Love in the time of Kimora

by Yanaristocrat I

True love lasts forever, doesn't it? Kagome and Sesshomaru thought so until they became like every other marriage statistic and hit rock bottom. Sequel to Silver Dove and the Raven. Can they make it work?

6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Family dinners weren't always so awkward but when their grandmother was at the table, it was. Kimora sat beside Samara who looked depressed for some odd reason. Their grandfather sat across from them listening to something their grandmother had gone on about for the past ten minutes. Kimora wondered if he was absorbing or ignoring what their grandmother had been saying. The way he nodded and drank his wine, dismissing each word with a smile, it looked like he was ignoring.

Sesshomaru walked in, looking very casual than usual in jeans and a black buttoned down shirt that was left unbuttoned at the collar. He sat at the head of the table, meeting his father's eyes with a drop of sympathy for having to hear his mother ramble on.

"I am just saying that the girls are almost ten years old." Saya stopped and looked at Sesshomaru. "When are you and Kagome going to bare a son? You do realize if you don't have one, our royal line ends here? Our line of pure blood has already been diluted and now we will also lose our place in the throne."

She always knew how to strike up an interesting conversation during dinner. Sesshomaru flipped open a napkin and set it on his lap. His phone buzzed in his pockets every other minute. When no one answered, Saya sighed.

"It looks like no one cares but I do." She sipped her wine and smiled at the girls. "You girls will just have to marry into a very strong clan."

Kimora frowned. "I'm not getting married."

Saya and Samara both turned to her, mouths agape. Sesshomaru and his father grinned lightly and looked at their plates.

"What do you mean you're not getting married?" Saya spat. "You have to."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. How else are you going to survive? Every demon woman must get married and to have children out of wedlock, don't speak of such blasphemy."

Kimora looked at everyone around the table. "I'm not having kids either."

Saya gasped and looked at Sesshomaru. "You see? You see what hanging around humans do?"

"Oh, Saya…will you stop?" Inutaisho let out a frustrated sigh.

Sesshomaru ignored them as he always did and looked through his phone to check updates in his emails. His new secretary continued to make mistakes and sent him a few spam letters. He had to return to work in a few days but it looked like he had to go to his office in the morning again to get more documents. He had to have been missing something, something that was probably right under his eyes and went unnoticed. How could he not know who was after him for nearly a year? At least things were better with Kagome, he thought. She was now within his grasp as opposed to dangling from his finger tips like before. Hopefully now she would stop with the whole divorce threat.

Things would be back to normal soon. He could be with Kagome and the girls again and not have to worry about this nuisance. People were always after him but he knew pretty well who they were and where they were but this one person or group of them, he had no idea. They managed to get Naraku but that wasn't much of a surprise seeing that he had not gotten his guards to watch over him. With the amount of security he had, no one would dare get to his family but he chose not to underestimate this person.

"Is it possible for you not to look in your phone throughout the course of dinner, Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru looked up from his phone at his mother and set it down to shut her up but it buzzed again. She looked at him impatiently, waiting for him to pick up his phone but he reached out to silence it and ate dinner quietly. It was probably a meaningless text or email from his secretary.

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Kagome strolled confidently down the hallway to her office, smiling and greeting everyone and taking sips of her coffee. Haji and another guard walked a couple of feet behind her. Her secretary Yura looked up from her computer and squinted.

"You're unusually happy." She said and followed her inside the office with a pile of folders.

"Am I not allowed to be?" Kagome said as she sat down, taking little sips of coffee between her smiles.

Yura contained a devilish smirk and blushed. She walked over to the window and opened the blinds. "I recognize that smile."

"Can we drop my smile and focus. What do you have for me today?"

Yura sighed. "You're no fun."

"You know, most people would be fired after a comment like that to their boss."

"Oh, stop. You would probably pull out your hair if I were gone." She dropped the stack of folders on Kagome's desk and smirked at Haji. "Hi, Haji."

Haji nodded with his hands folded in front of him. He stood next to the doorway, expressionless. People were used to Kagome's guards by now that they were often unnoticed. Everyone in the office was informed that they were not allowed to talk to her guards but Yura didn't care. She had a thing for Haji since she first set eyes on him.

"These flowers also came in for you." She tried to hand them to Kagome but Haji snatched them from her. He studied them, ripping a few of the petals and sniffing it. Yura gaped at him as he handed the flowers back to her. She faltered before looking at Kagome and handing it to her. "Well…they were flowers."

Kagome smiled and smelled the flowers. "Who are they from?"

Yura pulled a note out of her pocket and was about to hand it to her but Haji snatched it again.

"Jesus, Haji, it is possible for something to be just what it is and nothing more." Yura growled. After studying it, he gave it to Yura and she handed it to Kagome.

"It's just precaution, Yura. You know the drill." Kagome smiled. She was no longer affected by this but it was annoying in the beginning. She opened the letter and cocked a brow.

Kagome, I am sorry about the other day. Let's try again.-S

The thought of Sesshomaru giving her flowers passed her mind for a second before she realized flowers weren't really his thing.

"I wonder who-oh, I know who wrote this." She said, throwing the letter on her desk. Yura's eyes glittered for gossip and anticipated for Kagome to mention who it was. "It's not important, Yura, so stop looking at me. What are the updates?"

"Oh come on, you know I live for the drama in your life. Please tell me, is it that guy from your past, that model guy, Shinji?"

This was the price she paid for hiring her college friend. Shinji? Her mind flooded with memories from her past, things she had not thought about since she and Sesshomaru got back together. She never spoke to Shinji since that time. When she had done modeling throughout college, she saw him in the studio but he wouldn't talk to her. It was juvenile but she understood and respected his decision not to talk to him. Sesshomaru was happy that she didn't speak to him.

"Fine, don't tell me." Yura broke her out of her daze. "Anyway, your mother in law called saying something about doing brunch this Saturday."

"No way, what's next?" Kagome waved her to get to the other updates. Brunch with Saya? She rather have her teeth pulled. Saya probably wanted to nag her about why she had not bore a son yet for Sesshomaru.

"She still hounding you to give Sesshomaru a boy?"

Kagome nodded and rolled her eyes. "It's getting annoying. She keeps trying to give me pointers about what sexual positions to try in order to increase my chances of getting one…you cannot imagine how disturbing it is so I will do what it takes not to see that woman."

"Don't you want to try for a boy?"

Kagome shrugged. "Kimora and Samara are enough of a handful but you know that I don't mind having another if Sesshomaru wanted one but…he doesn't."

"Why not? I mean, especially in his bloodline? What's his reason?"

"He says I won't make it through another birth and I would surely die."

Yura sighed. "Such a romantic that guy is."

"Anyway, what else?"

"Uh…Dr. Paulovich has been leaving tons of messages and wants you to get back at him-what's that about anyway? Was everything alright?"

"Yeah, he just wants me to be his lab rat. What's next?"

"Uh…the Ferguson case dropped. She called this morning."

"What?" Kagome spat. "Why'd she drop out?"

"I don't know…"Yura placed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yes, you do. Spill it out."

"Well, she just said she wanted someone more experienced."

"You mean someone older…or rather someone who looks older." Kagome scoffed. "So who'd she transfer to?"

Yura paused and looked at Haji. "Um…Carl?"

"What? Crazy Carl who like never wins anything?"

"She said for you not to be angry. She wants nothing more than a woman to represent her but when she googled you and saw how young you looked…well, she panicked."

"Well, now she won't win anything." Kagome rolled her eyes. "Did she not see when she googled me that I win ninety nine percent of my cases?"

"It's her loss, Kaggy."

"I told you not to call me that at work."

"Sorry."

Kagome groaned. She was so tired of this crap. Youth was something people cherished and advertised even killed for yet not many people could see that it caused problems as well. No one would ever take her seriously. She was often called 'Rookie' even though she'd been in the office for more than four years and had won more cases than anyone at the firm. She fought hard to gain her position and it was only now that people knew how good she was. She spent years trying to show that she was more than Lord Sesshomaru's wife and that she'd gotten the position because she was awesome and not because of him.

"So are you going to tell me about the flowers?"

Kagome looked tired and rolled her eyes again. "It's from this guy I knew in high school, his name is Sasuke."

"Oh my god, your ex-boyfriend?"

"Do I really tell you everything?" Kagome cursed under her breath and took another sip of her coffee.

Yura sat on her desk and fixed her bangs and combed the rest of her bob cut with her fingers. "So scandalous…are you-"

"No, Yura. Can you get off my desk and actually do some work?" Kagome growled impatiently.

"Fine, fine." Yura got off and straightened her blouse. She frowned and looked over her shoulder at Kagome. "You realize the men in your life all start with the letter S?"

Kagome blinked as she thought about it. That was true but she didn't try to acknowledge for it would surely strike another topic with Yura. Yura giggled and flicked her eyes at Haji as she left the office.

Kagome rubbed her temples and looked at her laptop. Whatever residual feeling she had from her time with Sesshomaru was gone and things were back to the way they were. She wished she could have stayed in Sesshomaru's bed with his arms wrapped around her but reality had to take its toll. She looked at Haji and his eyes were looking straight ahead, behind her. She sighed and opened the folders in front of her and went to work. Haji glanced at her briefly and looked behind her again, feeling sympathy for her.

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Kimora flew to the other side of the room and fell on her butt. She groaned and grabbed her side, refusing to cry.

"Get up, Kimora." Sesshomaru ordered and she got up, biting back the tears. She hated sparring but it was something she had to do and master by the time she was thirteen. Samara waved her sword and stood with her head raised and a victorious smirk. Kimora tried not to look at her father, feeling as if her weakness disappointed her. A few people sat on the side, people from the clan, Inuyasha and Koga and her grandfather and grandmother. They all watched them as if they were playing a game of cricket.

"Pathetic." Samara muttered and Sesshomaru scolded her.

"Again." Sesshomaru said, his voice soft yet strong enough for a command. Kimora took her stance and watched her sister take hers. "Kimora, you need to know when to lock your knee. It is crucial to know when or you'll either fall easily or have your leg broken." He stopped when he heard snickers coming from Samara.

"Your moves are repetitive, Samara. Your opponent will be able to predict your next move."

Samara's smile faded but she heeded his advice. The room was quiet and it was awkward for Kimora but everyone else seemed to be used to it, including her sister. This was tradition but somehow she couldn't get used to it. As a child she and Samara would watch other members of the clan spar and train for tournaments in the future but she never thought she'd be on the mat. These tournaments gained recognition among the clans on who was the strongest. Sesshomaru won the past generation and before that was their grandfather. But no pressure, right?

Sesshomaru pulled Samara and Kimora to the side away from everyone and knelt down. Even kneeling, he was taller than them. It was no secret that his daughters idolized him and wanted to be like him but for Kimora, deep down inside, she felt she would never be like him.

"Only when sparring should you two be fighting each other." He said, looking intensely at the both of them. "If I find that you disobey me…" his words trailed off, leaving room for their imagination which was probably worse than what he'd actually do.

They both nodded in compliance and went back to their positions. The sparring room was big. Couches lined the walls with a huge bamboo mat in the middle of the room. They both donned a white gi and bowed at their father and then at each other. An elder snake demon sat across the room in front of a pair of drums and another elder from the wolf clan held a flute. They started an ominous melody that signified the beginning of a battle and Kimora's hands clammed up. She saw Samara gripping her wooden sword with a rage she couldn't mimic. She looked at her father and he nodded for her to make her move but she didn't. She saw Denali sitting with her sister Lahira and a few other kids from other clans. Denali was whispering to another girl and she could hear her saying the words 'halfbreed' and 'weak'. The drums sped faster and faster, the flute catching up to its rhythm and then…silence.

Kimora shot one last look at her father and then heard a battle cry and looked to see Samara charging at her with her sword. Instinctively, Kimora turned to run but her father was quick as lightning and blocked her. She turned around, and blocked Samara's sword with hers but staggered back by the force.

"What's the matter, Kimora?" Samara laughed. "Want to cry for mommy?"

Kimora growled and pushed her back with an unexpected force that had a few people gasp. Samara was stunned for a second but shook her head and waved her sword but Kimora dodged out of the way. Samara continued to swing and Kimora kept dodging.

"Stop dodging, Kimora, and start fighting." She heard her father say.

Kimora turned to swing her sword but Samara struck her from the side. Kimora winced and grasped the side of her ribs. She raised her sword and swung. It was luck that she managed to knock the sword out of Samara's hand but Samara was quick, sword or not, she lunged forward and scratched at Kimora's face. Kimora pushed her off and took a few steps back. There were times Sesshomaru wanted to stop the fight but his father was at his side now, holding him back every time he flinched.

"She shows no sign of any strength." Sesshomaru sighed.

"Be patient, it is there." His father said. "She is succumbing. She does not want to fight and doesn't have the desire to. She finds it pointless. Notice how she doesn't really try to hit Samara? She is only dodging or she moves to remove whatever weapon Samara has but that is it."

"She needs to learn how to defend herself."

"She will. She just doesn't find her own sister so much of a threat to fight hard. She knows this is only training. I'm sure if this were a real battle she'd put more effort."

Samara sprinted and grabbed her sword, impaled it through the mat and used it to heave herself into the air and kicked Kimora in the stomach. Kimora grunted and fell back, gasping for air but jumping to her feet immediately when she saw Samara grabbing her sword and charging at her again.

"I should stop the fight." He said, noticing Kimora bleeding from the lip.

"No." his father insisted, pressing a strong hand over his chest. "This is why she isn't trying. She thinks you will stop the fight."

Koga gripped his knees, hating to see his favorite twin getting hurt. He looked at Inuyasha and could see that it was painful for him to see as well. It wasn't common for girls to spar but Sesshomaru overlooked that rule when he realized he was not going to have a son despite how much his mother nagged that he should.

Kimora grabbed her sword and ran the opposite way; she heard giggles from those watching them, mainly from Denali and a few other kids. She looked at her father again but he just watched with no emotion on his face. Samara also glanced at her father and it didn't look like he was impressed. He was bored, she thought. She had to show him what she could do, what she was capable of.

Kimora readied herself for an attack and fixed her stance but in a flash, Samara was on the left of her and then on the right of her another second. She was showing her speed, something she didn't see before. But Kimora knew Samara well and could always figure out where she'd show up so when she appeared at her right again, Kimora swung her sword and knocked the sword out of Samara's hand but in doing so, hit her fingers as well.

Samara yelped in pain as she retracted her hand back. She heard Denali laugh and a few others as well and her face became red with embarrassment. She glared at Kimora and her eyes glowed red.

"Sorry, Samara…I was just trying to-"

Kimora couldn't finish because Samara jumped on her, punched her in the face and threw her over her shoulder. This time Sesshomaru had to stop the fight because Samara continued to punch and claw at her and Kimora would not fight back.

"Enough!" Sesshomaru let out a guttural growl that shook even those who watched from the sidelines. Samara quickly yielded like a scolded dog and bowed her head. His face was tensed as he picked up Kimora. "Everyone leave now."

No one hesitated once he spoke and everyone walked out of the room. Saya passed by Samara and rested a palm on her shoulder and looked at Kimora, sympathetically or disappointedly, she couldn't tell. Samara legs shook, wondering if she'd crossed the line. She looked at her grandfather but he didn't even look at her as he passed by.

When everyone was gone, Kimora was crying on the mat, refusing to show her face. Her hands were bloody as well from shielding her face. Sesshomaru stood up, turned to face Samara and she could swear she stopped breathing. She felt like she was shrinking as he walked toward her.

She didn't look up from the floor when he stopped in front of her. Sensing how angry he was, she expected him to have struck her but his hands remained at his side.

"Look at me." He said and she did after a moment. "What you did was completely unethical and barbaric. Sparring is an art and it is also about respect. You must compose yourself and assess where you went wrong. Losing control is a sign of weakness."

"I'm sorry, father." She saw the look of disappointment in his face and looked back down.

"Go." He said and she ran off without looking back. He sighed and rubbed his temples as he turned around to get Kimora but she was she was no longer in the room.

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Kimora could hear everyone calling her name as she hid in the kitchen pantry. On her way out of the sparring room, she grabbed a can of air freshener and sprayed it as she walked to block her scent. It would only work for a little while until it cleared out but she didn't want to see anyone right now. She was embarrassed and didn't want to see her father's face, to show him how weak she was.

She ached, and her face and knuckles stung as she sat in the corner with her knees to her chest. Why did Samara hate her so much? The skin by her eyes felt raw from constantly wiping her tears. She wanted her mother. She hated feeling like mommy and daddy's little girl and it exhausted her how much they sheltered her, even from her own sister.

The door opened and the light from the kitchen shone bright into the dark room. She covered her eyes and tried to see the silhouette in front of her.

"I knew I'd find you here." She heard the familiar voice.

"Uncle Inuyasha?" she said, her voice hoarse. "How did you find me?"

"Everyone is worried, Kimmy. We're all looking for you."

"I don't want anyone to see me like this. Don't try to convince me to get out of here."

"I won't." he said as he sat next to her. "Trust me, I hear ya. I would always hide after a sparring match."

"I bet you didn't get as beat up as I did."

He laughed. If she only knew. Sesshomaru put him in the hospital once and there was another time that he punched him in the boy's locker room and knocked him out for hours. He woke up when the school janitor found him after school hours.

"Does it get easier, Uncle Inuyasha? Will people accept me the way I am?"

Inuyasha sighed. "The important thing, Kimmy, is that the people you care about accept you. You don't need to worry about the rest."

"But what happens when the people I care about don't accept me?"

"Who are you talking about? They do. "

"I will never be a tough demon leader like daddy, grandma hates me and mommy always tries to protect me because she knows I'm not as tough as Samara and Samara…is ashamed of me because I'm not full blooded like her."

Inuyasha rested a hand on her shoulder. "I cannot promise you it will get easier, Kimmy. The only thing I can tell you is that you have to remain strong, inside."

Kimora nodded and they were silent for a while. Inuyasha grabbed a can of beans from the shelf and read the label. "I used to hide here when I was young too. I would hide for hours and would sometimes go hungry so I decided the pantry was the best place to hide because it was closest to the bathroom and I could eat while I was here."

Kimora giggled as he handed her a bag of marshmallows. They ate a few before Sesshomaru found the both of them. Inuyasha signaled him not to show he was worried and that everything was taken care of but Sesshomaru insisted getting Kimora's wounds cleaned.

Kimora sat at the table while her father brought over the first aid kit. He took a while reading the labels wondering which he should use since he never had the need for ointments and first aid kits. He dabbed the cotton swab on her knuckles and she whimpered.

"Why do I have to fight, daddy?"

He stopped and looked at her for a moment and brought a cotton swab to her lip.

"You do not have to but it is a resourceful skill to have."

"When will I have to fight anyone?"

"Should there ever be someone to threaten the person you care about, wouldn't you want to know how to protect them?" he stopped when he realized he sounded just like his father.

"What if the other person is a full demon, how can I protect myself from them when they are going to be stronger than me?"

Sesshomaru noticed another cut on her forehead and dabbed the swab on it. "I am going to tell you a story that I have never told anyone."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Not even mom?"

"No."

"Or Uncle Inuyasha?"

"Especially him."

She stopped and waited for him to speak.

"Inuyasha and I didn't get along when we were younger."

"Dad, you don't get along now."

Sesshomaru paused. "Even more so…don't interrupt. I had made a reference about his mother that he didn't take very well. I had made many references to his mother but this one remark really got to him."

"What was it?"

"I said many things that I cannot remember." He stopped and bandaged one of her hands. "Inuyasha and I would fight often and often I would win…but when I said this one remark, he hit me with a force stronger than any other demon I've ever fought. I do not think Inuyasha realized how strong he was at the moment but when we fought he could never hit that hard like that one time."

"So…you're saying that he was stronger than you?"

Sesshomaru frowned. "No. Yes…for a second." He stopped. You're deterring from the point of the conversation, he thought. Forget about your ego for this one moment. "The point is…that you have the strength, you just need to know where it is and how to use it."

"Do you think I will ever be as strong as you?"

He was quiet as he stared into her hazel eyes. She had Kagome's eyes. Her white bangs usually covered them but as he pushed her hair back to dress her wound, he took in her big beautiful eyes and couldn't contain a grin.

"Maybe." He said and started putting the first aid kit away. She walked over to the stove and picked up a steel frying pan from the rack and looked at her reflection. She grimaced and looked away.

"I'm going to have scars, aren't I?"

"Perhaps not."

"If I were a full demon, I wouldn't have scars."

"No, we get scars also, we just heal quicker."

"Do you have any scars?"

"Yes."

"Can I see?"

"No."

"Dad, come on? It would give me comfort and ease my worries." She crossed her arms and he grinned as he walked away with her following behind him.

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Sesshomaru had to get the documents from his office and left the girls at the D.D.C manor with his father and mother. With the girls there, he knew his parents wouldn't be at each others' throats…as much. He parked his black BMW in the parking lot and opened his glove compartment. He grabbed a black berretta from it and placed it into a holster by his hip. He didn't feel the need to carry a gun but the board at the D.D.C Headquarters insisted he either carried it or allowed sentry to guard him so he chose to carry the gun.

He grabbed his double espresso and entered the building, being greeted by everyone as he did. People bowed as he passed but this was normal and disregarded usually. He took the elevator and a burly bald man walked inside with him.

"Greetings, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Myoga…" he said.

"I heard about Siberia. Congrats are in order but we all knew you could do it anyway."

Sesshomaru nodded, which was also normal for people at the D.D.C. Unlike his casual conversations at home with his family, at work, Sesshomaru was a man of few words and he liked to keep it this way. He exited the elevator and saw his incompetent secretary sitting at her desk beside his door. Sandra, Sally, Sue, Samantha…he searched for her name in his head but didn't care to figure it out. He wasn't particularly used to forgetting a person's name but hers failed to register for some odd reason.

"Good morning, my lord!" she stood from her chair and handed him coffee. He looked at his hand that already held coffee and looked at her cup. When she noticed he already had coffee, she set the coffee aside. "I was able to get your meetings back."

"Great."

"I don't know if you checked your messages but I-"she stopped when he slammed the door in her face. She looked around the office and bowed her head hearing snickers. She frowned and took a deep breath. This man was not going to make her look like a fool. She opened the door and stormed in.

"I was not finished." She said bitterly and a little too loudly than she intended.

"I beg your pardon?" he removed his coat and her frown was replaced by a nervous expression. What did she just do? She took a step back and almost made a run for it but bucked up and swallowed her nerves.

"I-uh…I mean… I have other things to tell you."

"Then hurry up and tell me." He said with an attitude she did not care for. Why did he have to be so rude? Did he speak to his wife this way?

She placed a strand of her long black hair behind her ear and gulped. "W-well, Naraku Onigumo's body had been found by pier 17 this morning."

Sesshomaru stopped and turned to her. "Why have you not called me?"

"I…tried, sir, but you weren't picking up your phone."

Sesshomaru sighed. He had been ignoring her on purpose. He sat in his chair and continued to look at her. Now having his undivided attention, she felt pressured and hoped she didn't say anything stupid.

"Well, at first, N.Y.P.D didn't want to hand over his body but I sent the Lieutenant to reprimand him with documentation stating that we have the right to extract D.D.C property ,which includes employees, for primary investigations. They haven't analyzed his body yet so, so far that we know, his body has not been tampered with since…well, you know."

Sesshomaru looked indifferent but she thought she saw surprise in his expression, she actually did something right. But knowing he would soon see Naraku's body didn't please him.

"Please notify me when he arrives." He said. "Sara, right?"

"Yes." She said, stifling a smile. She never liked her name so much but it sounded different coming out of his mouth.

He nodded. "You can go now."

Sara left the office and refrained from jumping up and squealing. A few girls around the office looked back surprised as she confidently walked back to her desk. This was good, she thought. She did something right and she could tell that he was impressed. This made her very happy and she wanted to do more to make him satisfied.

When Naraku's body came in, it was to Sara's incumbency to notify Sesshomaru about his arrival. She didn't know what Sesshomaru's relationship was with him but he looked to be in deep thought as they walked down the sanitized white hallway with white tiled floors. They entered a room and a man had been picking something out of Naraku's mouth with a tweezer.

"What can you tell me?" Sesshomaru asked as he put on latex gloves and examined Naraku. His eyes were cold and Sara couldn't see anything familiar in them. He looked at this man as if he were just another casualty no different than any other. Maybe this Naraku was a stranger or someone not that important to him.

The analyst sat back in his chair and placed whatever he pulled out of Naraku's mouth into a small plastic bag.

"I haven't done all of the tests." He said in a thick Chinese accent. "But this man was definitely tortured. Did he work for the D.D.C?"

"Yes." Sesshomaru said. "Briefly."

"I see." The man said. "Well, cause of death was…"

"Gunshots to the head, wasn't it?" Sesshomaru pointed to two gunshot wounds on Naraku's forehead.

"Actually, "the man said. "He was still alive when he was shot. What killed him was septicemia."

"Elaborate. I watched the video and he was shot in the head."

"Did you see him die?"

Sesshomaru thought about it. The screen went black afterward. "Can you tell where he's been harbored?"

"Somewhere very unclean, that is for sure, but with these lacerations, he could have gotten infected anywhere. There are deep puncture wounds by the kidneys, and an abscess underneath it. I believe the infection started here. Judging by the fever blisters all over his mouth; he was probably kept in poor conditions for more than a week, with no food or water, I might add. As for the bullet wounds, neither of the bullets actually went through his head. The first one grazed the side of his temple. The other, considering the angle, must have ricocheted and glided on the skull cavity, it was imbedded into it but it didn't pierce right through."

"So this is work of an amateur." Sesshomaru asked as Sara wrote all of this down.

"I would say this person has never held a gun in his life."

Sesshomaru squinted, his eyes darting left and right as he contemplated. "Is there anything to give us a lead?"

"Not at the moment, sir. I'm still waiting on ballistics and sent a soil sample I found in his ears down to the lab. Toxicology reports show they used an intravenous sedative called Midazolam to keep him tranquil."

"But…"Sara interrupted. "Mr. Onigumo here is a demon, right? How is it his body wasn't able to heal itself?"

Sesshomaru almost felt embarrassed by her question that he looked at the doctor with an expression that told him not to even bother explaining it but the doctor smiled and looked at her.

"Well, even for a demon, they do need to be fed and hydrated just like a human. His body was too weak to heal."

"Oh…"Sara said, glancing at Sesshomaru hoping he didn't give her a look of stupidity. He did, but she didn't see it.

"Notify me when you get more information." Sesshomaru said and removed his gloves. He stormed through a pair of double doors and headed toward the elevator. Sara tried to keep up but following him in heels was a challenge. She made a mental note to wear flats next time. The elevator doors had almost closed by the time she got there. The ride up to the main lobby was long especially in the silence. Sesshomaru was furious and she decided not to say a word. She even tried her best to breathe less.

An amateur? He had been chasing an amateur? If this person was an amateur, why was it that he had not found him yet? Sara watched as he glared at the doors in deep thought. Veins pulsated on his neck as he clenched his teeth and yet she couldn't help thinking how handsome he was. His long silver hair rested quietly and tamed behind his back. His expensive suit had not a single wrinkle and he smelled of vanilla and musk, which wasn't like any type of cologne she had ever smelled on a man. She still felt a bit humiliated and felt the need to explain herself.

"I always forget that demons are kind of like humans in a sense. It's just they are so strong, I feel like they can fight anything and—"

He wasn't listening. He kept thinking about Naraku and the last time they spoke. Naraku always kept in touch and told him of all the things he was doing and where he was going. It was more out of hope that he could provoke Sesshomaru into coming with him but always failed. When they got back to his office, Samara and Kimora popped out of the door.

"What are you doing here?" Sesshomaru asked, his tone surprised but not happy. His father poked his head out of the office and smiled.

"We asked Grandpa to take us here. We wanted to see your job!" Kimora said. Her beautiful silver hair had been pulled into a tight ponytail. She buried her hands into a white hooded sweater and jumped up and down with excitement. Sara noticed Kimora's converse sneakers and was surprised to see such a wealthy child wear such thing. Samara, on the other hand, was a kid dressed as one who was wealthy. Her long black hair was loose with a diamond headband. She had a white wool coat and suede boots.

Kimora walked over to Sara and waved. "Hi, I'm Kimora."

Sara thought she was just the cutest thing but frowned at the cuts on her face. She looked up and Inutaisho knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Sparring. I know, it's such a barbaric tradition especially for girls but…it is tradition."

Sara faltered a nod and looked at Samara who was looking back with an expression scary for a ten year old.

"Father, I am hungry. Can we get something to eat?" Samara asked, still glaring at Sara.

"Yes, but go into office first." He said, pushing them back inside. He closed the door and scowled at his father. "Why did you bring them here?"

"They asked me to." Inutaisho shrugged. "Hello, Stephanie."

"Hello, sir." Sara rolled her eyes. She didn't want to correct him. He seemed he was being sincerely nice.

"I am working. There is a lot I have to take care of."

"It is just lunch, Sesshomaru. They wanted to see you. They were bored at the house. They came to spend their winter vacation with you, not with the house."

"I am waiting on a few reports."

"Oh," Sara interrupted. "I can page you when the ballistic report on Mr. Onigumo's autopsy comes in."

Sesshomaru buried his face into his hand while his father looked wide eyed at the both of them. Did this woman know anything about confidentiality?

"Naraku? What happened to Naraku?"

"He's dead." Sesshomaru said flatly and scowled at Sara.

"Oh no…"Inutaisho said and looked at Sara. "I'm sorry to hear that, Sesshomaru. I know he was your friend. What happened?"

"I am not sure yet. "He said brushing it off and opened the office door. He looked at his daughters and nodded. "Let's go."

He shot a glare at Sara as he walked off and she knew she did something she was not supposed to do. So Naraku Onigumo was Sesshomaru's friend, she couldn't believe it. He didn't act like that was his friend on the metal table. She found herself googling Naraku. Googling was the highlight of her life now and she loved that she could get all sorts of answers right away. She found out that Naraku and Sesshomaru went to the same private school and attended the same college. They had a business together overseas until Sesshomaru bought him out but it didn't state why. She found herself googling his wife Kagome, an obsession that started once she became his secretary. She couldn't help herself; a dashing powerful husband and gorgeous kids. How did a human woman score something like that? What was so special about her? She wondered if the divorce went through and found herself shaking her head. Why was she thinking that? Was she nuts? It didn't matter if the man was single, he still wouldn't look twice at a girl like her. She looked at her boring hair and looked into the screen of her computer and saw the reflection of her boring eyes. She had to do something with herself. She thought about how in a few years she would be thirty and didn't have a husband yet. She was jealous of Sesshomaru's wife even without meeting her. She found a picture of Kagome in an article of the New York Times. She enlarged the picture of her on the screen and studied her. She really was beautiful. Her hair was perfect, her skin flawless, she didn't look like a wife or a mother. She was surprised to see that she was the same age as her but she looked to be in her early twenties perhaps. Damn rich women and their Botox procedures. She continued to study her and tried to see what won his affection. She was pretty but so were his other girlfriends so what was it about this human girl that made her different from the rest. She knew she should be working but was too obsessed with looking through pictures and articles about Sesshomaru and Kagome. They were married for almost ten years, their daughters attended Inutaisho Academy, Kagome was a hot shot defense attorney for the Supreme court and there was even an update about her getting promoted to be a judge but turned it down. Kagome was just seventeen when she started modeling for Valentino and was a normal kid from the suburbs. She didn't even come from money. She found an article for International Weekly, predating back to ten years when he was modeling with Kagome in Italy. She read the article and her mouth dropped. He was married to another woman when he was dating Kagome?

"What?" she leaned closer to the screen as she read on. "Shurran Bokunaska?"

Sara frowned and drummed her fingers on the desk. She stared at the pile of folders on her desk, at the blinking light on the phone, all the messages she should take down but instead she found herself typing this name into Google's search engine.

Please review.

-Diana Elizabeth