Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, VizMedia.

Chapter 37

Last Time…

Grinning back at him, Kagome replied, "It's just so nice to hear it, though." Her smile widened when Inuyasha gave her a quick kiss.

Reaching into his pocket, Inuyasha pulled out his phone to call Masahiro. "You know, he could just as easily have bad news for us."

"We'll cross that bridge if it comes."

"When."

"If."

A few hours later, Inuyasha and Kagome sat dumbstruck, but equally relieved. Masahiro Matsuo sat across from them at the dinner table with a relaxed smile on his face.

"The judge didn't find enough cause to proceed to a trial. He told the prosecution to get some concrete evidence and drop the charges. You're cleared, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha narrowed his gold eyes at his defense lawyer. Masahiro Matsuo was an attractive man. Tall with a fit build, and a charming smile, he was notable for his salt-and-pepper hair despite being in his mid-twenties. He had a friendly enough countenance, which usually wasn't enough for Inuyasha, but Kagome trusted him and that was good enough for Inuyasha. Most of the time.

"Okay, but what's the catch?" he asked suspiciously.

Kagome threw him a scandalized look and swatted at his arm before shooting Masahiro an apologetic glance. Masahiro waved off the notion, more than accustomed to Inuyasha after having him as a client for several months at this point.

"No catch," he told him. "Your suspension is officially lifted. You can transfer back to the organized crime division as soon as possible, and I daresay the force is better for it. You wouldn't believe the number of cases the office is getting concerning internal affairs and corruption."

With a snort, Inuyasha retorted, "I do."

Kagome leaned forward. "So… is this the end of it?

Masahiro's face twisted into a grimace. "It's complicated," he hedged.

"Of fucking course," Inuyasha grumbled.

"You were charged, but we managed to delay the trial. According to the constitution, double jeopardy should hold, but in practice…"

A frown appeared on Kagome's face. "Inuyasha wasn't acquitted in the traditional sense. And this was a lower district court. There's still a chance he could be tried if the prosecutor appeals to the High Court."

Inuyasha made a noise of displeasure and Kagome glanced at him to see him sulking. She turned back to Masahiro, her expression full of determination.

"What's the likelihood of that?"

"This is the second time we've cast doubt on the prosecution's case. For them to try and charge Inuyasha again… it would certainly make it look like they're gunning for him."

Kagome raised her eyebrows at that. "Are you insinuating… that this could be an orchestration rather than an unfortunate accident?"

"I'm not making any accusations," Masahiro said evenly. "I'm just pointing out an observation." He arched an eyebrow at Inuyasha. "And to warn you to be on your guard."

"Noted." Inuyasha inclined his head at Masahiro.

Masahiro sighed and held his hands out in supplication. "Look, I'm laying it out for you— there's a large possibility that evidence was planted. Because it's pretty damn compelling. That DNA match is the smoking gun that the prosecution has that we can't completely explain away."

"Are you asking me if I did it, Masahiro?" Inuyasha asked lowly.

"Stop it, Inuyasha, of course he's not." Kagome glanced at her old classmate. "Are you?"

"As a general rule, I don't ask. Not my job. But I have my suspicions and can usually make a guess."

"Didn't answer my question," Inuyasha said testily.

Considering the hanyou, Masahiro narrowed his eyes at Inuyasha and for the first time, Kagome saw the man who had earned himself a reputation in the courtroom that contrasted vastly from her memories in law school. Masahiro then settled back against his chair.

"I didn't," he admitted. "But here it is. No, Inuyasha, I don't think you're responsible in any way, shape, or form for Sadao Higurashi's murder. Your initial unpleasantness aside, it's easy to see you're a good man. And the fact that you have Kagome's favor is more than enough proof. Nor do I think you're affiliated with the youkai who are. But you obviously have pissed off some pretty powerful, dangerous people."

"So what you're saying is, I still have a target on my head."

"Essentially."

Kagome had her eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. "The DNA results… did you run your own tests?"

"No," Masahiro said eventually.

Kagome chewed on her lip. "So as far as we know…"

"They could've been manufactured. And if that's the case, then I could use this to take down everyone involved in trying to frame Inuyasha and give the force a deep internal cleanse."

Inuyasha sighed. "Alright, what do you need?"

Masahiro smirked. "A hair, a dirty tissue. But if you don't mind, I think I'd rather handle the hair on my way to the office."

"You guys have your own DNA techs?"

"We outsource, but if those asinine talk show hosts can find competent laboratories for a paternity test, trust that the firm employs the best possible technicians. I assure you, everything is carried out with the utmost discretion."

Kagome plucked a hair from Inuyasha's head, ignoring his yelp and pointed glare, before placing it delicately into a clean napkin and folding it over. She handed it over to Masahiro. "Here you go."

Masahiro took the folded up napkin and carefully tucked it into an inside pocket of his suit jacket. "I'll get this to the lab right away."

Kagome smiled warmly at him. "I know you will."

The three rose from their seats and Masahiro gave a shallow bow to them before throwing his coat on. "Well I'll need to head out if I want to submit this before offices close for the weekend."

"Keh! Cyberdweebs will still work on it throughout the weekend."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome hissed reproachfully.

Masahiro chuckled, a deep rumbling sound. "I know. Believe me, I know. I just think I owe it to them to pretend that that's not the case."

"Better you than me."

"Masahiro, I can't tell you how much your help is appreciated. I owe it to you," Kagome said earnestly.

Inuyasha curled his lip but otherwise remained quiet at her side, his hands flexing underneath the table. "You don't owe him anything," he grumbled under his breath.

Masahiro took Kagome's hand and patted the top of it. "Anything for an old friend. It's good to see you, Kagome. It's been a long time. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing you in a non-professional setting."

Kagome offered him a grin and Inuyasha's expression visibly darkened, his lips pressing into a thin line.

"Sure! I'll have my assistant contact yours and we can grab some coffee during the week?" she asked as they all rose from their seats.

"Perfect. I'll see you then." Masahiro looked up at Inuyasha, his lips twitching at the look on his client's face. "Inuyasha. I'll be sure to expedite the results and get back to you as soon as possible." Then, with purpose, he leaned forward to brush a kiss on Kagome's cheek.

Kagome looked worriedly at Inuyasha, but Inuyasha kept still. When Masahiro left, she sighed and asked resignedly, "What?"

"What do you mean, what?" Inuyasha snapped. He threw some bills onto the table and began to shrug on his jacket before holding Kagome's out to her.

Kagome compliantly put on the jacket, mumbling, "You didn't have to pay for my meal."

"Don't worry about it," he said while breezing past her to the exit.

"Inuyasha!"

"Get the bill next time, then."

"Inuyasha!"

"Did you two date during law school?"

"Masahiro? No, no!" Kagome rolled her eyes while she struggled to keep up with Inuyasha's fast strides. She ran around and stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "We're just old friends."

"Okay." Inuyasha sidestepped around her.

"'Okay'? That's all you have to say?" Kagome demanded as she ran after him.

"What else do you want me to say?"

"What's really bothering you!"

Inuyasha glared at her. "You know your friend was egging me on."

"Masahiro is a jokester. He likes to rile people up. It's harmless! It's nothing more than what Miroku does when he jokes around but you don't get this upset when Miroku flirts with me."

"Okay."

Kagome lunged forward and grasped at his arm, holding onto it tightly and forcing Inuyasha to turn around, though she knew he could have broken away from her with minimal effort. "Don't do this," she pleaded. "Don't internalize your problems and run away from me. I'm your best friend, Inuyasha. I can take whatever you have to tell me. I want to hear what you have to say. Just… don't avoid me."

Inuyasha stared at Kagome's honey eyes as she quietly pleaded with him and relented, stepping towards her and gently pulling his arm from her vice grip. He brushed her thick raven hair away from her face and sighed.

"I got jealous, what else do you want me to say?" he admitted quietly. "You can be so oblivious to the effect you have on men, you idiot." He shook his head. "You smart, stubborn, kind, generous idiot."

Her face softened and Kagome insisted, "Me? Inuyasha, if you even had the slightest idea how women fall at your feet."

"Keh! A hanyou?"

Kagome pursed her lips and glowered at him. "You need to get over that stigma, Inuyasha. It's not the same as when we were kids and I've told you multiple times that I love your hanyou-ness, even though you're a lot nicer to me when you're human."

Inuyasha's ears perked up and remained pointed, honing in on what might have just been a slip of her tongue. He huffed, "Stop trying to deflect my point."

"Your point is irrelevant. Doesn't matter who flirts with me. I'm dating you."

To prove her point, Kagome suddenly gripped the front of Inuyasha's coat, fisting her hands in the woolly fabric, and pulled him down towards her. She pressed her lips against his, satisfied when he immediately responded, his warm lips gently molding themselves against hers. Inuyasha's hands snaked down until they wrapped around her waist, pulling her even closer so that they were pressed flush together, the feeling causing Kagome to gasp against him. Inuyasha's senses were flooded with Kagome, melting against the heat of her, liquid fire on his lips, her scent filling his nostrils. He distantly registered fingers snaking through his hair, teasing brushes against his sensitive ears. Kagome moaned lightly as she swayed, his hands supporting her weight as she leaned on him.

Inuyasha pressed several light kisses on her lips before pulling away breathlessly. "Kagome," he rumbled lowly.

Kagome grinned at him and Inuyasha felt satisfaction melt through him and settle throughout his body. He smirked at the flush on her cheeks and how swollen her lips looked. Her hands moved in soothing, distracting circles across his back. "I'm not going to be doing that with Masahiro anytime soon, I promise you."

She giggled when Inuyasha didn't respond, his eyes closing from her ministrations. Kagome pulled her hands away only to earn herself a pouty glare, although Inuyasha's eyes were darkened with something other than anger. She could make a guess as to what it was that had him sending her such a heated look.

"Feeling better?" she asked, a sly smile curving across her face.

"No, not yet." Inuyasha leaned in again but Kagome pulled away, not that Inuyasha truly minded. The ringing sound of her laughter was almost as good of a balm to his senses. He watched her capture her bottom lip in between her teeth and decided to surprise her and nip at it lightly.

Kagome smiled against his lips before nuzzling her face into his chest, ignoring the slight scratchiness of the wool fabric of his coat, rewarded by the faint sound of his heartbeat.

Kagome looked up from where she was settled on her couch, papers laid out on her lap as well as the coffee table. The door to her apartment had opened and her position in the living room didn't afford her a vantage point of the entrance hallway.

"Souta?" she asked tentatively, knowing it was either him or Inuyasha since they were the only two besides her with a copy of the keys to her apartment. Mentally rolling her eyes, Kagome recalled how Inuyasha had demanded the duplicate from the building superintendent, not trusting him with access to Kagome's apartment. That led to another argument between the two of them.

A mop of raven hair appeared over the edge of the couch and Kagome lifted herself up and smiled at her younger brother. She hastily shuffled her papers together and placed them on the coffee table.

"I wasn't expecting you tonight! Early morning tomorrow?"

Souta often used one of Kagome's spare rooms when he had a late night or early morning at university and didn't want to take the train back to Nakano. Kagome's apartment was conveniently located in Shibuya, in between the school and the shrine.

Souta yawned and put his backpack onto an empty chair, hopping over the edge of the couch and slouching into the cushions, causing Kagome to bounce up slightly on her end of the couch.

"No, no classes tomorrow, but I'm beat. Today felt way too long."

Kagome smiled and gestured to the papers littering her coffee table. "Tell me about it."

"Are you busy? I can go to the shrine if you need to concentrate."

"Don't worry about it, Souta. Besides, you're already here." Kagome rose and headed to the kitchen, calling out, "I have some leftover pasta from lunch or cold pizza if you're hungry!"

"Pizza!" Souta frowned. "Why do you have a whole pizza?" He could hear Kagome snort as she put it into the microwave and watched her move around the open kitchen.

"Inuyasha was over earlier and brought it, even though I told him I had made katsu curry."

"Doesn't Inuyasha hate curry?"

Kagome laughed. "But he loves katsu. Suffice it to say, we have a lot of Italian leftovers." She rummaged through her cabinets to grab a dish for Souta. "Help yourself to as much as you'd like. Kami knows I can't finish it."

Souta tried to stifle another yawn as he hopped up onto the tall barstool in front of the counter. "Unless he's sleeping in your room, I'm guessing I missed Inuyasha."

"Kicked him out a few hours ago so I could get some work done."

Munching on the pizza, Souta asked, "Distacting you too much?"

Kagome grinned. "No, I was distracting him from finishing up his work."

Souta made a face and gestured as if he might throw up his pizza and Kagome laughed before stretching her arms up and yawning, asking, "Have you told jii-chan you're staying with me tonight? Don't want him up all night worrying."

"The man is over ninety years old, Kagome. He's probably already asleep."

"Shoot him a text at least. Give him some piece of mind." Kagome sighed. "It would be so much easier—"

"Don't even say it, Kagome. Jii-chan wouldn't sell the shrine."

"I know," Kagome agreed sadly. "But I got this place with two extra rooms with you and Jii-chan in mind."

"Hey, I like having a place to crash near school. Won't hear any complaints from me!"

"Good," Kagome huffed. "Well I'm going to call it a night," she told him while collecting her papers.

Souta chewed thoughtfully, staring at his plate in a daze. "Hey, nee-chan?"

Kagome paused on her way to her room and looked back at Souta expectantly.

"How come you never asked me about that night? When I got attacked?"

With a heavy sigh, Kagome came back to the kitchen and put down her files. "Because you obviously weren't ready to talk about it. And I didn't want to push." She smiled weakly. "I know, shocker, coming from the meddler of the century."

Souta looked back down again and Kagome frowned.

"Does this mean you're ready to tell me?"

She waited patiently while Souta stared at his hands, absentmindedly playing with his slice of pizza. He looked at her from the corner of his eye and glared at his hands again.

"When Dad first got attacked, I saw how much strain you and Kouga were under with all of Dad's medical bills. Especially since you went on leave at work and the experimental therapies and procedures we used to help him. And… I don't know, I remember what it was like when Mama was sick and trying to pay her bills…"

"Oh, Souta…"

"I wanted to help," he said quietly. He looked up at Kagome with tears in his eyes. "I don't know—"

Kagome grasped one of his hands tightly. "Souta, come on, it's me."

"I started dealing," he said harshly, his breaths quick and short. "I dropped out and started dealing for some yakuza thugs."

Souta was stunned when he felt Kagome envelop him in her arms and hug tightly. He heard her murmur his name in sympathy. He blinked back tears.

"You're not mad?"

"Of course I am!" Kagome cried. "You put yourself in such a dangerous situation for no reason! And it looks like it's come to bite you in the ass!" She hugged him more tightly. "You idiot!" she hissed. "But you're done with that, right?"

"Inuyasha scared me out of it. But I guess those inuyoukai still remembered my face."

Kagome pulled away but still held onto Souta's shoulders, searching his eyes desperately. "Souta, what happened?"

"I didn't get too far deep. Just wanted to make quick money so I sold at parties and raves, mostly. Ended up stepping on some of their turf and they got angry. Didn't help that there was already a turf war between the two groups."

Huffing in indignation, Kagome began pacing. "You're doing okay in school now, right? You're not lying to me?"

"No, I'm back," he promised her. "And I'm gonna graduate this year. The summer classes last year helped me make up the credits I lost."

"Then why have you been acting so cagey? Who is it that you're running off to meet? Kohaku doesn't even know who they are."

Souta surprised her by blushing. "I'm dating someone. We're taking it slow and no offense, but you guys are pretty overwhelming."

Kagome blinked at him before asking again, "When can I meet her?"

Souta raised his eyebrows and answered slowly, "… soon?"

She nodded and resumed her pacing, muttering under her breath. "I can't believe Inuyasha kept that from me!"

"Nee-chan, don't be mad at him—."

Rounding on him, Kagome yelled, "Don't be mad at him? Souta this was an incredibly dangerous secret to keep from me! He should've known better!"

"Nee-chan," Souta insisted. He reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her from pacing. "He set me straight and protected me. The only reason Inuyasha didn't tell you at the time was because you were dealing with Dad's rehabilitation. Could you have been able to handle my bullshit at the same time?"

Kagome gaped at him before scowling. "That's besides the point, Souta! You're my brother!"

"Inuyasha's been there for me, too! He's always looked out for me!" He added softly, "You know he's my family, too. Kagome, don't be angry with him for my stupidity."

Relenting, Kagome's shoulders fell and she sighed. "I know. I just can't believe he would keep that from me."

"I asked him to. And he said he respected my boundaries and expected me to be the one to tell you. An agreement reliant on whether I re-enrolled at Tokyo Tech again. If I didn't, he was going to tell you." Souta wrinkled his nose and asked, "Did I get Inuyasha in trouble?"

"No… yes… I don't know, Souta," Kagome answered truthfully. "I think we've both had a long day and need to get to bed. I'll see you in the morning," she finished tiredly.

Souta watched as she gathered her work again and disappeared in her bedroom. Inside, Kagome was pacing again, hesitating as she stared at her phone. As she reached her hand out toward it, it began to ring, causing her to jump. Kagome took a moment to calm her breathing before answering.

"Kagome?" a worried voice asked.

Frowning in confusion, Kagome answered, "Speaking. Who's calling?"

"It's Ayame."

Edited May 2019