Disclaimer: haha...I wish. But nooooo!

Ok, I wanted to get this up before the weekend, cuz I'm not gonna be here. I'm gonna be with my dad...--...yea, no fun at all. We have our differences...BUT...here's the chapter. And this is the first time I've just typed it up. Usually I write it out, then type it. So I hope it's long enough for you all!

Chapter 5- You Thought It Was A Secret

The girls were still in the process of cleaning the library when Miroku came through the door. The both looked up at him to see that he wasn't all too pleased.

"I'm going to take the children back. It's late afternoon, and Kikyou should've come and gotten them by now. And then there's the fact that Lord Sesshomaru wants them out. I'll be back." He shut the door behind him, not letting them say anything. They both shook their heads and got back to work.

After they had finished getting the whole library picked up for the day, they went back down to the kitchen. Surprisingly, no one was there. It was later in the afternoon, about five. Usually there was someone there, and the girls found it quite strange. Hojo soon came in the door saying something about bad traffic downtown. But he didn't get to finish. In the middle of his oh so interesting traffic bit, Miroku came busting through the side door, Shippo and Rin at his side, all three with expressions on their faces that would make you think they had seen a ghost. The three sitting in the kitchen jumped out of their seats.

"What's wrong Miroku?" Sango asked as Kagome grabbed the two children.

"He...we...it was..." He was at a loss for words. His expression never changed from the horrified look that blanketed it. Then Rin burst out, "HE'S DEAD!"

"I'll go find the Lord." Hojo said running out the door.

"Who's dead sweety?" Kagome asked calmly, trying to get the girl to stop sobbing. She looked to Miroku for and answer, but he was still staring ahead blankly, apparently lost in shock.

"MASTER KOUGA!" Rin finally answered between tears.

Sango squeezed Miroku's arm to try to bring him back from wherever his mind had wandered. "Miroku, what happened?"

He blinked then shook his head. His face grew solemn and his voice along with it. "We went to the door and rang, but Kikyou never came. The children pulled out the extra key and we unlocked the door and went in. We got inside, and the place was trashed. We had no idea about what had happened. We went looking for either Kikyou or Kouga." He looked at Sango, "We found Kouga dead. And it seems like it wasn't even a struggle. His body seemed burned, but...there was nothing near him that would burn him. It was as if his skin just...burst in flame. And he has wounds all over him. Like something had hit him with an extremely strong force! It was awful."

Kagome and Sango looked at each other. Then Kagome spoke up. "And...and what about Kikyou?"

Just the name sent and unearthly chill down Miroku's spine. "We...didn't find her anywhere. It is as if she...has left." The two children clung to Kagome, and she looked at the two standing. They were all thinking the same thing. But Kagome was the first to think it out loud. "You don't think she..."

"I think...she did. She has started putting her plan into action." They all just sat there in silence. The tension in the air was stifling. They all had the same expression on their faces. Worry, disbelief, uncertainty, and guilt. But the deadly silence was broken once Sesshomaru entered the room, accompanied by Inuyasha and Hojo. He looked over them all with an unreadable yet cold expression.

"Miroku, tell me what happened." The lord said flatly.

Miroku told him the same thing he had told the girls earlier. Sesshomaru watched and listened, taking in every word he said. He watched the emotions change and flow over the cook's face. He knew Miroku wasn't lying, and that indeed, Kouga was dead.

"Hojo, call the police. I'll get in touch with Kouga's 'people.' This is not a good thing. He was in charge of a large company, and this will have a large, but negative impact on everyone there. The children will stay with us." Sesshomaru turned with those words, followed by Hojo and the two young ones.

Inuyasha looked at the remaining servants. Or more specifically, Miroku and Kagome. His gaze lingered on Kagome before he turned back to the cook and asked, "Are you all right, Miroku?"

The cook unsteadily shook his head. "Yea, I'm fine," he replied. "But I worry about what happened."

Inuyasha kept a steady gaze on Miroku, and it made the cook nervous. His master then cocked his head to the side. "Why do you worry about it? Is there something you're not telling me?" he asked.

The three servants went stiff at hearing this question. Miroku completely avoided Inuyasha's eyes, "N-n-no. Why would you think that?"

"No reason I guess. Just curious." Inuyasha turned his eyes from Miroku, to look at Kagome. It was as if he was searching through her eyes for something. He was looking in her eyes for the truth. "You girls don't know anything. Nothing suspicious?" He asked, his gaze unmoved.

Kagome shivered inside under his stare. "No. We don't know any more that what Miroku told us." She said, trying to sound convincing, but her voice was shaky.

'She's lying.' Inuyasha thought. 'Why don't they just tell me? What, do they think I'll throw them out? They don't honestly think I'll hurt them, do they?'

"Ok, if you say so." Inuyasha left the kitchen. The others waited until they heard his footsteps fade down the hall.

"What're we gonna do?" Sango questioned. "We think we know what happened, but we can't tell him. He might put the blame on us! If he knows we knew something, he'd say we could have done something to prevent it." She said with a shaky voice.

"But we didn't think Kikyou would actually go on with the plan. As far as we know, us three are the only ones with this power, the people that have it are limited. It will take her a while to actually get a good enough number to do any major damage. And by the time she does find enough 'followers' authorities will have found out her intentions and what she did, and stop her." Miroku said, trying to convince himself, and hopefully the others.

"Sango's right though, we could have told Inuyasha or Sesshomaru, and this could have been prevented."

"Let's not tell them. We didn't know what would happen, and I don't want to suffer whatever consequences there are." Miroku advised.

The girls shook their heads, and went on with their night duties. The children slept with the older girls again. It seemed they would be staying with them for a long while. Sesshomaru wasn't quite sure what happened. But the fact that Kikyou had suddenly disappeared, made him think that she definitely had something to do with the demon's death. He also knew that they had to find her as quickly as possible. He had a feeling that more dangerous things would happen at her hands if they didn't find her.

-----

Kagome woke up early the next morning due to Sango shaking her gently. "Kagome, Kagome wake up." Her friend whispered. Kagome opened her sleepy eyes to her friend. "Hmm?" Was the only response she gave.

"Come on, get dressed, Miroku made us breakfast today, don't you wanna eat?"

Kagome dragged out of bed and got dressed. The two walked silently down the hall to the kitchen where Miroku and Hojo sat at the center counter. The two guys looked up as the girls entered the room.

Kagome looked around the table and saw...toast. "You woke me up...for toast?" Kagome asked, quite irritated. Knowing that she could have done it on her own, didn't make her very happy.

Hojo laughed, "We had to get you out of bed somehow!"

Miroku grinned, "Yea, we needed the four of us to talk. We didn't get much of a chance last night. Or at least Hojo didn't hear what we had to say, and what decision we came to on the whole ordeal next door."

The all sat up to listen; putting thoughts of delicious toast aside.

"Hojo, you know as well as the rest of us do about Kikyou, and what she said to us yesterday morning." Miroku asked.

Hojo shook his head. For once in his life he was being serious, and not acting stupid. "Yes. You guys think it was her too, don't you?" He asked, looking around at the others as he said it.

They all shook their heads. Then Sango said, "Yea, and we think the best thing to do is be quiet about it. If the masters found out we knew..."

"Oh, I know! I wasn't planning on telling them! I don't want any of us to get in trouble. If I told, we'd all go down, not just one or two of us!" He said. They were glad to hear that response. He actually has a brain up in that seemingly empty head of his.

So they all agreed on it. They wouldn't tell a soul. What they knew would stay within the four of them. They then ate their toast, and began their day.

-----

'I wonder how this is all going to turn out.' Kagome thought as she walked up the stairs to Inuyasha's room. She glanced at the many pictures that covered the hall walls. 'If Kikyou gets caught, will they come after others that have powers too?' She was worried. Worried that if she and Miroku were caught, they would be killed. 'Inuyasha wouldn't let that happen. We're his friends, right? He'd protect us...right?'

She now stood in front of his door, and took a deep breath before entering the room. She set the tray down on the same desk she did last time. She glanced over at him and noticed he was asleep still, on his stomach like last time. He looked so calm and peaceful. 'He wouldn't let anyone take us away, or hurt us. He wouldn't.' Though she kept thinking that, doubt still echoed in her mind. She walked over to him to get a closer look at his face. She bent down, and looked at his features. 'Almost...like an angel.' A funny grin played at her lips. She stood up and turned to leave. But then, she felt a hand grab her left wrist. Before she could turn around, Inuyasha rolled over onto his back, and since her wrist was in his left hand, she went sprawling across his chest in the process.

She looked up at him. His eyes were closed, but he had a smirk on his face. He wasn't asleep. He was wide-awake, and enjoying the embarrassment he was causing her. "Mornin' sunshine." He said, amusement hidden in his voice. She gawked at him, her face red, and her eyes wide. 'He's...he's messing with me!'

"Yea. Um...I-I brought your, uh, ce-cereal." She stuttered. His smirk changed to a smile, his white fangs glinting in the early light that was starting to make it's way through his window.

She frowned up at him, not wanting to get caught in their present condition. Though she didn't really mind, it was just the two of them, but nonetheless, she didn't want anyone to walk in on them. But her pout changed to a blank face when his smirk dropped, and his expression grew serious.

"Kagome," He started.

"Yea?" She asked, not knowing what was going through his mind. 'Why is he doing this? I thought he was just joking. But now...he's not.'

"You'd never hurt me, would you?" He asked, opening his eyes for the first time, looking straight into her chocolate orbs.

She was shocked at the question. "No! I'd never hurt you, you know that!" She said, not liking the thought that he would think such a thing. 'He's...he's not being serious, is he? He knows I'd never hurt him.'

"How could you even ask such a stupid question?" She hardly let out; pain tainted her words.

His eyebrows furrowed when he heard the pain in the question. "It's just...with Kouga. Kikyou did it. And...I was just wondering...if you'd ever do that to me?" He said. His eyes bore in to hers.

Kagome's eyes grew wide. 'He knows I'm like her.'

--

Ok, done. Yea, Kouga dies. But it had to be done folks! And wow, it's a cliffhanger...I don't like them, but I needed to stop somewhere, and I still have to come up with the next chapter! So...now...review please! I'll give you a cookie if you do! Dangles cookie in your faceSnatches cookie away No, not until you review...