InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ For Richer or Poorer ❯ The Ring ( Chapter 12 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and Co.

 

(A/N: Okay, who's pissed off at Mujitsu for not updating sooner? (dodges various objects thrown) Okay, okay, I get the idea!! Yeesh. I'm sorry guys. I guess I didn't really keep up with my schedule like I said I would. I've been going through a lot of personal stuff lately, and so it's been really hard to write. I hope you guys will understand, so without making you wait any further, here is chapter eleven.)

 

 

 

Chapter Eleven

The Ring

 

 

 

“Are you really willing to go this far, Naraku? Going after the woman that belongs to Sesshoumaru is dangerous enough as it is, but to put everything on the line for a myth? Is it worth it? I already told you I felt nothing and found nothing when I went to the woman's shrine. Maybe the Shikon no Tama doesn't exist.”

 

Naraku's dark chuckle filled the air. “Then maybe we have to take the legend more literally. She is the key to getting the jewel. Have you not felt the power rolling off of her? I just need to get a hold of her.”

 

“But you are risking everything. The money, the power, your whole life.”

 

“Fool, if I had the Shikon no Tama, all of those other things would be obsolete. I would have more power than you could ever dream. Even Sesshoumaru, if he chose to fight for her, could not hope to defeat me. It is worth the risk.”

 

“As you wish then,” Hakudoushi turned and walked out of the room. All of this for an object that might not even exist, he thought. He better hope it does. Not even I would be able to stand up to Sesshoumaru when he finds his mate is in danger. Naraku's plan better work, otherwise he'll be ripped to pieces.

 

 

 

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Kagome sighed deeply in pleasure as the bubbles reached her chin. There was nothing like a hot bath at the end of a stressful day! She frowned slightly. And what a stressful day it had been! And confusing, frustrating…arousing.

 

She quickly shut her eyes and shook her head. She could not get that kiss out of her mind. What could he have been thinking to just grab her like that and place his lips on hers?

 

When she opened her eyes, they were slightly clouded and dreamy. If she were honest with herself, she couldn't say she didn't enjoy it. She couldn't focus for the rest of the day, and her mind replayed it over and over again. The feel of his lips on hers, the way it had started out rough, and then gentled into sensuality, the way she practically melted in his embrace.

 

She started to get hot just thinking about it and she had a sneaking suspicion that he knew it. She was knowledgeable about youkai to a certain extent, and she knew her scent would give off some of her feelings and he would be able to detect them. When she would sneak glances at him, he always had this small smirk on the same lips that drove her out of her mind.

 

Stop thinking about it, Kagome, she thought, and quickly dumped her head under water. She held her breath for as long as she could before rising from beneath the surface. She focused instead on all of the information she had gathered that day from Sesshoumaru's old files.

 

It was amazing how the police hadn't gone after Naraku until now. Case file after case file had shown how clients of Naraku had declined his offers to buy, and then “mysteriously” ended up killed a few days later. However, there was never any solid evidence against him. She splashed the water in frustration. It seemed the only way they were going to be able to capture him is if they caught him in the act, which didn't sound like it was going to happen any time soon. Miroku had done his job by realizing Naraku's next target, but it still wasn't a guarantee that they were going to catch the bastard. Things were looking dim for this case.

 

Sighing, she pulled the plug and rose from her bath. At least she felt better, and she could relax for the rest of the night. She exited out of the bathroom to find Rin sitting patiently on her bed. As soon as she saw Kagome, she ran over and wrapped her arms around the legs of the robed woman.

 

“Rin-chan!” Kagome exclaimed. “Is something wrong?”

 

The little girl lifted her head and grinned. “No, Sesshoumaru-otousan wanted to speak with you in his work room.”

 

Kagome smiled as she realized Rin probably meant in his study. “Okay, go tell him I'll be there in a few minutes.” Rin smiled once more and ran off happily. Kagome watched her go, and then started to feel a little flustered. Why did he want to see her? What, Kagome, she thought. Did you think that you could just ignore him for the rest of the night?

 

Hurriedly, she pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and walked to Sesshoumaru's study. She nervously raised her hand to knock, knowing that she had never actually been in this room yet. Scratch that, she hadn't been in a lot of rooms yet, most likely because the house was so damn big. But, somehow she knew his study was more…intimate. A refuge for him besides his bedroom. Gathering her courage, she knocked lightly.

 

“You can come in, Kagome.”

 

Gulping, she opened the door and entered. She was faintly surprised to find it so small, housing only a desk, a few couches and chairs, and many bookshelves. A few lamps through soft light onto the darkened interior of the room, giving it an unexpected cozy feeling. The TaiYoukai himself was seated at the desk in front of the computer, but he rose to greet her. She stood in front of the desk with her arms folded awkwardly over her midriff, and waited expectantly.

 

Sesshoumaru frowned mentally when he noticed how uncomfortable the detective was in front of him. He didn't want her afraid of him…quite the opposite, in fact. He wanted her to want him as much as he wanted her…which was a lot. Especially now, since she was looking so delectable with her face flushed and rosy from her bath, and her damp hair framing her face and tumbling down her back. He wished he could just kiss her again like he did that afternoon, but he knew that if he did, she would get scared off. But, damn, he hated being patient.

 

She could take the silence no more. “Did you need something, Sesshoumaru?”

 

She saw him blink, as if she had broken him out of thought, before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black box. Her breath involuntarily caught in her throat as she realized what he was holding.

 

“I've think you've gone without an engagement ring long enough,” he said in that smooth, deep voice, and opened the box. He saw her peek curiously inside, and for once was apprehensive as to how she would react. If she was expecting a flashy and showy ring…

 

Kagome glanced inside the box, and let out a small gasp. Resting inside the velvet was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. A simple band of silver made up the body of the ring, and had some kind of ancient language inscribed all around the metal. Resting in the center was a jewel of such a deep amber color; it looked like Sesshoumaru's eyes. It also bore a resemblance to Inuyasha's eyes, and she was willing to bet it was the same as their father's eyes. It was beyond anything she had ever seen, and was perfect in its simplicity.

 

To Sesshoumaru, this event held more importance than he would ever admit. For all of his long life, women had flocked to him because of his wealth and money. None ever really felt for him because of him. If Kagome was upset at the lack of gaudiness in the ring, it would prove to him that she was like all of the rest…but if she accepted it, she would be accepting him, all of him, at the same time. He let out a slow breath he didn't know he'd been holding when she touched the ring almost reverently and looked up at him with her eyes shining.

 

“I really get to wear this?” she asked softly, and because he strangely found it difficult to talk, he nodded stiffly. She nodded somberly back and picked up the ring from its case. Before she could slide it onto her own finger, a clawed hand plucked the jewelry from her and held her hand steady against its warmth. Slowly, keeping his eyes locked with her, he slid the ring onto her hand.

 

It looked perfect resting there on her hand, with his hand surrounding hers, and for just that instant in time, she felt cherished. The ring was a perfect fit.

 

Sesshoumaru seemed to think so too, and she was so caught up in admiring the beautiful jewel that she didn't notice him discreetly pulling on the ring, seeing if it would come off. He smirked mentally when it didn't budge. It wasn't because the ring was too tight, because it wasn't. If it were any other ring, it would be sliding off, but this was a ring that was passed down the Inu family, and was far from ordinary. Of course, the detective didn't need to know that until later.

 

His phone rang shrilly, breaking the peaceful silence that had been thrown over the couple, and he wanted to shoot a dirty look at the interrupting piece of technology. He reluctantly let go of her hand and answered with a brusque greeting. He listened for a few moments and then wordlessly handed the phone to Kagome.

 

“Hello?”

 

“We got him, Kagome. The son of a bitch got caught in the act!” Inuyasha's excited voice reached hers over the line.

 

“What?” she asked. “You're not making any sense!”

 

“We have Naraku in custody, Kag,” he said. “We staked out the Kuromono's tonight, and the lights went out suddenly, so we rushed inside. His partner, Hakudoushi ran off, but Naraku was there, and we arrested him.”

 

“You can't be serious,” Kagome exclaimed. “You caught him red-handed?!”

 

“He's at the station right now. You might want to come down here before it gets too crazy.”

 

“I'll be right there!” she said, and hung up the phone. Sesshoumaru had heard the conversation and already had his car keys out and ready. She smiled at him gratefully, and they rushed outside to the car after giving a brief explanation to Jaken and Rin.

 

On the way there, she couldn't stop fidgeting. Something just didn't seem right…it seemed too easy. Just when she was thinking to herself that it would be impossible to catch Naraku in the act, he practically fell into their laps. Plus, Naraku didn't seem to be the type to do the dirty work himself, so what was he doing at the Kuromonos? It was just too simple…

 

Thanks to Sesshoumaru's driving, they reached the station quickly and hopped out. Walking briskly, she found Inuyasha by his desk. “Where is he?” she demanded.

 

“He's in the holding cells right now, waiting until his interrogation,” he said, flicking his ear in annoyance. “Do you want to be the one to go after him?”

 

She nodded. “Go ahead and get him into a room. I'm going to go find Kaede first. I have some questions for her.”

 

Inuyasha looked at her strangely, but said, “Fine. I'll be waiting for you.”

 

She turned to Sesshoumaru. “Wait for me?”

 

He nodded and watched as she turned away. He felt Inuyasha standing close to him and heard him say softly, “You gave her that ring?”

 

“Do you have a problem with it?” he asked, trying to keep his patience in check. He still didn't know the full extent of Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship, and that pissed him off, but right now, he staked claim on the woman. Inuyasha smirked.

 

“Nope, I just didn't expect you of all people to get so serious over a human.”

 

“She is a miko,” he said. “And a powerful one at that. She is more than worthy.”

 

The smile suddenly fell from the hanyou's face. “Take care of her, Sesshoumaru. This whole thing better not be a game to you.”

 

Sesshoumaru met Inuyasha's eyes fully for the first time, and for once, Inuyasha was struck silent. “It is no game,” Sesshoumaru said deeply, and all Inuyasha could do was nod silently.

 

“Come on,” he said after a moment. “You might as well stick with me until all of this fuss dies down. You might get a kick out of seeing your former business associate in the hot seat.”

 

Naraku did not look any different. He still had that same confident smirk as usual, and looked unruffled by the fact that he was facing a big criminal charge. He sat waiting in the interrogation room, his hands calmly folded as he patiently looked around the room. Inuyasha, using his influence, allowed Sesshoumaru to stand in the viewing room on the other side of the two-way glass, and something about the hanyou disturbed Sesshoumaru.

 

He was too calm. Naraku was facing jail time, the loss of his company, power, money…everything that he prided himself on. Yet he looked like he was waiting for tea instead of a police officer. That damn smirk was getting on Sesshoumaru, and the feeling would not go away. Something was wrong.

 

Inuyasha had just left the very room the hanyou was sitting in and joined Sesshoumaru. The feeling of foreboding grew as he smelled his brother. Just to be sure, he took a deeper look at Naraku…

 

“He shouldn't look so damn confident,” Inuyasha complained. “He should at least call for a lawyer or something. All he's doing is just sitting there. I mean, should he at least feel…Sesshoumaru! What the hell are you doing?”

 

Without answering, the TaiYoukai threw open the door and calmly walked into the interrogation room, picking up Naraku by the throat and using his claw to slice his head off.

 

Inuyasha ran into the room after him, and looked in shock at his half-brother, and the wooden doll with a piece of hair on the floor in place of Naraku.

 

“Sesshoumaru, I could have you arrested right now!” Inuyasha yelled unnecessarily. “You just killed my criminal!”

 

“Fool,” Sesshoumaru said, turning blazing eyes to his brother, and Inuyasha knew he was pissed. “Take a good smell.”

 

Inuyasha sniffed. “I don't smell anything out of the ordinary,” he said, confused.

 

“That's because your pathetic hanyou senses would not be able to pick up the subtle differences between a demon and a fucking doll,” Sesshoumaru spat.

 

Inuyasha drew his eyebrows down at the insult and in bewilderment. “What the hell are you talking about?”

 

Sesshoumaru came close to grabbing Inuyasha and slamming him against the wall. “What I mean, baka, is that this is not Naraku.”

 

 

 

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Okay, short, I know, but that's all I could dish out right now. Like I said before, I've been going through some personal things, so please do not yell at me for making the chapter so short. I like where I ended it, and I felt that if I forced any more out, it would make the chapter even crappier. And since I broke my promise to you about updating, I will get the next chapter out earlier, if I can. Because I want to get this out to you as soon as possible, I'm not going to deal with reviewer responses individually this time. You guys cannot believe how long that takes me to do, and although I love doing it and replying to you individually, I want to just post this and get the next chapter out sooner. So, what I will do is say…

 

(glomps reviewers) I LOVE YOU ALL…EVERYONE WHO REVIEWS. YOU GUYS KEEP ME GOING EVEN THOUGH I FEEL LIKE CRAP RIGHT NOW; ALL OF YOUR REVIEWS HELPED ME GET OFF MY LAZY ASS AND WRITE. PLEASE DO NOT STOP REVIEWING. YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Oh, and Jin Ryu, I got your review last, and I really wanted to apologize for keeping you waiting for so long. You seem to like this story so much, and I let you down. I hope you liked this chapter, however short, and I hope you like the next one. Thank you so much…it was your review that motivated me.

 

Hugs and kisses to you all,

Mujitsu