InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ For Richer or Poorer ❯ Always Expect the Unexpected ( Chapter 10 )

(A/N: Hee, hee, it seems like the majority of you now believe that Sesshoumaru is a complete asshole…well, good. That's what I wanted him to seem like the last chapter, but I'll see what I can do to remedy that this chapter. Thanks for all of the reviews!!!)

 

Disclaimer: I don't own him. That's just the sad truth.

 

 

 

Chapter Eight

Always Expect the Unexpected

 

 

 

Ring….

Ring…

 

Kagome heard the phone ring from downstairs and shortly heard footsteps coming towards her door. She hurriedly wiped her tears off of her cheeks and gave herself a once-over in the mirror to make sure it didn't look like she was crying. She sneered at her own reflection before she heard the knock on her door. She was slightly surprised to open it just to see Sesshoumaru silently holding the phone out to her.

 

She took it without a word while he leaned against her doorway, watching her with those unsettling golden eyes. She completely ignored him as she spoke to whoever was on the phone for several moments.

 

His eyes narrowed on her. True, he expected her to be pissed off at him, but he hated to be ignored. There are only a few times in his life where he had dreaded something, and coming upstairs to bring her the phone was one of them. He could smell her tears from halfway up the staircase, and he knew that if he actually saw her tears, he would give in to the idiotic, overwhelming urge to apologize to her for what he said. Relief actually flowed through him when he saw her face free of tear tracks. Sure, her eyes were red, puffy, and glassy, but as long as she wasn't actually still crying, he was happy. For some reason though, he suspected that the proud detective would never let him witness her tears, for which he was grateful, and oddly enough disappointed in. She wouldn't ever let him see her true side…

 

God Damn it, this woman is confusing the hell out of me! He thought, exasperated. He didn't want her to open up to him, didn't want anything to do with her. He could care less what she thought or felt, or if she confided anything in him. Yeah, well you made sure she NEVER would anyway today, genius, a voice inside of him said, and he growled low in his throat by how conflicted he felt.

 

Kagome glanced at him briefly and looked away, ignoring him once again. She said a few “uh-huh's” over the phone before hanging up. “Inuyasha wants us to meet him at the station,” she said tonelessly and brushed past him down the stairs. He glanced at her retreating back and growled mentally this time. He never had a female give him so much trouble before, and in such a short amount of time! It was maddening. In more of a bad mood than he had ever been in before, he followed her down the stairs and passed her in the foyer, stalking out to his car and starting it up with a roar, waiting for her to join him.

 

The ride to the station was the most tense and awkward ride of their lives. Both were extremely angry, one was hurt, and one was greatly confused. He didn't know how to talk to her now, told himself he didn't have an interest anyway, and she refused to talk to him, so they kept silent.

 

As soon as they stepped through the station doors, Kagome took in a deep breath. She had missed this place; missed the excitement in the air as someone got a new lead to chase, missed the smell of old coffee and cheap perfume from the stray prostitutes, missed…the electricity of the room. This was where she belonged…not in some ritzy office pretending to be someone that she wasn't.

 

Sesshoumaru crinkled his nose slightly as the smells of the place reached his heightened senses. He glanced at the detective beside him and knew that she was relaxed now. He spotted Inuyasha waving down the hall and silently walked to his half-brother, who was joined by a younger looking kitsune demon with bright red hair.

 

“Shippou!” Kagome exclaimed, happiness evident in her voice. “How've things been here?”

 

The fox rolled his eyes. “Kagome, how could you stand to work with Mr. Impatient over here?” he asked, jerking his eyes to Inuyasha who just snorted and looked closer at Kagome. She had been crying, he could tell. He hadn't worked with her for so many years without picking up on the telltale signs, and he leveled a hot glare at Sesshoumaru who glanced calmly back at him.

 

Kagome, who was still chatting with Shippou, saw the glares and spoke up quickly. “Inuyasha, what did you need to talk about that you couldn't tell me over the phone?”

 

The half-demon gave a cryptic shrug. “I dunno. You'll have to ask Miroku when he gets here. He called me before I called you and said he had some important news that he had to share with everyone, so he said to meet in Kaede's office. It had better be good, that's all I can say!”

 

“Oh, but it is, Inuyasha,” Miroku's smooth voice came from behind Kagome. He glanced at the detective up and down, looking at her suit and hair, inwardly marveling at the change. “Detective, I must say you clean up nice,” he said, his hand already reaching for her. She grabbed it before he could do anything and pushed him up against the wall with her knee in a very…important spot to him.

 

“Not today, monk,” she growled quietly, and pushed her knee a little bit harder against him to emphasize her point, and she could see his adam's apple bob as he swallowed. Hard.

 

“Point taken, and noted, detective,” he said in a slightly higher voice.

 

“Besides,” Kagome said, backing up and shooting a sharp glance at Sesshoumaru, who was glaring daggers into Miroku. “I wouldn't want you to ruin the reputation of the fiancée of the great Sesshoumaru Taiinu if anyone saw you grope me. They might get the wrong idea about me.”

 

The demon stopped glaring at Miroku and looked at Kagome with unreadable eyes as her comment got through to him. That stupid feeling of regret got a little bit stronger.

 

Inuyasha looked suspiciously at his brother and at his best friend. Something was going on, and he had a feeling it was all Sesshoumaru's fault. Shippou just shook his head in confusion.

 

“Well,” Miroku said, straightening out his shirt after Kagome allowed him to step away from the wall. “Shall we go see Kaede?”

 

He led the way into the large office as the older woman glanced up in surprise. “Miroku…Kagome, Inuyasha, what brings you here? How was your first day of work?”

 

Miroku leaned casually against his desk. “Oh, you could say I found out some interesting things today, Captain.”

 

Kaede raised her eyebrows, knowing the monk was up to something. “And what, pray tell, would that be?”

 

Miroku examined his fingernails as everyone impatiently waited for him to speak. Inuyasha, being the soul of tact, finally burst out, “Spit it out, bouzo! We haven't got all night for you to play drama king.”

 

Miroku put on a mock face of hurt that reminded Kagome slightly of Jakotsu, and finally began to speak. “Naraku has targeted another house.”

 

Everyone sat up straighter in their seats at this. “Go on,” Kagome urged as Miroku paused again. He pouted. “You guys are not making this very fun.” Inuyasha cracked his fingers threateningly, and Miroku hurried on.

 

“Naraku wants the property of someone by the name of Kuromono, but from what I've heard they're refusing to sell. He may need to take drastic measures soon.”

 

Sesshoumaru cursed under his breath. “What?” Inuyasha asked.

 

“The Kuromono's have property right in the middle of the city that is ideal to set up another industry. We've been persuading them to sell to our company as well, but they've declined. Naraku wanted to join forces with me to get them to sell…we have a meeting about it tomorrow afternoon.”

 

Kagome drew in a sharp breath and he inwardly winced. She was no doubt mad again that he sprung this news on her on short notice, as he always did.

 

“Should we keep an eye on the Kuromono's then?” she asked, again completely ignoring Sesshoumaru's gaze.

 

Kaede put her fingers to her chin in thought. Finally, she nodded. “I'll have a unit stop by their house and give them some extra security. If Naraku is the one murdering the families, we'll stop him before he gets the chance. If nothing happens to the Kuromono's…then we'll call off the investigation.”

 

“What!?” Inuyasha yelled. “That doesn't mean he didn't kill those other families!”

 

“We have no proof, Inuyasha,” Kaede said sharply. “If we can't get that, we have nothing on him. It's as simple and complicated as that, and you know it.” The hanyou sat back in his seat, sulking and grumbling. A ringing sound filled the air, and Kagome reached into her bag to get her cell phone.

 

“Hello?” she asked, and her face got pale as she listened to whoever was on the other line. “I'll be right there!” she said, and hung up. She jumped out of her seat, calling to Inuyasha on her way out. “C'mon, we've got to go.”

 

“Go whe-” he started to ask, but she was already halfway out of the station. He cursed and jumped up after her, with Sesshoumaru following right behind.

 

Sesshoumaru frowned as he quickly followed his half-brother and Kagome. He could smell the panic and anxiety coming from her, and it made him antsy. What the hell was going on?”

 

“What the hell is going on?” Inuyasha asked, voicing his thoughts as he caught up to Kagome and grabbed her by the arm to stop her.

 

“That was Souta on the phone,” she said, tugging at his arm to let her go. “Someone's been at the shrine. Grandpa's been hurt!” She broke out of his grasp and ran out the door.

 

Inuyasha stared at her in surprise before he too flew into motion, his heart pounding madly. Sesshoumaru paused for a split second before he cursed mentally and ran out after them.

 

It's not my business, it's not my business, he thought, but couldn't seem to stop himself as he took out his car keys. “We'll take mine,” he yelled. “I'll get us there faster.”

 

Kagome didn't argue, just veered off course in the direction his car was in, and hopped in the backseat, leaving the front for Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru gunned the engine, and breaking about five traffic laws along the way, maneuvered himself into Tokyo traffic.

 

It was deathly silent in the car as the trio made their way through the city to the shrine. Low enough so that Kagome couldn't hear Inuyasha whispered, “What did you do to her?” knowing that Sesshoumaru's hearing would be able to pick up on what he said.

 

“I don't know what you're talking about,” the taiyoukai said back, just as lowly.

“Don't play me for a fool, Sesshoumaru,” Inuyasha hissed. “She'd been crying, I could tell.”

 

“She is a woman…they get highly emotional.”

 

Inuyasha snorted quietly. “Kagome may be highly emotional, but she NEVER cries…unless she's been really hurt. So, I'll ask you again, what did you do?”

 

Sesshoumaru was silent, pondering what Inuyasha had said. She never cries…unless she's been really hurt…He mentally shook himself and growled out, “It's none of your business, hanyou. Leave it alone.”

 

Inuyasha contemplated his brother quietly before he turned to look at the flying scenery. “If you hurt her again, make no mistake that I'll come for you,” he said so quietly that even Sesshoumaru had to strain to hear him, and knew that he meant every word.

 

Sesshoumaru let the conversation go and concentrated on getting them to the shrine as fast as possible. When they reached Kagome's home, she jumped out first and ran inside crying, “Mama! Souta! Ji-chan, I'm here!” Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were not far behind.

 

“Nee-chan!” Souta cried and flung himself at his sister, who held him tightly. Sure, he was a teenager now and acted touch, but he was still young. He was never so happy to see his sister until now. Her mother came up behind them and wrapped all three in a hug. Kagome held her tears inside, although she wanted to cry out in relief that they were all right, and straightened with a professional look on her face. “What happened here?”

 

“Souta and I came back from shopping to find your grandpa lying unconscious in front of the storage shed. The inside was a wreck, as if someone had torn it apart looking for something.”

 

“Is Ji-chan all right?” Kagome asked worriedly. Her mother smiled gently.

 

“He should be fine now. He came about shortly after we arrived and refused to let us call an ambulance. He said it was just a bump on the head. He should be sleeping now upstairs.”

 

“Did he tell you what happened?” Inuyasha asked, stepping forward, his cop instincts kicking in.

 

Kagome's mother looked at him, relieved that he was there as well. “He said he was cleaning out the shed when a shadow came up behind him, and then he can't remember anything else. I think it was only a few minutes later that we arrived and called Kagome.”

 

“Then whoever it was could still be in the area,” Inuyasha exclaimed, and looked at Sesshoumaru. The demon nodded and followed his brother silently out the door. As soon as they touched the front porch, both youkai's went flying in opposite directions, their feet never seeming to touch the ground as they sprinted through the foliage and trees, sniffing occasionally to see if they could catch the scent of whoever had been lurking around.

 

Sesshoumaru filtered through the scents running through his mind, separating Kagome's family from the others. He smelled a strange scent coming from closer to the house, and ended up closer to the shed. He frowned. Of course the scent would lead him here because this is where the attack took place. But where did the intruder run after that? He sniffed again, slowly trying to follow the trail. He followed it around the house, and stopped in front of a tree. He effortlessly jumped up into the branches and dug his claws into them, making deep gouges, as he saw where he was.

 

He was looking into Kagome's room.

 

His eyes flashed red for a second, and he was slightly stunned at how much restraint he had to use to rein his demon side in. The bastard was looking into Kagome's room, invading her territory to look for something. What if she had been home? Would he have went into her room and harmed her, including her family?

 

Inuyasha had caught the same scent and ended up under the same tree. He could smell his brother's fury and blinked in surprise as Sesshoumaru landed silently in front of him, his whole body tensed.

 

“He was watching the house,” Inuyasha said needlessly, and Sesshoumaru nodded. Inuyasha sighed, but Sesshoumaru's head snapped up again, his eyes alert, and glanced out to the woods. “The scent doesn't stop here,” he said. “It goes into the woods.”

 

Before Inuyasha could say anything, Sesshoumaru was off, jumping through the trees following the scent. He was back less than a minute later and met Inuyasha's questioning gaze.

 

“It ended at the street,” he said, practically snarling, and Inuyasha was taken aback by his anger. “They must have gotten in a car.”

 

Inuyasha nodded and silently turned back to the house. “Where's Kagome?” he asked as soon as he entered the living room to see Kagome's mother and Souta sitting silently on the couch.

 

“Ji-chan woke up,” she said simply. Inuyasha nodded again and took a seat beside her, offering her silent comfort. Sesshoumaru gazed at him for a second before he quietly left the room and followed Kagome's scent upstairs. He stopped outside an open door and silently looked inside, seeing Kagome sitting next to her ji-chan who was laying on a futon.

 

“I'm fine, Kagome,” the old man said. “It's just a small bump on the head. I'll be fine by tomorrow morning.”

 

“Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?” she asked, adjusting the ice on his head, and grabbing his hand to hold.

 

“Pfffsht,” her grandfather snorted indignantly. “Foolish girl, I said I was fine. It takes more than a little knock on the head to bring me down.”

 

“Right,” Kagome said sarcastically, but Sesshoumaru could see how her eyes shone with tenderness. The old man's eyes began to slide shut again, and she waited for a few moments to make sure he was asleep before tucking the sheets around him and gently kissing his forehead. She stayed for a few extra moments beside him, just watching the rise and fall of his chest, before she stood up slowly and faced the door. She froze as she saw Sesshoumaru standing there, silently watching her.

 

She squared her shoulders proudly before walking up to him. She paused for a second when she was standing right in front of him, her eyes gazing at him with something indefinable in them, and he had an inner conflict with himself when she began walking past him down the hall.

 

Her hesitation was only for a split second, but it awoke something in him, and before she could make more than a step away from him, a clawed hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. She gasped softly before it was cut off by her being pressed against a warm, hard chest. She struggled fruitlessly for a second before a soft growl cut her off.

 

“Let it go, Kagome,” he said softly, bringing a hand up to cradle her head, and the other one wrapped firmly around her waist. Tears stung her eyes at the sound of his voice, the use of her name, and his actions, and she slumped against him.

 

There, in the hallway of her house with her injured grandfather in the room next to her and her family stunned and scared in the living room, she let herself cry.

 

Comforted and safe in the arms of Sesshoumaru.

 

While she let out all of her sorrow on his chest, and he found himself stroking her hair softly, he thought one thing: he should always expect the unexpected with the tiny detective. Because now he realized something completely foreign to him.

 

He loved her.

 

Damn, he thought, and held her tighter.

 

 

 

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Miroku had watched the trio rush out the door and turned back to Kaede with another pout. “Damn, I was just getting to the best part.”

 

Kaede smiled at the monk before accommodating him. “And what would that be, Miroku?”

 

“My source,” he said with a mischievous grin, and cheered mentally when he saw Kaede stiffen minutely.

 

“Source?”

 

“Yes. You know, there place where one procures information…”

 

“Yes, I know what a source is,” she said irritably. “Well?”

 

“You see, I happened to listen in on an important phone call between my supervisor and an unknown subject,” he said, slowly putting his hands on the table in leaning in, crowding her space. She leaned back warily, not liking the knowing sparkle in his eyes. “So, being the good detective that I am, I decided to snoop around in her office and try and figure out who she was talking to. You want to know who it was, Kaede? I'm sure everyone will be really interested in who it is.”

 

Kaede sighed. “Who was it?”

 

“You.”

 

Kaede's shoulders slumped. “I guess the jig is up.”

 

“Jig?” Miroku asked, leaning back with a confused look in his eyes. “What jig? Could you tell me what the hell is going on, and why was my supervisor talking to you about our case?”

 

“Sit down, Miroku. I think you need to know some things…”

 

 

 

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Miroku walked into the office early the next morning, and was happy to see Sango stepping onto the elevator. Whistling a cheery tune, he stepped in as well and stood behind her. He could see her shoulders tense at his close proximity to her, but…the elevator was crowded, after all. It's not like he could help it.

 

However, once the elevator stopped on their floor, he followed after her as she walked to her office, and walked right in after her, closing the door behind him.

 

She gasped and turned around, about to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing before he backed her up against the wall with a hand on each shoulder. Instinctively, she grabbed one of his wrists and ducked under his arm, twisting it painfully. What she didn't expect was for him to get out of her hold and have her hands pinned to her lower back with him standing right behind her.

 

“What are you doing?” she managed to get out as she felt his hot breath brush against her ear, and she fought the blush that was tingeing her cheeks.

 

“Sango, really, I expected better from an officer of the law,” he said in a disappointed voice.

 

He felt her freeze. “W-what are you talking about?”

 

“Don't play games,” he chided, holding her hands behind her with one hand as he reached into his pocket with the other. He brought out his badge and waved it in front of her face. “It looks like we're on the same team,” he said playfully. “Now, you wanna tell me why you…well, didn't tell me?”

 

She was silent for a second before she sighed and went limp. “Kaede didn't want you to know she had another officer in Naraku's building until it was absolutely necessary. She thought that we could cover more ground if we didn't work together at first. She would have told you eventually so we could share information, but if it even looked like we were working together, Naraku would get suspicious.”

 

“I'm surprised she didn't have more faith in her team,” he commented, ignoring the way she was trying to struggle out of his grasp now.

 

“I joined her team six months ago when it was first suspected that Naraku was behind all the murders. Again, she didn't want anyone else to know because she didn't have anything solid on him. But, now you've gone and spoiled everything, and found me out.”

 

She felt more than heard his chuckle before he said seductively, “That just means I'm good at my job, darling.” She stiffened again as she felt him lean closer to her. She felt his lips on her cheek, but before she could say anything or react, he quickly let her go so she almost lost her balance. When she whirled around, he already had the door open and gave her a small salute. “It'll be a pleasure working with you, Sango.”

 

With a sly wink, he left her standing there, fuming.

 

Outside of the office, he laughed as he heard something hit the door of her office, as if she had thrown something at it.

 

Still whistling that cheery tune, he went to his desk and prepared to get some work done.

 

 

 

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Okay, everyone, I hope your happy. I got this chapter out extra early for you. Normally, I would do a bunch of reviewer responses here, but it's really, really late, and I have an early class tomorrow. So, for now I will say thank you, and I will respond to the reviews of this chapter in the next chapter. I hope no one is mad that I'm skipping on personal comments for once. I love responding to each reviewer individually tonight, but I know that you would rather have the chapter out quicker than listen to me blathering on so…

 

(deep breath) A BIG, GIANT, HUGE, AND OTHERWISE MONSTROUS THANKS TO:

 

Empress-of-Chaos, Miyl, CyborgAngel22, MistressMaru ^.^, Sheenachi, 1kenshinlover, Ruth: I'm glad about your dad getting the job and am still looking forward to your story, jadefeather, Blood Red Moon, LynGreenTea, Aurora, BaBeeCinaMon, Kagome21, dragon huntress, Fan of Yours: ha ha, I love you!!!, RubyRoseoftheBlackBlood, Erik and Fae, Bre, kitsune ninja, kagomeandinuyasha4ever, IYGU, Ookami Otome, Forgotten Lake, anonymous, Captain Starseeker, Sasha, Arcander: LOVED the review!, Sesshouamrus Chix, Clavira, Ness, LtSonya, Rawhead and Bloody Bones, cuttie-blossom.

 

Again, big hugs and kisses to everyone, and I will get the next chapter out soon, hopefully before next week is up. It all depends on how creative I am at the time. Oh, and if anyone wants to be on my e-mail list for when I update, just say so in your review. Hint, hint, that means review! LOL!

 

Ja ne,

Mujitsu.