Rei says:
I. NOW. HAVE. A. SCROLLY BAR!
Didn't you guys notice it? You had to get to this chapter by scrolling down the scrolly bar thing! Yay!
-sigh- Life is good. G-e-w-d gewd.

Sorry for the wait for this chapter. I had to catch up on things and my school would never load up on the days I wanted it to the most. Anyways. I asked my science teacher, the school librarian, and my mom for help on what they actually do at a morgue. So, I hope it's kind of accurate. ;)

I'm sorry but I'm not going to be able to do the mention-y thingys. Next chapter I promise I will. But thank you to all those who reviewed- the faithful and the new faces. I'm glad people are starting to like the story!

Anyways.On to Chapter 12.
-dramatic music-

Chapter 12

Kana was escorted to the police car that sat waiting outside the apartment building. She could only barely get herself to the car; her mind was racing and she could barely concentrate on anything. The police were speaking, telling her to sit in the back of the car. Was anybody watching? Kana didn't even notice them if they were. She swallowed hard, looking out the window, taking deep breaths to calm herself. The policemen got into the car, and with a backwards glance at her, they started up the car and drove away.

She watched her apartment building fade slowly out of view, her thoughts swiveling back to what was happening now. What would she say to the policemen? 'Oh yeah, a wolf demon who's actually my brother came in and killed him'? That would go over really well. They'd probably send her off into a mental home. Something else bothered her though: how did the police find the body? Didn't the wolf demon take it with him when he left? Well, that's what Yusuke told her. She pressed her head against the cool glass, groaning silently. So much for a lazy afternoon. What was going to end up happening?

The police car slowly came to a stop some time later. Kana opened her eyes, having closed them to try to stop her flow of thoughts. Her brows furrowed. They weren't at the police station like she thought they would be; the car was parked right outside a bland building painted an awful grey color. The policemen got out of the car, and Kana did as well, looking up at the building.

"Come inside with us," one of the men said, and Kana just barely nodded, following them inside. All at once she knew where they were.

The city morgue.

Kana paled, swallowing hard. This is where they kept the dead bodies…in all those creepy file-cabinet drawers…

"Are you all right, Miss Iokuzo?"

Kana blinked, turning to look at one of the policemen. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and nodded. "I'll be fine." She said.

One of the heavy metal doors opened, and an elderly-looking man stepped out wearing a white lab coat. He took off his gloves, which, Kana realized, were stained with blood, and turned to look at Kana and the policemen. He was smiling.

"You're here to see the new arrival, yes?" He said, and Kana thought it was odd how he called the body of her father a 'new arrival'. She shivered, and all at once she wanted to get out of here. She didn't want to see any dead body, not now, not ever. She looked around, debating whether to run.

"Come with me," the elderly man said. Kana guessed he was one of the coroners or something. She looked back at the policemen, then back to the coroner. He looked like a kind man, and his wrinkles looked more pronounced when he smiled. His hair was a thinning brown tone, and his eyes were brown when she got close enough to see them.

The coroner smiled at Kana, and motioned for her to follow him through a metal door. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment, as all she saw in the room was hidden behind a curtain, sort of like they would in a hospital. She knew what was behind that curtain, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to see it. Kana closed her eyes, pausing only for a moment. The coroner looked back at her, and smiled kindly. How could he smile like that, when all day he worked with dead bodies?

"This will only take a moment," he said. "Are you all right miss?" Kana nodded, then he leaned forward and pulled away the curtains.

Kana nodded, and the coroner lifted his arms to slowly pull back the curtains. She saw him. He was just there, lying on the table, his eyes cast upwards, forever cast upon the nothingness. She shivered. His body was so pale, so cold-looking…her eyes softened. Was this the man that she and Aki had so feared once? The one who so roughly spoke to Aki…like that night, that one night that she was never meant to see…

All thoughts stopped then. Kana tore her eyes away from her father's lifeless face, meeting the coroner's gaze. "It's him," her voice cracked as she spoke. The coroner nodded sadly, as if understanding what she was feeling right now. Sadness? Loss? No. It was anger, and also…sympathy? It made sense. Kana knew that he had deserved this, but seeing his body lie there on the cold table like this, she felt a sharp pang of sympathy. Deep down inside, she knew the truth. He washer father. And no matter what he did, she would always love him, whether she admit it or not.

"Do you see this?" The coroner said, motioning to her father's arms. Kana looked to where he was pointing, and saw what he saw. On each of his wrists, two identical slashes stood out against his skin. The contrast, the red of the wound and the paleness of his skin, somewhat amazed her as she stared upon them. How had they gotten there? Suddenly, realization sunk into her. The wolf demon had planned this, made his death seem like suicide, and not murder. Her eyes narrowed.

"His blood alcohol content was extremely high. We found his body in an alleyway, nearly hidden by garbage bags." One of the policemen spoke up. Kana turned to face him, her hands gripping the edge of the autopsy table. "But the odd thing was that we found no weapon on the scene."

The coroner nodded to himself. "His cause of death was suicide."

Suicide.

The word echoed in her ears repeatedly. The word itself sounded so final, so…frightening. Kana knew it wasn't suicide. The wolf demon had made it seem that way. Her eyes fell onto her father's face once more, studying his face. He looked so calm, so peaceful, but in his face she saw sadness. How, she could never explain, but she did. It wasn't suicide. It wasn't suicide.

It wasn't suicide.

"Have you thought about funeral plans?" The coroner asked her, interrupting her thoughts. Kana's eyes widened. The thought never dawned on her.

I-I don't know," she said. "I don't have the money for it…"Desperation sunk into her. Because of her, her father wouldn't get a funeral? That sounded so cruel, even for a person such as her father.

"We've spoken with your aunt," the policemen continued, looking straight at Kana. Aunt? Kana never knew she had an aunt…she blinked, erasing the thought. "She will pay for the funeral ceremony."

"Don't you have a brother?" The other policemen asked. Kana nodded.

"He's eighteen." Kana said. Whatever they were getting at, she didn't like. Her tone was defensive.

"Where is he?"

Kana swallowed. "He's away."

One of the policemen raised his eyebrows. "Away?"

"Yeah, he's away." She said, desperately trying to think of an excuse. "He went on a trip with a few of his friends."

"Leaving you alone?" He said, surprised. Kana felt anger rise in her. "I'm perfectly able to take care of myself. I'm fine."

"But you're only fifteen," one of the policemen said, stepping forward. "Without any parents now," he paused, "your brother, since he's eighteen, would be your legal guardian. But in this case…" he trailed off, straightening his jacket. "Your brother is not suitable to take care of you."

"Now that's not fair," Kana started, but then quieted when she realized what she had done. She cast her eyes downwards, refusing to meet their gaze. She knew what they were getting at now.

"Your aunt has offered to take you in." The policemen said after an uncomfortable silence. "After the funeral, you will be living with her."

They're taking me away, Kana realized. They're taking me away, from everything.

This wasn't fair, it wasn't right…She had to fight; she wasn't going away, not this time. She just started making friends…

Instantly her thoughts went to Yusuke, Kuwabara…Kurama, Isuzu, and Shiko. She had only started getting close to them. She didn't want to leave. This wasn't fair.

She felt her yes well up in tears, but she held them back. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't, she wouldn't.

"Everything will be sorted out during the course of the week," the policeman said. Kana wouldn't look at him in the eye. "I know this is a hard time for you, but you must think of the future."

The future? Screw the future. They didn't know what was going on; with Aki and everything…leaving now isn't smart at all. Only, in this, did she really have a choice? These were policemen, a higher power. A fifteen-year-old had no say in something like this. She sighed.

"We'll escort you back home," the policeman continued. "We're done here. You've done what we needed you to do." He smiled reassuringly, then nodded and said a 'thank you' to the coroner.

Kana nodded slowly, turning back to smile at the coroner before following the two policemen out of the room, turning her back on her father.

The way home was awful. Kana sat in the back of the police car, her head pressed against the cool glass again, fighting back tears.

When at last they arrived at her apartment, Kana climbed out, saying a quiet thank you to the two policemen before they drove off. She climbed somewhat mechanically up the stairs, and then walked down the hallway in a daze before finding her door. She scrambled for the keys that rested in her pocket to unlock the door, sniffling.

After successfully opening and closing the door behind her, she placed her hands over eyes, rubbing them profusely. She wasn't going to cry. There wasn't a reason to. She inhaled deeply, leaning back against the door. She was going to be strong. Nothing was going to happen. She wasn't going to cry, she wasn't…

All at once she gave in, sliding down to the floor and wrapping her arms around her knees, crying.

She slept horribly that night, and the morning was none the better. She got up out of bed, peeling an orange for breakfast. She took a look at the clock, and winced. Noon already? She tossed the orange peelings into the garbage and took a bite into one of the slices of the orange.

Was she really going to have to leave this place? She had already gotten so used to it. Kana sighed, rubbing her eyes and walking over to the couch and turning the TV on. She wasn't in the mood to do anything but sit around and do nothing. What better way to do that than waste away in front of a television?

She used the remote and tried to find something fairly decent, but found nothing. She groaned. Why wasn't there anything on now?

"Ah," she mumbled, landing on the cartoon channel. Teen Titans. Well… there was nothing better on, so why not? She settled back into the couch, watching the screen with only half of her mind. The other half was off and wandering, lost in thought, thinking of everything that had taken place yesterday. Was it all real? It seemed more like a dream. No, not a dream. It was more of a nightmare.

A knock on the door interfered with her thoughts sometime later. Oh, just go away. She blinked, coming back into reality. "Kana?" A voice, muffled behind the door, called out. She knew who it was right then.

"The door's unlocked," Kana said loud enough for him to hear. The door clicked, and Kurama entered, somewhat cautiously. He headed over to the couch where Kana was sitting. He watched the screen with an odd expression on his face.

"Teen Titans?" He raised an eyebrow, watching her. She didn't respond; she only shrugged, staring ahead. A half-smile spread across his face. "You have no idea what's going on, do you?"

"Sure I do," she protested. Kurama draped his arms over the top of the couch, watching her.

"What is this episode about?"

Kana paused, watching the screen. "It's obvious." Her eyes wandered around, searching for an answer. She pointed to the screen. "Robin is fighting that guy—uh, and…that girl with the hood – Rave Girl – she's being emo. Starfire is—oh look, they killed him. They won. Mission accomplished." She looked at him triumphantly, but he didn't seem convinced.

"You had no idea what it was about," he stated. Kana leaned her head back, looking at him.

"Not a clue," she confessed. "But I was convincing, wasn't I?" She smiled proudly.

"Are you all right?" He asked, walking over to the couch. Kana didn't move, but focused her eyes onto him. "Some people said that policemen were here, and I wasn't sure…"

She gave a sad smile. "How is that you know everything?" Kana murmured. He didn't answer; he only lowered his head so his eyes were level with hers.

"Tell me."

She turned her eyes back to the screen, watching the credits roll. He continued to stare at her, but she pretended not to notice. "I'd rather not say," she said after a few moments of silence.

"Kana," he said, his tone was different, strange, stern-sounding. She looked at him, surprised. "I don't like secrets," he said, his tone softer. "You can tell me," he pressed. Kana held his gaze for a long while, debating.

A minute or so passed. Kana suddenly hung her head, sighing, sounding defeated. "You win," she muttered. And then, she told him what had happened yesterday. The morgue, her father...all of this, he listened to with no expression. How could he stay so calm? How could he look at her with that serenity? By now her voice was wavering, breaking. And still, he held his appearance. Something about it was almost humorous, in the darkest way possible. He was so quiet, calm…while on the other hand; she was chaotic, torn into millions of pieces, confused, lost.

She faltered, stopping. She didn't want to tell him what came next. Saying it out loud would make it so final…

"Kana," he said, his emerald eyes searching her face.

She inhaled deeply. "After my father's funeral," she said, "I won't be here anymore."

His eyes widened, as if alarmed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Kana said finally, "The policemen don't think Aki would be a suitable guardian. So my aunt is going to take me in. After the funeral, I'll be living with her from now on." She hastily rubbed her eyes, rubbing away any possible tears. "In one week, I will be gone."

Rei says: Gasp!
I would say something more, but Mike is making me rush. Heh heh. See? I mentioned you. I'm so crafty.
Review and be loved. Forever.