A/N: Chapter three! Sorry it took me so long, guys! I've been kind of busy! I have an idea for another story that will be coming out very shortly. Details are going to be in the author note at the end of this chapter. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Summary:A Place Where I Belong: AU. Kagome accidentally discovers a secret that her abusive family has hidden from her. She was adopted. Desperate to find her birth mother, Kagome enlists the help of Inuyasha, a private detective who always finds what he's looking for. But what happens when she finally finds the truth? Will Inuyasha be able to help her find where she truly belongs?
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A Place Where I Belong
Chapter Three: The Old Woman
"This is the picture I was telling you about, Totosai." Inuyasha sighed, taking the picture out of his wallet and putting it showing it to the old man.
The old man snatched it from his hand. "Higurashi Kikyou!" he gasped.
"Come again?" A confused Inuyasha blinked.
"Kikyou Higurashi…she disappeared about eighteen years ago."
"But Kagome…she's…"
"Who's the baby? Kikyou didn't have children…or at least none that anyone knew of."
"What do you mean?" frowned Inuyasha.
"She was a public figure…a holy woman of sorts. A miko, trained in the old ways by her mother. Come to think of it, I don't think anyone has heard from the old woman since Kikyou's disappearance…"
Inuyasha nodded. "But is she still alive? Would she know if Kikyou had any children?"
"Yes she is, but why do you ask?" Totosai questioned.
Inuyasha cleared his throat. "I know the baby in the picture, Totosai. Can you help me? Please? I need to track down this old woman. I need to find out if she has any answers that could help me…or Kagome…"
Totosai considered this a moment. "I think I can find her. I'll get back to you in an hour…"
---
Miroku glanced carefully around the hallway. "They aren't here, Sango. It's all right. They aren't really going to do anything to us anyway. They have this weird illusion that we're going to tell them where Kagome is, so they won't want to hurt us."
"That should not be our insurance policy, 'Roku." Sango worried.
"I won't let them get near you, Sango." He promised. "I'll protect you."
"But Miroku, what about…" Sango began.
Miroku's cell phone rang, and both he and Sango jumped.
"Eh?" Miroku answered.
"You know," Inuyasha groaned, "no one can understand you when you grunt like that…"
Miroku breathed a sigh of relief. "Yash, it's only you. Sorry about that. You scared us. We've sort of been on pins and needles all day about everything…"
"Well, I think I have a lead." Inuyasha told them.
"A lead?" Miroku repeated.
Inuyasha nodded, although Miroku could not see his gesture. "Totosai knew who the woman in the photo was, and he found her mother living in a cabin in the mountains a couple hours from here. Are you up for a road trip? I'll send directions from the school to the cabin to your cell phone. I have to head home soon, and I don't want to go and leave Kagome alone for longer than I have to…"
Miroku smiled. "That makes sense. We'll leave right away. Do you want us to call you when we get there?"
"Yeah." He agreed. "I need you to find out about Kikyou…as much as she will tell you…and ask the old woman if she knows whether or not Kikyou ever had any children. Stop by my office before you head out. I'm going to give you that photo Kagome had. Show it to the old lady…"
"Got it," Miroku replied. "We will see you in a couple minutes, Inuyasha."
---
"I don't think that those friends of hers are ever going to tell us where she is." Kagura mused. "But I know they know where she is."
"That's obvious." Naraku snapped. "Now if only we could figure out…"
Naraku stopped short as a silver-haired inu-hanyou rushed past him, accidentally hitting him in the shoulder.
The hanyou stopped, despite the fact that he looked to be in a rush, turned, and bowed to Naraku. "Excuse me, sir. Sorry for bumping into you."
A smile spread across Naraku's face. "That's perfectly all right, young man. Carry on."
Naraku waited before the young hanyou got into his car before he started to laugh.
"What?" Kagura whined.
"Follow that hanyou, Kagura. I think he may know where Kagome is. He was covered in her scent…"
Kagura couldn't help but smirk. "And what makes you think he is going to lead you straight to her?"
"He obviously doesn't know who I am, Kagura…and why else would he be in such a hurry?"
---
"Kagome…I'm back, and I have news!" Inuyasha called.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered. "I'm in the living room. Is something wrong?"
Inuyasha entered the living room, and shook his head. "Nope. Nothing is wrong. It's good news. I think." He paused a moment. "My colleague Totosai recognized the woman in the photo as a miko who disappeared about eighteen years ago. Although Totosai said he didn't think that this Kikyou person had any children, I've sent Sango and Miroku to talk to her mother who lives in a cabin a couple hours from here…"
"Oh…" Kagome frowned. "Well…maybe Sango and Miroku were wrong about me and that…Kikyou person?"
"Her full name was Kikyou Higurashi." Inuyasha continued. "Do you recognize that at all?"
Kagome thought about it a moment and then sighed. "I don't think that I do…" she admitted. "I'm sorry…"
"It's all right," Inuyasha nodded. "Sango and Miroku will have some more information for us in a couple of hours. We'll see…"
"Thank you, Inuyasha…" Kagome smiled. "For everything."
Inuyasha shrugged. "You've already said that enough, Kagome. Don't thank me anymore. You don't need to."
"All right…" she sighed. "When…when will Sango and Miroku get back?" she asked after a moment's silence.
Inuyasha shook his head. "No idea. I gave them quite a lengthy list of questions for the old woman, so I guess it depends on how long it takes them to get there and talk to her. Miroku has promised to call us as soon as they have some answers, though."
Kagome directed her eyes toward the ground. "So all we can do is wait…"
"Yeah…" Inuyasha agreed. He almost jumped when his cell phone began to buzz from inside his pocket. He glanced at the caller id, but only frowned.
"Miroku?" Kagome questioned.
"Nope. Totosai. There's a problem at work and he needs me to come in and fix it…" He paused. "But I don't think I want to…"
"Go." Kagome insisted. "I'll be all right while you're gone. I promise not to leave the house or open the door or anything until you get back."
Inuyasha hesitated.
"Go…" Kagome repeated. "I'll be fine. I was fine all day today, wasn't I? Just go do what you have to do."
"All right." He relented. "Be careful."
---
"Ma'am…we're sorry to bother you, but are you Higurashi Kaede?" Miroku asked meekly.
After a moment, the old woman nodded. "I am. Who is asking?" Her voice was worn and tired. The years had not been kind to this old woman, and the disappearance of her only daughter probably didn't help.
Sango cleared her throat. "Miss Kaede, our friend Kagome found this picture at her family's shrine. It is a picture of your daughter Kikyou…holding a baby."
"Aye…" Kaede frowned. "That is my daughter Kikyou in the photo. The baby I helped deliver…"
Sango cut her off with a sharp intake of breath. "You helped deliver her baby?" She gulped. "Do you know…who was the father?"
Kaede shook her head. "I never knew. I was going to ask, but Kikyou died before I got the chance…"
"Died?" Miroku squeaked. "I thought she only disappeared. How do you know that she is dead?"
Kaede huffed. "Boy, I am a miko. I was trained in the old ways, and I trained my daughter in the old ways. I know that she is dead. I can sense it. That poor child. I wonder what happened to her? Kikyou died right after she was born…I can't sense her. Her powers haven't awakened yet."
Sango blinked. "Miss Kaede…I think we might know…I mean we know…who the baby in the photo is…" she managed to choke out.
The old woman's eyes widened. "Child! You must warn her! I can't believe she survived, but she might be in danger!"
Miroku nodded. "We know. We're hiding her from her…erm…her parents."
The old woman's look changed to one of confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Naraku and Kagura have been looking for her for days. We found her a couple days ago at her house. She was in her room, barely conscious, holding the photo we've shown you. She said she found it in the well house on her family's shrine grounds…"
The old woman's face reddened. "You said Naraku, did you? That vile man! He murdered my daughter and took my grandchild in as his own! That shrine was under Kikyou's protection! A soul as evil as his should not be living in such a place!" she took a deep breath. "Tell me of the child. Is she all right?"
Sango's face paled. "Naraku…Naraku murdered Kikyou?" she stammered.
"Is the child all right?" Kaede repeated.
"Kagome is fine…for now…" Miroku whispered. "We have to get out of here. We have to warn Inuyasha…"
---
Kagome stood quickly. She thought she heard something fall in the kitchen, but she was almost sure that he had not come back from his office yet. She took a deep breath.
"Inuyasha? Is that you?" Kagome called. "I didn't hear you come back in. Where are you?"
She was standing in the kitchen now, but no one was there.
"Inuyasha?" she called out again.
---
Inuyasha's phone began to buzz, and he snatched it quickly from his pocket.
"Inuyasha!" Miroku nearly yelled.
"Calm down, Miroku. What's wrong? Did you talk to the old woman yet or not?"
Miroku took a deep breath. "Yes! Where is Kagome? Where is she, Inuyasha? Kikyou is her mother, and the old woman knew, and…"
"That's great!" Inuyasha smiled. "What else did you find out?"
"Inuyasha…shut up and listen! Where is Kagome? There is a big problem!"
Inuyasha quieted. "What is it?" he asked, his voice somber. "Kagome's at my house right now. Totosai called, and I have to take care of something at work right now, but I should be back there in about ten minutes…"
"You left her alone?" Miroku growled.
"She said it was all right…" he sighed.
Miroku nearly choked. "Inuyasha! Naraku, Kagome's father…he isn't her father!"
"I know that," Inuyasha replied.
"No, you idiot. Don't you get it? Naraku killed Kikyou. He killed Kagome's mother and took Kagome and Kikyou's shrine as though they were his!" He paused.
Inuyasha's eyes widened. "I have to call you back. I have to get back to the house right away!" With that, he hung up.
---
"You thought you could hide from me?" Naraku growled. "What have you been up to, hmm Kagome? Why are you living with this hanyou? What have you done with him…?"
Kagome cringed. "Nothing. I…I…" She had backed up as far as she could and felt herself hit the kitchen wall. "Please…I didn't…"
"Kagome…" Naraku smirked. "What would make you think that I would let you off the hook so easily? You ran away without a word, and then I find you here, living at a hanyou's house…and doing who knows what." He paused, wrapping his hands tightly around Kagome's arms. He smiled as she yelped in pain. "You're listed as a missing person, you know. If you died, your case would be nothing more than one of those tragic teenage abductions gone wrong. It's on the news all the time. Your hanyou would go to jail, and Kagura and I would play the parts of the grieving parents…"
"No!" Kagome cried. "Let…go of me!" she pleaded.
"Sure…" Naraku smirked, jerking her up and throwing her across the kitchen.
She groaned. "You can't…"
"I'm your father, Kagome! I can do whatever the hell I want to do!"
"You're not…my father!" Kagome screamed.
Mistake…
"What did you say to me?" he snarled.
His hands were around her throat now. "No…" Kagome choked, grabbing onto his hands and trying to claw them away from her throat. She could feel that her consciousness was beginning to slip away. She was losing. He was really going to kill her this time…
"Let…go…" Kagome gagged, clamping down onto his arms.
She heard the door burst open, and Naraku began to curse about something. Before she lost consciousness, she saw a blur of silver and red.
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A/N: All right, everyone! That was chapter three for you! Please review and let me know what you think! I know this is yet another cliffy, but I'll have an update soon!
Next, on 'A Place Where I Belong': Kagome wakes up, and Naraku is gone. Inuyasha has quite a story to tell, and Kagome learns about who she really is. Has she finally found the answers she was looking for? And is her battle with Naraku really over? Answers to these questions and more in the next installment of 'A Place Where I Belong'.