A/N: Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter. Sorry, it is a little bit shorter than the previous ones, but schoolwork, you know? Anyhow, thanks for your reviews, and thanks to everyone who has been reading! Oh, and many of you were curious about the…content…of the discussion between Miroku and Inuyasha.Perhaps I should just leave that up to your imaginations...? Although I am thinking of doing a little side story, one-shot of it, if people are really interested. We'll see.

Oh, and I don't usually do shout outs, but I just had to ask--Minti Mist, what on earth is a "lice gossip" chain???

Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha, don't own Kagome, don't own Shippo, don't own…umm, actually don't own any of the characters in this story.

Chapter 14: Who Says They Can't Wear Hats?

Kagome sighed and sat up on the bed. "Inuyasha," she called, "We have a problem."

"What?" The boy put down the newspaper he had been leafing through and went through a quick mental review. Okay, they'd gotten home, managed to avoid Hojo at dinner, gone upstairs, he'd kicked Shippo out of the room, and they had each been preoccupied with their own activities until now. As far as he knew, there was no problem. "What kind of problem?" he asked.

"Well," Kagome turned over onto her stomach and dropped her face into her hands so that she could face the other teenager directly. "It's about what Sango and Miroku were saying earlier today…"

Inuyasha's mind went still. He hoped she and Sango hadn't overheard the conversation between him and Miroku. Or seen it, come to think of it. When Miroku was interested in his subject matter, his hand motions became very…eloquent.

Kagome frowned. For some reason, Inuyasha seemed to be trying to hide his left hand.

"Ummm," Inuyasha continued, "What part of the conversation?"

"The job part," Kagome replied.

"Oh." A wave of relief washed over him. That was okay then.

"You do realize, don't you," said the girl, "The difficulties we are going to encounter if we want to find you a job?" She paused, thoughtfully. "But they were right. You need to be able to support yourself."

Inuyasha rustled his newspaper. "What do you think I'm doing over here?"

"Yeah, but…there are so many requirements. We need to find a job where you don't have to have work experience andyou can wear a hat. And allat a place that won't be too conspicuous. You do realize that if you work, you will have to go out in public. Which is where they're looking for you."

"I know," Inuyasha growled.

"Okay," said Kagome. "As long as you realize that getting a job will make it harder for you to stay undercover. So, let's see. Jobs where you can wear a hat." She bit her lip. "Umm, how about chef?"

"What's that?" Inuyasha asked.

"Someone who cooks in a restaurant. They wear tall white hats. Can you cook?"

"I don't know, I've never tried," Inuyasha looked thoughtful for a moment. "They wouldn't let me near fire or sharp, pointy objects when I was at the lab."

Kagome stared at him. Well, she had figured chef would be a long shot.

"Okay, well, there are other options." She chewed on some hair for a moment. As she lay thinking, the door to the room flew open. Inuyasha shot up from his place on the floor. At least there is nothing wrong with his reaction time, Kagome thought. Maybe that could come in useful somehow. There would be plenty of jobs that wanted someone fast, right?

And of course, most jobs wanted people with dog ears. Right, Kagome, she told herself.

"Kago…." Shippo choked as he was abruptly lifted off the floor. Kagome looked up at the little boy dangling from between Inuyasha's hands.

"Honestly, Inuyasha," said Kagome, hopping off the bed. She paused a moment to let the head rush from her sudden change in altitude settle.

"Have you never heard of knocking?" Asked Inuyasha, giving the boy a slight shake. Shaking her head Kagome crossed over to the two. With a slight effort, she plucked the small boy from Inuyasha's grasp.

"Really," she scolded, "You have to be gentle, Inuyasha, he's just a little boy."

"No," said Inuyasha, "Little maybe. Boy, I'm not so sure."

"What?" Kagome turned big eyes to her roommate.

"He doesn't smell fully human," Inuyasha growled.

"Not…human?" Kagome looked down at the small kid in her arms. "And you didn't mention this earlier?"

"I've been distracted," said Inuyasha defensively.

"Yeah, but…oh nevermind," Kagome let her voice trail off as she looked down at Shippo. He looked entirely human. That was, she frowned and peered closer at his hands. His nails seemed a little bit on the sharp side, but…

Shippo peered up, green eyes large.

"Oh," said Kagome softly, a memory flashing through her mind, "I had wondered about that."

"About what?" asked Inuyasha.

"When he first saw you, you weren't wearing a hat or anything. It didn't seem to startle him. Do you think, maybe, he is another one?" Her voice was hesitant.

Another one. Inuyasha didn't need her to be any more explicit. Another one like him. Another one who had been modified. Inuyasha swallowed. There were more out there? Others who had not been killed at the time of the rebellion? "Where'd you come from, kid?" he asked, his voice rough.

Shippo stared back, turning from him to Kagome and back again. "The labs," he said, his voice entirely too devoid of emotion for a child of his age. Kagome's arms tightened around him.

"What happened," Inuyasha asked, his voice fast, urgent. "Were you the only one? Are there others?" Maybe, just maybe, he was not as alone as he had always thought he was.

"I don't remember," Shippo wailed.

"Shhh, it's okay," Kagome comforted the boy in her arms. "Inuyasha," she spoke softly, "If this is all related to the event you told me about earlier, than there's no way he would know anything. He couldn't possibly remember it; after all, he must have been very, very young at the time."

Inuyasha nodded. Yes, Shippo probably didn't remember any of the events of the rebellion or its aftermath; he might not have even been born when they occurred. But, his eyes lit up as another thought struck him. Shippo was staying with Kaede.Kaede was old. Kaede wouldknow. She knewMiroku after all. He turned away from the runt in Kagome's arms and headed towards the exit.

"Where're you going?" asked Kagome.

"Talk to Kaede," Inuyasha answered, pushing out the door.

"She's sleeping already," Shippo told Kagome as the door swung closed.

"In that case, I guess he'll be back in a couple minutes then," smiled Kagome. Shippo smiled back.

Outside the hallway Inuyasha immediately headed for the stairs, the implications of Shippo's revelation banging around his head. Maybe Kaede could clear it up for him, maybe shewould know what had happened to the rest of them. And she must be sympathetic since one of the kids she waskeeping turned out to be one of them. He leapt down the stairs andwas soonskidding into the kitchen. It was empty.

With a shrug, Inuyasha wandered into the living room. They hadn't been in the house for that long, and he still didn't know the layout very well, but he knew there was at least a sitting room somewhere nearby, and a few other rooms. He would check them until he found the old woman.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Shit, Inuyasha cursed under his breath as he headed back to his room on the third floor. Not only had Kaede not been anywhere to be found, but he had also run into Hojo, that inimitable twit. The shorter boy had been sitting in one of the rooms, reading. Inuyasha had had to duck out quickly in order to avoid conversation with the other boy, buthe had the uncomfortable feeling that Hojo had seen him.

As he neared the room he shared with Kagome, Inuyasha heard giggling. Oh great, he thought, so Shippo is still there.

"Pizza delivery boy!" came the young boy's high-pitched voice.

"I don't think Inuyasha knows how to drive a car," Kagome answered. Shippo laughed. "Not to mention that we don't have a car."

"I guess so," said Shippo. "Well, what about construction worker?"

An image of Inuyasha in a wifebeater and hardhat and holding a jackhammerwhile whistling at passing womenflitted through Kagome's mind. She giggled.

Inuyasha walked in just long enough to see an odd expressioncross Kagome's face.

"You know, Shippo," Kagome said, "I could almost see that. He definitely has the vocabulary for it." She turned at the sound of the door. "Oh, Inuyasha, you're back now. Did you find Kaede?"

"No," he answered. What were the two of them doing?

"Shippo was just helping me to think of some jobs that allow you to wear a hat." Kagome explained, almost as if she could read his mind.

"How about fireman?" Shippo exclaimed suddenly.

"I don't think they get to wear their hats all the time," Kagome said, while a mental picture of Inuyasha dressed in overalls and a fire helmet danced through her mind. She grinned.

Inuyasha glanced at her. Why was there a faint blush on her cheeks?

"Hmm," said Shippo, "This is harder than I thought it would be."

Inuyasha sat down on the floor and looked up at the two seated on the bed. "What about security guard," he asked gruffly.

Kagome peered down at him, surprised. "I suppose that's a thought," she said. It was a job that he probably had the skills for, given his speed and enhanced senses.

"But they don't wear hats," protested Shippo.

"Says who?" demanded Inuyasha.

Shippo turned up his nose. "They don't. I've never seen a security guard with a hat, except at…hey, wait a minute, Kagome."

"Yes?" said the girl, transferring a piece of hair out of her mouth and looking down at Shippo.

"I have the perfect job for him!" Shippo grinned.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kouga looked up from his desk. Damn early mornings. He had wanted to hold the meeting with Sango and Miroku the night before, but the two had claimed that they were following a lead and couldn't make it back to the office in time.

This of course meant that he had to be in the office bright and early the next morning. Kouga was not a morning person, and he was feeling more than a little annoyed. Plus, the more they delayed in catching the dog boy, the harder it was going to be to find him, and Naraku was getting a little…anxious. Kouga hated having his supervisor paying such close attention to how he handled a mission.

"Well," he asked, his blue eyes piercing, or at least blearing, "Did you find anything?"

"Sorry, it was a dead end," Sango shook her head.

Kouga sighed. He hadn't really expected that the dog boy would manage to hide from them for this long. "I see," he looked down at the pen he was holding in his hand, "Very well. At this point, I suppose that we must assume that he is being helped by someone."

Miroku nodded, "There doesn't seem to be any other explanation. Inuyasha is not very well-versed in the ways of the world."

Sango thought she saw the tiniest of smiles flicker across his face as he said that. Also, Miroku's left hand had suddenly twitched. She wondered what the two of them had talked about after she and Kagome left that had amused him so much?

"Anyways," Kouga continued, "I think that we can all agree that somehow he has managed to get out of this area."

"Wait," said Sango, "How do you figure? He could still be in the area and just keeping his head down."

"Maybe," Kouga frowned, "But I don't think so. I mean, I think that he would go towards a larger area. Easier to hide, more anonymity."

"Yeah, but he doesn't know about the geography or anything around here, and he doesn't know about people" Miroku protested.

"Which would be a fine reason for him to stick around, except," Kouga scowled, "That he must be getting outside help. So I think he will have gone to the city. It is the only sensible place for him to go."

"I guess," said Sango, but she didn't look happy.

"All right," said Kouga, "Then I am going to make arrangements for us to stay in the city. It's too far for us to commute every day."

Sango and Miroku nodded.

"You may go."

Miroku turned to Sango as they left the office. "Damn," he said, "I was expecting at least a little more time before this."

"I know," said Sango. "Maybe he's gotten smarter?"

"I don't know," Miroku stroked his chin, "I think maybe he is getting pressure from up top."

"Dammit," said Sango as they headed down the hall.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The sun reflecting off gleaming marble was giving Inuyasha a headache.His eyes were tired from lack of sleep, and he was reflecting, not with the kindest feelings, on the people responsible for his current situationn. Stupid Shippo, and his damned job ideas. Stupid Kagome for thinking they were brilliant. And stupid him, for staying up and arguing with the two of them instead of getting some much-needed sleep.

Inuyasha tilted his head up to look at the building in front of him. "Kagome," he growled, "I am not sure that this is such a good idea."

"Don't be silly," said Kagome, "I think it's a great idea. Besides, you're sure to get this job, Shippo said so."

"Right. That's reassuring."

Wordlessly, Kagome put a hand on his arm and led him up the steps.

"Smile," she said as they walked through a set of revolving doors.