School's out! Hooray! Now to move on with the story! Please please please PLEASE post more reviews! I love reading your thoughts on the story! I'll hurry and post chapter 11 so you guys don't have to wait. Enjoy!

Chapter 10 – Confusion

~Kagome's POV ~

Woah, I thought to myself, this place is huge! Takishima's father really is rich! I was sitting in Hiroshi Ryuuji's office, admiring each and every item that was placed in the room. There were hundreds of pictures and newspaper articles hung up on his walls. Most of them showing him shaking some famous persons hand. The furniture looked very high class and I felt uncomfortable just sitting in one of the chairs. But the thing that caught my eye the most was a beautifully crafted hand gun that was placed in a glass case on Ryuuji's desk. I wonder if it's real. Probably not. "Good afternoon Kagome Higurashi. Did I keep you waiting long?" A man in a pearl white suit came strolling in from behind me. His reddish hair was combed back and his grey eyes darted around the room suspiciously.

"No Mr. Ryuuji, I just got here." I said as politely as possible.

"Good, good. How's my son? Is he doing alright?" Ryuuji pulled out his high class chair and sat his high class butt down.

"Oh, well you see, I just met your son yesterday. He's a very kind young man and seems to be doing just fine. May I ask why I'm here? Takishima didn't exactly tell me why you called me in." Perfect! Playing dumb was easy!

"He didn't, you say? Well, I was hoping he would have explained things further. But anyhow, I'm here to discuss a business deal with you."

"Business? You mean about my job? I'm merely a historian reporter, nothing more."

"Yes, but I didn't call you in to discuss that. I wanted to talk to you about your priestess powers." He leaned forward with a smirk on his face.

I did my best to put on a stupid face. "Powers? I think you have me mixed up wi-"

"Don't try playing dumb. Hitomiko told me about your meeting last night. You wish to open the portals again, don't you young lady?" I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. What do I say? "You and I have a common goal. Mine is to reopen TEI, while yours is to get back to the feudal era. Am I right so far?"

I felt my heartbeat quicken. Why would Hitomiko tell him all this? What was her motive? Was she working for Ryuuji? "Sorry. I don't know what you're talking about."

Ryuuji sighed and stood up from his chair, walking to stand directly in front of me. "Don't take me as a fool. My young girl, tell me, why would Takishima help you in restoring the portals?"

Well, there's no point playing dumb anymore. Sorry Takishima. "He wants to restore the company he used to work for!"

"Why would he have been trying to restore TEI for six years? He had just gotten the job as well, so it's not like he had a deep love for it. He barely knew how everything worked. Why would he try so hard for six years if he only had the job for a few months? Not even the director who discovered TEI tried for that long."

"He wants to be able to restore time travel! He loves it that much that he's trying his best to figure out how to open the portals again instead of giving up! That's just who he is!" I didn't even realize I was shouting until I was done talking. Why was I sticking up for the guy? I hadn't even known him for 24 hours yet…

Ryuuji began to laugh, "Don't be so foolish. Don't you think there is a reason behind why he 'loves' time travel so much?" I stared at him blankly. What was he talking about? "My son has been lying to you. Or rather, holding back on the truth. Would you like to know why he wants to restore TEI?" The man put both of his hands on my chair and leaned down so close that our faces were only a few inches apart. Takishima, what have you gotten me into?

~Takishima's POV~

Damn it! Why now of all times? We're so close to finding the answer, but now father has mixed me up in his problems again. I quickly made my way to the bottom floor of the building. Not to mention, why the hell would he keep Mirai down here? The bastard…

"Name please." A buffed out bodyguard met me at the end of the stairs.

"I'm your boss's son. Now move out of my way." I pushed passed the man, half expecting him to stop me. But instead he moved out of the way and didn't bother saying anything in return. I finally reached the downstairs door and took a deep breath. I haven't seen her in a few years now. What does she have to say to me? I told her to wait till I was able to return to her. Before I could convince myself to turn around, I yanked open the door and stepped into the small room, only to find it empty. "What the hell?" Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. And then my mind went blank.

~3rd person POV~

"Damn that fool! He won't even answer his phone!" Berrett angrily threw his hands in the air, "What does he expect us to do?"

"Calm down. They probably haven't gotten far. Kagome's mother said they left about a half hour ago. Are you sure he told you to meet up here?" Hitomiko crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm sure of it! I'm too old to go on a wild goose hunt." He sighed in frustration.

"Maybe something came up. They'll call us pretty soon. I'm sure of it." Ayumi chimed in.

"I know where they went," Yumemi sat down on one of the many steps that led up to the Higurashi shrine.

"Who're you? We don't have time for this!" Berrett turned to Hitomiko, "Let's go back to the office. He'll call back sooner or later."

"He went to see his father." Yumemi spoke up, "He was arguing with him over the phone." The three adults exchanged glances. "He sounded really mad." Yumemi smiled too herself. In truth, she had been following her mother when she ran into the shrine, so how had the child heard Takishima on the phone? Yumemi's hearing was outstanding, of course. She always found it strange how not only was her hearing abilities abnormal, but her physical abilities too. She was faster, stronger, and had better reflexes then any other kid at her school. And she was only in kindergarten.

"Do you think he went to the Ryuuji estate?" Hitomiko asked.

"Either that or his father's office. I'll catch a train to head down to the office. You and Ayumi drive down to the estate. Keep your phone on you and answer me when I call." Berrett instructed quickly.

"Do you think something happened to Takishima and Kagome?" Ayumi looked worried.

"I'm sure they're fine. Drop me off at the train station first. I'm too old for this…" Berrett plopped into the passenger seat.

Hitomiko quickly did the same and started up her car. "Alright, what are we exactly doing?"

"The boy hasn't talked to his father in years. Whatever Ryuuji wants, it can't be good. Not to mention Kagome's been dragged into this…"

"Is mommy in trouble?" The two whirled around to find Yumemi sitting comfortably in the back seat next to Ayumi.

"When do you get in here Yumemi?" Ayumi gasped in surprise.

"Get out of here kid." Berrett shook his head.

"Did you just say 'mommy'?" Hitomiko questioned.

"Yeah. You were talking about someone named Kagome right? Is she alright?" Yumemi titled her head to the side.

"Your mom is fine. Go back home, we'll bring Kagome back tonight." Ayumi reassured the girl.

"This is Kagome's kid?" Berrett and Hitomiko looked shocked. "But she's so young…"

"It's a long story…" Ayumi sighed.

"You have to take me to mommy now please." Yumemi smiled sweetly.

"No way. Hurry up an-"

"Hang on," Yumemi pulled out the strange rock that her mother had found. She wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed important to her mom. "This is what Mr. Takishima wanted you guys to see, but they left all of a sudden. I need to take this to my mommy."

"I'll watch her. It should be fine, right?" Ayumi said before Berrett could tell her to leave again. "I'll call Mrs. Higurashi now and tell her I'm taking Yumemi out to lunch with Kagome."

"That's fine." Hitomiko glared at Berrett, telling him to just go with it.

"Fine, just keep her out of the way. Now go!"