J: I know I know, I didn't put up a chapter last week and I am a horrible person for making you wait. Not sure if I've said it already or not but I'm a horrible procrastinator, but I am responsible for my laziness. This week you get two chapters I swear! I have a list of things to do today and one of them is write up the next chapter :) Now let's check the follow count shall we? 113! I've honestly come to love that column more than the review column these days.

Thanks to: Lakeya2700, MissKitty35, P, Slytherin's Pimp, IntertwinedMelodies, PurpleGoddess9, Creamberriess, and Kairi8912

I love all you reviewers and all 113 of you that are following along with the story :)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters.

Chapter Nine

Sesshoumaru's office was a place he considered to be peaceful despite it being the central nerve centre of his whole company. When he was in his office Sesshoumaru could relax and slip into a state of mind that could handle any problem that could arise.

For a reason he was still trying to conjure has had made the decision to ruin his comfort zone for a brief period of time by inviting the one individual that knew how to ruin his solitude in less than a minute.

His secretary didn't get a chance to page him of the arrival of his guest, that was the explanation as to why his half brother slammed through the door before Sesshoumaru could get a chance to brace himself.

"It better be a damn good reason you called me up here. I was in the middle of a stake out and your phone call nearly blew my cover!" Inuyasha storned into the room and threw himself into the guest chair. Unlike Sesshoumaru Inuyasha chose to leave his youkai genetics open to the public. His silver hair hung down his back, his golden eyes were covered by sunglasses and the little dog ears that showed him to be a hanyou was covered by a red and blue baseball cap. Being a private investigator allowed InuYasha to dress however he wanted while working a case. On that particular Tuesday morning InuYasha was dressed in a pair of form fitting jeans, a white muscle shirt and a long sleeved red button up shirt. His attire allowed the public eye to see his registered .38 Smith and Weston on his hip.

When InuYasha had first announced his decision to be a private investigator to the family Sesshoumaru had been against it. His brother was a brash, loud mouthed idiot yes. But he also knew the ins and outs of the family business. Their father left no room for an argument to start by accepting InuYasha's decision.

There had been a sour taste in his mouth of disagreement throughout the years InuYasha spent in police training until he received his investigators license. The sour taste disappeared when Sesshoumaru realized that InuYasha was actually more useful in this profession. He didn't have to deal with headaches daily from InuYasha's mouth and when he gave InuYasha a person or company to look into he didn't have to pay him and the results were always satisfactory.

Closing up his current draft of the KaibaCorp contract Sesshoumaru focused on his half brother, "We will wait for Miroku before I start."

"Keh, I'm not paid by the hour, I'm paid by the case. I can't hang around all day waiting for the pervert to get here."

"Then it's fortunate for you that I did not take all day." Miroku entered through the still open door, closed them behind him then took the other chair available. Miroku was dressed in a suit that was designed to appear casual more than impressive. With a black suit jacket and matching black pants, a purple dress shirt and black tie Miroku emanated an approachable demeanour.

Despite InuYasha's complaint a moment ago the hanyou was happy to see his childhood friend. "I'm impressed, normally you're five minutes late and sporting a hand print on your face." InuYasha smirked as Miroku smiled innocently with a shrug.

Wanting to reclaim the peaceful aura of his work space as fast as possible Sesshoumaru got straight to the point. He pulled out the background information InuYasha had given him and placed it on the desk. "I want answers."

InuYasha scowled, "I gave you everything I could find on her."

"It would help if you told us the specific questions you wanted answered Sesshoumaru." Miroku was intrigued. This was the second time Sesshoumaru was inquiring about Kagome Higurashi, this kind of attention wasn't normally given to just anyone. Something about his friend and student had spiked the stoic taiyoukai's interest.

"Tell me what you know about the fire." Sesshoumaru had come to the final conclusion that everything about Kagome's moment of distance in his car and the exchange between her and the fox kit must be connected to the fire.

InuYasha kept his scowl but it lost some of it's intimidation as he restated the facts already given in the folder, "According to the investigation conducted by the police and fire marshals the fire appeared to be accidental."

"You say appeared, you have a theory otherwise?" This came from Miroku, his amethyst eyes hard in concentration. Sesshoumaru's expression remained blank but his eyes had narrowed by a hair width.

"It's not just my theory. I spoke to some of the firemen that had been on the scene that night it happened. They claimed there were some minor signs of the fire having been started by an outside source. Like a Molotov cocktail. It had been included in the original report but when I looked into it I saw no such thing mentioned in the official report." InuYasha cracked his knuckles glancing from Miroku to Sesshoumaru to see if they were thinking the same thing he was.

Sesshoumaru voiced the thought out loud, "A pay off."

InuYasha nodded, "That's exactly what I was thinking. Whoever set that fire wanted it to be left as an accident allowing him to get away with arson and murder. I looked into the original investigators that gave the final report. There two of them. Both are currently missing and have been missing for the past year and a half."

"No loose ends except for Kagome." Miroku twined his fingers together and leaned his elbows on his knees. Both Taishou brothers gave him searing stares demanding more information. "Not long after the fire Kagome hinted towards knowing that the fire wasn't an accident. I asked her if she knew what happened but she refused to tell me anything claiming it was best if no one knew."

"How do we know she didn't go crazy and start the fire herself?" InuYasha's instinct told him it wasn't Ms. Higurashi but felt the need to hear it reinforced out loud.

Miroku's glare made the hair on the back of his neck stand on edge, "If you met Kagome you would know in a heart beat that it wasn't her."

"He is correct. Ms. Higurashi has no nature for violence." Sesshoumaru didn't question for a second that Kagome was innocent. The haunted look of pain he'd seen in her eyes spoke of her innocence alone.

"Jeez take it easy. I had to ask, it's my job. From what you said Miroku it sounds like she does know who torched her house and family. Do you know anyone that be wealthy, homicidal and have a grudge against her?" InuYasha's fingers twitched with the need to write this down. The Higurashi Fire had been sitting in his brain and picking at his curiosity ever since he'd first heard of it.

Miroku shook his head, "I met Kagome a year before the fire and I've never seen or heard anyone harbour a grudge against her."

Sesshoumaru could believe Miroku on this. His interactions with the miko had always been brief but each interaction solidified one concept about her. She was pure. Someone of that nature could not make enemies easily. 'Yet she clearly has one and they destroyed what she considered precious at the time.' His gaze went to InuYasha, "How much longer will your current case take to close?"

"Uh well by guess another day?" InuYasha blinked in confusion at the abrupt change in topic.

"Once you're finished that case you will work for me and focus on this fire."

InuYasha's scowl returned, "And how do you expect me to earn any money if I'm just working this case?"

"I will pay all your expenses InuYasha." This was said by Miroku, who was likely the most reluctant of the three to spend his money on a whim.

Shaking himself out of his surprise InuYasha smirked, "Fine consider this case my top priority. Is this all you wanted to talk to me about?"

Sesshoumaru nodded, "I'm leaving then. The sooner I get my current job done the sooner I can get results." They watched InuYasha nearly run out of the room in his haste to get everything taken care of for his current client.

Once the door closed behind him Miroku turned to the older brother. If his eyes weren't deceiving him then he would have to say Sesshoumaru appeared slightly more relaxed, "Tell me my friend, why the sudden interest in Kagome's tragedy?"

Amber eyes slanted in his direction, divulging personal information on why he did certain things was not something Sesshoumaru did lightly. Which made Miroku wonder what was bothering the silent taiyoukai when he answered honestly, "The closer Rin gets to Shippo, the closer she gets to Ms. Higurashi. I do not want Kagome's enemy to target Rin through association."

Miroku followed this logic through to what would be the next obvious phase, "So by investigating the enemy and then eliminating them from Kagome's life, the possibility of a threat to Rin's would also be eliminated." Sesshoumaru gave a nod. "Two birds with one stone would be an appropriate analogy for this then wouldn't you agree?"

"I wish only to keep Rin safe. Ms. Higurashi's own safety comes as a secondary result." Sesshoumaru said this while putting away the folder into his desk and turning back to his computer.

Seeing a dismissal Miroku stood and left without a word while he smiled inside. Sesshoumaru seemed to be confused about his priorities and it wasn't Miroku's place to try and clear them up.

J: Looking at how some of this plot is turning out and how I plan on making it progress I'm thinking I need to change the genre to mystery, do you agree? Or should it just stay what it is for now?