Chapter 2

"Very Interesting, Watson"

Leaving the Higarashi estate Sesshomaru couldn't shake the feeling he knew her from somewhere. He had not gotten a very good look at her face and her scent had been obscured by the grease, even with his powerful nose he could not detect much of her scent. Her hair in a low ponytail with a hat over that. The dark blue grease stained coveralls hid her body. However there had been something about her aura that pulled to him, did something, he had found it intriguing.

She had two days to respond, either way, he really hoped she would say yes, he really didn't want to try to find some one who was no where near her calibre. Had it not been for the vice president of Ookami productions, a movie studio. Sesshomaru would not have known about her. Though he doubted she had even knew that she had been working with demons, even though once he looked into it, half of her client list had been demons.

Wishing he could have just flown back to his estate like in the old days, as he was cut off by a green SUV. Sesshomaru guided his dark green Jaguar to one of the shorter routes that would take him to his own home on the other side of the city.

His reasons for obtaining Miss Mai Higarashi's help were more complicated than he would have liked. Normally he would have just taken care of the bastard him self but this one was determined not to be found, he had been unable to pick up a single scent on any of the envelopes, which he found extremely odd. There had been a total of five envelopes, four of which contained pictures, the fifth and most recent held a video tape of a battle he had fought fifteen years ago in the depths of the Brazilian rainforest, the video tape had detailed the devastation caused by his strength and his poison whip.

The problem was not that the blackmailer wanted money, the problem was he hadn't demanded anything yet. This disturbed Sesshomaru to no end, this person was letting him know that some one knew who and what he was, though the person showing this information's would be considered insane and in today's society where demons were considered a myth would not much would happen in regards to his reputation. The fact that a threat was implied by this person, did not bode well, considering that he had been unable to detect a scent could only mean that the black mailer was youkai. Most of the youkai community were afraid of him and none, that he knew of would want to bring him down. In recent years he protected his own kind due to the increasing human population. Youkai though powerful were not as plentiful as they used to be, though there were human allies such as a certain secret branch of the government that dealt with youkai affairs, like distributing new birth certificates, most were portrayed as the next generation of that particular family due to the fact that there were not many, among them who could disguise themselves, like the Kitsune could. There were similar branches all over the world in every country, and should a demon travel they had to check in with that branch. Every where the government was responsible for the cover up of any thing that happened by a youkai, such as the Roswell, New Mexico incident, that had been a youkai traveling by orb. The supposed alien, happened to have been under attack by another youkai , the farmer happened to see the youkai in true form, and thus aliens were born. Though forbidden to travel in such away again, most youkai were more careful the resulting panic should more than a small group of people see that they were not a myth, would be devastating.

Long before the notable increase in humans had been felt in the rest of the world, Japan had begun to expand in population. Seeing the encroachment on to his lands, Sesshomaru, had taken it upon himself to dwindle the human population, staying his hand after his half brothers plea's to spare their life and ignoring his better judgment he let them live.

The ever expanding population of humans drove Sesshomaru to purchase a large uninhabited island about a hundred years ago. Today the island held a small town of youkai, population about ten thousand. Most youkai knew about the island, but only those approved by a small council were allowed to live or visit. The island was a safe haven for youkai because humans were not allowed onto the island access was strictly forbidden to them same with youkai who were known for causing trouble.

Sesshomaru's private estate on the opposite side of the island to the town was his getaway from the human world, the one place where he was still lord, the one place where youkai still bowed to him. He longed for day's gone by where he was the undisputed lord of the western lands, Taiyoukai, eldest son of the Great Dog General, well he was still all of those things, however only the youkai population knew about it, humans had long since forgotten, they were a myth a story to tell children before bed.

Though he longed for the old day's he knew there was no way to go back into time himself. From what his brother had told him the only one who had been able to transcend time was that miko that InuYasha used to travel with before the defeat of Naraku. The stories tell that the miko had flown in to a rage at the near death of one of her friends, apparently it had been a terrifying site to behold.

The stories about the Shikon miko were still told to this day, though the only one who had been there whom was still alive was InuYasha. According to the Hanyou, the miko had disappeared only moment's after Naraku was defeated, she had destroyed herself when she destroyed that evil hanyou, which made sense the amount of power needed to destroy Naraku could have destroyed her as well.

Pulling up the long drive of his two hundred acre estate, the massive mansion had been built two hundred years prior. The estate was just inside the old borders of the western lands, and though it was considerably smaller, it was still home. At least he would have something to pass down to his heir when he finally decided it was time to produce one. Though he had used females to slake his physical need he had refrained from producing a child with them, the youkai bitches he had been with were unworthy of his seed, and if he were to take a mate she would be some one of equal power to him self.

The mansion was sparsely decorated, a lot of it was items he had collected over his thousand years. Sesshomaru had the largest collection of ancient artefacts in the world and was acknowledged as such, though he really hated people knowing about it, which was why he never entertained at his estate, always the penthouse apartment in the city. The last thing he needed was some one to get the idea to steal from him.

Walking into the den, Sesshomaru tossed his briefcase on the coffee table before pouring himself a measure of brandy into a snifter. Sipping it slowly he sat down in one of two large wing back chairs in front of the cold fireplace.

Sesshomaru felt weary, this was not something he relished having to do. The human investigator was some one who would need his protection from the youkai world she was about to enter, and though protecting was not new to him it had been a really long time since he had protected any one. Though he protected the youkai community to a certain extent by setting up a place for them on the island, the most he helped any one was a cheque written to various charities.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, not that they had been all that great anyway.

"What?" He called rubbing his temple, all this business with the black mailer was giving him a headache.

The door opened to reveal his brother, the hanyou had filled out nicely, in the last five hundred years, a little taller and a lot more muscular than he had been, InuYasha was a handsome man. Looking grown up with broad shoulders and chiselled features. The boy had long since disappeared and in it's place a man stood. Looking more like he was in his late twenties, dressed in a pair of dark trousers, black dress shoes, a light gray button down with the collar open and the sleeves rolled up over his muscular fore arms, the waist length silver-white hair pulled back into a ponytail that hid his ears.

Pouring his own snifter, InuYasha sat in the chair beside Sesshomaru, taking a sip before glancing sideways at the Taiyoukai, he could tell that his brother was bothered by something.

"How did it go with the investigator?" he asked making himself more comfortable.

"After she looked at the file she said she would think about it" Sesshomaru's voice was soft, he sounded tired.

"Well hopefully she says yes"

"Indeed, did you come here for any particular reason?" he asked not bothering to make eye contact with the hanyou.

"No, not really, Shippo mentioned some unrest in the youkai underground but that was all, he said that every one seemed nervous, don't know what that means but it's always good to know what is going on"

"I see, what are your plans for this evening?" Not that he really cared, though he knew that if he engaged his brother in enough meaningless chatter than InuYasha would get bored enough and go away so that he, Sesshomaru, would be left alone with his thoughts like he wanted, though he didn't always do this, most times he just told the hanyou to leave.

Over the past few hundred years the gap between the half brothers had closed significantly. After the battle with Naraku, InuYasha had gone into a deep depression tried his damnedest to get himself killed, however Sesshomaru wouldn't allow that to happen.

"You are not allowed to die by any other hand than my own" Sesshomaru had told the hanyou and after about fifty years of failed suicide attempts to escape his misery at the loss of Kagome, InuYasha had finally come to realize that he needed to live on for her and live his life to the fullest extent so that one day if he was lucky he could see her reincarnation. Not too long after that InuYasha and Sesshomaru had formed a shaky alliance but soon turned into a true brothers bond and since then they had been growing closer. Neither had suffered from loneliness over the centuries because they had each other.

And now as they talked over little things Sesshomaru realized he was glad that the hanyou had decided to live.

"Well I'm not actually doing any thing this evening" InuYasha said taking another sip of brandy.

"What about your latest bit of fluff?"

"Oh, I dumped Natsumi, we got into an argument and she told me the only reason she found me interesting was my money and social status, and I decided that it wasn't worth the great sex to keep her around" Over the past two hundred years InuYasha had become something of a ladies man and though he never forgot Kagome, he had promised that he would live life and that was exactly what he was doing.

"Is that all you think about, sex?"

"Well, no, but honestly Sesshomaru you should probably think about getting laid yourself, it's been, oh what? Fifty years? Besides the sex makes life a little more pleasurable than it otherwise would have been "

"It has become too much trouble to seek female companionship" he sighed "Most begin to think that just because they are in my bed that they occupy a place in my affections, or are like Natsumi, they are in my bed for my money and social status"

"Women have not changed over the centuries" InuYasha said "Only a few would rather be with you for love than money, I still remember the only one who loved me for me and not what I could do for her"

"Oh not the miko again" he grumbled

"I miss her, Sesshomaru, she was the only one who accepted me as a hanyou, loved me because of it. Though I do find it strange that we still haven't run into her reincarnation yet"

"Indeed, she should have been reincarnated at least twice by now"

"Damn it" InuYasha huffed, this was not going to get him any where dwelling on the past. Standing after downing the contents of his snifter, InuYasha looked down at Sesshomaru as he placed his glass on the small table between the chairs.

"I'm leaving for Greece tomorrow and probably Spain after that, I'll be back in about three weeks" with that the inu hanyou left, the door slamming shut behind him.

That was the way it had been for the past few centuries, InuYasha would get all introspective about the past, get angry at himself then leave for a few weeks and come back like the incident never happened. Well at least he wouldn't be here for the majority of the investigation, the last thing Sesshomaru needed was the hanyou's untimely interference.

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She was nervous, everything about this case was making her nervous, the fact that it was Sesshomaru who had hired her. The fact that he was being blackmailed and 'HE' didn't know who was doing it, the fact that he was alive after all these centuries. Kagome was nervous, the miko whom had bravely faced the greatest evil feudal Japan had ever seen. She hadn't been nervous back then, but now, two days after Sesshomaru had come and asked for her help, she stood out side the headquarters of Tashio Enterprises, about to face Sesshomaru, the demon whom had tried to kill her more times than Naraku. Kagome really hoped that he didn't recognize her.

Though she couldn't be certain about how he now reacted to humans she hoped after spending centuries having to interact with them he would have mellowed. However in the video clips she had seen of him at charity events, making speeches and talking in general, he seemed quite amicable, not quite the stoic demon lord she knew from the past. All these years she had pushed her past away trying to forget her adventures, the people she knew from back then, and now it came back to ask for her help.

Kagome couldn't deny that she wanted to help, however would the taiyoukai try to pick up were he left off five hundred years ago? that was only part of the reason she was so nervous, the other part was if he did decide to take her life, could she defend herself? Sesshomaru had five hundred more years of training, five hundred years to become even stronger, faster and more dangerous than he had been when she had last saw him and compared to the fact that she had barely used her miko powers in the past ten years, it would be a very one sided fight. There was no doubt about it she would lose and her life would be forfeit.

Even though she had every reason to not take the case she had decided that she would help Sesshomaru, and even though he had been her enemy she would forgive the past attempts on her life, because she knew she had provoked him, all those years ago. After some intensive digging over the past two days she had found out a lot of things about the Taiyoukai, his great grandfather had founded the company and it had been passed down from father to son over the past four generations, Kagome had no doubt that it had been Sesshomaru the whole time. She recalled that he was generous in the donations to various charities, the company it self dealt with other companies as a consulting firm, as well as the development in new technologies.

The portfolio she had compiled would come in handy when dealing with him at least she would not be in the dark, though she had known about most of the inner workings of the company due to the fact that she owned shares of the company's stock, a lot of them, she just never really knew who owned the company, mainly because she had never really bothered to look. Most of her investments had been done through a broker, though the company name really stood out.

Walking over to the security desk, Kagome eyed the guard, she knew by the looks of him she was going to have trouble getting to see Sesshomaru. She had taken her time this morning to look elegant in a business suit, the white suit she wore fit her like a glove. The white pants rested low on her hips and fit her bottom snugly, flowing down her legs to swirl around her ankles. The black v neck shirt clung to her torso accentuating her bust and waist, and the suit jacket smoothed over her shoulders and down her back only a single button was done up. Her hair was brushed and smoothed up into a high pony tail, strands coming down to frame her face, her eyes had minimal makeup on a light touch of liner and mascara, blusher and gloss. Her black briefcase and black pumps, completed her look. She was elegant, professional in the way she held her self. The way she walked, though she didn't notices the heated glances some of the men gave her as she strode past, she was sexy, plain and simple.

"Hello" She said using her sultry voice to her advantage "I am here to see Sesshomaru Tashio"

The guard looked up at her and the look he gave said he only wanted to do one thing with her and it wasn't talking.

"I'm Sorry but Mister Tashio isn't in today" the man said recovering from the effect of her voice.

"I see, thank you, Is there a powder room I can use?" She asked

"Yeah, over there" he said pointing to a door across the lobby.

"Thanks" walking to the doors, disappearing in to the woman's washroom Kagome waited a few minuets.

'Not in, my ass! She thought, she could feel his youki fifteen floors up. Concentrating, Kagome was able to manipulate her aura so that she blended in better with her surroundings, though she couldn't hold it long she was able to slip past the security desk and into the elevator, thankfully the elevator had been empty when she had dropped the concealing manipulation. It was one of the tricks she had taught herself, it came in handy when she had to snoop around or get in some where undetected.

Stepping off the elevator on the fifteenth floor, Kagome looked around at the lush office space, though sparsely decorated it was restrained elegance, done in colors of white, sliver and bronze. The secretary, a pretty blond thing in blue, looked rushed typing furiously on her computer and didn't notice as Kagome walked right by the desk and on towards the large bronze doors that were labelled as Sesshomaru's, though even if it didn't have a plaque saying

'Tashio, Sesshomaru, President and C.E.O.' she would have known it was his office due to the fact that his was the only one with large bronze double doors.

The girl, finally noticing that some one was headed for her bosses office unannounced, stopped typing and turned to call to the woman in white.

"Hey, Miss, you can't go in there, Mr. Tashio has asked not to be disturbed"

"He asked did he?" Kagome said quietly to herself, keeping her purposeful stride to the large doors. The nervousness hit her again, not as strongly as before but it was there.

'Oh gods, what if he recognizes me' She thought 'Don't panic, Kagome, you were hired by him for your skills as an investigator, he'll just have to deal with it if he does and be content with your methods, and if he does find out who you are it's not a big deal. Huh not a big deal, right, You are Kagome, Mai, Higarashi, founder of K-Rashi Investigations, one of the most successful investigation firms in Japan and Europe, just act professional act like the first time you saw him was in your garage, stick with business he's just another client'

She steeled her self as she turned the handle and pulled the door open.

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Looking up from his work on his computer, Sesshomaru watched as a beautiful woman in white barged in to his office. She looked vaguely nervous but was putting up a professional front. She walked towards him, confidence gaining in her eyes. The walk though not meant to be sexy, was. It was as if her natural grace wouldn't let her walk any other way, though he kept his face carefully blank, that walk and the way she looked did something to him on a very fundamental level. though interested as to why she was there, a flash crossed his mind of something else he would rather do with her. Groaning inwardly, it had been far too long since he had last gotten laid, as InuYasha put it. Pushing aside his thoughts Sesshomaru stood.

"Who are you? and why have you come unannounced" he demanded. She didn't say a word, just strode over to his desk, placed her briefcase on the corner before taking out a small device that looked vaguely like a cell phone. Pressing a button she placed the little silver box on his desk. Sitting down, she steepled her fingers, her elbows resting on the arm rest, her legs crossed.

After a moment the phone on his desk popped then made a sizzling noise and so did one of the electrical sockets, leaning forward to press another button on the device, she looked up a Sesshomaru, placing the device back into her pocket.

"I apologise for not speaking, however from the looks of things it was a good thing I did not"

"I repeat question" he said glaring down at her "Who are you, and why are you here?"

"You probably don't recognize me, considering that the last time you saw me I was in grease covered coveralls and a hat. My name is Mai Higarashi, you wanted to hire me for my services" she said.

Ah yes, he remembered now the grease monkey with the sexy voice, it was the voice that got to him; now that she was all cleaned up, he could see what he did not before. She was gorgeous, seemingly mysterious, all in all very intriguing, it had been a very long time since any woman had piqued his interest and it was ironic that the woman he hired to look into his blackmail problem was the one to do it.

"Well" he said sitting back down "Do you always barge in with out an appointment?"

"Yes actually, I have found that the less my clients know about my comings and goings, the safer it is for them in more dangerous situations. The fact that your office was bugged leads me to believe that your blackmailer is serious"

"Bugged? what was that device" He didn't like the fact that some one had been listening to his conversations, listening to his business calls. His eyes narrowed on her, though he knew she didn't have anything to do with this, the fact that he, Sesshomaru Tashio, the great taiyoukai lord of the west, was being spied on, no he did not like this at all.

"This is a scrambler, it emits high frequency vibrations and over loads the circuitry of the listening devices, the two in here are completely destroyed now, though I do suggest you get a new phone"

Suddenly the door burst open, security guards, four in total, came into the room. Glaring at the interruption, Sesshomaru stood again, walking around his desk to stand before them with his arms crossed over his muscular chest, the white button down stretching over his back, his jacket placed on the back of his chair, the dark slacks he wore fit him perfectly, accentuating his butt.

"What is the meaning of this" He demanded his voice low and menacing.

"Sir, your secretary called us and told us that there was an intruder in your office, we came immediately"

"Hn, she is no intruder leave now before you are no longer employed" he growled out, annoyed that his security didn't know better. Wondering if he would have to fire his secretary for her own stupidity.

The guards filed out in quick order, turning he walked back over to the desk to lean against edge near her. Looking down at her as she looked up at him with large sapphire eyes, his mind paused as he drowned briefly in her those blue depths, something clenching low in his abdomen, shaking out of it, he refocused his mind on the business at hand.

"Have you decided to take my case?" he asked glancing quickly from her to something else so that he could avoid her eyes, lest he drown again.

"I wouldn't be here now if I had not decided to, the file you gave me would have been burned if I had not come, I told you that" Pulling a contract out of her briefcase handing it to him.

"It's my standard contract, non disclosure, it leaves me in charge of the investigation"

"I see" he said reading it over. Pulling a cell phone out of the briefcase as well she handed it to him.

"This phone is a secure line the number is unlisted and kept from any phone records, use it to contact me night or day if you are contacted again by the blackmailer, my number is programmed into the phone. Do not use it to call any one but myself, it could cause a lot of trouble even though the number is unlisted"

"Hn" was all he said before he signed the contract.

"I'll phone you tomorrow, if your office was bugged than I have no doubt that your house is as well, I want to do a run through to make sure. I want to inspect your car, or cars, as well" she said as she packed up her briefcase.

He watched as she left his office, his eyes on her rear as she walked to the door, catching him self, he gave his head a shake it really had been too long since he had been with a woman.

The meeting had been abrupt and hadn't lasted more than ten minuets but it had left Sesshomaru with a sense of anticipation for the following day.