A/N: I'm trying to be better at updating as you can see, and tonight I had a serious lucky writing strike so you get another chapter! I don't think that they ever name Kagome's mother, but for some odd reason Emiko sticks into my head when I think about her. So that's what I named her, can't just call her 'Mama' the whole time. I don't think I have anything else to say. So, onward!

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns InuYasha and Co. I just screw them up to entertain fans.

Chapter Six

Angels and Demons

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In this world there's sadness so profound you can't even cry

Like you're being surrounded by a deep, endless darkness...

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She sat straight in the bed, breathing hard as the sounds of screams echoed through her head. Kagome pushed her hands through her hair, left them tangled there and bowed her head breathing hard.

The dream was quickly fading from memory, but it left a metallic taste in her mouth that made her stomach roll.

At least it didn't happen while she was awake.

Breathing in deeply she looked around the plain room, white with black furniture like the rest of the apartment, empty and cold.

Moving her hands down to rest on the bed she brushed her fingers over the pillow like comforter and focused on clearing her mind.

Nightmares were the worst.

'Kagome…' She lifted her head and looked around slowly.

Had someone just called out her name?

Shifting she looked at the closed bedroom door and saw a light softly shining underneath it.

Frowning she glanced at the clock then slid out of the bed, shivering slightly at the loss of warmth.

"Of course it would only be three in the morning." She muttered as she adjusted her short sleeping shorts and her tank top before moving silently to the door.

Turning the knob and pulling it open she peeked out into the main room then made a soft noise.

He sat at the kitchen table, staring at a file laying in front of him with his hand closed around a short glass of amber liquid she could smell from where she stood. His black hair was hanging loosely around his chest and shoulders and the look of pain on his face was enough to make her heart ache for him.

Kagome hesitated, letting her fingers slip off of the doorknob then moved out into the room. She walked slowly, not wanting to spook him then sat down in the chair across from him, pulling a knee up to her chest and rested her chin on top of it.

He didn't look up, he didn't move except to raise the glass to his lips and swallow the remaining contents of it in one gulp.

Her throat burned in empathy.

"She was my partner." His voice was so soft that Kagome wasn't sure he had actually spoken until he did again. "We'd been together since the academy, worked so well together that they left us together when we graduated and when we started working at the same station." He shifted, looked at Kagome through his bangs.

She stared back at him as his gaze seemed to glow in the soft light, even when her own eyes started to water from the intensity of the look.

"She was always the smart, calculated one. Held her head in a crisis. She was basically my leash, the restraining force to keep me in line. Everyone knew it. I was hot headed, strong and always dived in head first." A faint smile turned his mouth up at the corners, a fond memory she imagined.

"I was stupid, and lucky. Never have been shot, obviously I'm not dead, but she…" He reached for the bottle of whiskey sitting on top of a few of his files and she caught his hand in her own, holding it firmly. Kaze looked at her, surprise flashing across his face. He didn't pull it back, he just simply let them lay on the table as he looked at them, or through them, she wasn't sure.

"What happened?" She asked quietly, but her own voice sounded too loud in her ears, grating on the nerves, invasive and prying. He flicked his gaze to her face then away and suddenly his face was blank, the cop was there now, the caring man was gone.

'He must have loved her very much.' The thought caused a twinge in her heart, had her squeezing his hand slightly.

"We were behind at work. Too many cases, not enough cops. We had just gone through some cut backs and a lot of the guys weren't so happy about it so they split. Transffered, quit, whatever so we split up to work separate cases, even out the workload a bit. I had this woman, she bad been…" He trailed off, tilted his head so they locked eyes again

She got the point before he said it.

"A crime of passion, let's just say. A cut and dry case. All I had to do was locate the guy and bring him in, and he was sloppy. Fucking stupid."

He pulled his hand from hers, rubbed it over his face and exhaled as he leaned back in the chair which creaked softly as he moved.

"Her case was less than cut and dry. A lot less. She was looking for this guy, at least at first we just assumed it was a guy, that was confirmed later. He was linked to murder, organized crime, drugs, the works. She got too involved I guess, we didn't talk about it much after the fight." He paused, she saw it in his eyes, that he had gone off into another memory before shaking himself back. "She got sloppy wanting that collar would have been the biggest bust in history for this place, would have skyrocketed her career." He reached for the glass, a habit, found it empty and glanced at the bottle before looking back at Kagome. "The last time I heard from her I got to listen to her choke on her own blood, screaming and sobbing before he finally put her out of her misery." He lifted a hand, made it look like a gun and pointed it at his own head and pulled the trigger. "Bang."

Kagome felt bile rise into her throat as she watched him. As she wondered how many times he considered swallowing a gun for real; she shuddered as goose-bumps rose on her arms and legs and let her leg slide back to the floor, sitting up straight.

"This guy, the one that killed her goes by the alias Miasma. We have no picture, no ID on the guy, just this thickening file of crimes that are linked to him. Cold, calculated murder, no witnesses, just a voice recording and a fucking laugh that makes you want to slam you fist through his head." He flipped open a file and she briefly caught a glance of a pretty face. Her eyes were staring blankly, her pretty white throat was stained with red, the flesh was torn, ripped open. He turned the page and slid out a picture, studying it for a moment then slid it over to her. She felt her mind rebel against the image of the woman and was quick to focus on the eyes of this woman instead. Miko Kikyou stared up at her from the page. Same pretty eyes, same pale skin, only alive, well and she looked…happy.

Kaze stood slowly and a wobbly, moving to the kitchen with unsteady steps.

Kagome shifted, reached out and brushed her fingers over Kikyou's face slowly.

'You have a weak heart.'

She jerked her hand away as the soft voice echoed through her head and pressed her hand to her mouth as nausea swamped her.

She bowed her head and closed her eyes tightly as her throat tightened and as a soft whimper escaped from her mouth.

"Why are you awake so early in the morning anyway?" His voice was muffled to her ears and she struggled to breathe evenly.

"Kagome?" He sounded closer but the roaring in her ears grew in intensity and her head swam as her stomach churned with sickness. "Kagome…?" His hand brushed against her shoulder gently and suddenly everything went quiet, everything inside of her settled. "Are you alright?" He voice was soft, if not a bit slurred and she shivered as his fingers molded around the back of her neck. She moved her hand from her mouth and tilted her head back, looking up at him.

He stood above her, a open water bottle in one hand. His eyes were dark, shadowed by his bangs, but they were concerned and…

A shiver rocked her body slightly and she quickly squished the butterflies that sprang to life in her stomach.

She wasn't about to take advantage of the man while he was drunk, while he was hurting.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Her voice quivered as his hand shifted, as his thumb brushed gently against her throat, slowly.

"Are you sure?" He leaned down, and her breath caught as the distance closed between them then she blinked as he pressed the water bottle to her forehead. "Your face is flushed." Kagome closed her eyes briefly then cleared her throat.

Goddamn him.

"I'm kind of concerned about my mother. I called her to let her know that I wasn't going to make it over there last night again, but just got the answering machine. She hasn't called me back" She sighed and stood. He didn't move back and continued to watched her. "I…" She hesitated, looking up at him "guess she's pretty mad at me." Kaze tilted his head, took a drink of water then stepped back from her with a slow nod.

"I'll take you there on my way to work in a few hours." Kagome nodded and pushed her hands through her hair as she yawned softly. "You should go back to bed." He tilted the bottle up to his lips, taking another drink.

"Only if you come with me." He lowered the water bottle slowly, watched her as her face flushed more. "I mean, it's your bed, and you have to work soon and I don't feel comfortable stealing it from you." She explained then nearly scowled as a grin slowly spread across his handsome face.

"Lead the way then."

"It's your apartment." She nearly grumbled under her breath, her face burning from embarrassment.

Kaze set the bottle down and followed her to the bedroom slowly, using the walls for support as he walked unsteadily.

"I'll go ahead and warn you, I get a little touchy feely when I'm drunk. So stay on your side of the bed and don't touch me unless you want to be raped." He flopped face first onto the bed then snored.

"You're not funny." She did grumble this time as she jerked the covers out from under him a bit then wiggled under them, getting comfortable.

He chuckled, a low sound that came from somewhere deep in his chest and that had her toes curling under the blankets. She pulled the, up to her chin as he managed to slide up and under them with her.

"Are you hiding from me?"

Kagome snorted. "Of course not, I'm cold." As if to prove a point she snuggled down more into the bed.

"Then let me help you with that." Her heart stuttered in her chest as he shifted, rolled over and rested his head on her slender shoulder. His arm wrapped around her waist as his fingers barely slipped into the waistband of her shorts, pressing against her hip. "Better?" He mumbled out sleepily and she barely managed a nod, her heart thudding behind her ribcage.

'Get a grip. Stop acting like some little high school girl.' She scolded herself mentally.

"You smell really good." He whispered against her neck and her breath caught in her chest.

"I hope you have a hangover." She whispered fiercely as his breathing evened out in sleep.

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Kagome watched him from her place on the bed. She was stretched out on her stomach, chin resting in her palms as she kicked her legs back and forth.

"Is this your normal morning routine?" She asked cheerfully and he paused long enough to glare at her through his wet bangs.

She smiled prettily in response and watched him struggled to put on his shirt with one hand, using the other to hook his badge to his belt and had a piece of toast she had made him hanging out of his mouth.

He was tired, he had a hell of a hangover, and he was already late.

"You could try helping me get ready instead of laying there being entertained by this. Fucking hell." He snarled at his badge as it fell to the floor and he tossed the rest of the toast onto his dresser.

"I would love to help you sweetheart, but I'm so worn out from last night that I don't think I can move." She yawned and rolled over onto her back, stretching with a content noise.

Slowly his face came into view, upside down with his ponytail hanging over his shoulder.

"Last night…?" His voice cracked and she reached up slowly and patted his cheek gently.

"Was amazing wasn't it?" He opened his mouth, furrowed his brows in confusion, closed it again then frowned.

"I…"

"Wow, is that the time? It's already nine, huh?" She looked at the clock and his head snapped to the side, looking at it as well.

"Fuck!"

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She moved up the shrine steps slowly, smiling to herself as she breathed in the fresh morning air. She had punished him enough to feel satisfied for his drunk teasing ways the night before. He'd bugged her the whole drive over, about last night, about what they had talked about, what they had 'done' and she had kept quite the whole time until he was finally frustrated enough that he lapsed into angry silence.

"Let that show him." She grinned as she reached the top of the stairs then stopped and stared.

Men were carrying things into the house slowly, furniture, boxes of tableware and a large flat screen TV.

"What the hell? Hey! You! What the hell are you doing?" She yelled at the nearest man who paused to look at her.

"Kagome, dear!" Her mother moved out from the doorway and over to her.

"Mama, what is going on? Where did you get all of this stuff? Where did you get the money for all of this stuff?" She watched her mother as she took her hands, excitement lighting up her face.

"Oh the best thing happened last night!"

Kagome waited, raised her eyebrows sharply and her mother let go of her hand to fan her face.

"Oh this man, I don't even know his name God bless him came here looking for some information. He paid me forty-thousand American dollars for a box of scrolls your grandfather had collecting dust in the shrine house."

Kagome choked, coughed, and doubly over as her head swam.

"F-forty…that's…jesus…that's over three million yen!" She felt like hyperventilating and her mother let out an excited little shout.

"Oh Kagome, you'll never have to give me money again! I can even pay you back!"

"Mama!" Kagome stood straight and grabbed her shoulders. "Who in their right mind would pay that much money for a box of old useless scrolls?!" She shook her a bit.

"K-Kagome, calm yourself. It wasn't anything we would have wanted to keep!" Kagome shifted, let out a shaky breath and nodded, then nodded again.

"Well what were on them?"

Emiko shifted, looked the thoughtful for a moment. "Come to think of it Kagome, they were the scrolls that this shrine is kind of famous for." At her daughters blank look she waved her hand. "You know they were about the legend of the Shikon No Tama."

Kagome felt her blood freeze in her veins as her pupils shrank in shock.

'Shikon no Tama…give it to me.' The voice rumbled distantly in her head.

"The…Shikon no Tama…?" Kagome dropped to the ground as her legs collapsed out from under her and as nausea swamped her, making spots dance in front her eyes.

"Kagome!"

Quotes: 'Cross My Heart' from Ayashi no Ceres

A/N: And the plot thickens! (As if it wasn't thick enough. XD) Here is another chapter! It's rather short too, man, that's depressing. I'll try to make the next chapter a bit longer. Hope you enjoyed it and give me some feedback!

…Nuclotei

Thanks

SageHitek: Thank you so much for your encouragement, here is chapter six ready and waiting for you!

GirlWthThrnNHrSd: Oh I have those types of daydreams plenty too since I've been writing this story! Thank you for reviewing, you make me so happy I could cry! T___T