Author's Note: Four more chapters left, including this one.

Warnings: This chapter is rated M+ for smut, and there are also discussions of both suicide and murder. If you wish to avoid the smut, stop reading the moment they start kissing. The chapter will be over for you then. If you have any questions or concerns prior to reading, feel free to contact me.

Deductions

Part One

Chapter 11: Ruin

Kagome spent Monday mostly alone. Inuyasha had left before she had even woken up, a note taped to her morning tea from Myoga's café. It told her he was going to be out for most of the day and that she could text him if needed. She would be lying to herself if Kagome hadn't felt relief. Or, a little bit of relief. What had happened Sunday night was something she hadn't even processed, really.

Maybe she had imagined it. Kagome thought it was a possibility. There was no chance that Inuyasha was about to kiss her, up there in her room. There was no chance that he was going to press her into the mattress and deduce her every move with his lips brushing against her skin.

What would it have felt like, she wondered, to be that studied? To be that understood?

The problem with that train of thought was that it led to other suggestions. Suggestions about how accurate Inuyasha would be at everything else, because he knew her every breath and sigh and plea.

Kagome groaned and gently pressed her forehead to the cool countertop. This was so not happening.

"Wake up."

Kagome whimpered, but she knew that voice. Better yet, she knew that tone of voice. It matched almost perfectly with the way he would text her to annoy her into answering. Kagome figured she had another three seconds before he did what—

"Kagome, wake up. Wake up."

"It's early!" she grumbled, clutching her pillow tighter.

"It's seven." The disdain in his voice was a clear indicator on how he felt about that. "We have a fake suicide investigation to get to."

Right. Right, he was totally right. Kagome sighed and squeezed her eyes shut tighter. "Five minutes?"

"No." Without warning, the covers were suddenly yanked from her, pulled down in a wave of pique.

Kagome bolted upright, barely awake and now incredibly irritated. "What are you doing?" she shrieked. "I'm not properly dressed!"

"A bathing suit would show more," Inuyasha replied easily. Kagome could feel her cheeks heating up, because while that was certainly true, it still felt strange that he was able to see her in a big t-shirt and underwear and that was it. "I'll have breakfast ready," he told her then, gaze never once wavering from her face before he disappeared out her bedroom door.

"Oh no," Kagome muttered to herself, staring at the space he had once been. "Oh no, that is so not going to fly. Murder investigation or not, I am going to kill him—"

It didn't take much time to get ready. With her stuff moved in and organized, Kagome was heading down the stairs to the kitchen within twenty minutes, tying up her wet hair from the shower. As promised, there was a cup of tea and a paper bag filled with soft, warm croissants and a couple pastries. Myoga was clearly already gone but so was Inuyasha.

"Really?" she hissed, looking around. She knew he wouldn't leave without her, but there was a tiny part that wondered if the possibility was there. Remembering his desperately needed run after exploring Sara Asano's apartment, Kagome pondered if this was more of the same. At least living with him would open her eyes sooner, rather than later, to all of his quirks and antics.

The front door opened suddenly, making her jump. Inuyasha strode through with his head staring at his cell phone, a scowl on his face.

"I thought you'd be happy," Kagome commented casually, licking at a stray crumb she could feel at the corner of her mouth. "We're finally going to the doctor's house."

"Yeah," Inuyasha grumbled, glaring once more at his phone before sliding it into the pocket of his leather jacket. "A couple days late but who cares? Why solve a couple murders and a conspiracy?" The sarcasm was not lost on her, even at the early hour. "You good to go?"

Kagome hummed an affirmative as she shoved the last of the croissant in her mouth, grabbing a loaf of what looked like banana bread to go.

The consulting detective stared at her treat-filled hand, her face, and then sighed. "Five minutes."

He actually gave her seven.

Kagome thought that she was getting used to riding behind him on the motorcycle, the familiar feel of the rumbling engine and the wind whipping her hair. It was like no time had passed at all when Inuyasha slowed in front of a small house, his head already turned to consider it. The subdivision was quaint, part of an older area of the city. Everything was smaller, more old-fashioned, with screen doors and garden-lined walkways. Inuyasha killed the engine and the two of them climbed off.

Miroku and Sango were already there, though the female detective wasn't anywhere in sight. Miroku was sipping on a massive coffee, sunglasses on his face as he waved half-heartedly at them.

"Hung over?" Kagome asked Inuyasha quietly, concerned.

He snorted. "No, just overworking himself. He feels guilty for sleeping with Koharu when he's in love with Sango, so to make up for it—"

"Wait, what?"

Inuyasha blinked at her. "It's pretty obvious."

It wasn't a surprise when Kagome could feel her lips tug up into a smile. Of course it was obvious. "My mistake."

Rolling his eyes, he locked their helmets to the bike and tugged on his jacket. "Hardly a mistake. Why would you waste your time observing things of no actual value?" With that declaration, he spun on his heel and headed towards the house. Kagome followed, like she always did, still amused.

"Morning," Miroku croaked, looking extremely rough. The view from the street had been kind in comparison. Had he even slept in the last twenty-four hours? "You ready?"

"I've only been waiting since Saturday," Inuyasha groused. "What's the situation?"

Miroku sighed. "Dr. Tsukuyomaru Suzuki lived here for about six years. Alone. No other name on the mortgage. Neighbours only had nice things to say about him, though he was rarely seen. They all said he worked a lot. According to the initial police report, everyone was surprised that he had taken his own life."

"And what about the note?" Kagome asked. "Was it legitimate?"

"Sango's already trying to pull the evidence. Should be available end of the day today so we'll take a picture and send over a copy," Miroku confirmed. "To be clear, the only reason the house is still available to us is because the victim's brother hasn't had time to clear the place out and sell it. Most of it is in boxes and some stuff has already been removed. It's been a month, remember."

Inuyasha scowled but didn't argue. "How bad?"

It took a moment for Miroku to consider it. "Not great. You won't be happy but let's be honest, you would only be happy if it had remained completely untouched since he shot himself."

Kagome choked back a cough, trying to clear her throat in distraction. Inuyasha spared her a glance before exhaling loudly.

"How much has been moved out?"

"Only the kitchen and the living room. The rest is in some state of boxes."

Inuyasha nodded. "Sango inside?"

"Yeah," Miroku replied, shifting so that the consulting detective could move around him to step inside the house. Kagome gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder before following. The place was pretty dark, even with the lights on. It took a moment for her to adjust, blindly keeping up with Inuyasha's retreating back as they moved further into the house. As promised, a lot of the main rooms were cleared, only scattered boxes and pieces of furniture around. A large painting, dusty as anything, hung crookedly on a far wall. Sango was in the living room, phone in hand as she stood in the centre.

"Here?" Inuyasha asked, without context.

Kagome was impressed with their working relationship, because the detective didn't even blink. She simply raised a brow at him and then gestured towards the far window. "There was a recliner over there, according to the report. That's where."

Inuyasha grunted, eyeing it critically. Any blood splatter and chemical stains were long gone, but that had to be what they were talking about. A suicide, only Inuyasha thought it wasn't.

Kagome trailed him as he immediately started down one of the hallways. One room was nothing more than some shelves and books. A pile of boxes sat in the middle but Inuyasha barely glanced at them. He scanned the shelves quickly, efficiently, before making his way back out within a minute. Kagome had no idea what he had gathered in that time; knowing him, it was far more than she could possibly imagine. All she'd been able to catch was a handful of popular sci-fi books that she only vaguely recognized. She doubted they meant anything.

The next room appeared to be the master bedroom. It was much larger, and it was also significantly less packed up. The mattress was bare and furniture was shoved into a corner, but items were still sprawled everywhere on the surfaces. Inuyasha beelined towards the cluster, hands touching the desk and dragging it out.

"Think anything is in there?" Kagome asked, breaking the quiet.

Inuyasha grunted, neither negative or affirmative. "Unless it's been cleaned out. But Suzuki didn't have an office, so this desk is probably where he kept all his shit. See this? Part of the desk is faded from the sun, but there's an L-shape here. Something rectangular was on here."

"A laptop," she realized, even though Inuyasha clearly knew.

He nodded anyways, gazing at her with something akin to approval before returning his attention to the task. "Likely personal. Patient confidentiality means that files couldn't be brought from work, but he likely did some things at home. Which means there's a laptop somewhere."

Kagome instantly headed towards the boxes, opening the top one and peering inside. It didn't appear to be anything but linens, though she started digging anyways. "Maybe the brother took it?"

"Maybe," Inuyasha conceded. He sounded particularly unhappy about it. Kagome wasn't paying attention to what he was doing, but there was more dragging so she assumed he was moving more furniture. It didn't make sense why he was doing it, but Kagome wasn't there to particularly question so she focused on her own task. The first box held nothing of importance that she could see, so she moved on to the other, and then the other. It was the fourth box in which Kagome found a silver, old-looking laptop, nestled carefully on top of what looked like a bunch of files and loose pieces of paper.

"Found it," she announced, immediately flipping it up and pressing the 'on' button. She placed it on the bare mattress, finally taking a look around and realizing that Inuyasha had…

Rearranged all of the furniture around the room.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"What do you think?"

Kagome pressed her lips together, but it wasn't too hard to figure out. Inuyasha simply wanted her to do the heavy lifting. "You're putting the furniture back to where it was originally."

"Exactly."

"Why?"

Inuyasha turned to smirk at her. "That's a good question." He stared at the floor then for a moment before nudging an armoire over another inch. Kagome remembered in that moment just how strong he was. "Suzuki spent most of his time in here. He was a workaholic and worked impossibly long shifts where no one on his street saw him. That means his coming-and-going was always during the early morning or late hours. It makes sense that he would want to come back, have a shower, and then do work in bed. There's no chair in here, so obviously he worked in bed."

Kagome hadn't even noticed there wasn't a chair. "What does any of this tell us?"

"Maybe nothing," Inuyasha conceded. "But it's far easier to see the big picture when you're looking at the right picture. Anything on the laptop?"

"It's still loading," she answered, sitting down on the mattress. "It's pretty old."

"No need to get a new one, and probably not a ton of disposable income either," Inuyasha mused. He came right up to her, golden eyes assessing her spot and then a foot away, where the headboard was. "Move over."

"What?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and Kagome, having processed what he said, did it anyways. She placed the laptop between them and he instantly took it to put on his lap. It was mostly booted up so he instantly went to one of the icons on the bottom bar. It led to an inbox and Inuyasha smirked while it opened, not requiring a password.

The laptop was a goldmine of information. Kagome watched as Inuyasha flitted from email to email, going through different folders. It appeared that Dr. Suzuki was getting a lot of flack from the board that owned the medical centre for not expanding research and specializations. Dr. Suzuki was very adamant that he would continue to work on half-breed care, and any issues could be taken up with him face-to-face with some media involvement. The responding emails were placating, though overly corporate and polite.

There were other emails too, a few scattered friends and some research proposals as well from what looked like students. Inuyasha had her review them but nothing stood out as suspicious, especially with where their investigation was concerned.

"It fits with his profile," Inuyasha stated into the silence, leaning back against the headboard. His gaze was focused on the blank wall in front of them. "He clearly had strong opinions about half-breed care. Anyone that pushed a different agenda received immediate backlash from him."

"Was it enough to kill him, you think?" Kagome asked, frowning.

"Anything can be reason enough for murder," Inuyasha answered easily, but his brow furrowed. "There were seven people CC'd on that email, which means at least seven board members. Forward me that email. We'll have to investigate."

Kagome did so, though it took forever to send, the computer freezing. She sighed, impatient, and clicked the button another couple of times irrationally. Eventually the email sent, but then the computer froze once more. It took an agonizing minute before it finally came back, but her button-pressing had led to the calendar opening. Surprisingly, it was pretty well-used for a personal account. There were a few things listed for the month, all of them seemingly coffee meetings midday. There was one that stood out however, a block of time that fell over the dinner hour.

"That," Inuyasha said, and Kagome knew him well enough to hear the traces of excitement in his tone. "The 30th."

Kagome opened the event, though there was absolutely no information. The title of it read 'BLOCK,' from six o'clock until midnight. There were no emails or people associated with the event, and no location or invite link either. It was just a title and time, nothing more.

Or, at least nothing more to her. Inuyasha had leapt off of the bed like it was on fire, rounding the mattress like he was being chased by a ghost. Kagome was so startled that she threw the laptop to the side, struggling to get up herself. "Inuyasha? What the hell—?"

"Small chance," Inuyasha replied nonsensically, silver hair twisting back and forth as the consulting detective shook his head. The commotion was enough to bring Sango inside of the room, eyebrow raising for a second at Kagome on the mattress before she took in the sight of Inuyasha.

"Is he okay?"

"Fuck off," he spat, but there wasn't any heat. It was much too excited, too shaky with thoughts undoubtedly whirling in his head. His hands grasped at a jewelry box still sitting on one of the dressers he moved, hands opening and closing tiny drawers while barely looking. "I should have noticed it immediately. Stupid."

"What's stupid?" Kagome asked.

"This is clearly a woman's jewelry box," he exclaimed. "Look at it! The drawers!"

"Men have jewelry boxes too," Sango pointed out, but Inuyasha only scoffed at her.

"The lines, the design of it – purely female. I mean, a guy could buy it too, do whatever the fuck you want. But this doesn't even match the furniture. It has high sides, sideways openings – clearly for necklaces. Most men's jewelry boxes don't have shit for that."

Kagome was pretty sure none of what he was saying made any sense. "What does it—" But her question never came to light because Inuyasha grunted then and tossed the small bottom drawer onto the mattress. It was a selection of rings, all female. "So he had a girlfriend?"

"And an anniversary on the thirtieth," Inuyasha told her, like that meant absolutely anything at all. He pointed at the row of rings. "Look!"

He turned around to go back to the dresser, grabbing something else. With a frown, Kagome crawled over to better see. There were, in fact, a selection of rings – some sterling silver, others gold or plated. None of them were particularly fancy, though beautiful in their own simple way. There was one missing, however, on the centre bottom row. The row that would have had the greatest access, which meant the ring that the woman would have worn the most. Inuyasha was on her in the second though, grabbing her hand and flipping her palm until it was outstretched. He dropped something into it.

It was another ring, but this one was clearly meant for a man. The band was thick, silver, and there were tiny, baby emeralds in a line of seven at the very centre of it.

Inuyasha laughed, and it was so bizarre Kagome actually had to stare up at him in wonder. Nothing about the laugh was carefree, but it was wild, manic, and unerringly him. "Who fucking knew?" he asked no one, before turning around and leaving the room. "Miroku! Miroku get your fucking ass in here right this second."

"Do you have—"

But Sango was already shaking her head, at a complete loss. "What did you do?"

"Me?" Kagome asked. "How could I have done anything?"

"I figured if someone broke him, it was probably you," Sango stated easily. She smiled though, like this was somehow a compliment.

There was no time to dig further into that because Inuyasha came back into the room like a tornado, silver hair flying as he dragged a very tired-looking Miroku behind him by the wrist. Inuyasha pointed aggressively at the ring in Kagome's hand. "Look!"

The detective already looked offended at the fact that he'd been dragged. Now, his blue-eyed glare focused on Inuyasha until he gave in, taking in the ring sitting in Kagome's palm. It took a moment and Kagome could swear she saw Inuyasha vibrating in his spot, waiting with some sort of patience he never before had. What had he discovered that was so important? That Miroku had to see first before Inuyasha's genius was announced to the rest of them?

Then, Miroku frowned. "That looks—"

"It is!" Inuyasha interrupted immediately, actually leaping into the air so that he avoided the crowded corner of them huddled in the room, now standing beside Kagome. "This is it! The matching fucking ring! June 30th, 2017. That was the date."

"The date on the ring at…" Miroku shook his head. "At the fucking auto shop? The one with no blood?"

"There was tons of blood and you know it," Inuyasha accused. "Trikelchlorite is a dead giveaway and fuck your captain for thinking otherwise."

"Wait!" Sango yelled, hands outstretched like a referee calling off a play. "What the hell is going on?"

"Remember that missing woman we had about a month back?" Miroku asked. "You weren't there because we were on staggered shifts after the whole Yu debacle."

Sango frowned, considering. "The one that Inuyasha had a crazy-ass conspiracy for."

"Not a conspiracy," Inuyasha cut in. He pointed at the ring. "So go ahead and fuck both of you."

Kagome shot him an incredulous glare.

"What?" Inuyasha mumbled. "I'm right."

"Apparently, he is. Or it has more weight, anyways." Miroku sighed. "How does it connect?"

"Suzuki's calendar," Inuyasha stated. "The evening is blocked off."

Miroku scoffed loudly, looking exasperated to no end. "For fuck's sake, that can't be it."

"Inuyasha," Sango tried, but it was the consulting detective's turn to sigh heavily, annoyed.

"Are you fucking serious? It's obvious. Dr. Suzuki was the catalyst for this entire thing. It's his death that leads to Sara Asano becoming suspicious and Jinenji Egawa getting roped in to help her find the truth. Sara Asano is then murdered by a moron, as evidenced because she was put in a dumpster only for her body to then be stolen from a lab with the best team of hackers, runners and an inside source that money can buy. A moron doesn't cover up their mistakes that fast and that well, which means that there is someone else behind the scenes helping our moronic killer out. Maybe Sara let slip she had gone to the media, or the mastermind behind the scenes realized she had been working with Jinenji. Regardless, he's a loose end so he's killed efficiently and effectively. I told you at the crime scene that Jinenji's death was a hit, not some random murder. Not a hate crime. So tell me, the both of you, what does this say about Dr. Suzuki's death if he's the reason this all started?"

"That it's worth investigating," Sango replied. Her arms crossed, posture tense. She never seemed to like it when Inuyasha talked down to them. That was only fair, Kagome thought.

"Exactly." Inuyasha gave her a smirk, as if that was a reward. "We have one untrained murderer, one highly-trained burglar, and one highly-trained hitman. Outside of these crimes, Kagome was almost blown up in a 'gas explosion' and attacked in an alleyway. I fought the fucker. He was definitely a hired killer. Kagome also places him – her attacker – as the man who took the body from Sakura Scientific. Same voice."

"What?" Sango asked. "When did you find that out?"

"Sunday."

"Sunday?" she screeched.

Miroku groaned. "So that means the person who stole Sara Asano's body, who killed Jinenji and who attacked Kagome are the same person."

"Which means that Dr. Suzuki…" He waved his hands, glaring at Miroku.

The detective sighed. "That his suicide was probably not a suicide."

"And?"

Sango glowered. "Get to the point, Inuyasha."

"Other than one fuck-up, this has all been rather smooth, hasn't it? Nothing in the news? Fuck, a reporter has died and they called it a tragic circumstance of life. I mean I know he's a half-breed but wake the fuck up people." Inuyasha shook his head roughly, taking a deep breath before scowling it out. "It's rare that extreme morons can pull off a fucking fake suicide. I know that, and I assume you fucking somewhat capable detectives know that, too. So if this is faked, and faked well, what does that mean?"

She'd been following along the whole time, so it was simple for Kagome to simply say, "The hitman killed Suzuki, too." Sango's voice petered out from when she started, and all of them stared at her.

Inuyasha's smirk turned to her, and those deadly intent eyes didn't turn away. "Very good."

Kagome bit her lip to stop from flushing.

"Still doesn't explain the connection to our missing woman," Miroku chirped in then, still sounding tired.

Inuyasha shrugged. "Like I said, I saw Suzuki's calendar. The date is the same date on the ring we found at the scene and – if you think long and hard – you'll remember what I said."

"And what was that?" Sango demanded before Miroku could even open his mouth.

"The woman was killed by a hired assassin." Inuyasha smirked. "Coincidence? Un-fucking-likely."

"Christ," Miroku grumbled, "but what about the timeline? Didn't Suzuki die on May 3rd? We weren't at the auto shop until around mid-May."

"Killed Suzuki first, and then his girlfriend?" Sango suggested.

"Or we just found the girlfriend's body late. But the real question is: why the girlfriend at all?" Inuyasha asked, more to himself than the room at large. Instead of giving any further insight, the ring in her hand was taken by him, and he inspected it with shrewd, golden eyes. "Oh."

"Oh?" Kagome asked. "Are you seeing the inscription?"

Miroku came closer as well. "Is it the date again?"

"No," Inuyasha murmured. He dropped the ring back down into Kagome's palm and glowered at the wall. "No, it doesn't." He disappeared from the room then.

Sango let out an explosive sigh. "Seriously?"

"What does it say?" Miroku pressed.

Kagome twisted the ring once more so she could read it out loud. "It says Elizabeth."

That had all three of them frowning in confused silence.

"What the hell?" Sango asked, followed by the sound of crashing in the other room. All three of them got up immediately and headed towards it, Kagome with the ring clutched tight in her hand. It was pretty obvious what had happened when they entered the living room: the sole painting on the wall was tossed to the floor uncaringly, a chip of the frame at the other end of the room.

Kagome opened her mouth to say something about that when she realized Inuyasha was staring at the wall. No, not the wall. A safe. One that was mounted flawlessly within the drywall, that had been hidden by the giant painting in the room.

"Who the fuck leaves a painting up when packing a house where every other painting and photo has been taken down?" Inuyasha asked no one, his face going closer and closer to the keypad of the safe. "Someone who is hiding something behind said painting. The brother didn't know about it, found it, couldn't crack it, and then put the painting back up in a hurried rush, probably because other people were helping him to pack. Hence why it was so crooked."

"I don't even want to ask," Miroku muttered under his breath.

Inuyasha continued as if he didn't hear anything. "We thought the date in the ring we found at the auto shop was an anniversary date or a birthdate or something. Could still be, I guess." He shrugged, turning away from the safe to stare at them. "But his matching ring, the one that comes in a paired set, has the word Elizabeth. Which makes zero sense unless—"

"It's some sort of code," Sango stated, surprise tinging her voice.

"There was nothing in his closet and nothing on the walls in his bedroom, so the safe couldn't be there." Inuyasha waved dismissively at the wall. "Wasn't hard to find once I knew to look for it."

"It could have been a code for anything," Kagome pointed out, but Inuyasha only raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'll call a safecracker," Miroku said then, pausing in his grab for his phone only when Inuyasha shook his head.

"It's okay. We know the password."

"Elizabeth?" Sango asked, frowning.

Inuyasha looked despairing for all of a moment before Kagome got it, the number pad obvious. "063017, or whatever variation of the date was on the woman's ring."

"There we go," the consulting detective said, before turning back to the safe. He pressed the buttons – year first, Kagome noticed – and then the safe clicked and opened before them. Inside was a simple external hard drive, all black and in what looked like brand new condition. Inuyasha looked at it for a moment before he tossed it recklessly into Sango's unprepared hands. "Think you can push through all the bullshit red tape to figure out what's on this fucker ASAP?"

Kagome listened to Inuyasha all the way from the underground parking garage to their shared apartment. He was going off, words falling from his lips endlessly as he considered the new possibilities. She only understood about a half of what was going on, primarily because she wasn't around when they found the initial body, the body of Dr. Suzuki's mystery woman.

"There isn't much to learn," Inuyasha told her, shaking his head with a scowl. "I did all the heavy lifting only for the police to fuck it up again with their crap."

This was a common complaint so she waited, sitting down on the leather couch in the living room so Inuyasha could pace in front of their wall of murder. Or mystery. Kagome wasn't sure, considering a large part of it was the burglary of Sara Asano's body from Sakura Scientific.

"On May 9th, I was called to the scene to help Miroku with an investigation. No one thought it was anything particularly suspicious but the scene was covered in trikelchlorite."

"Isn't that a bleach?"

"And undetectable to demons, unless they have a nose for it or a very strong sense of smell. By chance, one of the cops had been doing a favour under the table for a friend, after they saw some suspicious activity. He checked it out and smelled the trikelchlorite, and then he had to call it in for real. I showed up and long story short, I was able to pinpoint that the murder was in fact an exsanguination, that a woman had been tortured there for whatever reason. Possibly accidental but we could never find her body so no autopsy could be done. I figured she was dumped in the water, but a body still hasn't shown up."

Kagome hummed. "Did the person who first saw the suspicious activity see anything?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, at what, she couldn't say for sure. "We can't find him. It's a homeless man by the name of Totosai. Remember when we went to the Arches?"

"Yeah," Kagome replied, "and we met that guy. Mimi…"

"Mimisenrei," Inuyasha supplied. "When I slipped him the paper and the money? That's what it was for. I've been trying to track this Totosai down the whole time. I hate fucking cold cases. None of my other usual methods were helping so it was worth a shot."

Kagome shook her head. At the time, she had noticed him do it but never really thought twice about why. "Have you ever had any cases do that? Go cold?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Not really."

That wasn't an answer, but Inuyasha had whirled back to the wall and its collage. She knew it wasn't the best time to ask. Instead, she tried to grasp onto their last point of the mystery, getting them back on track. "Did you learn anything else in Dr. Suzuki's house?"

"No," Inuyasha grunted, shaking his head. "Tomorrow I'll go over the evidence from the scene, see the note. I'm hoping for clues there. Sango says their officers are combing through his belongings to see if we can find anything else on our mystery woman. I'll make sure Miroku gives you the files on her case. We also have a meeting set up with the Director of Economic Development at the City of Hakurei tomorrow."

"What?" Kagome asked, confused. "Since when?"

"Since I made Sango book it for us yesterday."

Even though that was all she technically asked, Kagome needed a little more than that. "Why?"

"Think," he answered, sparing her a glance before turning back to the wall. "Who has been Dr. Suzuki's biggest annoyance? Who would want him out of the picture?"

That way led to a whole array of issues. Scrunching her nose, Kagome looked up at him. "Seriously? You think someone at the City had him killed? I thought we were talking about his board of directors, or something."

"Could be them," Inuyasha replied easily enough. "But there are at least seven of them and it'll take a shit-load of time having individual interviews. Best to go straight to the source of where these difficulties are coming from."

"The City wants to make the Hakushin Medical Centre part of their revitalization program, but Dr. Suzuki kept pushing back because they wanted to focus on issues not related to half-breed care."

"The mayor's special project," Inuyasha murmured, idly, like he was barely paying attention. His fingers were tracing a line of red string on the wall, closing in on that picture of a spider he had hung up. "The project is being managed by their director of economic development, Ruri Shiima, so we'll go and have a little chat. If anything, maybe she could point out her biggest supporters from the board. Maybe who's the angriest with Dr. Suzuki."

"What I don't get," Kagome said then with a huff, "is if they were so unhappy with him, why not just fire him? Sure, he could bring bad publicity but if the City is involved, they have money for that kind of thing."

"Ah yes, the spin stories they craft." Inuyasha nodded. "That's a good question. I'm hoping whatever is on that drive we found can answer it."

"It'd have to be some kind of blackmail," she continued to examine, leaning back into the couch.

Inuyasha paused then, a sort of frozen that Kagome wasn't used to seeing from him. It broke a second later, his body back to movement as he crossed the room in just a few strides and bent down to grab her shoulders. "Yes."

Kagome was pretty sure that whatever she said wasn't a revelation to Inuyasha; he was far too smart for that. But he was hauling her up to standing, nearly dragging her to a section of the wall that focused on Sara Asano. He pointed to the note that was found, the one that Jinenji had written for her.

Can't find any proof. Whatever they had is gone or hidden.

"Jinenji clearly wouldn't have found the safe," Inuyasha stated, golden eyes searching the wall. "Makes sense. He wouldn't have been able to get into the house. But you're right, this is definitely the blackmail. This is definitely what they were looking for, what Dr. Suzuki had alluded to Sara Asano to make her suspicious in the first place."

"Okay," Kagome started, confused, "but why is this so great?"

"Because there's more." Inuyasha instantly turned and headed for the kitchen, his nails clicking along the tabletop the second he got there. He was viewing the collage on the wall from further away. "There's a second ring."

"You mean Dr. Suzuki's ring."

"Exactly. Our missing woman had a ring to remind herself of Dr. Suzuki's safe code, just in case anything happened."

"So Elizabeth is a code for a safe that she probably has, or something digital." Kagome grinned, pleased by even this tiny tidbit of news. It was something new, something figured out by working together and going back and forth. It wasn't the first time, but for some reason this felt different.

"Could be a laptop password," Inuyasha mused. "Could be a clue to something else. We need to find out who the fuck she is and where she lives. Maybe the evidence wasn't destroyed."

"Miroku and Sango are on it. They have their team on it," Kagome reminded him gently, moving to join him in the kitchen. She leaned on the counter, just like he was, staring at the wall to try and see what he saw. "We'll find something out now that you've connected them."

Inuyasha scowled. "Still feels like one step forward and then five back, the more I think about it. How the fuck are we going to solve anything if the case keeps throwing shit at us constantly?"

She nudged his shoulder. "You'll figure it out."

"But will I figure it out in time?" Inuyasha pressed, glaring daggers at the wall. "This time, it's not me versus some criminal."

It didn't take a lot to realize he was referring to the image of the spider, dead centre in the wall with all the strings connecting it. Still, she had to know. "How is it different?"

Inuyasha grunted, but his lips pursed and he didn't answer. Kagome watched him, waiting patiently. It didn't take long before he glanced at her quickly before turning back away, scowling harder. When she didn't go away, didn't turn around or leave his space, he huffed. "Really? You're distracting me."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Yes, but you're distracting me."

Kagome raised a brow at him, doubting that entirely. "I'm pretty sure you can work through it."

Now, he was looking at her. Now, those big golden orbs were staring into what felt like her soul. This felt so familiar and it only took a second for Kagome to associate it with their close moment in her bedroom on Sunday. The way he was curled around her, his hands on either side of her. The way he leaned in and challenged her with words that Kagome wanted to rise up to, wanted to take in and use and put out into the world if only to make Inuyasha give her that look. That good job look, that exactly look.

"You are," Inuyasha started, voice low and rough and making Kagome lose her breath, "the worst kind of distraction. Thank god."

One second disappeared like the snap of fingers, and Kagome was lost to it. Because in one moment, she was still staring at him, watching him and mesmerized. The next, his lips were on hers, insistent and hot and fuck, those were hands on her hips, spinning her around on the counter so he could crowd up close. This was a battle and one Kagome was willing to lose near immediately. Her arms wrapped around his neck, coiling in his long hair and making it a mess. Gripping him tightly wasn't even close to the feeling of the way he was consuming her, not just with arms but with his lips, his teeth, his hips slotting against hers and god, god the implications of that—

"Don't seem like the worst," Kagome panted when their lips parted for the barest of moments. Inuyasha teased her lips back apart, his tongue exploring until she curled her own around it, making it impossible for either of them to speak. Kagome wasn't unused to kissing and certainly wasn't a virgin. But this – the way he held her, kissed her, used her – was like a first time all on its own. Never had she felt so hot, like her skin was seconds away from sliding off the heat of her.

And that was before he picked her up like she weighed nothing, placing her down on the counter. Kagome gasped, taken by surprise, and Inuyasha wasted no time in using the separation to strip off her shirt. The fabric was over her head before she even realized what has happening, only for it to be discarded to the floor dismissively while he bit at her neck.

"Oh god," she keened, a little too breathless and a lot high-pitched. This was crazy. This was insane. Inuyasha was her work partner and her roommate and her only source of income and— "Wait," she said suddenly, hands touching his chest. She didn't push, if only because Kagome's brain and her body were on two very different wavelengths. Her thighs actually tightened around his hips, as if him going somewhere would be the end of the world.

Inuyasha stopped instantly though, big eyes staring at her for a second before narrowing. "You're worried."

"This is crazy," Kagome told him, in case the thought hadn't crossed his mind. "Absolutely crazy."

He frowned at her like this was a terrible reason for stopping. It was, her brain helpfully supplied. Her hands slid down his chest of their own volition and yes, yeah, they were absolutely tugging at the end of his shirt. Inuyasha stared down for a moment before once more taking in her undoubtedly flushed face. "Do you want to stop?"

Oh god, Kagome liked him a hell of a lot. A lot, a lot. Too much. This was insane. She was insane. This was exactly what her mother warned her about and—

Fuck it, she thought. Everything else in her life these past few days had been a whirlwind. Why not this, too? She groaned out loud, the implications of this decision making her hot all over. "No, no, definitely not. Bedroom?"

"We'll get there," Inuyasha said, and then fuck yes, he was kissing her again.

Whatever Kagome had done before in her life was nothing compared to this. Everywhere he touched was like fire, his hands constantly roaming until she made a sound, a hitch. He bit her bottom lip and tugged at the same time as he snapped off her bra and threw that somewhere, too. She was desperate to touch him, but every time she tugged on his shirt or reached for his belt, his hands would push her away. If he wasn't kissing her so desperately, Kagome would be extremely confused.

Then his hand, as hot as a brand, was on her, pushing her down until she lay flat, legs dangling. The counter was cold on her back and Kagome squirmed, so warm in her skin that the cool surface was worse, not better. Inuyasha watched her, that same assessing gaze she was always so used to when they were out, when they were going through clues at home. That stare would end her, she thought to herself, breath hitching as his claws lightly danced down her stomach.

"I won't be able to eat here ever again," she whispered, doing the only reasonable thing to save herself by staring at the ceiling.

It didn't lessen his gaze though and it didn't stop the incessant brush of his claws and palms dancing along her skin. He hummed, more of a growl, and Kagome could practically feel the smirk being directed her away. "Too bad. I will. Case in point."

What—

Kagome's back arched, mouth opening in a gasp as Inuyasha bent over and immediately bit at her chest, his ring of teeth surrounding her areola like a halo. There was no sound she could make, nothing that dared to pass her lips as he proceeded to suck on her nipple, his hands tearing at the button of her jeans and opening them. She tried to say his name, but it was fruitless, her hands the only thing that could reach him. She tugged at his hair but in a daze she couldn't tell if it was closer or away, his mouth licking and sucking and teasing in equal measure. His bites trailed lower, tiny pieces of pressure along the softness of her stomach, the rise of her hipbone. Kagome's mind was a whirlwind of useless information, because the only thing it could think was oh god, is he?

Those golden eyes came back to her, his ministrations paused as he propped his chin on her body, considering. "Kagome," he rumbled, and shit, he was going to ruin her.

She let her head fall back down onto the countertop, the ceiling all she could see. "Yeah?" The word was breathless, weak to her own ears.

Inuyasha didn't seem to mind. "Can I take you apart?"

God, who the hell even asked questions like that? Kagome tilted her head uncomfortably to look at him, but she didn't have to worry. That heavy gaze was still on her, still scorching, and her entire body thrummed with heat.

His eyes narrowed. "Kagome."

"Mm-hmm," she managed to force out, seeing his smirk once more before her head collapsed back to the counter. Inuyasha stood up, hands efficiently tugging her out of her jeans. It was a struggle, her legs refusing to let him go until he forced them to, sliding the denim off one and then the other. Her underwear was next, an easy slide, and it was only then that Kagome realized she was absolutely, completely naked on the counter, completely at his mercy, and Inuyasha was standing by fully-clothed. She could see him, could see the way his eyes roamed over her and scoured every inch of her body like he was committing it to memory. Maybe he was. Maybe it was already there and this was simply the next step, the next evaluation.

Her legs wrapped back around him, craving him closer. His body was so hot, radiating heat along her thighs and ass, and his hands were warm when they finally touched her once more, a swipe of his thumbs across the expanse of her hips. It could have been the vulnerability. It could have been a host of other things, a cumulation of their limited time together and the stress of it all. Still, Kagome was positive that this touch was only so powerful because it was him, because it was them.

Inuyasha leaned down to lick a stripe along her stomach, from her bellybutton upwards, a hand surrounding her breast to play, to tug. His teeth teased along the underside of the swell of flesh and Kagome put a hand to her mouth, attempting to muffle a moan that seemed overly loud in the otherwise quiet apartment.

This, too, was batted away, her hand being forced to the countertop. "Let me hear you," Inuyasha whispered, voice rough, and Kagome groaned all over again to the sound of it. Her lips were puffy, kiss-swollen, and they parted on yet another gasp as Inuyasha gently bit the skin underneath her bellybutton, his nose trailing down, down, until his teeth grazed the skin right before her heat. Reflexively, her thighs tightened around him, disbelieving, but before she could even tilt her head to look at him, to say something of any meaning, Inuyasha disappeared between her legs, tongue lapping unerringly at her clit like he was fucking magnetized.

Kagome couldn't help the sharp tilt of her hips, the way her entire back arched off of the counter, lips parted on a silent plea. Her hands scrambled to grab at his hair, his scalp, but she did nothing to stop him as he closed his lips around her and started to suck.

Nonsense. Nonsense was falling from her lips and Kagome could barely open her eyes from the pleasure. His thumb teased at her entrance, the pad of it pushing in only to retreat just as he moved lower to lick inside. It felt like eternity, seconds, hours, Kagome had no idea. Every nerve in her body tingled, a sizzle below her skin like it was ready to explode. Her breaths were nothing more than gasped out pleas, his name. Things that made no sense but took up every inch of her brain power. Inuyasha teased at her clit with a single-minded focus he reserved for things not talked about in bedrooms, and before she knew it, she was tugging on his hair, hard, his name spilling from her lips over and over until she came.

It was so sharp, her body was frozen for moments that felt like forever. It was too much, too encompassing, and then Inuyasha's lips brushed against her parted heat like a kiss before he licked once more, teeth grazing down unexpectedly to make her come again. Or maybe it was the same, just another tidal wave crashing along the shores.

Either way, Kagome collapsed back against the counter, boneless. Warm arms wrapped around her, tugging her close until she was pressed up against his chest. She moaned weakly into his throat, her hand patting at his chest because she was okay, she needed just one more second—

And then they were flying.

The only reason she didn't scream was because her brain was too fucked out to realize what was happening until it was over. Her hands were fisted tightly in his shirt, white-knuckled, and Kagome could only stare at her hands for a second before looking around.

They were on the second-floor landing, and this was definitely Inuyasha's bedroom they were entering.

"Warn a girl," Kagome panted, tightening her legs around him. It was a reminder of just how strong he was, just how powerful his body could be to hold her, leap with her, with barely any assistance from herself.

Inuyasha's face turned in towards hers, his nose brushed against the line of her jaw. The barest press of lips traced down her throat, and Kagome hummed even as she was being lowered onto the softness of his mattress. There was a lamp on but she had no idea where, only that it cast a warm, soft glow into the room. Inuyasha was still fully-dressed, watching her as he took a hair-tie and swept his long locks back.

"Come here," Kagome asked softly, hands reaching out to him.

He grunted, a rumble of bass in acquiescence even as he stayed where he was to pull off his shirt. Kagome hadn't forgotten about the scars, the way they created constellations across his body like a tortured map. She pushed herself up, desperate to touch him, and this time Inuyasha let her as his own hands removed his belt and thumbed open the button to his pants. Inch by inch he was revealed, a figure of golden light before her, and this moment felt so much softer than before.

Where the kitchen had been a tidal wave crashing, this was endless ripples along a lake, dancing their way along.

Kagome wasn't surprised when he batted her hands away from helping, gentle still as he raised an eyebrow at her. There was a lesson there, she was sure of it, but Kagome simply wanted to be close. She craved him like no one else, not since the very first moment she had laid eyes on him. Inuyasha was beautiful and fascinating, rough around the edges but truthful and just. These were facts; the man was ruled by fact and fact alone, but Kagome had been pressed along his side in her own bedroom two nights ago, when he told her about his scars and a tumble of emotion clouded the words.

Dangerous or not, crazy or not, Kagome was drawn to Inuyasha like she always would be: a moth to a flame, praying to not get burned. Maybe she would, but maybe the warmth getting there would be worth it.

Just in his boxer-briefs, black and stark against his skin, Inuyasha crowded closer until Kagome was moving back on the bed. She reached out to touch, unable to help herself, but he batted that attempt away too, his hands grabbing her wrists to pin them above her head. She was so turned on that the gasp that left her was uncontrollable, embarrassing if she truly thought about it. Instead, all her head was filled with was a desire to be consumed by him. His golden eyes watched her as he lowered himself, face getting closer and closer until his lips were a hair-breadth's away from her own. This time, she didn't move. This time, she waited, chest rising and falling with every exhale. Her body itched to wrap around him, leg muscles tensing around his thighs. Still, she remained still, unmoving.

"So good," Inuyasha whispered before he finally – finally – kissed her again.

It was like a dam had broken, this single kiss the key to a lock. Her legs wrapped around him, hitching him closer until she could feel his erection pressing against her hip. The sound that ripped out of Inuyasha's throat made her shiver, a full-body reaction that had her breaking away from the kiss, desperate for air. She couldn't get enough but what did it matter anyways?

His teeth grazed her jaw, teasing along the skin until he bit down lower, the juncture of her neck and shoulder. It was on the edge of painful, and Kagome felt her entire body light up, legs clenching around him tight.

"You don't play fair," she gasped out.

Inuyasha scoffed, and she shouldn't be surprised by his attitude, even here in the bedroom. "When have I ever?"

"With me," Kagome panted, tilting her head to watch as Inuyasha bit down harder on the swell of her breast, just above the nipple. "You always play fair with me."

Inuyasha hummed at that, pausing in his ministrations to smirk at her. "You're not making any sense, Kagome."

Wasn't she? "At crime scenes," she tried, but the last word broke off with a stuttered cry as he sucked hard on one of her nipples, distracting her. Not playing fair, indeed.

"That's a bit different," he answered eventually, licking one last, sweet drag against her sensitive flesh. Was it just her, or did his voice drop a hell of a lot lower than normal? God, she was practically trembling. She'd consider this to be even more of an embarrassment than her needy, desperate touches from earlier, but the way Inuyasha stared at her made everything worth it.

Kagome licked her lips. "How?"

The smirk never left his face, even as he shifted so that the line of his cock was pressed along her heat, the teasing pressure on her clit making her heart stutter. "We're partners there," he told her, and as if to emphasize his point, he rolled his hips against her, a slow friction-filled drag that had her moaning. Each thrust was like the sweetest torture and Kagome could feel herself getting wet, the slide of him against her easier and easier. It made her arch her back, eyes rolling as she pressed against him. She wanted everything with him, all of him.

"You're not even going to ask?" he murmured.

The question pushed through her lust-hazy mind, forcing Kagome to open her eyes and stare up at him. His half-lidden gaze was more intimate than any expression she'd seen before, the gleam of his teeth shining against his swollen lips as he bit down on them, harder and harder with each thrust. Like he was trying to keep control of himself, like he was just as desperate as she was.

Kagome wanted him to break, so she asked, unabashedly letting her voice tremble into a sigh as the pressure on her clit started to overwhelm her, body chasing an orgasm still out of reach. "Why aren't we partners here?"

The hand that held her wrists squeezed almost painfully. Kagome whined, the distraction pulling her from climax. She held onto him tighter, but Inuyasha simply pressed her harder into the mattress. Pinned. Trapped. Kagome pushed against his hold and found him unmoving, unfailing. She was surrounded by him completely.

"Inuyasha," she gasped out, desperate and needy.

He licked into her mouth, swallowing her moan. It was too much and nowhere near, each thrust both exactly what she needed and not nearly enough. It didn't matter though. With Inuyasha, it never seemed to matter. He bit into her lower lip just as his aching cock thrust against her clit, her eyes rolling as she cried out, coming. He didn't stop though, not with his hips or his mouth, his thighs pressing her into the mattress as his free hand scratched across a nipple.

"Oh god, wai—" But her breath caught, body oversensitive and screaming.

The fallen strands of Inuyasha's hair brushed against her cheeks as he leaned down, breath a warm wave as he growled into her ear. "Ask again."

Her breathing stuttered, words failing to form. She hiccupped a cry. "Inuyasha," she gasped, or maybe it was a plea. Begging, certainly, but what she was begging for exactly was beyond her. There was nothing but him, absolutely nothing.

He sucked at the spot just under her ear, teeth grazing. His cock was so hard against her, still trapped within his boxer-briefs and Kagome wanted them off, wanted him in. "Please," she whispered.

"Ask again."

What was she even supposed to ask? Kagome groaned, tugging at her trapped arms again and whining. "Inuyasha, come on."

"Ask the right questions, Kagome," he taunted, his whisper a gentle breeze before he attacked the same soft spot of skin, making her ache.

Partners. Partners, her mind thought desperately. "Why aren't we partners here when we are partners out—out—" Her question died as he bit at what must now be a bruise. Pinpricks of pleasure-pain danced along her spine, lighting her up. "God, fuck, out there," Kagome finished, moaning as she felt Inuyasha tug down his boxers slightly, just enough for the wet tip of his cock to brush against her abdomen.

Inuyasha growled, "Because we are so much more than that here."

His lips attacked her own like he was offended, like the question he so desperately demanded she ask was an insult to what they had. Kagome didn't even care, overstimulated and feeling so close to vibrating out of her skin that she wanted to cry. "Take your boxers off," she begged the second he relented, the second he allowed breath before biting at her neck again.

His hand squeezed her wrists before letting go, but Kagome left them there, far too strung out to even think of doing otherwise. Inuyasha shifted so that he could do as she said, his golden eyes never leaving her face. What did he see, she wondered? What was it about her that made him like this, right now and in the field and in restaurants or at crime scenes?

Just like he could read her mind, Inuyasha shook his head. "You're not observing," he told her, the sentence so familiar, so him. "Just seeing." His clawed hand danced lines down her stomach, before the pad of his thumb dragged sweetly against her and then down to the wet heat of her, teasing her entrance with hot presses.

"And what are you observing now?" Kagome asked, unabashedly letting her legs spread wider at the attention.

Inuyasha stared at her, eyes taking in every inch of her like he couldn't help himself, couldn't stop himself even if he tried. A sound rose out of his throat, unlike anything she had ever heard. Not a growl, but something far more desperate, a whining plea. Then, he was gone.

"Inuyasha," Kagome pleaded, but he wasn't far. The sound of his nightstand drawer being ripped open distracted her, shuffling and Inuyasha's muttering the only thing in the otherwise silent room when he returned with a condom. The thought had her panting because yes, god yes, but there was more she wanted, even as desperate as she was. "Let me," she begged, arms flexing even though she didn't move her wrists. She'd stay until he told her otherwise. "Let me touch you."

Inuyasha didn't look like he did earlier: the smirking, collected detective that assessed every one of her weak points and exploited them for her gain. The man before her was wrecked, hair falling out of the makeshift bun and pupils blown wide. His body was scarred but immeasurably hot, both in heat and in the way his muscles shifted, the contraction of his abs as he shuffled on the mattress.

"Please," she tried again and Inuyasha nodded.

Kagome reached out instantly, before she was even sitting up. Her hands slid from his pecs down the length of his body, fingers dancing down in a V to his treasure trail, the silver-grey hair coarse against her touch. And then there was his cock and god, Kagome thought she was maybe going to die. It was thick, huge, looking almost painful in its hardness. The tip leaked as she wrapped her hand around it, feeling the heat, and her sigh was drowned out by the growl escaping Inuyasha's throat.

She stroked him, watching him rapt as he watched her. It was too much. Everything about him was too much. Kagome looked away only to stare back at his cock and fuck, she needed him inside of her. Now. Yesterday.

God, when they first met, whatever.

Kagome leaned forward and licked, pressing the flat of her tongue near the base of him and dragging it all the way up. He was heavy and even hotter than he felt in her hand, the taste of him making her moan as she sucked him into her mouth. It was just the head but already her lips were stretching wide, and now she was thinking about just how it would feel when he was lining up against her, teasing her entrance. How would it feel—

A hand pulled roughly at her hair, tugging her back. Kagome looked up to see Inuyasha breathing hard, head shaking. "I can't—" he started, stopping uncharacteristically before ripping open the condom. Kagome had wanted to do it herself but instead she watched, transfixed as he rolled it on. She fell onto her back, staring up at him as he gripped the base of his dick, mouth falling open in a pant as he watched her.

"Now," she pleaded, readjusting so that her legs were around his muscled thighs. "Now, Inuyasha, now—"

And whatever control he had over her in the beginning was long gone. He was hers and hers alone, his big hands sliding up her body as lined himself up. It wasn't fast enough and Kagome keened as she wrapped her legs around him once more, trying to get that thick cock inside of her. The first brush had her gasping, anticipation crawling up her spine. She tried to pull him closer but Inuyasha held her back, hands grabbing at her hips as he lifted them up.

"You're—" The words ended abruptly as Inuyasha groaned, sinking deeper inside of her, controlling the speed. The thickness of him filling her up had Kagome arching her body, pleasure exploding all of her senses, eye rolling. It was nothing more than a sensuous slide but she was so turned on that it was all she needed.

And then, before he was even fully inside of her, Inuyasha pulled back out only to thrust all the way back in.

Kagome cried out, but maybe there were words. Maybe not. All she knew was that she had been wrong before. The feel of him inside of her unmoving was not enough, nowhere near enough. Because this?

This was what she needed.

Her hips propped up in his arms, the angle of his cock was lighting every nerve ending up, every sensitive part within it. She was overwhelmed, little screams bursting out uncontrollably, and when he adjusted her so that his fingers could rub against her already over-sensitized clit, Kagome blacked out.

Dropped back onto the mattress, Inuyasha growled as he loomed over her, kissing her messily. It was like her soul was ascending, body trembling and mind a distant wreck as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hung on for dear life. Every thrust was like a jolt of electricity, the new position rubbing his stomach against her. It was too much, too much, but Inuyasha was holding her for the taking, breaking off the kiss to lick and bite and suck on every available flash of skin.

She thought he said her name, again and again, punctuated desperately with each thrust. She felt his claws lightly digging into her skin, pleasure and pain sparking along as she was fucked up the mattress. Her head hit the headboard but she only wrapped herself tighter against him, clinging and needy and whispering words that made no sense and all the sense in the world.

Inuyasha whined and Kagome grabbed onto his hair, forcing his chin down so that she could lick into his mouth and listen to him groan around her, hips stuttering. He was close, he was so close and she could tell by the desperation in his movements, his hips faltering to a stop deep inside of her like if he just breathed through it he'd be okay.

She didn't want him to be okay. She wanted to wreck him, consume him, just as much as he had wrecked and consumed her. Kagome clung on tighter, hands grabbing at his ass to push him deeper, listening to the way he growled out as she ground down against him. It hurt, his cock so big inside of her that the grind sealing them together was too much. But Kagome was nothing if not desperate, needy, her own body lighting up impossibly so. She just needed—God, just another grind, another thrust, another—

Her body spasmed so hard that Kagome jolted enough to make Inuyasha move, legs wrapped so tightly around him that even as she tightened her walls around his dick it was impossible to separate. Her cry was silent but the effect was total destruction on whatever thread of willpower Inuyasha had left. He came, growling into the side of her face as he thrust recklessly inside of her through the climax.

It took far too long for Kagome to come back to herself, for the heavy weight of Inuyasha to register and the soft light of the lamp to lull her closed eyes into opening. It was a half-hearted effort, her body so lax that Kagome thought she was going to instantly pass out.

There was a kiss to her temple, light and chaste before Inuyasha shifted above her. His golden eyes took her in with half-lidden pleasure, a smirk teasing his lips before he bent down to kiss her languidly. It was a different kind of overwhelming, soft and hot and inexplicably sexy.

"I give it two minutes," he said then, voice rough. It made her clench her inner walls, and Inuyasha groaned softly before shooting her an unreadable look. "Jesus."

"What's in two minutes?" Kagome asked. The words were slurred, more a mumble than an actual question.

He understood her anyways. Inuyasha always seemed to. One look, and he knew every story written in her bones. "Sleep, Kagome," he whispered.

She thought there was another brush of lips against her own, but Kagome was too far gone to really say for sure.

Next Time on Deductions:

"It's basic game theory," Inuyasha stated, barely holding back from rolling his eyes. He stared at Dr. Hiten Inada through the one-way glass. There was a feeling inside of him that was desperate to be unleashed, an unnamed fury. But emotion would only make him more like Sango, who was so close to her wit's end that she may break a chair over their suspect's head.

"I know game theory," Sango sighed, frustration in every line of her body. "I'm not stupid."

There were a lot of things he could say to that, the first being that he never implied such. Well, never implied such today at least.

Responses to Anon Reviews:

Guest: Oh my darling, you need to have a little more faith in me. The actual statistical probability of me not completing a multi-chapter fic over the course of my 15 years on this site is 10.7%. I only said I try to get chapters out every 2-3 weeks. I've been writing so many other stories this past month in preparation for the 12 Days of Witchyness so I can give you guys 12 new stories in 12 days over the holidays this year. I figured you'd all want some cheer when 2020 has been so crap (understatement of the year?). And when you're in the zone on a particular fic, you're in the zone, you know? If it makes you feel better, Deductions (Part 1) has already been written.

Guest: Thanks darling! Hope this chapter didn't disappoint :)

Jane Black: Aww you're so sweet! Thank you so much, my dear! I'm so glad you're loving the story and that you love Sherlock Inuyasha as much as I do. You're a total gem! XOXO

NoYoureNotReal: Marry me.

Mari13: AH you're a total sweetheart. My heart can't take it. Thank you darling. So glad you like this fic and I hope this chapter was just as good :)

Questions: Hahaha that's okay! All theories are valid and if you remember or don't, or want to share or don't, I'm all for it! I'm genuinely curious if anyone will get it. There are details coming out like every chapter though so it's pretty hard to predict in advance! I will give you all that. Thanks so much, my love!

Stella: STELLA. STELLA MY LOVE. I hope this chapter was worth the wait and that you loved it and I adore you!

Silver Apple: Hi darling! Thank you so much for your super lovely words. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) THANK YOU!

Irish Indy: We are close! We are actually only three chapters away now from the end. I KNOW. I KNOW. Definitely hard because there are still details coming out like…every single chapter. But I have to keep you on your toes, you know?! Thank you so much darling, I adore you!

Guest: No one really expected that, so I know the answers were bittersweet. But it's certainly not the end of that story, and we'll be focused a lot more on the InuKag in future :) Thanks love!

Mal: I do tend to ruins moods when getting to the good part ahaha. Hopefully this chapter made up for it! I'm so glad you like the Sesshomaru and Inuyasha dynamic. I know it was worrisome without answers (and there are still so many more things to come with them, like holy moly) but I really enjoy writing their strange brotherly-but-not relationship. Thank you so much, as always, love. You're so wonderful.

Guest: Hahaha you're very sweet, thank you! I do try to write reasonable chapter lengths. Deductions is so much better than TFOM. I should have never started that trend with the length XD I really hope you enjoyed this chapter darling! Thank you!

Feedback is love.