All familiar properties mentioned belong to the owners of Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho. I own nothing, I'm just futzing with their ideas.
Enthusiasm is catching! I hadn't expected this story to do so well, but after I hit the double digits on the reviews, I was compelled to try and churn this one out as soon as possible.
My gratitude goes to these people for reviewing: gincitri, kitsune-snuggler12, QuestSeeker, VixenKitsune147, Life Is Like An Hourglass, PatrinePtn, fredisagirl, The Path of Supreme Conquest, Micartell, Mondtanz, Fairy Demon26 and dancingfingers. Also to these people for putting this on their alerts: BrightlyColoredNight, VixenKitsune147, bluephoenixflame98, chibigamer, gincitri, kitsune-snuggler12, soujin25, sylversylan, Life Is Like An Hourglass, PatrinePtn, Pheonix87, fredisagirl, Dark Horse Queen, Sesshychan1, The Path of Supreme Conquest, audrastar, sacaku, Ayjah, Fairy Demon26 and dancingfingers. As well as to these people for putting this on their favorites: FiretteAshesFaette, Otaku-ka-ren, QuestSeeker, VixenKitsune147, bluephoenixflame98, gincitri, kiasairen, kitsune-snuggler12, PatrinePtn, Pheonix87, ShadowFoxDemon, The Path of Supreme Conquest, audrastar and dancingfingers.
I hope this continues to please. Enjoy!
oOo
Kurama was not a dumb man. In fact, it could be argued that he was the exact opposite. And even if he was not a genius, he was meticulous and careful and observant.
It did not take a genius to notice something was up with his newest employee. At first, Kurama had not paid too much attention to her. He would be leaving his stepfather's company for Makai soon and the inclusion of another human into his life was something he wanted to avoid.
But that did not mean he ignored her. Especially not when he passed by her workspace and spotted the small plant she had tucked under her sole florescent lamp.
The avatar had paused, frozen in place. Higurashi noticed him and looked up curiously.
Kurama had struggled to find the right words but they were slow in coming.
"Is-is that plant…?"
Higurashi pursed her lips in confusion before realizing to what he was referencing. She smiled widely and picked up a red clay pot that fit perfectly in between the palms of her hands.
"Isn't it nice?" The woman beamed. "I love mountain ferns and my mom was kind enough to give me a clipping of hers. It took a while to grow roots but I planted it as soon as possible!"
Kurama could not help but reach over and lightly run his fingers over the delicate leaves.
"Do you like plants, Minamino-kacho?"
He had to clear his throat. "Yes… Very much so." His mouth proceeded spit out something inane while his brain was still on vacation. "But I thought you had to keep a fern in a damp environment?"
She smiled and motioned the pot in the direction of a purple spray bottle. "I spray it often and that's actually been enough to keep it alive."
It took all of his human will to pull back and offer a polite nod. "Well… thank you for showing me, Higurashi. Until next time."
"Bye!"
He stiffly walked away, mind churning. It seemed he would indeed have to keep a close eye on Higurashi.
Normal accountants were not exactly known for owning plants that had been extinct for close to five hundred years.
So he watched from afar. Nothing else seemed out of place. Higurashi had absolutely no spiritual power whatsoever, no matter what kind of youki he subjected her to. She was quiet, did her job diligently and never did anything to stand out.
Kurama did not even see the need to follow her home, even though his curiosity was burning him. Maybe the plant was a family heirloom? There had to be some explanation, but what?
His tests were very conclusive. Higurashi was ordinary. An ordinary human in an ordinary job.
Too bad Youko's low view of humans was blinding him to a truth Shuichi knew only too well.
Everyone had a story to tell.
When the incident in the break room occurred, Kurama was shocked. He had just dismissed this woman as being utterly inconsequential, and then she had scoffed at the youkai's story like she was an expert. She had been absolutely right, but what would a human know about those kinds of things?
Kurama did not believe in coincidences.
It was frustrating. It bothered him. So much so, in fact, that he would go home and close his eyes to only be assaulted with a vision of her smiling visage. Her blue irises plagued his dreams.
He knew his instincts were trying to tell him something. Something about her eyes. But he did not know what. They looked so dull in retrospect, so not important.
How funny then, that when her powers were released, her eyes turned vibrant. Electric, like someone flipping the switch to turn on a light bulb. Her smiling face and hypnotizing eyes would soon haunt his dreams even more now.
He discovered that she was a miko, but the questions multiplied.
oOo
Yusuke managed to track down Kurama in the aftermath. Not wanting to expose himself as a demon just yet, Youko had dashed off and had found a solitary place to meditate. He had reverted to his usual state when Yusuke had stomped his way over the rooftop to stand expectantly, arms crossed.
The miko's power had affected Yusuke as well. While his hair had since returned to its original black from the shocking white of before, the length had more than tripled. His long hair cascaded down past his back. The markings of his heritage were slow to fade from his skin.
"What are you doing here?" The man in question growled. "You let her get away!"
Kurama let out one last calming breath and peered up at the former Detective. "I did not."
"Yes you did!" The young man argued. "I lost her in the crowds and I turn around to see you had disappeared. Who knows where she is now?"
Kurama let his friend vent before shaking his head. Standing, he lightly dusted off his clothes. "I do not know where she is now, but I have a good idea where we can find her."
"How?" Yusuke huffed.
"She is my employee, and in her files lists her place of residence."
"Oh." To his credit, Yusuke refused to look ashamed. Instead, he kicked at the gravel insulation on the rooftop. "Dammit. Keiko's gonna be so mad at me when I miss dinner."
Kurama smiled lightly. "And why would you miss an engagement with your wife? You are no longer a Detective. This is none of your concern."
Yusuke rolled his eyes. "No longer a Detective, my ass! I don't know what that woman did, but my hairs are still standing on end. It's my problem now!"
"Koenma will be delighted to see you."
Yusuke grumbled at the light teasing and stomped towards the roof access door. They both knew that the toddler both wanted Yusuke back while also wanting to never see the hanyou's face ever again. It made for fantastic entertainment. Kurama looked forward to the reunion and also to encountering the miko again.
Just like that mountain fern, all priestesses were supposed to be extinct.
oOo
They had gone to her apartment to find the place empty. Nothing lingered in the space except the light perfume she regularly wore. When Yusuke insisted on getting in, Kurama had picked the lock without much of a second thought. They were not officially detectives, but this was definitely a special case.
It warranted a couple of extreme measures.
While, in theory, her purity was not that much different than the spiritual awareness Kuwabara contained, in practice, anyone with a spiritual inkling could feel the difference. Kuwabara's powers were clumsy but he did not generate enough to worry about containing them. Not only could he use his powers defensively like his sword, but he could also wrap demons in his aura without making them feel uncomfortable. In fact, he had done so to Hiei and Kurama a couple of times on accident.
If a priest or priestess mistakenly touched a demon with their aura, they would have purified the creature in an instant. Higurashi had released enough power to take out a sizable crowd.
It must have taken an immense amount of training and discipline to disguise her powers like she had. There was also the question of how the fox and Mazoku had survived the assault. Kurama could not help the shiver that danced down his spine at the remembrance.
Instead of attacking him, her powers had embraced him without causing his youki to rise in his defense. He had felt an overwhelming surge of power, of happiness and then the reiki was stripping him bare. Her power grabbed the very essence of his soul, bringing out Youko while also leaving an aspect of Shuichi.
Kurama had never felt so at ease with his two identities before. In all honesty, the experience would have been… almost pleasant. But only if he did not know what miko were supposed to represent.
For someone who should have brought death, her powers were very welcoming.
Yusuke must have had a similar experience. He was storming around Higurashi's apartment, not really stopping to look at anything, just grumbling. It was clear the man was unsettled and was expressing it in the only way he knew how. Anger.
He marched through her kitchen where it was mostly clean except for a dirty bowl and spoon in the sink. He grumped into her bedroom, then hastily scuttled way out when he encountered some of her intimate clothing (read: bras) scattered on the floor. He scowled at her empty bathroom and finally returned to the small living room.
Kurama carefully followed behind, taking note of all the things Yusuke missed. The avatar noticed the dishes but also the small decorative bowls she had on the kitchen window sill. He smirked at Yusuke's reaction to the bedroom, but a quick onceover over the sparse furnishings was enough to satisfy him. He obviously did not mind breaking and entering, but invading the most private of spaces bothered a small but important part of him.
He would have to examine that later.
Her bathroom was full of beauty items. A heat curler, a straightening iron, a whole bevy of hair products Kurama recognized and many make-up items that he did not, and cheap shampoo littered the small counter space. He opened the medicine cabinet and was greeted with nothing but toothpaste and some generic pain medications.
Bending down, he opened the cabinet underneath the sink. Aha.
Tucked behind a wad of plastic shopping bags and cleaning items, sat a large white box with a red cross on the front. He pulled out the first-aid kit and marveled at its size and weight. Flicking it open, the kitsune raised a brow when the contents practically spilled over.
Having seen and needed a fair amount of first aid throughout his human life, he knew enough to realize that this kind of thing belonged to a professional. Kurama quickly took stock of the contents, especially the ones he did not recognize, before returning the kit to its original place.
The puzzle was only getting more complicated the more he tried to solve it. Anticipation built behind his breast. Nothing was better than a good mystery.
The kitsune walked back to the living room, carefully taking note of the shoes abandoned in the hallway and the occasional piece of cheap art on the walls. Yusuke was pacing.
"Well she's not here. So what do we do now, Know-It-All?"
The kitsune glanced up from a picture he had been studying. It held a smiling group of people standing in front of a Shinto Shrine. Higurashi was there, along with two adults and a young man. Three of them had the same eyes.
Kurama's lips pursed. "We find her family."
oOo
There was no denying Botan was very good at her job. Despite Kurama's dubious attitude towards the way Koenma ran Spirit World, the avatar could not deny that the Prince had very talented people on his team. By the time Kurama and Yusuke had exited the apartment building, she was already waiting on the sidewalk with Kuwabara in tow.
She cheerily waved at them while Kuwabara greeted his friends with a lopsided smile.
"Hey guys!" He grunted.
"Hello, Kuwabara." Kurama greeted. "Botan. I suppose this means that Koenma is already aware of what has transpired?"
Botan nodded. "Yup! We couldn't get a hold of Hiei, but Kuwabara was willing to come."
"Yeah!" The man in question cut in. "I'll be able to sense her spirit energy from ten kilometers away!" He boasted and puffed out his chest in pride.
Yusuke scoffed as he jammed his hands into his pockets. "It wouldn't be that hard. Even I could sense it if I wasn't trying."
Kuwabara seemed to take this as an insult, but Kurama stepped in before an argument could start.
"Indeed. It seems the miko is very powerful with very strong reiki. You will not have a problem sensing it at all, Kuwabara."
This seemed to placate the tall man. He stepped back from his looming position over Yusuke.
Kurama looked over the people surrounding him. It was a little amusing to see them all here. Despite the men's strong feelings against working for Koenma, they still gathered at any sign of trouble. At least Kuwabara was a little more honest about his intentions. While Yusuke often swore he would never again work as a Detective, Hiei lost himself in the Makai and Kurama busied himself with work; Kuwabara had promised his services to the heavenly toddler.
If Koenma ever needed help, ever loyal Kuwabara would be there. While he moved on with his life, he also was willing to insert himself in the action at any time. It just so happened that his services were frequently needed.
And when Kuwabara was on the scene, it was not uncommon to see his friends crawl out from under their respective rocks to join in.
None of them could really drop their old lifestyle. None of them really wanted to.
Kurama sucked a deep breath in, slowly ridding his nose of Higurashi's scent. His human heart thudded oddly in his chest. He was addicted to this kind of life. The miko could kill him when they found her, and yet, that promise of danger only made him want to find her even more.
The chase was on.
oOo
Anon Review Reply:
Micartell: I appreciate the fact that you took the time to read some of my other works. But not to worry, this will not interrupt my updating schedule for FT. Thanks for reviewing!
