~Dizzy Defense for an Underdog~

Chapter Six: A Kiss to Build a Dream On

Inuyasha awoke snarling, the harsh ring of metal on metal resounding in his flattened ears as it bounced around his prison cell. He could hear the whining voice of his prison guard rising up in cacophony with the beating nightstick, saying something about getting up to see a visitor, but ignored the clamor and let his head fall back to his pillow with a groan. His next meeting with Kagome wasn't until tomorrow, and if it was someone else, like the drunken detective for instance, there was no way he was leaving his bed. He'd been daydreaming, alone in his cell, about their next meeting, and that had led to quiet contemplations over her handkerchief, the lingering scent of which had led to dreams of her sweet smile, and Inuyasha was more than a little ticked to have been interrupted. Traces of the heavenly aroma were still wafting up to him as he ignored the jailer's calls, and he smiled… the smile abruptly fell and his eyes popped open when a new voice rose to join the chorus.

"Oh honestly, just leave him alone! I can just come back later – he obviously needs to rest!"

Springing from his cot like a jack-in-the-box, Inuyasha met the startled eyes of his lawyer under the yellow light from the hallway. His mind went into overdrive, wondering if he'd missed something from their last meeting, or if he'd overslept and it was tomorrow already; but it was midday still and he couldn't have been napping more than a couple hours.

Catching onto his befuddlement, Kagome smiled sheepishly at him, shrugging her shoulders and saying "Sorry to pop in on you like this, but I needed to talk to you, and it couldn't wait."

There was a lump in his throat the size of a grapefruit and Inuyasha wasn't sure he'd be able to get another breath out before he turned blue and collapsed. Millions of possibilities rushed through him, from good to bad to unbelievable, all of them keeping him stuck to the cot like a ton of lead. He watched Kagome give the guard a pointed stare, clearing her throat to tell him to buzz off, leaving the two of them with the bars between them and a pregnant silence.

Her stormy eyes met his again, and there was a hint of amusement behind the gaze that prompted his fears to ebb and his feet to shuffle away from the bed and toward the metal barrier. "I know this is a little out of the blue" she said at his approach, waiting for him to stop just the other side of the barred wall before continuing "but I wanted to apologize in person for not being able to meet tomorrow."

His newly acquired ease crushed in on itself, and Inuyasha couldn't help the undercurrent of hurt in his voice as he burst out "What? Why the hell not?!" For all her smiles and the soft tone of her voice, he felt she'd just punched him in the gut.

"It's not anything to worry about," she said quickly, and her unconcerned tone just made the hurting worse. Was she that glad to get away from him? Before he could let the self-destructive thoughts run amok, the attorney continued "I've got the meeting about your retrial coming up soon, and I'm heading home for a few days to talk to my grandpa about it. He's had loads more experience with these things than I have, and I wanted his opinion before I just jumped in and made a mess of everything."

With arms crossed, Inuyasha leaned heavily against the bars, huffing and glad to have found a new target for his growing frustration. "It's that bastard detective, ain't it? You're letting him get to you."

Kagome waved a dismissive hand, but she couldn't hide the telltale splash of red across her cheeks. "Look, it's nothing to worry about, alright? He just got me thinking that maybe I should ask for some help on this. It couldn't hurt!"

Inuyasha wasn't so easily convinced. Turning away from her to stare at the empty gray of his cell, he muttered "And what'm I s'posed to do with you gone, huh?"

His ears twitched as silence followed the comment, unsure if she'd heard and even more unsure if he'd really wanted her to. Glancing over his shoulder, he got his answer: Kagome was watching him with a knowing little curve to her bow-lips that told him everything. Eyes sparkling, she said in a soft but teasing voice that surprised him like nothing else "Inuyasha… were you actually looking forward to my next visit?"

His heart pounded at his ribcage so savagely he was sure it was trying to break out; probably wanted to escape right now as much as he did, but there was nowhere for either of them to go. Forcing the organ to calm down and swallowing thickly, Inuyasha answered gruffly "Well there ain't nothin' interesting here, is there? What else have I got to look forward to?"

Kagome didn't look wholly convinced however, still sporting the tiny smile that curled her mouth into the most fascinating shape. "Uh-huh. Well, you're just going to have to find someone else to ignore for the next week while I'm away. Tough luck, fella!"

Spinning on her heel, she started off towards the jail room door, accompanied by the soft click of her shoes on the concrete. Inuyasha watched her leave in growing panic, seeing her departure as nothing less than a permanent farewell. "Wait!"

She turned back to him with wide, expectant eyes, her black curls falling over her shoulder and cascading down her back like a mountain of chocolate shavings. His throat went dry as he searched for words to keep her there. "You… better not forget about me…. I mean don't leave me here to rot, while you prance around back home."

Her smile broadened, became understanding and indulgent, and Inuyasha cursed himself for having let on too much. "Don't worry, I'll come back." She giggled, and Inuyasha's ears perked up at the sound. "Besides, I don't think I could forget you, even if I tried!"

He smirked, caught up in her sudden change of mood, and turned to grab the bars, looking over at her in mock threat. "Like I'd let you."

"Oh?" She countered, stepping up to the bars once more, "and you think I'm scared of you?" Hazel eyes watched him closely from between the iron rods, and Inuyasha felt his grip on them tighten. Their banter reminded him sharply of their first meeting, and how he'd glared down at her through the bars in a situation not unlike this one, except… well, everything felt different now. He felt different. Inuyasha took deep breaths, greedily drinking in her scent that was all he could focus on in her close proximity and hoping she wouldn't notice.

"I don't think you'll be forgetting me either" she quipped, and Inuyasha nearly bit his tongue off; perhaps he hadn't been as subtle as he thought. Her smile was still in place as she turned away from him again and continued on to the door. The guard opened it for her to step through, but just as she reached it, she turned one last time to look at the man watching her go forlornly. "It'll only be a week. I'll be working hard, and I want you to do the same. Be a good dog!" And then she moved, and it was as if the world slowed to a crawl. Dainty fingers rose to her slightly puckered lips, pressing for only a second before bowing out toward him with the softest exhale. Her eyes fluttered closed for only a second and she might have winked, but it had been too close to call. Then she was gone, and the metal door slammed shut behind her.

Inuyasha hardly noticed, staring disbelieving at the spot she'd just occupied. He hadn't imagined it – his eyes weren't playing tricks: just before she left, she'd blown him a kiss. He didn't even remember about the 'dog' crack she'd made in parting as his thoughts were consumed in a violent torrent of 'what was THAT?!'

Little did he know, just the other side of the metal door, his lovely attorney was lost in the same storm.

"I'm home!" The voice at the door was groggy and hoarse from sleep; Kagome had dozed off on the night train back home, and it was only the by the nudging of an impatient attendant that she narrowly escaped missing her stop. The emotional train she'd been riding since that afternoon hadn't bothered to offer the same courtesy or even to let her off, exhausting her to a point where she could hardly keep her eyelids from falling shut. Sliding the front door closed behind her, Kagome dropped her suitcase to the floor with a thunk and staggered to the kitchen down the hall. A dim yellow light flooded the entryway outside it, and Kagome could see a gray shadow moving across it as someone frittered about beyond the glow. She smiled – she had already guessed that her mother would wait up, despite the late hour.

She entered the kitchen to see the older woman wiping her hands on her apron, warmth from the oven filling the room and the smell of something sweet on the air. "Hi Mom," she started softly, and her mother turned with a gasp and delight sparkling in her eyes.

"Oh Kagome, it's been so long!" Rushing her daughter, she enveloped the younger girl in a hug, dusting her with flour in the process. Kagome smiled and squeezed her mother back, her brows furrowing, wishing she could stop time for a moment and savor her mother's loving warmth. Few things made her feel safer than this embrace. Pulling apart to give each other happy smiles, Kagome opened her mouth to tell her mother how happy she was to see her, and how well she looked, and how well everything was going, but the words never came. Instead, her earlier rush of confusing emotions crashed over her in a tidal wave at the sight of the person she trusted most, leaving her gaping soundlessly.

"Kagome? Dear, what's wrong?" The older woman's kindly smile was the balm to Kagome's tumult, and her breath left in a heavy sigh. "Mom, can we… talk?"

Instantly the woman was in action: she ushered Kagome gently to the table, pulling out a chair and bustling about for a cup of tea. The egg-timer went off, and a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies was pulled from the oven. Plating two of the gooey confections and pouring a hot mug of aromatic tea for her daughter, Mrs. Higurashi sat in the chair across from the young woman and folded her hands under her chin with an encouraging smile.

Kagome circled the mug with both hands, more to warm her fingers than to take a drink, and breathed deeply of the fragrant steam. Her eyes closed for a moment as she pondered where to begin. "I uh…" licking her lips, she swallowed and tried again, "there's this problem at work…."

"Is it something your grandfather can help with?" Her mother prompted helpfully, tilting her head to meet Kagome's nervous eyes. The young woman shook her head and replied "No, well… I do have some questions for him about the case I'm working on, but… it's not… it's not about that really. I mean… maybe it is." Huffing her exasperation at not being able to find the words, Kagome brought a warmed hand to her forehead, rubbing through her dark bangs and chewing her lip as she trudged through her own mind. The problem was… she wasn't even sure what the problem was! All she knew is it wouldn't leave her alone!

Daring to look her mother in the eye, Kagome started again, haltingly as though she were a child taking its first uncertain steps "You see… there's this… fella. That I'm working with. Serious business, you know? There's this line between us." Her mother watched with interest, but whether she was surprised to hear Kagome was having 'boy troubles', she didn't let on. Taking her courage firmly by the reigns, Kagome plunged on "And I… I've been getting to know him more and more, and he's nothing like I thought he was at first…. I mean, he really doesn't get the credit he deserves, and I'm starting to think most of his behavior is just a big act, but I don't know what it is he's trying to cover up. Maybe it's the fact that he's a good person, but I… I already think he's a good person. In fact… I…" lost eyes searched for an anchor in the gaze across from them, until finally Kagome managed to say "Mama, I think I'm starting to like him. I think I'm crossing that line."

Her mother's smile was radiant and understanding, looking only too happy to hear such a difficult confession. "But Kagome, why are you so upset about this? Having feelings like that is a wonderful experience! And he sounds like such a nice boy too." She winked, and pushed the plate of cookies closer to the gaping girl. "Eat up before those go cold. Really though Kagome, it's not like it's a big secret! We all know who it is, don't we?"

The cookie fell from Kagome's fingers just as it was about to meet her lips, mouth hanging open and eyes like saucers as she stared at the giggling woman. "W-what?!"

"Well, there's only one young man working so close with you, isn't there? You've already told us about him, and what a nice young man he is and all!" Kagome nearly choked. "I… I did?" Leaning back in the kitchen chair, Mrs. Higurashi laughed and answered "Yes, when you first started working! It's your assistant, right? Akitoki Hojo, wasn't it?"

Kagome's jaw snapped shut, and had she been holding her mug of tea, it would have slipped from her suddenly limp fingers and shattered. As it was, she forgot all about her tea and tempting cookies in the wake of that comment. Hojo? Hojo?! Why on earth would her mother think -! "N-no. Honest Mom, no. That's… he's… that's absolutely not who I'm talking about."

Confusion splashed across her mother's face. "Oh… I just assumed… since you were talking about working close with him, and having a line between you that you couldn't cross…. Well, doesn't that sound like it could be him?"

Picking absently at a cookie, Kagome shrugged her shoulders. "It wouldn't be so bad if this guy were just my assistant. Sure, it might look a little weird to people, but… it'd be nothing compared to what's really going on."

There was a silence in which Kagome didn't dare look at her mother – she knew what was coming. It was with doleful resignation that she heard her mother say slowly "So… who is this man that you like, Kagome?"

She pursed her lips, putting off the inevitable revelation, but she couldn't hold it in for long and blurted in a self-conscious squeak "He's my client."

Heavy silence blanketed the table. Kagome's anxious fingers pulled apart a cookie and watched the melted chocolate string between the broken fragments before dropping to drag across the plate. Finally, her mother spoke up in a truly shaken voice. "But… Kagome, isn't your client…."

Of course – she'd forgotten that she'd mentioned her current case to her mother over the phone. Just the basics of course, but she'd never expected them to come back and bite her like this. With a sigh she answered quietly "yeah, he's… he's in prison. On conviction of murder… but he didn't do it." Her voice rose slightly at the end, strengthening with her assertion of Inuyasha's innocence, almost daring her mother to challenge her. She should have known her mother better.

A warm, weathered hand grasped her fingers from across the table, and Kagome's eyes lifted at once to lock eagerly with a gaze that spoke only of understanding and love. "It must be hard," she whispered, and Kagome's throat tightened, blocking any response. "Having to see a good man locked up for something he didn't do… I can only imagine what that must be like for you. You've always had such a tender heart." Kagome looked away from that gaze, fighting back the stinging in her eyes. Leave it to her mother to peg her feelings so quickly and precisely. She felt grateful, and oddly bare.

"But Kagome," the older woman continued, catching her daughter's eye again, "are you sure you know what these feelings really are? You sure they're not just… pity?"

An emphatic shake of her head was the immediate response. "No, you haven't met him – there's no pitying this guy. He's too strong and tough for that! Besides, he'd never accept my pity." A small smile lit her lips, and she said wryly "he's already called me out on it once."

Amusement danced across her mother's face as well, but was soon tampered by something deeper, something sadder. "I see," she continued in a thoughtful voice, "it's just… I'm worried Kagome. Oh, not about him or what kind of person he is." She waved her hand dismissively as Kagome gave her a sheepish look. "I trust your judgement – if you think he's good enough to take a fancy to, then that's good enough for me. No, the thing that worries me is… what if you don't win?"

Blank eyes stared across the table, Kagome's mind pushing the question away as if afraid to understand what it was really asking. "What if you can't prove his innocence" her mother continued, her tone adamant as she leaned across the table toward her daughter, "and he stays in prison? What if you keep trying and trying, because I know you Dear, and I know you would, and you're never able to get him out? What would you do? What if he had feelings for you as well, but could never be with you? What would he do?"

Kagome could feel her face growing hotter with each question, the pressure in her head building by the second as water welled behind her eyes. These questions had been pounding at the door of her subconscious for days now, and she'd been stubbornly shutting them out all that time. Now, carried along on her mother's voice, they'd broken down the door and were pillaging her mind like a marauding brigade. Her last defense in tatters, she let loose her tears.

Her mother's fingers tightened around her own, and she found some solace in the sure grip as she cried softly over her forgotten tea and cookies. "Kagome dear," her mother's soft voice carried over the sound of her whimpers, "I'm not telling you to change how you feel. I just hope that when the time comes, no matter what happens, you'll be able to accept it." Kagome sniffled noisily, unable to respond, and her mother smiled. "But no matter what happens, I know that you're going to do your best to help this young man, whether or not he returns your feelings. At the end of the day, you can be proud of that."

Nodding lightly and rubbing at her wet eyes, Kagome gave her mother a shaky smile. "I know. Probably nothing will ever come of this – I don't think he'd ever look at me as more than his lawyer, but… maybe he'll let me be his friend. Would that be crossing the line?" her eyes were hopeful, and her mother responded with an indulgent smile.

"I think a friend is just what he needs right now." Giving her daughter's hand a final squeeze, she nodded to the plate and said teasingly "Now, are you going to eat those, or should I go get your brother?"

"Souta wouldn't wake for an earthquake" Kagome quipped, before finally popping a piece of cooled cookie into her mouth. She hummed in satisfaction at the perfectly sweet flavor and excitedly reached for another piece.

"Kagome dear, now you've got me wondering…."

The young woman looked up from her mug of tea to see a mischievous gleam in her mother's eye. "What does this mysterious fella of yours look like? He must be quite the looker to make even his lawyer fall for him, and while he's in prison too!"

Kagome glanced away hurriedly, trying in vain to hide her blush behind the mug of tea. She could feel her mother's expectant gaze, and knew she'd have to give in eventually. A thought struck her, and she put down the cup to reach into the bag at her side for her folder containing Inuyasha's case files. She paused with them in hand for a moment, weighing the possible outcomes of sharing this with her mother, before slipping them across the table. The older woman took them eagerly and immediately opened the folder as Kagome explained "Now, I know he looks a little scary, but this is his mugshot remember, so –"

"Oh, what a handsome boy! Kagome, you should have brought this out from the start! I can't blame you for falling for him – I bet he's such a sweetheart behind that frown! And would you look at those ears! I hope you can solve this one soon Kagome, I'd love to meet this young man. Ooh, but those ears!"

Listening to her mother happily chatter on over Inuyasha's photograph, Kagome finished off her dessert in silence, a wry smile on her lips. 'Maybe I should have shown her the picture to start with.'

Miroku let himself into the musty apartment building with practiced ease; there was no sense knocking and announcing his presence on an errand like this. The yellow pane of stained glass rattled in the door as it shut behind him, and he winced at the sound, but continued on with a comfortable ease, looking for all the world as if he were one of the regular tenants. He'd made sure to wear his rattiest coat on this outing, leaving the cufflinks and polished shoes behind – no need to ask for a mugging when all you wanted was a simple interview.

This was a section of town you would'nt know unless you lived there, and it was a near miracle the private detective had even stumbled upon it in the first place. Were it not for his target's bad reputation and tab with a local bartender, he wouldn't have found her at all. Of course, he hadn't really finished tracking her just yet.

Her address running neatly through his brain, he stopped in front of the apartment rumored to be hers and rapped sharply on the doorframe. There was no immediate answer, but he didn't expect there to be. Miroku waited only a minute before knocking again, this time harder and longer, showing he had no intention of going away. He held in a smirk as the sound of footsteps approached the door, and smiled ingratiatingly as the entry opened onto a woman in her early thirties, white-haired and scowling.

"Evening, doll" he said, tipping his hat, "You Tsubaki by any chance?"

Her expression turned from annoyance to suspicion in the blink of an eye as she snapped back in a rasping voice "Who wants to know?"

So… she was going to be like that, was she? He could have guessed, but it didn't matter – she'd already given him all the clues he needed. Her appearance alone gave her away as just the person he was looking for, from her bobbed hair to her flapper dress and strands of pearls. She was living in the past just like the bartender had said; living in a time ten years ago when she'd been at the top of her game as a nurse, before an upstart named Kikyo had come along and stolen her glory. Miroku didn't need her name at all.

"Just looking on behalf of a buddy of mine" the detective said jovially, "but if you happen to see Tsubaki, tell her this: that I've got a box of dynamite on her that I'm ready to take to court, and it's gonna blow up all over town. Or," he added quickly, seeing the mounting panic in the woman's face, "she can agree to meet with me and answer a few questions, and I can sweep that box under the rug so's she can go on hiding all that illegal magic she's been practicing for years."

Tsubaki's lips pursed sourly as she considered her options, but it wasn't even a minute before her expression morphed into one so falsely saccharine it made Miroku shiver. "Won't you come in mister? I was just making some coffee."

The detective followed her inside the candle-lit room wearing his most charming smile, the hand in his pocket securely fixed to his gun.

*Author's Note:

Ooooh deary dear... it's been a loooong time since I updated this fic and I am SO. SORRY. It's not abandoned, not by a long shot, I just... have a LOT of other fics that I'm also working on. Also I've been working all summer and I haven't felt much like writing :/ But recently that's changed and I've been writing a lot, so cross your fingers and hope that this writing streak continues! Here's to hoping that the next update won't take another 8 months! (again I am so sorry!)