A/N

Okay, sorry for the late update.

Hopefully you enjoy it.

Enjoy and Review?

-puppy eyes-

~Smo

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. …. But they are really fun to play with, and I hope that every one tries to take them, torture and abuse them, manipulate them, and make them suffer at least once. . MAKE THEM YOUR SLAVES

Chapter 25

Both Kagome and Sesshoumaru stared down at the corpse lying on the medical table. It was Dorie. There was no way to get any medical proof, but it was the only plausible conclusion. There were no other fires. No other missing people matching her description from that same town. The only question that was left was: Where was her boy?

"We need to go back to that town," Kagome whispered, no longer feeling as happy as she was at the party. Neither one of them had slept, both having nightmares and staying up, haunted with the smell and sight of the corpse they now stood over.

Sesshoumaru only gave a nod. This was the third person forced into this case. First, Shippo was kidnapped. Second, the prostitute that gave away his identity turned up dead. Finally, Dorie, Hiten's personal mistress, had been burned alive.

"I want you to stay here," Sesshoumaru returned to Kagome, watching as the doctor covered the body with a white sheet. Sesshoumaru ushered her out of the room and up the stairs into the lobby of the police headquarter, before she could begin the arguments he was expecting.

"No!" Kagome exclaimed, protested. "I-I want to go with you. Shippo could still be there," she pressed on.

That was the main reason he didn't want her to go. Hiten was killing people, severing all his lose ties. Shippo wouldn't be alive for much longer. The notes had stopped coming, meaning that he either ran out of human boy, or had moved on to the real thing. Kagome couldn't see that.

"Please, do not argue with me on this," Sesshoumaru actually pleaded.

Kagome paused to look at him. Part of her, the one that wanted to stay naïve to the cruel world, was telling her not to go. The look in his eyes said that she wouldn't find what she wanted. No, she would find something much worse.

The other half needed to go. It needed to be the first to see. She couldn't wait at home with nothing but a fear of the random visits from Naraku. "Please, I will stay with you at all times. I will even stay back when you say so, just let me go," Kagome whispered in return.

Sesshoumaru blinked at her. He saw the pleading look in her eyes. He knew what she wanted. Kagome wanted to be the first to know. The only problem was: this went a lot deeper than Shippo.

This was a feud between Shiyo and the ill-reputable thunder brothers. Two demon clans that had a bad history between them were taking it out on a small boy who held the maternal heart of this woman. Sesshoumaru didn't want to expose her to the cruel underworld of his heritage. Little did she know she was surrounded in it.

She can help. She seems to attract demons, his inner beast chimed in, as if reading his thoughts.

Now that he thought about it, Kagome did seem to lure them in. Her two main housekeepers were both fox demons. The annoying wolf that chased after her was one as well. Naraku seemed to have his own dreams about her and then there was him.

Sesshoumaru was being pulled towards her too.

Why? He found him asking. Maybe she was just unlucky. His inner demon chuckled at his thinking.

Yes, Sesshoumaru, she is extremely unlucky! You solved the case! Demons are drawn to her because she's… unlucky. It taunted. It teased. His inner demon seemed to know exactly what was causing it, but refused to let him in on the big secret.

What is it? Sesshoumaru asked. It was sometimes too hard to carry on a conversation with oneself. He noticed this because Kagome was currently looking at him with a puzzled expression. Here she was, waiting for his answer while he talked to his inner beast- his inner child.

You are really a horrible detective when it comes to the obvious, it grouched at him. He no longer sensed its presence within him, huddling back into the cage in his heart from which it came.

"You will not argue," Sesshoumaru warned her. Kagome's brilliant smile was his reward. She nodded her head enthusiastically.

"When do we leave?" Kagome asked curiously. She added, "Where will we be staying?"

Sesshoumaru let a smirk slide onto his face. Yes, this could be amusing indeed. "Take your carriage and pack, I will pick you up in two hours," he instructed.

"W-Where are we staying?" Kagome asked shakily. She saw the gleam in his eyes, the smirk on his lips and was instantly on the defense. Her mind flickered back to the ball. The vulnerable and hurt Sesshoumaru was foreign, this one familiar, but both were equally hard to deal with.

"You will see. Now, hurry," he grumbled, all but shoving her out the front door.

Kagome only waved over her shoulder as she stepped up into the carriage. The horses moved frantically, and she was happy that she would be going. Akane and Shiyo couldn't leave their duties, and Akane was in no condition for traveling.

Her mind wandered to the father. Shiyo had been acting weirdly. He had been leaving the house for long hours at end and returning under the veil of night. Making a decision, Kagome would tell Sesshoumaru.

She swallowed, thinking back to the night before at the ball. It had been a disaster from the start. The dinner with his rude mother, the dead woman that showed up. She knew that Naraku played a hand in it. She remembered the smirk as he walked away, there had to be something that linked it all back to him.

Her mind went to Sesshoumaru, sitting on his bed with his face in his hands. It bothered her. He had been so defeated, looking as if he had just lost a loved one. Kagome smacked herself. He had.

A part of her heart suddenly ached for that. She wanted that more than anything. She would rather be loved, just like he had loved that woman, than live in riches. She would rather live as a peasant in the country side with her true love than force herself to pair with a man like Naraku.

She sighed. What kind of woman could she have been if Sesshoumaru had loved her so much? She thought. She didn't want the answer to that question. Kagome was too scared of it. The only information she needed to know was why she had run away and left her daughter in his care.

The carriage stopped in front of her house. She opened the door and shut it behind her. Instantly, she was bounding up the steps towards her room. Maybe, she can learn more about Sesshoumaru's past on this trip.

Kagome pulled a small portable sack that would hold a night and day worth of clothes. She wouldn't be there for more than that long and she could wear the night clothes again if she had to.

Now, it was just time to figure out which dress she wanted. She flushed when golden eyes came to her mind. Maybe that was it.

She opened the wardrobe closet. Her hands pulling at the dresses frantically trying to find the soft yellow dress she was looking for.

"You seem to like him," Sango's voice cut it from the doorway.

Kagome instantly paused. Sango's words cut into her like a knife. Right now, she was trying to please him with a simple dress. Her heart constricted. What if she did like him?

She knew that she was fond of him. The Commissioner was indeed intelligent and devilishly handsome. But, hadn't she promised herself not to fall for him. She wouldn't be the woman that fell for his charms. It would make her out to be like everything other woman that had fallen at his feet.

She was to be his mistress, and any feelings that would grow for him would be unrequited.

The pain that followed shortly after caused her to grab onto whatever dress was in front of her. She pulled out the floral type dress. It was white with blue orchids dancing across the bosom and the bottom. She fell to the bed and shook her head.

"I don't," she forced the words to lave her lips. It was a vow. "I won't ever love him."

A part of her groaned at the vow she had just made. Why make such a foolish thing? There was no way she could resist his charms forever, she knew that. Even at the party, she had promised never to run away from him. She wanted to stay by his side and figure him out. She wanted to see what he liked in a woman who could potentially be his fiancé.

"Kagome, do not lie to me," Sango retorted.

Kagome met her eyes with fury. "Sango, I understand that any feelings I may have for him will never be returned. You do not have to pour salt in the wounds," she argued.

Sango was leaning against the doorway in a loose fitting green dress. Her hair was hanging around her in straightened strands. Kagome had always been envious of that hair. It was always straight.

"Why would you make such a deal?" Sango finally hissed out in a whisper, afraid anyone might hear.

It was the question Kagome had been waiting for. Of course, Sango would ask what she had been thinking, why she would do such a thing.

"He promised to look into the case himself, if I did. Sango, I couldn't let him pass Shippo's case onto some other officer!" Kagome proclaimed.

Sango shook her head. "You promised him your body! You will never be able to marry," she returned. "What about the love you have always wanted, Kagome?" She asked. This time she sounded so disheartened for her sister.

Sango remembered coming to live with Kagome after her mother had died. Kagome had instantly welcomed her, not caring about the situation with their parents.

The girl had always spoken in fairy tales. She wanted her prince, and she wanted the true love everyone had stopped believing in. Sango sighed, watching as Kagome's determined eyes fell in defeat.

The words she never thought she would hear slipped out of Kagome's mouth. "Love isn't realistic, Sango. It won't pay the bills and it won't take care of you," Kagome explained.

"I am going for a few days to a town over. Please don't ask me why. I just need you to pay the second installment at the bank. You know where the money is," Kagome began to rant as she pushed the clothes into the bag while keeping the tears that threatened to fall from escaping.

Who knew that growing up would be so damn hard? No one ever warned anyone. Suddenly, they were just slammed with it. One day, it wouldn't go as planned, it would all come crumbling down around you like it had Kagome.

The day her father had died she had still been dreaming of having her own castle and living with her army of babies with the man of her dreams. That same night, however, she had been forced to read legal documents pertaining to her new ownership of this house. The new debt that was associated with her name, and Naraku.

"Lord Miroku and I are engaged," Sango blurted out suddenly.

Kagome paused. Her eyes closed tightly before they opened. Sango would live her dream now. She would live with the man she loved in their cottage home with their children. "Congratulations!" She forced out, ignoring the selfish jealousy that crawled up her throat. "I am so happy! Where's the ring?" Kagome questioned.

Sango flushed. "H-He hasn't gotten it yet, it was the wrong size," she explained.

Kagome laughed. "When I get back we will host your engagement party, Sango. We'll go all out!" Kagome cheered.

Sango watched as Kagome began to make her way down the stairs. The knock on the door rang the same time she hit the bottom step and she entered to see the Commissioner.

"Kagome is… is he going with you?" Sango fit the pieces together.

Kagome instantly came to his aid. "Please, do not press the issue, Sango," she pleaded. "It is strictly for Shippo's case!" She hissed.

Sango shook her head, her anger coming out. "Either way it is bad! He's either taking you there to seduce you, or taking you there to put you into harm's way!" Sango shouted, not caring if her voice rose with each word.

Sesshoumaru was the next to speak. "I will not bring any harm to Kagome nor will anyone else. Your sister is surprisingly good at getting people to open up," Sesshoumaru grumbled the last part, knowing from experience.

Kagome grinned, loading her bag into the carriage before hugging Sango, who was still stunned in the doorway. "An engagement party!" Kagome called out from the window. "It'll be amazing!"

Sango could only blink as the car disappeared from her line of vision.