I do not own Inuyasha nor profit from the writing of this in any way.
Rating: T
Warnings: Language, mention of yuri
Genera: Mystery, Romance
Note: Set in the future. This is the final chapter, but there will be an epilog after it.
**
Inuyasha slipped into Kagome's room without a knock. He sat by her on the bed, and allowed a hand to rest on her hip. He had no words to comfort her. Kagome had nearly walked into the same thing that it appeared Kikyo had. No one was talking to her, and the detectives wouldn't tell her anything. All she knew was what she saw, and what she found. All of which made her think that the woman the clone was designed after could be dead.
His presence was the only thing he could offer her.
**
Kagura paused at her door as she was about to slip back into her room after a long shower. She looked up at Kagome, whom was watching her with an unreadable expression. Kagura didn't think twice as she went to the woman, and took the clone's hand pulling her into Kagura's room.
Kagura was emotionally ragged from the lack of information since Kagome's discovery several days before, and Kagura needed comfort. Whether Kagome was her lover or not the clone still had the memories of the woman, and from her conversations with Inuyasha she still wanted to protect and comfort them as Kikyo had. There was one way in particular that Kikyo had comforted Kagura, and right now she needed it more than ever. Kagura knew that Kagome could provide that comfort.
**
Kagome left Kagura's room when the woman was blissfully asleep. She felt horrendous at the moment. Kagome didn't know why or how she could let Kagura convince her to do that, but the woman's pleas still echoed in her mind. Kagome couldn't deny the woman, Kikyo's lover, when Kagura was in such obvious need.
As Kagome stepped out the door her eyes landed on the last person she wanted to see at the moment. Horror washed through her as she stood, gap mouthed, staring. Kagome struggled for words to explain this away. In one moment of weakness she had just ruined Kikyo's life, and betrayed the woman's deepest secret.
Inuyasha, for his part, just watched Kagome with slight indifference. He wouldn't get upset until he knew whose compulsion she was acting on. "Clean up, and then come to my room." He said finally. He added, "We need to talk."
Kagome nodded mutely, and went to Kagura's bathroom. As she washed her hands she forced herself not to cry. How could she be so stupid? How, in one time, could she ruin what Kikyo had managed to hide for over a year? Kagome felt sick.
Kagome left the bathroom, moving in a daze, and went to Inuyasha's room. She paused as she turned into the hallway. He was standing there outside his room waiting for her. Kagome gulped, and fought the want to run next door demanding to be decommissioned. If she could just get through this she might be able to convince Inuyasha that she was her own self enough to have done this without influence from Kikyo. Kagome might be able to still save Kikyo's life.
Inuyasha straightened up from his lean against the door frame, and stood aside to let Kagome enter before him.
Kagome moved forward mechanically. She was both fearful and anxious. Kagome remembered the room she was about to walk into from Kikyo, but she hadn't seen it herself. She felt Inuyasha's eyes on her as she moved, but couldn't manage to meet his gaze. Kagome had too much to be ashamed of.
Moving past him, Kagome entered the room, and kept moving. She only stopped when she was at the far wall. Kagome heard the door click shut behind Inuyasha, and forced herself to continue breathing. She looked around the room. "You haven't changed anything." Kagome said trying to stave off the impending conversation at least for a moment longer to try and compose herself. She had never really gotten the art of lying down, but now she would have to make a good attempt at it.
"Kikyo was the decorator. You know that. And this was our room, to decorate together." Inuyasha replied. He paused, and waited until Kagome finally turned to look at him. He could see she was ashamed, and it gave him hope.
Before Inuyasha could ask her hard questions, Kagome began speaking. "Inuyasha, I'm sorry, but you have to know that this was all me. Kikyo would have never done anything like that to you." She snapped her mouth shut before she let anything incriminating out.
Inuyasha sighed. "You don't have to stick up for her." He said solemnly. "I know that Kikyo was having an affair with Kagura. I've known for a long time."
Kagome felt her heart stutter, and her breath left her. She felt like she had just been kicked in the chest. "Inuyasha," Kagome whispered. "I'm so sorry…"
"It's nothing you did Kagome. I loved her, and I just wanted her to be happy even if it was in the arms of another. I was trying to give her what she wanted." Inuyasha explained.
Kagome quickly grasped on his past tense use. "Loved? You think she's really dead?"
Inuyasha shook his head. "I'm not sure, but this has taught me a lot. I would have been content with the life we were going into, but not now. There is someone else that I love more- someone I want to send my life with." Inuyasha walked toward Kagome.
Kagome backed up until her back hit the wall behind her. She was beginning to think- but no there was no way that was even possible. "Inuyasha, you don't mean- you can't."
Inuyasha stopped when he was only a breath away from Kagome. "But I can, and do." He breathed looking down on her confused face. He could see the emotions warring inside her.
"Inuyasha, I'm not even a person, just a shadow of one. You love Kikyo, and are just imposing that on me because I'm here now. When I'm gone you'll realize it's her you love. I'm not her!" Kagome tried to reason with him. She was destroying Kikyo's life in a way she never could have guessed.
Inuyasha wrapped an arm around Kagome's waist, and pulled her body flush to his. His other hand went to her face, and caressed the skin there and on her neck. He could feel shocks at skin contact setting off a riot of sensations in him. It had never been like this with Kikyo. "I know." He breathed into her mouth as he leaned down. "I know with every fiber of my body that you aren't her." Without giving her time to react he kissed her.
Kagome was trying to quash the flames in her that were raging through her body at Inuyasha's every touch. She couldn't remember it being anything like this from Kikyo. Then Kagome heard his whisper, and felt a dread and elation flare in her. Then his lips were on her, and it was all she could do not to moan into his mouth.
Inuyasha broke the kiss, and leaned his forehead against Kagome's. He really shouldn't have kissed her, but he had wanted to so much. He struggled to regain control. "Kagome, I need to know how you feel. I need to know why you- you-" He grasped for words.
"With Kagura?" Kagome asked as she looked up into his face incredulously. "I felt… I felt cold and distant. From Kikyo's memories she exalted in those acts with her, but I- I didn't." She paused. "Inuyasha, when you touch me you send fire through my veins. It's nothing like what Kikyo remembers, and I don't understand…"
Before Kagome could speak again, Inuyasha captured her lips once more. He couldn't help it. Inuyasha had known, and accepted that Kikyo didn't love him like she loved Kagura. He was okay with it as long as he still got to be in her life. With Kagome that wasn't enough. He wanted her mind, body, and soul. Inuyasha wanted all of her for himself, and he didn't want to share. He wanted her to be his and only his. Inuyasha wanted the kind of life with her that he had once wanted with Kikyo. The woman he held now had turned his life and beliefs upside down, and he loved it and her for it.
Before he knew what he was doing, Inuyasha's body had Kagome's pinned to the wall, and his hands were roaming her. He wanted to feel her. He wanted to take everything she had to offer. Inuyasha knew that this was wrong, but he didn't care.
There was a tap on his door, and Inuyasha jerked away from Kagome. He struggled to stead himself, and said, "Yes?"
The door opened to Taisho. The detective glanced from Inuyasha to Kagome then back to Inuyasha. Inuyasha and Kagome both could see the disapproval in his eyes. "We need to talk." He said shortly before closing the door.
Inuyasha glanced at Kagome before following the man with Kagome behind him.
They got to the front room where everyone was waiting. Kagome noted the way that Miroku was glaring at Inuyasha, and the way Inuyasha was glaring back. Kagome felt her cheeks heat up and ducked her head as she took a seat.
"We know that the man in the pinball shop has had some kind of involvement with Kikyo. He is denying it. Right now all we can show is that he had involvement, and nothing more. He is out on bail, and refusing to even say that he had ever met Kikyo. His story is that the bracelet and everything else could have been put in his shed as the lock broke the day before Kagome went in there." Taisho said not caring for the tension in the room, or the flaring tempers. In his mind it was ridiculous of anyone to get attached to Kagome as she was a dead clone walking.
"So what does that mean?" Kagura asked not picking up on the emotions of anyone else.
"The family knows all this." Taisho said, and watched as Kagome slumped back. "They want Kagome to confront him with a wire, and see what he says."
"No way!" Inuyasha yelled springing to his feet. "There is no way she is going into that kind of danger! For all we know that guy killed Kikyo and seeing Kagome could just clam him up or set him off!"
Taisho glared at Inuyasha. "They knew the risks. Like it or not Kagome is a piece of property, and there is no choice here. If the family says send her in it's my job to do it."
Inuyasha was about to yell back when Kagome jumped to her feet. "Stop it!" She yelled. "Just stop it." She said more quietly. Tears were already flowing down her face. "Taisho is right Inuyasha." She said looking up to meet his eyes. "I'm not a person; I'm property, and I have to do as told." Then she left the room to slam her door, and sobs quickly consumed her.
**
Inuyasha slipped into Kagome's room to comfort her once everyone had left. He held her as she cried. When she had calmed down he whispered, "You don't have to do this."
"Yes I do." She whispered back.
"You can run away."
Kagome shook her head. "I'm a nonperson. I have nowhere to go, nowhere to run."
Inuyasha kissed her because he knew she was right. He kissed her, and laid her back on her bed. Soon enough he was pulling off her clothes, and doing his best not to think about losing her.
**
Kagome woke alone, and sore. She rose, and showered. Kagome shed no tears, and tucked away her feelings. She didn't want to think about her future anymore. Kagome just wanted to get everything over with and find Kikyo. She knew that would hurt Inuyasha, but her emotions were getting far too tangled. Kagome was never supposed to fall for Inuyasha, and she certainly wasn't supposed to have any relations with him, let alone what they had done last night.
Kagome found Taisho and Miroku waiting for her in the front room. Taisho took her back to her room, and had her strip to her bra. He set to injecting the microphone to where it wouldn't be seen or felt, but still would pick up everything from just below her skin.
As he checked the read outs and made sure it was reading her body functions properly he said, "You seem less eager to do this than before."
"Things have gotten confusing, but I can still do my job." Kagome told him honestly.
"Things tend to get confusing when humans and their emotions are involved." He looked up at her. "You are no different." Kagome just nodded. "You could have run last night."
Kagome looked at him. "I could have, but I'm not a coward." She said with some vengeance in her voice.
Taisho nodded. "Kagome, you are a commendable woman." Then he led her back out to the others.
Kagome was touched and honored by Taisho's words, but that was soon forgotten as she returned to the front room. Kagome could see that Miroku and Inuyasha were still at odds, and now Inuyasha was glowering at Taisho too. Kagura wasn't present, and Sango looked like she was sick.
Miroku abruptly stood. "The car's waiting." He announced, and then left. Taisho followed. Kagome gave a last look to Inuyasha, and then she followed the detectives to her uncertain fate.
**
Kagome moved the hood over her head, easily concealing her face. She slipped out of the car, and headed toward the arcade that was the last known place Kikyo had been. Kagome took a deep breath to steady herself as she slipped in the door. She moved to the back of the place where the machines were silent. Kagome could still hear the noises of the machines up front, as people played them, over the pounding of her heart. She felt like panting, but forced her breath to stay normal.
"You're fine. We won't let anything happened to you." The calm voice of detective Taisho whispered in her ear.
Kagome resisted snorting. 'Like it matters,' She thought to herself. 'Soon enough I will just be goo again.' Kagome didn't voice her thoughts though; she didn't need to. Taisho knew as well as she did what awaited her if she didn't get killed here.
"Her heartbeat is still erratic." The medic in the SUV said. He was there to study her body and give medic care if she needed it.
"She'll be fine, just shut up so she can think." Taisho nearly growled at the man. When had he gotten so protective of her? When had he begun to think of her as a person, and not just a clone?
Kagome found a machine that held particular significance in her life. Its theme was that of her- Kikyo's favorite childhood show. She dropped some change in that the detectives had provided her with. Old money was hard to come by, but without it she would have to buy credits to run the machine. Kagome didn't want to do that.
The machine began to flash lights, and Kagome let the first ball fly. She watched it closely, still keeping her face hidden from view. Kagome felt a piece of hair slide free from her hood, and left it. As the ball shot past her paddles into the catch, Kagome became very aware of the man that was watching over her shoulder.
"Not an often used machine." He said.
"I suspect not." Kagome replied with a surprisingly even voice. She shot another ball to keep herself calm, and not panic. Kagome just wanted to run, but was at the same time rooted in place. She was driven to succeed in a way that neither she nor Kikyo had ever experienced before.
The ball flew past her paddles yet again, and Kagome forced her breathing into longer deeper breaths. Her mind was buzzing, and her adrenaline was elevated.
"Your voice sounds rather familiar." The man said. He had stepped closer.
Without answering Kagome shot her last ball. She played it out, trying to decide what words she would use when she turned to the man hovering at her elbow. She let the paddles go slack, and turned to him. "I 'spose it would."
The man let out a hiss. "What are you doing back here?"
"I heard you were implicated in several murders including my own." Kagome told him.
The man waved off her words, and looked around. "Come to the back."
There was an instant response in her ear. "Don't do it! Stay out in the public room."
Kagome could see how flustered the man was. He didn't expect Kikyo to be dead. He was talking to her as if he expected her to be alive. "Of course." She said.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Miroku was yelling.
There was a thud, and then a door slam. "Continue Kagome." Taisho said into her ear. "We got you."
Kagome followed the man into the back room. He closed the door, and only relaxed a little. "I should have known it was you. Your hair is rather distinct. Grown it out again I see, and where are your contacts?" Kagome shrugged. Again the man waved off her response, and his own words. "No matter really. You really shouldn't have come. The police could be watching."
Again Kagome shrugged. "You helped me, am I just to let you go to jail for crimes you didn't commit?"
"I won't go to jail. The 'evidence' they have is tainted. They have no way of proving that the box they found wasn't placed there by someone else which it was. It seems that someone has it out for me." He told her has he went about making tea. "Tell me, how has life been?"
"Not bad, rather tame and quiet compared to before." Kagome was beginning to understand. This man had helped Kikyo escape, and leave her life behind nothing more. Kikyo was alive, but didn't want to be found.
"Exactly as you wanted," he said.
Kagome nodded. She sipped her tea. It was just like Kikyo liked. Before she could say anything there was a knock on the door, and someone slipped inside. Kagome felt her heart accelerate and thud harder in chest as her breath caught in her throat. Kagome jumped to her feet afraid now more than ever.
"Her heart is going crazy; we need to get her out of there!"
"Kagome, what's going on? Who's there?" Taisho was asking.
Kagome didn't hear him though. The figure turned, and she was met with a woman that was almost identical to her shy of her shortened and dyed hair, and her eye color was darker, almost brown. "Kikyo" Kagome whispered.
"Go! Go! GO!" She heard Taisho shouting in her ear.
"What the hell?" The shop owner demanded as he looked from Kagome to Kikyo.
Kagome stumbled backward; her cup slipped from her fingers, and crashed on the ground.
"Fuck." Kikyo breathed as she stared at a perfect image of herself. Kikyo knew exactly what was going on, and what Kagome was. "Fuck." She muttered again, as police came flooding through every door.
The shop owner was cuffed, and held, as was Kikyo. Only Kagome was left untouched by any of the several police in the room. Her eyes were still wide and glued to Kikyo as Taisho went to her. "Kagome, are you ok?" He asked gently.
Kagome looked at him, and closed her mouth. Then she swallowed hard, and realized she had spilled the hot tea over her fingers, and they were in pain. "Yeah," Kagome managed, "I'm ok." She watched as the two were taken from the room, and put into cars. "Kikyo wanted to disappear. This was all her choice."
Taisho nodded as he led Kagome out. "We know."
-AJ
-Betaed by ShadowInuATR