Disclaimer: You know how it goes.

wk: Yep. Chapter four. Enjoy. Sorry it took so long.

Chapter Four
Manipulation in Murder

Kagome had to slow her rapidly thumping heart by breathing deeply. How had he managed to bring that reaction out of her? She was still leaning against the front door, noticing that Kouga was sitting on the armrest of one of her sofas. He was looking balefully at her, his eyes filled with disapproval.

"He likes you, and you like him back," Kouga spat.

"I—"

"Don't even try denying it. I can smell the piece of dog shit from all the way over here," Kouga snapped. Kagome shut her mouth, automatically annoyed at how he was treating her. So what if she liked him back? It was her relationship, dammit.

"Okay, then I won't," Kagome said slowly through gritted teeth. Men just completely frustrated her. And they said that women were confusing. She saw Kouga go stiff at her statement. "Get a grip, Kouga," Kagome said. "It's not like I'm marrying the guy. Just looking for a healthy relationship. You know, the thing I was looking for before when you scared away any potential man," she said wryly.

One side of Kouga's mouth curved upwards in a smirk. "Cowards, all of them."

"Well, I don't think Inuyasha's going to run for the hills, so stop it. And I really like this guy, so don't do anything to jeopardize it. Please?" She went to her kitchen to get a glass of water. "For me?" She didn't actually like Inuyasha that much, but if it meant stopping him and Kouga from fighting…

Kouga huffed. There was no way he wasn't going to threaten dog-shit on a daily basis. And he refused to lie to Kagome. "There's no way I'm going to leave him be. And if you sleep with him, so-help-me-God, I'll—"

"You'll what… Spank me?" Kagome asked. She sat next to him on the sofa, taking a gulp of her water. "I'm a big girl now, Kouga. Not the naïve brat that you knew back in college."

"You're wrong, Kagome." Kouga touched a strand of her hair, watched it float down as he let it go. "You're exactly the same." He gave her a grin. "You're still a brat."

"Ha-ha. Very funny," Kagome said, sticking her tongue out at him. She sighed, leaning back against the cushions to look up at him. "Nice to see you, Kouga."

"Nice to see you, too, Kag." Sighing, Kagome got up. She went to a door, opened it.

"This'll be your room for the duration of your stay. Now, I have house rules."

"It's barely been a week since you've moved in, and you already have house rules?"

"Yeah, I've been saving the rules up since I was ten, since I always knew I wanted a house like this. So, the house rules."

"Yeah, yeah. Might as well get it all over with."

"Yes, might as well. Number one: No smoking. If you're going to smoke, please do so outside. And, afterwards, take a shower. I will have nothing in my house smelling like cigarettes."

Kouga, a man that smoked regularly, scowled at her.

"Don't give me that face," Kagome said. Before he could retort, she said, "No picking fights with neighbors. Not a word to them. Don't even look at him," Kagome said. Kouga's scowl became even larger.

"Look, Kagome—"

"No. I will not put up with any excuses on that front. It's either that, or you get out of my house."

Kouga glared at Kagome. Kagome shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "Rules are rules."

"Okay, so keep on going," Kouga snapped.

"Okay. Number three: You have to pay for groceries, as I'm not exactly rich, and I remember your appetite, sir."

"Is that it?" Kouga asked after a short pause. Kagome thought about it.

"Yeah, that about sums it up."

"Looks like you didn't have too much of an imagination when you were ten and older," Kouga murmured. Kagome walked over, tugged on one of his sharp ears.

"I heard that, you asshole. Now brush your teeth and get to bed." Kouga grinned, rubbing his smarting ear. As Kouga was walking away however, Kagome gave a loud exclamation.

"Oh! I almost forgot. My room is off-limits. Your bathroom is over there." She pointed across the living room to a small door. Grinning, Kouga turned to go in that direction. On the way, he grabbed a small duffel bag from the floor.

"You sure it's off-limits? Not even for old times' sake?" Kouga drawled.

"Old times are just that. Old. Dead. Kaput. So yeah, it's off-limits," Kagome said. With a small mock pout, Kouga turned to head towards the bathroom.

Kagome didn't know that Kouga hadn't been joking. He had quit his job to come here, to try to convince her to love him again. He had missed her, like a kid missed his baby blanket. He just needed her.

He didn't expect Inuyasha. This was going to take a little more effort than he thought.


Inuyasha couldn't sleep. He tossed, turned, and even went out for a light jog that consisted of the whole city. He had almost hoped that someone would try to rob him so he could take out his frustrations that way.

Kagome wasn't innocent, but that only seemed to make his desire for her stronger. He wanted to be the last. He wanted her to remember him and not Kouga. He wanted…

Oh, boy. He wanted really badly.

With a groan, Inuyasha tried to smother himself on his pillow.

"Dammit," he sighed. He never really had this problem before. He did, of course, have sexual desires, but they weren't particularly strong. If they were, he called one of the women in his little black book. Some women thought it was exciting to have sex with a demon. Some women wanted that thrill. Usually, he would give it to them.

Now, however, he didn't want that thrill with just any passing pair of legs. It would have been much easier if it had been that.

He heard Miroku laugh outside at something a comedian said on the TV. He didn't understand how Miroku could stay up so late. It was one in the morning, and usually, Inuyasha was asleep by eleven.

Growling into his pillow, he tried to push the thought of Kouga being under the same roof as Kagome out of his head. This all-consuming jealousy couldn't be healthy for him. What if they had become lovers again? Why was Kouga there, anyway?

Kagome was his dammit!

He became still at the thought, trying to decipher what the over possessiveness meant. If a woman in his past went to another man, he shrugged it off. She wasn't important. If she wanted to become a whore, then let her. But Kagome… He couldn't stand the thought of her being with another man, other than himself. She was special, and she had a light inside of her that he just wanted to catch, to hold, to… to… nurture?

He snorted at himself. That was just ridiculous. He wanted to be her lover, not her mother. Still, he couldn't push back the feeling that he wanted to hold her, to nuzzle her to death. Ugh. These affectionate feelings were starting to make him feel sick.

"I need to get laid," Inuyasha said mournfully. "Miroku, turn that damn thing off and go to bed!"

"In a minute, Inuyasha," Miroku said. He must have been beat as a child, Inuyasha thought. The man never did anything you told him to do, unless Miroku saw fit.

Plagued by thoughts of Kagome and Kouga, Inuyasha fell into a light, troubled sleep.

In the morning, he looked awful. He saw the shadows under his eyes in the mirror, and his mussed up hair. Sighing, he brushed his teeth. He wished he could sleep in, but his training suggested otherwise. Never had he slept past six in the morning. If he came home from work at six in the morning, he would just remain awake. Being half-demon helped. Still, he felt exhausted. He heard Kagome's car zoom off, undoubtedly going to school.

Thinking of her teaching little kids made him smile. She would be impatient with some, but still treat them fairly.

Inuyasha, after brushing his teeth and shaving, went back to bed. He lied down, although thoughts of going back to sleep were laughable. Sighing, he heard Miroku's light snore from the next room. Despising the ex-monk for his ability to fall asleep, Inuyasha cursed him under his breath.

He looked out his window into his backyard, which had many trees. He wondered if he should sleep in a tree. It was incredibly soothing and he hadn't done it in years. He might be able to fall asleep if—

All thoughts entertaining the idea of going to sleep peacefully with a light breeze surrounding him were dissipated as he heard his beeper go off. Sighing, he threw his blanket off, and leaned down to retrieve his beeper.

He put on a clean pair of slacks, and another shirt that buttoned up in the front. Instead of knocking, he only walked into Miroku's room while buttoning up his shirt.

"Get up, lazy asshole. Time for work." Miroku's eyes blearily looked at him from underneath the cover.

"I don't wanna work today," Miroku grumbled. "I'm tired."

"Well, that's what you get when you go to sleep… whenever you went to sleep."

Miroku looked at the clock next to the bed. "An hour ago."

"Okay, well, next time, I'm sure you won't do that, right?" Inuyasha asked. Miroku sighed and nodded, although they both knew that Miroku would break this one promise each and every time.

Inuyasha waited until Miroku was dressed before starting his car. Miroku winced as he entered the car. "I feel such a keen embarrassment whenever I'm seen in this car."

"Well, that's the kind of embarrassment I feel when I'm seen with you," Inuyasha said while pulling out of the driveway. He smoothly started to drive to the station. He pointedly ignored the motorcycle in Kagome's driveway.

"Ouch. And I thought we were best friends," Miroku said with a wry grin.

When they arrived at the station, there was a ruckus inside. Inuyasha knew what that meant.

"There was a murder," Inuyasha said. Miroku rolled his eyes.

"Try to sound less excited, will ya?"

"Well, think about it. If the chief called us in, and there was a murder…"

"Then you think he's called us here to head the investigation?" Miroku asked, surprise lacing his voice. "Yes, that does make sense."

They went in, and true to Inuyasha's prediction, they were to head to the scene of the crime immediately. They were handed the files on the case so far, and who the victims were. Inuyasha grimaced as Miroku read him the file in the car.

"Mitsuki and Nibuhoshi Hara were killed in their homes, and their son, Kohaku was kidnapped. Their daughter was found at the bottom of the stairs, bleeding through a wound in her side. She was holding a weapon, shaped like a boomerang that was nearly 5.5 feet in length." Inuyasha whistled. Big boomerang. "The family cat, which happens to be a demon cat, was also a survivor. It was found in its fully transformed form, also bleeding from a wound from its neck and legs. If demons weren't such fast healers, the cat named Kirara would be dead."

That was when they arrived. The house was a mess. On the outside, it looked pristine and big, but on the inside, it was torn up. There were other cops already swarming over the area, and special technicians that were trying to find any shed of proof of… of anyone or anything.

Sango, the survivor, had already been whisked away to a hospital, but the cat was still there. A demon veterinarian was looking it over, but the cat was licking its own wounds in the process.

Now Inuyasha knew why the chief put them in charge of this case. There was no lead, nothing solid to go on, and only an unconscious girl and a healing cat to tell him what went wrong.

"Great," he sighed out. "Look, do you know what happened here?" he asked Kirara. Kirara, still tense from her fight, remained in her large form. Kirara moved its head to indicate that yes, she knew what had happened. "Someone attacked, right?" Again, the same movement. It was like a nod, only more feline in its movement. It was like a cat making an absent move with its head.

"Inuyasha, you're talking to a cat," Miroku murmured. "People are looking."

Inuyasha scowled. "It's not just an ordinary housecat, Miroku. It's a demon, and demons are a lot smarter than people give us credit for. See, she understands me," Inuyasha said as Kirara made its nodding movement again.

"Okay," Miroku said. It's not that he didn't believe Inuyasha. It was that the looks that people were giving Inuyasha were a little short of friendly.

"Do you know who attacked you?" Kirara nodded, but shook its head right after. At first, Inuyasha was confused, but he figured out that Kirara knew at least one attacker. Inuyasha felt a surge of urgency run through him. If Kirara knew the perpetrator, it was most likely that Sango Hara did, too. The demon veterinarian finished his job, and packed up his things before going. "Do you know why they attacked you?" Kirara shook her head. "Was it more than one?" This time, it was a nod. Inuyasha quickly jotted the note down. So, the culprit had some friends. "Thanks, Kirara. If I have any more questions, will you be available for me?" Inuyasha asked. A nod. Inuyasha dipped his head in thanks, and moved away.

Miroku, who had moved away during Inuyasha's questioning, was talking to one of the officers. As Inuyasha came up, the officer gave Inuyasha a sort of respectful sneer (if that was possible) and walked away to rejoin the others.

"What was he saying?" Inuyasha asked. Miroku's lips were pursed thoughtfully.

"They said there was more than one attacker. They think it might have been two or three," Miroku said. Inuyasha didn't tell him that he already knew this.

"And?"

"Oh, yes. They said that this family was most likely attacked for their demon exterminating. Some of the lesser demons were probably getting angry at the Hara's for attacking them, so they attacked the Hara's," Miroku said. Inuyasha shook his head at this theory.

"I don't think so." Miroku shook his head, too.

"I don't either."

"If they exterminate demons, then why keep a demon as a pet?" Inuyasha asked.

"They probably only exterminated the ones who needed to be exterminated. You know. Humans are yummy in my tummy… Those sorts," Miroku said. Inuyasha nodded.

The forensics team were going over every inch of the place, and they had found a few hairs that were questionable. Inuyasha was truly impressed because the whole family and it seemed the attackers, were all black-haired. How they found the hairs Inuyasha had no idea. They didn't find fingerprints, although they found a residue of a foreign substance on the mantel of the fireplace.

Inuyasha put his nose to work, his nose twitching as he sniffed. "Oh, gross," Inuyasha said, his nose wrinkling as he took in the scents and tried to work through them. There was a lot of blood. The scent of blood was coming most strongly from upstairs, and Inuyasha had no doubt that that was where the Hara's were. The parents had died in a gruesome manner if there was so much blood.

Inuyasha took another whiff, trying to block out the scent of blood. This time, he smelled a scent that was none of the Hara's. It smelled acrid, and Inuyasha stopped himself from gagging.

"Ick. Guy should take a bath once in a while," Inuyasha said, sniffing a little more delicately this time. Miroku, who had been watching him, looked startled.

"The guy that attacked?" Miroku asked.

"Yeah… It was one guy, and a girl, at least," Inuyasha murmured. Miroku who had seen the power of his nose before, was still in awe of it.

"You know they can't use your nose as proof in the court of law, though, right?" Miroku pointed out. Inuyasha gave Miroku a dirty look.

"I don't understand why. If they can use a simple house dog as a 'witness' or one of those sniffing dogs as proof, why can't they use me?"

"Because you can lie," Miroku said. Inuyasha huffed.

"It's not like I would," Inuyasha protested. Miroku shrugged.

"They don't know that," Miroku said. Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest.

"Keh. Whatever. It's not as if I care either way," Inuyasha said. The problem, Miroku thought, was that Inuyasha cared too much. Despite his careless attitude, why be in this profession if he didn't care?

Bringing his sleeve up to his nose to filter out some smells, he started to go up the stairs.

"Miroku, you coming?" Inuyasha asked gravely as he stopped at the middle of the staircase.

"Yeah, coming…" Miroku started to go up the stairs as well. This wasn't something he was looking forward to. They found the parent's room separately taped off. There was blood across the walls, on the floor, on the bed. They had been killed brutally, kept alive through the process, judging by how much blood there was.

Inuyasha fought off the urge to avert his eyes from the scene.

"What kind of sick bastard would do such a thing?" Miroku said in disgust.

Inuyasha envied Miroku for the fact that Miroku had a human nose. "The kind of sick bastard that kills for fun. Do you think the perp knew them?"

"No. Maybe knew of them, but I don't think he knew them. Their faces weren't attacked. The slashes the perp made was deliberate, but it was most likely for his own enjoyment more than anything. Just to kill."

"Wonderful. My favorite kind of murderer," Inuyasha murmured. He trusted Miroku's judgment in these matters. The kid was a psych major. Why he hadn't gone into criminal psychology mystified Inuyasha. "Why didn't the kids notice? Why were they downstairs?"

"Most likely watching TV. Or something. They said that the girl was in her exterminating uniform, and how the boy was dressed is up to speculation until the girl revives." Miroku gingerly stepped on the carpet, carefully not to step in any dried blood. He got as close as he could get, peering at the parents' faces. "They had been duct-taped. Across the eyes, across the mouth. See? There's spots of blood on the faces, but there aren't anywhere near this rectangular area. And he must have ripped them off when they were dead. I don't understand why, though…"

"Probably because he wanted to keep a souvenir," Inuyasha said in disgust, his sleeve still over his nose.

They moved out of the bedroom, and went through the other bedrooms, using gloves to not disturb anything. The other children's rooms were in tact, and it looked as pristine and perfect as it probably would have looked in a magazine.

"So the kids were downstairs, maybe having come home from demon exterminating since the girl was in her uniform, and they think their parents are asleep. However, when the perp comes out of the room, the girl hears it. Her cat, a perceptive creature, transforms into her larger, more intimidating form. The girl, Sango, is attacked as soon as the perp comes down the stairs. With her bleeding and the cat also attacked, the perp decides to take the boy." Inuyasha rubbed his temples with his fingers.

"It's not concrete. It's only speculation until the girl wakes up."

"Well, then, by all means, let's go to the hospital to wait until Sleeping Beauty decides to open her eyes."


They arrived at the hospital only to find that the girl was in surgery. The perp had sliced up part of her kidney, and they were deciding on whether they could fix it or whether or not to just take it out. She wouldn't wake for a couple of hours after that, and then would have a tube stuck into her throat as precaution for another hour or so, so Miroku and Inuyasha settled down for a long wait.

A couple of naps, cups of coffee, and a few hours later, she was finally awake.

"She says she's able to see you now. Mind you, she's still groggy, and she's gone through a traumatic experience, so there'll be a doctor next to her bed to authorize and to make sure she doesn't go further into shock. And her throat's a little sore from the tube, but she can speak. Usually, she would have it in longer, but the urgency of the situation made the doctor make some decisions." Miroku nodded at the nurse, and despite the situation, his gaze lingered in some inappropriate areas. Oblivious, the nurse only turned and walked away. Miroku gave Inuyasha a look, waggling his eyebrows. Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha pulled Miroku with him into the room.

Sango was pale, almost as white as the sheets and the walls of the room surrounding her. "Hello," she croaked. Her eyes were drooping, but Inuyasha could tell she was fighting to stay awake.

"Hi," he said, making sure his tone was soft and unthreatening. Sango let out a big breath, and Inuyasha could tell there were tears in her eyes as she tried to collect herself.

"Before you can ask," Sango said hoarsely, and then paused. Inuyasha and Miroku both waited patiently. The doctor to Sango's right tried to look like he wasn't listening, but was failing horribly. Sango looked like collecting herself was just as painful as having her kidney yanked out. Taking another deep breath, and going even more pale, she said, "It was my brother that killed my parents and attacked me."

Inuyasha's hand, which had been ready to write on a notepad, stilled. He felt Miroku become just as still beside him.

"He couldn't help it," she said quickly. "Someone else was behind it. I never saw him, but I knew he was there. He even talked to me. He was controlling my brother, somehow."

Was she just desperately trying to protect her brother, even after what he had done, or had she really known that someone was there? A shadow perhaps, quietly manipulating the strings on her brother using demon magic. It was heard of, Inuyasha thought a bit despairingly. It was forbidden, but laws were broken all the time. It was why his job existed in the first place.

"I came home at night, after taking a call to a house in the woods. They were being attacked occasionally, and they wanted me to come to take care of the problem. So I did, and went back home. I walk into the living room, and Kirara starts growling and transforms. There's this huge gust of wind, and things are being blown off counters and shelves, and it's so strong that I hit the wall pretty hard. The next thing I knew, I was in my parents' bedroom…" She shook her head slowly, her lower lip shaking as she tried to suppress her emotions.

"They made me watch my brother kill my parents. My brother had this blank look in his eyes. After he killed them, it was as if his strings had been cut. He slumped to the floor, and the blank look left." She started to sob, her breaths raspy. The doctor looked alarmed, but Sango waved off his attempts to soothe her. "He slowly stood up, and he was looking around himself as if he didn't know what was happening, where he was. He looked at me and said, 'Sister?'" Her tears flowed down her cheeks, and she visibly tried to get a hold of herself.

Miroku, who couldn't really watch a woman in distress, moved towards her before the doctor could. He sat next to her on the edge of the bed, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulder, a soothing sound coming from his throat. Sango, needing the support, leaned into Miroku. Her tears hadn't lessened, but she was able to breathe a lot easier now.

"If you'd rather us come tomorrow…" Miroku started.

"No!" Sango said fiercely. Well, as fiercely as her throat would allow. "I need to get this out tonight. I don't think I can say this a second time." Nodding in understanding, Miroku squeezed her shoulder in reassurance.

"Please, go on," Miroku said. Sango nodded.

"So then Kohaku turned around, and he saw our parents… He looked down at the weapon in his hand, and he dropped it as he realized what he had done."

"And you only stood there?" Inuyasha asked. Miroku threw him a dirty look for interrupting, but Inuyasha knew this question couldn't be helped.

"There was no one holding me physically, but I was immobilized. A spell, most likely. And Kirara was downstairs… I could hear her snarling and fighting something, but I couldn't pay attention… My brother had been forced to kill our parents…" Inuyasha felt a pang of sympathy for the girl. Suddenly, Sango twisted, ripping out one of her IV tubes as she grabbed Miroku's shirt front. "Kirara," she said hoarsely, and she didn't have to say anything else as Miroku gently grasped her hand in his own before giving it to the doctor who hurriedly reapplied the IV.

"She's fine. She's in better shape than you are," Inuyasha said before Miroku could answer. "We demons are more resilient."

Sango nodded, and her hand went to her head. The sudden outburst must have triggered a headache. However, she had already expressed her wishes to talk about this now, so both he and Miroku said nothing in offering to leave.

"He went to them, took the duct tape off. It stuck to his hands, and I don't think he even thought about removing them. He tried to do it as gently as possible…" Sango took another deep breath. "Suddenly, he went stiff again. The blank look came over his eyes again…" She paused. "I was able to move again then, and I tried to get to him, but there was some kind of barrier blocking me. A voice told me to go get my weapon. I ignored the voice, but the next thing I know, Hiraikotsu is being hurled at me."

Inuyasha deduced that Hiraikotsu was the name of her impressive boomerang. "Under such close quarters, you wouldn't have been able to use it properly," Inuyasha said.

"It didn't matter. I would never attack my brother with it. I only blocked his attacks. Soon, however, he penetrated my defense." Her hand went to her side, where Inuyasha remembered her kidney had been removed. "And I fell down the stairs. The last I saw of him was that he was in some kind of weird bubble, and he disappeared." Sango slammed her fists down on to the bed. "He disappeared," she whispered brokenly. "The last thing I remember before passing out," she added, "was a strange woman fighting with Kirara." Sango blew out a breath. "I didn't see her face." Wiping her tears away, she sat prone and silent. Miroku moved away from her, and Sango didn't protest.

It pained Miroku that she was in such obvious pain, and there was no one that could really understand. It was one thing to have your family murdered by strangers, but then to have your family murdered by your own sibling… It must have been devastating, and he was surprised she was handling it as well as she was. Still, if the cold fury was anything to go by, he knew her plan would be to retrieve her brother, and bring down the wrongdoer for his sickening acts against her family.

"I hope you feel all right, Ms. Hara. In the meanwhile, please do try to rest. If you need to ask anything, or if you remember anything else…" Inuyasha rooted in his pockets until he found a card. "These are our numbers." Sango took it numbly.

"Thank you," she said, her voice tight with the pain she had to endure physically and emotionally.

"You're welcome. Don't hesitate to call," Inuyasha told her. Sango didn't reply, and Inuyasha only went out the door with a reluctant Miroku following. "Do you think she'll try anything stupid?"

"Like kill-herself stupid?" Miroku asked. Inuyasha shook his head.

"Like, go-after-him stupid." Miroku nodded.

"Yeah, I think she will. Still, I think she'll be more of an asset more than anything else."

"You would think that for any pair of breasts and legs," Inuyasha said. It wasn't really the time for amusement, but both found that laughing about something helped to relieve the tension and the stress.

"But those are the best kinds of assets," Miroku murmured. They entered Inuyasha's car, and the silence was almost unbearable for both.

"Want some coffee?" Inuyasha asked. Miroku shook his head.

"I don't want to stay awake tonight. Can I stay at your place tonight?"

"If you turn on that damn TV again, I'll—"

"I won't. I just need a safe place to sleep," Miroku said uneasily. "Her story spooked me."

Inuyasha didn't say anything, didn't even tease Miroku about his sudden vulnerability, because he felt the same damn way.


wk: So Sango was introduced in this chapter in the sort of depressing way she was introduced in the show. The only difference is that she doesn't believe Inuyasha's the bad guy in this.

Okay. Chapter four is done, and I will get chapter five up sometime... later. Thanks guys for the support. (Smiles)