Disclaimer: All characters used belong to their respective owners. This applies throughout the story in its entirety.

Full Summary: Naraku is destroyed. That seemed to be the only good thing. A strange girl, shot through the shoulder, is found at the base of the Goshinboku, and the one shard left is eluding its searchers. Kagome finds danger on both sides of the well by taking in the witch, and now her life is changed.

Chapter 1

It was another normal day at the office in Raven's Flat. Robin Sena looked around the room and sighed. Technology genius Michael was at the computer, typing like his fingers were competitors in the Olympics, searching for more active witches to hunt. Sakaki, the rookie of the team, watched Michael through drooping eyes while leaning against the wall. Normally, he would be active and bothering the other coworkers, but the mission the night before lasted well into the wee hours of the morning, and the tired man had a hard time just keeping his eyes open. Yurika Doujima was her lazy self, sitting in a chair slightly behind Michael's, her arms around the backrest and watching Michael's fast fingers. When Robin came to the office that morning, she saw a smashed compact mirror in the parking lot that looked a lot like Doujima's. If the woman was entertaining herself with Michael instead of her mirror, then it must have been hers; otherwise she'd be preoccupied with fixing her already-immaculate appearance. The elegant Karasuma spoke quietly with their boss, Chief Kosaka, about something Robin couldn't hear. If they were just a little closer and she strained, then maybe she could make out a word or two, but no such luck. And then there was Amon. At the moment, their dark leader sat in a private conference with Zaizen, the man who ran the place, the main boss that everyone answered to.

When the day was done, not much had changed. Almost everyone was still doing the same thing they'd done at the beginning of the day. The Chief left earlier to meet with a potential client, and Karasuma left to investigate a crime scene that Michael identified as a possible Witch incident. Robin wanted to go with her to get out of the office, but Karasuma shooed her back to her seat. "This isn't something that requires two of us," she told the younger girl with a small smile. "If I need back-up, I'll call." With a sinking heart, Robin watched her retreating back and resumed her watch on Michael's computer screen in hopes that he would come up with another spot to investigate.

When the clock struck five, the whole office breathed a sigh of relief. As everyone except Michael filed out of the cramped space, she glanced at the closed door to Zaizen's private office. He and Amon were still talking. She didn't think anything of it, as it wasn't the first time that happened, though she did feel sorry for Amon. He never complained about his work, but he must have a life outside it that he wanted to get to when it was time to leave.

As she started walking to where she parked her vespa, she decided to stop at Harry's first to pick up some food so her housemate, Nagira, didn't have to cook. She smiled to herself as she remembered the last time he tried to cook. The key word was tried. He almost burned the house down with them in it! Of course, it was his house to do with as he liked, but she didn't want to sleep on the streets if she could help it.

Master stood behind the counter in his customary apron when Robin pushed open the door to Harry's. The older man smiled when he saw her and put down the glass he was cleaning. "Welcome," he greeted her. "Another hard day at the office?"

Returning his smile, Robin pulled herself onto one of his stools and leaned on the bar. "The hardest part was staying awake," she replied. "But we all made it through somehow. Now I will finish off the day with some of your food and some light reading."

Master nodded and went to the back after she delivered her order. By now, she knew what foods Nagira disliked and made sure that none of the ordered food contained daikon. Robin was indifferent toward the radish, but Nagira hated it with a passion, so she always had to make sure any dishes she brought home were daikon-free. The day she found out, she had made a salad from what she found in his refrigerator. Apparently someone wanted to pull a prank on him and left the largest daikon radish Robin had ever seen in one of the drawers. At the time, she didn't know and thought that he was a fan of the vegetable since he bought such a large one, and so she proceeded to cut it and put a generous portion into their dinner. When they sat down to eat, Nagira took one huge bite and almost choked. Once he regained his breath, he gave the salad one of the most disgusted looks Robin had ever seen and rasped, "How did such an ungodly amount of daikon get in there?" And that was the end of Robin using daikon when she knew she had to share with him.

It didn't take Master long to have her food ready. "Be careful on your way home," Master said as he handed her the steaming bag containing her dinner. "There's supposed to be a storm coming."

"I'll try to stay indoors," Robin promised, accepting both the food and the warning. She could feel Master's fond eyes following her as she made her way back to her vespa parked outside the building. It wasn't a creepy feeling, like he was a pervert watching his young prey. No, their relationship was more akin to a fond parent watching his child make her way in the world. After a year of working for the STN-J and frequenting Harry's as often as she did, Robin was on good terms with the proprietor. His information was invaluable for some hunts, and Robin didn't delve into how he seemed to know so much about their work. She had a feeling that it was better she didn't know.

The drive to the home she shared with Nagira was short. Using local roads alone, she could coast along at a speed that didn't whip her hair out of the double ponytails she tied it in. Just the feel of the breeze on her face drove some of the fatigue she felt away. Maybe I need a vacation, she thought as she squinted through her goggles at the road. Dogs and other pets were known to appear out of nowhere near this intersection, so she needed to keep sharp eyes out or else hit one. She hadn't taken a vacation in a year, so she was sure that Zaizen would grant her leave if she requested it unless they became swamped with hunts. The blonde didn't have much time to ponder the topic because five minutes later, she walked through the door and into the house. It was more like a big apartment, but it was a place to call home.

"Nagira, I brought dinner home," she called. The sound of something heavy being dropped was heard in Nagira's study right before Nagira himself appeared by his study door. His bedraggled appearance told Robin he'd been out meeting with his intelligence network, so he'd appreciate her thoughtfulness to get them dinner before coming home. The tired smile he sent her way when he saw what she brought reinforced her assessment. "Looks like I'm just in time," she said as the two of them sat at the table and prepared to fill their plates.

"You have no idea," affirmed Nagira as he took a bite of his chicken. They talked as they began to eat; or rather, Nagira complained about his day while she provided a sympathetic ear. The point person he was supposed to meet with today ran into a bit of trouble, so he was a couple hours late. Because the meeting was supposed to be short, Nagira didn't call out of his normal work office and had to make his excuses when he got back. Of course, he lied through his teeth without any indication that he was less than sincere; he wasn't a hotshot attorney for nothing. Robin knew better than to ask for any specifics. She was amazed that he shared as much with her as he did. Not many people were supposed to know about the information network, so she supposed she should be flattered that he trusted her to not share that knowledge with anyone. For some reason, she doubted that even Amon, Nagira's own brother, knew about that underground network.

When they finished eating and Nagira had blown off enough steam, she packed up the leftovers and rearranged the full refrigerator to accommodate the remains of dinner. "You should keep this in your office," she called over her shoulder and shook a bag of apples at him. "It's a healthier snack than those chips you get out of the vending machines."

The man grumbled about her not being his mother, but he grabbed the bag from her and slung it onto the counter next to his keys. As much as he liked to bluster at her, Nagira acted on her remarks more often than not. Robin knew that it was his way of teasing her, not that he was truly offended. Nagira was so easy-going, she'd only seen him lose his temper a few times, and it took quite a bit of goading from the offending party before he got angry. "It's something I had to train myself in," he told her later as she put frozen peas on his new shiner. "Once you lose your cool in a courtroom, you've lost the case."

Evening fell without that unwanted phone call to return to the office, so Robin readied herself for bed. Slipping between the cotton sheets felt nice on her bare legs, and she sighed as she settled down to read a novel she borrowed from Nagira's mystery collection. Even after a year of being in Japan, she felt that the amenities she used, the sheets, the bed, her own room, were luxurious compared to what she grew up with in the convent in Italy. She kept up with her daily chores and prayers, to be sure, but the quality of life here was still higher than back there. The soap wasn't as harsh on her skin or her clothes, and she had free time for leisure activities, such as reading this mystery novel. Back in Italy, if she wasn't reading reports for a witch hunt, it was a Bible passage before bed.

It didn't take long before Robin's eyes started drooping shut. Just a little more, she urged her body to keep going, but she'd had an early day, and as engrossing as the novel was, her body knew that she needed to sleep. Kneeling on the rug given to her by the convent sisters before she left, she silently went through her prayers and prayed not only for her friends and coworkers, but also the witches they hunted. It wasn't their fault that the power drove them mad. She hoped that when the Factory workers took the witches after the hunt was over, they treated them well. We don't kill the witches, which makes us more humane than the other branches of the STN. Robin prayed that the research Factory did was to help the witches not only suppress their power, but to help them regain their right minds as well.

Prayers finished, the blonde pulled her hair bands out, letting her free hair fall around her shoulders, and crawled into bed. The cool sheets felt nice against her skin, and she snuggled further into their embrace. I will miss this when I'm called back to Italy, she thought as she closed her eyes. The convent won't have anything like this. Right before sleep overtook her, a stray thought crossed her mind. They would have called me already if I was going out. Maybe tonight I'll be able to sleep the night through.

But her wish didn't come true, as it almost never does. An hour after she fell asleep, according to her clock, she awoke to someone shaking her. In her foggy state of sleep, she batted away the offending hand, but it returned with hissed words to accompany it. Opening her bleary eyes, she saw a familiar shadow looming over her. "Nagira?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. "What's wrong?"

As Robin's eyes adjusted, she saw Nagira's worry as he looked down at her. Very rarely did he look this concerned. "Robin, you need to wake up. We have to get you out of here. An order's been given that you were to be hunted." He spoke quickly as though the speed of his words would impress upon her the urgency of the situation. "The hunters are already at Raven's Flat. They'll be heading out anytime now."

Since she was still half asleep, the news went right over her head, and she only stared at him without comprehension. Growling in frustration, the big man grabbed her shoulders and shook her, his fear making him rough with her. "Think of the Orbo! That's what's coming right now!"

The image of the sick green color of the liquid that brought down witches floated through her mind. Nagira's words started to penetrate her sleepy haze, and she looked at him in confusion. "This doesn't make sense," she said even as she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Nagira got out of the way to avoid being kicked. "The Inquisitor gave the okay for me to be a hunter a long time ago." Her nose wrinkled at the memory of the machine full of Orbo hooked up to her while the Inquisitor, she couldn't remember any of his features, analyzed her answers to his questions. "I haven't done anything to make them change their minds."

Her housemate was already moving around her room and throwing things into a bag. "I don't know anything about it," he replied as he tossed her hairbrush inside the bag. "I got a call just now saying they were coming for you and that I needed to get you out of here. If you don't leave now, you won't be able to escape them."

The seriousness of his attitude toward the whole situation made Robin believe him. While she didn't think she'd done anything to make the company believe her to be a threat, if Nagira was this worried, then she should be, too. His fear for her made her afraid as well. "Wh-what do I do?" she asked, her voice trembling. It wasn't customary for her to stutter, but she'd never been in a situation quite like this before, either.

"You're going to run." Glancing out the window, Nagira scowled and swore. "There's no time. You take this," he put the bag on the bed and threw a black sweater and pants into her arms, "and run. Leave the vespa, it's too easy to track. They'll come here first. I'll keep them here for as long as I can to buy you some time. Call me in two or three days so I can give you an update."

"Wait, Nagira," she said as she struggled to pull the sweater over her head. Her desire for speed made her clumsy, and her arms caught on every stray thread. "How do you know all this? And how do you know I'll even be alive in two days? They're all experienced hunters." Finally getting the sweater on, she pulled the dark pants over her pajama bottoms, grabbed the bag, and followed him to the stairs.

He smiled down at her grimly. "For the first question, I have my sources in the STN-J, and for the second question, I know you. You're a resourceful girl. You'll do what you have to in order to stay alive. Now," he stopped for a second at the foot of the stairs he just hustled her down. "They'll probably keep an eye on me for as long as they're looking for you. I'll do what I can, but there may not be much I can do. I was just lucky my guy called me when he did."

Despite how afraid she was for herself, she still had enough room left over to fear for Nagira's safety. He was risking his neck for someone he'd only been living with for a short amount of time, and the significance of his help wasn't lost on her. "Don't worry about me; worry about yourself. You might even be in more danger than me." The hunters weren't known to use torture during interrogation, but if it was deemed necessary, she could see Amon carrying it out without a change in expression. She wanted to ask Nagira to go with her, not only so she would know he was safe, but also so she wouldn't be alone. However, if he did go with her, he'd have to give up his job, and he worked too hard for her to do that to him. He was a grown man; if he felt the need to leave to save his life, then he would do it, and it wouldn't be because she asked him to.

"I'll be fine," he waved away her concern. "I haven't done anything to get the STN on my case. We'll be in touch in two or three days. Take care of yourself until then and stay out of trouble." Nagira gave her a quick hug and pushed her out the back door.

The need for speed versus caution warred in her mind as she snuck along the dark roads. If she was quick, then Robin could put more distance between herself and potential danger, but if she wasn't careful, then she would end up as a resident of Factory anyway. She wasn't tired at the moment, but that was because adrenaline was pushing back the tiredness. The uneven footing caught her shoe, and she stumbled, catching herself before she sprawled flat on her face. In the silence of the night, her breath sounded harsh and louder than necessary. Making a conscious effort, Robin slowed her breathing and hurried on.

Now came the next tricky part. The houses were gone, and the park was ahead. It was more of a woods area that extended for miles before opening into the outskirts of Tokyo. This would be a perfect place to hide from her former comrades, but it could also work the other way around. Robin's eyesight wasn't so great that she could spot them before they spotted her. It was because of her poor eyesight that Amon made her wear glasses when she employed her Craft. However, she didn't have a choice. She would have to take the chance that no one was watching for her out here yet. Staying in the residential area, where anyone could see her and become an eyewitness, was out of the question. Cautiously, she crept towards her goal, making sure she didn't step on anything that would draw attention to this area. When she was almost to the tree line, she darted forward, praying she wouldn't be seen. Please, let me make it, she prayed.

Bang! The sound of a gunshot rang in the still air, and the sudden agonizing pain in her right shoulder told her the bullet hit its mark. She stumbled, but she caught herself before she fell and continued running at breakneck speed. No need for caution now, they were already here. She could hear them give chase, but she wouldn't let them catch her. Sprinting through the trees, Robin didn't bother avoiding the fallen debris at her feet, instead opting to put as much distance between them as she could. Because it was spring and not autumn or fall, not many twigs or dead leaves littered the ground anymore, which meant the only sound that would alert them to her location was if she disturbed the lower-growing plant life, such as moving through bushes, or if she ran into the tree trunks or branches, which happened more often.

Their voices came closer from different directions, blocking her escape and preventing her from backtracking. I'll have to climb, she thought, her breath coming in short pants. She did not like that idea, not at all. If she climbed into a tree, she wasn't so agile that she could jump from tree to tree to escape the enclosing circle of hunters. But if she stayed on the ground, she couldn't hide from them. Wincing at the fiery pain in her arm, she climbed up a sturdy-looking tree as best she could and hid in the darkest parts of the crown, listening and watching the ground below her. After five long, stressful minutes, her pursuers met up not far from her tree. She couldn't see them, but their voices carried just fine.

The first to speak was Amon. "Did any of you see traces of her?" She could imagine him, pale and stern, his black clothing making him blend into his surroundings.

The next voice belonged to Karasuma. "No. It was like she disappeared." As usual, she sounded professional. Robin couldn't tell if she saw this as just another job or if she was distressed because she was hunting a coworker.

Karasuma's usual partner, Sakaki, decided to join the conversation. So there were at least three experienced hunters on her trail, and Michael probably had a track on her as well, making four people at a minimum she had to outsmart. "Do you think she outran us? We've never seen how fast she could run."

Amon spoke again. "No. She's still here; your bullet grazed her, and that will slow her down. She's still somewhere close. We have to keep looking." The sound of footsteps approached Robin's tree, and she held her breath as Amon strode beneath her. He looked serious, but he always was a serious person.

Behind him, Sakai jogged up and slowed to match his pace. "Hey, Amon, why are we hunting her? What did she do?" Even though he was the one that shot her, Sakaki appeared concerned about the hunt, more so than Amon and Karasuma. Robin leaned forward, just as anxious to hear Amon's answer as Sakaki.

Amon's game face didn't twitch. "She's a witch, Sakaki. Witches are dangerous, and must be hunted. That's our job. Do you understand?"

The man sighed. "Yes, but she passed the Inquisition a long time ago. She hasn't done anything to anyone, has she?" Their voices faded as their feet carried them away from Robin's tree and out of her hearing range. As much as she wanted to hear Amon's answer, she was glad that they hadn't stayed. Just one look upward would have revealed her position, and it wasn't hard to shoot an immobile object.

Slowly, she slithered down the trunk. Still taking care with her movements, she walked a few steps and listened. The returning sounds of the nightlife echoed around her. If anyone remained behind, they would've been silent. She began to move faster, even though her shoulder ached and bled. After long minutes of moving with more caution than speed, she felt herself far enough away to pick up the pace. She began to run like the hounds of Hades were on her tail and didn't stop even when the rain fell.

Hours later, she was still running. The pace was slower than the one she started out with thanks to the rain making for treacherous footing, blood loss from the bullet wound, and her own exhaustion. The Orbo inside the bullet made her feel disoriented and weak. She had lost her sense of direction and had a feeling she was walking in circles. Stumbling, she caught herself on a tree and stared at it. "I've seen this tree before," she murmured, squinting her eyes to better see. Of course, all the trees looked the same to her, but this one seemed particularly memorable. When she couldn't place how long ago she saw that tree or why it looked so much like a lamp post, she pushed away and moved on.

At this point in time, Robin already left the forest behind and wandered into another residential district in Tokyo. The Orbo that entered her blood through the bullet wound infected her, making her delirious enough that she couldn't recognize that her surroundings no longer looked like the forest she aimed to hide in. That familiar tree was no tree at all, but Robin was too far gone to notice. The hill she stumbled up was, in fact, a series of steps leading to a shrine that rested on top. Bypassing the buildings on either side, Robin staggered onward, moved by her sense of urgency to get away from any trackers.

The world spun, and her whole body was in agony. Her marathon coupled with the Orbo poison drained her body, and she wanted nothing more than to collapse. However, before she could give into the urge, the largest tree she'd ever seen loomed ahead of her. How old is that tree? Robin wondered even as she drew closer. The thick trunk was covered in dark bark that made the white, folded papers hanging from the rope tied around it stand out in stark contrast.

As she entered the space beneath its branches, a sense of peace washed over her, driving away her earlier tension. Everything will be okay, the tree seemed to say. The quiet rustling of the leaves in the small breeze calmed her erratic heartbeat like she didn't think anything could. Even now, she wasn't safe, didn't have time to dally under a tree, but standing under it, Robin found that she didn't feel that sense of urgency anymore. In fact, if not for the throbbing bullet wound in her shoulder, she would've believed that the whole night was but a dream.

Just as she reached the base of the trunk, her strength deserted her, like she was a puppet whose strings were cut. She collapsed against the base, breathing heavily. She was on her last legs, and she knew it. Dear Lord, she prayed even as she struggled against the dizziness to sit up, I know that I am a sinner. Please forgive my sins. Protect your servant… And with that, Robin Sena fell out of consciousness.

Revision date: 05/11/2014