Souta's eyes scanned the bright screen of his laptop, he should really be catching up on his sleep but he had to know exactly what his sister did. It had been pure speculation calling her out as the Assassin, he didn't want to believe she could do that but there was no other way she could afford his medical bills.
He rubbed his eyes and pressed his head into his pillows, his fingers twitching against the back of his phone against his leg; one phone call and it would all be over… but he couldn't help feeling like he was doing something wrong. 'Just do it,' his eyes peeled open and he squinted at his screen, thumbing through his phone and holding it to his ear.
"What?"
"Don't what me, Inuyasha." Souta drew in a ragged breath, already regretting the call. "I think… Kagome's in over her head."
Inuyasha remained silent for a moment before clearing his throat, "she'd purify the hell outta me as soon as I get to New York."
Souta agreed silently, Kagome had lost any shred of respect or love for the half-demon as soon as she opened the door to the well house on that last trip. "Look, I don't know but she can't keep doing this herself; she needs help…"
"Let me see what I can do," the half-demon sighed heavily, paper rustled through the line softly, "you guys okay though?"
"No, Kagome's in over her head and I'm dying…" he coughed for emphasis, exhaling shakily and leaning back. "Just get her back to where she needs to be, then we'll be okay."
"Alright, hey uh… sorry I wasn't there to stop what happened."
"Yeah," Souta stiffened at the familiar voice floating through his room as it drew closer and peered at the clock beside his TV, "I gotta go, Kag's is here; not a word that I called."
"Morning Souta," Kagome all but bounced happily into his hospital room, Toasties' to-go bag nestled in the crook of her elbow as she bent to deliver a kiss to his forehead. "How are you?"
Souta shifted uncomfortably and glanced around, he couldn't remember the last time he had seen or heard her so genuinely happy. "Good, I'm good."
"Good," she unloaded his box from the bag and set it on the tray at his feet, rolling it up his bed before turning to drag the chair closer. The youngest Higurashi remained frozen, had she... not again… there hadn't been anything online about another murder. "You're in a good mood."
"I guess," she shrugged and dug into her own meal, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She could feel his eyes on her as she bit into her breakfast sandwich, "why are you staring at me?"
Souta shook his head, lips pursing with a shrug, "last time I saw you like this was… a while ago."
"Had a good night."
"At work?"
"Work was surprisingly good," she agreed with a nod, "didn't think I'd actually like working there but Mr. Cobblepot's great and so are the girls, made a killing off tips too."
Souta grunted and moved his eggs around his tray, that was an interesting word choice in his opinion; "so you made some friends."
"I guess," Kagome licked a piece of yolk from the corner of her mouth and tilted her head, "why are you so invested?"
"Because the last time I saw that look on your face you were telling me about Ezio. Yeah, I looked him up, those robes you came back with made it easy to track down the guy, add in the time period you were in and it was nothing." Souta snorted a laugh at the surprised look on her face and allowed his head to loll to the side, "and that look was reserved for Inuyasha before that… so what's his name?"
Kagome looked up mid-bite, eyebrows reaching for her hair as she shook her head, "excuse me?"
"The guy, what's his name?"
"I don't have a look and there's no guy," she swatted his arm playfully and snorted, "what are you mom now?"
"Fine, don't tell me… I'll just waste away here…"
Kagome laughed and rolled her eyes, sure now he wanted to play up his illness, "alright so I made a new friend, well a few—"
"About time."
"I'm going to ignore that," Kagome pulled her hair over her shoulder and shrugged, "it's nothing though, just trying to make Gotham a little more bearable while I'm working my job… waitressing."
"Waitressing," Souta sniffed and nodded, he wanted so much to hear her confess who she was to him. He knew why she wouldn't, that'd make him an accomplice to her crimes and she wanted him to be as in the dark as possible, "run into Bruce Wayne yet?"
"No, I've met his butler and like four of his kids? Oh and I met the Joker last night, he's nice while he's eating and a surprisingly good tipper."
"You're so lucky," Souta sighed and tilted his head back. "I'd love to work for Mr. Wayne…"
Kagome nodded and rubbed the back of her neck, her brother had always had the dream to work in the WayneTech program; his diagnosis right after their mother's death had left him with nothing but a shattered dream and a cup full of pessimism. "I'll make a deal with you," she bit her lip as she shut the lid to her box, bending down to set it on the ground and leaning forward to brace her elbows on the bed, "get the surgery and if that doesn't work maybe by then I'll have met Mr. Wayne and you can be a test subject for his medical team?"
"You won't know him well enough to ask that favor."
"We'll see."
Kagome rolled her eyes and drew her leg under her, she had forgotten how nice it felt to be a normal 19-year-old without the weight of the world on her shoulders. As normal one can be with a brother on his deathbed at least, she smiled at how his face lit up with her proposal, his eyes hadn't been that bright in months.
"So, what's his name?"
"Souta!" a giggle left her mouth despite her exasperation, shaking her head and dropping her hands to his arm. She gave him a gentle shake, mindful of his IV line and poked him gently, "it's probably nothing but… his name is Jason, he came by after my shift last night with food and I think it's because I gave him a replacement bag of chips."
"What the hell?" Souta shoved himself to sit straighter, pressing the button on his bedside rail to give Kagome his undivided attention easier, "you don't show up for a day and I feel like I'm missing parts of your life now, spill!"
'Bossy ass,' Kagome scoffed and complied, telling him about the car and her ankle, her first introduction to Dick, Alfred and Jason before filling him on everything that happened the previous day. "Nothing too much has been going on though."
"Bull shit it hasn't!" Souta snapped his head down and covered his mouth as a cough wracked his body, he shuddered lightly and pulled his blanket around his shoulders. "I want to meet him."
"I wish you worried about your health as much as you did my love life."
Souta waved off her comment and sniffed, he could feel the tickle in the back of his throat threatening to come out again, the metal taste of blood danced on his tongue and there would be no more hiding it. "Please."
"We're not even… I've only met him twice and last night was the first time we really talked," she huffed and tilted her head back, eyes tracing the metal frames holding the panels above them, "if it gets serious; that's a big if because he's rough around the edges and he seems like he's always angry and the snark—"
"Perfect for you," he swallowed the blood and gagged, "sounds like Inuyasha when you first met him, just your type."
"I don't have a type…"
The look of disbelief Souta delivered made her laugh, "I don't."
"Right, how late did he stay again?"
Kagome covered her face and cleared her throat, when had he gotten so nosy? "Souta…"
He ignored the embarrassment that surrounded her at his name and found himself enjoying it more than he probably should have been, "I'm sick and I never leave this room, I've gotta live vicariously through you. How long was he there?"
"I don't know… midnight I think is when he came over and he left like… 4am?" she delivered a half-hearted glare and averted her eyes quickly, she needed to get him some other visitors.
"It sounds like he likes you, guys are weird with that stuff," Souta nodded confidently in his answer, he knew guys better than she did. "Before you sleep with him, I want to meet him, make sure he's not a sociopath before you get too involved."
Kagome shot to her feet and shoved her chair back in the corner, "I've gotta get going, if I don't catch the 9:35 train back I'm going to be late." Her love life and regular life was one thing to talk about him with but there was no way she was getting into whom she was sleeping with. Leaning over him, she pressed a kiss to his forehead and smoothed his hair back from his face, "I'll be back."
"With the boyfriend, I want to meet him!"
"He's not my boyfriend!" Kagome tossed a wave over her shoulder as she left the room, shoving her hand in her pocket with a frown; she didn't need a distraction right now, her ankle was enough of a setback.
Kagome rotated her ankle with a frown, her boot lying beside her right foot as she assessed the area; it wasn't as swollen as it had been the previous night, but the bruising looked worse. Her fingers delved into her hair, holding her head and bracing her elbow on her knee, there was no way she'd get near Batman with his numerous sidekicks.
"Alright," she slapped her thigh and reached down to pull her shoe on, shrugging her outer robe on. 'Don't forget the money,' she glanced at the duffel bag by her dresser before turning back to her robes, fingers fixing the belt around her waist.
Striding forward, she reached for her blades resting innocently beside a few framed pictures she always made sure to have; she couldn't look at the one on the far end, every time she chanced to look at it she was sure the expression on the man's face would darken, as if his spirit had taken residence in the picture and would give her a look of disapproval every time her eyes met his.
Securing the blades to her arms, she lunged forward and secured the duffel across her chest before turning on her heel and flicking her hood up to cover her head. A grunt left her as she lifted the window, jiggling the sill when it stopped halfway up; 'stupid thing,' slamming her closed fist onto the edges she squealed softly when it started to fall and shoved it up fully, flinging her leg from her window and disappearing into the darkness.
Weary eyes scanned the faces of those already seated at chairs inside My Alibi, just because Dr. Elliot said he'd meet her at the designated time didn't mean she was counting on him showing up. Ducking under the strap of the bag, she dropped it to the bench of an empty booth and slid in beside it. She waved off the grizzled man making his way to her from behind the bar, eyes glued to the front door and tapping the table anxiously.
'Come on…' she perked and adjusted her hood, her eyes following the man in question as he slowly approached her table. She fought the urge to reel back at the bandages covering his face, but his build was familiar enough, "Elliot."
"Does this count as forfeiting our agreement?" he ignored her acknowledgment of him, waving the man from earlier over and ordering a drink, "or are you here to collect?"
Kagome reached beside her and grabbed the bag, placing it between them and shoving it forward, "I've reconsidered… it's all there but you'll have to find someone else to kill Batman."
A chuckle left his mouth, dragging the bag down beside him and leaning forward, "and why is that?"
"Because he's got too many sidekicks and I wasn't paid for them… too much extra work for my taste." She bit the inside of her lip and nodded, never mind the fact that Red Robin was clearly younger than she was and even if it was only a few months she couldn't condone that. "I don't usually do this… but I'm cancelling our deal."
"I see."
Kagome gave a nod and slid out of the booth, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she glanced at the door. She'd scrape the money together some other way… her gig at the Lounge would have to do for now…
"I didn't say we were finished."
"Excuse me?" Kagome turned slowly and tilted her head, had she been unclear? "Well I am."
"Sit down, Kagome."
She jerked as though she had been punched, eyes widening horrifically at the casual use of her name rolling from his tongue. She had been careful, Souta was one thing, but this guy—
"I said sit."
Her stomach rolled as she complied with his command, fists clenched against the cloth of her pants with a glare that would put Sesshoumaru to shame. "We're finished."
"No, you see I paid you to do the one thing no one else could, if you have to break a few Robins along the way then so be it. Let me see if I can put this in words that you'll understand," he took a sip of his drink and tilted the glass around, watching the ice inside lazily, "if you don't kill them, I'll make sure you bury your brother."
There it was, she shot up quickly, knee braced over the tabletop with a blade at his throat and her hand fisting in his shirt. The press of his gun against her stomach almost made her move, her hand tightening and pressing him back, "you won't touch him."
"Are you a betting woman?" he smirked at the small trickle of blood dancing across his neck, "Batman… or better yet Bruce Wayne; I'm not picky at this point."
Kagome's eyes jerked up, the patrons in the bar didn't notice or didn't care of the altercation happening, it had to be a regular occurrence… "I called off our deal, I'm not—"
"Bruce Wayne is Batman," Elliot enjoyed the breath of surprise that left her, her hand slacking in his shirt before tightening, "and how do you think the world will take you being the Assassin?"
She growled angrily and shook her head, first her brother now her name; "kill him yourself."
"I've tried, we all have at one point. I will give you another week," his gun lowered from Kagome's stomach, hand closing around her wrist and squeezing painfully. "One week or you and your brother get the consequences."
