Disclaimer: All Inuyasha characters/themes belong to their rightful owners (not me). Please do not sue. Also, I do not own Armani. In fact, I don't even own anything from Armani.

Author's Note: Hurricane Irene and all the hype surrounding it has set me back quite a few days. I apologize. Hopefully, I will be able to bring some new chapters to the table this week regardless. We will see.

Translations:

Youki- Not sure if I've translated this before.,, Youki is a youkai's energy-a sort of power source/aura. I think that the difference between jaki and youki should be a little bit stronger, but it seems youki is more of a power source, whereas jaki is a tangible presence.

(Name) to moshimasu- My name is (name).

Chapter 20, Sonata Form: Exposition

I woke up in the morning, feeling as though I had slept for days. I stretched and went to swing my legs over the side of the bed, but a vague movement on the floor caused my heart to leap into my throat. Soundlessly, I slipped my hand under my pillow, grabbing the pistol there. I released the safety and peered over the edge of the bed.

Inuyasha was sprawled out across the floor, one white ear twitching in his sleep. I suppressed a burst of laughter and put the safety back on before flopping onto the mattress. Propping my head up, I watched him sleep. He was so peaceful… Unable to resist the temptation, I reached down and brushed a tendril of white hair from his face. He wriggled his nose and mumbled something incoherent.

My mind returned to last night…the terrible surge of demonic power within him. What was it that I had seen? How had he become that creature, and how had he returned to me?

Returned…to me. I repeated the thought, as though to test its legitimacy. Goshinki didn't stand a chance, but then, neither did we. But I had brought him back. Albeit, Kikyo's memories had provided me with the vital clue, but when Inuyasha spoke, it had been my name that shattered the spell that had been placed over him. And now he lay beside my bed, his naked torso scarred and yet perfect.

Swallowing hard, I slipped out of the bed and onto the floor. Inuyasha did not move as I stretched myself out beside him. I made no sound, not daring to even draw a breath, but I was sure the pounding in my heart could be heard down the street. Still, he slept, his breath easing over his slightly parted lips as his chest rose and fell.

I closed my eyes and placed my hand on his chest. No response-no jumping, no barking out in surprise. I opened my eyes, and Inuyasha's were still closed. I smiled as my courage blossomed, and traced his collarbone with my fingers. The sensation of his skin made my face burn pleasantly. I shifted closer, and the dizziness became almost overwhelming. I inhaled deeply the scent of night, forest, and cigarettes…

Inuyasha rolled towards me and opened his eyes: pure, vibrant pools of gold that I could gaze into for the rest of my life. He examined my face, and then, without saying a word, rested his arm lightly on the crook of my waist. The faintest pressure at the small of my back beckoned me closer, and I complied. The corners of Inuyasha's perfect mouth tucked back into a smile, and I found myself unable to look away from his lips, even when he had closed his eyes and fallen back to sleep. I stayed awake for a long time, my hand resting over his heart as his arm cradled my torso, staring at the trace of a smile that still lingered on his lips.

At last, the security of closeness and the lullaby of our breaths lulled me back to sleep.

(-)(-)(-)

When a shaft of sunlight pulled me from my longing-filled dreams, Inuyasha was gone. I took a shower and got dressed. In the kitchen, I found a note specifying that he had gone to get his sword repaired by a loony friend of his father's. Somehow, the fact that he had gone so far as to leave me a note made me smile.

(-)(-)(-)

Inuyasha returned the next day, looking quite disgruntled. He dropped his duffle bag on the floor and flung himself onto the couch, which protested under his weight. I freed my hands from the soapy water as quickly as possible and rushed to the couch, where Inuyasha made room for me to sit.

"How's the sword?" I asked.

Inuyasha picked up the sheathed blade at his side and pulled Tessaiga free. When the golden light had faded, I could see that the beautiful blade was wholly intact. Then, gravity ran its course and Tessaiga plummeted towards the ground behind Inyasha's head, embedding itself in the floorboards.

I blinked. "Well…that was…different," I said.

Inuyasha grumbled and released the sword. It returned to its dingy, beat-up normal size. "Totosai did it."

"Totosai?" I repeated.

"He's a loon," Inuyasha said. "He said the only way to fix it was to add one of my fangs to the mix." He opened his mouth to reveal a missing eyetooth. I must have looked more than a little perturbed, because he snapped, "It'll grow back."

"So…your fang is in the sword now too?" I asked.

"Yup," Inuyasha said.

"But your fangs are so small…" I giggled.

Inuyasha frowned in irritation. "Totosai does some mumbo-jumbo and out comes a complete Tessaiga. Great! I was ecstatic until I tried to pick it up. He said it's heavier because the Tessaiga is now relying on my strength as well as my father's. He said it's sharper and stronger now too… Lifetime warrantee."

I went around the couch and picked up the sword. I tossed it up in the air. "Feels the same to me," I said.

"Well, if you could make it transform, you'd know the difference," Inuyasha growled.

There was nothing more to say, so neither of us spoke for several long moments. Finally, he sat up and looked over at me. "How are you feeling?"

I smiled and shrugged. "Fine!" I said.

"I didn't… I couldn't find any wounds on you. I didn't…attack you, did I?" he asked, his voice choked and halting as he stared at his hands.

I shook my head and sat down on the couch facing him. I pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapped my arms around my shins, and let my chin rest on the pillow of my right knee. "Goshinki said that you'd died. When I heard that, something… That is, my spiritual powers kind of…exploded. It kept going until I was drained-I couldn't stop it. That's why I fainted."

Inuyasha looked beyond relieved.

I shifted slightly. "What…what happened to you, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha sighed and ran one clawed hand through his white mane. "I… I told you that my father was a youkai, and my mother was a human. Well, when he died, my father left Tessaiga behind for me. Tessaiga acts as a sort of filter for my youkai blood. When it transforms, the levels of youki in my body stay the same."

"That's why it happened before. Tessaiga was taken away, so you transformed. Your youkai half took over, and your human half just…sort of went into hibernation. It's a survival instinct," I whispered.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at me. "How did you-?"

I sighed heavily. "Can I make a confession?"

Inuyasha nodded slowly.

I swung my legs over the side of the couch and rolled my head to relieve the tension that was building in my neck and shoulders. He was going to think that I was crazy. It was probably better to not tell him. But…he deserved to know. If Kikyo was helping us from beyond the grave, Inuyasha had a right to be forewarned that I had insider information. Besides…I didn't have to tell him everything that I was seeing.

"Remember…remember that time that you woke me up, and I began reciting what Kikyo had said during your first conversation?"

Inuyasha's eyes widened.

I took this as a sign to continue. "Ever since we've started collecting the shards, it's been getting stronger and stronger… At first, it had to be triggered by something like a name or a sensation. But now… Now I can almost will them to come. I sort of… Well, I can… I'm experiencing Kikyo's memories."

Inuyasha was so pale his skin almost matched his hair. In a coarse voice he managed a "how?"

"Right before she was shot, Kikyo made a wish on the Shikon no Tama. She wished for the ability to protect me," I whispered. "I guess this is the Shikon no Tama's interpretation of that wish.

"That's how I knew about your first conversation. That's how I knew about your transformations. A lot of times, they're just useless clippings of memories, but sometimes… I get something more substantial."

Inuyasha didn't move, didn't say a thing for a long time. He just stared at me-I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my head. Finally he cleared his throat and stood. "I'm…um…yeah." He picked up Tessaiga, his duffel bag, and walked out of the apartment.

I didn't try to stop him this time. I knew that he needed space. He needed to digest… I was proud of and angry with myself all at the same time. At least now he knew. At least we had cleared the air. We had started our marriage as complete strangers. We'd never been friends, but now we were almost something more…

I closed my eyes and remembered the feeling of his arm around my torso. I thought to store it away for when times got difficult… I had no idea how much I would need that precious moment.

(-)(-)(-)

I worked at a clothing store now-Inuyasha wanted me far away from Government agents after the incident at Momotaro's. Sango was waiting to walk me home after work. It was sweltering hot; I could feel my blouse sticking to the small of my back.

"Konnichiwa!" said a little girl who practically ran into me. "Are you Kagome-san?"

I blinked down at her innocent little face. Her dark hair was pulled into a side ponytail and secured with a ribbon. Her lacey pink and cream-colored dress looked like it had come straight out of some very posh children's magazine. Her huge brown eyes gazed up at me expectantly.

Sango and I looked at one another, utterly disarmed.

"Ano…" Sango said.

"Hai. Kagome to moshimasu," I said.

The girl squealed in triumph and clapped her hands together. "Rin found her, Rin found her!" she sang, taking my hands and bobbing up and down. Suddenly, she froze and gasped so loudly it was as though she had never drawn breath before. Her big brown eyes focused on my face, and she said in a comically serious tone, "You have to come with me!"

She was surprisingly strong, and practically dragged me into the alley. Sango followed. The both of us were too mystified to suspect any foul play, even though it should have been the first thing that came to our mind.

It wasn't until we rounded a corner and came upon an encoded door that led to a dimly lit staircase that I began to think this was a very bad idea. Rin had punched in the code, singing a nursery rhyme as she did so, and led us up the stairs. We stood in front of another door. "You have to go inside, please," Rin said, pointing at the structure.

Sango looked back down the staircase. The door had closed, and was locked. There was nowhere else to go but through the door. We shrugged at once another and entered.

A white-haired man stood inside, his shimmering locks brushed to the point where they seemed to glow. He wore a three-piece suit in spite of the weather, and his leather briefcase was placed on the table in front of him.

"Kagome, Sango," he said crisply.

"Sesshoooooooooooumaru-saaaaaaaaama!" Rin sang, running into the room and throwing her arms around Sesshoumaru's leg.

"Your daughter?" Sango asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Sesshoumaru's lip curled back in disgust. "Does she look like a youkai to you? Rin is my ward."

"Ward?" I repeated. "I thought they only had those in the eighteenth century."

"Shows how much you know," Sesshoumaru intoned flatly. He pushed the briefcase across the table towards us.

"What's in here?" I asked, touching it with only the pads of my fingers, wondering if perhaps it was a bomb… You never knew with Sesshoumaru.

"It seems you've found a way to get rid of my idiot brother," Sesshoumaru said. "I congratulate you. However, it's imperative that you undo whatever you did and get him back at once." Rin, sensing she was no longer the focal point, floated off across the room to poke at a strange person I had not noticed before. He was some sort of frog-creature no higher than my knee, dressed in a suit like Sesshoumaru's and carrying an interesting cane at least twice his height.

I flared at the comment. My relationship with Inuyasha was absolutely none of Sesshoumaru's business. I told him as much, and pushed the briefcase back across the table. Sesshoumaru shrugged.

"I don't care what that cur does with his pets in bed," Sesshoumaru said. "What I'm interested in-" He reached into his briefcase as he spoke, but both the action and his words were cut short as I slapped him across the face.

Sesshoumaru blinked, then cracked his neck and looked at me. "If you're finished with your tantrum…"

"How dare you?" I trumpeted.

"Kagome-chan," Sango warned, touching my arm. "We should listen to Sesshoumaru."

"Not if he's going to keep treating me like some kind of whore!" I shouted, glaring into his golden eyes. They were so similar, and yet, so entirely different. It occurred to me that this was how Inuyasha must have felt looking into my face…perhaps how he still felt. "Not if he's going to act as though I'm some inconsequential speck vying for Inuyasha's attention with my dead sister!"

"Aren't you?" Sesshoumaru asked, straightening so that he was just out of arm's reach. He narrowed his irises into pinpricks. "You're the replacement."

"I'm not," I growled. "I'm different. And Inuyasha knows it."

A long moment passed. Every eye in the room was on me. Even Rin and the frog-creature watched me. Finally, the flicker of something like a smirk touched Sesshoumaru's lips. He opened his palm, and revealed a tuft of brown hair.

"What's that?" Sango asked since I was still glaring at Sesshoumaru.

"Suikotsu has a bitch of a multiple personality disorder. He's been playing doctor for the past few months, but last night, he returned to headquarters, full of information for Naraku about where Inuyasha and company like to spend their hospital visits."

Sango gasped, her fingers closing around my arm. "But-!"

Sesshoumaru continued as though she had said nothing at all. "Unfortunately for him, he decided to make a house call to his vice president first."

"Kagura," I said.

"I just happened to be at Kagura's apartment. Rin was asleep in the living room."

Rin ran to Sesshoumaru and hugged his leg again. He placed a hand on her head.

"Why were you at Kagura's place in the middle of the night?" Sango asked.

Sesshoumaru looked at her, and without expression, said, "We were having a nightcap."

"The mean man took Rin!" Rin said, burying her face in the folds of Sesshoumaru's pants.

"Yes," Sesshoumaru said. "Suikotsu thought it would be hilarious to play hostage. Apparently, he had discovered where Kagura's and my loyalties truly lie. When we heard Rin scream, we rushed downstairs-"

"Downstairs," Sango echoed with a suggestive curve of her brow, "from the bedroom?"

"-and I ripped Suikotsu's head from his body," Sesshoumaru finished without acknowledging Sango's question.

"Sesshoumaru-sama saved Rin!" She cried gleefully.

"Jakotsu was trailing Suikotsu, knowing the man's instability. When he came in the house and saw Suikotsu's body on the floor, he took his Shikon shard and left."

"So the information is gone with the man," Sango said.

"Yes."

"What does this have to do with Inuyasha?" I asked.

"Jakotsu will turn the shard over to Bankotsu. When he does, Bankotsu will use it to repair Banryu. And when Banryu is repaired, Bankotsu will head directly for the dimwit who broke it. The same idiot who can't even lift his own sword right now."

"Shit."

(-)(-)(-)

But Inuyasha was nowhere to be found.

I was walking home from work with Sango when a black car stopped to our left and a man in an Armani suit and a purple silk shirt and tie stepped out onto the curb. He was slim and tall, with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and secured with a woman's clip. He removed his sunglasses to reveal two purple streaks running from his bottom lashes to the hollow of his cheeks.

Examining his nails, the man smirked. "My name is Jakotsu, Kagome-san. Where is that adorable husband of yours?"

Sango and I took one look at each other before turning heel and running for our lives.

-Ichimu