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Crossing Stars
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Justice
Kagome watched as Houjo was brought into the station. His face was red and contorted into an image of abject fury.
"You're all going to regret this!" He screeched as the police hauled him towards the interrogation room. "You!" His eyes narrowed when he caught sight of her standing next to Touya. "This is all your fault, you bitch! You ruined everything! I would've given you the world!"
She'd been granted special permission to be present while Houjo was being detained for questioning. Touya had remarked that she was his employee and that he needed her assistance for the following paperwork after the arrest, thus why she was needed. It was a little white lie, but the officers at the station didn't question Touya further about her presence. Hawks stood beside them as he stared at Houjo with a fierce expression. Touya's own was twice as furious.
Kagome stared down at the man in front of her.
Long gone was the gentlemanly mask he'd used to hide his true nature. With the shiny veneer peeled away, all that was left was a sad and pathetic man that never once saw her as anything other than an object to be owned and broken at his whim.
She spoke nothing to him as the police forcibly dragged him away, his feet flailing about like a fish on land while he screamed at the top of his lungs. Houjo's lawyer followed after him, his face ashen and fear etched into the man's features.
It was clear that he would not be able to get him out on bail this time.
Houjo's mother was led in right after him. Her fur coat was covered in filth and dirt after what had been an apparently futile struggle. Thick streams of mascara ran down her face as she sobbed, pleading with the officer to let her go. That this was all a misunderstanding.
The older woman paused as she caught sight of her.
"Child!" Houjo's mother threw herself at her feet. "Tell them that this isn't what it looks like! Tell them that this is all a misunderstanding!"
Touya roughly shoved the woman back and into the police's custody.
"Keep her back," His voice was sharp as he spoke to the police. "I won't have her try g to harass one of my people."
The woman threw herself onto the ground and began crying.
"It wasn't me! I didn't do it!" She clung onto the officer closest to her. "This is a false accusation!"
Fed up with her display, they grabbed her by the arms and tried dragging her. She cried even louder, planting herself face first in the ground and kicking like a toddler. Seeing that they weren't getting anywhere with the woman, two more officers moved in and grabbed her ankles. They lifted her up and carried her like an old rug into the room next to Houjo's.
Kagome's shoulders relaxed when the doors closed behind both of the suspects.
Touya had eventually told her about her father. How Houjo's mother had conspired to kill him in order to obtain the shrine. Houjo's own obsession with her had played into their ploy to obtain the shrine.
Kagome had watched the recording Sango had handed over to them. She could still recall Houjo talking about everything. He'd originally started liking her when they'd met ten years ago at her father's funeral. He'd said that he enjoyed the way she'd cried. So as the years went by he'd tried to get her attention to no avail. Then when she'd started dating Inuyasha, he felt angry and betrayed. As if she'd owed him a relationship to start with.
So he'd decided to get back at her. He'd planted traces of Thallium in her food, drinks, school supplies and even her hair products. He confessed to Sango that he originally only wanted to make her sick. He just wanted to get revenge on her for overlooking him. Then when she ended up in the hospital and had broken up with Inuyasha, he'd seen his chance. He was still angry with her for 'cheating' on him so he kept dosing her with Thallium while he'd visited her every day and even begun dating her.
What made her feel sick was the revelation that Houjo confessed to dosing her even as recently as a few days before their breakup. He'd wanted her to be reliant on him. A porcelain doll that he could own and break at his pleasure. Yet when the Thallium stopped working, he kept increasing the dose. Until she'd finally cut contact with him altogether.
Seeing her healthy and happy in a new relationship had broken what little remained of his fragmented mind. Houjo wanted her dead. Not just because he was angry with her, but in his own words, because having her die in his arms was the one true way she would always be his. No other would ever be able to have her after death.
It was sickening to think about.
"Touya," Kagome tugged on the sleeve of her partner's her costume. "I've seen all that I've wanted to."
His head turned the closed doors, "You sure you won't regret telling him off one last time? I hear they're shooting for the death penalty this time."
She shook her head, "I saw him at his lowest. Talking to him now would just be giving him more time that he doesn't deserve." She tipped her head to meet his gaze, "I'm not giving him another second of my life."
Touya's lips curled into a smirk, "That's my girl."
Hawks folded his arms behind his head, "You know I'm still waiting for that wedding date."
Kagome laughed as Touya scowled at the man in irritation.
She tugged on her partner's arm as she started towards the door, "Come on. Let's go home."
She was through with this segment of her life. Now she was ready to start the next.
Kagome threaded her fingers with Touya's.
A beach wedding on Nabu Island sounded amazing to her right now.
