AN: Thank you to all my reviewers and readers. I appreciate your support.

Disclaimer: Just a reminder I don't own anything that has to do with Inuyasha or any series by Rumiko Takahashi or anything else that belongs to anyone else

Song Of My Soul

Part 10

"Thank you Naraku, I am doing fine. You don't need to worry." She smiled sweetly but couldn't hide the disappointment in her heart. "How did you know where to find me?" She asked as he escorted her to the couch to set next to him.

"I have my ways." He smirked when she rolled her eyes. "Now why don't you go upstairs and get something nice on and I will take you and your family out for dinner." His eyes held a glimmer of hope in them but it soon disappeared when she frowned. Her mother gasped opening the quickly excused herself to get more tea.

"I'm not really up to it tonight but thank you for offering." She refused politely still upset about Inuyasha not coming back. Another place in her heart kept telling her he may still show up and if she left then she would miss him He looked at her face concerned. He patted her hand gently and forced a smile on his face to hide his disappointment.

"Kagome is something wrong?" He asked just loud enough for her to hear. She looked at him surprised.

"Why would you think that?" She looked at her hands in her lap and began to twist her fingers nervously. He took her hands in his and held them still.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe it is the way you are twisting your fingers around like you want to break them off." He replied sarcastically. She frowned and pulled her hands from his grip. He chuckled but controlled his next comment when her mother reappeared from the kitchen. "I have to be going. Thank you for the wonderful tea Higurashi-san." He bowed to her mother then turned back to her. "Kagome would you walk me out to the car?" He asked politely. Kagome looked startled. If she refused to then her mother would drill her with questions wanting to know why she was being rude. She nodded quickly then followed him even though she didn't want to.

"You are always welcome here." Her mother bowed back and watched them walk out the door. Kagome stopped at the door after shutting it. Naraku turned and looked at her expectantly.

"Please walk with me. There are some things I wish to discuss." He held out his hand to her. If he could get her near the car he might be able to talk her into coming to the penthouse with him. Then she would be close enough for him to protect. She looked at his hand reluctantly then shook her head.

"Lets set here in the swing for a moment before you leave." She stepped past him and planted herself on the porch swing. He looked at the floor planks for a moment to regain his composure. She was always able to get the better of him as if she could read his mind. He plastered on a smile and joined her. He sat next to her but not so close as to make her feel uncomfortable. They shared a comfortable silence then she turned and looked at him. "Why didn't you tell me about Kikyo?" She asked seriously. He was caught off guard by her question but knew sooner or later she would have found out from someone there. He had hoped he would have more time to prepare.

"I didn't want to worry you." He replied. It was partially true.

"She is my cousin. How could you keep something like that from me?" She asked accusingly. He cleared his throat and made himself comfortable knowing this would take some time.

"Because I knew you would be on the first plane back here. There would have been nothing you could do." He started. Her frown became deeper.

"Don't you think that was my decision? I am a big girl; there are some things I can do on my own. Did it even affect you? Did you even bother to see how she was since you divorced her so coldly?" He looked at her blankly taken back by her words. He definitely didn't expect this. She threw her hands up in the air angrily and started to stand. He grabbed her arm gently but firmly and pulled her back down.

"Kagome there is more to it then that." He started. "Sit and I'll explain." He said quickly. She yanked her arm from his hold, sat down and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. At the moment she found it hard to look in his face. He seemed so two faced and deceitful. She had trusted him to keep her up on what her family was doing since she left so suddenly. Now she finds out what Inuyasha had said was true. "I'll admit my actions after that night at the hotel were a bit harsh in the eyes of some but..."

"A bit harsh? She was sick but you didn't even consider that. You threw her away like a piece of used up trash, Naraku. When they found out she was sick did you even try to help?" She brushed a frustrated tear from her eye as she glared at him. He set back a bit under her scrutinizing gaze.

"Look, Kagome, I don't want to have an argument with you out here in front of your mother's house. It is disrespectful." He said calmly trying to take control of the discussion. She looked at the door then bit her lip know he was right. She nodded and forced her anger down a bit. "I understand you don't agree with my actions. A man in my position can't have things like this hanging over his head." She turned ready to say something to him but he held his hand up. "Please let me have a chance to at least defend my actions. Don't I at least deserve that much?" He asked softly. She looked down and nodded. "Alright, then just listen and you will get your chance to say your piece."

"I didn't know she was sick at the time I divorced her. No one did. We didn't find out until many months later when her condition became worse. And regardless of what you have been told I did keep tabs on her. I offered to help her but she insisted that Inuyasha would take care of her now. How was I supposed to feel? I have feelings too and she squashed them like a bug under her foot more then once. Not only in our home but in front of important people in public. Her spending got way out of hand. She was buying things just to spend money. Then when I put a stop to it she became violent with me and tried to hurt me...spiritually...once. I couldn't be in the same room with her anymore for fear she would succeed." Kagome looked at him with a soft look close to pity. He realized then she knew his secret. His dark eyes flashed red for a moment causing her to flinch but she did cower from him.

"I see you know." It was a statement not a question. She nodded her head. "How long have you known?" He asked just above a whisper.

"Inuyasha told me last night." She confirmed. He chuckled a bit.

"Leave it to an inu youkai to be able to sniff me out. I should have known he would tell you." Naraku sat back and stared across the shrine grounds. She placed a hand on his arm.

"He didn't tell me until just last night. He said it wasn't any of his business to tell anyone." She said reassuringly. He gave her a skeptical look but didn't push it.

"Well then I should be thankful he is that considerate." He scoffed. She frowned at him and he cleared his throat again before going on. "I did try after we all found out but she kept refusing me. I'm not a completely heartless bastard. She didn't just stomp on my pride, she crushed my heart." He looked at her with all the sincerity he could manage. "I went to the hospital to see her but she refused to see me even then. She claimed that I had cast a spell on her and was controlling her actions. As if I could do that." He chuckled more to himself then to her. "She blamed me for her and Inuyasha breaking up in the first place. I can't deny that I had a hand in it but she was more then willing to run into my open arms and my pocket book. It was her own greed that drove them apart. If she had truly loved him then no amount of money would have been able to sway her away from his side.

As I was saying earlier, she started to spend money like it was nothing. I cut off her credit cards and her bank account. She became furious with me and started to tell people that I was mistreating her. I suppose to her, being cut off from free reign over my money was cruel punishment. She said so many times I think she convinced herself it was true. I don't believe even the great nose of an inu youkai couldn't detect it as a lie. Perhaps in her own mind it did happen I don't know. She made threats that she would get back at all of us for treating her badly. I'm not sure who she considers as 'all of us' but I know that since her disappearance there have been some strange things going on." He was still staring at his hands wandering how he could talk to her so easily about all the things he had been bottling up for the past two years.

"What kind of things?" She asked curiously. He looked at her a bit dazed from concentrating on his hands so hard.

"About a month after she disappeared it started with random phone calls to the office. The phone would ring in my office but no one would be on the line. I would ask my secretary about it but she insisted no calls came from her desk. I talked to the switchboard operator at the main desk and she had confirmed what my secretary said each time. Then the phone calls started to follow me everywhere I went. My home, the car, my cell and even in restaurants. It was really starting to get on my nerves. That was when I took a trip to the states to check up on my favorite employee." He grinned at her blush. "While I was gone small accidents started to happen at the company building." She looked at him surprised.

"Why didn't we hear about it?" She asked confused.

"Oh yes and cause panic. What do you think the employees would have done if they were told they were being haunted or possibly stalked by a mad woman?" He frowned at her.

"Think you were nuts?" She replied light heartedly. His frown grew deeper.

"Very funny but probably true." He shook his head. "The company couldn't afford for there to be a panic."

"What kind of accidents?" She asked innocently. He admired that in her personality she was still naive enough to not see the bad in some people.

"At first small things. A couple of computers shorted out and blew the monitors. The brakes on my limo went out while coming down the ramp in the parking garage. Mostly small electrical shorts but nothing that would cause permanent damage or harm. Unfortunately no matter how hushed I tried to keep the accidents, the rumors started to flow through the company about a ghost. I'm not sure who even started it. I tried to reassure the employees that it was all a coincident but then there was the big one that scared several people so bad they didn't want to come to work." She raised an eyebrow letting him know she was listening. "One of the elevators fell from the top all the way to the basement garage." She gasped in surprise.

"That was when you left and came back to Japan?" He nodded in agreement.

"Yes that required my personal attention. When I arrived I found a box setting on my desk with a two foot long piece of the elevator cable in it that had been sliced from the one that fell. I learned then that the accidents were not what we thought. They were all a message to me that she would get her revenge." He said sourly.

"You mean Kikyo?" He nodded.

"Yes. That is what I believe ut there was no proof that she is alive so they police dismissed my accusation." He stared at the ground for a moment then turned to look at her. His face was worn with worry. "I can feel her sometimes. Like she is trying to get in my mind. I know it is her but I don't know how to prove it." Kagome looked at him taken back by that statement. "I know it sounds crazy but you know how strong she was spiritually. You have the same power even if you don't realize it. Youkai can sense spiritual power in humans. It was one of the things that drew me to her in the first place." His voice had become soft just above a whisper as if he were afraid someone would hear. She felt the urge to comfort him somehow but then there was something inside her heart that told her not to. This situation was wrong. He took her hands in his and held them gently.

"Kagome, I know you don't believe me and you have reason not to but I think she will come after you too. I wanted to protect you from her that is why I sent you to the States and why I was pushing for you to remain there. Now that you are back you are like a sitting duck. Anything could happen and I might not be there to..." He was cut off by a rough growling voice.

"She has all the protection she needs." Inuyasha stood a few feet away from them on the steps to the porch. "I don't plan on leaving her alone for a second." He snorted angrily. Kagome's heart filled with relief to see him there but she was still angry at him for not calling to let her know he was going to be late. Naraku scowled at him.

"You don't know what you are up against. You can't protect her from Kikyo forever." Naraku growled and stood up. Kagome realized that two youkai were getting into a testosterone contest on her mother's front porch. She quickly stood up and placed herself between them.

"She isn't your responsibility. She is my mate not yours and I will protect her from what ever is causing the problems with out your help." Inuyasha snarled hotly. Kagome placed a hand on his chest to calm him.

"Inuyasha, please don't do this in front of my mother's house." Then she turned and looked at Naraku. "He is right, I am his mate and I will stand by his decisions." She turned back to Inuyasha to see a smug grin on his face. She scowled at him to let him know she was less then pleased. "Even if he is an ass." She added. His smile faded to a slight frown. He crossed his arms over his chest in disgust. Satisfied Kagome turned her attention back to Naraku. "I know you feel responsible for all this but I know my cousin. I find it hard to believe she would hurt her family and there is still no proof that she even survived. I feel safe with Inuyasha and I know he will do his best to protect me." She stated firmly.

"You don't get the grasp of this do you?" Naraku scowled. "She wasn't herself anymore when she entered that hospital. Hell she hadn't been herself for a long time. You may have doubts that she is alive but I don't. I can feel her when she is near. You are a mate you should know what the feels like." He stated as calmly as he could. Inuyasha's face turned to one of shock.

"You can feel her? How can that be? You didn't mark her." His eyes narrowed as he studied Naraku carefully thinking he was lying.

"Yes I can feel her. I did mark her in the beginning but she refused the marking. Fortunately the bonding had already begun before she healed the mark completely with her spiritual powers. I could feel her no matter where she was in the house but the link between our souls never existed so the bond was not strong enough to extend any farther then that." Naraku sat down on the porch swing agin. He stood suddenly and walked toward his limo. He stopped just before the door. "She is behind this. I know it because she comes to me in my dreams. She taunts me almost every night. You can't possibly know how much suffering I have went through since this all started."

"Your wrong." Inuyasha said coldly. "I know what it is like to have your bonded mate away from your side so far that you couldn't even focus on her energy. Thanks to you I almost lost her but I won't let it happen again." He put a protective arm over Kagome's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "I will die if need be." He looked down at Kagome's face and saw the admiration she held there for him. Naraku looked between the two, the feelings of resentment and spite filled his dark heart. With out another word he stepped inside the limo to leave. Kagome and Inuyasha watched as the limo drove away.

"Well it didn't take too much to get rid of him." He smiled arrogantly. Kagome scowled remembering her feelings of uncertainty that consumed her all day.

"Don't be so cocky, you're not out of trouble yet." She hissed. He looked at her with a mixture of surprise and apprehension.

"What? I told you I would be back and here I am." He stated innocently. Her frown grew deeper.

"Yeah after all day. I was worried sick and scared and...I thought you didn't want to come back." She felt the tears start to fall down her face. This was not how she wanted to handle this. She didn't want to be weak. She was mad yes but she didn't want him to know that she was scared he wasn't coming back at all. He took her into a warm hug.

"I told Miroku to tell you I would be back later. Geesh can't that guy get anything right?" Inuyasha kissed the top of her head. "I should have just called but they wanted to come over so bad and see you I thought it would be simpler." He smiled to himself when her small hands curled into the front of his shirt in a clinging manner. When he felt her calm he turned toward the door and opened it for her. She stepped past him but when he didn't follow she turned to look at what he was doing. He had stopped and was picking up a duffle bag that was setting at his feet.

"What is that?" She asked curiously. He looked down at the bag then back at her.

"Oh this is my stuff. I take it Miroku didn't tell I was stopping by Dad's to get my things did he?" She shook her head no. Her eyebrows furrowed together.

"Your stuff?" She asked calmly even though she was still fighting the inner turmoil of feelings.

"Yeah, my stuff. Since you insist on staying here then so am I." Her face flushed with anger but before she could open her mouth he put up his hand to stop her protest. "Look, I'll sleep on the couch if necessary but I am not leaving you unprotected. Even if I don't act like I believe what Naraku said, I think there is still some merit to his belief that Kikyo is still alive. I can't really explain it but I'm afraid for you. If you could have seen her when she was in the hospital then you would understand. He was right, she wasn't the same person you knew and I am not taking any chances." She could see the conviction in his eyes and knew him well enough to know that once he set his mind to something like this she wouldn't be able to persuade him differently. Although inside she was glad he would be there.