Unexpected Connections [one-shot #73]
Title: Unexpected Connections
Author: Paynesgrey
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama/Romance
Word Count: 1,123
Universe: AU
Prompt: Conquest
Notes: Part 16 of my Some Dreams Fade Anew serial.
Summary: Kagome learns the truth about her father, and Sesshoumaru offers to help her again.
Kagome looked forlornly into her half-empty tea cup, knowing the liquid was probably already cold. With a side glance to Sesshoumaru, she sensed how tense he was even though his expression appeared calm and controlled.
“Do you have…any ideas on who’s trying to kill my daughter, Sesshoumaru?” her mother asked him meekly. Sesshoumaru shook his head once.
“I do not want to alarm either of you, but I suspect there is a connection between whom is targeting Kagome and why Kikyou Tanaka was assigned to Kagome’s case at the HMS.”
Kagome gasped next to him, and Sesshoumaru quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed.
“How… Are you sure?” Kagome asked breathlessly.
“I have no proof as of yet. Combing through the HMS’s security net is no easy conquest, and I have only so many favors owed to me that I can readily claim. Even some who owe me have said they have no information, and their hands are basically tied,” Sesshoumaru explained.
Kagome shoulders sagged in misery. “So you really have no proof.”
“I am in the process of obtaining proof,” Sesshoumaru clarified, squeezing her hand again as she leaned against his shoulder. “I am merely going on intuition and what I can sense.”
Kagome turned to him. “You’re using your youkai senses?” Kagome asked, and Sesshoumaru nodded.
“Under the legal limit, I assure you,” he said, trying to ease her worries.
Kagome sighed heavily. “Kikyou…what does she have to do with all this anyway?” Kagome scrunched her brow, and she looked up at her mother’s worried face and realized just why she was here again. “No sense worrying about her anymore!” She changed the subject with some vigor. “Mama, about my father, I need to know everything,” she said keenly. Her mother shifted uncomfortably under Kagome and Sesshoumaru’s scrutiny.
“Well, your father may have had holy powers, Kagome. I’m terribly sorry I kept this from you,” her mother confessed.
“But why wouldn’t you tell me? Why wouldn’t you tell the authorities when we became natural citizens here in America?” Kagome asked, narrowing her eyes.
Her mother sighed, sounding perturbed. “I do not know for sure, Kagome. My father swore up and down that your father was a hack, that he could not have any spiritual powers since he had no interest in helping our shrine that failed. When you father disappeared, I assumed it was Jii-chan who drove him away.”
“Dad, disappeared?” Kagome could feel her head spinning. “You told me he died of a heart attack while working in his office! Mama, just what else are you not telling me?” she raged at her. Her mother stood up abruptly, her hands fisted at her sides, shaking. Kagome saw her mother bite her lip with unshed tears in her eyes.
“I live…every day hoping your father didn’t leave me, that he didn’t disappear on his own, but…” Her mouth trembled, and Kagome felt almost sorry for attacking her mother like this. “I knew nothing. I know nothing now, and it was easier to tell you that he died - even though that was never true.”
“So Dad could be alive. You always claimed that he was dead. I don’t know what’s worse, knowing he could still be out there searching for us, or out there wanting nothing to do with us.”
“Kagome, please, I had heard nothing from your father in years, since after Souta was born, so I couldn’t…I couldn’t get your hopes up that you could find him,” she explained, but Kagome just didn’t accept her words. This was crazy! Her own mother had kept so much from her about her father all this time!
“My father is out there, and if he was taken, if he was in trouble and disappeared because something awful happened to him…”
“You can’t think that,” her mother cut her off.
“Mama! Holy people are hot commodities in the Japanese black market! I heard stories from Jii-chan all the time they were snatching miko and monks off the street to sell them all around the world, against wars, against youkai soldiers! And after you tell me that my father claimed to have holy powers when no one believed him, how can I not assume the worst for him?” she asked, and Kagome could feel the tears of anger streaming down her cheeks. Her mother looked just as emotional, if not more so.
“Mrs. Higurashi.” Sesshoumaru’s voice cut through the angry glare that Kagome was giving her mother. She shifted away from her daughter’s hardened gaze and met Sesshoumaru’s calm expression. “If you disclose all the information, name, history, anything about your former husband, I promise you I will do a detailed investigation into his disappearance,” Sesshoumaru said.
“Sesshoumaru…” Kagome said, turning to him, feeling her nerves starting to calm. Could he really do that? He turned to Kagome’s tear-stained face. “I have some contacts in Japan. Some of them are on the fringes of these so-called black market Holy People traders. If anyone has heard anything, or knows anything, I may be able to find him.”
“But…why? Should we really find him now? I mean, he’s been gone so long…”
“Mama! If Dad’s in trouble we should help him!”
“There’s always a chance your father went willingly,” her mother said coldly, and Kagome sighed at her mother’s lack of empathy.
“If you can do anything Sesshoumaru, I would be so grateful,” Kagome said with a quick, yet courteous bow, ignoring her mother’s shameful stare.
“Do not worry. The evidence your mother has presented should be enough to appease Kikyou and the HMS for now, and if you tell them that I am conducting a private investigation in your father’s appearance, it will intimidate them even more, keeping them from trying to interfere in your life, which is what I suspect Kikyou is trying to do,” he said.
Kagome furrowed her brow. She was anxious and bewildered that all of these things seemed to relate somehow, and she did not believe any of them were coincidences. Like Sesshoumaru’s youki, perhaps her holy powers and heightened intuition were making her think that too. At first, she felt silly for being uncomfortable and spiteful around Kikyou. After all, they did have a history, but they were mature women that could move on, especially since Inuyasha’s death was so long ago.
But if Sesshoumaru was right about her, maybe Kagome’s anxiety toward the woman wasn’t so silly after all. Yet, what was Kikyou really up to, if she was up to anything at all?
Kagome shuddered. She’d hate to think Kikyou was the one that had anything to do with the hit on them. That may be stretching, she thought. She looked at Sesshoumaru and frowned.
Kagome only hoped that wasn’t the case.
Author: Paynesgrey
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama/Romance
Word Count: 1,123
Universe: AU
Prompt: Conquest
Notes: Part 16 of my Some Dreams Fade Anew serial.
Summary: Kagome learns the truth about her father, and Sesshoumaru offers to help her again.
Kagome looked forlornly into her half-empty tea cup, knowing the liquid was probably already cold. With a side glance to Sesshoumaru, she sensed how tense he was even though his expression appeared calm and controlled.
“Do you have…any ideas on who’s trying to kill my daughter, Sesshoumaru?” her mother asked him meekly. Sesshoumaru shook his head once.
“I do not want to alarm either of you, but I suspect there is a connection between whom is targeting Kagome and why Kikyou Tanaka was assigned to Kagome’s case at the HMS.”
Kagome gasped next to him, and Sesshoumaru quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed.
“How… Are you sure?” Kagome asked breathlessly.
“I have no proof as of yet. Combing through the HMS’s security net is no easy conquest, and I have only so many favors owed to me that I can readily claim. Even some who owe me have said they have no information, and their hands are basically tied,” Sesshoumaru explained.
Kagome shoulders sagged in misery. “So you really have no proof.”
“I am in the process of obtaining proof,” Sesshoumaru clarified, squeezing her hand again as she leaned against his shoulder. “I am merely going on intuition and what I can sense.”
Kagome turned to him. “You’re using your youkai senses?” Kagome asked, and Sesshoumaru nodded.
“Under the legal limit, I assure you,” he said, trying to ease her worries.
Kagome sighed heavily. “Kikyou…what does she have to do with all this anyway?” Kagome scrunched her brow, and she looked up at her mother’s worried face and realized just why she was here again. “No sense worrying about her anymore!” She changed the subject with some vigor. “Mama, about my father, I need to know everything,” she said keenly. Her mother shifted uncomfortably under Kagome and Sesshoumaru’s scrutiny.
“Well, your father may have had holy powers, Kagome. I’m terribly sorry I kept this from you,” her mother confessed.
“But why wouldn’t you tell me? Why wouldn’t you tell the authorities when we became natural citizens here in America?” Kagome asked, narrowing her eyes.
Her mother sighed, sounding perturbed. “I do not know for sure, Kagome. My father swore up and down that your father was a hack, that he could not have any spiritual powers since he had no interest in helping our shrine that failed. When you father disappeared, I assumed it was Jii-chan who drove him away.”
“Dad, disappeared?” Kagome could feel her head spinning. “You told me he died of a heart attack while working in his office! Mama, just what else are you not telling me?” she raged at her. Her mother stood up abruptly, her hands fisted at her sides, shaking. Kagome saw her mother bite her lip with unshed tears in her eyes.
“I live…every day hoping your father didn’t leave me, that he didn’t disappear on his own, but…” Her mouth trembled, and Kagome felt almost sorry for attacking her mother like this. “I knew nothing. I know nothing now, and it was easier to tell you that he died - even though that was never true.”
“So Dad could be alive. You always claimed that he was dead. I don’t know what’s worse, knowing he could still be out there searching for us, or out there wanting nothing to do with us.”
“Kagome, please, I had heard nothing from your father in years, since after Souta was born, so I couldn’t…I couldn’t get your hopes up that you could find him,” she explained, but Kagome just didn’t accept her words. This was crazy! Her own mother had kept so much from her about her father all this time!
“My father is out there, and if he was taken, if he was in trouble and disappeared because something awful happened to him…”
“You can’t think that,” her mother cut her off.
“Mama! Holy people are hot commodities in the Japanese black market! I heard stories from Jii-chan all the time they were snatching miko and monks off the street to sell them all around the world, against wars, against youkai soldiers! And after you tell me that my father claimed to have holy powers when no one believed him, how can I not assume the worst for him?” she asked, and Kagome could feel the tears of anger streaming down her cheeks. Her mother looked just as emotional, if not more so.
“Mrs. Higurashi.” Sesshoumaru’s voice cut through the angry glare that Kagome was giving her mother. She shifted away from her daughter’s hardened gaze and met Sesshoumaru’s calm expression. “If you disclose all the information, name, history, anything about your former husband, I promise you I will do a detailed investigation into his disappearance,” Sesshoumaru said.
“Sesshoumaru…” Kagome said, turning to him, feeling her nerves starting to calm. Could he really do that? He turned to Kagome’s tear-stained face. “I have some contacts in Japan. Some of them are on the fringes of these so-called black market Holy People traders. If anyone has heard anything, or knows anything, I may be able to find him.”
“But…why? Should we really find him now? I mean, he’s been gone so long…”
“Mama! If Dad’s in trouble we should help him!”
“There’s always a chance your father went willingly,” her mother said coldly, and Kagome sighed at her mother’s lack of empathy.
“If you can do anything Sesshoumaru, I would be so grateful,” Kagome said with a quick, yet courteous bow, ignoring her mother’s shameful stare.
“Do not worry. The evidence your mother has presented should be enough to appease Kikyou and the HMS for now, and if you tell them that I am conducting a private investigation in your father’s appearance, it will intimidate them even more, keeping them from trying to interfere in your life, which is what I suspect Kikyou is trying to do,” he said.
Kagome furrowed her brow. She was anxious and bewildered that all of these things seemed to relate somehow, and she did not believe any of them were coincidences. Like Sesshoumaru’s youki, perhaps her holy powers and heightened intuition were making her think that too. At first, she felt silly for being uncomfortable and spiteful around Kikyou. After all, they did have a history, but they were mature women that could move on, especially since Inuyasha’s death was so long ago.
But if Sesshoumaru was right about her, maybe Kagome’s anxiety toward the woman wasn’t so silly after all. Yet, what was Kikyou really up to, if she was up to anything at all?
Kagome shuddered. She’d hate to think Kikyou was the one that had anything to do with the hit on them. That may be stretching, she thought. She looked at Sesshoumaru and frowned.
Kagome only hoped that wasn’t the case.