I absolutely love the reviews, so keep them coming, please! Hopefully the main protagonists are still as IC as ever – both are difficult to write, as they each have two distinctive traits that are a bit hard to combine on the long run– the playful personality and the cool approach in Youko's case and the slightly childlike firecracker persona and the kind and wise priestess with Kagome. And none of that can be overdone!

And when you look at those contrasts, I think you all understand why this can hardly be a love at first… eh, kidnapping? Well, something of the sort, anyway, hehe.

Here you go… if you dare.

X X X

Foundations for the future

X X X X X

"The colour of my soul is iron-grey and sad bats wheel about the steeple of my dreams."

- Claude Debussy

X X X X X

Passing time on a journey through the depths of Makai turned out to be surprisingly easy for Kagome, even more so than she would have ever expected.

Once the primary awkwardness on her part lessened – or, rather, once she got used to the situation and decided to ignore it – it seemed the priestess had absolutely no qualms about taking about anything and everything. There was an initial carefulness about it, but she seemed to want to make good on her words of the first day.

She seemed to take delight in finding that the fox demon was knowledgeable in every area she touched with her words, from the very foundations of the Three Realms to the most trivial daily occurrences.

For example, she had asked him to explain about the Cape of No Return and such devices of teleportation to better understand how they had ended in their predicament and received a surprisingly lengthy and interesting summary of the history attempts to create such devices – that they were known under various names, but this was the most commonly used one, and there had yet been discovered a full-proof means of teleporting anyone or anything to an exact location without the use of a medium; a cloth, in this case.

And it was also nice to see that he took the effort to reply to her questions – usually, people tried to ignore her when she rambled on. Instead of being annoyed, the kitsune couldn't help but marvel at her chatter. She seemed tireless when she found a willing listener – or, at least, one who had no opportunity to refuse. Tuning her out after some hours was an easy but useful skill nonetheless.

She seemed more of an enthusiastic little kit than an ancient priestess when a subject took her interest, which was almost always, as she selected what to speak of. And therein lay one of the things Youko didn't really understand about her. If he had one reason, that being a serious one, for actually listening, it was that he was still trying to figure her out. It was neither astonishing stupidity nor reckless bravery that had led to this change of attitude towards him; he had ruled those two out the very first day. But the reason continued to evade him, which was irritating enough.

"But how can you be satisfied by merely stealing things?"

Perhaps it was an attempt to influence him somehow – in which case it was very naïve – but it seemed more like the mind of the priestess couldn't comprehend the idea. She always saved the more serious discussions for her eating breaks and she had gathered a bit of food for herself on her own. At first, she had offered part of her fish to Youko, only to be graciously refused.

"Isn't it more of an achievement to get what you want by triumphing against the odds?" It was a bit amusing to see her ponder these things with a child's simplicity, especially when munching on a piece of fish.

"But you have just described what my area of expertise involves. It is my intention to overcome the obstacles to my goal. All the better that the arrangement occupies my time, hones my skills and is sufficiently profitable." Youko was a bit irritated with her simple-minded belief in her own ways, the only lifestyle she knew. He was being patient with her, but Kagome noticed that if she was too stubborn in a belief and prodded too deeply, the effect was as if she had been hurled head-fist into a wall of ice.

Not only it wouldn't budge, but it was also very, very cold. Most of the time, Youko maintained the cordial if teasing manner he had presented to her at first. It only served to keep Kagome wondering whether that was really his true nature or whether she had glimpsed beneath the surface when they had left Kouga – the frightening sight of a statuesque creature, beautiful and cool, without any concern for anything save for his plans.

All right, there; she was able to admit that he was attractive. That changed nothing about her taking an example from his act and also maintaining her guard, if only occasionally, beneath her carefree nature. She still hadn't forgotten their first meeting that had been fortunately interrupted by InuYasha. Besides, if she didn't talk, she would remember exactly why she shouldn't relax around Youko Kurama and stress was deadly.

Kagome gave an inward sigh. She supposed there was really no use trying to go with the whole "be good" routine for any demon in particular. It was just their nature to be bloodthirsty and cruel and, in a way, it was necessary – in the Makai, you could either kill or be killed. There was no chance of avoiding that circle. But she still rather thought that it was a waste of an intelligent person, demon or not.

"So you steal just for the sake of stealing and getting better at it? I'm sorry if that sounds boring to me."

Youko gave a small, wry smile that made the priestess feel as if she were a child arguing pointlessly with an adult, despite that not being the expression's intention… hopefully. "Yes, that does sound rather boring, doesn't it? But there is no need to worry about that. I do have grander things planned once I have amassed enough power and resources." There was something chilling in the way he said it, though his voice was still relatively casual.

"And what might those be?" Kagome asked, her tone wary for the first time.

"That would be telling, wouldn't it? There is absolutely no need for you to trouble yourself with that. There is ample time before such plans can be carried out." And he set out on his own again, leaving her to eat in relative silence.

He tended to do that when he didn't want to discuss a certain subject – neither stopping her nor scolding her; he simply either walked away or stopped paying attention to her. By then, the priestess had finally figured out just how Youko managed to always know where he was going, although it was still a theory only. But if he could actually talk to plants as she believed, he might really have more luck tracing down Naraku than her.

With each sentence, Kagome was discovering just how profoundly different Youko was from her and from anyone she had ever encountered in her lifetime, which was saying something, considering that she was getting close to the half of her seventh century of existence. Whenever she was alone – which was rare enough throughout the time they spent together – she contemplated what kind of plans he might have. It struck her that he might actually want to supplant one of the Makai Lords, which was a daring but somehow fitting goal for someone like him. When she came to that conclusion, she actually suggested it to him.

"Am I right?" she couldn't help asking in addition.

The kitsune glanced back at her and Kagome momentarily had the feeling of being entirely naked, at least in terms of emotional defences.

"It is a possibility." he said after a moment. Again, he saw that key piece of the jigsaw escape him neatly. Why did she care about such things? The priestess usually dropped a subject as soon as her interest was exhausted, which was often very early.

"But why?" There it was, the interest, the prodding, but strangely, he wasn't offended. But he wasn't interested in answering such questions either.

"When the time arrives, the how will be of more importance than the why." Youko answered vaguely and it seemed that the priestess was on the verge of some line she ought not to cross, thus she dropped the subject for the time being.

The area around them was changing steadily, from deep forests to mountains to steppes to wastelands… Kagome could barely keep track of it. But eventually, she began to recognize the landscape and realized that they were getting closer and closer to their destination. It would likely be no more than a day until they would reach the outskirts of the settlement where Kagewaki's estate stood and once there, she could contact Reikai and get someone to bring her back to the palace.

The priestess felt a twinge of disappointment at that. She realized that though she had spent a full week with him, almost the entire time closer to him than she would perhaps like to be, she still knew next to nothing about Youko. They had gone over their theories about Naraku, InuYasha, Kikyo, she had related to him how she had met Kouga for the first time – she could still vividly recall his carefully concealed amusement when she had told him about how Miroku and Sango had gotten assigned to her and how they interacted at times, but for most of the time, it had really been her talking.

"What is your favourite colour?"

Had they been on a rocky terrain, Youko was certain he would have tripped. Fortunately, he was just about to allow Kagome to "dismount" and go get whatever food she could find in the wilderness. She was surprisingly resourceful about that and this clearly wasn't her first trek through Makai. But this was the first of her many questions that genuinely surprised him.

"My favourite colour?" he repeated, just to be certain his hearing was not somehow impaired. He had noticed that Kagome seemed to have taken a liking to his ears, though she didn't admit it out loud, but he was yet to detect any kind of damage or molestation regarding that.

"Well, yes!" Kagome huffed when a gracefully arched eyebrow rose in delicate doubt. "We don't always have to talk about the fate of the universe now, do we? I hardly know anything about you as a person and since I doubt the great Youko Kurama will confide any of his precious secrets in me, I'm asking something completely random and irrelevant I can claim to know about you if anyone asks." All that came out of her very quickly, as if she was making it up as she went along. Improvisation. A good skill to have. "And I dare you to say red!" she added threateningly.

"And how can you be certain this isn't one of those precious secrets you mentioned?" Now he was just being annoying on purpose. "I have never given such a… delicate question much thought. And why am I not allowed to say red?"

Kagome shrugged slightly. "Because hearing about demons always like blood is boring."

"Not every aspect of life is meant to be exciting. But you see, what if I consider this too much of a personal question?" Either he had taken a liking to her short temper or he simply enjoyed annoying the hell out of her with his vague answers.

For a moment, it seemed that colour would rush into her face and she would be the one to start a one-sided shouting match. Then, as abruptly as that came, she clenched her teeth in annoyance, only barely keeping herself from bristling.

"Fine. Be that way." the priestess muttered, sitting down on the nearest rock. "This is what I get for trying to be friendly."

And that was exactly what he didn't really understand about her. Why was she doing this? It wasn't as if they had resolved to cooperate because they wanted to create any kind of bond between them. But she seemed to understand that… and yet she still…

"You misunderstand. Expecting people to trade something for nothing is foolish; you must have a counterpart to give if you cannot steal your objective or persuade the other side into giving it."

Kagome blinked. "Is that a very long way of saying you want to know what my favourite colour is?" she asked, hoping she hadn't missed anything.

How such simple things could temporarily lighten his calculative nature, Youko had no idea. "That is the general idea of it, but I think I'll pass. My life doesn't depend on the knowledge."

"So you only want information that will be useful to you in some grander scheme?" the priestess suggested, shaking her head a bit. "That isn't very smart. For all you know, my favourite colour could be the one weakness that renders me powerless."

"I seriously doubt that." Youko noted.

And, surprisingly, Kagome actually gave a grin. "You've right. But still, you never know. Intelligence without imagination isn't worth much. You might never find the best way of utilizing your capabilities if you don't give yourself room for a few utopias and consider other alternatives than the logical ones. I have that theory tested, trust me." She seemed to be about to wink in mischief, but thought better of it and instead added an answer to the question he didn't pose. "And just in case you ever want to know, my favourite colour is green. Which is one of the benefits of being forced to be around you – loads of green even in life-threatening situations. Especially in life-threatening situations." she amended.

The kitsune didn't know what to say to this, thus remained silent, watching her briefly before walking off into the forest again. He was getting increasingly flustered with his own inability to understand the priestess, especially as she seemed to carry her heart on her sleeve and lacked the slightest bit of subtlety. He had thought that within two days, she and the journey would both grow tedious to him. And now, even after sufficient observation, he hadn't reached a satisfying conclusion about the priestess. He didn't like it, but it was more than certain that they would meet again and then, perhaps, after the whole business with Naraku or whoever had interrupted their battle was over, he would be able to see her true intentions in battle.

Kagome stared at the spot where Youko had stood moments ago, not understanding a thing. She wasn't worried that he wouldn't come back – he always did – but the reaction just surprised her. Now admittedly, the kitsune was an unpredictable creature, but he had never outright walked away mid-discussion. He usually ended their conversation with some witty remark of his own that completely wiped her off the table before taking his leave. And this time, she had had the last word. It was as strange as it was uncustomary.

Moreover, he hadn't told her what his favourite colour was.

"Cheating thief." she muttered to the bit of mushroom she had left and frowned. She knew she should have proposed a game of truth or dare – without the dare part. Then he would have to answer.

What she didn't know and somehow didn't occur to her was the suspicious lack of demon attacks in the recent week.

Admittedly, they were almost always on the move, but during these breaks, she sensed no demonic aura nearby save for that of the kitsune. She didn't dwell on it much. Of course, Youko was of a different opinion when it came to precautions. Whenever he left the priestess to take her rest, he cleared out whatever demons there were in the area, strong or weak, usually without a direct confrontation to make it as quick as possible. The last thing he wanted was Kagome to use her powers – even without the jewel, she was so distinctive in Makai that youkai were drawn to her, but a use of her holy arrows would likely only alert demons in a very wide radius to their short presence.

This time, it was merely a group of low-class beasts, but their proximity to the estate was surprising. He didn't suppose the houshi and the taijiya remained in the palace, as they still had the jewel and the monk was too weak in terms of purity to employ the full protection of the jewel. But perhaps the taijiya had been left behind, just in case Kagome would return. The demons carried nothing of use, but they appeared to have slain two of the resident purple-and-blue uniformed guards that had been patrolling the perimeter. It gave Youko an idea upon which he acted immediately.

Kagome had long since finished her mushrooms when he returned and momentarily forgot her annoyance with him when she saw the relatively intact samurai-like light armour the kitsune dropped at her feet, complete with a helmet. She glanced at the heap of clothing, then at him, and last of all, at her own outfit. The week in the wilderness did not do it much good. There were scratches somewhere, dirt in a few places, and had she not managed to find a river to jump into and bathe – fully clothed, both because the fabric was in danger of beginning to smell and because she had certain qualms about undressing with Youko in the vicinity – it would have had to be discarded even earlier.

Not that there had been an alternative, mind you.

"This should allow you easy passage into the estate without anyone you do not wish to encounter noticing you." the fox demon explained, clearly seeing her initial confusion. Kagome realized only then that he was going to leave her - he had no intention of coming closer to the estate when she could cross the short distance on foot within the hour now, if she hurried. "If you put some effort into concealing your aura, you should be able to avoid early detection. That way, anyone with a keener sense of smell will only detect my scent. It is to be expected after prolonged physical contact." Perhaps he wasn't being boastful about it or smirking, but Kagome really thought he was enjoying watching her squirm under his gaze. "You should be able to pass for a demon if you do not dawdle and go straight to your destination."

The priestess gathered the lower layers of the outfit into her arms and then sent a pointed glance at the kitsune. "Do you mind?"

Sensing a new opportunity for observation, Youko tilted his head in interest. "Not at all, please proceed." How fortunate that looks couldn't kill. "You yourself said that you wished for us each to know something about the other that no one else did and I'm perfectly content if this is your way of fulfilling your end of the bargain."

Not even a week of enduring this could possibly prepare her for this. "You're twisting my words. I never said anything of the sort!"

"Ah, but can you be certain?" Youko noted calmly, raising a reproachful finger at her. "Besides, I wouldn't want a dangerous demon taking you by surprise and weaponless. Someone has to watch your back. Or your front, whichever you prefer." It was all just meant to tease her, Kagome knew, but that didn't stop her from being at least as mortified as Sango when Miroku caught her unaware. Literally, of course.

But being a priestess, she tried to be reasonable. After all, she wasn't quick enough to slap him and didn't want to cause him permanent damage… yet. "My short-term memory isn't that bad " Kagome said, seeing that her best stop-teasing-me-or-face-purification look was not exactly working on the kitsune. Apparently, he had some sort of reason for believing that she wouldn't do it. "At least turn around if you insist on staying here!"

Her suspicion that this was purely for her personal irritation was confirmed when Youko complied with her request without a word of protest. She wasn't sure what was worse – when a man actually meant such things or when he was merely using them for a laugh at her own expense. For someone so loud and talkative, she certainly was swift and silent when she needed to be and she changed in under a minute. Youko observed her critically after she gave him "permission" to look at her. Permission – as if he had ever asked for or needed it. But he had obeyed this time; after all, her physical appearance was hardly the most interesting aspect of her. Though admittedly, it didn't damage the overall impression.

With the uniform in place, the sword at her hip – the primitive bow and arrows would be discarded, naturally – and the helmet in place, she would be able to pass for a demon warrior. She was slightly short and the armour could have fit her a bit better, but in general, when seen from afar, no one would be too suspicious of her.

The kitsune gave her appearance an approving nod. "Good. Once within the walls, waste no time and go speak with the lord whom you seem to trust. Secure the jewel and get out of Makai until you recover some useful information."

"And how am I to contact you when I do?" Youko almost blinked. They hadn't agreed on that. Actually, he hadn't planned for anything of the sort to happen. The arrangement was to hunt and destroy InuYasha or Naraku – both, possibly – making it a kind of race that would be beneficial for both of them. He had never suggested that they actually team up for the task.

Moreover, it was astonishing that she was prepared to share classified Reikai information with him, time of need or not. "I have told you that I will kill the hanyou and his master if I encounter either of them and that I will make an effort to search. It should be sufficient reassurance. And if there is anyone in Reikai with the means of tracking people down through some means, I have no intention of giving them an opportunity to target me."

Inwardly, Kagome sighed. Demons. How could someone so smart be so thick-headed? Couldn't he just accept that two heads were better than one, especially when one had access to the complete Reikai archives? Was that a male thing?

"His name is InuYasha, and I wish you wouldn't just kill him like that. I'd like to know more about Kikyo and Naraku, but well, I guess he was pretty much half-mad and running rampant, so I guess there's little point in it… but still, don't kill him unless you have to."

"If you have something to trade his life for, I might consider it." Youko remarked, with a certain coolness that would have probably made him a very effective businessman in the Ningenkai.

Kagome frowned. "I have no guarantee of you being trustworthy. You did cheat on the favourite colour question, you know." she said, slightly reproachfully.

"Yes, I see your way of judging the honesty and trustworthiness of a person is infallible." The kitsune noted once his memory was refreshed as to what she was talking about. "Regardless, unless there is something to be gained, there is no point in taking hostages. Those are worth something alive and the hanyou is currently worth nothing."

"Very well." the priestess gave up with a sigh. "But will you at least let me know if you happen to kill either of them."

If it had been strange to temporary join forces with Youko, it was even more peculiar to part with him, to stand there, not knowing what to say, because there was no telling what might happen when they next meet. One thing was for certain – this was a new one. A number of farewells passed through her mind, none fitting enough as parting words with someone like that, neither enemy nor ally. Then, without a word as well, Youko took out something from his robes and tossed her the object. Kagome caught it – it was Kagura's fan. It was more of an object for research than a parting gift, and when she looked up again, she was somewhat unsurprised not to see the kitsune any longer.

That the fan disappeared mysteriously from her bedside soon after when she went to get some proper food didn't surprise her as much as it should have. But in its place was a batch of flowers, growing literally from the wood of her table. Kagome stared at the sight for a moment before biting back a laugh. Somewhat unnerving, but also simple and poignant.

Foxgloves.

X X X X X

There was a general wave of rejoicing when Youko returned to the settlement of the thieves that night, more so than one would expect from a group of brigands and outlaws. Others might have proclaimed their leader dead after a week of absence and fought for the position amongst themselves. But those that had been on the gang for over a week knew better than to presume things without proof regarding their leader. There was a general loyalty, if only to the kitsune, among the thieves, whose symbol he had become.

And some of the older ones remembered those in centuries past that had been foolhardy enough to try such a coup and the rather unenviable ends they had met.

Besides, Kuronue was doing a solid job as a temporary substitute, it turned out, as the bat youkai was among the first to greet his comrade. But he was also relieved to see Youko back without as much as a scratch on him, though that was likely to be expected when one had healing powers. The only problem was that he had to get a bit insistent to get Youko to tell him a short summary of his side of the story. The bat was slightly awed, though he showed little of it, and gave what he heard an approving nod.

"And how did you fare?"

The whole conversation took place in the privacy of Kuronue's dwelling in the village. Not that they didn't trust the men when it came to getting the job done, but this wasn't something for their ears.

Kuronue frowned, an uncustomary thing, as he recalled the events of a few days ago. "There was a great uproar when you vanished." he explained, leaning against the wall for support. "Obviously, no one recognized you, but everyone saw the priestess disappear. The two reigen were fending off some of the demons when the guards joined in. I ordered the men to withdraw – and almost everyone got out alive. One saw the jewel on the houshi, I think, because he lunged at him and got hit by an ofuda. Plenty of those got thrown around, so no one dared get too close and then the taijiya started clearing the perimeter with that boomerang thing. Not a pretty sight."

"Loot?" Youko asked simply after nodding.

"A few souvenirs from the confused crowds; I let the men keep them. Nothing interesting." At least it would raise the general morale, as the raid didn't seem to have been as effective as they had hoped for. Still, information on the Shikon no Tama was always useful – Kuronue was a bit irritated that no one had had senses sharp enough to sense it on the monk, though he could admit that it was a rather creative strategy.

The only thing that made a few questions rise was why exactly Youko had allowed the priestess to return to Reikai when she had literally been within his grasp. They could have bartered her for the jewel… she was an old reigen and the spirit world was filled with soft-hearted fools that would likely be more than gullible enough to trade her for the priceless Shikon no Tama… or, at least, give them an equivalent of its worth in gold. They could afford it, after all, Reikai needed no money, as there was literally no other business running there than the sorting of dead souls and dealing with the few odder occurrences that came along with that.

Paperwork, all in all. And they had a few good treasures hidden behind their palace walls, from what he had heard.

Of course, the fact that the priestess and the monk were permanent residents and both had the power to purify the flesh off a weaker demon's bones and send even the remains to oblivion wasn't a comforting thought, but there was always a risk to take and a gamble to make if one wanted to gain and profit from something. Kuronue was aware of that and had a bit of a gambling streak himself.

"Very well." Youko nodded curtly. It had all gone relatively according to plan, or as much as they could hope for under the circumstance. Who would have thought that an intervention from an enemy would actually help him get closer to his goals? Maybe he should actually thank this Naraku for the help before killing him. He intended to make good on his promise to hunt and destroy both of them, Naraku and his guard dog – he likely would have killed them anyway, the hanyou because he was a disgrace and the other creature purely for spite.

The only thing that kept him wondering was why exactly the wind witch had smelt the same as the miasma cloud. It was impossible that she had been the source of the miasma – had she possessed such powers, surely she would have employed them in their battle to get rid of the death plant within her body. Besides, she had used a different method to remain airborne, which alone was proof enough that she and Naraku weren't the same person.

Perhaps she was a descendant of the bastard? But that was also questionable. Blood relatives among demons usually shared similarities in scent, but not to such an extent. The scent of the witch and that of Naraku was identical… yet they weren't the same person. It wasn't a question of shape shifting, he was mostly certain of that. No, there was something else at work here and somehow, he had the distinct feeling that that Kagura hadn't been the last of the creatures Naraku would send after the priestess in his stead.

"I just hope you don't intend to stop the rest of the operations to start searching for this Naraku guy." Kuronue said warningly, knowing that when his pride was insulted, the kitsune was more than capable of going to some lengths to make an example of the offender.

Fortunately, it didn't seem the case this time. Or perhaps he simply considered the enemy below his notice at the moment. "Nothing so extravagant, of course not. I'll simply keep an eye out for anything unusual. I am not petty enough to take anything in battle personally, but you know that I do not stand for trespassers when business is involved… and besides, that sword the hanyou was carrying seemed somewhat powerful. It could be worth something if we acquire it and maybe his puppeteer has more such trinkets."

"Now you're speaking my language." Kuronue grinned, relieved that Youko was back to his normal self. He had heard tell of that sword before and it had been one of the things Kagome had – perhaps carelessly – discussed with Youko. Of course she knew little to nothing of its powers, but the moment Sesshomaru's name had been mentioned, Kuronue knew that there was a reason to get the sword from the inu hanyou. If they weren't careless when talking price, the taiyoukai lord would likely pay them more than a sufficient sum for the family heirloom his fully mad half-brother was currently disgracing.

The bat youkai paused briefly. "So, what now, then?"

Instead of an answer, Youko tossed him Kagura's fan. "I want the men to memorize this scent. And I'll want the head of anyone whose stench even remotely resembles it."

X X X

AN: Hints of KagYouko-ness, ahoy!