AN: Shippo is found and Kagome has a moral problem.

Chapter 12: Distress

"Thank you." Kagome smiled at the officer who was handing her a cup of coffee. She was sitting next to me with a blanket around her shoulders. I had one too and so did any one else who had escaped out into the rain. Surprisingly, most hadn't. It seemed to me that everyone had run into their room or the dinning room, with the exception of Kagome, Miroku, Sango and me. Shit, I felt stupid.

I looked around and noticed another doctor was coming over to talk with Kagome. I had placed my illusion back on, and I was straining my ears in order to hear the doctor's whispered words.

"He's still missing."

"Is everyone else accounted for? How many wounded? Dead?"

"One doctor died, but it seems that suicide caused it though. A few patients have minor flesh wounds and a nurse has a broken arm. We're really lucky, actually."

"And there are none unaccounted for?"

"Just the one."

"All right."

"Excuse me. I hope I'm not interrupting." Another lady sighed as she walked over. She was wearing a black suit and seemed to be fairly tough. She had her hair cut short in a no-nonsense sort of way, and she looked like her bullshit tolerance was negative five.

'What's with her?'

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Kagome smiled as the lady walked over.

"Kagome? Kagome! Souta never said you worked here!"

'Souta? Who's this Souta? AND WHY AM I SO FUCKIN' JEALOUS?!!'

"He probably wouldn't." Kagome said, with a martyred sigh. "He never thinks I'm important."

"Oh, you know that's not true, Kagome."

"I know, I know. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh, government business and all. What's this about a missing patient?"

"His name is Shippo Kitsune. Everything was very confused here during the attack, so it's easy to see how we could be unable to locate him."

"And…...... is he…...... dangerous?"

"Not to anyone else, no. To himself, yes."

"I see. Who was the last person to see him?" The lady asked, looking around the room.

"Uh, excuse me. Miss?" Sango asked, walking over to the trio. Sango nodded to the doctor, the one whose name I didn't know, and that doctor left to attend to some hospital business, I suppose. "Mr. Genkaku and I were the last to see Shippo. We were escaping and Shippo ran off down the examination hall of the second floor. We…...... we couldn't follow him and he said he would be all right."

"Very well. Kagome, who is Mr. Kitsune's doctor?"

"I am."

"Splendid; if you'll come with me."

"Uh, I have no shoes." Kagome sighed, motioning to her bare feet. "I had to drop them out a window."

"Didn't Inuyasha steal your shoe's once?" Sango asked Kagome after a minute.

"That's right; I never did get them back." Kagome remembered and the three women looked over at me. Blushing, I avoided their gaze and started counting ceiling tiles. "Inuyasha?"

"They're at the foot of the bed, under the covers."

"Thank you." Kagome smiled and held out her hand. "We might as well take you to your room, while we're at it."

We walked though the halls with Kagome's friend. I still hadn't learned her name and it was driving me nuts. Anyway, we finally reached my room and I returned Kagome's shoes to her, but when she moved to leave, I moved to leave as well.

"Inuyasha? What's wrong?"

"It's…......" I began, before stopping. If I told her that I had been sleeping with her shoes so that her scent would hang around me as I slept, she might think I was some sort of pervert. It was the strangest thing I had ever done—if you didn't include the slaughter of my neighborhood—and it made even me a little nervous. So, I edited my response. "I…...... Youkai wants to come out. Can I stay with you for a bit?"

"Youkai?" Kagome's friend asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that some sort of patient slang for a…......"

"NO!" Kagome shouted, cutting the lady off short. She was sending death glares at the other woman and blushing madly. "Fine, Inuyasha. You can come with us to find Shippo."

Actually, I helped Kagome search. I tried to be fairly discreet, unlike what I might have done if it were just the two of us, but I did nudge her in the right direction once or twice. We finally found him, and I really wished I had stayed back in my room. The entire room was splattered with blood. Youkai blood from the smell of it. The bodies had obviously crumbled at someone's touch, because there were just a few bits of clothes, some fox fur and a trident. I also found a top, which I pocketed, because it still smelled of foxfire.

The fox himself was huddled behind the desk, holding a bloody knife. Kagome gently shook him and he woke with a start.

"K-Kagome?"

"It's me. Are you all right?"

"I think so."

"Where did all the blood come from?"

"Two men attacked me." Shippo explained, shooting me a quick glance, which I avoided. The kid was on his own, but I wouldn't hinder his story. "I…...... I had to defend myself, Kagome! Really!"

"It's all right. Are you hurt?"

"I was just a little scared."

"I would say so. The door was incinerated and there's a broken window down the hall. What happened?"

"I don't remember." Shippo said, though it was obvious he was lying. "It happened…...... really fast."

"That's all right. Everything is going to be fine, Shippo."

"I know." Shippo smiled. "I slept."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Thank goodness, it's over." Sango sighed as she sat down in the chair next to me. The police had finally gone and all the paper work had been filled out. Inuyasha and I had been cleared of Hojo's murder, since the police could find no cause. There had been some talk of a cover up to explain his death, as he was the only body that could be found. All the other attackers had either fled or mysteriously disappeared. Odd, indeed, but I was pretty sure that Youkai's had something to do with it.

'Shit. Just thinking about all this gives me a headache.' I mentally grumbled.

"I'm going home. I need some sleep." I said outloud, with a little sigh.

"I know. It's hard to believe that it's only eight o'clock."

"Really?"

"Yes. The attack started at four, lasted less than a half-hour, and the other three and a half hours have been questioning, clean-up, relaxing patients and paper work."

"Incredible."

"Exactly. Who would ever believe us? If I honestly told someone who hadn't been here that I had been attacked by demons? I'd be locked up before you could say 'joke'." Sango laughed, but I frowned. Her words struck a memory.

'…......most humans don't believe demons exist at all …......' Inuyasha had said. He was right. Standing up, I stretched and turned to face Sango.

"I'll see you later, then."

"All right. I've got to hang around for a little bit, but I'll be home before ten. You know, in case you want to talk, or something."

"Okay." I nodded. "That sounds good. I'll talk to you then, if I'm awake."

"Bye." Sango laughed and I waved in response. I walked though the rain to my car and got in. It's not a terrible drive to my house, but it's pretty bad when it's wet. When I finally got into my apartment, I was so wet, it looked like I had taken a shower with my clothes on. Quickly stripping down, I ran a bath for myself and slipped into the water. It was a bit hot, but I didn't want to have to get out too soon. I had a lot of thinking to do.

Inuyasha had given me a dilemma, even if he was unaware of the fact. His explanation of himself and his disease, landed me in a quandary. Inuyasha wasn't crazy, as he had proved to me, which meant that, morally, I should sign his release. It was not right to keep him locked up under pretense and it was unfair to him to force him to be confined, while he obviously hated it. Not to mention it was, quite possibly, damaging to his mental health.

On the other hand, if I released him, purist groups might hunt him down and kill him. He had told me himself that he feared this. And I also knew that I would miss him. I had grown to anticipate our meetings and even go a little early.

Placing my head in my hands, I let out a sigh. I had no idea what to do.

And then my cell phone rang. It was still in my pocket and, with all the water around it, I was surprised it still worked. Hoisting my upper body out of the tub, I reached across half the bathroom to fish my cell phone out of my jacket's pocket. The window had fogged up slightly, so my caller ID was out of order. Flipping it open, I settled back into the tub and turned it on.

"Hello?"

"Kagome? Is that you?"

"Mama?"

"Oh, thank goodness! We just heard about it. Are you all right?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Your institute. It was attacked!"

"How did you know about that?"

"Souta has a friend who works in a government division. She was called out to help and when she saw you, she called Souta, who phoned me."

'Ah, yes. Hitomi was there, wasn't she? I had almost forgotten; it seems like weeks ago. On a different note, how Mama can think that Souta and Hitomi are just friends is beyond me. The two are obviously more than just friends.'

"You are all right, aren't you?" Mama asked me, concern lacing her voice.

"I suppose." I sighed.

'If you don't count the fact that my mind is about to explode with worry.'

"You're lying. I can hear it in your voice. What's wrong? Should I call an ambulance?" Mama asked.

"No. It's just…...... Mama, could I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"What would you do if you were me? If I do the right thing, someone else will be happy but in danger and I will be sad. If I do the wrong thing, the other person will be not be in any danger but they will be sad and I will be happy."

"Kagome, I can't answer that."

"But Mama…......"

"No, listen. I don't know enough about the situation, and I'm not asking you to tell me. I'm sure it's private. Just, think about. List the pro's and con's of each choice and then make a decision. When you've mad your decision, sleep on it and if you don't feel bad about your choice in the morning, go for it."

"Mama…...... I'm just so worried."

"I would be too. But remember, sometimes we have to do things we don't like, or want, to do. This all depends on how important this person is to you and if their happiness or safety is more critical to you. And also…...... ask yourself, 'if I make this choice, will I be able to look them in the eye later on?'. If you can't answer 'yes', then maybe you should rethink your choice."