Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha

Strings of Destiny
June
Chapter 1
Thread 1

If anyone he knew saw him now, they'd probably die of laughter. Then they'd die because he killed them. He, Yusuke Urameshi, had a job. A real, paying job. Surprisingly, one that made enough money for him to rent an apartment. Not a very nice one, but the water worked, and most of the time the electricity managed to work too. He didn't spend much time in it. It was a place to sleep, a place so he wouldn't be a burden to his mother.

Yusuke had been surprised that the job he had chosen even paid enough for that small apartment. It had been the middle aged woman who had done it he was sure. The old man seemed distrustful of...well...anything. He had even tried to purify Yusuke because he thought he was a demon. Technically, it was kinda true. Yusuke had freaked at first, though he didn't show it outwardly and the wards didn't work. The middle-aged woman had just shaken her head and said he did it to everyone.

She made a good mother to the little boy running around. Apparently there was a girl nearer his own age too, but she was 'sick' apparently. How any one could be sick this long and not be dead he didn't know. At the moment, he just focused on taking care of their shrine. It needed a lot of work. It would probably take years to finish everything that needed fixing. Plus he had to help sell the trinkets the shrine sold, and help with customers.

Oddly enough, Koenma had been delighted that he had taken a paying job as well as still trying to be a Spirit Detective. The he'd said something vague about if a mission came up he could explain to 'her' and she would explain it to 'her' family. He had the most uncanny feeling Koenma hadn't been talking about Mrs. Higurashi, the motherly figure. That only left the daughter, whom he had yet to meet. He knew her name was Kagome, and that was about it.

He shook himself from contemplating, and finished some work he was doing at the top of the well house. He snorted quietly to himself. Reduced to manual labor and having to deal with tourists. Yusuke finished fixing a hole in the roof. He had to wonder where it came from. It had a strange feeling to it. The opposite of the strange feeling the tree gave him. When he'd first stepped beneath it seemed to be searching him, the energy seeming to crackle threateningly for a moment until the sudden thoughts of his friends and his job entered his mind. The energy around the tree had become calming and warm. He would have stayed there forever enjoying the feeling if he could. The faint energy signature on top of the well? That was the complete opposite of it. It was a demon's signature of some type, but he had yet to meet a demon who had so much dark energy radiating off of him that even faint traces showed it.

Yusuke was walking away to check and see if anybody was around who wanted to here about the shrine or buy any of the silly trinkets. He doubted any of them were real. The old man had made him memorize most of the common legends, anything other than that went to one of the family.

Yusuke suddenly paused as a low throb seemed to sound in his head. It was getting stronger, and the God Tree nearby seemed to have w welcoming pulse to combine with this new one. Yusuke whipped his head around as there was a flash of blue from the well house. His legs refused to move in any direction as he stared curiously at the well house. 'This isn't the smartest thing I've ever done. Usually when things begin to glow with energy that's a good indication something bad is about to happen. So why am I just standing here again?'

He never answered his own question as the well house door creaked open and Yusuke could smell the blood coming from whoever was in there. Human blood. If it was one thing his new and improved sense of smell could get, it was human blood. He took a step forward, muscles tensed for an attack if it was a trap. A girl in her late teens stepped out of the well house, wavering unsteadily on her feet as he saw blood on one arm. She took an unsteady step forward, a backpack having been dropped behind her. Suddenly she crumpled down sideways and Yusuke sucked in a breath, straining all of his senses and searching for another aura around.

There wasn't anybody else around. The Higurashi family had said they'd be out for a couple of days. Mrs. Higurashi had simply said that if her daughter came home she'd explain her sickness or not on her own discretion, but hadn't said anything else. Yusuke took a cautious step forward then rolled his eyes at his own caution and ran to the girl's side. Despite her apparently unconscious state, she flinched at his touch.

He frowned then squinted as he saw blood running down the side of her back. He carefully turned her a bit more and peered at her back. Her shirt had been ripped through in three long slashes, one slightly shorter, and then a small one. The three middle scratches weren't very deep, but they were long, and they could still be dangerous. The markings on her back looked as if there had been a clawed hand. That led Yusuke to one conclusion. A demon had done this. He would ask later about the well.

Yusuke flipped her over and picked her up in on motion, not allowing her back to touch the ground. That would probably hurt the wounds more. He studied her face and sighed. If he was right, this was probably the daughter. He carried her inside the house and scowled. Where was he supposed to put her so he could treat her injuries?

Yusuke spotted the dinner table and shrugged. He put her on the table stomach down and went to get the first aid. Despite the old man's protests, Mrs. Higurashi had shown him where that was. Strangely, they had more than just the regular First Aid things. Their bandage count was about four time's normal, as well as everything else. There were also strange things in there that he had no idea when they would be used. On the other hand, he had recognized one bottle as the antidote to a rare demon poison. That had definitely left him wondering.

Yusuke just took an armful of the supplies and walked out and then back to the table. He dropped everything and hesitated, looking at her back. He eyed her suspiciously and shrugged. The back of the shirt was already ruined, but it needed to be out of the way.

Within a few minutes Yusuke had torn off the back of her shirt and bandaged her back and arm. He froze as she groaned and began to stir. Thinking quickly he went and got one of the only jackets left, apparently made for a girl and draped it across her back before retreating to a corner in front of her. He knew how volatile a girl could be when she thought her modesty had been compromised. He watched as she struggled to wakefulness, wincing as her arm bumped the table the wrong way.

He was stunned when the instant she lifted her head her eyes settled on him, as if she could feel him before she even looked. She blinked a few times as if surprised at what she saw. He arched an eyebrow. She glared. He scowled. She smirked. He rolled his eyes. Finally, she giggled slightly before wincing as she tried to sit up.

"Careful. Usually I was the one who was getting injured, so I'm not sure if I did that right. And Botan usually healed us." The girl gave him a blank look and he was startled to realize she had blue eyes. That was an odd color.

"You're a demon," He heard her state plainly. He tensed slightly and crossed his arms defensively.

"Yeah? So what?" His only answer was a searching look before she slid on arm into the jacket and put the other half hanging on her shoulder to cover her back. She frowned at the front of her shirt that was threatening to fall off and sighed.

"I'll be right back."

As she walked out and up the stairs she began mumbling, and Yusuke grinned at what he heard. "Another school uniform ruined...Mama's going to kill me, I'm so close to graduating too...Inuyasha...woken up by an annoying cute demon..."

Yusuke quickly cleaned up the table before sitting on the edge of it, not bothering to pull out a chair. He let his hands fall to his lap as he watched the stairs. The girl really was quick, wearing a new shirt, the exact same shade of white that she had been wearing before. Well, it had been white besides all the red parts due to it being bloodied.

"So, you're the missing daughter? The 'sick' girl?" He saw her roll her eyes at his words before she nodded.

"Kagome Higurashi. Now, thanks for bandaging me up, but who are you and what are you doing here?" He leaned back on the table and studied her. The slightest tinge of pink appeared to be collecting around her hand.

"I work here now. Your mother and the old man hired me a couple of weeks back. Yusuke Urameshi."

She seemed to accept that before pulling out a chair and staring at him. He fidgeted. She giggled slightly, apparently finding something amusing. Immediately he glared at her. She waved both hands in front of her disarmingly while she peered at him curiously. "So, they finally hired someone? I suppose with me off in...Um, I mean getting sick..."

She trailed off at the disbelief written on his face. He snorted and simply nodded towards the door while crossing his arms. "And I suppose the well glowing blue has nothing to do with you "getting sick" as you put it."

Kagome flinched then stiffened up as she stared back at the well, her eyes changing to worry in an instant. "Did anyone else come out of the well after me?"

"Nope, no more glowing, no other people bloodied up and fainting after they stepped out of a previously empty well house. One question for you. What the hell was that?"

Kagome shifted nervously, eyeing him. Her eyes seemed to light up suddenly. What better way to get someone away from a crazy subject than by telling the truth? "It's a portal to the Feudal Era, five hundred years in the past where I and my companions, two humans, a fox kit, and a dog hanyou, work to collect the shards of a jewel ahead of a evil demon who was once a human thief."

Yusuke saw the way her eyes brightened and eyed her suspiciously. He was about to scowl and make some comment when the 'dog hanyou' comment rang in his mind and his eyes flickered to her shirt. "That dog hanyou the one who gave you those? Because the marks do look like a dogs, long thin scrapes."

He smirked at her shocked look before she pouted and muttered, "Yeah."

"Nice companion you travel with." She stiffened at his words and glared at him, eyes angry to hide the hurt that her hanyou had caused her.

"It wasn't his fault! His demon blood took over!" She hung her head to hide the tears. She hadn't even been able to say 'Sit' in fear that his claws would have ripped her apart if she took a moment to catch her breath. She struggled to contain the moisture threatening to fall, and managed to look up with only slightly watery eyes, still glaring at Yusuke.

Yusuke was silent as he watched the girl. Apparently this wasn't a regular occurrence then, but those hadn't been the only scars on her back. She had short one, longer ones, big bruises, many others, though most looked recent and healing well, only a few larger ones appeared to be sticking.

"So, if that isn't normal, where'd everything else come from? For that matter, wasn't there a bruise on that arm before?"

Yusuke stared pointedly at the arm that wasn't bandaged up and saw her switch into defensive mode. "What, I'm not allowed to heal a little fast?"

Yusuke's eyes rolled up. 'This girl is suspicious of everything, isn't she?' Except, apparently, she wasn't. She'd accepted he was a demon like it was a normal occurrence. He'd have to go looking up what was going on five hundred years back that she knew so much about demon. "Sure you are. It's just that normal humans don't heal that fast."

"Yeah, well, I'm a miko. Not miss normality." She huffed in irritation had to laugh at her, before turning serious, turning the words over in his mind.

"Your Grandpa said something about his family being from a long line of purifiers. His stories were actually true?" Yusuke' eyes widened. He'd told some pretty weird stories that didn't sound anything like what demons would do. Kagome's peals of laughter eased that suspicion but put him on guard just the same.

"No, no, I don't think they are. No one else in my family has ever showed any purifying powers that I've seen." It was only because of his demon hearing that he picked up the bitter murmur that came out next. "Of course, none of them are the reincarnation of the great priestess Kikyou."

Yusuke's eyebrows rose at the bitterness and the sneer showing in her voice. This was proving to be interesting. "Who is, or I should say, since a reincarnation can only happen when one is dead, who was Kikyou."

Kagome looked up in faint surprise before sighing. "Demon hearing. You'd think I'd have learned not to do that by now."

Yusuke smirked triumphantly, though triumphant over what he wasn't sure. He crossed his arms and waited for her answer. She glared at him. He continued smirking. Her eyes fell from his and he frowned as she looked at the floor while speaking in a calm and controlled voice. Not all like the one he'd gotten to know over the past few minutes. This was like a bright red sign pointing to 'You upset her, moron!'

"Kikyou was the great miko guardian of the Shikon no Tama. She was beautiful, calm, in control of her emotions. The people respected her and mourned her death. Her only mistake was wanting to end her loneliness, leading her to fall in love with a hanyou. Both wanted to fit in. Kikyou had her duty; the hanyou had his heritage. They sought out each other. Someone took advantage of their love and used them against each other, resulting in Kikyou's death. The Shikon no Tama burned with her and was reborn in her reincarnation, who proceeded to travel five hundred years back to fifty years after her death. Then said reincarnation got the jewel stolen from her body, and later got it broken when she tried to retrieve it from another demon. Said reincarnation is now responsible for the deaths of hundreds, probably thousands of people as demons use the shards to their own advantage. Nothing like responsible Kikyou. She never would have broken the jewel, and even if she had, she would have found all the shards within-"

"Stop it." Yusuke's furious voice shattered Kagome's blabbering voice as the tears rolled down her cheeks. "I asked who Kikyou was, not for you to be blaming yourself for trying to do what was right. If the dead are dead, leave them that was and stop letting them haunt you."

Kagome let out a bitter laugh, interrupted by a sob as all the emotions held up in the feudal era poured out in front of this demon. "Now that's irony for you. You see, she didn't stay dead. A nice -or not so nice- demon decided to try to resurrect her. Doesn't work so well without a soul. So, she tried to take my mind. Worked too, except I took most of it back. Not easy to ignore the ghost of your former incarnate when they try to kill you every chance they get."

"Then kill her before she can kill you," came Yusuke's advice. Despite himself, he had the sudden urge to stop her from feeling this way. Or at least stop showing it. Heck, what was he getting himself into by bandaging this girl? She seemed more trouble in one bundle than all of his teammates were put together. Unfortunately, Yusuke had always liked trouble.

"I can't. Inuyasha would go insane."

The pieces clocked in Yusuke's mind and he looked at her in horrified realization. "The hanyou you travel with...that's Inuyasha, isn't it? And he's the hanyou in that story...How-"

"I'll tell you later." Kagome ended the conversation abruptly and Yusuke frowned before nodding.

"Right. That's your choice. It's time for me to go home anyway. See ya tomorrow Kagome." He watched her accept his farewell and give her own before heading out. He didn't head out towards his apartment, but to an empty park, and then he flipped open his communicator.

"Botan? Can I ask a favor of Koenma?" Botan's surprised face appeared on the communicator.

"Sure. Good thing I'm actually here in his office." The communicator's scene shifted to show a wall and the desk before the aggravated face of Koenma appeared on the screen.

"What is it Yusuke?"

"What do you have on Kikyou, Inuyasha, the Shikon no Tama, and what happened five hundred years ago?"

Silence met his question. Yusuke was about to ask again when Koenma began to chuckle. "Met Kagome did you? Looks like the record he gave me was correct. Let's see...the inu hanyou Inuyasha fell in love with Kikyou after several attempts at getting the Shikon no Tama. Eventually they were tricked, and Kikyou sealed him to a tree. Fifty years later a miko, said to be from the future in this record I have, came along and released him. The Shikon no Tama is a powerful jewel, probably the most powerful artifact ever created. One shard makes a demon many times stronger. The whole Shikon...some demons just swallowed it to gain its power. The more intelligent ones could wish upon it to draw out it's full potential. It corrupts, and in turn is corrupted. Only the purest of hearts can purify it, and even then it will require an unselfish wish. Or possibly something else."

Yusuke's mind reeled with information. She'd released the hanyou...who'd been in love with her former incarnation, and who she seemed terribly fond of herself. "Fucking hell, that girl's story just seems to be more danger filled the more I learn. What the hell is her mother thinking letting her go off like that and half kill herself? The hanyou's more dangerous than most of their enemies I bet, she came home with wounds all over from that-"

"You know, you seem awful worried about someone you just met Yusuke." Yusuke tried to glare at Botan through the communicator, but she wasn't there, and all he saw was a grinning Koenma and heard Botan's giggles.

"Hey, this demon stuff is my job, should an ordinary girl really be mixed up in it?"

Silence filled the screen before Koenma sighed. "She has to Yusuke. It's already happened. And she's far from ordinary. She's the most powerful miko since Midoriko, more powerful than her former incarnate because of the jewel's excess power bleeding off into her while it lay dormant. She just...doesn't know it yet."

It was Yusuke's turn to be silent, and Koenma didn't really like what he saw. Yusuke was angry. "So...she's defenseless. She doesn't know how to use her powers, you know this, know all about her, and haven't fucking tried to help her!"

"Calm down Yusuke. We aren't allowed to. And there's nothing we can do. And don't you dare-" A click echoed around the park clearing as Yusuke cut off Koenma's attempt to stop Yusuke from doing something foolish. Yusuke looked thoughtfully back at the shrine and grinned, finally heading to his apartment. The place didn't always need work. He wasn't exactly teacher material, but perhaps he could at least get her able to stop the hanyou from killing her when he went crazy.

The Toushin's step was lighter than it had been in months as he walked down the street, a new self-assigned mission in mind.

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Yes, another story. This is actually to badger any of my yahoo group members to look at the yahoo group since I asked them a bunch of questions, but since they have already read two chapters of this, I'll just put in an extra chapter they haven't after the first one, though most of them will probably complain about that one. Oh, and a note about the Thread portion of the top, what thread it is indicates what pairings are ccontained withing. obviously Thread one is Yus/Kag. Oh, and please review. Feedback is appreciated.