InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Freedom ❯ Finding Mom ( Chapter 13 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: RozeFire 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Angst / Suspense / Romance / Police / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.31.2003 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.1K | Visits: 2.3K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Angst / Suspense / Romance / Police / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.31.2003 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.1K | Visits: 2.3K | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: I really can't be bothered anymore. See chapter one for more information on how I DON'T own Inuyasha.
(A/N: I'm all home alone now for a change! WOOHOO! No parents for a whole flipping weekend! This calls for houseparties and no homework and lots of takeout pizza!)
The Price of Freedom
Finding Mom
Kikyo grabbed Kagome's arm and started to drag her back towards Naraku's office. Kagome was having none of it though. "Hey! Get your hands off me!" she yanked her arm away. "That's harassment! I could have you done for that!"
"And I will have you done for trespassing, spying and impersonating an agent." Kikyo said coolly.
"Ah..." before she could come up with anything much more intelligent than that she turned tail and ran for her life, trying to remember the way to the entrance.
"Hey! Somebody stop her!" Kikyo was wearing dangerously high heels, it would have been murder for her to give chase after Kagome. She was lucky that only a few even bothered to help Kikyo out.
She shot up the corridor, dodging the occasional guy who tried to rugby tackle her. If she made a single wrong turn then she would be cornered and captured and probably punished. And guessing by the amount of 'terminations' she'd come across in the filing cabinets, she didn't like to think of the many ways they could 'punish' her.
She was coming up the exit and saw the guards standing on either side look up with confusion. "Stop her!" someone shouted from behind and they both braced to catch her.
Kagome was having none of that either, and shook her head. "They're mad! Stop them!"
Obviously they wanted to take 'Kikyo's' word over the men behind her and let her pass through the doors without question.
Kagome shot into the tarmac grounds surrounding the base and started for the gate of the perimeter fence, staggering as she kicked her shoes off as she went.
The men at the gates just stared with puzzled expressions as well. "Forgot my contacts!" Kagome said as they let her past. She was just in time because seconds later, a flood of military men poured out the doors shouting for everyone to stop the spy.
Kagome put on an extra spurt of strength and ran. Fortunately she was running across a smooth tarmac road to the coast, so she didn't have to worry about stepping on anything sharp and hurting her feet. Had it been this easy for Inuyasha to escape? Not likely...
The boat she had used to get on the island was waiting for her - as was Kouga.
"Hurry up!" he called as she scrambled along the pier and into the boat. He had already started the engine in preparation and began to stream through the water at once. They were already a good distance from the pier before the men caught up and began getting in their own boats.
"They're gonna catch us!" Kagome whispered urgently.
"No they won't." Kouga said grimly.
Almost as soon as he's said it there was a giant boom, from behind them that rocked even their own little speedboat. Kagome snapped her head back around to the pier and gaped as flames and smoke engulfed the whole area in an explosion of heat, curling up into a large mushroom in the air. She could feel the heat of the fire even at such a great distance.
"You... you did that?" Kagome whispered.
Kouga didn't answer.
"I guess you liked Inuyasha's idea more than you let on." she said gravely. A deep respect for the people who had just got caught in those flames... but she didn't feel entirely too sorry for them.
^_^
"She said she'd be here by now..." Kagome grumbled as she sat in the bushes with both Inuyasha and Sango.
They'd been sat there since dawn. The moment Kagome had gotten back she'd dragged Inuyasha out of the house and all the way to the start of the highway out of the town. Sango had joined them later... just so Kagome's mother (also known as the taxi) wouldn't get suspicious if Kagome turned up alone with a strange guy.
"Can I just go stretch my legs...?" Sango asked, totally bored out her head.
Kagome poked her head out of the bushes and looked up and down the road. There were no military convoys or jeeps or anyone suspicious looking around yet. "Ok... but be straight back."
Sango rolled her eyes and went to go for a little walk. Kagome glanced sideways at Inuyasha who's expression looked even tighter than it had a minute ago. "What's biting you?"
"Kouga."
She felt that oncoming sense of yet another argument - one which she didn't want to get into. "You really do get jealous and possessive don't you."
"I... no!" he snapped and hunkered down a little more sullenly. "It's just you get all touchy feely with him and stuff, and you expect me to do nothing about it? What about that kiss?"
Kagome blushed at the memory. "What of it?"
"Didn't that mean anything to you?" he scowled at her.
"Yes... no... I mean... I was only showing you remember... I did warn you." She mumbled. "Besides... that doesn't mean that I am your girlfriend or that you own me in any way."
Inuyasha scowled even more deeply. "So that means you can still flirt with every guy you meet?"
"You are SO exaggerating!" Kagome gasped at him. "I don't flirt with Kouga and I don't know many other guys here - and like you know the meaning of the word 'flirt' anyway!"
"I do too!" Inuyasha grouched. "You know very well what touching Kouga does to him - and you still do it! And you do it to me as well - and every other person! Damn... you must even flirt with Sango."
Kagome reddened even more. "Touch is a simple human interaction, Inuyasha. Though I doubt you've encountered much of it."
"I've been touched plenty of times and I've never felt the way I do when you touch me! You do it deliberately!" he snapped.
Kagome blinked at that. She really hadn't known what simple touch had done to him... "I thought you didn't like me touching you..." she said quietly.
"I don't." he said quickly. A little too quickly. Well it was true... when he'd first met her at least. He sighed and looked away, half angry at himself more than at her. "Touch should be bad. It means distance where I come from."
"It can be a blessing as well." Kagome pointed out. "It can bring blossoms to things that decay. My mother always said that."
"Do I decay?" Inuyasha wrinkled his nose.
"Only when you don't shower. You don't exactly blossom either though." She quietly slipped her arm around his shoulders and laid her head down, wondering what it meant when he didn't flinch and push her away. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"How come you're so different?" he frowned slightly, cocking his head slight to rub her cheek against the top of her head. "Why doesn't it bother me when you touch me?"
"Because I'm a girl?" she guessed, amazed at how honest he could be. Of course, he'd probably never had to worry about expressing himself much before.
She felt him lift his head and did the same in response - only to find that her lips all but crashed against his by accident. They both pulled back at the same time, Kagome blushing furiously while Inuyasha just looked confused.
"I think it's cause you're you." He said with a frown like he didn't really trust what he'd said. Kagome smiled and shuffled away a little, eager to get a little distance between them since she seemed to be getting a hot flush all of a sudden.
"What's that?" Inuyasha's ears suddenly pricked forward. "Sounds like a vehicle... but weaker..."
"That's a car." She said quickly and jumped to her feet to peer out of the bush. Sure enough she spotted the black family car heading towards them - definitely her mother. "Come on - put your hat on!"
She trotted out to the road and waved until her mother stopped beside her and wound down the window. "Hi stranger!"
"Hi mom." Kagome hefted her bag over her back. "I want you to meet someone."
Mrs Higurashi looked past her and spotted Inuyasha coming out of the bushes, halfway putting his hat on. At once a small frown appeared on her face. It wasn't like every mother loved to see her daughter stumbled out of bush with a bloke with long white hair.
"This is Inuyasha - Inuyasha this is my mom."
They both sized each other up like fighters before Mrs Higurashi broke out into a natural smile. "Nice to meet you Inuyasha." Though neither were sure whether she meant it.
"You too." Inuyasha nodded and looked at Kagome as if for help.
"He coming to Tokyo too?" her mother asked Kagome.
"Yeah... he's on holiday too and his parents don't mind him coming back with me and Sango."
"Sango coming too?" her mother perked up. "Her father's been having kittens."
Inuyasha looked surprised and Kagome had to quickly whisper "not literally' to assure him.
Sango arrived at that point and waved brightly at Mrs Higurashi. "Hi Mrs Higurashi."
"Hello Sango. Long time no see, eh?"
Sango just smiled and giggled politely as Kagome hurriedly stuffed the other two into the back before anyone drove past and got into the front beside her mother.
Inuyasha and Sango swapped glances before looking out the window again. Neither could believe they'd been suckered into a car full of people for half a day on a drive back to the city.
At least the trip was a little more interesting for Inuyasha who hadn't seen much else other than the coast and the island. The whole scenery on the way back to civilisation was a whole new experience to him. Sango just turned on her Walkman and sang along to her favourite tunes while Kagome discreetly began to read through the files she'd acquired from the institute.
"What're you reading?" her mother asked at one point along the journey.
"Um... just research for... Business Studies." Kagome lied quickly.
"Goodness Kagome, you haven't been back from your holiday for two hours before you start doing homework." She laughed softly.
"Yeah, that's me. Workaholic." Kagome carried on reading hurriedly, trying to identify which surrogate mother could be Inuyasha's.
^_^
" At least fifteen of these women actually live in Tokyo... spread out in different districts here and there and... would you please focus?" Kagome snapped at Inuyasha who was hanging out her window again. She tapped the files spread out on her desk angrily. "Don't you want to find you mother?"
"I do but... wow... this place is amazing..." he leaned further out. "So many people and vehicles... so many trees - and how come you never said you lived in a house that people worshipped?"
"It's a shrine, Inuyasha..." she sighed, she'd explained this before. "Come on! We have to concentrate here or we'll never secure your freedom. They could still find us! They know my name - it's only a matter of time before they track me here and find you as well."
"Ok, ok..." he sat down on the bed Indian style and looked around at the objects in her room.
"Ok... we have to narrow the search...when were you born?"
"What has that got to do with anything?" he frowned, shifting his gaze back to her.
"It means I can find which one your mother is by the date of when she gave birth."
"Oh... well... they said I was a... nineteen eighty five." He did the math. "Which means I'm seventeen..."
"Ok... nineteen eighty-five..." she rifled through the files, discarding the ones that didn't have that date. There were only three left. "What month?"
"No idea."
"You don't know when your birthday is?" Kagome seemed surprised.
"Not really." He shrugged and smirked.
"Come take a look at these then." She gestured him forward and he complied, leaning over her shoulder to see the files. "Does any of them ring a bell?"
"Um..." the photos didn't remind him of anything special. None of the faces were familiar, neither were the descriptions. One had been terminated after the birth and the other two were still alive...except there was one difference. "These two - the infant died two and four years after it was born. I'm the only seventeen year old Inu... so this has to be her."
He pointed to the remaining file, looking at the photo in a new light.
Kagome smiled. "She's pretty."
"She's too young." He frowned. "She looks younger than me."
"This was taken seventeen years ago." Kagome pointed out. "It says she was sixteen here... so she should be about thirty-three by now. Lives in the Yakara district... that's about a twenty minute trip if we go by the tube."
"Can we go now?" Inuyasha asked bluntly.
"Well we just got back and I'm pretty tired..." she caught his intent look. "But I'm sure Mom won't mind if we slip off for a while."
^_^
Kagom e hadn't anticipated how difficult going on the tube would be for Inuyasha. He had a perpetually angry expression the whole way. People were crammed against them from all sides - and while Kagome had been crushed up to Inuyasha with a major blush - Inuyasha had tried to strain away from all the people around him. Kagome could have been imagining it, but he kept shooting dirty looks to the man who his back up against hers.
When they were off he looked distinctly happier.
"Here we are... Yakara district..." she looked around appreciatively. "Mom thought we could move here because of the nice suburbs... but Grandpa didn't really like he idea of giving up the shrine - I mean, it's been in our family for generations."
"Which way now?" he looked around. His mother certainly had done very well for herself if she lived in such a nice area like this. It was crowded like the rest of Tokyo, but had clean streets and the houses looked neat and tidy - and there were less people walking the streets than in other areas.
"Um..." Kagome checked the file. "It says that she's moved twice... and her current address since nineteen ninety five is down that way."
Kagome pointed and Inuyasha headed off at once, Kagome had to all but run to keep up with him. The house wasn't actually that far from the tube station and when they stopped in front of a rather nice looking house, they had doubts on whether or not they'd come to the right place or not.
"This is the place." Kagome consulted the file again before putting it away. "Yashira Koshi."
"I was named after her." He glanced at Kagome. "The Yasha part, anyway."
"Here goes nothing." They both took a deep breath. "Let's go."
Neither of them moved in any way, and they eventually swapped nervous looks. Kagome shuffled her feet. "You wanna knock?"
"No..."
At least he was still as honest as ever. Kagome sighed and slowly went up the steps to the door and knocked politely.
"Who is it?" a woman's voice cam from within.
"Hi... I'm Kagome Higurashi... I'd like to talk to you please." She called back.
The door opened and Kagome stepped back slightly to see the woman within. She looked just like the photo... except her face was no long soft with youth, but looked older and more beautiful. Once glance back at Inuyasha told Kagome that he was stumped.
"Do I know you?" Yashira asked with a kind smile.
"Are you Yashira Koshi...?"
"Yes." She nodded, glancing from her to Inuyasha and then back again, clearly waiting for the reason why she'd been called away from her cleaning.
"Yashira Koshi... from the Central Science Laboratory?" Kagome asked slowly.
"Uh... no." the woman shook her head politely, her smile still holding. "I don't know any science laboratory."
Of course. She wouldn't just admit stuff like that if it depended on her life that she kept it to herself.
"It's ok... we know about what happened and-"
The door was suddenly slammed in her face and Kagome found her nose only millimetres from the wood that almost could have broken her nose. She gaped at the door and then at Inuyasha before getting a little annoyed. "Hey! We came all the way from the coast to talk to you! The least you could do is give us a cup of coffee!"
"Go away!" came a short reply.
"We're not the bad guys, Miss Koshi!" Kagome called through the door again. "We need your help to free your son."
There was a long pause before the door opened a crack again. "How is it you know all this."
"Because I am trying to help your son be free," Kagome looked back at Inuyasha.
The older woman took the hint and stepped slowly out of the door to look down at Inuyasha. She stared at him openly, taking in his hair and eyes and features of his face. "What happened to your ears?"
"They grew out." Inuyasha tugged his cap off for her to see them and she gasped. Kagome realised that he mustn't have been born that way.
"Y-you... really are..." she had to grip the rail of the steps to keep her knees firm. "What is your name?"
"Inuyasha."
"A slave name." She narrowed her eyes sadly and frowned. "They oppress you?"
"They used to." Inuyasha responded.
"Please..." Kagome whispered softly. "We need you to help us free them all. If you could just only go to the authorities then-"
"I'm sorry - I can't help you." Inuyasha's mother cut in sharply. "They will kill me if I go to the police - they will know - they are higher up the chain than the petty authorities. There is no way I can help you. I'm sorry."
Rather abruptly she walked back in the house and shut the door on them. Kagome was a little stunned again and descended the steps to Inuyasha who was still staring at the door. "Ok... that didn't go well... maybe we should try one of the other mothers instead and then come back to see her later-"
"No." Inuyasha said shortly.
"Why?" Kagome frowned.
"If my own mother won't save me then why should these other strange women risk their lives either." He snapped.
Kagome winced. Put like that it sounded like the whole world was against him... which it basically was.
"I won't give up yet." She said firmly and started searching for another address.
(A/N: next chapter - 'Obtaining the Evidence')
(A/N: I'm all home alone now for a change! WOOHOO! No parents for a whole flipping weekend! This calls for houseparties and no homework and lots of takeout pizza!)
The Price of Freedom
Finding Mom
Kikyo grabbed Kagome's arm and started to drag her back towards Naraku's office. Kagome was having none of it though. "Hey! Get your hands off me!" she yanked her arm away. "That's harassment! I could have you done for that!"
"And I will have you done for trespassing, spying and impersonating an agent." Kikyo said coolly.
"Ah..." before she could come up with anything much more intelligent than that she turned tail and ran for her life, trying to remember the way to the entrance.
"Hey! Somebody stop her!" Kikyo was wearing dangerously high heels, it would have been murder for her to give chase after Kagome. She was lucky that only a few even bothered to help Kikyo out.
She shot up the corridor, dodging the occasional guy who tried to rugby tackle her. If she made a single wrong turn then she would be cornered and captured and probably punished. And guessing by the amount of 'terminations' she'd come across in the filing cabinets, she didn't like to think of the many ways they could 'punish' her.
She was coming up the exit and saw the guards standing on either side look up with confusion. "Stop her!" someone shouted from behind and they both braced to catch her.
Kagome was having none of that either, and shook her head. "They're mad! Stop them!"
Obviously they wanted to take 'Kikyo's' word over the men behind her and let her pass through the doors without question.
Kagome shot into the tarmac grounds surrounding the base and started for the gate of the perimeter fence, staggering as she kicked her shoes off as she went.
The men at the gates just stared with puzzled expressions as well. "Forgot my contacts!" Kagome said as they let her past. She was just in time because seconds later, a flood of military men poured out the doors shouting for everyone to stop the spy.
Kagome put on an extra spurt of strength and ran. Fortunately she was running across a smooth tarmac road to the coast, so she didn't have to worry about stepping on anything sharp and hurting her feet. Had it been this easy for Inuyasha to escape? Not likely...
The boat she had used to get on the island was waiting for her - as was Kouga.
"Hurry up!" he called as she scrambled along the pier and into the boat. He had already started the engine in preparation and began to stream through the water at once. They were already a good distance from the pier before the men caught up and began getting in their own boats.
"They're gonna catch us!" Kagome whispered urgently.
"No they won't." Kouga said grimly.
Almost as soon as he's said it there was a giant boom, from behind them that rocked even their own little speedboat. Kagome snapped her head back around to the pier and gaped as flames and smoke engulfed the whole area in an explosion of heat, curling up into a large mushroom in the air. She could feel the heat of the fire even at such a great distance.
"You... you did that?" Kagome whispered.
Kouga didn't answer.
"I guess you liked Inuyasha's idea more than you let on." she said gravely. A deep respect for the people who had just got caught in those flames... but she didn't feel entirely too sorry for them.
^_^
"She said she'd be here by now..." Kagome grumbled as she sat in the bushes with both Inuyasha and Sango.
They'd been sat there since dawn. The moment Kagome had gotten back she'd dragged Inuyasha out of the house and all the way to the start of the highway out of the town. Sango had joined them later... just so Kagome's mother (also known as the taxi) wouldn't get suspicious if Kagome turned up alone with a strange guy.
"Can I just go stretch my legs...?" Sango asked, totally bored out her head.
Kagome poked her head out of the bushes and looked up and down the road. There were no military convoys or jeeps or anyone suspicious looking around yet. "Ok... but be straight back."
Sango rolled her eyes and went to go for a little walk. Kagome glanced sideways at Inuyasha who's expression looked even tighter than it had a minute ago. "What's biting you?"
"Kouga."
She felt that oncoming sense of yet another argument - one which she didn't want to get into. "You really do get jealous and possessive don't you."
"I... no!" he snapped and hunkered down a little more sullenly. "It's just you get all touchy feely with him and stuff, and you expect me to do nothing about it? What about that kiss?"
Kagome blushed at the memory. "What of it?"
"Didn't that mean anything to you?" he scowled at her.
"Yes... no... I mean... I was only showing you remember... I did warn you." She mumbled. "Besides... that doesn't mean that I am your girlfriend or that you own me in any way."
Inuyasha scowled even more deeply. "So that means you can still flirt with every guy you meet?"
"You are SO exaggerating!" Kagome gasped at him. "I don't flirt with Kouga and I don't know many other guys here - and like you know the meaning of the word 'flirt' anyway!"
"I do too!" Inuyasha grouched. "You know very well what touching Kouga does to him - and you still do it! And you do it to me as well - and every other person! Damn... you must even flirt with Sango."
Kagome reddened even more. "Touch is a simple human interaction, Inuyasha. Though I doubt you've encountered much of it."
"I've been touched plenty of times and I've never felt the way I do when you touch me! You do it deliberately!" he snapped.
Kagome blinked at that. She really hadn't known what simple touch had done to him... "I thought you didn't like me touching you..." she said quietly.
"I don't." he said quickly. A little too quickly. Well it was true... when he'd first met her at least. He sighed and looked away, half angry at himself more than at her. "Touch should be bad. It means distance where I come from."
"It can be a blessing as well." Kagome pointed out. "It can bring blossoms to things that decay. My mother always said that."
"Do I decay?" Inuyasha wrinkled his nose.
"Only when you don't shower. You don't exactly blossom either though." She quietly slipped her arm around his shoulders and laid her head down, wondering what it meant when he didn't flinch and push her away. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"How come you're so different?" he frowned slightly, cocking his head slight to rub her cheek against the top of her head. "Why doesn't it bother me when you touch me?"
"Because I'm a girl?" she guessed, amazed at how honest he could be. Of course, he'd probably never had to worry about expressing himself much before.
She felt him lift his head and did the same in response - only to find that her lips all but crashed against his by accident. They both pulled back at the same time, Kagome blushing furiously while Inuyasha just looked confused.
"I think it's cause you're you." He said with a frown like he didn't really trust what he'd said. Kagome smiled and shuffled away a little, eager to get a little distance between them since she seemed to be getting a hot flush all of a sudden.
"What's that?" Inuyasha's ears suddenly pricked forward. "Sounds like a vehicle... but weaker..."
"That's a car." She said quickly and jumped to her feet to peer out of the bush. Sure enough she spotted the black family car heading towards them - definitely her mother. "Come on - put your hat on!"
She trotted out to the road and waved until her mother stopped beside her and wound down the window. "Hi stranger!"
"Hi mom." Kagome hefted her bag over her back. "I want you to meet someone."
Mrs Higurashi looked past her and spotted Inuyasha coming out of the bushes, halfway putting his hat on. At once a small frown appeared on her face. It wasn't like every mother loved to see her daughter stumbled out of bush with a bloke with long white hair.
"This is Inuyasha - Inuyasha this is my mom."
They both sized each other up like fighters before Mrs Higurashi broke out into a natural smile. "Nice to meet you Inuyasha." Though neither were sure whether she meant it.
"You too." Inuyasha nodded and looked at Kagome as if for help.
"He coming to Tokyo too?" her mother asked Kagome.
"Yeah... he's on holiday too and his parents don't mind him coming back with me and Sango."
"Sango coming too?" her mother perked up. "Her father's been having kittens."
Inuyasha looked surprised and Kagome had to quickly whisper "not literally' to assure him.
Sango arrived at that point and waved brightly at Mrs Higurashi. "Hi Mrs Higurashi."
"Hello Sango. Long time no see, eh?"
Sango just smiled and giggled politely as Kagome hurriedly stuffed the other two into the back before anyone drove past and got into the front beside her mother.
Inuyasha and Sango swapped glances before looking out the window again. Neither could believe they'd been suckered into a car full of people for half a day on a drive back to the city.
At least the trip was a little more interesting for Inuyasha who hadn't seen much else other than the coast and the island. The whole scenery on the way back to civilisation was a whole new experience to him. Sango just turned on her Walkman and sang along to her favourite tunes while Kagome discreetly began to read through the files she'd acquired from the institute.
"What're you reading?" her mother asked at one point along the journey.
"Um... just research for... Business Studies." Kagome lied quickly.
"Goodness Kagome, you haven't been back from your holiday for two hours before you start doing homework." She laughed softly.
"Yeah, that's me. Workaholic." Kagome carried on reading hurriedly, trying to identify which surrogate mother could be Inuyasha's.
^_^
" At least fifteen of these women actually live in Tokyo... spread out in different districts here and there and... would you please focus?" Kagome snapped at Inuyasha who was hanging out her window again. She tapped the files spread out on her desk angrily. "Don't you want to find you mother?"
"I do but... wow... this place is amazing..." he leaned further out. "So many people and vehicles... so many trees - and how come you never said you lived in a house that people worshipped?"
"It's a shrine, Inuyasha..." she sighed, she'd explained this before. "Come on! We have to concentrate here or we'll never secure your freedom. They could still find us! They know my name - it's only a matter of time before they track me here and find you as well."
"Ok, ok..." he sat down on the bed Indian style and looked around at the objects in her room.
"Ok... we have to narrow the search...when were you born?"
"What has that got to do with anything?" he frowned, shifting his gaze back to her.
"It means I can find which one your mother is by the date of when she gave birth."
"Oh... well... they said I was a... nineteen eighty five." He did the math. "Which means I'm seventeen..."
"Ok... nineteen eighty-five..." she rifled through the files, discarding the ones that didn't have that date. There were only three left. "What month?"
"No idea."
"You don't know when your birthday is?" Kagome seemed surprised.
"Not really." He shrugged and smirked.
"Come take a look at these then." She gestured him forward and he complied, leaning over her shoulder to see the files. "Does any of them ring a bell?"
"Um..." the photos didn't remind him of anything special. None of the faces were familiar, neither were the descriptions. One had been terminated after the birth and the other two were still alive...except there was one difference. "These two - the infant died two and four years after it was born. I'm the only seventeen year old Inu... so this has to be her."
He pointed to the remaining file, looking at the photo in a new light.
Kagome smiled. "She's pretty."
"She's too young." He frowned. "She looks younger than me."
"This was taken seventeen years ago." Kagome pointed out. "It says she was sixteen here... so she should be about thirty-three by now. Lives in the Yakara district... that's about a twenty minute trip if we go by the tube."
"Can we go now?" Inuyasha asked bluntly.
"Well we just got back and I'm pretty tired..." she caught his intent look. "But I'm sure Mom won't mind if we slip off for a while."
^_^
Kagom e hadn't anticipated how difficult going on the tube would be for Inuyasha. He had a perpetually angry expression the whole way. People were crammed against them from all sides - and while Kagome had been crushed up to Inuyasha with a major blush - Inuyasha had tried to strain away from all the people around him. Kagome could have been imagining it, but he kept shooting dirty looks to the man who his back up against hers.
When they were off he looked distinctly happier.
"Here we are... Yakara district..." she looked around appreciatively. "Mom thought we could move here because of the nice suburbs... but Grandpa didn't really like he idea of giving up the shrine - I mean, it's been in our family for generations."
"Which way now?" he looked around. His mother certainly had done very well for herself if she lived in such a nice area like this. It was crowded like the rest of Tokyo, but had clean streets and the houses looked neat and tidy - and there were less people walking the streets than in other areas.
"Um..." Kagome checked the file. "It says that she's moved twice... and her current address since nineteen ninety five is down that way."
Kagome pointed and Inuyasha headed off at once, Kagome had to all but run to keep up with him. The house wasn't actually that far from the tube station and when they stopped in front of a rather nice looking house, they had doubts on whether or not they'd come to the right place or not.
"This is the place." Kagome consulted the file again before putting it away. "Yashira Koshi."
"I was named after her." He glanced at Kagome. "The Yasha part, anyway."
"Here goes nothing." They both took a deep breath. "Let's go."
Neither of them moved in any way, and they eventually swapped nervous looks. Kagome shuffled her feet. "You wanna knock?"
"No..."
At least he was still as honest as ever. Kagome sighed and slowly went up the steps to the door and knocked politely.
"Who is it?" a woman's voice cam from within.
"Hi... I'm Kagome Higurashi... I'd like to talk to you please." She called back.
The door opened and Kagome stepped back slightly to see the woman within. She looked just like the photo... except her face was no long soft with youth, but looked older and more beautiful. Once glance back at Inuyasha told Kagome that he was stumped.
"Do I know you?" Yashira asked with a kind smile.
"Are you Yashira Koshi...?"
"Yes." She nodded, glancing from her to Inuyasha and then back again, clearly waiting for the reason why she'd been called away from her cleaning.
"Yashira Koshi... from the Central Science Laboratory?" Kagome asked slowly.
"Uh... no." the woman shook her head politely, her smile still holding. "I don't know any science laboratory."
Of course. She wouldn't just admit stuff like that if it depended on her life that she kept it to herself.
"It's ok... we know about what happened and-"
The door was suddenly slammed in her face and Kagome found her nose only millimetres from the wood that almost could have broken her nose. She gaped at the door and then at Inuyasha before getting a little annoyed. "Hey! We came all the way from the coast to talk to you! The least you could do is give us a cup of coffee!"
"Go away!" came a short reply.
"We're not the bad guys, Miss Koshi!" Kagome called through the door again. "We need your help to free your son."
There was a long pause before the door opened a crack again. "How is it you know all this."
"Because I am trying to help your son be free," Kagome looked back at Inuyasha.
The older woman took the hint and stepped slowly out of the door to look down at Inuyasha. She stared at him openly, taking in his hair and eyes and features of his face. "What happened to your ears?"
"They grew out." Inuyasha tugged his cap off for her to see them and she gasped. Kagome realised that he mustn't have been born that way.
"Y-you... really are..." she had to grip the rail of the steps to keep her knees firm. "What is your name?"
"Inuyasha."
"A slave name." She narrowed her eyes sadly and frowned. "They oppress you?"
"They used to." Inuyasha responded.
"Please..." Kagome whispered softly. "We need you to help us free them all. If you could just only go to the authorities then-"
"I'm sorry - I can't help you." Inuyasha's mother cut in sharply. "They will kill me if I go to the police - they will know - they are higher up the chain than the petty authorities. There is no way I can help you. I'm sorry."
Rather abruptly she walked back in the house and shut the door on them. Kagome was a little stunned again and descended the steps to Inuyasha who was still staring at the door. "Ok... that didn't go well... maybe we should try one of the other mothers instead and then come back to see her later-"
"No." Inuyasha said shortly.
"Why?" Kagome frowned.
"If my own mother won't save me then why should these other strange women risk their lives either." He snapped.
Kagome winced. Put like that it sounded like the whole world was against him... which it basically was.
"I won't give up yet." She said firmly and started searching for another address.
(A/N: next chapter - 'Obtaining the Evidence')