Notes: Um. Yeah. I don't even know what to say here after being conspicuously absent for the past year. Sorry? Somehow that just doesn't cut it. I REALLY appreciate all the people who have reviewed this story - seeing your comments in my inbox is a constant reminder that I need to devote my spare time to finishing this fic. And it will get finished. I mean that. I don't know how long it will take, but I WILL finish it.
So anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Another character gets introduced (finally) - I'll give you three guesses as to who. First two don't count.
Another disclaimer before you read this chapter: I know nothing - I repeat NOTHING - about law. I'm making up stuff that sounds good as I go along in this story, and it's only going to get worse from here on out. I don't have the time or patience to research how the law is actually carried out in something like Kagome's case, so I'm giving my best effort to make it seem believable. Hope it's not too painfully inaccurate!
Enjoy!
Learning to Let Go
Chapter 22: Serendipity
The next few days passed in a haze of classes, homework, and dealing with the every-day tasks that had seemed so trivial before they'd become Kagome's responsibility: cleaning, laundry, and general maintenance of the house.
She and Inuyasha hadn't talked about the source of his annoyance or hurt or whatever it had been. By this time Kagome had half-convinced herself she'd imagined the whole thing. Everything seemed back to normal – or at least as normal as things could get when Kagome was always walking on eggshells around him, trying not to push her opinions on what he should do or wear onto him.
Kagome was glad but a little unsure that he didn't seem bothered by the fact that he hadn't accompanied her to school since that disastrous day last week. He still wore the clothes she'd given him, however, which made her feel a little better about everything. More reassuringly, he was constantly getting fed up with something – the fact that she'd tried to mix colors in with whites when doing her first wash, or the mess she'd made trying to wax the floor. She always had to fight with him to get him to show her how to do whatever had been giving her trouble rather than just kicking her out of his way and doing it himself.
Now it was either a war to see who could get the chores done first, or a running joke between them… Kagome couldn't tell. All she knew was that she was desperately glad that she was so busy that she didn't have to think about things.
Sometimes, late at night or during one of the moments during class when her attention abruptly wandered, she would think about Sesshoumaru, or Kikyo, or the vacant look in the eyes of the slaves she'd seen in the store where Inuyasha had been. And it hurt – it hurt to think about them and know that she couldn't help. So whenever it happened she would do her best to distract herself and go on with her life. She supposed that it would get easier with time – and it helped to focus on the difference she could make to Inuyasha. Not much, but something, at least.
Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally Friday, and her last class had just ended. She had finally managed to catch up with all of her assignments, and today she'd decided it was time to give herself a break. She'd made plans with Rin to walk into a nearby part of town where there were lots of interesting shops and restaurants.
Seeing her friend waiting on the sidewalk, Kagome waved and jogged over to meet her. "Are you ready?" she asked. "My car is parked along the way we'll be heading, we can drop off our books."
"Sounds good," Rin said cheerfully, and Kagome was pleased to see that the younger girl seemed to have fully recovered from the incident with her older sister. The two girls feel into step alongside one another, and after a moment of comfortable silence Kagome got up the courage to ask.
"Rin… How are things with Kikyo?"
Beside her, her friend stiffened. Rin sighed, her face falling. "She's been nice to me," she said. "Really nice. Not that she isn't usually nice but this is different. Now she's acting like I've learned an important lesson, like she's lording this ridiculous superiority over me. Like I should have known I'd get caught, and she only taught me the lesson that I needed to learn."
Kagome felt a distant sympathy. She herself didn't have to deal with any confrontations with Kikyo, and poor Rin had to see the cold, calculating, merciless woman every single day. Had to pretend to get along with her, to agree with her. Had to see the way she treated Sesshoumaru, and know that there was nothing she could do.
She clamped down on the frustration building up in her, the frantic desperation that screamed that there must be something they could do, some way to help Sesshoumaru and keep Kikyo from hurting anyone else. Some way to put things right, to make things the way they should be.
Taking a deep breath, she stopped next to her car and unlocked the door. Tossing her backpack inside, she stepped away so that Rin could follow suit. There was one thing she could do. "Are you all right, living there?" she said, peering concernedly at Rin. "Because you can come live with me. You and Sango."
Rin stared at her in amazement. "Do you mean it Kagome?" Emotions flitted across her face in quick succession. "But – no. No, I can't. I would, but…" She trailed off and shook her head helplessly but determinedly. "Not without Sesshoumaru. I'm not going to leave him there."
Kagome stared, nonplussed, as they started walking again. "You really like him."
"I love him," Rin said sharply, but without bite. "I wish - " She broke off, and Kagome didn't think it would be a good idea to pry further into the subject.
Instead, she changed to a more neutral subject. "How's Sango? I saw her with you in school today, why isn't she with us?"
Rin shrugged. "I sent her home, told her to tell anyone who asked that Inuyasha was with us. I just wanted to spend some time with you. And… I don't know. You must be rubbing off on me. I don't like having someone following me around doing things for me all the time."
"You're against slavery too?" Kagome said, surprised and hopeful.
Rin blinked, startled to hear it phrased that way. It wasn't quite what she'd said, but was it what she'd meant? After a long moment of consideration she nodded slowly. "I guess I am."
Kagome was quiet, thinking. If she'd changed the opinion of even one person… if she'd made just ONE person realize that the institution was wrong… that had to count for something, right?
She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even see the other person in front of her until they'd crashed into one another.
"Oh!" She said, catching her balance and looking up to meet the young man's startlingly blue eyes. "I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going."
The man had been as surprised as she was initially, but quickly recovered and smiled charmingly. "No problem. I'm Kouga. What's your name?"
She blinked at his bluntness and cautiously took the hand he'd offered her and shook it. "Kagome."
"Nice to meet you Kagome," he smiled. "It isn't every day I run into such a lovely young woman – two lovely women, in fact." He grinned at Rin.
"Oh," said Kagome, covering her embarrassment by distracting him, "This is Rin. We were just on our way downtown. We won't keep you."
"It's really no problem at all," Kouga told them. "I was rushing back to work, but my boss can wait. We haven't had much business lately."
"Where do you work?" Rin asked politely.
Kouga pointed. "Just over there. I just got the job a few weeks ago, right out of law school."
"You're a lawyer?" Kagome exclaimed, staring at the courthouse across the street.
"A judge!" Kouga said, puffing out his chest, pleased with what he misinterpreted as her impressed awe.
"A judge? Do you know lawyers who don't have a lot of work either?"
He shrugged. "Of course. No work for me means that there's no work for them either."
Kagome only thought for a moment before making her decision. Rin's mind had been changed because of Kagome's conviction. Kouga was a new lawyer who was down on work. And she owed it to Inuyasha to try one more time.
Slowly, Kagome turned her head back to look at the tall, dark haired man. "Kouga," she said. "I've got a case that I want you to take. If you find me a lawyer who'll take it I can pay you – I can pay them. Whatever it takes."
It obviously wasn't what he'd been expecting, but he perked up immediately. "A case?" he said. "What case?"
Rin was staring at Kagome in consternation. "You can't be serious, Kagome."
Kagome ignored her completely. "You might think I'm crazy," she told Kouga in a rush. "Everyone else has so far. But I'm serious. I'll do whatever it takes." He was watching her expectantly, looking intrigued and stubborn – as if he wanted to prove wrong all of the people who had called Kagome crazy. She felt another surge of hope. "Kouga," she said, taking a deep breath. "I want to free my slave."
Three hours later, Kagome and Rin left Kouga's office – Rin looking bewildered and amazed, and Kagome elated and with a feeling of deep satisfaction and wild excitement. He'd said yes. He was going to take her case to court.
The lawyer he'd found had seemed skeptical at first, but like Kouga he was young and ambitious, eager to do what no one had ever done before. He'd quickly warmed to Kagome's cause.
The hard part, the part that had been holding her back, had been finding a judge who would hear her case, and once that was out of the way finding a lawyer who would take her money and work on her case had been trivial in comparison.
Driving home, she couldn't stop smiling. Because she was going home to tell Inuyasha what she'd done – and tomorrow she would bring him to meet her lawyer and Kouga. She didn't know what was going to happen, but at least now she would know that she'd tried.
Ok, I lied. No Inuyasha - again. But he WILL be in the next chapter - this time I DEFINITELY promise.
