Title: Followed
Author: Tsubasa Kya
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the "Case Closed" universe, and neither do I own anything from the "Inuyasha" universe.

Chapter 25

Three weeks. Shin'ichi groaned as he crossed yet another day off the calendar. It had been three weeks since Kagome and Ran disappeared, and they were no closer to finding either of them. Not only that, but Ran's father Kogoro Mori was no closer to finding the Midnight Thief, and the police were no closer to finding the serial killer that was loose in the city.

No more people had died since the last one at Kagome's school, but the killer was still out there.

"This is killing me," Shin'ichi muttered as he slid into bed. He hadn't really had a good night's rest since before Ran got sick. Beside the fact that his girlfriend had disappeared, he had—thanks to his parents moving back home—lost his opportune edge of living with a detective that could get him close to crime scenes to investigate the Black Organization.

And tomorrow? His mother was driving him and Inuyasha to school, despite both of them protesting against going. Heiji wasn't being forced to go! Heiji was off from school, helping his dad work on finding Kagome and Ran. Why couldn't Shin'ichi be a part of Heiji's family?

xXx

Morning came too quickly for Inuyasha. He could hear the unnatural voice of the well-creature laughing at him in his mind. It seemed to taunt him. Be careful what you wish for, it said to him. You just might get it.

He rubbed his eyes. It said that a lot to him lately. He was beginning to think everything that was happening was because he made that wish. All he wanted was to see Kagome once more before he died; why did that have to have negative consequences attached? Wasn't that action supposed to be all sweet and noble of him?

Obviously not, or at least, not to the well-creature it wasn't.

He looked toward the door when he heard a soft knocking. "What?" he called.

"Dear, are you ready for school?" It was his new supposed mother. He supposed he didn't really have anything against her. She was weird, but she was alright enough. Still… he would have preferred his own mother back.

"No." he told her, "Is Conan?"

"I was just about to go wake him, dear. Please get ready and be down in the hall. I know you don't want to go, but you need to." She didn't say any more to him. He could hear her footsteps tromping down the hall toward 'Conan's' room. Since Inuyasha was supposed to be under the impression that Conan was really a kid still, Shin'ichi wasn't able to sleep in his own room.

With a heavy sigh, Inuyasha got up off his window seat and got his school things together. When he realized he smelled like a dirty dog, he trudged down the hall for a shower. He hadn't taken the time to shower in a week. He wondered how Kouga and Shippou handled it… they were full-demons, so their noses would be better than a simple half-breed's. Inuyasha had sifted through so many smells, trying to determine where Kagome was taken, but there was no trail. It was as if she'd drifted away on air.

He might have been able to believe it, if it was really Sesshoumaru behind her disappearance. However, even if it was Sesshoumaru's scent all over her dad's place, it wasn't Sesshoumaru who was behind her disappearance.

But it was someone who knew Inuyasha. It wasn't Kouga, or Shippou. Inuyasha was a gut-instinct type of guy, and his gut was telling him neither of them was involved. He turned off the water and got out. Before too long he was dressed, had his hair tied back and bandana in place, and he was ready to go.

He made his way downstairs, shouldering his backpack. All he wanted was his best friend back. He wanted to kiss her, to hold her, to tell her he would make all the harmful things go away. But he couldn't. It was really sad in a cliché sort of way; when he first met her, the only thing he'd wanted to do to her was kill her. Then she told him to sit, and he obeyed.

Shin'ichi looked worse for wear. He probably got even less sleep than Inuyasha did, and Inuyasha didn't feel like he'd slept at all.

The drive to school was quick and quiet. Inuyasha still hated cars. If he could, he would destroy the metal contraptions… actually, that was an inaccuracy: he would destroy them if he was allowed to. It wasn't really a matter of could he or couldn't he, because he most certainly could.

When Yukiko had dropped him and Shin'ichi off in front of the high school, both boys were surprised to see Heiji at school again. He was being dropped off by his mother as well. Shin'ichi said goodbye to his mother and the two boys approached Heiji as Yukiko took off into traffic.

"Be safe, sweets," Heiji's mother told him, kissing him on the cheek before she too got back in her car and drove off.

"I thought you were helping your dad look for Ran and your sister?" Shin'ichi demanded.

"I was," Heiji said, "an' then we got this. Here." He took out a slip of paper from his pocket and held it out. Inuyasha took it quickly to read. "That's jus' what th' note said. Forensics's got th' real thing, lookin' fer prints and stuff."

"What's it say?" Shin'ichi asked.

"'Ya will find th' girl is free t' roam, but do not touch her, do not speak t' her, do not contact her 'r tragedy will befall her.'" Inuyasha read. "I ain't gettin' it." Inuyasha admitted. "What girl?" Shin'ichi snatched the note to read it himself, silently cursing Inuyasha's odd accent.

"K'gome," Heiji said. "An' Mori got a note too." Shin'ichi was instantly attentive, looking up from the note to stare at Heiji expectantly. "His said Ran would be at school, but if Mori tried to leave his work, Ran would be th' next one killed by th' serial killer."

"Wh-what?"

"An' ya know what that means," Heiji said.

"What does it mean?" Inuyasha asked.

Shin'ichi said, "It means Kagome and Ran being kidnapped is somehow connected to the previous four murders in town."

End.