InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Heaven ❯ Everybody Has a Secret ( Chapter 9 )

Dark Heaven

 

Chapter 9

 

Everybody Has a Secret

 

“Mr. Shinchinintai will see you now,” Bankotsu's secretary said. Sango thanked her and pushed open the door to the Councilor's office. Bankotsu smiled and stood, shaking Sango's hand.

 

“Ah, hello,” He said. “May I have the pleasure of your name?” Sango shrugged as Bankotsu kissed the back of her hand.

 

“I'm Sango,.” She said.

 

“Well, Miss Sango,” Bankotsu said, sitting down. “What can I do for you tonight?”

 

“I'd like to ask a few questions about the theft of the Haven Historical Archives,” Sango explained. Bankotsu frowned.

 

“I'm afraid I can't provide any information on that subject that the other Councilors wouldn't have,” He said.

 

“I think otherwise,” Sango replied. “I've heard that one of the criminals identified there was a relative of yours, Suikotsu.”

 

“That's right, but I have not spoken with my brothers in years,” Bankotsu said. “I've worked hard to become a Councilor Miss Sango, and would prefer it if we could forget about my family. I try to.”

 

“I meant no offence Councilor,” Sango defended. “However, seeing as how you are still their blood relatives, I just have a few questions. You have the right to refuse to answer any of them.” Bankotsu thought. Both the press and the Council had been suspicious of him. If he were to deny Sango, what kind of response would she twist from such action?

 

“Ask away,” Bankotsu said, casually waving his hand. Sango nodded and pulled out a tape recorder, flicking it on.

 

“Well, how many members of the Shinchinintai family are there, beside you?” Sango asked.

 

“Counting Suikotsu, there are six others. Our parents have not been seen in years, and I've never heard of them making contact with my brothers since,” Bankotsu replied. “None of us have any children, or so I've heard.”

 

“Alright, thank you. Did they always engage in criminal activity when you still spoke to them?”

 

“A little,” Bankotsu admitted. “I worked hard in school as the youngest, but they all spent their time stealing and beating up other students.” It wasn't a total lie. He just didn't mention all the hard he did was to swipe the answer books from the teachers' desks and copy from them.

 

“Were any of them ever penalized for that?” Sango asked.

 

“A bit, but it never did any good. You know how it is, some people are just born with mean streaks.” Bankotsu shifted in his chair. Was she done already?

 

“Just one more question. Did you ever participate in any of their activities?” Sango asked. Bankotsu coughed lightly.

 

“Well they certainly tried to tempt me. But I just never saw the thrill in breaking the law. No, I was curious, but I kept myself out of trouble,” He said.

 

“Alright then…well I'm sure you're a busy man. Thank you for your time,” Sango said, standing up.

 

“That's it?” Bankotsu asked, relieved but surprised.

 

“Not entirely. I shall of course investigate more with other sources, but I have all I would need from you.” Sango smiled and reached out her hand to shake Bankotsu's. “Thank you for your time,” She said. Bankotsu nodded and watched as she left, closing the door to his office behind her. Bankotsu listened to her footsteps fade, and picked up the receiver for his phone, hitting speed-dial. He waited as it rang three times before it picked up.

 

“You have better have a good reason for calling me,” The voice snapped.

 

“Forgive me sir, but I have something to report. My position may be in jeopardy,” Bankotsu said. The voice grunted. “A reporter for the Cryer is snooping on my family relations.” The voice snorted.

 

“What is their name?” The voice asked.

 

“She called herself Sango.” Bankotsu replied. There was a shuffling on the other end of the line, followed by some typing.

 

“I'll have it taken care of,” The voice said, hanging up.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Sango stepped down the stairs of the Council Towers and looked around for a cab. Instead, she found Miroku leaning against the door of his Kougar.

 

“What are you doing here?” Sango groaned, walking up to him. Miroku shrugged.

 

“I phoned the office and heard you were here, working late. I figured you might want a ride,” He explained.

 

“Thanks, but I'll take my chances with a homicidal cab driver,” Sango replied, turning and walked down the street. A moment later, Miroku's car drove up beside her.

 

“Am I really so unpleasant?” Miroku asked, keeping pace with Sango. Sango cast him an odd look.

 

“You're in reverse,” She noted.

 

“By the time I turned around I would have lost you,” Miroku pointed out. “Besides, I don't see any cops around, so what harm is there?”

 

“What do you want anyway?” Sango sighed.

 

“Perhaps an explanation as to why you treat me like a plague,” Miroku muttered. “I thought we were friends.”

 

“We are friends, Miroku. It's just that you want to be more, and I don't. There's a slight conflict of interests,” Sango replied.

 

“Is the idea of being with me so terrible?” Miroku persisted. Sango spun her head away. She had known Miroku since they had gone to grade school. They used to even live next to each other. Then they had hit high school, and Miroku had hit puberty. Suddenly he was staring at the prettiest girls in class, and had a new girlfriend every month. Sango had backed off after she had realized her best friend had become a stereotyped playboy.

 

“Considering your history, yes,” Sango said, turning back to him. Then she gasped. “Shop the car!” She screeched. Miroku looked behind him and slammed the brake pedal. The police-issue motorcycle behind him tipped and slammed to the ground, the windguard cracking and the side-mirror, among other things, smashing. The driver burst out of the variety store nearby and shot Miroku a glare.

 

“Driving the wrong way on a street,” She grumbled, whipping out a notepad. “And destruction of police property.”

 

“I was backing up!” Miroku protested. The officer smirked and slapped a ticket on Miroku's forehead. Miroku sighed and ignored her curses as she picked up her cycle, opting to look up at Sango in dismay. “What's the damage?”

 

“Two hundred and fifty,” Sango read. Miroku nodded and plucked the ticket from his head.

 

“Seeing as how I was busy talking to you when this happened, I'd say I've earned dinner,” He muttered.

 

“You earned dinner by getting a ticket?” Sangoi asked dryly. Miroku gave her a look. “You've earned lunch. One time,” Sango said. Miroku smiled.

 

“I can live with that. Noon good for you?”

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Kagome stretched her wings out to their fullest to gently soar for a while. Soaring gave her wings a break, as well as her mind. After the disturbing counter with the youkai Hunter, she had returned to the restaurant to find Inuyasha had left on an urgent call. So much for her first date in…well, so much for her first date.

 

She swooped a bit and turned up to gain some altitude. Despite the fact she rarely got a peaceful night, flying was one of the perks of her….uniqueness. Add that to a handful of other perks, and compare that to the truckload of bad things about the gift of flight. All things considered, Kagome figured she could have been worse off.

 

Kagome noticed where her wings had taken her, and made a slight left. She knew this neighborhood. She saw the sit, and withdrew her wings to land. She kneeled on the edge of the roof and looked down at the apartment on the other side of the street. It was fairly small, only three stories tall. The windows were missing, and the bricks around both them and the doorway at the bottom were black.

 

“Two months…and they still haven't finished cleaning it up…” Kagome mused. She swooped over and through a window on the third floor. A few charred pieces of furniture lay around the scorched apartment. The paint had cracked and bubbled in several place, but had once been a pale orange. A burnt wooden bedframe lay against one wall, a rumpled mattress lay on the floor inside it, also burned. Kagome looked around the room. The cleaners hadn't even made it to the third floor yet. She walked over to the dresser and picked up a small picture frame. The picture had been burnt like everything else. But Kagome remembered what had once been there. She dropped the frame and flew out the window. It was fairly quiet this night. She had just one more stop to make.

 

- - - - - - - - -

 

The Haven Medical Center was lit up by the random lights of the patient's windows. Kagome stopped to land in a tree nearby, before flying over to perch on a window ledge outside of Room seven-eighteen. Inside, a young woman lay in a chair, sound sleep, her head leading back on a pillow. The reason Kagome had come was lying in the bed before her.

 

It was a girl, not all that younger than Kagome. Fifteen years old, to be exact. Her hair was a black with a hint of brown, and came to just below her shoulders. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was slow and shallow. She was in a coma, and had been like that for the better part of two months. Hope for her was alive, but financing her stay in the Center was becoming a problem, seeing as how they had nothing anymore. Even if she did pull through, with no home and her mother not having a job, Kagome had no idea what they would do when their money ran out.

 

She slid up the window and slipped inside, leaving the window open in case she needed a quick escape. She looked down at the girl in the bed. Heart monitors, respirators, and IVs were hooked up to her to see her through her sleep. Kagome picked up the clipboard hanging at the end of her bed and looked it over. The girl's vitals were stable, that was something. She showed no obvious signs of recovery yet, but on the other hand, she wasn't getting worse either. Kagome closed her eyes and sighed.

 

“Okay sweetie, time for your meal!” Kagome gasped and dropped the clipboard to sweep out the window and climbed up to sit on the ledge above. In the room, the nurse pushed open the door and gently shook the woman in the chair awake.

 

“Oh…sorry,” The woman said, rubbing her eyes.

 

“It's alright, I just need you to move so I can change her IV,” The nurse replied. She unhooked the old one and set about replacing the bag.

 

“She's…not going to wake up, is she?” The woman muttered sadly. The nurse sighed.

 

“Ms. Sogen, I've seen many worse cases pull through, honestly. There's always hope in even the most dire situations. You just have to be willing to search.” She finished her duties and smiled at Ms. Sogen. “I'll bring you an extra pillow if you like.”

 

“Thank you,” Ms. Sogen said, looking down at the girl in the bed. “My baby…” She whispered, leaning down to place a kiss on the girl's forehead. “Please, come back to me.” There was no response, save for the steady beep of the heart monitor. On her perch, Kagome closed her eyes and sighed.

 

“Rin…” She whispered. Kagome waited until she heard the nurse return, and Ms. Sogen fall back asleep, before she flew back into the night.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Midoriko stared down at the fire roaring in her quarters. She sighed and looked over at her half-eaten dinner. She didn't have an appetite anymore. By all accounts she should be eating enough for two, what with the strain of containing it. She needed her energy. She looked up at the grandfather clock, and slowly stood up. It was time. She walked to her desk and slid her chair back from it, kneeling down to flip back the carpet, revealing a small trap door. Midoriko lifted the lid of the door and reached down inside the small compartment there.

 

Midoriko removed a small chest. The box had three latches, each securely locked with a thick padlock. Midoriko reached into her desk drawer and removed a key ring from it, taking her time to unlock each padlock. That done, she flipped up the latches and reached inside to remove an even smaller box. She held the box in her hands and closed her eyes. An aura of intense power surrounded the item inside the box, a power so great, even touching the box for too long would result in injury to a human. For a youkai, it would kill them. Even the many wards, the countless time and effort spent to seal it, could not condemn it entirely. It still broke free. Its power refused to submit.

 

God, how many years had this gone on? Every day at midnight, every year. Not a day could be missed, it was far too risky. And after so long, it was taking its toll on her. Midoriko worried about how much longer she would be able to contain it. Sooner or later, the effort of doing so would end her. And what would come of it then? She decided to forget about it and focus back on her work, ignoring the small, faint voice from inside the box. The Sealed One would not tempt her, no matter how hard it may try.

 

“…freeeeee…̷ 0;meeeeee…”