~Dizzy Defense for an Underdog~

Chapter Four: You Done Me Wrong

There was a blanketing tenseness covering their meeting. Inuyasha watched with steely eyes as Kagome fidgeted in her chair, her pen tapping anxiously under the scrutiny. She hadn't said anything since he'd failed to respond to her 'good afternoon', and now both were caught in a stalemate which neither seemed willing to break.

The defense attorney opened her mouth a few times, gaping soundlessly before falling back into confused silence, her eyes darting furtively from the table to Inuyasha's glare. He was more than happy to sit and watch her squirm. He'd had hours upon hours to speculate on her strange behaviors regarding his case, and the doubts had continued to build until he had a whole case of accusations against her. She wouldn't have been able to defend her own hide from his prosecution. But he didn't want to dish it out to her yet. Once he'd had his fill of her… once he was ready to see her leave, he'd pull the plug out from under her dainty feet.

A sharp rap on the glass broke the uncomfortable reverie, drawing the attention of the room's occupants to two waiting figures on the other side of the window. Inuyasha felt a growl building in the back of his throat to see Jakotsu and Bankotsu leering at him and his visitor. Their taunting remarks were lost on Kagome thanks to the glass partitions, but Inuyasha's sensitive ears picked up every word, and his anger grew. "Floozy", "tramp", "lying broad", "she's playing you for a sap"; Inuyasha watched in satisfaction as the laughing prisoners were herded away by a guard, but not before they got in a couple gestures that Inuyasha hoped his attorney wouldn't understand. Turning back to face her, she seemed more confused than offended, and the convict breathed a sigh of relief.

"What was all that about?" She muttered to herself, turning back to ask him "Do you know those men?"

The nervous strain in her voice had him answering before he could remember why he'd been so mad at her before. "Just my neighbors" he said indifferently, noting how her gaze stayed drawn to the room beyond theirs, her posture tense as though she expected them to spring up again. It set him on edge, seeing her so shaken up. For some reason, he didn't like it; she shouldn't have been so worried. Not with him around.

"Look, don't ya got some questions for me?"

Kagome met his angry gaze with a puzzled one, and arching an eyebrow she responded "Yeah, I do. For starters, why not explain why you were ignoring me earlier?" Her expression was stern, and Inuyasha tensed; his anger was quickly evaporating, and now he could only hope she'd drop it. "It was nothing, alright?" he said imploringly, "Just forget it."

"Not likely" Kagome huffed, crossing her arms and tapping her finger in frustration. "You come in here and refuse to talk, wasting valuable time, and then start offering to answer questions as if nothing ever happened? I don't think so, buddy." She leaned towards the glass menacingly, and Inuyasha flinched despite the partition. "Before we get to anything else today, you're going to tell me exactly why you were so mad at me earlier, and for no good reason!"

"No good reason?" Inuyasha mimicked, his previous anger starting to bubble up again, "Oh it was for a damn good reason: the reason that you keep lying to me!"

Kagome looked as affronted as though he'd just slapped her, temper flaring as she shouted back "Lying to you?! About what? I've meant everything I've said about getting you out of here!"

"But why do you want me out?" Inuyasha spat, his earlier doubts and fears festering once again as he looked at her pretty face, too pretty and too kind to be real, to be genuine. "Admit it: you only want me outta here so's I'll tell you more about Kikyo's jewel."

He'd expected her to look upset, offended, maybe even guilty that she'd been deceiving him. He wasn't expecting more confusion.

"Why would I be worried about the Shikon Jewel?" She asked casually, as if he were being ridiculous about the whole thing. Her reaction made him confused, then frustrated, then even angrier. "You wouldn't" He shouted, slamming his hands on the table, "because you already got it! But it ain't enough, is it doll-face? No, you can't just sell that thing – without the missing ingredient, it's nothin' but a marble. You can't figure it out, so you been tryna squeeze me for dirt on it; you want me to spill all Kikyo's secrets on the damn thing so you can take what's hers and make a mint!" Her innocent wide eyes burned his heart, making him wish she'd never shown up at all. He'd been starting to believe in her, and even now she was playing him, just like Bankotsu had said; playing him with those big brown eyes and rosy cheeks. "So if that's all you're here for, you can forget about the retrial."

Arms crossed, head bowed, he glared at her beneath dirty bangs and waited for the stammering, the huffing, the dismissals and lies. But she only smiled at him, soft and sweet, and all of his walls crumbled, leaving him vulnerable and hurt. "Well you're lucky that's not why I'm here" she said, folding her hands on the table before her in an almost pleading way as she continued kindly "I thought you already knew, but it seems that no one told you. The jewel turned up at Kikyo's funeral; a relative somehow found it, brought it, and she was buried with it."

Inuyasha was stunned into speechlessness, and Kagome frowned at his reaction. "I suppose even after it turned up, no one bothered to weigh it as evidence in your favor, did they?" At her sympathetic look, Inuyasha grit his teeth, swallowing, and then said hesitantly "So why's everyone been aksin' me about it all these years?"

Fingers tapping nervously, Kagome was quiet for a moment before answering "Probably because… only a year or so after her death… someone robbed her grave. The jewel's gone now. Maybe they think you orchestrated it or something, but the fact remains that no one knows where it is now."

Inuyasha felt a weight settle on his heart. He hadn't thought very fondly of Kikyo in all the years he'd been incarcerated, but to think of her grave being robbed… of some low-life scum desecrating the final resting place of the woman he once…. His fists clenched, claws biting into his palms, and distantly over the sound of blood pumping in his ears, he heard Kagome say softly "I'm sorry. I thought you knew."

He looked up at her, seeing genuine concern and empathy swimming in her chocolate eyes, and his rage calmed. "No one woulda bothered to tell me" he rasped, and she nodded understandingly.

"It's alright if you want to call it a day" she said softly, catching his angry eyes and holding them, "I know that's a lot to process, and I understand if you need time to… grieve."

"I ain't a porcelain doll" he said gruffly, but he noticed that she smiled in response.

"I never would have guessed" she quipped, turning in her chair slightly to leave.

But Inuyasha wasn't ready to see her go – not yet. Realizing she wasn't the villain he'd been painting her as, he wanted her company for as long as he could get it. Her words had taken a weight off his shoulders and she was the only thing keeping him grounded. "Wait!" She looked just as surprised as he did by the outburst, and for a moment he floundered, unsure of what he could say to keep her. His thoughts turned back to an old stand-by, a question he found himself pondering over for long hours, day and night, and he found it spilling from his lips before he could stop it. "Why you wastin' your time on a halfbreed like me?"

She rolled her eyes, sighing as though he were some pestering kid. "I've told you before Inuyasha, you've been unjustly imprisoned, and I mean to get you out! Besides, didn't I already say that there's nothing wrong with you being half-demon?"

"But how? How can you say that?" He didn't need to add the thought 'how can you believe that?'

She sat regarding him quietly, her arms crossed, and then said "Put out your hand."

His eyebrows shot up at the strange request, but she only repeated herself more firmly. "Put your hand up to the glass, like this." Her own hand rose to the partition, her palm lying flat against it. He stared at it for a moment, and slowly, hesitantly, brought his own hand up to cover hers.

Her smile was pure as gold as she explained "Not so very different, are they? You have hands, I have hands. We each have five fingers, we each have palms. We each have fingerprints that mark who we are."

Inuyasha found himself lost in a sea of thoughts as he stared at the small hand on the other side of the glass. He could have folded his fingers over hers, if only the wall wasn't blocking him. She was so much smaller than he was. A streak of protectiveness sped through his blood, but he tampered it down quickly. He was being ridiculous. "I still have claws" he said brusquely, removing his hand from the glass, bringing it under the table and rubbing at it firmly as a strange sensation tingled through his fingers, as though he could remember her touch. He wondered what her skin felt like. "And not all demons can take human form, y'know."

Kagome only grinned at his moody response though, and said "Well then I guess that just makes you special."

There was nothing he could say to that; no argument he could form to tell her she was wrong. If she wanted to believe he was special, well… he sure wasn't about to stop her.

"I won't keep you longer. If there's anything else you need, or any questions you have, just let me know."

"There is one thing…" he said quickly, and Kagome paused before getting up, leaning over eagerly to listen. Her helpful attitude stung; he couldn't believe he'd ever doubted her sincerity. "Find the bastard who did it" he told her, his voice low and serious, "Find the one who filched Kikyo's grave and send him here. The slammer's too good for scum like that, but I ain't gonna ask you to kill anyone."

"I'm glad", she said amusedly. "But who knows! A lot of people admired Kikyo – a jury may just grant your wish!"

He looked back at her with a smirk, and noticed a bit of color seeping onto her cheeks as she quickly looked away. "That's all for today then" she said, gathering up her things, not bothering to ask his leave, "I'll have someone look into the jewel; in the meantime, I've got to prepare to meet with the Judges to discuss your retrial!" Standing up, she turned to look back at him, tucking a curly lock of midnight hair behind her ear and making the breath catch in his throat as she continued softly "Wish me luck." He swallowed hard and nodded, hoping she wouldn't catch his reaction, but luckily she turned away, rambling on "When I come back in a couple days, we'll go over your alibi. I know it's been a while, but take your time and really think things over; I'm certain that between the two of us, we'll find just what we need to prove your innocence!" She smiled at him once more before seeing herself out. Inuyasha craned his neck to watch her go, cursing as the metal and glass partition blocked his view. He could still hear the click of her kitten heels retreating down the hallway beyond, and he took one more deep breath of her scent before his guard came in to cuff him and lead him away.

"A detective?"

"Yup! Find me all the listings you can." Kagome didn't spare her assistant a second glance as she sat down again with Inuyasha's files, pouring over them and jotting down important notes as she prepared her appeal. Hojo stood fidgeting a moment more, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he watched his distracted boss. After a minute of inactivity, Kagome turned her attention back to him, raising an eyebrow and prompting him to open his mouth and blurt "Wouldn't it be easier just to get the police detective?"

"Easier, maybe" she responded, looking away only to have her glance fall on Inuyasha's mugshot. She blushed and looked away hurriedly. "But that'd hardly be fair to Inuyasha. I need someone who can look at this objectively; find me someone who works with demons, if you can. We're going to need to look at this from all angles; I don't want anything getting glossed over… not this time."

She turned back to her work with a vengeance, and Hojo quickly excused himself to begin his search. He didn't quite understand her reasoning, but if she wanted a private detective, he'd find one. And if she wanted one who worked with demons, well… he'd do his best.

Getting back to the reception room, full of cabinets and overflowing shelves, Hojo took a deep breath and squared his shoulders before diving in. Figuring a phone directory wouldn't be the best bet for finding a reclusive detective, he began rifling through the Older Higurashi's store of paperwork. The old man had kept everything, from newspaper clippings to receipts, and it appeared that he'd never bothered to sort through them. Hojo checked every drawer and cupboard, eventually finding a box of cards covered in sloppy handwriting. The sight of numbers brought a triumphant smile to the young assistant as he realized he'd found just what he needed. Setting the box on his desk, he poured through its contents, praying to find some system of organization. Unfortunately, the only thing the cards had in common was that they were severely lacking in useful information. At the end of two hours, Hojo managed to assemble a meager stack of what he hoped were numbers for private detectives – he could only guess that the scribbled letters 'PD' in the upper right-hand corners didn't stand for something else entirely.

Steeling himself for an awkward conversation, Hojo dialed in the numbers on the first card, only to be met with an operator telling him the number was no longer in use. Several more cards met the trashcan this way. A few dozen cards later of no good numbers and agencies who refused to work with demons, Hojo was ready to throw in the towel. Surely once he told Kagome that there was no one else, she'd take the smart route and work with the police. He rifled through the few remaining cards, hoping to see duds that he could throw out, but there was simply no way of knowing until he tried. And he had to try, no matter how uncomfortable; Kagome was counting on him.

With a heavy sigh he picked up a worn card and turned the dial until a bell on the other end began to ring. And ring. And… ring. He wasn't sure how long he sat on the phone, waiting for the other end to pick up, but he stuck it out, determined to make this one count. Hojo jumped slightly when finally the ringing stopped, and a sleepy, slurring voice answered on the other end "H'llo?"

"Good afternoon! I'm calling from the Higurashi Law Offices for a Miyatsu, Private Detective?"

There was a long, heavy sigh on the other end, and Hojo waited patiently until the voice finally, answered in aggravation "You won't find Miyatsu here. His grandson's taken over the business."

"Oh!" Hojo clutched the ear piece to the phone anxiously, hoping beyond hope that this would be the end of his search. "Then his grandson is a Private Detective?"

"He is…" the man on the other end answered slowly, almost cautiously, "but he's extremely busy. It would be difficult for him to take on another client at this time."

"Is there any way I could speak to him?" Hojo didn't bother to hide his pleading tone, hoping he might gain some sympathy from the Private Detective's assumed secretary. He was far past the point of pride.

"… He's out" was the only reply however, and Hojo feared that the short reply meant the conversation was over. "This case is a very important one!" he said quickly, not at all believing his own lie, "It should bring in a lot of money. Your firm would be well paid."

"What's the catch?" the man answered quickly, and poor Hojo was so caught off guard that he immediately answered "It's a retrial for a half-demon."

A long whistle on the other end told Hojo just how far he'd stuck his foot in his mouth, and he cringed as the other man responded, voicing his own fears "You're extremely unlikely to win that, you know."

"I know, I know!" Hojo grumbled, one hand pulling at his hair while the other clutched the phone, "but my boss is determined on this one! She's been trying everything in the books to get –"

"She?"

Hojo almost missed the voice on the other end as it cut through his mid-sentence, but once he'd registered what was asked, he felt obliged to explain. It was rather unusual for a woman to own a law firm, and he wanted to make sure that this person understood just how smart and respectable Kagome was. "Yes, the granddaughter of the owner. She's extremelly talented, and has worked so hard for this. It's her first big case you see, and she's very anxious for everything to go well. This is really important to her, and she'd be so grateful for any sort of help you could –"

"Oh well, would you look at that! It seems the boss will be able to pencil you in after all! Who is it I – I mean, he'd be meeting with?"

"Uh, Miss Kagome Higurashi."

"Miss Kagome… lovely name. Alright, just send me the address and I'll come by at my earliest convenience."

Hojo stumbled over the address and number as the mystery man on the other end thanked him again and hung up. He sat staring at the phone a minute more, the strange conversation running through his head and a little voice nagging him with the thought that they should have just gone through the police.

*Author's Note:

Next Time: The introduction of a new character, and the emergence of a little green-eyed monster known as jealousy.

(Also... sorry this took so long. It's not abandoned, rest assured, I just had a bad summer where I had zero inspiration for writing)