Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

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-June 7th-
Entry at 12:56PM

My mind was trying to process the new twist in the case, when I heard Kagura's voice over the phone trying to get my attention.

"Kagome...Kagome?"

I shook myself from my thoughts, "Sorry, what is it?"

"You think Naraku took the potion made for the MIP guy?"

I pondered again and replied, "It's the only explanation I can think of. Mukotsu's potions aren't exactly normal either, so that might explain the reaction to it."

"Can you get Mukotsu to tell you more about what was in this concoction?" Kagura questioned.

I grimaced. If I wanted to get Mukotsu to do something, that meant being called 'sweetheart' and 'lovely lady' for the duration of the conversation with him.

"I suppose our client could get the information from him," I replied, fully hoping I would just have to talk to Bankotsu and he would get the information from Mukotsu.

It was not that I had anything against the guy, it's just his 'pet' names sort of reminded me of an annoying reporter I dealt with a few cases back that kept calling me 'his woman.' I shuddered at the memory, thankful our newer cases had been minor enough to keep him from coming back to interview me.

"Then inquire about the heist as well when you talk to him," Sesshoumaru's calm voice added.

"The heist? Keh, we gave you the report on that," Inuyasha interrupted.

"Your report has discrepancies with the police report," His brother replied.

"It did?" I asked. I was sure that we covered everything very thoroughly.

"The answers Hakushin gave to you and the police were different," He said simply and then I could hear the rustle of papers. "To the question: 'How did they steal it if you were still in the house?' He said in one he was hit, the other said he fainted."

"Well, he told us that he fainted," Inuyasha said firmly.

Kagura spoke up then, "We were thinking since Bankotsu seems to trust you, maybe he could tell you what happened."

"I'll see what I can do, but I don't want to upset him given the present situation," I replied.

"That's all for now. I've just got to finish getting ready and then I'll be at Naraku's this afternoon. I'll check on things there with Jakotsu and whatnot."

"Okay, thanks Kagura. I'll see what I can do about the heist issue and about the potion."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I looked around the room and paused, noting the red imprint on Miroku's face. Figuring that he'd upset Sango again while I was concentrating on the conversation, I dismissed it quickly and turned to Inuyasha. He was scowling at the phone with his arms crossed.

When he noticed I was looking at him, he snapped, "What do you want?"

I sighed, "Well if you're in a bad mood, I guess I'll just have to go talk to Mukotsu, Bankotsu and Suikotsu by myself."

His eyes narrowed, and he bolted up, "Fine. I'm coming."

Smirking, I picked up the phone and the paper with Bankotsu's cell phone number on it. I dialed and waited for it to be answered.

"Hello?" The voice said tentatively.

I paused, that sounded like Suikotsu not Bankotsu. "Um, is this Suikotsu?"

"Yes, Bankotsu is helping Mukotsu with something at the moment. Can I help you, Miss?" He said politely. I knew by that he was calmed- for the moment at least.

"This is Kagome, I just needed to talk to him about a few things."

"Oh, Miss Kagome! I thought that was you. Just a moment, I'll go get him," He replied and I could hear his footsteps as he walked.

I heard a muffled voice in the background, "Hey, who is it?"

"It's Kagome," Suikotsu said in return.

There were some shuffling noises and I heard Bankotsu's voice, "Kagome? That you?"

"Hey, just needed to ask a few things, could we come over there?" I figured if I had to deal with Mukotsu a group setting might be best.

"Err...well, in warning Suikotsu's medicine could wear off at any moment. Mukotsu and I were trying to fix something, but he's not sure how strong it'll be," He said warily.

"I think I'll be okay. Inuyasha's coming with me," I responded.

"Didn't figure he'd let you come visit us without coming along," Bankotsu stated matter of factly, "We're at Suikotsu's. Do you remember how to get here?"

"Yeah, I do. We'll be over soon, okay?"

"Okay. Bye," He replied.

"Goodbye, Bankotsu," I said simply before hanging up the phone. Inuyasha was glaring at me.

I was about to say something to him, when Miroku spoke up, "At least she didn't say," He slipped into a falsetto, "Oh sure Bankotsu, I'll be there soon. Love ya too, bye."

As I was about to retort, when a pencil hit Miroku in the back of the head. I looked at Inuyasha, who was facing to the side, trying to look innocent.

"Kagome, we're going. Now," He said flatly.

I shook my head and grabbed up a few things.

"Miroku, Sango- we'll be back later," I called out as the door swung closed.

As we went down the stairs, I heard muttering from next to me.

"Inuyasha, you really shouldn't let Miroku get to you like that."

"Keh. Whatever."

Things went silent, as we reached the car I sighed, "I just want to find Jakotsu and get everything back to normal. It seems like all kinds of bad things keep happening to Bankotsu right now, and well- I want to help him."

At first I didn't think Inuyasha was going to respond, but finally he replied, very quietly.

"That's why I don't want you with him when I'm not there. Please promise me you'll never go anywhere or do anything with that guy unless I'm there."

"And why should I? It's my life" I retorted. I could take care of myself, sheesh.

"Because- well I said 'please' damnit, what more do you want!"

I paused; Inuyasha actually said 'please'? He must be fairly jealous, I thought laughing a bit to myself.

"It's not funny!" He yelled back.

"Don't worry. I'll leave Bankotsu to Jakotsu, so stop being jealous."

"Who said I was jealous?" He responded in traditional fashion, then went quiet, "I just don't want...I don't want anything to happen to you..." He trailed off, a light blush on his face.

He's worried about me? I thought to myself pausing as I opened the door to the car.

Coughing as if to diguise his flustered state, he got in the car.

"Oi Kagome? We need to go."

Opening the passenger door, I got in, sat down and turned to him, "I'll be careful, don't worry."

Inuyasha's eyes widened a bit and he just stared at me. Finally he brought himself to talk, "Good."

The drive over to Suikotsu's apartment was silent except for some munching from Inuyasha. Apparently, he'd grabbed a bag of chips on the way out.

I frowned and he tried to mumble something to me with his mouth full, "Wou uant wom?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," I reprimanded.

He swallowed and stuck the bag towards me, "You didn't eat lunch did you?"

"No," I replied, wondering what he was getting to.

"There. It's not all crumbs," He said forcing the bag into my hands.

I blinked. Okay now he was really acting strange. I decided to try and figure out why, "What's with this sudden worry?"

His face got serious, and I decided to make a special note of this rare expression, "It's like you said. Bankotsu was fine 'til now, and then everything starts going wrong. It just- well, makes you stop and think and... ah forget it, it's stupid," He grumbled, face back to its usual expression.

I smiled, taking a chip from the half-eaten bag, "Thanks, Inuyasha."

We reached the apartment and knocked on the replaced door. I hoped that the inside had been repaired as well since the last time we'd been here.

As we waited, I could hear some voices from inside.

"Hey, get the door," Mukotsu yelled.

"Just a second, I'm in the middle of this game," Bankotsu replied.

"Sorry Mukotsu, I'm in a double player game with him. And the stupid baka will cheat if I get up," The two sides of Suikotsu remarked.

Inuyasha knocked again, obviously getting impatient with those inside.

"I swear you two are useless once in front of that TV," Mukotsu grumbled as his footsteps neared the door. I decided it might be best if I moved behind Inuyasha then.

The door swung open, and Mukotsu looked up, "Well if it isn't the lovely Miss Kagome. Do come in," He said standing to allow me in.

I passed by and then he tried to shut the door on Inuyasha. That didn't make him very happy and so I had to turn around and try and keep him calmed down.

That's when I heard Bankotsu's voice from behind me, "Hey Kagome, what's going on?"

I looked over to see that him and Suikotsu were playing some video game and he had currently turned towards me to talk.

Suikotsu was still playing, when he suddenly flung his controller in the air, "Baka yaro! You have to be cheating! How did your swordsman just kill me when you aren't even watching the screen?"

Bankotsu grinned and turned back to him, "Because your Daimyou's men can only do two attacks in close range, one from the left and one from the right. If I come from above, I win. It's all strategy, with a little bit of luck."

I smiled; glad to see that he was trying to stay cheerful despite it all.

"So I take it you had a good morning?" I asked tentatively.

He nodded and gestured to Suikotsu, "Been kicking his ass on this Shogun: Feudal War game. It's easy once you pick up the fighting patterns."

"Kuso, you have to be cheating," The loser said angrily.

"So what was it you guys needed?" Bankotsu asked standing from his spot on the floor.

"Well, just needed to ask about a few things that's all."

"Like?"

"First, we need to know more about that half-made potion that was stolen from you Mukotsu," I said, turning in the direction of the shorter gang member.

"What for?" He said protectively.

"We think Naraku might have taken it, he randomly started freaking out and screaming at himself the other day," I replied.

"You thinking that it gave him another personality?" Suikotsu questioned standing beside Bankotsu.

"We aren't sure, but this was the first time it's happened that we know of and that potion was one missing."

"Well, I guess I can show you some things about it," Mukotsu said walking towards the kitchen, "Come on now sweetheart, I'll show you what I'm currently cooking up."

I winced, yet forced myself to follow. Inuyasha moved from his spot by the wall to join me.

There was a large black vat of sorts ontop of the stove and the shorter man climbed a stool to reach it.

"Now this is my current mix. It's slightly different from the one stolen, but it's another attempt to fix Suikotsu's problem," He said stirring it a bit.

The bubbling blue-gray water had a horrid smell to it and I wondered how anyone could drink it. "So do you think that if someone took this and they weren't naturally MIP, would it possibly make them so?"

He shrugged, "Don't know for sure, I've never used it on anyone but Suikotsu. But given the uh...special ingredients I sometimes use, I guess someone could react to it."

"What kind of special ingredients?" Inuyasha questioned.

Mukotsu laughed nervously, "Nothing a non-trained scientific ear would understand," He said quickly, "A form of a neuroleptic to be exact. It shouldn't cause any problems unless...wait, do you know if Naraku takes Ritalin or something like it?"

I blinked, "I have no idea."

"Well, sometimes the neuroleptic will react with methylphenidate and cause a psychotic reaction," He stated simply, assuming I understood that gibberish of medicinal terms.

"In English?" Inuyasha asked frowning.

"If Naraku takes a medicine like Ritalin and then took my potion, it's very possible that he'll have negative reaction." Mukotsu said seriously.

"Well there's that explanation, now to resolve the other issue-" I muttered to myself, "Thanks Mukotsu, that's a big help."

"Anything for you, beautiful," He said with a toothy grin. I forced a slight smile in return.

Inuyasha grabbed my arm, practically dragging me back into the main room, "Come on Kagome, you need to talk to Bankotsu too," He ground out.

Upon re-entering the other room, I saw that Bankotsu was still playing a video game with Suikotsu. I was about to ask about the Hakushin heist when my cell phone rang.

I barely got out a hello before Kagura's rushed voice began.

"Kagome, where are all the Kotsu gang members?"

I paused, trying to figure out what was going on, "Bankotsu, Suikotsu and Mukotsu are here and I assume Renkotsu is still with Ginkotsu and Kyoukotsu. Why?"

"Jakotsu's gone missing, Musou and I can't find him. The room he was in is empty," Her rushed sentence came through.

I tightened my hold on the phone, knowing my facial expression had drawn the attention of the others to me, "What about Naraku?"

"He's saying he didn't do it, he's pissed that he lost his hostage."

"Then who in the..."

She cut me off, "That's what I'd like to know. Is Bankotsu there?"

"Yes, but should you..."

"I need to ask him about the others, and tell him something, if you don't mind," She said, calming down just slightly.

"Okay," I said, looking to Bankotsu and handing him the phone. I guess my face already told a lot of it.

"Something happened to Jakotsu, didn't it?" He asked before taking it. I nodded.

He bit his lip, the happiness of before completely drained from him, "Hello? Yes. Renkotsu's still there, locked in a room to be safe. Yes." I saw him wince, "I see...so he's just…gone completely? That's all then? Damnit. Yeah, I'll check on them all. Bye."

He slowly handed the phone back to me and hung his head. Suikotsu had placed a hand on his friend's shoulder; and before I could say anything, the Kotsu gang leader had turned to cry on Suikotsu's shoulder. This whole situation was tearing him apart, and I was beginning to think that someone had planned it to.
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Preview for Chapter 12:

Jakotsu's missing even from Naraku, and every one of the Kotsu gang members was accounted for. Who could be the one who desires Bankotsu's emotional demise so much? And can they find them before things get really bad?