Kagome clutched her arms to her chest, feeling like it was going to cave in any moment. She swallowed hard and, after a deep inhale, reached out to turn the deadbolts with a hard, echoing click for each. She squeaked the door open no more than three inches, just enough for a single eye to survey the backlit figures.
"Yes?" she said, her voice already thin and airy.
Her eyes adjusted more to the buzzing, occasionally flickering streetlights. Two officers, fairly regular looking men, and two men in expensive suits. The man that had spooked her, a towering youkai with flowing silver hair, stood like a marble sculpture in between the officers. The other suited youkai stood off to the side of the group, near her neighbors' door. She could tell by the claws wrapped around the handle of his briefcase. They all looked ridiculous crammed into the small space between her front door and the iron railing of the second floor.
"Kagome Higurashi, is that correct?" the younger, thinner officer asked with an attempt at a comforting look on his face that just ended up awkward and forced.
She scanned him again, though she struggled to keep her focus off the man between the officers.
"What is this about?"
"Mama..?"
Rin's voice floated in from behind her and—though Kagome hoped to block it—out into the night air. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. She saw his nostrils flare ever so noticeably. The woman kept her body rigid to shield the thin band of visibility
"Miss, we're going to have to ask you a few questions about a missing persons case that just opened up. May we, please?" He motioned to the taught chain bridging the door and inner wall.
"No, you can stay there unless you have some kind of warrant. I can answer your questions from here, thank you."
There was a slight tremble to her voice. Without breaking eye contact with the men, she shooed Rin away with her idle hand.
The ire roiling off the tall youkai was palpable.
"I do not have time for this," he huffed. "That girl could be my kin. Tell her she has no legal right to refuse me."
Sesshoumaru glared down at the human police officer, who rubbed the side of his arm. The other youkai man stepped forward, bearing a thick black folder stuffed with what looked like other manila folders.
"Lord Sesshoumaru is correct," he said in a calm, low voice. "This is a youkai matter and a rather serious one at that. Even I can smell from here that the child is a full-blooded demon, and that is enough cause for us to get a look at her and ask some questions."
Kagome's chest prickled with every labored breath. Could this be the man... the one that Rin was so in danger of that she ended up in her care? She felt her skin go clammy as the four pairs of eyes turned back to her through the slender opening, the young officer's frown brimming with pity.
"I'm sorry, miss, but you're going to have to open up and let us inside. As long as everything checks out we should be out of your hair in a few minutes. Alright?"
The older officer, a man in his forties, casually brought his arm to rest on the handle of his nightstick. She glanced over her shoulder, relieved to see the empty space behind her. Kagome steeled herself and closed the door to unlatch the chain.
The four men took up close to the majority of her apartment. The imposing 'Lord' stood at the side of her worn couch along with the senior officer. The attorney and young officer both took a seat opposite her floral cushioned folding chair. It seemed oddly reminiscent of an old cop drama, only doubled. Though the one sympathetic party tried his best to make himself seem softer, less threatening than she already pegged him as.
"Okay, Miss Higurashi. We know that you would like to put your daughter back to bed, so we won't take up much time. We just want to ask a few questions about you both and maybe see some paperwork. Just a standard affair. We've visited several families today, actually."
Sesshoumaru smelled the spike in his scent, but he kept his eyes glued to the woman. She was fidgeting with the hem of her oversized t-shirt.
"We are on the trail of a possible missing child. Mister Taisho and his… wife? Their daughter passed away during birth several years ago—six years, exactly—and it has come to our attention that this may have been a false account due to some new information."
Her heart officially dropped, pounding rivets into the inside of her chest.
"I-I see…"
She squeezed her hands together and clenched her jaw tight. Sesshoumaru was tunnel visioned on her every movement, but his attention was split. The faint rustles from the hallway and glimpses of brown hair just over her shoulder were pulling him away from the moment.
"Right, very tragic. Mister Taisho and his hired detectives have been going through the hospital's records for any anomalies and, well... your name came up."
He leaned forward on the couch a bit, fidgeting with his hat in his hands. His voice softened a fair amount.
"I would just like to say that I'm very sorry for your loss. It's not my intention to bring up any painful memories. But we found a record of adoption for your daughter that very day, and her birth certificate was also from the same day. It was... strange."
"Extremely so," the attorney butt in. "Miss Higurashi, are you aware of just how bizarre that is? A human woman, especially in your condition having just lost a child hours before, completing a legal adoption at the same hospital before even being discharged? Adopting a child born probably within minutes of your own? A youkai, at that?"
"Now wait a minute—!"
"Silence," Sesshoumaru's voice rang with command. "I have heard more than enough. If what I suspect is true, then you knew this would happen. Bring out the girl and let me see her. I will know if she is mine."
Kagome leapt to her feet. A chain reaction rippled through the mob, all except for the taiyoukai. Both officers stood to intercept her, and the lawyer buckled his briefcase closed, documents unshown. The heavyset member of the group held out his hands to stop her.
"Keep it calm, lady. Unfortunately for you this is out of our hands. You gotta let him see the girl. No one's gonna hurt her, we'll be right here supervising the whole thing."
He motioned to his partner, who walked off into the back of the apartment, sending Kagome into hysterics.
"Wait! You don't understand—"
"Mama?"
She spun around at the small voice. There was a distinct wobble to it. Rin's eyes flitted from one stranger to the next as she was lead into the crowded room. Her lower lip was trembling. It was too much for Kagome to idly watch.
"You don't know what you're doing! That man could hurt my daughter!" she cried.
Kagome made a move for Rin, but the heavy officer grabbed her arm, trying to get her to still. When she kept struggling, however, he grew frustrated.
"Either calm it down or I'll have to cuff ya, got it? Ah damnit..."
He pulled the silver handcuffs from his belt buckle and slapped one over her wrist. The other he left free.
Kagome flailed and struggled in the cuff while the tears started down Rin's cheeks, eventually prompting the officer to restrain her fully. He wrestled her hands behind her back, all the while cursing under his breath. As the metal lock clicked into place, the young man led a frightened looking Rin towards the center of the room with a gentle hand. She kept her trusty plush toy clutched to her chest.
"Keep him away from her, please!"
Kagome railed against the restraints, but the snowy-haired youkai only strolled past her couch. Her mouth dried out, and her struggles died down. The red-eyed woman's warnings were ricocheting in her head. She is not safe...
With both hands locked behind her back, she could only watch helplessly as the tyrant approached her innocent child and knelt down in front of her. Sesshoumaru stared directly into Rin's eyes, the deep color of rust. He scrutinized every feature: her dark hair, the tiny points that tipped her fingers and canine teeth as she bit down on her lip. The child seemed to shy away from him.
There were no elegant slashes on her tear-streaked cheeks, nor a crescent moon like the one that adorned his own forehead as he had hoped. His scent had long since faded, but there were other ways to diagnose the situation.
"Child," he began, voice calm and lacking the razor edge of before, "do you know anything about your aura?"
Rin sniffled and tilted her head at the stranger with odd questions.
"My what..?"
Sesshoumaru closed his eyes briefly and let a smooth exhale flow through his nose. Of course she would have no idea, being raised by a human.
He reached out, extending his clawed hand which roused another bout of protests from the distraught mother. Protests that were ignored with ease.
"Would you hold my hand for a moment? I would like to test something."
"You don't have to do that, Rin. You don't have to listen to a word he says. He's a stranger, remember? Remember what we learned?" Kagome's voice shook as she spoke.
The young girl cradled the stuffed toy closer, shying away even more.
"My... my mommy says not to listen to strangers. Miss Reina at school says so, too. If a stranger tries to give me something or touch me I'm supposed to tell a grown up or..."
She pointed a stubby finger to each police officer in turn. Sesshoumaru continued watching her, letting her scrub her face with the side of her sleeve, then shook his head.
"No, child. In this situation, things are different. The police are here to make sure everyone is safe, and your mother is not cooperating. I simply need to see if the energy inside you is similar to mine. We will stay in this very spot, and it will only take a moment."
"Damnit... damnit!" Kagome muttered under her breath, her vision wavering on the floor as she grit her teeth.
Rin furrowed her brow.
"It's okay, mama. I'm not going anywhere, 'kay? It'll just take a sec."
With a nervous, reassuring look to her mother, Rin reached out to take the large man's hand, being careful of his very sharp claws. He closed his eyes again, and the room seemed to go a bit... green. A warmth seeped through her hand and up her arm, eventually enveloping her. It felt somehow familiar, even comforting. Like the feeling of snuggling close to her mom, surrounded by blankets. She could feel a twinge of intuition deep in her chest, somehow knowing that nothing could go wrong. Rin's mouth hung open for a moment.
And then… she smiled.
All eyes were on the strange scene playing out before them, the two police officers passing darted glances between one another. The subtleties of youkai culture were a bit out of reach. Kagome fought to hold her breath and let it out in even streams.
Sesshoumaru opened his eyes and pulled his hand away. And with that, the intensity of the feeling seemed to withdraw back into him. It had only lasted a minute, and some of the sensation still lingered on her fingertips, but it had felt like so much longer. The child's curious gaze held his own as he stood to his full, imposing height.
"She is my pup," he stated.
Sesshoumaru turned to his lawyer, who gave a nod to the policemen.
"Ma'am, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say—"
"What!?"
"We are going to have to take you into custody for questioning."
Rin's previous calm had fallen away. What started as a frightened trembling soon devolved into inconsolable sobs. She babbled her pleas to the officers, staining her stuffed dog with her tears.
"You can't let her go with him, you don't know what that man could be capable of! You would let him take my child just because he says so? My daughter needs to be protected!" Kagome screeched.
The attorney stepped forward before she could do too much damage to her wrists. He wasn't too much taller than her own meager height, but he leaned down towards her all the same.
"She's not going with Lord Sesshoumaru, Miss Higurashi. At least not until more definitive proof can be found. This is a human matter as much as it is a demon one. There will be a DNA test, and until there is she will remain in protective custody. Nothing will happen to her."
Kagome was distraught, her face strained and nearly on the verge of tears. The tall, silver youkai stared at her dead center while his lawyer tried to soothe her fears. Her eyes couldn't help but flicker over to his emotionless ones before being called back.
"You're not helping your case by overreacting. If you are in the right, then everything will be set to right and you can both put all this behind you. None of us wants to break up a legitimate family—"
"I for one could care less," Sesshoumaru interrupted, to which the short-haired attorney could only sigh.
"You go to hell, you bastard," she hissed. "If you think I will let you just waltz in here and snatch my daughter away, you've got another thing coming. You think because you've got money you can do whatever you want, but you're not going to lay a hand on my Rin."
The taiyoukai only checked his watch, motioning to his lawyer before breezing past her without even a dash of acknowledgement.
"We will see about that in court, human."
A/N: Thank you so much everyone for reviewing! I love to read them ~
Tune in next Friday for Chapter 4 ❤
