Chapter 22
Hiroki accompanies Onigumo on their task at hand. So far they were told to go to the cabin where Naraku and Kikyo were when they abducted Ai and kidnapped Kagome. "So any idea about this?" Hiroki asks the man in an awkward tone. Onigumo turns to see him with a look of doubt. "About what?" He asks back. "That we have to find out how Kikyo was revived." Hiroki said specifically. They make it to the cabin.
The enter the cabin door carefully to see if there are any clues left behind. Hiroki goes into his briefcase to get a device. "What are you doing?" Onigumo asks him. "This device has a flashlight with a special ability." Hiroki looks at him before starting the device. He turns it on and places the device on the wall to have the light spread across the floor. Hiroki smiles to see how the device is doing great so far. Onigumo doesn't seem too impressed. "What is it doing?" He obviously asks Hiroki.
"The light will detect footprints, or shoe prints and deter who it was that came here." Hiroki explains so far. Just like what Hiroki said, the light scanned the floor revealing a few set of shoe prints around the room. It doesn't take long for the device to analyze it. Hiroki's smartphone dings to tell him that the results are in. "It has picked five individuals here." Hiroki said as the smartphone shows the five.
So far it shows Naraku, Kagome, Ai, Inuyasha, and Toga. "Wait a minute." Hiroki said seeing an error. "Where's Kikyo. According to Toga, he and Inuyasha saved Kagome and Ai from the two but all there is are five set of footprints." Onigumo looks at the floor more closely. "Did Toga mentioned that Kagome got nicked by Kikyo as well?" He asks to be sure. Hiroki nods.
"Yes. Why?"
Onigumo crawls to a spot on the floor to discover something. "Look here." He points his finger to a splat of substance. Hiroki uses the device to pick up the splat and scan it. "It's poison." Hiroki confirms. Onigumo gasps. "Poison?" Hiroki nods back. "Yes. This poison is somehow peculiar." Hiroki said as he places the sample into a small container to learn more about it. "We also need to find out Kikyo's mark in here. Even though she was here, she should've left something behind." He points out. Onigumo agrees and heads to the back of the cabin. He enters the kitchen, and bathroom. Nothing. He goes out the backdoor and finds something unusual. "Over here!" He shouts through the open door.
Hiroki runs to Onigumo to see what he discovered outside. "What is it?" He asks frantically. Onigumo points to a camera hooked up the house. "Do you think that this can help out?" Onigumo asks Hiroki. Hiroki looks around the camera to see if a cord is connected to it. "So far it's not disconnected. I might be able to hack onto the system to find out who is was that came here." Hiroki clarifies as he points his phone towards the camera. The smartphone was able to get into the system. He scans through the footage to see if Naraku and Kikyo were spotted. So far it was just Naraku. No Kikyo thought. "The cabin is one floor and there's no windows at the top of the building." Onigumo said in a matter of fact tone.
"Anyway there was something that we're missing here?" Hiroki asks him with his smartphone showing all the footage the camera was able to gather. "Maybe go around the cabin to see if there's anything we can find." Onigumo prefers his idea to him. Hiroki agrees. "We should. You take that side and I'll look through the other side of the cabin." He directs the instructions. As such they split up.
Onigumo goes to the one side to see if anything was amiss. He doesn't see anything out of the ordinary. Hiroki is one the other spots the power grid. He looks at the device to see it off. He continues the walk around to see anything else that can be useful to their task. They meet back at the front door. "Anything?" Onigumo asks Hiroki. Hiroki gestures Onigumo to follow him to the power grid. "It turns out that the power was off the entire time." Hiroki said to him. Onigumo holds his chin. "But what about the camera. It was working." He points out the fact. Hiroki nods. "True. However surveillance cameras are charged up for about two years so there's no need for them to be plugged in all the time." He explains the functionality of the camera system. "I think the owner of the camera is quite paranoid unless he allows any renters to use the cabin for a period of time."
Onigumo goes back into the cabin. "Where are you going?" Hiroki asks as he follows the man. Onigumo looks around the cabin to see if there's something else that they couldn't pick up or missed. Onigumo spots a closet. He opens it up to see if something is stashed away. Hiroki watches him patiently to see if Onigumo would somehow discover something. "I just had to double check the place." Onigumo casually answers the question after sighing is disappointment. "Come on. We tried to collect enough data to think on how Kikyo was able to nick Kagome's neck in the first place." Hiroki suggests that he and Onigumo to head back to town.
Toga's cell phone goes off. He grabs it out of his back pocket to see that it's Hiroki. "I need to take this." Toga excuses himself and leaves the room. "Hey." He simply said to the caller. "Mr. Takahashi, I know this is all of sudden, but we need to have your son and Kagome to come to the council immediately." Hiroki tells him adamantly. Toga sighs. "Ok. But for what reason do they need to be there?" Hiroki rubs his temples. "Onigumo and I were at the cabin to find something useful. I believe that whoever was there should meet us there as well." Hiroki explains to him. "Ok. I'll see you in a few." Toga hangs up and goes back into Inuyasha's room where everyone were waiting for him to return. "We're going to the Council." He said to them seriously.
"What do you mean that we have to go to the council?" Inuyasha asks Toga. Toga looks at his son and Kagome. "Look I just got a word from one of my associates after going through the cabin that Naraku abducted Ai and you earlier. We're going to meet them at the Council hall. Izayoi, you need to stay here in case of something happens while I'm gone." Toga explains to the group.
Kagome tries her best to move but she's unable to. "I might be paralyzed by the poison." She said to them. Inuyasha looks at Ai for second. "I think the side effect of the poison must've been paralyses. We need to find an antidote." Ai said with worry in her voice. Toga nods. "Luckily, Hiroki got the poison sample, and he might be able to find something to neutralize it." He said hopefully. Inuyasha scoops Kagome in his arms. Even though she's paralyzed, she feels safe in his arms. Ai silently follows them to the car that Toga is going to use. Toga positions the back seats for Kagome and Inuyasha. Inuyasha carefully sets Kagome in the backseat with her seatbelt strapped on with him right next to her. Ai sits in the front seat. "Toga, what does the Council do?" Ai asks him.
Toga remembered that while he and Izayoi were at Shikon High to pick up Inuyasha, Naraku must've disguised himself as Ai, as such Ai has no idea how the Council works. It doesn't take them that long to get the building. "Inuyasha, could you get a wheelchair for Kagome?" Ai asks him politely. Inuyasha scowls but he knows that if he were to carry Kagome into the building other people might get the wrong idea. "Sure." He replies. They arrive at the building parking lot. Toga and Ai got out just fine. Inuyasha carefully gets out and gets Kagome into his arms and onto his back. "Can you hang on?" He asks the weaken girl. "I'll manage." Kagome smiles as she does her best to grasp his neck.
Toga leads them to the entryway to see Hiroki and Onigumo waiting for them. "Good thing you're here." Hiroki smiles at the group. One of the employees arrives with the wheelchair. Inuyasha helps Kagome slide down to the seat. Once comfortable, Inuyasha offers to push the chair and follows his father into the building.
