I do not own Inuyasha nor profit from the writing of this in any way.

Rating: T

Warnings: Language

Genera: Mystery, Romance

Note: Set in the future. This will be a fic set in our future. I will try to explain my tech stuff simply enough to still let everyone understand the story. This will be about 4 chapters and an Epiloge. And I wanted to say thanks to all who have been reading my one shot drabble line, and thanks for all the reviews! I will be starting another soon with a different pairing. Also: Thanks so much to my second beta!

**

Woman Still Missing: After three months Kikyo Edo remains missing, The article declared.

The girl touched the clipping from the paper with her finger, and posted on a board, with a finger. She pulled her finger back to study the ink that had smeared on it. Outside the office she listened to the voices arguing over her.

"She shouldn't even exist."

"It was the choice of the family. They want her to help us. She is Kikyo in every way."

"She isn't Kikyo, and she can't tell us anything we don't already know."

"They want her involved. Just talk to her."

Then the two entered the room. The man was still clearly angry, though he kept his expression emotionless, and the woman was quiet. The woman that remained in the room with her was impassive; she was only here to see after her creation.

"So… Kikyo-" The man began.

"She goes by Kagome." The scientist put in, much to the man's annoyance.

"Kagome then, what can you tell me that I don't already know?" There was venom in his voice. He didn't want to do this.

Kagome didn't respond. She was still looking at the board. Onthe board was the search for Kikyo- her mother of sorts. She cocked her head to the side looking at the information the police had gathered when tracing Kikyo's last known actions. Abruptly she reached up, and plucked a picture free from the board. It was Kagura, her- Kikyo's best friend. She smiled at the photo of her. It was hers- Kikyo's.

"Did you know that I- she was having an affair with Kagura?" Kagome turned to the man behind her, and held out the photo. "They were lovers."

He took the photo, looked at it, then to the girl, and then to her guardian. "Is this some kind of joke?" He demanded.

"She tried to hide it during the mapping, but it was still read then imprinted on me." Kagome paused. "It started when Kagura's sister, Kanna, passed away. Kikyo found a way to comfort her friend when she was on the verge of suicide." Kagome watched the man- Detective Taisho- he didn't want to believe her, but the woman, Chief Kaede, did.

Unexpectedly Taisho sat down. He grabbed a note pad, and began making notes. When he paused he looked at Kagome with a glare. "What else?"

Kagome smiled warmly, wanting to reassure him, but Taisho only scowled. "Inuyasha doesn't know… at least he didn't." Kagome said looking confused. "He doesn't… didn't know that Kikyo was only marrying him to get her parents to leave her alone. Inuyasha really did believe that they were just friends." Kagome paused, and then turned back to the board. She scanned everything before her, and frowned. Then she shook her head as if trying to clear it of something.

"What is it?" Taisho demanded.

"I- I'm not sure." Kagome continued to study the board. A hand on her shoulder pulled her attention away from the board. It was her guardian, Sango. Kagome studied her guardian, and then told her, "Something's not right." She told her gesturing to the board. "Something is missing."

Sango reached up with a tissue, and wiped away tears that Kagome didn't know she was shedding. "It's ok. We will come back tomorrow."

Kagome didn't want to leave. She knew there was something wrong here, and it was pulling at her mind.

Chief Kaede rose. "Kagome, thank you, and we would welcome any other help you may provide."

Kagome let herself be pulled from the room.

"Get Miroku, and check it out." Kaede ordered. She moved to the door, and paused. "Be nice to Kagome, she may be more valuable than you think."

**

"Hello again Miss Wind, we were wondering if we might ask you some more questions?"

Kagura stepped aside to let the two detectives inside. "Anything I can do to help to find Kikyo. Have you found a new lead?" She asked as they settled down in the front room of the house she shared with Inuyasha.

"Something like that." Taisho replied. "Is Inuyasha home?"

"No he went to the store, I can call him though."

"No need," Detective Miroku quickly put in. "Miss Wind we have come across some information that pointed to you and Miss Edo having an intimate relationship behind Inuyasha's back. Is that correct?"

Kagura sat back, and took a deep breath. "Well… yes that is correct."

"Why did you withhold this information before?" Taisho questioned.

Kagura sat forward once more. She opened her mouth to speak, but then the maid walked in with tea. Kagura waited until the woman was gone. "I didn't think it was that relevant, and I didn't want anyone getting the wrong impression about Kikyo. She was a strong woman, but she wouldn't want to disgrace her family in such a way. I didn't want the information to get out, and do it either. I love Kikyo more than I should, and I don't want her name slandered in anyway, or the investigation compromised." She paused, "I want her found."

"There was a dog walker that was walking by around the last time you saw Kikyo. He said that he heard arguing between two women before Kikyo stormed outside, and drove away in her car. Can you explain that?" Taisho asked.

Kagura sighed. "Kikyo and I were arguing about her upcoming wedding to Inuyasha. I was her Maid of Honor, and she had several decisions she had to make. She said that she wanted to set back the meeting with the planner to give her time to think about things. I said that she needed to go, and just do it. She got mad, and stormed out when I told her it might look suspicious. She yelled that she didn't care, and it would look like cold feet. She said she was tired of living to satisfy everyone but herself. Then she left. I tried calling her, but she wouldn't answer or text me."

"So she wanted to think. Is there anywhere specific she would go to do that?" Miroku asked.

Kagura shook her head. "She would just go drive."

Both detectives stood. "Thank you Miss Wind." Miroku said as they headed out.

**

At the station Taisho froze when he saw the woman in his office again looking at his board. The woman gave him the creeps, and he didn't like being around her. She was an affront to his beliefs. He didn't want to even look at her let alone have her help in the investigation.

Chief Kaede instantly pulled him into her office. "The family spent a lot of money having her grown and imprinted. If you can't respect what lengths they have gone through to provide this help then I will reassign you to another case, and get a detective that can." She told him without preamble.

"You can't sit there and tell me that you don't find it slightly disturbing everything that- that- thing in my office represents." Taisho shot back.

"I do, but I can keep it away from my professional obligations. That woman is a huge step, and a huge benefit to us. She may be the last chance we have to finding Kikyo." Kaede told him. "So I need to know if you can respect the family's effort to help, and utilize it, or if I need to find another detective to replace you." She stared at Taisho, daring him to question her choice to allow this again.

Taisho ran a hand through his long pristine white hair. "I can do it." He muttered.

"I want to you be nicer to her as well. It's not her fault or even choice that she was made. She is struggling to adjust, and deal with this more so than any of us. She is still trying to coop with the fact that she isn't who she was made after. She is doing her best to help." Kaede told him as she returned to her seat behind her desk.

With a huff Taisho went to his office, making sure to calm himself before he entered, and lock away the disgust that the woman inspired in him. Kaede was right, she had no choice in her making; she was just dealing with it like everyone else.

"Kagome, it is good to see you back." He said as he entered.

Kagome looked at him with a cocked head as if trying to understand his sudden change in disposition toward her from the prior day. She glanced toward the chief's office, and seemed to nod in understanding. Then she turned back to the board.

Taisho looked at the chief, and saw her watching. He nodded to her, and then returned his attention to the room. Sango was acting impassive again as he watched her creation. Miroku was studying Kagome with interest.

"Kagome?" Miroku suddenly asked. This was the first time he had encountered the woman. She turned to him, and he sucked in his breath as a face he had been hunting for the last six month met his eyes. He scrambled to regain his thoughts and composure. "Why are you called Kagome?" He asked suddenly.

Kagome glanced toward Sango, her guardian. "Kagome… was my choice." She said slowly before looking back at Miroku, and he was struck by the understanding but also intense confusion that lay in the depths of her eyes. "After all I am not Kikyo." She said more surely. "Despite my body," she lifted a hand, "And my imprinted mind, I am, at the same time, essentially not her, and am her." She looked away from him as if searching for the answer. "When it was explained to me what I am, and why I am, I chose to be called Kagome. It was- is confusing what I am and remember, and being called by her name only makes it harder for me." She paused, and looked up at Miroku again, "I am not Kikyo, and I think that I shouldn't be called by her name."

"So you chose her middle name?" Miroku asked.

Kagome nodded, "I see Kikyo as- as a mother. I am still her in ways, and I wanted to honor that."

Miroku nodded. "I understand." He looked to Sango.

"Her name was her first choice, and the first thing that made her not Kikyo. She chooses to respect Kikyo, and her existence." Sango supplied.

Taisho forced away a shudder while Miroku nodded. He hated this, but Kaede was still right, and he had a job to get done. "Kagome, have you anything new for us?" He forced himself to ask nicely.

Kagome shook her head. "Did you go see Kagura?"

Taisho sat down. "Yes, she confirmed what you told us." Then he looked at Sango. "How up to date are Kagome's memories?"

Sango knew this would come up. "Kikyo's last scan was only a month before she went missing."

Taisho nodded and looked back to Kagome. "Were Kikyo and Kagura still on good terms?" At Kagome's nod he asked, "And Inuyasha?"

Again Kagome nodded. "Why? What did Kagura tell you?"

Taisho was considering withholding the information that they had gotten from Kagura, but Miroku began telling her. As Kagome's attention turned to Miroku, Taisho wondered if he was enjoying it.

"Kagura and Kikyo got into an argument about the wedding plans just before Kikyo left. Kikyo had wanted to set back the wedding plans, and Kagura didn't want her to. Kikyo drove off afterwards saying that she needed to think." Miroku supplied as Kagome held his eyes.

"Kagura was trying to protect Kikyo from herself." Kagome said distantly as she turned back to the board.

She plucked another photo, one of Kikyo's car, from the board. "That's what's wrong." She said as she studied it. "You based your investigation off her car assuming it was the starting point for anything that happened to her, like abduction." She turned to the investigators that were watching her intently. She held up the photo. "Kikyo didn't think while she drove." Kagome dropped the photo into Miroku's hands. "There was too much to pay attention to for her to really think when driving." She said as she stared into Taisho's eyes. "She would park her car, and go walking to think."

**

"We've scoured everything within a two mile radius of where her car was found. About a mile away we found a hair that was tangled on a bush. It was Kikyo's, but nothing else could be found. The case has gone cold again, and Kagome hasn't offered anything new." Taisho reported to the chief.

The chief nodded. "There is a month of Kikyo's life that Kagome doesn't remember.

"Sango tells me that as time passes Kagome's connection to Kikyo will fade. Once she was exposed to stimuli that Kikyo never experienced she began to not be Kikyo. Soon she won't be able to tell us anything more than what her imprinting tells her from Kikyo's memories."

Kaede breathed a sigh. "With that in mind, we will soon lose our last connection to Kikyo. The family has asked that we give Kagome emersion."

Taisho was instantly on the edge of his seat. "Meaning?"

"Sango explained that if Kagome is exposed to Kikyo's life and living conditions that she will retain better. The family hopes that if she were to go live with Inuyasha and Kagura that she would be more help." Kaede explained.

Taisho was silent while Miroku asked, "And what of us?"

"The proposal is that both you and Sango will live next door in the vacant house." She paused letting it sink in. "Kagura and Inuyasha have agreed to let a profiler live with them in order to find Kikyo, they don't know that it will be Kagome, nor what she is."

"So basically what you're telling us is that the choice has already been made." Taisho said.

Kaede regarded him. "This will be your last chance out of this case. The family is desperate for answers of any kind."

Taisho nodded. "Who will explain to Inuyasha and Kagura what she is?"

Kaede clenched her teeth involuntarily, but quickly released them. It was noted by Taisho, and he sat back knowing the blow that she was about to deliver. "You two."

-AJ

-Betaed by ShadowInuATR