InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Smokes and Mirrors ❯ Down, Down, Down ( Chapter 25 )

Smokes and Mirrors

 

Chapter 25 : Down, Down, Down

 

The house was quiet, so quiet it was deafening. Anna sat in her living room, used tissues laid forgotten. The tears had stopped falling and dulled eyes stared out blankly. It's been hours since she's had any news whatsoever.

 

The younger Taka agent brought Sota home hours ago along with the news of a missing Kagome. At first, she didn't believe it, thinking this must have been some twisted joke. Sota's shaken and disheveled look told otherwise. The kid excused himself and went straight to his room. Anna hadn't heard from him since. With no supper ready, there was no point in calling him. She wasn't exactly in the best of moods either.

 

Sesshoumaru told Anna about the outburst Sota had at school. Now their suspicion on who the attacker was so long ago was set clear. Unfortunately, a child's voice didn't hold much persuasion in the court of law. After the revelation, Anna had lost all physical strength. Never had she imagined her brother and her nephew could be the ones causing her family so much turmoil. Agent Taka hinted his suspicion six years ago, but Anna denied it, saying it would be impossible. They were family and they cared about each other. She was set in her mind: Naraku would never harm her or her family in any way.

 

Now, though, as she sat in her dark living room, Anna wasn't sure who to trust anymore, who to believe in. Mother had warned her before she died. She'd told Anna to cut all, if any, relation she had going with her older brother. She refused thinking her children deserved to know their uncle and cousins. She thought it best for her kids to know they had some family outside of the shrine if ever the need should rise. She never considered the fact that she might have been putting her loved ones at risk every single time.

 

“Anna,” grandpa Higurashi was calling her. “Please, daughter. You need your rest.”

 

Her ignorance made him act. She wasn't the only one drowning in sorrow. With a heavy sigh, he sat down beside his daughter-in-law. Still she didn't move, she didn't even acknowledge him. Bringing an arm around her, he gently rubbed her back. A chill ran down Anna's back causing her to shiver. She'd been sitting for so long in the same spot, unmoving, the chill settle itself upon her without her even realizing it. She leaned into her father-in-law's arms, searching for warmth he offered, seeking the comfort and support of an older, wiser person.

 

“Please, Anna,” the old man tried again, him as well too tired to do anything more than plead. “Get some rest. It will not do you or Kagome any good if you can't even support yourself.” Going for a logical point-of-view, Grandpa hoped her emotions wouldn't overwrite common sense. “Once they find Kagome, she will need you by her side.”

 

“You mean if…” Anna's week voice reached his ears.

 

“No child,” he tried to reassure her. “They will find her. It's only a matter of time. Have faith.” Anna looked into the old man's eyes, despair written all over her face. Mr. Higurashi frowned at her look. “Kagome is a strong girl,” he emphasized, hugging the women in his arms tightly. “She's as strong as her mother, and she will make it through everything and anything.” He smiled down, finally seeing glimmers of hope showing through Anna's eyes. “When they find her, Kagome will need your support. She will need us all by her side. You won't be of any help if you're too drained, both mentally and physically.”

 

Anna guiltily looked down at her lap. He was right, of course. She needed to rest. She needed to be up to form and ready to tackle what tomorrow offered. Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling it, she untangled herself from the old man's arms and stood up, mind set on going to sleep.

 

“I'll just go check on Sota first.” Looking back down at her father-in-law, she allowed a thankful smile to grace her lips, whispered good-night and headed straight for bed. Once upstairs, Anna stopped at Kagome's room. There were a couple of clothes on the floor, her bed was a mess and Buyo had taken residence right on top of the tangled sheets.

 

Anna had to smile at the sight. Grandpa was right: Kagome's a strong girl, both physically and mentally. She would make it back home in one piece, of that the woman was now sure of. Turning away from her daughter's door, she headed for her own with a pit-stop at Sota's. Anna slowly cracked the door open and peered inside. The lump underneath the bed sheets was a sign her son was sound asleep.

 

Cracking another smile, she tiptoed her way to the bed. Sota had pulled the covers all the way up, completely covering his head. The smiled disappeared of Anna's face. She hadn't even considered what her son was going through. Ever since he'd come home in the afternoon, she hadn't even checked on him, see how he was doing, or if he needed anything. She'd just sat there on the couch while he locked himself up in his room. How could she call herself a mother when she'd completely forgotten about her son?

 

Anna reached out for the sheets, determined to give her son a kiss good-night and tuck him in bed properly, the way a mother should. She pulled back the covers expecting to see her little Sota dozing off. Stuffed pillow cases greeted her sight and she swore at that very moment her heart stopped beating.

 

x.X.x

 

He walked, and walked, and walked. All he knew to do was walk. He didn't know where to go or why he kept going. He simply didn't want to go back. Not there, not now. Not when the memories were still so fresh.

 

Sota has been ambling down the street of Tokyo for the last four hours. He was positive he was going in circles at a certain point. He didn't care. He ignored his body's protest for a break and just kept going. It was getting dark, really dark. Somehow it didn't scare him as much as it used to. On the contrary, it calmed him down and soothed his nerves.

 

Reaching a street corner, the boy finally came to a stop. Just across the street was the industrial section. This would be his seventh time passing in front of it. It was closed. It had been for a couple of hours now. He'd seen the last workers head home, effectively shutting down the entire section.

 

Staring at the tall, empty, silent buildings, Sota tried to shake off the slight frisson that came over him. That place simply gave him the creeps, both day and night.

 

Deciding enough was enough, the teenager turned away with his mind intent on going back home. His mother was already in a bad mood, what with Kagome missing and all. He didn't particularly feel like giving his mother a heart attack.

 

The streets were strangely empty that night. There were just a few people here and there, but there weren't as many people as usual. Maybe they were being cautious? Besides, who would want to be out once day light was gone now that the Higurashi Killer is back in town? Sota frowned at that. The killer had never left town. Worst of all, he'd been right under their noses and part of their lives.

 

Completely and utterly disgusted, Sota closed his eyes and shook his head in a vile effort to get the deranged images out of his mind. Not paying attention to where he was going, the boy ran head-first into someone's back.

 

“Hey! Watch where you're— Sota?”

 

Sota would have fallen if it weren't for a pair of strong hands that kept him in place. Apology at the tip of his tongue, he looked up in surprise at the mention of his name. “Miroku.” The older boy stared him down, snapping the younger one out of his stupor. “I- I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to—”

 

“Chill!” Miroku didn't mind the bump. He was more worried about the fact that the boy was out so late at night. Looking around and seeing no-one with him, he had to ask, “Where's your mom? Are you out alone?”

 

Sota looked down, knowing he was in trouble big time. “I… Well, you see… I—”

 

A gun shot interrupted whatever he was about to say. He looked up, the hair on the back on his neck standing on ends. Wide eyes stared questioningly at Miroku. The older boy, however, had his eyes trained on some distant object behind the kid. Whatever that was, it came from the industrial section.

 

“Hey Miroku,” Sota's shaken voice broke the silence. He slowly turned around, half expecting his uncle or his cousin to be standing there, a gun pointed straight at him. An empty street greeted his sight. Turning back to Miroku, tremors of fear shook his frame. “What was that?”

 

Never taking his eyes off his invisible target, Miroku spoke slowly. “Go straight to Sango's place.” Glancing down at the boy for confirmation, confusion met his eyes. “She lives just down the second street from here.” He tried to explain. “Go there, call your mom. Call the police. Tell them to get to the industrial section and quick. Tell them you heard a gun go off and tell them to be quick.”

 

“What about you?” Worry etched across the young teen's face.

 

Miroku gave his best grin. “Don't worry about me. With the way Sango beats the crap out of me everyday, I think I can handle it. And I've got my mobile, just in case. I'm going to check it out.” With that, he left, jogging down the street towards the creepiest place in the city. Sota watched until he could no longer see the other boy. Gathering his courage, Sota made a mad dash straight for Sango.

 

x.X.x

 

“He Did WHAT???”

 

The messenger cowered in fear by the door as a very pissed off Toga took out his anger on the harmless papers littering his desk. Toga simply couldn't believe it. The day was getting worst by the minute. First Kagome disappears; then his son disappears; then all possible clues in finding the two teenagers lead to dead ends; and now this?

 

Sota Higurashi, missing.

 

Sesshoumaru was the first on the scene. He called in a few minutes ago to forward the details. Apparently the boy had setup a bunch of clothes-filled pillow sheets in a very human-like position and snuck out of his window. Who knew for how long he'd been gone. And now he had another set of people looking out for him as well.

 

Taking deep breaths to calm himself down, Toga dismissed the messenger with a flick of his writs. He sat down at his desk, both hands rubbing the sore spots on his temple. The action did little to sooth away the ache that wouldn't go away.

 

The door to his office swung open again as the previous messenger returned. Toga closed his eyes, trying to keep in his rage so he may hear out what the officer had to say this time.

 

“Sir, we just got an emergency call.” Toga opened his eyes, imploring the messenger to go on. “It's from that Sota kid!” The messenger had his full attention now. “He's at a friend's house for now, but he mentioned something about a gun shot in the industrial section. We got a couple more calls concerning a shot in the same area.”

 

Rising to his full height, Toga got to work. “Call Sesshoumaru. Tell him to meet us there. I want all available squads to be on site, as well as two ambulances. I want the emergency crew to be ready for anything. Got that!?”

 

Snapping to attention, the officer ran out, yelling as many orders as he could without getting anyone confused. Toga grabbed his jacket and keys, checked his firearm, and he was out the door. Somebody needed to be saved and he prayed to the Kamis above that neither his son nor Kagome's name was written on that bullet.

 

x.X.x

x.X.x

 

A.N.

 

Another chapter done. Wow… this one took me a while to come up with. I had started writing the rescue scene when I realized something. What about Kag's family? And Sota: what happened to him after the fight? Miroku and Sango had disappeared for a while so I just had to bring them back. And as for Toga… I'll never get enough of Papa-Inu! lol!!

 

So what did you think? Good, Sucky, or just plain average? Please review, I just might update faster (considering I have some part of the next chapter done…) !!

 

Take care for now, I'll see you next chappy! ^_^

 

Quote: An ounce of mirth is worth a pound of sorrow— Richard Baxter