Chapter 7: Not all stories have happy endings
"Look we're here Kagome now start talking."
"Yusuke you're in my house so I make the rules. Now shut up and sit down."
"Ya."
"Shut up ya little runt."
"Ow hey! I'm gonna…"
"ENOUGH!"
They had all piled into Kagome's home, it was a tight fit in the living room but they were all glad to be sitting down and off the streets. Things had happened very very fast after the demon had been killed. Yusuke and Shippo, who had just pulled apart Shippo fixing his hair that Yusuke had messed up and Yusuke nursing a bite wound that Shippo had just given him, were sitting beside Kuwabara who was shaking with laughter. Kurama was seated on a rocking chair, his face impassive but his eyes worried, and Hiei was standing near the two portrait sized photos group photos his red eyes tracking Kagome with almost sinister intent. The last bit of the battle still throbbing through his mind.
He had just stabbed the creature, which should have killed it, but this was an ancient youkai. A demon of a different breed than what resided in the demon realm of the spirit world. These demons had been feasting in the human realm for their entire lives the ones from the Spirit world, even the A class demons, were weaker then these. These demons, however, had never previously been much problem because they enjoyed the kill, their secrecy in the human realm was even more vital than the secrecy of the spirit world. This one, this huge centipede demon, was different though. Something had brought it crashing back out into the sun and made it break all ties to secrecy. It wanted something, and it wanted it enough to risk it all. What it could be Hiei didn't know, didn't know anything until the demon had spotted Kagome and the influx of her power. They had all been so busy fighting no one had remembered that she was indeed only human. That the monster could crush her. No one remembered that except for Hiei and Shippo. When the Fox-child had cried out Hiei had thought it was because of loss. His own heart felt as if it were about to burst out of his chest, his very essence seeming to crack like glass for just an instant and a rage so profound twisted him so that he knew the very truth of what being a demon went. If the girl had died he would have become a plague, and unstoppable monster with only the deaths of all beings in its mind.
The boy's cries, however, had been a warning. For a just a second he had seen something (and it had happened so fast he could not be sure it was real and as time past he began to doubt his vision more and more. Even after hearing her tale). The girl had changed, completely and utterly. It started from the symbol on her forehead, washing her with light, and then her hair was longer, sleeker, but no longer black with shinning streaks of gold and silver. No her hair had become an almost translucent color, such a pure gold that it looked almost white. Her features were sharper, she appeared a bit more gaunt, and her skin was suddenly a glowing tannish color as ig the gods had sprinkled her with gold. Her eyes blazed not in a swirl of colors but a bright pink that looked like phoenix fire, she looked like a goddess who had stepped down from heaven to gaze, for a moment, at the human realm. A bubble of purifying energy surrounded her and then the beast landed on her, the split-second vision gone and loss clouded every facet of his being. But before he could move, before he could think to attack, before the unstoppable monster within him was set free the demon flew into the air, no longer whole but in great huge chunks.
There she stood, her hair raven and streaked with gold and silver and her eyes swirling madly. In her hands was a sword he recognized but now he understood the danger he had truly been in. The sword, a sleek but bulky looking thing (though very very elegant) had shattered to reveal that were only one blade seemed to be instead there were at least thirty smaller blades each sharp enough to pierce through armor and powered with her purifying energy. As he watched the sword collapsed on itself and returned to its original form. Kagome raised her arms and a necklace, one he hadn't noticed before that was shaped like a bow and arrow, sparkled for a moment and then they were in her hands. The long bow deadly looking just sitting in her arms and a full quiver at her back. She drew one and, as the demon had begun to reshape itself, to heal itself, she pulled back the arrow and let it fly. The demon was encased in a bubble of energy and then it was gone, not even dust remaining.
They had come here after that, Kagome slumped over on Kilala's back while Shippo, struggling to hold onto his new form, held her in place. By the time the fire cat had raced them all back to Kagome's home she had been fully recovered and ready for business. But Hiei was worried and, from the looks of it, so was Kurama. Never a good thing. Now here they were and once Kagome had set down some tea and a couple of snacks, which Shippo and Kuwabara promptly began to devour, she sat down on the opposite side of Hiei, just as they had been seated that day not long ago that had changed nothing and everything, and she smiled.
"Ok now I know you guys want to know what's going on but could you guys please uh…explain what you are?"
"Sheesh fine. It all started the day I died." Hiei glanced at Kagome but she registered no shock, as if people coming back from the grave was nothing (then again he didn't know about Sesshomaru's sword) and even Yusuke found this slightly wrong but he continued on with his story.
"I'm not gonna bore you so let's just say I didn't stay dead long but to come back I had to take up a new…occupation. Spirit detective. Pretty much we just go around wandering the human, spirit, and demon realms policing everyone and taking out any demon that goes too far."
"Yusuke perhaps I should continue from here?" Kurama interrupted softly, before Kagome who had gone rigid with shock and surprise could make an outburst. Smiling a sad smile he looked at her and explained.
"The world is divided into three areas the human realm, here, the spirit realm which mainly functions as a way station were spirits are ferried after they die and taken to their proper place and the demon realm. A realm heavily guarded by the spirit world until recently were demons such as myself, Hiei, and Yusuke's ancestor all come from. When a demon wanders into the human realm they are left alone unless they begin to harm humans which is when we step in and either kill or returned them as necessary."
Kagome frowned, forcing herself not to react. If Hiei and Kurama had come from the demon realm but had not heard of Inuyasha or Sesshomaru than it stood to reason that they were not there. Something that made sense whether because they were dead or because Sesshomaru would never relinquish his lands. The demon world made sense too, eventually the demons would have gotten tired of the humans who, despite everything, would have grown to numbers that could have obliterated the demons. They had enough power, and magic, to forge their own world and that way they could always just travel to the human world to eat. Kagome felt a chill down her back and shivered.
"How'd you guys all end up working together?"
"Well that is an interesting story. You see one of Yusuke's first missions was to retrieve three artifacts that were stolen from the spirit realm by three demons. Hiei and I were two of those demons. In the end Hiei and I were captured and helping Yusuke is part of our parole but we have become good friends."
"Ok now, Yusuke, you're a demon?"
"Ya."
"YUSUKE!"
"What? Fine, yeez your worse than Keiko." He thought about his fiancée for a moment, "Well almost as bad as Keiko." He amended quickly. "Turns out my great, great whatever fell in love with a human a long time ago I forgot to ask him when. He never hunt humans again after he met her and he died a couple of months back from starvation. He was annoying but an interesting guy."
"And what was that Spirit Gun trick you did earlier?"
"Oh that. Well some humans, like Kuwabara here, can channel their energy into different forms. For him it's a sword, be I've got my spirit gun and a couple other nifty tricks. Now are you gonna tell us what the hell is going on here or what?"
Kagome blanched for a second, the pain ripping through her but she was done with her pain for now. Now was the time for answers and stories told, there was hope. There had to be. As if sensing her need both Kilala and Shippo rushed to her side, both cuddling into her lap. She gave each a quick affectionate hug and took a deep breath. When she looked up it was to red eyes that she focused on. On Hiei's quite strength that seemed to urge her forward. Her attraction to him had not lessened, had in fact grown as the days went by. She could feel a connection to the fire demon, one that she wasn't at all sure she wanted to feel. She had loved Inuyasha with all her heart and as happy as she was for both Kykio and Inuyasha the pain of his betrayal had left a wound on her heart that she feared would never heal.
"Three years ago I went to the well house on our shrine, I was trying to find my cat when a demon from the past pulled me into the well. She dragged me back in time five hundred years to the feudal era. She wanted something…precious. Something that was hidden inside my body even though I didn't know it. She almost got it too, would have if it hand't been for my stumbling onto a half-demon named Inuyasha. A few days later a demon came and stole the same item. In my attempt to get it back it shattered." She was careful not to mention the jewel, no matter that these people were her allies and one her blood. The jewel was precious to demons and humans alike and it was still too much a part of her to talk about. If they pressed she would not tell, could not, because the jewel was her now. It had come from her body, back when her adventure first started, and now it had come back when the adventure was over making sure it would never be separated from her again. She knew they had questions, Yusuke and Kuwabara were already opening their mouths to ask something but the look on Hiei face and the one on Kurama's was enough to keep them quite.
"After that Inuyasha and I had to find the shards which is when I found out I was a miko. We used my powers both in battle and to locate the jewels, its what led me to Shippo and, eventually to my other friends. Sango, a demon exterminator, and Miroku, a lecherous monk, and Kilala here." Her voice cracked over her friends names and both Shippo and Kilala were so visibly depressed that it almost hurt. Kuwabara managed to coax Kilala over to him, overjoyed to pet and stroke the adorable cat, and Shippo wandered over next to Kurama who, while saying nothing, gently rest his hand on the boys head for just a moment. Kagome had stood up and she glanced at the portrait behind Hiei.
"Those are my friends there. For three years I went back and forth through the well so, yes, Yusuke my mother knew everything. You should have heard some of the excuses grandpa gave the school for my absences. Anyway at one point another half-demon, a vile filthy monster named Naraku started collecting the shards too. When that battle was over everything had changed and I had to come back to the present, leaving my friends behind. That's why I asked if any of you have heard of them. Sesshomaru, his daughter Rin, and Inuyasha or his mate Kykio."
"Why didn't you stay?"
"I couldn't. It could have changed too much and…I didn't belong there anymore. It was too dangerous."
"Couldn't you have tried?"
"No…"
"Excuse me for interrupting Miss Kagome but that woman in the picture, the one next to the demon in red, there is a striking resemblance between you two. Kagome looked up at the picture, felt sadness wash over her and offered a soft nod.
"Oh yes well we should look alike. That woman is Kykio and I…I'm her reincarnation. Or I was suppose to be. She died fifty years before I went to the past but an old witch managed to revive her as a sort of demon I guess. She and Inuyasha go married before I left, so did Sango and Miroku."
"I've heard of such things before but wouldn't that have required a soul? Yours to be precise?"
"Ya. Kykio got a bit of my soul, it was enough to bring her back, but she fed on the souls of women for a long time before she turned full demon. She stopped after that, she was able to feel regret after that."
"How was this accomplished?"
"Well Sesshomaru he had a sword that could bring the dead back to life. But only once. If you died again he couldn't help you." It was a lie, an outright lie, but then she had not said that that was HOW Kykio had become full demon. She had simply stated that Sesshomaru's sword had the ability to bring back the dead, which was entirely true. Still the lie burned, but not as badly as she had expected. The voices in her mind (Which were more than welcome considering they belonged to her friends even if it meant so was going insane) had murmured a warning. They had done so before she left the past as well, warning her not to speak of the jewel lest demons come for her…or her newfound friends.
"So this whole time…this WHOLE time you knew about everything. You knew about demons and magic and purifying energy…which reminds me what the HELL is that?"
"Think of it like this Yusuke demons have a certain energy, just like humans do, but a miko is a human whose energy is a direct contradiction to a demons. It's like whatever demons are made of I cancel it out. But it's not easy."
"Priestess." This was Hiei and his voice sent a rush of heat through her, and made her realize how close they were standing next to each other.
"This Sesshomaru was he not the Lord of the Western Lands?"
"Yes? How'd you know?"
"Our newest assignment is to go to the same tournament you were invited to and it was mentioned to us that the Lord of the West was holding it as it was on his lands however I can not say if this is the same Sesshomaru that you know or if, perhaps, it is a descendant."
"Before I left Sesshomaru and the others promised they'd come see me now, in the future, but they still haven't. I don't know if my friends are alive or not."
"Then perhaps you should join us."
"WHAT?"
"Are you crazy Hiei?"
"It's way too dangerous Hiei, especially for Kagome."
"Actually Kuwabara, Yusuke, Hiei has a point. We are in need of a fifth member and, as Koenma has yet to find one Kagome would be an ideal choice. No one would suspect her and not many demons can sense a miko, so long as she doesn't use her power until the beginning of the tournament we would have a large advantage."
"Mama can I come?"
"I…I… Do you think I'll find my friends?"
"No." Hiei was blunt, honest, to the point but he was also kind. "I doubt your friends are alive. No demon has survived five hundred years in the human realm since the demon world was made but, perhaps, you can learn what happened to them."
"Then I'm in."
"Damn it, you know what this means right? We're gonna have to tell Koenma."
The others departed after a little more conversation but Kagome was too tired to absorb it all. She had put Shippo to sleep, Kilala laying next to him attentively. Now all she had to do was see her guests out. Kuwabara and Yusuke went quickly, Yusuke with a hug and Kuwabara with a rather painful imprint of her hand on his face when he tried hitting on her. Oddly enough this seemed to please him. Kurama had left only after extracting a promise from her that he be allowed to help train Shippo as a fox demons powers had to be mastered at a young age and Shippo was already very late in his training. Hiei was the last to leave and it was his fault that she wouldn't sleep that night.
He had wandered out after Kurama had left, the sun setting behind him, and Kagome simply wanted to get away because suddenly the heat was too much. Her feelings were too much. She didn't want what was happening because a part of her, a deep dark part, could never believe anyone wanted her. After all Inuyasha hadn't. But Hiei had simply stared at her long and hard.
"You're hiding something, priestess. Something you didn't tell us."
"I don't know what you're talking about Hiei."
"Hmph."
That's when he did it, when he struck. One moment his back was to her the next his lips were against hers. Soft, but insistent, the pressure of his lips against hers enough to illicit a soft moan. Before she could respond to the kiss (had it only lasted a single second?) he pulled away. Heat coursed through her, her knees were trembling, and a foreign part of her wanted nothing more than to pull him to her and continue what he had so rudely stopped. Before she could do that though his eyes swept over her.
"You didn't tell us that you had the jewel."
Kagome felt her entire world shatter.
I wanted to take this time and Thank everyone who has reviewed this story. You all have been a very big help and though I know this chapter is not as good as I might have wished I hope you will continue to join me to see were Kagome, Hiei, and the gang will go from here and stay long enough to understand the mystery that is brewing just under the surface of everything but, more importantly, I hope you stay to find how strong and true and miraculous the love between a demon and a human can be. Even if the human isn't really human anymore at all.
Thank you and keep reviewing
With much thanks
MaiaRyuu
