A/n: Inuyasha and its characters do not belong to me.
I deeply apologize for not writing for a while. I have been busy. I hope all of you understand.
Well then this chapter might be a bit long and without a doubt exciting.
Kagome's brows furrowed. She scrunched her face in a thoughtful gaze. She kept glancing at the small dagger in Sesshomaru's palm and at the energy emitting from it. She knew now that the actual criminal was Kagetaro. Still, something was off. She was not quite sure about the specificity of the missing puzzle but she felt it, something was missing.
She spared a sideways glance to Sesshomaru. he was continuously staring at the dagger as if he wanted to unveil the mystery by that harsh and demanding glare of his. I truth, he looked like a child pouting and glaring at a messed up rubric cube. Kagome could not help herself anymore and burst out laughing. When Sesshomaru shifted his anger filled gaze and glared her down, the second batch of mirthful laughter echoed through the study.
As the strings of innocent mirth filled laughter filled the study, Sesshomaru could not help the tilting of his lips in the upwards direction. His lips formed a soothing curve as his face softened, the tension and anger leaving it completely. Kagome on her part was trying to stop her giggling as she took in long gulps of air. She removed the residual tears from the corner of her eyes and glanced up at Sesshomaru, her face bright with happiness.
Kagome's eyes landed on the dagger and once again her face scrunched up in concentration. She decided to go through the details of the facts she had discovered. Then it struck her. Her mouth tilted up in a victorious smirk as she started to plan her next move. She excused herself and left the study hastily as her nerves shook in anticipation of her next move.
The floor creaked as the narrow dimly lit halls bent into a different hallway with numerous rooms. A small woman with long brown hair and anxious emerald green eyes paced down the hallway as she hastily moved into her room closing the door behind her.
The woman moved towards her low futon and untied her dirty kimono as she slipped into a fresh sweat smelling kimono. She stretched her neck to get rid of the knots in it when she glanced at a shadow hovering near her door. A knock followed. Frantic knocking ensued as the woman walked up to her door and slid it open.
Her eyes widened as green eyes came face to face with that of the heart-shaped face of the Shikon Miko. Kagome measured the woman in front of her and then signaled with her head, a plea to grant her entrance.
"Miho-san, I believe that the night has become heavy, but I would like to have a small friendly talk with you." Kagome's eyes shone in amusement as she held her gaze.
The woman now identified as Miho, Kagetaro's servant, stared back at Kagome with a face of disgust. She scoffed and was about to close the door on her face when Kagome slipped a hand in the edge of the door to stop it from closing.
"Miho-san, it is impolite to close doors in the face of a guest and your probable boat saver." Kagome smiled internally as Miho's eyes widened visibly and she tensed up, the appropriate reaction of a criminal.
"Wh…what are you talking about? You filthy human, how dare you to talk to me in such a tone!" Miho gritted her teeth as she glared at the woman in front of her.
Kagome's smirk widened as she pinned Miho with a fox like a gaze.
"Miho-san, the dagger that you used to kill the general with is currently in hands of the Lord and he has made a very interesting discovery….you surely are curious." Kagome knew that she was baiting her and she was convinced that it would lure her into a perfect trap.
Miho gulped as she tried to find words but all was sadly crumbled down by Kagome.
"Miho-san…your small Kitsune cub is with his nurse right now….I wonder what would happen to him when his mother is exposed." Kagome felt like a manipulating bitch. It was not in her persona to use a child to lure a criminal…but she knew, this was the only way as she saw Miho's eyes widening in horror. Kagome knew instantly that she would do her bidding. Her face finally brightened.
Kagetaro was sitting in his chamber when he heard the knock on his door. He opened it to reveal the lord. He swallowed a thick lump of nervousness.
"You might have already surmised why this one is here, have you not Kagetaro-san?" Sesshomaru asked in a condensing voice.
"No milord!" Kagetaro answered, almost confidently without a flicker of any emotion in his eyes.
Sesshomaru smirked, his subjects were lethal proprietors. He looked at Kagetaro and dangled the knife in front of him. Sesshomaru noticed almost satisfied as Kagetaro's eyes widened a fraction.
"No, Milord! I have been framed by the Shikon-Miko" Kagetaro answered in a cold tone "I can almost feel her reiki on it. Not to mention yours as well. Moreover, I have an alibi, my servant." Kagetaro finished with a victorious smirk.
Sesshomaru gritted his teeth. After he and Kagome had touched the knife, their reikis had overridden the original reiki of Kagetaro and Miho. It would be hard to make him admit to his crime. Sesshomaru left his kimono swishing behind him.
Sesshomaru was aroused from his sleep when he felt Kagome's distressed aura calling to him. He flew to her room and there he saw a disheveled Kagetaro on an equally disheveled Kagome. He had pinned her down, torn her clothes and was at the point of ravishing her.
Sesshomaru removed him with force and pressed his sword against his throat. Sesshomaru noted Kagetaro's eyes resembled a maniac. Then Kagetaro started to relate to them, the story of his revenge…..
Sesshomaru woke up with a start, panting harshly as his chest rose and fell. His heartbeat quickened as it beat against his chest rapidly. His eyes wide, he clutched his chest in the place of his heart and willed himself to calm down. It was only a dream, he comforted himself. Finally, his panting stopped as he removed the blankets from his feet and strode out of his chamber walking briskly towards Kagome's chamber to sneak a peek at her wellbeing.
Midway he met Inuyasha who scoffed at him rather rudely and Sesshomaru being already distressed gritted his teeth in anger and flung the Hanyou up in the air and towards the opposite wall. Inuyasha landed on the hard floor with a thud and he rubbed his bruised bottom as he found it impossible to pet his rather bruised ego. He stared at Sesshomaru and bared his fangs releasing a low guttural growl of warning. Sesshomaru merely raised one of his eyebrows which made Inuyasha angrier.
The brothers were in a mad frenzy when they caught adrift, the sound of a series of manic giggling. Both of them stiffened and looked at each other in a questioning manner. Both of them were rather, shocked, as they traced the source of the giggles to be Kagome's chamber. Both of them dumbly stared at her door as she continued to giggle maniacally from the room behind the door.
The courtroom was organized with high precision. The councilors stood on a high platform beside them stood the royal doctors. On the platform below them stood the royal advisors and on the other side of the court stood the other less important members of the courts.
Kagome stood in the middle of all the entire court like she was some criminal being taken to her death. Beside her stood her ever faithful friend and lover, Inuyasha and in the highest platform, in the center of the courtroom sat Sesshomaru, the lord.
Sesshomaru and Kagome glanced at each other. A moment of silent understanding passed between them. Both of them had often wondered about the connection between each other but they could not decipher anything. It was a matter to be dealt with when the time was more appropriate so they spared each other one last glance and molded into their respective duties.
"Today we have arrived to shed some light on the mysterious murder of the general and a possible contestant to the chair of the council. But he had been stabbed to death. You all may begin with your reports." Sesshomaru commanded in a rich and authoritative voice.
Almost instantly the room filled with sounds of shifting and shuffling. After a few moments, the hall settled and the head councilor spoke, "We would never declare our findings in front of a mere human and a bastard Hanyou." The courtroom fell silent once again before it was filled with echoes of scornful laughter.
Kagome gritted her teeth as she fisted her hand in anger. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed in anger as his hand on Tetsusaiga tightened. Sesshomaru stiffened and narrowed his eyes in anger.
"The human has something interesting to share with us….or as she says... This one has decided to let her speak this once. If she fails in her speculation…she dies!" Sesshomaru's voice boomed as he mentally prayed that Kagome's plan was full proof. When he saw that Kagome's smirk had widened, he stifled a chuckle of his own. He settled back peacefully as he prepared for the upcoming entertainment.
Kagome's eyes sharpened as she stared up at the courtroom filled with demons with a challenging glare of her own. She turned around her kimono swishing in a flurry of orange and golden.
"I have solved the case of the general's murder." Kagome's voice boomed with finality. The crowd of demons gasped as they stared at her in disbelief. Arrays of growls were heard throughout the room as they chorused, "what proof do you have? Show us! As the Lord said, if you are unable to prove the crime, you would be sentenced to death." They mocked in a confident tone as they stared down at her with predatory eyes, filled with bloodlust. For a while, her blood ran cold as she gulped nervously. She quickly caught herself as she straightened herself renewed with a new fire of punishing the guilty.
"Then, I will start by reviewing the crime scene to the best of my capabilities." She declared and started to make sure that they were paying attention. She was relieved that they were giving her their full attention.
"The murder scene started on the night of the ceremony when the general invited the vice-councilor, Kagetaro-sama to his room" she paused as she picked an object from the table beside her "this is the cup which they used as a method of drinking till late night" she showed the small ceramic cup to the entire courtroom "once the drinks were finished, the vice councilor was in a deep slumber. The net was when the general had tried to stab the vice councilor with the dagger" she picked up the dagger from the table. The blood was dried up "luckily, the vice councilor woke up in time and escaped with a scratch" she said as she pointed to the now excising scratch on the side of the councilors face "in order to save his life, the vice councilor ended up stabbing the general instead….thus closing the case of the generals murder." She stared as the entire council room was filled with sounds of hushed murmurs.
Someone spoke up, most probably the head councilor.
"So, you are accusing the vice-councilor, you vermin!" the head councilor shouted in a heavy voice as Kagome gritted her teeth in anger.
"No milord. I merely state that it was in self-defense. Moreover, I already have a witness ready." Kagome finished. All of the occupants had their eyes wide in horror including Sesshomaru. A witness, impossible!
"You have set this up, you bitch!" the entire room roared in protest.
"Well then, you might want to take a look!" Kagome motioned with her hand as a buff looking guy emerged from the shadows. The demons gawked in pure horror. How was this possible? They were frozen in horror.
"Well, this is because; the general had never died at all. He was merely unconscious." She stated as she pointed her finger to an alive general standing in front of the crowd.
"This is not possible. The dead do not wake up. You are a sorceress and this is your black magic, you witch!" the crowd roared in horror.
"No, I assure you, my magic is of the purest kind. This is the general in flesh. The ceramic cups had contained sleeping herbs, potent enough to kill a demon. But it seemed like the general was lucky and had survived the effects." Kagome declared. The entire crowd was silent…. Kagome smirked...
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Hook…line….and
"No, no, no….. This is impossible….he cannot be alive…. I had killed him with my bare hands… those herbs….they would have killed him anyways still I had stabbed him with my old two hands….I had felt his reiki disappearing….now tell me…what do you have to say…..huh? I killed him myself….there is no way he is alive…." Kagetaro laughed psychotically as he spits out his crimes, his eyes rotating maniacally.
Sinker….
Kagome's smile widened as she noticed the expression of the others in the courtroom. She watched as Kagetaro finally realized his mistake and was now looking at the others with pleading eyes. The entire courtroom was filled with snarls as each and every demon demanded justice.
"Silence!" Sesshomaru's voice stopped them.
"I accuse you, Kagetaro Hitoshimaru of the crime of murdering a fellow comrade in cold blood and treason. The rest is up to you milord." Kagome bowed and allowed Sesshomaru to continue.
"Tell me Kagetaro, why did you commit such a crime?" Sesshomaru asked in a condensed tone. Kagome shivered.
"I did this for revenge…. A revenge that you should have taken milord when I had informed you about the injustice done to my mate" Kagetaro chocked out as Sesshomaru's brows dipped in curiosity "my mate, Hitomi, had been mercilessly raped by that bastard Kazuhiko. He ravished her for five hours straight and when I had reached, she had been dead from blood loss" Kagetaro bit out with venom dripping from his voice "you being the lord were supposed to make the just decision but were busy in the quest of your heirloom, therefore, I did the right thing, I delivered justice to my mate. I killed him… now Hitomi could rest in peace." Kagetaro ended as tears streamed down his face. The entire court was speechless.
"Kagetaro-sama, it might be true that you had done it for revenge and I might have agreed with you after listening to this horrific crime, but murder is never an option and I am sure, Hitomi-sama would not have been happy if she knew about this," Kagome said gently and she placed a hand on Kagetaro's shoulder who had already been dragged down to the centre for his judgment.
Kagetaro looked at Kagome and his eyes widened in disbelief. It was then he realized his foolishness. The Miko was indeed correct. His mate was gentle by nature and would have hated his decision. In that one moment, he felt as if Kagome's warm spiritual powers flowed from her hand to his shoulder and made his beast calm. He smiled at her softly and her eyes widened in shock. He nodded his head and Kagome removed her hand.
"You Kagetaro Hitoshimaru are sentenced to death" Sesshomaru declared with a knot in his throat. He was shaken by the events. Has his carelessness been the reason for this tragedy? He cursed his thirst for that heirloom which was never his from the beginning "do you have any last wishes?" Sesshomaru asked sternly.
"I Kagetaro Hitoshimaru, swear upon my honor that I deeply regret my treason and accept my sentence with a bow of respect and ask of you to give my place in the council to the very capable Shikon Miko as my dying wish." Kagetaro bowed on one of his knees and took his sword in his hand and he stayed there with respect to the western throne.
On the other hand, all the occupants had their eyes widened in disbelief. Kagome was panicking inside her head. She could not believe her own ears.
Sesshomaru smiled a bit "This one will grant the final dying wish of his honorable comrade. This one, the lord of the western lands, Sesshomaru, appoint Higurashi Kagome, the Shikon Miko as the vice councilor of the land. This decision I stake upon my own honor to deliver justice to that of an honorably fallen comrade." Sesshomaru's voice boomed out as he pinned down the entire courtroom with a challenging glare.
Soft murmurs were followed by a dead silence as Kagetaro was taken to be executed and the court was dismissed. Everyone had returned back only the ones left behind were Kagome and Inuyasha who was still solidified as a statue to their spot, their eyes wide and mouth hung loosely in disbelief.
That's the end of this update. Hoped you guys liked this chapter. Well in the upcoming chapter I will describe how Kagome had reached her conclusion. Stay tuned.
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Thank you!