Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha.
Author's Notes: This will be a collection of Holidays in this particular universe. I may or may not have the Christmas one out tomorrow.
---------------
Christmas Eve
When the first snowflake landed on the nose of a certain miko, she closed her eyes and sighed softly. It was cold out. Very cold. She was probably going to get frostbite or worse if she didn't go in. But, she didn't really care at the moment. It was just so beautiful out. Night would fall soon, a new moon night. One year exactly since it had come to a head. Seven months since she had met the Spirit Detectives. Four since that first kiss when he was drunk and she was lonely. He didn't remember.
Three months since she had seen him kissing Keiko. Two since Keiko and Yusuke had broken up. It had only taken another month before Kurama started moving in. Another week for Yusuke to start snapping at everyone, including her. And then just a couple of days ago when he had said those few words. "Why does she come around here anyway? It's not like she has a reason to."Those had hurt, because they were true. And now she didn't know where to go when her grandfather was put in the hospital the day before. She didn't know who to talk to when a demon came to take the Shikon no Tama. Who to go to and get herself healed when it left marks that dug into her side. She didn't belong there. He'd pointed that out. Even if he didn't know she was listening, even if he was bitter at everything.
Kagome never even called for help when she slipped down the bank, blood trailing behind her and fell onto the ice. She sat on the ice, knees pulled to her chest and cold seeping into her skin. She glanced up at the sky and giggled a bit hysterically.
"It's Christmas Eve, Inuyasha. The day you left me. It wasn't a new moon that day then, but it is now. Ironic, isn't it? The day you died falls on a new moon this year. Inuyasha... Miroku...Sango...Shippo... What should I do?" She sat on the ice, waiting for an answer that would never come. She hugged her knees and buried her freezing cheeks into her arms and began to cry.
If she even noticed the snow slowly piling beside her, Kagome still didn't move. It was cold, but she was thinking, and sobbing. She'd move when she was better. Go home and have oden and pretend everything was fine. That she didn't hurt from what he said, or that Inuyasha was dead.
The wooden bridge behind her suddenly creaked with weight as someone stepped onto it. It was dark, Kagome noted. Whoever it was wouldn't notice her. She was half hidden by dead but still tall rushes peeking out of the ice and snow. She was dark, her clothes were anyway. Her powers were pure light, but all she could see was darkness.
She tried to stifle the sob as she relieved the memories from a year ago. The footsteps stilled. There was blood on the snow. There had been blood on the snow then too. His blood, their blood, her blood. All red and dark and contaminating the purity of the snow. As she had been contaminated by the darkness whispering to her. It had been so easy. Tsubaki had used her powers of light for darkness. Just for a moment, just a small pull, to whisper back, to turn the horde of demons back.
"What the fuck?" Kagome's head shot up and she found herself looking at jean-clad legs and then angry brown eyes as a certain Toushin knelt in front of her. When had he arrived? Not when the demon horde had been there, certainly. But then, that had been a year ago.
The two days were blurring. Past and present were the same. Each ended with her alone. Shock was filling the beautiful brown eyes staring at her and he was moving hair from her face. His hand was almost burning and she gasped, pulling away from it.
"Kagome? What the hell... You're freezing?" Kagome stared at him, processing the words slowly. Was she? She didn't feel cold. Sort of nice now, like she could almost touch Inuyasha's hand again, see the warmth in the eyes that would have been violet this day.
Yusuke was trying to get her up, Kagome noticed. He had seen the blood. Why was he panicked? She'd bled worse. She frowned and looked at her hands. She should have worn gloves. Were they cold? She couldn't feel it.
"Damn it. Were you trying to die?!" Kagome flinched at the shriek in her ear. She was too close to his face. He had picked her up, heading...To her home? It was empty. But he didn't know that, now did he? Didn't know that they were all at the hospital, staying over for the night to watch her Grandfather. He didn't know she'd probably be living there alone soon. It was bad for Grandfather's health to climb up and down those steps. Mama would fine a nice place for him and herself to watch over him... Maybe she would have Souta stay with her.
"No... They died already. It would be nice to see them again, but they wouldn't want that," Kagome said vaguely. Yusuke would have stopped to stare at her, but she was freezing and the tear tracks on her face had even iced over. He wanted to shake her and ask what was wrong with her. And he would...later.
"Who?" He growled as he stopped and turned a corner after a second's consideration, seeing her shrine steps just ahead.
"Them. Miroku... Sango... Shippo... and Inuyasha. Dead. Our blood ran so pretty on the snow. Everything was dark and whispering." Kagome murmured.
Yusuke kicked the door lightly to knock on it and frowned when there was no answer. Distracted by this mystery, he answered the half-crazy miko. "Oh. Right, them. Why isn't anyone coming to the door? Damn it, you definitely need to be bandaged up. And you need warm clothing."
"Hospital. Grandpa's sick." Yusuke froze and stared down at the innocent blue-gray eyes and began swearing. "Why the hell didn't you come and stay with one of us?"
Her eyes flashed and he saw a hopeful spark of her usual fire. "Why? After all, I don't have a reason to."
Yusuke was silent a few more seconds, before he realized what she meant and swore under his breath. "I didn't mean it like that. What the hell were you doing listening anyway?"
Bitter laughter erupted from her throat. "They never mean it like that. I never meant to reach out and use his own demons against him. I never meant to tell them to attack each other and him until all that was left was blood raining down until the landscape was more red than white. But it happened anyway, didn't it?"
Yusuke stared at the miko then awkwardly fumbled, trying to get his hand on the doorknob and carry her at the same time. Lazily, Kagome reached up one hand and turned the knob. It opened easily. "I didn't lock it. Didn't mean to be out so long."
"Bet you didn't mean to be bleeding and sitting on a river catching hypothermia either, Yusuke muttered, shouldering the door closed behind them. "The snows all melting on you. If I get you up to your room, you can change into dry clothes without deciding a snow bank is a good place to get some sleep, can't you?"
Kagome nodded her head. When he left her inside her bedroom door she shivered and grabbed the doorknob for balance. Everything was cold, so cold. Her wound had stopped bleeding. Maybe it had healed up. Or frozen. No, it would be bleeding again. At least all the snow melting off of her would keep it clean.
She managed to strip out of her clothes and put on some pajamas, even if she did half collapse a few times. She closed her eyes, feeling the beckoning darkness. Not the whispering kind, just the silence. Everything was still so cold. The heat was off... she remembered now. It would be for a few days.
She stumbled to her bed, shivering even after she had put layers of comforters on top of her. Sleep was what she needed now. Just a little sleep and all the cold would go away. The blood she had lost would be nothing. Besides, she could almost hear them now.
"Kagome. You promised me." Kagome blinked, opening her eyes slowly, struggling. She didn't see anything. Only a faint whisper.
"Your skin is still cold. You've lost blood and you need something warm in you. Get up. You promised me!" Promised who? Promises were no good. She didn't like it here anymore. Everything was so hard.
"No! You fucking coward! You promised us! You let the darkness take you once. You'll let it have you again? You fucking bitch! Get up! Use some of that miko energy of yours to keep you awake! Get up, Kagome! Get up!" But... If she could just sleep...
The voice changed, softer, more childish. "Mama. Please. Please, we love you, but we don't want to see you yet. Later, ok?"How could she deny him that? "Ok," She murmured, getting up with one comforter still wrapped around her. "Later. I've never broken a promise to you, have I?"
"Kagome?" She heard the worried yell from down the stairs and shuffled to the door. There was one last snicker from behind her. A different male voice this time. "Kitty pajamas, Kagome-sama? And I always thought you were a dog person."Kagome's face lit with a smile that quickly faded as her knees trembled going down the stairs. Surely she wasn't that weak from blood loss? Or from being out in the cold! Of course, she had also fought that demon earlier...
She let some of her miko energy slip into her system, strengthening the blood flow, giving her just a bit more energy. She peered down at the bottom of the steps at the bored looking Toushin. "I'm surprised you're still here."
Oh no, she wasn't still a bit angry. But, as she knew, it didn't take much for Yusuke to snap when he was already stretched thin. So when she attempted to walk by and found herself being shoved against a wall (though not too hard, he was being careful) she knew she shouldn't be surprised.
"What the fuck is your problem Kagome? Would you rather I'd left you there to die?" Kagome almost let the 'yes' pass her lips, let all the hurtful words that she wanted to say to strike back at him pass her lips. She didn't. She leaned away from the boy who was way too close and looked away.
"Let me go, Yusuke." She said quietly, tired of the whole thing. Though it was warm close to him. He was staring at her now, his finger brushing her face as he frowned. "You're still so cold. Damn it."
"We have some hot cocoa packets around the house. Making them will probably heat the air in there as well," Kagome suggested. Yusuke let her go and stomped into the kitchen. She curled up on the couch, closing her eyes briefly. A small nap while he boiled the hot cocoa.
"No. Don't you realize this isn't a simple case of you being depressed and cold? If you go to sleep, it will get you, take you, and change you. Do you want to be a force of darkness for the rest of your life? Can you imagine that? You, powered by your own already very powerful energy and a tainted Shikon no Tama? Sit up, Kagome! Don't fall asleep! Don't let the cold dark take your mind!" Kagome struggled, struggled as she heard the whistles of the boiling water, a muttered oath, and managed to sit up just as Yusuke was shoving a hot mug in her face.
She wrapped her fingers around it carefully, crying out as it burnt her fingers. She giggled suddenly and Yusuke glanced at her quizzically. "It has little marshmallows."
"What were you doing out there? Who goes out in this weather in the first place?" Yusuke had put his own mug down and Kagome took a couple of sips of hers, closing her eyes at the scalding hot chocolate on her tongue. She gave a small hum of delight, not noticing the way Yusuke suddenly looked away at the small-pleased sound. She took her time trying to put her answer in words. Finally, she placed the mug on a nearby table and answered.
"I... needed to think. I just wanted to go for a walk. It wasn't snowing at the time, just cold, and the heat was off anyway, so... Well, there was a demon there. I wasn't paying attention. It wounded me; I killed it, and- Hey! Don't do that!" Apparently reminding Yusuke of her wounds had been a bad idea. He had lifted her shirt to look at her side and stomach and she tried to squirm away as his fingers probed the barely closed wound. She knew if she'd been a demon it would have healed long ago.
"That hurts!" She hissed when he pressed a bit too hard. He snorted and looked up, fingers still lying curled around her side, covering the wound. "It should, otherwise I'd wonder what was wrong with you. Besides the almost dying out there of course. What would you have done if I hadn't come along?"
Kagome struggled to think and twisted away from his hand. He was touching her. It was nice and not at the same time. Because he had been drunk and she still remembered and he didn't know what she felt. His other hand gripped the other side of waist and kept her from squirming away. "Damn it, you've never had problems with anyone else being this close to you. Hell, you practically fell asleep one time draped across Kurama a couple months ago."
She blinked, remembering that she and Kurama had fallen asleep once in awhile talking. Cuddled up however, was a different story. That had only happened one time when she was crying and the kitsune had taken it upon himself to comfort her. Kurama was her best friend in a lot of ways. Had that been the faintest hint of jealousy in his tone? For something that happened over two months ago? She almost smirked.
"I did not. He was comforting me," She protested, forcing herself to relax, despite the fact she could feel her waist burning under his touch.
"Yeah, I bet he was comforting you," Yusuke half snarled. She felt like smacking him. He was half leaned over her at this point and she knew smacking him would change that position drastically. Yusuke wasn't going to allow her to do that without reacting.
"Kurama is my friend. He was my friend then, is my friend now, and I have never thought of him as anything but a friend. I've only ever been in love with two people, and one of them died a year ago today, so excuse me if I was getting depressed today! Excuse me if you acting like I was a weak little girl who needed all of her wounds checked out offended me!" Kagome's eyes were stormy as she shrieked into Yusuke's face. She let her miko energy surge in her veins and this time managed to break free of Yusuke's grip, attempting to twist away.
Yusuke frowned as her skin that had been gradually warming, flared up cold beneath his fingers as she twisted away. He narrowed his eyes as he faintly felt another dark aura, both far away and echoing hers at the same moment.
There were a few brief moments of struggles before she was pinned beneath the Toushin who was glaring at her. "Stay still for one second, will you?"
Strangely enough she obeyed. She was breathing hard, too hard for a simple little power struggle. He frowned down at her, watching as she closed her eyes and relaxed in his grip. She really was tired.
As she did relax, the dark aura seemed to flare brighter and he tensed. "Kagome. Wake up!"
"Wake up, Wake up. The darkness follows. Wake up, girl, wake up!" The harsh but soft and smooth voice had Kagome angry in a second. She opened her eyes to Yusuke's worried ones.
"What's wrong with you?" His puzzled question resulted in her briefly trying to get out of his control again. "What's your problem? Get off of me!"
"I will when you stop acting so off!" Kagome gritted her teeth and attempted to relax without getting sleepy. He wasn't going to leave her alone. And some part of her was glad. Glad that she wasn't left alone with the dead on Christmas Eve.
"Okay," She accepted. She could feel his confusion. Her skin was warming up again. Her comforter had gotten shoved off at some point during the struggle, but there was enough heat now, it seemed. Maybe anger heated them up. Or maybe having him so close...
She gulped suddenly and looked away. "Our hot chocolate is going to get lukewarm if we don't drink it soon."
"Right," Yusuke muttered. He didn't move for a few moments and a strange emotion crossed his face. If Kagome had to put a name to it, she would have called it longing. Then he was off of her and she was sitting up. They drank in silence and Kagome sighed happily as the warm liquid filled her belly.
"Thanks for making this." Her quiet speech broke the silence and Yusuke glanced towards her as she started finishing her glance. He had already finished his. He shrugged and looked away.
"No problem...How did you guys defeat Naraku? You've always skipped over that part." When she stiffened Yusuke moved closer, grabbing one wrist as she started to rise. "Don't. If you're not answering, say it, don't just leave."
She avoided his eyes. "I think I'd like to go to bed."
"Like hell. Not with whatever that thing is that's going after you." Kagome winced. She hadn't sensed it until the last time she'd tried to go to sleep. She picked up her comforter off the floor and huffed, wrapping herself up in it.
"Fine. Jerk." Yusuke rolled his eyes and let go of her wrist. She glanced over at him, then at her own comforter. She smiled a bit slyly. Surely even her favorite majin boy (technically the only majin boy) got cold when there was snow out and the heat was off. She was still cold and she had the blanket over herself.
When he suddenly found a soft warm body sidled up next to his and Kagome's blanket around both their forms, Yusuke nearly jumped out of his skin. Especially when Kagome decided putting her head on his shoulder was comfortable. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Keeping us warm," Kagome answered, trying to keep the smugness out of her voice. He might never notice her but right now he couldn't get away, now could he?
"Right..." Yusuke said warily. This was not good on his self-control. That the innocent little miko had simply cuddled up next him was very bad.
"The boy thinks thee innocent." There was a chuckle and a male voice, rough and accompanied by the image of twinkling blue eyes and wolves talked after the old woman. "She is. But in this case, she definitely isn't. Relax a bit Kagome." "What do you know about relationships, Kouga? You weren't exactly good at the one we had! Try falling asleep again. If the thing after you makes you get cold again, he'll worry about you."
"What are you laughing about?" She looked up, all innocence in her eyes. "Me? Oh, I just thought of something."
"Though of what? And since you've finally calmed down, why haven't you been around the past couple of days anyway? I can't just be because I made a tiny little comment. Hell, why would it matter what I said anyway?" 'And who,' Yusuke asked himself silently, remembering an earlier comment, 'is that second person?'He was betting, no matter what she said, that it was Kurama. The damn fox may be dating Keiko now, but he could still hold every other girl's attention as well. Hell, he'd probably still call if friendship. He could just imagine Kagome and Kurama sitting and talking and then he'd go in for a kiss-
"Yusuke, are you alright?" The boy was clenching his fists now, beneath the blanket they were sharing. What had gotten him riled up now?
"Fine." There was a pause as Kagome raised and eyebrow, and, taking the chance to snuggle in closer, peered up at him. "Have you ever done anything with Kurama?"
Kagome eyes flashed in anger. This again! Hadn't she answered this already? "I said me and Kurama are just friends."
"That doesn't answer the question."
Kagome's eyes flashed and she gritted her teeth. "Yusuke, me and Kurama are not involved in any way, shape, or form other than friendship that is rather strained at the moment. You- you... You ask the stupidest questions! And to answer the earlier one, it hurt because you made it. Don't you get it yet?"
Kagome glared and at the lack of realization she pressed her lips to his, realizing this wasn't what she had meant to do a moment too late. She tried to pull back and found she was being pressed forward roughly. There was delighted laughter in the background.
"Good, good...Perhaps we should watch the rest of her family until midnight. I think she may be preoccupied." There were stifled giggles at Miroku's statement and then the traces that Kagome had thought were her imagination left the vicinity, floating through the air towards the far off hospital.
"Get it now?" Kagome asked nervously when they broke apart. He was grinning at her now and her stomach flip-flopped. That was the grin the told her he was planning something wicked.
"Yeah, I really think I do." She would later liken his next move akin to pouncing on her. Her back was suddenly flat against the cushion of the couch and lips were devouring her own. Automatically she raised a hand to push at him, too fast, too swift, and he caught it without looking.
That tongues were soon involved, followed by the most delightful sounds from both of them was a given and Kagome gave the pleased hum he liked so much from in her throat when Yusuke broke the kiss and attacked her neck instead. But, like all good things, even this would have to come to an end.
"Oh my." Two dazed and happy teenagers looked up to see a familiar smirking and amused kitsune and a shocked and dazed brunette girl. "Well, I was coming over to see if Kagome was alright, considering what day it is, but I see you have this all under control. May I say that tomorrows Christmas party at my new home would be delighted by your presence. I hope to see you both on the morrow. I also hope you two enjoy your... presents."
Kagome blushed at the innuendo and Keiko covered her mouth, whether to stifle a gasp or a laugh no one but her knew. Kurama, still stifling a chuckle, dragged his girlfriend out the door and left the two to their business.
"You know, I think Kurama gives very good advice. I'd just love to open my present," Yusuke grinned at the blushing miko who attempted to glare at him. When that didn't work she narrowed her eyes and buried her face in the comforter.
"You know, we have to go to a party tomorrow, we should get some sleeEEE-" Her shriek was cut off by an unsatisfied majin who grinned at her in satisfaction at her breathless look once he was done.
"We're not going anywhere for awhile." Kagome laughed and kissed him gently. "No, we aren't, but we do have a party tomorrow and I think presents can wait. It's not Christmas yet. And that... thing.... is still out there."
Yusuke grumpily settled down and Kagome sat up, her hair tousled and she snuggled underneath one of his arms when he sat up as well. "You'll watch me while I sleep, right? They're gone now and won't wake me up, but I get cold when it's near."
Yusuke looked at her sharply. What "they"? But, she was already yawning and smiling at him. He didn't want to start another argument. She was stressed and he could undo all the good done with a few simple, stupidly placed words. Damn it, who fights to the death on Christmas Eve anyway?
So he let her lean against him and wrap her arms around him, kissing her gently, relishing the new experience he had been longing for, the one she too had been longing for. Yusuke wrapped his arms around her and protected her as she slept. No weird dark aura creature was getting near her. Not past him. Not on this day when she had lost part of her eternal stubborn will power, and he'd found her sitting on a frozen river.
He'd be damned if he ever let her spend Christmas Eve alone again.
--End--
Review if you please. Feedback is appreciated.