Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha.

The trial

Eri felt so nervous that she was on the verge on being sick.

Not long after Inu Yasha so abruptly had left her alone, she had finally been asked to come and stand as witness. As the man led the way out from the room, Eri had been looking discretely over to the walk-in closet that had become eerie quiet. Among other things Kagome's so called ill-tempered and two-timing boyfriend had done before he vanished, was to throw the three guys inside it, tear out the doorknob on both sides before locking the door shut, effectively preventing them from getting out.

The court itself had been a nightmare, she had practiced time over and over again to make her statement sound as truthful and reliable as possible, but she still managed to stumble on her words and stutter not a few times. And if that wasn't bad enough, her three, would be assaulters, had also been sitting there, giving her evil glares during the entire session. That both her family and the Higurashi's, Kagome excluded, had been there for moral support made it a little easier, but not nearly enough. Before entering, she overheard two men from the jury whisper to each other that the people witnessing before her, couldn't remember properly, or had denied having even met the three altogether and now they were wondered what the last one would say.

With her nerves almost crawling out of her skin, Eri began her explanation being so close to the truth as she could get. An unusual large dog replaced the saber-toothed cat as she told her story while the thugs gave her a strangely surprised look upon hearing this, the judge however didn't really seemed convinced even though the jury had been sympathic towards her. Strangely enough, the judge hadn't expected her to identify the three men and stand her ground, she had therefore been sent out again while the court took a break before the outcome was decided. This was the reason why Eri for the moment was sent back to the waiting room again, waiting to be called to witness one last time before the final verdict was being said.

Walking in circles with hands on her back, Eri occasionally took herself looking at the disturbingly silent walk-in closet when the door beside it opened and Kagome waltzed in. "Kagome!" Eri cried, "Where have you been, Inu Yasha is…"

"Could you please wait a minute Eri and hold Kentaro for me?"

Surprised by this, Eri was about to ask what she meant when her friend turned around, revealing a little boy she was carrying on her back, he was probably not older than five, and on his shoulder sat the tiny cat creature and wagged with her two tails.

"Of course," she replied a little confused but lifted him off her back nevertheless.

"He can't stand on his own so please don't set him down." Kagome said and walked straight to the window and opened it.

Eri stared bewildered from Kagome to the child in her arms, "Hello, my eh… name is Eri, who are you?" she asked politely while discrete keeping an eye on Kagome.

"Kentaro!" the little boy answered. "Kitty, big girl and her boyfriend…"

"He is not my boyfriend!"

"…came and rescued me."

"What?" Eri stared at her friend who was leaning on the window sill, feeling a bit left out but also immensely curious about what exactly had happened when Inu Yasha suddenly jumped in through the window.

"Can somebody please explain to me what's going on here?" Eri said, staring at them "Where have you been Kagome, and Inu Yasha? What in the world has happened that I don't know?"

Kagome closed the window while answering her in the process. "I am afraid you aren't the only one the scoundrels have tried to blackmail. I strongly suspect that Kentaro here is the son of the judge in this case, and the bandits wanted to use him to press his father to judge in their favor."

"What!"

"What is your father's name by the way?" Kagome said, realized she never had asked the boy about his family name.

"Toyotomi Hideyori" was his answer and Kagome looked at Eri who nodded confirmative.

"That's the name of the judge."

"Hey, open up! Let us out of here!" a voice suddenly broke in from the closet. Inu Yasha grunted and tilted his head nonchalant to look at the door. "Shut up, you guys are going nowhere."

Kagome saw his stare and suddenly eyed the broken doorknob, "What happened?"

"Keh, just some stupid hum… eh guys who wanted to "speak" with your friend while you were gone. I didn't knew what I should do with them so I stored them away for later."

"Ehh, do you mean you put them in there?"

"Keh, they were making a fuzz out of it and tried to hit me with a club so I locked them away to make sure they didn't harm anyone, and then Kirara came and wanted me to come with her. She was making some terrible noise and I…"

Whatever Inu Yasha was going to say next was interrupted when there was a knock on the door and a friendly looking, middle-aged woman with glasses peeked inside. "The court will start again in five minutes, please come back and… confirm your statements…" The woman looked surprised the three newcomers. "Sorry but people aren't allowed to speak with witnesses during trials."

"But this is important!" Kagome said and stepped forwards but continued before the confused woman could interrupt. "The people on trial have tried to blackmail the court's outcome by kidnapping the main judge's child. This is Kentaro Hideyori, his son," she said and pointed at the child in Eri's arms. "We have just rescued him, please tell his father that his son is safe and doesn't have to fear for him."

"What!?" the woman said in disbelief.

"It is true, we even got three of them trapped in the closet beside you," Kagome continued and pointed towards walk-in closet with the broken doorknob. "They can confirm it!"

Everybody looked at the closet that had fallen silent during the conversation, but having none of that, Inu Yasha gave the door a powerful knock that surprised the men on the other side enough to jump and reveal their presence. "Did you hear that! You better speak the truth or else you will be sorry!" Inu Yasha growled.

The woman stared wide-eyed at them and stuttered, "I… I think I will get the guards. Nobody leave the room until they come, okay?" then she turned around and left them in a hurry, but not before Kagome rushed to the door "And don't forget to tell the judge! Kentaro miss his father!"

It didn't take long before the door opened again and a tall, serious looking man entered followed by a couple of security guards. Kagome felt herself growing nervous, knowing that she somehow had to give them a plausible explanation for not only what had happened but also who Inu Yasha was in front of the authorities and she prayed that neither Inu Yasha nor Kentaro said something to give them away. And that nobody tried to take the cap off Inu Yasha's head!

"Daddy!" Kentaro smiled and twisted his tiny body in Eri's arms to reach out his father who seemed to look both surprised and immensely relieved by the sight of his child.

"Kentaro! Are you alright, you aren't hurt are you?" he gasped, rushed past Kagome and got down on his knees in front of Eri. Recognizing the face of a hurt and worried father, Eri gave him his child back.

Father and son gave each other a long and lovingly hug, "Don't worry, I am fine dad," Kentaro whispered happy.

"Thank goodness. What happened… and who are you?" the judge said after a silent moment and looked inquiring at Kagome and Inu Yasha

"My name is Kagome… and this is Inu Yasha," Kagome began cautiously. "We are friends of Eri and came here to see that the men who tried to harm her…, were being brought to justice."

The judge, Toyotomi, rose back to his feet again with Kentaro securely in his arms, "I see. But how did you know he was kidnaped, neither my wife nor I told anyone about it. We dare not because they said that if we were to tell, we would never see Kentaro again. And believe me, I have met men like those before and know that their threats aren't idle."

"It was kitty who found me!" Kentaro interrupted brightly, "She told big girl where I was and then…"

"Hey, hey, please wait," Kagome interrupted nervously and smiled while her mind raced to come up an excuse. Having the kid tell his version of the story… which mostly likely would be the truth, could turn out troublesome, so instead she needed to find a way to direct the conversation onto another path.

"Remember that we got three guys trapped in the closet! I am sure the authorities would love to have a chat with them," she said and everybody including the three security guards looked at the closet. "Inu Yasha, perhaps you would be so kind and open the door so the guards can take care of them?"

Inu Yasha grunted, turned to the door and stared uncertain at it for a moment, "How do you open this thing when the handle is broken anyway? Hey, can't you three idiots kick the door out from the inside?" the half demon grumbled to the door. The response was colorful yet negative.

"Keh, I guess you dumbass aren't good for anything," he replied, spread his arms and was about to show his fist through the door when Kagome interrupted.

"Wait, take it easy Inu Yasha, be careful or else… eh you might risk hurting yourself!" He turned around to give Kagome a disbelieving look but was met with an intense stare from the priestess that reviled the true meaning behind her words. Almost expecting to hear a sit, Kagome continued instead with an overly caring voice, "The door is thick you know and we don't need anyone running for a doctor to treat your hands."

"Alright, alright, I get what you mean," he answered and forced instead his fingers inside the narrow crack between the door and the doorframe and used his strength to pull the entire thing off. The audience stared wide eyes as the door was torn off with a sickening crack as lock and hinges broke. Seeing their chance for an escape, the three men dashed outside in an attempt to flee but was quickly caught by the guards and Inu yasha who threw the door in front of them.

Caught, the men looked torn between trying to keep shut or come up with a probably unhealthy insult to the silver-haired man. Fortunately for all of them however, nothing was said and the guards escorted them out from the room.

A nervous silence then followed where everybody was looking at each other, and Inu Yasha in particular, until Toyotomi decided to speak, "I really don't know what to say, but thank you. I feel so horrible."

"What do you mean?" Eri asked.

"I… you see…" Toyotomi began, sounding shameful. "I may not have been completely fair in the courtroom. The people witnessing before you have either been in denial or given false statements that I never should have accepted as truth. I knew they were lying but since I feared for my son's life, I couldn't gainsay them… or declare the men guilty…. Nor would I have accepted your story, even though I know you were the only one who dared to speak the truth in there…"

A short silence followed again as Toyotomi looked at the floor.

"But everything is alright now!" Kagome said, sounding hopefully. "You can go back in there and sentence all three of them to jail."

"I am afraid it isn't so easy miss," he said slowly, Kagome kept her mask but felt dread spread through her. "The entire court has to begin over again and every witnesses have to make their statement anew because of this revelation. We also need to take in the three guys you caught in the closet as well, and not to mention having you and your incredible strong friend, Inu Yasha, that was your name, right? Tell where and how you found my son. As for myself, I will not be able to judge this time since I also will be a part of this new process."

Kirara tilted her head and stared with worry as Kagome turned disturbingly pale.

"Are you sure that is necessary?" stuttered the priestess. " I…eh, I mean. Inu Yasha here is going to leave later today…. Very soon in fact!"

"I am what!?"

"He has to reach an airplane back to America; he got school there so I am afraid he won't be available anytime soon!"

"But he has to, he has become one of the key witnesses, and so are you. Won't you see the men judged for what they have done?"

"Of course I want!" Kagome hurried to say before a confused half demon could ask what America or an airplane was. "Can't he do it on skype or video instead?"

The judge gave her a thoughtful look and seemed to have an internal debate with himself before he gave her an answer. "I guess that can be arranged. I owe both of you that much."

"Oh thank you," Kagome said and let out a breath. Now she could at least instruct Inu Yasha from her room and help him with his explanation later in such a way that he wouldn't say anything that would give rise to any suspicion. It would be a horrible day for her if somebody should discover that Inu Yasha didn't exist in any archives, or even worse, find out that it wasn't a human they were dealing with. Things were so simple back in the feudal era, but in her time this little misadventure could quickly turn into a huge mess if they weren't careful and they were walking on a thin line.

Looking at his wristwatch, Toyotomi stopped any further musings on Kagome's side when he spoke again "Anyway, I must be going now. The break is over and I need to inform the court of this highly unexpected turn of events. Eri, if you would please follow me." And then they left, leaving Kagome, Kirara and Inu Yasha alone.

"Inu Yasha!"

"Yes?"

"Let's find mom and the others. Quick!"

Not much action in this chapter am I afraid, but I wanted to make the outcome from Kagome's and Inu Yasha's actions as realistic as possible and it is a limit for how much trouble you can make in a courthouse. There is no way a judge can judge in a trial where he is involved, directly or indirectly so it is only natural that they have to start over again to get it right. But don't worry, I will spare you for those details ; )

Please review and tell what you think^^