Note: For those who stuck with this story for so long, who loved it, and who hated the discontinuation of this story so adamantly reviewed in a measured attempt to bring this story back to life, I've decided to pick it out of the trash can. If it is drastically different than what it used to be, that's because it's been 3 years since I've written it and I like to think my writing style has developed since dropping the lump in the trash. Now that it is out of the trash, I can't guarantee it'll be 100 percent the same, and I definitely cannot guarantee a SessKag pairing though I can certainly try. I can guarantee several character deaths, and that's about it. Enjoy the revival of Sunset's Shrink. -TK
PS. I will NOT do disclaimers on this story.
SS - Chapter 17
The wait at the hospital seemed to become ungodly long for Kagome. Her mother, grief stricken over the loss of her husband, seemed to finally lose herself. Kali had been put in the hospital, and with that turn of events (though no one blamed Kali) a morose sense of irony settled over the town. Kali Higurashi (recently blessed as Kali Ichiro), who had given so much of her life toward helping others, had just been hospitalized for what appeared to be an emotional breakdown.
Kagome was torn between wanting to be at her mother's side and wanting to be at her boyfriend's side. Kohaku was barely alive; the shot that hit him tore a hole through his right lung. He'd had respiratory problems from birth, so the doctors weren't sure he would live let alone wake from the deep coma he'd fallen into.
It was around three PM the day after the tragic wedding night when Detective Shino Takai and his assisting "Seed" Relic Johnson came to the hospital to question Kagome. When Kagome saw the detective, she felt instant gratitude toward the man. She felt glad to know that he was handling the case. If she hadn't already caught the assassin, she might have felt the need to involve herself in the case. At least she could feel comfortable that a competent man was taking care of things.
Although, she did have to admit when she thought about who she caught she felt sick to her stomach—as if something wasn't quite right… As if something were very, very wrong with the picture that had been painted the night before.
Shino greeted her in a soft voice, also acknowledging Sango kindly. Sango sat holding one of Kohaku's hands, trying hard to keep from crying. The girl had just lost her father, and it appeared she would lose her younger brother too. Kagome wouldn't blame Sango if she did cry. Kagome had broken down into tears when she saw her mother had to be forcibly sedated just so she wouldn't hurt herself.
"How is your mother holding up?" Shino asked Kagome as she, the Detective, and the Seed excused themselves from Kohaku's hospital room. If Kagome's memory served her correctly, Shino had grown up with Kali. They had gone to the same high school, and Shino was a very close friend of Mich Ichiro—Sango's father.
It was a well known fact that Shino claimed bragging rights for Mich and Kali's union. He had premised it happening their senior year in high school. After high school, however, Kali went off to college and met Kagome's father. Now twenty years later, Kali and Mich did get married only to have Mich murdered the very day of the wedding.
Kagome shook her head in response to the question, leading the two men out into the lobby. "She's not doing very well. My aunt Maddy and my brother Souta are sitting in the room with her now, but the doctors had to sedate her."
"Your aunt?" Shino frowned. "If I recall correctly, Madison hated your mother."
"Mama and aunt Maddy weren't exactly best friends," Kagome said firmly, "but Maddy's always been there when mama needed her. She's there now, and she'll be there in the future."
Shino sighed and scratched his stubbly chin. "Alright, alright." He said. "It's just surprising to me, that's all. The Madison I recall wanted nothing to do with your mother." He shook his head sadly as Relic looked a bit confused.
Kagome let the man be confused, though even she was a bit confused by her aunt's presence. She'd always known she had an aunt, but Maddy never really visited and very little was heard about her. Her cousin Lea Saeko—the private investigator who had once pretended to be an art teacher—was Madison's daughter. If her mother spoke of her sister, it was only with great fondness, but at the same time those words were few. Her mother always said, "Maddy will come home when she's ready to."
Kagome never really understood that, but she supposed she never really questioned it more to try to understand. And now that her mother had essentially broken down, Kagome doubted she would get any answers any time soon. She had to be realistic, but she wasn't going to toss out the hope entirely. Her mother would get better… she had to. She helped so many others get better, so it was her turn, right?
As the silence stretched between the three, Shino cleared his throat slightly.
Kagome said, "What is it?" in a short, but not unkind, tone of voice.
"The suspect you apprehended is refusing to confess, and he is refusing to talk to anyone but the person who caught him…" Shino said finally.
"And you were hoping I would see if I can get some information out of him." She knew she was right even before he nodded. She agreed gladly. She wanted to know why any man would want to ruin her mother's life. She straightened her back and ran a hand through her hair, pushing her mental worries aside. She wouldn't be able to keep her head with the culprit if she allowed herself to think of her mother, her step-father, or her boyfriend.
"Yes," Shino said. "Relic looked up his background, but he's completely clean. There's nothing there that suggests he would do something like this. He hasn't even had a single parking or speeding ticket."
Kagome bit her lip for a moment, not truly thinking about what she'd just been told. Instead she was thinking about whether she should let her brother know she was going to the police station. Truthfully it was just across the street from the hospital, but common courtesy said she should let him know.
"I'll be right back, and then we can go to the police station." Kagome told the two. They nodded and she made her way back toward her mother's hospital room. She didn't let herself stay very long. Her aunt Maddy insisted on hugging her, though she was reluctant to return it.
Souta promised to tell Sango where Kagome was going, since she had no idea how long it would be before she came back. "Thanks, Pillow," she said, extracting a tiny smile from him as she used his old nickname. She hoped he knew she would always be there for him, no matter what happened with their mother, but having no words to put that feeling into, she just squeezed him in a tight hug and kissed his cheek.
"Gerroff me, ya loon," he breathed without any feeling behind his words. "Get going before they leave without ya."
She left, unable to look at her mother's sedated form. Things would get better, she told herself.
xXx
At the police station, Shino and Relic led her first into their small four-person office. The room that had been cleaned just the night before had piled up with files and papers and an assortment of other things. Relic's desk had a complex computer system on it which he immediately walked over to and sat at. Shino followed the young Seed, so Kagome walked after.
"The information," Relic began immediately, very businesslike despite his casual appearance, "I found on our culprit, James Hiatz, is right here." He began pulling up screens on his two-monitor computer system. "The only link he has to anything out of the ordinary is the fact that his sister Curinrin Legume adopted two government funded children. I can't do any more digging on the Legumes for history there; the government has protective shields everywhere around them."
"There's got to be something about him that isn't right…" Kagome insisted. "People don't just wake up and decide to kill someone. Did my mama know James Hiatz?"
"That's the thing," Shino said. "Without your mother to question, all we have to assume is no. Plus we're assuming the perp did this to get at Mrs. Onigumo. Its possible there was another target altogether."
"Do you mean the kidnappings?" Relic asked quietly.
Shino nodded as Kagome looked at them both sharply. "What kidnappings?" she asked them.
"Several children disappeared," Relic responded. "My daughter was among them… my daughter, and my ex-girlfriend."
Shino added, "The mayor, Gytha Motshuria, has her hands in the cases like everything else."
"She's completely senile if you ask me," Relic said. He then began typing away at his computer, pulling up god-knows-what sort of information.
"Tell me about these kidnappings?" Kagome asked. "What is this about?"
Relic pointed to his monitors where several files were popping up. "These are the missing children reports; all of them were at the party, but they couldn't be found afterward."
"Let me see this one…" Kagome said, pointing to one of the photos. Immediately the file came up and identified the picture. Her heart clenched; Miroku's youngest brother Chocolate was among the missing children.
Shino said, "He was the first reported missing; his brother said he hid the boy and a little girl who had gotten separated from her parents in the coat closet as he went to look for the rest of his brothers. He told them to stay and insisted that his brother would never disobey a direct order."
Kagome shook her head. "No, Miroku has his brothers trained to a tee. They listen when they're told to do something."
"You know him?" Relic asked.
Kagome nodded. "Chocolate Shishuni, youngest child to Atlanta Shishuni. Atlanta is an alcoholic now, and highly irresponsible, but her family got an invite to the reception because Miroku—her eldest—is a close friend of mine. Miroku's free-time is always spent either working or else taking care of his younger brothers, because Atlanta doesn't really take an interest in her kids' welfare. And since Miroku doesn't want his brothers to be split up, he stayed at home after high school to take care of them."
"I see," Shino said before frowning deeper than before.
"Why are you trying to dig further into the Legume's history? Surely you don't think they're at all involved, even if Curinrin's brother is the perp…" Kagome asked.
Relic said, "Because at the time of the first shots, Mich Ichiro, Curinrin Legume, Mrs. Ichiro, and your friend's mother Atlanta Shishuni were all in the same area. We have to investigate the possibility that Hiatz' intended target was his sister."
"What do the kidnappings have to do with anything at that point?" Kagome asked, curious that they were allowing her to ask so many questions even though she wasn't a part of the case. It was possible that Shino was hoping to bring her in to be a part of the case, but either way she was glad she was getting answers, however strange things seem to be.
"We're not sure." Relic added.
"Alright," Kagome began, ready for an answer she probably should have asked in the beginning. "Are you two the only ones working this case?"
Shino nodded. "As we already said, the Mayor has her hand in things right now. She's assigned this case to me and made me the new head of the Odd Cases department. Relic is the only Seed I'm allowed to have on my team, I guess because he wasn't getting along well in with the other Seeds. I have a budget to hire two more people, thus the two other desks in here."
Instantly Kagome realized where this was going, and she smiled. "Shino, you're as sly as your son."
"You know he gets it from me," Shino boasted a bit, before becoming more serious. "I know you, Kagome, and Relic has done some looking up on you; you're one of the best to graduate Snowsville and since graduation you've taken on and completed various assignments and cases for people. I want you to help us with this case. You said you were looking for busy work…"
Kagome stepped back for a moment, sizing up the man before her with respect. Her old rival's father was desperate for good help; he wasn't bothering with the application process. He was going directly to the person he wanted and asking for her help. It was just a very good thing she knew how to compartmentalize or else all her problems would be getting in the way of concentrating on the matter at hand.
"Here's the thing, Shino," she told him, "I've got a team I pay to help me solve the cases I work using the money my Grandfather left me in his will. So if I sign on to this case, you're signing both me and my team. If that's cool with you, great. My team would need to be allowed the same clearance you and I have. You pay me my hourly rate, and I pay them. If you agree with that, I'll sign my team up for the work. But just so you know, I'm not cheap."
And she wouldn't be, at least not in the case of working for the city. When she was just working for plain old lower class families, she would adjust her fee so they could afford her services without feeling like charity work but also without feeling robbed blind.
"Fine," Shino agreed, looking quite grateful especially at the thought of having additional help despite the pinched budget he was being allowed.
Kagome asked briefly, "Have you given any thought to who else you might hire?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, I think I might have to call in a favor of Lea Saeko again."
Kagome suggested, "A friend of mine, Keiko Yukimura, is in town looking for work. Graduated top of our class, and she and I have worked on a case or two together before. If you want to call in Lea, that's fine, but she's already attached to Snowsville police department for the next three months." Kagome's cousin had gone out of her way to keep in touch with Kagome, though Kagome wasn't sure why as she never knew about Lea until the woman showed up in art class one day. Then again, much of her aunt Madison's home life never reached Kagome's ears, so the fact that Kagome had a cousin wasn't quite as surprising after that was taken into account.
Shino said, "Thank you, I'll give it some thought. Yukimura, you said?" Kagome nodded. She knew they were going to research Keiko before bringing her on.
"She was the first to notice James in the rafters; she got there before I could, but ended up with a broken arm. If you don't hire her, I've already had plans on bringing her in with my team." It wasn't quite true; she'd offered to help Keiko get set up in her home town after finding out just how screwed up Keiko's home life had been back in Snowsville. Her plan was to give Keiko a fresh start and put in a good word for her around town. She wasn't really intending on hiring the girl she could barely get along with as her subordinate… Keiko was too strong willed to follow Kagome's orders. As an afterthought, Kagome added, "If I have to hire Keiko on, though, my fee will go up."
She thought if she said that, perhaps it would sway them from leaving it to her to hire Keiko.
Shino nodded, "I'll give this some thought; thank you." He told her. He then turned the conversation back to their prior subject. "I know it's asking a lot of you, but do you think you could talk to Hiatz now?"
Kagome nodded. She knew he felt indebted to her for taking the position, even though things were so hectic. Then again, with Kali being so famous, it was more surprising if someone in the town did not have some sort of connection to Kagome's family, and it was doubtful that anyone would not be affected somehow by what had occurred the night before.
They didn't live in a very large town. Without calling in outside help—and it seemed like the mayor wasn't going to allow that to happen (though how she had that sort of power, Kagome didn't know either)—they couldn't be picky or choosy over who worked the case.
"Here's Hiatz' information file," Relic said, handing over a manila file filled with all kinds of information on Hiatz that completely contradicted what he had done the night before. Kagome let Shino lead her to the holding room and glanced at the file.
She'd already known Hiatz was a history teacher at the private school in town. She'd had him as a teacher growing up, and he'd been among her favorite teachers. None of it seemed to make sense. He was a good Samaritan, constantly volunteering at various community functions like the hospital and the library. He even volunteered at the senior center.
Hiatz was a boy troupe leader, volunteered in the kitchens at the homeless shelter, and in the summer he worked at the pet shelter. Relic had managed to provide information on Hiatz' school report cards growing up; there was no report on anything before sixth grade, but seventh grade up until his graduation from college, Hiatz was a straight-A student who participated actively in extracurricular activities such as basketball and baseball all the way to chess and being an active member of the drama club.
It was remarkable what the Seed had turned up to put in the file, but then again that was what those technological geeks were for: finding information that normal people wouldn't manage. It wasn't that Kagome wouldn't have been able to hike that information, it was just that she would have taken much longer to find it because she would have done it by hand.
'That's what my team is missing,' Kagome thought. 'A Seed. A technology geek.' She briefly entertained the idea of finding one to hire. It was better to entertain that thought than to recall what she had to go back to when the day was over: her comatose boyfriend and emotionally broken mother.
Still, Relic had been able to turn up nothing that would suggest James Hiatz had the capability to cause mass mayhem and destruction. That wasn't mentioning the fact that he had no gun in hand when Kagome caught him initially.
"Did you find any weapons?" Kagome asked Shino as they approached their destination.
Shino shook his head. "Like I said,"
Kagome spoke with him, already disliking the fact that she knew what he was going to say. "The mayor has her hand in things." She sighed in frustration. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked Shino.
Shino said, "She won't let us at the crime scene to investigate. She said we have our killer; we don't need to do any further investigating."
Kagome scowled. "Whether she likes it or not, I'll be going to city hall and snooping around with my alchemist." Rather randomly, Kagome recalled that Sango was good at hacking into things she wasn't supposed to, but then reminded herself she had promised she wouldn't involve her old friends in the business unless they wanted to. That pretty much meant going without a Seed since she couldn't exactly put an ad in the paper reading, "Wanted: Hacker with mad skills."
"Your alchemist?" Shino asked.
"Hiei Emporia; he does forensics for me."
"What do your other team members do?" Shino inquired.
"Kagura Yuukaku helps Hiei with forensics sometimes, or if we have a case like recently where we had a child who witnessed murder, Kagura helps with psychiatry. In some cases, because I'm fairly hard on my vehicles, she's my mechanic… she's pretty flexible that way."
"And you had another one, right?"
Kagome nodded as they finally approached the door. "Yusuke Urameshi helps me out a lot with the grunt work, and from time to time, he does my hair and make-up for me." Shino looked confused and Kagome grinned. "I found him at a barber shop," she explained. When he still looked confused, Kagome said, "He's gay," as if that explained everything. It didn't, but Shino made a concerted effort at understanding at least.
Kagome took a deep breath, steeling herself for the confrontation she was about to make. However, opening the door, both Detective and Private Investigator were met with an unpleasant surprise.
No, it wasn't that their culprit had managed to kill himself, or that James had disappeared or anything fantastic like that. Instead, they found that James Hiatz' lawyer had arrived. It was a man that Kagome found familiar, yet simultaneously she couldn't quite put her finger on where she knew him from. His gold eyes glinted at her mysteriously and he smiled in a way that sent warning signals down her spine. He was one to look out for, definitely.
At the same time, he almost looked harmless as a kitten. His long silver hair swayed as he stood to introduce himself, holding his hand out to shake. "Hello, Detectives." The man said, glancing curiously at her manner of dress. That was when she realized she was still in her wedding gown, however 'altered'. She had her brother's tuxedo jacket on, but she certainly looked odd in the ripped gown.
Even still, she stood there confidently despite the fact that she'd ripped her gown above the knees in her haste to catch the culprit the night before. She was wearing heels still, and realized suddenly how uncomfortable the shoes were. She didn't let that show and looked sternly at the lawyer, who was distinctly labeled as a lawyer by his visitors' badge and the fact that he was in the same holding chamber as their suspect.
"Actually," Kagome said readily, "it's 'Investigator'. But I suppose the difference doesn't matter to you."
"Au contraire, my dear," he said easily, letting his hand fall to his side when neither of them accepted it. "It matters. And what might your name be?" She didn't really enjoy the way his tone seemed to slide around from condescending to complacent.
"Higurashi," she said. "Kagome Higurashi." She couldn't keep the glare from her face as her eyes fell on James who looked unconcerned over anything.
"Shino Takai," Shino said smoothly before asking, "And you?"
"I am Inutaishou Nokugami."
At the surname 'Nokugami' Kagome nearly skid to a halt mentally. She inquired, "As in the Nokugami family? Are you Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, and Yuri's uncle?"
"That's what they call me," Inutaishou said easily before grinning.
Shino asked, "And what do you call you?"
Inutaishou took a seat at the table beside his client once more before flashing that obviously trademark grin and saying, "Their father."
"Their father is Haru Nokugami," Kagome insisted before Shino held his hand up to stop her.
"We're not here to debate 'who's your daddy'. We're here to get to the bottom of who fired those shots last night." Shino insisted.
Kagome forcibly shoved aside any feelings she had toward the case as a person and immediately put on her business face. She wasn't there to play games or allow herself to get caught up in what she had to look forward to when the day was over. She was there to get to the bottom of why James thought he had to screw up Kali's life. It wasn't about Kagome, it was about the other people who were hurt by what happened.
"Indeed," Inutaishou said, his grin never fading even for a moment. "So, Detective… Investigator. Who fired those shots last night?"
Shino opened his mouth to speak, but Kagome opened the folder in her hand and cut off the older man, her eyes on the unconcerned man picking at his nails. He looked just the same as he used to back in high school when a student would ask if they missed an assignment while they were out sick.
"Hiatz, you specifically asked for me, didn't you." It wasn't a question because Shino had stated quite clearly that Hiatz did in fact ask for her. He had said Hiatz wouldn't talk to anyone but his arresting officer. Hiatz didn't even glance up at her. "If you asked for me, then start talking."
After a brief silence, Inutaishou said, "What has my client to say to anyone? He is innocent. If you stopped wasting time, you could have caught the real perpetrator by now."
Kagome said, "Shut up, Nokugami!" with a scowl intact on her face as she glared at the lawyer. She looked back at Hiatz. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by the man she wanted to address.
His green eyes came up and met Kagome's sternly. He leaned forward and, most likely against the advice of his lawyer, said, "I didn't pull the trigger. Not once." Kagome frowned, wondering why he would frame his words in that manner. Why not just say 'I'm innocent'? Hiatz leaned back again and added, "I'm innocent."
Kagome could feel her blood boiling despite the fact that she had told herself she wouldn't let things affect her; despite the fact that she wanted to just be professional and nothing more.
"Then why the hell did I catch you up on that roof? Why would you be there to begin with? And why—why!—is my mother's husband dead? Why is my boyfriend dying, and my mother…" she was so angry she couldn't even finish that sentence.
Shino placed a hand on her shoulder as if hoping that would calm her down. It did, but only enough that she could keep from screaming her head off. It didn't stop her from being angry and glaring at Hiatz.
Inutaishou commented lightly, "Really, Detective Takai, you should know better than to bring in someone so close to the situation."
"No one in this city is more capable of handling things," Shino insisted.
His words backfired instantly. "Then perhaps you should think of seeking help elsewhere?"
Kagome nearly shot across the table as her temper got the better of her. Shino had to drag her out of the room before she could do more damage than simply giving Inutaishou a black eye. She wanted to do so much more than that, but once they were out of the room, Shino immediately reprimanded her.
"This is no time to be temperamental, Kagome." He told her. "He is not my son. If you hit him, I can not just look the other way!"
Kagome pursed her lips, trying to force her rage to fetter out. When it wouldn't, she said, "I should go get a change of wardrobe."
Shino agreed readily. "Yes, you should. If you come back, I'll expect you to act nothing short of professional; that means even if you're affected personally, I need you to remain sensible. I don't care what you have to do to be that way, but you better be."
Kagome said nothing, but left the police station in a huff, surprised they didn't arrest her for her temper and for punching the lawyer. Then again, she couldn't hear the lawyer screaming for blood either; he probably knew he deserved it as much as she felt he did.
xXx
Raine no longer felt tension inside her when the police raided her house. 'I need a new place to hide these girls,' Raine thought, wishing she had someone she could trust enough to impose two innocent suspects upon, but her resources were limited. Sure, she had contacts in the D.V. underground, but she didn't trust them as far as she could throw them.
She also didn't have a wide variety of friends or even acquaintances outside of the D.V. underground due to the fact that she was a recluse. She had a boyfriend, but Relic Johnson was a part of the police department, so she really couldn't trust him to keep the Motshuria girls secret. He might only be a Seed, and he definitely knew her abilities with technology exceeded the level she pretended to be at, but she still couldn't trust him with the girls.
But when the police raided her house, Raine came to a decision. She needed some place to hide the girls, and it had to be somewhere that would be safe for them—safer than the hidden room in the basement.
She watched as more of Rin's expensive fabrics were destroyed and finally the idea came to her. She glanced at her twin, wondering if it would work. The largest problem would be sneaking the girls out of the house with it being under 24-hour surveillance. The money would not be hard to come by; Rin's sewing skills paid a high price for its perfect quality, and Raine could easily sell a few things in the D.V. underground and make a hefty profit to cover any costs.
Eventually the police left again, but it felt like forever had come and gone until that time. When they were gone, Raine smiled at her sister pleasantly, speaking a bit louder than her normal tone so that the hidden girls could hear her as well. "Riny, my dear, we should go out to lunch."
Rin said, "Alright," and tapped twice on the door to her fabric cabinet. The loud raps were simple, and also meant to warn the girls not to come out—without saying anything aloud.
They left the Legume residence—home of their foster parents—and Raine drove their foster mother's car into town. Silence stretched along the way; the car was bugged like the house so neither dared to talk there.
Pulling up to a small café and parking the car, Raine noticed a car with two conspicuous characters in it pulling into a parking spot a few cars behind them. A glance at her sister told her Rin had also noticed.
"Come on, Rainy," Rin said. "I'm tired of these guys following us. Can't they just go away?" Rin's naivety was feigned; Rin had never been stupid, and never would be.
Raine huffed slightly as they got out of the vehicle. "Well, they can bet their asses they're going to get sued for property damages. And all these raids can't be legal. We should talk to an attorney—find out what our rights are as far as this goes. Today they wrecked a very important robot prototype I was working on, and yards of your fabric will have to be wasted again."
Raine walked around the car and stepped onto the sidewalk, her tennis shoes slipping on the slushy snow. How Rin managed heels was beyond her grasp. "It's just, I don't know…" Rin continued, both of them knowing their conversation was being listened to. "I don't know if I ever saw the warrant they claimed to have to search our house."
"I know I haven't. Like I said, we'll want to talk to an attorney as soon as we can and I think I know just the guy we need." Raine led her sister into the café, responding to her sister's questioning glance with a smirk. "Inutaishou Nokugami. He's gotta be the best damn lawyer in the country, or at least according to Relic."
"Oh…" Rin frowned, her mechanical half of her brain was probably calculating the odds of how likely it was that the best lawyer in the country would exist specifically in Sunset.
"And—bonus!" Raine chirped, "The police themselves cringe at the sight of Nokugami. That's gotta mean something, right?" Yes, Raine thought. Let the police start worrying, but the knowledge wouldn't do them any good. All Raine needed was something to distract the police so she could slip the girls out of her house.
Rin shook her head, sighing as they ordered two lattes and went and sat at a table. "I don't know, Raine," she began, "he must be awful high priced…"
"Don't you worry about price, Rin." Raine said seriously, knowing full well their listeners could still hear them clearly. It wouldn't be hard for her to piece together something that would interfere with their signals, but she didn't on account of not wanting to risk herself being found out as very technologically capable. "I'll figure something out, and if nothing else, he's a man. All men are weak toward the wiles of a woman."
"But Relic," Rin objected. "He wouldn't," Raine waved her hand in dismissal.
"Relic Johnson is nothing more than a way for me to relieve my tensions; that's all he's ever been." Her heart clenched to say that. It was as far from the truth as she could possibly get, but after harboring two fugitives—despite the two girls did nothing wrong—she was an accessory to murder. How much she cared for Relic didn't matter at that point. Changing the subject at Rin's hard expression, Raine said, "I managed to get a hold of the realtors, by the way. They're ready for us to move into our shop, and the apartment is finished being redone."
Another sigh escaped the cyborg. At length, Rin nodded. "Alright, I'll start packing my fabrics up for transportation. Did you want me to start packing your wiring thingies?"
Raine wrinkled her nose in dismay, "Absolutely not. I'll do it myself. You'd think you of all people would know they're not 'wiring thingies', they're electronic devices. Nothing hard to remember about that."
Rin just shook her head. She was a cyborg, but Raine knew all that stuff. While she could just store knowledge in her electronic brain of this stuff, she chose not to. She trusted Raine to know everything she required.
Silence enveloped the twins, and as Raine observed her miracle sister, she knew the other was thinking about the shooting the night before at city hall. After a long moment, Raine put her hand on Rin's. "Don't think. Don't analyze it. It's beyond logic."
xXx
Kagome stormed furiously into her apartment, the door practically slamming off its hinges as she did. Inside the apartment, her two adopted kids awaited her return with the members of her team. Upon seeing her, Kanna tore across the room and flung her arms around her. Somewhat uncertainly, Kagome returned the hug. She could only hope that seeing them all didn't make her break into uncontrollable sobs.
'My emotions won't get to me,' she assured herself, though it was mostly fruitless. Her eyes did tear up, but she could keep it in at least. "Hey, baby girl," she said affectionately using the child's nickname. She rubbed the girl's shoulders and she could feel the sobs that wracked the small body.
"It was so scary!" Kanna said.
Kagome peeled herself away from Kanna to look at the girl, bending down on one knee and looking up into that pale face. She used her thumb to smooth away free flowing tears. Despite how Kanna had the uncanny ability to sometimes be completely void of all emotion, despite her snowy hair and ghostly skin, Kanna was just as emotional as any other child when she got overwhelmed.
"It was very scary," she agreed, not about to deny that what happened the night before had been frightening. She had probably been scared too—the only difference was that she couldn't remember being scared. She reacted on impulse, knowing she needed to go after the shooter. "But being scared makes us mortal."
She was interrupted by a voice behind her, unable to continue further. "As wonderfully touching as this scene is…" the voice drawled in an unbelievably sarcastic tone Kagome couldn't ever not recognize if it meant her life.
She turned her head, glaring at the intruder standing in her doorway. "Sesshoumaru, what do you want?" Of course, the guy just had to pick then to show up. Not only was she having to deal with an already stressful day and hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours, and Kanna and Shuichi (though the red-haired boy would never admit it) needed to talk about what occurred… not only was her world crashing around her ears with a boyfriend in a coma and potentially knocking on death's door, and her mother was forcibly sedated, but now Sesshoumaru showed up.
Truly she was surprised the guy was there, but then again her roommate was Sesshoumaru's girlfriend so it should've been less surprising. He stared emotionlessly at her for a long moment, but Kagome refused to budge until he talked, so he was given no chose. She could be more stubborn than anyone he'd ever met.
"I need to speak with you. Privately," he added when her eyes told him to say his peace.
Yusuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and stepped forward, glaring at Sesshoumaru fiercely. "Whatever you have'ta say, just say it," Yusuke said, sensing Kagome was at her breaking point, or very near it. That boy had always been sensitive to Kagome's moods, and Kagome attributed it to his sexual preference.
Still, Kagome sighed and hugged Kanna, kissing the pale girl's cheeks. "I'll be back soon, okay?" she told the girl. Mutely, the girl agreed and went and curled up on the couch. Kagome watched as Shuichi watched Kanna for a long moment before biting his lip and then joining the girl on the couch. Without anything said between the two young teens, the girl shifted until she could use the boy's thigh as a pillow and Shuichi pet Kanna's hair.
Kagome glanced back at Sesshoumaru again. "I need to change. Give me a minute." He agreed and waited for her in the hallway. Kagome shed her shoes and shut the door of the apartment. Her team followed her to the loft at her beckoning. As she changed into a comfortable pair of jeans and a hoodie, she said, "We've been hired to work for Shino Takai. I know I usually give you guys the option, but this case deals with what happened last night and I have to take it."
Kagura snapped her fan open and shut hurriedly, her red eyes glinting. She was furious over the fact that her idol had been hurt by what happened. Not only that, but Kagome was like a sister to her, and Kagome was hurting even more by the events. "You're damn right, you have to!" Kagura hissed before forcing herself to remain calm.
Kagome grasped her badge and her gun, attaching both to her belt. Trading nylons for socks, she looked at her team. "Do you all feel that way?" she asked more out of curiosity than anything.
As the other two nodded, Hiei affirmed, "Kagome, if I have to fuck you to prove it, I will."
Kagura slapped him on the back of the head. "If you do that, I won't let you sleep with me, you brat!" she snapped at him. His crimson eyes landed on his girlfriend, irritated for a moment before he took a step away from her, putting enough distance between them that she wouldn't be able to hit him again.
Kagura held up her fan, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. Snapping the fan open, she said, "Watch it, Hiei. Or you'll be so sore, you won't want to even sleep on the couch."
Hiei winced, but said nothing. Yusuke shook his head at the lover's spat and said, "I don't think you should go with that guy, Kags."
Kagome stuffed her wallet in her back pocket. "I'll be fine, Yusuke. Sesshoumaru is just a rich brat I knew from school." She glanced at the apprehensive Hiei (he was still glancing nervously at his girlfriend from the corner of his eye) and asked, "Hiei, can you get on the horn and contact Keiko? She'll probably be at the hospital still, but let her know Shino Takai is looking for help on his case. I put in word for her, but he'll want to meet her."
Hiei nodded. Kagura snapped her fan closed again. "What would you like us doing?"
Kagome thought for a moment before taking her wallet out again, giving Kagura her bank card. "We're going to need a vehicle. I wasn't going to get one, preferring to walk or grab a cab, but this case might require it. Use your discretion, but no gas guzzlers please."
One of Kagura's perfectly sculpted eyebrows lifted and she took the card with a brief nod. "New or used?" she inquired.
"Up to you, but nothing flashy. Discrete is best." Kagome turned her blue eyes on Yusuke. "Can you take care of Shuichi and Kanna while I'm gone? I know they're old enough to do it themselves, but make them something to eat and see if you can get them to sleep. I doubt they got any more than any of us did last night."
Yusuke sighed. "Damn. I was hopin' for somethin' better'n this," he mumbled. Scratching his head, he agreed.
Kagome started for the stairs out of the loft. "When you've contacted Keiko," she said to Hiei, "then get your kit together. We need to look around City Hall. I know it'll be a big job for you but…"
Hiei glared at her, mildly annoyed at the insinuation. "I can handle it." He stated.
Once downstairs, Kagome walked to the couch and looked at the two kids. Shuichi had dark rings under his beautiful green eyes, and Kanna had bright tear stains on her pale cheeks. Kneeling in front of the couch, both sets of eyes fixed on her as her friends in the loft moved to the wall and looked down at her and the two kids.
"I'll be back soon," she told them, running a hand through Kanna's mussed white hair. She knew she had to say something, but once more the events of the long day was messing with her. Her mind was blank. Opening and closing her mouth several times, she finally settled with simply taking their hands and squeezing them gently. "I've been through worse," she told the kids, her heart feeling heavy as she whispered the words. "We'll make it. All of us."
Standing, Kagome made her way to the door, opening it and finding Sesshoumaru waiting stiffly outside in the hall. Calling back to Hiei, she said, "Hurry up, Hiei. I'll meet you at city hall." She didn't wait longer before closing the apartment door. Sesshoumaru was already halfway down the hall. Quickly she caught up. "What is it, Sesshoumaru?" she demanded, hardly inclined to use his surname.
He remained silent, leading her out of the building and to an expensive looking car of a very new model. She wouldn't be surprised if he'd spent a grand on it. He opened the passenger side door and indicated she get in. She slid into the seat, purposefully letting her hoodie bunch up to show her badge and gun to the man. After all, she couldn't be certain she could trust him. Then again, there were so few out there she could trust anymore… Her mother, loved and trusted by all, had been put in the hospital by the act of hate.
Once she was in, Sesshoumaru shut the door and went to the driver's side. By the time he had slid in, she getting impatient. "What is this about, Sesshoumaru? I've got a long day ahead of me." He buckled and started the car, saying nothing. "Sesshoumaru!" she insisted. "I don't have time for this."
"Buckle up. Now." He told her, driving off into traffic.
Nerves grating, she did so. "You better not be kidnapping me, Sesshoumaru. I've been there, done that. It's not a repeat I would enjoy."
Sesshoumaru chuckled darkly. "And if I were?" he commented, sending shivers down her spine. She wasn't sure she liked this, but it was too late to back out now. Turning a corner out of the city, he sped up on the country road. She realized those shivers were related to her unease over the situation.
"Sesshoumaru, I'm not kidding. Where are we going? If you don't tell me," she warned slightly, letting him come to his own conclusions. When he did nothing but keep driving faster than the speed-limit, she scowled and took her phone out. The car didn't even swerve as he snatched the phone from her. She dove for it, which was when the car did swerve, but he opened his window and threw it out in the snow covered ground. They were lucky not to hit a patch of ice.
"Didn't know you wanted me so bad," he drawled in a slightly humored tone, and she realized her hand was between his legs. Blushing furiously (unable to tell if it was embarrassment or anger that caused it) she sat proper in her seat.
"If you don't tell me where we're going in thirty seconds, I'm going to open the door and leave."
"Jump out of a vehicle moving sixty-five miles an hour?" he inquired.
"Yes, I would. I've suffered worse injuries." She retorted.
"How did you survive those injuries you sustained?" He was talking about the injuries that had caused her to end up in the hospital back in Sunset recently.
She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to divulge that information, but she did anyway. "My father was a shape-shifter, and so am I. At will, I can reshape my body." She left it at that and he asked no more on it. She wasn't about to tell him her secret to surviving; she'd never told anyone, ever, how she figured out how to protect herself and keep herself alive. Narrowing her eyes at Sesshoumaru, she said, "You're buying me a new phone."
"Why?" he asked. "It isn't like you haven't got money. You inherited more than a hundred million dollars from your father."
Scowling further, she felt her anger beginning to boil. Her day had been shitty enough. She did not need this. She was about to snap at him when ahead of them on the road she could see a procession of vehicles parked on the edge of the road in front of what she recognized to be her grandfather's old run-down mansion on the outskirts of Sunset. Knowing there weren't supposed to be vehicles there, her face wrinkled in confusion.
They slowed down and parked behind a flashy red car. Before getting out, he asked, "So, how did you go from being human, to being half-breed?"
"Interesting story for another day, perhaps," Kagome said. She got out and looked up at her grandfather's old mansion. It was in worse shape than any of the ones he'd owned in any other country. Unlike the ones in Belgium, Germany, and Finland, this one didn't appear to have received any upkeep for over two decades. The shutters were falling off and the windows were cracked and broken. The wrap-around porch's railing was crumbling and some of the many doors had been boarded up.
Wondering what she would find in that decrepit, putrid green house covered in boards and dead ivy, she started toward it. Sesshoumaru was already headed up the stone walk, the snow having been tromped down by many shoes or a few shoes many times. He hardly seemed to care that he didn't actually have her permission and was therefore trespassing. Then again, she hadn't voiced a protest.
The sooner she got this over with, the sooner she could meet Hiei at city hall and get back to Shino's confined little office at the police station. She was determined not to break again like she had that morning. Yet still, her eyes felt moist as she thought of why exactly she had burst out.
She told Shuichi and Kanna that she'd been through worse than the shooting, but it was untrue. Her boyfriend was dying, her mother had lost it and had to be sedated, and her step-father was dead. She'd always been close to Kohaku and Sango's dad, having spent many hours at his dojo. He had taught her everything she knew about fighting—well, everything legit, anyway. She'd picked up a few dirty tricks here and there on her own.
But she'd never actually dealt with anything this horrible.
Determined to make it through this, she picked up the pace, approaching the house alongside Sesshoumaru. Kohaku and her mother would make it through. They had to. But either way, Kagome was going to make the one responsible for all this pay dearly.
I can't say when I'll get the next chapter of this out. Feel free to leave feedback. I'd like to know how different this chapter ended up being from those before it.