"Have you ever considered getting married?"

"That's ridiculous, Rin. Why would I think about such nonsense? Especially at a time like this?"

"Everyone wants to be in love. Don't you?"

"How will it benefit me?"

"Yes…how will it benefit you?"

Sesshomaru slowly opened his heavy eyelids. Everything surrounding him was a blur except the slightly transparent figure of a woman floating in front of him.

"Unh…mother? Is that you?" He asked the figure with a groan as he held the sides of his aching head.

"Of course, my son. I have come to visit you."

"Wh-what are you doing here?" He asked, finding it difficult to absorb the fact that his mother appeared before him.

"You are a stubborn child, Sesshomaru. You took all of my teachings the wrong way. I wanted your spirit to be unbreakable. I didn't want you to be a lifeless block of ice. I wanted you to be a strong, powerful man like your father."

"I thought you hated father."

"I loved him once, that I cannot deny. He is the kind of man you should emulate. Someone with a softer side for the woman he loves."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You have to understand that what you feel right now is the fear of losing someone. Stop letting your pride get in the way and realize the real reason you are continuing to look for vengeance. Don't let your stupidity cloud your judgment and ruin what you have!"

"Perhaps."

Mayu glanced over at Sesshomaru. His eyes were half open and he was murmuring inaudible gibberish. "Huh?! Who is he talking to?" She asked the man driving.

The man looked up at the rearview mirror and shrugged. "Dunno. He's losing his shit. What exactly was in that injection?" He asked her.

Mayu looked at the label on the syringe. "What's Am-it-rip-ty-line?" She asked, reading the syllables slowly.

"Hell if I know. Prolly a sedative or something." He said as he sucked his teeth. "Well, if he wasn't crazy before, he is now."

"I must have grabbed the wrong ones." Mayu waved her hand in front of Sesshomaru's face, but he didn't even blink. "I think I broke him. I hope big brother isn't too angry."

"I don't think he'll be upset. It was kind of the plan all along."

At the Taisho house

Rin had been dealing with the worst morning sickness and even worse mood swings. Fortunately for her, she hadn't thrown up once. Kagome told her to consider herself lucky, especially in her 3rd week of pregnancy.

Inuyasha thought it would be a good idea to get Rin out of the house. He knocked on her bedroom door before letting herself in.

"Hey, Rin."

"No!" She shouted. "No, no, no, no!"

"What's the matter?" He asked in a worried voice as he continued to approach.

"I don't want to see your face!" She said as she covered her eyes with her pillow.

"What? What'd I do?" Inuyasha asked, sounding hurt by Rin's harsh words.

"You look just like Sesshomaru. Your face…it makes me sick!" She said as she began to cry.

Inuyasha let out a sigh and quickly left her room, bumping into his father.

"How's Rin? I thought I would bring her some lunch." He said with a smile, raising the tray in his hand.

"Not a good idea, dad."

"Why not?" He asked his son with an eyebrow raised.

"I think she'll be angrier to see you than me. She said my face makes her sick because I look like Sesshomaru. Think about how she'll feel if she sees you! The guy's your spitting image!"

"Hmm." InuNo rubbed his chin as he followed Inuyasha downstairs, handing a maid the food tray on the way. "Bring that to Rin. She must eat."

"So what're we gonna do about her? I've already got one pregnant psycho to deal with."

"I heard that!" Kagome screamed as she came wobbling out of the kitchen.

"I wasn't whispering." Inuyasha retorted with his arms folded.

Kagome gave him a rough kick between the legs "hmph!" and took herself upstairs. Inuyasha hit the ground and watched Kagome walk up the steps.

InuNo stood over his son, laughing. "You aren't having much luck with the ladies this afternoon."

Somewhere in Shinjuku…

Shiori opened her front door and looked around inside. "Mommy? Mommy are you home?" She took off her jacket and hung it on a hook by the door.

"Oh Shiori!" Her mother cried out in relief as she hugged her daughter tightly. "I saw what happened on the news and I was so terrified! I thought you were caught in that explosion."

"I'm so sorry I worried you. Someone helped me escape."

Shiori's mother loosened her tight grip around her daughter to look at her face. "Really? Who?"

"Have you heard about Sesshomaru Taisho?"

"That dangerous killer known as The Hound?" She asked warily.

Shiori nodded. "That's the one. He helped me escape. He really is a good person. I hope he's okay."

"Hmm. If he helped you escape, I will pray for his well being."

"You know what? I think I need to go somewhere." She said as she grabbed her jacket and ran back out the door. "I'll be home by dinner!" She called out to her mother.

At the warehouse

Sesshomaru's body was hardly able to move. The man and a woman that had been awaiting their arrival dragged him through a parking lot. They shoved him into a dark, foul smelling garage and pulled the gate down.

Sesshomaru, unable to keep his balance fell onto the ground face first. He lied there in the complete darkness, recognizing the smell of a corpse and blood. He knew that scent too well, and now he was trapped in god-knows-where with god-knows-whose body.

The scent was triggering his past. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw himself tearing apart those humans. He could feel that nostalgic blood-rush in his veins again every single time the thoughts replayed in his head.

He could tell by the smells lingering in that garage that the person died frightfully and the person who killed them was filled with bloodlust. It was just like one of his old crime scenes.

"This was intentional." He whispered out. "They're trying to break me."

Upstairs

"They're here, boss." A young man said as he slowly stepped inside the room where Kohaku and Kikyo were talking.

"Good. But knock next time! I'm having a personal chat with my teacher."

"My apologies." The young man said as he bowed and walked out backwards.

Kohaku slowly turned his head back to Kikyo. "Ms. Kikyo, things weren't meant to be like this. But now that I've come this far, I can't turn back."

"So you intend to sin like a hedonist then expect me to cleanse your soul? Don't you think this is all backwards?"

"This is the power that I needed to fulfill my goals! I couldn't possibly do this without the power of that demon."

"That demon is hardly a demon at all. It is merely negative energy surrounding your spirit."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Kikyo. I have to do things this way. I know I can atone for this later." He told her as he walked out the door.

Outside the door, he saw the man with Mayu coming his way.

"Yoshi, Mayu, good work!" Kohaku said approvingly.

"Tell him!" Mayu said, pushing Yoshi closer to Kohaku.

"No way, kid. This is all your fault." He said as he gave her a shove right into Kohaku.

"Tell me what?" He asked suspiciously with an eyebrow raised.

"I-I accidently gave Sesshomaru these things called booster shots filled with amit-something and morphine and now he's talking to himself and acting weird." Mayu said quickly, almost too quickly for Kohaku to follow.

"Hold on." Kohaku said as he took a deep breath. "You gave him the wrong drug and it's causing his mental state to deteriorate?"

"Pretty much." Yoshi said with his head hung down.

Kohaku laughed heartily. "That's fantastic! So now we can move to phase two. Is someone watching Rin as ordered?"

"Yep. We've got the best on our side, watching her every move!"

Kohaku smirked devilishly as his eyes turned black. "Then it's time for operation: elimination."

"What's operation: elimination?" Mayu asked curiously.

"You're too young to know about that, munchkin." A woman's voice said from behind.

The trio turned to see a girl with short brown hair and blue eyes approaching.

"Hi, Yuka!" Mayu said excitedly.

Yuka waved sweetly before turning to Kohaku with a stern look on her face.

"I need to ask something of you. It is very important."

"I already know what it is that you want. Go ahead." He told her as he waved his hand.

Yuka sighed happily. "Thank you, sir. I promise I won't ruin the mission."

"Mayu. Give Yuka one of those syringes."

Mayu handed Yuka the syringe and she studied it in confusion.

"It's a precautionary. I don't know when that stuff will wear off." Kohaku informed.

"Alright. Thanks.

Daiyoukai valley, InuNo's neighborhood

Kagome convinced Rin to get out of the house and let Inuyasha take her for a drive. She explained to her how unhealthy it was to stay cooped up and feel depressed. The only person she was really hurting was her child.

"So do you still hate me?" Inuyasha asked Rin as he drove down the road.

Rin rolled down the window and inhaled the cold air. "No. I never hated you. I'm really sorry about what I said." She said sincerely as she looked down sadly.

"Don't worry about it. I completely understand how you felt at the time."

"You do?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"I really am sorry. I was just feeling a bit—"

"Pregnant. You're pregnant. That's all that's wrong with you. Your emotions are on high and there isn't much you can do about it. Just try to relax. Everyone will still love you no matter how often you scream at us."

Rin smiled as she turned her head back towards the window.

A few blocks down

Two members of The Slayers were staking out in a car in the neighborhood when they spotted a familiar young girl.

"Isn't she one of the interns from the mental hospital?" One man asked the other.

The other man nodded. "What's she doing in this part of town?"

"I'm not sure." The man said as he opened the door. "But I'm gonna plant a bug on her.

The man walked in the opposite direction, intending to bump into Shiori. He intentionally brushed shoulders with her and planted a bug on her jacket.

"Oh, pardon me." Shiori said as she continued to walk past.

"Don't mention it." The man said as he continued walking.

The other man smirked as he saw Shiori walk by. He turned on his receiver and heard feedback through the bug on her jacket.

He began driving further up to meet with the man so they could listen in and find out what the girl was up to.

"Stop the car!" Rin shouted suddenly, causing Inuyasha to jump on the breaks.

"What?! What is it?" He asked as he looked around frantically.

"What is she doing all the way over here?" Rin wondered aloud. "Hey! Hey Shiori!" She shouted to her.

The girl turned to see Rin in the passenger's seat of a car. She ran towards the vehicle and brushed her hair out of her face.

"Hi, Dr. Asano! I was on my way to visit you. I remembered this address from Mr. Taisho's file. I…hope you don't mind." She said skittishly as she twiddled her thumbs.

"No, it's no problem! Get in!" Rin told her happily.

"So how are you doing? I-I mean with the pregnancy and everything." Shiori asked as she slid into the back seat.

"How did you know I was pregnant?" Rin questioned, sounding shocked the girl was aware of her situation.

"Mr. Taisho told me."

"He told you?!" Rin and Inuyasha exclaimed in shock.

"Mmhmm. That's why I came to see you. I am 100% certain he survived."

"What makes you so sure?" Inuyasha asked skeptically.

"Well…he intentionally poisoned me so that I would get nauseous and Dr. Tsuno would give me the day off. He told me he couldn't go into detail but he wouldn't rest easy knowing he couldn't save a child…especially with one on the way."

"That doesn't sound like something that asshole would say." Inuyasha disagreed.

"It sounds exactly like something he would say." Shiori said. "I was the one bringing him his meals for two weeks, despite the fact that he hardly ate most of the time. He even went 8 days without eating!"

Rin gasped. "Poor thing!"

"The only way I could get him to eat was by mentioning you. He loves you very much, and I'm certain he loves the baby too."

Rin smiled. She was happy knowing his love for her was evident, and even happier knowing there was a chance he survived.

"It's not just that. Before I left, I saw someone wearing a hood come in, swipe a keycard to open the pharmacy door, then leave the same time I did."

"This probably has something to do with The Slayers." Rin deduced. 'And Kohaku.' She thought to herself angrily.

"I heard on the news this morning that the Japanese Government is looking into this. We should head down to Miroku's office."

"Why?" Rin asked.

"Because this girl—"

"My name's Shiori." She said with a smile.

"Oh. Shiori has inside information! Miroku has a lot of power inside the government."

"Wait! You're helping?"

"Sesshomaru is the father of your child, right? And it seems like he actually does care about you. That's the only reason I'm helping. For your sake."

"Right. For my sake. Not because he's your brother or anything." Rin said with a giggle.

"So you're his brother? No wonder you two look so much alike."

Inuyasha let out an irritated growl as he started driving off.

Inside the spy car

"Rin is pregnant? The boss isn't going to be happy about this." The man told the other man as they drove towards the warehouse.

"Do you think we should call and let him know now?"

"I think he needs to hear this in person. He needs the evidence as well."

At Miroku Oshiro's office

"Ah, my old friends!" Miroku said happily with his hands raised. "Though, I wish you would have come at a different time. I am about to give a press conference regarding the Hospital Incident."

"That's why we're here." Inuyasha told him. "We believe an organization called The Slayers is behind the bombing."

"It's funny you've mentioned that. We actually have inside information regarding them."

"You mean the fact that at least half of the members worked at the hospital?" Rin asked.

"Exactly! How did you know?"

"It's possible we've both seen the same inside information."

"We're closing in on them, Rin."

"Good. I think they've taken Sesshomaru. I don't know where or even if he's still alive." She told him worriedly. "I can't believe Kohaku is behind this."

"Hmm…Kohaku…your old boyfriend?"

Rin nodded.

"I have a highly disheartening file regarding him." Miroku said as he handed Inuyasha the file.

Inuyasha browsed the file and shook his head in disgust.

"I've been researching him since he is a suspect in the murder of his sister. If he is indeed the leader, we should bring that woman in for questioning."

"What woman?" Rin asked as she peeked over Inuyasha's shoulder. She let out an irritated sigh after reading the information. "All the time I wasted and he had another woman."

"It's okay if you're angry at him." Inuyasha said as he rubbed her shoulder.

"I'm not angry. I'm not sure how I feel. I just want all of this to stop. I want Kohaku to stop hurting everyone. It's one thing that he hurt me, but he's ruining so many lives."

"How about you help us take him down?" Miroku suggested.

"How can I do that?"

"Set up a rendezvous with him at a public location, get a confession out of him and we can arrest him on the spot."

"Do you think it'll work?"

Miroku nodded confidently. "It's foolproof!"

"Wait a minute!" Inuyasha interrupted with his hand up. "I don't want Rin getting hurt in the process.

"Not to worry! There will be officials inside and outside the area to ensure her safety."

Rin gave an agreeable nod. "Alright. I'll do it. I just have one question. Why is the government looking into Sango's murder instead of the police?"

"Well there is a branch of the government that deals with cases involving a strange demonic aura left behind at crime scenes. That's where I come in. We work side by side with the local police department to close in on the unsub. If there is no sign of struggle and no trace of a break in, the police call us."

Inuyasha looked back at Shiori as she shyly stood in the doorway. "Oh, yeah." He remarked, gesturing for her to come inside. "This is Shiori, and probably the only survivor of the explosion. Sesshomaru warned her beforehand. Which means someone inside the hospital let him in on it."

"I see."

"Tell him about the suspicious person you saw." Inuyasha instructed to her.

"Well I couldn't see their face, but from the way they were built, I think it was a woman. She had on a black hood pulled down over her eyes. And I'm sure it was a human."

"I see."

"Your life is probably in danger now so…" Inuyasha took his checkbook out of his pocket and ripped out a check. "Here's a blank check. Whatever you and your family need to get the hell out of this city for now, take it."

"Are you sure I should take this?" She asked, reaching her hand out apprehensively.

"I can't let you say no. You're just a teenager wrapped up in grown folk's business." Inuyasha told her sternly as he forced the check into her hand.

"O-okay. Thank you."

"Inuyasha, why don't you take her home? Rin will be safe in our care." Miroku said as he offered Rin a seat at his desk.

"You sure?"

"We are the Japanese government, Inuyasha. We're more than capable of looking after a woman. Especially if she's a friend from college." He said as he smiled at Rin.

"Alright. Be careful, Rin. Let's go, Shiori." Inuyasha said as he walked out.

Shiori bowed before Miroku and Rin. "Goodbye, everyone. I hope you can put an end to this madness."

At The Warehouse

"She's pregnant?!" Kohaku screamed furiously as he dove his fist into the wall.

All the other members of the group backed away from their leader fearfully as he threw his fit of rage.

"No! This is even worse than I could have imagined! My Rin…the woman I loved for so many years."

"Uh, boss. She also intends to set you up and get you arrested. She's making a plan with the government to meet with you and make you confess to everything."

Kohaku felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the picture of the woman who broke his heart. "Speak of the devil. My beautiful lady is calling." He said sinisterly.

"But boss, it's a trap!" One of the young girls in the group shouted.

"A trap worth springing. I have a plan of my own."

I know I left a bit of confusion and you probably have a lot of questions. That's the point! Why don't you guys tell me what I left you hanging about that you're eager for me to clear up the most and I'll try to do it in the next chapter. I want looots of feedback :D

xoxo

-VQ