head tilted back as euphoria hit me. Stupid dog boy. Stupid, beautiful fucking dog boy.

"Right back at you," I retorted, hands digging into those long black locks. Inuyasha scoffed but he closed the distance, those lips of his finally crashing into mine. The kiss was terrible, honestly.

But it was because I couldn't stop smiling, so…

Yeah, we were the kind of romance people wrote about. I didn't actually mind.

"You did this on purpose," I hissed at Inuyasha, pointing aggressively at him while we exited the Acura. "It's your fault!"

"Hey, you were the one that wanted round two," Inuyasha replied, smiling all smug and stupid and freaking attractive-like. Honestly, he was the worst. "What was I going to say? No?"

I sighed loudly, exasperated. He wasn't wrong, per se, but it would have been nice to have the extra reminder that we really needed to meet the only person that could help with the case. It was only by ten minutes but I knew Akitoki didn't have all the time in the world. The fact that he was even meeting with us today was a miracle.

The coffee shop door jingled as we entered. Pretty much instantly a hand went up in the air, waving us down. I gave what hopefully passed for a pleasant smile and ignored the way I could feel Inuyasha pressing up closer against me. One of these days he was going to trip me and I was going to be really, really mad at him.

"Hey!" I greeted Akitoki, sliding into the booth on the other side of him. The blue-eyed officer already had a cup of coffee in hand, a notebook to the side with sheets of paper sticking out of it. I really hoped those were for me.

"I was worried I said the wrong time," he said, eyeing Inuyasha for a brief moment before turning his gaze to me. "Everything okay?"

As if that wasn't going to make Inuyasha growl a little. Dear lord. "Yes, everything is fine," I stressed, hoping the words didn't come out too blunt. But really, what was I going to do? "Were you able to find anything?"

"I got locations and details from some of the case files." Akitoki took out the sheets of paper and handed them over. I could already see his messy scrawl all over the pages, in between printed document lines. "I'm honestly not sure if anything will be of any help. If all the evidence pointed towards a suicide, they may not have looked too hard at anything else."

"Yeah, I know. That's okay." Inuyasha leaned a little closer to me, looking over the same papers. Nothing jumped out right away so I slid them over to him. "We'll take a look and let you know if we find anything. Worst case, we can try to triangulate an area and start searching."

"It'll be a big area," Akitoki pointed out, frowning. "I'm not even sure if that'll be useful."

"She's been at this a long time, so it's nothing to worry your little head about," Inuyasha snarked. I glared at him but the half-demon was too busy studying the papers. Total dick move.

Akitoki seemed to be a little taken aback by that though and blushed, his face turning a bit red. "Yeah, of course. That's not what I meant. I just– I don't know how else to help."

"We don't nee–"

I cut Inuyasha off, kicking him under the table. "That's really nice of you to offer," I said kindly. "But we'll figure it out. I've got a few more connections to hit up."

"If the demon's really this dangerous, I should be helping you," Akitoki said, looking serious. "My badge can go a long way."

"It's okay, we have really good fakes." Sighing, I looked at Inuyasha. This time, he wasn't even pretending to be innocent. He was cheerfully looking at the police officer, smirk firmly in place.

"Fakes?"

"Don't ask," I suggested, shaking my head. "Plausible deniability."

"O-kay." Akitoki didn't look convinced though and I really needed him to back off the case. As much as it was great to have a connection, I couldn't have another human involved. Especially not with Astaroth being a part of this. Heaven forbid the Duke of Hell showed up and I let him go. Akitoki would never understand.

I tapped at the table and smiled at him, going for reassuring. "What you've given us has been really, really helpful. Thank you. I'll let you know when we catch the demon. If there's another murder, I'll flag it for you."

"Is it really that powerful?" he asked.

I shook my head. "More just difficult to find. He's possessing a human so my other…contact–" Inuyasha snorted. Rude. "Can't find him as quickly."

"Well let me know if there's anything I can do to help," Akitoki said. He reached forward and captured my hand, holding it in both of his. Inuyasha instantly slapped at his hands, growl firmly in place. I watched as the booth beside us turned around, confused and I started to hip-check Inuyasha into getting up and out.

"This has been great, again, really. Thanks so much. I'll let you know!" I pushed at Inuyasha's shoulders, trying to turn him around but he was still glowering, lip curled and everything. "Inuyasha, come on."

"Whatever," the half-demon snarled out, spinning on his heel.

I groaned and looked up at the ceiling. I don't know why I did it. Heaven was kind of a piece of shit, almost as bad as Hell. No one ever gave me answers.

I woke up hot all over.

It wasn't hard to figure out why. There was a familiar, heavy weight on top of me and soft breaths tickling at the back of my neck. I smiled a little, letting my hands uncurl from around the blanket to find his. The half-demon so rarely slept soundly; he was just as bad as I was, fidgeting all the time. I lightly touched the back of his hand, let my fingertips soothe over his claws. They were getting long again.

For a moment, I just let myself have this. The quiet and the relaxation.

And then my eyes inadvertently wandered over to the other side of the motel room, where a map of Chicago was taped to the wall. Last night, the two of us had desperately tried to figure out exactly where Carreau would be. It wasn't an easy task. The demon could have been anywhere.

Which…yeah, Carreau could be anywhere but why the hell was he in Chicago? Was there a particular reason for it, or did it just so happen to be the nearest major city? Probably the latter, I thought to myself with my lower lip between my teeth. More people around made it easier to get lost in a crowd. Then again, Carreau was trying to overthrow Astaroth, right?

I didn't know a lot about demon hierarchy but the Duke of Hell was clearly higher up than a lesser demon like Carreau. Lesser demons had less power, which made them weaker than their titled counterparts. But Astaroth had even said he was making pointed attacks, enough so that the Duke of Hell believed him to be a potential problem.

Which meant Carreau was getting a lot of power.

There was research all over the floor on what Inuyasha and I knew about the demon, but I didn't have to look at it again to know the basics. Carreau was the demon of sadness and heartlessness. He could break the resolve of even the strongest of individuals. Apparently. Demonic textbooks always compared strength to nuns, which… Eh. They were probably great and all, but I kind of saved the world.

Just a little.

Carreau also grew stronger when he inhabited a body. His demonic aura actually radiated out and affected those around him, breaking down their will.

His power had to be coming from other people, but where? It wasn't like Carreau could just walk down the street and draw tons of power. People had to be at least a little bit susceptible, a little vulnerable to begin with. So where would he be that made the most sense? Where he could consistently see vulnerable human beings and draw from them throughout the day, every day?

Carefully, I lifted the arm that Inuyasha had wrapped around me and tried to slide out. If he wanted to sleep a little, he deserved it. We had been up stupid late last night, trying to figure it all out.

"Wha–" Inuyasha sat up immediately, golden eyes wide open.

"Hey, it's okay," I murmured, letting my hands fall onto his shoulders. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay." The half-demon blinked blearily at me for a moment before shifting around to rest his head on my chest. It couldn't have been comfortable. I ran my fingers through his hair, scratching at the scalp. I was pretty sure he enjoyed it far more than he ever said. "What got you up?" he asked, more of a mumble than anything else.

"Just thinking about Carreau," I answered, holding back a sigh. "I was thinking that he needs to be drawing a lot of power to himself in order to be worrying Astaroth, right? So where would he be that he could constantly draw power from other humans?"

"They'd have to be in a bad place already, right?" Inuyasha asked, lifting his head. His eyes narrowed on me for a moment before he turned to the map on the wall. "If you were a human and not doing well, where would you go?"

"If you were vulnerable," I continued, "where would you feel safe?"

Inuyasha frowned but I watched his face, my mind whirling with options. It was harder because as much as I was human, I wasn't a typical one. I hadn't led a normal life since I was a teen.

Still. If I was having problems, I would talk to Inuyasha about them. We'd take a break or something, maybe travel somewhere different for fun rather than to hunt. Before I had met him, I'd head back to Miroku and Sango's bar and stay with them. They always understood, even with the limited bits I shared.

I blinked and grabbed onto Inuyasha's hand. "What about a therapist?" I asked, the words coming out slow. "What if Carreau is posing as a therapist and talking to people who are already feeling a little bit stressed or broken or scared? If he had access like that, it would take nothing at all to steal what little will they had left."

"The two suicides," Inuyasha connected slowly. "And two were accidental deaths–"

"They were overdoses, both of them. The files Akitoki got us confirmed it."

Inuyasha frowned. "But what about the murder? That one doesn't make sense."

"He's still a demon," I replied. "He'll still kill for the fun of it. But Carreau wouldn't go out of his way for that, considering he was already getting so much power from those around him. A murder of opportunity, then."

"Meaning wherever the murder happened is close to where he's working or living." Inuyasha smirked at me, one of his fingers lifting my chin. "You're fucking brilliant."

I grinned at him. Smiling wasn't as hard as it used to be. "I try."

There were quite a few counselling centres in the area, but only one of them was close to where the murdered victim was found. Inuyasha and I decided that we would put all of our eggs into that basket and hope for the fucking best. It was a good, educated guess but there was always the chance that we were wrong.

To be frank, Carreau may not even be posing as a therapist. It was just likely.

Hopefully, I was as good at my job as I thought, or else I would look really fucking stupid later.

The plan was simple but it had a lot of potential holes in it, even if I was completely right. The counselling centre didn't have a receptionist, so we needed a way to figure out who Carreau was without tipping him off that we were there. A salt line was too obvious, but mullein herbs were perfect. Even a tiny scattering of them on the floor would cause the demon to hesitate. Without a solid line it wouldn't do anything to restrict him, but it would make him cringe. That was all we needed.

Getting it into position was pretty simple. Sessions seemed to always be on the hour, so it wasn't difficult to enter the lobby during a slow time and awkwardly stand by the door where the therapists came out, dropping pieces of the mullein herb to the ground. There was only one woman sitting in the lobby at the time, and I smiled at her before disappearing. Hopefully, she just thought I was strange.

The hardest part was catching him. I had to sit in the lobby, head bowed super low into a magazine at one of the chairs in the far corner. I didn't want anyone to realize I was there for a long period of time.

Three hours. It took three hours until I found him. It was the barest of hesitations, so miniscule that a regular human would never have noticed it. But a man with sandy blonde hair and light eyes walked out and then, rather abruptly, stopped. He took a deep breath and shook his head, looking down at the floor intently.

A man stood up in the room, going to join him. It was enough to distract Carreau, who greeted him and started to lead him inside. I made sure to duck my head down into the magazine, dark bangs in my face. Within a minute, the demon was gone.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. I put the magazine down and left, exiting the lobby and heading straight to the Acura parked on the other side of the road. Inuyasha was already leaning against the hood, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. It was by far one of the best sights in the world. "Saw him."

"I was about to come in there and get you," Inuyasha grumbled, his hand reaching out for a beltloop on my pants. He pulled me in, glaring at me. "That was too long."

"His first patient was later in the day, what was I supposed to do?" I asked, raising a brow at him.

"Find him faster."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, okay dog boy. Thanks for the advice."

Inuyasha smirked at me. "You're welcome."

Ugh. Stupid, freakishly attractive half-demon. What a pain in my ass.

Despite the hour, I had to summon Astaroth. There was nothing I could do to make the spell more powerful, but I hoped that my connection to him would be enough. And that…

That was kind of an awful thing to realize. I had a connection to a Duke of Hell that was powerful enough to withstand weaknesses in a summoning spell. Sometimes, I worried about my life.

Well, I always kind of did that.

Inuyasha was still at the counselling centre, keeping an eye on Carreau to make sure he didn't move in the meanwhile. I had taken the Acura back to the motel, gathering what I needed to make the spell happen. The chalk was pretty terrible on the carpet but I made my lines thick, the arches perfect. Astaroth's seal was relatively simple so I made sure it was exact before shutting the blinds tightly and taping down any gaps, going for complete darkness. The candles were the only things I could see by, making my grip on the tiny craft star in my hand tighten.

The stupid spell better work.

The chant was old and guttural, the words like jagged pieces of glass. I forced my way through it, never stopping, clutching at the star. I breathed in the smell of the candle wax, at the tiny hint of smoke. I stood just outside of the circle and let the foreign words bleed out. When I was finished, the room was deathly silent. It was like the outside world completely dissipated, no cars outside and no people wandering nearby.

And then the candles all flickered as one, like a tiny breath of air blew by and forced the flame to shudder.

When the fire righted itself, Astaroth's beaming smile greeted me. "Hello, my star."

"We found Carreau," I said, tossing the crafted star at him none-to-gently. "We're going after him tonight."

"That didn't take long at all," the Duke of Hell murmured, clearly pleased. He stood within his seal, his firm body straight and unflinching. He was clearly a demon of extreme power and strength, and held himself as such.

I glared at him, disregarding all of that. I had taken down worse. "It's not going to be easy. He's been eating up a lot of power. The only way I can purify him directly is if I force him out of the host, but my usual methods exorcise demons straight to Hell. So, if you want him purified, you're going to have to help me out."

His red eyes gleamed. "I told you, demons don't attack other demons."

"Think of it less like attacking and more like…" I shrugged, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. "Blocking his path."

"You've always been fascinating," Astaroth murmured. He rubbed at his chin, smile in place. "Tell me about your plans then, and I'll consider it."

Oh, that fucker was going to consider it alright.

In the end, it went like clockwork.

Well, kind of.

Inuyasha and I had been doing this for a few years already, barely taking any breaks. We knew each other well, knew how the other liked to move. The plans we executed were all the same, really, just tweaked for the situation. A demon was either possessing a human or in its own form. In the end, that was all that really mattered.

The first step was getting the demon into our trap. Tonight, I stood outside of Carreau's house – or, really, the house of the human he was possessing. I checked the time: quarter after nine. We were in business.

Taking a breath, I knocked on the front door.

It took only a minute but soon, familiar sandy-blonde hair and light eyes were in front of me. He looked confused but not at all wary or scared. Big fucking mistake.

"Hey asshole," I greeted cheerfully. "Excited to go back to Hell tonight?" I tackled the demon forwards, my head in his chest as I pressed him back inside. The tactic was just startling enough that Carreau stumbled backwards, his human eyes disappearing for blood red ones. I spun around and slammed the door shut, hoping to stop anyone walking by from being a good citizen. No one needed to walk in on what was about to go down.

"Chosen One," Carreau purred. He stood up, tilting his head at an almost unnatural angle. I needed to try and get him out of the host as fast as possible, before he did something to seriously damage them. "It was you earlier."

"Yup, that was me. You'd think by now I'd be a lot more famous, especially since I took down Naraku."

"Half-bloods are worth nothing," he hissed, crouching. Before I could get another word in, he leapt at me, going for the throat. I ducked and side-stepped, aiming a kick to his side but missing. I had to back up again and again to narrowly miss his attacks, long arms reaching for me. Shit, I really should have paid more attention to how tall the host was, to get a better judge of how to fight him. I couldn't do any serious attacking, not until I exorcised that piece of shit.

I stumbled back into the hallway, grabbing onto the doorframe for leverage to kick at him. It caught them right in the stomach, forcing the body back just enough for me to gain some space.

But then Carreau grinned. "Why are you here, Chosen One?" he taunted. He actually continued to back up, one step and then the other. No, no, no. That wasn't part of the plan. I could see where he was heading, there was only one other room by the front lobby and it looked to be a kitchen.

Fuck, not a kitchen. Not a kitchen with knives. What about the living room? What was wrong with having a life or death fight in the fucking living room? There were pillows there. Blankets, maybe.

Carreau turned and ran for it.

"Fuck off!" I snapped, giving chase. Carreau could kill the human host and not give two shits about it. I, on the other hand, did care.

"Out of the way!"

I balked and pressed myself against the wall, just in time to avoid being flattened as Inuyasha tackled the demon past me, back into the hallway. "About time!" I yelled.

"What the fuck are you going on about, wench?" Inuyasha snarled. I watched as he gathered Carreau in his arms and threw him further down. "You were supposed to be bring him to the living room where I would trap him."

"He wasn't being cooperative."

"They never are." Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and all I saw was him fly forwards, back towards Carreau. There were screams, human and unfamiliar. I ran forwards and unclipped the flask of Holy Water from my leg holster. We needed to contain him and get the exorcism started, before this got any worse.

The living room was a nightmare. Inuyasha was collapsed over some table with Carreau flying in the air towards him. I was helpless to do anything as Inuyasha took a punch to the face and then a knee to the stomach. I uncapped the water and flicked the flask at the demon, watching as the droplets fell onto his skin. Carreau screamed again but it was so, so much worse than before.

"Do it."

Inuyasha levelled a massive kick to the demon, forcing him into the wall on the other side of the room. Carreau's ugly red eyes were furious, his head twitching around every which way. But there was no escape.

Not with the Key of Solomon underneath him.

Inuyasha was getting a lot better with them, ignoring that so-called 'claustrophobia' he kept mentioning every time he went near one.

"How dare you," Carreau shrieked, lips curled back and body coiled to leap. "You cannot defeat me."

"Kind of already have," I said, putting the cap back on the flask. Holy Water was a pain in the ass to get, only because priests were so finicky these days.

"I'll just come back," Carreau hissed. "You'll send me to Hell but I will come back. I always come back."

"For fuck's sake, can you exorcise him already?" Inuyasha snarled, irritated.

I smirked. "Regna terrae, cantate Deo, psallite Domino. Qui fertis super caelum caeli ad Orientem. Ecce dabit voci Suae vocem virtutis, tribuite virtutem Deo. Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus omnis satanica–"

Carreau no longer sounded human. The screams were vibrating, shaking the walls around us. The kind of power he had to have to be able to do that, trapped as he was, must have been significant. I didn't stop, didn't hesitate.

"–Terribilis Deus de sanctuario suo. Deus Israhel ipse truderit virtutem et fortitudinem plebe Suae. Benedictus Deus. Gloria Patri!"

And there it was, the smoke of the demon. Black, hazy and thick like smog. It rose to the ceiling, wisps like a miniature tornado, building and building as it left the body of the human.

"Now Astaroth!" I screamed. The room around us changed. I had experienced Astaroth in many ways, in many forms. He was the annoying Duke of Hell that walked the fine line of being helpful enough to live and terrible enough to kill. But now–

This was something else.

I had never felt the horror and darkness that he could bring, never like this. It was overwhelming, all-encompassing. I gasped for air as the room around me shuddered, the walls shaking and suddenly the smoky form of Carreau was no longer floating. It was swirling, faster and faster and faster. Astaroth took a step forward, standing beside me. His clawed hands were tense, knuckles pointed and prominent as he hissed. The lightbulbs in the house blew, shattering into pieces. I recoiled but instantly was wrapped up, Inuyasha's body covering mine.

"Don't let it consume you," Inuyasha shouted in my ear, so close. His strong arms wrapped around me tighter, held me closer. "Kagome, use it."

Because for all the demonic power that was there in the world, there was me to counterbalance it.

Inuyasha let me go and I looked over, desperately trying to see in the low light. Night had already fallen but the moon was near full, shining enough through the window to see. The black cloud before me pulsed, like a beating heart.

"Show yourself!" Astaroth demanded, voice booming.

And then Carreau was before us. Not Carreau within a human body, the real Carreau. It was a form I had never seen before, not on any demon. It wasn't really…a shape. It was like lingering branches of thick black, an external heart that pulsated red. He stood tall, head grazing the ceiling as he expanded, taking up the living room.

I felt his aura expanding, the feelings of despair eating their way into my soul. But no, I couldn't let it happen. I was the counterbalance. I was the Chosen One.

My hands flew out in front of me and I reached out with everything I had. Black branches were trying to enclose me, the sadness trying to ebb its way in. I listened as Inuyasha snarled viciously around me, at the sound of Astaroth protecting my back from attacks. I reached and reached, feeling my powers connect to its heart. The strings were there, lacing around my fingers again and again. Tighter, tighter, I pulled it towards me.

My vision went black. There was nothing around me but darkness, thick and cloying. Carreau was wrapped around me, just like I was wrapped around his heart.

And then I screamed, snapping the strings of his heart around me. I felt the power within me shudder and pulse. No longer was the blackness surrounding me; pink radiant light shone through, bright enough to force me to close my eyes.

I shut my hands into fists, breaking off every last connection.

The room fell into silence.

I groaned, slumping forward. Two strong arms wrapped around me and I tightened my grip on them, never more grateful for the half-demon than in that moment. Well, that was a lie but whatever. I was tired as fuck.

"Interesting."

I groaned again. "No, Astaroth. We're not discussing this."

"Your powers have changed."

Keeping my eyes closed, I selfishly hoped that if I just didn't look at him, the Duke of Hell would go away. Inuyasha ran one of his hands through my hair and it did a little to soothe me, to calm me down. I just needed a minute more and I would be fine. We could go back to the motel and hopefully I would be able to sleep for like fourteen hours straight.

"I knew you were getting more powerful, but this is unprecedented."

"Fuck off, Astaroth," Inuyasha growled out, voice low. "Leave her alone."

"That's not fun now, is it?" I opened my eyes just in time to see the Duke of Hell smile devilishly at me. "My star, what have you been hiding from me?"

"Nothing, dick-face. I'm the Chosen One. My powers have turned pink." Ever since the defeat of Naraku, my powers had been evolving. When Inuyasha saved me with the Jewel, its power shifted fully to me. I wasn't just the host for it anymore; I was the power of the Jewel. It didn't mean that many changes, but it did mean I was getting stronger with each day. I didn't have to touch a demon to purify it. Sometimes it was as simple as holding out a hand and making a fist to purify it, whereas before I had to fight to make a connection.

Carreau had been incredibly powerful though. I wasn't surprised by how much of my own power I had to use to destroy him.

"Pink powers," the Duke of Hell hummed. "Well then, we'll have to discuss this at a later date, my star. Home is calling."

"Please just stay there," I muttered.

Inuyasha's arms loosened around me and I was forced to stand back up on somewhat shaky legs. I watched as the half-demon went over to the other side of the room, his fingers feeling for a pulse on the human Carreau had possessed.

"Is he okay?" I asked, throat raw.

Inuyasha nodded. "His pulse is fine. We'll call the cops on the way out."

Astaroth waved a half-assed salute. "And that's my cue," he announced. "Until next time."

I flipped him off as he disappeared from view.

"Think you can make it to the car?" Inuyasha asked, coming back to my side. His golden gaze was focused solely on me. Even after all these years, I was positive I would never get used to the intensity of it all.

"Maybe," I admitted. "Though probably with some help."

The half-demon smirked, wrapping his arm securely around my waist. "I'm sure I can do that for you, wench."

"Thanks, dog boy."

The next morning, Inuyasha and I were packed up and ready to be on our way. There was nowhere in particular we had in mind, but an early start was always best. I had wanted to jump on the road immediately but Inuyasha whined about being hungry, enough that I sighed heavily and caved.

There was a breakfast place about ten minutes away, along the route to the highway. The suburbs surrounded us, tons of houses and parks in every direction. The restaurant was actually quite busy and I grimaced as two children with hands covered in what looked like jam ran by. Where the hell were their parents?

"Can't we just grab a donut or something from a drive-thru?" I whined. "I'm the one that used up all that power, not you. If I can make do with a donut, you definitely can."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "It's not that bad."

It was that bad, but whatever. The hostess was making eyes at Inuyasha, probably captivated by his golden orbs. I didn't blame her but it didn't mean I had to like it. Hopefully the silver roots in his hair made her reconsider flirting with him. That would be a bad idea for everyone involved, mainly because I could definitely use a fork as a weapon.

We were on our way to a table when all of a sudden, my name was called. The voice was very familiar.

My stomach dropped to the floor.

"Kagome, hey!" Akitoki Hojo greeted, smile massively wide. "It's so great to run into you here! Having breakfast?"

Beside me, Inuyasha froze. I couldn't tell if it was horror, or just him trying to shut down any instant reflexes to murder him. Both were possible.

"Yeah," I replied, hoping it didn't come out as awkward as I thought it did. Though the universe hated me, so… It probably did.

"Meet my wife! Kagome, this is– Well, meet Kagome." Akitoki laughed then and I had no choice but to step in closer to greet the other woman. She didn't look like me – not really – but there were definite similarities. Dark brown eyes. Long black hair. Pale skin. Her lips were poutier though and jawline sharper.

"It's so lovely to meet you," Kagome said to me, overly cheerful. "Akitoki has told me so much about you!"

"Nope." Inuyasha's growl forced me to look at him, even as he stepped deliberately into my space and pushed me away from the booth. "Nope, donuts are fine. We're getting donuts."

"Inuyasha, you said–"

"Fuck what I said," the half-demon spat. He twirled me around by the hips and then started to gently push me back towards the front door. Behind him, the hostess was calling out for us.

I grinned. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Because we can probably join–"

His growl was loud enough to drown me out but I stopped anyways, laughing. He manhandled me all the way to the Acura, opening the front door and carefully pushing me inside. Instead of shutting the door though, the half-demon leaned down into my space, his long black hair falling like a curtain around us.

I licked my lips, watching him.

Inuyasha smirked. "Ready to go?"

"I've been waiting on you this whole time," I murmured.

With a bark of a laugh, the half-demon shut the door and got around to the other side. He slid in, smooth and graceful, and while I turned the car on his hand found its way to mine.

We reversed out of there together.

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