Claimer: I hate the justice system with a passion. There, now you all know.
My schedule has been filled up now that I've started school. This means my updates will, most likely, slow down. And the depression has to be taken care of before I can write descent fanfiction.
If you don't know what an arraignment (uh-rain-ment) is, it's where they formally charge someone. They lay all the charges out and the defendant pleads guilty or not guilty.
Chapter Three: Arraignment
"You know what you have to do?" Kagura asks me.
"What?" I ask her as I look up to her once again.
"You have to get out here and marry him." I glare at her then she starts laughing. I thought she'd give me real advice!
"What is going on in your mind Kagura! Just because he's my dream guy doesn't mean I'll marry him! He could be a complete jerk!" I snap. Some other girls in another cell 'shhh' me. It's lights out, and here I am practically yelling.
"You know you would. Just so you could have him like a possession." She tells me. I get quiet. She's right, I would marry him even if it were to claim my property or something.
"Go to bed." I mutter as I face the wall.
The lawyer demon and I are sitting at some fancy home. I take a drink of wine and swallow it slowly. He does the same thing. His arm snakes around my waist, yet I don't feel embarrassed. He leans forward to kiss me. I'm surprised at how my body just gives in rather than me pushing him off. He goes behind me, to the base of my neck. I know he wants to mark me as his, and I'm not phased by it. His teeth make contact with my skin.
My body jerks in my sleep. My eyes snap open as I breathe fast. I don't move for a while as my hands feel what clothes I have on. If they're silk, then that wasn't a dream. I look down to see the old clothes on me. Oh good, it was just a dream. I hear some laughing then I look up to see Kagura reading something on her bed.
"I thought you'd never wake up. When you jolted like that, I nearly screamed." She comments. I slowly sit up, feeling the rock hard muscle in my shoulder. I forgot not to sleep on my side. This is why.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" I ask her as I rub the tense muscle.
"Because I didn't want to." She tells me. I roll my eyes then lie back down. I'm still exhausted.
"Gee, you're nice." I reply dryly.
"Don't expect murderers to be Ms. America."
"I don't."
"Then why are you so concerned about my kindness level?"
"Nevermind... Just leave me alone, Kagura." I say. I bury my face in the horrible pillow and take a deep breath.
"Your lawyers name is Sesshoumaru?" She says. I look up at her from the pillow.
"Yeah..."
"You were saying his name in your sleep..." She tells me. My face turns red as the iron bars are opened. We both get up and go outside, followed by a sheriff.
"So what if I was?" I ask her as I give her a side glance.
"You love him." My face becomes even more red.
"I don't. He's cute, but I'm not going to fall in love with him!" I claim.
"Too late, you already have." She tells me.
"I must be really shallow... Fall in love with a guy just for his looks..." I mutter. Kagura smiles.
"Relax, Kagome. If he is everything you say he is, then he probably likes you too!" She exclaims. I shoot her a sideways glare as we go to the table that we always sit on.
"What if he's a complete jerk!" I ask as I sit on the table.
"Well... Don't worry, I don't think he is." She says. I roll my eyes and prepare for my joke.
"You don't think he is? You're thinking!" I ask, acting as if I were in shock. She punches my arm then rolls her eyes as well.
"You're so immature."
"I know."
- - -
The day of my arraignment. As much as I was waiting for it, I feel as if I'm going to throw up. I sit in a room with a bunch of other women who came from the same jail as I did. Kagura sits next to me before I go up to sit on the bench. The microphone is a bit below where my mouth is, so I have to back up so people can hear me properly. I hear them talking before I can understand any of it.
"We charge Kagome Higurashi with murder of Hojo." He says. I curse inwardly at my position. If I could just shout what happened and have them believe me, I'd be going back to my apartment today. Of course, I'm sure that I've been evicted since I can't afford to keep it. You know, being in jail and all.
"How does the defendant plea?" The judge asks me. I snap out of my thoughts.
"Not guilty." I reply quickly. The court reporter types our conversation away quickly. I see Sesshoumaru standing there, looking just as hot as he did last month. The only thing that sucks about the court system is that I can only go to court once a month. I sit next to Kagura once again and point to Sesshoumaru. I see her smile then she gives me a wink. I would have yelled at her to stop teasing me, but the bailiff came up. He hit me on the head with his hand, not very hard though. I guess I shouldn't have been giggling and messing around with Kagura.
The rest of the arraignment was just other women making their pleas and all. I was able to go get a drink and go to the bathroom. My relief, because I couldn't hold it. I came out of the bathroom, seeing Sesshoumaru standing against the wall. Maybe I should go say hi. No, he's got so many clients, he wouldn't even know me. I walk by without saying a thing and he pulls on my arm.
"Higurashi." He says. I turn to look at him as my blush returns to haunt me. He smiles, probably amused by my constant blush around him. I must look like a fool. "I will be meeting up with you tomorrow so we can go over the trial." He looks like he's thinking about something else, but I don't look too much into it.
"Thank you, Mr. Taisho." I say quietly. I run off to catch up with Kagura, who is giggling like there's no tomorrow.
"What!" She doesn't seem shocked by my expression at all.
"You are so in love with him." She comments as we load onto the bus.
"So what if I am?" I ask her. She shrugs.
"I don't know. It's just cute the way you two look at each other. I think he's in love with you." She says. I push her over into a seat and sit next to her.
"I'm going to see him tomorrow. About the trial." I tell her. She nods and smiles.
"Uh huh, I'm sure it's just about the trial. I'll bet a sheriff has to pull you two out of a lip-lock." She says. My face becomes red as I shake my head.
"I didn't hear that." I say, shaking my head as fast as I can. Hopefully the blood will drain faster if I do this.
"You did, and you know you're wishing on it." She tells me. I glare a death look at her then her face straitens up and she looks ahead of her. "Or not." I smile in victory then slouch in my seat and stare at the back of the bus seat.
- The Next Day -
I sigh as Kagura keeps poking me. After a while, I grow irritated. I quickly slap her finger away from my shoulder then she starts laughing.
"That's not funny." I mutter as I try to will myself into waking up.
"I thought it was funny." She replied smartly. I sit up then rub my eyes. If they weren't so sensitive to the light right now, I'd be glaring death at her.
"It wasn't. Your perception of funny is distorted." I say. She moves around a bit then places something on my head. I open my eyes and she holds a mirror up to me. It's one of those hats that the new store – I think it's called Crispy Creme or something – wears. I look at it for a while before looking at her.
"Kanna sent it. I thought you'd like it." She says. I look back at the hat.
"What the…" I trail off, not really intending on finishing the sentence.
"Hey, Kagome." She says. I look up at her, waiting for her to finish what she's saying. "You remember your meeting is today, right?" My eyes widen as I remember.
"What!" I screech. She covers her ears quickly as I get up. I grab the brush from her box of things then begin to brush my hair. She watches in amazement as I completely freak out about my appearance.
"You needed to tell me sooner, Kagura! I have to get ready!" I exclaim. She takes my wrist in her hand, making me stop brushing my hair.
"Kagome. You're in prison. You aren't about to get ready and go looking nice. We are hardly lucky enough to have a brush." She says. I sigh then set the brush back in the box I took it out of.
"Wish things were different…" I mutter.
"You and me both." She replies. I sit on my bed then bury my face in the pillow.
"But, I don't belong here." I tell her. She sighs then I hear her bed shifting. She must be lying down.
"No, you don't. I belong here, if anything…" She trails off. "Now, about this meeting of yours…"
"What do you want to know about it?" I question. I look to my side to see her.
"Nothing really. I'm just curious on what you'll be discussing is all." She says. I narrow my eyes as I look at her.
"You're curious if I'm going to make a fool of myself. Don't lie." I tell her. She smiles then shrugs her shoulders.
"I used to be a master at lying. I guess I'm getting a bit rusty on it… Anyway, I think you will." She says. I sit up then throw my pillow at her.
"Thanks for your encouraging words." I mumble. She throws the pillow back at me then shrugs her shoulders.
"Relax. If you make a fool of yourself somehow, I'm sure he'll think you're acting cute or something. He cares about you, I can tell." She says.
"Yah, he cares about me because he gets a lot of money if he wins the trial." I reply rudely.
"I'm talking about as a potential girlfriend. He really seems to care about you." She says. I look away from her, trying to act as if the wall is interesting to me.
"I'm his client. He's supposed to care." I say quietly. I hate it when she's right.
"But investigators talk to you about the trial. He's talking to you himself." She says. I look at her, my eyes widened.
"I didn't know that!" I say quickly. I thought that the lawyers looked things up on their own and all. I had no idea that they had investigators to do research for them and talk to their clients for them!
"Higurashi. You have a meeting with your lawyer." The guard tells me. I look at Kagura then stand up and walk out of the gate with the guard. Butterflies have officially invaded my stomach as I try to act normal. Well, as normal as I can get in my position.
There. Third chapter done. I'm going to start working on these stories more. Sorry that I forgot about them in the first place. School – and my life – has become overly hectic. I ruined my hip somehow, and I can hardly walk. Does that mean I get more time to sit at the computer to write these chapters? I wish, but I doubt it.
- Bipolar Tangerine