InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sexy Baby ❯ Chapter 6
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: mookaball 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.12.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 7.7K | Visits: 557 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.12.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 7.7K | Visits: 557 | Status: Completed
Chapter 6
The dark, grey room she was sitting in was quiet…too quiet. There weren’t any lights, and there was only one window that didn’t even lead to the outside world. She knew it was a two-way mirror where more people staring at her from outside the interrogation room she was sitting in. It had been almost sixteen hours since Kagome was arrested and still she refused to talk. Instead, she just sat. She sat at the metal table in front of her and played with her fingers while a female detective paced back and forth in front of her.
“Can you tell me about yourself, Kagome?” She asked.
Kagome looked up at the woman; her hair was disheveled and hid half of her face. Since she was put into custody, she shut down. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t do anything…she just stared. Because she didn’t have any parents or legal guardian to represent her, there was no way for the police to make her talk unless she willingly opened her mouth.
“I know you aren’t a bad person honey…what’s written in this report, I’m sure it isn’t you. It’s just a small piece of something you have done. So tell me about you…who are you?” The detective seemed like a nice woman, thought Kagome wouldn’t allow herself to succumb to trusting her. She went half her life trusting no one and she wasn’t about to start now.
But Kagome smirked at the question she was asked. “Who am I, you say…?” She said in a low whisper. “Who am I? I am nobody…who are you? Are you nobody too?”
The statement she made slightly moved the lady detective; it was a shockingly creepy rhyme. “W-what do you mean?” Kagome didn’t answer her; she began her unending starting contest with the detective again. The detective sighed, “Well…you do have the right to remain silent. But, I cannot help you if you don’t talk to me.”
Kagome placed both her hands on the table and used it to push off of to get on her feet. She leaned over the table to get in the detectives face, though she was still several feet away from her. “You don’t want to help me…you want to help yourself.”
“You don’t really believe that do you, Kagome?” The detective opened the file on Kagome that was in her hands and started reading some of what was inside. “You started working for an internet porn site in your early sixteenth year, you got involved with one of your high school teachers…as for as this report goes, all I’m seeing is that you’re the victim here. If you tell me what happened, you can be out of here scott-free. But you have to work with me…”
She tilted her head, “What do you want me to say? That like a deer in headlights, I got caught up in this shit!? That my lack of parental guidance caused me to lose my mind and I went looking anywhere to find some form of love because I was lacking it in my life? That, because I never had love, I started looking in the direction of sex to fill the void? Is that the type of answer you are looking for detective?”
“Honey, I’m looking for the facts. I don’t want to have to throw you in jail to get them. Are you afraid to tell me? Is someone threatening you to keep quiet? Where are your parents? How come no one knew any of this was going on?”
Kagome started laughing, “You think I’m scared of someone?” She stopped laughing and became serious again, “Listen, I may only be sixteen years old, but I have seen a lot of shit and done a lot of the same shit. I don’t spend my life being afraid of people. No one knew what was happening in my life because I didn’t want them to know; and for the record, I have no parents. My mother is dead…and my father is dead to me.” Kagome stood up once more, “I did what I did to survive in this world! I did what I did to get what I needed in this fucked up thing the rest of this world calls a life. And you know what else…? If I had to do it all again, I would…exactly the same way. Put that in my file.”
The detective sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She didn’t know what else she could do or say to the girl to pump her for more information. Kagome talked, but she never said anything that could be deemed useful in court. “I can’t help a person who is not willing to help themselves. If you don’t want to help me, help you…I have no choice but to have you put back behind bars until you’re ready to talk.” She said while pulling out another pair of handcuffs and snapping them on Kagome’s wrists.
-X-
The two school arrests did nothing but spark up rumors in the school. People hounded Miroku for information because she was the only person she ever really talked to. But alas, he knew nothing; and even if he did, he wouldn’t dare sell out his best friend. Kagome’s business was her business. Though, he wished she had come to him sooner about things that were going on. Maybe this could have been prevented. Now, here he was sitting in the cafeteria with an empty seat in front of him. Miroku wished that he could have an opportunity just to speak with her, just to make sure she was okay. Knowing his only long term friend was in custody and there was nothing he could do about it drove him mad.
“I can’t stand this anymore!” He yelled while squeezing open a can of soda. The can was crushed and there was a mess of cola all over the table. “Damnit…”
“Hey, is everything okay?”
Miroku looked up from the mess he caused and saw Inuyasha standing across from his table offering the napkin in his hand. Reluctantly, Miroku took it and starting wiping up the spilled soda. “What do you think?” He asked with malice in his voice.
“I was just being civil, what are you snapping at me for?” Inuyasha asked.
“Because, this is all your fault!” Miroku snapped at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, “I’m pretty sure I didn’t choke the life out of your drink just now. But if blaming me for it makes you feel better, I’ll go buy you another one. Will that make you forgive me?” He replied sarcastically.
“You know damn well I’m not talking about the soda! I’m talking about Kagome. She was arrested yesterday and I know you had something to do with it. But here you are, walking around all high and mighty like you don’t even care!”
“Hey look, ease up.” Inuyasha sat down at the table and started talking more quietly because Miroku’s outburst was attracting a crowd. “I had nothing to do with Kagome’s arrest yesterday and to be quite frank; I’m just as concerned about her as you. Violent or not, I do actually like the girl. That’s the reason I put up with her. But her conviction is out of my hands, so what is the point of beating yourself up about it?”
“What’s the point? The point is that my best friend whom would never hurt a fly is being charged for things she couldn’t have possibly done. Delinquency, elude and explicit behavior…Kagome wouldn’t have done things like that!”
“Actually…” Inuyasha interrupted his monologue.
Miroku shot Inuyasha a set of death glares, “What do you know about this?”
Inuyasha sighed; he knew this wasn’t his business to tell. But how was he supposed tell Miroku that when here he was sitting right in front of him waiting for an answer on his best friend. “Kagome and I were talking once…”
“Talking? Ha, is that code for screwing her brains out!? Don’t make me laugh!?”
Inuyasha smirked, “Well, I did screw her brains out if that’s what you wanted to know. But no, talking was code for exactly that…TALKING. So like I said, we were talking once and she mentioned to me how she got caught up in something really bad. I assume you already know that Kagome was struggling really hard to make ends meet, right?”
“Of course I know that! But she told me she got a really nice paying part time job and all of her struggles were over.” Miroku exclaimed.
“Did she ever tell you that part time job was working for an internet porn website?”
Miroku’s eyes widened, “No way! I don’t believe you, you’re lying! She wouldn’t do anything like that!”
“The job advertised for site modeling…she didn’t know it would eventually lead to what it led to. She kept that secret from everyone…even you.”
“So how do you know!? Explain to me how you would know this and I didn’t?” Miroku was becoming more excited than necessary.
“Look, I’ll tell you anything you want to know provided I have the information to pass. But you have got to calm down if you want me to tell you what I know…” Miroku nodded his head, “I know about that day she came onto you.”
Miroku seemed taken aback that Inuyasha would know about that day. It never occurred to him that before she would try to reconcile what was left of their friendship, Kagome would go and air her dirty laundry to someone she hardly knew. “She told you about that day…?” He asked.
“That and a lot of other stuff too. But I’ll get into that. You see, Kagome and I were sort of on an enemies with benefits level before that day she tried to have sex with you. But she was also going through something on her own…which was the double life she was living. Someone found out about her double life and was blackmailing her; threatening to tell her secret unless she did sexual favors for them. I’m assuming she began to get really depressed. She believed there was no way out of the life she was living and she looked anywhere for some amount of comfort.”
“…that’s when she came to me.” Miroku started putting pieces together thinking back on what Kagome was saying to him that day.
"I wish I could believe that…but nothing good ever seems to come to me. I just…I don't know what to do at this point. All I want is for that one person to see that I need them, they can save me from my troubles and haul me away to a better place and live a happily ever after. I deserve that much…don't I?
“She tried to tell me…but I pushed her away,” Miroku looked Inuyasha in the eye, “This is all my fault.”
Inuyasha shook his head, “No, don’t believe that. I’m not even finished yet. Besides, even if she was trying to tell you, she was going about it the wrong way. She was trying to relay a message to you through sex, I doubt she was ever going to tell you that day at all. Otherwise, instead of running off after you stopped her from coming onto you, she would have told you right then and there. But let me finished, after she left you…she came to me after I had just gotten finished with one of my other girls. She begged me to help her out of her situation, with the porn industry, her blackmailing. Her mouth was running like water because she needed someone to guide her through the process of getting help. I think that because she was so depressed and upset with her life that it was messing with her mentally and she didn’t know who to turn to.
“Did she ever tell you who was blackmailing her?” Miroku asked but Inuyasha shook his head no.
“She said she wasn’t ready to tell me that part yet. But I’ll bet that had something to do with Mr. Onigumo getting arrested as well.”
Miroku nodded in agreement, “The way she freaked on him in the classroom when the cops were taking her proves it. But why would he call the cops on her? If he really was the blackmailer, wouldn’t turning Kagome in potentially put him at fault if Kagome told on him?”
“Much like she did yesterday, exactly? Which is why something doesn’t add up. Someone else had to know about Kagome and would have had to turn her in…but whom? Who else did she tell?” Inuyasha started thinking to himself, but alas, he was stumped. He hadn’t known Kagome too, too long for him to learn everyone she associated herself with.
“I think I have a possible, thought…but I’m going out on a limb.”
--
Sango was sitting in the library for her free period looking over some notes for a test she had in the class right after this. However, two shadow figures stepped in front of her and started blocking her light and distracted her from her studies. She looked up and to her knowledge she only knew one of them.
“Um…can I help you?” She asked, utterly confused as to why it looked like they were about to have an intervention on her.
“You’re Sango right,” Inuyasha asked rather forcefully.
“Yea…that’s the name on my birth certificate.”
Miroku stepped in front of Inuyasha fearing that he might scare the girl away, “We’ve been looking all over for you, Sango.”
“Well…here I am, what’s wrong?” She asked while closing her text book.
“You’re friends with Kagome, right? Or that’s what you claim to be!” Inuyasha said.
Sango furrowed her brows, “I know her…are we friends? Uhh, more or less. Look, if this was about her getting arrested yesterday, I can’t help you.”
“If you didn’t have anything to do with it, how did you know that’s what we were going to ask you about?” Inuyasha accused and Sango raised her eyebrows.
“Inuyasha, it’s been the talk of the school since yesterday when it happened. Everyone knows about it. I said, I was going out on a limb when mentioning Sango’s name. That wasn’t your queue to begin an interrogation, Inuyasha!” Miroku chided.
Sango stood up and folded her arms, “You two came here to interrogate me? And what exactly did I do?”
“You called the police on Kagome, that’s what you did. You are the only other person that she talked to about her personal life!” Inuyasha yelled.
“Um, no I didn’t. I didn’t even know she was arrested until I saw the news last night. Besides, how could I have called the cops on her, when the reasons that she was charged for…I had no idea she did.”
“Says anyone who doesn’t want to classified as a snitch!”
Sango rolled her eyes at Inuyasha, “When I talked to her, all she told me was that she got into a bar with a fake ID, me some guy named Inuyasha…whom I’m assuming is you.” She said while gesturing towards him, “You two did the nasty, the next day you called her easy, she got mad and hit you. That was all we talked about.”
Miroku nodded his head, “I believe you…”
“Seriously? You bought that load of bull shit!?” Inuyasha snapped. “It’s obvious that she’s lying! She’s the only other person that came in close contact with Kagome! It has to be her!”
Miroku shoved Inuyasha, “Shut up, Inuyasha! It wasn’t her! Someone did sell her out, but it wasn’t Sango!”
“Who else could it be then?” Inuyasha said while pushing Miroku back, but harder. The two guys got into each other’s faces.
Sango squeezed herself in between the two of them to prevent a fight. “I didn’t know anything about Kagome and the porn and whatever else she got involved in. But if you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask her yourself. Go to the police station…talk to her. Find out what she knows, I’ll bet, at a time like this…she could really use her friend and boyfriend.”
Inuyasha seemed a little uncomfortable at that comment, “We uh…aren’t together, in that way.”
“You’re seeing her though, am I right?”
“Yes, well…more or less.”
“Then, that counts for something. Obviously, if you didn’t care to some extent…you wouldn’t be here right now jumping down my throat. Am I right? And you…” Sango said while turning to Miroku, “You’re her oldest friend. You mean so much to her, and I know the feeling is mutual”
Miroku leaned up against a book shelf, “She doesn’t want to see my face. We haven’t even spoken since…” He stopped, “I can’t keep thinking this is somehow my fault.”
“Dude, it’s not your fault. I told you that.”
“But if I never pushed her away that day, I feel like none of this would have happened.”
“Look, it doesn’t matter whose fault it is, how it happened, or why. What matter’s right now is what is, and the fact that it did happen so we have to live with it. You want my advice, go to her. Talk to her, see what she has to say about all of this. After all…she is the one person who can give you the most answers.”
Both Miroku and Inuyasha agreed, and Sango was right. Sitting around, pointing the finger at different people wasn’t going to help Kagome. Rather they found out who went to the police or not, that wasn’t going to get Kagome out of custody. They had to work together to help her, and the first stop…was to go straight to the source.
-X-
“I always thought being in a jail cell would be a lot more dramatic than it actually it is. I wouldn’t mind staying here; it’s like a little mini vacation with ugly clothes, a hard bed and no sunlight. It’s livable though…free to eat, free to sleep. This is a lot better than the life I was struggling to have.”
“You don’t mean that, Kagome. And you don’t have to force yourself to watch what you say around me. I’m your lawyer…I’m on your side.” A man said from the outside of the metal bars.
Kagome was leaning her body weight on the jail cell bars. She was so thin that her arms, and legs fit right in between them. She looked even more messed up than she did when she first arrived to the police station. Since she had no family to get her out on bail, she was forced to stay in police custody until her trial.
“You aren’t on my side. You’re my public defender…you get paid rather the judge is in favor to me or not. So you can take your fake sympathy and shove it!”
“Kagome, the judge will be in favor of you if you just cooperate. Child porn is illegal regardless and no one can hold you entirely responsible for doing it because of your age. Possession of a fake ID or not, it is the job of the companies to make sure they aren’t hiring underage actors, which you were.”
“I wasn’t forced to do it…I choose to. I signed the paper work, it was my decision.” Kagome replied.
“And at the age of sixteen, you weren’t legal to many that decision on your own anyway. Any paper that you sign before the age of eighteen is void. No one can legally bind you to anything without parental consent, which you don’t have. And in this particular situation, it wouldn’t matter if you had it or not because child pornography is illegal regardless.” Her layer said.
Kagome rolled her eyes and unraveled herself from the cell bars. She then sat on the one inch thick piece of fabric that was supposed to be her bed. “My life is an absolute tragedy…I really am nobody.”
“You’re not nobody, you are Kagome, it’s who you are…”
“Yea, Kagome…the one I hate and hate being. I feel more like nobody. I should be nobody.”
“Hey, there’s someone here to see you.” A security guard said from a distance and moments later in walked someone Kagome wasn’t ready to face quite yet.
“What are you doing here?” She said. “Get out of here, I don’t want to see your face…traitor.”
“I’ll leave you two alone for a bit,” Kagome’s lawyer said while leaving the room.
Inuyasha took a moment to scope around his surroundings. “Wow…so this is prison?” He said.
“No…this is police custody. Prison is something else…”
He sighed while taking in the appearance of the girl in front of him. She looked paler, her eyes were baggy and dark, she looked thinner and her hair was all over her head. “You look…terrible, Kagome.”
Kagome raised an eyebrow, “Tell me what you want…before I scream.”
“I came to see how you were doing. And I hope you would finally be willing to open up and tell me what’s going on.” Inuyasha replied.
“I told you everything you need to know.”
“No you didn’t,” Another voice came through, and momentarily, Miroku walked up from behind Inuyasha, “You told him…us, what you wanted us to know. Not what we need to know.”
“Why don’t you just turn on the news? I heard they’re shedding some nice light to what’s going on in my life! Sure would love to know where they are getting their facts from though!” She spat.
“Kagome…neither one of us is judging you.” Miroku said.
“Is that’s what you came here to tell me? Because you said it, now can you be on your way?”
“That’s not why we’re here. We came here to get the missing puzzle pieces to the jigsaw puzzle that is this mess you’ve gotten into.”
“Just because that’s what you came here for…doesn’t those are the answers you are going to leave here with.”
“Kagome, stop!” Inuyasha said, “You need to pull yourself together and talk to the people you can actually trust.”
Kagome chuckled, “I trust no one…especially not you!”
“What the hell did I do?” Inuyasha asked.
“Do you not see me!? You’re there and I’m here! How do you think I got here? Someone called the cops on me! Who was it!? Certainly not me! I’m 99% sure it wasn’t Naraku! Miroku didn’t know anything so who else is here!?” She screamed and eventually, started to fight off tears. “I t-…I trusted you, and you threw it in my face. You are NOTHING to me Inuyasha! A-all I wanted, was someone to help me when I needed it. You couldn’t even do that…”
Inuyasha banged his fist against the cell bars causing her to jump, “Kagome, I never told your secret! I would have taken your secret with me to the grave because you asked me too! I came here, because I care about you and what happens to you. I also want to try and help you!”
She walked over to where Inuyasha was standing, on the other side of the bars, “Why…? That whole speech is just empty words unless you have reason to back it up.” She simply said.
“It’s because I…” Inuyasha cut himself off, Miroku knew what he was getting ready to say, but Kagome’s thoughts were too cloudy to pick up on it. “I…I uh,”
“You…?” Kagome mocked. “What?”
Inuyasha’s head was pressed up against the metal bars, but his face was facing the floor. Kagome was standing right in front of him and the only thing between them was the cell itself. Inuyasha lifted his head and looked her in the eye. He couldn’t say what was on the tip of his tongue itching to come out. So instead, he stooped…and placed a soft kiss on her bottom lip. This kiss was different than any other they shared together. This one, though short and sweet…had so much more meaning to it than any other. When they parted, Kagome’s face was left flushed, and her mind cleared up.
“Now do you understand?” He asked. “There is something about you, Kagome; something that draws me into you. It’s like I said before, sometimes I can’t stand you…but at the same time, I can’t be without you. I don’t know how you did it, but somehow you made me fall for you. I was afraid to admit it before because I wasn’t clear about it myself. I’ve never felt this way since my first and only girlfriend. But I understand now that I cannot keep running from this. I just wish the circumstances were different for the first time I told you that… ” Inuyasha trailed off.
Kagome trailed her vision from his lips back up to his eyes. She saw a sincere glint in them which softened her heart. She placed her palm on his cheek through the bars that separated them. “I-I feel the same way.”
The atmosphere, thought sweet and romantic, was very uncomfortable for Miroku who was still standing in the room. He cleared his throat to remind the both of them that he was still there. Slightly embarrassed, the couple separated and took a few steps back from each other.
“Kagome, I’m really sorry too. You didn’t deserve to be tossed aside the way I did to you…”
She cut him off, “No, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn’t have put you in that uncomfortable position. In fact, now that I actually think about it, I don’t know why I even did it. I was out of line…I deserved it. I crossed the line with a lot of stuff, I played with fire and look at me now, I got burned…badly.”
“What are they even really charging you for?” Miroku asked her.
“Well…if I play the victim card, which it seems like they are making me do anyway, I can walk away with no charges. But then, the authorities are going to go after the people that ran the company that I was working for. I promised them that this wouldn’t ever affect them as long as they shut my site down. They did what I asked…but now because I was a minor and technically that isn’t my decision to make, I can’t be in control with what might happen to the company. I may have hated what I was doing…but they helped me out of a hole I didn’t think I would ever crawl out of.”
“But Kagome, it created more problems…you gained stalkers. That guy I saved you from at the restaurant. And I’m sure there will be other people who recognize you.”
“There will be! There always will be, and because of this story going public, now I become a target. People know my real name; they know what city I live in. This is all just a giant mess! …and I brought it all on myself.”
“You didn’t bring on the stalkers…and you shouldn’t have to live in fear.”
“Tell that to the person here who is probably meditating on my murder right now…” She replied.
“What do you mean?” Inuyasha asked her.
“No, better question…what’s going on with Mr. Onigumo?” Miroku butted in.
Just then, two security guards came in with Naraku hand cuffed and was getting ready to place him in a cell block a few down from Kagome.
“They must have just finished interrogating him…sick bastard.” Kagome whispered. “I put up with so much…because of him.” She started scratching her skin so hard she was turning red and would eventually start to break skin. “I just feel dirty seeing him and knowing everything I had to do to keep him quiet.”
The two guys moved closer to her to try and keep what they were talking about hushed so Naraku couldn’t hear.
“He has way more charges against him and I have to go to trial and testify against him. But…I just can’t. I can’t testify against him without testifying against myself as well.”
“And if you don’t…?” Miroku asked.
“If I don’t, the judge will make me do a rape kit…and, I don’t want to do that either. I know I’ve been with a lot of men. I don’t need more people knowing about my past.” She continued.
Miroku raised an eyebrow, “So, if I understand this correctly, you want to keep quiet and let a man that has been beating the crap out of your go scott-free?”
Kagome stopped talking and started looking around trying to avoid eye contact with the boys in front of her.
“So, later…when he gets angry, he can come after you and start beating you again because of this? Pick your poison, Kagome. What sounds like the better option? Testify…or continue being abused?”
“Besides,” Inuyasha interrupted, “According to law, you are not bound to say anything that could possibly testify against yourself. No one can make you do that…all you have to tell them on that stand, is what he did to you. You don’t have to tell them why, rather you know or not.”
“Your friend is right you know…?”
The three teenagers gasped simultaneously and noticed someone standing behind them. “You’re the person who was in here talking to her earlier…who are you?” Miroku asked.
“I’m Kagome’s public defender.” The man turned to Inuyasha and held out his hand to shake, “My name is Totosai…and you young man, seem to be very knowledgeable on law and how it works. Have you ever thought of a career in criminal justice, or law?”
Inuyasha shook the old man’s hand, “Nice to meet you…but why didn’t you tell her any of this yourself? And no, I haven’t…”
“Well, unfortunately, Kagome doesn’t like to talk to her lawyer very much. But besides that, I think you should look into justice studies when you graduate high school. You would be a great asset…food for thought, young man.” He said then turned back to Kagome, “Now, if you are finally ready to sit down and talk…we can discuss tactics to make sure you get out of here with as little of a record as possible.”
-X-
“After he black mailed me into doing what he said, he gave me directions on how to get to his house that night. I went…and when I got there, all I wanted to do was turn around and go home. But I was afraid…I was afraid that if I didn’t do what he said, that he would what I was doing. So I used that as my strength to get out of my car and go through with what I did. When I knocked on the door, he opened it and pulled me inside and threw me on his couch. H-he…he started kissing me, but I was really tense and reluctant. I didn’t want to do it and he realized it…and he stopped, got off of me and left the room. I thought maybe he was having second thoughts and would let me go. But he came back with a glass. He told me to drink it because it will help loosen me up. I thought maybe it was just heavy vodka, but when I swallowed it, it tasted like water. He told me to drink it all…so I did, though I didn’t feel any different. After the glass was empty, he started kissing my neck and…and touching me. I tried to close my legs, but then…I realized that I lost the feeling in them and couldn’t. That’s when I realized he hadn’t given me ordinary water. I don’t know what was in it…but the effects were fast. Soon, I lost all feeling in my body completely and I started to see double vision. Next thing I knew…I blacked out. I woke up at some point, my vision was still a little blurry, but I could still make out what was happening around me. My clothes were gone, and I was handcuffed by my hands and feet to a bed. I heard him moaning, and that’s when I realized that…that he was inside of me. I still couldn’t move my body…but I could feel everything, I could hear everything, and I was still fully conscious. I couldn’t talk though…not that there was much I could say. He was talking to me while I was on the bed. He told me I was a naughty girl and needed to be taught a lesson. He said he would discipline me personally to make sure I never misbehave again. My vision started to clear up, and I was slowly gaining the feeling in my fingertips and toes. I realized that the effects of the drink were starting to wear off. Still, I couldn’t talk though. But he must have known that his time with me was over soon…and with one final…t-trust, he released himself inside of me. After that, he got up and started putting his clothes back on. He pulled a pack of plan-B out of the pocket and threw it on the bed next to me. Then, he took the cuff off my wrists and feet, but crawled on top of my once more. He said, ‘You better not forget our little deal. Besides, even if you tell…I’ll deny it. You aren’t Kagome, you are mine…and you are nobody. No one cares about you…no one cares about nobodies.’ And that was how it all started, Naraku held things over my head to get me to do sexual things for him. After all the things he said and did to me, I was broken and I had no one else to turn to. I don’t have any parents…I live alone. I struggled with the burden of my secret getting out every day and did what I could too let it remain a secret. I only did it because I didn’t think I had any other choice. We live in a dog eat dog world and I had to do what I could to survive. I’m not asking you to believe me…and I won’t beg for a second chance. I know I broke the law by doing porn under age, and I know I put a lot of people at risk by presenting false identification. So don’t blame the company…blame me.” Kagome was sitting in the stands at her trial, her heart was beating fast as she watched everyone watch her.
“Thank you Kagome that will be all. You can step down.” The judge told her. “Now if the jury would like to take a few minutes reach their decision, we will take a fifteen minute recess.”
Kagome took her seat back with her lawyer and simply starred in space. She couldn’t believe that her hard life got her where she was today. The rest of her life rested in the hands of the twelve people in the jury stands.
“Don’t worry…no matter what that jury and judge says, you will get through this.” Her lawyer said to her. Still, Kagome didn’t answer, she was on the edge of her seat and wanted to know where she would be spending the next few years of her life.
Before she knew it though, the court recess was over and the jury was coming back to their seats as well as the judge, and by standards. “Has the jury reached their verdict?” The judge asked.
One member stood up, “We have your honor,”
“Will Miss Higurashi and her councilman please stand?” They did so and the juror continued.
“We have all agreed that Miss Higurashi indeed did some things in her past which caused her to end up here today and she has as much admitted to it in the stands.” Kagome could feel herself tearing up already. “However, we do not believe she is at all a bad person. We think she is a good girl that had to live a hard life. The jury does not believe a detention center would help her at all, but instead, counseling and perhaps adoption to a loving home that can guide and nurture her to make better decisions in life. So, the jury finds her…innocent of all charges.”
“Then let it be that Miss Kagome Higurashi sentenced to counseling and be placed into foster care until she is legally adopted, or becomes of legal age, and she shall be cleared of all charges. Case dismissed.” Kagome couldn’t believe what she had just heard, her stomach felt like it was going to fall out of her butt. She couldn’t believe that they let her go, record cleared and all. But the trial wasn’t completely over. There was still the verdict on Naraku. “Has the jury reached a verdict for Naraku Onigumo?” The judge asked.
This time, a different juror stood up, “We have your honor…” Naraku and his lawyer arose from their seats to await his verdict. “The jury finds Mr. Onigumo guilty of extortion, physical child abuse, sexual child abuse, and statutory rape.”
“Then I sentence Mr. Onigumo to twenty-five years in prison. No bail, and a 50,000 dollar cash only bail. Case dismissed…court adjourned.” The judge hit his mallet and a huge weight felt like it had been lifted from Kagome’s shoulders. Finally, she could have her life back. Well, part of it that is. She had to live in a foster home which was exactly what she was trying to avoid. But that was better than a juvenile detention center. She was ready to start over fresh with a new life.
After the court session, Kagome walked outside of the court house a free woman. She felt the sun on her skin for the first time in what seemed like forever.
“Hey, Kagome! Over here!” She heard the voice of the man she couldn’t live without and searched around for the face that matched the voice. It didn’t take long for her to find him.
Inuyasha was standing at the bottom of the court house steps a long with Miroku, his mother, and even Sango. But seeing Inuyasha’s face exited her the most. She ran towards them all and jumped on Inuyasha. Kagome threw her arms around his neck, and wrapped her legs around his waist. Despite the fact that he wasn’t ready to be jumped on, he was just as excited to see her and quickly gained his posture and held onto her, as well as kept his balance. For once, Kagome’s heart felt heavy for a good reason, and the reason was right here in front of her. She stared into his eyes lovingly and placed a much needed kiss on his lips. Inuyasha returned it, and the two were too busy sucking face to even realize that they weren’t alone.
“Ahem, alright…break it up or get a room.” Sango said, bringing Kagome and Inuyasha off cloud nine and back to reality.
“What Sango is trying to say is that we are all happy to see you out of all this mess and finally smiling again. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you smile like that.” Miroku said.
Kagome smiled again and nodded her head. Inuyasha put her back down on the ground, and she immediately threw her arms around Miroku. “Thank you so much…for always being there for me; for being my friend. There are so many things I never would have gotten through if it weren’t for you. So, thank you.” She kissed him on the cheek, and Miroku’s face grew a little blush. He’s been kissed by her before, but his mother was never standing right behind them.
“Well, if you like being my best friend so much, you’ll probably love being my sister…” He kind of casually snuck in.
Kagome heard it though, and it broke her happy high. “W-what?” She said.
Everyone got quiet and started staring at Miroku. But his mother stepped in to defend him, “Kagome, honey…you know you have always been welcome in my home. You know if there is anything you ever wanted or needed, I would do what I can to get it for you. And you know…that I have always seen you as a daughter I never had. So, if it’s okay with you…I would gladly adopt you as my daughter and officially make you a member of our family. But of course, that’s only if you want to…”
Kagome’s mouth fell open and she was at a loss for words. She didn’t know what to say, and it was almost like what the woman in front of her had said didn’t even register in her brain. In fact, it probably hadn’t. Her words were still ringing in Kagome’s ears.
“Well…? What do you say, Kagome?” Miroku asked.
The gaping hole in the middle of Kagome’s face became a smile, and her eyes started watering up with tears of joy. She nodded her head yes, “O-of course I want to…mom,” She forced out with the tears that started falling down her face.
Mom…
That was a word she never thought she would ever get to say again in her life. But here she was, a woman who cared for her as if she was her own for Kagome’s permission to welcome her into her family. It was so much for her to process, that all she could simply do was break down and cry. Kagome had truly been given a second chance at life,
and this time…she wasn’t going to waste it.
-X-
AN: Well, technically…this is the end of my story. But I know you are all itching to know who turned Kagome over to the police, and how her life is going to be from now on. So, because of that…I am going to (at some point) which you all an epilogue chapter clearing up all the extra questions that I’m sure are floating around in your heads. But as for now, the story is complete and this is the ending. If you do not want to wait for me to make the epilogue…feel free to ask me for a brief summary on the ending. Yes, I will be a kind soul and tell you. But I do encourage you all to keep checking back for the epilogue because of course, no summary will be as good as the real thing. In any event…you guys know the rules. I write and entertain…you guys read and review. And seriously guy…do try to review this chapter because this is the conclusion and I worked really hard on this. Hell, I stayed up until one in the morning writing this fifteen page chapter! So GIVE ME MY REWARD! O_O
p.s. I like long reviews :p
-Kriss
Thanks you all for reading and make sure you favorite, follow, subscribe and all that other good stuff. Also, read the Golden Paintbrush. It’s my newest project and it’s going to be a fantasy story which this will be the first time I wrote a fantasy. So please, check it out!
The dark, grey room she was sitting in was quiet…too quiet. There weren’t any lights, and there was only one window that didn’t even lead to the outside world. She knew it was a two-way mirror where more people staring at her from outside the interrogation room she was sitting in. It had been almost sixteen hours since Kagome was arrested and still she refused to talk. Instead, she just sat. She sat at the metal table in front of her and played with her fingers while a female detective paced back and forth in front of her.
“Can you tell me about yourself, Kagome?” She asked.
Kagome looked up at the woman; her hair was disheveled and hid half of her face. Since she was put into custody, she shut down. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t do anything…she just stared. Because she didn’t have any parents or legal guardian to represent her, there was no way for the police to make her talk unless she willingly opened her mouth.
“I know you aren’t a bad person honey…what’s written in this report, I’m sure it isn’t you. It’s just a small piece of something you have done. So tell me about you…who are you?” The detective seemed like a nice woman, thought Kagome wouldn’t allow herself to succumb to trusting her. She went half her life trusting no one and she wasn’t about to start now.
But Kagome smirked at the question she was asked. “Who am I, you say…?” She said in a low whisper. “Who am I? I am nobody…who are you? Are you nobody too?”
The statement she made slightly moved the lady detective; it was a shockingly creepy rhyme. “W-what do you mean?” Kagome didn’t answer her; she began her unending starting contest with the detective again. The detective sighed, “Well…you do have the right to remain silent. But, I cannot help you if you don’t talk to me.”
Kagome placed both her hands on the table and used it to push off of to get on her feet. She leaned over the table to get in the detectives face, though she was still several feet away from her. “You don’t want to help me…you want to help yourself.”
“You don’t really believe that do you, Kagome?” The detective opened the file on Kagome that was in her hands and started reading some of what was inside. “You started working for an internet porn site in your early sixteenth year, you got involved with one of your high school teachers…as for as this report goes, all I’m seeing is that you’re the victim here. If you tell me what happened, you can be out of here scott-free. But you have to work with me…”
She tilted her head, “What do you want me to say? That like a deer in headlights, I got caught up in this shit!? That my lack of parental guidance caused me to lose my mind and I went looking anywhere to find some form of love because I was lacking it in my life? That, because I never had love, I started looking in the direction of sex to fill the void? Is that the type of answer you are looking for detective?”
“Honey, I’m looking for the facts. I don’t want to have to throw you in jail to get them. Are you afraid to tell me? Is someone threatening you to keep quiet? Where are your parents? How come no one knew any of this was going on?”
Kagome started laughing, “You think I’m scared of someone?” She stopped laughing and became serious again, “Listen, I may only be sixteen years old, but I have seen a lot of shit and done a lot of the same shit. I don’t spend my life being afraid of people. No one knew what was happening in my life because I didn’t want them to know; and for the record, I have no parents. My mother is dead…and my father is dead to me.” Kagome stood up once more, “I did what I did to survive in this world! I did what I did to get what I needed in this fucked up thing the rest of this world calls a life. And you know what else…? If I had to do it all again, I would…exactly the same way. Put that in my file.”
The detective sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She didn’t know what else she could do or say to the girl to pump her for more information. Kagome talked, but she never said anything that could be deemed useful in court. “I can’t help a person who is not willing to help themselves. If you don’t want to help me, help you…I have no choice but to have you put back behind bars until you’re ready to talk.” She said while pulling out another pair of handcuffs and snapping them on Kagome’s wrists.
-X-
The two school arrests did nothing but spark up rumors in the school. People hounded Miroku for information because she was the only person she ever really talked to. But alas, he knew nothing; and even if he did, he wouldn’t dare sell out his best friend. Kagome’s business was her business. Though, he wished she had come to him sooner about things that were going on. Maybe this could have been prevented. Now, here he was sitting in the cafeteria with an empty seat in front of him. Miroku wished that he could have an opportunity just to speak with her, just to make sure she was okay. Knowing his only long term friend was in custody and there was nothing he could do about it drove him mad.
“I can’t stand this anymore!” He yelled while squeezing open a can of soda. The can was crushed and there was a mess of cola all over the table. “Damnit…”
“Hey, is everything okay?”
Miroku looked up from the mess he caused and saw Inuyasha standing across from his table offering the napkin in his hand. Reluctantly, Miroku took it and starting wiping up the spilled soda. “What do you think?” He asked with malice in his voice.
“I was just being civil, what are you snapping at me for?” Inuyasha asked.
“Because, this is all your fault!” Miroku snapped at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, “I’m pretty sure I didn’t choke the life out of your drink just now. But if blaming me for it makes you feel better, I’ll go buy you another one. Will that make you forgive me?” He replied sarcastically.
“You know damn well I’m not talking about the soda! I’m talking about Kagome. She was arrested yesterday and I know you had something to do with it. But here you are, walking around all high and mighty like you don’t even care!”
“Hey look, ease up.” Inuyasha sat down at the table and started talking more quietly because Miroku’s outburst was attracting a crowd. “I had nothing to do with Kagome’s arrest yesterday and to be quite frank; I’m just as concerned about her as you. Violent or not, I do actually like the girl. That’s the reason I put up with her. But her conviction is out of my hands, so what is the point of beating yourself up about it?”
“What’s the point? The point is that my best friend whom would never hurt a fly is being charged for things she couldn’t have possibly done. Delinquency, elude and explicit behavior…Kagome wouldn’t have done things like that!”
“Actually…” Inuyasha interrupted his monologue.
Miroku shot Inuyasha a set of death glares, “What do you know about this?”
Inuyasha sighed; he knew this wasn’t his business to tell. But how was he supposed tell Miroku that when here he was sitting right in front of him waiting for an answer on his best friend. “Kagome and I were talking once…”
“Talking? Ha, is that code for screwing her brains out!? Don’t make me laugh!?”
Inuyasha smirked, “Well, I did screw her brains out if that’s what you wanted to know. But no, talking was code for exactly that…TALKING. So like I said, we were talking once and she mentioned to me how she got caught up in something really bad. I assume you already know that Kagome was struggling really hard to make ends meet, right?”
“Of course I know that! But she told me she got a really nice paying part time job and all of her struggles were over.” Miroku exclaimed.
“Did she ever tell you that part time job was working for an internet porn website?”
Miroku’s eyes widened, “No way! I don’t believe you, you’re lying! She wouldn’t do anything like that!”
“The job advertised for site modeling…she didn’t know it would eventually lead to what it led to. She kept that secret from everyone…even you.”
“So how do you know!? Explain to me how you would know this and I didn’t?” Miroku was becoming more excited than necessary.
“Look, I’ll tell you anything you want to know provided I have the information to pass. But you have got to calm down if you want me to tell you what I know…” Miroku nodded his head, “I know about that day she came onto you.”
Miroku seemed taken aback that Inuyasha would know about that day. It never occurred to him that before she would try to reconcile what was left of their friendship, Kagome would go and air her dirty laundry to someone she hardly knew. “She told you about that day…?” He asked.
“That and a lot of other stuff too. But I’ll get into that. You see, Kagome and I were sort of on an enemies with benefits level before that day she tried to have sex with you. But she was also going through something on her own…which was the double life she was living. Someone found out about her double life and was blackmailing her; threatening to tell her secret unless she did sexual favors for them. I’m assuming she began to get really depressed. She believed there was no way out of the life she was living and she looked anywhere for some amount of comfort.”
“…that’s when she came to me.” Miroku started putting pieces together thinking back on what Kagome was saying to him that day.
"I wish I could believe that…but nothing good ever seems to come to me. I just…I don't know what to do at this point. All I want is for that one person to see that I need them, they can save me from my troubles and haul me away to a better place and live a happily ever after. I deserve that much…don't I?
“She tried to tell me…but I pushed her away,” Miroku looked Inuyasha in the eye, “This is all my fault.”
Inuyasha shook his head, “No, don’t believe that. I’m not even finished yet. Besides, even if she was trying to tell you, she was going about it the wrong way. She was trying to relay a message to you through sex, I doubt she was ever going to tell you that day at all. Otherwise, instead of running off after you stopped her from coming onto you, she would have told you right then and there. But let me finished, after she left you…she came to me after I had just gotten finished with one of my other girls. She begged me to help her out of her situation, with the porn industry, her blackmailing. Her mouth was running like water because she needed someone to guide her through the process of getting help. I think that because she was so depressed and upset with her life that it was messing with her mentally and she didn’t know who to turn to.
“Did she ever tell you who was blackmailing her?” Miroku asked but Inuyasha shook his head no.
“She said she wasn’t ready to tell me that part yet. But I’ll bet that had something to do with Mr. Onigumo getting arrested as well.”
Miroku nodded in agreement, “The way she freaked on him in the classroom when the cops were taking her proves it. But why would he call the cops on her? If he really was the blackmailer, wouldn’t turning Kagome in potentially put him at fault if Kagome told on him?”
“Much like she did yesterday, exactly? Which is why something doesn’t add up. Someone else had to know about Kagome and would have had to turn her in…but whom? Who else did she tell?” Inuyasha started thinking to himself, but alas, he was stumped. He hadn’t known Kagome too, too long for him to learn everyone she associated herself with.
“I think I have a possible, thought…but I’m going out on a limb.”
--
Sango was sitting in the library for her free period looking over some notes for a test she had in the class right after this. However, two shadow figures stepped in front of her and started blocking her light and distracted her from her studies. She looked up and to her knowledge she only knew one of them.
“Um…can I help you?” She asked, utterly confused as to why it looked like they were about to have an intervention on her.
“You’re Sango right,” Inuyasha asked rather forcefully.
“Yea…that’s the name on my birth certificate.”
Miroku stepped in front of Inuyasha fearing that he might scare the girl away, “We’ve been looking all over for you, Sango.”
“Well…here I am, what’s wrong?” She asked while closing her text book.
“You’re friends with Kagome, right? Or that’s what you claim to be!” Inuyasha said.
Sango furrowed her brows, “I know her…are we friends? Uhh, more or less. Look, if this was about her getting arrested yesterday, I can’t help you.”
“If you didn’t have anything to do with it, how did you know that’s what we were going to ask you about?” Inuyasha accused and Sango raised her eyebrows.
“Inuyasha, it’s been the talk of the school since yesterday when it happened. Everyone knows about it. I said, I was going out on a limb when mentioning Sango’s name. That wasn’t your queue to begin an interrogation, Inuyasha!” Miroku chided.
Sango stood up and folded her arms, “You two came here to interrogate me? And what exactly did I do?”
“You called the police on Kagome, that’s what you did. You are the only other person that she talked to about her personal life!” Inuyasha yelled.
“Um, no I didn’t. I didn’t even know she was arrested until I saw the news last night. Besides, how could I have called the cops on her, when the reasons that she was charged for…I had no idea she did.”
“Says anyone who doesn’t want to classified as a snitch!”
Sango rolled her eyes at Inuyasha, “When I talked to her, all she told me was that she got into a bar with a fake ID, me some guy named Inuyasha…whom I’m assuming is you.” She said while gesturing towards him, “You two did the nasty, the next day you called her easy, she got mad and hit you. That was all we talked about.”
Miroku nodded his head, “I believe you…”
“Seriously? You bought that load of bull shit!?” Inuyasha snapped. “It’s obvious that she’s lying! She’s the only other person that came in close contact with Kagome! It has to be her!”
Miroku shoved Inuyasha, “Shut up, Inuyasha! It wasn’t her! Someone did sell her out, but it wasn’t Sango!”
“Who else could it be then?” Inuyasha said while pushing Miroku back, but harder. The two guys got into each other’s faces.
Sango squeezed herself in between the two of them to prevent a fight. “I didn’t know anything about Kagome and the porn and whatever else she got involved in. But if you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask her yourself. Go to the police station…talk to her. Find out what she knows, I’ll bet, at a time like this…she could really use her friend and boyfriend.”
Inuyasha seemed a little uncomfortable at that comment, “We uh…aren’t together, in that way.”
“You’re seeing her though, am I right?”
“Yes, well…more or less.”
“Then, that counts for something. Obviously, if you didn’t care to some extent…you wouldn’t be here right now jumping down my throat. Am I right? And you…” Sango said while turning to Miroku, “You’re her oldest friend. You mean so much to her, and I know the feeling is mutual”
Miroku leaned up against a book shelf, “She doesn’t want to see my face. We haven’t even spoken since…” He stopped, “I can’t keep thinking this is somehow my fault.”
“Dude, it’s not your fault. I told you that.”
“But if I never pushed her away that day, I feel like none of this would have happened.”
“Look, it doesn’t matter whose fault it is, how it happened, or why. What matter’s right now is what is, and the fact that it did happen so we have to live with it. You want my advice, go to her. Talk to her, see what she has to say about all of this. After all…she is the one person who can give you the most answers.”
Both Miroku and Inuyasha agreed, and Sango was right. Sitting around, pointing the finger at different people wasn’t going to help Kagome. Rather they found out who went to the police or not, that wasn’t going to get Kagome out of custody. They had to work together to help her, and the first stop…was to go straight to the source.
-X-
“I always thought being in a jail cell would be a lot more dramatic than it actually it is. I wouldn’t mind staying here; it’s like a little mini vacation with ugly clothes, a hard bed and no sunlight. It’s livable though…free to eat, free to sleep. This is a lot better than the life I was struggling to have.”
“You don’t mean that, Kagome. And you don’t have to force yourself to watch what you say around me. I’m your lawyer…I’m on your side.” A man said from the outside of the metal bars.
Kagome was leaning her body weight on the jail cell bars. She was so thin that her arms, and legs fit right in between them. She looked even more messed up than she did when she first arrived to the police station. Since she had no family to get her out on bail, she was forced to stay in police custody until her trial.
“You aren’t on my side. You’re my public defender…you get paid rather the judge is in favor to me or not. So you can take your fake sympathy and shove it!”
“Kagome, the judge will be in favor of you if you just cooperate. Child porn is illegal regardless and no one can hold you entirely responsible for doing it because of your age. Possession of a fake ID or not, it is the job of the companies to make sure they aren’t hiring underage actors, which you were.”
“I wasn’t forced to do it…I choose to. I signed the paper work, it was my decision.” Kagome replied.
“And at the age of sixteen, you weren’t legal to many that decision on your own anyway. Any paper that you sign before the age of eighteen is void. No one can legally bind you to anything without parental consent, which you don’t have. And in this particular situation, it wouldn’t matter if you had it or not because child pornography is illegal regardless.” Her layer said.
Kagome rolled her eyes and unraveled herself from the cell bars. She then sat on the one inch thick piece of fabric that was supposed to be her bed. “My life is an absolute tragedy…I really am nobody.”
“You’re not nobody, you are Kagome, it’s who you are…”
“Yea, Kagome…the one I hate and hate being. I feel more like nobody. I should be nobody.”
“Hey, there’s someone here to see you.” A security guard said from a distance and moments later in walked someone Kagome wasn’t ready to face quite yet.
“What are you doing here?” She said. “Get out of here, I don’t want to see your face…traitor.”
“I’ll leave you two alone for a bit,” Kagome’s lawyer said while leaving the room.
Inuyasha took a moment to scope around his surroundings. “Wow…so this is prison?” He said.
“No…this is police custody. Prison is something else…”
He sighed while taking in the appearance of the girl in front of him. She looked paler, her eyes were baggy and dark, she looked thinner and her hair was all over her head. “You look…terrible, Kagome.”
Kagome raised an eyebrow, “Tell me what you want…before I scream.”
“I came to see how you were doing. And I hope you would finally be willing to open up and tell me what’s going on.” Inuyasha replied.
“I told you everything you need to know.”
“No you didn’t,” Another voice came through, and momentarily, Miroku walked up from behind Inuyasha, “You told him…us, what you wanted us to know. Not what we need to know.”
“Why don’t you just turn on the news? I heard they’re shedding some nice light to what’s going on in my life! Sure would love to know where they are getting their facts from though!” She spat.
“Kagome…neither one of us is judging you.” Miroku said.
“Is that’s what you came here to tell me? Because you said it, now can you be on your way?”
“That’s not why we’re here. We came here to get the missing puzzle pieces to the jigsaw puzzle that is this mess you’ve gotten into.”
“Just because that’s what you came here for…doesn’t those are the answers you are going to leave here with.”
“Kagome, stop!” Inuyasha said, “You need to pull yourself together and talk to the people you can actually trust.”
Kagome chuckled, “I trust no one…especially not you!”
“What the hell did I do?” Inuyasha asked.
“Do you not see me!? You’re there and I’m here! How do you think I got here? Someone called the cops on me! Who was it!? Certainly not me! I’m 99% sure it wasn’t Naraku! Miroku didn’t know anything so who else is here!?” She screamed and eventually, started to fight off tears. “I t-…I trusted you, and you threw it in my face. You are NOTHING to me Inuyasha! A-all I wanted, was someone to help me when I needed it. You couldn’t even do that…”
Inuyasha banged his fist against the cell bars causing her to jump, “Kagome, I never told your secret! I would have taken your secret with me to the grave because you asked me too! I came here, because I care about you and what happens to you. I also want to try and help you!”
She walked over to where Inuyasha was standing, on the other side of the bars, “Why…? That whole speech is just empty words unless you have reason to back it up.” She simply said.
“It’s because I…” Inuyasha cut himself off, Miroku knew what he was getting ready to say, but Kagome’s thoughts were too cloudy to pick up on it. “I…I uh,”
“You…?” Kagome mocked. “What?”
Inuyasha’s head was pressed up against the metal bars, but his face was facing the floor. Kagome was standing right in front of him and the only thing between them was the cell itself. Inuyasha lifted his head and looked her in the eye. He couldn’t say what was on the tip of his tongue itching to come out. So instead, he stooped…and placed a soft kiss on her bottom lip. This kiss was different than any other they shared together. This one, though short and sweet…had so much more meaning to it than any other. When they parted, Kagome’s face was left flushed, and her mind cleared up.
“Now do you understand?” He asked. “There is something about you, Kagome; something that draws me into you. It’s like I said before, sometimes I can’t stand you…but at the same time, I can’t be without you. I don’t know how you did it, but somehow you made me fall for you. I was afraid to admit it before because I wasn’t clear about it myself. I’ve never felt this way since my first and only girlfriend. But I understand now that I cannot keep running from this. I just wish the circumstances were different for the first time I told you that… ” Inuyasha trailed off.
Kagome trailed her vision from his lips back up to his eyes. She saw a sincere glint in them which softened her heart. She placed her palm on his cheek through the bars that separated them. “I-I feel the same way.”
The atmosphere, thought sweet and romantic, was very uncomfortable for Miroku who was still standing in the room. He cleared his throat to remind the both of them that he was still there. Slightly embarrassed, the couple separated and took a few steps back from each other.
“Kagome, I’m really sorry too. You didn’t deserve to be tossed aside the way I did to you…”
She cut him off, “No, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn’t have put you in that uncomfortable position. In fact, now that I actually think about it, I don’t know why I even did it. I was out of line…I deserved it. I crossed the line with a lot of stuff, I played with fire and look at me now, I got burned…badly.”
“What are they even really charging you for?” Miroku asked her.
“Well…if I play the victim card, which it seems like they are making me do anyway, I can walk away with no charges. But then, the authorities are going to go after the people that ran the company that I was working for. I promised them that this wouldn’t ever affect them as long as they shut my site down. They did what I asked…but now because I was a minor and technically that isn’t my decision to make, I can’t be in control with what might happen to the company. I may have hated what I was doing…but they helped me out of a hole I didn’t think I would ever crawl out of.”
“But Kagome, it created more problems…you gained stalkers. That guy I saved you from at the restaurant. And I’m sure there will be other people who recognize you.”
“There will be! There always will be, and because of this story going public, now I become a target. People know my real name; they know what city I live in. This is all just a giant mess! …and I brought it all on myself.”
“You didn’t bring on the stalkers…and you shouldn’t have to live in fear.”
“Tell that to the person here who is probably meditating on my murder right now…” She replied.
“What do you mean?” Inuyasha asked her.
“No, better question…what’s going on with Mr. Onigumo?” Miroku butted in.
Just then, two security guards came in with Naraku hand cuffed and was getting ready to place him in a cell block a few down from Kagome.
“They must have just finished interrogating him…sick bastard.” Kagome whispered. “I put up with so much…because of him.” She started scratching her skin so hard she was turning red and would eventually start to break skin. “I just feel dirty seeing him and knowing everything I had to do to keep him quiet.”
The two guys moved closer to her to try and keep what they were talking about hushed so Naraku couldn’t hear.
“He has way more charges against him and I have to go to trial and testify against him. But…I just can’t. I can’t testify against him without testifying against myself as well.”
“And if you don’t…?” Miroku asked.
“If I don’t, the judge will make me do a rape kit…and, I don’t want to do that either. I know I’ve been with a lot of men. I don’t need more people knowing about my past.” She continued.
Miroku raised an eyebrow, “So, if I understand this correctly, you want to keep quiet and let a man that has been beating the crap out of your go scott-free?”
Kagome stopped talking and started looking around trying to avoid eye contact with the boys in front of her.
“So, later…when he gets angry, he can come after you and start beating you again because of this? Pick your poison, Kagome. What sounds like the better option? Testify…or continue being abused?”
“Besides,” Inuyasha interrupted, “According to law, you are not bound to say anything that could possibly testify against yourself. No one can make you do that…all you have to tell them on that stand, is what he did to you. You don’t have to tell them why, rather you know or not.”
“Your friend is right you know…?”
The three teenagers gasped simultaneously and noticed someone standing behind them. “You’re the person who was in here talking to her earlier…who are you?” Miroku asked.
“I’m Kagome’s public defender.” The man turned to Inuyasha and held out his hand to shake, “My name is Totosai…and you young man, seem to be very knowledgeable on law and how it works. Have you ever thought of a career in criminal justice, or law?”
Inuyasha shook the old man’s hand, “Nice to meet you…but why didn’t you tell her any of this yourself? And no, I haven’t…”
“Well, unfortunately, Kagome doesn’t like to talk to her lawyer very much. But besides that, I think you should look into justice studies when you graduate high school. You would be a great asset…food for thought, young man.” He said then turned back to Kagome, “Now, if you are finally ready to sit down and talk…we can discuss tactics to make sure you get out of here with as little of a record as possible.”
-X-
“After he black mailed me into doing what he said, he gave me directions on how to get to his house that night. I went…and when I got there, all I wanted to do was turn around and go home. But I was afraid…I was afraid that if I didn’t do what he said, that he would what I was doing. So I used that as my strength to get out of my car and go through with what I did. When I knocked on the door, he opened it and pulled me inside and threw me on his couch. H-he…he started kissing me, but I was really tense and reluctant. I didn’t want to do it and he realized it…and he stopped, got off of me and left the room. I thought maybe he was having second thoughts and would let me go. But he came back with a glass. He told me to drink it because it will help loosen me up. I thought maybe it was just heavy vodka, but when I swallowed it, it tasted like water. He told me to drink it all…so I did, though I didn’t feel any different. After the glass was empty, he started kissing my neck and…and touching me. I tried to close my legs, but then…I realized that I lost the feeling in them and couldn’t. That’s when I realized he hadn’t given me ordinary water. I don’t know what was in it…but the effects were fast. Soon, I lost all feeling in my body completely and I started to see double vision. Next thing I knew…I blacked out. I woke up at some point, my vision was still a little blurry, but I could still make out what was happening around me. My clothes were gone, and I was handcuffed by my hands and feet to a bed. I heard him moaning, and that’s when I realized that…that he was inside of me. I still couldn’t move my body…but I could feel everything, I could hear everything, and I was still fully conscious. I couldn’t talk though…not that there was much I could say. He was talking to me while I was on the bed. He told me I was a naughty girl and needed to be taught a lesson. He said he would discipline me personally to make sure I never misbehave again. My vision started to clear up, and I was slowly gaining the feeling in my fingertips and toes. I realized that the effects of the drink were starting to wear off. Still, I couldn’t talk though. But he must have known that his time with me was over soon…and with one final…t-trust, he released himself inside of me. After that, he got up and started putting his clothes back on. He pulled a pack of plan-B out of the pocket and threw it on the bed next to me. Then, he took the cuff off my wrists and feet, but crawled on top of my once more. He said, ‘You better not forget our little deal. Besides, even if you tell…I’ll deny it. You aren’t Kagome, you are mine…and you are nobody. No one cares about you…no one cares about nobodies.’ And that was how it all started, Naraku held things over my head to get me to do sexual things for him. After all the things he said and did to me, I was broken and I had no one else to turn to. I don’t have any parents…I live alone. I struggled with the burden of my secret getting out every day and did what I could too let it remain a secret. I only did it because I didn’t think I had any other choice. We live in a dog eat dog world and I had to do what I could to survive. I’m not asking you to believe me…and I won’t beg for a second chance. I know I broke the law by doing porn under age, and I know I put a lot of people at risk by presenting false identification. So don’t blame the company…blame me.” Kagome was sitting in the stands at her trial, her heart was beating fast as she watched everyone watch her.
“Thank you Kagome that will be all. You can step down.” The judge told her. “Now if the jury would like to take a few minutes reach their decision, we will take a fifteen minute recess.”
Kagome took her seat back with her lawyer and simply starred in space. She couldn’t believe that her hard life got her where she was today. The rest of her life rested in the hands of the twelve people in the jury stands.
“Don’t worry…no matter what that jury and judge says, you will get through this.” Her lawyer said to her. Still, Kagome didn’t answer, she was on the edge of her seat and wanted to know where she would be spending the next few years of her life.
Before she knew it though, the court recess was over and the jury was coming back to their seats as well as the judge, and by standards. “Has the jury reached their verdict?” The judge asked.
One member stood up, “We have your honor,”
“Will Miss Higurashi and her councilman please stand?” They did so and the juror continued.
“We have all agreed that Miss Higurashi indeed did some things in her past which caused her to end up here today and she has as much admitted to it in the stands.” Kagome could feel herself tearing up already. “However, we do not believe she is at all a bad person. We think she is a good girl that had to live a hard life. The jury does not believe a detention center would help her at all, but instead, counseling and perhaps adoption to a loving home that can guide and nurture her to make better decisions in life. So, the jury finds her…innocent of all charges.”
“Then let it be that Miss Kagome Higurashi sentenced to counseling and be placed into foster care until she is legally adopted, or becomes of legal age, and she shall be cleared of all charges. Case dismissed.” Kagome couldn’t believe what she had just heard, her stomach felt like it was going to fall out of her butt. She couldn’t believe that they let her go, record cleared and all. But the trial wasn’t completely over. There was still the verdict on Naraku. “Has the jury reached a verdict for Naraku Onigumo?” The judge asked.
This time, a different juror stood up, “We have your honor…” Naraku and his lawyer arose from their seats to await his verdict. “The jury finds Mr. Onigumo guilty of extortion, physical child abuse, sexual child abuse, and statutory rape.”
“Then I sentence Mr. Onigumo to twenty-five years in prison. No bail, and a 50,000 dollar cash only bail. Case dismissed…court adjourned.” The judge hit his mallet and a huge weight felt like it had been lifted from Kagome’s shoulders. Finally, she could have her life back. Well, part of it that is. She had to live in a foster home which was exactly what she was trying to avoid. But that was better than a juvenile detention center. She was ready to start over fresh with a new life.
After the court session, Kagome walked outside of the court house a free woman. She felt the sun on her skin for the first time in what seemed like forever.
“Hey, Kagome! Over here!” She heard the voice of the man she couldn’t live without and searched around for the face that matched the voice. It didn’t take long for her to find him.
Inuyasha was standing at the bottom of the court house steps a long with Miroku, his mother, and even Sango. But seeing Inuyasha’s face exited her the most. She ran towards them all and jumped on Inuyasha. Kagome threw her arms around his neck, and wrapped her legs around his waist. Despite the fact that he wasn’t ready to be jumped on, he was just as excited to see her and quickly gained his posture and held onto her, as well as kept his balance. For once, Kagome’s heart felt heavy for a good reason, and the reason was right here in front of her. She stared into his eyes lovingly and placed a much needed kiss on his lips. Inuyasha returned it, and the two were too busy sucking face to even realize that they weren’t alone.
“Ahem, alright…break it up or get a room.” Sango said, bringing Kagome and Inuyasha off cloud nine and back to reality.
“What Sango is trying to say is that we are all happy to see you out of all this mess and finally smiling again. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you smile like that.” Miroku said.
Kagome smiled again and nodded her head. Inuyasha put her back down on the ground, and she immediately threw her arms around Miroku. “Thank you so much…for always being there for me; for being my friend. There are so many things I never would have gotten through if it weren’t for you. So, thank you.” She kissed him on the cheek, and Miroku’s face grew a little blush. He’s been kissed by her before, but his mother was never standing right behind them.
“Well, if you like being my best friend so much, you’ll probably love being my sister…” He kind of casually snuck in.
Kagome heard it though, and it broke her happy high. “W-what?” She said.
Everyone got quiet and started staring at Miroku. But his mother stepped in to defend him, “Kagome, honey…you know you have always been welcome in my home. You know if there is anything you ever wanted or needed, I would do what I can to get it for you. And you know…that I have always seen you as a daughter I never had. So, if it’s okay with you…I would gladly adopt you as my daughter and officially make you a member of our family. But of course, that’s only if you want to…”
Kagome’s mouth fell open and she was at a loss for words. She didn’t know what to say, and it was almost like what the woman in front of her had said didn’t even register in her brain. In fact, it probably hadn’t. Her words were still ringing in Kagome’s ears.
“Well…? What do you say, Kagome?” Miroku asked.
The gaping hole in the middle of Kagome’s face became a smile, and her eyes started watering up with tears of joy. She nodded her head yes, “O-of course I want to…mom,” She forced out with the tears that started falling down her face.
Mom…
That was a word she never thought she would ever get to say again in her life. But here she was, a woman who cared for her as if she was her own for Kagome’s permission to welcome her into her family. It was so much for her to process, that all she could simply do was break down and cry. Kagome had truly been given a second chance at life,
and this time…she wasn’t going to waste it.
-X-
AN: Well, technically…this is the end of my story. But I know you are all itching to know who turned Kagome over to the police, and how her life is going to be from now on. So, because of that…I am going to (at some point) which you all an epilogue chapter clearing up all the extra questions that I’m sure are floating around in your heads. But as for now, the story is complete and this is the ending. If you do not want to wait for me to make the epilogue…feel free to ask me for a brief summary on the ending. Yes, I will be a kind soul and tell you. But I do encourage you all to keep checking back for the epilogue because of course, no summary will be as good as the real thing. In any event…you guys know the rules. I write and entertain…you guys read and review. And seriously guy…do try to review this chapter because this is the conclusion and I worked really hard on this. Hell, I stayed up until one in the morning writing this fifteen page chapter! So GIVE ME MY REWARD! O_O
p.s. I like long reviews :p
-Kriss
Thanks you all for reading and make sure you favorite, follow, subscribe and all that other good stuff. Also, read the Golden Paintbrush. It’s my newest project and it’s going to be a fantasy story which this will be the first time I wrote a fantasy. So please, check it out!