Reikai – 1996

Koenma gave the rather plain looking girl standing in front of his desk a narrow-eyed stare, his pacifier hiding his scowl from sight as he tried to connect this girl to the legends he had often heard of. His own father had described a Kitsune woman of ethereal beauty, with long blue-black hair, stunning and expressive ocean blue eyes, and exotic indigo stripes on her cheeks and wrists. There was also something about a crescent moon on her forehead, but that was something he currently could not recall. This girl was nothing like the one his father had described, but her name was the very same. Things did not add up, at all, and he was about to dismiss the smiling girl when one of his most problematic Reikai Detective teams entered his office. The door swung open with such a force, a testament to Urameshi Yuusuke's foul mood that the doorknob buried into the wall. Koenma directed his scowl at the surly mazoku and outright glared.

"I have fucking had it with the lame ass missions you've been sending us on, twerp!" Yuusuke shouted as he approached the desk, completely oblivious to the girl standing there. He slammed his palms against the top of the desk and leaned down to glare at Koenma, unaware that the rest of his team had practically frozen just inside the doorway. They hadn't known that Koenma was entertaining someone, not that something like that mattered to Yuusuke.

Koenma's gaze slid to the girl and he was shocked to see that she was amused, a hand raised to cover her mouth as her plain blue eyes twinkled. He didn't find the situation amusing, at all, and usually he would be quite annoyed with the brash mazoku, but the girl's reaction had thrown him for a proverbial loop. "Please pardon Yuusuke's interruption and his uncouthness. He should have already been aware that I was otherwise engaged."

The girl giggled and lowered her hand to reveal a radiant smile, her features no longer seeming plain. "There is no need to apologize, Koenma-sama. I find his uncouthness quite refreshing and very much like that of a dear friend of mine." Even her tone was amused, and Yuusuke colored slightly at the unknown girl's words. She continued to smile, while the mazoku scowled and turned to get a good look at her.

There was a flash of recognition and all of the color drained from Yuusuke's face as he spluttered out, "K-K-Kagome?!"

Koenma leaned forward and watched as the girl silently nodded, the smile never leaving her face. The situation was developing into something quite interesting, especially since Yuusuke, who was now gaping like a fish, knew the person standing before his desk.

"It's good to see you too, cousin. If you don't mind, I would like to finish talking with Koenma-sama." Her tone was soft, full of innocence and sincere, her eyes large and pleading.

There was no way he could deny her request, and before he could even think to question why she was there, in Reikai, to talk with his boss, he gave a nod and turned around to leave. As he left Koenma's office he didn't even notice the soft nudge in his mind to forget that he had seen her. "C'mon guys, we'll bother the twerp another time."

Kuwabara obediently followed, and he too oddly forgot that he had seen a girl who claimed to be Urameshi's cousin, leaving only Kurama and Hiei behind. They were largely unaffected by whatever had worked on Yuusuke and Kuwabara, and they (more so Kurama than Hiei) glanced from the two detectives walking down the hall to the smiling girl (whom Hiei's gaze had never left) and Koenma.

"I trust you two would be more able to keep my secrets, especially from Yuusuke," she stated and her smile lessened as a pained look entered her eyes. Whatever she had been going to say to Koenma, it wasn't for Yuusuke to hear. Kuwabara, for his propensity to blurt out things better left unknown, was also someone who did not need to hear this girl's request. Kagome turned back to Koenma and bowed low, a sign of respect, as she uttered a soft, "Gomen nasai, Koenma-sama."

The toddler-like Prince of Reikai was rather confused at her sudden, and unnecessary, apology. He opened his mouth to negate the apology when Kagome straightened out of her bow and held up a hand as a sign for him to wait. Wait indeed, for her appearance started to change, and once the change was complete he understood why she had apologized.

No longer was she the plain and human girl that had first entered his office. That had been a glamour to conceal her true appearance, the one his father had described to him. She was indeed a Kitsune of ethereal beauty, and with a firsthand view of his own he could see what had been left out of his father's explanation. She had holy powers, something entirely unheard of in a Pureblooded Youkai, and the crescent moon on her forehead had a little pink sphere connecting the points of the moon. "I am Higurashi Kagome, Koenma-sama, but the appearance you saw me enter in is also that of Higurashi Kagome. That was what I looked like four hundred and ninety-seven years ago."

Four hundred... Four hundred and ninety-seven years ago?! Koenma didn't have to look at the two remaining detectives to know that they were just as shocked as he was, though Hiei was an expert at hiding his expressions. It didn't make sense, especially since she was supposed to be Yuusuke's cousin. His human cousin. She wasn't lying though, and for some reason Koenma trusted her statements.

"I would love to explain everything to you, Koenma-sama, but I fear it would alter everything that has happened. In two days' time my past self, the human Higurashi Kagome, will be pulled down the Bone-Eater's Well and into Sengoku Jidai. When she returns two days later I will need for Youko-sama and Hiei-sama to accompany her back to Sengoku Jidai," Kagome said in a soft tone, her gaze lowered and fixated on a spot somewhere on Koenma's desk. "Outside of them accompanying her to Sengoku Jidai, I need you to promise me that Reikai will not interfere with anything that may happen near the Higurashi Shrine over the next year."

Koenma let his gaze go from the legendary Miko-Kitsune to his two detectives, a silent question in his gaze. The decision to send them wasn't something he could make on his own, especially since they were present for the request. "I will do my best to make sure that Reikai does not interfere, but it is not up to me to send-"

"We'll do it," Hiei interrupted as his cardinal red gaze flicked to the male Kitsune. They had both been intrigued by the female, even before she had revealed her interesting mix of species and power. That she was Yuusuke's cousin had been the first point of interest. Now, with the chance to accompany her past self to an era before the realms had been split, on her own request, there was no way that he or the Fox were going to say no. There was more to what she was asking, as her request was an extremely complicated one that required a lot of them.

Kagome smiled her relief and let out the breath she was apparently holding. She turned to face Hiei and Kurama, her eyes brimming with utter happiness as she bowed deeply to them in gratitude. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Hiei-sama, Youko-sama." She turned back to Koenma, missing the stunned look on their faces, while the toddler-like Prince just blinked and stared at her. "I am needed at home now. Again, thank you for your help, Koenma-sama." She bowed once more, this one just as deep, and left the Detectives and their boss in shocked silence.

A glance into the hallway she was walking down permitted them a glance of her seeming to glide down the hall. Everyone, save for Hiei, blinked as three Kitsune Youkai in their smaller beast forms appeared out of nowhere. The largest of the foxes was silver, and had it not been for the fact that he had nine tails, each of them would have mistaken him for Youko Kurama. The other two foxes were of a similar size, and also male, the lighter red one bearing five tails whilst the darker red one had only a single tail. The foxes all pressed in close to the Miko-Kitsune, who adopted her own beast form that was as black as a moonless night and four-tailed, the silver and dark red foxes leading while the light red one walked slightly behind the female.

When they disappeared around the corner Koenma turned to find that Hiei had vanished and Kurama was frowning. "I trust you and Hiei will be prepared to go to Sengoku Jidai in four days." He watched as Kurama absentmindedly nodded then left before sighing to himself. Pulling out some stationary, he started writing out orders that would be sent out across Reikai. He also needed to come up with a plan to keep Yuusuke and Kuwabara preoccupied. After several minutes of careful wording, he read the missive once and then again to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. "Ogre!" Koenma all but bellowed, and his faithful blue assistant nervously appeared in the doorway. "I need this copied and delivered to everyone in Reikai and everyone stationed in Tokyo. After you're done, send Botan to fetch Yuusuke and Kuwabara."

Jorge quickly came to the desk and picked up the missive that Koenma needed copied. He glanced at the length of it and internally started to panic. It was a long missive, and very detailed! Copying by hand, that many times would take a very long time! It'd take weeks, if not months to do it by himself! "Sir?"

"Ogre." Koenma stared at Jorge, his expression flat, before he pointed to a photocopier tucked away in the corner of his office. "I need to go see my father, so you better have this done by the end of the day." He got up from his desk as the blue ogre nodded dumbly and slowly walked over to the machine he had never realized was there before. With one last glance at Jorge, who was now fumbling with the settings on the photocopier, Koenma gave a small shake of his head before walking out of the office.