Shiori awoke with a start, holding her stomach and sighing. She stood up abruptly, looking around. A letter fell to the floor at her feet and leant down, cautiously picking it up. She unfolded the paper and saw a messy but clear scrawl over the page. Sitting down, she began to read.
"Dear Shiori,
I'm so sorry that we had to treat you so roughly, but we believed it was for the best. I hope you can forgive us. We now know what happened, and are going out again to search for your son. It seems he's gone north, a long way north. Please don't call the police, as this would make it harder to act and explain to everyone concerned. I swear we will bring him back, Shiori. Please, although I don't deserve it, put your trust in me.
Love and Apologies, Hiei."
Shiori stared at the page with confusion. How had they found out what happened, and why hadn't Hiei told her? She sighed. She was used to her son running off for days at a time, sometimes longer, but she'd never had cause to worry about her level-headed son. Now was completely different. She lifted her knees to her chest and rested her head on them, sobbing over the letter crumpled between her stomach and thighs. She'd give Hiei her trust, she decided, but that didn't make it any easier. To distract herself, she left the room and took out her cleaning supplies, walking upstairs and pushing Kurama's door slowly open. She knew what was coming, but for some reason it still shocked her as she looked at the blood. She walked into the bathroom and set her things down. It stank, and she was going to start here. With a brush in hand, she leant over and flushed the toilet to get rid of the worst, and then leant down to scrub the floor. In that way, she'd keep herself busy for several hours.
She leant back against the door and smiled proudly. The room was once again spotless. She lifted the uniform from the floor and folded it, placing it on his chair. The only thing she hadn't moved was the rose. Somehow, though she'd no idea why, she couldn't bring herself to remove it. So, turning her back on the room, she left the rose strewn over the middle of the floor.