To Be a Hero
AN: I asked if you wanted it and you said yes. So, secretsrsafehir, ADL1, sverhei, Applejax XD, Guest, BatmanFanatic123 your wish has finally been granted. I can't tell you all how excited I am to finally put this fic out. Even if it ends up bombing and no one likes it, I'm glad I wrote this.
Things to Know:
The story line will follow the Young Justice Cartoon of 2010.
The Final Act of Inuyasha did happen, but the Bone Eaters Well didn't disappear and Kikyo was still alive. Though during this fic the Well is sealed indefinitely.
Karin, is Kagome and Inuyasha's daughter, which makes her a quarter inu demon.
For those who read 'Welcome to the Justice League', this is not a sequel for that fic. It's a spin off due to major detail changes in both story lines.
Everything else that's need to know will be explained in either this chapter or the following ones.
That just about covers it, so my fellow readers and writers sit back, relax and enjoy the show!
Summary: As the daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome, Karin's power and potential could only be proven in her hero persona, Moriko. Follow her story, as she enters the beginning of Young Justice and brings what only a part yōkai blooded girl can do.
Disclaimer: *Walk on stage right and face audience before clearing throat* I do not own Inuyasha or Young Justice. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and the Young Justice belongs to Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman and Cartoon Network. The only characters I own are Karin and Kou`ki. I make no profit off this fanfic, so please don't sue me. *Bows to audience and walk off stage left*
Chapter 1: Stowaway
Higurashi Shrine
"In other news, the day was once again saved by the heroic deeds of the Justice League," said the reporter on the television, in the main house living room at Higurashi Shrine. A fifteen year old girl and her four year old brother were watching the report excitingly. "As you can see by the footage, many heroes have suffered third degree burns in their fight today against Firefly and Volcana, including the heroes Wonder Woman and Flash." The television showed the footage of those League members getting attacked by the fire villains.
"Ouch," Karin winced, as she saw her 'aunt' and 'uncle' being burned by the ruthless villains. "Looks like Kaa-san might be a little late tonight," she told her little brother, who nodded in agreement.
Their mother, Kagome Higurashi, was one of the founding members of the Justice League that formed almost ten years ago, when Karin was five years old. Because of her purification and healing powers, Kagome created her hero persona Miko, where she fought with sacred arrows and a special katana that was forged by Totosai.
It was in the League that Kagome met the hero Martian Manhunter, a Martian from Mars whose real name was J`onn J`onzz. In time, they both fell deeply in love with each other and got married. And after a few years of marital bliss, they were blessed with a baby boy whom they named Kou`ki.
"Look, its Kaa-san," said Kou`ki telepathically, as he pointed to the screen when it showed their mother using her powers to create a barrier around the injured heroes. Being a half Martian child of Mars, Kou`ki had a handful of his father's abilities, like telepathy and shape shifting. Which came in handy because of his green skin that he also inherited from his father.
Karin smiled at his excitement, "Yea, I see her," she replied out loud.
Kou`ki used his telepathy more often than speaking out loud due to his shyness. Martian's only spoke to each other telepathically on Mars and it made him feel less anxious when he spoke into peoples minds. Kagome and J`onn believed that he felt shy due to him being the only half Martian in existence.
Karin found her brothers feeling hard to understand, since she was a quarter inu yōkai and wasn't ashamed of it.
Actually, if you took a look at their 'family,' being a half-Martian wasn't really that big of a deal.
For instance, there was their adoptive big brother Shippo, who was a kitsune yōkai. He was married to a woman named Rin, Karin's uncle Sesshōmaru's adoptive human daughter. Together they had bunch of hanyou kitsune children, including Karin's best friend and niece, Hitomi.
Then there was their family friends Kouga and Ayame, who are wolf yōkai. They had over dozens upon dozens of wolf children, including a son, who was Karin's best friend and former boyfriend, Riku.
And of course, there was the rest of the founding members of the Justice League, who acted like aunts and uncles towards the Higurashi-J`onzz children.
Still, even with all their support, Kou`ki was still extremely shy, 'I hope he'll overcome his wariness one day,' Karin wished to herself.
Suddenly, a noise coming from outside, hitting Karin's inu yōkai enhanced hearing. Taking a cautioning sniff of the air, she knew who made the noise and smiled. "Kaa-san's home," she told her brother before they both got up from the couch to greet their mother.
Kagome came through the front door, wearing her Miko hero uniform. A short red female kimono, which was made with the hair of the yōkai fire rat that also had a hood. She also wore black leggings, combat boots, and a poison shielding mask, much like her old friend Sango's exterminator mask.
"Hey you two," Kagome greeted, as she took off her poison shielding mask, and smiled at both her children. "What are you doing up this late?"
"Outo-san is coming home tonight, and we wanted to see him," Karin answered while hugging her mother, "It's almost been a month."
J`onn had returned to his home planet Mars, to visit his Martian family and people. He often did this so he could educate his people about their sister planet. The Martian hero accomplished this by bringing information, films, and objects from Earth that the Martians loved.
"Don't remind me," Kagome muttered, thinking of how much she missed her husband. She kneeled down to her son's level, and kissed him on the cheek, "You happy that Outo-san's coming home, Kou-chan?"
Kou`ki nodded enthusiastically before yawning, which made both females giggle.
A meow coming from the floor brought all three individual's heads down.
"Oh," Kagome registered and picked up the source of the noise. "Sorry Kirara," she cooed as she picked up the fire neko, "Thanks for taking care of the young ones for me." The fire neko rubbed her head on her master's cheek in reply.
Sesshōmaru had found Kirara a few years back and suggested that she be a companion for Karin.
"Oh, Obaa-san left you some Oden in the kitchen, before she left to visit her friend," Karin informed her mother.
"Oden!" Kagome cheered, as she put down Kirara and zoomed from the front door to the kitchen with surprising speed.
Karin rolled her eyes at the action, 'Kaa-san's love for Oden is a little disturbing.'
&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&% &%&%&
Twenty Minutes Later
Kagome had finished eating her Oden at the kitchen table, and then started to contemplate what had happened earlier today. Both Diana and Barry were badly injured from the third degree burns, after today's battle with the fire wielding villains. If Kagome didn't have her healing powers they would have been in huge trouble, and probably would have been off duty for some time.
But that wasn't what was troubling her.
Kagome's miko instincts have been on edge over the past few weeks, since there was a lot of activity with notorious super villains. It just seemed too coincidental in her opinion, and it was beginning to trouble her. She spoke to Batman about her thoughts after her healing session with the others, and he couldn't help but agree with her.
'They're planning something,' she thought of their conclusion. 'But what could it be?'
"Kaa-san," Karin called as she entered the room, breaking Kagome out of her thoughts, "Is everything alright?" she asked after smelling the distress coming from her mother's scent.
"Just thinking, Kar-chan," Kagome answered honestly, allowing her worry to evaporate from her scent. She didn't want to burden her daughter about her concerns just yet, "Where's Kou`ki?"
"He finally dozed off," her daughter replied, "I'm actually surprised he was able to stay up this late."
Her mother chuckled, "Well, he is a big daddy's boy."
Kagome knew how much Kou`ki missed his father whenever he was off planet like this. During her husband's absence, Kagome let her son sleep in bed with her, and Kou`ki would always stay closely curled up next to her, leaving a lot of room on his father's side of the bed just in case he came home early. They would often wake up a little saddened to still find the space empty the next morning.
"We'll wake him up when J`onn is home," the miko replied, before giving her daughter a knowing look. "So, are you excited about meeting everyone tomorrow?"
Karin smiled and nodded, "Absolutely, I can't believe it's finally happening."
Tomorrow was a big day.
The day the heroes were finally allowing their protégés to enter the Halls of Justice.
Karin has been her mother's protégé for the past year now, going by the hero persona Moriko, which means 'guardian.' Though she may not have been in the field long, Karin got a lot of training from her parents, plus her brother and uncle on her yōkai abilities. After her parents had discussed it, they agreed to let Karin attend the Halls of Justice as well.
'All that waiting and hard work is finally going to pay off,' Karin thought thrilled about the event. She was also excited about meeting her hero uncle's protégés. It will be the first time she would officially meet Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy, and Aqualad. "I can't wait to finally meet them," she said eagerly, "I hope we'll get along alright."
"I'm sure you will," Kagome replied in support. She may have only met all the boys a few times but she knew their mentors. If they think their protégé's were worthy, then so did Kagome.
"My dearest," the sound of J`onn's called in Kagome's mind, using his telepathy from his Javelin air ship.
Kagome smiled, "Your Outo-san's contacting to me," she told Karin.
J`onn spoke with Kagome telepathically back when they first met. When he'd first arrived on Earth, it was a little troubling to always speak out loud to everyone. Many of the heroes vocalized on how uncomfortable they were to have J`onn go inside their minds, since they had contact with a few villains who have done so in the past. Kagome was the only one to tell J`onn that it was okay to go into her mind. When he asked her why, she said 'I know how being in unfamiliar surrounding can make you a little, well…homesick.' That's when J`onn knew that he needed to get to know Kagome better. Over time, her love and acceptance captured the Martian's heart, along with Karin whom he loved as if she were his own child. J`onn couldn't believe she had said yes to him the day he asked her to be his wife, and in only a few short years given him a son.
"Koibito, you almost home?" Kagome asked to J`onn's mind.
"Yes," he answered, "But that's not why I'm 'calling' you."
"Is everything okay?" Kagome asked concerned.
"Well," J`onn said, unsure of how his wife will react to his news, "It depends on how you feel towards…stowaways."
Kagome raised a brow.
Karin watched quietly allowing her parents to 'speak' privately. However, she was fully aware how the scent coming from her mother was changing from; giddiness, to worry, till it settled to surprised. Kagome's eyes widened and jaw dropped. "What's going on?" Karin finally asked.
The miko's shock turned to amusement and she began to chuckle, "Well, it looks like your Outo-san brought back something from Mars."
"Like a present?" Karin guessed, not understanding what the big deal was.
"Nope," Kagome said shaking her head and smiled, "One of its residents."
&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&% &%&%&
Half an Hour Later
J`onn landed the Javelin outside the Higurashi Shrine and turned to the passenger next to him, who was looking at the shrine in wonder. His stowaway had turned out to be his favorite niece, M`gann, who had snuck on to his ship and didn't reveal herself until it was too late to turn back to Mars.
"Wow," M`gann said telepathically in amazement, "This is Earth…its better than imagined."
J`onn nodded at her words, especially when his wife and children came out of the main house to greet them. "Indeed, it is."
"Do you think they'll like me?" M`gann asked her uncle with a slight nervousness in her voice. The young female Martian was considered an outsider on her home planet, for very prejudice reasons. It was the main purpose why she had wanted to come to Earth in the first place. The other intention was for her to become more like her uncle and become a hero.
J`onn smiled at his favorite niece in reassurance, "Of course they will. My wife and our family are very good and kind people."
M`gann nodded and took a few moments to build up her confidence, "Okay, I'm ready."
Together, both Martians left the Javelin and made their way towards the main house.
"Outo-san," Karin and Kou`ki greeted together, as they ran and embraced their father.
J`onn hugged them back just as lovingly. Being away from his children wasn't easy and being away from his wife was sometimes unbearable but it was his burden to bare, for loving two worlds.
"I'm glad to be home," he said before releasing his son and step-daughter.
"Good," said Kagome making her way towards her husband, "Cause so are we," she said before leaning up to kiss him.
M`gann watched the exchanges silently, not wanting to ruin the reunion between her uncle and…aunt. 'I have a human aunt,' the female Martian thought, smiling to herself on how remarkable it was to have relatives on Earth.
Kagome pulled back from her husband and glanced over at their new house guest. Surprisingly, the female Martian had more of a humanoid form like Kou`ki then J`onn. She even had long red hear and freckles, 'I wonder where she got that idea from,' Kagome pondered. She didn't dwell on her thoughts for too long though, since it wasn't that important. "M`gann," Kagome welcomed her niece openly, "I can't believe I get finally get to meet you," she said before greeting the girl in hug. The miko didn't think she would ever get to meet one of J`onn's many family members that lived on Mars, since the only way she could visit is if she wore a space suit at all times.
M`gann was a little surprised by the hug but quickly embraced the human woman back, "I'm pleased to meet you too. Uncle J`onn talks about you all the time on his visits."
"Oh really," Kagome said as she pulled back and turned to her husband, who was conveniently avoiding her gaze, "And what, pray tell, did he say?"
"Just how incredible you are and you're definitely lovelier then he described," M`gann replied honestly, making Kagome turn back to face her. "I'm glad my uncle was able to find happiness on Earth with you."
Kagome smiled at her nieces flattering words, "Oh, we're definitely keeping you," she said before leading M`gann to the children, "These are your cousins, Karin and Kou`ki. Though I'm sure your J`onn told you about them too."
M`gann nodded, "Yes, umm hi," she nervously waved awkwardly to her cousins.
Karin gave a small smile and bowed in greeting, "Nice to meet you, M`gann-chan"
Kou`ki slowly walked up to his cousin, staring at her in amazement, since she was only the second Martian he'd ever seen.
M`gann moved just as slowly as she kneeled down to be on the boy's level. Her uncle had told her that her younger cousin was very shy and how he only liked to speak telepathically, "Hello," she said in his mind "I'm M`gann, what's your name?"
It took a few moments for him to respond, "Kou`ki."
"Wow, that's a really nice name," the Martian girl said sweetly, "Very unique…like you."
Kou`ki gave a tiny hint of a smile, before he ran back to cling to his mother.
"He's so adorable," M`gann squealed over him as she stood back up.
"We like to think so," Kagome replied, before looking down to her son and rubbing his head of black hair, "Its way past your bed time, Kou-chan. Do you want Outo-san to tuck you in?" Kou`ki nodded and went over to his father. J`onn lifted the boy up into his arms and walked inside. "We better head inside too," she told the girls.
They both nodded and followed the miko inside, which gave Karin a chance to talk with M`gann, "Not that I'm complaining, but what made you want to sneak to Earth?"
M`gann gazed at the shrine, "I've wanted to come here for a long time. Ever since I saw, 'Hello'" she suddenly paused, looking as if she was going to say something she wasn't supposed to. "Well, Uncle J`onn brought a lot of television shows and movies to teach us of our sister planet and I just couldn't stop thinking about coming here. Sneaking on his ship was…a spontaneous decision on my end."
Karin shrugged, "Like I said no complaints. I'm actually glad you did. I knew I had cousins on Mars, but I didn't think I'd ever get to meet any of them."
M`gann nodded in agreement as they made their way into the kitchen.
"Are you hungry, M`gann?" Kagome asked, as she looked in the pantry.
"Oh no, thank you" the young Martian replied.
Kagome turned to her and gave an unconvinced look, "Really? Not even," she said while pulling out J`onn's biggest weakness from the pantry; Oreo cookies, "A little snack."
M`gann's widened in delight at the package of cream filled cookies. It was one of the many Martian favorite snacks that J`onn brought back from hi trips. "Okay, maybe a little snack," she said in a completely smitten tone.
Karin chuckled before she mockingly warned her mother, "Outo-san isn't going to like that you took his private stash."
"Oh please, he's got two other stashes 'hidden' around the house," her mother replied as she pulled out a few cookies and put them on a plate to give to M`gann.
"Outo-san?" M`gann said, pronouncing the foreign word the best she could.
"It means 'father'," Kagome translated in English, as she placed the plate in front of her.
M`gann made a face of realization and she casually smacked her hand to her head, "Hello M`gann, we're speaking Japanese, right? Uncle J`onn said that people speak many different languages on Earth, due to people's culture and location."
"That's correct," Kagome replied.
"Wow," M`gann said overwhelmed, "How do you learn them all?"
Karin wanted to laugh but knew that it would be rude to do so since M`gann was asking legitimate questions, "We don't have to learn them all. Just the one that's commonly spoken where we live, and we can learn other languages, if we wish. But some humans go through their whole lives only speaking one language."
"Oh," the female Martian said understanding before taking a bite of a cookie, "We only speak one language on Mars."
"Lucky," Karin muttered with a hint of jealousy.
Kagome nodded in agreement, "Karin and I had to learn English when we became heroes. It's one of the most difficult to learn."
J`onn entered the kitchen and paused at the sight of M`gann eating his snacks, "What is going on?" he asked.
All girls looked up at him and Kagome tried to look innocent, "Whatever do you mean, Koibito?"
He narrowed his eyes in mock anger, "I believe those Oreo's were mine."
"Were they?" replied his wife, still looking innocently naïve, "I had no idea."
J`onn sent her a playful glare.
Karin slowly leaned into M`gann, "On Earth, this is the part where the children leave, so the adults can be all lovey dovey and gross."
The young Martian chuckled, before Karin got up to leave and the Martian followed her cousin upstairs, taking the plate of cookies with her.
Once they were gone, Kagome and J`onn were finally able to give each other a proper 'I missed you' kiss.
"Don't ever leave again," Kagome urged him in his mind when they finally pulled apart.
"You know I can't promise you that, my dearest," J`onn replied.
She pouted before giving him a knowing smirk, "Well you could at least make it up to me for being gone for so long."
J`onn gave his own knowing smirk in reply.
&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&% &%&%&
One Hour Later
"And you're going to the Justice League headquarters tomorrow?" M`gann asked her cousin, who nodded in response.
They were both in Karin's room on her bed. Kirara was in M`gann's lap and the Martian was fascinated by the yōkai neko, having never seen anything like her before. Karin spent the first forty five minutes explaining how she was part inu yōkai and who her family members were, before she told her cousin the news about tomorrow.
"Wow…do you think, maybe I could go too?" M`gann asked eagerly.
Karin made an unsure facial expression, "It's not really up to me. Maybe you could ask Outo-san about it in the morning."
"Well, can't we ask now?" asked the female Martian.
Karin shook her head vigorously, "Definitely not right now. My parents haven't seen each other for a month, and trust me you do not want to walk in on their…'reunion'." M`gann realized her cousin's meaning and blushed, which made Karin chuckle. "So, it looks like you and I are going to have a sleep over."
"Sleep over?" M`gann asked confused, after her blushing stopped.
The young yōkai girl looked at her cousin in mock horror, "Oh you poor thing. I have so much to teach you about being an Earth teenager."
The thought of that made M`gann smile.
&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&% &%&%&
The Next Morning
J`onn folded his arm, as he stood looking at the two teenage girls firmly. Both of them were sitting on the living room couch with pleading looks on their face, "No."
M`gann looked at her uncle in discontent, "What?"
"But Outo-san," Karin tried to support her cousin.
"I said no," J`onn said again more sternly. There was no way he was going to allow his niece to join in fights involving villains or bad guys.
Kagome looked at her husband in disbelief, "But its M`gann's choice. She has the same exact ability's as you do. Why can't she go to Hall of Justice with the rest of the protégés?" she asked him in his mind.
"She doesn't have any proper training," J`onn reasoned.
"So what?" Kagome argued, "We all had to start at some point." J`onn shook his head no. "What else do you expect her to do, J`onn?" she asked, "Be stuck in the shrine all day."
Karin and M`gann watched the adults telepathic discussion, the tension and silence in the room was starting to become a little discomforting. "Are we supposed to stay put or leave?" M`gann whispered to Karin.
"I don't really know," she whispered back. "It's hard to tell whenever they're 'talking' like this."
Back and forth J`onn and Kagome kept arguing their side, until finally the Martian gave a compromise, "Let's just wait and see how tomorrow goes, then I'll consider it."
Kagome thought it over before nodding, "Fair enough."
Both adults turned to the teenagers, "Well?" Karin asked hopefully.
"M`gann won't be attending tomorrow," said J`onn, making both girls sigh in defeat. "But after we see how the protégé's do, we'll see about having her attend in the future," he finished, making both of them smile eagerly.
M`gann squealed and lunged at her uncle in a hug, "Oh, thank you Uncle J`onn!"
Kagome and Karin chuckled at the young Martian's gratefulness. Now that the matter was settled, they realized how close to time it was for them to meet the others at the Hall of Justice.
Karin ran up to her room to put on her Moriko uniform. The outfit was identical to her mothers, only her kimono was a dark purple. And instead of a poison mask, she used a thin black sash to hide her lower face, so that she could still use her enhanced yōkai sense of smell.
She didn't carry a bow and arrows or even a katana.
But she did carry a weapon.
Something her father had given her the only time she had met him when she was a child, just before he died. After an event that Karin barely remembered, and her mother refused to talk to her about.
The legendary yōkai fang sword that had the power to slay a hundred enemies with only one swing; the Tetsusaiga.
"Use this to protect the ones you love," Inuyasha said before he left to meet his demise.
Karin frowned at the memory as she took a long look at Tetsusaiga. She had only used the swords power once, a long time ago. Her parents had told her only to use it if, and only if, it was life and death situation.
After she was done reminiscing those memories, she placed the sheathed sword in her obi. It was her constant reminder of why she wanted to be a hero. 'To protect the ones I love.'
Karin went back down stairs, where her mother and father were waiting for her, "Are you ready?" Kagome asked.
"Yes," said Karin determined, "Today is the day."
I know this isn't how M`gann came to Earth, (I've read the comics.) But hey it's a fic, nothing goes the way it's originally supposed to. So, what do you think? Good? Bad? I want to know, so please give a review or pm. I'm going to upload a new chapter every Monday, but time will vary. Next time: Protégés meet and secrets are discovered.
Till Then My Readers