Even though the population was rather small, humanity still managed to make it interesting. Just looking around this busy terminal could tell you that much. People lifting heavy suitcases over their heads with one hand. Children cheating during games of tag by disappearing into the floor or turning invisible. Coffee spoons stirring on their own. A son projecting calm because they were tired and didn't feel like dealing with their entitled old man who absolutely did not understand why the line was so long. A woman soaring overhead to catch the next train without having to push through the crowd. A teenage girl who couldn't find a trash can so she disintegrated the empty chip bag in her hand and called it a day.
As always, it was fascinating.
Sure, he grew up around abilities, went to school with all sorts of powerful gifts and he himself was fabulously powerful but the people he'd regularly been exposed to fell into one of three categories. Those at his school, those useless enough to be in Cheapside and those useful enough to be living large in the Capital region.
But here in the central terminal where people from all regions mixed together on their various journeys? The primary crossroads between what could arguably be different worlds? It was just incredible. At a single glance, you could tell who was going where. You saw how different abilities went about their day-to-day business.
People with normal lives the likes of which he'd probably never achieve.
Like a mother sipping on a hovering blob of water and a father who was using artificial wind to wrangle their small pink haired toddler. Both dressed in loose bohemian style clothing which seemed wildly inappropriate for winter. The tall lanky man had long billowy white-blonde hair and green eyes. The mother's hair was scarlet and stick straight. Obviously from Sakimi. The southernmost fishing 'village'. Home to over eight hundred thousand people. Everything there was modeled by beings able to make nature bend to their will. Fewest number of champions to win the Final Selection but a monopoly on cultural ambassadors granted Capital citizenship. Musicians. Artists. Scientists. Intellectual types. People who were smart enough and wealthy enough to have clothes that complimented their abilities.
Inuyasha's amber eyes flicked towards a nervous looking group of visibly unrelated and malnourished children being led around by a very no-nonsense looking woman. They hailed from Kushimi for sure. Yeah, the other regions had poverty but nothing that would cause a mass of kids who looked a hair away from starving. Orphans likely. Poor little babies might be getting shipped in to one of the Capital's group homes or transferred to a region like Sakimi with the resources to help them. Which wasn't fair honestly. The poverty wasn't really their fault. From the onset, Kushimi was the old-world Australia of the new world order. All the undesirables who managed to survive the nuclear purge wound up there to the disadvantage of the population that had been there previously and, unfortunately, they weren't exactly known for being upstanding citizens of the world. Not that it was an unfair stereotype. Fifty years ago, there'd been a random uprising and after history's lamest civil war, a large swath of the region's population found themselves dead when bombings started happening across all five regions. Even now, Kushimi was an unstable region. Every few years some type of highly publicized terrorist attack threw the region into chaos. Lots of unstable people with unstable abilities causing all sorts of mayhem. There were good people there, naturally, but the region was poor and poverty naturally led to an uptick in crime.
Amber eyes glanced at the boy walking by his side. Miroku was from Kushimi. Inuyasha honestly wouldn't be shocked if Miroku was an excellent scam artist. A fine-tuned skill born out of need not greed. Maybe greed too. Too soon to tell really.
A gaggle of older women rushed looking rode hard and put away wet. Their leather boots and jackets well-worn in and cracking. Farmers. Ranchers. Arami had lots of those and not too many people. Lots of champions though thanks to the Academy but whoever decided to dump an intellectual fortress in the middle of nowhere must've been high on something. Or desperate. Or a genius.
Nobody from Nigimi though. Nobody would ever be from Nigimi. Not in recent memory anyway. That whole region had been wiped off the map decades ago. Long, long before he'd been born.
There were so many places he hadn't been and would probably never go. Quick half-day tours didn't even really count. A handful of school campuses in the middle of bustling cities. After seeing all that, he'd chosen to go to the most prestigious yet most isolated place. The Academy stuck in the middle of farmland and hours away from the nearest city center. Not that he wanted to go to one of the bigger cities. Even here people were staring at him. There were only so many people with his coloring and he looked so much like his father whose face everyone-
Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Letting out a shuddering breath, Inuyasha couldn't help the sudden feeling of wrong rolling over him. It wasn't so much that people were staring as it was the type of people who were looking his direction. Two unusually stern looking men in far too tight black suits. Their faces hidden behind mirrored sunglasses. Shadowing him in sync and with almost robotic precision. Sticking out like the sore thumbs they were.
Security agents. 'Undercover' ones too which meant they were planning to swoop in 'unnoticed'.
Ah hell.
Ducking his head, Inuyasha moved a little closer to the others in the hope that maybe he could fall beneath their radar, but it seemed like he was too late. They had been watching before he noticed, and undoubtedly, they would keep watching no matter what he did. Could just be that he was paranoid though. As far as he knew, he hadn't done anything wrong so why would the government suddenly feel the need to have people stalk him?
"You're acting more suspicious by staring at them," Miroku offered a little too casually – the mischievous smirk he offered with his statement entirely unnerving, "Those two asked about you on the train. Don't give them a reason to say they had probable cause."
"As much as I hate to agree, he's right," Sango added begrudgingly, "Just relax. Breathe. Act naturally."
"You two hissing at me isn't acting natural," Inuyasha snapped quietly and Miroku shrugged.
"Well, you arguably did nothing wrong so think of it this way. Worst-case scenario, you'll get randomly selected and taken aside for question. After all, it's always a coin toss. Which among us will be the chosen one. Welcome to the club," Miroku hummed before glancing at Sango who looked quite sour about that statement. For a long time, the odd mismatched group shuffled through the station in silence. Pushing and squeezing their way through the throngs of fellow travelers trying to make their way home. Some people squeezed by them, while others were forced to take a few steps backward to make room. The noise of the station filled their ears as they pushed forward.
But no matter how far they got, those two awkward bastards were somehow still there. Still watching. Still following.
"What exactly did they want to know about me?" Inuyasha finally muttered under his breath as he cast the two suited men a nervous glance and Miroku chuckled softly.
"They asked whether you were dangerous," Miroku supplied playfully and Inuyasha's worried gaze turned into a withering side eyed glare.
"I'm not dangerous," Inuyasha huffed defensively as he adjusted the grip on his suitcase and continued plowing through the crowd, "I hope you said that."
It'd be a lie though.
To be completely honest, though, Inuyasha would not be surprised - at all - if these idiots had just told the truth. Of course he was 'dangerous'. A guy who could weaponize dark matter, make a sword out of thin air, hold a three story building over their head, run at the speed of light, heal from a stab to the heart after a few hours and who, in theory, could absorb empathic abilities. Except it didn't get absorbed because his stupid body failed to understand the assignment. Instead, someone - other than him - decided that the way to handle all the incoming energy was to create a positive loop where the energy bounced around inside him like a soda being shaken until it finally exploded under the pressure.
And Inuyasha's pressure cooker style explosion turned him into some primal instinct driven serial killer. Allegedly. By all accounts, that part didn't make sense. Take earlier, for example. All that ever happened was that he'd start dying or something but even when his weird allergic reaction went too far, he never turned violent that he knew. Inuyasha had always suspected something else was to blame for his father's demise - especially since his mother could still look at him. Which meant someone definitely hiding something. Whoever did know buried the truth deep, deep down into the darkest corners of technology. Didn't do shit about hiding the murder part though. Maybe because they wanted to make Inuyasha's life as difficult as humanly possible as punishment for...
Well. Okay. Fine. Inuyasha would begrudgingly admit the public did have a right to know about the theoretical risk for liability purposes. Still, the whole registry thing was bullshit. Whatever happened to a little privacy? Who he was, where he was and what he could do was none of anyone's god damn business.
"I know you don't know us very well, but rest assured we would never turn you over to the authorities," Miroku snickered playfully, "Unless, of course, there is a threat to our own health and safety. We do have survival instincts."
Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha chose not to react to that comment. A few more seconds passed before Miroku chose to speak again.
"If its any consolation, it very well may not be about you. Sango and, to a lesser extent, myself are often the target of their attention," Miroku continued casually earning a skeptical side-eyed glance and an instant murderous glare from the woman referenced, "I, you see, have some very unfortunate familial ties to the Yōrōzoku whereas Sango is a former member of the Taijiya family. Our pasts are-"
"We weren't involved with them," Sango hissed quietly as her hand moved to smack the backside of her ebony haired companion, "And since people are watching, maybe don't start throwing that out there."
Inuyasha scowled, understanding the implication of what Miroku said. Of course, thanks to the consistently useless news bulletins, he had heard of the Yōrōzoku and the Taijiya. The former was a rumored decentralized network of militants and the latter was a family with alleged ties to the underworld. Per the norm, both groups were presented as being no threat to anyone outside of their region but that didn't necessarily seem to matter. All the old biddies in grocery stores still worried amongst themselves about whether it was safe to go out.
Just god dammit. Winding up affiliated with either was the last thing he needed. He never should've taken these assholes up on their offer. Every single thing they'd done - even just by existing - caused him problems.
"I feel like that should've been disclosed before I got on that train," Inuyasha huffed exasperatedly as he put a little bit of distance between them and began walking closer to Kagome who, despite her questionable decision making, seemed the safest option.
"Oh, don't be that way. It's not as if my father and I are one and the same," Miroku hummed, "Besides, almost everyone in Kushimi has some alleged tie to that phantom ideology. It gives the powers that be a reason to deny the region resources which is one of many reasons why I am very grateful that I no longer reside there."
"Ideas don't blow shit up," Inuyasha commented before he sighed and gave Miroku a skeptical once over, "So your father got involved in something over his head? That it?"
"Ah, it would seem he wanted a solution to our mutual condition," Miroku offered as he casually raised his partially mechanical hand, "Alas, as far as I know, he found none and I found myself being raised by an alcoholic with very-"
"So help me Miroku you say one more word and I'll deck you right here," Sango huffed, "All of this can wait when there aren't agents watching us, okay? All we need to do is get through the checkpoint and then to the shrine."
"Less talking. More walking. People might be watching," Kagome sing-songed as she gave her three companions a pointed look. Miroku laughed once and picked up his pace so he was walking slight ahead.
"Of course. Naturally, we will have plenty of time to explain when we are safely away from prying eyes," he offered with a sly grin over his shoulder before he glanced at the two suspicious men and frowned, "For now, let us simply focus on getting home."
Inuyasha nervously tried to look away from the two men, but it only made him feel worse not knowing where they were. Much to his inner loathing, Kagome attempted to comfort him by placing a hand on his shoulder and speaking softly, "It's okay, Inuyasha. I'm sure it's nothing."
That did absolutely nothing to calm Inuyasha's nerves and he continued monitoring their surroundings with a suspicious eye. Miroku and Sango too were also being rather hypervigilant - although Miroku was much less conspicuous than the other two whenever he risked a glance. Whether Kagome wanted to acknowledge it or not, those two men had interrogated them about Inuyasha on the train, and likely they were checking up on whatever it was that worried them. Why they'd been more concerned about the victim being a threat made no more sense than the medic going from panic mode to basically telling them Inuyasha would just walk it off. The only rational explanation either Sango or Miroku could come up with was that they saw Inuyasha's criminal history and decided he must have been the instigator but it seemed more than that. They...
"Oh and here we go," Sango breathed wearily as the two men decided this was the time to approach but before any of them could react, Miroku stepped forward and spoke.
"Oh look! Officers! What luck! We're just on our way to the main gate but we've seemed to have lost our way," he offered with a charming smile, "Surely, you fine gentleman know the way?"
While Sango visibly began contemplating ways to murder Miroku, the two men exchanged a quick glance before the larger and more intimidating specimen simply pointed at the nearest sign. Oddly the two men seemed a little relieved they'd been approached first and, assumedly, thought they hadn't been recognized which meant there was strong likelihood these two weren't the sharpest crayons in the box. Which wasn't necessarily surprising. Usually, the security officers weren't the brightest bulbs which sometimes made it much harder to reason with them. Very much shoot first and then when everyone's dead ask a question or two type of people.
"Just up that way. You'll find the checkpoint," the larger of the two offered in a bored tone as his large black eyes darted between the four nervous looking teenagers, "You're all together? Where are you heading?"
"Just students heading home from break," Miroku laughed casually, "Very much looking forward to our leisurely pursuits."
Sango's eye twitched. Kagome winced. Inuyasha simply gave the back of Miroku's head a withering glare.
"Which school?" the second man asked as he removed his glasses and gave the four teenagers uncomfortable lingering once overs in turn.
"The Academy," Miroku offered - having made himself the group's unofficial spokesperson , "In Arami."
"Shocking though this may be, we are aware of where the Academy is located," the larger man sighed heavily before his eyes flicked to Inuyasha, and he added with wicked smirk that caused a thousand nervous thoughts to race through the poor boy's brain, "Let me be more clear. Where are you staying?"
"Higuarashi Shrine," Kagome supplied, and the two men exchanged a quick glance which made everyone feel endlessly nervous.
"I'm familiar," the larger man hummed with an odd little smirk, "I hope you enjoy your leisurely pursuits."
Miroku laughed and his charming smile grew wider, "We will you fine gentleman. We-"
As soon as the two men vanished in the crowd, Sango gripped Miroku by the ear and shook him once.
"What is wrong with you?" Sango hissed as her long ponytail inadvertently whipped her prisoner in the face. Flicking it over her shoulder, she pulled Miroku up and glared, "Why did you engage?"
"They were approaching us if you did not notice. I thought it would be best to feign ignorance and diffuse the situation," Miroku countered like it was obvious as he twisted his head to free his ear from her grip, "And so it worked. They have left."
"You're an idiot."
"So kind of you to notice."
"I should've just gotten off the train. Should've just gotten off," Inuyasha muttered to himself as they all began walking once more. The terminal had always seemed huge but today the checkpoint felt half-way across the world. Those people were still watching him. Had to be. He couldn't see them, he couldn't hear them, but Inuyasha knew they had to still be there. It was almost like he could feel their eyes on him.
The feeling of wrong wasn't helped at all by the flickering fluorescents flashing overhead or how it kept getting more claustrophobic as the throngs of people started getting funneled into the checkpoint. Letting out a shuddering breath, Inuyasha watched anxiously as Miroku and Sango entered one line while Kagome took the other. Yes, Inuyasha was aware of the protocol for both leaving and entering the Capital. Mother had taken him to tour all the prospective academies even though his heart had been set on his Father's alma matter. Dozens of trips they couldn't really afford but usually the schools picked up most of the expenses. While some places made it very clear they had no interest in someone with his baggage, others courted the son of the all-time champion. Not despite of the fact that this son killed the former champion but rather because of that fact.
But no matter how well a visit went there was always one part of their travels Inuyasha hated above all others.
The checkpoints.
They said the security selections were random. That's the bold face lie they told everyone but somehow Inuyasha frequently found himself 'randomly' selected for an extra special security screening of some kind. A pat down. A super-duper friendly interrogation. Drug screenings while two armed guards watched him pee into a cup. When he was smaller and they traveled for various reasons, his Mother found herself performing surgery on his favorite stuffed animal more times than he could count because some asshole cut its belly or back open looking for…something.
That last memory made him nauseous. Especially considering he had clearly been followed and those two men had him on their radar. The last thing he wanted was for the last gift Mother had ever given him to be sliced open by someone who didn't appreciate how precious that package was.
So, chewing the inside of his cheek, Inuyasha inhaled deeply and made a choice. Probably a suspicious looking choice all things considered but a choice nonetheless. Kagome might occasionally overheat but her record was otherwise spotless.
She'd have to do.
Swallowing thickly, Inuyasha moved quickly and with a muttered apology, squeezed behind his new friend with a general aura of chaotic energy rolling off him in waves.
"H-hey can you take my suitcase?" Inuyasha breathed as he leaned in close to the girl's ear, "I don't want them opening it."
"Depends on what's in your suitcase," Kagome hummed before adding in a whisper laced with playful suspicion, "Is it the drugs?"
"Are you insane?" Inuyasha hissed as the line began moving and he glanced around with increasingly panic, "You can't say shit like that. They're definitely watching me and…"
Before he could finish his sentence, Kagome's fingertips somehow found themselves on his cheek – causing his entire body to jerk then forcibly relax.
"My backpack is just so heavy though," she pleaded in a characteristically whimpering tone a girlfriend might use on a boyfriend as she met his terrified gaze, "And you always pack light. Why can't we just switch?"
Breathing shakily through his nose, Inuyasha's level of unbridled panic threatened to overpower whatever was happening as he felt Kagome accept his suitcase and replaced it with her ten-ton backpack which was insanely heavier. Those frightening fingertips gently stroked his cheek before she leaned up on her tiptoes and pretended to kiss his cheek.
"Just stay calm. If you're really worried about them pulling you aside, just roll with it," she whispered just loud enough for him to hear before letting go of his skin and taking a step back. For a moment, Inuyasha tried to shake off the forced calm that was still rolling through his system before narrowing his eyes and glaring.
"There's a thing called consent," Inuyasha hissed quietly as he shouldered her backpack and lingered a few steps behind, "Heard of it?"
When Kagome didn't reply more than giving him a slightly apologetic look, Inuyasha set and reset his jaw several times before reminding himself of where he was and what was at stake. Yes, in less than a day, this girl had already made a habit of messing with his person but so far, she'd done it in a way that arguably helped him. On the train, she stopped the pain. Here, she made him less anxious so that the exchange seemed more natural.
But both of those things weren't exactly because he asked her to help him. She controlled him against his will and without asking. If anything, he felt violated rather than grateful for the assistance.
All these people were insane. Every last one of them. What on earth had he gotten himself into here? This right here was why he should've kept his sad desperate ass in his sad little dorm room. Better yet he should've rolled the dice and gone to stay with the creepy old man.
"Next thing I know you'll be forcing me to hurt myself whenever you want," Inuyasha huffed quietly as he tried to ignore the crowds around him, "You can't control people just because you can."
"For someone who was real concerned about being subtle, you're sure not acting like it," Kagome clipped as the line came to a halt, "We're in the next group. So, if you…"
"Shocking," came Miroku's semi-distant laugh making both teens whip their heads in his direction only to see two new guards hovering over the boy and gesturing for him to follow them, "I am truly surprised that this very thing is occurring. Never would have expected this turn of events."
Blinking rapidly, Inuyasha subtly withdrew into himself as Miroku began following one particularly weak looking towards a side door. A part of Inuyasha felt disgusted with himself for the passing thought that it made sense for a guy who occasionally threatened the structural integrity of buildings to get singled out. Especially since he was the one who approached the two stalkers.
"He gets pulled a lot. This most likely has nothing to do with what just happened," Kagome mumbled dismissively before sighing and giving a visibly unnerved Inuyasha an apologetic smile, "Look, I won't do that again without your permission, okay? I'm sorry."
"Just don't touch me again," Inuyasha hissed as he shrugged his shoulders to make the insanely heavy yellow backpack sit more comfortably, "What the hell do you have in this thing? Bricks?"
"Well, I brought some books home that I thought might be useful," Kagome explained with a faint blush, "You know, strategy and…"
Inuyasha could almost feel the guards staring at him before Kagome trailed off and casually changed the subject to lunch plans. Here it came. The 'random' selection of the people the government found suspicious.
" Inuyasha Taisho? Step aside please."
Ah hell. Here it came.
" Is something wrong?" Kagome asked sweetly and despite being able to hold back a full-on cringe, Inuyasha's eye twitched. The guard made a face and addressed Inuyasha directly.
"Is she with you?"
"Unfortunately," Inuyasha mumbled before grunting when Kagome subtly elbowed him in the stomach, "Yeah. Yeah, she is."
"Why are you even in line?" the slightly smaller guard asked curiously – his black riot gear reflecting the unnatural lighting in a way that gave Inuyasha unpleasant flash backs.
"I don't understand the question," Kagome replied with genuine confusion as she looked towards the exit at the far side of the terminal, "We're going through the checkpoint. Everyone does."
"Well, the records here indicate he elected to be pre-screened on the train. Since you're in his party I could waive you through too," the first guard hummed suspiciously in a deep gravely voice, "Unless…"
"Oh! Oh, I totally forget he did that. I just didn't realize that meant he could skip the line," Kagome interrupted with a strained smile – her hand moving to take Inuyasha's wrist before stopping herself just shy of his coat, "Can I go with him?"
The guard glanced over his shoulder before shrugging and nodding, "Sure. Why not?"
Breathing heavily, Inuyasha tried to stomp down his rising panic at the two very obvious lies. First off, he sure as shit didn't register on the train. As far as he knew that wasn't even an option. These guards were trying to get them to comply without causing a scene. Those two men could be setting him up. This was…
Realizing that he was fast losing control of his emotions, Inuyasha winced before deciding he might as well take advantage of the tools at his disposal. Taking a soft steadying breath, he moved to intertwine his fingers with Kagome's awkwardly outstretched hand and gave it a pointed squeeze. It wouldn't help anyone if he lost his temper, and he certainly didn't want to give the guards a reason to start ripping up their possessions in search of god knows what. He needed to stay calm and if this woman had the ability to force calm on him, more power to her.
Thankfully, she seemed to catch the hint and a wave of unnatural calm began surging through his veins while Kagome began leading him behind the guard.
"So, in the future, if one of us did elect to be pre-screened, where should we go?" Kagome asked a little too casually and the smaller guard glanced over his shoulder.
"Just keep an eye out for the signs. The little green check mark," he replied before lifting the protective plastic mask over his face and giving Inuyasha a hard look, "Hey, you wouldn't be related to Toga, huh?"
The guard paused and gestured at Inuyasha's silver hair.
"I mean, not often you see that hair color," the guy continued, "Or eye color, ya know? Was he like...your grandpa or something?"
Strangely this comment didn't make Inuyasha feel one way or the other. Probably because Kagome was negating his normally visceral reaction to such an identification. Whatever she was doing, though, was starting to make his head swim and it was becoming increasingly hard to walk in a straight line.
"O-or something," the poor frazzled boy replied weakly - struggling to keep his head upright as he tightened his hold on Kagome's hand.
"No shit? He was my mom's favorite," the guard laughed as he hit Inuyasha's shoulder good naturedly, "What's he up to these days?"
A moment passed and then another until it was almost, almost too awkward for Inuyasha to reply at all.
But reply he did.
"Being dead," Inuyasha slurred as whatever Kagome was doing continued making him feel more drunk than calm. Probably because her power was ricocheting around like a bouncy ball inside his body but who knew.
"Sorry to hear that," the small guard offered with genuine sympathy, "Didn't mean to bring up bad memories. This is the best time of year! Can't be sad around the holidays."
"Yup. Holidays," Inuyasha mumbled as his chest began to heave and his footsteps fumbled, "Holly daze."
Cringing, Kagome cleared her throat and began trying to work her hand out of the vice grip the quickly deteriorating boy had on her. It was also quickly becoming apparent that Inuyasha was a walking mass of chaotic manic energy because while he was feeling a little too relaxed, Kagome was feeling like a massive boost of adrenaline had just been shot into her veins like heroin.
They needed to work on this.
"Yeah, so just follow this hallway," the smaller guard offered as he held up his keycard and a previously invisible door suddenly appeared then slid open, "And it'll dump you out on Keywest and Main. If you have any baggage, then you'll need to go around to the Broadmoor gate to pick it up."
"Thanks," Kagome managed through gritted teeth – her heart beating out of her chest as she forcibly pulled Inuyasha with her so hard he stumbled, "Big help."
Mercifully, neither guard seemed concerned that the dog boy was seemingly intoxicated or that the girl looked a hair away from strangling someone as she plowed forward trying to get them out of the building as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, back in the line, Sango was sucking on her bottom lip and trying to act like it was perfectly fine that she'd wound up standing alone while her companions had just been drug in two different directions.
This was fine. Not ideal but fine.
"Thank you, kind gentlemen, for protecting the safety of the Capital," came Miroku's playful yet tired sounding voice, "We are forever in your debt."
Sighing, Sango glanced over before raising her hand in silent greeting to her friend who, despite his playful words, understandably looked a little shaken by the whole encounter.
"What was it this time?" Sango asked as Miroku came to stand beside her.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a drug test," Miroku sighed before subtly glancing down at his jeans like he was checking something, "And the usual what is your purpose here."
"Well, that's lucky. What did you say?"
"To engage in frivolity and merriment," Miroku hummed – looking a little too pleased with himself, "I thought I was rather funny."
Sango sighed then snickered as the line began to move forward.
"Did they agree?"
"No. No, they did not," Miroku sighed heavily before glancing over towards where Inuyasha and Kagome had been moments prior, "Where did those two go?"
"I think they got picked up," Sango mumbled worriedly before taking out her tablet and sighing, "Still locked. I can't ping her."
"I never understood why they do that," Miroku hummed as the line moved up a few, "You can't even let anyone know you've arrived."
"Or that you've been taken aside for a screening and were determined to be a threat," Sango added with a little bitterness, "I've stopped trying to figure it out. It was making me depressed."
"I'm sure they rely on that type of apathy," Miroku countered as the line moved again.
"I'm sure they do."