Hey all,
Sorry to everyone about the slow, slow update, but it's been getting harder and harder to be inspired to write fanfiction as of late. In fact, I've had a total writer's block for every single one of my fanfics for almost the past two months! - Never fear though - I'll of course finish this story if nothing else.
This chapter is going to be a little grim. and then slowly things will slip back into the more humorous tone I've taken with Bitten. I just want Kagome to fully recover from the emotional trauma and what not, because that sort of thing is generally important. And about the emotional trauma - numerous people have mentioned how uncharacteristic it was for Kagome to have a panic attack in the ally with the spiders, and I'll throw out the lame excuse once more that it was important to the plot. However, let us also remember that Kagome is only human. She's been with the FBI for about a week (It seems like way more.) keep in mind, and in the beginning of the manga she did tend to freak out at times - especially when Inuyasha wasn't there to save her. However I will admit it was an odd scene to stick into my story. Sorry!
Also - I will be attempting to revise all the earlier chapters that I can. (Particularly the first few because they just bite.) So if you feel like refreshing your memory, go ahead and read chapter one again, because it will be (hopefully) better this time around. If you don't feel like it, that's okay too - after all, no matter what I do, I don't know how much I can improve the car wreck that is the beginnings of Bitten. Am I going to look back one day and hurl the same insults at this chapter? Yes. Yes I am.
I don't own Inuyasha and enjoy!
*
Bitten
By Rio Grande
Chapter Seven: Living Arrangements
*
(Some people may have noticed I changed the title for this chapter. Some people might not have.)
*
Inuyasha opened the apartment window carefully with on arm, the other still firmly cradling Kagome against his chest, as the girl continued to shiver and shake violently within his powerful grasp. Accompanied by the occasional pathetic sniffle and whimper, it was all Inuyasha could do not to growl with anger and frustration for about the one-thousandth time that night, at the thought that someone as sweet as Kagome had been forced to go through what she did.
The picture of that god-ugly spider demon scuttling over her body, ready to sink its noxious teeth into her thigh while she cried out for Inuyasha to save her - and all while in the confines of the deadly spider web - still haunted Inuyasha's mind deeply.
He never wanted to see her in that sort of position again. He wanted to protect this girl.
The apartment was dark and silent, so Inuyasha swiftly flicked some lights on as he entered the living room, vaguely remembering the layout of Kagome's apartment from the last time he had been in it, the previous night. Which had also, coincidentally, been right after a particularly violent attempt on Kagome's life. He approached the couch briskly and then gently laid his partner down on it, watching as she breathed in shakily and sat up, staring at him hesitantly after a moment.
"Thank you." she sighed, closing her eyes briefly and taking in the comforting atmosphere of her home - a place that had yet to be broken into by angry demons or disgusting creatures. It made her frazzled nerves calm down somewhat, and she quickly got her breathing under control, trying to tell herself over and over again that it was all okay now; she was safe, Inuyasha had killed all the spiders.!
There was a quiet moment, where Inuyasha observed her with a thoughtful expression on his face, as though thinking something over.
"Don't mention it," he finally said. "You're my partner, I'm supposed to help you out. Now where was your First Aid kit again?.."
"In the closet to your right, second shelf up," she said, directing the hanyou around with a small, appreciative smile on her features - the first one since the attack.
This was why she. might have had a huge crush on Inuyasha, the half demon. Because he was just about the cutest thing ever when he wanted to be, and seemed to always be around to help her just when she needed it - even if she didn't always like to admit she needed the help he had to offer.
"You don't have to do this you know, my injuries aren't that bad."
"Of course I do," Inuyasha said gruffly, perching himself on the end of the couch and opening the first aid kit, much as Kagome had done for him just yesterday, when his wounds had been deep and terrible. Remembering this little fact, Kagome crawled forward towards Inuyasha; not noticing as he halted his actions and watched her intently while her hand darted forward to cautiously pat his abdomen, searching for any easily detectible evidence of his previous injuries. She knew he healed with a freakish sort of speed, she had seen it before with the demon apartment incident, but the gashes had been so terrible last night, she had just assumed it would take longer for him to recuperate.
"I can hardly feel any of your old wounds - you're practically completely healed," she said, letting her hand rest on his button down shirt, and feeling nothing but smooth muscle under her hands, with the occasional fading scar mark here and there. "You're amazing," she added with a sort of reverence in her tone.
"Ah, it's nothing," Inuyasha snorted, pushing her away quickly, and trying to ignore how personal her actions were. She probably had no idea that she was being incredibly intimate with him - she was probably just being her usual, sweet self. Kagome was an innocent sort of person. She wasn't thinking like him. "Now sit still and let me get a good look at your injuries,"
"They're just a bunch of cuts from the s-spider's talons," she said, finding it odd that she still couldn't think about the dangerous spider heads without shuddering slightly. Was she really so traumatized?
Hell yes.
"You never seem half as worried about your own wounds as you do about other people's," Inuyasha chuckled wryly, taking back out the rapidly emptying packet of band-aids, as well as the antiseptic bottle.
"That's because your wounds are always like, these bloody, large holes in your body that would make most normal people croak!" Kagome protested, a little bit of her old self flaring back up briefly. Inuyasha grinned broadly as he put some of the antiseptic on a cotton swab, and tended to a particularly large laceration on her knee, glad to see that some of her old humor was back. He had been seriously worried about her mental health there, for a while. just remembering the way she had panicked back in the ally still brought shudders down his spine. And what she had said.
'What was I supposed to say to a request like that?' Inuyasha thought with a small frown, moving on to the other leg, starting from the thigh, which had an incriminating collection of deep cuts in the shape of spider legs. 'It hurt me just to listen to her. Made me want to cry too. It was all I could do to say that I would never leave her side again - dammit, why didn't Kaede take precautions against this sort of thing happening to Kagome? Especially after Yura's attack? It's not like that old hag to be so careless, or miss the fact that another attempt on her life was very likely at this point. Naraku isn't one to give up on his targets once he's decided they're any sort of threat.'
"Kagome, I don't like this." Inuyasha said flatly, pushing the girl's knees down so that she sat up, and then extended one of her pale arms gently, inspecting it carefully for cuts. "Two murder attempts in two nights? Something has to be done. I - the FBI can make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again, and I think you should consider that," He tried to say all this in his most professional, and impersonal voice that he usually used when talking to witnesses to a crime, or victims of demon attacks - but with Kagome, he suddenly found his voice edging more towards a pleading, worried tone. If Kagome noticed she didn't say anything.
"I know, Kaede talked to me about it earlier," she said, softly, as though she really would rather not mention it.
"She did?" 'Now that sounds more like the Kaede I know,' "What did you say, then?" he asked, curious. Kagome, who had been making little to no protests as Inuyasha cleaned her burning wounds, now let a pained expression slip onto her face, and she averted her gaze slightly.
"Um, well, I was thinking of just letting her take patrol cars to circle the area where I live, and keep tabs on me a little, you know, because I think she would be okay with that," Kagome said uneasily, Inuyasha raising an eyebrow at her wary tone. She was hiding something.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." 'But not a good enough idea for me.' "Maybe you want some more. substantial protection though? The attacks on you have been pretty damn violent Kagome, and you were really lucky you were able to reach Kaede today before things got messy. You might not be so lucky next time around."
"I - I know. and Kaede had been suggesting some more drastic forms of defense on my part, but I. I wasn't too sure what I thought of them," she said quietly, drawing her legs up and unconsciously moving away from Inuyasha. Inuyasha's curiosity was piqued though, and he had a feeling he was going to be amused by whatever it was Kagome was keeping from him.
"Oh, like what kind of suggestions?" he pressed.
"Um, nothing. I mean, I don't think I should talk about them. They're not going to happen anyway," she said quickly, blushing a bit but hiding it well.
She had been so terrified when she had begged for Inuyasha to 'stay with her', earlier, in the ally - but now that things had calmed down somewhat in her head, Kagome was realizing that Inuyasha had no idea what she had been getting at when asking him to stay with her. In retrospect, it was still totally unfair to ask the half dog demon to live with she and Shippou for the duration of the investigation - an investigation that was looking like it was going to take some time to finish. Inuyasha most likely had no idea she had been speaking very literally when she had asked him to stay with her - so she couldn't do through with her request. She just couldn't.
"Hey, come on Kagome, you can tell me," Inuyasha said, joking lightly and lifting the awkward mood somewhat. "What did Kaede offer? And why did you refuse?" he added with a hint of seriousness to his tone, signaling that Kagome WAS going to eventually have to tell him no matter what.
"Because. because she wanted to do something. I didn't think was a good idea!" she blurted, trying to evade answering the question again - What's more, actually answering Inuyasha's question outright would be sort of embarrassing.
"I'll just find out by asking Kaede later! So it's either you tell me or she tells me -as my partner I always know what's going on with you." he said archly, folding his arms and looking intimidating. Kagome cursed quietly and rubbed her head, looking up at him cautiously with a weak smile on her face.
"You're going to laugh," she admitted.
"I hope so." Inuyasha knew better than most that Kaede had. an odd idea of what a suitable amount of protection was for innocents in danger, and what an incredibly smothering amount was. After Kikyo left, she had. after all.
"She um - suggestedthatyoumoveinwithmeandprotectmeandShippouuntilthecaseisover..."
"What? Come again?" Inuyasha asked, cupping his ear. "Say it slower."
"Ah - I," Kagome didn't think her face could actually get any hotter - why her?! "She said she wanted you to move in with me!" she cried, clearer this time.
Cracking one eye open carefully to see Inuyasha's reaction, Kagome found, to her surprise, that Inuyasha's expression was actually carefully neutral. He hadn't broken out into a fit of righteous ranting, as she had feared he would, at the prospect of having to live with someone as weird as HER, and he hadn't started rolling around on the floor, laughing, either. But then - what WAS he thinking?
"And you said this was a bad idea?" he asked slowly, after an extended pause.
"Well - YEAH!" Kagome barked, rubbing her head and smiling awkwardly. Just what was he suggesting?! "I mean - don't you think it is? It would be kind of weird to make you to live with me until we're sure all threats of Naraku are gone. and I. I didn't want to force that kind of thing on you!" she explained clumsily.
"Kagome, you didn't have to worry about me being forced to live with you," Inuyasha reprimanded. "If I didn't want to do it, I could probably told Kaede to get someone else to do the job. I'm to far up in the hierarchy of the FBI at this point to be used as a simple bodyguard if I don't want to."
"Well. all right, but I thought it would have been weird for me to bring it up anyway. And besides - if you were just going to say 'no', what's the problem anyway?" Kagome snapped, suddenly feeling a bit defensive. So wait - was he now saying that there was no way he would have ever lived with her anyway? When she thought he was suggesting he might have agreed with Kaede's terms it was flustering - but having him tell her it was a lost cause was just as bad! Oh Gods she was confused.
"Actually, if Kaede suggested it, and you were all right with it. I might not have said no," Inuyasha admitted quietly, his words almost imperceptible - but powerful nonetheless.
The miko in training did a bit of a double take, watching Inuyasha's demeanor suddenly change from confidant and casual, to shy and almost guilty - as though he were confessing something bad. Kagome's jaw dropped and she stared, wide eyed, at the obviously mentally addled hanyou sitting next to her.
"You. you would have agreed to live with me, and protect Shippou and I from Naraku, if I had asked you?" she repeated, as though just to make sure Inuyasha knew what he was saying.
"I - I suppose that's what I mean," he said in an uncharacteristically hesitant way. "I mean - it's only for your protection! You've seen what kind of attacks have been launched against you! I'm obviously the only person fit for this sort of job," he reasoned.
"But are you forgetting that you'll be having to live in my apartment. around six feet away from my bedroom. for possibly a very long time? This doesn't all. bother you?" Kagome squeaked in disbelief.
Inuyasha looked her in the eye for a good moment, as though considering whether or not this situation really DID in fact bother him. sitting up straighter - a cocky grin reestablishing itself on his face. As it should be.
"Hey, I already told you I'd stay with you for however long you needed back in the ally - remember?" he told her, as though this cleared everything up. Kagome took in a sharp gasp, unable to believe what Inuyasha was saying. Or how sweet he was being. Sure, the circumstances were a little weird, but this was possibly one of the more romantic things any guy had done for her ever! Well, it sort of quavered under the shadow of one of Hojo's many amorous escapades. but those hardly counted because the affection was unrequited! - But, was she now saying that these sort of sentiments. with Inuyasha. WERE requited then?
"Hello? Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, waving a clawed hand in front of her face and urging the girl to snap out of her daze. "Geez - you look like I just asked you to marry me or something! I'm only going to be here at night to make sure that the more homicidal demons out there don't sneak into your room and disembowel you." He assured her. Kagome laughed uneasily and shook her head in agreement, covering up her mild embarrassment.
"Right! I know! It's just. thanks Inuyasha. I didn't want to ask you to stay with me because I thought it would be totally out of line. and I still do. it's just. I really am scared. And I really do appreciate this sort of attention," she said honestly. "Thank you,"
With that she quickly embraced the silver haired man, hiding her face in his shoulder so he couldn't see the flustered look on her features - one that was borne from not only mortification at having Inuyasha be so kind to little old her, but also out of shame from the fact that she had just admitted she wasn't really as brave as she pretended to be most of the time. She was just plain scared right around then. Inuyasha stiffened for a second, before returning the hug and patting her back awkwardly.
"Hey, don't worry about it. As much as you don't want to be torn apart by some crazy freak like Yura. I want to be there to protect you from the crazy freaks who want to tear you up," he said in a voice laced with good humor, and an underlying, deeper emotion that seemed to hold traces of regret.
"Inuyasha," Kagome said softly, now looking back up at him, and unable to believe he'd just said something so blatantly caring - he just didn't seem like that sort of man! 'It's always the tough guys.' she realized with a mental grin.
"Kagome. I." Inuyasha replied, his eyes becoming rather dark as he looked down at her, and his fists clenching unconsciously by his sides.
But then Inuyasha's face was getting closer to hers. much closer. and she could actually feel his breath on her mouth as he leaned in. Kagome's eyes widened considerably and her lips parted with surprise. Was he going to.. Was he trying to - kiss her?
Kagome had just started to crane her neck to the side and respond to Inuyasha's movements, feeling her breath get caught in her throat - when there was a sharp knocking on the door.
Instantly the couple split apart and leaped to opposite ends of the couch, nearly shaking with surprise and staring at the offending door in an accusatory manner - both with eyes that were just as angry as they were completely alarmed.
"Uhh." Kagome said intelligently - hugging herself and desperately trying to hide the fact that she was nearly panting with fear at the prospect of being caught making out with her partner. What had that just been about? What had they almost done!?
"Yuhhh." Inuyasha responded in an equally as intellectual way. He glared at Kagome's front door intensely as the couple sat in silence for a few moments, making Kagome wonder if he was actually angry that whoever was on the other side of her door had broken up their little 'moment'.
"I'll get it," she said softly, finally, getting to her feet and padding over to her door.
"Hello?" she asked, opening the door and staring at the couple on the other side.
"Kagome!" Miroku gasped, launching himself into the room and hugging the twenty year old fiercely. "You're all right! We were all so worried."
"Figured we'd find you both here," Kaede said in her scratchy voice, hobbling into the room, and shaking her head in a knowing way.
"Um - you did?" Kagome blurted in a clueless manner while Inuyasha stood up as well, wondering for the first time if anyone else in the office noticed the odd chemistry between she and her snowy haired partner. However, before she had any more time to think about this dangerous line of thought, she noticed the little bundle Kaede held in her arms.
"Shippou?" Kagome asked, drawing herself away from Miroku as she felt his hand stray dangerously low on her back, and quickly traveling over to the little kitsune. "Why are you with Kaede and Miroku?"
"When he heard that you and Inuyasha were under attack he insisted he come with us, to make sure that you were all right," Kaede explained as Shippou threw himself into Kagome's arms with no further hesitance.
"I was so worried you were going to be eaten by the spiders!" he explained quickly, tears forming in the corner of his eyes.
"Oh don't worry Shippou! Inuyasha saved me." Kagome explained with a small smile, making the hanyou behind her blush ever so slightly.
"Ah - it wasn't that big a deal," Inuyasha said uneasily, folding his arms self-consciously.
"Oh stop being so modest!" Kagome ordered, turning back to Miroku. "Do you know he got the Tetsusaiga to transform again?!" she said.
"Is that so?" Miroku asked, looking at Inuyasha with wide eyes and a slightly impressed expression on his face. "You're learning very quickly with the sword in a very short period of time, aren't you Inuyasha? That's quite. interesting." He finished hesitantly, his gaze flicking over to an oblivious Kagome as Inuyasha frowned in a sort of understanding way.
"Yeah. It is," he agreed warily.
"Well Kagome, you gave us all quite a scare back there," Kaede said, plopping herself onto a stool by Kagome's white, tiled counter and making herself at home. "But at least you seem to be in pretty good shape - no serious damage done besides those little scratches, right?" she asked.
"Yes. I'm fine." Kagome said with a weak smile. Kaede nodded approvingly, putting a hand on her knee.
"Good. Then, would you mind informing Miroku and I about your most recent fight? I think I'd like to hear this from you now before the memory starts to fade, if that's all right," she said, staring at Kagome watchfully.
"Um, no, that's all right - I can do it," Kagome said, shuddering internally and wondering silently if she really could. The mental wounds were all still very fresh, and it had been merely an hour since she was stuck in that dark, terrifying ally way. Could she really recount her misfortune before the scrapes along her legs had had time to stop throbbing?
As Inuyasha shot her a concerned, warm glance meant only for her from the other side of the table, liquid gold meeting shimmering brown, she realized with a start that - why yes, she could pull this off.
As long as he was there to protect her she had a feeling she could do anything.
*
It was a full two hours later before Kaede even made any mention of leaving the apartment.
However, in that time, the group had recounted the entire attack - from both Kagome's and Inuyasha's point of view - and they had gone over exactly what was to be done upon returning to the office. Reports were to be handed in, of course, and another file would have to be written up about the miko Kagome Higurashi who had already received two indirect attempts on her life from the super villain Naraku.
Then, of course, Kagome had admitted that she would like to have Inuyasha stay at her house as a personal bodyguard until the investigation was over.
".Do you think that would be ok?" Kagome asked slowly, as though she didn't know what Kaede's shrewd smile meant, and as though she and Inuyasha hadn't already discussed the topic intimately. In fact, the only relatively surprised looking people in the room after Kagome's plucky request seemed to be Miroku and Shippou. Even then, Miroku just seemed more excited than anything.
"Well, I personally think this is a GREAT idea," Miroku enthused, winking suggestively in Inuyasha's direction. The hanyou rolled his eyes heavenwards and glared off to the side in return - all of these disparaging actions helping greatly in his effort not to smirk.
"As do I." Kaede said knowingly, smiling gently at Kagome's lightly bandaged form, and guessing already that the girl's big change of heart was in great part thanks to the terrifying experience she had recently described for everyone. It was no wonder she wanted a demon bodyguard after THAT. And Inuyasha didn't exactly look hesitant to give her exactly what she wanted, as well.
"And YOU'RE all right with this, Inuyasha?" Shippou asked after a second, looking slightly shocked, and already knowing Inuyasha well enough to know that he usually wouldn't let himself be boxed into these sort of situations without a fight.
There was a pause from the hanyou's corner, at which point everyone began to stare at him, before his golden eyes flashed briefly towards Kagome. She was the only person not looking at him - instead she was staring nervously at her hands, as though worried about what he might say. Didn't she realize he had meant what he said to her earlier?.
"Yeah. I'm fine with it squirt, so just drop it. It's not a big deal. I'll just sleep here in the evenings, and I'll go to work with Kagome in the mornings. No problems. AND I can watch out for you too, in case Naraku decides your parents weren't enough. Two birds with one stone," Inuyasha said contentedly, folding his arms in satisfaction.
"A good point," Kaede agreed approvingly, nodding her head.
"Well, if that's settled," Miroku said, jumping off his stool and cracking his back. "I better be getting home then. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."
"Quite. And I do believe it's Shippou's bedtime." Kaede added, raising an eyebrow in the small demon's direction. Shippou stuck his tongue out in response, hiding behind one of Kagome's legs.
"I don't wanna go to bed," he said resolutely, glowering. Kagome gave off a smile that glowed and bent down to lift the kitsune up. Inuyasha attempted not to stare as he spotted Kagome hug Shippou close, murmuring encouraging words that seemed to force the little animal into a state of relaxation just by listening. She was so. comforting.
"Come on Shippou. it's late. you've had a long day. I won't make you take a shower tonight if you go to bed with no fuss." she cajoled softly, as Miroku and Kaede nodded in Inuyasha's direction, backing away and towards the door - obviously assured that Kagome had things under control.
"We'll see you bright and early tomorrow Inuyasha. Assignments for potential victims are being given out to partners first thing. and that means you and Kagome," Kaede reminded him as she slipped into her dark brown trench coat, her long silver pony tail sliding down her back.
"Hey - what about me?" Miroku asked in confusion, he too reassembling himself as he approached the door. "If Kagome's got Inuyasha, whose going to be my partner?"
"Don't worry, I have something figured out. Goodnight everybody," Kaede said, waving briefly to everyone in the room before disappearing into the hall, Miroku nodding his head at Inuyasha before he followed her. And as the door finally closed, the snowy haired half demon suddenly felt as though things were back to normal. As though he had just let some guests leave his house. even though HE was technically the guest, and Kagome and Shippou were just a few feet away, the real residents of the apartment. Sort of. When was the last time he had felt so at ease with other people in the room?
'I haven't even spent one night here, and already I'm attached.' The usually aloof Inuyasha thought darkly, shaking his head. 'I've got to get a hold of myself; I'm letting Kagome make me feel too comfortable, in too short a period of time.' He acknowledged, now turning back around to observe the raven-haired girl as she tucked Shippou into the pullout couch bed, the kitsune's eyes already heavy with sleep, as any normal child's would be at this time of night. How had the hours slid by so fast?
"Well, it's just us again." Kagome said softly, raising herself off the bed and walking towards Inuyasha, curiously observing the small, easy grin on his face she was not accustomed to seeing. Usually when she talked to the agent, he had a scowl, or at least a carefully neutral expression on his features. She was not used to this lazy, almost content attitude she saw on him. However - she regrettably let too much of her bewilderment show, and almost immediately Inuyasha looked tense and irritable again, as was the norm.
"Yeah," he agreed, folding his arms. "You - uh, want me over tonight. right?" he asked cautiously, deeply aware that being over presumptuous in this sort of situation could result in many awkward moments, and realizing that he, not being the most eloquent of people, had better be extra careful about what he said from there on out.
"Of course!" Kagome was quick to assure him, pulling awkwardly on the bottom of her shirt and glancing around the room, as though searching for something. "But - where do you want to sleep tonight? If you want, you could have my bed, and I'll sleep with Shippou. The pull-out couch is pretty big so it's all right," she suggested.
"No - no it's okay. I can sleep with Shippou," Inuyasha automatically replied, completely aware that sleeping in Kagome's bed at night might just drive him over the edge. With his sensitive nose, her flowery scent would probably keep him up until the wee hours of the morning. "The brat doesn't annoy me that much," he added.
"Right," Kagome giggled. "Well. how do you want to do this then?"
"I figure I should stop back at my apartment and grab some things - I'll be back as soon as I can, and probably with my car. You don't have one, do you? I can drive us to work in the morning," he explained.
"Oh no, I have one. But - uh - using yours would probably be a better idea," Kagome admitted, thinking about her pathetic little Ford Escort with a sigh.
"All right. I'll be back in a bit then." Inuyasha said, about to head over to the coat rack to get his leather jacket - before realizing he wasn't wearing one. He had left the office in such a hurry upon realizing Kagome was in danger, he hadn't even bothered to don his impressive bullet proof jacket.
"Wait - take some keys in case I'm asleep when you get back," Kagome suggested, handing him a key chain with a little rubberducky on it.
"Oh, thanks," Inuyasha said, observing the key chain with some amusement. "I'll be back as soon as I can,"
And with that he was gone, down the stairs, through the lobby and out the door - speeding towards his apartment across town undoubtedly. But as Kagome slid into bed, dressed in her flannel pajamas, and with her hair pulled back into a messy bun, she realized that she needn't have given Inuyasha her keys. She wouldn't be able to fall asleep until he had come back, anyway, and she would probably be waiting up for him until she heard his keys jingling at the front door. Kagome just didn't feel safe anymore unless Inuyasha was around.
*
"Ow! Hot! Hot!" Kagome hissed as Inuyasha pulled away from the drive up window the next morning, the steaming cup of coffee in her hands she had just received splashing about, and some of it landing in her lap.
"Oh, sorry," Inuyasha commented apologetically, smoothly steering his convertible black Lexus back into the street, a tray of McDonald's fast food breakfast sitting next to him. In the passenger's seat, Kagome mopped up her lap with a napkin, sighing. A wonderful start to a great day, for sure.
"It's all right. Shippou, you want your hotcakes?" the twenty year old asked the kitsune in the back seat, proffering a package of disgusting, greasy pancakes to the demon. He snatched them from her greedily.
"Yeah - but why do you guys get coffee, and I have to have orange juice?" he asked irately, biting into his breakfast with a small frown.
"Because the last thing YOU need, my friend, is caffeine," Inuyasha said simply, shaking his head as Kagome smiled in amusement next to him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Shippou snapped.
"It means if you get any more hyper than you already are every day, I'll have to maim you." He replied easily.
"Heyyy!"
"Come on Inuyasha, it's too early," Kagome groaned, not ready for another fight between the two demons as she sipped her black coffee slowly. Usually the college student liked to add a healthy amount of sugar and milk to her daily caffeine pick-me-up - but physical and mental injuries from the other day were all urging her to go black that day.
In truth, Inuyasha had confided in Kagome that morning that no one would hold it against her if she decided not to come to work the next day - but Kagome decided she didn't want to put off getting back to work and writing up a report about the spider-head incident, and knew very well that staying home all day dwelling on her most recent traumatic experience would do her little to no good. It wasn't as though she couldn't function, in any case. Physically, it was all just a bunch of overly bandaged scratches.
"Whatever," Inuyasha muttered.
As thought, Kagome had laid in bed last night, wide-awake, until Inuyasha had returned to the apartment an hour later. She had listened to him move around her house, stopping in the bathroom, unzipping his bag of clothing, getting changed for bed . and she eventually drifted off, lulled to sleep by the sounds of his assured presence.
And now the trio was heading to work; Kagome feeling a lot as though she were driving to school with her family, as the group all squabbled and talked to one another as a family did, and sometimes, Kagome noticed, radiated the warm feelings a family did as well. Sometimes.
'It's like Shippou's the kid, I'm the mom, and Inuyasha's the dad.' Kagome thought shyly, almost too embarrassed to even say the notion in her head. However, as she watched Inuyasha discreetly try to chuck a hash brown back at Shippou from the front seat, she reconsidered her idea. 'Or maybe it's more like Inuyasha's the older brother.'
"Hey, something wrong Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, spying the pretty girl staring at him from the corner of his eye.
'I wonder what people will think when they find out he's living with me,' Kagome wondered silently, her raven hair getting blown about her face. 'They'll probably think he's my boyfriend.'
"Helllooo." Inuyasha said, waving one clawed hand in front of her face, and letting his other steer the car. "Anyone home?"
'Yeah right. My boyfriend? Please.' "Nothing Inuyasha, I'm just tired," Kagome said easily, taking another gulp of her coffee.
"All right," Inuyasha said, turning back to the road and shrugging Kagome's odd behavior off. Actually, considering what sort of shape Kagome had been in last night, her attitude this morning was above average. He should have known she'd make a speedy recovery from her harrowing episode in the ally though - Kagome didn't strike him as the type of girl who let something as silly as almost being torn to shreds by spider demons get her down.
A few minutes later, as Kagome approached the agency's entrance, walking through the underground garage and towards the elevator with Shippou by her side and Inuyasha just behind her, another thought occurred to the newly instated agent; What WOULD people think when they saw Inuyasha with her? Shippou had been one problem, what with his appearance, and it now occurred to her that Inuyasha was going to be no different with his ears and hair. but .
"Inuyasha, what do you do when humans ask you why you have fangs and claws and stuff?" Kagome asked as the elevator started to move, the people she was most worried about when it came to this area being her family. She could not see them accepting the fact that she was living with a demon - especially her grandfather, who actually believed in such things.
"Well, I just try to stay away from mortal hang outs in the first place, so I can avoid those types of questions. There are areas of the city just for demons, ya know," he replied, while Shippou licked the last remains of syrup from his paws.
"No, I didn't. But I mean, the questions must be inevitable sometimes, so what do you do when asked?" she pressed, pushing the bit of information about specialized demon areas of the city to the back of her mind for later questioning.
"Sometimes I tell them it's a birth defect. Sometimes I tell the smarter people it's a costume. And sometimes I just tell them to fuck off," Inuyasha answered with a nonchalant shrug. "Why do you ask?"
"Um, no reason," Kagome said nervously, realizing that none of the above explanations were going to suit her mother - not to mention Keiko and Kiki. (Both of whom, she had to remind herself, she was supposed to see that night at the new sushi bar.) However, it felt wrong to ask Inuyasha to hide his appearance in front of her family and friends when he was doing her a favor by staying in her house. He shouldn't have to be ashamed of what he looked like when he couldn't help it - but the fact of the matter was she just didn't know what else to do.
'I guess the only solution is to wait until I have to cross that bridge before I start to worry about it - and maybe just make sure everyone stays away from my apartment for the next couple months. Oh, jeez.'
"Well, I know I always -" Shippou started, just before the elevator doors opened, and the deafening sound of many people talking loudly all at once attacked the surprised trio's ears, making Inuyasha especially annoyed. What was going on?
The Agency's office looked like a war zone - people everywhere were rushing around hectically, shouting excitedly to one another, and whispering fervently in corners. Kagome had never seen the demon agents all so distracted, and she had to admit it was slightly unnerving. Something was up.
"What's happening?" Kagome asked loudly.
"Let me find out," Inuyasha answered, marching through the crowds and grabbing a random agent by the shoulder, spinning him around. "Hey you, what's happening here?"
"Um - well they just gave all of the agents their assigned potential victims to protect," the slightly confused demon replied; a horse demon by the looks of it.
"That's all?" Inuyasha asked incredulously.
"Oh - Mr. Sesshomaru stopped by this morning, looking like he was on a warpath! He was really frightening. hey aren't you his-"
"Dammit!" Inuyasha growled, obviously having found his answer, and shoving past the flustered demon and directly towards Kaede's office. A confused Kagome followed after him, lifting Shippou up into her arms so that he wouldn't get lost in the crowd. The assignments for potential victims had already been given out? And who was Sesshomaru?
"Inuyasha, what did he mean about that Sesshomaru person?" Kagome called to her partner as he neared Kaede's office, desperately trying not to loose him as he stormed through the halls at an impressive speed. What was the rush?
"Forget about it!" he called back sharply, throwing open Kaede's door and entering the office. Kagome paused just outside the door as it slammed itself shut, unsure of whether or not to follow Inuyasha any longer, as he seemed to be quite angry, and generally, she had found, when Inuyasha got angry he only further upset the people around him.
Kagome glanced down at Shippou, who was staring back up at her with a mischievous look on his face. And as the sound of raised voices began to waft out from inside the room, the duo both nodded at each other, pushing open the door once more - their curiosity piqued.
Kagome had expected to see Inuyasha leaning over Kaede's desk, muttering angry words at her, as the girl knew the agent had no scruples with talking back to his superiors. And she had also expected to see that highly irritated frown on Kaede's face, as she knew, in addition, that Kaede didn't appreciate being talked back to. But what Kagome hadn't expected. was to see another dog demon, standing next to Inuyasha, wearing possibly the most expensive suit she had ever seen in her life.
"Hell, if he has a problem with it, just leave the dumb bast-" Inuyasha was saying in a growl, before everyone's heads swung around to stare at Kagome and Shippou, two sets of matching golden eyes glaring at the couple. Shippou gulped, and Kagome took an unconscious step back. Yeesh.
"And who might you two be?" the new demon asked, in a voice as cold and emotionless as ice. Kagome blinked back, sizing the demon up in her head with her miko powers, and finding to her surprise that his entire form was nearly dripping with observable power. Just who was this guy?
The male demon was admittedly attractive, Kagome had to admit, though in an almost feminine manner, as his features were as perfectly chiseled as that of a beautiful woman's. But his voice was deep and masculine, and he stood at at least 6'6 with very broad shoulders. His Armani suit made him look dashing and a bit intimidating to the awestruck girl wearing a pair of black peddle pushers and a dark green sweater, especially as she noticed his clawed hands by his side. Why, with his silver hair that hung down to his waist, he could have been Inuyasha's brother.
"Mr. Sesshomaru, I would like you to meet Kagome Higurashi - a miko in training, and your brother's new partner." Kaede said after an awkward pause, where Inuyasha looked tempted to step protectively in front of the surprised girl, as though worried what Sesshomaru would do to her.
"Inuyasha - this man is your real brother!?" Kagome blurted, Shippou's eyes widening dramatically.
"Holy cow!" he squeaked, obviously impressed with the new dog demon's appearance as well.
"Half brother." Sesshomaru was quick to assure Kagome, his gaze flitting back to his younger brother, the expression on his face condescending. "After all, Inuyasha is only a half demon."
'That's right,' Kagome realized, watching Inuyasha simmer dangerously at Sesshomaru's obviously cruel jab. 'Miroku mentioned that Inuyasha had a half brother who was a full demon - and that he wasn't well liked, to boot.'
Looking at the demon again, there were now obvious differences to Sesshomaru that distinguished him from his halfling brother. For starters, Inuyasha looked more like a dog with his puppy ears that Sesshomaru lacked, and Inuyasha had no dark stripes on either of his cheeks as the full demon did - a mark Kagome had seen on other full demons around the office as well. It was rather fascinating to compare the other differences between the two, such as what looked to be large, fluffy tail wrapped around Sesshomaru's shoulders, but she hesitated as she realized both brothers knew they were being sized up, and were staring back at her intently. "S- sorry," Kagome quickly stuttered, blushing and bowing her head. "It's just very interesting to see Inuyasha's brother."
"Hn." Sesshomaru commented disdainfully, turning away from Kagome and leaving her feeling a bit offended for some reason. It was his air - he spoke and looked as though everyone were beneath him - although she supposed, to a demon, she was.
"Well, Inuyasha, all I can say is I hope you keep this one for a little more than a few months. Your last miko partner didn't hold up very well at all, did she?" Sesshomaru asked archly of the man next to him. Kagome mentally groaned, as she knew that Sesshomaru had touched upon a very sore spot in Inuyasha's psyche - even SHE had been forbidden to mention Kikyo or Inuyasha's past with her.
"You BASTARD!" Inuyasha roared predictably, launching himself at Sesshomaru with no sort of hesitance whatsoever. And even to Kagome's untrained eye she could tell the attack was sloppy and fueled mainly by pure rage - however Kagome also knew that if she had been on the receiving end of that attack she would have been flattened anyway, simply because Inuyasha was so physically powerful.
On the other hand, Sesshomaru didn't seem to have any problems with simply sidestepping the angry lunge, and blocking any further punches with quick flicks of his hand that seem to disappear and reappear in the exact places Inuyasha was hitting. He was incredibly fast, and possibly more skilled than Inuyasha himself. The thought made Kagome shiver.
"Excuse me! Stop it! No fighting in my office!" Kaede roared above the sounds of Inuyasha's infuriated growls, and angry punches. Neither demon showed any signs of hearing the elderly mortal though, as Sesshomaru finally took some initiative and zipped forward, backhanding Inuyasha so hard the agent quickly slammed into the ground, coughing violently.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, running over to her fallen partner and helping him to sit up. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Inuyasha said gruffly, batting Kagome's hand away and sitting up on his own, obviously embarrassed that Kagome had seen him so badly brushed aside like that. However, Kagome didn't seem to be in any way ashamed of Inuyasha - she was just furious with Sesshomaru.
"How can you treat your brother that way!?" she demanded, her chocolate eyes flashing. "Insulting him about his poor partner, which you obviously know pains him - and then brawling with him in Ms. Kaede's office? Who do you think you are?" she asked in a very brash, Kagome-like fashion, not even commenting on the fact that it had actually been Inuyasha who started the scuffle.
"I think the question is girl, who do YOU think YOU are?" Sesshomaru replied evenly, in a voice that never rose or fell an octave. The sound made Kagome tremble slightly, but she ignored it and continued to glare bravely at the full demon before her. She hardly even noticed as Inuyasha got to his feet and left her kneeling on the ground.
"I think you should go, Sesshomaru," Inuyasha said evenly, obviously trying to control his rage under a mask of indifference. "The FBI is only sending out those agents for your protection; why send them away?"
"I don't NEED sniveling FBI scum around to protect me, little brother," Sesshomaru spat in disgust, folding his arms and completely forgetting about Kagome once more. From behind her desk Kaede sighed, and rested her cheek in her hand.
"But Sesshomaru, they are not hassling you in any way." The elderly detective reasoned. "They are merely monitoring your property. Many of our potential victims have agents actually inside their houses, undercover, and you don't even have that. Please just let us do this - you may be the key to catching Naraku and we need all the help we can get. If he comes after you."
"If he comes after me, I can get rid of Naraku myself. Your agents are inadequate anyway, obviously." Sesshomaru stated flatly, nodding towards Inuyasha. Inuyasha clenched his fists in response and Kagome's jaw dropped. Could this guy be any more hostile?
"I don't see what you're worrying about, Kaede," Inuyasha said sharply, baring his fangs. "There's no way Naraku would come after this jerk. You said he only goes after demons with PURE souls, right? Heh, Sesshomaru is probably the safest demon for miles around, in that case," the agent finished hotly. Sesshomaru smirked at Inuyasha, the first real expression Kagome had seen on his face, and it made the girl frightened because of the unregulated anger it held in it. Shippou whimpered and ran behind Inuyasha's legs.
"Maybe you should shut up Inuyasha, eh?" Shippou suggested quietly.
"I'm not afraid of this guy. He's just a bully. Always has been," Inuyasha said, shrugging and looking at his brother through lidded eyes. Sesshomaru's smirk grew, and he spun away from the desk quickly, exiting the office.
"Perhaps you're right, little brother. Perhaps I AM quite safe. And in that case, there is no reason to send any more agents to my estate. No, Detective Kaede?" He closed the door shut behind him, and was gone.
"Right." Kaede sighed, leaning back in her chair and shaking her head after Sesshomaru had left. "That guy gets me every time. I really don't know what we're going to do about him. but maybe we'll get lucky and Naraku will just avoid him."
"I hope so! I don't want to see that guy again any time soon," Kagome gasped, collapsing into one of the two chairs in front of Kaede's desk, once it was apparent the demon was truly gone. "He was crazy! Did you see how strong he was?"
"Yeah! He was really powerful!" Shippou added enthusiastically.
"Oh, and if you think that's bad, you should see him when he's serious," Kaede laughed humorlessly, grabbing some files off her desk and sifting through the cabinets to her right. "But, don't let him get to you. He does this sometimes when the FBI tries to meddle in his affairs - he's a very private man. Besides, I have something for you and Inu-"
"Kagome," Inuyasha interrupted, looking at the girl sharply as Shippou climbed into the seat next to Kagome. The half-demon had been silent since his brother's exit, and now he seemed to be very curious about something.
"Yes, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked pleasantly, twisting around in her seat to look at him.
"How did you. know about Kikyo?" he asked slowly, something undefined swimming through his eyes and making him look very somber.
"Oh - I." Kagome mentally slapped her forehead - she had forgotten she wasn't supposed to know about Kikyo! Kaede was going to be so mad.
"I told her," Kaede interrupted unexpectedly, folding her wrinkly hands and staring at Inuyasha. "I told her all about Kikyo a couple days ago. I thought she deserved to know since she's your new partner,"
"I - I see." Inuyasha said, averting his gaze with a frown, and looking as though he would have preferred it very much if Kaede had just kept her mouth shut. "I have to go," he added quickly, briskly exiting the room and slamming the door behind him before Kagome had a chance to hold him back.
"Inu - oh! What's wrong with that man now?" the confused girl asked, sinking back down in her chair and rubbing her aching forehead. She'd only been in the office for around a half-hour, and already the dilemmas were piling up.
"I'm sorry, this is my fault. Inuyasha is just feeling a bit violated right now, I'm sure. He doesn't like to talk about his past," Kaede said wearily, wondering why this Monday had started out so wretchedly bad for her.
"I noticed," Kagome muttered, folding her arms. Kaede forced a smile for the confused looking girl, and took out a manila folder from her desk, sliding it over to the miko sitting across from her.
"He might have wanted to tell you about her in his own time, but I think it's good that you know now. Well. he'll have forgotten about the whole thing by this afternoon in any case. Now, your assignment."
"Right, who are we going to be guarding?" Kagome asked with interest, shaking her head and concentrating on the matters at hand. She had a job to do. Inuyasha's pained expression was driving her nuts, but she did have a job to do, and one more class to go to tonight before the winter break was on . and then it was celebratory sushi with the girls, and possibly a long, long conversation with her mother - right. She was ready.
"A rich heir who lives in the area. You and Inuyasha will be needing to go undercover for this one, and you'll probably be maids and servants in the mansion this demon lives for the time being," Kaede explained, as Kagome sifted through the contents of the folder.
"A mansion? Whoa, this guy must be loaded."
"He is, and he's a bit of a son of a bitch too - but that's just what the locals in the area say. He lives uptown, and you'll be starting on your assignment tomorrow. It took some time to convince this guy to let you both in as undercover guards in his own home, since he had been taking it much the same way as Sesshomaru did. Luckily, his family 'O.K'd it for us - so now there's not much he can do about it,"
"Sounds like he's going to be trouble," Kagome sighed, as Shippou looked over her shoulder at the files about Kagome and Inuyasha's potential victim. "Are you sure he has a soul pure enough for Naraku to want?"
"Yes. Don't be fooled by his cocky exterior - he's a good guy who's done a lot for the community, and he has a formidable amount of power. Just the kind of guy Naraku would be very interested in," Kaede said darkly.
*
"So, you actually met Sesshomaru, hu?" Miroku asked Kagome as the couple sat down to eat in the cafeteria, Shippou away with an agent assigned to baby-sit him that day, and Inuyasha off somewhere Kagome couldn't find him. (Much to her chagrin.)
"Confronted, is more like. I guess I maybe was a little rude to him, but I was just surprised to see him - and then he insulted Inuyasha so badly! I had to do something." Kagome explained with a sigh, biting into her hamburger as other agents milled around the dining area, going over their files for potential victims and still feeling a little excited.
"You're telling me that you actually YELLED at Sesshomaru?" Miroku asked, shocked.
"Well, yeah. He was being a real jerk!" Kagome reminded the monk. "If you had been there you would have done the same thing,"
"No, I wouldn't have. Sesshomaru is president of one of the largest demon firms in all of Japan, and he's one rich bastard. Inherited the family business and a whole lot of land from his mother, and some from his father - and now he's a demon to be reckoned with. Rumor has it; he's so powerful he could take down 100 demons single handedly if forced to. Plus, let me tell you, you would NOT want to meet this guy in the courtroom. He's a monster of a lawyer! So to speak," Miroku explained to the wide-eyed Kagome.
"God, he sounds terrible. All that money and that cold attitude? No wonder Inuyasha hates him. But - hey, if Sesshomaru inherited all that from his parents, what about Inuyasha?" Kagome asked curiously, wondering if her hanyou friend was holding back on her, and if he really lived on HIS own estate somewhere in upper class Tokyo like his half brother.
'If that's the case - why don't Shippou and I just stay at his place?' she thought with a small smile.
"Well, you have to understand that Inuyasha doesn't like to throw his money around like Sesshomaru does. He's not into the glamour like Mr. Ihavemoremoneythanyouhavebraincells - but he IS pretty wealthy." Miroku said.
"Really? I had no idea." Kagome said in wonder.
"What, you think that black Lexus came out of his ass? However, keep in mind Inuyasha isn't half as rich as his brother, since Inuyasha's mother was no where near as successful as Sesshomaru's. In fact, Inuyasha's human mother was just a shop owner downtown - a humble mortal his powerful demon father became smitten with," Miroku said in a dreamy voice, making Kagome laugh.
"That sounds romantic." She commented.
"Well, it got a whole lot of people in the upper levels of the pecking order of the demon world pretty pissed, let me tell you. Especially when Inuyasha was born. And then both of his parents died when he was pretty young. and times were tough," the monk admitted.
"I'm sure Sesshomaru was no help to Inuyasha," Kagome mumbled, feeling a large amount of sympathy for Inuyasha as she learned more and more about his confusing past. What a terrible childhood he must have had! No wonder he was a prick sometimes.
"I don't know, Inuyasha doesn't like to talk about him a lot. In fact, Inuyasha doesn't like to talk about ANYTHING a lot. What I'm telling you is highly secretive information, because if Inuyasha knew I was telling you his little tear jerking family history, he'd have words with me. So, let's keep this on the down low, okay?" Miroku requested, looking both ways and speaking to Kagome with one hand shielding his mouth. Kagome quickly nodded her assent, not in any hurry to get Inuyasha angry at her again for finding out more about his past.
"Of course not. Besides, that's not what I want to talk about with Inuyasha right now, anyway. say, would you have any idea where he is?"
*
Kagome forced open the door to the roof of the FBI agency with her shoulder, cradling two cups of coffee in her arms as a harsh wind brutally attacked her the second she stepped out of the building. She shivered against the cold hair and quickly searched the roof's large, empty grounds with quick brown eyes, glad she had decided to at least not wear a miniskirt again that day.
Spotting her prey sitting by a ledge of the concrete roof off to the side, Kagome smiled lightly and quickly jogged over to her partner, glad Miroku knew Inuyasha so well. According to the monk, whenever the demon wanted to brood in complete privacy, this was where he went.
Inuyasha sensed Kagome approaching before he saw her, his long white hair whipping dramatically around his face as he turned to gaze at the girl dispassionately, even as she proffered her peace offering to him with a smile - a nice, steaming cup of coffee. He frowned at her appearance, and obviously resented the fact that his total solitude had been violated.
However, Kagome didn't seem to feel guilty about invading his space at all; after all, Inuyasha had been up on the roof all afternoon already, and soon Kagome had to go to her last college class before winter break; Ancient Art of the Golden Age of Japan with Hojo and Kiki. After that she probably wouldn't see Inuyasha until much later since she was eating out with her friends, and wanted to get the whole mess about Kikyo cleared up before she left so that it wouldn't weigh heavily upon her for the rest of the day. For, as much as the History major felt as though Inuyasha's bout of anger and self-pity was unnecessary. she also felt rather guilty for dredging up bad memories for him, and perhaps talking it all out would put her own mind at ease.
"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked tactlessly, taking the coffee quickly and resting his arm on his leg.
"I came up here to talk to you about Kikyo," Kagome said with just as much grace, standing directly in front of Inuyasha and leaving him with no way out of the conversation - except for one escape rout off the ledge of the 30-something floor building. and it was very odd to Kagome that she felt she knew for a fact that Inuyasha would attempt to make that jump if their intimate discussion got too personal for his liking.
"I don't want to discuss it," Inuyasha replied flatly, scowling and rolling his shoulders in an agitated manner.
"Well, I'm sorry Inuyasha, but I already know all about her now. It's too late to keep what happened to Kikyo a secret from me - but I think it would help me understand the incident better if you were to explain what happened from your point of view," Kagome explained, her tone soft and careful.
"What does it matter to you, anyway?" Inuyasha demanded, his demeanor more closed off than Kagome had seen it for the past couple of days. She had thought that they had both grown closer than this - this level of impersonal jabs and badly kept secrets; but apparently they hadn't. It was like, for every step forward two steps backwards! Sure, he was living with her, but he refused to talk to her about anything having to do with his life!
"What does it matter to me? She was your old partner, and now I'm your new one! She was the only other miko on the force, as I now am, and was also a target for some dark magic - like I am! I want to know what happened to her from you, since I'm sure you'd know best, and not just because it could help me stay better protected in case she has anything to do with my current situation - but because the incident is obviously paining you, even after all this time." Kagome explained all in one large breath, her eyes glowing with an intensity that captivated Inuyasha.
"It's only been two years," Inuyasha reminded her in a much quieter tone, averting his gaze and obviously feeling very uncomfortable now that Kagome had effectively knocked down his defenses. Kagome sighed and kneeled by him, placing her coffee down.
"Listen, you don't have to tell me if you really don't want to, but I just thought it might be good if you told at least ME about Kikyo, seeing as how we're going to be working together, and I have a feeling she's going to come up now and again. I just don't want there to be an awkward gap between us, and I'm tired of tiptoeing around the topic of her whenever I'm near you - pretending like I don't know and it doesn't matter. Because it does," Kagome admitted. Inuyasha sighed with a wry smile on his face, raking a hand through his long hair before speaking.
"And the weird thing is, you don't know how right you are to be worried about all this." he admitted.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that you're right to pick up on the weird coincidences between you and Kikyo, as I personally think they're very important as well. I don't know if Kaede has noticed it yet, but I do believe there is a connection between you and Kikyo, indirectly, and it's not a good one." Inuyasha explained, speaking in one of his most serious tones.
"Really?" Kagome asked, suddenly feeling slightly worried.
"Really. I . didn't want to bring it up because thinking about Kikyo is still. very hard for me. She was my first real partner and we parted on such nasty terms I don't even like to mention her name much anymore. I had been avoiding thinking about her, but I think in doing so I let myself be blinded to something things I should have addressed earlier; some things that might make recent events more understandable." Inuyasha said slowly.
"Inuyasha, what are you talking about? What sort of things?" Kagome asked, sounding a bit panicked now, and putting her hand on Inuyasha's arm. Inuyasha looked at her hand, so small and pale on his dark suit, yet still strong and firm, determined not to let go till she knew everything she had come for. She shared so many things with Kikyo.
"I think that Kikyo was also tangled up with Naraku, and that he had some part in her destruction and eventual fleeing of the country,"
*
A sharp knocking brought Kaede's attention to the large, wooden door of her office. Sighing, and anticipating who it would be on the other side, she pushed away the large pile of paperwork that had accumulated on her desk from the morning, when she had received a surprise visit from the accomplished demon business tycoon Sesshomaru. Wherever that intolerable man went, paperwork inevitably followed him, and currently Kaede was filling out a number of documents sent to her by Sesshomaru's own lawyers. Documents that put very distinct boundaries on how close the FBI was allowed to get to the high-ranking demon, and how much poking around they could do. Damn him.
"Come in," she called.
"Kaede, I hope you don't think you're going to get away with this!" Miroku demanded, immediately launching himself towards Kaede's desk upon entering her clustered corner office.
"Get away with what." She asked flatly, staring at Miroku for a beat before returning to her paperwork, feeling very worn out suddenly. Now even Miroku, usually one of her better mannered agents, was turning against her? What a day.
"With confining me to desk work for all of the Naraku case! I know Inuyasha and I are no longer partners, but I have been with this job from the very beginning, and I refuse to stick around the office all day now just because Inuyasha has someone new. I want to be out there and in the action." He explained fiercely, folding his arms and standing resolutely in front of Kaede.
"I never intended to make you stick around the office. I have no idea where you got that idea." Kaede said without looking up, her tone dry.
"Oh." Miroku said, arms dropping and his posture slacking somewhat. "Well. I just assumed you were going to because you hadn't given me an assignment yet like everyone else. and you already paired up Kagome and Inuyasha." He reasoned.
"'To assume makes an ass out of u and me.'" Kaede reminded him briskly. "I would never make you do desk work Miroku - you may be one of the only humans on this part of the FBI force, but you're also one of our strongest agents. I have more respect for you than that," she added, looking up briefly and making the poor monk feel even guiltier for exploding on Kaede than before. So much for those meditative skills he had picked up; he had just thought the worse when no paperwork about his potential victim to guard had shown up in his mailbox like everyone else, and there had been no emails concerning a new partner for him - or at least permission to work solo.
"Oh. Right. Thank you. but, if I am going to be working as a field agent on this case, whom shall I partner up with? Do I get to work it alone perhaps?" he asked, a slight edge of hope in his voice. No offense to the other demons in his area, but he really didn't work well with many other agents except Inuyasha. Many of them were too far below his own skill level, and magical experience, even if they were full demons.
"Don't rush me, I have it all worked out. I have a partner for you who will be coming down especially for this case, and in fact I was just waiting for them when you so rudely barged in. They're to meet me for a lunch date, and I wanted to wait to give you the assignment because I think this person would appreciate it more if we all went over the victim's stats together." Kaede admitted, rubbing her temples and frowning. Miroku nodded in understanding and took a seat, dusting off his black pants.
"Well, who is it then? Is it someone not affiliated with the FBI?" he asked curiously.
"Sort of," Kaede said, a smirk tugging at her thin lips.
"Well, who then?" Miroku pressed, tired of Kaede's game. He had not been partnered with anyone other than Inuyasha for the past two years, and he was admittedly a little nervous about suddenly receiving a new colleague.
"Oh don't be so impatient. And don't take me pulling you and Inuyasha apart personally. I really hadn't anticipated doing that, in all honesty, it's just that he and Kagome have a sort of chemistry that's worked well for them so far. I think Inuyasha does well with mikos," she admitted with a shrug. Miroku sighed in defeat.
"I'd have to admit he does. And they DO work well together, even I can tell. In fact, with a little more training for Kagome - they could be the best pair we've seen around here in some time. It's just a little disconcerting for me, you must understand," he said, resting his cheek in his hand.
"Of course. And - oh. Here they are," Kaede said, interrupted by the sound of a loud knocking at the door.
"That's your lunch date? My partner?" Miroku asked as he got to his feet politely, and Kaede shuffled over to the door.
"Yep," she replied, a secretive smile tugging at her lips. Miroku nodded carefully and kept his eyes glued to the door with interest, crossing his fingers behind his back and praying for someone at least adequate.
But as the door opened, revealing the form of a woman, his violet eyes flashed with surprise and grew wide, his handsome features contorting into a shocked expression. His fists clenched by his sides and he totally missed Kaede's amused chuckle.
"You." he breathed.
"Hello Kaede," the woman said respectfully, almost purposefully focusing only on the old woman who had answered the door, while adjusting one of the thick leather straps on her shoulder. A smile graced full pink lips. "It's been a while,"
Kaede beamed at Sango - the tall woman wearing the long coat and jeans at the door. She had her hair up in a high ponytail, and had the attractive features of a female in her early twenties. Gray eyes flashed with energy and passion. and on her back she seemed to be sporting a rather large and heavy boomerang carved from bone.
"Too long," Kaede replied, as Miroku continued to stare at his old friend with astonishment and something akin to fear.
*
Author's Notes:
Well, I did it! I finally finished this chapter after almost three months after my supposed deadline was set - AND I got both Sesshomaru and Sango in there as promised. (It was a very tight squeeze with Sango, did you notice?) I'm afraid I've been totally messing up this story because of my writer's block with tends to make me screw around with the plot in ways I shouldn't, and later regret. So if you catch anything that seems weird or out of place in this chapter please tell me about it so I can smack my head and realize what an idiot I've been.
I'm not going to make anymore promises about due dates for my next chapter since I obviously can't stick to them and they just make me nervous, however I will say that the next fic you're probably going to see updates from is not this one. Most likely Our Maze Of Dreams will have a new chapter out soon. and then maybe in a few months I can get around to posting new stuff for Bitten.
Something else that's been bothering me - I'm doing this all too fast! The relationships that have evolved in this story thus far don't really work with the small time frame I've created, and I've actually been having to cut out a lot of romantic scenes from Bitten because I'm such a WAFFY person at heart and, when it gets right down to it, I just want to make Kagome and Inuyasha end up together fast. Well. whatever. I'm sure not too many people are going to be upset about that.
Thanks for reading and waiting and PLEASE review because it would make me happy!
~Rio Grande
Sorry to everyone about the slow, slow update, but it's been getting harder and harder to be inspired to write fanfiction as of late. In fact, I've had a total writer's block for every single one of my fanfics for almost the past two months! - Never fear though - I'll of course finish this story if nothing else.
This chapter is going to be a little grim. and then slowly things will slip back into the more humorous tone I've taken with Bitten. I just want Kagome to fully recover from the emotional trauma and what not, because that sort of thing is generally important. And about the emotional trauma - numerous people have mentioned how uncharacteristic it was for Kagome to have a panic attack in the ally with the spiders, and I'll throw out the lame excuse once more that it was important to the plot. However, let us also remember that Kagome is only human. She's been with the FBI for about a week (It seems like way more.) keep in mind, and in the beginning of the manga she did tend to freak out at times - especially when Inuyasha wasn't there to save her. However I will admit it was an odd scene to stick into my story. Sorry!
Also - I will be attempting to revise all the earlier chapters that I can. (Particularly the first few because they just bite.) So if you feel like refreshing your memory, go ahead and read chapter one again, because it will be (hopefully) better this time around. If you don't feel like it, that's okay too - after all, no matter what I do, I don't know how much I can improve the car wreck that is the beginnings of Bitten. Am I going to look back one day and hurl the same insults at this chapter? Yes. Yes I am.
I don't own Inuyasha and enjoy!
*
Bitten
By Rio Grande
Chapter Seven: Living Arrangements
*
(Some people may have noticed I changed the title for this chapter. Some people might not have.)
*
Inuyasha opened the apartment window carefully with on arm, the other still firmly cradling Kagome against his chest, as the girl continued to shiver and shake violently within his powerful grasp. Accompanied by the occasional pathetic sniffle and whimper, it was all Inuyasha could do not to growl with anger and frustration for about the one-thousandth time that night, at the thought that someone as sweet as Kagome had been forced to go through what she did.
The picture of that god-ugly spider demon scuttling over her body, ready to sink its noxious teeth into her thigh while she cried out for Inuyasha to save her - and all while in the confines of the deadly spider web - still haunted Inuyasha's mind deeply.
He never wanted to see her in that sort of position again. He wanted to protect this girl.
The apartment was dark and silent, so Inuyasha swiftly flicked some lights on as he entered the living room, vaguely remembering the layout of Kagome's apartment from the last time he had been in it, the previous night. Which had also, coincidentally, been right after a particularly violent attempt on Kagome's life. He approached the couch briskly and then gently laid his partner down on it, watching as she breathed in shakily and sat up, staring at him hesitantly after a moment.
"Thank you." she sighed, closing her eyes briefly and taking in the comforting atmosphere of her home - a place that had yet to be broken into by angry demons or disgusting creatures. It made her frazzled nerves calm down somewhat, and she quickly got her breathing under control, trying to tell herself over and over again that it was all okay now; she was safe, Inuyasha had killed all the spiders.!
There was a quiet moment, where Inuyasha observed her with a thoughtful expression on his face, as though thinking something over.
"Don't mention it," he finally said. "You're my partner, I'm supposed to help you out. Now where was your First Aid kit again?.."
"In the closet to your right, second shelf up," she said, directing the hanyou around with a small, appreciative smile on her features - the first one since the attack.
This was why she. might have had a huge crush on Inuyasha, the half demon. Because he was just about the cutest thing ever when he wanted to be, and seemed to always be around to help her just when she needed it - even if she didn't always like to admit she needed the help he had to offer.
"You don't have to do this you know, my injuries aren't that bad."
"Of course I do," Inuyasha said gruffly, perching himself on the end of the couch and opening the first aid kit, much as Kagome had done for him just yesterday, when his wounds had been deep and terrible. Remembering this little fact, Kagome crawled forward towards Inuyasha; not noticing as he halted his actions and watched her intently while her hand darted forward to cautiously pat his abdomen, searching for any easily detectible evidence of his previous injuries. She knew he healed with a freakish sort of speed, she had seen it before with the demon apartment incident, but the gashes had been so terrible last night, she had just assumed it would take longer for him to recuperate.
"I can hardly feel any of your old wounds - you're practically completely healed," she said, letting her hand rest on his button down shirt, and feeling nothing but smooth muscle under her hands, with the occasional fading scar mark here and there. "You're amazing," she added with a sort of reverence in her tone.
"Ah, it's nothing," Inuyasha snorted, pushing her away quickly, and trying to ignore how personal her actions were. She probably had no idea that she was being incredibly intimate with him - she was probably just being her usual, sweet self. Kagome was an innocent sort of person. She wasn't thinking like him. "Now sit still and let me get a good look at your injuries,"
"They're just a bunch of cuts from the s-spider's talons," she said, finding it odd that she still couldn't think about the dangerous spider heads without shuddering slightly. Was she really so traumatized?
Hell yes.
"You never seem half as worried about your own wounds as you do about other people's," Inuyasha chuckled wryly, taking back out the rapidly emptying packet of band-aids, as well as the antiseptic bottle.
"That's because your wounds are always like, these bloody, large holes in your body that would make most normal people croak!" Kagome protested, a little bit of her old self flaring back up briefly. Inuyasha grinned broadly as he put some of the antiseptic on a cotton swab, and tended to a particularly large laceration on her knee, glad to see that some of her old humor was back. He had been seriously worried about her mental health there, for a while. just remembering the way she had panicked back in the ally still brought shudders down his spine. And what she had said.
'What was I supposed to say to a request like that?' Inuyasha thought with a small frown, moving on to the other leg, starting from the thigh, which had an incriminating collection of deep cuts in the shape of spider legs. 'It hurt me just to listen to her. Made me want to cry too. It was all I could do to say that I would never leave her side again - dammit, why didn't Kaede take precautions against this sort of thing happening to Kagome? Especially after Yura's attack? It's not like that old hag to be so careless, or miss the fact that another attempt on her life was very likely at this point. Naraku isn't one to give up on his targets once he's decided they're any sort of threat.'
"Kagome, I don't like this." Inuyasha said flatly, pushing the girl's knees down so that she sat up, and then extended one of her pale arms gently, inspecting it carefully for cuts. "Two murder attempts in two nights? Something has to be done. I - the FBI can make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again, and I think you should consider that," He tried to say all this in his most professional, and impersonal voice that he usually used when talking to witnesses to a crime, or victims of demon attacks - but with Kagome, he suddenly found his voice edging more towards a pleading, worried tone. If Kagome noticed she didn't say anything.
"I know, Kaede talked to me about it earlier," she said, softly, as though she really would rather not mention it.
"She did?" 'Now that sounds more like the Kaede I know,' "What did you say, then?" he asked, curious. Kagome, who had been making little to no protests as Inuyasha cleaned her burning wounds, now let a pained expression slip onto her face, and she averted her gaze slightly.
"Um, well, I was thinking of just letting her take patrol cars to circle the area where I live, and keep tabs on me a little, you know, because I think she would be okay with that," Kagome said uneasily, Inuyasha raising an eyebrow at her wary tone. She was hiding something.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." 'But not a good enough idea for me.' "Maybe you want some more. substantial protection though? The attacks on you have been pretty damn violent Kagome, and you were really lucky you were able to reach Kaede today before things got messy. You might not be so lucky next time around."
"I - I know. and Kaede had been suggesting some more drastic forms of defense on my part, but I. I wasn't too sure what I thought of them," she said quietly, drawing her legs up and unconsciously moving away from Inuyasha. Inuyasha's curiosity was piqued though, and he had a feeling he was going to be amused by whatever it was Kagome was keeping from him.
"Oh, like what kind of suggestions?" he pressed.
"Um, nothing. I mean, I don't think I should talk about them. They're not going to happen anyway," she said quickly, blushing a bit but hiding it well.
She had been so terrified when she had begged for Inuyasha to 'stay with her', earlier, in the ally - but now that things had calmed down somewhat in her head, Kagome was realizing that Inuyasha had no idea what she had been getting at when asking him to stay with her. In retrospect, it was still totally unfair to ask the half dog demon to live with she and Shippou for the duration of the investigation - an investigation that was looking like it was going to take some time to finish. Inuyasha most likely had no idea she had been speaking very literally when she had asked him to stay with her - so she couldn't do through with her request. She just couldn't.
"Hey, come on Kagome, you can tell me," Inuyasha said, joking lightly and lifting the awkward mood somewhat. "What did Kaede offer? And why did you refuse?" he added with a hint of seriousness to his tone, signaling that Kagome WAS going to eventually have to tell him no matter what.
"Because. because she wanted to do something. I didn't think was a good idea!" she blurted, trying to evade answering the question again - What's more, actually answering Inuyasha's question outright would be sort of embarrassing.
"I'll just find out by asking Kaede later! So it's either you tell me or she tells me -as my partner I always know what's going on with you." he said archly, folding his arms and looking intimidating. Kagome cursed quietly and rubbed her head, looking up at him cautiously with a weak smile on her face.
"You're going to laugh," she admitted.
"I hope so." Inuyasha knew better than most that Kaede had. an odd idea of what a suitable amount of protection was for innocents in danger, and what an incredibly smothering amount was. After Kikyo left, she had. after all.
"She um - suggestedthatyoumoveinwithmeandprotectmeandShippouuntilthecaseisover..."
"What? Come again?" Inuyasha asked, cupping his ear. "Say it slower."
"Ah - I," Kagome didn't think her face could actually get any hotter - why her?! "She said she wanted you to move in with me!" she cried, clearer this time.
Cracking one eye open carefully to see Inuyasha's reaction, Kagome found, to her surprise, that Inuyasha's expression was actually carefully neutral. He hadn't broken out into a fit of righteous ranting, as she had feared he would, at the prospect of having to live with someone as weird as HER, and he hadn't started rolling around on the floor, laughing, either. But then - what WAS he thinking?
"And you said this was a bad idea?" he asked slowly, after an extended pause.
"Well - YEAH!" Kagome barked, rubbing her head and smiling awkwardly. Just what was he suggesting?! "I mean - don't you think it is? It would be kind of weird to make you to live with me until we're sure all threats of Naraku are gone. and I. I didn't want to force that kind of thing on you!" she explained clumsily.
"Kagome, you didn't have to worry about me being forced to live with you," Inuyasha reprimanded. "If I didn't want to do it, I could probably told Kaede to get someone else to do the job. I'm to far up in the hierarchy of the FBI at this point to be used as a simple bodyguard if I don't want to."
"Well. all right, but I thought it would have been weird for me to bring it up anyway. And besides - if you were just going to say 'no', what's the problem anyway?" Kagome snapped, suddenly feeling a bit defensive. So wait - was he now saying that there was no way he would have ever lived with her anyway? When she thought he was suggesting he might have agreed with Kaede's terms it was flustering - but having him tell her it was a lost cause was just as bad! Oh Gods she was confused.
"Actually, if Kaede suggested it, and you were all right with it. I might not have said no," Inuyasha admitted quietly, his words almost imperceptible - but powerful nonetheless.
The miko in training did a bit of a double take, watching Inuyasha's demeanor suddenly change from confidant and casual, to shy and almost guilty - as though he were confessing something bad. Kagome's jaw dropped and she stared, wide eyed, at the obviously mentally addled hanyou sitting next to her.
"You. you would have agreed to live with me, and protect Shippou and I from Naraku, if I had asked you?" she repeated, as though just to make sure Inuyasha knew what he was saying.
"I - I suppose that's what I mean," he said in an uncharacteristically hesitant way. "I mean - it's only for your protection! You've seen what kind of attacks have been launched against you! I'm obviously the only person fit for this sort of job," he reasoned.
"But are you forgetting that you'll be having to live in my apartment. around six feet away from my bedroom. for possibly a very long time? This doesn't all. bother you?" Kagome squeaked in disbelief.
Inuyasha looked her in the eye for a good moment, as though considering whether or not this situation really DID in fact bother him. sitting up straighter - a cocky grin reestablishing itself on his face. As it should be.
"Hey, I already told you I'd stay with you for however long you needed back in the ally - remember?" he told her, as though this cleared everything up. Kagome took in a sharp gasp, unable to believe what Inuyasha was saying. Or how sweet he was being. Sure, the circumstances were a little weird, but this was possibly one of the more romantic things any guy had done for her ever! Well, it sort of quavered under the shadow of one of Hojo's many amorous escapades. but those hardly counted because the affection was unrequited! - But, was she now saying that these sort of sentiments. with Inuyasha. WERE requited then?
"Hello? Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, waving a clawed hand in front of her face and urging the girl to snap out of her daze. "Geez - you look like I just asked you to marry me or something! I'm only going to be here at night to make sure that the more homicidal demons out there don't sneak into your room and disembowel you." He assured her. Kagome laughed uneasily and shook her head in agreement, covering up her mild embarrassment.
"Right! I know! It's just. thanks Inuyasha. I didn't want to ask you to stay with me because I thought it would be totally out of line. and I still do. it's just. I really am scared. And I really do appreciate this sort of attention," she said honestly. "Thank you,"
With that she quickly embraced the silver haired man, hiding her face in his shoulder so he couldn't see the flustered look on her features - one that was borne from not only mortification at having Inuyasha be so kind to little old her, but also out of shame from the fact that she had just admitted she wasn't really as brave as she pretended to be most of the time. She was just plain scared right around then. Inuyasha stiffened for a second, before returning the hug and patting her back awkwardly.
"Hey, don't worry about it. As much as you don't want to be torn apart by some crazy freak like Yura. I want to be there to protect you from the crazy freaks who want to tear you up," he said in a voice laced with good humor, and an underlying, deeper emotion that seemed to hold traces of regret.
"Inuyasha," Kagome said softly, now looking back up at him, and unable to believe he'd just said something so blatantly caring - he just didn't seem like that sort of man! 'It's always the tough guys.' she realized with a mental grin.
"Kagome. I." Inuyasha replied, his eyes becoming rather dark as he looked down at her, and his fists clenching unconsciously by his sides.
But then Inuyasha's face was getting closer to hers. much closer. and she could actually feel his breath on her mouth as he leaned in. Kagome's eyes widened considerably and her lips parted with surprise. Was he going to.. Was he trying to - kiss her?
Kagome had just started to crane her neck to the side and respond to Inuyasha's movements, feeling her breath get caught in her throat - when there was a sharp knocking on the door.
Instantly the couple split apart and leaped to opposite ends of the couch, nearly shaking with surprise and staring at the offending door in an accusatory manner - both with eyes that were just as angry as they were completely alarmed.
"Uhh." Kagome said intelligently - hugging herself and desperately trying to hide the fact that she was nearly panting with fear at the prospect of being caught making out with her partner. What had that just been about? What had they almost done!?
"Yuhhh." Inuyasha responded in an equally as intellectual way. He glared at Kagome's front door intensely as the couple sat in silence for a few moments, making Kagome wonder if he was actually angry that whoever was on the other side of her door had broken up their little 'moment'.
"I'll get it," she said softly, finally, getting to her feet and padding over to her door.
"Hello?" she asked, opening the door and staring at the couple on the other side.
"Kagome!" Miroku gasped, launching himself into the room and hugging the twenty year old fiercely. "You're all right! We were all so worried."
"Figured we'd find you both here," Kaede said in her scratchy voice, hobbling into the room, and shaking her head in a knowing way.
"Um - you did?" Kagome blurted in a clueless manner while Inuyasha stood up as well, wondering for the first time if anyone else in the office noticed the odd chemistry between she and her snowy haired partner. However, before she had any more time to think about this dangerous line of thought, she noticed the little bundle Kaede held in her arms.
"Shippou?" Kagome asked, drawing herself away from Miroku as she felt his hand stray dangerously low on her back, and quickly traveling over to the little kitsune. "Why are you with Kaede and Miroku?"
"When he heard that you and Inuyasha were under attack he insisted he come with us, to make sure that you were all right," Kaede explained as Shippou threw himself into Kagome's arms with no further hesitance.
"I was so worried you were going to be eaten by the spiders!" he explained quickly, tears forming in the corner of his eyes.
"Oh don't worry Shippou! Inuyasha saved me." Kagome explained with a small smile, making the hanyou behind her blush ever so slightly.
"Ah - it wasn't that big a deal," Inuyasha said uneasily, folding his arms self-consciously.
"Oh stop being so modest!" Kagome ordered, turning back to Miroku. "Do you know he got the Tetsusaiga to transform again?!" she said.
"Is that so?" Miroku asked, looking at Inuyasha with wide eyes and a slightly impressed expression on his face. "You're learning very quickly with the sword in a very short period of time, aren't you Inuyasha? That's quite. interesting." He finished hesitantly, his gaze flicking over to an oblivious Kagome as Inuyasha frowned in a sort of understanding way.
"Yeah. It is," he agreed warily.
"Well Kagome, you gave us all quite a scare back there," Kaede said, plopping herself onto a stool by Kagome's white, tiled counter and making herself at home. "But at least you seem to be in pretty good shape - no serious damage done besides those little scratches, right?" she asked.
"Yes. I'm fine." Kagome said with a weak smile. Kaede nodded approvingly, putting a hand on her knee.
"Good. Then, would you mind informing Miroku and I about your most recent fight? I think I'd like to hear this from you now before the memory starts to fade, if that's all right," she said, staring at Kagome watchfully.
"Um, no, that's all right - I can do it," Kagome said, shuddering internally and wondering silently if she really could. The mental wounds were all still very fresh, and it had been merely an hour since she was stuck in that dark, terrifying ally way. Could she really recount her misfortune before the scrapes along her legs had had time to stop throbbing?
As Inuyasha shot her a concerned, warm glance meant only for her from the other side of the table, liquid gold meeting shimmering brown, she realized with a start that - why yes, she could pull this off.
As long as he was there to protect her she had a feeling she could do anything.
*
It was a full two hours later before Kaede even made any mention of leaving the apartment.
However, in that time, the group had recounted the entire attack - from both Kagome's and Inuyasha's point of view - and they had gone over exactly what was to be done upon returning to the office. Reports were to be handed in, of course, and another file would have to be written up about the miko Kagome Higurashi who had already received two indirect attempts on her life from the super villain Naraku.
Then, of course, Kagome had admitted that she would like to have Inuyasha stay at her house as a personal bodyguard until the investigation was over.
".Do you think that would be ok?" Kagome asked slowly, as though she didn't know what Kaede's shrewd smile meant, and as though she and Inuyasha hadn't already discussed the topic intimately. In fact, the only relatively surprised looking people in the room after Kagome's plucky request seemed to be Miroku and Shippou. Even then, Miroku just seemed more excited than anything.
"Well, I personally think this is a GREAT idea," Miroku enthused, winking suggestively in Inuyasha's direction. The hanyou rolled his eyes heavenwards and glared off to the side in return - all of these disparaging actions helping greatly in his effort not to smirk.
"As do I." Kaede said knowingly, smiling gently at Kagome's lightly bandaged form, and guessing already that the girl's big change of heart was in great part thanks to the terrifying experience she had recently described for everyone. It was no wonder she wanted a demon bodyguard after THAT. And Inuyasha didn't exactly look hesitant to give her exactly what she wanted, as well.
"And YOU'RE all right with this, Inuyasha?" Shippou asked after a second, looking slightly shocked, and already knowing Inuyasha well enough to know that he usually wouldn't let himself be boxed into these sort of situations without a fight.
There was a pause from the hanyou's corner, at which point everyone began to stare at him, before his golden eyes flashed briefly towards Kagome. She was the only person not looking at him - instead she was staring nervously at her hands, as though worried about what he might say. Didn't she realize he had meant what he said to her earlier?.
"Yeah. I'm fine with it squirt, so just drop it. It's not a big deal. I'll just sleep here in the evenings, and I'll go to work with Kagome in the mornings. No problems. AND I can watch out for you too, in case Naraku decides your parents weren't enough. Two birds with one stone," Inuyasha said contentedly, folding his arms in satisfaction.
"A good point," Kaede agreed approvingly, nodding her head.
"Well, if that's settled," Miroku said, jumping off his stool and cracking his back. "I better be getting home then. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."
"Quite. And I do believe it's Shippou's bedtime." Kaede added, raising an eyebrow in the small demon's direction. Shippou stuck his tongue out in response, hiding behind one of Kagome's legs.
"I don't wanna go to bed," he said resolutely, glowering. Kagome gave off a smile that glowed and bent down to lift the kitsune up. Inuyasha attempted not to stare as he spotted Kagome hug Shippou close, murmuring encouraging words that seemed to force the little animal into a state of relaxation just by listening. She was so. comforting.
"Come on Shippou. it's late. you've had a long day. I won't make you take a shower tonight if you go to bed with no fuss." she cajoled softly, as Miroku and Kaede nodded in Inuyasha's direction, backing away and towards the door - obviously assured that Kagome had things under control.
"We'll see you bright and early tomorrow Inuyasha. Assignments for potential victims are being given out to partners first thing. and that means you and Kagome," Kaede reminded him as she slipped into her dark brown trench coat, her long silver pony tail sliding down her back.
"Hey - what about me?" Miroku asked in confusion, he too reassembling himself as he approached the door. "If Kagome's got Inuyasha, whose going to be my partner?"
"Don't worry, I have something figured out. Goodnight everybody," Kaede said, waving briefly to everyone in the room before disappearing into the hall, Miroku nodding his head at Inuyasha before he followed her. And as the door finally closed, the snowy haired half demon suddenly felt as though things were back to normal. As though he had just let some guests leave his house. even though HE was technically the guest, and Kagome and Shippou were just a few feet away, the real residents of the apartment. Sort of. When was the last time he had felt so at ease with other people in the room?
'I haven't even spent one night here, and already I'm attached.' The usually aloof Inuyasha thought darkly, shaking his head. 'I've got to get a hold of myself; I'm letting Kagome make me feel too comfortable, in too short a period of time.' He acknowledged, now turning back around to observe the raven-haired girl as she tucked Shippou into the pullout couch bed, the kitsune's eyes already heavy with sleep, as any normal child's would be at this time of night. How had the hours slid by so fast?
"Well, it's just us again." Kagome said softly, raising herself off the bed and walking towards Inuyasha, curiously observing the small, easy grin on his face she was not accustomed to seeing. Usually when she talked to the agent, he had a scowl, or at least a carefully neutral expression on his features. She was not used to this lazy, almost content attitude she saw on him. However - she regrettably let too much of her bewilderment show, and almost immediately Inuyasha looked tense and irritable again, as was the norm.
"Yeah," he agreed, folding his arms. "You - uh, want me over tonight. right?" he asked cautiously, deeply aware that being over presumptuous in this sort of situation could result in many awkward moments, and realizing that he, not being the most eloquent of people, had better be extra careful about what he said from there on out.
"Of course!" Kagome was quick to assure him, pulling awkwardly on the bottom of her shirt and glancing around the room, as though searching for something. "But - where do you want to sleep tonight? If you want, you could have my bed, and I'll sleep with Shippou. The pull-out couch is pretty big so it's all right," she suggested.
"No - no it's okay. I can sleep with Shippou," Inuyasha automatically replied, completely aware that sleeping in Kagome's bed at night might just drive him over the edge. With his sensitive nose, her flowery scent would probably keep him up until the wee hours of the morning. "The brat doesn't annoy me that much," he added.
"Right," Kagome giggled. "Well. how do you want to do this then?"
"I figure I should stop back at my apartment and grab some things - I'll be back as soon as I can, and probably with my car. You don't have one, do you? I can drive us to work in the morning," he explained.
"Oh no, I have one. But - uh - using yours would probably be a better idea," Kagome admitted, thinking about her pathetic little Ford Escort with a sigh.
"All right. I'll be back in a bit then." Inuyasha said, about to head over to the coat rack to get his leather jacket - before realizing he wasn't wearing one. He had left the office in such a hurry upon realizing Kagome was in danger, he hadn't even bothered to don his impressive bullet proof jacket.
"Wait - take some keys in case I'm asleep when you get back," Kagome suggested, handing him a key chain with a little rubberducky on it.
"Oh, thanks," Inuyasha said, observing the key chain with some amusement. "I'll be back as soon as I can,"
And with that he was gone, down the stairs, through the lobby and out the door - speeding towards his apartment across town undoubtedly. But as Kagome slid into bed, dressed in her flannel pajamas, and with her hair pulled back into a messy bun, she realized that she needn't have given Inuyasha her keys. She wouldn't be able to fall asleep until he had come back, anyway, and she would probably be waiting up for him until she heard his keys jingling at the front door. Kagome just didn't feel safe anymore unless Inuyasha was around.
*
"Ow! Hot! Hot!" Kagome hissed as Inuyasha pulled away from the drive up window the next morning, the steaming cup of coffee in her hands she had just received splashing about, and some of it landing in her lap.
"Oh, sorry," Inuyasha commented apologetically, smoothly steering his convertible black Lexus back into the street, a tray of McDonald's fast food breakfast sitting next to him. In the passenger's seat, Kagome mopped up her lap with a napkin, sighing. A wonderful start to a great day, for sure.
"It's all right. Shippou, you want your hotcakes?" the twenty year old asked the kitsune in the back seat, proffering a package of disgusting, greasy pancakes to the demon. He snatched them from her greedily.
"Yeah - but why do you guys get coffee, and I have to have orange juice?" he asked irately, biting into his breakfast with a small frown.
"Because the last thing YOU need, my friend, is caffeine," Inuyasha said simply, shaking his head as Kagome smiled in amusement next to him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Shippou snapped.
"It means if you get any more hyper than you already are every day, I'll have to maim you." He replied easily.
"Heyyy!"
"Come on Inuyasha, it's too early," Kagome groaned, not ready for another fight between the two demons as she sipped her black coffee slowly. Usually the college student liked to add a healthy amount of sugar and milk to her daily caffeine pick-me-up - but physical and mental injuries from the other day were all urging her to go black that day.
In truth, Inuyasha had confided in Kagome that morning that no one would hold it against her if she decided not to come to work the next day - but Kagome decided she didn't want to put off getting back to work and writing up a report about the spider-head incident, and knew very well that staying home all day dwelling on her most recent traumatic experience would do her little to no good. It wasn't as though she couldn't function, in any case. Physically, it was all just a bunch of overly bandaged scratches.
"Whatever," Inuyasha muttered.
As thought, Kagome had laid in bed last night, wide-awake, until Inuyasha had returned to the apartment an hour later. She had listened to him move around her house, stopping in the bathroom, unzipping his bag of clothing, getting changed for bed . and she eventually drifted off, lulled to sleep by the sounds of his assured presence.
And now the trio was heading to work; Kagome feeling a lot as though she were driving to school with her family, as the group all squabbled and talked to one another as a family did, and sometimes, Kagome noticed, radiated the warm feelings a family did as well. Sometimes.
'It's like Shippou's the kid, I'm the mom, and Inuyasha's the dad.' Kagome thought shyly, almost too embarrassed to even say the notion in her head. However, as she watched Inuyasha discreetly try to chuck a hash brown back at Shippou from the front seat, she reconsidered her idea. 'Or maybe it's more like Inuyasha's the older brother.'
"Hey, something wrong Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, spying the pretty girl staring at him from the corner of his eye.
'I wonder what people will think when they find out he's living with me,' Kagome wondered silently, her raven hair getting blown about her face. 'They'll probably think he's my boyfriend.'
"Helllooo." Inuyasha said, waving one clawed hand in front of her face, and letting his other steer the car. "Anyone home?"
'Yeah right. My boyfriend? Please.' "Nothing Inuyasha, I'm just tired," Kagome said easily, taking another gulp of her coffee.
"All right," Inuyasha said, turning back to the road and shrugging Kagome's odd behavior off. Actually, considering what sort of shape Kagome had been in last night, her attitude this morning was above average. He should have known she'd make a speedy recovery from her harrowing episode in the ally though - Kagome didn't strike him as the type of girl who let something as silly as almost being torn to shreds by spider demons get her down.
A few minutes later, as Kagome approached the agency's entrance, walking through the underground garage and towards the elevator with Shippou by her side and Inuyasha just behind her, another thought occurred to the newly instated agent; What WOULD people think when they saw Inuyasha with her? Shippou had been one problem, what with his appearance, and it now occurred to her that Inuyasha was going to be no different with his ears and hair. but .
"Inuyasha, what do you do when humans ask you why you have fangs and claws and stuff?" Kagome asked as the elevator started to move, the people she was most worried about when it came to this area being her family. She could not see them accepting the fact that she was living with a demon - especially her grandfather, who actually believed in such things.
"Well, I just try to stay away from mortal hang outs in the first place, so I can avoid those types of questions. There are areas of the city just for demons, ya know," he replied, while Shippou licked the last remains of syrup from his paws.
"No, I didn't. But I mean, the questions must be inevitable sometimes, so what do you do when asked?" she pressed, pushing the bit of information about specialized demon areas of the city to the back of her mind for later questioning.
"Sometimes I tell them it's a birth defect. Sometimes I tell the smarter people it's a costume. And sometimes I just tell them to fuck off," Inuyasha answered with a nonchalant shrug. "Why do you ask?"
"Um, no reason," Kagome said nervously, realizing that none of the above explanations were going to suit her mother - not to mention Keiko and Kiki. (Both of whom, she had to remind herself, she was supposed to see that night at the new sushi bar.) However, it felt wrong to ask Inuyasha to hide his appearance in front of her family and friends when he was doing her a favor by staying in her house. He shouldn't have to be ashamed of what he looked like when he couldn't help it - but the fact of the matter was she just didn't know what else to do.
'I guess the only solution is to wait until I have to cross that bridge before I start to worry about it - and maybe just make sure everyone stays away from my apartment for the next couple months. Oh, jeez.'
"Well, I know I always -" Shippou started, just before the elevator doors opened, and the deafening sound of many people talking loudly all at once attacked the surprised trio's ears, making Inuyasha especially annoyed. What was going on?
The Agency's office looked like a war zone - people everywhere were rushing around hectically, shouting excitedly to one another, and whispering fervently in corners. Kagome had never seen the demon agents all so distracted, and she had to admit it was slightly unnerving. Something was up.
"What's happening?" Kagome asked loudly.
"Let me find out," Inuyasha answered, marching through the crowds and grabbing a random agent by the shoulder, spinning him around. "Hey you, what's happening here?"
"Um - well they just gave all of the agents their assigned potential victims to protect," the slightly confused demon replied; a horse demon by the looks of it.
"That's all?" Inuyasha asked incredulously.
"Oh - Mr. Sesshomaru stopped by this morning, looking like he was on a warpath! He was really frightening. hey aren't you his-"
"Dammit!" Inuyasha growled, obviously having found his answer, and shoving past the flustered demon and directly towards Kaede's office. A confused Kagome followed after him, lifting Shippou up into her arms so that he wouldn't get lost in the crowd. The assignments for potential victims had already been given out? And who was Sesshomaru?
"Inuyasha, what did he mean about that Sesshomaru person?" Kagome called to her partner as he neared Kaede's office, desperately trying not to loose him as he stormed through the halls at an impressive speed. What was the rush?
"Forget about it!" he called back sharply, throwing open Kaede's door and entering the office. Kagome paused just outside the door as it slammed itself shut, unsure of whether or not to follow Inuyasha any longer, as he seemed to be quite angry, and generally, she had found, when Inuyasha got angry he only further upset the people around him.
Kagome glanced down at Shippou, who was staring back up at her with a mischievous look on his face. And as the sound of raised voices began to waft out from inside the room, the duo both nodded at each other, pushing open the door once more - their curiosity piqued.
Kagome had expected to see Inuyasha leaning over Kaede's desk, muttering angry words at her, as the girl knew the agent had no scruples with talking back to his superiors. And she had also expected to see that highly irritated frown on Kaede's face, as she knew, in addition, that Kaede didn't appreciate being talked back to. But what Kagome hadn't expected. was to see another dog demon, standing next to Inuyasha, wearing possibly the most expensive suit she had ever seen in her life.
"Hell, if he has a problem with it, just leave the dumb bast-" Inuyasha was saying in a growl, before everyone's heads swung around to stare at Kagome and Shippou, two sets of matching golden eyes glaring at the couple. Shippou gulped, and Kagome took an unconscious step back. Yeesh.
"And who might you two be?" the new demon asked, in a voice as cold and emotionless as ice. Kagome blinked back, sizing the demon up in her head with her miko powers, and finding to her surprise that his entire form was nearly dripping with observable power. Just who was this guy?
The male demon was admittedly attractive, Kagome had to admit, though in an almost feminine manner, as his features were as perfectly chiseled as that of a beautiful woman's. But his voice was deep and masculine, and he stood at at least 6'6 with very broad shoulders. His Armani suit made him look dashing and a bit intimidating to the awestruck girl wearing a pair of black peddle pushers and a dark green sweater, especially as she noticed his clawed hands by his side. Why, with his silver hair that hung down to his waist, he could have been Inuyasha's brother.
"Mr. Sesshomaru, I would like you to meet Kagome Higurashi - a miko in training, and your brother's new partner." Kaede said after an awkward pause, where Inuyasha looked tempted to step protectively in front of the surprised girl, as though worried what Sesshomaru would do to her.
"Inuyasha - this man is your real brother!?" Kagome blurted, Shippou's eyes widening dramatically.
"Holy cow!" he squeaked, obviously impressed with the new dog demon's appearance as well.
"Half brother." Sesshomaru was quick to assure Kagome, his gaze flitting back to his younger brother, the expression on his face condescending. "After all, Inuyasha is only a half demon."
'That's right,' Kagome realized, watching Inuyasha simmer dangerously at Sesshomaru's obviously cruel jab. 'Miroku mentioned that Inuyasha had a half brother who was a full demon - and that he wasn't well liked, to boot.'
Looking at the demon again, there were now obvious differences to Sesshomaru that distinguished him from his halfling brother. For starters, Inuyasha looked more like a dog with his puppy ears that Sesshomaru lacked, and Inuyasha had no dark stripes on either of his cheeks as the full demon did - a mark Kagome had seen on other full demons around the office as well. It was rather fascinating to compare the other differences between the two, such as what looked to be large, fluffy tail wrapped around Sesshomaru's shoulders, but she hesitated as she realized both brothers knew they were being sized up, and were staring back at her intently. "S- sorry," Kagome quickly stuttered, blushing and bowing her head. "It's just very interesting to see Inuyasha's brother."
"Hn." Sesshomaru commented disdainfully, turning away from Kagome and leaving her feeling a bit offended for some reason. It was his air - he spoke and looked as though everyone were beneath him - although she supposed, to a demon, she was.
"Well, Inuyasha, all I can say is I hope you keep this one for a little more than a few months. Your last miko partner didn't hold up very well at all, did she?" Sesshomaru asked archly of the man next to him. Kagome mentally groaned, as she knew that Sesshomaru had touched upon a very sore spot in Inuyasha's psyche - even SHE had been forbidden to mention Kikyo or Inuyasha's past with her.
"You BASTARD!" Inuyasha roared predictably, launching himself at Sesshomaru with no sort of hesitance whatsoever. And even to Kagome's untrained eye she could tell the attack was sloppy and fueled mainly by pure rage - however Kagome also knew that if she had been on the receiving end of that attack she would have been flattened anyway, simply because Inuyasha was so physically powerful.
On the other hand, Sesshomaru didn't seem to have any problems with simply sidestepping the angry lunge, and blocking any further punches with quick flicks of his hand that seem to disappear and reappear in the exact places Inuyasha was hitting. He was incredibly fast, and possibly more skilled than Inuyasha himself. The thought made Kagome shiver.
"Excuse me! Stop it! No fighting in my office!" Kaede roared above the sounds of Inuyasha's infuriated growls, and angry punches. Neither demon showed any signs of hearing the elderly mortal though, as Sesshomaru finally took some initiative and zipped forward, backhanding Inuyasha so hard the agent quickly slammed into the ground, coughing violently.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, running over to her fallen partner and helping him to sit up. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Inuyasha said gruffly, batting Kagome's hand away and sitting up on his own, obviously embarrassed that Kagome had seen him so badly brushed aside like that. However, Kagome didn't seem to be in any way ashamed of Inuyasha - she was just furious with Sesshomaru.
"How can you treat your brother that way!?" she demanded, her chocolate eyes flashing. "Insulting him about his poor partner, which you obviously know pains him - and then brawling with him in Ms. Kaede's office? Who do you think you are?" she asked in a very brash, Kagome-like fashion, not even commenting on the fact that it had actually been Inuyasha who started the scuffle.
"I think the question is girl, who do YOU think YOU are?" Sesshomaru replied evenly, in a voice that never rose or fell an octave. The sound made Kagome tremble slightly, but she ignored it and continued to glare bravely at the full demon before her. She hardly even noticed as Inuyasha got to his feet and left her kneeling on the ground.
"I think you should go, Sesshomaru," Inuyasha said evenly, obviously trying to control his rage under a mask of indifference. "The FBI is only sending out those agents for your protection; why send them away?"
"I don't NEED sniveling FBI scum around to protect me, little brother," Sesshomaru spat in disgust, folding his arms and completely forgetting about Kagome once more. From behind her desk Kaede sighed, and rested her cheek in her hand.
"But Sesshomaru, they are not hassling you in any way." The elderly detective reasoned. "They are merely monitoring your property. Many of our potential victims have agents actually inside their houses, undercover, and you don't even have that. Please just let us do this - you may be the key to catching Naraku and we need all the help we can get. If he comes after you."
"If he comes after me, I can get rid of Naraku myself. Your agents are inadequate anyway, obviously." Sesshomaru stated flatly, nodding towards Inuyasha. Inuyasha clenched his fists in response and Kagome's jaw dropped. Could this guy be any more hostile?
"I don't see what you're worrying about, Kaede," Inuyasha said sharply, baring his fangs. "There's no way Naraku would come after this jerk. You said he only goes after demons with PURE souls, right? Heh, Sesshomaru is probably the safest demon for miles around, in that case," the agent finished hotly. Sesshomaru smirked at Inuyasha, the first real expression Kagome had seen on his face, and it made the girl frightened because of the unregulated anger it held in it. Shippou whimpered and ran behind Inuyasha's legs.
"Maybe you should shut up Inuyasha, eh?" Shippou suggested quietly.
"I'm not afraid of this guy. He's just a bully. Always has been," Inuyasha said, shrugging and looking at his brother through lidded eyes. Sesshomaru's smirk grew, and he spun away from the desk quickly, exiting the office.
"Perhaps you're right, little brother. Perhaps I AM quite safe. And in that case, there is no reason to send any more agents to my estate. No, Detective Kaede?" He closed the door shut behind him, and was gone.
"Right." Kaede sighed, leaning back in her chair and shaking her head after Sesshomaru had left. "That guy gets me every time. I really don't know what we're going to do about him. but maybe we'll get lucky and Naraku will just avoid him."
"I hope so! I don't want to see that guy again any time soon," Kagome gasped, collapsing into one of the two chairs in front of Kaede's desk, once it was apparent the demon was truly gone. "He was crazy! Did you see how strong he was?"
"Yeah! He was really powerful!" Shippou added enthusiastically.
"Oh, and if you think that's bad, you should see him when he's serious," Kaede laughed humorlessly, grabbing some files off her desk and sifting through the cabinets to her right. "But, don't let him get to you. He does this sometimes when the FBI tries to meddle in his affairs - he's a very private man. Besides, I have something for you and Inu-"
"Kagome," Inuyasha interrupted, looking at the girl sharply as Shippou climbed into the seat next to Kagome. The half-demon had been silent since his brother's exit, and now he seemed to be very curious about something.
"Yes, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked pleasantly, twisting around in her seat to look at him.
"How did you. know about Kikyo?" he asked slowly, something undefined swimming through his eyes and making him look very somber.
"Oh - I." Kagome mentally slapped her forehead - she had forgotten she wasn't supposed to know about Kikyo! Kaede was going to be so mad.
"I told her," Kaede interrupted unexpectedly, folding her wrinkly hands and staring at Inuyasha. "I told her all about Kikyo a couple days ago. I thought she deserved to know since she's your new partner,"
"I - I see." Inuyasha said, averting his gaze with a frown, and looking as though he would have preferred it very much if Kaede had just kept her mouth shut. "I have to go," he added quickly, briskly exiting the room and slamming the door behind him before Kagome had a chance to hold him back.
"Inu - oh! What's wrong with that man now?" the confused girl asked, sinking back down in her chair and rubbing her aching forehead. She'd only been in the office for around a half-hour, and already the dilemmas were piling up.
"I'm sorry, this is my fault. Inuyasha is just feeling a bit violated right now, I'm sure. He doesn't like to talk about his past," Kaede said wearily, wondering why this Monday had started out so wretchedly bad for her.
"I noticed," Kagome muttered, folding her arms. Kaede forced a smile for the confused looking girl, and took out a manila folder from her desk, sliding it over to the miko sitting across from her.
"He might have wanted to tell you about her in his own time, but I think it's good that you know now. Well. he'll have forgotten about the whole thing by this afternoon in any case. Now, your assignment."
"Right, who are we going to be guarding?" Kagome asked with interest, shaking her head and concentrating on the matters at hand. She had a job to do. Inuyasha's pained expression was driving her nuts, but she did have a job to do, and one more class to go to tonight before the winter break was on . and then it was celebratory sushi with the girls, and possibly a long, long conversation with her mother - right. She was ready.
"A rich heir who lives in the area. You and Inuyasha will be needing to go undercover for this one, and you'll probably be maids and servants in the mansion this demon lives for the time being," Kaede explained, as Kagome sifted through the contents of the folder.
"A mansion? Whoa, this guy must be loaded."
"He is, and he's a bit of a son of a bitch too - but that's just what the locals in the area say. He lives uptown, and you'll be starting on your assignment tomorrow. It took some time to convince this guy to let you both in as undercover guards in his own home, since he had been taking it much the same way as Sesshomaru did. Luckily, his family 'O.K'd it for us - so now there's not much he can do about it,"
"Sounds like he's going to be trouble," Kagome sighed, as Shippou looked over her shoulder at the files about Kagome and Inuyasha's potential victim. "Are you sure he has a soul pure enough for Naraku to want?"
"Yes. Don't be fooled by his cocky exterior - he's a good guy who's done a lot for the community, and he has a formidable amount of power. Just the kind of guy Naraku would be very interested in," Kaede said darkly.
*
"So, you actually met Sesshomaru, hu?" Miroku asked Kagome as the couple sat down to eat in the cafeteria, Shippou away with an agent assigned to baby-sit him that day, and Inuyasha off somewhere Kagome couldn't find him. (Much to her chagrin.)
"Confronted, is more like. I guess I maybe was a little rude to him, but I was just surprised to see him - and then he insulted Inuyasha so badly! I had to do something." Kagome explained with a sigh, biting into her hamburger as other agents milled around the dining area, going over their files for potential victims and still feeling a little excited.
"You're telling me that you actually YELLED at Sesshomaru?" Miroku asked, shocked.
"Well, yeah. He was being a real jerk!" Kagome reminded the monk. "If you had been there you would have done the same thing,"
"No, I wouldn't have. Sesshomaru is president of one of the largest demon firms in all of Japan, and he's one rich bastard. Inherited the family business and a whole lot of land from his mother, and some from his father - and now he's a demon to be reckoned with. Rumor has it; he's so powerful he could take down 100 demons single handedly if forced to. Plus, let me tell you, you would NOT want to meet this guy in the courtroom. He's a monster of a lawyer! So to speak," Miroku explained to the wide-eyed Kagome.
"God, he sounds terrible. All that money and that cold attitude? No wonder Inuyasha hates him. But - hey, if Sesshomaru inherited all that from his parents, what about Inuyasha?" Kagome asked curiously, wondering if her hanyou friend was holding back on her, and if he really lived on HIS own estate somewhere in upper class Tokyo like his half brother.
'If that's the case - why don't Shippou and I just stay at his place?' she thought with a small smile.
"Well, you have to understand that Inuyasha doesn't like to throw his money around like Sesshomaru does. He's not into the glamour like Mr. Ihavemoremoneythanyouhavebraincells - but he IS pretty wealthy." Miroku said.
"Really? I had no idea." Kagome said in wonder.
"What, you think that black Lexus came out of his ass? However, keep in mind Inuyasha isn't half as rich as his brother, since Inuyasha's mother was no where near as successful as Sesshomaru's. In fact, Inuyasha's human mother was just a shop owner downtown - a humble mortal his powerful demon father became smitten with," Miroku said in a dreamy voice, making Kagome laugh.
"That sounds romantic." She commented.
"Well, it got a whole lot of people in the upper levels of the pecking order of the demon world pretty pissed, let me tell you. Especially when Inuyasha was born. And then both of his parents died when he was pretty young. and times were tough," the monk admitted.
"I'm sure Sesshomaru was no help to Inuyasha," Kagome mumbled, feeling a large amount of sympathy for Inuyasha as she learned more and more about his confusing past. What a terrible childhood he must have had! No wonder he was a prick sometimes.
"I don't know, Inuyasha doesn't like to talk about him a lot. In fact, Inuyasha doesn't like to talk about ANYTHING a lot. What I'm telling you is highly secretive information, because if Inuyasha knew I was telling you his little tear jerking family history, he'd have words with me. So, let's keep this on the down low, okay?" Miroku requested, looking both ways and speaking to Kagome with one hand shielding his mouth. Kagome quickly nodded her assent, not in any hurry to get Inuyasha angry at her again for finding out more about his past.
"Of course not. Besides, that's not what I want to talk about with Inuyasha right now, anyway. say, would you have any idea where he is?"
*
Kagome forced open the door to the roof of the FBI agency with her shoulder, cradling two cups of coffee in her arms as a harsh wind brutally attacked her the second she stepped out of the building. She shivered against the cold hair and quickly searched the roof's large, empty grounds with quick brown eyes, glad she had decided to at least not wear a miniskirt again that day.
Spotting her prey sitting by a ledge of the concrete roof off to the side, Kagome smiled lightly and quickly jogged over to her partner, glad Miroku knew Inuyasha so well. According to the monk, whenever the demon wanted to brood in complete privacy, this was where he went.
Inuyasha sensed Kagome approaching before he saw her, his long white hair whipping dramatically around his face as he turned to gaze at the girl dispassionately, even as she proffered her peace offering to him with a smile - a nice, steaming cup of coffee. He frowned at her appearance, and obviously resented the fact that his total solitude had been violated.
However, Kagome didn't seem to feel guilty about invading his space at all; after all, Inuyasha had been up on the roof all afternoon already, and soon Kagome had to go to her last college class before winter break; Ancient Art of the Golden Age of Japan with Hojo and Kiki. After that she probably wouldn't see Inuyasha until much later since she was eating out with her friends, and wanted to get the whole mess about Kikyo cleared up before she left so that it wouldn't weigh heavily upon her for the rest of the day. For, as much as the History major felt as though Inuyasha's bout of anger and self-pity was unnecessary. she also felt rather guilty for dredging up bad memories for him, and perhaps talking it all out would put her own mind at ease.
"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked tactlessly, taking the coffee quickly and resting his arm on his leg.
"I came up here to talk to you about Kikyo," Kagome said with just as much grace, standing directly in front of Inuyasha and leaving him with no way out of the conversation - except for one escape rout off the ledge of the 30-something floor building. and it was very odd to Kagome that she felt she knew for a fact that Inuyasha would attempt to make that jump if their intimate discussion got too personal for his liking.
"I don't want to discuss it," Inuyasha replied flatly, scowling and rolling his shoulders in an agitated manner.
"Well, I'm sorry Inuyasha, but I already know all about her now. It's too late to keep what happened to Kikyo a secret from me - but I think it would help me understand the incident better if you were to explain what happened from your point of view," Kagome explained, her tone soft and careful.
"What does it matter to you, anyway?" Inuyasha demanded, his demeanor more closed off than Kagome had seen it for the past couple of days. She had thought that they had both grown closer than this - this level of impersonal jabs and badly kept secrets; but apparently they hadn't. It was like, for every step forward two steps backwards! Sure, he was living with her, but he refused to talk to her about anything having to do with his life!
"What does it matter to me? She was your old partner, and now I'm your new one! She was the only other miko on the force, as I now am, and was also a target for some dark magic - like I am! I want to know what happened to her from you, since I'm sure you'd know best, and not just because it could help me stay better protected in case she has anything to do with my current situation - but because the incident is obviously paining you, even after all this time." Kagome explained all in one large breath, her eyes glowing with an intensity that captivated Inuyasha.
"It's only been two years," Inuyasha reminded her in a much quieter tone, averting his gaze and obviously feeling very uncomfortable now that Kagome had effectively knocked down his defenses. Kagome sighed and kneeled by him, placing her coffee down.
"Listen, you don't have to tell me if you really don't want to, but I just thought it might be good if you told at least ME about Kikyo, seeing as how we're going to be working together, and I have a feeling she's going to come up now and again. I just don't want there to be an awkward gap between us, and I'm tired of tiptoeing around the topic of her whenever I'm near you - pretending like I don't know and it doesn't matter. Because it does," Kagome admitted. Inuyasha sighed with a wry smile on his face, raking a hand through his long hair before speaking.
"And the weird thing is, you don't know how right you are to be worried about all this." he admitted.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that you're right to pick up on the weird coincidences between you and Kikyo, as I personally think they're very important as well. I don't know if Kaede has noticed it yet, but I do believe there is a connection between you and Kikyo, indirectly, and it's not a good one." Inuyasha explained, speaking in one of his most serious tones.
"Really?" Kagome asked, suddenly feeling slightly worried.
"Really. I . didn't want to bring it up because thinking about Kikyo is still. very hard for me. She was my first real partner and we parted on such nasty terms I don't even like to mention her name much anymore. I had been avoiding thinking about her, but I think in doing so I let myself be blinded to something things I should have addressed earlier; some things that might make recent events more understandable." Inuyasha said slowly.
"Inuyasha, what are you talking about? What sort of things?" Kagome asked, sounding a bit panicked now, and putting her hand on Inuyasha's arm. Inuyasha looked at her hand, so small and pale on his dark suit, yet still strong and firm, determined not to let go till she knew everything she had come for. She shared so many things with Kikyo.
"I think that Kikyo was also tangled up with Naraku, and that he had some part in her destruction and eventual fleeing of the country,"
*
A sharp knocking brought Kaede's attention to the large, wooden door of her office. Sighing, and anticipating who it would be on the other side, she pushed away the large pile of paperwork that had accumulated on her desk from the morning, when she had received a surprise visit from the accomplished demon business tycoon Sesshomaru. Wherever that intolerable man went, paperwork inevitably followed him, and currently Kaede was filling out a number of documents sent to her by Sesshomaru's own lawyers. Documents that put very distinct boundaries on how close the FBI was allowed to get to the high-ranking demon, and how much poking around they could do. Damn him.
"Come in," she called.
"Kaede, I hope you don't think you're going to get away with this!" Miroku demanded, immediately launching himself towards Kaede's desk upon entering her clustered corner office.
"Get away with what." She asked flatly, staring at Miroku for a beat before returning to her paperwork, feeling very worn out suddenly. Now even Miroku, usually one of her better mannered agents, was turning against her? What a day.
"With confining me to desk work for all of the Naraku case! I know Inuyasha and I are no longer partners, but I have been with this job from the very beginning, and I refuse to stick around the office all day now just because Inuyasha has someone new. I want to be out there and in the action." He explained fiercely, folding his arms and standing resolutely in front of Kaede.
"I never intended to make you stick around the office. I have no idea where you got that idea." Kaede said without looking up, her tone dry.
"Oh." Miroku said, arms dropping and his posture slacking somewhat. "Well. I just assumed you were going to because you hadn't given me an assignment yet like everyone else. and you already paired up Kagome and Inuyasha." He reasoned.
"'To assume makes an ass out of u and me.'" Kaede reminded him briskly. "I would never make you do desk work Miroku - you may be one of the only humans on this part of the FBI force, but you're also one of our strongest agents. I have more respect for you than that," she added, looking up briefly and making the poor monk feel even guiltier for exploding on Kaede than before. So much for those meditative skills he had picked up; he had just thought the worse when no paperwork about his potential victim to guard had shown up in his mailbox like everyone else, and there had been no emails concerning a new partner for him - or at least permission to work solo.
"Oh. Right. Thank you. but, if I am going to be working as a field agent on this case, whom shall I partner up with? Do I get to work it alone perhaps?" he asked, a slight edge of hope in his voice. No offense to the other demons in his area, but he really didn't work well with many other agents except Inuyasha. Many of them were too far below his own skill level, and magical experience, even if they were full demons.
"Don't rush me, I have it all worked out. I have a partner for you who will be coming down especially for this case, and in fact I was just waiting for them when you so rudely barged in. They're to meet me for a lunch date, and I wanted to wait to give you the assignment because I think this person would appreciate it more if we all went over the victim's stats together." Kaede admitted, rubbing her temples and frowning. Miroku nodded in understanding and took a seat, dusting off his black pants.
"Well, who is it then? Is it someone not affiliated with the FBI?" he asked curiously.
"Sort of," Kaede said, a smirk tugging at her thin lips.
"Well, who then?" Miroku pressed, tired of Kaede's game. He had not been partnered with anyone other than Inuyasha for the past two years, and he was admittedly a little nervous about suddenly receiving a new colleague.
"Oh don't be so impatient. And don't take me pulling you and Inuyasha apart personally. I really hadn't anticipated doing that, in all honesty, it's just that he and Kagome have a sort of chemistry that's worked well for them so far. I think Inuyasha does well with mikos," she admitted with a shrug. Miroku sighed in defeat.
"I'd have to admit he does. And they DO work well together, even I can tell. In fact, with a little more training for Kagome - they could be the best pair we've seen around here in some time. It's just a little disconcerting for me, you must understand," he said, resting his cheek in his hand.
"Of course. And - oh. Here they are," Kaede said, interrupted by the sound of a loud knocking at the door.
"That's your lunch date? My partner?" Miroku asked as he got to his feet politely, and Kaede shuffled over to the door.
"Yep," she replied, a secretive smile tugging at her lips. Miroku nodded carefully and kept his eyes glued to the door with interest, crossing his fingers behind his back and praying for someone at least adequate.
But as the door opened, revealing the form of a woman, his violet eyes flashed with surprise and grew wide, his handsome features contorting into a shocked expression. His fists clenched by his sides and he totally missed Kaede's amused chuckle.
"You." he breathed.
"Hello Kaede," the woman said respectfully, almost purposefully focusing only on the old woman who had answered the door, while adjusting one of the thick leather straps on her shoulder. A smile graced full pink lips. "It's been a while,"
Kaede beamed at Sango - the tall woman wearing the long coat and jeans at the door. She had her hair up in a high ponytail, and had the attractive features of a female in her early twenties. Gray eyes flashed with energy and passion. and on her back she seemed to be sporting a rather large and heavy boomerang carved from bone.
"Too long," Kaede replied, as Miroku continued to stare at his old friend with astonishment and something akin to fear.
*
Author's Notes:
Well, I did it! I finally finished this chapter after almost three months after my supposed deadline was set - AND I got both Sesshomaru and Sango in there as promised. (It was a very tight squeeze with Sango, did you notice?) I'm afraid I've been totally messing up this story because of my writer's block with tends to make me screw around with the plot in ways I shouldn't, and later regret. So if you catch anything that seems weird or out of place in this chapter please tell me about it so I can smack my head and realize what an idiot I've been.
I'm not going to make anymore promises about due dates for my next chapter since I obviously can't stick to them and they just make me nervous, however I will say that the next fic you're probably going to see updates from is not this one. Most likely Our Maze Of Dreams will have a new chapter out soon. and then maybe in a few months I can get around to posting new stuff for Bitten.
Something else that's been bothering me - I'm doing this all too fast! The relationships that have evolved in this story thus far don't really work with the small time frame I've created, and I've actually been having to cut out a lot of romantic scenes from Bitten because I'm such a WAFFY person at heart and, when it gets right down to it, I just want to make Kagome and Inuyasha end up together fast. Well. whatever. I'm sure not too many people are going to be upset about that.
Thanks for reading and waiting and PLEASE review because it would make me happy!
~Rio Grande