Akiya rubbed her temples as she looked up briefly from the samples laid out before her and Akil down in forensics.
So, all they had were a few hair samples, a blood sample from the carpet, which was Rin's blood, and a few splinters from some of the furniture.
"This was all that was recovered from the scene, Nakamura- san…" the blonde human said, getting the rest of her files together. "We still have to finish some test on the hair samples…"
"Wait a minute…" Akil said, placing latex gloves on. Akiya did the same. She suspected that Akil saw something in the samples. Her eyesight wasn't as good as his, but she trusted his intake on details. Akil took a pair of tweezers and separated a few of the hair samples. Akiya noticed that the strands were darker.
"Test these ones…" Akil said. "They have a different scent that the others. It's defiantly not one of the Tashios…"
"Hai… Nakamura- san…" the forensic scientist said, as she placed the samples on a sampling tray and went inside the lab.
"Can you smell it too Akiya?" Akil asked.
"Its smells like dragon. But it's not Ryusei's scent…" Akiya replied. "There's also a hint of the sea along with it."
"That narrows the location down if you ask me..."
"I agree. They're hiding her somewhere along the coast. If it's in Okinawa, then we got some issues there."
"Too many civilians?"
"Yeah… though that would probably be a good place to hide, since they would probably figure out that we wouldn't want to hurt any civilians."
"I'll go call the branch in Okinawa to keep on the alert…."
"Not yet. We still need the results from the hair samples. That way, we can narrow down the list of suspects…"
"What ever you say Akiya…"
Then, Akiya's phone started to ring.
"Hold on…" Akiya said, as she walked out of the examination room to take the call.
"Akiya… something's going on that the police doesn't want the Elite to know…" Kohaku said over the phone.
"Yeah?"
"They already got a list of Youkai Mercenaries that could have been hired to steal Karei. So far, they have the Samyosho on the top of their list…."
Akiya thought for a moment. She only came in contact with them once on a mission. She never forgot the look of the female dragon youkai that almost made her miscarry Michiko.
"I have a feeling that they're going to do something stupid, like break into an old hideout of theirs…"
"Try to keep them from that Kohaku…" Akiya said. "They always booby trap their hideouts. Anyway, come down here when you get off your shift there. I think I might have a new lead."
"Right, Akiya…"
"See ya then…"
Akiya hung up her cell phone. When she walked back into the examination room, the forensic scientist just came back with the results.
"Though there are signs of repeated dying, this is defiantly a match to a Ryukotsei, Ryuka, the ring leader of the Samyosho Mercenary Squad…."
"I'm pretty familiar with them…" Akiya said, her eyes narrowing. "They wouldn't go anywhere near Okinawa, as their home base is Tokyo. So it's safe to assume that Karei wasn't taken out of town."
"Akiya, this is bad. The Samyosho are one of the most dangerous gangs in Tokyo. They wouldn't hesitate to hurt a little girl…" Akil said, after gathering the results from the scientist.
"I know…" Akiya replied, trying to hide the worry in her voice.
She didn't know where to look along the coast, but she knew she had to think fast, before anything bad happens.
Karei took another sniff. She could smell the ocean from the window.
"Get away from there!" the dragon lady shouted, pulling Karei away.
Ryuka pushed Karei back down in her chair. She then turned to Hakudoshi.
"GO out and keep watch. Channel your youki to me if you see anything out of the ordinary." Ryuka said.
"Right…" Hakudoshi replied, as he exited the room.
Channeling youki? Karei thought to herself. She remembered her father trying to teach it to her one day on one of their trips to Hawaii.
'If you ever get lost and you can't remember where you were, stay where you are, think really hard, and focus your youki on the person you had in mind. That way, I'll find you…'
An idea came into Karei's head. She figured that her parents wouldn't be able to get passed the guards. Well, maybe her dad, but the odds of that were slim. Then she thought about her Aunt Akiya (they're not related mind you). She was part of a group that mastered major butt whooping.
But Karei decided that now wasn't a good time to try the channeling trick, especially with the dragon lady nearby.
"Ok, puppy…" Ryuka sneered, as she pulled Karei back to her feet. "The boss would like a little chat with you. Be respectfully and don't speak unless spoken to…"
Ryuka dragged Karei down the corridor and the two entered the room.
Kentaro and Naraku looked up from the documents they were looking at.
"Here she is…" Ryuka said, pushing Karei forward. Karei placed her arms in front of her, to prevent the fall from hurting her.
"Ryuka, I told you to treat the girl with respect…" Kentaro said, narrowing his eyes at the dragon demoness.
"Forgive me, Ritoki- san…" Ryuka said, and then she exited out of the room, only to be standing guard outside.
"So… Miss Tashio…" Naraku started "How are you enjoying your stay with us?"
Karei remained silent. She still had the chills she got from when she first saw Naraku.
"Weren't you wondering why you were taken away from your family?" Kentaro asked.
Karei still wouldn't reply back. She only glared back at them.
"I told you that the kid was stubborn…" Kentaro said to Naraku.
"Relax, Kentaro- san…" Naraku said calmly. "She'll come around…"
Naraku reached over and cupped Karei's chin.
"She looks a lot like her father, doesn't she?" Naraku commented.
Kentaro huffed.
"But she acts like her mother…"
Naraku looked over at his partner in crime.
"You're still pinning after the wench?"
"Don't call my mom names…" Karei blurted out.
Naraku gave Karei a look.
"See? I told you she'd come around…"
"What do you want with me?" Karei asked, hoping to get some answers.
Naraku looked the little girl straight in the eye.
"Your daddy's business…" Naraku replied.
"If he or your mommy wants to see you alive again, he has to agree to join our companies together…"
"Why are you bothering trying to explain business to a child?" Kentaro asked, annoyed.
"She's not so simple minded, Kentaro- san. She understands… right?" Naraku said, looking back at Karei.
"Humph… well, I just hope that this is a good blow at Sayuri for putting me through hell…" Kentaro said.
"Watch your language. There's a lady present…"
Karei's gears were once again in motion. So far, she found out that she was being used as leverage for a merger with her father's company, and that the Kentaro guy wanted to hurt her mother.
"I think that's all the time we have, my dear…" Naraku said. He snapped his fingers, and Ryuka entered the room, taking Karei back to her prison.
Kagome entered the house. Sayuri was in the room where the new baby's going to be, already talking to a few of her people about what could be done. Akane walked up behind Kagome and tugged at the end of her skirt.
"Is Auntie Sayuri going to be ok?" Akane asked.
"Hm?"
"She doesn't act like it, but I can sniff out that's she really sad…"
Kagome sighed and wrapped an arm around her daughter.
"I hope so Akane…" she replied.
Akane hugged her mother back.
"I miss Karei…" she said. "It's boring without her…"
"… and I think here…" Sayuri said, pointing at a corner "would be a good spot for the crib…"
"Made of what, Tashio- san?" one of her assistants asked.
"Let me think… since the walls are going to be sky blue with white clouds blending in… I'd say oak wood furniture should be in order…."
"I agree…" the others said.
"That'll be all for today…" Sayuri said, ushering everyone out of the room.
Kagome and Akane stood back, as the entourage of people exited their home. Only Sayuri stayed behind. She went over to Kagome and Akane, while rubbing Akane's dog ears.
"Sae…" Kagome started to say.
"I'm fine…" Sayuri replied. "Really…"
"It's ok to cry you know…" Kagome said, gesturing Sayuri to sit with her on the couch.
"Why should I?" Sayuri asked, taking a seat. "I should be happy. I mean, I got a niece or nephew on the way…"
"Auntie Sayuri…" Akane said, squeezing in between the two women. "Is Rei- chan going to be home soon?"
That last question stung Sayuri.
"I… don't know, sweetie…" Sayuri said, her voice breaking a little.
Kagome pulled Sayuri in for a hug. Sayuri slowly started to cry… again…
"It's ok, Sae…" Kagome said gently. "We'll get through this…"
Akane felt bad for asking the question, so she hugged her aunt from behind.
"So… nothing yet?" Miroku asked, drinking another beer.
"No sign. No clue… nothing…" Sesshomaru replied, staring back into space.
"Must be hard on you guys…" Inuyasha commented. "Especially Sae…"
"What do you…"
"I had to look at her medical records when Karei was born. I know about her being hospitalized for depression…"
"Sayuri was hospitalized once?" Ryusei piped in.
"Once… and I'm doing all I can to make sure she doesn't relapse…" Sesshomaru said, getting a little defensive.
"Well, the girls are helping out when they can. The key thing is to keep her busy right? Keep her mind off things?" Miroku asked.
"That's why I'm a little happy that Kagome's pregnant again. Now all Sae can talk about is what she doing to that damn room."
"You don't even have it that bad!" Inuyasha snapped. "You're not living with the crazed pregnant woman…"
"OK You two!" Sango's voice boomed through the room, with 11 year olds Mika and Sano walking into the apartment one by one, with their heads down.
"I can't believe you two would do that! That was an important client to your dad's firm! Sano, No TV, video games, IMing, surfing the net, skateboarding, going out on the weekends. Mika, no reading for fun…" Sango went on, marching the twins to their room.
"I hope I never have twins…" Ryusei muttered. Miroku looked shocked.
"What did those two do now?"
Sesshomaru and Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk.
Hikaru- San: Yup decided to update again! Getting more interesting, nee?
Recap!
Sano and Mika are the twin children of Sango and Miroku…
So ya! Please read and review!