Disclaimer: I do not own IY or YYH

Good Man

Chapter 10

Kagome wanted to swear as she silently waited by the busy high school gates for her brother to get out. She had been running a few errands and thought it would be nice to see if Souta would like to grab some ice cream. Now, though, she had a freaking audience.

Figures, the one day everyone was busy was the one day HE had to show up.

She couldn't see him yet, but she felt the bastard's energy. He wasn't even trying to hide.

She thought about walking away, leaving the school and hoping that he would follow her and leave her brother in peace.

However, with as fast as she knew he was; Kagome wasn't willing to risk him attacking her then zipping back to the school to attack her near defenseless brother.

No, it was just better to wait. It would be easier to protect Souta with him nearby; if they were lucky and kept to traveling in crowds, maybe they could reach the protection of the shrine without a confrontation.

Even as she hoped for a peaceful outcome, experience warned her that a confrontation was inevitable.

As her brother came strolling out of the school; Kagome forced her unease down and plastered on a smile.

"SOUTA!" she called, waving. Grinning when he spotted her, Souta hurried over.

"Hey sis!" He said, "Whatcha doin' here?"

"I was doing errands and thought I'd see if you wanted to get some ice cream with me," Kagome said, "If you're not busy or anything."

"As if I could refuse ice cream," Souta said, then turning back to his friends, "I'll catch ya'll later, guys."

As they walked away, Souta's smile faded, "So what's the real reason you're here?"

"Well, I had initially come by to bribe you with ice cream to keep me company while I finished my errands," Kagome said.

"I hear a 'but' in there…." Souta muttered.

"Buuuut," Kagome replied, confirming her brothers guess, "We seem to have company."

Beside her Souta tensed, "Are you shitting me? Seriously?"

"Calm down," Kagome snapped, "Act casual."

"'Act casual' she says," He muttered darkly, "As if there isn't some homicidal demon watching us right now…." Then, in a far calmer voice, "Where?"

"The roof-top, our five-o'clock," Kagome stated, grabbing his arm as he instinctively started to turn, "Don't look, dolt! What's wrong with you?"

"Sorry…." He grumbled, "So what do we do."

"We go and get ice cream," Kagome stated. She didn't need to look at her brother to see the wide-eyed confused look he was giving her.

"Ice cream?"

"Casual, Souta," she stated, "There's a very slim chance that if we can stay in the crowds and don't make any sudden moves….that we can get back to the shrine. Granted, it's a very slim chance…. But it's all we got."

"Wonderful," he muttered, "How can you be so calm?"

Kagome chuckled, "This isn't the first time something has stalked me, bro."

"That's both terrifying and oddly comforting," he stated as they turned to move into the ice cream shop.

Hiei scowled as the two humans disappeared into the crowded shop; he had been certain that the priestess had sensed his presence.

Clearly he had been mistaken.

Either that or she simply didn't comprehend the gravity of her situation.

He continued to follow the siblings as they moved through the crowded streets, going into various stores….. Always staying in the most populated areas.

They were a block from the shrine when it suddenly dawned on him what she was doing. Clever little witch.

So she thought that if she stayed with the crowds that would provide her with some sort of safety. Typical prey mentality.

Grinning, he removed his head band, exposing the Jagan.

"Oh dear…." Kagome muttered, as suddenly all the people on the street seemed to clear out.

"What….. Where…." Souta said, looking around, "Where the hell did everyone go?"

Kagome grabbed her brother's hand; there was no reason to pretend anymore. She bolted for the shrine; it was only a block away.

Thankfully, Souta didn't protest as he was jerked into a run.

They hadn't gone far before a black shadow dropped down in front of them. Kagome slide to a stop; hastily back pedaling to put a little more distance between them and the daiyoukai before them.

Kagome swallowed hard, day light did little to diminish the dark malicious aura that clung to the fire demon. He watched them silently; dark garnet eyes seemed to glitter in anticipation.

"That's Yukina's brother?" Souta muttered under his breath, "I don't see the family resemblance…"

"Hush," Kagome growled, concentrating on forming a barrier around them both, "When I give the word, run for the shrine."

"But…"

"No arguing," She hissed, "Get to the shrine, I'll be right behind you…."

Outwardly, Kagome congratulated herself on maintaining her calm façade; internally however, she was praying that Yusuke was on his way, or Kazuma and Yukina…or hell, at this point, she would even be happy to see Kurama….

The soft sigh of metal clearing a sheath sent a chill down Kagome's spine.

You can do this, she told herself; you've been training for exactly this reason…. Protect Souta, and get to the shrine….

Still, unease sat heavy in her stomach; this was Yukina's brother….

This time, when he moved, Kagome was prepared. Shoving Souta out of the way, she leapt to the side; Hiei's blade barely missing her as it sparked off the asphalt.

"RUN!" she screamed, relieved to see Souta bolt toward the shrine. Thank the heavens for all that soccer training; her brother was quick on his feet.

Kagome flung herself backward and rolled; not bothering to look behind her as she too, bolted for the shrine.

Though, unlike her brother, she didn't make a direct bee-line for home. She took off at more of an angle; heading for the woods that surrounded the property. If she was going to give Souta time to get back to safety; then she needed to put as much distance and as many obstacles as she could between her and Yukina's dear brother.

Souta raced up the shrine steps, silently thanking both his mother and coach for suggesting that he use the massive set of stairs as part of his at-home training regime.

As it was, he hit the top of the stairs barely winded; the adrenaline pumping through his system giving him extra energy.

How long could Kagome hold off that demon? He knew his sister was reluctant to hurt him do to the fact that he was Yukina's brother. The reluctance would cost her…and Souta would be damned if he lost his sister because of her own damn bleeding heart.

A quick check of the shrine revealed that no one was home; not even his mother and grandfather. Swearing, Souta raced towards the well-house.

Of all the blasted times for those demons to conveniently be busy…. When he saw Yusuke and Kurama again, he didn't care if they were 'daiyoukai', he was gonna beat the every living hell out of them.

Shoving open the well's old wooden door; Souta snatched the long, thin, dark colored bag from its hiding place in the back corner, and was back out the door and racing down the hill toward his sister's energy.

He slide to a stop as the hill dropped off into a creek bed; about twenty yards away, he spied his sisters yellow shirt through the trees.

He sighed in relief to see that her training with Yukina seemed to be paying off; she was at least holding her own against the demon.

He scowled, just like he figured, Kagome was just defending. The idiot didn't want to hurt Yukina's brother.

"Dammit, Kagome," he grumbled, unzipping his bag. A gift from one of his American friends a few years ago; Souta had kept it secret from both his sister and his mother. He had specifically hidden it inside the well-house; knowing none of the family would look inside.

Loading several of the cartridges, Souta shouldered the weapon and moved closer. He crouched beside a tree; slightly above the two fighters.; he had a clear shot from that position.

He raised the weapon, tucking it tight against his shoulder and sighted down the barrel. Then, he concentrated his energy….. He had never actually tried to use his emerging power before; but after years of watching his sister concentrate the energy into her arrows…he thought he understood the concept.

In any case; even if it didn't work…. It would hurt enough to distract that three-eyed bastard and give Kagome a moment to get her footing.

At the moment, Kagome let out a pained cry as she was knocked backward into a tree.

Souta took a deep calming breath, concentrated…and pulled the trigger.

Kagome moaned as she shook the stars from her vision; Hiei was closing in once again, and once again she had lost her weapon. Wood really was not much of a deterrent for a sword….

She scuttled backward, scrambling to find something to use to defend herself.

Suddenly a loud crack echoed through the woods and her attacker was nearly knocked off his feet as something seemed to slam into his shoulder.

Garnet eyes glowed with fury as the demon snarled; blood oozed from his shoulder. He shifted, looking past her, a little further up the hill; searching for his assailant.

Another crack; this time Kagome could see the smoke rise from the wound. Hiei snarled low; his face an odd contortion of pain, surprise and fury.

"Sis! Move!" Souta's voice called, hard and determine.

She threw herself to the side; even as another shot rang through the still air. She whirled around to stare at the now kneeling form behind her; wisps of smoke rose from each bloody wound.

The sound of another round being chambered forced her gaze away from the furious demon, to the equally furious face of her younger brother. Hard dark eyes locked with chilling red as the two brothers glared at each other.

Hiei's hand tensed around the hilt of his katana.

"Don't," Souta said, his voice cold and deadly, "You're not the only one with a sister to protect, demon. You so much as twitch and I swear I'll put the next bullet in that third eye of yours. Then we'll see how easily you get up after that."

"Souta…."

"Kagome, back up out of range," he said, cutting off her protest. Then digging into his pocket, he tossed her his phone. "Call Yusuke and tell him to get his and Kurama's ass over here."

"Yea sure..." Kagome said, catching the device, then,"Wait you had a phone?! All this time we could have called for help! Why didn't you mention you had a phone?!"

"I forgot?" Souta replied, having the grace to look embarrassed.

"You...FORGOT?!"

A/N: Yaaaay go me, two chapters in one day. I feel so accomplished. LOL. I hope ya'll liked it. It took me a while to figure out how this confrontation should go, since no matter how I looked at it, I simply couldn't imagine Kagome besting Hiei in a one-on-one fight...not after only a few months of training, and especially since this time he was more or less prepared. And I didn't really want Yusuke or Kurama to save her, that's just to...cliché. So that left Kuwabara...again, to cliché... and Souta. And the only thing I could think of that would surprise Hiei and give Souta any sort of edge over our favorite demon, is a gun...or in this case a rifle. I'll state now that I have no idea what Japanese gun laws are, or if they even have them... so if this is horribly inaccurate-I apologize and ask that you just pretend. It's a fairly small part and I doubt that it'll be more then a minor detail in the fic. Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoyed it...and as always REVIEW!