Sorry my updates are so slow. Hopefully this chapter is full of awesome and exciting stuff to keep you guys reading and reviewing!

xoxo

-vQ

"Were you followed?" He asked as he blew out the tobacco smoke into the frosty air and flicked his cigarette butt into the snow.

Miroku looked back and shook his head. "No." He paused and looked at the still burning cigarette butt on the ground. "I didn't know you smoked."

"Neither did I, but it's helping me cope with the stress. Don't tell my old lady, alright?"

Miroku chuckled lightly and nodded. "Of course I won't." He promised as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a thick envelope. "Here's the information you asked me to get. Took me two days to go through the classified database. I could lose my job for something like this."

He snatched the envelope and grinned. "Yet, you did it anyway, right?"

Miroku grinned as well. "You're damn right I did."

Earlier…

"So what does this mean?" Kagome asked as she nervously bit her nail.

"It means all the 'healing' Rin thought she did was a load of bullshit." Inuyasha said brashly as he lied on the couch.

"I beg your pardon?" Rin fired as she stood. "I think despite the information we've just been given, Sesshomaru has in fact grown!"

"Yeah, but it doesn't really mean anything at this point!" He said with his arms raised.

"Settle down, you two!" Inumira interjected.

Rin sat down and glared at Inuyasha continually.

"In a sense, you're both right. Sesshomaru may have in fact grown in Rin's care but if his mind control were to be triggered by whoever did the clinical trials, all her work would simply be undone in the snap of a finger."

"So he was programmed to be a killer. But why? For Inukimi's sake? Was he her puppet?" Kagome questioned.

'Why does this girl ask so many questions?' Inumira wondered.

"I don't think that's it. From what I understand," Rin looked up at Inumira. "and correct me if I'm wrong, Inukimi had a gentler side to her, much like Sesshomaru did, though it was hidden behind their proud nature. She took her divorce in stride and provided the fact that she was Sesshomaru's mother, I'm certain he got his strength from her. Why would she need him to carry out her bidding?"

"So she wouldn't get her hands dirty." Inuyasha suggested.

"No. She loved her son. If she was trying to avoid sullying her own name, she would have made sure he wasn't caught as well." Rin continued.

"You should all stop prying into this. Believe me, this is a much bigger mess than you're intending to get on your own hands." InuNo said suddenly as he descended the spiral staircase. "The same source I acquired those papers from is the very reason you should all stay away from this."

"Hiding things again, father?" Inuyasha questioned in a bored, sarcastic tone."

InuNo nearly cringed from the way his youngest was beginning to sound more and more like Sesshomaru. "No." He let out a frustrated sigh. "Why don't you all get some inside information from the government yourself through a reliable source of your own? Then you will truly see why I wanted you to stay out of this mess entirely."

"Yes, we will find out." Inumira said as she slowly approached InuNo. "Because there is no justifiable reason," She continued as she dug her heel into his shoe. "for me to be kept in the dark about valuable information relating to a client who happens to be my only nephew!" She shouted fiercly as she dug her heel further into his foot and watched as he grimaced.

She turned away gracefully, her hair slapping the side of his arm as she walked away. "Come along, young ones." She said to the others. "We have a government official to question."

Later that day…

"You seriously want me to get secret files about the American Government?" Miroku asked in shock as he awkwardly sat between the two pregnant women in the back seat of Inumira's Jaguar."

"Basically." Inuyasha said as he leaned his seat back.

Kagome intercepted the seat's leaning with her foot. "Get your damn seat off my legs." She cursed through her teeth.

Everyone's eyes widened and they were all on Inuyasha as he slowly put his seat back up.

Rin broke the awkward silence by clearing her throat. "Uh…so. Do you think you can help us?"

"I can, but I need someone that can make a copy of my ID card and encrypt it so no trace of my activity at work shows up."

"Shippo…" Kagome said.

"Who?" Rin asked.

"Shippo is a hacker kid that goes to the school we work at." Inuyasha explained. "He was damn near expelled for shutting down the school board system during exam week."

"Wow, he sounds talented." Miroku replied.

"Let's pay him a visit." Kagome suggested. "I've done countless home visits with him since he's on his own."

"He lives alone, even though he's a child?" Inumira asked in a concerned tone.

"He's an orphan. He makes money doing computer repairs to keep himself stable."

"I see." She said in a sad voice. "Direct me to his house, then."

Kanma tunnels—arrival of new inmates

The new arrivals' hands and feet were bound, all chained together in one single line.

They were instructed on which foot to step with in a militaristic style, to avoid anyone fumbling over one another.

The tunnels were stuffy and Sesshomaru could hear clanking nearby and what sounded like the cries of small children further away.

'Why do I hear the sounds of children in an adult prison?' He wondered as he continued to look around the dark, dingy cave-like prison with lanterns illuminating their path.

"LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RI—" The entire line was halted when someone in the back tripped and fell. Sesshomaru held himself forward to avoid being pulled back by the others behind him.

The prison guard marched toward the back of the line and picked the inmate up by his neck. "Inmate #25763! You will learn to follow the order of Kanma! You will not disrupt the flow in these tunnels!"

Sesshomaru recognized those words from somewhere long ago, so long that the memory was too fuzzy to recall at the moment.

'Perhaps it was a television program or literature I saw as a child.' He told himself.

"Move it, you filth!" The guard shouted. "Left! Right! Left! Right!"

27 years ago…

"Mother, do I have to go to summer camp here? This place looks weird." Young Sesshomaru said as he clutched the side of his mother's dress tightly.

"Yes! You will get a superior education while you are here as well." She said excitedly as she grasped his hand and walked towards the golden gate with a lion's head insignia on it.

She pressed the buzzer and the gate opened, allowing them to walk down a black paved walkway.

A man in a white coat was waiting outside for them.

Sesshomaru clutched his mother's hand tighter and began to trail behind. That man gave him an ill feeling, and the clanking sounds from beneath the ground were making him uneasy.

"Welcome to Kanma University, our Learning Institution for Children of Tomorrow! Please, come inside! The orientation is about to begin." The suspicious man said with a warm welcome, yet crazed smile.

Sesshomaru began to pull away and fight his way out of his mother's grip. "No, no! I don't want to go here! This place is weird! Mother, take me home!"

Inukimi roughly grabbed Sesshomaru's arm and pulled him towards the front entrance.

"Please forgive me. My son can be a bit…high-strung at times." She said shamefully with her head hung down.

The man chuckled and knelt down beside Sesshomaru. "Fear not, milady. He will learn to follow the order of Kanma in no time. Your son has an incredible future ahead of him."