This was strongly inspired by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Thank you for reading!

SVU Precinct

"Inuyasha!" The old captain shouted, half of his body peeking out from the doorway of his office. "I need you in here. Now."

The detective glanced up from the file he was reading to see his chief's hand in the air, beckoning him in, the hard expression on his face warning him that he may be about to get the ass chewing of a lifetime. His partner cocked an eyebrow, sitting at the desk directly across from him, as if to ask what he'd done this time, but Inuyasha ignored it, letting out a rugged sigh as he closed the light blue folder, shoved it in his desk drawer, and headed toward the dimly-lit office.

The door was shut behind him. Captain Totosai remained silent until he got to his side of the large, wooden desk, documents yet to be signed sprawled over every inch of the top. Inuyasha stood behind one the available seats, waiting. He hadn't been out on a case in a couple of weeks. Things had been a little slow; a blessing and a curse. Less crime for his department meant more desk duty for the detectives in the Special Victims Unit. How could he have fucked something up if he was practically sitting there at his desk like a secretary?

"Something was just delivered for you." He said flatly, handing him a large, unopened manilla envelope.

Inuyasha eyed it suspiciously, cautiously taking it from the captain's hands. It was light, the contents inside resembling a thick stack of paper. He analyzed his own name written across the front in thick, broken, red letters, looking something similar to lipstick.

"Who -uh... What is this? I don't understand." The half demon said, eyebrows furrowed in a deep crease as his eyes met the captain's once more. Totosai brought an opened Fedex envelope into view, the unofficial and unprofessional label addressing it to the SVU department with no return address, typed in comic sans font and taped to the front like they didn't even try to make it passable. It was a fucking joke, and he could suddenly understand the palpable tension in the captain's eyes. They'd seen things like this, usually delivered to victims and not police stations, but all the same, it never meant anything good.

"Open it, Inuyasha." He commanded, his voice level but stern. The detective did as he was told, pinching the small, metal tabs together and opening the top. He reached in, gripping the stack and pulling it out, his stomach dropping violently to the floor as his eyes fell on the black and white portrait of a girl smiling in the window of a coffee shop. He dropped the envelope on the desk, quickly flipping the top photo to the back of the stack and studying the next. It was the same girl, washing her dishes, the photo zoomed in and taken at a higher angle through her window. He flipped to the next. The girl looked sad, distracted, staring at her cellphone at a crosswalk. Inuyasha's fingers began to shake, fumbling over the corner as he tried to flip to the next. She was sitting with some friends at a restaurant, drink in hand, a small smile highlighting her features. His heart was pounding in his ears as he flipped, dropping that one on the face of the desk, too distracted to care. She was laughing with her little brother. The next she was saying goodbye to someone. The next she was petting her neighbor's cat that had traveled over to the edge of the balcony of her place. The next she was grocery shopping. At a yoga class. Leaving a store with a smoothie. Watching TV on her living room couch, shot through another opened window, dressed down in a large, black shirt and her underwear. Kneeling to speak to a couple of little girls on the playground, the image blurred slightly by the chainlink fence. The final photo caused a sickening feeling to creep up his esophagus, the taste of bile lingering in the back of his throat. She was asleep in her bed, the comforter only covering half of her body as she slept on her side, one of her legs resting on top. She wasn't wearing pants, a t-shirt he'd been missing for a long time riding up her body to reveal most of her waist. There was writing at the bottom of the matte-printed picture, scrawled in the same, red, lipstick as the envelope saying, SHE'S NEXT!

"What the fuck!?" Inuyasha barked, dropping the pile onto Totosai's desk as if holding it any longer would burn the calloused pads of his fingers. They were in her apartment, watching her sleep and god knows what the fuck else. What if something had happened to her?

"Who is this, Inuyasha?" The captain asked, interrupting his thoughts, spreading each picture out in front of him to properly analyze.

"She's -Jesus Christ- She's an old friend! Who the fuck sent these!?" Inuyasha snatched up the Fedex envelope, inhaling the lingering scents of its many recent handlers, nothing coming off as familiar in the least, aside from the officer who delivered it. He studied the thing closely, hoping some sort of clue would jump out into plain view. "Who delivered this?" He asked again.

"I'm having the security cameras examined already. It was left at the front and officer Ginta brought it to me just a few minutes ago. What's the girl's name?"

Inuyasha hesitated, every nerve ending in his body engulfed in flames. His ember eyes looked down at the photos, staring intently at the one of her with her friends, dark hair spilling over her shoulders and out of view from the camera shot. Fear crept over and absorbed his mind for the first time in so long. He wasn't the type that scared easily. In his line of work, and as long as he'd been in it, he'd seen some shit. It took a lot to jostle him, yet here he was, bouncing from foot-to-foot, itching to run out of here and catch up with whomever dropped off the package, stuck staring down at a face he never thought he'd see again. "Kagome Higurashi."

Kagome's Residence

She sat at her small, circular table, the photos laid out in front of her, terrorizing her every thought. She couldn't look away, but continuing to stare at them had her entire body riddled with anxiety. She knew almost every date stamp of the pictures. She'd last seen her family about a month and a half ago; the picture where she was laughing with her brother was when he was telling her about some of his ongoing high school experiences. She'd gone out with her friends this last weekend. She'd just gotten those new yoga pants she was pictured in, and she wore them to Wednesday's class. And the image where she was staring at her phone, about ready to cry on the sidewalk across the street from the preschool she worked for... that was when she was dealing with a broken heart. Three months ago.

The knock on her door caused her to jump in her seat, the wooden legs rocking back and forth under the shift in her weight, snapping her out of her reverie, a chill running down her spine as her chest restricted.

"Kagome, open the door." A deep, muffled voice spoke. Slowly, she stood from her chair, stopping a few feet from the entrance, crossing her arms in a meager attempt to shield herself.

"Who is it?"

"It's me."

Kagome grimaced, trying to decipher the voice. Normally, people gave a name to work with. Who had she had over enough to think she'd recognize their... A searing rush coursed through her as the realization came forward, causing a thick lump to form in her throat, the weight of lead sinking into her abdomen. Quickly, she put her eye to the peephole, spotting the silver bangs and twitching, white ear atop his head, and that was all she needed to undo the chain, unlock the bolt and knob, and crack the door open, an entirely different emotion overturning her facial features.

"You've got a lot of nerve, Inuyasha." She fired, her scowl piercing him through. He flinched, lips pressed in a tight line and eyebrows raised high, not expecting that sort of welcome. In truth, he hadn't known what, exactly, to expect. Surely, not a gleeful hello after not speaking for as long as they'd gone, but definitely not what he'd just received. "I'm busy. What do you want?"

"Can we come in? We need to talk. Believe me, I wouldn't have come if it wasn't important." That was a lie. He'd have shown up at the drop of a random come here text, no prior context needed.

Kagome noticed the man at Inuyasha's side, an amused smirk on his face. He held his badge out for her to see, letting her know he was an officer; presumably in the same precinct as the half demon before her. She stepped back, opening the door wider for them to enter her living room. Inuyasha took the liberty of shutting the door for her, his eyes darting from one end of her apartment to the other.

Immediately, he caught the very faint scent of something dangerous. Unfamiliar, but unsettling. His partner must have caught it too, his blue eyes colliding with Inuyasha's, nodding minutely enough that Kagome wouldn't notice. He fought the urge to search through her apartment to see if the offending smell was stronger in any other room, glancing back at the girl not five feet away, arms tucked beneath the other as she held onto the sides of her old, baggy sweater. Her dark hair was tied up in a messy bun, loose waves springing free from the hair band and curving around her jaw bone. Her brown eyes shifted between the two guys, the discomfort evident on her face as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. Every corner of the living area was dark, shadowed; all curtains and blinds closed tight. Stepping in further, he noted the normally curtain-less window above her sink draped in a dark sheet, wrapped around as many times as necessary to fit the small window properly.

"Miss Higurashi, was it?" His partner asked, stepping in with his hand held out. He was pretty good at easing any tension, especially when it came to women- one of the many reasons he made a valuable teammate to the ever-abrasive Inuyasha. "My name's Koga. I hope you don't mind us stopping by unannounced. There's no other way to put this, really, but we think you may be in some danger. Have you happened to notice anything strange taking place recently?"

"How did you know?" She asked skeptically, hugging herself tighter and not looking away from Koga. "I just got the pictures this morning."

"You got pictures?" It made sense to Inuyasha now; why Kagome was looking so sloppy compared to her normal, cleaned-up look, and why her apartment was as dark as possible in the middle of a bright day. It was a common way for victims to respond when their privacy was infringed upon. It was their own way of sheltering themselves.

Kagome turned her attention to the small dining table near the wall, black and white photos decorating the table top, a manilla envelope thrown carelessly to the floor beneath it. Inuyasha didn't waste any time, crossing the room to look through the photos spread out before him. They were all the same as the chunk he'd received. Aside from one. One that he desperately wished she didn't have to know about.

"Seriously, though, how did you know?" She repeated. He turned around, ignoring the ache in his stomach as he slowly reached into his inner coat pocket, pulling out his own gifted manilla envelope. He watched her jaw flex as she clenched her teeth together, her lips twitching downward in an immediate, disapproving response. Her arms drooped to wrap around her belly, eyeing the envelope in his hands like it was the most repugnant and vile object she'd ever seen. He hadn't even opened it to reveal its contents. It wasn't necessary for her to understand what was inside.

"Give it to me." Her voice was small, fragile. Kagome held her trembling hand out to Inuyasha, waiting for him to pass his envelope over. He hesitated, almost withdrawing, having to take a moment to swallow his blinding need to protect her. She needed to see these, that's why he'd brought them. Finally, he slipped the package into her open palm, hearing the paper slide against her fingers as clearly as nails on a chalkboard.

Kagome stared at the front, her face paling as she read the half demon's name in big, red letters. "Wh-what is this? Lipstick?"

Inuyasha clenched his fists at his side, his sharp nails biting into the thick flesh. For as long as he'd known Kagome he'd never once seen her so scared or anxious. This wasn't the first time, by a long shot, that he'd witnessed someone addressing the idea of having a stalker, abuser, or assailant of any degree, but it was the first time he'd ever seen that look on Kagome's face, and god did he wish he had the power to wipe it off. It was the first time someone he'd known was on the other end of this sort of ordeal, and as shitty as it was for him to think this way, he wished it was anyone but her.

She opened the tab, reaching in to pull out the stack of photos, and as she gazed at the one on top, the shift in her shoulders and the sigh she released from her nose told him she was slightly relieved it wasn't any different than what she'd already received. "But why were these sent to you?"

Inuyasha didn't have an answer for her. He had no fucking idea and had been trying to figure that out since the moment the damned thing was placed in his hands. Why would a stalker want his presence to be known? Sure, maybe the culprit got their rocks off on their victim's fear, but why in hell would they turn their photos into the authorities? More concerning, why would they specifically want him involved in this wild goose chase?

Kagome was getting ready to put the pictures back into the envelope, having not bothered to flip through them. It was perfectly understandable that she'd assume they were all the same, and they were. But she was missing one. Even Koga's discomfort seemed to noticeably skyrocket, awkwardly looking down at the floor as Inuyasha opened his mouth to stop her. As terrified as he knew she'd be, she needed to see it. She had the right to know.

"Kagome..." He stepped closer, holding his hands out cautiously in a way to stop her. "There's uh... at the back. Look at it."

Just holding the pictures had her stomach feeling weak, like she could throw up any second. The look on the half demon's face now had an unnerving sensation spilling throughout her neck and chest, making it difficult to swallow back the sickening feeling. It was hard to look away from his deep, worried, honey eyes to gaze back down to the pictures she'd already decided she never wanted to see again. It was even harder to glide her nail between the very last picture in the stack, clasp it between two fingers, and pull it to the front, knowing just from the expression on Inuyasha's face that things were about to get so much worse.

Kagome dropped the entire stack to the floor, the image of her sleeping, exposed, vulnerable, and victimized burning her hands like the acidic chemicals on the matte sheet weren't properly cleaned off. She gasped so hard she nearly choked, covering her mouth as she coughed with one hand while holding her churning stomach with the other, backing away, unable to tear her eyes from the red words. Inuyasha was at her side in an instant, hands on her shoulders to flip her around where it was impossible to turn her head to stare at the threat, demanding all of her focus.

"What does that mean, Inuyasha?" She asked, doing exactly as he expected, twisting in his hold to try and see the photo. He wouldn't let her go, his grasp on her firm, silently signaling for his partner to clean the mess up. "I'm next? I'm next for what?! Who the hell says something like that?!"

"You need to calm down, Kagome!"

"Calm down?!" Kagome echoed incredulously, a small laugh at the tale end of it. "How the hell am I supposed to be calm right now?"

"Kagome-"

"No, Inuyasha, I can't -I don't... What am I next for?" Her voice broke as her will to argue died away, cheeks becoming uncomfortably moist for how cold she felt.

"We don't know." Koga spoke, coming into view with two thick manilla envelopes in his hand. Kagome turned around, Inuyasha's grip on her easing, noticing her dining table and carpeted floor cleaned of all pictures. He tucked both envelopes into the deep pockets within his jacket, the gesture, alone, making Kagome feel a bit better. "That's why we came. We need to know if you've noticed any sort of suspicious activity."

It wasn't the first time she'd thought of that. The moment she saw her own set of photos taped to her door this morning, the same question popped into her mind. The thing was, she hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, and it was bugging her that she must not have been paying close enough attention. It could have been happening right before her eyes, and she never noticed. With how close some of those pictures were taken, that's exactly what was happening. Kagome shook her head, shrugging out of whatever was left of Inuyasha's grip to give Koga her attention. "No, nothing."

"Anyone following you?"

"Not that I've seen."

"Is this the first abnormal occurrence?"

She hesitated that time. Inuyasha heard the hitch in her breath perfectly. Kagome's brows were furrowed together as she thought of something, dark eyes staring at the floor beneath Koga's feet, lips parted and pursed like she was preparing to say something. Color was finally returning to her cheeks, a rush of pink spilling over like her fever had finally broken. Her brown eyes traveled up his partner's body, finally meeting his stare and shaking her head. "No."

"What?" Inuyasha asked.

"I mean, it's probably entirely unrelated, but I've been getting strange calls from unknown numbers for a little over a month now. I ignore most of them, but when I answer all I hear is breathing and maybe... I don't know, mumbling? They never say anything comprehensible." Kagome said, walking over to the coffee table stationed in front of the couch and grabbing her cellphone. She opened up her recent calls and handed her phone to the dark-haired detective. "They don't call very often, but I've still learned to recognize the three numbers to ignore. Sometimes I don't catch myself and answer by accident, but it's always the same thing. Like I said, though, it could be nothing."

"What are the numbers?" Koga asked, handing the cell to Inuyasha and pulling out a small notepad and pen from his pocket.

"The most recent numbers in red. All three of them called yesterday, which doesn't usually happen, but the most frequently used phone number is the one ending in two-two-seven-nine." She watched Koga scribble the three sets of numbers on his paper, nodding when he'd gotten the last one so Inuyasha could hand the phone back to Kagome.

"Have there been any signs of forced entry, like a busted window or broken-in door?"Koga asked.

"No, not at all." She shook her head.

"Okay, does anyone have a key to your apartment?"

"No."

"No one?"

"No one."

"By chance, do you sleep with your windows open?"

"No, she never does that." Inuyasha answered for her, looking a little too casual for Kagome's liking. She couldn't help the skeptical look she shot him in reaction, rolling her eyes as she turned her attention back to Koga. She appreciated that he seemed to ignore the tension that suddenly stiffened the air. Instead, he gave her a knowing smile, shrugging his brows.

"So, what happens now?" Kagome asked, moving passed it.

"We continue to investigate. He claims you're next, and no matter what that pertains to, it means there was a prior victim. We need to figure out just how dangerous this guy is, and the best way to do that is to find out who he's targeted before you. One last question: have you made any enemies recently?"

"I don't think so?" She asked more than stated. "I've never really had an enemy before. I mean, I'm not perfect, but I don't actively try to get on a person's bad side."

"I can believe that."

"Okay, but what about work? I can still go to work, right?"

"Continue on with your day-to-day life, Kagome." Inuyasha answered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Just make sure you're as safe as possible. Lock your windows and door, and carry a key between your fingers. If you can, note anything weird around you that could help us figure out who the guy is. I'm pretty sure he want's to play this game like he's The Riddler and make himself and his goal as hard as possible for us to figure out, but my guess is he's arrogant and sloppy."

"Here's my contact information if you need anything." Koga said, slipping a small business card from his front coat pocket and handing it over. "And I'm sure you've got Inuyasha's. If anything happens at all, don't hesitate to contact either of us."

"Oh, uh..." Kagome's expression twisted in an unpleasant manner, her eyebrows raising as she pressed her lips into a tight line. "I must have lost that somewhere."

"Are you- are you kidding me?" Inuyasha tensed from the punch he just took to the gut. "How do you lose a number that was saved in your phone?"

Kagome shrugged in response, small traces of discomfort disappearing as the corners of her lips curved upward in the smallest smile.

"How fucking rude!" He ripped a card of his own out of his coat pocket, snatched Koga's pen from his hand, and scribbled his personal cellphone number below his work cell, holding the finished product out for her to take. "Here! Keep it this time, Kagome. I'm serious."

"Okay. Alright." She responded, plucking the card from Inuyasha's outstretched hand. "How long do you think it's gonna take to catch this guy?"

"It's hard to say." Inuyasha replied, his tone changing dramatically. "Stalkers are something else, Kagome. First, we have to get a lead, so it's impossible to give you a timeframe. Look, if it makes you feel any better, I'll park my car outside tonight and keep watch."

"Oh, no thats not necessary." Kagome shook her head, trying to brush his offer away as politely as possible. The last think she needed at a time like this was Inuyasha hanging around all night. Or Inuyasha hanging around at all.

"It's fine, I don't mind."

"No, really. Don't worry about it." She said more sternly that time.

"Kagome, more often than not, victims of this sort of thing end up sleeping better knowing there's an officer outside minding the front doors. While it's just an offer, it's an offer I highly recommend you take up." Koga added.

"Okay, well then can you do it?" Kagome cocked a brow, sensing Inuyasha's immediate change in body language, the protective nature he carried about him dwindling away and becoming an air of shock and muffled betrayal. Kagome didn't falter though. She held her ground, her lips pursed in defiance as she gave Koga a hard look, waiting for a response.

"Me?"

"Or literally anybody else?"

"I'm sure we can arrange something." Koga said stiffly, clearing his throat. "No matter what, someone will be parked downstairs tonight."

Inuyasha could sense the ugly smile on his partner's face as they drove back to the precinct in silence. It had grown wider and wider since the moment they'd left Kagome's place, little puffs of air leaving his nose in what sounded like bit-back laughing, and he was damn near ready to snap. While his partner was great on the field, he seemed to balance that out by being an asshat in private, and Inuyasha wished the wolf had a better sense of casualty and dropping shit.

"Dude..." Here we go. "What'd you do?"

"Don't fucking start with me." Inuyasha groaned, rolling his eyes and getting over to the left turn lane, the quick click of the blinker not nearly sufficient enough to drown out the douchebag next to him.

"I mean, I knew you had history with the chick, and even if I wasn't briefed beforehand, man was it obvious enough to piece together, but-"

"Shut up."

"She deleted your number!" He snorted, slapping his hand against his thigh like he'd just said the punchline of a joke. "She deleted your number! What the hell did you do?"

"Will you fucking drop it?"

"Alright, alright. Don't get mad at me, I'm not the one that blocked you. Anyway, do you think this will actually turn into a case?" The wolf demon asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, it already is one."

"Look, I know you feel personally involved in the matter, but if we can't figure out who the guy is, who the previous victim or victims are, and don't have any actual way to tie it to the SVU department, it's not our problem."

"The pictures were sent to me. He wanted my attention for a reason, and whether the captain takes the case or not, I'm figuring this shit out. Before Kagome gets hurt."

"I don't know why you're so concerned. From what I gathered, that girl's more than capable of taking care of herself. It's easy to see why you like her so much." Inuyasha gave a warning snarl in response, the message to end his talk of her coming off perfectly clear. Koga chuckled, never once taking Inuyasha's threats seriously, continuing on. "Anyway, in case you've forgotten, you're a part of this department. If chief says no, you can't touch it. Especially since it's so close to being a conflict of interest. I'm surprised he even let you come down here today. Second, that scent could have belonged to literally anyone."

"You know, as well as I do, that it was a demon."

"And Kagome doesn't associate with demons?"

"Bad demon, dumb ass. It's like milk. When you first buy milk it smells fine, but when it's passed its expiration date it smells rancid. That's not the scent of someone that you invite into your place; that's the scent of someone that invited themselves in."

"Demons compared to sour milk... Hm, good one. Too bad our supernatural senses have never been enough to prove shit to a jury. I'm sure Kagura will happily remind you of that."

"Nonetheless, I'm involved in this puzzle one way or another. I can't be pulled." Inuyasha remarked, turning into the parking garage.

"Look, I don't want to burst your bubble, but you can easily be pulled. The best way to prevent that is to work as quickly as possible in finding out what kind of damage this guy's done."

The two of them marched inside, met by the mildly busy office of their department. Totosai was briefing the other two lead detectives on something in front of the whiteboard at the head of their clumps of desks as Koga pulled the two thick, manilla envelopes from his jacket and dropped them aggressively on his tabletop, catching everyone's undivided attention.

"Yo. We've got a sick and horribly confusing pervert on our hands. What are you guys up to?" He asked all-too casually, a smile plastered on his face.

"Actually, we were just discussing your pervert before you unnecessarily interrupted." Sango gestured up to the board, very few notes jotted down the left side in black marker. "What'd the girl give you?"

"Not much." Koga answered. "She got the same packet of pictures this morning, so she's only been aware of her stalker for about as long as we have. But she has been receiving strange calls for the last, what did she say, month and a half?"

"Yeah."

"So, we jotted the numbers down and we can see about tracing them back to an owner."

"Numbers? Multiple? Those could just be solicitors." Sango said.

"She said they never talk; all she's ever heard on the other line is a mouth breather and talking she can never make out."

"So, clarify something for us, Inuyasha." Hojo spoke, half-sitting on his own desk. "How are you mixed up in this mess? This girl's your ex, right?"

"No." Inuyasha said defensively. "She's an old friend."

"That deleted his number."

"That was no longer my friend for a while, so what?" The half demon shot his partner a look of warning.

"Okay, but what kind of relationship did you and Miss Higurashi have?" Hojo asked, cocking a brow.

"A friendly one?" Inuyasha asked more than stated.

"Doubtful." Koga remarked.

"Seriously, Inuyasha, we're trying to figure out if he's possibly targeting you too. I mean, why would he deliberately send you, a detective, evidence of stalking? And if you are the target, why would he specifically choose to go after a friend of yours? If he's trying to get you where it hurts, why not go after a family member?" Sango added.

"Inuyasha, answer the question. Unless we get something substantial to work with, the case could slip from our hands and wash out. Even the security footage of the drop off this morning was a dud. This guy managed to wear the most suspicious clothing, a ski mask and a hoodie, to a police station and walked away without being noticed. So, what's your relationship with Kagome, and have you made any recent enemies that you know of?" The captain chimed in, his unreadable expression drifting to the nearly-blank list written next to him.

Inuyasha could feel the myriad of expressions flow on his own face, ranging from perplexed, to shocked, and landing on what the fuck? He groaned loudly, finding that to be the only suitable, verbal response to the fact that a walking red flag wasn't noticed at a fucking police station, moving forward to answer Totosai's questions. "I'm gonna be honest, none of the people I arrest usually want to be my friend when I'm done with them. And, if you must know, Kagome and I have a... complicated history."

"Oh, do tell." Koga smirked, leaning on the side of his desk as he got comfortable.

Inuyasha groaned, massaging his forehead as all eyes bore into him. He hated unnecessary attention, and he definitely hated having his laundry aired out to dry. He knew it was for the case, and therefore necessary, but he never expected to be on this end of the interrogation. It was Kagome that was in danger, not him. He was most likely sent the pictures because the stalker probably saw them together months ago. Bring in the knowledge that he's a detective, because surely a stalker could figure that much out, and the suspect was probably dumb enough to think he's just the right amount of cunning that can get away with anything. No other possible explanation made sense. Inuyasha had an eighty-percent success rate when it came to getting culprits off the streets. Any sort of enemy he'd made was behind bars, or somehow related to someone he'd put behind bars. While it was perfectly plausible for someone to specifically target him, the chances of that happening were very slim because by putting the bastards in prison, he'd made a clear point that he wasn't the one to fuck with. Inuyasha wasn't the victim type. He was the formidable protector, thus the reason he'd become a cop in the first place. He hated admitting Kagome had gotten the short end of the stick, but it was more reasonable to admit that his relation was more on the sidelines than in the spotlight. "I've known her for about six years now. She was one of my closest friends for the longest time. Our relationship... I don't know, changed I guess after my ex-girlfriend left."

"Care to elaborate?" Totosai asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't understand how this is fucking relevant!"

"Because if we can tie down your relationship, maybe we can understand why the stalker wanted to include you on his invitation list." Hojo answered matter-of-factly.

"Fine, we grew closer. We started sleeping together. Happy? Have you figured out the mystery yet?"

"Ah, so when you said she was your friend, you meant a friend with benefits?" Koga implored, the amusement heard perfectly in his tone.

"If that's the term for it, then yes. It was nothing more than that, though. We had a big fallout and haven't spoken in months." Inuyasha confirmed, plopping down in his seat.

"Still, maybe the culprit saw you two together while it was going on and figured you were a little more. You said you were friends first, partners later. It's easy to misread a relationship like that. If you've got an enemy, he's got outdated information but he's still going for it." Hojo said, rising from his makeshift seat and moving to the whiteboard to grab a dry erase marker.

"Something's still not adding up." Sango mentioned, sighing out as she pushed some hair behind her ears. "Stalkers, at least diligent ones, don't have outdated information."

"So maybe it's not Inuyasha he's targeting." Koga spoke, sounding serious for the first time since this morning.

"Thank you!"

Tree of Young Ages Preschool Academy

Inuyasha leaned against the side of his squad car, his hands buried in the sides of his coat and shoulders shrugged upward to utilize the thick collar and cover his exposed neck better. During the winter, he almost felt he was better off leaving his hair down for any sort of added warmth, but too often than not, the long, silver mess got in his way, so he relented to dressing it up in a ponytail to keep as much of it out of his face as possible. He also felt a ten dollar scarf would have paid for itself seventy times over by now, but he just couldn't bring himself to swallow his pride and purchase one. If his own head of hair got in his damn way, a frilly ass scarf definitely would.

He felt restless where he stood, especially as he caught her nearby scent, growing stronger by the second. He shouldn't be here, and he knew it. It was perfectly clear. His pride may be hurt, but still, there was no swallowing the urge to make sure she was alright. It had been three days since the pictures showed up and they were no closer to figuring out a thing. All the questions pointed his way were driving him insane. He needed a break. He needed to see her.

"Kagome." He breathed as she approached the twisted, thin-wired gate in front of the sidewalk he stood on, the name coming out as a visible puff in front of his mouth, dissipating upwards. She turned around, hair whipping over her shoulders at the speed. He hadn't meant to startle her, especially when it was easy to understand she was on edge. As her eyes landed on him, the corners of her lips curved downward, a notable twitch in her brow.

"What are you doing here?" She huffed, walking over to him.

"Here." Inuyasha grabbed the small, disposable coffee cup from the hood of his car, careful to make sure she could grab it by the sleeve.

"What is this, some kind of peace offering?"

"It's a coffee." He answered flatly, rolling his golden eyes. "Would you just take the damn thing?"

Kagome took it, a small thank you brushing from her lips as she held the hot cup between both of her hands. She knew full and well that Inuyasha hated going into any sort of coffee shop, and reminded herself that if anyone else had brought her a coffee, she would have appreciated the gesture to no end. Just because it was him didn't mean she should suddenly be the kind of person to refuse the generosity, especially when it came to a cappuccino in the dead of winter.

"So, what are you doing here?" She repeated after taking a small sip. "Did you figure something out?"

"No. Everything's a dead end so far. No luck with the phone numbers. Chances are, they're burn phones, so the numbers are hard to trace unless they're making calls. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh."

"Has anything happened since we last saw you?"

"No. You don't have to check on me, Inuyasha. I would have called you or your partner if I'd noticed anything." Kagome said, shrugging deeper into her coat, her wavy, black hair curving messily about the thick scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Call me. Don't worry about calling Koga. I can get to you a lot faster than he can, and take care of everything else."

"Geez, it's not a pissing contest, Inuyasha." She made sure to keep her voice down with the amount of parents and children walking through the open gates behind her. "What happens if you don't answer your phone? Am I allowed to call Koga then?"

"Don't worry about that, I'll answer." He argued, following her lead to control their tones in front of the little kids.

"Well, you're notorious for it."

"Will you let that go?"

"Miss Kagome?" A small voice behind them spoke, his tiny fingers wrapping through the holes in the chain-link fence. "Who's that?"

"He's a police officer, honey. He was just saying hi." Kagome responded, smiling at the little boy as if she wasn't currently bothered in the least. "Why don't you go inside, Shippo? It's freezing out here. I'll be there in a second."

"Can we do arts and crafts today?"

"We can do extra arts and crafts since it's too cold to play outside."

"Okay!"

Kagome watched as the small kit ran to the entry door to her class, his thick windbreaker making it difficult for his arms to rest at his side, making him look something similar to a blue marshmallow running for warmth. As soon as she saw him rush past her teaching assistant, she turned her heated attention back to the half demon.

"Just because I've got someone following me around now doesn't mean you can just show up whenever you want and pretend like nothing happened, Inuyasha. Nothing's changed between you and I, so you don't need to pretend like you care all of a sudden."

"Who's pretending?" He barked, unable to bite back the anger as he was once again wounded by the jab she took. Never once had he stopped caring for her. A lifespan could pass, and he'd still drop everything for Kagome.

She took a deep breath to wane her swelling temper, her brown eyes immediately bouncing away from him to look at literally anything else. She was itching to get away, simultaneously drawn to Inuyasha while equally uncomfortable being near him. She absolutely hated the larger part of her that welcomed the pull. A rush of heat ran through her face, her bottom lip dropping to say a quick and snide remark that could easily drop him down a peg, but resealing against her top lip to swallow. "Thank you for the coffee. I'm fine. I'll let you know if something changes. Have a good day. Goodbye."

He watched her turn on her heel and head through the gate, giving warm hello's to the parents dropping off their children as she got closer to the door of her class. He always found it interesting how Kagome was capable of hiding her feelings in the presence of others. If she didn't want anyone to know she was upset, they never would. When it came to him, though, she was an open book. They'd been close for so long, an immediate connection attracting them to the other; they'd seen the ugly and the beautiful sides of one another. He knew it'd be damn near impossible to cut it off. She was brave enough to embrace things on her own, and more often than she ever should, she would. With him, and very few others, there was no wall. When she'd formed a connection with someone, it was a long-term and subconscious thing. Whether she liked it or not. Money down, she wasn't too fond of this one in particular. He understood her better than she did, herself; that's the truth of what happened between them. They connected on indescribable levels. He knew just how scared she was, how angry she felt, and the anxiety that was keeping her up at night. Inuyasha wanted to step in and ease all of that for her, but it wasn't his place. He fucked his place up months ago, and Kagome was making it next to impossible to rectify anything now that the opportunity had presented itself. Up until a few days ago, he never thought she'd speak to him again, and although the first words from her mouth were damn close to an insult, her voice had revitalized a heat in his chest that he hadn't felt since the moment she blocked him out.

How masochistic was that?

Nothing she said would prevent him from doing his job, though. Nothing would ever stop him from making sure she was safe.