I don't own it. I wish I did!
Beta: BoxingBunny, RomanticPrincess, BloodCherry
Chapter 2
They Who Find Spirits
Kagome sighed; she was laid out in the grass on one of the hills in Karasu Cemetery. The sun was high and there wasn't a cloud anywhere in the sky. Days like this were perfect or at least pretty darn close. Yoh was next to her, resting against a tree while Manta was looking around in disbelief.
"Nature sure feels great…"
"Hmm I agree… this is a good place for a nap." Kagome stretched lazily, much like a cat. She'd been lying in the sun in this one spot for a while. She hadn't expected to see either of the boys that day, but hey, she didn't mind.
Manta frowned while staring down at both of them. "This… is… NOT… natural," he grumbled, he found himself doing that a lot between the two of them.
"Manta, if you're going to hang around a cemetery and you have enough spiritual ability to see ghosts, what do you really expect?" Kagome questioned a bit curious; she'd rolled on her stomach to look at the two of them with her feet were waving carelessly in the air.
Yoh frowned. "It's part of being a shaman. You're going to have to get used to it."
"Kagome-chan!"
Kagome shot up. "Okaa-chan, how are you?"
"Well, rather fine dear. I mean, I'm a spirit, sweetie — not much can hurt me."
Kagome sighed, "I know." But she blushed when she realized that the two boys were staring at her with surprise. "Guys, this is my okaa-chan, Hua Higurashi. Okaa-chan, these are the two boys I was telling you about, Asakura Yoh and Oyamada Manta."
The pretty spirit waved happily. "It's nice to meet the two of you!"
Manta gaped, "Your… mom?"
"Yeah. Okaa-chan died about 4 years ago, but as you can see she wanted to stay, so she did."
"Why did you stay, Higurashi-san?" Manta asked more than a little curious; even Yoh in his usual apathy looked intrigued.
"Well, it was simple really. I had several reasons I wanted to stay. I told Haru I would always wait for him. And I promised Kagome-chan to be there for her wedding and first child. I couldn't do that if I weren't here, correct?" Hua asked a warm smile on her face.
"Okaa-chan, you don't have to stay."
"I know, dear. And why didn't you bring these two before? They are extremely cute!"
"Okaa!" Kagome's cheeks seemed to burn. Why did her mother do this?
Yoh laughed while Manta blushed.
"Now don't 'okaa' me, dear. So have you had any luck in finding a spirit?"
Kagome sighed before shaking her head negatively.
"Why do you need spirits?" Manta asked.
"It's part of training," Yoh began.
"A shaman's rank is based on their spirits and how well a shaman can use them to complete a task. As such, when you have gathered spirits to accomplish any task, then one can be acknowledged as a true shaman." Hua finished.
"Is that why you came to Tokyo, Yoh? Because of the all of different spirits?" Manta questioned.
"Yeah, there are a lot of worthy spirits that have strong feelings here in Tokyo. So let's be friends," a lazy smile was sent toward the ancient samurai.
"Friends?" Amidamaru look extremely surprised.
"Yeah, your sword play is amazing, sooo… "
"I must decline your offer. We had a similar goal; it was met and I have no intentions of leaving this place."
"Don't be stingy!"
Manta gaped before dragging Yoh away while Kagome simply watched giggling. "You know, Amidamaru, he's not going to give up that easily."
The Samurai simply nodded, looking toward the direction the two had run off.
"Oh, and your new grave maker should be here soon." Kagome smiled again.
Amidamaru blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Well since most of the Higurashi grave markers were knocked over by that jerk, my family decided to replace them. You don't have any living family around, so we decided to fix yours, too."
"Thank you Kagome-san, but it wasn't required."
"Don't worry about it, besides you never know when you'll decide to help out another random shaman-in-training. I'll see you later! I'm going to see what those two are up to." Kagome waved before rushing off.
"She's a good girl, ne?" Hua asked.
"Your family did well, Hua-san."
"I think we did, Amidamaru. But I do have a request. Watch over my girl, I think you're going to be spending a lot of time with her and those boys."
"Hn."
Hua giggled before drifting over to speak with some of the other spirits. Yep, she did think Yoh was going to get his way. He seemed like he would be stubborn about certain things, and this seemed like one of them.
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When Kagome finally found them she frowned. "Why did you drag Yoh out here, Manta?"
"That guy is vicious! I mean, he killed hundreds of men! He seems really dangerous," Manta cried, these two were nuts!
"I don't think you can compare 600 years ago to current day. I mean, it was nothing but war and chaos back then, he probably had to. Besides, Amidamaru makes me feel warm and comforted when I'm near him. And his aura is good."
"That's what I said; he didn't feel evil when we joined," Yoh muttered.
"See, Manta? I think Yoh would feel it if he had an evil spirit running around in his body."
"Why would you think that, Kagome?"
"Heehee, I've been possessed or at least controlled before… "
"WHAT?" Manta yelled rather shocked.
"How did that happen?"
Nervous laughter erupted from the petite girl. "Well, when I was a lot younger and hadn't had any training, I didn't know how to keep the spirits at bay. It was an angry one and tried to get me to do something dangerous. After that any spirits that had that sort of feeling to them I've always been really careful about."
"That wasn't lucky," Manta said surprised, but he had to wonder what the spirit tried to make Kagome do.
"Nope. So Yoh, what are you doing tomorrow?" Kagome wondered aloud.
"Going to Funbari Archives to dig up some information."
"Why are you doing that?" Manta asked.
"It's a good way to get more information about Amidamaru, right Yoh?"
"Yeah. Kagome, you're pretty informed about shamans. Why did you decide to wait this long?"
"Well, I had a really good connection with the gods so my training started there. But I feel more comfortable with earthly spirits… "
Manta could only sigh and listen. There was so much he didn't know about this new supernatural world, but he sure had learned a lot about all this from Kagome and Yoh. Heck, Hua was completely willing to sit down and have talks with them. It was sort of interesting to talk to a willing adult.
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"Wow… this is amazing, Yoh."
"Yeah, Harusame huh? This is the sword that Amidamaru used."
"What are you looking for, Yoh? I mean there isn't any information… so let's go, its boring."
"Well, if I learn about the sword I can learn about Amidamaru. And I can ask this guy," Yoh stated pointing to the ghost sitting on top of the display case.
"Where did he come from?"
Kagome simply blinked; she hadn't felt a thing until Yoh had pointed the guy out to her. That just wasn't fair. Kagome pouted to herself slightly; she was going to have to get better!
"I'm Mosuke, the swords creator. How is it that you are able to see me?"
"Well we have reasons, got some time?" Yoh asked.
"I have nothing but time."
"Oh, so you know about Harusame then?" Kagome pondered out loud.
"Hai, I am the man who killed its owner."
"The demon?" Manta asked a scared look on his face.
"Stupid! He ain't a demon! We were best friends. We lived through famine and a number of other things together before we were hired by a lord; Amidamaru as a samurai and myself as a black smith. For a time things were peaceful, then the lord ordered my death so that a blade greater than Harusame could not be created. Amidamaru refused and told me to run, but there was a spy. I was killed before I could return my new blade to him."
Kagome sniffled as tears seemed to form. "That's so awful, Mosuke-san! You shouldn't blame yourself. What occurred was awful, yes… but if there is anyone to blame it's that lord who caused this." Would she be able to do something like that? Be brave enough to even try something like that?
"Well, let's go give him Harusame, Mosuke." Yoh smiled lightly.
"He's still waiting on you…" Manta seemed in awe, to think that you would wait for someone for 600 years was astounding.
"I can't go see that idiot with Harusame looking like this!"
"Well let's fix it," Yoh grinned. Within seconds Mosuke was a hitodama and being pushed into Yoh's chest.
"Alright, to the nearest black smith!"
Kagome laughed at the antics and drama. Only being with these two did such interesting things happen. It would be several hours later that they would once again find themselves at Karasu Hill Cemetery.
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"That idiot waited for me, hm?"
"Ne, Amidamaru, does that mean you're an idiot too? You waited on him…" Kagome asked laughter could easily be heard in her voice.
Yoh snorted in response before waiting, hoping that Amidamaru would agree to be his partner.
"I suppose my time here isn't done, is it? Besides I have a new purpose, hm?"
Manta sighed. It was just so interesting the way things seemed to happen around Yoh.
"Congratulations, Yoh. I told you, didn't I Amidamaru, that you would be staying with them?" Hua smiled amused.
"Hai, hai," the samurai waved, a slightly suspicious look in his eyes.
"Ahh… I'm jealous, Yoh. I have a spirit I talk to a lot, but she doesn't want to partner with me at all," Kagome pouted.
"Who dear?" Hua asked.
"Go-san. She's so pretty and strong, I want to be like her."
Hua laughed, "Is she still mad at you?"
"No, she's mad at Otou-chan."
Manta raised a brow. "Who is Go-chan?"
"Oh, Go-chan is the Goshinboku at our shrine."
"That's a strong spirit, Kagome." Yoh commented, all the while glancing at Amidamaru.
"Yeah, but not like Amidamaru, ne?" Kagome asked a sly amused expression on her face. She'd had fun helping them.
Yoh nodded. "Yeah, Amidamaru and I are going to be great."
"How can you tell if a spirit is strong or not?" Manta asked.
"By the strength of the feelings that the spirit feels. Manta, if you're so curious about shamans and other spiritualists like Itako or Miko you should come to the shrine. We have information on many forms of shamanism, even some that are from Europe and Africa…" Kagome commented with an eye brow raised. Why would Yoh shudder when she said Itako?
"That's sounds interesting, Kagome. Are you sure you don't mind?"
"Not at all. Yoh, you're welcome to come to!" Kagome smiled at the two of them.
"I can come by next week if you want," Yoh replied. He didn't really have anything to do.
"'Kay. But I still don't know what to do about Go-chan." Kagome sighed.
"Why is she mad at your father, Kagome?" Manta asked.
"Oh, Otou-chan hacked off one of her branches."
"What? You mean Go-chan is actually a tree?" Manta was confused he thought the spirits had to be dead. "And I thought you had to use dead spirits?"
"Well yeah… I mean, come on—Goshinboku is literally the God Tree. She was blessed by the gods. And no, not really; spirits of nature like Go-chan aren't really dead." A small frown was on Kagome's face.
"There so much I don't understand about this." Manta grumbled to himself. It just wasn't fair.
"Well, I'm off. I'm going to try and convince Go-chan to be one of my partners!" She couldn't help but feel excited; the thought of having more friends, whether they be spirits or humans, had never really bothered Kagome before.
"See ya," Yoh waved watching Kagome walk away. She was an interesting person, that was for sure.
"I suppose I'll see you at the Higurashi shrine later then?" Manta gave a small smile at the nodding Yoh. Next Sunday was going to be really interesting he thought to himself.
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Kagome sighed. She was really bored. It was a Sunday, there wasn't any school, and neither Yoh nor Manta had shown up for the day. She was half-way tempted to call the two of them to ask where the heck they were, but that would make her seem over anxious, wouldn't it? Not only that but her obaa-chan was bound and determined to keep her away from being a shaman, which was really silly considering their actions of speaking with the gods was a type of shamanism. (Kagome wasn't crazy enough to point that out to her.)
"Ne, Go-chan, are you still mad at Tou-chan?" Kagome asked eyeing the tree spirit who was currently relaxing, lying across the branches of her home.
"Hmm no, not really. Do you still want wish for me to be your partner?" Go asked deep green eyes holding a shimmer of excitement.
"Of course! We've gotten a lot better, the question is what type of weapon do you feel comfortable using? I mean our defense is nearly air tight. So what about staffs?" Kagome sighed as she rested her chin on the top of her broom; she should really be cleaning.
"I can see staffs working. In fact, there should be a staff in one of the sheds. There is also a pudao from one of my branches; I rather liked that weapon," Go murmured softly looking, at the small priestess still on one of the walkways. The furyoku that swirled around the girl was amazing, and it was also what drew the many spirits of the world toward her. She was destined to do great things.
"Hai, I know. What am I going to do?" Kagome huffed before refocusing on her task,
"That's where I come in, silly. We've managed to combine, and you can use my abilities rather well so far."
Kagome raised an eyebrow. "How are you good at weapons? You're a tree…"
Go smiled impishly. "You're not the first shaman I've worked with. The Mongolians loved me."
Kagome blanched.
Go waved before settling back into her branches for a nap.
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Manta sighed as he hurried. Trying to get Yoh to wake up on a Sunday was like trying to win at long-distant sprints.
"Come on, Yoh. Kagome is probably thinking that we ditched her! Let's go," Manta whined.
"Do you even know where to go?" Yoh asked blinking sleepily all the while looking at the smaller blond.
"Yeah, come on," Manta stated content to walk in silence. He'd been to the shrine before, it was a nice place and he was sure that Yoh would like it considering how much the boy talked about enjoying nature.
It had taken them nearly twenty minutes to get there, but it wasn't surprising considering where the shrine was located.
"Geez, no wonder Kagome is in such good shape," Manta muttered. This was more than likely why she'd been able to run as fast as she had.
As the two crested the long staircase they were both a bit dumbfounded to see Kagome in a traditional chihaya, but it was altered a bit. The hakamas were a deep blue that matched her blue eyes while the white kosode was relatively normal, its swinging sleeves were in motion as she swept. Her hair was low and in a ponytail, something neither of them had seen before.
Kagome sighed, looking up. "Oh, you're here! What took you guys so long?"
"Yoh."
"Yeah, me." Yoh blinked again, that outfit made her seem a lot older than she was.
Soft giggled could be heard. "You guys are silly. Go, come out and meet the guys I was talking about."
"Mah, Kagome… I was taking a nap," Go complained not at all happy about being called out.
Both boys went bug-eyed. She was at least as tall as Amidamaru with deep leaf-green eyes that seem to sparkle with amusement while her hair was just as green with thin pink and white flowers woven in. Her skin was similar in color to bark, maybe a bit lighter shade of brown. Her clothing was lacking for most fellows; the garment was completely white and sleeveless with slits at the thighs while it tied in the front with a yellow sash. Both her feet and arms were bear. Go was simply stunning to look at.
"Sorry Go," Kagome smiled amused.
"Wow…" Manta was stunned, that was nuts. This was a tree spirit? She was extremely pretty.
"Yo, nice to meet you." Yoh waved.
Go blinked staring down at the two; they were small, but then again at her height everyone was small. "Nice to meet you, too."
"You look like a super model," Manta commented.
"Ah… thank you. Kagome, what's a super model?"
Kagome promptly began to snicker. "Just show Manta the archive room, please?"
"You're sooo mean, Kagome! Fine, fine… come with me, short one." Go pouted all the while floating toward the back. Manta had to jog just to keep up.
"So how is training going?" Yoh asked.
"Well, Go-chan has agreed to be my partner. And we've done Hyou Gattoi and everything; it's gotten a lot better since you came over last time." Kagome thought about what had happened nearly three days before.
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Earlier that week…
Yoh raised a brow, "Kagome, what's really bothering you?"
She sniffled, she was going to cry. "Well, neither of them are really accepting the fact that I want to be a shaman and every time I practice they're really rude about it. So I feel like I'm all alone and the only one who does support me is Souta, but that doesn't go very far because he's so little." By the time Kagome spilled her feelings she was openly crying. She and Yoh had talked about her training before but this was the first time she'd been so emotional. Kagome was usually a relatively strong person both emotionally and physically.
Yoh sighed. He didn't really know how that felt; he'd always had the support of his family. While some of the villagers might have rejected him for being an Asukura, he'd never been on the unwelcoming end of his family. "Hey, don't cry." Yoh pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back gently. "Have you tried talking to them about it?"
Kagome simply nodded her face against his chest. "Well, they said it was okay, but when I tried to talk to them about training, they ignore me. I don't know what to do." Her voice was coming out muffled against the fabric of his shirt.
"It's okay. Come on, let's go talk to them. The more you ignore this the more it's going to hurt you." Yoh glanced at Kagome as she nodded. It made him angry the more he thought about it. They were her family. They were supposed to support her, not hurt her!
Kagome sighed as she walked toward the house before opening one of the side doors, leaving it open before kicking off her shoes. "So you're going to be the mediator, ne?"
"Nah, I'll wait out by the Goshinboku." Yoh smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Amidamaru simply smiled; he was willing to help out as well, only outside and away from the tension.
"Otou-chan, Obaa-chan!" Kagome called up the steps, all the while headed toward the kitchen.
"What is it?" Kaede asked, as she came down the steps with Haru just steps behind her. Kaede squinted at the boy at the bottom of the steps who was pointing toward their kitchen.
Yoh nodded before exiting; walking toward the Goshinboku he made himself at home.
"I wanted to talk to you about everything that's been happening the last two weeks."
"Kagome, we really don't have…"
"Stop it! Just, stop it!" Kagome had told herself that it was going to be a calm affair, but this was what they'd been doing since she'd decided to become a shaman. "Stop making excuses and listen to me." Her fists were clenched in her lap while her bottom lip was quivering, a sure sign of tears.
Haru sighed as he looked at his sweet little daughter. To be honest, he felt a bit guilty he'd been discouraging his daughter, and it looked like he'd hurt her a bit more than he'd intended to.
Kaede looked to the side of her. She felt it wasn't proper for Kagome to forsake the gods. The girl had a good connection to them.
"I want to be a shaman. I intend to be a shaman to the best of my abilities. If that requires me to leave because the two of you are bound and determined to make me miserable, so be it." Kagome took a deep breath of air, "I had no intentions of quitting my training as a miko, I just intended to pick up a new set of skills." Kagome was currently staring a hole into the table; she was refusing to look at either of them.
Both the Higurashi gaped; this wasn't what they had expected. "Kagome, this will cut into a lot of training to be a miko. You can't be both." Kaede grumbled.
"Then maybe I should just leave, you obviously don't want me here. You made me feel like those jerks in Hokkaido who called me a demon! Unwanted and useless… I hate that feeling and I want nothing to do with it. You don't even treat me like I belong here anymore!" Kagome was openly glaring at them at this point.
Haru sighed. "Kagome, I… I… is this something you can see yourself continuing in the next few years?"
"Yes, Tou."
"Why did you decide to do this?" Kaede asked curious.
"Because the spirits make me feel more comfortable than the gods do; I mean just being near Amidamaru or Go-chan lights up my day. I feel more comfortable with them than anyone else! And when I use the over soul merge with Go, I feel alive. More so than I have in a long time."
"Then I shall give you permission." Haru felt a heaviness in his heart. He wished he could warn his daughter about the things that were coming. The gods knew that this needed to happen and he wished for nothing more than to wrap his daughter up in a nice safe place.
Kaede sighed before nodding; she wasn't happy with the result but she would learn to live with it.
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"So things have been a lot easier and I've gotten better at working together with Go. But now I'm sleepy all the time like you," Kagome laughed softly.
Yoh grinned. "Don't cry anymore, though. It causes people to panic."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go rescue Go-chan. Where is Amidamaru?" Yoh lifted his mortuary tablet. "How do you think he would react to Go's clothing?"
Yoh coughed at the question; sometimes she was too mischievous for her own good. "Let's go find out."
Kagome laughed again as she ran ahead of him. Yoh followed at a slower pace, completely continent to simply relax and rest. They had plenty of time for everything else.
