Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha . . .

ROCK ON!!!

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The ice cream parlor was crowded as the heiress and hanyou entered. The room was filled with squealing children, grunting parents, and the whizzing of the ice cream machine. Kagome smiled as a small girl with a rather large chocolate ice cream cone gazed up at her, her toothless smile surrounded by a trail of the sweet treat.

Inuyasha pulled off his shades, looking around with narrowed eyes. He knew a place like this was a likely place where another assasination attempt could take place.

Kagome glanced at her body guard, sensing his mood. Right before they had entered the parlor, Miroku had called Inuyasha's cell, informing the hanyou that the man they had caught the night before had revealed no information that would lead them to the culprit behind all the attacks. That had frustrated her body guard, responding to his former police partner with a long trail of curses concerning his incompetence.

Calming him down, she managed to grab the phone, thank Miroku for his help, and managed to drag the now grumpy dog demon into the shop.

"I doubt these little kids would be trying to kill me."

The hanyou jerked his head towards the heiress' direction. "What?"

Kagome chuckled, shaking her head. "You need to loosen up; you're more worked up over finding the person behind all of this than I am. Do you want to be rid of me that bad?"

Inuyasha gaped for a moment, before turning his head away. "Feh, I'm just tired of saving you all the time. If you weren't such a weak wom--"

"Kagome? Kagome Higurashi?"

The two turned to see a middle-aged woman head their way, a young toddler in tow. "Kagome? I haven't seen you in ages!"

The miko blinked, trying to dig into her memory. The woman that stood in front of her had her black hair cropped short, the shiny tresses barely brushing her shoulders. Her violet eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses, and her white blouse and jeans fit loosely around her body.

"I'm sorry . . . do I know you?" Kagome asked, embarrassed. Inuyasha eyed the woman carefully, his right hand holding Kagome's shoulder protectively.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" the woman said, slightly flustered. She stooped down to pick up the young girl, who was currently sticking her fingers in her mouth. "Of course you wouldn't remember me. My name is Miyako Okimoto; I was a friend of your father's."

Kagome's mouth formed into a 'o', before bowing respectfully. "Nice to meet you, Okimoto-san."

The woman waved her hand. "No need for such formal things. My, my, you've grown! The last time I saw you was 8 years ago; a scrawny thing, you were."

Kagome heard the hanyou behind her snort, and she elbowed him in the stomach, rewarding her with a small grunt. "Ah, yes," she said awkwardly, rubbing her neck.

"Well, you were at your father's funeral," she went on, frowning slightly at the squirming bundle in her arms. "It was a shame, wasn't it? The way your father died?"

The heiress bowed her head a fraction. "Yeah, it was," she said softly. The memory of her father was always dear to her, and the mention of his death always brought back a strong pang of pain in her heart.

"To suffer for so long! I mean, the poor man suffered enough, but to be put into that horrible place?"

The young woman's head shot up. "What place?" she asked, confusion clouding her face.

Miyako blinked. "You mean you don't remember?"

"No . . ." Kagome shook her head, her face etching a frown.

"Well, um, do you remember his illness?" Miyako was beginning to become nervous.

"He had an illness?" the heiress whispered, her eyes wide.

"Oh, dear, look at the time!" The older woman glanced around fretfully. "I must get Asako here back home. Time for her nap, you know? Well, I'll see you around, Kagome! Oh, and tell your mother I said hi!" With her last word, she rushed out of the parlor, her face flushed.

Inuyasha scratched his head, muttering something about 'weird women.' Noticing the ice cream line had shortened, he nudged the woman beside him. "You getting something or what?"

When she didn't reply, he frowned, walking around to face her. "Hello? Anyone home?"

The heiress' face was blank, her eyes filled with confusion. "Daddy . . . had an illness?" she whispered, her face turning to meet the hanyou's but never seeing it.

The hanyou body guard stared at her. "What's the matter with you?"

"I was told . . . Daddy died in a car accident," she said softly, to no one in particular. She shook her head, memories of her weeping mother as she answered the front door, receiving two police officers who informed her of the sad news. Kagome remembered sitting at the bottom stairs, crying as she heard the news that her father died.

Inuyasha led her by the elbow to an available booth away from the crowds, the woman dazed and confused. He sat her down, then turned to get her a glass of water.

As the hanyou returned, he sat across from her, his eyes staring intently into her own. "So wait . . . you were told your father died from a car accident, and now this lady tells you that he had some sorta illness . . . " He thought a moment. "Maybe she was misinformed or something. I mean, you and your family would've noticed if he was sick, right?"

Kagome stared at the glass of water in front of her. "I . . . I don't know. Daddy was gone for about a year before he died. Jii-chan told us he was assigned to overlook an extension of our company."

The body guard scratched his head. "What? He never called or anything?"

The heiress thought a moment. "He called . . . twice. One on my birthday, and another on Christmas. But he never talked long . . ."

The young woman rubbed her temple. "It doesn't make sense! I never knew Daddy to have ANY illnesses . . . and what place was Okimoto-san talking about?"

Inuyasha closed his eyes and leaned back against the cushioned booth. "Well, this is useless."

Kagome looked at him sharply. "What is?"

The hanyou cracked his eyes open. "Talking about this. Here. To me. Why don't you ask someone who might actually know what this lady's talking about?"

The young woman opened, her mouth, then closed it. He's right . . . if I want any answers, I'll have to talk to someone . . . Mom, Jii-chan maybe . . .

She watched as Inuyasha stood, went over to the counter, ordered, and waited as the teenage boy behind the counter shuffled around. He glanced back at her, and gave her a mere shrug. Kagome watched her body guard curiously as he paid the boy, then took the two large ice cream sundaes back to the table.

"What's this?" Kagome asked, gawking at the huge mountain of frozen milk in front of her.

Inuyasha, who was already digging in, sighed as the spoon carrying the cherry froze inches away from his mouth. "Are you that stupid? I said I'd get you ice cream . . . so shut up and eat. The sooner you finish that, the sooner you can go question people about that lady."

Kagome was about to retort at his insults when she realized his comments were his way of saying he cared. Sighing, she smiled, mumbled a thanks, and scooped a large helping of chocolate onto her spoon and popped it into her mouth.

The hanyou nearly fell out of the booth laughing when he saw how big Kagome's eyes got when she realized how cold the ice cream really was. He laughed even harder as she choked on the glob of cream. The heiress, who managed to glup down the gooey treat and momentarily suffer from a rather painful brainfreeze, glared at him from across the table.

"Think that was funny, did you?"

Inuyasha stilled, forcing himself to stop laughing at the woman's tone. He stared at her with a very serious face, although his eyes twinkled with amusement. "No, of course not."

Satisfied with getting the hanyou to quite down, she scooped a more reasonable amount of ice cream and was about to put it into her mouth when his face caught her eye. "What?"

The body guard smirked. "It wasn't funny . . . it was hilarious!" And with that, he began to howl with laughter once again.

Kagome glared at the hanyou, slipping the spoon into her mouth. "Boys . . ." she muttered.

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AU: ::gawks at screen and smashes head into the wall repeatedly:: omg, I can't believe it! this is the 32nd chapter in this story, and I just realized that I haven't even revealed the main plot yet!!! I've been too busy circling around Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship that it completely slipped my mind!!!

do you guys think I'm dragging the story out too much? I mean, doesn't 32 chapter seem a little long?

thanks for the reviews . . . and stay tuned!!