Chapter Eight

"It's about time we got a promotion. Jeez, it's been how long?" Ginta lot out a breath as he reclined in the chair facing the projectors. Beside him, Naraku crossed his arms over the top of the table, resting his weight on his elbows.

"Well, I have to say that the meteor base fiasco was a stroke of good luck in our favor." Naraku paused and slid a sly glance at Kagome's face. "And a big thanks to you for noticing that trick wall." His tone was suggestive and had her back up in an instant.

Naraku's smirk grew as he noticed the uncomfortable look on her face. Before he could pursue that line of questioning, someone kicked at his ankle and he shot a glance to the stoic woman sitting to his right. Kikyo pointedly kept her gaze from her fellow psychic, allowing her eyes to meet with her cousins. As the technician in charge of their team walked into the room, Kikyo allowed a small smile to grace her lips directed at Kagome.

Kagome felt something buried deep inside her unclench at the familiar look as she turned her attention to the newest addition in their meeting.

"So, as you all have heard, the team has earned a large promotion. You are going from being a back-end clean-up crew to a front of the line scouting party. As such, there will be a new regimen for each of you as well as training schedules that you will need to adhere to. A few of you will also have to take extra sessions with specific instructors that will be sent to your respective ships."

At the end of his short speech each psychic looked from one to the other. Raised eyebrows and slight frowns were shared from one person to the next. Hakaku leaned forward gaining the attention of the tech.

"Extra sessions? What kind of sessions are we talking about?" His tone was suspicious as he eyed the tech, Stephan Mallory, closely.

"There are certain situations that you will have to be well versed in, in case of emergencies." He paused as he looked about the room, meeting each of the psychics' gazes. "With your new positions, there will be many instances where you will be called to act at a higher level than you have been. As such, more training will be needed."

His eyes briefly slid to Kagome and then away. "Your new schedules as well as the name of your instructors will be sent to you after the meeting. Is there anything else someone wishes to discuss?" The resounding silence after his statement brought a tight smile to his face. "Then I suggest we convene at a later time this week to go over anything we might think of after we get used to the changes."

With that the projections shut down and the meeting was over. Kagome turned to look at Miroku and was surprised that he was already out of his seat and headed for the door. With scrunched brows, Kagome stood from her seat and followed after him.

"Hey, Miroku, wait up!" She jogged lightly to his side and caught him by the arm. Looking quickly up into his face she was shocked to catch a grimace before it smoothed over into his usual flirty smile. She let go of his arm and took a step back as he fully turned to her, showing an overly bright expression.

"What is it, Kagome?"

Even his tone was overly cheerful and Kagome felt a twinge of unease twist in her belly. Before she could find the words to question exactly what was wrong with him, he turned away and headed towards the door again. "Well, I'll talk to you later, Kagome."

She was left standing there, not understanding exactly what had just happened.


Kagura neatly dodged to her left as a fist came down at her. Smirking at the scowl that covered the younger Taisho's face as his attack left him unbalanced, and in direct range of a counterstrike, she gently placed a hand onto his shoulder and shoved as hard as she could. Inuyasha sprawled on his back and tried to control his heavy breathing.

"Damn, Kaze. How the hell are you so fast?!" He grumbled more to himself than actually asking. Kagura tossed her sweat-dampened hair out of her eyes and looked down her nose at her sparring partner for the day.

"I don't put so much force behind my attacks. I don't rely on strength like you or Wolfe, but on stealth and efficiency."

Inuyasha snorted and wiped at the sweat beading his upper lip. Noticing that his breathing was somewhat back to normal he twisted up onto his knees then stood, placing his hands on his hips. "Wanna go another round? We still have four hours 'til dinner."

Kagura shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. "Nah, I got other stuff to do before we dock at Ragnarok." She said dismissively and headed out of the training room and towards the showers. She rolled her eyes as she heard the boy pick a fight with Wolfe behind her.

Showering quickly and dressing in her usual fatigues, Kagura tried to keep her pace sedate as she headed back to her room. It didn't fit her image to rush down the halls, and she hadn't been lying when she said she had things to do. Or rather one thing.

Entering her room quickly, she made sure the panel was locked, and walked over to her screen, placidly sitting beside her bed. Picking it up she was irritated to realize her palms were clammy. Her thumb swiped over an icon in the upper left and she watched as the communications link was initiated. Her heart was thumping now, and she stifled the urge to swallow compulsively.

"Hello, this is the Kaze Unit. How may I-"

The cheery, yet mellow voice on the other end cut off as both parties were able to focus on the other. Kagura let a tight smile cross her lips, while the woman at the other end smiled broadly back. "Oh, Ms. Kagura! It's so nice to see you."

"You as well, Miss Shiori." Kagura stopped there and realized she didn't know what else to say. It was unnecessary for her to worry, however, as Shiori had no problem with keeping up the conversation.

"You've called at a good time! She's very lucid today and we haven't had any relapses all week."

Kagura felt her heart kick up a notch and scooted forward slightly on her bed, jostling the screen a bit. "Has she- I mean can I- Do you think…?"

Shiori smiled softly and turned her head to glance into a room just out of view. Her eyes saddened slightly when she caught sight of the subject of their conversation before her face brightened as she turned back to the nervous soldier on the line. "Of course you can speak with her." Her smile lessened somewhat as she continued. "But I will have to be in the room to monitor her condition."

Kagura shook her head, her excitement over the prospect of being able to speak with her sister outweighed the fact that it couldn't be in private. "No, that's fine! You…you said she was lucid…?" Kagura damned herself for her stuttering, but couldn't seem to stop it. "She'll remember me?"

Shiori couldn't conceal the sadness this time, even if she tried. "Yes. As I said, no relapses for a whole week." Her statement came out sounding weaker than she wanted it to be, but there was no help for it in this situation. Looking to make sure that Kagura was prepared, Shiori turned and called out to the only other occupant in the unit.

"Kanna-chan! Come talk to Kagura!"

Shiori stood from the chair in front of the large screen and guided a taller and slimmer female into it. Kagura let out a deep breath as she gazed into her older sister's dark eyes. A smile twitched at the corners of her lips, more out of stress than anything, and her hands clutched her screen tightly as she waited for Kanna's reaction.

Though her expression remained mostly blank, a breezy smile flitted over her mouth. "Kagura-chan." Her light voice sounded relieved and delighted all at once and Kagura felt the same emotions swell inside her chest. Choking back the urge to cry, Kagura allowed a true smile out as she squinted her eyes to stop the tears.

"Hey, Kanna. I'm so glad to see you!" Her voice warbled slightly and she wiped at her eyes to get rid of the moisture. Sniffing slightly she leaned her elbows on the tops of her thighs and stared down into the screen. "How have you been? What have you been doing?" She asked lightly and glanced to Shiori to see if it was alright. Shiori nodded slightly and smiled at Kanna when she turned around.

"Shiori-chan and I walk in the garden in the mornings and then we go to our flower-arranging classes." Kanna said softly, confirming her story with Shiori before turning back to smile limply at Kagura.

Kagura smiled back. "I see. Do you like arranging flowers?" She hadn't known her sister was taking classes, but she was glad to see it seemed to be helping her.

"Yes. It calms me down." Kanna answered airily and leaned her arms on the table. "What about you Kagura? Are you close to graduation yet?"

Kagura felt her heart stop for a moment and Shiori stood from the wall she was leaning against. Looking to Shiori in questioning panic, Kagura opened her mouth to answer. "Uh, I…already graduated, Kanna." Still looking to Shiori, who was watching Kanna worriedly, Kagura continued. "I've been in the military for almost eight years now."

Kagura glanced back to Kanna and both froze at the blank expression on her sister's face. Kanna blinked slowly and cocked her head to the side. "Eight years…? But you had just…and mom and dad…Hakudoshi…"

At the name muttered last, Kagura felt her breath leave in a whoosh and her panicked gaze met Shiori's own. "Oh crap." Shiori uttered beneath her breath as she approached her patient from behind slowly.

"Kanna-chan…?" She asked lowly as she gently placed her hand in the middle of the woman's back. At this point, Kanna was muttering quickly to herself and seemed to be seconds away from hyperventilating. A warning beep came from the monitor built into her armband, followed by more in rising succession. Throwing a quick glance at the woman on the other side of the screen Shiori opened a drawer to the right of the table, pulling out a needle already filled with the necessary sedative.

"Sorry, Ms. Kagura." Shiori got out before Kanna began shrieking and pulling at her hair. Kagura watched, helpless, from her bed, the tears she had been fighting streaming down her face. She watched through blurred vision as Shiori fought her sister to the ground, all the while Kanna was wailing and screaming. The sudden silence on the other end had her pressing her hand to her mouth to keep her sobs in check.

Shiori's head came up from under the table and her tired eyes met with Kagura's. "Sorry, Ms. Kagura." She reiterated and Kagura hid her face in both her hands, shaking her head quickly. She opened her mouth to say that it wasn't her fault and 'thank you for taking care of my sister' but all that came out were strangled sobs.

Shiori sat in the chair and placed a hand on the side of the screen. "I have to put her back in bed and call the doctor." She trailed off slightly, holding back tears of her own. "I'll contact you when she's stable again. Is there anything you'd like me to tell her when she's lucid?"

Kagura let out a shake-y sigh and scrubbed the tears from her face. "No. I don't want her upset again." She met Shiori's gaze and both tried to smile. It wasn't working. "Just tell her I love her." Shiori nodded and both women closed off the link. Kagura gently placed her screen back on her nightstand and curled up on her bed, bringing her pillow to her front and hugging it to her chest. The tears were building up again, and she knew from past experiences that it was easier to just let it all out now than have it build up for later.

Kanna had been a brilliant girl. Top of her class, a psychic. The pride of the whole family when she had graduated and been put with an elite team of battle-links. A year before Kagura had been able to graduate herself, Kanna's team had been ambushed. Her partner, Hakudoshi, had been grievously wounded. Just before his death, Kanna's pod had severed their link and brought Kanna back forcibly. She had been the only one to survive, if you could call this surviving.

She had retained the majority of her mental faculties, and so the doctors had deemed her worthy of going home, on the off-chance she would make a full recovery in familiar surroundings. It hadn't been until a week after she was discharged that her lapses in memory started. It had been small things at first. She would forget to do things or would forget where she put stuff. Then it was she wouldn't remember certain people or places or events. This quickly progressed into a sort of age regression. At its worst, Kanna would think and act like she was an eight year old again.

It had been their parent's deaths that had caused the tantrums and fits that called for tranquilizers. They had been traveling to another ship to meet with a doctor that specialized in psychic trauma, when their cruiser had a malfunction, causing the oxygen regulators to implode. Kagura was told that their deaths would have come so fast, they wouldn't have felt it. Not that that brought her any comfort. Kanna had shut down completely after that.

Clutching the pillow to herself tighter, Kagura allowed her sobs to echo in her small room. This was the real reason she needed four hours before she had to be out and about again. After all, she had an image to protect, and she would never allow anyone to see her heartbreak.


Kagome reclined on her bed and pulled out her screen. Her itinerary for the next couple of days had been sent along with what her schedule would be if she agreed to stay linked to Taisho. She snorted at the presumptuousness of a certain silver haired commander, then thought it over seriously. While it was true that she absolutely loved what she did, and simply adored her plants, her life had been strangely lacking something.

Before linking with Taisho, she wouldn't have even noticed, but after...

Turning to her side, she again checked over the timetable they had given her. She presumed that free time meant she could do whatever she wanted, and it seemed they had given her an abundance of it. Nearly eight hours every day was labeled as free time. They had also given her a seven hour sleeping schedule, leaving nine hours a day to the military. All subject to change, of course. More often than not, she would have more free time on certain days and depending on the mission, would spend a whole lot of time linked on other days.

According to the schedule, she wouldn't link with Taisho again until late tomorrow evening. The rest of her day was labeled as free time. She could play in her lab until the evening meal and then after she would play- LINK! Link with Taisho. A thrill snaked up her back and brought goosebumps down her arms She grit her teeth and locked her jaw at the giddy sensation she got when she thought of linking with the captain again.

Setting her screen into its default alarm clock mode, Kagome set it on the nightstand. Waving a hand over the panel in her headboard, she sighed as the lights went out and got under her covers. Before she had linked with Taisho, she realized, her life had been missing excitement. Not that she would ever admit that out loud.


Sango grumbled to herself as she tossed various items out of her closet and into the small duffel that was supposed to tide her over while they were docked at Ragnarok. Seeing as many things were to be modified and overhauled, they had been notified that a section of the barracks had been prepared for them. She rolled her eyes as she could imagine what "prepared" meant. She just hoped to whatever that whoever's bunk she would be taking had not left anything behind. If she found a stash of women's underthings under her mattress one more time…

A sharp chirp from her screen brought her out of her dark musings. Looking over to see who would be calling her in the early hours, she was confused to see it was her mother. Picking up the screen with trepidation, she hesitated before answering. 'C'mon, girl. It'll only be worse the longer you make the woman wait.' With a final try at motivation, she swiped her finger to accept the call and pasted on a wide smile.

"Hey Mo-"

"God dammit, Sango! What have your father and I told you! You never listen to a damn thing I say! You and your brother both!"

Letting the smile drop and tuning out her mother's loud ranting, Sango set her screen against the duffel and turned back to her closet. Though she didn't think she would need her spare uniform, she doubted it would hurt to take it along anyway, right?

"Are you hearing me?!"

The final squawk caught Sango's ears and she turned her eyes from the navy top to look at the red tomato that resembled her mother's face. Rolling her eyes in an overly exaggerated way, Sango dropped her shirt and shambled to the bed. "Mother, I don't even know what it was I was supposed to have done wrong in the first place. Now why are you screaming?"

"Oh! Playing coy, now? Just like your father!"

Sango rolled her eyes again and threw herself on top of the mattress, bringing her screen up to face her mother head-on. She raised an eyebrow to get her mother's attention mid-rant and hid the satisfaction she felt when it seemed to work. It really had paid off to learn how her father dealt with her mother. "I'm talking about the shady promotion you accepted!"

Letting out a breath, Sango felt her hand come up to her head as she shielded her eyes. "Oh man. Here we go."

"Soldiers don't just jump in ranks like that unless there is something going on under the table. What have you gotten yourself into?! I told your father it was a bad idea to let you join the western fleet! Two generations of military background wasted on clean-up duty?! Don't even get me started on your brother! And now you are signing on to be a part of a scout team?!"

Sango sat up and brought her screen close. "Mom! Nothing shady is going on!" She shouted and was satisfied to see her mother pause. It wasn't often you could get the corporal to stop mid-rant, and so far only her superiors had successfully managed it. Well, them, and her husband, of course. "We had a lucky break and exploited it." Her face lit up slightly as she remembered the rush she got while they had hunted down their targets. During the small skirmishes there hadn't been time to analyze anything, just movement and strategy. But afterwards!

"Mom! You should have seen it! I took down two of those bastards by myself!"

Mariko Taijya studied her daughters face and felt her bluster fade. Who was she to rain on her parade? Listening intently as her daughter described what had happened on the meteor base and what they had found, she felt the knife of unease in her stomach twist ever more so. Deciding to think and act on it later, she smiled at the excited cast to Sango's face.

The whole family, being strictly military, had been shocked and disappointed when Sango's orders had come in the day after her graduation. None more than Sango, herself, had been. And sprinkled liberally over her disappointment had been embarrassment. While Mariko had ranted and raved over the injustice, her husband had put his indignation behind him and had pulled Sango aside. Resting his hand on his daughters shoulder, he had looked into her eyes with the same expression of pride he had always looked at her with.

"This is not a setback, nor is it permanent." He had started as he met the tear-drenched eyes of his eldest. "This is but a chance to learn all that you can. A chance to find out for yourself what you want to do and where you want to go. Take these orders and use them for the stepping stone that they are. You can only go up from here."

The tears had spilled over at this point and Sango had bitten her lip, trying to stop herself from crying.

"And never doubt, for one second, that your mother and I, all of us, are proud of you. You have become a strong and independent woman right before my eyes." Glancing over at her cousin, who she had given a black eye during their sparring, a grin quirked his lips. "And you have become a damn fine soldier." Chuckles followed in the wake of his teasing statement and Sango had found her own laughter bubbling up under the heavy feelings in her chest. "So go. Join this team in the western fleet and grow ever stronger. As only one of our family can."

A shout had followed his speech, and Mariko had once again found herself charmed by the quiet man she had married all those years ago.

"Mom. Are you listening?" Sango interrupted her flashback and Mariko, still caught up in the warm-fuzzy's she always got from that particular memory, smiled broadly back at the lowered brow look her daughter was shooting her.

"Well, I suppose if you're satisfied by the turn of events, I won't bug you about it." She answered eventually as she shook of the lingering memories. "Your father will probably call you sometime tomorrow. If you have a full schedule you should send him a link of when would be a good time. Also, please get in touch with Kohaku. It's bad enough that the both of you have joined the western fleet, but neither of you calling home is getting to be rather ridiculous."

Sango winced and agreed, ending the call with her mother. Looking over at her duffle, and then back to the time on her alarm, she decided she had just enough time before docking to call the squirt. 'What vessel had he decided to become a civil officer on? Oh, right. Eden.'

Picking up her screen, she scrolled through and found the numbers that would connect to her younger brother. She hadn't spoken to him since his graduation some four months prior, but according to her mother, he had chosen to stay on-ship as part of the civilian military police. Though it was a part of the military faction, it was considered lower duty. The family had been outraged, especially considering he had chosen it in his assessment, but they had gotten over it…somewhat.

"Hey, sis."

Sango snapped back to it and met the shy smile of her brother Kohaku. He was in uniform, so he must have been on duty.

"Are you busy? I can call back later." She asked as she again checked to make sure she had everything packed.

"Nah, I was due for a short break, anyway. What's up? How you been?"

Letting out a small sigh Sango collapsed on her bed, bringing her screen up with her. "I assume mom hasn't gotten ahold of you yet?" She waited for his raised eyebrow and slight nod. "We got a promotion. Front line scouts." She trailed off and stared to the right of the screen. Almost a year and a half on this ship and a handful of missions, and suddenly they were getting a huge promotion…? Yeah, ok, maybe her mom had been on to something being really suspicious.

"Well, that's great, isn't it?" Kohaku asked tentatively, still not understanding why their mother would have been upset over this.

Sango rolled to her side and propped her face in her hand, setting the screen against the duffle beside her. "Yeah it is, she just thinks that I'm getting involved in something shady. I have to admit, now that she's said something and the glamor is fading, I have to agree."

Kohaku 'hmm-ed' in thought and had to agree slightly. It did sound like upper management maneuvering. "Yeah, it is weird. But not when you take into account that two of the western fleet commander's children are on board and a part of your team. What was weird is that they would be put into a clean-up crew anyway. Maybe they were just waiting for the right moment to move you guys up? It's kinda funny that a few days after they coerced Dr. Higurashi into being Captain Taisho's partner you guys get promoted."

Sango jerked slightly and stared at her brother's face. "You know the captain's psy-link partner?" She watched in fascination as her brothers ears turned red and he raised a hand to cover his mouth.

"Well, yeah. I was put in charge of the security to her lab." He was mumbling now and Sango felt the teasing grin every sister got when their sibling was embarrassed stretch over her lips.

"Oh-ho? Really?" She stretched her questions out and reveled in the way he squirmed. A sound of the door swooshing open came from behind Kohaku, and the boy turned tomato red as he looked to see who it was.

"Taijya-san? Are you alright?" The sound of a woman speaking to her brother had Sango leaning forward slightly. If the reaction the person had on her brother, and the conversation they were just having was anything to go by, then this was Kagome Higurashi herself.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your call…"

A dark head of hair peeked over her brother's shoulder, followed by the brightest blue eyes Sango could ever remember seeing.

"Ah, Dr. Higurashi, this is my sister, Sango Taijya." Kohaku awkwardly introduced and jumped when both women exclaimed.

"Miroku's Sango?!"

"Captain Taisho's Higurashi?"

Both women pressed closer to examine the other, curiosity and excitement shimmering in the both of their eyes. Kohaku felt himself blush again as Kagome placed a hand on his shoulder to get a better look from his screen. Deciding it wasn't good for his heart to be so close to her, he almost tossed the screen at her as he stood from the chair in the breakroom and headed back to his station, mumbling he had to get back to work anyway.

"Oh, shoot. I'm sorry to cut into your conversation with your brother!" Kagome winced as she held up the screen, staring into the pretty face of Miroku's obsession, er, partner. Sango waved it off, sitting up from her lounging position and crossing her legs.

"Don't worry about it! We can talk anytime!" She leaned forward slightly, holding her screen between both of her hands. "So tell me, what's it like being linked to Taisho?" Her eyes lit up when Kagome's face colored.

"Only if you tell me how you like having Miroku linked to you!" Kagome felt satisfaction fill her up when Sango blushed beet-red. "Thought so."

"Don't you say anything to that pervert!"

Kagome laughed and turned towards the door. "I feel bad for taking Taijya-san's screen, so I'm gonna return you."

"Oh wait! Give me your link numbers! We should totally talk for real!" Sango said and blinked at the almost desperate way she felt about not being able to speak to the girl again. Kagome laughed guiltily and scratched the back of her head.

"Actually, I can't make calls off ship. I've been so distracted by my work, I never got an upgrade." At the thunderous look on Sango's face, Kagome waved her hand frantically. "But I put in the work order this morning! I should have it set up by tomorrow! Give me your link number and I'll call when it's operational!"

Sango agreed and the two of them exchanged information. Kagome walked out to the guards' station and handed the screen back to Kohaku, apologizing again for taking it. With a smile on her face at the prospect of gaining a new friend, Kagome turned to her lab and opened the first door. It looked like her day was starting off right, for the first time in almost a week.

Sango grinned up at her brother's disgruntled face. "I can see why you've got a crush. She's pretty cute, huh?"

"Shut up!"

xXx

Thank you for reading and please review. My vacation from work starts today so I'm hoping to have more time to get some of this out and answer a bunch of reviews from you all.