InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Phony Digits ❯ Two and Two Together ( Chapter 26 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter Twenty-Six: Put Two and Two Together

InuYasha enthusiastically devoured his lunch as he listened half-heartedly to his best friend's rambling.

"She's the perfect woman, InuYasha...perfect!" Miroku exclaimed over the sounds of dishes clanking and the steady hum of diner patrons engaging in conversation. "She's smart, and tough, and funny…and god she's so sexy," he counted off each point on his fingers before pausing and letting out a contented sigh. "She's got the kind of ass I'd just like to smash my face against until I pass out from lack of oxygen," he said, enthusiastically clenching his hands into tight fists before him.

InuYasha paused from cramming french fries into his mouth, looking up to give his roommate an incredulous look across the table and said, "There's something seriously wrong with you," through a mouthful of food.

In response, Miroku simply chuckled and said, "One day my friend, when you know the pleasure of a woman's touch, you will understand."

"Keh!" InuYasha scoffed, never ceasing devouring his food as he shook his head and mumbled, "Stupid idiot."

Miroku chuckled, although he was slightly disappointed that he wasn't able to rile his hanyou friend up quite like he used to. InuYasha was always wound so tight; he was always so easily ruffled. Now it seemed his mind was so well occupied elsewhere that lately Miroku could never get a rise out of him. It wasn't the first time Miroku had seen InuYasha in such a state, just the first time in a long time. "So, how's Kagome?" he asked, shifting the conversation in a direction in which he was sure his friend would take an interest.

"Okay, I guess," InuYasha said with a shrug. "I haven't talked to her yet today."

"Do you talk to her everyday?" Miroku asked.

"Pretty much," InuYasha nodded. "Texting, at least," he clarified.

"So the two of you are back on good terms, then?"

InuYasha shrugged again. "I guess so."

"But not dating."

"No."

"But you want to date her."

"Well...yeah. I mean, I don't wanna asphyxiate myself with her ass or anything, but…"

Miroku just smiled and shook his head. As usual, attempting to pry personal information from InuYasha was like trying to squeeze blood from a turnip. "She's obviously interested in you, she's just playing hard to get," he reasoned. "That means you have to work that much harder."

"She's not playing hard to get, Miroku. That's just something guys say when they don't wanna admit a girl's not interested in them."

"I disagree. I think there are some women who do."

"Yeah, some women. The ones who don't wanna get got. "

Miroku gave a snort of amusement at his friends eloquent word choice. "Whatever you say, man."

"She's not playing hard to get. She's all but admitted that she likes me...she just doesn't trust me...and I want to change that. I don't want to blow this by being pushy. If she says she just wants to be friends, then we'll just be friends."

"Doesn't trust you…?" Miroku repeated leadingly.

"Yeah...I don't know," he shook his head. "She said she thinks it's too soon, or something..."

"Too soon? Since what?" Miroku said before taking a bite of his cheeseburger.

"Since me and Kikyo broke up."

"Ah." Miroku nodded as he chewed his food. "She's probably right."

InuYasha looked up to his friend with a furrowed brow and sincerely asked, "You really think so?"

"No, not really," Miroku answered casually, plucking a pickle from his burger and popping it into his mouth with a crunch. "I was just trying to get you to argue with me and stop being such a pussy."

"Keh! Whatever!"

"Ask me what I think you should do," Miroku said.

"Yeah right! I ain't interested in your shitty frat boy advice! You're the last person I'd take advice from. Your track record sucks."

"Okay then, if you won't ask I'll just tell you because I'm getting tired of your sulky pining."

"Sulky pining?" InuYasha repeated indignantly.

"Listen, you've gotta put some effort into this 'friendship'," Miroku punctuated with air quotes at which InuYasha rolled his eyes. "We've known each other since we were kids so our friendship was established easy. Adult friendships aren't so simple. They take work, just like dating. You have to call and plan and invite...Speaking of which, did you ever ask her about the Mets game?"

"No...I almost forgot about it...shit, is that this weekend?" he asked, sounding ever so slightly panicked as he patted down his pockets looking for his phone.

"No, it's next weekend," Miroku said and InuYasha visibly relaxed. "But you'd better ask soon so she doesn't accept any dates for that day," Miroku teased.

InuYasha let out a quiet scoff and pretended not to hear him as he removed his phone from his breast pocket and began to type a message.

<<>>

A man was stabbed to death early Sunday morning in Okwaho Point, according to Okwaho County Sheriff's Department.

Police dispatch received an anonymous report at 1:47 a.m. of an abandoned vehicle at the intersection of Seneca and 5th streets. When officers arrived they found the car idling at the traffic light with the driver inside, unresponsive and with an apparent stab wound to the chest. The victim, a 37-year-old male whose name has not yet been released to the press, was pronounced dead that the scene.

Investigators have no motives or leads at this time.

If you have any information regarding this crime, please contact Okwaho County Sheriff's Department, or the police tip hotline…

The news story immediately struck a chord with Kagome as she read it from her computer screen. When she was in college she was assigned a cold case for a mock investigation; a string of killings that took place between 1999 and 2005. The murders, which were referred to as the "Red Light Murders" by the media at the time, were a series of deadly stabbings where the victims were all early morning commuters who were ambushed in their cars while stopped at traffic lights.

The serial murderer, known as the "Red Light Killer" had murdered at least a dozen people in four different states before seemingly disappearing into thin air. Investigators at the time assumed that he'd likely been incarcerated for some unrelated crime and was currently behind bars, but with no DNA evidence to go on, their only hope had been that he would let something about the crimes slip to a fellow inmate. Eleven years later, and not one peep from an inmate or shred of relevant evidence had turned up since the last murder.

She had no doubt that detectives in Okwaho Point were already considering the possibility that this murder could be connected, as the Red Light killings were notorious, not only in the states where a murder took place, but in the entire country. Kagome hadn't been living in the United States at the time, but she was aware that they had captured widespread attention.

Still, she couldn't help but feel on edge. She couldn't let it go without being sure, if for no other reason than to put her own mind at ease. She picked up her office phone and dialed the number for the Sheriff's Department. She left her information with a receptionist, who assured her a deputy would be in touch with her shortly. She was thoroughly surprised when, just a few minutes later her phone rang, and it was the Okwaho County Sheriff himself on the line.

"You say you have information pertaining to the recent stabbing?" the man asked after proper introductions had been made.

"Well, yes and no. It's more of a hunch really, one that I'm sure you've probably already considered, but I just wanted to be certain."

"Go on," the man encouraged.

"From what I read in the article this crime shared a lot of similarities with the Red Light Murders that took place a few years ago."

"Yes...we did consider it, of course," he said, his voice sounding just slightly disappointed that he hadn't been given a more solid lead. "This killer's M.O. is almost identical to Red Light's, but there is one big difference that we feel completely rules him out."

"And that is…?"

"The murder weapon," the man said simply.

"But is it not possible he could have changed it up this time?" Kagome suggested. "It has been awhile since he last killed so it's possible he may have changed his methods, or that he killed on impulse and used whatever weapon was available."

"That's where things get tricky. You see, in every Red Light murder case the killer used a knife. Never the same knife, but always a fixed, steel blade that he would discard at the scene. In this case the victim was stabbed, but the weapon wasn't a knife," he said cryptically, his emphasis suggesting that it was something quite different.

"What sort of weapon was used?" Kagome asked.

"Well...we don't know exactly. It's complicated."

"Complicated how?" she asked, her interest now thoroughly peaked. Unidentified weapons were, quite literally, her one job.

"The victim was stabbed with something...organic."

"Organic?" she repeated. "Like a wooden stake?"

"Organic like flesh," the detective on the phone said.

Several seconds of silence passed as Kagome pondered in implications of this, before asking, "What do you mean?"

"Whatever it was that impaled this guy left lots of contact DNA, it was like...almost like an extension of the killer's body or something. If the wound were larger, I'd swear he had struck the guy through the chest with his own arm."

"So this killer has to be youkai then."

"Exactly," he affirmed. "And since we know beyond a reasonable doubt that the Red Light Killer is human, we're positive that the similarities between the two cases are merely coincidence, or possibly a copy-cat, although that's unlikely given the amount of time that has passed since his last kill."

"Were you able to get a DNA profile?" Kagome asked.

The man on the other end of the line let out a mirthless chuckle. "We did, but what we got only left us even more confused than we were to begin with."

"What did you find?"

"Over forty distinct DNA profiles, but no two exactly alike, all youkai in origin save for one human strand, which we can only logically assume was left on the killer through physical contact. We ran them through CODIS and got nothin'."

"What do you think would cause that kind of contamination?"

"We don't know, but from what we can tell the samples are consistent and don't show any signs of contamination at all. According to the chemist who analyzed the results the profiles are all anomalous. Deformed, almost, but they all have Y chromosomes that are too similar to be coincidence. It's almost like each strand is from a different sibling with the same father, but with an unheard of amount of genetic mutations."

"But you think they all came from the same person?"

"Yes. We don't know how exactly, but we're absolutely certain of it. When you take away all the mutations, the human DNA that we found is a paternal match to all the youkai DNA strands."

"So the killer is a hanyou then," Kagome stated.

"Again, it's complicated," the man said with a frustrated sigh. "That the killer is a hanyou with a human father would be the obvious answer, yes, but the youkai DNA isn't diluted enough to have one fully human parent, yet the human strand was one hundred percent human. There's the possibility it could be touch DNA from a grandfather or uncle, but the whole thing is so bizarre we aren't ruling anything out. Not even the possibility that the human DNA also came from the killer himself."

"But that's impossible," Kagome contended.

"Last week I would have told you all of this was impossible. Anyway, it's out of my hands now. The case has been handed over to the state. Our county really isn't equipped to handle something like this. Hell, we don't even have any youkai detectives on our force."

"Do you think it would be possible for me to get in and examine the victim?" Kagome asked.

"That would be a question for the state police. The lead detective's name is…" he paused and Kagome could hear the sound of papers shuffling before he continued. "Rick Wesley. I don't have his direct line, you'll have to call dispatch and leave a message for him."

"What troop is he?"

"Troop D," the man answered.

Kagome thanked him as she scribbled down the information.

"You're welcome," he said. "I wish you the best of luck, Ms. Higurashi."

"Thanks," Kagome said before hearing the clatter of the phone's handset being returned to the base.

She had no doubt that her request would be denied, but it was worth a shot. She called the state police dispatch and left a message for the detective in charge of the investigation. While she was leaving the message Sango walked into her office, furrowing her brow and giving Kagome a confused look as she listened to her friend's request.

"What was that all about?" Sango asked as Kagome hung up the phone.

"Just curious about something I saw in the news."

"Ah, I see," Sango said as she took a seat on the edge of Kagome's desk. "Doing a little recreational work. I almost forgot what a party animal you are," she teased.

"It's not recreational work, it's just work. You forget I'm not a detective, I'm a scientist. Nothing is out of my jurisdiction as far as murder cases are concerned."

"If you're granted access," Sango added.

"Well, it's worth a shot."

"What's so interesting about this case anyway?"

"I thought it might be linked to a string of serial killings, but after talking to the sheriff of the county where the murder took place it seems like it couldn't be the same person."

"But you think it is," Sango stated, reading into her friend's tone.

"I don't know…it's a strange case..."

The two women were interrupted by Sango's phone chiming with a received message alert. Sango removed the phone from her pocket, and as she silently read the message to herself, Kagome watched as the smile on her friends face slowly grew from a smirk to an all-out grin.

"What's so funny?" Kagome asked.

Sango chuckled before beginning to read the message aloud. "It says, 'Hey this is InuYasha Taisho, Miroku's roommate,' she paused for another giggle, which Kagome joined.

"In case you got him confused with one of your other friends named InuYasha," Kagome joked.

"Just wait, it gets even better," Sango commented before she continued to read. "'I have a favor to ask and it's ok if you don't want to do it I won't be mad or anything if you say no but would you see if Kagome would come to the game with us on 4/8'." Both women giggled again.

"I won't be mad or anything," Sango mocked teasingly.

"What game is he talking about?" Kagome asked.

Sango shrugged. "I have no clue. I guess he's assuming I already know about it." 'What game?' she returned.

'Mets vs. Phillies' InuYasha immediately responded.

"Baseball game," Sango told Kagome, then asked InuYasha, 'Who is going?'

'Us 4 I guess if you want to. Miroku bought the tickets for my bday,' Sango read the response aloud.

"Are you going?" Kagome asked.

"Hell yeah, I'm going. Free stuff."

Kagome nodded. "I'll go too then. You can tell him yes."

"No, I'm gonna tell him to grow a pair and ask you himself," Sango said.

"No don't do that!" Kagome held her hands in front of her friends phone to prevent her from responding.

"Why not?"

"Because it's...it's just easier this way. He's just asking in a roundabout way because he's trying to respect my wishes."

"Respect your wishes?" Sango repeated flatly. "And what are your wishes?"

"To not date him," Kagome answered as if it were completely obvious and logical.

"You don't want to date him?" Sango asked, narrowing her eyes skeptically. "I thought you liked him...isn't dating the goal?"

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just...I'm worried that…" Kagome paused a moment, not certain how to voice her concerns.

"Worried that what? You'll have a good time? That you might have a life outside of work? That you'll accidentally trip and fall on his dick and get pregnant?"

"Sango!" Kagome scolded as her friend who was chuckling at her own joke.

"Well I don't know, Kagome. You've been known to worry about some pretty irrational things."

"This isn't irrational! I'm just...what I'm worried about is just...that I won't be able to just be friends with him if I get too close."

Sango narrowed her eyes, saying, "And that's a bad thing because…?"

"Because I don't want to be a rebound!" Kagome said honestly. "He just got out of a relationship—a really long relationship with someone who apparently looks a heck of a lot like me, might I add—and it's just...it's too soon..."

"Does he think it's too soon?"

"No, I mean, he says he doesn't, but what does he know? No one thinks a rebound is a rebound while it's happening. I'll feel more confident that I'm not one if I we get to know each other better first."

Sango nodded. "Well, I can accept that reasoning...for now at least."

Kagome leaned her elbows on her desk, propping her chin against her fists and letting out an exaggerated sigh. "I wish I knew what she looks like…" she said quietly as if just thinking out loud.

"Why?" Sango asked. "It's not like she's your competition or anything."

"I know that, I'm just curious…" she said, turning to her computer and opening her web browser. "Do you know her last name?"

"No, and I don't think you need to be looking her up anyway. What good can come of it?"

"What bad can come of it?" Kagome countered.

"You could start comparing yourself to her, for one thing."

"Well everybody else does, so why can't I?"

"Just let it go, Kagome," Sango pleaded. "I know you, and you obsess over everything."

"I do not! And don't tell me you wouldn't be curious too if everyone kept telling you that you looked exactly like Miroku's ex-girlfriend."

"You don't look exactly like her," Sango argued and Kagome paused and narrowed her eyes.

"How would you know?"

Sango slapped a hand to her forehead and let out a groan.

"Have you seen her?" Kagome pried.

"A picture," the older woman confessed. "I've seen a picture. That's all."

"Where?"

"InuYasha showed it to me. It's on her company's website."

"What's the name of the company?" Kagome asked and she lifted her hands to the keyboard with renewed determination.

"I don't remember."

"Liar!"

"Fine," Sango grumbled and she slid off the desk and lowered herself into Kagome's chair, nudging her friend to scoot over and make room. She pulled the keyboard in front of her and typed the name of the well known, prestigious law firm into the search engine, clicking on the first result at the top of the page.

"You're messing with me, right?" Kagome asked in a slightly desperate tone.

"Nope," Sango said, dragging out the word in a smug, 'I told you so' sort of tone, adding, "She's a corporate lawyer."

"Oh..." Kagome slouched down in the chair, looking physically deflated.

Sango continued to click and navigate until she found the link that led to Kikyo's personal profile. With the cursor hovering over the link, she said, "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

"Just click it."

When the page was opened, the first thing that greeted them was a professional headshot of Kikyo. As expected, she was very attractive, and looked perfectly polished and poised, not a hair out of place. Kagome was surprised that the resemblance was such that even she herself could see it. Even more surprising was the fact that she didn't feel particularly intimidated by the other woman's appearance.

Her eyes drifted down to the short biography below the picture.

"She went to Columbia," Kagome said as she read through the profile.

"So?" Sango shrugged as if it were nothing special.

"So it's an Ivy League school."

"And what's that got to do with anything?"

Kagome sighed and said, "It was my first pick and I didn't get in…"

Immediately Sango exited out of the web page before Kagome could read any further.

"Hey!" the younger girl protested. "What'd you do that for?"

"You were comparing yourself and getting all insecure."

"Well, can you blame me? It's intimidating! How could I possibly compete with that?"

Sango huffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah, better pad your resume, InuYasha's such an intellectual. He's sure to reject you when he sees you didn't go to an Ivy League school," she said sarcastically.

Kagome was slightly annoyed, but had to admit, her friend had a point. She was being irrational.

"Hey! Why don't you come with me on Thursday night?" Sango suggested, referring to her now routine weekly dinner with Miroku and InuYasha. "You want to get to know each other better, what better way to do that than in a group setting?"

Kagome nodded. "That's actually a great idea! You don't think I would be intruding?"

"Of course not," Sango waved off her concerns. "The boys will think they died and went to heaven having two hot girls in their apartment."

Kagome giggled. "Always so humble," she said patting her friend on the back. "Alright. I'm in. Do I need to bring anything?"

"Just your new beefed up resume," Sango teased. "Be sure to include your typing speed and cumulative GPA."