Inuyasha watched as he was filled with a rage he had never seen before. The man was putting his filthy hands all over Kagome, as if he owned her. He was seeing a shade of red he never knew existed, even when he had learned about what happened to Kikyou. These were feelings he'd have to analyze later, for now, he and Sesshoumaru had a job to do.

He nodded to his brother across the room and slid up behind Hakodoushi, being very careful of where the knife was placed against Souta's neck. He didn't want to cause Kagome's brother any undue pain, but he had to take Hakodoushi out.

He also had to do it without Naraku seeing a thing, which was much more difficult. He watched as Sesshoumaru slid up behind another guard and twisted his neck, lethally and silently, allowing the man to slump to the ground without a sound.

Inuyasha himself slipped his hand underneath Hakodoushi's arm, ready to grab his wrist at will and pull the knife away. He kept his hand steady, tracking the angle he was coming up at, and making sure that if he pulled down the same way, Souta wouldn't get cut, or worse, stabbed. Kagome would never forgive him if he put her brother's life in unneeded danger. He watched as Sesshoumaru slipped back into the shadows after taking out another of the guards. He motioned to Sess to get into place, to get near Kagome so he could pull her away from Naraku before Naraku could put his hands on her again. Their hard work would be for naught if Naraku got a hold of Kagome and killed her off. That option was unacceptable.

As soon as he received the signal from Sesshoumaru, he grabbed Hakodoushi's hand and pulled it away from Souta, sending the knife flying from the hand into the floor just ahead. "Naraku," he growled as he tackled Hakodoushi to the ground.

Despite Sesshoumaru's speed though, he wasn't fast enough. Within seconds Naraku had Kagome pressed against him, a gun pressed to her temple. Inuyasha could slowly feel the fear run through him, and knew that this would be an image he would never forget. "Welcome to our party, Lieutenant Taisho, Colonel Taisho. Join us, take a seat," he gestured to the now empty couch.

Inuyasha knocked Hakodoushi's head into the ground one more time, knocking him out cold before making his way to the couch to sit next to his brother. His hands were clenched at the sides. While Sesshoumaru gave no outward sign of any kind, he could tell his brother was formulating a plan. He just hoped it didn't involve Kagome getting hurt.

"Now that we've got the whole family here," Naraku sneered, " we can get started. As I recall, our dear Kagome here was beginning her search for the location of the Shikon no Tama."

"Fool," Sesshoumaru scoffed. "Only the desperate would believe such a legend, let alone search out something that doesn't exist."

"And what do you know of it?" Naraku asked.

"Only that it takes a weak man to depend on the power of an inanimate object to strengthen himself. Only that the unworthy are the ones who use it for their own personal gain."

Kagome could feel the rage coming off Naraku at hearing Sesshoumaru speak so poorly about him, and although she felt frightened as his grip tightened on her, she took pride in Sesshoumaru's word. He was right, Naraku was a coward, and most definitely unworthy of the jewel. Based on everything she had read, if he found the jewel, there would be no peace anywhere to speak of. "You'll never get it," she said, gritting her teeth as he pressed the barrel of the gun into her temple even more. "You can shoot me for all I care, but you'll never get it. I'll never find the jewel for you, and you can't find it without me."

Something in her snapped and without thought she reached down between his legs and squeezed. Hard. Digging her nails in as deep as she could, and made a move out of Naraku's way as he doubled over in pain. "You can't kill me," she sneered as she dove for the gun in his hand.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha bolted from his spot and went to wrestle Naraku to the floor. He motioned to Sesshoumaru to get the gun out of his hand, but had found Sess was already going for it. "Naraku, you have the right to remain silent," he started to read him his rights, ignoring the sound of the door pounding in, and the army of police officers surrounding Naraku and his goons.

The chaos of the crime scene carried on for another hour as Hakodoushi, Kagura, Kohaku and Naraku were cuffed and escorted to different police vehicles outside, and the statements were taken by all involved. Kagome surveyed the scene around her as the last police car took off down the street. Sesshoumaru had taken his leave after his statement was taken, which was fine by her. Even though he had helped save her life, she was still nervous around him. There was something cold and unfeeling about his demeanor.

"Are you okay, grandpa?" she asked her grandfather, handing both him and Inuyasha a cup of tea. While Inuyasha's co-workers had returned to the station, he told them he was going to hang back and finish up here. Finishing up here to him meant he was going to make sure everybody was okay. He also wanted to speak with Kagome to see where they were going to stand after this. He didn't want whatever they had to end just because the case was solved. Hopefully she felt the same way too.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Hiroshi Higurashi waved his hands in dismissal, letting his granddaughter know that he didn't need to be babied. "You took a big risk today coming today though. I'm old; I've lived a full and rich life. You have so many years yet," he lectured. "If it meant letting you live a full and rich life too, I'd have let that bastard cut me down before I'd ever let him near you."

"Oh grandpa, you know I couldn't leave you. I have a question though."

"The Shikon no Tama," he confirmed.

"Yes. Naraku was so certain that I know how to find it, but I haven't a clue as to where to start looking."

"It's in you."

"Pardon?" she asked, stunned.

"The Shikon no Tama is inside you."

"You mean I have a jewel somewhere in my body?" She started panicking at the thought. "How come nobody's ever seen it in any x-rays, how would it get in there?"

"Relax girl," Hiroshi laughed. "There is no jewel, it doesn't exist, there's no physical manifestation. That part is just legend. But it's still inside of you. Why is it called the jewel of the four souls?"

"Because there are four souls within the jewel, each representing something different. Aramitama, Nigimitama, Kushimitama and Sakimitama."

"That's right. Courage. Friendship. Wisdom. Love. You, Kagome, have all four of those inside of you, that's why you're the holder of the Shikon no Tama. It's the force that drives you to be who you are."

She sat there silently, contemplating it.

"I can see it," Inuyasha finally spoke up, after taking everything in. "Courage. You had a gun to your head today and you fought it. You didn't fight it because you were scared, you fought it because you didn't want Naraku to win."

"Friendship," her grandfather continued. "You've got that all around you, you've always had it. Nobody had to try very hard to become your friend. Look at Inuyasha, you just met him but I can tell already that you two are more than mere acquaintances."

"Wisdom," Hiroshi said. "You've spent the last several years learning everything you can about the Shikon jewel. Forget the jewel though, your very career alone, the fact that you want to produce documentaries shows a thirst for knowledge."

"And your calm persona throughout the whole ordeal," Inuyasha added. "You didn't freak out like most women did. You sat down, you analyzed the situation, and you worked out a way that you can help best. It most definitely takes wisdom to do that."

Her grandfather concluded the comparison. "And love. That is perhaps the strongest one of all. You walked into a den of lions today to keep me safe, and then you faced said lions to keep your brother safe. If that's not love, then I don't know what is." Hiroshi glanced over at Inuyasha. "And if I'm not mistaken, you're about to start a new journey in life, one that could very well end with a different form of love."

Kagome glanced sharply at Inuyasha, nearly melting at the soft look in his eyes, and the small file. Yes, she could very well end up on a new journey toward a new love. And she was looking forward to it.

"I guess it is there," she said with a smile, pleased with this new understanding. "It's weird though, knowing that it's something that I can't hold or use, not that I would use it."

"It'll be an interesting angle to look at for your documentary," Inuyasha stood up and reached across for Kagome. "Come on, you can analyze it later. Let your grandfather rest, it's been trying for him today."

"Hm-hmm," she was already digesting the information. "Come on, let's go home."

FIN

That's it! I hope you enjoyed the story. Hopefully soon I'll get to work on Day Girl again, but I'm still blocked on it. I know where I want to end up, it's just getting there is the problem. I'm also working on something else, a Sess/Kag challenge I took up, so look for that sometime soon.