It was well after midnight when Naraku stumbled in through the front door. The house was asleep still, and any guests who were not fasting would have gone home. He felt like he was on the inside of a fish tank looking out.
The world was cock-eyed on him, and he felt like vomiting. He barely made it to the bathroom toilet before all the sex and booze came rushing out of his throat. His bile polished the toilet seat, the floor, and his body as well as the inside of the toilet. When he finished vomiting, he went to his room, not giving the mess he'd made a second thought.
Stripping off his clothes, he ran a hand through his greasy, vomited on black hair and decided a shower would clear his mind. He made his way to Kali's room, which held the closest shower to his room though it was on the second floor, and stood leaning with his hands against the shower wall, letting his mass of hair curtain his face and the water to cascade over the muscles rich from beating on two children for years.
The shower did him wonders. It cleared his head of the fog of the drink and allowed him to think clearly. It was apparent that after all these years, Kali would not divorce him. He'd done what he could, but she just wouldn't call him in for a divorce.
He remembered the fear he'd instilled in her through the years. He recalled the absolute terror on her face that first time he'd hit her; and then the first time he'd hit Kagome and Souta. She'd tried to protect her children, but he'd been stronger.
When he'd found out that his children were kidnapped, he'd been furious with himself for ever harming them. He wanted to change, he really did. It was just so hard to change what had been done for years. Change could happen, he knew. If he worked hard enough, change would happen.
He might only have a few years left... It was his fault though. If he hadn't screwed that woman... if he'd never started this, and just tried to be happy with Kali... but no. He romped with the wrong person and now he was going to pay for it with his life. The first thing he needed to do was apologize to his family. He doubted they'd be very sympathetic towards him, but they still deserved to know.
He slowly reached towards the shower nozzle, pulling the lever down and turning off the shower. His hand shook. Was it nerves? Yes, he was nervous. No more sex for the rest of his severely shortened life, and he'd be leaving the only place he knew. He wrapped a towel around his waist and stared at his reflection in the full length mirror.
His eyes were red and puffy, as though he'd been crying. He swiped at them, trying to bring them back to normal. He wouldn't drink anymore either. Those days of immoderation and pleasure were over. Damn that woman for ever tempting me, he thought angrily. It's her fault!
He shook his head and wiped another tear away that drifted down his cheek. No, it wasn't the woman's fault; it was his fault because he'd allowed himself to give into temptation. He looked at the gold wedding ring band on his finger.
He'd never taken it off. It had been there since the day he took his vows with Kali. It was true: married men who appeared in bars always attracted more attention than single men. He'd known it, and he'd used it to his advantage.
"I'm so sorry...Kali..." he sobbed, falling to his knees in front of the mirror. His hands went to his face and stayed there to catch the tears that fell. He could hardly bear the pain. He knew what he'd done wrong.
He knew everything he'd done wrong, and all he could think about was how he wished he could change it all. To make things better, though he knew it was impossible.
The next morning he would be gone, and his family would know why. They would be thankful, he was sure. He wasn't looking for their pity, or their sympathy. He just wanted them to know how sorry he was. He wanted them to know how he wished they could have been a good family instead of him being the ass that he knew he was.
A cool hand on his forehead and one on his back made him look up. Tears still streamed from his eyes and the figure he looked at was slightly blurry through them but he knew it was Kali. She knelt next to him, checking him for fever as she would do her children.
"Sorry about what?" She asked quietly, removing her hand from his forehead to adjust the top of her bathrobe so it would cover her better.
He threw his arms around her and cried into her shoulder wanting to be comforted; needing to be comforted. He needed to hear that things would be alright, but she probably would not tell him.
"I'm such an ass." He cried into her shoulder. "I abused you...our children...I have several children by other women, and...and... and I'm a horrid person!" His body shook, wrought with emotions. He could hardly bear it.
"I've put you hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt with my gambling, and I've desecrated this sacred shrine grounds..." He couldn't get any more words out. He just cried.
Kali ran her hands through his shower soaked hair soothingly as he admitted everything. She hated to see him so distraught. She let him cry everything away. Sometimes it was best to comfort someone, even if you found yourself disliking them.
For some reason, a song that Kagome had once made Kali listen to came to her mind. It brought tears to her eyes. The emotion the singer displayed had had no effect on her the day she'd heard the song, but now, the song seemed to have much more meaning to her. The memory of the song made her think.
His presence, even after Kali informed him that she wanted a divorce and made him leave, would always be around the shrine. He would haunt the halls and corridors forever. He would never leave her alone, even after he was gone.
Even if she never heard from him again, she would remember where he'd been in her life. He was her husband; her first and probably only. She knew no one who would want her.
All the times when Naraku had beaten her, and all the times that he'd done the same to her children... none of them would ever be able to forget that. It was something that would be remembered and would affect their personalities for the rest of their lives.
He was crying, and she was trying to comfort him. He used to do this for her, while they were in college, and for the year after they'd been married. When she'd been about to be mugged and raped in an alley all those years ago, he'd been the one who'd saved her. He'd been her knight in shining armor.
She could hardly forget that. She'd tried to be there for him, giving him money when he needed it, helping him to stay on the good side of the mafia even though all her instincts went against it, and keeping him out of jail. In the meanwhile, she'd gone into debt to money lenders.
She was almost six hundred thousand dollars into debt. She'd still loved him even after all this though... she didn't love him as a husband, but as a friend, he would always be hers.
He used to be the only thing she could bring herself to think of. She'd loved his smile which was always filled with mischief, his eyes which always portrayed so many emotions that she could hardly decipher them, his touch which was always so confident, his kisses...the kisses that turned her insides into puppets and made them dance and twist with adolescent love...
She had loved him unconditionally, but now that love was no longer there, and there was nothing she could say or do that would make it come back. She dreamt of their lost love every night.
She missed his warm comforting arms around her and the delightful feeling of her dancing heart when she and he just sat there on the couch, watching the television together. But there was no more of that and there would be no more of that.
But mostly, she missed his voice...the warm low calculated voice that brought smiles to her face every time and made her love her even more especially when he used to whisper those words of romance that he was so good at saying.
He'd made a young scrap of a girl feel like a queen just with his voice. She missed being loved... but after him, she didn't think she would find anyone new. She was always working, and as a rule, you weren't allowed to date patients. It was just wrong.
How long had she told herself that he would never return to her? She'd tried to imagine what it would be like without him, yet somehow, she still couldn't. She supposed she'd be able to work herself out of debt. But it just seemed unimaginable that he wasn't around.
He'd always lived in her house, coming home with a new woman every night, but he'd been in the house every night... In the beginning, Kali had tried to get him to stop. She'd tried to get him to be with her, but she had two demanding children to take care of.
Then, she tried to divorce him, but he'd been drunk and had stopped her from doing it. That was when the beatings started. And in the end, she'd just been alone...by herself.
Kali wiped a stray tear away. She didn't want to delve on the past so much. It was far too painful. He'd always have a part of her, but she saw a difference between her and the lyrics of the song now. He would not have all of her...not anymore.
She looked at the man she held in her arms. He slept with his eyes puffy from crying so much. She wished things had been different, but they hadn't been. Gently she shook him awake and led him to her bed.
He was asleep immediately after his head touched the pillow so she covered him up. Smoothing his slightly damp bangs, she kissed his sleeping lips and then moved to her side of the bed. She turned off her bedside lamp and lay down under the blankets, but she couldn't sleep. She wondered what made him realize how bad he'd been.
The next day, Naraku couldn't bring himself to tell Kali yet. He'd said he would, but he'd been saying he would stop screwing other women and beating up his children for the past two, almost three months.
One more day... One more day... He would tell in one more day...
On Friday, it was snowing. Snowflakes fell silently down through the air to land on the weary morning goers, who had either school or work to go to, or else those who were just coming off of work to go home after working a long night shift.
Kagome wrapped on a scarf and put on her light jacket. It wasn't cold enough to bring out the winter jackets. After all, the human race was conformed. They did what everyone else did, and no one would be wearing their winter coats just yet. The boots wouldn't be broken out until the first blizzard of the season.
Kagome kissed her mother's cheek, and then grabbed the car keys off the hook in the kitchen. She was ready to go.
"Hey, wait up, 'Gome." Souta said, crunching his toast. Normally they never had time for breakfast, but their mother had woken them both up for the past week, so that Kagome wasn't startling Souta to fall off his bed and re-break his brittle leg.
The cast would soon come off. It had healed quickly, thanks to the experimental medicine he was taking and the fact that he had the power of their grandmother coursing through his blood.
Kagome knew he was using their grandmother's power to help the healing go quicker. She didn't care how advanced medical technology was getting; broken legs didn't normally heal in less than a month.
Souta kissed their mother's cheek, managing to get some bread crumbs on their mother much to Kali's disdain, and then rushed after Kagome, heading for the garage with a limp. It was hard to walk normally when your entire leg was in a cast, unable to bend at the knee.
On the way to school, Kagome went out of her way to pick up Miroku. Sango was picking up Kikyou. "Hey, 'Gome, turn on the radio." Miroku said when things got too quiet for him to stand.
They were about a block away from the school, but were stuck in bad traffic. She reached out and fiddled with the radio, a moment, finding a station that was playing a good song.
She laughed and let it rest on classical music. Miroku absolutely hated classical.
"Ahh! Nooo! Kagome, please this is torture, surely you must know!"
"Oh, I know." Kagome said with a smirk. "Hey, Miroku, you goin' to the Halloween bash at school tomorrow?" She asked, changing the station.
"I would, but I haven't got a date. Sango's going with Eight Ball. She's dating him now, I guess." He sounded down. "Stupid jerk Kenith Guan, if he tries anything I'll pulverize him."
"What about Kikyou?" Kagome suggested.
Souta turned in his seat slightly to look at Miroku. "Don't even think of asking her. I'm gonna."
Kagome heard Miroku sigh. "Man, this bites. I'm hopeless."
"I'll go with yah." Kagome said. "Kohaku called me last night and said he couldn't go because he had another cold and wouldn't be at school. You know policy, if you don't go to school the day of or the day before, you can't go."
"Really?" Miroku asked. "Does that mean we get to make out?"
Kagome laughed. "Sure, just as soon as I grow male gentiles we can..."
"On second thought... eh...maybe not."
Kagome pulled into the school parking lot, scowling when she saw someone had taken her spot. She circled the lot, looking for a place to park, and had to race for the last spot before someone in a red convertible with the top idiotically down stole the spot.
She got out of the car as did her brother and friend. Once they'd retrieved their bags, they walked to the school together.
"I've a mind to take a bat to the car that took my spot," she confided in her friends. "It's hard enough here without everyone taking the spot I've had since sixteen."
Sango patted Kagome's back. "You'll be alright."
"Today's going to be a one of those blah days." She said. "But hey, I get to leave at lunch. Sango, would yah give Souta a ride home after school?"
"Where you going?"
"Mama asked me to come with her to pick up Yuri." The two looked at the others, walking ahead of them to art class. They shrugged and followed their friends. "Mural day!" Kagome groaned. "I still don't know what I'll draw."
Sesshoumaru closed his journal, sighing. It was time to leave the only place he could be free of female leeches. He shoved his journal and pen in his backpack and zipped it up, standing up off the floor in the guy's changing room for gym. He dusted off his pants and exited the locker room.
Kagome swore violently. "My sketch book is in my locker." She said.
Sango turned around. "Let's go get it then."
Kagome shook her head. "Naw. I can handle it myself. Go on ahead. I'll be right there."
Sango raised an eyebrow for a moment but then just shrugged and turned, heading to class. Kagome raced off down the hall, turning corners sharply.
Sesshoumaru felt something impact with his chest as he turned towards Art class. He fell back on his back and that something landed on him. He groaned his back hurting from landing on his backpack. "Ow..." he muttered.
The something rolled off him, groaning as well. "Ow..." They said. Sesshoumaru tensed. He recognized that voice. Kagome? What the heck...why was he running into her? Shouldn't she be in class? ...shouldn't he be in class?
"That smarts..." Kagome groaned.
The Halloween dance... The thought hit Sesshoumaru so suddenly it shocked him. He could ask her now. It was the perfect time...
"Kagome?" He asked, trying not to let his nerves get the better of him. He sat up, and sighed. She wasn't even there anymore. He was far too wrapped in his own thoughts. He'd missed his chance.
At lunchtime, Kagome made her way to her car, driving to the hospital. There she met up with her mother. "Mama, she's rather skittish at first." She said quietly. "But she's got the guts to stand up to a murderer. She's defiant, but she said she gets nervous around doctors."
"I thought she couldn't talk?"
"Oh, she can write."
"Alright. That helps."
Sesshoumaru's journal entry
December 22, 2004
I've a mind to kiss her again... She's staying at my house for three days in a row. My father hates her. She showed up here in the skankiest outfit and with an attitude she must have known would piss mother off, and yes I know "skankiest" is not even a word, but I put it anyway.
It was rather humorous, and I couldn't help but laugh. I had a hard time not doing it until I was in my room. Mother hates her too. It was so hilarious how she showed up here and yet, everything seemed set up. It seemed like a play, as though Inuyasha and she had planned it all.
When she rang the doorbell, Inuyasha raced to get it, and yet, mother and father were going to answer it as well. Mother and father were in the entry hall just in time to see Inuyasha having her backed up against the doorway, both half in the house and half out, and they were making out!
I mean, yeah, seeing that sort of made me sad, because I like her, but it just seemed too faked to be real. The android they're taking care of together was bundled up in winter clothes, standing just inside the door and watching the scene with interest.
Mother was irate. She walked up to her and pulled Inuyasha away from her, slapping Inuyasha. "Inconceivable!" mother yelled at Inuyasha. "You will not go around kissing people!"
Except her, I knew she wanted to add. Several times after we got back from the hospital, she'd tried to get us to have sex with her, but so far we've been able to get away.
You want to know what she said in response to that? This part was just fubar. You know what that stands for. Fucked up beyond all repair. She said, "Oh, but Nekura, I'm dating Sesshoumaru, so why can't I have a little something on the side to go with the main meal?" I was too shocked to reply, or even say it wasn't true.
Mother turned and glared at me. Oh man, my body froze over with terror at that moment; I swear her glare would have frozen Hell over!
I forced a smile at mother, thinking of all the evil torturous things I could do to Inuyasha to get back at him for this, and I knew my smile must have looked mocking or mischievous or something because she turned that glare on her, and she just smiled sweetly, then mother glanced at me again, then stormed off.
Father pursed his lips in a frown at her choice of clothes. Seriously, I'd never seen her legs before, and now I know for sure they're as muscled and toned as the rest of her that I've seen so far.
And that skirt was barely leaving anything to the imagination. Father didn't like her at all; the look in his eyes said so. Inuyasha was grinning like a madman, I swear he was.
Just the way father walked as he stalked off—as though there was a stick up his rear!—made me have to bite my lip so I didn't crack up, but I was failing, and I knew it. I covered my mouth to try to stifle the laughter, and it came anyway.
I was laughing so much I almost fell down the stairs! I'd been standing on them the whole time, but I had to sit down finally. I raced up to my room and burst into laughter.
I had to cover my face with a pillow to muffle it, and tears were coming out of my eyes I was laughing so hard. I hadn't laughed like this since before Yuri had been kidnapped when we were nine.
But that wasn't the end. And that's not why I hunger for her lips again. It took me until just a few weeks ago to forget the first kiss and how it tasted. I don't think I'll ever stop liking her.
Moments later, Inuyasha and she came to my room. I was lying on the leather couch, trying to stop laughing, but it wasn't working so finally I gave up. When I had a breath, I explained what was so funny. "He looked like he had a stick up his rear."
Inuyasha grinned. "Yeah. And I fully intend to make the next few days of our beloved parents lives a living hell with -- help, and that means you've gotta play along, dear brother." I'm omitting her name. You know who she is.
"Blah." I said. I had to cover my face with the pillow again to cover the blush that crept to my face. The implications of such a simple plan meant...kissing! Blah blah blah blah blah!
Not that I didn't like the idea, but anyway, it just seemed so far out like she wouldn't agree to it. I certainly loved the idea of pissing Nekura off and a girlfriend would do the trick. Even if it was a pretend girlfriend.
A weight on my chest distracted me momentarily before the pillow was taken from me and I found her to be straddling my chest. I did my best to look irritated, and I think I did well. "You want to get off me." I told her.
She smirked at me. "No, actually I don't, I'm rather comfortable. How about a kiss, dear boyfriend?" She asked me and she didn't bother to wait for me to answer. Besides. What would I say to that?! Yes, kiss me! Screw me while you're at it! Oh yeah, that would blow over well.
She just kissed me. No more questions asked. And I just responded immediately. Inuyasha closed my room door and locked it, though I know he didn't leave, I lost track of him after that until I heard the snapping of a Polaroid camera.
It was the kind that made instant photos. My eyes snapped back open and I pulled away, looking at Inuyasha wide eyed. My eyes must've been bugging out, because they certainly felt like they were.
"We're making this believable." She said to me. "So you have to kiss me like you mean it. We're going to make an album of us." She took the picture from Inuyasha and began waving it, waiting for it to clear.
When it did and she showed me the picture, I was shocked. It was me in the picture, giving into something I really wanted. "Though, I don't think we have to worry about you meaning it. You like me."
I glared at Inuyasha. "You jerk." I snapped at him. "You said you wouldn't squeal!" I would have sat up but she was restricting that movement.
She laughed and grabbed my hair, forcing me to look at her. "He didn't tell me, you just did." My jaw dropped and I heard the snapping of the camera, and then another picture shot out.
I'd ratted myself out. Can you imagine how stupid I feel? After that, we snuck out of the house through the window, android in tow, because we couldn't very well leave it behind to rat us out.
We went to the park and she changed clothes in the bathroom, and Inuyasha gave me a bag of clothes. I had to change too. The stone flagons were cold on my feet when I had to take my shoes off to change pants, and it really didn't matter that it was snowy outside, because a week ago there had been a big blizzard.
Yet, that didn't matter because we could get a weeks' worth of pictures on the park, and since Inuyasha and I always lock ourselves in my room, the only thing the pictures would threaten would be the fact that we sneak out. Now they would know a reason why we snuck out, even though it wasn't a true reason.
After that, we went to the greenhouse. Fifteen dollars admission per person. Forty five dollars spent in three different houses. Inuyasha and I paid since it was her that was helping us. When we got inside, pictures were taken in multiple outfits, yet again.
Only pictures taken were ones that wouldn't show the walls and would make it look like we were outside not indoors and shivering in spring clothes.
Finally, we had enough pictures. We came back and put together the picture album, in order of seasons. We'd gone to a greenhouse that displayed fall greenery, then one for spring, and one for summer. The park was winter. That came last.
And I got to kiss her lots of times. She doesn't smoke, like I had thought the day we were assigned to take care of Akira the android together.
Man, she's like...perfect. Everything about her is perfect. The curves to her body, the delicacy of her face, the fact that she packs a powerful punch behind those cute smiles. I even like it when she gets angry.
It's time for dinner. I need to go, but while she was in the shower, I just wanted to tell you about this. This most perfect day...
Kagome stepped out of the shower, Sesshoumaru's bathroom shower of course, and stretched. Her back itched. The wounds were fully healed from the bullets, but she had new whip marks from her father's belt.
The old ones had finally healed and the scabs had fallen off to leave scars, but now there were new welts. Kagome had gotten the new welts because she'd shoved Naraku for talking dirty to Yuri.
But that was old news.
She grinned; recalling Sesshoumaru's wide eyed look when she'd dug in his pocket for his wallet and stuck a photo of her in it. It wasn't that she was putting herself in his wallet that shocked him; it was that she'd dug in his pocket.
She knew exactly what his mother put him and Inuyasha through. Inuyasha had confided to Kagome about it when he'd come to her house. He'd tried to pretend that it was just him that it happened to, but Kagome wasn't the daughter of a shrink for nothing. She saw right through that, though she mentioned nothing of it.
It was hard to admit things like that, and she knew it was. She would never judge the Nokugami boys solely on appearance again. Sesshoumaru hid behind his many masks because he was terrified of what would happen if anyone were to find out. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's pride would not allow them to bear pity from anyone. So Kagome would not pity them.
Kagome wrapped a towel around her body, leaving the bathroom with a strapless bra and panties on underneath the towel. Just as she had suspected, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were sitting on the couch waiting for her.
She held up two outfits, neither more smutty than the other. "Which one?" She asked. "Ridiculously unacceptable, or completely inappropriate?"
Perplexed, the two boys stared at each dress, wondering which was which. She had not indicated which was completely inappropriate, or which was ridiculously unacceptable. They were in fact both strapless, and looked to be more revealing than you could think was possible.
Kagome sighed, exasperated. "Come on, don't do this to me!" She said. "You know your parents better than I. Which would they dislike more?"
"Father hates red. Says it's too flashy." Inuyasha said, pointing to the red one.
Sesshoumaru pointed to the black one. "Mother hates black. She says it should only be used to mourn the dead."
Kagome sighed, exasperated. "Hopeless!" She muttered. She took the black one off the hanger, dropping the red to the floor along with her towel. Both boys stared open mouthed at her near bare body, and she slipped into the dress.
"Ooh, Yura's good." She looked her body over. When they gave her confused looks, she said, "Yura helped me with this. I knew she'd make me as scanty as she could and try to hide the fact that she did. She complimented me on everything I tried on, even though it's all ridiculous. Well, anyway..."
The dress was completely black, strapless, very informal, ridiculously short, and cloth only where it was needed. She ran a brush from her bag through her hair and put her hair up in a braided bun.
The welts on her back showed through the giant diamond shaped hole covering her back, but she ignored that. Lastly, she put on her make up, much heavier than normal, using bright black lipstick that wouldn't kiss or rub off.
She smirked at her appearance. "Of course, if my mother ever saw me like this, she'd murder me." She murmured to the boys, her blue eyes glittering with humor. "Kohaku, though..." She trailed off and turned to them. "I'm ready."
Both boys were gawking at her. She put a hand on her hip and glared at them. "You can't be looking at me like that." She said, irritably. "If you're checking me out, I'll knock both you off your socks." She watched them look away shamelessly. She walked forward, ruffling the android's hair.
Rimy, the little girl android, giggled and straightened her hair. "Mother." She giggled. "You messed up my hair!"
"That's okay. I don't mind." Kagome told her.
"But I mind." Rimy said with a pout.
"Do we pout?" Kagome asked her, frown in place.
Rimy shook her head. "No, we smile even when we're sad."
Kagome nodded and looked over her 'boyfriend'. "You can't wear that." She said, pointing to the red tee shirt and khakis. "We have to match. Black pants, and a black shirt. And you know what? Tonight, we're cutting your hair."
Sesshoumaru growled. "You're not touching my hair." He said, taking a step back. He didn't care who she was; no one touched his hair.
"Inuyasha..." Kagome said warningly, and he sighed.
"I promised that she could do what was needed. It'll grow back Sess."
"No. What part of that don't you understand? The 'n' or the 'o'?"
Kagome walked over to Sesshoumaru, running a hand through his long hair. She showed him the split ends. "You don't take care of your hair. These need to be trimmed off. Besides; are you a business man?" He shook his head.
"Then why do you have to look like one? All stiff like you've got something up your rear? You'll be just like your father. I swear it."
She turned to Rimy and took the android's hand. Rimy peeked around Kagome's leg to look at Sesshoumaru. "You're a bad man for kissing my mother. Only daddy can kiss mother. You stay away from mother." She warned.
Kagome grinned. "Rimy, it's a game." She said. "Run downstairs and find the dining room." Kagome gently shoved the small android out of the door and closed it again.
Once more, she looked at the two boys. "Now, for this to work, we've got to be believable. No outrageous lies. If I say something, you two go along with it as though you've known it all along."
"I'm going to sit next to Rimy, so you can sit next to Sesshoumaru, Kagome. But that'll put you right across from Nekura." Inuyasha said.
At the dinner table, Kagome smiled sweetly at Nekura. Nekura sat right across from her, just as Inuyasha had said she would. On one side of Nekura was Rimy; on the other side was Haru, the two boy's father. Inuyasha sat at the foot of the table next to Rimy and Sesshoumaru, and Kagome sat next to Sesshoumaru.
Nekura was wearing an expensive silk dinner gown, and she glowered at Kagome as the first course was served. Kagome giggled at the many spoons placed before her. "Oh my, what the hell are all these for?"
She daintily picked up the soup spoon, peering at her reflection in the metal for a moment before shrugging and tossing it over her shoulder. "Useless." She said as she threw it. She picked up the next, slightly longer and fatter one. "Dumb."
Nekura fumed. It was not even two minutes into dinner and she already wanted to throttle Kagome. "What are you doing?" She took a gulp of her wine, smoothing the gold fabric of the gown near her stomach. Nekura pursed her lips.
"So, Kagome was it?" At Kagome's pleasant smile, she continued, "How long have you and Sesshoumaru been with each other? He never mentioned you."
Kagome knew this tactic. Mothers tried this often with their children's boyfriends or girlfriends so that they could build a rift between the two. But Nekura did not know that she was treading into Kagome's game. A trap Kagome had designed especially for the woman.
Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru, giggling, putting a hand to her lips secretively. "Why... I'm not surprised Nekura." In the corner of her eye she saw Inuyasha and Rimy fighting with butter knives.
"Oh? And why aren't you?" Nekura waved to Sesshoumaru. "I know my son. He tells me-"
Kagome giggled again and leaned closer to Sesshoumaru, wrapping an arm through his and bringing her lips close to his ear. She spoke in a whisper, but in the near deadly silent dining room, Nekura and Haru heard clearly what she said.
"Because he likes me more than you, he tells me things you never would have guessed."
Nekura looked about to have a fit as she watched Kagome lick Sesshoumaru's earlobe. "I've had enough!" Nekura said in a fit. She stood, the fabric of her gold dinner gown rustling with her movement.
"Sesshoumaru, we need to talk. Now!" She stalked from the room when Kagome turned Sesshoumaru's head towards her and pressed their lips together.
Haru frowned. "Sesshoumaru, this is not how we behave at the dinner table!"
Kagome pulled away from Sesshoumaru to look at Haru. "Will you excuse us?" She asked, standing without waiting for an answer and pulling Sesshoumaru out of the dinning hall.
Even though they were out of the dinning hall and away from prying eyes, Kagome pushed Sesshoumaru against a wall and kissed him. She wanted to feel the emotions she'd felt from that first kiss months before.
The other kisses had been sweet, but they'd been guarded. This one she felt burning her inside and out it felt like. She enjoyed that feeling, just as much as she enjoyed kissing Kohaku whom she'd gotten back together with recently.
Kohaku had agreed that she could feign being Sesshoumaru's girlfriend for a few days, but Kagome was sure he didn't know what competition Sesshoumaru unknowingly made for him.
She felt Sesshoumaru giving into the kiss whole-heartedly and their tongues explored each other's mouths, their hands searched each other's bodies, unconsciously exploring each of the muscles hidden beneath clothing.
Finally, regretfully, Kagome pulled away. She didn't allow the regret to show, but rather just grinned at him. "Just making sure you got that right." She said.
A sigh formed at her lips, but she didn't allow it to escape. I've got to stop this. She thought. I'm back with Kohaku... why am I not happy? Why do I feel like there should be more?
Raine smiled at Rin and showed her sister the new invention she'd made. If she marketed it, it would be a technology breakthrough, but she probably wouldn't. She liked to keep things to herself, and Rin knew as much.
Rin took the tiny capsule in her hands and looked at it. It was about two inches in length, and about a half an inch wide. It was made out of scrap metal, its pieces mismatched, and looked rather ramshackle, but the design was quite interesting, for what it was supposed to do. A small indent in one of the ends housed a tiny button.
Rin didn't push the button, though she wanted to. Whatever that button did could affect the electronics in the surrounding vicinity and Rin didn't want to be responsible for damage to Raine's precious machinery, and the machinery that kept Rin alive and well.
"What does it do?" Rin asked, indicating the button in the hole. She handed the small capsule back to her sister and rubbed her warm arms.
The body heat regulator in Rin's body was turned up to keep her mechanical joints from freezing in the winter, but that meant that when she was indoors, her skin was uncomfortably hot. She'd stopped sleeping with a blanket already.
Raine held the precious capsule in her left hand, holding her hand to her chest. "I'll show you. Come here."
Rin followed Raine into the next room in the basement. It was the room that Raine kept most of her inventions in, including all the androids and failed androids she'd made as well as spare parts.
"I'm still not sure what you're trying to get at." Rin said quietly. "What does it have to do with all this?" She motioned the clutter filling the room as she followed the taller twin to the far back of the room and into the hidden room where Raine stored the android classes "A" through "D".
Since they were illegal, Raine didn't want someone to stumble accidentally upon them and report them, so she took precautions and hid them in a secret room that she and Rin had put in when they moved in with the Legumes.
"Hold your horses. I swear, the younger twin never has patience to spare." Raine muttered. She pointed her left hand with the capsule in it at one of the Class A androids.
"This is what it does." Raine pushed the button and a sickly green-red holographic beam of light shot out of the opposing end of the capsule and when it hit the android, it formed a sphere around it, slowly seeming to shrink the android down until it was nothing more than a speck of sickly green-red light that shot back into the capsule.
"And that did...what?" Rin asked curiously. "Other than make your androids disappear into thin air?"
Raine threw her bottom lip out in a pout. "I've created this tiny capsule to have the ability to store large items! Don't you see? It's a revolutionary-"
Rin waved her hands discouragingly. If Raine started on talking technology, she could go on and on for hours. "Please, do not bother trying to explain it. Science is not my department. It never has been."
Raine sighed. "Oh, you're no fun." She muttered.
Christmas dinner at the Nokugami household was mostly a silent affair, minus talk between Nekura and Kagome. And even that wasn't all pleasant. Kagome was glad she would be going home right away the next morning.
"My mother, I believe you know her from High School... Kali Higurashi? Do you recognize that name?"
Inuyasha added, "Mother, Doctor Kali Onigumo is Kagome's mother. You know her. She is the wife of Naraku Onigumo, the man you've made a play toy of while father was in Europe last year."
Kagome nodded. "Oh yes," she said, quietly. "It is rather sad that you can't get any from your own husband so you turn to others' husbands."
Sesshoumaru remained quiet. Kagome and Inuyasha had to have planned everything all out, and he didn't want to ruin it by speaking. Besides, he never talked at dinner before, why start now?
Haru glared at Nekura. "You charlatan!" He hissed. "I had my suspicions!" Kagome hid a grin. Instead of Nekura causing the rift two days prior, Kagome had done it in reverse, with Inuyasha's genius help. Of course, it had been planned ahead of time, but it had been planned well.
"I would never!" Nekura yelped. "She lies!" It had been far too easy. Kagome recognized the signs. Haru was cheating on Nekura as well. Nekura had a panicked look on her face. "Haru, my love, please believe me! I would never do such a vile thing!" Haru stalked from the room, not listening.
"My love?" Kagome laughed. Oh how easy it was to tear them apart. She wasn't doing this for herself though. She did it for the two teens whose kisses made her desire nothing more than to be safe in strong arms; the two teens who made her feel safe.
She'd kissed them enough and been held enough to know how the two differed when some would say they were exactly alike. She felt like she was cheating on Kohaku, but she quenched that feeling. In a few days everything would be back to normal.
The two boys would ignore her, give her their "I'm better than you" looks, and she'd forget all about the delightful feeling of their lips on hers, especially Sesshoumaru's.
Kagome stood, a hand placing dramatically to cover the cleavage that showed by her dress. "I believe... you also said that several times to others." She said suggestively.
"I know it is hard to admit, but I see it all over you. You can practically smell the lies radiating off your skin, Nekura... You know... How ever will Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha turn out with you for an example? Haru's publicity would skyrocket if he exposed you..." Her eyes darted slightly to Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, suggesting something.
"But what about your father?" Nekura smirked. "You wouldn't dare tell him of that or your father's reputation will-"
Again, Kagome laughed. "We're not talking about my father and you anymore."
Nekura stood and walked around the table. Kagome turned to face her. "Come with me." Nekura said. "Please." It wasn't a request, though she'd said please. It was an order, a demand.
Kagome smirked and looked at her newly manicured fingernails as though she was Queen of the planet. "You see, Nekura, that's the difference between me," she waved her hand casually at the two boys, "and them. I've no reason to obey you. You see, I'm the bitchy girlfriend. I'm not supposed to be liked by the mother or the father until long after I die. Assuming I die before you of course."
Kagome saw the movement in the muscles in Nekura's shoulder and arm and knew what would happen before it did, so she braced herself and let it happen. Nekura's arm snaked out and Kagome felt the sting in her cheek, left behind when Nekura slapped her.
The pain was nothing compared to what Naraku could do to her. It was a mosquito bite compared to a cougar bite. Hardly felt. "I pity your mother." Nekura spat.
Kagome looked at her hand casually, flexing her fingers. For a second, she said nothing. Then, Kagome turned her back to Nekura and walked out of the room. That single action offended Nekura beyond words. Sesshoumaru stood, turned his back to Nekura, and walked out after Kagome. Inuyasha and Rimy weren't far behind him.
Christmas break was over, and Kagome was finally back at home, away from a certain two boys who confused her more than she liked to be. But that didn't mean she got away from them completely. She saw them every day in school, at one point or another, and they were in her dreams and her mind at every second.
Both of them had hidden secrets in their eyes—secrets that Kagome had found out. It was her nature to poke and pry, though she wasn't as good at it as Sango was.
Kagome looked at the history assignment she was supposed to be working on. The paper was filled with essay questions covering the last unit they'd studied before break, to make sure the students hadn't spent the whole vacation lazing and had actually read the work assigned to them over break. The reading had been about the 100-year war.
That brought demons to Kagome's mind. Inuyasha was a half-breed, and Kagome knew this. His mother was a human, and his father was a demon, so that made him a half-breed. So why weren't Kagome and Souta half-breeds as well?
Their father was a demon, or half demon as it were, and their mother was a human. The only thing that set Kagome and Souta apart from normal Province Seven native was their deep midnight blue eyes.
Kagome tapped her pencil on her desk steadily. She remembered her seizures. They were coming quicker and harder now. They didn't last as long, but they were more painful than the longer ones, and the damage she did to her body was worse.
Souta had started sleeping in her room so that when she was sleeping, if she went into a seizure, he was right there to hold her down. They hadn't told their mother about it yet, but Souta said if it happened again, and both were sure it would, Souta would tell.
But why was she having the seizures? Why now? She'd never had them before a few months ago. "It doesn't make sense..." Kagome muttered aloud, forgetting she was in a history classroom as she stared at her work.
The teacher, Mr. Hiatz, had been walking by at just that moment, and heard her comment. Mr. Hiatz frowned and set one of his large wiry hands on Kagome's desk, leaning on it slightly to leer over the speaking student's body.
"Miss Higurashi, I suggest you learn when you are to be quiet. If something does not make sense, you raise your hand, not open your yapper."
Kagome looked up at the teacher. He had a wiry build, but was muscular, and had long curly lashes to frame his nearly black eyes that would have looked feminine on anyone else. His head was bald, but only because he shaved it that way.
His eyebrows were perfectly and naturally arched gracefully over his eyes. He had high cheekbones and thin lips and he wore a white polo shirt and dark green dress pants. On the breast of the polo shirt was written " Sunset Private Education School" in embroidery.
He wasn't long out of college, but that was because he'd gone for several things before finally deciding on becoming a history teacher. Mr. Hiatz was twice Kagome's eighteen years.
Kagome usually liked Mr. Hiatz, but something about the tone of his voice seemed challenging and it made her hackles rise. It was like Kagome when she baited Medallion, only this time it was being done to her. Her fingers gripped the desk, her knuckles were white. She took a breath, both wanting and needing to calm herself.
She couldn't understand why she was getting so upset. Perhaps it was because her life had gone askew ever since Lea Saeko, her supposed cousin, had stepped into her life.
Since that day, Kagome had been thrown into situations with Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, and everything seemed to have changed, including her opinion of them. But yet, she wasn't sure how she thought of them anymore. She had yet to make a new opinion of them.
Here I go again, dragging my thoughts back to them... She thought. She locked eyes with Mr. Hiatz, giving him stare for stare, waiting for him to back down. Her own pride wouldn't let her back down.
His pride wouldn't let him lose to a mere teen still in high school either. Neither of them would back down, and so the bell rang before they finished their little glaring contest.
Kagome didn't look away as she gathered her papers and books into a crude pile and stood, making her way out of the classroom along with the hoard of her classmates.
Once in the hall, Kagome made her way to science. Once there, she set up for her lab. All in all, that class was a success. She usually did well in science class, while many other students made their formulae wrong and blew up their lab stations, or melted half of it with acid that they'd created.
After science was lunch. There, she hung with her friends for a while. Yuri had joined their group quickly and obviously silently since she couldn't talk, but the girl did have a great sense of humor, ability to speak or not.
She had a system of sign language that was fairly easy to understand. Then she could also write, so sometimes she wrote down what she thought or what she wanted to say.
Kagome sighed. It was getting to be a long day.
When she got home with Souta, Kagome heard noises that were certainly not part of the normal household sounds. The shrine was usually quiet, but that night, there were the sounds of screams and shattering glass.
She didn't wait. That was her mother's voice screaming the word "stop" repeatedly, and "you're hurting me". Souta was only two steps behind Kagome as she raced up the stairs. If the door had not been open at the top of the stairs, they would never have heard the noise. The scene was taking place in the living room.
Several priceless antiques were shattered on the floor of the living room. The entertainment center upon which the television sat normally was tipped over, the television screen cracked, the plug ripped from the wall.
Lamps and tables and chairs were upturned. In the middle of it all was Naraku with his belt in his hand, and a sorely beaten Kali. Kali was getting much older, and her priestess powers were not what they used to be.
All of it was spent on the protections around the shrine; otherwise she might have had a defense against the brutal punishment.
The image of her mother sobbing and writhing under the belt's relentless tirade sent cold blood rushing through Kagome's body. She screamed as she felt the pain of a seizure take hold of her, falling to the ground and shaking for a moment.
Souta was torn between who to help. His mother or his sister? He loved both dearly, and didn't want anything to happen to either one. Then again, if he helped his sister, Kagome would never forgive him for their mother getting hurt; if he helped his mother, Kali would never forgive him for not helping his sister. Either way, he seemed at a loss.
The seizure, though Kagome hit her head hard enough to bleed, didn't last long. She got up, her body shaking from the recent agony it had spent, but she didn't let it grasp hold of her. She was furious. She let her heart take over her mind, and her heart screamed "Kill, Kill, Kill!!" while her mind said just the opposite.
She charged through the shattered glass, ripped magazines, over the askew furniture, and into Naraku. She knocked him down and began hitting him repeatedly in the face with a balled up fist. She broke his nose, split his lip, and hit his head on the floor so hard that it cracked open, blood seeping into the wooden tiles of the floor.
Had it not been for Souta, Kagome just might have killed Naraku. As it was, Kali had scrambled for the phone, calling the police on Naraku—finally after all this time she was doing what she needed to.
"Let me go!" Kagome screamed. Souta had her held tightly against him, refusing to let go. Her arms were pinned behind her, making movement painful. He knew how she felt, and he too wanted to pummel Naraku, but he kept a level head. "Let me go, now Souta!"
"No, Kagome!" Souta said, using her full first name, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation. Normally he didn't just throw out her full first name. He used her nicknames more often than not.
The police came along with an ambulance. Naraku was taken to the hospital to heal, and then to be put in jail. Only when Naraku had gone did Kagome settle down. The first thing she did was knock her brother off his feet, giving him a nice black eye.
The next day, in Art class, the students were met with a surprise. Lea was there, but not as they had expected her, in her normal happy-go-pappy attitude. She was dead serious, and beside her was Shino Takai.
When class started, Shino looked at the students. He didn't see who he'd expected to find. Who he hoped he would find. "Where is Kagome Higurashi?" Shino asked the students.
Kohaku looked up from his notebook. "Thou asketh thy wrong personeth." He said with a grin, but when he saw the serious looks on the faces of the two adults at the front of the classroom, and the gun and badge that each wore, he realized the seKali of things. "What happened?" He demanded.
"Kagome probably beat up someone like the barbarian she is." Karei said dismissively.
"It is not your concern." Ms Saeko snapped. "Where is she?" Her manicured fingers went to her hips, balling up with her fist and resting there.
It was then that Kagome and Souta walked into the classroom, running late from helping their mother out. Shino turned to Kagome. "Kagome Higurashi; you are under arrest for... last nights actions." He didn't want the whole class to know what Kagome had done.
"You can't arrest her for that!" Souta yelled. Anyone who hadn't been paying attention would be now. "He deserved every last hit! Did you see what he did to our mother?! Did you look at that?!"
Shino shook his head and stepped forward. "Regardless."
"I told you she's a barbarian." Karei said.
Kagome turned her head, looking at Karei, even as she calmly turned her back and placed her hands behind her to be cuffed. Her voice was soft as she laid out the scenario for Karei. "Suppose a man had gone mad, Karei. What would you think?"
Karei frowned. "Why are you asking me?" She was confused, and it was obvious by the look on her face.
Kagome shrugged as she felt and heard the cuffs locking onto her wrists. "A man has a disease, Karei. This disease drives him into insanity." The class was silent, listening and giving Kagome disgusted looks.
Sesshoumaru watched with a heavy heart. He didn't want Kagome to go. He thought things had been happening between the two of them finally, but apparently fate would keep them apart. Who knew if he'd ever see her again?
Of course, it also brought to mind the question of whether or not he had good judgment of character, considering she was getting arrested.
"The disease is a sexually transmitted parasite that eats you from the inside out. It drives the infected into a state of mental instability when the infected person's emotions rage. It eats at your pelvis and within three years of infection you'll be a paraplegic. A cripple.
"The disease begins from eating the tissue that makes up an android's skin in its rawest form. Otherwise, it can be sexually transmitted, and that is how most people get it. So when this infected man started beating on my mother, I had to stop him.
"I know if someone attacked May, you'd have done the same thing, Karei. You'd have done the same thing I did." Kagome leaned towards Souta's ear so she could speak with only him to hear. "Take care of things. Hook up mom with a good man."
Souta nodded dumbly. He didn't know what to say, and yet, there was so much he wanted to say. He just couldn't think of the words to express it all.
"Come home soon." Kohaku called across the room just as Kagome was taken from the room.
Kagome knew the moment Shino helped her into the back seat of the police car that she would be cut off from her family. She would be unable to maintain ties with her family. She watched the scenery go by now and sighed. It would have been one thing if Naraku had gotten AIDS.
By beating on him, she would have gotten it considering she'd broken the skin on her knuckles while repeatedly hitting him. Thankfully he had not gotten it though during his many sexual excursions.
Souta... well, Kagome didn't know what to think about Souta. He'd gotten closer to Kikyou, but it was obvious Kikyou was not interested in him and instead was crushing on Kokahu.
Yuri was interested in Miroku, Sango was interested in Souta, Miroku was unsurprisingly interested in Sango, and Rin had yet to get out of the Tokyohospital.
Of course, the girl nearly died, or so Kagome was led to believe... Kagome was sure she'd felt Rin die in that chamber, but either way she was glad Rin hadn't.
Now, where Kagome would end up was uncertain. Kagome had aspired to be an author since childhood, but now she wasn't so sure. Now, she thought she'd do better another way. Protecting people. She could be somewhat like her mother, only less 'Shrinky'. She chuckled at the thought.
As she watched the scenery crawl slowly by, she looked at Medallion's father through the wire window. She scooted over in her seat so she could lean forward to look at the man who'd helped to conceive Medallion.
"Hey, what'd you do to become a cop?" She asked, wondering. "Did you go through any special training?"
"College." Shino said back to her, turning down the scanner so they could hear each other easier. He was glad Kagome had not made a scene and had come quietly.
She seemed like a sensible person, and Shino knew what the effects of the disease she'd talked about were. He'd known several people who'd gotten it and died from it. He'd also known several people who'd committed suicide when they found out they had the disease.
"Yeah but like...what training did you get?" Kagome really wasn't sure why she was so interested, but at least conversation was better than nothing. She didn't want to be left to her thoughts. If she started thinking about a certain someone she was leaving behind... she knew she would just depress herself.
Surprisingly, who she was thinking about wasn't who you would think it would be. She had a loving boyfriend who wanted to marry her and who she wanted to marry; a delightful brother who did everything for her that he could and tried to make her life as fun as possible; a mother who cared for her with a stern no-nonsense hand yet loved her all the same; and friends who looked out for her just as she looked out for them.
Yet, it was none of these, surprisingly enough, who occupied her mind.
"Computer literacy, research methods, court procedures, criminal law, theories of criminal justice—"
"Really? What are some of the theories of criminal justice?"
Shino peered briefly at Kagome through the rear view mirror. His son had never taken an interest in such things as the theories of criminal justice. Shino knew it was probably a wide hope that his son would take after him and join the force.
Medallion, for all he was a decent shot, had completely lost his gut for the job after the kidnapping incident. It wasn't a very fun thought.
So while the two made their way through the crowded city, west towards the police station and the hospital, Shino began explaining and conversing with Kagome about the many things he'd gone through in college to be a part of the police force.
He found Kagome was rather intelligent; the questions Kagome asked him forced him to think carefully about his answers. In a way, he felt slightly baited by her but it was rather refreshing.
Kagome's wit and sarcasm made him laugh several times before they reached the police station. He felt bad for her, because he knew where she would most likely end up after the whole court dispute.
It was arguable that what Kagome had done was for self defense, but it really wasn't. Any way it was looked at, the act was not self defense considering all she had to do was restrain Naraku.
Instead, she had gotten completely and unnecessarily aggressive. It was obvious that her intent was to do bodily harm, and assault with the intent to do bodily harm could amount to up to ten years in jail.
"I don't regret doing it." Kagome said suddenly. She sat back in the seat, her mind wandering to the person she should least be thinking about. "Not after all he'd done to us in the past. We all bear the marks as proof."
Kagome jingled her wrist bells; they had been collected from the woods by the police and returned to their owner. "I was just repaying him, blow for blow." She sat listening to the scanner radio that was in the car.
Shino too was silent. It was true that Naraku was a drunk. Kagome was a good girl, with a clean record. Or at least, that was how he perceived her. So she didn't wear her school uniform; big deal.
She'd never been picked up by the police, never been reported for doing drugs, and the only bad act she'd ever been involved in was the kidnapping, and there she'd been a victim so that didn't count.
Naraku on the other hand had been jailed well over three hundred times in the past ten years for driving while intoxicated, getting into bar fights, and the patrons of Sunset's Shrine had reported him being the cause of several late night domestic disputes.
His driver's license had been revoked several times; he'd been reported for hiring prostitutes and sleeping with wives of faithful husbands... Shino's hands gripped the steering wheel tight until his knuckles turned white. His ex-wife was one of those wives. It still angered him every time he thought of it.
"Hey, Detective?" Kagome asked, leaning against the grate. Her eyes were laughing but she kept a serious look plastered firmly to her face.
Shino dragged himself out of his thoughts. "Yeah?"
"You know we passed the SPD right? I think your friend was waiting for you on the steps. He was waving at you, but you weren't paying attention. Oh, and you sped a red light."
Kagome bit her lip to keep from laughing as his eyes widened and he blushed, pulling over. "Hey, it's alright. We all have our off days."
Shino laughed bitterly. "Yeah. I suppose." He said. "It's only Tuesday; can you believe it?"
Kagome nodded. "I can believe it, but it doesn't seem like you can." Kagome thought for a moment, her mind wandering. Finally, she forced herself to stay on task.
Outside the warm vehicle it began to snow again, the January winds blowing the snow into every nook and cranny of every building and filling the air with a glistening glitter. "Hey, Detective? Would you do me a last favor?" She didn't wait for an answer before she asked what the favor was.
"I'll probably be in jail for ten years, so would you take me to Ohanami park? Please?" Ohanami park was Medallion's place of hang out. When he skipped school, he was often found there with a few of his friends. He was the leader of his little gang, but he wasn't the oldest. Some of his friends were graduated already.
She was hoping he'd be there, and that Shino would take her. She watched Shino's face as best as she could through the grate, trying to tell if he would say yes or no. It was difficult, as she couldn't see much of his face besides his ear and the corner of his mouth and eye.
"Alright. Where's the park?" Shino said after a long moment, staring at the cars that drove by, all of them slowing because they saw him parked there. One car slipped on an icy spot but the driver quickly righted it.
"It's on Ohanami road; just go three blocks down this road, turn left and go straight for two blocks before turning onto the parkway."
Shino followed the directions perfectly. When they got there, he looked around. The park wasn't that much of a spectacle. It was slightly run down from lack of care. The snow had not been shoveled from the paths of the park so the entire park was glistening with mostly unbroken snow.
Footprint paths, recent and old, were filling with the new falling snow. Shino let Kagome out of the vehicle and walked with her into the park. He wouldn't let her stay long, but his heart was soft towards her. Maybe she was the daughter he never had, but either way, she was a good girl and of that he was sure of.
He was going to be sure to get her record and Naraku's records presented to the court for evidence, or at least have them pointed out. Besides that, they couldn't stay long because Kagome wasn't wearing a coat and it was rather windy out.
Kagome made her way over to a large pile of snow, dragging her feet through three feet of snow to get there. The snow covered the picnic bench she usually leaned against when she waited for Medallion. From there, she looked to her right and saw the play ground equipment.
Medallion usually waited inside the jungle gym. He and his friends would spread tarps around it to make it more like a hollow igloo. The sticky snow stuck to the tarps and made it look more natural. She made her way to the opening in the little 'igloo', her wrists chafing slightly from the cuffs on them.
When she bent down to peer in, she was surprised to see that he was alone. She never thought he would be without at least two women by his side, and just as many male cronies. "Aww, is there no red carpet leading to your little hidey hole?" Kagome drawled, her voice exceptionally dry.
Medallion looked at her, surprise apparent on his face before his usual cocky smirk replaced it. "Come for another be—"
Kagome shrugged and whispered lowly so that Shino wouldn't hear her. Shino stood a few feet away, watching her back, but he couldn't see in the hole. "Daddy's here. I'd watch what you say and how loud you say it."
Medallion frowned, and then turned to stare back at the ceiling of the cold chambers. "What do you want?" He whispered.
She had already gotten what she'd wanted. She'd seen the person she'd been thinking about for the past forty minutes. Never in her life had she expected she'd think about him for so long.
"I'm about to go to jail. I'm collecting kisses." She said dismissively. "Enemies, friends, family, you name it."
Medallion was obviously trying to fight laughter. He really was a handsome man. He knew just how to make himself look good. That was the difference between him and the Nokugami boys, Kagome realized. Medallion was confident about his sex appeal. Inuyasha had a little confidence, but Sesshoumaru had absolutely no confidence at all.
Kagome grinned at him. "Actually, I've come to ask you a last favor. You know Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha Nokugami, right?"
Medallion nodded. "Yeah, sure, I know them. They went to Sunset Public 'bout ten years ago, before they moved to the east side of town and were transferred to Private. What about 'em?"
Kagome thought about how to word what she wanted to say. It was going to be a hard favor to fulfill, she knew, considering it was obvious that Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha did not care for Medallion at all, but no one she knew other than Medallion had the kind of confidence that Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha deserved as rich boys.
They couldn't get the kind of education they needed through any of Kagome's friends. She also needed a bartering tool. Something she could give him in payment of the favor.
She began carefully, laying out her plan in small amounts to be sure Medallion had everything correct. When she finished, it hadn't taken very long, she had him repeat what the plan was to her so she would know if he truly understood the full effects of it.
"So what do I get for this?" Medallion asked. "I don't do things for my enemies on natural go-with-the-flow terms."
"I know." Kagome said. "Fifteen hundred dollars, in cash. Got pen and paper?" Medallion dug in his backpack for his agenda. "Okay. I want you to write down..."
Raine stood still as her sister stuck the pins in the dress she'd been making for the college banquet. Raine would be a green and gold goddess when it was done, but not only that, if Rin fitted it any more perfectly, she'd never be able to get it off after she got into it!
Rin was good at that sort of thing though. Sewing was Rin's passion. There were five rooms in the basement. The bedroom, three storage rooms, and the hidden room.
Four of the rooms, including the bedroom, were filled with electronics and electronic parts. The fifth room, one of the storage rooms, was made into a comfortable warm room for Rin's sewing.
In there were storage draws of fabrics of all types and colors, spools of lace and ribbon in all colors and quantities, reels of yarn and string, and needles of all shapes and sizes. There was something for everything.
Raine looked at the many pins stuck into the fabric. There was no better job done to make clothes than Rin did. Her meticulous hands worked miracles with cloth. "Rin, don't you think this is a bit much?" Raine asked nervously.
She was wearing over a thousand dollars in fabrics and materials. She'd always been self conscious about her appearance. She wanted it to be perfect, and that was true, but she didn't like to show her figure in public. It was a trait that came with locking herself up in a dark basement almost 24/7.
"Nonsense." Rin said, her hands continuing their pinch and pin duties. "I thought I had measured this perfectly! Are you growing again?" Rin admonished, sighing. "It has only been four months since I last had you try this on! My goodness, you have sprouted an inch!"
Raine giggled at her sister. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Certainly it is!" Rin said with a frown. "I will have to bring this down an inch. It is good I made the extra room for error in the hem."
"Oh please, Rin, don't bother. It looks fine!"
"It has to go to your shoes, Raine, you must understand that. And I will spare nothing to make my sister beautiful. Tomorrow is the banquet and so tomorrow you will be the Cinderella of the ball!" Raine sighed. "No sighing!" Again, Raine sighed.
The little T.V that was in Rin's sewing room caught Raine's attention. She turned her head to look at it and saw the words "Kagome Higurashi – trial of" sprawled across the top, and "charged for assault and battery" underneath that. As the T.V news speaker talked in the screen, Kagome came on the screen, being led into a court room.
"Isn't that your friend, Rin?" Raine asked.
Rin turned to the screen and gasped. "It is! That is Kagome!" Rin moved over to turn up the volume so they could hear the news speaker and the two listened quietly, their eyes on the screen.
"—two days into the trial now." The news speaker said. "So far, as a recap of what has happened for those of you just tuning into channel seven news, Miss Higurashi was brought before the court for beating her father, Naraku Onigumo.
"Mr. Onigumo said he had no idea why his daughter rampaged against him. Witnesses say they saw Mr. Onigumo beating on Sunset's favorite Psychiatrist, Doctor Onigumo, and that Miss Higurashi was only trying to help restrain Mr. Onigumo.
"Up until now, Miss Higurashi's records have been completely clean, but in the past five years, Mr. Onigumo has been arrested over two hundred times—"
Rin's hands went to her mouth and she gasped. "Oh my!" She said. "Poor Kagome!"
"Shh, Rin. They're starting the trial." Rin watched anxiously.
"—parties rise for Judge Amylase." The police man said.
The man deemed Judge Amylase sat up on his podium and waved his hand dismissively before banging the gavel on the counter knock. "Be seated."
The camera scanned the audience and at the bottom of the screen it listed who important people were in relation to the trial. Kali was sitting just behind where Kagome was seated, Souta next to her.
It showed two people named May and Hakudoushi Taisei, naming them as Kagome's aunt and uncle, and these two were in support of Kagome as well. Behind Naraku was an elderly man who was titled Quina Onigumo and said to be Naraku's father.
The camera scanned the judges as Judge Amylase spoke. "Court is in session for the case of Kagome Higurashi verses Naraku Onigumo." The camera spun back to Judge Amylase. "People, let's try to wrap this up today. The court will first hear the plaintiff."
Naraku's lawyer stood up, his hands moving to straighten his tie and push his glasses back up his nose even though they were firmly in place. "I would like to call Kagome Higurashi to the stand." The two twins watching the T.V set wondered what was going on, but knew they wouldn't easily get the answer.
Kagome's lawyer nodded at Kagome slightly and then nudged her head towards the witness stand. As Kagome walked up there, the newscaster dictated everything that was happening. "The crowd is restless as the defendant heads to the witness stand. The only sounds heard are the shuffles of feet and rustles of clothing.
"Miss Higurashi takes her oath, and then settles down in the stand. Mr. Harold"—the two girls guessed that Mr. Harold was Naraku's lawyer, since he was doing what the newscaster dictated as she said it—"walks up to the stand and leans on it as though he owns the place. Who is this guy anyway? Who does he think he—"
The newscaster's voice was cut off and Mr. Harold's voice reigned supreme from the T.V. "Miss Higurashi. Would you please state for the court your name, your mother's name, and your brother's name?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Kagome snapped. "Why don't you ask me something relevant to the case?"
The newscaster's voice came on again. "It appears that after two nights and three days in a jail cell, Miss Higurashi has become rather short temper—"
Again the newscaster was cut off so that Mr. Harold's voice was heard. "Just answer the question." He said his lips tight in a frown.
Kagome seemed rather peeved but she did answer in a snippy voice. "My name is Kagome Higurashi, my mother's name is Kali Onigumo, and my brother is Souta Higurashi."
"Would you please state for the court why you are here?"
"Because I gave a man what he deserved."
Mr. Harold nodded at Kagome's lawyer. "The witness is yours. I have no further questions." He had a smirk on his face that made even Rin's half-electronic gut squirm.
Kagome's lawyer stood and walked to the stand, her heeled shoes clicking on the floor. "Miss Higurashi, could you please tell the court what the black and blue coloration to your mum's face is?"
"It's a bruise."
"And why is your mum's face bruised?"
"Because my father decided to beat the shit outta her."
Judge Amylase frowned down at Kagome. "Please watch your language."
"Whatever." Kagome grumbled, and then continued. "On Monday, I get home with my brother because we had to work and everything, and we heard some screaming and banging and smashing of things that shouldn't be heard in a shrine.
"It was mama screaming, so we raced up from the garage to get to her and saw him standing over her, holding her arm back and his foot on the back of her knee so she was bent almost like the letter 'u', and she's not young anymore, so she doesn't bend that way. He was beating her with his belt.
"We wouldn't have heard it in the garage if the door to the basement hadn't been open, because the walls of the shrine are coated in cork inside the insulation."
"Why did you attack him?"
"You'd have done it too if your mother was being whipped. This isn't the first time he's done it. My back, my baby brother's back, and my mother's back are all covered in welts, fresh and scarred. When the doctors saw mine and Souta's backs, they blamed it on the kidnappers. You took pictures of all of our backs."
"Yes, pictures were taken. I would like to submit to the court this evidence." She held up photos that were blurred on the T.V so viewers would be unable to see clearly.
Rin and Raine watched the whole court session, and at the end, a sentencing was given.
Kohaku clenched his fists. He was watching the news at home since they wouldn't let him go to the court. At least it wasn't ten years. That was a good thing, wasn't it? It was a very good thing.
Kohaku sighed, trying to calm himself. Kagome shouldn't have gotten punished at all, but they had to make an example at least. People couldn't just go around beating up their parents.
So Kagome only got three years, not in jail but in a finishing school in Raspuit of the Province Six. For three years there would be no contact between her and anyone she knew from Sunset.
Kohaku looked around the room he shared with Sango. They weren't poor, but the house wasn't filled with rooms like the shrine was. The majority of the house was all one giant room because his father was a martial arts teacher.
There was a large dining room where students and teacher ate during the day, a kitchen where cooks bustled during the day, and two bedrooms where their father had one and Sango and Kohaku had one.
There were three bathrooms: one for their father's room, one for their room, and one that was partitioned off like a public bathroom with stalls around each toilet.
That was why Sango and Kohaku shared a computer. They had separate cars that their father bought them, but they shared a computer, a bunk bed, and a television and its components: VCR, game consoles, you name it they probably had it.
Their dad liked to spoil them, but he'd never seen a reason to give them two computers if they shared a room. "Sango, what do you think?" Kohaku asked her. She sat on her bed, clipping her toenails.
"She shouldn't have gotten any time. Naraku had it coming. But Naraku got sixteen years in jail for all the years he put Kali and 'Gome and Souta through hell. That's something at least. Kagome at least is going to someplace civil."
Sango tossed the toenail clippers on the bed and stood, stretching. That done, she walked over to Kohaku and slung an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, little brother. I thought you broke up with her. Quit pining."
"That's just it." Kohaku said quietly. "We got back together a few weeks ago. Now I won't see her for a whole year. I'm gonna have to let her go, aren't I?" Kohaku knew what Sango would answer, but he still asked. His eyes danced with tears that he refused to shed and pushed back. "But I love her."
Sango hugged her brother. "Letting her go would be best. You know it, and I know it. Rin comes back to school on Monday, so why not just date her? She's a cute kid. And she's as much a mystery as Kagome."
"She's way skittish though."
"She'll get over it."
Kagome stared at the bunk above her little cot in the uncomfortably damp, dark cell. The place stank of cigarette smoke and vomit and the curtain around the toilet in the cell was ripped off its hooks and made useless.
She had to go to the bathroom, but even if the curtain was usable, she doubted she'd rest her bottom on that toilet seat. The pile was as sanitary as a heap of cow dung was edible.
The barred windows leaked, sending brisk winter air at her and making her shiver in the thin blanket she was given. That, at least, was clean and smelled of fresh linen. In the morning, she would be off to Keysville Airport and from there she would fly to Tokyoand from there would be driven to the finishing school.
Before she went, though, she would get to go home and visit her family until noon while packing. She would arrive in Tokyolate the next day so she and the escort assigned to pick her up in Tokyowould rent a hotel room for the night and she would be at the school sometime on Sunday.
She would not get to see or talk to or hear from her family for three years. It was going to be a long three years, of that she was sure. The finishing school, thankfully, was not just females.
It was gender welcoming, though the females went to learn to be proper noble women, and the males went to learn such things as business and law. Kagome would be schooled in business and law as well, but no one would expect her to do anything except be a loving wife and a good cook.
The truth of the matter was that the majority of women wanted to just be supported by their husbands. Very few wanted to support themselves, but the government wanted the support of the few who did want to make something of them self so they had to give women at least a start in learning their ranks.
The majority of women who tried their luck on business usually both failed and decided to stick with their families until they got a husband, or else were pampered and primped to look like mannequins in store windows for the public and often raised public appeal for that particular company. The women never really got very far on the power chain, but there were a few who made it to the top.
Kagome wanted to be one of those who made it in business. She didn't want to be a little placid housewife. Her mother was famous all over Earth and even in Europe around France, Germany and Sweden she was well known.
Some of the richer stars had come to see Kali Onigumo and ask for help on problems. Kali was considered one of the most successful businesswomen of the 3004 year, and critics were saying that now that it was likely that Kali would be the most successful businesswomen of 3005 as well, even though it was only in the start of the year, the second week in January.
If her mother could make it to being successful, even with a man like Naraku dragging her down constantly; Kagome was sure she could make it as well. But she didn't want to be a Psychiatrist. Those weren't the footsteps she wanted to follow.
She admired Detective Takai and the work he did. He put his life on the line many times because he knew what was right and what had to be done. Still, even those footsteps weren't ones she wanted to follow.
She wanted to be able to protect anyone, for free, but not work on the police force. She wasn't sure how she would do it, but she knew she could somehow. She wanted to be able to choose where she went and what jobs she did.
If she were on the police force, she would not be able to choose that. It would be her boss' decision and she would be bound to following orders.
Relic looked around the banquet, disappointed. He'd been planning to go to this with Sammy but now she was gone and settled into her new apartment. She was working two jobs and it seemed she was having the time of her life doing it.
She was a waitress at a restaurant and a cook at another. The cooking job had surprised him. Sammy never cooked with him, so he couldn't help but wonder if the new arrangement was meant to be.
He fixed the tie on his tuxedo and again looked around the room. He'd been invited to this banquet, so he didn't want to just not go. Besides that, Tea had gone to Sammy's new apartment for the weekend to go to the zoo with Sammy and Relic didn't want to deny Sammy and Tea some fun.
If he'd have stayed home though, there would have been nothing to do. He figured by coming here, there would be someone intelligent to talk to but so far he'd had no luck at all trying to find someone who would talk to him about anything other than the banquet.
Again, his eyes scanned the room. It was decorated with gold angels and murals and many women wore ridiculously expensive gowns that puffed out from their body making them look like they had asses the size of a boulder.
Some females wore more modest gowns and seemed unnaturally comfortable in their current settings. Men were wearing tuxedos and their shirt colors varied to match the colors of their date's gowns.
There were caterers making their way around the room with champagne glasses and caviar, seeing as how everyone seemed to be at least eighteen.
The affair was quite marvelous, when stripped to the essentials. The thing that set off the mood was a group of females without dates it seemed who wore outfits that could hardly be considered for the occasion.
When a caterer offered him a glass of champagne, he took it with small thanks and continued looking around. There were seating areas everywhere except on the dance floor.
A group of band members played classical music on a podium, the sound light and wispy. A few people danced with the music but most people stood around, talking in groups of four or five about the banquet.
Relic made his way around the room, running a hand through his hair as he always did when he was either bored or frustrated. This time he was bored. He sipped the champagne as he watched the student board get ready for the auction.
Those who signed up would be auctioned off and the money collected from the auction would be split in half, one half going to charities and the other half going to support the student board so that more events such as this one could happen again.
As he sipped his drink again, his eyes wandering the room, he saw from the corner of his eye two females eyeing him up like candy. He ignored them and continued on his way, searching for one of his friends.
En route to finding his friends, he noticed a young girl accepting a glass of champagne from a caterer. She didn't look old enough to be in college, much less drinking! Of course, he knew he would probably be wrong and she just looked like a fifteen year old. Looking so young would certainly come in handy later on in life for her, he knew.
Her dress was modest against her crème colored skin, her black hair up in a tight bun with two tiny curled clumps left to hang down to frame her face. Instead of bangs, it seemed she'd grown them out to her chin.
She had rosy cheeks, bright red lips, and green shadow on her eyes. Her nails were green and looked manicured, her dress made out of green silks that rustled with her movements, with layered petticoats. She sat on a couch, her skirts fanning her crossed legs.
She had a book in one hand and looked to be reading it, her lips moving slightly as though she were trying to memorize the words, and her hand moving to set the glass of champagne next to two other empty glasses on a stand nearby.
He watched as one of his friends (now he knew where at least one was) walked up to the girl and moved closer so he could hear what was said. "Hey, cutie." His friend said to the girl, and she looked up at him, quirking an eyebrow at his wording.
"Hello." She said standing, her gown rustling with the movement. Relic saw that she'd taken off the heels she wore, and when he saw the heels set nearby, the height of the heels, he knew he would have taken them off too if he were a girl.
He'd never wear them since he was a guy though. Her voice seemed pleasant and naturally soprano, a beautiful ring to it unlike the screechy sopranos of most of the women he'd met that night. She closed her book, as though to give the man in front of her complete attention.
"Care to dance?" His friend held out a hand to the girl as he began to lay on the charm for her benefit. Relic saw her put a hand on her chest and flutter her eyelashes at him, as though she were honored, and his friend grinned and took her hand in his.
She pulled her hand away, the cute little smile having been turned into a smirk. "I never gave you permission to touch me, did I?" She asked. "You should be more careful who you flirt with. Someone might just best you, if you're not."
Relic watched his friend blush and walk away and then his eyes trailed back to the girl. She settled herself back on the couch and reopened her book.
He began to make his way over to the couch, but a girl rushed by him, her heels clicking quickly on the polished floor as she made her way over to the girl on the couch. The girl seemed angry as she stood before the girl on the couch.
"How dare you!" The girl hissed. "You stole my high score!" The girl in the gold dress looked like she could have an apoplexy any moment.
The girl on the couch stood, snapping her book shut irritably. "Now you see here. I don't have time for an argument with you on who is better at what."
"Testing, one two testing." A girl up on the podium where the band used to be stood with a microphone in her hand and a smile on her face. Relic recognized her as the girl who headed up the student board.
She was the first female to head the student board since the college was opened. Slowly the attention of all the people in the room turned to the girl.
Relic guessed that the auction would be starting soon, but since he hadn't signed up and he wasn't going to participate in the buying of other guys, he figured to just sit back and relax.
The girl in the gold dress disappeared towards the event as it started and Relic made his way to the couch, taking a seat next to the girl in the green dress. The couch wasn't all that big, but they weren't smashed together either.
As he sipped his champagne and watched his friends' auction themselves off, the girl looked at him as he'd expected she would. "May I help you?" She asked in a clipped tone of voice.
The book was once again snapped shut with irritation as her lips pursed in a frown. The many visits she'd been having lately probably made her more than irritable.
"No. I'm on a quest to find a single intelligent person in this room and you caught my eye. That and that you look fifteen and are drinking champagne." Relic ran a hand through his hair.
The girl calmed down considerably, chuckling. "I'm seventeen, and it's sparkling white grape soda, not champagne."
Relic laughed at his own error and took another drink of his champagne, looking at the girl again. She did look older now that he was closer. "Aren't you going to participate in the auction?" He inquired, figuring that every woman would contribute to the auction because of the cause.
"I have no time for senseless dating. If I want to donate to a charity, I'll go make my donation at their headquarters." She turned back to her book. "Besides. The only reason I am here tonight is because my sister forced me to come."
Relic chuckled at her answer. She certainly was amusing. "You have a point. So are you a freshman? You must be, huh?"
The girl smiled, a small laugh escaping her lips. "I am a senior, but I will not be graduating for a few years."
He knew surprise showed on his face. "When did you start?"
"Now, Relic, I thought you were smarter than this! Obviously four years ago." The girl smiled.
Relic looked at the girl who obviously knew him but he didn't recognize her at all. He couldn't put a name to her face, if he ever knew her name in the first place. "So you know who I am? Then might I know yours in return?"
She laughed quietly and nodded. "Alright. I'm Raine Okuna." Raine held out her hand to him, obviously to shake his in greeting, but instead, Relic shocked both himself and her by taking her hand and kissing her knuckles.
"Relic Johnson, but you obviously already know me." He said in return. He watched her blush prettily. It was obvious she wasn't used to such attentions. "So you're reading Robert Frost, are you? He's rather old."
Raine nodded. "Yes. I have to take a test on Monday and I couldn't just give up tonight's study time, so I brought it."
"Wasn't he an old author?"
She nodded and smiled. "Yeah. Over a thousand years ago."
"I'm surprised that some work from so long ago survived so long."
Relic's friends coming over interrupted the two's conversation, irritating both conversers. "Ziggy, man, come on! We signed you up for the auction!" one said.
"What?" Relic snapped. Hearing those words made him shudder. Most likely he would get some brainless girl who got into college purely because of her looks and passed classes the same way like the blond she was.
"I don't have time for the auction guys! Un-sign my name or something! I don't want to spend the evening with a brainless blond!"
"We can't 'un-sign' you." Another said, exasperated. "And those brainless blonds happen to be hot! What's the matter with you?"
Relic cursed his rotten luck as his friends dragged him to the stage.
Raine felt the unnatural urge to giggle helplessly and wondered if she was coming down with some sort of strange virus, but instead, after Relic had been dragged off, she decided to help him again.
She never did anything without receiving anything in return, but for once she was going to be just plain Raine, not Raine the Hacker. She knew her budget. She knew how much she could spend, and by the time Relic was ready to be auctioned off, Raine would buy him.
After all, he was a smart guy, and would make interesting conversation at least, and if he didn't, she wouldn't really be at a loss. She could just send him on his way after making him pay her back.
She put her heels on and made her way to the stage with her book, the green silks of her gown shushing with every move she made, and her heels clicking on the floor. She couldn't get very close, but the podium was higher up so she would be seen if she called out and raised her hand.
"The bidding will start at fifty dollars for Relic Johnson. Do I hear fifty? I have fifty dollars over there, in the white. Does anyone dare to raise that? Do I hear seventy-five? Seventy-five? Anyone? Come on this is for charity!" the auctioneer called out.
Raine grumbled and pushed her way to the stage, not feeling like being at the back. She was much closer to the front when the auctioneer started to close the deal, so she raised her hand. "Seventy-five!" She called out.
"One hundred!" Another girl called out. Raine guessed it was the first girl who bid, but couldn't be sure. She continued to push her way to the front, finally squeezing out, a little unsteady on her feet as she wasn't used to heels.
"Would the lady in green like to raise it to one twenty-five?" The auctioneer asked.
Raine looked at him, and then let her eyes rest on Relic, who looked relieved to see her. She nodded. "One twenty-five."
"I have one twenty-five! Care to go any higher?" He inquired of the audience. There was suddenly a flurry of motions, and the stakes kept rising as more and more women bid on Relic.
Raine kept silent, letting the other bidders wear themselves out, and watched Relic's face grow more and more desperate. As soon as the other bidders had worn each other out, she struck hard and fast, and in the end, she came out the winner and Relic looked about to kiss her he was so grateful.
"Where do you want to go?" He asked. "I'll take you anywhere."
Raine shrugged. "I'd like to go home."
"But you just bought me, didn't you?"
Raine didn't appear to care. "So what? You don't understand." She lifted her skirts and showed him her heels which raised her three inches. "These hurt my feet, and I have to get them off before I tip over. Besides, this place bites."