Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.
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-June 6th-
Entry at 8:09PM
I looked frantically about the room, searching for anything at all to use to get the little girl free from the situation she was in.
"Suikotsu, what is this about?" Bankotsu said walking forward.
"You come with me and you tell Naraku what he wants to know, now! Or someone's getting hurt!" He said edging the blade closer to Rin's throat. She was obviously scared, but remained silent.
"Put down the kid, Suikotsu."
I could tell Bankotsu was trying to reason with him, and considering the previous incident, I figured trusting him would be our best bet. Sango and Miroku appeared behind him in the doorway, and before they could try anything, Suikotsu noticed them.
"Kuso, damn baka think you can sneak up on me, eh? You try anything and the girl is dead, okay?"
His voice… I thought to myself, the pitch of it had changed; like before when he was angry- the voice changed.
"I'll do what you want Suikotsu as long as you put the girl down," Hands raised in front of him, Bankotsu kept walking closer towards his friend gone mad.
"I'm not an idiot; I know you'll try something once I release her. So her, me and you are all going to Naraku's. You tell him what he wants to know, we get Jakotsu, and we get out of there. That way, no one has to get hurt, okay?"
It was then I heard the trigger of a gun cock. Apparently Inuyasha had drawn the weapon during the commotion.
"Let her go," He demanded, "We know you are working for Naraku and we aren't tolerating it."
"Shimatta, damn baka. I would never help that low life scum! Where the hell did you get that idea?"
"We have a tape that proves it. It has you talking to him," Inuyasha said moving closer, watching to see if Suikotsu pushed the knife any nearer to Rin.
I was about to confirm the statement, when Bankotsu turned as if to shield Suikotsu from Inuyasha.
Shaking his head, he leveled Inuyasha with a serious glare, "You're wrong, that wasn't him on the tape."
"What the…"
But before Inuyasha could finish, Bankotsu replied, "That wasn't Suikotsu. That was Renkotsu."
The room went deadly silent as the revelation took hold. Suikotsu relaxed his hold on Rin, and looked to Bankotsu.
"Renkotsu? What about him?" He asked calmed for a moment.
"He-he helped Naraku get Jakotsu."
"Temee, I ought to go rip that bald head of his from his body…"
"But wasn't he just shot by Naraku?" I said, finally getting over the shock well enough to speak.
"Yeah, that's what I can't understand either," Bankotsu muttered.
I caught a motion then out of the corner of my eye. It turned out to be Sesshoumaru. Amidst the distraction, he'd pulled Rin away and now had Suikotsu's own knife pointed at Suikotsu's throat.
"Don't try that again," He said coldly.
Bankotsu stepped forward, "I'll handle this."
A slight nod from Sesshoumaru and he stepped back while sitting Rin on the floor. Kagura went over to check on her. Meanwhile, Miroku and Sango came back in and went to stand over by the wall.
"Rin, are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine, Miss Kagura. I'm not hurt at all," The girl replied with a smile, seemingly unfazed by the whole course of events so far.
I looked back to Bankotsu, who despite his height difference was confronting the taller Suikotsu.
"Medicine or not, I've told you thousands of times- never hurt children. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Sorry Bankotsu, we just got a little upset…"
"Don't let it happen again, got it?" He said sharply.
"I won't," Suikotsu replied hanging his head.
Bankotsu ran a hand through his bangs and turned back towards us.
"Kagome, if you don't mind- I'm going to go see what's up with Renkotsu myself. I think Suikotsu and I can handle him if there is indeed a problem."
"Well, I'm not sure if you should."
"I'll go with them," Inuyasha said walking over.
"That's really not necessary," Bankotsu protested.
"I'm going or you stay here. That's final. The last thing our agency needs is you two going in there and doing something stupid just because you're all pissed off," He paused and then smugly grinned, "Plus, if you two are going to kick his ass, I want to be there to help."
Figures… I thought to myself. And just when I thought he was actually being serious.
Bankotsu glared, and I was about to try and stop the forthcoming fight, when Sesshoumaru stepped in.
"You," He indicated Bankotsu, "Can ask Renkotsu what you wish. As for you, brother- you shall be a proper detective and just listen."
"Hey, this is our case you-"
"Your case now conflicts with mine, and I will not have your incompetence ruin my record."
As yet another fight seemed eminent; Rin stepped forward and tugged at Sesshoumaru's pants leg.
"Sesshoumaru, I drew you a pretty picture."
He raised an eyebrow as he turned toward her.
She thrust the picture upward to his level, and explained, "See? It's you and Miss Kagura. She's blushing in it because you've got your arm around her and she likes you."
It was then that Kagura, who was indeed blushing now, stormed forward, "Rin, I think that's quite enough of this for tonight."
"But Sesshoumaru didn't say if he likes my picture or not. Sesshoumaru, do you like my picture of you and Miss Kagura?" The girl said, producing a slight pout. I could hear Inuyasha stifling a laugh.
Sesshoumaru looked from the drawing to Kagura and then back to Rin. "It's…nice." Came the muttered reply before he continued, "We shall attend to this tomorrow, Kagura. Get the files so we can go."
She nodded and turned to me, "It looks like we have to go. I'll take those files and let you know if hear back from Musou about Jakotsu."
"Um…sure," I replied, going to retrieve the files in question. Sesshoumaru was already out the door with Rin.
"It is getting a little late isn't it?" Miroku said aloud, while pretending to yawn.
"You aren't getting out of this paperwork Miroku, so don't even try it," Sango retorted.
"Eheh, who said I was trying to get out of paperwork?"
Sango just glared in reply, as I pulled out the file the other agency had requested.
"Here's what we have on last week's case," I said handing it to her.
"Thanks. We'll see what we can turn up and let you know if we do find anything."
They turned and headed out the door; I bit my lip, my curiosity getting the best of me, and followed them out into the hall, closing the door behind me.
"Um…Kagura, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"I guess…" She said turning.
Sesshoumaru nodded in what I assumed meant "I'll wait with Rin in the car." Then he walked on down the stairs, as Rin waved goodbye to me and scurried after him.
"What do ya want?" Kagura's voice drew my attention back to her.
"Well, I just can't understand one thing. Why are you helping us like this? I know Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha don't get along very well, so even the fact that you'd come to us for information is strange to me."
"Hmph, thank Jakotsu for this one."
"Jakotsu?"
She shifted her arms and continued, lowering her voice a bit; "I didn't say this earlier because I knew it would upset your client. Jakotsu…well, he has more than just bruises, Kagome."
I stifled a gasp, hands covering my mouth as she continued.
"Musou and I both think it was a broom handle, but we aren't sure. We just know there's cuts all over his back and that if we hadn't bandaged him up when we did, well… he could have bled to death."
"But, I thought Naraku was using him as a hostage to lure Bankotsu there."
"Naraku doesn't need a live hostage to get what he wants, Kagome. As long as he has the person, and his target knows that, they generally hand over the information only to discover that it was too late for their companion. At least, that's what our clues seem to indicate in regards to similar situations as this."
"That's horrible! We need to get Jakotsu out of there now," I replied, my worry for Jakotsu growing larger by the moment.
"I know, but if we try haphazardly, we'll endanger not only him but others and ourselves as well. I'm going to try and work out a plan with Musou tomorrow though, and Sesshoumaru has almost gotten enough information properly documented for the cops to use as evidence for a search warrant. We just need to get Jakotsu out of there by then, so he doesn't get killed when they raid the place."
"I understand, but I really do want to help you guys out."
"You can. We'll keep you informed as to what's going on with Naraku and you keep up your case with the Kotsu gang. The two definitely connect, and once we figure out where the connection stems from, perhaps we can use the Kotsu gang to help us against Naraku. And don't you worry about Sesshoumaru. Whether he acts it or not, he's just as concerned with getting Jakotsu to safety as the rest of us."
"He sure has a funny way of showing it," I muttered thinking back on the man's attitude towards it all.
"Trust me on this one; he doesn't want Naraku to kill anymore people. Why do you think he took Rin in?"
"Rin?" I asked confused.
"So not even his half-brother knows why?" Kagura questioned in return.
"Inuyasha just said he adopted her and wouldn't say anything more."
She nodded and began to explain, "Her parents were killed by Naraku, they'd seen too much and Sesshoumaru solved the case too late. That was before I'd teamed up with him, but that's what Rin's told me about it. I think he felt responsible for their deaths and took her in. The man does have a kind side deep down inside him…okay, maybe more like very deep down inside him; but he's not about to let Naraku kill again, even if it means asking you and your boyfriend for help."
My brain stopped processing the clues for a moment and produced a blush on my face, "Excuse me?"
"Oh sorry," Kagura quickly apologized, "Rin said he was your boyfriend, so I assumed that was the case since I didn't see any rings yet."
Rings? My blush deepened. "We're just detective partners, that's all." I managed to stammer.
"I see," she smirked knowingly, "Well, good luck getting through his thick head. If he's anything like his elder brother, romance isn't exactly his specialty."
I blinked- well there was the thing Rin said earlier, "You mean, you and Sesshoumaru…"
This time, a light blush lit her features, "No! I didn't say anything like that. I mean, he's handsome and all but…I…"
Seeing her apprehension, I decided to go for a truce, "Neither of them are that bad deep down, right?" I asked smiling.
She smiled back, "Yeah, once you get through their attitudes and learn to read facial expressions that vary from one degree of an eyebrow to another degree, I guess they aren't so bad."
"Are you two done with your female bonding…and stuff?" A voice said coming from the nearby doorway. I turned to see Inuyasha leaning against the frame and blushing slightly himself.
I composed myself and retorted, "And why were you listening in?"
"I thought my idiot brother might have been giving you trouble."
"Oh," I dropped my head. I really needed to work on my timing when it came to things involving Inuyasha.
"Are we going or not?" I heard Suikotsu ask from inside the office.
Bankotsu hushed him, "Shhh, Inuyasha and Kagome are sharing a moment."
"Shut up! We are not!" Inuyasha snapped as he turned around.
I was about to protest myself, when I heard Kagura's cell phone ring. I turned as she answered.
"Hello? Musou? Hey. He's still okay? Thank goodness. What? You have him there with you now? Is Naraku around? Okay, are you sure he left? Good. I've got Bankotsu here. I'll explain later, just put Jakotsu on the line."
She gestured to Bankotsu, who had been looking on from the doorway with an edge of hope. He walked forward as she continued, "Hey kid. You doing okay? Musou not causing you too much trouble is he? That's good. Well, I have a little surprise for ya. I've got Bankotsu here, and I thought you'd like to talk to him. Sure kid." She held out the phone to Bankotsu, "Go on, you don't have long before Naraku comes back."
He nodded and shakily took the phone, "Jakotsu?" He paused, and turned a bit away from the rest of us trying to keep some dignity. I could tell he was about to cry. "I'm so sorry Jakotsu, this is all my fault. Don't you worry, I'm gonna get you out of there, no matter what it takes. Yeah, I miss you a lot too. I'm just so glad you're alive. I was really worried. What? Musou says Naraku's coming? Oh okay, well…goodbye then…" He looked about and realized that we were all still listening in and blushed slightly, "Love ya too, Jakotsu."
After taking a deep breath, he handed the phone back to Kagura.
"You going to be okay?" She questioned, hitting the end button.
He nodded mutely, and turned back towards the office. Suikotsu stopped him, "Bankotsu, you up to this?"
Bankotsu looked up and forced a smile, "I'll be okay, now let's go talk to Renkotsu."
I turned around as I heard Kagura call out to me, "I'll call you tomorrow, Kagome."
"Okay Kagura." I replied.
"Ick, more girl talk," Inuyasha muttered.
"Well, you three better head on out. We'll start in on the paperwork here."
Bankotsu nodded, "I'll call if anything comes up, Kagome."
"I'll be there to handle it," Inuyasha stepped forward then, and turned to me. "I have my cell phone, the gun, and that other stuff you always tell me to take."
I just smiled, "Okay, you be careful. All three of you."
Inuyasha looked slightly miffed that the sentiment wasn't just for him and he turned to the others. "Let's go."
I turned back towards the room where Miroku and Sango were waiting. It was going to be a long night with that pile of paper on my desk, but if it brought us any closer to solving this, then it was worth it. There was just one thing bothering me now. If Renkotsu helped Naraku, then why did Naraku shoot him? Was Renkotsu really trying to help Jakotsu escape or…was there something else?
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Preview for Chapter 8: Bankotsu, Suikotsu and Inuyasha have gone to find out the real story from Renkotsu…. But are Kagome and Kagura going to sit around while there's obviously a connection to the case?