InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shades of Gray ❯ Redemption and Renegades ( Chapter 39 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

~<>~ Shades of Gray ~<>~

~<>~ Chapter 39 ~<>~ Redemption and Renegades

Wrapping her arms around herself to shake off the chill, the cold winds of the spring air continued to bite at her exposed flesh. Goosebumps rose up and down the woman’s arms as she stood outside the mansion, illuminated in the darkness before dawn only by the solar lights that lined the driveway. She pounded against the large oak doors again and again, her fist nearly raw from how long she had been standing. Behind her, the antiqued Malibu’s engine hummed, the heater on full blast with only two windows cracked open. Her teeth rattled in her skull, her entire body shaking in the near freezing weather. The want to run for the car to the safety of warmth was overpowering, but her fear grounded her where she stood. She was only clad in pajamas and a down coat; slippers were her footwear of choice. She honestly hadn’t been able to think straight for the last three hours. That was why she was here.

A light turned on in the grand foyer and a short pudgy man finally made it to the door. It had taken nearly ten minutes to get anyone’s attention. He seemed displeased; his snub nose rose high as he stared at her from behind the glass frames of the door. He gestured for her to go away with his hands.

Placing one hand against the glass, she screamed for help. She begged with the rude servant to let her in, to wake the masters of the house. She would not be turned away; she couldn’t fail in this. She needed a conference; she needed to see her ex-husband.

The man sighed and picked up the cordless phone. He pointed at the number pad and then at the woman’s car. He was threatening to call the police. Kauai wished that would have been the answer. She shook her head again and again, pleading with the man to open the door. The police would do nothing in this matter. Finally he relented; placing the chain on the door, he opened it a crack.

“Go away!”

Kauai was struck by the absurdity of this interaction; four o’clock in the morning and it was as if the midget from the Emerald City was blocking Dorothy’s entrance. This was her only thought; the only way she knew how to save Kagome. “Please! I have to see Hiroshi Higurashi! I must talk to him! It’s important!”

“I will call the police! If you must speak with him, make an appointment like a sane person. How did you get past the gates? You must leave! Now!”

“You don’t understand! My daughter! Our daughter! She was kidnapped! I have to talk to Hiroshi!”

The man hesitated; Kauai could see the flicker of confusion in the man’s face. Surely he had to know that Hiroshi Higurashi had a daughter. He couldn’t just let this thought go!

“Call the police if you don’t believe me! I’ve been with them for the last two hours! Please! I know who has her but no one will help me!”

Tears slowly began to stream down Kauai’s face. She had been awoken at 1am when police knocked at her door. Opening the door to see those men in uniform on her porch was a mother’s worst nightmare. Instantly she had sunk to her knees and began sobbing; she had figured Kagome dead. There wasn’t much relief, however, when the officers helped her to the couch and explained the situation. Three men entered the diner and asked for Kagome by name. When Kagome had seen them, she took off. The manager asked the men to leave and then they pulled guns. They wouldn’t let anyone leave the establishment for over an hour. Once they left, the manger had called the police and went to find Kagome, who was missing in action. Her car, however, remained in the lot with her battery in her front seat, her driver’s window broken and there was blood all across the parking lot. Kauai knew instantly it had been Banktosu that had kidnapped her daughter; the cops, however, thought that idea was ludicrous. ‘What would a millionaire like Bankotsu Koizumi want with a college girl from the Ghetto of Lakewood?’ They wouldn’t listen, they wouldn’t take her serious. Though they promised they would ‘look into it’, Kauai knew that they would never question the business man. Kauai also knew that if she didn’t do something, Kagome was as good as dead.

In their talk six weeks prior, Kagome had explained her interactions with Bankotsu and explained how dangerous he was and what he knew of her and she of him. That is what brought her here; Hiroshi could get through to Bankotsu and negotiate. If he was not willing, however, he had other connections Kauai could check. He had to know how to get in touch with InuYasha Taisho.

A light in the winding stairwell turned on and Kauai’s heart seized in her chest. She hadn’t seen her husband’s face in over six years. This was not the reunion she had planned on, and honestly, she didn’t want to see him. When he had chosen his business over his family, he may have well died in her mind. What he did to Kagome in the dorms was completely uncalled for, and Kauai had used that knowledge to cement the fact that the man she had married so many years before was dead. In his place was this doppelganger that only cared for money and fame. Letting out a deep breath, she prepared herself mentally to face this villain.

Hiroshi Higurashi motioned from the stairwell for the butler to allow Kauai entry to the house. Glancing back at the car, she hesitated. Souta was asleep in the backseat; she couldn’t have just left him home but she did not want to expose him to this situation. The more he slept the better; she couldn’t handle any more stress right now. Taking a step in to the mansion, she lingered by the doorway to keep her eye on the car.

As the butler took leave, Hiroshi folded his hands into his robe. He eyed the woman before him wearily. This was not what he had been expecting to find when he was awakened by the noise. He had not seen his estranged wife for over half a decade. Gesturing to the parlor, he led her away from the foyer. Kauai followed him into the room and took a stand next to the first window facing the driveway. She had to keep her attention focused on the car as well; it would be too easy for Souta to wake up and wander off towards the beach. After all, the Higurashi estate in Deal, New Jersey was situated right on beach front property, valued at over five million dollars.

“Are you being followed?”

Kauai snapped around to stare at the man she once loved. She blinked once, then again; he had aged so much in the past six years. Crow’s feet and dark circles marred the skin around his eyes; gray streaks had peppered his dark hair unjustly. The man looked nearly ten years past his age; it made Kauai wonder just how much she had aged over the last half decade. “No. I just need to…” hesitating, she could see the confusion on his face. “Hiroshi, Kagome was taken at work tonight.”

A cloud passed over his face and suddenly the man turned stone cold. His eyes hardened as his lips formed an unbreakable frown. “Taken?”

“Kidnapped! She was kidnapped! Hiroshi, I don’t know what to do! The police came to the house…”

Hiroshi held up a hand and turned from the woman. He walked around the leather sofa to the marble table that backed it. Lifting up a decanter, he removed a crystal glass and poured himself some of the amber liquid. Swirling it around once in the glass, he took a sip of the liquid and sighed. “Who would want the harlot?”

Kauai bristled at the name and somehow managed to hold onto her composure. “Bankotsu Koizumi.”

Hiroshi nearly snorted the whiskey through his nose. Coughing once, the man rubbed his face and took a seat on the couch. “Kauai, why would Bankotsu Koizumi want anything to do with Kagome? She’s used goods and that man can afford whatever he wants; virgins by the boat load, if you would. He would have no use for someone like her. That’s absurd and outlandish. Have you been drinking?”

Kauai stared hard at the man before her wondering how she had ever loved him. Had he always been this cold, this crass? Had he always been so hateful? “They had a…unique…relationship, Hiroshi. Kagome knows enough about Bankotsu to ruin his reputation and he her. She explained this all to me after filing a restraining order against Bankotsu. Kikyo can vouch for this, she witnessed a fight between Koizumi and InuYasha Taisho.”

“It’s hard to ruin the reputation of a whore.”

Kauai felt as if the man before her had knocked the wind from her chest. Staring aghast, she fumbled over words; “I’m not even going to start on how rotten of a thing that is to say about your own child. But now is not the time for that argument, Hiroshi!” Kauai’s hands balled to fists as she stared in disgust at the man before her. “The police will not help me and we have to do something or he will kill her.”

“You are speaking madness. Bankotsu would never kidnap a girl as worthless as Kagome; she has no monetary value worth speaking of. From our dealings in the past, he knows that I have severed all ties with Kagome and therefore he cannot hold her against me. Kidnapping her would be impractical; beyond for the obvious flaws to that plan, he could chance ruining his name.”

“You’re not listening to me, Hiroshi. She could ruin him; she knows everything! He has secrets, which no one knows. He does things no one is willing to talk about, except Kagome. She got herself into an abusive relationship with him that continued after they dated for a year, and when she asked him to back off, he began to stalk her. Now he has her, and he’s going to hurt her. We have to save our baby, Hiroshi; we have to save Kagome!”

“If and only if, what you’re saying is true, then Kagome is a stupid girl for opening her mouth. She should know not to get involved with anyone with that much power and then threaten them.”

Kauai stared, flabbergasted. A thousand words sprung to her mouth to call the bastard before her but she didn’t. She couldn’t. “It doesn’t matter what or why; what matters is that that bastard has our little girl. He’s going to kill her, Hiroshi. He will; he’s threatened her before and no one was willing to help then. He’s untouchable!”

“Bankotsu Koizumi is a lot of things; but a murderer he is not. I am sorry, Kauai, but I think Kagome is simply playing you. Maybe for a ransom, maybe just for kicks, that whore is shameless. I would suggest for you to go home and go to bed. I am sure she will be home when she sees that this stunt isn’t working.”

“There was blood. There was blood everywhere, all over the parking lot. She could…” tears ran fresh down Kauai’s face, “she could already be dead.” Falling into a fit of sobs, Kauai slipped onto the chase by the window. Glancing back to the car, she bit her fist. She couldn’t lose it now; she had to help Kagome.

Hiroshi closed his eyes and took a moment to mourn the passing of his kin. “Such is life,” he said after a second. “What I am saying to you is this; Koizumi is no more a murdered than Toga Taisho.  Neither family would sully their name by killing someone. I am willing to bet that Kagome ran off with a friend and she will be back when she is out of cash.”

With a violent scream, Kauai kicked over the end table nearest to her foot and shot to her feet. “What the hell is wrong with you, Hiroshi? That’s our little girl! Such is life? What the fuck is your problem?”

Hiroshi flinched when the wood hit ground. Sitting the cup down on the table, he eyed the woman before him. “There are people trying to sleep, Kauai.”

There were no words, simply no words to describe the horror written across Kauai’s face. “I have to go. I have to find InuYasha Taisho. He will help.”

“No one will help you, Kauai. This whole idea is absurd. Kagome will be fine; she will be…”

Taking three fast steps across the room, Kauai slapped the man hard enough for the sound to echo. “Bastard! It was bad enough that you blamed Kagome for being molested by that boy, but to end our marriage and to disinherit your only child was disgusting. Now you’re honestly going to stand here and tell me that you don’t care that someone could have killed her…” chewing on both her lips, tears coursed down her face. “How could you be so emotionless?”

 “She’s been dead to me for years, Kauai; this just finalizes my grief.”

Kauai stared at the man in complete shock that gave way quickly to sadness. Shaking her head, she recalled a time when it wasn’t like this, a time when the man before him was actually human. “You know, I remember when we brought her home from the hospital. You were such the proud father. You would fall asleep in the rocking chair with your little angel on your chest. There were days when you would lay there for three or four hours, just letting her sleep. She was your world. You taught her to laugh, you taught her to read, you taught…” putting a hand to her face, she tried not to lose herself, “do you remember the day you taught her how to ride a bike? The first time you let go, she fell over. Her knee bled and bled from where she hit the curb. You sat with her on the front yard, and you cleaned her all up. You sat her back on that bike and did it over and over. She learned how to ride a bike that day, and you beamed with joy.” Blinking, she brought herself out of the past that was easier to live in than the present. “That little girl…the one you held for so many nights, is out there, somewhere. She’s out there, hurt and scared. She’s the same one, Hiroshi. She’s that same little girl, your angel, and someone wants to kill her. Why won’t you help? You love her!”

“Loved; I loved her. I gave that up when she brought shame upon our family. I will never forgive her.”

“She’s out there calling for you! There’s a young girl out there who is scared to death who needs her parents!”

“She’s better off dead.”

“I hope you burn in hell. The world fears demons but what they should fear are monsters like you.”

Turning from the room, Kauai stormed from the parlor to pause in the foyer. Takada, Hiroshi’s brother and his wife Chiyo, Kikyo’s parents, stood in the doorway of the kitchen, all ears to the fight between the two. Kauai paused; eyeing those she once called her relatives. How had she ever survived in this family? “I suppose you have heard everything?” She asked the two with tears in her eyes.

Chiyo sipped the coffee in her hands with an icy demeanor. “It seems that Kagome is not just sleeping with her friends boyfriends, but half the world as well. I suppose with a whore for a mother, it’s simply nature.”

Kauai inhaled sharply, anger nearly boiling over. Snapping around to face Hiroshi, who had come to the entrance of the parlor, she waved her hand about; “they think our daughter is a whore. You think our daughter is whore. What the hell is wrong with you? For once in your life, can you care about what really matters in life?”

Hiroshi eyed the front door wearily, “I think you can see yourself out.”

Kauai turned her face for a moment to attempt to collect what little was left after the night’s transgressions. “Do you have InuYasha Taisho’s cell phone number handy? If you’re not willing to help find whoever kidnapped Kagome, than I will find someone who will.”

“I don’t doubt for a minute that you’ll find her in his bed,” Chiyo commented without discern. “And no, we don’t communicate with those who shame our family. Like I said, like mother, like daughter.”

“Oh enough!” Kauai shook her head and ran her hand over her face. “Save if for someone who gives a rat’s ass about your petty desperate housewives bullshit, Chiyo!” Clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth, she eyed Hiroshi and then the other snobbish duo. “Do you want to know the truth? The honest truth? For years, I’ve allowed people to speculate about me, about my family, and about my daughter. Takada was so wrapped up in his ridiculous business that he couldn’t stand the thought of poor publicity—“

“—Kauai, it’s time for you to leave,” Hiroshi croaked loudly.

“He still thinks that the sun shines out of his ass every morning. I can see the feeling is mutual. Have any of you ever stopped to think that if the world revolved around you, how could it revolve around the one standing next to you as well? It must be that because you all have your heads so far up one another’s asses, it just makes a god damned circle.”

“Get out of my house,” Takada spewed angrily.

Taking one step towards the door, Kauai paused. “Souta is Kagome’s son.” Turning to witness the glower of shame that overtook Hiroshi’s face, she relished the moment. She heard gasps from all around the room and loved every second of it. “Wow,” she said with a breath of relief; “I don’t know why that was such a huge secret. I can’t believe how good that feels to finally say. I took him as my son so that Kagome could live a normal high school girl’s life and so that Hiroshi wouldn’t be shamed. Fuck all of that now. Kagome was molested by the god damned family you sent us to stay with. Its rape, but Hiroshi here thinks she deserved it for wearing shorts. He raped her and her father didn’t care, he didn’t protect her or find her justice. She was only fourteen years old.”

Kauai registered the shock on Takada’s face and the smug look on Chiyo’s. Turning to the older woman, she quipped, “You’re satisfied with this news, aren’t you? You think that this laminates the name of whore you placed on my daughter’s head. It doesn’t, because Kagome took on a burden that no fourteen year old child should. The truth though, is that I will never be more proud of a child than I am of Kagome. She didn’t question her responsibility once, she never blamed her father, and she never lashed out at your daughter’s teasing. She stuck to her role of sister like a champ, regardless of how it tore her apart. You can think what you want, and justify it however you will; but you’re wrong and will always be wrong.

“One day, when you’re old and dying and no one wants to be around you because you’re a stuck up bitch, maybe then you’ll realize how wrong you truly are. Not just about Kagome, but this…this existence you call a life style. You think you can judge people because you have money. One day that will be gone too.” With a snort, Kauai turned to Hiroshi. “When, and I say when, I find Kagome, I am going to encourage her to write a book about everything that has happened to her. I hope to god the world realizes then what an A-class scumbag you really are.”

Turning on her heels, Kauai saw herself to the door.

“Aunt Kauai!”

All heads in the room snapped to the stairwell. Kikyo stood on the middle steps, dressed in jeans and a sweater. A cell phone was in her hand, her fingers clenched like stone around it. “InuYasha isn’t answering his phone, but I can take you to his apartment. He might know where to start looking for Kagome.” Running down the last few steps, she grabbed her coat.  “Can you just…give me a minute? There’s something I want to say.”

Kauai nodded and walked out the front door.

Turning on her parents and uncle, Kikyo crossed the room slowly. “Is it true?” she asked Hiroshi; “Is Souta really Kagome’s child?”

Hiroshi nodded once, “it’s true, Kikyo. The girl started out as a whore at a very young age.”

Kikyo blinked a few times and looked at her parents. “Do you agree with him?”

Chiyo snorted and grabbed Kikyo’s arm. “You’re going nowhere with that woman. She is outside of her mind, thinking that Bankotsu Koizumi would kidnap a worthless harlot like Kagome.”

Kikyo ripped her arm away from her mother’s grasp. With a gasp of disbelief, she stumbled a few steps back. “All these years, you knew,” she turned to face Hiroshi, “you knew what your daughter had gone through and you never did anything to help her? You just turned your back on her? You let me and all the others of your little social circle cast judgment on Aunt Kauai; you let them call her a whore and a cheat when she never…she loved you! Both Kagome and Kauai loved you and you…” Looking back at Takada, she seethed, “what if it had been me? What if I had gotten pregnant from Kagawaki’s ‘affections’? Would you have cast me out?”

Takada stuck out his chin proudly, “you would never have succumbed to that shameful disposition.”

Kikyo snorted once, shaking her head. “All my life I’ve wanted to live up to your expectations. I wanted to be a part of this inner circle. I see what you all are now though, I see it all. No wonder why Kagome’s so fucked up; you did it to her. Doesn’t it faze you in the slightest to know that a fourteen year old girl gave birth to a baby boy, called him her brother, and the held up the lie to protect her family for years? Now she’s missing and all you can do is shrug? Go fuck yourselves! I…I have no words for this!”

“Kikyo!” Chiyo took a step towards her daughter but Kikyo didn’t budge.

“With a family like you, who needs enemies? Poor Kagome…who knows what is going on right now with her? She could be dead and not one of you would care.”

Takada snorted indignantly, “Kikyo! This is the girl who stole away your boyfriend!”

“I was cheating on him!” Seeing her father recoil, she laughed sadistically, “I caught him kissing Kagome; that’s the only thing I saw. I don’t know if they were sleeping together, but I know what I was doing with the other guy. Even if they were, that doesn’t matter now. She’s missing and is in a helluva lot of danger. I’m going to help as much as I can.” Walking across the room, Kikyo couldn’t believe that she was a part of this family. Within that moment, she saw exactly what she never wanted to become in life. Grabbing her coat from the closet, she headed for the front door. “As for shameful indiscretions, I lost my virginity on the back of a school bus in seventh grade to a high school dropout. Sit on that and rotate!” She allowed the slamming of the front door to be her punctuation.   

*X*X*X*X**X*X*XX*X**X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X

Arri ving at InuYasha’s apartment, Kikyo was out the door before Kauai could park the vehicle. Though she was not looking forward to seeing her ex again, she wanted to get a head start looking for Kagome. It was nearly five am, Kikyo knew this would serve as a very hostile wake up call. Banging at the door, Kikyo waited impatiently, tapping her foot and glancing about nervously. InuYasha’s hummer was in the parking lot but no one was answering. Hollering once, she waited for an answer.

“Ain’t no one home,” a voice called from her left.

Turning, Kikyo found herself staring down Yura, the resident whore who lived next to the boys. Kikyo and Yura had it out numerous times over Yura’s fascination with InuYasha and she was really the last person Kikyo wanted to see at that moment.  Sucking her teeth, Kikyo popped a hip and tilted her head, “Oh, and I suppose somehow you know where they are? Did they check in with you before they left?”

“They’re out with that gorgeous piece of ass that’s been livin’ with ‘em.”

Kikyo’s brows furrowed at the girl’s explanation. She was unsure of what bothered her more; that InuYasha was out all night and Yura knew about it, or that she couldn’t decipher if Yura was talking about a girl or a boy. Had Kagome moved in with InuYasha? She had to remind herself to breathe.

“Who, Miroku?” Kikyo played coy to see what the response would be.

Yura scoffed at the suggestion, as if offended that Kikyo would equate Miroku to that level. “No, that boy ain’t got enough hair on him! I’m talkin’ about that one with the beautiful silver mane! That boy has delicious tattooed across his ass, and don’t get me started on his muscles! Oh, and those eyes; God damn those eyes. They could just make you pregnant staring at you, that’s for sure.”

Kikyo thought for a moment before it dawned on her; that demon that was at the bar with them the night she found InuYasha and Kagome. Why was that man living with InuYasha? He was buying them drinks all night and was loaded as far as Kikyo could figure; why would he be here? This kept getting weirder and weirder. “Do you know when they left?”

“Bout eight o’clock. I heard them talking ‘bout looking for someone. They haven’t been back since.”

“Stalking much?” Kikyo snorted flippantly.

“When a gorgeous guy parks a million dollar car in the parking lot of this scummy place, you take notice to the comings and goings. Trust me; you’d know if they were back.”

“Million dollar car?”

Yura nodded towards the car sitting across the way, covered by a black tarp. Kikyo eyed it for a moment then looked back to Yura. “When you say a million dollar car; are we saying a million like ‘you have no money therefore a Mercedes can do’ or are we…”

“A Bugatti Veyron, you bitch,” Yura spat back venomously. “Just ‘cause I live here aint’ mean I’m stupid.”

“You are aware that ‘ain’t’ is not a word, right?”

“How ‘bout go fuck yourself?” Yura flipped the bird and stormed back into her apartment.

Kikyo shook her head; none of this was making any sense to her. Eyeing up the car across from her, she wondered just what the hell was really going on. Who was this demon and why was he living with InuYasha? Leaning into the driver’s side window, she could see the crestfallen look on Kauai’s face. Swallowing thickly, she felt the pressure from this too. InuYasha was their only connection to getting Kagome back. They would have to either confront Bankotsu themselves or go to the police. Both weren’t options in her book. Pressing her forehead to the cold metal frame, she spoke softly, “InuYasha is out with two guys. We don’t know when they will be back. If they were drinking, then he might not be home until tonight. I could try…” swearing, she closed her eyes and banged her head gently. Why was this so difficult? Her father wouldn’t help her, not after what she had said. Suddenly, she wished she hadn’t been so brash. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and glanced around. “Someone has to know what she has been going through. Someone….” Hesitation broke her sentence as her eyes linked onto a townhouse across the street. “Sango!” Kikyo recalled Kagome briefly telling her that Sango had moved back into the neighborhood right across from InuYasha,

Kikyo pushed off the car and ran across the main road, leaving Kagome’s mother sitting in the car staring in confusion. Kikyo got to the first house and ripped open the mailbox in front of it. Her eyes slid over the name on the unopened envelopes and she replaced it before doing the same to the box next to it. She remembered Kagome handing her a package in the restaurant before she went to confront Bankotsu seven weeks ago. What Sango had could possibly save Kagome’s life! Only one mailbox did not have mail with a name on it, and Kikyo prayed that she was right. Running up to the door, She didn’t hesitate to throw the door open and begin pounding on the frame.

It was only a moment before the door swung open and Sango stood before her, armed with a bat and a really bad attitude. “What the hell…it’s five in the morning. Kagome?” Blinking twice, Sango quickly sobered up when she realized who was before her; “Kikyo? What’s going on?” Sango frowned, confused beyond belief at the situation before her. She had seen Kikyo around campus but had not spoken to her in…she couldn’t even count the years. She hadn’t spoken to Kagome in nearly six weeks either. Miroku had clued her in on some of the dirt going on between Kagome and InuYasha, but Sango was dumbfounded as to how she was tied into this mess. Kagome, however, included her without batting an eye.

Kagome hadn’t returned a single one of Sango’s phone calls and had flat out ignored her at school. Sango had pressured Miroku for weeks to try to get a grasp of what was going on. Kagome hadn’t been the same since she had stormed out of Sango’s duplex six weeks earlier. Her words, however, had cut into Sango like a knife; ‘You were right, they are all in on it. He knew, and he did nothing. He set me up to test my loyalty to his boss.’ Sango hadn’t heard a word from Kagome since then. Why would Kikyo be banging down her door at five AM? What had happened?


Kikyo didn’t waste any time on formalities. “Kagome’s been kidnapped. We need to get at Bankotsu and I think you know how!”

Sango blinked and within that second, Kikyo pushed her way into the girl’s townhouse. Turning wildly, Sango dropped her bat by the door and held out her hands, “what the hell Kikyo? What do you mean? Bankotsu kidnapped Kagome? Bankotsu Koizumi? The guy she dated in right after high school? Isn’t he like some billionaire?”

Kikyo nodded, “yeah, that guy.”

“They took her…they showed up and…” Sango whipped around to face the doorway. To her complete shock, she found Kauai standing there, holding a very sleepy Souta. Tears were streaming down Kauai’s face as she stood helplessly in the door frame. “I can’t save her but….but….you might be able to. Please Sango….”

Sango blinked wildly, wondering if she was dreaming. This was way beyond her emotional range of control; stammering, she tried to clear her mind. “Wait, who showed up where?”

“Some guys showed up at her job and when she saw them, she ran. The manager later found her car still in the lot with blood around the base, her window broken and her battery in the front seat.” Kikyo caught her up quickly. “I hate to impose,” though her tone held no remorse, “but do you have some place aunt Kauai can place Souta?”

Her mouth moved a few times before she beckoned to her bedroom. “Umm…you can put him down in there. If he’s tired, he can rest more. Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”

Kauai laid Souta to rest in the designated room before returning to the girls. She hugged Sango briefly. “I wish this reunion was on better terms.” Putting her hands to her face, she lost all composure. Sliding down to sit on the floor, the grown woman sobbed like an infant. “Please, Sango; he has my little girl! I don’t know what to do!”

Kikyo knelt down next to Kauai and wrapped her arms around her estranged aunt. Though they had never been particularly close, she couldn’t help but feel compelled to comfort her. “We’re going to get her back, don’t worry Aunt Kauai.” Looking up at Sango, Kikyo frowned, “Kagome gave you insurance two months back, a just in case regarding Bankotsu. I don’t know what it was but it was after InuYasha and Banktosu got into a fight at the dorm. Do you still have it?”

Sango thought for a moment and then nodded. “I hid it, just in case!” Running from the room, she was back in two minutes with a sealed manila envelope. “Kagome said to take it to the police and not open it.” Shaking her head, she tapped the envelope against her empty hand. “This doesn’t make any sense. Kagome talked about an Oberon. She never mentioned Bankotsu!”

Kikyo sighed heavily, “I don’t know of any Oberon, maybe it was a nickname or something. Bankotsu showed up at our dorm about seven weeks ago and apparently choked Kagome out in the hallway. InuYasha walked in on it and beat the piss out of Bankotsu. Kagome freaked out hardcore after that and then everything else blew up. I saw the way that Bankotsu was eyeing up Kagome’s face when he was in the room though, when she was all bruised up. He was admiring it; it was as if he was proud of the work or something. Trust me, there was definitely something there. I never got to ask Kagome about it…we haven’t spoken since then.” Kikyo could feel the bitterness pulling at her heartstrings; it didn’t want her here, it whispered that Kagome was getting what she deserved. But…she couldn’t….she wouldn’t do that to her cousin. She would never be able to sleep at night. Though Kagome had wronged her, she was far from blame. But that was neither here nor there; it was a conversation for another date. To have that conversation, however, she needed Kagome. Therefore, she was going to do whatever it took to get her back.

“So how do you know for sure it was Bankotsu?”

Kauai let out a short sob and gathered together her words, “I know it was Bankotsu Koizumi. Kagome told me all about everything that had happened after she moved back in with me. Bankotsu owns a club somewhere in the city and Kagome would go there and he would…” she swallowed thickly, “it was a control thing; he hurt her and she enjoyed it. When she had enough and when he went too far, he threatened her. He knew her secrets and he tried to use them as leverage.”

“Leverage for what?” Kikyo asked.

“Against the family; I suppose he thought he would destroy whatever she had left in family if it slipped out. It’s so stupid, honestly; Kagome has held in those dark secrets for years and it’s eaten away at her. She was so afraid of destroying the family name and never really considered the fact that I wouldn’t have cared. It’s as if she did it to try to protect her father and the shame she felt she had already caused. I wish she,” Kauai choked down sobs, “I wish she would have talked to me about this, I wish I would have paid more attention to her. I wouldn’t have cared,” she cried out as she rocked back and forth, “I wouldn’t have cared at all. I love her regardless!”

Sango dropped down on her knees and rubbed Kauai’s back, “she loves you so much, Kauai. Just hang in there, we will get Kagome back.” Making a face, Sango chose her words carefully. Pinning Kikyo with a very deadly glower, she asked slowly, “What part does InuYasha play in this?”

Kikyo shrugged, “I don’t know besides for the fact that InuYasha started a fight with Bankotsu in the hallway when he saw him attacking Kagome.” A very brief hesitation filtered through Kikyo’s eyes before they darkened a hue. One could just about see her hair starting to stand on end. Her voice deepened as she took a step back from Sango. Even the thought of an accusation was enough to bring Kikyo’s nails out. Sure, the guy was a scum bag; he had proven that fact quite nicely. Yet to insinuate that he would be in on something of this magnitude did not sit well with Kikyo at all. “If you think for one second that…”

Sango licked her lips and shook her head. Oh, there was going to be blood tonight on the Taisho family household. Kagome’s words haunted her once more; ‘they are all in on it. He knew, and he did nothing. He set me up to test my loyalty to his boss.’ Sango nearly choked on her own tongue. Cutting off Kikyo’s idle threats, she just about yelled, “InuYasha knew! He knew what Bankotsu was doing to her.”

Kikyo’s mood darkened as she held up her hands. “Hold the fucking phone. No way, he would have stopped him. I know….” Kikyo bit down her own pride, “I know that they were…seeing…each other or something. I don’t care about the details and honestly, I don’t want to know. InuYasha, though, wouldn’t have stood by and let Bankotsu hurt Kagome.”

Sango crossed her arms and stood toe to toe with Kikyo. Hostility raged from the girl’s aura. “Yes, he did. Kagome…Kagome realized the connection, that’s why she hasn’t spoken to anyone for six weeks now. She was sitting in my living room after confronting Oberon….Bankotsu, whoever, and went from semi-calm to a raging lunatic within seconds. She locked herself in my bathroom and rambled on to herself for twenty minutes before coming out and storming off across the street. Miroku wouldn’t tell me what happened, but he said that Kagome made a whole lot of assumptions and wasn’t talking to InuYasha or any of us anymore, which she hasn’t.”

Kauai sniffled back her sobs once more. “Kagome couldn’t fully explain it to me either but InuYasha knew Bankotsu from the club, she told me they were friends. Kagome felt that InuYasha was testing her for Bankotsu but…” she eyed Kikyo for a moment, knowing how hard this must have been for her to hear. “Things must be better between them now. Last night, he spent the night with Kagome. She told me that everything was okay the next morning and that she had been wrong. She was smiling…” Kauai choked on a sob, “she was smiling in ways I have not seen Kagome smile in years. It was as if the last six years weren’t really a nightmare for her. He…she…whatever she had thought, she was wrong about him. We need to find him; InuYasha will know how to get to Bankotsu!”

Kikyo loosely crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hold her composure. InuYasha was at a club hanging out with Bankotsu and she had no idea? Worse off, it sounded like some sort of…sex…club. She thought of all those nights that he was away and she was with Onigumo. Is that where he went? Was he out hooking up with random girls? Was he really into that freaky scene? What fucked up lives had they been living? Both were out with other people and then climbing back into bed with one another as if nothing had happened. Did she really know him at all? Was any of this possible? His innocence was beginning to waver. She hoped that InuYasha would never side with Bankotsu and somehow, there must have been a horrid mix up. How it went down though were details Kikyo couldn’t wait to hear. Flipping her hair back, she eyed the ceiling. “I’ve tried calling him but his phone is off or something.”

“Have you tried Miroku?”

Kikyo shook her head in the negative. “I think we should open the envelope. We might be able to get an address for this supposed club or something.”

Sango pulled out her cell phone and threw it to Kikyo. “Call Miroku, I’ll go to the police. We are not opening this thing. Kagome was very strict about that one rule; something about time stamps and no tampering with the contents.  I’ll run this to campus police and answer whatever questions they might have. Kauai, you should probably come with me.” Sango disappeared into her bedroom to change out of her pajamas.

Kikyo found Miroku in her cell phone and dialed the number. After five rings, the call was transferred to voice mail. Kikyo tried three more times before submitting to leaving a message; “Miroku, It’s Kikyo, don’t delete this! Kagome was kidnapped from work by Bankotsu and his goons. No one is willing to help. You have to tell InuYasha! I’m at Sango’s with Kagome’s mother and brother. Please, you guys are our only hope. Call my cell phone when you get this; 732-555-1831.”

Hanging up the phone, she tapped it against her forehead. This whole story stank like rotting flesh; there were so many twists and turns and secrets and lies. She felt like she was standing in the middle of a soap opera. “All we need are sparkly vampires and then it’s really a circus,” she whispered to the phone. As Sango came back into the room, Kikyo tossed her the phone. “No luck, he’s not answering either.” Taking a deep breath, she glanced at Sango. “Do you think he’ll get the message?”

Sango cradled the package to her chest. “God I hope so.” Sango clenched her fist and glanced out the window towards InuYasha’s empty apartment.

Kikyo thought for a moment, wondering what other options they had. After a second, she could have smacked herself. “Sesshoumaru! We can call Sesshoumaru! He’ll have to know what’s going on. Their father scrutinizes life more than mine does, and that says a lot. They will have to be able to help.”

Sango nodded in agreement. “Do you have Sesshoumaru’s number?”

Kikyo nearly wilted, “you mean you don’t?”

“No! Why would I?”

“I don’t know! You’re friends with that group.” Kikyo sighed heavily and began pacing. “How do we get in touch with him at this hour?”

Sango paced for a moment then inspiration hit her. “Rin! Rin is a friend of Kagome’s and she knows what’s going on!”

“The door girl? I know Rin; she worked in my building at school. I don’t see how she’s connected with Sesshoumaru.”

Sango shook her head; “all I know is that they are connected. If we can find Rin, we can find Sesshoumaru!”

Kikyo tilted her head, “great, do you have her number?”

Sango faltered, “No, but we can call the dorm; they might give us her number.”

Kikyo shook her head, “not likely. People don’t just give out other people’s personal numbers.”

Sango made a fist and put it to her head. “God, we have to be able to get in touch with someone!”

Kikyo made a face then grabbed her phone. After dialing, she cleared her throat. “Yes hi, this is Kagome Higurashi, I live on the second floor. I woke up with a really bad cold and I was hoping to get in touch with Rin? She’s in my English class and I know she works the desk. I was hoping she could take notes for me, but I don’t have her number. By any chance, do you?”

Sango waited on tippy toes, praying that whoever Kikyo had chosen to call would be stupid enough to pass along someone else’s personal information.

Kikyo hesitated for a second before making a face and forcing a cough. “I know it’s not supposed to be done, but I really need to get in touch with her. I know…I know you don’t know me and it’s a…” Kikyo groaned and finally barked back, “all right, I know you don’t think this is a huge matter but it really is a matter of life and…passing. What about this; can I give you my phone number and you can call Rin?” She listened for a moment, “oh, that would be wonderful! Thank you! Okay, it’s 732-555-1831. Yes….no, right now. I really need…no, I know its five am, trust me. Yes, I know that it’s her day off but…no, listen to me! No! I need you to call her now, this cannot wait!” letting out a deep breath, she nodded, “fine, an hour. Thank you! Just tell her to call me back at this number and it has to do with Bankotsu Koizumi’s class. Yes, Koizumi. Thank you!” Hanging up the phone, Kikyo let out a very loud sigh. “Man, good help really is hard to find! Hopefully she does call Rin.”

Sango studied Kikyo for a moment in silence. As Kauai excused herself to use the bathroom, Sango took the liberty to interrogate Kikyo. “Why do you care?”

Kikyo scrunched up her face, obviously offended; “What kind of question is that? She’s my cousin.”

“She was sleeping with your boyfriend. What’s your angle on this?”

Kikyo cleared her throat and glanced around. Taking a menacing step towards Sango, she shot back, “She is my god damned family, Sango. I know you can’t appreciate what that means but get this through your head; she’s hurt, she’s with someone who is going to hurt her more, possibly even kill her. Yeah, she hurt me by going after Yash but you know what, that’s very little compared to what’s going on.”

“You were cheating on InuYasha. Why did you care?”

Kikyo swallowed thickly and stared at the ceiling for a moment. “My entire life was a competition against Kagome. It was set up by our parents to compete for who had the better child. Kagome always felt like she lost to me; I was more on point with ballet, I had better moves in cheerleading. The truth though, is that when we got off the field, my mother would yell at me for what I could have done better, how I could have pushed myself more. My mother would mock me. Kagome’s mother met her with a bottle of water and a hug. Kauai would tell her how proud she was of Kagome for doing her best. She would hug me too, and I’ll tell you, that was…nice. She was the only person who ever told me that I did well. It didn’t matter to me that I completed the two full turns when Kagome only made it one and a half way, it mattered that she went home with a smile while I went home in tears.

“When the news came out that Kauai had cheated on Hiroshi, I knew something was wrong. I knew how much Kauai worshiped her husband but it didn’t matter. That scandal gave me what I had longed for; I finally had something over Kagome. I had a family. I teased her mercilessly for years, throwing it in her face that her mother cheated on her father and…” swallowing what felt like tacks, Kikyo choked back tears, “I had no idea the truth of it all. All these years I had been prodding away at Kagome for something she did, not her mother. I can’t imagine what it’s like to hold in a secret like that and not be able to stand up for the people you love. I can only guess how much she must hate me. I would hate me…I do hate me. So her cheating with Yasha, that’s…pennies, compared to the debt that I owe her. I don’t care about that. I want to be able to tell her I’m sorry…I need to apologize. So I am not going to let Bankotsu kill her.”

Sango eyed up Kikyo for a moment before sighing heavily; “you were a bitch to her for years.”

“I was a bitch to a lot of people. Seeing my parents tonight, though, refusing to help because Kagome was…beneath…them…I can’t begin to describe the horror. I do not want to be like that. I can’t be like them. I’m sorry…I know I was rough on you too.”

Sango shrugged, “Focus your energy to apologize to Kagome. I’m going to take Kauai to the police station. Maybe you want to consider finding another way to get in touch with InuYasha.”

“I will do my best. Please keep me updated with what happens on your end, on what the police say.”

Sango nodded, “will do.” Turning as Kauai reentered the room, Sango tilted her head towards the door, “are you ready to go?”
\\Kauai glanced back towards where Souta was sleeping. “Kikyo, will you be okay if I leave him here with you?”

Kikyo met her gaze with trepidation but nodded regardless. “I will do my best. After all, he’s the little cousin I never met.”

Kauai nodded and stood up with Sango’s assistance. “All right, let’s go.”

Kikyo watched Sango and her aunt go out to Sango’s car and disappear into the sun rise. It was only then that she collapsed to the floor in a fit of tears.


X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X**X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X**X*X*X*X*X

Yawning as loud as humanly possible, Miroku cracked his neck and threw his hands up to accentuate the movement. Seeing no reaction from the two demons in front of him, he stretched his legs and kicked the back of InuYasha’s seat.  

“Fuckin’ A, Miro. Sit still!” InuYasha grumbled from the side seat, snapping around once to glare at Miroku.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he cooed sarcastically, “I was unaware of just how uncomfortable the back seat is of my car. Because, you know, I don’t drive my car from the back seat. How was I to know just how uncomfortable the back seat truly is?”

InuYasha growled under his breath,   “Yeah, well, I know how my back seat is; roomy and spacious enough for a good fuck. But I suppose you wouldn’t know how comfortable your backseat is given that you haven’t ever fucked back there. You sure you ain’t a virgin?”

“You want names and numbers to check my references? Let’s start with your mom.”

“Oi!” InuYasha growled dangerously; “watch you mouth.”

“Oh, eat me. It’s too late; I want to go home…”

Kagejiro turned a corner sharply, enjoying how both boys yelped as they slid in their seats. “I warned ya that Yash was shotgun. No one dragged your ass along, boyo. It was backseat or the trunk. The trunk is soundin’ better and better if ya keep flappin’ your gob.”

InuYasha rubbed his eyes as they pulled up outside of a dark residence. “I know it’s late, and I know you’re tired. I just want to find this mother fucker so it’s one less thing I have to do. I have one too many psychos to deal with right now.”

“Naraku said he already called his parents,” Miroku added.

“Naraku is a lying son of a bitch who you can’t trust for shit. I’m not taking his word on this, not when Kagome is involved.”

Sitting back in the seat, Miroku put his hands behind his head and stared out the open T-top roof. “So what’s with that? I mean, first she was all googily eyes all over you, then she wanted to roast your ass on a skewer, and now…what? Are you to back to being in love or are you just back to dressing in leather and having her throw jello at your balls? You two are freaks, just saying.”

“We have an understanding; I think that would be the best way to put it.”

“I think your hummer says otherwise. Oh, double entendra for the win!”

InuYasha rolled his eyes. “She…explained…herself a bit more to me and I understand why she was so upset and how she drew her conclusions. I don’t blame her for them at all. She understands my side as well. So we decided to work on it, to see what could come from this. “

“Well, as long as you’re no longer all emo and shit, I don’t care what you’re doing. Too many brooding dog demons makes a human nervous as hell. Speaking of, what’s your deal Sparky?”

Kagejiro growled darkly in response. “Look, you two idiots stay here. I’m going to canvas the area and see if he’s here.”

“What, are you going to smell him out? Try not to piss on a tree while you’re out there.”

Kagejiro snapped around in his seat and wrapped one hand around Miroku’s neck. Yanking him forward as far as the seatbelt would allow, he bellowed, “stop with the dog jokes. I get it, you’re an asshole. Ya keep it up, and I’ll disembowel ya where ya sit, ya fuckin’ gobshite.”

Miroku gulped loudly, holding up his hands palms out. “Peace, peace, I’m sorry! No more dog jokes, I swear.”

Kagejiro effortlessly threw Miroku back into his seat hard enough to shake the car and was out of the door faster than one could blink.

InuYasha cursed and crossed his arms over his chest, settling deeper into the front seat. “This fuckin’ sucks. It’s like this asshole knew we would come looking for him. I don’t like it.”

“You think Naraku tipped him off?” Miroku pondered.

“Maybe, who knows? This guy has been once step ahead of all of us. I don’t like it; he’s a wild card. He wanted me to rip Naraku apart therefore violence doesn’t scare him. I know that he hasn’t acted out violently yet but I don’t see it as a far leap for him. I’m just worried he’s going to go after Kagome.”

Miroku reached around the seat and patted InuYasha’s shoulder. “Don’t worry Yash. This guy hasn’t done anything but take a bunch of pictures. I wouldn’t worry too much. I mean, if you really want me to, I could create a profile for the guy; you know, me being a psych major and what not.”

InuYasha shrugged of Miroku’s hand. “My nerves are on end; it’s like something is right in front of my face and I just can’t see it. Something just isn’t settling right with me. I feel like I’m missing something…something big.”

“Well, let’s look at the facts. Correct me if I get something wrong. His father and Naraku’s father had a company together. Your father wanted to dominate the field, so he bought out their business.”

“Undoubtedly after some financial terrorism and blackballing on my father’s behalf.”

Miroku nodded. “That’s why you’re involved. Onigumo seems to hold you accountable for your father’s actions.” Shaking his head, he moved on; “then Naraku’s father dicked Onigumo’s family out of his share of the business. Both families ceased any type of relations afterwards, because of Onigumo’s families congruent poverty due to losing their source of income. Therefore, the entire family blamed Naraku’s. Naraku’s father had a heart attack and died and a few years later, Naraku opened up communication with the kids his age in that family?”

“Sounds about right, from what he’s told me. He started talking to the older brother to try to get the family back together and they get along well enough. He was close with Onigumo, or so he thought. That’s about all that Naraku claims to know.”

Miroku scratched his head. “Well, either he is trying to cover up for his cousin because he feels guilty to association or he wants to ‘handle’ this himself. Either way, Onigumo not only needs to be brought to the police, he needs to get help. He’s a sociopath; he had no problem lying to Naraku about where he was, his intentions, hell, their entire friendship for that matter. So he’s a pathological liar, he has shallow emotions, he has a need for stimulation, hence why he is starting so many problems between you and Naraku. He is stoking the fire between the two of you to incite a fight. It seems that he wanted to results of that fight to be deadly; one, if not both of you, incapacitated and in jail.”

InuYasha nodded; “he wanted me to expose my family for being of demon origin. I don’t know to what extent he wanted Naraku to suffer…”

“He wanted both of you to rip one another apart. Whoever survived would be incarcerated for life and he would feel avenged. But if the profile holds, that won’t be enough; he’ll want to see your father suffer further. I have a feeling that if this kid keeps up at it; he won’t stop until he’s made everyone he feels ‘wronged’ him pay. I am surprised that he hasn’t tried blackmail of you directly, honestly. Normally sociopaths want to control their victims; they want to know that you are suffering due to their subjugation. It seems, however, that he skipped over that all together; he went straight for the metaphorical kill. I wouldn’t doubt that he was somewhere close by last night. He has followed you without notice before; he would need to see the fight between the two of you.”

“You think he was really there?” InuYasha’s eyebrows drew together; he hated the idea that Onigumo could have been so close without him knowing. Inwardly, he cursed his life style once more; if he had been allowed to live outside of the concealment charm, Onigumo would never have gotten within a hundred foot radius without InuYasha knowing.

“He wouldn’t have missed it for the world. He would have been devastated, however, when it did not go the way he planned. He wouldn’t give up, he would simply change his tactic.”

“So where the hell is he?”

Miroku shrugged. “Who knows? He won’t go away, though, I can promise you that. He’ll want to see his plan through. I wouldn’t doubt that he’ll take another venue from here though. I can tell you this, it won’t have to do with photos.”

“You think he’s dangerous.”

Miroku knew InuYasha was stating fact. The fact that this person was running around unchecked and had already amassed a huge wealth of information on InuYasha without his knowledge made Miroku very uncomfortable. This guy was a time bomb; they just seemed to be collecting those. Silence ensued.

The night was turning out to be a huge waste of time. They had gone to the frat to check in with Naraku first. Naraku had not yet heard anything and after some gibe remarks on behalf of Miroku and some…motivational…influences from Kagejiro, Naraku and friends had rattled off some places that Onigumo may have visited. Naraku had insisted that he had called the family to see if anyone had seen Onigumo. It was as if the man had simply vanished. The boys had started out from the frat house around eight to check the shore and the family’s home, but nothing had come up. They had first checked the local bars that he frequently visited and spoke with some of the girls that he hung out with. Miroku thoroughly enjoyed that adventure. When those turned out to be dead leads, they had swung back to the frat to see if Onigumo had returned and then they checked out his family residences.  That took them all across the state; from Blackwood to Succussanna and still no yield. InuYasha could already sense that Onigumo was not present at this home either. He hated to give up, but it was nearly dawn and he had to get some sleep. Struggling around in his seat, he began to search for his phone.

“Do you have my phone?”

“Is that code for do I like cock? Get your hand out of your pants when you ask me that! I think I…”

“Shut up,” InuYasha snapped, “do you have my phone?”

“No,” Miroku replied dryly, “have you checked your ass?”

InuYasha growled, “I must have left it at home.” He let loose a slew of curses that could have made Miroku blush on a good day, “I thought I had it with me.”

Miroku shrugged and closed his eyes. “Don’t stress it, it’s not like the world will end without your cell. We’ll be home soon enough, so chillax. Naraku has Kagejiro’s number; if this shit-drip shows up, he’ll call ‘Jiro.”

InuYasha grumbled as he watched Kagejiro just about appear out of thin air next to the car. “I just want this night to be over.”

Sliding back into the car, Kagejiro backed the Camaro up and took off down the main road. “The bugger ain’t been there for a while. It seems that your bloke has just vanished.”

“That’s impossible.”

Kagejiro scoffed, “it’s easier than you think. Maybe he realized that his gig was up and took off before anyone could catch him. Figuring that you got the bait and all, th’ bogtrotter must have taken off. Didn’t want to stick around for the aftermath of messy cleanups, perchance. I think we should just head back and get some fuckin’ sleep. It’s nearly dawn and I’m beat.”

InuYasha cracked his knuckles as he stared out the window. “I don’t like it. Nothing about this is sitting right with me. Why would he leave after he had gone through so much bullshit to follow our lives? I can’t imagine that he’s run off after…” pausing, he took note of Miroku’s hand that was raised, as if waiting to be called on. “What is it?”

“What the hell is a bogtrotter?”

Kagejiro rolled his eyes as he got onto the major highway to head back south. “Jus’ shut your gob, ya freckin wanker.”

InuYasha groaned as his head began to pound. Putting a hand to his temple, he rubbed gently. “I can’t help but feel that this isn’t over.”

Kagejiro glanced at his younger brother. “Look lad, I’m here to help as much as I can. I’m just really wrecked right now, and could seriously stand to be ossified. Being off the drink has really fucked my metabolism.”

“You’ve been sober for eight hours,” InuYasha replied dryly.

“That’s nine hours too long,” he shot back.

Wanting to scream, InuYasha pounded the dashboard with his fist. “Does anyone here care that there is some fucked up evil twin out there who was plotting to have me murder someone? Or for that matter, that is watching our every move? Or knows that our family is really of demon blood? Cause I’ll tell you right now; if this shit blows downwind to Sesshoumaru or God forbid Dad, we’ll be a pile of ash in the fuckin’ wind by time they’re done with us.”

“Of course we care Yash,” Miroku replied, “but it’s five am and we’re too tired to talk about the backlash from your over controlling father and psychotic brother.”

Rolling his eyes, InuYasha propped himself up against the window. He was going to get his answers. He just prayed that the police would not find Onigumo before he did. Little did he know just how long the night was truly going to be.

*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*XX*

It was nearly seven by time the trio pulled into off of the Garden State Parkway, heading into Eatontown. Miroku was passed out in the backseat, his maw gaping wide open and snoring like the devil. InuYasha stared out the window in contemplation, unable to shake the feeling that something was very wrong. He was getting more and more jittery as they approached the apartment. Something wasn’t right and it was eating away at his gut.

“What’s eating your ass, Yash? You been bouncin’ around like someone lathered your balls in honey and stuck ya on a fire ant hill. You make a fella nervous, ya know?”

InuYasha ran a hand through his ebony hair, his eyes focused like a hawk’s out the window. “Something is really just out of place. I can’t explain it.”

Kagejiro frowned. “You ever gonna tell me ‘bout the other reason ya brought me here?”

InuYasha ran a hand over his eyes and sighed. “I thought, from talking to Rin, that…”

“I know that much, Baka. I mean the other reason, the help you needed. Bein’ that you had no clue ‘bout your stalker, there was another reason. One you ain’t willin’ to talk about.”

InuYasha sighed. He hadn’t wanted to rush into telling Kagejiro about Bankotsu when he first arrived. Kagome had handled the Bankotsu situation six weeks ago to the best of her ability. InuYasha knew that it wasn’t over but at least for the moment, he was out of their lives. “There was a situation that I had thought I would have needed support on.”

“Which was?”

“It’s a long story.”

Kagejiro hiked a silvery eyebrow. “Well, I would say it’s a long ride but ya wasted that staring out the window like a carsick dog.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Boyo, when you call someone half way across the world to get some assistance, it’s something that isn’t normally able to be swept under the rug. I know ya got a lot goin’ on with this scumbag out there stalkin’ your moves and what not. From my experience, though, things you tend to sweep under the rug reappear at the most inconvenient of times. Like when you’re hosting a dinner party or otherwise engaged.”

InuYasha opened his mouth then shut it. His blood felt like it turned to ice in his veins as he stared out the window. Kagejiro was right, InuYasha’s attention had been focused on everything else but the most important, and dangerous, matter at hand. Bankotsu. He had figured after six weeks of no repercussions, Kagome was in the clear. He had figured that the business man had chosen logic over pride, which was a faulty assumption in and of itself. Onigumo had surfaced at the right moment to distract InuYasha from the Bankotsu situation. He let his guard down on Kagome from Bankotsu when thinking of Onigumo and his family secret.

“This must be what it felt like to Kagome,” he muttered to himself. Twisting his hands together, he lost himself in conspiracy theories. “Get home faster,” he growled to ‘Jiro.

“you gonna tell me what the hell is goin’ on?”

InuYasha ran his hands over his face. “I am so stupid! Son of a bitch! I need to get in touch with Kagome now! This has all been a set up!”

“What was a set up?”

“Think about it! We’ve been out chasing around some guy who just happened to have photographic evidence in enough capacity to…God damnit, I am so stupid!” putting his hand to his head, a million thoughts ran through his head. How would Onigumo know where he was, when he was a demon? How did Onigumo know about InuYasha and Kagome? Bankotsu had to be the root answer. Bankotsu must have hired Onigumo to stalk out InuYasha and Kagome. Bankotsu must have used Onigumo like he used everyone else in life. Bankotsu had Onigumo set the evidence, InuYasha found it and focused on figuring out what Onigumo was doing and where he was rather than keeping tabs on the one man who wanted Kagome dead. InuYasha could easily see how Kagome got so wrapped up in conspiracy theories. If Bankotsu hired Onigumo, Onigumo stalked out Kagome and InuYasha, Onigumo’s actions separated them into the search parties, which meant that Kagome was alone. And Bankotsu would know this. “Go faster!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Tell me what the hell is goin’ on, Yash!” Kagejiro pulled a sharp left as they increased speed down route 35. “Start from the beginning! What the hell just happened?”

“I don’t have time! Kagome could be dead! Fuck! How did I miss this?”

“What did you miss?”

InuYasha was about ready to launch himself out the window. Digging his human nails into the dashboard, he nearly screamed. How could he have been so dense? He was supposed to protect Kagome and this slipped right by his attention without a second thought. “Bankotsu! This is all Bankotsu’s doing!”

“Who the bloody hell is Bankotsu?”

“Bankotsu Koizumi! He’s the bastard behind all of this. He’s the one who tormented Kagome, he beat the shit out of her, turned her against me and is blackmailing us!”

Kagejiro shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the thought pattern. “Isn’t he the only company standing up to Da’s? They say he’s the next Sesshoumaru Taisho. How the hell is he connected to your miko? How is he blackmailing you? Does he know the family secret? If he does, lad, then you’re fucked.”

“The short of it is that he runs an underground Goth nightclub in the city. I hit a stage when I entered college looking for…that something more…out there. I found the club and realized I could be anyone I wanted to there. So I was myself.”

Kagejiro eyed InuYasha as he turned the corner into the complex. Though the sarcastic humor that colored this man was present in his voice, his eyes were dead serious; “what do you mean yourself? A flamboyant half demon who donned a leather fetish?”

With a groan, InuYasha crinkled his nose and punched the dashboard. “No! Well…sort of. I wasn’t flamboyant…but I walked in there without my limiter many of times. I took to the scene very well. Eventually I got better at the game than Bankotsu, who doubles by the name Oberon. He kicked me out because I went after a girl he was screwing. She ended up dead in a warehouse a few weeks later, so I was told. I swore I was out of that place. About four or five months ago, I started going back there for lack of a better place to party. That’s where I met Kagome.” Rubbing his hands over his face, InuYasha was seeing stars. How could he have missed this? Without his cell phone, how would he know if Kagome had been in trouble? He fucked up royally, and prayed that it wasn’t too late.

“Hold up; I thought you knew Kagome for years?”

“I did, as Kikyo’s Kagome. When I saw her at the club, I had no clue who she was. She didn’t recognize me either because, well…demon.” Shaking his head, he made motion to jump from the moving car. “I have to get to her. I have to make sure she’s all right.”

Grabbing his brother’s arm, Kagejiro kept the hanyou in the car. “What, a little black eye shadow and some whore clothing and you can’t tell who a girl is? Are you daft or something? Shit lad, someone dropped you on your head as a babe.”

“Shut up! God, just listen; I fucked with her, Oberon got mad…”

“Bankotsu?”

“Yes! Look, just follow along quietly. Oberon got mad; he beat the shit out of her. She hid with his cousin, Jakotsu, who also is the one who got her away from Bankotsu…”

“Oberon? And why his cousin? Isn’t that counterproductive?”

“Yes, Oberon, and I don’t know why she stayed with Jak. They are friends, apparently. She stayed with him and then went to stay with Sango. I realized what was going on and crashed that party. That’s when her and I hooked up…”

“When she was injured?”

“Yes!”

“And you knew who she was?”

“No! I hadn’t made the connection!

“How is that even possible?”

“I don’t…know. I just missed it completely. Look, here’s what’s important; I figured out who she was when Bankotsu showed up at her dorm and was choking her out in the hallway.”

“As Bankotsu?”

“Yes! He showed up to her dorm, tried to get her and Kikyo out to lunch…”

“How does he know Kikyo?”

“He used to date Kagome.”

“Do you know how fucking confusing this is? Shit boyo, you ought to be on the telly. This soap opera is so much better than the shows on there now. So you met a girl at a club that was the sub of the owner, Oberon, who is really Bankotsu. This girl, who ended up being Kagome, was waxing your knob as well and then her dom found out, beat her, and she ran away with his cousin. She went home, he showed up, tried to sweet talk both ladies into leaving with him, because Kikyo had no idea he is who hurt her?”

“Yes.”

“How did it lead to him and her alone in the hallway?”

“I don’t know but I intervened and pulled Bankotsu off of her and then I realized what was going on. She still had no clue who I was though. She just thought that I would be in trouble for starting a fight with Bankotsu. She decided to put a restraining order on him and she brought it to him.”

“That doesn’t make sense; if she had a restraining order then she violated it.”

“She put a ban on him coming onto school property.”

“She can do that?”

“I…don’t know. Look; she took it to go see him, he put a gun in her face. They had a standoff that lead nowhere and he kicked her out of his club. She then realized, after seeing you, who I really was. She put all of the puzzle together. She then thought that because I knew her at the club that I was really in league with Bankotsu.”

“How the hell did she manage that one?”

“She thought that I was his spy. I showed up out of nowhere and constantly questioned his control over her. I was on the train when she was nearly raped and I saved her.”

“Nearly raped?” Kagejiro parked the car and stared aghast. “By whom?”

“Street thugs.  I saved her, dragged her away from the crime and then she sucked me off in the alley. Bankotsu got wind of this and beat the shit out of her. She thought I was the test of her loyalty to her boss. When she realized I was part demon, she thought I just followed her around campus to keep tabs on her for Bankotsu, to report back to him what she was doing. She thought that the asshole was trying to control her life because he could. She thought that everyone who ever mattered was in it against her. She thought Bankotsu’s power was infinite.”

“She sucked you off…after almost being raped?”

Waving his hands, InuYasha shook off the conversation and got out of the car. Running for the door, he had to pause as Kagejiro got there before him. Halting his entry, the older demon bent down to meet the younger half blood at eye level. “Give me the summary of this story. What are we missing?”

“Bankotsu isn’t one to let go of a grudge, much less being lectured in front of his people. He was knocked off his pedestal by Kagome’s actions. I thought he was just biding time, but putting everything in perspective, Onigumo makes sense. Bankotsu could have hired him to track Kagome and my moves. He might have ulterior motives for involving Naraku, but it all comes together perfectly. That’s why we can’t find Onigumo. Bankotsu’s involved, I can smell it!”

“That seems to be a bit far of a jump lad; almost as far as Kagome looping you in with this Oberon-Bankotsu fella. I can see why you think they’re related however, I think you’re overanalyzing.”

“No, think about it,” InuYasha pushed on, “Bankotsu probably hired Onigumo to track Kagome. When Kagome met Sha at the night club, he began tracking me as well, somehow connecting Sha to me.”

“Who the fuck is Sha?”

“Me, shit-drip! I’m Sha! Inu-Ya-Sha! Sha! How the fuck can’t people understand that?”

“‘sha is surfer lingo.”

InuYasha shoved Kagejiro out of the way. “He probably tracked us both and then more so once Kagome faced off against Bankotsu. Now he wants revenge. I just know it! I have to get to her before he does.”

Kagejiro followed InuYasha into the kitchen and leaned against the wall. “I get that this guy wants power over her, and I don’t like that there is already a body count with him, but why the hell is Kagome that important to him? For that matter, why hasn’t Kagome gone to the police? Why haven’t you?”

InuYasha snatched his phone off the kitchen power and powered it on. “Bankotsu is very wealthy. You said it yourself; Bankotsu Koizumi is set up to be the next Sesshoumaru. This guy is crazier than a shit house rat. He’s got more spies than Dad does.”

Kagejiro sneered menacingly, “I doubt that.”

“He does, I swear it. If you think Dad’s tracking system is elaborate then you’re in for a shock. Dad’s second fiddle to this guy; he’s got his own fuckin’ matrix going on. He owns the fuckin’ police. That’s why we haven’t involved them. I wanted to get them the first time he kicked the shit out of her. Kagome didn’t want to drag her family name through the mud. Besides, if they already work for Bankotsu, they aren’t going to do anything to help us out besides for rat out the complaint to Bankotsu. Kagome was too afraid to cross him.”

Kagejiro hefted an eyebrow up. “I can understand that completely.”

InuYasha clenched his fist around his phone. “So do I, and that’s why I never pushed her. Fuckin’ A, how long does it take for a phone to power up?

Kagejiro watched as the young demon grappled with the theory before him. “So, you think that Bankotsu hired Onigumo to spy on Kagome and he happened to begin spying on you as well? So his existence served to…what? Exploit what Kagome was doing in her free time or to keep you busy while he snuck back into the picture?”

InuYasha paled. “I don’t know,” he replied angrily. Kagejiro could hear the fear in his brother’s voice; he could just about smell it. “I just need to talk to Kagome right now.”

“It doesn’t make sense Yash, think about it! You’re saying that Onigumo was hired to follow Kagome and then, when she started getting involved with you, you became a target as well. Therefore he did not hire Onigumo to blackmail you. Not at first, at least. He would have hired the man to follow Kagome to see what was going on with her outside of this club.”

“He could have hired Onigumo after he kicked the shit out of Kagome.”

“He could tie wings to pigs and make them fly as well. Doesn’t mean that he did it. Let’s keep going; he hired Onigumo, let’s say after he beat up Kagome, to make sure she was on the straight and narrow. Onigumo noticed that she was suddenly seeing a lot of her cousin’s boyfriend. He started doing some background information and checking on you. You then got sucked into the picture. I cannot see how Bankotsu would have used Onigumo as bate to keep you preoccupied. That wouldn’t have been his intent.”

“Who knows anymore? It’s just one thing after another. There are too many coincidences. I won’t be satisfied until Kagome is safe with me.”

“Agreed. But don’t put money in your theory. It doesn’t float well. If Bankotsu Koizumi knew who you were, it would be all across the news right now. He would never sit on that information. You cannot be worth that much to him. Every journalist would be camped out on the front yard of the great lawn demanding Da’s head.  Da’ would have had you dragged in by your tail and that would have been what left Kagome completely alone. That would have been the distraction he needed.”

“Uhh…guys?”

InuYasha and Kagejiro paused to glance to the doorway. Miroku lined the frame, a phone in his left hand outstretched towards the duo. His face was ashen and his hand was shaking. His mouth moved once but no sound came out. He glanced to InuYasha with a look that stopped InuYasha’s heart mid-thump; it was a look of pity, one that someone would give a friend who was about to receive news that would ruin their year. “You…umm…Yash, man, you got to listen to this. There’s no easy way to say this. We have a problem.” Putting his phone on speaker, Miroku played Kikyo’s voice mail.

*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*XX*X**XX**XX*X**X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X**

If it wasn’t for the subtle sound of a smothered alarm, Rin may have slept for another two hours. Fluttering her eyes open, she glanced lazily at the clock with a simple stretch of her arms. She had not slept that well in ages; since before the baby, she reckoned. Blinking herself back from her eight hour interruption-free rest, she was shocked to find it nearly seven in the morning. Normally Kenren had her up at six am for his first feeding. The boy could eat by the truck load, and he would never skip a meal. She fed that kid nearly seven times a day.

Rolling to her right, she startled to find another grown adult in bed with her. It took some getting used to, she thought as she stared at her silver haired savior. With a smile that could melt the icecaps, she took in the sight before her. Sesshoumaru was lying next to her in bed, where she had left him when she drifted off to her dreamland. Clad in simple gray cotton sleep pants, the sheets were bunched up around his waist, baring his naked chest for the world. Well, it would have been his naked chest save the tiny slumbering child that rested along the grown man’s ribcage. The child’s ebony hair stood out like fire amongst ice on Sesshoumaru’s chest. The tiny child was curled up with his thumb lazily placed within in his mouth.

Rin stared for a moment while feeling a lump rise in her throat. This was how she had prayed for life to be one day, yet had never dared to fathom that the wish could come true. She had always assumed Sesshoumaru to be the unobtainable dream. Yet here he was, in her bed, with their child lying on his chest as if this was an everyday occurrence. Sesshoumaru looked so at peace with himself and the environment, Rin dared not wake him. With a slight stretch, Rin moved to get up from bed. She could get a late start on breakfast and have dinner ready for her two men.

‘My men,’ she thought idly to herself as she turned to glance back at Sesshoumaru. Was he hers by any right though? His divorce was not finalized yet, and that was a long and messy road as he had well warned her. Kagura was fighting him on custody of their daughter and his father was continuing to dabble in his finances. Sesshoumaru was far from hers but, she liked to believe, that the past four weeks that he had been staying with her at her apartment, that they were becoming more of a family every day. Kenren loved his father dearly; the little boy would follow him around the house in the morning and cry when Sesshoumaru would leave for the office. He had grown accustomed to waiting by the door for his father to come home from work, being that Sesshoumaru kept a very consistent schedule. It seemed as though Sesshoumaru was becoming a very vital part to both her and her son’s day.

“You got a phone call.”

Rin nearly jumped through the roof at the sudden sound of her lover’s voice. Though his eyes were closed and he seemed to be sleeping, he proved once again that looks could be deceiving. “Oh?”

“It said work. I chose to let you sleep instead of bothering you. This is your day off and it is incredulous for them to be calling you at six in the morning.”

Sesshoumaru brought his right hand to gently rub his son’s back with the pads of his fingers. The baby had toddled into the bedroom at an obscure hour of the morning whining for food. Sesshoumaru quickly quieted the boy, explaining that he would eat when he was presented with food; no sooner or later. To his astonishment, the little boy continued to cry. Though he was already a father, Sesshoumaru got a very hard lesson that morning; you cannot ration with a hungry two year old. Once he was fed a generous helping of cereal, Sesshoumaru had returned to the bedroom with the youngster, happy to see that Rin had slept through the whole ordeal.

Rin knit her eyebrows together. “Why are they calling me at six AM?”

Sesshoumaru shifted Kenren on his chest to reach a hand over and swipe some of Rin’s hair from her eyes. “I do not know. I did not answer the phone call. I simply silenced the phone.”

Rin flipped up the top of the phone and stared in shock at the number of missed calls. The first one was at six AM from the college. The next forty five were from InuYasha, starting at about seven thirty and continued roughly every thirty seconds for twenty minutes. The next thirty two were from Miroku’s phone, spaced out from in between InuYasha’s calls and lasting until about two minutes prior. She simply gawked at the phone. Her mouth hung slightly ajar as she lifted her eyes to Sesshoumaru. His attention was focused solely on her; he could tell there was a shift in her mood the minute she took the phone. “Something’s wrong,” she murmured. “Where’s your cell phone?” Why were Miroku and InuYasha trying to get a hold of her so desperately?  Her mouth ran dry as Miroku’s picture silently popped up on her phone, the only sign that he was attempting to call her.

“I never keep it on at night,” Sesshoumaru replied cooly. “What’s going on?”

Rin shot out of bed as she put the phone to her ear. Wrapping one arm around her torso, she prepared for the worst. Answering the phone, she didn’t give Miroku a second. “What’s going on?”

Sesshoumaru watched Rin’s face carefully. He watched as her eyes widened and then filled with tears. Kenren must have been just as attuned to his mother’s emotions because the minute the first tear broke over her eyelid, he was at full attention and whining on Sesshoumaru’s chest.

“No cry, mama,” he cooed softly from where he sat with his father.

Sesshoumaru lifted the pup, watching as desperation filtered through Rin’s eyes. It was as if she was standing in front of a train, watching it come at her with nowhere to go. Sesshoumaru quickly ushered the young pup to his bedroom and growled a warning to stay. He quickly returned to the room to find his pants. At this point, Rin was sitting on the edge of her bed, the cell phone clutched tightly to her ear, held in place by stark white knuckles. Whatever was happening was bad.

Sesshoumaru slid into his pants as he watched Rin begin to nod.

“Has anyone called the police?”

Sesshoumaru lifted his eyes slightly to stare at Rin as he grabbed a wife beater and slid it over his muscular chest. He could hear Miroku’s frantic voice spewing out from the microphone on her cell. He could only imagine that this had to do with his idiot brother. Rin had been complaining for weeks about the lack of communication between her and Kagome over the past month and a half. She blamed InuYasha but would not further her explanation.

“Where are InuYasha and Kagejiro? What can we do?”

Sesshoumaru paced the room slowly; anything that involved both of his brothers that elicited a response from Rin to this severity could not bode well. As Rin slowly closed the cell, Sesshoumaru watched the tears overflow. Rin body twitched once, trying to hold back a sob. Sesshoumaru fell to his knees almost instantly before Rin, taking both of her hands in his. “What has happened? What is going on?”

Rin sniffled once, her lips trembling at the onset of hysterics. “Kagome was kidnapped,” she choked out.

Sesshoumaru blinked once, confusion filtering through his eyes. “Kidnapped? Who would want to kidnap her? What gain is there?”

Rin shook her head desperately. “No, you don’t…” she choked on another sob as she suddenly pushed Sesshoumaru away and got to her feet. “I need…I need to leave. I need to help.”

Sesshoumaru grabbed Rin’s wrist and twisted her back around to face him. “No, what you need to do right now is to tell me what is going on. Who took Kagome and why?”

Rin stared at Sesshoumaru for a moment, remembering all of Kagome’s pleading to keep him out of the problem. She feared Sesshoumaru’s anger towards InuYasha for getting involved with Bankotsu Koizumi and now everything was at a head. With a deep breath and choking back sobs, she recanted the story as best as she could tell it. She left nothing out; she explained InuYasha’s role and Kagome’s domination by Bankotsu. She told everything that there was to tell.

“That moron,” Sesshoumaru seethed when everything was over. Rin was unsure if he was referencing InuYasha or Bankotsu.

“Do you think…” she twitched once; the image that Miroku painted of her car and the scene in the parking lot danced before her eyes. “Do you think she’s dead?”

Sesshoumaru studied Rin for a moment before shaking his head. “Though it sounds like a homicide, I do not believe that Bankotsu would be that careless. He may wish death upon her, but if he first and foremost a business man. If he thinks as methodical as he is rumored to, he would keep her alive long enough to make sure no repercussions would come from her execution. He would wait to make sure that all of her threats were empty and that no one questions her disappearance as anything more than a run away. He will barely keep her alive, and probably will torture her endlessly. If someone does come looking and he cannot sway them or buy them out, only then will she be ‘found’ alive somewhere unrelated; such as an abandoned gang warehouse, victim of a gang attack. He will set up the scene flawlessly.” Glancing at Rin’s terrified expression; he closed his mouth for a moment. “I’m sorry, but it’s the truth,” he offered only after a moment.

“We need to find her, Sesshoumaru.”

Sesshoumaru shook his head. “What I need for you to do is to keep out of this. Bankotsu Koizumi is a man mad with power. He believes that he can stand up to me and a thousand year old business. He also seems to be exceedingly dangerous. If he knows the family secret, as Miroku has claimed, then it will only be a matter of hours before it is all over the news. No, you are not to get involved at all. I will handle InuYasha’s mess.”

“How? Kagejiro and InuYasha are already on their way up to the city to deal with Bankotsu. Apparently InuYasha is inconsolable. Miroku didn’t even get a chance to try to go with them. They just ran off. God, Sesshoumaru, poor Kagome! What she must be going through…” Rin dissolved into a fit of tears as she thought about the whole situation. “Sesshoumaru, you have to stop this!”

Sesshoumaru studied Rin for a moment before running a hand through his hair. “I need you to try to get in touch with InuYasha. Keep calling him; if you get through to him, tell him I will handle this and to turn around. He cannot kill Bankotsu and if he exposes any more of our family secret, he will be more than dead. Father will see to that himself.”

Rin’s fingers trembled as she reached for the phone. “What more can I do? Sango is with the police, Kikyo is watching Souta with Miroku…”

“Call Miroku and tell him I will pick him up. I need his help to fix this.”

Rin nodded dumbly. “Please bring her back, Sessh. Please…”

Sesshoumaru turned and looked at Rin. He opened his mouth to assure her that it would be okay, however, he wasn’t quite sure he believed it. He wanted to believe that Kagome would be all right however, if things were as awful as Rin made it sound, there was a chance it was already too late. If that was the case, however, Bankotsu would pay for it with his life, which was without question. If InuYasha and Kagejiro had it their way, however, no one would ever be able to find all of the pieces of Bankotsu Koizumi. With a grunt, he knew what he had to do. Flashing Rin a sympathetic frown, he left the house on a mission.

*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*

-Sorry for such a long delay. The first twenty-five pages have been written for months but with school, I was too preoccupied to finish this out. What I can say is this; the story should be finished within the month. I have student teaching starting in mid January and if I am not finished by then, there is a chance that I will not be able to finish. Therefore, this is now my full time job to be done. We have two more chapters and an epilogue to go. A huge shout out to Heather Kou for editing the story for me and getting me out of the funk that held this chapter down.  Happy holidays to every reader! I hope the new year bodes well for all!

Drakey: Thanks for sticking by me for SO many years!!! It is so much appreciated. I get that you want Kagome to get her revenge, personally. This made me actually question the ending that I have lined up with a possible reconsideration.

HanyouKagome962: Oh he wasn’t going to go away without a fight. Lol. Don’t worry, Kagome will be avenged, or get revenge, I have not yet decided

Midcat: As always, your reviews have me hysterical. Thank you for the compliments. Yes, I do have a bit of a twisted sense of humor to leave it for that long at that point. You were very on point, something was better around the corner. Getting the semester done with school was just the hard part. Thank you so much for your support and understanding. Life is much better now and I am in a much better place. J Hopefully, that means that I can put enough time into getting this story finished before the middle of January.  Thanks for always reading!

Thisismesmiling: Jakotsu is my favorite character. He’s fun to write and to imagine getting involved. Don’t worry, you’ll see him again. Thanks for the support!

Ninjagurl512: I try to throw in the warnings just in case. Glad you enjoyed.

 Frenchdiamond: I am so sorry to hear about your friends. That’s awful and you have my deepest sympathies. Double, for your grandfather. I am very sorry to hear that as well. I lost a grandparent last March and it’s never an easy thing. You have my best wishes. As for the story, yes, I am evil for leaving it there but the other stuff (read: this chapter) needed to happen as well. Don’t worry, I am hoping for a wrap up soon enough. Hope your holidays go well!

New Fan: Sessh will be involved in a more wider aspect of the conflict, but yes, he will. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of extra time to put in the wanted miro/Sango and Rin/Sessh. They are a favorite pair of mine, though.

Nan_de_mo_chibi_otoko: The cliffs are a lot of fun, lol. I never mean to let them linger so long though. Oh to have more free time.

Katlady13: oh, congrats! That’s awesome, I am very happy for you. Is this your first child? I hear they can be a handful; I am waiting at least five more years. The honesty in the story is very important; that’s kind of the main focus of the plot, what lies can bring. Kagome fought good and hard, I was not having her go easy. And it’s not over yet. Congrats again and happy holidays!

Immoralt: ah, you want to see Jiro fight, huh? Don’t worry, that’s coming soon enough. Thank you for the warm wishes, things do get better with time.

Kinky-hoe: Yes, there will be a massive ass kicking, don’t you worry. As for Kagome being saved, I do like my happy endings, even if they come in a roundabout way.

Oyuki: Yeah, it was a bit rough. I got nothing on that one, lol. Thanks for continuing to read!

Misato_17: Thanks, don’t worry, I like my happy endings.

Sexy Capricorn: (now am I Santa?) Awww, thank you so much. I very much appreciate the praise. Yeah, I waited till the last possible, ‘is this the end’ to hit it with the ‘no way! Not without a wrap up!’ Yes, he is very much like mafia. Very organized and criminal to the bone. Rin and Sessh are a side story that aren’t getting enough attention, I know that. I just don’t have that extra time right now to focus on them without progressing the story. I am glad that you enjoy!
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