Don't hate my lateness! I've been working at this chapter forever and it just didn't want me to get it out until now; the mood had to be just right. But, anyhoo, I'm gonna shut up so you can read. Enjoy! ^______^
Crash! Bam!—You're Dead
The sirens were wailing, the lights blaring, and people gathered about for gossip as the two partners reached the scene.
They stood before a tall building, the large windows helping to label it as an apartment complex. But as Kagome gazed up, the familiar street and surrounding area made her body shake. Kara…
Hands clenched to stop the shaking she knew must be wracking her form. Rage tinged the sides of her vision to red and her lips compressed into a thin, white line. The…the… Chikshou! Her narrowed eyes widened as she went over in her mind what had just occurred and, yes, she had indeed said it.
Not wasting anymore time, Kagome shoved her way through the crowd, rage pushing her near violence, as she made her way to another officer.
"Mattie, spill."
The nervous young cop's head shot up and stared at the furious woman with not a little fear. "A rumor about the, um, the guy, the one we're after, the one that—"
"Naraku," she interjected impatiently.
"Yeah, him. Well, he's got them all, all the people, everybody—"
"Mattie," Kagome said in a warning tone. Looking the rookie in the eye, she fisted his collar in her hand and pulled him closer to her. Even though Kagome took extra precaution with rookies to let them get comfortable, this wasn't the time or place for polite consideration. "Straight answers. Don't ramble. Now, speak."
His eyes widened at her actions and the way she was nearly spitting the words in his face. "Naraku's got 'em all in the building! He asked for some ransom, but the captain wanted to call his bluff," he gushed as speedily as possible.
Her fist tightened around his clothes. "How long ago was this? When is the ransom due?"
"I-I don't know! I think now! Maybe a couple minutes later!"
Kagome shoved him away, trying to make a run for the building. She rammed, shoved, and pushed all the people in her way, not caring who they were, but no matter what she did, the sea of people felt endless, seemingly choking off her only way to save lives.
"Kara! Kara!" she continued to shout.
A loud crack resounded from the building's foundation. Everyone froze. Kagome's eyes widened in horror at what she knew was about to come.
"Oh, God," someone whispered somewhere near her.
The towering structure's crack spread as it began to crumble, spreading debris that blinded anyone close. A blast suddenly erupted, sending cement and people through the air, some wreathed in flames.
"KARA!!!" was all Kagome got out before she was forced back, coming to a crushing halt on her car door. To protect herself, her arms flew to hide her face as her body scrunched up on the ground.
"Oh, shi—" came from Inuyasha's mouth as he was blown back by the explosion. He slammed into another car, knocking the wind out of him as his body fell to the ground, leaving him gasping for breath.
A few minutes had passed before the rubble and debris settled around them. People began to stand, some helping the injured to their feet or calling for help. Everyone began to move again, much faster than before.
Ambulances came, picking up those it could and rushed off again. Officers taped around the scene, allowing no more people to come in. No one was sure what to do anymore.
Kagome stood up, running forward as the last of the rocks rolled about. Coming upon another officer, she skidded to a halt in front of him, not daring to give up hope.
"Was it a rumor?" she asked, masking the fear in her voice.
The policeman with dull, dead eyes looked at her and shook his head. "Some have found body parts around."
Her throat constricted and clogged with tears as she backed away from him and stumbled backwards, turning away. Stepping over the rubble, she heard a faint cough from her left. Quickly, she made her way over to the sound, discovering a small girl, soot in her brown hair and blood trickling down her throat, stuck under a giant slab of granite. Her eyes became wide as she looked at the girl, sucking in her breath and kneeling beside her, careful not to move her.
Brown eyes opened to stare at Kagome in wonder and fear. "Where's my mom?" The girl turned her head to get a better look at Kagome, showing a large gash in her shoulder that was bleeding heavily. She coughed hard, letting more blood escape her wound and Kagome could tell she wasn't going to last very long; not even enough to get help for her. Oh, Kara…
Kagome held back the tears that threatened to pour down her face as she tried to explain. "I don't know where your mother is, but I'm sure she's looking for you. She'll find you in a little while."
Kara looked at her a moment and her voice had a slight tremor in it as she asked, "Am I going to die?"
Kagome swallowed hard. It was so hard to talk to a child and not lie. "I'll be right here with you. Don't worry."
She nodded mutely and slowly, carefully, pulled an arm out from beneath the stone block, taking Kagome's hand in her own small one with a weak grip. Slowly, she formed a small, pale smile at her, her lip quivering only a little. "Thanks for being my friend, Officer Kagome."
As the hand in her own bigger one began to slip out of her grip, she managed a wavering smile and her last salute to the little girl who had helped make her morning bright and was now blown out like a candle. Tears pressured her eyes as Kara's last breath left her body. Slowly, reverently, Kagome closed the child's still open eyes and wiped away the remnants of Kara's own tears with her thumb, looking unusually calm. You'll pay for this, Naraku…you'll pay.
It was all Naraku's fault. He knew where he could hit her that would hurt the most. She was going to make sure he paid for what he'd done. He would pay for the lives he destroyed here today and all the days before. Kagome determined to make him pay for everything, every last breath that stopped today because of him and all the people he had hurt in his life.
Before, Naraku was just a hard-core criminal she had to take down. Now he had made the job personal.
Abnormally cool, Kagome straightened and began searching for evidence with the other officers and firemen. Wallets, furniture, and other things of such were put in piles, some to identify the bodies, others to burn or trash. Kagome found some of her clothes and things destroyed, but found one thing she wasn't expecting.
On her last round, Kagome found a small brown wallet, ordinary in look, but nothing of the kind inside. Upon opening and looking inside, her eyes widened at a face that looked shockingly like her own, but not. Even smiling, the face had the look of steel in the eyes.
She was here… Was she caught in that blast, too? Why would Naraku kill one of his own? Kagome's eyes widened, threatening to spill the tears she was barely containing. Yet another life destroyed that had been part of her own. Even if it wasn't in a positive way, Kagome still cared for each life that had been snuffed out in the last hour. …what will Inuyasha do?
In no hurry to hear the raving man she knew would want to tear her to shreds once he got the news, she made her way over to Inuyasha who was currently getting information from another officer. As she approached, she saw his eyes flick in her direction in a quick glance and turn back to the officer. By the time she had reached him, the other officer was walking away.
He turned and glared at her. "What?"
With much protest from him, she pulled him into a hug, discretely shoving the wallet in his pant pocket and whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry." Kagome quickly untangled her arms from his body and rushed away, not wanting to see the look of disgust on his face from that show of emotion or the confusion from the words either. She didn't know if he knew what she had put in his pocket and definitely didn't want to be there when he discovered it.
Sango took Kagome in until she could find herself another apartment. Not that she minded, Sango just didn't have the space. Her own apartment was even smaller than Kagome's had been, with only two rooms, both being very small.
Kagome denied herself a cry the first night in Sango's apartment, even though the pain felt overwhelming. They had been trying to get to her and in the process killed an innumerable sum of innocent bystanders. It was all her fault. She felt it in her core. The guilt ate at her and would do so to the very end of her days.
The morning came, revealing a rumpled, dry-eyed Kagome sitting up on Sango's couch, staring at nothing. Silence stretched while each went about getting their morning chores done.
Sango took them to work in her car—Kagome had left her own at the station, not trusting herself to drive—and pulled into her usual spot. Walking inside, Inuyasha looked even worse than Kagome.
Inuyasha's uniform was rumpled and some of the buttons were undone. His hair was a wreck and his eyes bloodshot. Evidently, he had found the wallet and tried to drown his sorrows with alcohol once again; the stench could be smelled from the farthest corner of the room.
No one at the station appeared in high spirits. Some sat, staring dazedly at their paper work. Others had used Inuyasha's cure for their sufferings. All in all, the place looked downtrodden and depressed.
The week went by at an agonizing pace. Kagome stayed late nearly every night, afraid to go back to Sango's apartment. Coffee came like clock work, keeping Kagome up for long hours, not giving rest to her body or mind. Work was a break from her thoughts and she planned to stay at it until she could no longer use it as one.
Every day, Kagome made her way to her desk and began her paperwork, ignoring everything around her as did everyone else. There was no way she could look her fellow officers in the eyes without the guilt spilling forth. She knew the pity that would come, the 'it's not your fault' speech. But the thing was, it truly WAS her fault.
File after file was made over the deceased and families came and went from the head office, some crying and holding each other, others with tight-lipped features, holding back what everyone knew they wanted to release, and even more ranting and raving, trying to convince themselves it wasn't true. Kagome spent all of her day at work with her nose buried in her paperwork, not daring to look up at the crushed people; she could hardly bear it herself without the distraction and unreal comfort of her work.
The final day of the week had come at last. Kagome did the same as she had from the beginning, along with every one else.
Nine 'o-clock came and went with ten coming to crash into the time then slipping on to eleven until it was almost eleven thirty before Kagome moved from her seat other than to use the restroom or grab another cup of coffee. Bleary eyes looked at the time and barely registered that everyone was gone. All the lights were off save the emergency lights and her own desk lamp.
Kagome sighed and fixed her desk in slow, exhausted movements. She knew she should have gone home hours ago. But sleep didn't sound as blissful as it once had. It was no longer the escape she imagined. Thoughts of the dead would plague her dreams, she knew, as they had every night past, and thoughts would haunt her during the day continuing their cycle.
Gathering her things, she snagged her jacket, pulling it on, and headed out of the station to her car.
Who would he hit next? Does he know he didn't even kill me? What will he do if he discovers I'm alive? All those questions weighed down her mind as her feet mechanically lead her to her vehicle and her arms opened the door with unseeing eyes. …Why did he kill Kikyo?
Kagome drove from the station, not really paying much attention to where she led her car. Her mind remained in its exhausted and dazed set. Her hands turned her wheel in circles to her own imaginings, passing through green lights in a blur and barely registering the red lights in enough time to stop in front of them.
When Kagome's car actually stopped, she realized she was in the unwrecked part of her old parking-lot. Tears stung her eyes, but she didn't release them. All she wanted was to crumple down just like the building had, but she didn't allow herself that luxury.
"I thought I'd find you here."
The voice startled her into awareness, forcing her dulled mind to try and remember her training and failing miserably. Her eyes darted to her open window, seeing the dark outline of a person.
"It was an accident. I didn't mean to come."
The silhouette nodded.
"I just…," A sniff interrupted her flow of words before she continued. "I just wanted to…to apologize." She stared at the fallen structure. "All those people. All those innocent people."
There was no reason for her to be talking to a stranger, but she felt she could trust this anonymous person. Their presence felt familiar and non-threatening to her dead state.
Finally, after all the repression, all her fights to keep her composure, her tears came, pouring down like a waterfall. "It's all my fault, all my fault." Her shoulders began to shake with the strength of her sorrow. "They didn't do anything. If only I hadn't been in that unit. If Naraku…if he hadn't known…" Her words began to choke off from the power of her sobs. Her head leaned forward, setting her forehead on the cool leather of the steering wheel. "I…I can't… I couldn't… All those families…" Her fists slammed down on the sides of her wheel. "My fault! It's my fault!"
Wet drops rolled down the wheel, dripping onto her pants. Those salty raindrops fell from her clenched lids, hitting the wheel, then sliding to pool on her legs. Streams flowed from her nostrils as well her cries wracked her so hard.
The figure said nothing, but remained silent, just listening to her confessions as she poured out her soul, revealing her heart. Her heart felt like someone was slowly ripping it out and to shreds in front of her eyes and her guts were being twisted and turned inside-out. This one individual seemed to understand that stopping the flow would hurt worse than letting it go.
The sobs dwindled to hiccups and sniffs, the torrents to mere drops. Kagome's shoulders stopped their shuddering. Her tight-clenched hands unraveled, grappling the wheel instead and twisting. Slowly, her senses formed again.
A warm, soothing hand was on her back. Pressing between Kagome's shoulder blades, it spoke its own understanding. It was more than words could say; words could never be enough to describe the sense of peace that show of kindness bestowed upon her. No pity or sympathy came from the touch, just understanding and comfort.
Kagome lifted her head from the wheel, wiping her eyes and nose. The absence of warmth from her back was the only feeling to tell her the hand had been removed.
Glancing around, Kagome's gaze saw no one around; just an empty lot. For all she knew, that person could just have been her imagination playing tricks on her. But the hand had felt real, the touch warm. The calm still permeated her being. No, it was real.
"Thank you," Kagome whispered to the air.
Back in her right mind again, Kagome turned the key in the ignition and started her car. She pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to Sango's apartment. The air blew on her face cool and alive as she drove down the highway.
No one would know about this. No one should find out about it. This would be her secret, her comfort in hard times. The stranger existed only to her and no one else.
Kagome's calm and straight figure walked down the hall, determination in every step. Every one who saw flicked a glance at her, paused, and looked again; this was not the same Kagome they had seen earlier. She stopped before the captain's office and rapped on his door.
"Come in."
Lacking hesitation, Kagome twisted the knob and pushed open the door, stepping inside. She closed the door behind her without looking, her eyes fixed on the figure in front of her. She stepped up behind the chair set before the desk, her hands clasped behind her back and her legs apart, her body positioned military style with her back ramrod straight.
Sesshoumaru sat at his desk, his head bent over his own stack of papers. His hair had been haphazardly pulled back into a pony tail with a rubber-band. The sleeves of his shirt had been rolled up above his elbows and the top buttons undone. Even his tie hung loosely from around his neck.
Golden eyes glanced up then looked back down at the sheet in his hand. "Yes?"
"I ask permission to work on the Sunteski case alone."
"Permission denied."
"Then I ask to work on the case with a colleague."
Sesshoumaru glanced at her again then set his paper down, leaning back in his chair.
"You know, there are a million reasons why I shouldn't allow you to do this."
"I understand that, sir. But I believe if you have more people working on this case, you have a better chance of catching the criminal."
Sesshoumaru looked with his cold, calculating eyes, saying nothing for a moment. His elbows were set on the armrests of his chair, his hands intertwined on his stomach.
"If I give this case over to you, you realize the risks in it, don't you?"
"Yes sir."
"And you will be working along side Inuyasha."
"…Yes."
"And he may not want to crack this case."
"That is a risk I am willing to take."
He studied her for a few minutes. His gaze felt like it was burning into he skull, revealing her inner-most thoughts.
"I relieve this case into your hands, Higurashi. Go inform your partner of my decision."
"Thank you, sir."
He waved his hand at her, already setting back to his work, not bothering to tell her she was dismissed.
Kagome turned swiftly, opening the door…revealing nearly the entire station of officers gathered at the entrance. Three fell at Kagome's feet, obviously from leaning against the frame, and stared up in startled fear. The rest stood frozen in place, horror at getting caught painted on their faces.
Sesshoumaru's stone features stared them down, the corner of his mouth twitching along with his right eye.
"Back to work."
The hard-spoken command put everyone back into motion, making everyone scramble out of the doorway to their own desks. The few on the floor scrambled up and out of the room, Kagome right behind them.
As the door closed behind Kagome, the captain's mouth widened into a smile.
^^* I know it isn't as long as the others, but I knew if I went on, it would ruin the affect. I really enjoyed writing this particular part of the story and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you did or didn't, tell me whatever by reviewing; I like to hear what you dudes and duddettes think.