Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Sengoku Otogizoushi - InuYasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. InuYasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, Viz Media, ShoPro Entertainment, and Shounen; while Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Togashi Yoshihiro, Shueisha, Viz Media, and Shounen. No profit or money of any kind is made from this fan-created crossover.
Allied Promises
Chapter Three
Two Days Later
Shippou watched patiently as the very last of Kagome's blood made its way through the tube and into the Toushin's arm. This needed to work; it needed to give Raizen enough strength to do what needed to be done. Unlike so many of their other gambles and life altering decisions they had made through the last half-millennium, there were no contingency plans, no back-ups, no room for error, no nothing. This was an all-or-nothing gamble. They had so much to gain, and so very much to lose. Shippou loathed it.
He had all the faith and hope in all the realms in the woman he saw as his older sister, but there were far too many "what-if"s about the entire situation. Yet desperate times called for desperate measures. He did not know anything they had done that was more desperate than this. For once in his life, Shippou prayed to every kami he knew that everything would go according to plan. That, for once, everything would fall into place. And he hoped that he did not just jinx the entire damn thing.
"All right, kit. It's almost time. I can feel the barrier close to coming down," Raizen said. He flexed his hand as the last bit of miko blood flowed into his veins. It was truly the last of her blood as he had emptied the first gourd of it two days ago. It had given him enough of a power boost to sustain him throughout the whole process of bringing back his descendant as a full-fledged youkai, and the second gourd of blood would ensure that he had enough power to kill the bastard stupid enough to kill his however-many-great-grandson.
Shippou nodded. "Let's get this done then... So we can have her back, too." He turned and left the room to stand guard with Inuyasha.
Kagome had arrived at the cave near the outskirts of Mushiyori City an hour ago. The feeling of youki and reiki was so oppressive that she had felt it upon leaving behind Tokyo. It let her know she was not too late, as she had feared given the centuries that had passed, and was also a beacon lighting the way to where she needed to go. And if she could feel it so well, she had to wonder how uncomfortable regular humans had to feel from it.
Outside, she could see three people standing around. Despite the overwhelming youki and reiki radiating from the cave, she could tell that two of them were from Reikai, given the way Inuyasha had described it in his letter. The blue-haired woman definitely felt like the creatures of death she had come across a few times in the past. Yet the young man with the pacifier... He had to be the prince of Reikai. She did not like the looks of this too much. Especially not with the old woman with enough reiki to destroy a small town.
For what had to be the hundredth time, Kagome wondered just what Raizen had managed to drag her into this time.
As she walked closer, they tensed and turned to look at her. Only the old woman slipped into a defensive stance. It did confirm her thoughts on the other two: they were not fighters and probably would not be injured if she used her hama no reiryoku on them. She stopped a few feet from them and held up her left hand, its back to them and showing them the symbol there. If they were who she thought they were, then they would recognize it.
She was not disappointed.
The blue-haired woman gasped and pointed. "That's... That's!"
Kagome nodded. "Yes. I was sent by Raizen. He has...a vested interest in this."
The old woman relaxed her stance, and the prince nodded his head. "I can't say I'm surprised. I had a feeling someone from one of the lords would be watching to see what happens. I'm surprised, though, that it was Raizen, and that he sent a human."
She dropped her hand and laughed. "I'm sure. But out of the three lords, he does like humans the best. Do you mind if we head down there?"
The prince shook his head. "I was just about to head back in myself. We can go together. Botan, Genkai, remember the plan." He nodded toward them before leading the way into the twisting tunnels of the cave.
Though Kagome was sure she could have found the way without the glowing flowers, she did not think the prince could. Nor did she want to reveal too much about her abilities just yet. Raizen would yell her ear off, and then Inuyasha would yell off her other ear. "You're... KoEnma-sama, right?" she asked when they had walked far enough in the tunnel.
She could barely see him nod. "Yes. And you are? In all my time overseeing things in my father's absence, I've never come across reports of a human being entangled with one of the three lords."
"I'm Kagome." She smiled before it quickly fell under the weight of memories. "And that's because it's been a long time. Not many know. The only reason I'm here is because I have an obligation to him. Though, I have a feeling I might be earlier than he intended for me to be." Her nervous laugh bounced off the waves of the cave. She really hoped they were not banking on her being late. God help them when she got her hands on them if they were. Just because she had been late in returning a couple of times did not mean it was a habit.
She hoped Inuyasha's ears were burning. And she hoped he knew it was because she was plotting his punishment. She knew it had to have been him who told Raizen about her tardiness and made it enough of a deal for them to make a plan around it.
Kagome could feel KoEnma's eyes on her. He was probably wondering how a young-looking human woman had managed to cross over the barrier into the Makai, not die at the hands of youkai, and end up in the court of a Toushin. It had the makings of a very odd, cliched romance novel. "And obligation, huh? What kind of obligation ends up with a human woman bearing the mark of a Toushin?"
The way he worded that sentence caused so many emotions to cross her mind. She was certain they left shadows in her eyes and made her seem far older than she was. And, in the back of her mind, she could hear Sango's voice pleading her love. Her thumb absently rubbed the curves of the mark on her hand, remembering all that happened centuries in the past, but only years ago for her. "The kinds made of love."
The young ruler looked at her oddly for a few moments. The sounds of battle that could be heard kept him from questioning her further, and drew them both back into the reality that was now just one cavern opening away. They both knew what it was for different reasons: a battlefield where one side would win and the other die, and they both knew what would happen if Yuusuke lost. The Ningenkai would be lost as well. Yet KoEnma had a different feeling: he had looked into Yuusuke's file, and given the appearance of Kagome, he had a feeling that Yuusuke was to die.
Kagome wavered at the sound of flesh pounding unmercifully on flesh before shaking her head. "I'll stay out here. I have a feeling I'll know when I'm supposed to step in."
The young ruler nodded and did not press. It was not his position to at the moment, not when he had to do his best to help out Yuusuke. No one was going to die if he had anything to say about it.
It was hours, or perhaps only a few minutes later, as Kagome lounged outside the entrance to the room that she could hear Yuusuke's voice. It unnerved her, given that there was no sounds of battle and how determined, yet so pained, his voice was.
"Just a little bit more... I can get him...somehow... Just a little bit more." In his hoarse voice, she could hear his gritted teeth and the blood just waiting to be coughed up. She had seen and heard it far too many times with Inuyasha that she knew he was not going to just lie down and die. He was remarkably like Sango and Raizen.
She had to sigh and shake her head at the convoluted situation she had landed herself into, from what she had heard. She had an urge to tell KoEnma that he had done a good job of breaking a human so completely that he developed enough personalities to master the ultimate Ki and reaching the S-Class level in such a short time. Though she may only have a very basic knowledge of the realms and classes and different ki, she knew enough that only another S-Class human or youkai could take down someone else in the S-Class. It caused her eyes to fill with tears as she realized that the boy did have to die in order for that "Sensui Shinobu" to be stopped, and, from what she was hearing, he knew it too. And by the way his friends were yelling at him, she knew they had just figured out his plan as well.
It was such a stupid, fool-hardy plan. It was why she knew it would work.
"Damnit, Urameshi, listen to me! I did that because you... You're you, you moron!"
If Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, or even Shippou were there, they would tell her how much it was a move she would make.
"You're... You're my best..."
Though she knew the truth. It was a move Sango would make more than her. Sacrificing herself to save others, she had done it in the past. Only it was not Sango nor her, it was a boy not much older than her; and his friends were just like her friends. She closed her eyes, willing back the tears she wanted to cry at how desperate and pained his friends sounded.
"If I'm gonna die, I wanna die fighting. With him."
She almost wished she could run out there yelling that he would live. Raizen's plan finally made sense to her, and she wanted to use it to comfort them.
"Four-on-One... Yuusuke will be mad, but I couldn't stand it if one of us was gone. That's why we came."
Yet she knew to do so would be counter-productive. They needed to let their anger and grief push them beyond their limits, unlocking their own power. They needed to buy time between his death and rebirth. She was only there to make sure Yuusuke lived after and through his possession. From there, who knew where this crazy adventure she did not want would take them all.
"Let us go to his side."
Her eyes closed even more tightly as she could feel their youki and reiki swirl around them all the more. If she thought it was overwhelming before, now it was enough to make her pass out from the pressure. He was not even dead yet, and yet... Despite herself and the tears in her eyes, she could not help smiling. Yuusuke was very lucky to have friends like them.
"How fucking corrupt can you be!"
"Shinobu! Kill him now!"
In the silence in the middle of a storm, everything could be heard. She listened as his friends broke free from whatever was holding them back, and she heard when they landed on solid ground. But they were just a second too late. The sound when the bullet pierced him was loud enough to echo, just like the silence that surrounded his fall. After this, nothing would be the same. Not for Yuusuke, nor his friends, nor her.
In a few moments, it would begin and her purpose would be revealed. Damn Raizen and his foresight. Now, Kagome mused, it was all up to the Toushin to make his appearance on time.
