Chapter Ten

Down the Rabbit Hole, We Go

Their son, whom Kenshin and Kaoru decided to name Kenji, was born prematurely. More precisely six weeks before the due date.

By the time, the young family had already moved into a new house. It had a backyard, three bedrooms, a moderately sized kitchen, as well as a living room and a bathroom. The house stood in a newly developed area, with most houses sharing a startling resemblance to theirs, still on sale. Hence, the family of three had very few neighbours. Strangely, it felt a bit lonely not having that one lunatic in the building, who would constantly blast dubstep no matter what time of day or night. However, it was a nice change of pace.

Kaoru went into labour early in the morning, right before her husband's alarm had a chance to ring and wake the pair out of their slumber. No matter how much they had tried to mentally prepare themselves beforehand, the panic still overwhelmed them. The fact that they still had more than a month left to go, served only to unsettle them even further. All they could do was guess if something was wrong and wonder if they would be able to deal with it if there was.

As he drove them to the hospital, Kenshin's hands shook. He was sure, he wouldn't be able to handle it if anything happened to Kaoru or the baby. Nonetheless, he still tried to calm his wife down as she was crying both from the immense pain and overwhelming worry. Fortunately, when they got to the hospital and the nurses looked Kaoru over, the young couple was informed that everything seemed to be going along quite alright. Five hours later, a small, beat red baby boy was born.

As Kenji grew bigger and bigger, the resemblance he held to his father grew more and more overwhelming. It was as if the younger boy was a cardboard copy of the older man. Beginning with the same mop of fire red hair, all the way to the toothless grin the child would offer his parents from time to time. The only trait their son inherited from his mother was her piercing blue eyes. The same one's Kenshin so adored to lovingly stare at.

It was when Kenji was a bit more than two years old when Kaoru returned to work. For the first few months being back in the office, the dark-haired woman was beyond anxious about leaving her young boy at the daycare. Even if she knew perfectly well that her son was in good hands, she couldn't help herself but worry.

The first big case Kaoru worked on after returning to the job was with Kenshin. Remarkably, he was her second chair instead of it being the other way around. If the circumstances would have been different, without a doubt, Kaoru wouldn't have been the first chair in that particular dynamic. Especially, considering how much money was involved there. However, the defendant was charged with rapes and murders of two women, hence the higher-ups came up with the brilliant idea of putting a female attorney on the frontline.

It wasn't the first time they had done this. On many occasions, Kaoru could recall herself standing in front of a stern-faced judge, arguing on behalf of a clearly guilty party. Just because she was a woman and just because it was a rape case.

This approach to things sickened the dark-haired woman. She always felt so incredibly dirty during those hearings. It pained her to have to tear those poor women down, recount their sexual plights and paint her client as the victim of their ventures. She despised seeing the men smirk once she got them off easy and hated herself even more because she felt as if she was setting up another young girl to be assaulted. All she could do was curse herself for not realising earlier how cruel and dirty the reality of a defense attorney was, instead of continuing to stuff her mind with idealistic ideas she carried all throughout her youth.

Before, she would be able to stomach cases like that one a bit better. However, along the way, Kaoru had noticed that after she returned to work after taking maternity leave, she became even more disgusted with the people she was defending. However, the dark-haired had no need to wonder why. She didn't want her son to grow up to be anything like those filthy people.

Kenshin also disliked having to work on this particular case, but his reasons were different from Kaoru's. Of course, he was aware of his wife's discomfort and felt sorry towards her for having to go through this. He was even vocal about it, trying to use his father's influence to get her off this case. However, the true reason behind his protests was that he didn't want to his wife to see how ruthless he could get behind the scenes.

Though Kaoru had seen him working many times before, it wasn't the same as working together. Mostly, she saw him mull over the case files or fill out paperwork. She even only saw him in action at court a few times. Nonetheless, the man was aware just how much his wife disliked seeing him like that and he was afraid that if she witnessed him butter up a judge, buy off few experts who were willing to say about anything during a hearing, she would be disappointed in him.

He could bear to see her angry, he always knew the anger would pass eventually. However, seeing the disappointment in her eyes was a lot different. It killed him to put it frankly. He had only witnessed that emotion fill her features once – the morning she thought he was going to leave her. Nevertheless, that single time was enough for him to know that the last thing he wanted was to have her look at him like that again.

... ∽∾●∾∼ …

In doing her research regarding the defendant by the name of Kiyosato Akira, Kaoru stumbled upon one of her old clients. It turned out that he was married to a woman named Kiyosato Tomoe, with her maiden name being Yukishiro. Which, in turn, made Yukishiro Enishi – a man she defended before taking her maternity leave – his brother-in-law.

An image of a white-haired neurotic man appeared in her mind. A man charged with three murders and a robbery – all in all, quite a serious case.

It wasn't hard for the dark-haired woman to recall the case. In all honesty, it was strangely an easy one she won without even going to trial by arguing an insanity defense. Not like it wasn't true that the man clearly needed the help of a psychiatrist, however it had been too easy. If the prosecutor had truly tried, he could have easily gotten a guilty verdict by pointing out the flaws in her version of events that occurred.

Back then, such an easy victory had already grabbed Kaoru's attention. However, she ended up writing it off as the prosecutor simply being fresh out of law school. After all, Hiko had mentioned that the newbies were too soft, and sometimes would let one or another suspect slip through the cracks. They were afraid to ruin an innocent person's life, and, while still not entirely comfortable with the new position, would question every guilty verdict they got.

Kaoru ended up rereading her old case files regarding the man. She even went as far as to research the case prosecutor argued more thoroughly than ever. It was only then, almost three years later, that she found out that the prosecutor was not fresh out of law school. Despite the youthful appearance the man had, it turned out that he was nowhere near being new to the rodeo. It had been his fifth year on the job. Unsurprisingly, after losing the case, the prosecutor came into money and even quit his job. Thought, the strange part was that Enishi didn't have a penny to his name.

... ∽∾●∾∼ …

"Mrs. Himura?" A nurse – a woman in her fifties – called out when she saw Kaoru walking down the hallway of a psychiatric hospital.

"Madeline, it's great to see you!" The dark-haired woman replied enveloping the older female in a tight hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, things happened and I had to change jobs. How's the little rascal?" A small smile appeared on the nurse's lips when she mentioned Kenji.

Kaoru first met Madeline back when she was still pregnant with Kenji. Previously, the woman also worked as a nurse, only in gynecology. It just so happened, that during most of the check-ups Kaoru went to, Madeline was there and eventually, the two women ended up getting on quite well. With a pang of guilt, Kaoru remembered promising Madeline to contact her even after she had given birth and not following up on the promise.

"Oh, he's a prankster. We keep getting calls from the daycare because he got into a fight or something. He doesn't really behave any different at home without Kenshin scolding him either. And even then, the moment my husband is out of his sight, he starts acting up again." Kaoru felt giddy talking about her son.

"Well, they're called the terrible twos for a reason." The older woman laughed.

"I just want to know where he gets the energy." A sigh escaped Kaoru's lips though she continued smiling. "How about your daughter?"

"Oh, you know what she's like... She's getting married again and I just hope that this time she'll be happier than with her first husband." The woman fidgeted with the pen in her hands as she talked.

"So, how's your new son-in-law shaping up to be?"

"Not really my style, to be completely honest. In my youth, I wouldn't have given him a second look. Fortunately, my daughter isn't me and they seem to love each other quite a lot." Madeline continued with a glint of happiness in her eyes. "Anyway, enough about me. Why are you here? This is the last place I expected to see you."

"I'm visiting someone." Kaoru's face got serious, realising she got too carried away. "Yukishiro Enishi. Do you know him by any chance?"

"The young man with white hair?" Kaoru affirmatively nodded at the question. "Well, of course, I know him. He has those random bursts of anger and occasional hallucinations. A bit secluded, but all in all, quite a nice person. I never knew that he was your friend."

"Not really a friend." The bright-eyed woman corrected. "I was his lawyer on the case that landed him in here. I was hoping I could speak to him."

"Umh. There might be a bit of a problem. How about I see what I can do and the next time you come here, bring a photo of your little boy in return?" Madeline smiled gently.

"I think we have a deal."

... ∽∾●∾∼ …

"I thought I said that I don't want to take any visitors." Enishi greeted Kaoru with those words.

"Well, I'm not just any visitor."

Kaoru closed the door behind her and looked over the man standing in front of her. His hair was just as unruly as when they first met, only a bit longer. The only change in his physique was that during those years they hadn't seen each other, he got a bit more muscular. Other than that, the man really didn't change. Even the shades he was wearing seemed to be the same.

"Doesn't mean that I want to see you." His eyes remained hard.

"I came to talk about Akira."

She leaned against the door adjusting the straps of her bag. She had been carrying it around all day, without getting a chance to put it down. As a consequence of that, now it started painfully digging into her shoulder.

"Kiyosato Akira?"

"He's your brother-in-law, isn't he?"

"What if he is?" Enishi frowned.

"Well, I know your sister asked him to pay off the prosecutor on your case. You know, the man is probably living it up somewhere in the Bahamas right now."

"And I should care about that because?"

"I have connections in the prosecutor's office. A little birdie could whisper someone that your sister had a hand in bribing an officer of the court. They could press charges." She threatened. In all honesty, Kaoru didn't know if she would go through with it. Right now, she just needed the answer.

"Don't you dare to get my sister involved!" The white-haired man huffed in anger.

A shiver went down Kaoru's spine. Alarm bells started going off in her head. She was afraid Enishi would attack her.

"I won't if you tell me a few things."

... ∽∾●∾∼ …

"Kenshin, do you have a minute?" Kaoru reached out to her husband the night of the same day.

They had come back from work only a few hours ago. A lot later than either of them would've liked. Kenji was soundly asleep on their bed, having cuddled up to his mother when she was reading through Akira's alibi.

"Yes, sure, love." The red-haired man looked up from his laptop, having busied himself with finishing the work he was behind on.

As Kenshin looked at the woman standing in the study's doorway, he welcomed a break from the task. His head had been hurting due to the conflicting statements given by the key witnesses and his wife seemed to be the perfect salvation. Especially, with her hair pulled up into a messy bun, her blue dress shirt wrinkly from a long day of wear and her suit skirt finally exchanged for a pair of comfortable sweatpants.

Kaoru left the room, motioning to her husband to stay where he was, only to return moments later carrying a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. Kenshin raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"We'll need it." The woman claimed while filling both glasses almost to the rim. "Today, I found out something about Kiyosato Akira."

"Oh?" Kenshin stared at his wife as she sipped the whiskey. He himself left his glass untouched.

"I know how he makes his money."

"Now, that's not really our business." The redhead started with the intention of ranting for a bit, but Kaoru cut him off.

"Human trafficking and drugs. He gets them addicted, wait until they run up a debt, 'loans' them the money to pay it off and in return sells them into pleasure houses and similar establishments. He even does it to children."

"Oh god." Kenshin whispered while rubbing his temples. His headache increased almost tenfold after listening to Kaoru. In the back of his mind, the redhead wished that he had lied to his wife. It would have been easier if he only said that he was busy. "Are you sure?"

"I am." The tired woman nodded solemnly. "Here, I'm certain you need this as much as I do." She placed the glass, which Kenshin had been ignoring completely, directly in front of the said man.

"How did you find out all of this?"

"I defended his brother-in-law once." Kaoru left out the part where she threatened Enishi. "However, he claims that his charges are bogus. According to him, Akira's not the kind of a man to get involved directly. Someone probably wants to take him down."

"This is big..."

"I just don't know what to do." Kaoru's eyes started getting teary. "If I ignore this, I won't be able to live with myself thinking about those people... about all those deaths and families they left behind. But then... But then I look at our son... I look at you... And I get scared... What if I lose you...?"

Kenshin took a big gulp of whiskey and set the half-empty glass on the ground.

"Let's just throw the case." He suggested.

AN: To be completely honest, I wasn't planning on updating today. I just edited quite a large chapter and just wanted to have a quick readthrough of the chapters I still have yet to post in this fic, only to discover that I had finished editing this chapter a while ago, but never got around to posting it. I give no promises, but due to this, I might upload the next chapter the next week.

This fic, it's been my baby for a long time, now that I think about it. I thought of the plot almost a year before I actually started working on it, and I never thought that such a long way would be ahead of me. You see, I mostly write and post one-shots. Sometimes a three or four part fics, but I don't have a good track record with the longer ones. Yet, this stands in contrast to it. I'm really thankful for everyone who has stayed with me during this journey, and I hope that you will enjoy this and the future chapters.

Positive and negative comments are welcome.