28 Questioning
"Hello, Mr. Takahashi, I´m detective Hoshiyomi Morikawa. I am part of the Demonic Crimes Unit; I will be leading this investigation. We´d like your cooperation," The green-haired demon detective sauntered into the dimly lighted room and stood in front of the half-demon.
" To tell you the truth, detective, I´ve been having a hard time remembering last night," He made a brief pause trying to make eye contact with the detective who was trying to read a file he put on the desk. "Did you find Ms. Higurashi yet? Maybe she can tell us what really happened"
The detective looked up from his papers right into Inuyasha´s anxious eyes.
"We´ll get to that in a moment. First, can you walk me through the events that took place in the parking lot?"
Inuyasha thought for a moment, they hadn´t found Kagome yet? Why wouldn´t they tell him? He needed to get out of there ASAP and find Kagome himself.
"I´m afraid you´ll have to stop right there," The door had suddenly opened, and an elderly wolf demon came through it while delivering this message: "I´m Mr. Takahashi´s lawyer, you can hold your questions for another moment," The white-haired man turned to Inuyasha then. "We are leaving now son, get up"
The demon detective didn´t utter a single word, he just sent Inuyasha a disgusted look and got out through the open door.
"Choro-san!" Inuyasha exclaimed in surprise as he got up from the uncomfortable chair. "What are you doing here? I thought you had retired."
"Well, I had, but my granddaughter is unavailable, so I had to step in," He patted Inuyasha´s shoulder before adding. "Besides, I couldn´t let Touga´s youngest rot in jail, could I?"
"I for one am glad you didn´t. Can I just leave then?"
"You are free for the time being. They need to gather some kind of evidence before they can make an arrest, all they have now is someone saying they saw you on the site. They haven´t even found out a crime so far, therefore they can´t keep you any longer."
"At least it gives me more time," the hanyo said to himself and then in a louder voice. "Can you give me a ride back to my office? We can talk about this mess on the way there."
"Let´s go then."
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"I´m already at Shibuya Station." The well-dressed ookami was just a drop in a sea of people, it was only thanks to his heightened sense of hearing that he was able to make out what the other person was saying on the phone.
"Ok, go to the escalators on the east exit, I´ll meet you there."
Kouga did as he was told and it wasn´t long before Bankotsu appeared at his side.
"Let´s make this quick, I hate crowds," said the man with the cross on his forehead. "And the police will be looking for you soon."
"Yeah, I heard there was an investigation going on and Kagome Higurashi is missing," He looked suspicious at Bankotsu. "Did you have anything to do with that? Is she alright? You promised she wouldn´t be hurt!" He was almost screaming to the shorter man at this point, his stance menacingly closer to his face.
"Easy boy, I´m the one asking the questions here. First of all, hand me the code."
"I didn´t get it. Kagome wouldn´t hand it. She didn´t care what I threatened to do."
"Too bad, you know what that means, you are still in our debt."
"No, please, let Ayame go, I´ve already done everything you demanded," Kouga took a step back, his voice losing the menacing tone. "I just want Ayame back."
"Your fiance is doing fine." He gave Kouga a pat on the shoulder "Just keep your mouth shut when the police come looking for you. Tell them you and the Higurashi woman were just talking before the hanyo went berserk on you two. You won´t even be lying."
"You´ll finally free Ayame after this?"
"Sure!" Bankotsu replied smugly.
"How can I even trust you, you said she would be free after I blackmailed Kagome. I did everything you asked, it´s not my fault she´s so loyal to the mutt."
"See, I´m the one that can´t trust you. You failed with that simple task and now you dare doubt me," Bankotsu was shaking his head as he started to walk away. "Keep the burner phone charged in case we need an update on this case wolf."
Fists clenching at his sides, Kouga had to swallow his frustration and try to remain calm. It was the only way he could help Ayame, at least for now.
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"Inuyasha, you are free!" Shipo´s excited voice was the first to greet him as soon as he crossed his office door. Jinenji, Shiori, and Rin joined in soon afterward.
"Yeah, apparently the police have nothing to pursue yet," the hanyo immediately dropped into his chair, he was still exhausted, the effects of what happened the previous night and the hours spent in the interrogation room keeping him weak as a child. "Fill me in, Any news from Kagome?"
The room went silent for a moment. Jinenji finally dared to be the first to speak up.
"I´ve hacked into the Ministry of Health and looked for her in every hospital and health care clinic all over the country," he made a slight pause before adding, "even the morgue..." Inuyasha was starting to get up, his hands gripping the armrests. "I found nothing."
The hanyo´s body was starting to relax again when Rin followed up.
"It´s like she´s disappeared into thin air," Rin´s arms were raised after she swang them around in a desperate gesture. " We have been looking for her for hours, we are bound to find her soon." She decided to end the sentence on a hopeful note.
"Boss," Shiori´s soft voice called. "The parking lot is now a crime scene. The police have collected all the security tapes from the CCTV in the parking lot and the ground floor. Jinenji had to hand them everything."
"Don´t worry about that. You did what you had to." He looked the other hanyo in the eye trying to convey he understood what he had done.
"I saved a copy for you, "Jinenji handed the other hanyo a silver USB stick. "You should watch it, maybe you can find a clue there."
Booting up his laptop, Inuyasha connected the small device, and everyone gathered around the screen to get a glimpse of the footage.
There wasn´t much to go on, apart from him throwing punches at the ookami and Kagome trying to stop them before an explosion of pink light obliterated all the cameras. And lastly, the ookami leaving the building was captured by the cameras in the front. Alone. No signs of him or Kagome leaving the parking lot.
Inuyasha sighed heavily. He remembered enough to fill in some blanks, Still, he had no clue as to how he ended up covered in blood or how he had got to his apartment.
He decided to stop fretting about that and focus on the matter at hand reaching for the phone on his desk and dialing Miroku´s number.
"Hey, are you still detained?" was the only greeting he got.
"No, I just got released. I´m sitting at my desk now. Where are you now? Any news from Kagome?"
"Sango and I are waiting for Kagome´s mother and grandfather at the train station. Mrs. H has a spare key to Kagome´s apartment, we´ll check her place next."
"I´ll meet you there."
He immediately stood up; his legs still shaky.
"Guys, I can´t thank you enough for everything you are doing. Shiori, please order something to eat for all of you. I can tell you have been here all day; your stench is all over the place, and I can´t smell anything edible."
Rin ran after him grabbing his arm in an attempt to slow him down.
"Yash, wait for me. I´m coming with you,"
Inuyasha took her small hand and shook it softly.
"You´d better go home, your father will worry about you."
He was already at the door when he turned around and added,
"Y´all can leave after that. You are already drained, we´ll continue again early tomorrow. I´ll let you know if there´s anything you can help with."
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The tiny apartment was as tidy as usual, Inuyasha noticed. The only thing out of place was the easel and paints, Kagome had been working on the portrait of Totosai´s late wife, the picture he had provided taped to the wall behind.
The room felt smaller with all these people standing inside. Miroku and Sango stood in the genkan just to make room for Mrs. Higurashi, Inuyasha, and Kagome´s grandpa. They had been searching every corner but it didn´t take long before they realized there was nothing out of place.
Mrs. Higurashi looked oddly composed after Sango and Miroku had filed her in everything they knew up to the moment, an aura of sadness surrounded her despite her efforts to look strong. The old man, however, looked as excited as a child on a field trip. It was amazing to see him up and about when he was so weak only a few months ago.
"She´s so talented." Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed, breaking the suffocating silence hanging around the small party. "I´m so happy she´s able to paint again. I always felt guilty she had to give it up and work in something she didn´t enjoy."
"She enjoyed working for SNT," Sango interrupted. "Even if she didn´t love it. And she was very good at it too."
"Yeah, she was great." Inuyasha slouched against the wall, his ears drooping on top of his head. "She did an outstanding job in our side project too."
Mrs. Higurashi was moving the portrait from the easel to reveal another painting behind it. It looked incomplete, just a pair of menacing red eyes and a gray fog surrounding it.
"I wonder what she was trying to paint here," she asked.
"Youkai!" Grampa almost shouted, "I told you youkai were after her. You should have let me train her when she was younger, she would have become a great miko."
"She never showed any interest in that. And her reiki never manifested, you remember that don´t you father?"
"Actually," Inuyasha moved away from the wall, his eyes making contact with the elderly man. "Kagome used her reiki last night. It was very powerful. It was recorded on the CCTV footage. At least the pink glow exploding and frying the cameras."
"Ha! I told you so, The day would come when Kagome´s reiki manifested itself. I knew it!" The old man´s voice sounded unnervingly excited.
"Inuyasha, son," Mrs. Higurashi had crossed the small distance between them and was holding Inuyasha´s hands in her. "Please tell me everything you know. There has to be something we are missing."
Clearing his throat, the hanyo gained a few seconds to compose himself before looking into the woman´s eyes.
"I still can´t remember everything clearly." He decided to omit any gore in his retelling of the story, the woman didn´t need to be more upset.
"She had met with the wolf," Inuyasha continued, "He was blackmailing her, he wanted the codes to my encrypting programs. He threatened to reveal something from their past if Kagome didn´t cooperate. She refused though, she was so brave," He paused again and cleared his throat one more time. "Kouga was shaking her when I arrived, and I lost it. I jumped in and started a fight with him. Kagome wanted us to stop, she was afraid we could get hurt when we didn´t stop until the light exploded from her hands."
Inuyasha´s eyes wandered up to the old man´s face, his expression turning very peculiar.
"When I came to, I was turned human, the pink light purified me and weakened the ookami." He had recovered that piece of information after watching Jinenji´s footage. He felt his hands shaking and Mrs. Higurashi´s squeezing them lightly, a sad smile spreading on her face.
"I knew you couldn´t hurt her. I can tell you love her."
"I do," the words choked him suddenly, the heat of unshed tears prickling his eyes. " I love her so much. And the baby too. I´m afraid Kagome thought I wouldn´t care about the baby. That´s not true, I love them both. We need to find her soon, all that blood..."
"Don´t worry boy," the old man´s voice interrupted. "I knew my granddaughter would be powerful, even without training. She will be fine, her reiki will protect her," He patted Inuyasha's slouched shoulders. "And the baby too, of course. She has Higurashi blood in her. Hell, for all we know, she might have erected a barrier and is recovering behind it. " He finished with a proud, wide grin.
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"Woman, stop pacing for a while."
The red-eyed demoness stopped in front of Sesshomaru, a worried frown adorning her lovely face.
"I can´t help it Sessh," she used the pet name she knew he detested on purpose. "You are not even listening to me."
The daiyokai looked away from his computer screen and into the piercing red eyes of his lover.
"I was listening, and I don´t find anything I can do to help."
"I don´t need help. At least not right now," kagura said biting her thumb worriedly, "Anyway, don´t you even find it a little odd? Onigumo disappearing leaving Kikyo as acting CEO?"
"If the board allows it, Onigumo can run the company as he pleases. During the last board member´s meeting, he would be supervising the opening of the new hospital and his daughter would not take any decision without consulting him."
"I know that but he´s taken people from the lab and the hospital here to work in Mount Azusa. The facilities here are all short-staffed as it is. Not only that, he´s taking his thugs with him too. You know them, Bankotsu Kimura and his brothers. Even Kikyo´s boyfriend. What need does he have for them?"
"Not all of the Kimura brothers are thugs, you said it yourself, Suikotsu, Jakotsu, Renkotsu, and Mukotsu are very respectable people." He didn´t want to delve too deep into Bankotsu´s CV, Kagura did not know anything about their association and he´d like to keep it that way.
"I still think it´s weird." Kagura finally sat in the chair in front of his desk. "I get that he needs doctors for the new hospital, but why would he need these goons?"
"In any case," Sesshomaru took her right hand in his to prevent her from keep on biting on her thumb. "Now that you are not under such close scrutiny, we can see each other more often." He hadn´t planned on saying this but it felt right, it wasn´t just a tactic to distract her from Bankotsu and his brothers.
"Yeah, I´d like that," Kagura smiled and brought her other hand on top of his. "If I didn´t owe so much to Onigumo we wouldn´t have to hide. I shouldn´t have let him manipulate me into spying on you."
"You needed heart surgery, you have to do as he says, same goes for Bankotsu and his brothers, they owe Onigumo for Ginkotsu´s life. He needed several surgeries and a few prosthetic parts to survive." And there he was, bringing the Kimura brothers again into their conversation. He would call Bankotsu as soon as Kagura left his office, it was something he needed to take out of his mind. "Besides, we´d have never gotten together if it weren´t for that."
The daiyokai got up and walked around his desk to stand beside Kagura´s chair tugging her hand to make her stand up next to him.
"Why don´t you come to visit me at home tonight, after Rin has gone to bed?" He kissed the hand he was still holding while his eyes made her all kinds of promises. "We will be much more comfortable."
The demoness felt the warmth of his stare enveloping her whole body. She just nodded her head and headed to the door.
"You never told me what´s going on with your brother, why are you so worried today?"
"I´ll tell you everything tonight. I´ll get some red wine, we can both relax and talk about our problems then." He moved to turn the intercom on to call his secretary. "Jaken, will you accompany Miss Shoga to the car? Tell the driver he has to go back to drive her to the mansion later tonight.
He waited until she had left the room with the small demon before he went back to his chair and picked up the phone.
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Rin didn´t want to go home yet. She knew there was nothing else she could do at the moment but the idea of being alone in the huge mansion didn´t appeal to her.
She took the elevator to her father´s office hoping to find him there. She´d wait for him and then they could go home together. Luckily, she could hear him talking to someone from outside his door.
"It must be Jacken," She concluded since the front desk was vacant. "I´d better wait for him here."
Sitting down at the secretary´s desk, she went to check her phone and realized the battery was dead.
"Damn, I don´t have the charger with me."
She took the desk phone intending on calling Shippo, maybe she could get him to pick her up the next day and come to the office together.
"Lord Sesshomaru, we only follow orders from Dr. Ikeda, he was the one that got us in contact in the first place."
Rin stood frozen, she didn´t mean to eavesdrop on her father´s conversation. She covered her mouth to silence any sound and was about to hang up the receiver, but curiosity got the best of her.
"Did Onigumo order you to hurt that woman?" Her father´s voice asked.
"You misinterpret my words, my lord," The other voice answered. "We´d never do anything against you or your family because Dr. Onigumo didn´t order us to do anything."
"I only wanted to know if that woman was honest or if she was after my family´s fortune. I never asked you to hurt her."
"And we never did." The other man responded.
"What happened then? You know my brother could end up in jail because of that!"
"That´s not our problem and you didn´t ask our help with that."
Rin had to bite her hand to stop herself from screaming. What was going on? Was her father behind Kagome´s disappearance?
"And how are you supposed to help me from Mount Azusa?"
"Oh, you heard about that?"
"Look Bankotsu, you and the rest of the Kimura brothers better stay away from my family from now on. We are in this mess because of you, stay in Mt. Azusa forever, for all I care."
Rin heard the phone being smashed followed by the dial tone on the line. She still didn´t dare to move, it took a few shaky breaths and all her willpower to get away from the desk.
She needed to process what she just heard. If her father was involved in whatever happened to Kagome, she couldn´t face him. She couldn´t just tell her suspicions to anyone before double-checking the facts before she could accuse her father of anything.
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"Those red eyes again! Why do they keep haunting my dreams?"
She couldn´t move, that thick fog gathered around her ankles and up her body while keeping her locked in place and oppressing her chest.
"You can put your barrier down; nobody will hurt you. I will protect you."
And that husky voice murmuring words of reassurance, this had never happened before.
"Inuyasha?"
The voice didn´t sound like him but she felt too groggy to focus on it.
Kagome opened her eyes, a white bright light blinding her immediately. She wriggled her body trying to resist the force pulling her down.
"Where am I? Who are you?"
Squinting her eyes, she tried to make out the silhouette standing with hands extended over her. She struggled and fought back until finally, the pink light surrounded her again.
"You bitch!"
She heard a female voice cursing at her before she slipped back into the warmth of the cocoon formed by the pink light.
"We are safe my child, don´t worry," she said while her hands rubbed at her belly.
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And there it is. Kagome is somewhere, we´ll get more into that next chapter.
As usual, liking, following and commenting is much appreciated.
Love,
ALP