Kagome tried to hold her smile in as her mother forced Kurama into manual labor. When she had questioned him about help in refurbishing her garden, he hadn't been expecting to refurbish the entire shrine grounds. It started with a blue print and pictures of the grounds as they planned on what to plant and where, and then the labor started. He was then forced to dig up old plants, plow the ground, and barrel in new fertilizer; all while her mother supervised with a smile on her face.
It was going on a week now and he made no signs of stopping. He was dirty, sweaty, and appeared haggard at time, but he showed no signs of wanting to give up. Not with her mother slaving him with a never ending smile.
While Kurama was in charge of the gardening, her mother had been in talks with contractors to revamp the rest of the grounds. The shrine needed remodeling, the stone and brick pathways needed replacing, the gate needed painting, and so many things needed to be done that she was ever so grateful of Kurama for taking over the planting.
All this was for the effort of reinstating the shrine to its former glory and opening it up to the public again. The shrine hadn't been open since her grandpa was a young boy, and her mother wanted him to see it prosper again before it was too late.
Her mother cleared her throat and Kagome snapped to attention.
"What part of get that dance down before we open, didn't you understand?"
Of course getting the shrine open again meant that she and Souta were to be active participants. Currently she was supposed to be practicing her kagura while Souta, who refused to be seen in his Shinto robes, was inside, preparing talismans for profit.
"Doesn't it look strange with only one arm?"
Her mother turned from the sweating Kurama to give her daughter a scrutinizing stare. "I see two working arms from here."
Kagome held in a sigh and continued with her practice. While her mother was right, and she had two working arms, one was only working at 10%. She could only lift it to hip level, bending it was strenuous, and her fingers could barely hold the foam ball she grasped. It was working, but just barely. But it was a vast improvement.
"Keep it up." Her mother encouraged her with a clap.
"Yes mother." She recited as she flowed slowly through the steps.
The dance wasn't bad, she thought to herself. Yes, she was only doing it halfway, but it felt right. With the sun shining brightly upon her and with the dance to focus on, she became lost in the ritual. She left her troubles behind as her sense of Kurama and all the sexual frustration began to fade and she felt in charge of herself for the first time in weeks.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw something small and red scuttle across the ground. It was the ball she didn't feel herself drop. Watching it roll towards the steps, she let her arm hang uselessly at her side.
Kurama's grunt had her glancing at him in disdain as his sweaty and strong back set to work on plowing the ground. The heat and manual labor had him down to his undershirt and it clung to his muscles unnecessarily. He stopped a moment to brush his hair from his face and let the cool breeze run its fingers through his locks.
"Whatever." She murmured, forcing herself to look away from him and retrieve the ball.
"Where are you going, young lady?" her mother called after her.
"I dropped the ball down the steps." She told her.
"Don't take too long. Kurama is sweating for your sake and you will be a gracious hostess while he's here and take care of him. I'm sure he could use with something to drink."
"I am getting a bit dehydrated."
Not bothering to turn their way, she rolled her eyes at their words. As she reached the lip of the stairs she heard voices ascending their length. Her mother aiming for her to be a hostess for tours had her pause and assume a welcoming bow.
"Welcome guests." She greeted pleasantly as she heard them reach the top. "To the Higurashi Shrine."
"Oh ho! Look at you acting all nice."
The smile she sported dropped as she looked up to see Yusuke Urameshi grinning at her wildly. She stood up to her full height and gave him her full attention.
"What are you doing here?"
"Is that anyway to greet a friend?" he asked her, grin still in place as he approached her.
She gave him a grin back; all teeth. "What brings you here, detective?"
"I got lonely. Kurama and Hiei spend all their time here now and don't hang out with me anymore. So I decided to join in the fun here."
"As you can see," she said, indicating the hard labor behind her. "We're having a great time. We'll be glad to have you."
"I guess you've been slacking off then. I think you dropped this." He held up her red therapy ball.
"Thanks." She held her hand out to him.
As he handed the ball to her, he latched on to her hand and looked down at her disabled arm. "Still can't use it?"
"It's a lot better now." She answered with a shrug. "I have some movement and most of the feeling has come back to it."
"Still handicap then?" he asked with a grin.
"I'll show you whose handicap." She growled, gripping his hand tighter.
"Is that so?" he asked with a glint in his eye as he stood taller and squared his jaw.
"Yeah, that's so." She countered as her heart picked up in tempo. The sun shining on her back seemed to be absorbed by her skin and spread throughout her body.
"Then do something."
"I will. Let my hand go, first."
He pulled her hand up into the air, almost forcing her onto her tip toes. "I thought you weren't handicap. Do something with your other arm. Or are you really helpless?"
"Helpless? You of all people should know I'm far from helpless."
"How am I supposed to know that?"
"I'm pretty sure I saved everyone from a super powered monster child."
"You had help from super powered, relic armor. Doesn't count."
"So you want to see what I'm really made of?"
"Yeah. Show me."
"I will." she stepped up to him in challenge.
"I'm waiting." He stepped closer and looked down at her in answer to her challenge.
"I never liked you. Next to Hiei, you were the biggest jerk in the group. Don't think I forgot all the things you did."
"Like what?"
"Things. And that's why this ass kicking is going to feel so good."
"What are you going to do, crush me with your boobs?"
"They're not that big."
"You don't have to tell me that. Now get them off my chest."
"Get your chest off my breasts."
"Back up."
"You back up. And let go of my hand, you're making it sweaty."
"You're the one sweating. What's wrong, nervous?"
"Why would I be nervous?"
"Because." He answered, with a barely contained growl in his voice.
They stared deeply at each other as the world became a dull buzzing in their ears. They became fidgety and anxious as their breathing seemed to synchronize. They could feel their bodies tense up as they readied themselves for action. The heat from the sun and their bodies made them sweat. Yusuke breathed heavily through his nose as Kagome's lips parted with bated breath. Her lips suddenly felt too dry and she moistened them with a flick of her tongue. As it darted in and then out of sight, she saw his jaw twitch and she could do nothing but focus on it.
"I don't know what to do with my other hand." He finally said into the silence, his voice coming out lower than he meant.
"I like the way you smell." She told him in a helplessly, breathless voice.
"That's enough of that." Mama Higurashi said in a strained voice as she set the hose onto the two.
The cold water had immediate results, chilling Kagome to the bone and getting her attention off of Yusuke. As they were hosed down, they jumped and were pulled apart. Blinking water from her eyes, she finally became aware of the possessive arm on her shoulder and the black pinecone head standing before her. She also saw that Yusuke hadn't arrived alone as she now noticed the girl clinging to his arm and the bewildered Kuwabara standing next to him.
"The hell was that about?" Kuwabara asked into the uncomfortable air that followed.
Shivering from the cold and dripping wet, Kagome looked off to the side and blushed from embarrassment.
"She has a curse placed on her." Kurama answered as he stepped in front of her to join the freshly arrived Hiei.
"What kind of curse does that?" Yusuke asked; his voice loud.
"Where did you even get a curse from?" Kuwabara asked. "What happened?"
"Yeah, so…remember Weylin?" she asked, peeking a glance a Yusuke from over her guardians shoulder.
"The kid from the relic? How could I forget him? I almost died. You did die. Not something easily forgotten."
"You lost an arm." Kuwabara added quietly. "That haunts my dreams."
"You're his girlfriend?" Kagome asked, suddenly aware of the girl standing next to him and wanting to include her into the conversation.
"Yes." The girl answered, standing taller under Kagome's gaze, but not relinquishing her hold on Yusuke's arm. "I'm Keiko."
"Hi. I would say nice to meet you, but, eh….sorry about all this."
Keiko said nothing and only shifted uncomfortably at Yusuke's side.
"I think you were in the middle of an explanation." Mama Higurashi prompted her.
"Right…Keiko, was it? Did they tell you what happened on the mission?"
Keiko nodded her head in confirmation.
"Well afterwards…"
"After you came back to life." Kuwabara added.
"Right, after…"
"Because you were super dead."
She scowled, but continued on. "Right, after that, I had a side effect. A death curse I now believe. So there is this Ovarian Interruption…"
She was interrupted again by Yusuke voicing his disgust at the name while Keiko looked on confused. "What?"
"That's what she calls it." Kurama supplied, his face relaying his feeling towards her choice of words.
"Calls what?" Keiko asked, looking between the two.
"The interruption of my natural feelings towards the opposite sex. I am affected just as much as they are, and to be honest with you, it's exhausting. And frustrating. It's like being thirsty, but no matter how much you drink, it's never satisfied. And what makes it even worse is that I'm not even drinking anything."
"What are you talking about?"
"Her body lets off pheromones that cause false feelings of love and lust for her and any male that her body feels will be a compatible partner to conceive a child with." That was Hiei, laying it on the line for everybody.
"Very well put." Kagome complimented him before turning her attention back to Keiko. "So basically, my body is trying to get me laid and it has varying effects on different people. Again. I'm sorry. It wasn't real."
Turning towards Yusuke she blushed as she looked to him. "I thought they had told you. If you know about it, it's easier to handle. You can almost ignore it."
"Yeah. If those two hadn't been too busy with themselves and actually talked to me, this could have all been avoided."
"Now that everything's out in the open," her mother announced with a clap of her hands, "How about you stay for a tour of the grounds?"
"I don't know." Keiko answered with a grimace. "It might be a little weird now."
"Yeah, mom."
"Nonsense. It'll give you time to practice your touring routine."
Kagome cast a speculative glance at the group. Confusion, hostility, and embarrassment clouded the air as everyone tried not to look uncomfortable.
"It'll be nice. You'll end the tour at the back where I'll have lunch waiting for everybody. Practice and a fun get together all at once."
Kagome made a non-committable noise from the back of her throat.
"Great. I'll just go and fetch Souta."
"Who's Souta?" Yusuke asked as her mom happily trotted away.
"My brother."
"Is he part of the tour?" Kuwabara asked.
"Not really." She answered with an embarrassed shake of her head.
"He's her chaperone." Hiei added. "And he'll be here to make sure she and the detective don't hump like animals."
Her hand shot out and struck him in the back of his head.
"That's for being an ass!" she shouted into his face as he turned a bug eyed, steely stare towards her. "And why are you even here? I thought your mode of operations was to skulk around in trees and issue sneak attacks, you measly, little sparkle."
"Sparkle?" Kuwabara voiced. "Wow. That's both small and demeaning."
"Touch me again, and you'll be left with no working extremities."
"Oh, but it's alright to throw cats at me and try to burn down my house?"
"Dude you tried to burn down her house?" Yusuke voiced with a frown of concern.
"The bitch survived didn't she?"
"What was that about cats?" Kuwabara added with a frown and just as deeply concerned as Yusuke.
A foot connected with the side of Hiei's head. Fast as a whip, he drew his sword even before turning to face her, but Kurama was one step ahead of him. With one arm holding an infuriated, hissing and cursing Kagome, he snatched Hiei's sword from his grasp.
Without giving the redhead a glance, Hiei still advanced forward and began spitting his own curses at the miko trying to get past Kurama's arm.
"What uh…what is this?" Yusuke asked into the air. "This seems different than what I just went through."
"Yes…" Kurama supplied with a grunt as he struggled to keep the combatants at a distance. "This does seem a bit…unusual…from the last times I've caught…them…bickering."
"What's the difference?" Keiko asked.
"This tension is all hostile." Yusuke answered her with a smirk.
"So what was it with you?" she asked him with an accusing look as she finally let his arm go.
"I think you know." Kurama answered for her. "Our…interaction…with Kagome…with her…curse..."
"The Ovarian Interruption." Kuwabara added.
"With that…has never been as…evident…as they were just now…with…Yusuke."
"Not my fault." Yusuke countered quickly, holding his hands up in surrender.
"No one's fault." Kurama said in his defense, although his gaze was uncharacteristically sharp. "But their usual quarrels had underlines of flirting."
"Who flirts like that?" Keiko asked him with a repulsed face.
"Hiei." Kuwabara and Yusuke said in unison.
"What?" Kuwabara asked as they turned to him in surprise. "I pay attention."
"Right." Kurama continued. "And Kagome picked up on it and responds likewise with him."
"But this is different?"
"Yes. I believe…with Yusuke's presence…her response to us…has diminished….and all that is left is…this."
"Right...need any help, uh….with that?" Yusuke offered hesitantly.
Kurama just gave him an exasperated look in return.
"What? Don't get mad at me just because your old boyfriend and new girlfriend are cheating on you with each other."
"Really, Yusuke?" Keiko asked with an exasperated expression.
"They were inseparable, and then along came Kagome and her ovaries and now everything's fucked between them."
"How do you know?" Kuwabara questioned him. "They could be sharing her."
"WHAT?" with the strength of an enraged puma, Kagome stiff armed Kurama and Hiei out of her way as she aimed her fury at Kuwabara.
She didn't even get to make a move on him as she suddenly arched her back in pain and yelped in sudden terror. As she fell to the ground, they caught sight of the water gun toting teenage boy in typical Shinto priest robes.
"What is going on at this Shrine? Who the hell is that?"
"Alright." The boy announced as he approached. "I hear we're going to take a little tour with some aggressive males."
"She seems pretty aggressive too." Keiko pointed out, indicating the fetal positioned girl on the ground.
"Don't worry about her." Souta told them as he pointed his gun at his sister. "I have her."
"What's in the gun?" Kuwabara asked him. "Look like she's dying."
"She's overreacting." Yusuke told him with a leer as he looked down on her. "It's just water."
"Is it?" Souta challenged as Keiko elbowed her boyfriend in the rib. "Just ask pinecone here."
"I think his name is Sparkle now." Kuwabara supplied.
They all turned towards Hiei, and Souta made an obvious show of pointing the tip of the gun at his face. He was silent as he stared from the muzzle of the gun to those surrounding him. Without a word, he stepped to the side and out of range.
"Now." Souta commented. "If you want to get a bit more intimate with the contents of the gun; make a move on my sister."
"Do it, Urameshi." Hiei urged him. "Make a move on her."
"Our shrine, on the other hand, does not host a god." Kagome continued as she led the group on the tour. "Instead, we have the Sacred Tree." She then brandished her hand over the shrine grounds and singled out a lone tree peeking over the roof of their house.
"The Sacred Tree will be our last stop on the tour."
"What makes it so special?" Kuwabara inquired.
Kagome froze in her gesture as her face reddened. Souta coughed into the silence.
"Go on." Yusuke prompted her. "Tell him why that's the Sacred Tree."
She relaxed her form and took a deep breath as a thought came to her. "Over 500 years ago there was a miko and a hanyou who were very much in love. The miko, while being the protector of a magical artifact, was the target of an evil hanyou's attention. In order to corrupt this artifact with their hatred and bitterness, the evil hanyou deceived the two lovers and forced them to slay eachother. But before her death, the miko sealed her hanyou to this sacred tree for 50 years."
"So it's special because a dead guy was nailed to it?" "Kuwabara asked.
"No, ass," she snapped, before resuming a gentler voice. "It is a tree of ages…"
"I thought it was a Sacred Tree." Yusuke argued.
"Shut up! The Sacred Tree is magical and survives through time and conflicts to entwine and connect the fate of those who pray to it."
"So it's like a magic 8 ball tree?" Kuwabara summarized.
"No stupid," Yusuke snapped back. "It's a fortune teller."
"As we stand here!" Kagome continued. "You would be magically surrounded by cherry blossoms with no knowledge of their origins. Kurama that's where you come in. Mama wants you to plant sakura trees in the back."
"Is that going to be part of the tour?" Kuwabara asked her before Kurama could say anything.
"You stop talking." She glanced at the others and they got the message that no talking was preferred. "Now while you follow me, be sure to watch your step as some of the stones on the walkway need replacing."
They followed her to a corner of the stone walkway that turned in a dirt path. Here she stopped and turned to them. "If you travel along this path, you will come to a small shed. Inside this shed is the Bone Eater's Well. 500 years ago this well was used to dispose of the bodies of demons and monsters."
She looked back at them and smiled.
"Fun fact. Centuries later, a 15 year old girl will follow her cat into this very wellhouse and be snatched into the past by an evil centipede demon. There she will release an ancient dog demon from his forced hibernation from the very Sacred Tree upon these lands and have him join her on an adventure as a time traveling schoolgirl. In her quests she would find love, strength, courage, and unbreakable friendships. Only to disappear into the night, never to return, in order to avoid being murdered in her sleep by a traitorous dog trying to revive a zombie."
"Is that going to be part of the tour?" Yusuke asked with uncertainty.
"That part might actually need to stay." Souta added. "Sounds like some tragic, magical fable you hear at other shrines."
"And this one has evidence of truth in it." Kagome said happily.
"Why are you smiling?" Yusuke asked her with a scowl. "That's completely sad."
She stared at him intently as she tried to control her pout.
"Stop." He groaned into the air. "I guess it's not that sad."
"Right. It's magical." She whispered. Spinning on her heel, she slinked down the path and continued the tour.
She brought them to a procession of storehouses. Three buildings stood apart from the others at short distances. They were each roughly the size of small bedrooms, but more rectangular than square.
"Again, while our shrine does not host a god, it does hold many arcane relics and artifacts that need spiritual protecting. These storehouses here hold our inventory. Those of you spiritually inclined may feel their presence."
She paused here to let them gauge whether or not they could feel anything.
"Later on, we plan on combining these three holdups into one large room and possibly allow visitors to walk through and view the artifacts."
"Aren't they dangerous?" Kurama asked in concern. "It might not be such a good idea to allow such free access."
The eye she turned to him was sharp and her smile was whimsical. "As they are now, there will be seals placed on the storehouse to prevent entry and should those fail, more, aggressive seals will be placed within and on the artifacts, which will be locked behind safety glass. And if all else should fail, they would have to get past me."
"You're pretty damn full of yourself." Yusuke said with a narrowed gaze.
"I believe I have reason to be." She turned from him but gave him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Don't you?"
With his eyes still narrowed, he looked at her thoughtfully. "I guess you're right. A little. You were kind of badass sometimes."
"Sometimes?" she questioned incredulously.
"I'm pretty sure I remember you getting drunk and crying over a crushed flower."
Her mouth dropped open in shock. "I don't remember anything like that happening and it's okay if I cried; I'm a girl."
"Oh yeah." He exclaimed, his expression wolfish. "I know."
Whatever memory the two drew forth, to make Yusuke grin with such a devilish demeanor and Kagome to blush hard, was never elaborated on as Souta was suddenly there and pointing two guns in both of their faces.
"Are we done?" he inquired.
"Ask him that." She retorted as she sidestepped the gun and walked a few paces away, leaving behind a scowling Hiei and a barely suppressed sighing Kurama.
As she continued the tour, Kagome turned to face them as she continued walking backward.
"It would be at this spot here that we would be crossing over a bridge. We plan on putting in a small water feature in this spot. Possibly a koi pond."
"After crossing over the bridge and rounding the corner we come to the worship area."
The open area surrounded a large paved courtyard. The paved center was surrounded by unlit lanterns and a pair of guardian statues. Off to the side, on smaller patio areas, were benches and a picnic table. They also saw that the path they traveled wasn't the only one that led to the worship area, but theirs was the biggest.
"And as you can see, we are now in the presence of the Sacred Tree. See as it looms over us, yet there is no imposing pressure upon you. The Sacred Tree is benevolent and holds the answers to any who may seek out its help in prayer."
"And it also keeps dead guys alive if you nail them to it too, right?" Kuwabara added questioningly.
"Keeps them in an induced slumber until they are needed." She supplied sagely. "And shut up."
"Oh good." They heard a happy voice exclaim. "I'm just in time."
As a unit, they all turned to see Mama Higurashi coming down a path with two large trays stacked atop the other.
"Now you can sit down and enjoy a nice lunch. Kagome, come over and help me serve your guests."
"Use both hands." Her mother scolded her as she handed Kagome a tray. "Boys, why don't you move two of the table so that we can all sit together?"
As the boys set the tables together, Kagome and her mother began serving them as they became seated.
Hiei suddenly found his path blocked by a smiling, older version of Kagome. "Will you be joining us for lunch or shall I place your food on the ground to rot like your manners have?"
The yard was drowned in a sudden hush and Hiei was a deer caught in headlights. He looked from Mama Higurashi, to Kagome, to the waiting group, and finally back to Mama Higurashi. He didn't know how to respond, so he proceeded with murder face.
"You'll have to excuse Hiei, Mrs. Higurashi," Kurama interrupted as he stepped between the two. "But he was not brought up around the best of influences."
"And he'll be glad to sit down and enjoy the food you have graced us with." Kagome added from behind her mother, giving Hiei a pointed look.
"That's good to hear, because having the man who constantly harasses my daughter and skulk around like a demented pervert in the trees, be openly rude to my face would be too much."
"It would be too much." Kagome agreed aloud as her mother turned away. With her back to them, Kagome stepped up to Hiei and glowered. "And if you ever look at my mother that way again, I'll stick my foot where the sun doesn't shine."
"Oh my god," Kuwabara exclaimed. "You're going to kick him in his soul?" then he and Yusuke laughed and high fived as only bros could.
With a good dose of ignoring distractions and a productions of manners, they managed to get together their makeshift table and were able to sit down for a very awkward lunch.
"So," Mama Higurashi began, trying to break the tension again. "Have any of you started University yet?"
Though she felt her question was innocent enough, it garnered a table of shifty eyed glances.
"Kurama?" she prompted.
"Sorry to disappoint, but after High school, I don't plan to further my education."
"Really?" Kagome exclaimed in surprise.
"But you're so smart." Mama Higurashi added with a pouting smile, which most didn't know was even possible.
"Thank you for the compliment, but I only have interest in botany and there isn't a university that could teach me what I don't know."
"So what are you going to do?" Kagome asked him curiously.
"I've thought about it for a while, but I believe I will just start working for my stepfather's company."
"Oh," Mama Higurashi commented enthusiastically, looking pointedly in Kagome direction. "Well that's nice. You're not going to university but you're still thinking ahead. Nice prosperous qualities in a young man."
"No one's biting, mom." Kagome muttered around a mouthful of food.
"So what about you?" Mama Higurashi continued, turning to face Kuwabara.
"Oh, I'm definitely going to a university."
"Traitor." Yusuke snapped at him with a mouthful.
"If I don't, Shizura is going to disown me!"
"I take it, you're not going to further your education?" Mama Higurashi asked Yusuke with disparagement in her eyes.
"I'm barely making it through high school. My grades suck and I'm hardly there because of this Spirit Detective business."
"His grades and attendance were lacking way before he became a Spirit Detective." Kuwabara added.
"So did yours." Yusuke griped.
"I did better than you."
"On attendance maybe, and only because your sister cared about you."
"That sounds sad and sweet at the same time." Souta commented aloud.
"So you don't have any plans for after high school? It's not too late, you can always go to cram school, like Kagome."
"Just tell the world, why don't you?" Kagome sighed before drowning her voice in drink.
He ate a few more bites of food and looked around, seemingly in thought, before shrugging. "Nope. Just going with the flow."
"Good luck with that. What about you, dear?"
"I have plans to go," Keiko answered after a pause to gather her thoughts. "But the problem is where and what to study."
"Of course. So many choices."
"Right. What about you Kagome? What are you plans, after cram school? Are you having trouble getting through it?"
"No, it's not hard. I'm only in cram school because of prolonged absences. The only problem I have is with the other students thinking I'm with the Yakuza."
"Is it because of that mean look in your eyes?"
"What mean look?" Kagome asked sharply, as Keiko suddenly pushed a button she didn't know she had.
"She's probably talking about that one on your face now." Souta added.
"That's enough of that." Mama Higurashi shushed him as she sensed danger in the atmosphere.
"I'm not mean. I don't have a mean look. I get annoyed. People annoy me."
"This food is really good, ma'am." Kuwabara loudly proclaimed.
"Right!" Yusuke added just as loudly. "Better than anything my mom cooks."
"That's because your mom doesn't cook."
"I know, which says a lot."
"It actually does say a lot." Mama Higurashi commented with sudden understanding.
"Kagome?" Souta interjected, trying to defuse the tension between the girls. "Don't make me spray you?"
"Why just me?" she snapped, suddenly facing him with that mean face she liked to classify as annoyed.
"I don't think the spray is going to work on her. If you want, I'll ask Mr. Shippo about dart guns that'll affect anyone."
For a moment, Kagome was mollified as she considered it.
"I don't think we'll come back if we'll get darted." Keiko commented with a nervous grimace.
"Aw, come on, Keiko." Yusuke pleaded with her. "We're going to have to see this place after the renovations. And how else am I supposed to see everybody when they're holed up here with her?"
Kagome smiled at him. "Well we tried to get rid of Hiei, but for some reason he just keeps coming back."
"Only to throw cats and set you on fire?"
"And just generally assault me, but I've gotten better at handling sneak attacks, and now that we have the spray, they have lessened. It also helps that I'm fireproof, so, I have that going for me."
"Fireproof?" Keiko asked.
"Yeah, see." Lifting her arm up to the table, Kagome rolled the sleeve of her robe up and showed them her scaled arm. "This is why the people in cram school think I'm in the yakuza."
"Is it a magical tattoo that protects you from fire?" Keiko asked her, looking at the detailing closely.
"She was poisoned by snake demons." Yusuke answered for her as he grabbed Kagome's arm off the table to look at it closer.
"And it gave me snake qualities."
"Which doesn't make sense," Souta muttered to himself. "Since snakes aren't' fireproof, but logic be damned when it comes to my sister."
"That's what Mistress Schlange gets for trying to imprison us." Hiei spoke up.
"You were already imprisoned." She told him. "I was just given ownership of you."
"You can let go of her hand now." Keiko's voice suddenly cut through the air, low yet sharp. No one looked in her direction, but she suddenly had their attention.
"Oh come on, Keiko. You have to feel it." He said, obvious to the situation as he continued to be fascinated by Kagome's arm.
"I'd rather not."
"You can feel them, it's still soft like skin, but you can feel each and every scale." He started running his nails over her arm slowly. "Can you feel that?"
Kagome kept her blushing face down and said nothing as glances were thrown over her and Yusuke's heads. She knew she should've pulled her arm from his grasp, but she found the muscles weak under his touch. She also found out that nails felt nice raking against her scales.
Kurama gently grasped Kagome's other hand and the sudden touch made her flinch. She started to snatch her hand away but as she looked at him, expecting to see a jealous or judgmental glare, he only smiled reassuringly at her. Mollified by the look she relaxed in his grip. Simultaneously something streaked across the table causing Yusuke to reel back in alarm and sudden anger, releasing her arm as he did so.
"What hit me?" he barked.
"How about we forget about that for right now?" Souta suggested as he pointed the water gun in his face.
Eyeing the gun suspiciously, he looked from it, to Kagome's and Kurama's clasped hands, to Hiei who suddenly had his sword in his lap, a glaring Keiko, and back to the watergun. "What did I do?"
"Let's just sit here and peacefully eat the food my mother has lovingly provided us, okay?"
Silence ensued as everyone tried to concentrate on their food. No one looked up from their bowls, no one spoke, and the only sounds were that of nature. In a way, the tension remained, but it became a peaceful tension.
Fresh air, a gentle breeze, the sound of birds chirping and the trees moving to the wind. Every now and then they would hear the sound of small wildlife moving across the land. Kagome could see the potential in what her mother planned to do now. Once they finished renovations, their shrine would be an ideal place to visit for tourist and visitors looking for a peaceful place to pray.
If you seek it, you could truly find your spiritual peace at the Higurashi Shrine. If only the peace would seek out the Higurashi Shrine. While Kuwabara and Mama Higurashi seemed to be getting along nicely in conversation, the rest of the table was dark and gloomy. Kagome, with both hands back in her possession, sat quietly to herself and tried to eat her food without making eye contact with anyone. Hiei, who had made an effort to eat, or skillfully push his food around, was now only occupied with polishing his sword while staring threateningly at Yusuke. Yusuke had taken to muttering to himself and devouring all the food within his reach. Keiko had gone silent and would look at no one but Yusuke as she tried to engage him in a heated conversation. Kurama and Souta could do nothing to ease the tension as they glanced from one problem to the next.
"Kagome!" a voice suddenly called out into the silence.
Jolted to alertness, everyone turned to the house to see Kagome's grandpa.
"That albino is on the phone for you!"
"Oh thank god!" she exclaimed under her breath as she jumped from the table and fled into the house.
"Albino?" Yusuke wondered aloud as he watched her go. It wasn't until she disappeared into the house did he turn around to find the table looking at him. Glaring. "WHAT?"
"You need to get a hold of yourself." Hiei told him.
He looked from to face in irritated confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm not doing anything."
"You keep staring." Kurama informed.
"At what, the food? I've been eating!"
"You've been watching her eat."
"It's kind of creepy." Souta added.
"Every time she moves, you stop to watch her." Kuwabara told him. "It is unsettling."
"It is a bit disturbing, dear." Mama Higurashi
His irritation rose and he hit the table hard enough to make it tremble. "Screw you guys! What about her?"
"She is at just as much fault as you." Souta told him. "She's just been at this longer and can handle it better than you. A little. Sometimes."
"It might be best if we just leave, for now." Kuwabara suggested.
Yusuke's body tensed at his words and he unconsciously began to clench and unclench his fist. "I'm not ready to go." He growled through gritted teeth. "We came here to visit, and that's what I'm doing. That's all I'm doing."
"That's not all you're doing." Kurama told him after a moment. "Pay attention to your girlfriend."
Despite the urge to do anything but what came from Kurama's mouth, Yusuke looked to Keiko and saw her hurt and anxious expression. He exhaled deeply, seeming to deflate, and relaxed his stance.
"Okay." He sighed, talking to Keiko more than the rest. "Okay we can go. I know when I'm being outnumbered, and I know when a weird curse is making me act strange."
"Apparently you don't." Keiko commented with less heat than she meant as a relieved smile spread across her face.
"Yeah, yeah." He muttered as he stood up from the table. "Let's just go."
"Oh. You're leaving already?" Kagome asked him as she returned. Whether it was evident to her or not, but her voice conveyed disappoint as did Keiko's face at her untimely arrival.
"Yeah, well," Yusuke answered, rubbing his neck and actively looking anywhere but at her. "I guess it's time for us to go."
"You guess?" she asked with a laugh.
"No. No, as in I'm not guessing and that I know that I have to go. I think I locked my mom out of the apartment, anyway."
"Well I guess that's just as well, that was Sesshoumaru on the phone, and he's coming to pick me up for a lunch session anyway."
"Mr. Sesshoumaru is coming?" her mother asked in excitement as she suddenly stood up.
"Calm down, mom. He had a meeting canceled on him and decided to work on my case a little during his lunch."
"I'll have to freshen up." Her mother said to herself, completely ignoring her daughter as her face began to darken.
"He probably won't even get out of his car."
"So many things to do."
"Mom!"
Her mother practically floated away.
"Mom!"
The sun shone down on her, and little, blue birds, carrying flowers flew above her head.
"Mom! He's older than grandpa!"
A sudden cloud drew shadows across the grounds as her mother paused. The little, blue birds were chased away by black, beady eyed crows who ate the flowers.
"Don't care." The sun shone brighter than before and a surprised rainbow said hello as it arched over the land. The big, black, beady eyed crows were shooed away by glorious eagles. "Be a good hostess and show your friends off."
"I wonder if she'd be so in love if she knew how many times he tried to kill us in the past." Kagome turned back to the group and tried not to imagine her mother primping for Sesshoumaru.
"And it's not the amount of times he tried to kill us. It's the dead eyed, soulless, disdained gaze that he barely graced his victims with that would get her. Merciless. Do you know how it feels to have someone try to kill you who barely acknowledged your existence? To kill me, would have been less of an effort, less of a thought, than shooing a fly from his face."
"And that guy's your lawyer?" Yusuke asked in disbelief.
She shrugged. "He got bored with killing on the whim. So he started killing them in the courtroom. With that same dead eyed, soulless, disdained gaze. More like a glance. He doesn't make a lot of eye contact. Like no one is worth it. "
"I thought he was the Devil when I first met him." Souta whispered warily, as if speaking of him would make him appear.
"Nothing like his brother."
"Right?" Souta exclaimed, as if he had been arguing that point for the longest.
"Pfft. He wished. I wonder if his wish would have come true, would he had turned into that."
Souta shuddered. "One is enough."
"I hear you, little brother. I hear you."
"Um," Keiko voiced up from her position on Yusuke's arm. "Can we leave now?"
Kagome looked down at her for a second, her face undecipherable.
"Psst!"
Looking towards her brother, Kagome saw him gesture for her to step away with him. Out of direct earshot, the group watched as the younger Higurashi whispered something into his sister's ear. They saw her reverently deny something as they obviously gestured at the waiting group. A few more words were thrown back and forth before Kagome grimaced and back downed. After nodding in agreement to something, Kagome tried to give her brother a hug only to have him dodge it and push her away.
"Sorry for the wait." She announced as they rejoined the group and bowed slightly; full on hostess mode. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you off the grounds."
It was a silent group that followed Kagome back to the entrance, but it was a group that was silently relieved. Relieved that the visit was almost over, relieved that nothing irrevocable had happened, and relieved that it was ending without much of a fuss.
There was a moment of worry when Kagome stopped the group and told them to be silent as a group of feral cats crossed their path.
"You're going to handle them before we officially open." She shot back at Hiei, giving him a dirty look.
To which Hiei replied with a blank stare.
Yet, despite the brief pause, they finally made it to the entrance.
"Well, this was fun." Kagome announced, stopping to let them pass her by.
"This was weird." Kuwabara corrected her as he passed.
"And awkward." Souta added.
"Yeah, whatever." Yusuke grumbled as he and Keiko passed her by.
"Thanks for the food." Keiko mumbled, still attached to Yusuke's side. "It was really good."
"Thanks." Kagome told her with a small smile. "I'll let my mom know you enjoyed it."
As they made it to the stairs, Kagome was finally able to sigh in relief. "Bye guys," she called after them in good cheer. "Maybe next time will be better."
Kuwabara and Keiko stopped and waved, while Yusuke only held his arm up, but seeing the others hesitate, he too stopped to look back and wave.
Kagome, who had been genuinely smiling, froze at the look on his face.
"Hey!" he suddenly yelled out angrily.
"Huh?" she voiced in confusion.
"Yusuke don't." Keiko pleaded, grabbing for his arm and missing.
"Hey!" he yelled again as he stalked closer. "We're leaving. So why are you still standing there?"
"What?" Kagome asked him, not sure about what he was getting at. Next to her, Souta began to back up and got his gun in a ready position.
"If I leave, you two leave!"
"Oh." With understanding, Kagome looked over her shoulder at Hiei and Kurama, who stood close behind her, visibly tense, defiant, and annoyed.
By now, Yusuke stood before, but instead of staring down Hiei and Kurama, he was looking at her. She found his look intimidating and endearing. She couldn't find any words to respond to his gaze.
"Do you want me to make them leave?"
She felt her heart beat hard in her chest. "Wow." She breathed out in admiration.
"Kagome." Souta whispered at her reverently
"Well…it's okay." She told him, keeping her eyes mostly downcast. "Kurama is helping out with the landscaping and Hiei…well I think Hiei kind of lives here now."
"Kagome, let's go inside." Tugging on his sister's hand, Souta encouraged her to move along.
"Right." She murmured, glad for the interference.
"So it's okay, Yusuke." She called out, not looking back and pushing forward. "You can go now."
She didn't get far before she was forcefully halted in her steps by Yusuke grabbing her hand. As she turned back to him she was enthralled by his gaze.
"Is that what you really want?"
What a loaded question. She really didn't want them there, but she needed Yusuke to leave before she grew weak. How could she not when he spoke so… She didn't know what it was that weakened her. His tone, angry when he demanded Hiei and Kurama to leave, was gentle now as he spoke to her. Gentle and firm. Safe.
She knew she should ignore the feelings being invoked within her, but all she could think was that Yusuke was alpha as fuck. Delinquent turned spirit detective. Although she had only just learned of this occupation, it was top in her mind as a dangerous job, plus, he was the leader. Even though he was only human, he had become the head detective. She wasn't sure what he did to lead over Kurama and Hiei, with both of them being physically stronger than him, and Kurama definitely mire intelligent. It could be that he was actually stronger than he seemed, or sever prejudice on the part of the spirit world. His confidence, and obnoxiousness, gave him the benefit of the doubt. He was the first one to fight a dragon head on.
He was someone to admire, she had to admit, and now he was offering to beat up her harassers for her. She was flattered and impressed. No one had ever offered to beat someone up for her. Yeah, Inuyasha wanted to attack and kill whoever flirted and tried to kill her, but that had more to do with his ego and possessiveness, than her wellbeing.
She wished he would let go of her hand. It made the fight against the curse harder. She tried to focus on her goals. No pregnancy before school, a job, and marriage. Yusuke had a girlfriend who he was very much in love with. While she wasn't in love now, she wanted to be so when she finally did make a decision. His eyebrows were too thick. He wore too much gel in his hair. He was not on the bright side.
"Screw it." She said breathily.
If having him leave was a relief earlier, giving in to the curse now was orgasmic. She swooned towards him, as his eyes dilated. He pulled her in close, she parted her lips, he dipped her low, and she hooked her arms around his neck. This was going to happen.
With a yell, violent jerks, and whiplash, they were interrupted. With the precision of a whip wielding surgeon, Kurama struck Yusuke in the face, effectively missing Kagome.
"What the hell, Kurama?" Yusuke yelled in anger. "That's my face!"
"Kiss this, Gel head!" Souta yelled shooting Yusuke in his red marked face just before he could move to attack Kurama.
Sputtering up water, Yusuke moved towards Souta but was intercepted by a sword wielding Hiei. "So you want to go, let's go!"
"That is dangerous." Souta muttered as he witnessed the three boys begin to do battle. Everything was moving too fast, punches were being thrown too hard, swords were being swung too deadly, and the amount of curses was enough to make him blush.
"That's puberty kid." Kuwabara told him with the knowledge of a man who had gone through with it himself, although not as violently.
"I will dread it every day." Souta told himself as Kuwabara left to try to involve himself in the fight without being decapitated. But feeling that involving himself in the battle would be intrusive, he retrieved the hose that Kurama and Mama Higurashi had been using to water the new plants with earlier, and began to hose the battlers down, to little effect.
"Please." It was faint, but desperate. Turning towards the sound, Souta was alarmed to find his sister with her hand wrapped around Keiko's throat.
"What the hell is this?"
"She attacked me." Kagome told him, never looking away from Keiko's panicked expression.
"That's because you were about to make out with her boyfriend! Let her go!" he put emphasis on his words by shooting her in her spine.
"Sorry little brother. We've been outside too long, the water's warm now."
"Oh come on! Look at you! You're going to let that curse turn you into a killer?"
"I'm not trying to kill anyone!" she growled indignantly, finally turning away to look at him briefly. "Just trying to make sure she knows what's what."
"I'm sure she has it! Look at yourself! You're going to let this curse win? You're going to lose and choke a girl out over a gel head? Look at that guy! Why? He already has a girlfriend, let her deal with him. You coming into the picture is a little Kikyo-ish, wouldn't you say?"
Kagome's face instantly contorted. Simmering anger turned into appalled horror. Releasing her hold on Keiko, she hurriedly helped the gasping girl to her feet who instantly recoiled from her touch.
Flinching at the rejection, Kagome's face reddened in shame.
"You should apologize." Souta told her quietly, as he placed a hand upon her back and forced her to join him into a bow.
"Saying sorry isn't enough, but I truly am." Kagome mumbled aloud, keeping her posture sincere as she spoke.
"Now handle those guys over there." Souta said after a brief pause.
Nodding her head, Kagome turned towards the ruckus, making sure to avoid looking at Keiko. After watching the boys pummel each other for a while, Kagome let out a shaky breath.
"Why didn't you shoot them?"
"They're already being hosed down, what else was I going to do. Besides, I shot that delinquent guy before, and it didn't have an effect on him."
"He's human." She told him.
"If you knew he was human, why'd you ask? You know that stuff only works on demons. If I shoot, that guy will really kick the crap out of them."
"Give me the gun." Taking the gun, from him, Kagome stepped closer and aimed it at the brawl. "He's human, but it should affect high spirit energy."
Trying to hold and shoot a gun when one hand felt like wood was difficult, but she managed. After gathering herself, she channeled her miko into the gun and took a deep breath.
"Get out of the way!" she yelled to the combatants.
Though they were busy grappling and getting punched, Hiei and Kurama glanced up and assessed the situation. Hiei jumped back, partially lifting Yusuke into a full righted position, as Kurama backed off, pulling Kuwabara with him.
With the sudden departure of rivals, an angry Yusuke looked around confused, practically stumbling as he tried to right himself, but it wasn't long before he was sputtering and stumbling again, as Kagome blasted him full in the face.
"What the hell was that fo.." coughing up the water he was forced to swallow, he turned his angry face towards Kagome, but before he could finish his sentence he grew slack on his feet.
"Catch him." Kagome instructed as she watched him try to keep on his feet.
"What did you do to him?" Keiko asked as she and Kuwabara raced to his aid.
"It's okay." She reassured her. "He's just drained. He'll be fine after a good, long nap."
"What…the hell…is that?" Yusuke struggled to ask, giving up on standing, and relying mostly on Kuwabara's strength.
"Family secret." She told him without looking directly at him. "But I think it best if you leave, and maybe not come around until problems have been resolved."
Yusuke opened, or attempted to open his mouth several before giving up and just nodding.
"That seems like a good idea." Keiko agreed, urging Kuwabara along so that they could leave.
"When you say not to come around," Kuwabara asked as he passed her by. "That doesn't include me, right?"
"No!" Yusuke barked out, followed by a weary breath. "If…I can't…you can't."
"Hey, don't get pissed with me." Kuwabara barked as they continued on their way, dragging his friend, more than helping him walk. "I'm not the one who almost ruined every relationship he had in one day."
Listening to fading footsteps, Kagome turned towards the other two, who stood in waiting for her attention. She held the gun up to them.
"With or without the extra boost of purifying power, this will still affect you. Hiei, you know this well. I want to be alone for a while, could you two please leave."
She made a point to single out Hiei with the gun. "And when I say leave, I mean actually leave. Not skulk around in the trees like a voyeur, fetish squirrel."
His eyes narrowed, his face hardened, but with nary a grunt, Hiei disappeared.
After looking at his friend vanish, Kurama turned to Kagome one last time.
"Well, this was eye opening."
"A bit too much." She answered wearily, looking drained and slouching on her feet. "I would've had sex with Yusuke in front of Keiko and my brother."
"Have you ever had a reaction…?"
"I would've looked you in the eye while we did it."
Kurama was silenced. Kagome's lip twitched.
"Why do you think you had such a reaction to him?"
Kagome groaned as she finally put the bow down. "You were supposed to leave when I said that."
"I got that. Is it because he's human?"
"I don't know, Kurama. I have no idea how this Ovarian Interruption works."
"Must you call it that?"
"I am very proud of that name, and shall be sticking with it." Sighing, she began to massage her head from where a headache was beginning to form. Her left arm hung lamely by her side, feeling heavy and overused. What warmth she had absorbed from the sun was stolen away by the water and every slight breeze that the air could whip up.
Feeling down, shamed, embarrassed, and tired she looked back to the silent Kurama and clenched up as her stomach flipped. It was just not fair that someone could be that hot while soaking wet. His clothing clung to his body in all the right spots and he looked solemnly at her from beneath layers of soggy hair. For once, the beautiful boy was gone, and all she saw was a handsome young man. He looked cute and she blushed as she realized that she liked that look on him better than the beautiful god that he usually was.
Sensing her change of mood, Kurama stood taller and approached her. His eyes smoldering as he reached out to her. She could already feel him touching her gently, caressing her and warming her cool skin.
The gun was up and pointing at his face before he could get too close.
"This isn't real Kurama." She told him, her heart beating fast and longing to let him touch her.
"What if it is?" he countered.
"I know it's not. You didn't feel this way about me until after this happened. I didn't feel that way towards you, Hiei…or Yusuke. Hell, he was almost as hostile towards me as Hiei, and you…you were just as upset as I was, after we…had 'The Happening'"
"But I told you, I…"
"Yeah, yeah. You weren't that upset. I remember. But it's hard for me to believe that these feelings are real, especially on my end."
"So you feel nothing for me?"
"Oh yeah I do. I want to suck your lips right off your face and I can't stop looking at your shirt clinging to your damn body. And you're so tall and hot. You smell like roses and I couldn't think of a better scent to drown myself in as my body is devoured by everything you have to offer."
Kurama shook his head as if to clear his mind. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I don't know," she muttered, her eyes trained on his biceps. "I lost my train of thought. I really need to start yoga."
"Yoga?" his voice was breathy and as she glanced at him, she cringed.
"Then there's that. I hate a part of you. I hate Youko."
"I would be correct to guess that the reason isn't because of the Ovarian…"
"Interruption?" she completed with a humorless grin. "Spot on. You can understand why, I hope."
"Right." Sensing the change in attitude again, he turned away towards the stairs again. "I guess I'll be going."
"Kurama." Grabbing his arm, she stopped him from getting too far away. "You see this little rollercoaster we just went on? This is every day for me. It's tiring and confusing. I don't know what's a legit feeling or a product of my situation. I'm sorry for pushing you away, but you have to understand what I'm going through."
He smiled at her and caressed the hand that touched him with such soft skin. "I understand. I'll just leave you now to let you clear your head."
"Thanks." With her hand burning from his touch, she smiled back and watched him leave.
"So," Souta commented as he stepped to her side to watch Kurama leave. "That just happened."
"I forgot you were here."
"I could tell."
After a pause she sighed. "Want to eat ice cream and watch people do yoga on TV?"
"Sure." Turning, they both began to make their way into the house. "But I want you to know its weird being your brother sometimes."
"I know, Souta."
"Never boring, but weird."