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

Okay, I know I've mentioned his name before in this story, but just in case you don't remember who Kuranosuke Takeda, here's a bit of information on him.

Kuranosuke Takeda (Anime episode 78- Aiming for Sango, Only You) Takeda is a noble whose village was protected by the demon-hunters in Sango's family years before. That's when he first saw Sango, and he's been smitten with her ever since. He wants her to give up traveling and settle down and become his wife. Despite the subtle hints Sango drops, poor Takeda can't seem to understand that she has feelings for someone else, and even when she leaves saying she must "finish her mission" he still holds hopes that she'll return to him and become his wife.

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-June 8th-

Entry at 12:41PM

Sitting back down in the chair, I began to rub at my temples, trying to relieve myself of the headache I was getting. The news crew was beginning to pack up their things while Ayame sorted through her notes, adding a few scribbles now and then. Rin had returned to her place on the floor with her crayons and was working on another masterpiece while Kagura and Sesshoumaru looked on from above. Miroku and Sango were quietly discussing something, but I couldn't make out what from across the room. My little brother, Souta, was interrogating InuYasha; and he was easily weaning all the miniscule details out of my less than amiable partner. I shook my head, that brother of mine was going to either make a good detective or a good reporter when he grew up just due to his inquisitive personality and his natural ability to get people to open up.

As my eyes continued the scan of the room, I caught sight of Bankotsu still quietly leaning against the wall in the corner, rolling Jakotsu's hairpin between his two fingers and every once in awhile, looking to his cell phone. I glanced up to the clock, taking in the time. If we were lucky, we could deal quickly with Mr. Takeda and be down at the warehouse to continue our search for Jakotsu by the late afternoon.

"Kagome, here's the clothing you asked for," My mother's voice penetrated through the dull noise the headache was making.

Looking up, I smiled and took the bundle from her, "Thanks Mama, just sit those for the other's here." I said pointing to the chair as I stood.

"I'll be right back, I need to change," I explained waving my hand as I headed for the bathroom.

Finally coming face to face with my own reflection, I just gaped. My hair was sticking up in all kinds of weird places; I still had some ashes smudged on my face. My shirt was tattered, slightly burnt and ripped in some places, and had black ash on it as well.

I sighed, "Figures the one time I get on TV for something major I look like this…"

Using a cloth to wash my face clean, I quickly changed into the pair of jeans and shirt that my mother had brought up for me. Facing my reflection again, I desperately tried to fix my hair. I was just about to leave the bathroom when I heard an all too familiar voice.

"Sango, darling- I've missed you so much!"

"Mr. Takeda," I heard Sango reply flatly and I peered out the door.

Sango was politely holding back a glare as the Police Chief held her hand, "Sango, what have I told you? We're on better terms than that, aren't we? Come on, call me Kuranosuke."

"Mr. Takeda, I would prefer if we kept ourselves on professional terms," She said firmly.

This didn't stop him though, "It's just like you to be like that, Sango. That's what I love about you- so dedicated to your job and such a tough woman. You know, that secretary job at the station is still open if you want it."

Sango blinked, not so much at Mr. Takeda, but at what was going on behind his back.

While the conversation was going on, Miroku was fuming, and Inuyasha had taken advantage of the situation as usual.

"See- you suck, it's all because you can't keep your hands off of anything with breasts." I heard my less than supportive partner informing Miroku.

The dark haired man continued to glare at the back of Mr. Takeda's head, "I just appreciate the assets that they have been given, that's all."

"Keh. Moron, you need to make up your mind on one, then once you're certain of your feelings- you have to tell her outright," Inuyasha grumbled, and I frowned. People like him should never be giving romantic advice I know they don't follow themselves.

"That's wrong you stupid detective," Kouga butted into the argument, "Girls don't like that. They like it when you just walk up and claim them as your own. You have to take them away from anyone else and protect them from people like this police guy that just think they can move in on your woman."

Shifting my attention back to Sango's plight to avoid Mr. Takeda, I noticed her hand frantically gesturing to me.

"No, Mr. Takeda. We're really busy today, we have to finish working out things with you then we must continue our case. I'm sure Kagome's almost done in the bathroom so you can talk to her now." The brown-haired woman intoned, a not so subtle hint to me to get out there before she killed someone.

Making my presence known, I spoke up as I walked out, "Inuyasha, did you want to change now?"

Breaking apart from the male discussion he was involved in, he quirked his head, "Change?"

I sighed and pointed to the chair, "My mom brought up some clothing for you."

"Oh." He walked over and gathered up his clothes.

The door closed behind him, and I looked about, noticing that the crowded room was missing a few people, "Where'd my Mom and brother go?"

"They're out in the hall talking with Naraku's daughter," Kagura said, pointing to them.

I turned, seeing that it was indeed as she said, then asked one more thing, "And what about Bankotsu? Did someone call him up?"

"Not sure, he just said he was going to walk around some while the cops were here. I guess he was afraid it would cause trouble," The black-haired woman replied.

The news crew was just about all packed up, and Ayame waked over to me, handing me a business card, "Here's my card, Kagome. Just remember, the last name will be changing soon." She shot a glare over towards Kouga.

"Huh? What do you mean, Ayame?" He blinked.

She drug a hand down her face, then looked back up to me, "I'll invite you if you want."

"It's up to you," I replied, knowing that until she walked down that aisle this slight air of rivalry for Kouga would exist between us. I figured, there was no use trying to tell her I had no interest in him; since he's so overly forward, it's easy to get the wrong idea.

"Ginta, Hakkaku- let's go." She called back to the two other men.

As the four began to head out, Kouga paused and took my hands into his, "Kagome, I'm really glad you were safe after fighting against Naraku. You promise me you won't do anything dangerous like that again, okay? If you need someone to handle it, just call me in to do it."

"Eheh…" I laughed nervously, until a voice growled from behind him as the figure emerged from the bathroom.

"If she needs help she has me, moron! I'm her partner damnit!" Inuyasha seethed pulling Kouga away from me.

With a 'hmph' he pried the hands from him and was just about to retort when Ayame yelled at him from the doorway, "Kouga, now!"

"Coming Ayame!" He called back, leveling a glare at Inuyasha and waving to me as he left, "Bye Kagome- see you around!"

"Uh…bye Kouga." I replied, turning back to Mr. Takeda and hoping Sango hadn't killed him yet.

"See, she's ready to talk to you right now, Mr. Takeda." Sango said forcefully and I quickly walked over.

"Okay Mr. Takeda, what did we find out about Naraku's condition?" I asked before he could continue speaking with Sango.

He blinked, "Naraku?" Thinking for a moment, it finally hit him, "Ah yes, the condition with Naraku, he's currently being evaluated at a mental hospital."

"Evaluated?" Kagura questioned.

"They think he's under some deep-state hypnosis," The Police Chief answered.

"I suppose that would account for the strange reaction. As for the puppet master behind it though, do we have any leads?" The dark-haired woman spoke up after glancing to Sesshoumaru.

"Not yet, we think there's someone that does have some information though- we just have to pry it out of them," He replied, then he looked out the door, "I can leave the kid here if you want to talk to her a little. I have other business to attend to in the hospital."

"If you could, there are some things I'd like to ask her," I said, looking over to Inuyasha.

"All right then, I'll be back in a little while." He turned to leave, then paused, "Sango, you can come with me if you want."

She rolled her eyes, "No, it's best I stay here and do my job."

"You're such a devoted detective," He smiled, "You have to love a woman so dedicated to her work." Shaking it from his head, he walked out the door and knelt next to Kanna who was still talking with my brother.

"Yes?" The pale girl inquired.

"I'll be back, but these nice people want to talk to you, okay?"

"Okay," She said flatly, turning towards the room.

Once Mr. Takeda was gone down the hallway, she turned back to my brother, "Souta, your sister isn't mean is she?"

He shook his head 'no', "Don't worry Kanna, Kagome knows that you're just worried about your Dad. She's going to help you get him back, okay? So just…cheer up."

Souta placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled, Kanna seemed to show a slight sign of content emotion in return before making her way over towards us.

As I was just about to say something, I noticed her pull something from the pocket of her white dress, a small white envelope with nothing written on the outside.

"For you," Kanna said in her typical soft voice, handing it to me.

I opened it hastily, and sure enough, there was a simple index card with a small amount of text on it.

"One is safe, yet troubled still. One is fading, faster now –X"

"Kanna, who gave you this?" I asked stooping to her level.

"Dad's friend," She replied.

I paused and thought back over things, then spoke again, "The one who's been caring for you?"

She nodded.

"Can I ask you something else?" I decided it was worth a try.

Quiet for a moment, she finally responded, "Yes."

"Have you and this friend of your Father's been watching him this whole time?"

"I go and see Dad twice a week, even though I'm not supposed to talk to him," Her soft emotionless voice answered.

"So you just look in and check on him?" I was getting somewhere with this, and figured if I kept it up I might discover more.

Nodding once again in reply, I continued to piece it together in my mind.

"One of these notes told us to 'save them both.' Whom did you want us to help?" My breath caught in my throat in anticipation, if it was what I suspected, we had another lead.

"Dad," Kanna paused, then continued after looking about the room, "And a man with pretty long black hair and a purple tank top on that was being held there."

"Jakotsu," My mind guessed. Taking this new information, I began to piece the picture all together. Figuring one last question wouldn't hurt, I glanced about, making sure that Bankotsu was still out of the room, and asked one more thing, "Kanna, do you know anything about a gold ring?"

She shook her head in the negative. I sighed and offered her a smile, "Okay, thanks anyways. You were a big help."

With all this new information, I was really wanting to see what Musou had found out down at the warehouse, but I knew we had to get Kanna back with Mr. Takeda first.

"Hmm, I wonder where else he had to go…" I mumbled aloud.

"He is talking with the two other officers here," Kanna said, her quiet voice almost unheard.

"Other officers?" Kagura questioned coming over.

The pale girl nodded, "They were talking before he came up here."

"What about, can we ask?" The other female detective asked.

"Mr. Kisai's son and Dad's condition," Came the reply.

"Mr. Kisai? Who's he?" Inuyasha asked walking up beside me.

"I don't know," Kanna said in return, the room falling quiet.

"Kagome, we're going home now dear!" My mother called out.

I waved back, "Thanks again Mama, it was a big help."

"No problem, you call me if you need anything else."

"Okay Mama," I replied, noting Souta walking back over to Kanna.

"Kanna, I …well…" He took a deep breath, "I hope we can hang out again sometime, you're really cool."

The girl blinked, then in her emotionless voice replied, "You're 'cool' too, Souta."

My brother smiled then, and gave her a quick hug before dashing out the door, "See ya Kanna. Bye sis, bye Inuyasha!"

I could hear my partner muttering something about 'stupid Naraku's kid not being cool' and just shook my head.

The room fell quiet again and I just observed the goings on. Miroku had returned to trying to win over Sango, without much luck given her already irritable mood. Sesshoumaru sat propped up on his bed silently, watching Rin as she colored in another picture. Kagura had drifted back over to the bedside, and was handing her partner a glass of water when Kaede entered the room.

"Ah, I see the girl found you, but where's Takeda?"

"He was talking to two other officers about a Mr. Kisai's son. That's all we know," I said with a shrug.

"Mr. Kisai's son? Shippou Kisai? He's a patient here," The elderly nurse said in return.

"He is?" I began to put some facts together. Takeda said they had someone else they could pry information from, and now he wants to speak to a boy who's in this hospital. Could they be the same person? Figuring it was worth a shot; I spoke up, "May I ask what room number this Shippou is in?"

"Sixty-eight on the children's wing."

A satisfied smile crept onto my face. If Shippou is the one we need to talk to in order to discover who's controlling Naraku, then we'll just go down there and ask him some questions ourselves.

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Chapter 22 Preview-

A young boy named Shippou might hold the key to finding out who is behind Naraku, but the youngster has a grudge against the police that might keep him from telling anyone what he knows. Can Kagome manage to get him to talk or will the young girl that always visits him help him finally come to terms with his father's death?