I do not own InuYasha, or Yu Yu Hakusho. If I did, then I would not be squealing with delight at the thought of the very, VERY nice scholarships that have been offered to me for college! Rumiko Takahashi owns InuYasha, and I can never remember the name of the person who owns Yu Yu Hakusho...

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"Aw man, Koenma! Did you have to call in the girl too?" Yusuke asked, seriously irked, when Kagome entered Koenma's office. Her eyes flashed. She glared at Koenma.

"I told you not to call me unless you weren't going to put me with a packs of whiny brats!" she hissed. Koenma gulped.

"P-please Kagome-san just bear with them for a little while! I" Kagome's glare intensified. Koenma fell silent with a gulp, and a shudder.

"I spent nearly a year being underappreciated and compared to somebody else. I refuse to do it again for a bunch of boys. "She whirled, and smiled sweetly at Botan. "Botan would you please open a portal near my home? I'd appreciate it." Botan glanced at 1hoenmai who shook his head.

"I'm sorry Kagome-san, but I'm afraid I can't." Kagome sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"I can't say it's unexpected." She said ruefully.

"Kagome-san, would you please work with the other tantei?" Koenma asked tentatively. Kagome went into what was known as her "Ice Queen" mode, which she had picked up from Seshoumaru. Koenma gulped.

"Do I have a choice? you're not going to let me leave until I do." she said flatly, walking up to join the other tantei. They all glanced at her, their various opinions coming to their faces. Kurama's face showed a bit of sympathy, as a community service draftee, he understood her feeling of being backed into a corner. Hiei was glaring, trying to figure out why his Jagan could not penetrate her mind. Kuwahara was confused, trying to sort through the conflicting, messed up emotions manifesting themselves on her aura, predominantly anger and sorrow. Yusuke was, of course, just glaring at her, wanting her to go away so he didn't have to worry about her getting hurt or something. Koenma sighed.

"Just give each other a chance. I assure you, Kagome-san can take care of herself, Yusuke,

and Yusuke will probably stop treating like deadweight once he sees you fight." Kagome looked away, eyes darkening.

"Just give him a chance, InuYasha! He's just a little kid; he needs someone to watch him."

"Just give him a chance, InuYasha! He might be a pervert, both he could be a lot of help against Naraku! He's got as much reason too hate him as you do!"

"Come on, InuYasha. I know you don't like Sango, but she and Kirara could be really helpful! I've been right about the others, haven't I? Just give her a chance... please?"

The established tantei team saw Kagome's change in posture, and realized that she was going to cave. When she looked up, her eyes were sad, as was the slights smile on her face. They were stunned to hear her say very quietly.

"You had to say that, didn't you?" she sighed, and looked at the floor. "I've asked someone to give people a chance often enough that I can't afford not to do so myself. You win; I'll give it a shot." the boys stared.

I wonder what she means by that... Kurama thought idly. Youko was doing the mental equivalent of robbing his hands together gleefully.

She's a puzzle, that one! And she has a nice voice, when she isn't yelling. Kurama suppressed a grin. It looked like he would be spending a lot of time around Kagome, or at least, he would if Youko had anything to say about it.

Yusuke was not so easy to convince. "Koenma, we can handle it without her, she'd only been the way!" Koenma glared at Yusuke

"Put up with it for one mission, then make up your mind. about Kagome." Yusuke threw up his hands in disgust.

"Fine. She better not come crying to us when she gets hurt!" Kagome rolled her eyes.

"I assure you, I won't." She said sarcastically. "Lets get this over with, shall we?" Yusuke glared at her, but nodded curtly.

"So, what do ya got for us, Toddler?" He asked. Koenma glared again.

"I am not a toddler! At any rate, we're not exactly sure what you're dealing with. We're just sensing the youkai flare, and then there have been problems in the same part of Tokyo as the flare. He might have a hostage, just to warn you…." Yusuke nodded.

"Alright. Let's go."

A little over five minutes later, they found the youkai. Kuwabara and Yusuke's jaws dropped.

"Is that…. A snail?" Kuwabara asked, a little stunned that so much damage could be done by something like that. Hiei rolled his eyes.

"Evidently, baka." Kurama broke in before the usual arguing could begin.

"Snail youkai are a lot tougher than they look. Their slime is highly acidic, and their shell…" Yusuke took aim with his reigan, and shot at the youkai's shell. It ricocheted off, without making a mark, and headed straight towards them. Everyone ducked.

"Ok….. That didn't work…." Yusuke muttered, startled. Kurama shook his head.

"As I was saying, their shell is pure, reflective youki. Meaning, absolutely nothing can get through it, except a-" The snail youkai decided that now was an excellent time to demonstrate his slime shooting abilities, and begin the clichéd, "I am the evil villain, FEAR ME!!" speech, which was, of course, cued by the even more clichéd evil laughter.

"You foolish Reikai thugs! Do you think to defeat me? I, who have far greater defenses than you ever will? Not to mention, a hostage, who is hidden where you will never find her!" The snail droned on and on for another ten to fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, Kurama finished his sentence.

"Nothing can get through the shell except some sort of purification. In the old days, I would have said your best bet would be to kidnap a miko, and talk her into getting rid of the thing, but since they've pretty much died out…. We're going to need to find a houshi who knows what he's doing. That should work too." Kagome laughed.

"Don't bother." She said calmly, and took the concealment spell Shippou had given her off of her bow and quiver. She smiled sweetly at the others, who looked at her like she was crazy, knocked her arrow, and shot. The youkai screamed upon the arrow's conact with his shell. After all, getting purified is not a pleasant experience. Neatly, Kagome reapplied the concealment spell to her weaponry, and turned back to the boys, who were staring, except Hiei. "What?" She asked, tilting her head to the side, and looking entirely too innocent for her own good.

Oh, she's good. Sneaky little thing. I never would have guessed she was a miko. Youko said delightedly to Kurama.

Neither would I, although I don't think sneaky is the right word. Kurama replied, dryly.

She's definitely a puzzle. Why didn't she tell us from the start?

Maybe she didn't think it was any of our business, Youko. Now hush. We need to pay attention. Youko did so, grumbling the entire time. Kurama focused on the conversation going on outside of his head.

"What the Hell just happened?!" Yusuke yelled at Kagome, who rolled her eyes.

"I just purified the snail youkai. I should think that was obvious."

"How?!"

"I'm a miko." Kagome said patiently. "That's why Koenma is forcing us to put up with each other. He's desperate to get one on his team." Yusuke blinked.

"But didn't Kurama say they had died out?"

"No, I said they had mostly died out. Apparently, Kagome-san is one of the rare ones." Kurama corrected him. "There's no other way she could have purified that youkai." Kagome smiled slightly at Kurama.

"Yes, that's right. As far as I know, I'm the first one in my family with genuine powers in the past….. Three generations? Maybe four. Either way, it's weird, and we don't know why I do and no one else does, just like we don't know why I manifested late." She paused. "Ummmm….. Does anyone have a way of finding that hostage the snail mentioned?" The other tantei looked guilty, except for Hiei, at having totally forgotten the hostage.

"Uhh, yeah!" Yusuke said hastily. "Hiei, can you look for him with your Jagan?"

"Hn." the hybrid muttered, and opened his Jagan eye to start looking. After a moment, he stopped. "She's over there, behind the crate. And it's a kid."The others looked a bit surprised.

"Ningen or youkai?" Yusuke asked.

"Hn. Youkai."

"Greeaaat. Anyone want to go get the kid?"

"I'll go." Kagome said calmly. She walked over to the crate, and knelt down. "Hey. It's alright, you can come out now. The snail can't hurt you anymore." There was a whimper from inside the crate, and the sound of someone moving. "That's it," Kagome encouraged. "Come on, you can do it." A little girl crawled out of the crate, and into Kagome's waiting arms. She was not really surprised by the fact that the child was a little smaller than Shippou had been when she had first met him; she had assumed that the kid would have to have been pretty young in order to get caught by a snail. The other humans, however were stunned.

"What the- How the Hell is she so small?" Yusuke demanded. The youkai child whimpered, and buried her face into Kagome's skirt. Kagome took a good look at the little girl. She had reddish brown hair, and golden eyes a little darker than InuYasha's had been. Kagome rubbed the girl's back and opened her mouth to answer, but found there was no need.

"Canine youkai, that would be kitsune, inu, ookami, and the like, are all that small as young children. I'd say she's about… seven years old, or a bit younger." Kurama responded softly. Kagome nodded. Yusuke shrugged.

"Keh. Whatever. Hey, kid, where are your parents?" the little girl burst into tears, and buried her face even deeper into Kagome's skirt.

"The snail got 'em!" she wailed, "He came and covered them in acid, and, and…." She started crying even louder. Gently, Kagome picked her up, and cradled her to her neck. She then started to make a crooning growl that InuYasha had taught her to calm Shippou when he woke with nightmares about the Thunder Brothers. Kurama raised his eyebrows.

"Impressive. Where did you learn that?" he asked softly, kneeling down next to her to take a good look at the child. Kagome smiled slightly, but did not answer, gesturing towards the child, who was finally calming down. Kurama nodded in understanding, then turned to the child, smiling slightly. "I hate to ask, but what kind of youkai are you?" The child sniffled, then murmured quietly

"Coyote." She rubbed her eyes sleepily, and she blinked a couple times.

"And what's your name?"

"Hikari." Her eyes closed, and she fell asleep, still clinging to Kagome. A few minutes later, Kagome rose, and spoke softly.

"We should get back. Koenma will want to know about this…." The others shrugged, and called Botan on the communicator.

"So, this is the hostage the….snail youkai…. had up his sleeve." Koenma asked, staring at the bleary eyed seven year old, who had refused to leave Kagome's arms.

"Yep." Yusuke said bluntly, looking bored.

"And her parents are dead?"

"That's what the kid said." Yusuke confirmed. Koenma blinked, then tried to look serious.

"Well, that leaves us with a problem." he said hesitantly. Yusuke glared at him.

"What?" he demanded flatly. Koenma gulped.

"Well… she needs someone to take care of her." Yusuke shrugged.

"Dump her on some other coyote youkai to take care of." Koenma shook his head.

"Coyote youkai don't care for young other than their own. They would reject her. I don't know what to do with her." Kagome's eyes flashed as Hikari whimpered, and buried her face into Kagome's neck.

"You could just ask." She said bluntly. Koenma turned to look at her, startled. Then, slowly but surely, he began to make the mental connections.

"You mean, you would…" He asked, looking as though she had offered him salvation. Kagome rolled her eyes, and answered dryly.

"I've done it before, and I guarantee after this one, I'll be doing it again. It's not a problem." Koenma nodded eagerly.

"Yes, Kagome-san! That would be excellent! Thank you!" Kagome glared at him.

"That's not necessary." She turned to Botan. "Can I go home now? I have some explaining to do to my okaa-san." Botan glanced at Koenma, then nodded.

"Come on. Let's go."

Shippou was not the type to sit around and wait patiently for his okaa-san to get back safely. He was the type who went into hyper mode due to worry. He got most of his homework done, and started pacing around his room. A lot. He swore he was starting to wear ruts into the wood. When he finally caught Kagome's scent, he perked up, and dashed out the front door.

"Shippou, what-" his baa-chan asked, startled as he rushed past her.

"Okaa-san's back, Baa-chan!" he called as he darted out the door, and towards his mother, who was standing by the Goshinboku. The first thing he noticed was the new scent. Someone else was with his okaa-san, and from the smell of it, it was a youkai. Kagome turned, and he saw something cradled in her arms. She smiled at him.

"Shippou? There's someone I'd like you to meet." Shippou darted forward to peer over her shoulder, and saw a little pup with reddish brown hair, blinking sleepy dark golden eyes up at him. He stared at the pup, a bit surprised, then at his okaa-san. "Shippou, this is Hikari. Hikari, this is Shippou, he's my kit." The pup, Hikari, blinked up at Shippou, then away, blushing and hiding her face in Kagome's shoulder. Shippou could not help but grin. He found her actions too kawaii to do other wise. He glanced at Kagome.

"Okaa-san, why's she here? I don't mind, but…." Kagome murmured softly, so only Shippou could hear.

"Hikari's parents, who were coyote youkai, by the way, were killed by a snail youkai. She was taken as a hostage. We finished off the snail as our job today, and managed to find her. Apparently, one of my teammates has a Jagan eye. It made finding her a lot easier. At any rate, she doesn't have any other family, and another coyote clan won't adopt her soo…." Shippou snickered.

"So I have a little sister now, huh?" He paused for a moment, letting the thought sink through him. A slow grin spread across his face. "SWEET!!" He yelled, and Kagome laughed as he started to ask rapid fire questions, and bounce slightly on the balls of his feet. "Can I be an irritating, over-protective onii-chan who spoils her rotten, can I can I can I?"

"Well, I'd rather you didn't spoil her rotten, but other than that……. Go ahead." Shippou cheered, and a very startled looking Hikari looked from Shippou to Kagome and back. She tugged on Kagome's sleeve, and the teenage girl looked down at her.

"Yes, Hikari?"

"Are you going to be my okaa-san now?" Kagome smiled.

"Only if you want me to be." She assured the little coyote youkai.

"Ok... If you're going to be my okaa-san, does that mean he's my onii-chan?"

"That's right! But only if you like Okaa-san. You don't have to make any big decisions right now." Shippou said, happily reassuring her. "C'mon! You need to meet Baa-chan and Souta-ojii-chan. Later you can meet Jii-chan too, but he's busy just now." Hikari giggled, and held out her arms to Shippou, who picked her up, and smiling mischievously, set her on his shoulders. The little youkai squealed with delight, and clung to Shippou's hands as he walked up to the shrine. Kagome followed, smiling at the sight of her son and her daughter together. Her family was growing again.

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I finally updated again! Sorry for making you guys wait so long!
So, Kagome's picked up another kid. Why did I have her do this? Because I think small children are fun to write about! Besides, I want some of the tantei to wonder if she has connections with youkai, and even more importantly, I wanted to give Shippou a little sister to spoil rotten. You know he would.

Oh, the dictionary:
Okaa-san- mother
youkai- demon
ningen- human
reigan- spirit gun
youki- demonic energy
kitsune- fox
inu-dog
ookami- wolf
Baa-chan- grandmother
kawaii- cute
Onii-chan- older brother
-ojii-chan- uncle (e.g. Souta-ojii-chan is Uncle Souta)
Jii-chan- grandfather