Wow. I actually found some time to write! I hope everyone likes this chapter. I've sure spent enough time on it! Anyway, read and review please!
Hiei refused. He flat out informed Koenma that he would rather be arrested and placed in Reikai Jail than be forced to retrieve a useless bauble from some stupid human onna who couldn't protect it. Koenma insisted.
Cursing the junior ruler, Hiei grudgingly followed Yusuke and Kurama up the steps of a nearby shrine, where this pathetic onna was supposed to live. The girl was apparently sickly, having any number of potentially deadly illnesses that had somehow all vanished about five months ago.
So far, the only good thing about this mission (and he used that term very lightly) was that Kuwabara would not be joining them. He'd pleaded that he be allowed to visit his Yukina and since the mission was simply retrieval, Koenma had let him, probably because Kuwabara's honor code would have prevented him from being useful anyway. Bastard. Hiei almost wished the baka human was here instead, as far from his sister as humanly possible.
They finally reached the top of the massive stairway and paused to observe their surroundings. If things came down to a fight, they would need at least some basic knowledge of the terrain if the girl proved to be a challenge, however unlikely that was.
Directly across from them was a huge tree surrounded by a small white picketed fence. Further back was the shrine itself and a smaller building with a well used path. Must be something visitors liked to look at.
"Damn! This shrine has more steps than the old hag's!"
"Try walking up and down them everyday to get to school."
The team turned toward the voice and stared. A dark haired girl was walking toward them carrying an ancient set of bow and arrows over her shoulder. She pulled a single arrow from the quiver, her miko robes rustling in the sudden breeze.
"If you are here to steal the Shikon no tama, I warn you, it shall not be as easy as you think."
With a sudden rush of power, the arrow blazed a crackling pink.
Hiei frowned. Koenma had neglected to mention that the current owner of the Jewel, no matter how sickly, was a miko… and a fairly strong one at that if the energy coursing through the air was anything to go by.
Hiei gripped his katana tightly. He did not wish to face a miko but no matter, he would win one way or another. He noticed the others prepare for battle out of the corner of his eye, though his gaze never left the girl standing a few feet away. Kurama was the first to break the silence
"We do not wish to fight. We have been sent to retrieve the Shikon Jewel by order of Reikai."
The girl paused, obviously weighing her options. She shifted, lowering the bow only slightly.
"What does the spirit world want with the Shikon no Tama after all this time? Why now?"
Kurama sighed, cursing Koenma for not telling them the details. Apparently this mission was classified to all but Koenma and his father and of vital importance. Typical Reikai. This was why half the missions they went on ended badly.
"I do not know Reikai's motives or why they chose to retrieve the Jewel now. I only know that we have been given a mission to retrieve it."
Kurama took a small step forward, testing the girl. He stopped when she brought the bow back up, aiming for his heart. Kurama knew he was powerful, but even he could not survive a direct hit by a miko this strong.
"How do I know that you're really from Reikai? What if you are merely posing as Spirit Detectives after sensing the presence of the Jewel, hoping to lure me into a false sense of security before you rip it from my rotting corpse?"
Damn. This girl had obviously encountered demons before.
"You will just have to trust us on that."
Kagome sighed, her eyes closing in thought. The Spirit Detectives tensed, waiting for her decision, ready to fight at the drop of a pin. She sighed and opened her eyes.
"I believe you."
Kurama let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding, lowering his whip to the ground. Yusuke frowned but relaxed as well. Hiei's hand still rested on his katana.
"However…"
The group tensed again.
"I cannot, will not allow the Jewel to be taken from me. I am its protector. I refuse to allow it to fall into the wrong hands again when I have the power to prevent it."
Kurama readied his whip again, his eyes sad for an instant before the battle rush took over.
"There is no way we can convince you otherwise?"
Kagome shook her head, her blue eyes filled with a deep sadness covered only by her determination.
"Very well."
Yusuke was the first to strike. Kagome's eyes registered the rei gun's trajectory an instant too late and she was unable to dodge the blast.
Yusuke smirked. The fight was finished. Very few people ever got back up again after being hit full on and none of them had ever been human girls. So, needless to say, he was very surprised to find her still standing when the smoke cleared.
Kagome smiled grimly, the pulsing blue barrier dropping once the threat was gone. She silently thanked Miroku for forcing her to practice so much that the action had become instinctual.
"I already told you Yusuke. This will not be an easy battle for any of us."
Kagome reached back and pulled out three arrows, firing them in rapid succession at the three demons. She jumped lightly on the railing, flipping to her feet a few steps away from the Sacred Tree. If necessary, she would draw on its strength during this battle.
Kagome spun, raising her arm to block the strike. Hiei's eyes widened, wondering at the sword she had pulled from nowhere and the speed and strength with which she had blocked his attack. He leaped back to a position from which he would be able to take full advantage of his abilities.
Kagome shifted into an ancient swordsman's stance, one that had been forgotten four hundred years ago and slipped into legend.
"Hmm. You're even faster than Sesshou. This could be a problem."
Kagome struck quickly, her sword a silver blur encased in radiant pink. Hiei had made the first move and with that one blow, Kagome had realized that the only way she would be able to defeat the smaller demon was to put him on the defensive before he could land a fatal blow. Now, if only she could fight without interference from the others.
In the back of her mind, Kagome focused on creating a barrier between herself and the other two demons. She mentally cursed when the shimmering light created a bubble around her and two of the intruders. Oh well, at least foxy would be busy for a while.
With that, Kagome brought her attention back to the battle, allowing her instincts to control the barrier. After all, they had done a pretty good job while she was in the feudal era with no training whatsoever.
Swinging her sword in a wide loop, she abruptly swerved the weapon an instant before it was parried by Hiei's and managed to slash his sword arm. The cut would pretty much neutralize the arm from the slight purifying energy she had poured into the wound. Hiei switched to his left hand. Damn. She hated two handed fighters. They were so much more difficult to beat.
Whirling her sword in order to gain speed before she struck, Kagome stepped back in order to charge. She was brought to her knees an instant later when a searing pain in her shoulder numbed her entire left arm. Through bleary eyes, she saw Yusuke smirking. His finger was smoking with the force he had put into his rei gun. Hmm. Quick learner.
Kagome raced forward, studiously forcing the pain to the back of her mind. After dodging multiple shots, she reached Yusuke. Tapping him with two fingers, she murmured a quiet 'stay' and went back to the fight.
Smiling at the detective's attempts to break free of her temporary control of his body, she was almost pulled back into a memory. Kikyo had used this on her when she had first tried to drag Inuyasha to Hell. Between shaking off the nostalgia and returning to the fight with Hiei, she barely noticed the barrier drop. Foxy was back.
Thick vines erupted from the soil and grabbed her legs, quickly encasing her from the waist down preventing any attempts to move. A stray vine shot up and wrapped around her wrist, its blatant strength forcing her to drop her sword.
Kagome balked when she felt strong arms slip around her waist and warm lips brush her neck. When she looked up, her brown eyes locked with glowing crimson orbs. Fear gripped her heart in a suffocating instant as she was consumed by yet another memory.
Heavy poison miasma…clothing ripping…screams of pain…the flash of a silver sword…red eyes…a maniacal laughter…a purifying arrow…a shattered jewel reformed…blood flowing down her body…
Brutally suppressing the memory and vaguely aware of another one surfacing, she growled and let her purifying energy flow over her skin. She smirked when the lips fell away with a yelp and the plants followed an instant later.
"Dammit Youko, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that!"
Freezing in shock when she realized what she had said and what had actually happened, Kagome slowly turned to stare at the silver haired demon behind her. How the hell was he here?!
Youko grinned, the motion somewhat painful with his cracked lips. He had wrested control away from Kurama the instant he had realized the miko they were fighting was the same miko he had met over five hundred years ago, though he had no idea how the hell it was possible.
"Sorry Kagome. I just couldn't resist."
Youko crouched down and plucked a single blade of grass. Filled with his youkai, it grew and hardened into a splendid sword. He grinned back at Kagome when she readied her own, dusting off the dirt from its brief stay on the ground.
"So what do you say Kagome? If you win, you get to keep the Shikon no Tama. If I win, I get it."
Grinning herself, Kagome charged as a way of answering. Youko met her with a swift parry while Hiei and Yusuke watched in surprise, still trying to wrap their heads around the fact that Kagome and Youko knew each other.
"You know Youko, you said the exact same thing the day we met."
Smirking, Youko began a series of blows, the sword becoming a green blur in the air, the whistling shrill in the ears of the demons. Soon, all a normal human would have been able to see were blurs of red and white and the clank of metal striking metal.
Hiei and Yusuke, however, saw a series of blows and parries so fast even they had trouble seeing them. Youko they understood… but how in all the seven hells had a human miko gained the speed and agility of a demon, enough to fend off the legendary silver bandit, even to match him?
Youko saw his opening when Kagome stumbled through a parry. He raced forward and knocked the miko on the ground, quickly sitting on her back with an enormous grin. Kagome grunted and tried to knock the smirking kitsune off of her with little success.
"Of course, you won our little spar the day we met."
Youko smirked, his eyes dancing with mischief.
"And I have not won today?"
"Nope!"
Youko suddenly found himself underneath the miko he had previously been sitting on with a sword pressed to his neck. Kagome beamed, sheathing the weapon before helping Youko back to his feet.
"Well well. You certainly have improved since our last spar Kagome."
"I've had another three year's worth of training since our last spar."
Hearing a not so subtle cough, Kagome turned back toward a glaring fire demon and the Mazoku still paralyzed behind him.
"Oh! I'm sorry! You should be able to move again now."
Turning back to the kitsune beside her, Kagome's face had donned a playful grin.
"So, are you going to make good on our bet Youko?"
Youko's tail twitched, swishing behind him in amusement.
"Now, Kagome, I'm offended! Haven't I always kept our little bargains?"
Kagome crossed her arms, glaring at the demon in mock annoyance.
"Nope. Never. Well, there was that one time…Oh wait, no you stole from me then too."
Youko instantly began to pout though the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
"Aw! Kagome!"
"Once a thief, always a thief, isn't that right Youko?"
Kagome walked forward as she spoke, reaching into a pocket on Youko's shirt and pulling out the Shikon no Tama. Waving the trinket in front of his face, she smiled and put the Jewel back around her neck. Youko frowned, sulking like a child.
"Well, when I grabbed it, I thought I'd won."
"Of course you did Youko."
Youko chuckled. This miko always had amused him…and on that note…
"How in all the hells are you still alive Kagome?"
Kagome sighed.
"It's a long story Youko. A long, long story."
Kagome looked at the three demons staring at her now. It was a good thing her family was on vacation this week for she didn't know how they would react to the news she had to tell.
Actually, she did…and it scared the hell out of her.
Kagome turned back toward the house. She didn't have to look back to know the demons behind her would follow. They would probably follow her to the ends of the Earth in order to complete their mission: the retrieval of the Shikon no Tama, no matter what bargain she and Youko made.
Pushing open the door from its open latch, Kagome swept her arm around an empty living room.
"Please sit."
Youko took a seat on the couch, stretching his legs to cover its entire surface. Yusuke plopped down on the love seat and Hiei perched on the windowsill.
Kagome stepped into the kitchen and removed the teapot whose whistle had been becoming increasingly piercing over the course of the past thirty seconds. Slowly, as if to ward off the tale she had to tell, she poured the steaming liquid into four cups. She would need it before the night was over.
"Would you like some tea?"
After handing each demon his cup (except for Hiei's whose she'd placed beside him when he refused to accept it from her), she shoved Youko's legs off the couch and sipped her tea. The hot drink soothed her frazzled nerves.
"So, what are your names?"
Yusuke shifted slightly before pulling a smart salute.
"Yusuke Urameshi, at your service milady."
Giggling slightly, she looked toward the little fire demon sitting in her window. He glared at her frostily before opening his mouth.
"Hiei."
She nodded and leaned against Youko, slowly working up the courage to speak.
"Onna, why do you stall? Tell us this tale of yours so we can leave."
Hiei flinched slightly when the human miko turned such ancient weary eyes on him that, for a second, he felt as if every weight in the world had settled onto his shoulders.
"I will get to that…but in order to understand this tale, you must first know what has happened since my fifteenth birthday."
Hiei did not respond, still slightly shaken.
"Youko, what I never got to tell you five hundred years ago was that I traveled through time."
Youko's ears swiveled forward, listening with a rapt attention all their own.
"But how?"
"The well."
Youko's face lit up with recognition and a vague sense of understanding.
"On my fifteenth birthday, my cat Buyo was lost in the well house. I went inside to get him out but was instead pulled 500 years into the past by Mistress Centipede."
Kagome glanced up and saw that both Hiei and Yusuke looked doubtful as to validity of her story. Hiei pulled up his white bandana and exposed the Jagon. The third eye glowed malevolently. Kagome shivered when the evil aura touched her mind but allowed it access to her thoughts, knowing it would be the only way Hiei would believe her story.
"When I crawled out of the well, I walked around for a while, completely lost…but then I saw the Scared Tree."
Nodding toward the massive tree outside of the door, Kagome continued.
"Imprisoned to its trunk by a miko's spell, I found an inu-hanyou I would come to know as Inuyasha. When Mistress Centipede attacked the village, I somehow awakened Inuyasha and freed him from the arrow that bound him… but not before Mistress Centipede ripped the Shikon no Tama from my body."
Kagome pulled up her haori, exposing the star shaped scar on her side.
"Later, when we were trying to defeat a crow demon who had stolen the jewel, it was accidentally shattered."
Kagome's voice caught. With that one sentence, the floodgates had opened and she began to cry. She hardly noticed Youko's arms wrap her in a comforting embrace.
"We had to find it…every single piece before something terrible happened…but we were too late. Fifty years before, a mysterious demon had ensnared Inuyasha and Kikyo, the miko had Inuyasha had loved in a trap that forced them to turn on each other in order to taint the Sacred Jewel, which Kikyo guarded. Inuyasha was sealed and Kikyo passed onto the next life."
"When I returned with the jewel, this mysterious demon, Naraku, was still after it…and he would go to any lengths to get it…and to kill me."
Youko tightened his hold on her and Kagome continued.
"While we searched for the jewel shards, our little duo grew larger. The first to join us was Shippo, a young fox demon who had been orphaned when the Thunder Brothers Hiten and Manten had killed his father for the shard he possessed."
"Miroku was next. He had a cursed wind tunnel in his right hand that would slowly devour him until he died a painful death, just like his father and his grandfather. It was his grandfather who had originally fought Naraku and been cursed…and he was a perverted lecher, just like Miroku."
"The next to join us was Sango, the demon slayer. Her entire village had been slain by Naraku while she and a small group of others were at a neighboring castle on a mission. There, her little brother Kohaku was taken over and killed al but Sango and she was tricked into believing it was Inuyasha who had murdered her village. We managed to set her straight after she nearly killed him."
"For over a year, we traveled Japan collecting shards and keeping our eyes and ears open for any sign of Naraku. He managed to evade us by manipulating those around him. He even managed to create 'children' by separating them from his flesh. His two most successful were Kanna and Kagura. Kanna was a void demon who could steal your soul with her enchanted mirror. Kagura was a rebellious wind demoness who could control the dead."
"Almost a year after I met Youko, the Jewel was nearly whole. We had about half. Naraku had the rest. The final battle was almost upon us…and then, I was kidnapped by Naraku."
Cliffhanger. I'm evil I know, but I actually have a very good reason for ending the chapter there…which you'll find out in the next one. There is also a good reason why quite a few details are left out in the story (besides the fact that it would take absolutely forever and I don't have that kind of time) so…
Please be nice and push the review button and make my day!
