Thank you again for reviewing Shinigami Clara, Cinderelly, SurfAngel, Katzztar, DemonLady1, Suzumi Tenshi, Dark Topaz, Kya Kagami, Artemis the Goddess, InuBabe, Kurama-Kagome12, and nyczbabigrl! I appreciate the support and the comments!
To answer various questions:
Kagome is very powerful, but so was Kikyo. Kikyo had protected the Jewel, destroying any demon who came after it, except Inuyasha. When she was resurrected, she only kept the hate part of her soul. Kagome uses her feelings and her own purity and belief in the goodness of the world when she fights. By choosing her battles wisely, Kogome keeps her strength, and remains mostly untouched by the taint of killing and only fights those she thinks are evil/bad. Kikyo's mistake was to forget to look for the good in people before the bad and is corrupted. She is still strong, but her power has mostly transferred to the untrained Kagome. Kagome's power is strangely reminiscent of Midoriko's, I believe, because the jewel was a part of her for so long, it effected her. Also, there can't be a reincarnation of Midoriko because her soul is still inside the jewel fight the battle for good vs. evil.
The confusing pairings will smooth out...who am I kidding? I live for complication! Inuyasha likes Kagome but doesn't love her. Hiei's feeling will be explained, and Kurama just gets more and more interesting! But Inuyasha will not be alone! Trust me!
And it is a kag/kur fic because I want it to be. I have plans for a kag/hiei fic, but it will be put off until this one is finished.
I just wanted to post one more chapter before I have to leave for some sorta family reunion....enjoy! More next week.
At The Higarashi Shrine
Kagome set up camp that night with difficulty. She cursed Inuyasha's thoughtlessness at not allowing her to change out of the white Kimono before tossing her into the well. She had received many complements, but that didn't make it any easier to travel in. And keeping it clean was next to impossible. She brushed the stains covering the delicate silk. "Damn..."
"Kagome?" Shippo's voice cut in. The little kitsune jumped on to her shoulder and wrapped little arms around her neck. "Why are you acting so funny? You said you had a story to tell me..." he reminded her.
"Umm." She dropped her armload of firewood next to the pit Inuyasha and Miroku had prepared. "I certainly do!"
"It better concern why you smell like five strange demons and why you blew me off that night!"
Inuyasha was furious.
"Oh, so now you're talking to me, are you?"
"Feh!"
"Uh-oh..."Shippo could feel Kagome's temper mounting.
"If you had let me change and shower, I wouldn't smell like anyone but myself!"
"Like that's an improvement!" he scoffed.
"Inuyasha!" Miroku tried to calm him. "Kagome smells as sweet as a rose."
"Yeah, that's that other kitsune on her."
"Huh?" Shippo took a big breath and found the scent Inuyasha was talking about. "Kagome, you met another Kitsune?!" He was excited. He hadn't seen any others of his kind since his parents had been killed.
"I don't know. It may have been one of the hanyous..." she mused.
"Sit and tell your story." Sango urged her.
"Yeah!" Shippo wanted to hear about this other fox.
"Alright." She arranged her kimono about her legs and began her story. "I was transferred from my old school to a new one. When I got to this school, I was introduced to this boy..."
For the third night in a row, Kagome got little sleep and stayed up late to talk. There were things she couldn't understand about her new friends, but she was sure everything would turn out okay.
When she finally fell asleep later that night, she dreamed about strange golden eyes that reminded her of Inuyasha. But they were set in the face of someone she did not know. Some one with a voice like velvet and a decidedly wicked sense of humor. Kagome had no desire to wake up just yet.
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Kurama sat up quickly in his bed. The covers slid to the floor in a tangle. He took a shaky hand to wipe the thin sheen of sweat off his forehead.
What had I been dreaming about? He couldn't remember what was said, but he remembered that Kagome had been there and that his Youko form had been chasing her. They had been playing some strange version of hide and seek...and the fox was winning. He felt a slight surge of disappointment. It was just a dream...
He swung his long legs off the bed and stretched like a contented cat. It was early yet, but he knew from experience that just laying around invited trouble. When Youko got bored, Kurama found himself doing all sorts of strange things...like counting the number of buttons in the entire house. He had made it to his mothers closet when she walked in. Shuuichi was five. His mother found it funny and took him to the library the next day.
Shuuichi was just glad that Youko had as much of a fondness for knowledge as he did. They made great study partners. He made it to his closet and chose some simple clothes since he did not have school till the next day and decided to pay a visit to the Higurashi Shrine. It never hurt to be as informed as you can get.
Kurama wasn't the only one with that idea. About ten minutes into the walk to the shine house, he spotted the others of the Rekai Tentai team waiting for him on the corner. He calmly joined them, showing no surprise that they were there.
"Good morning!" Boton chirped brightly. "I brought coffee! Oh, and a tea for Kurama and hot chocolate for Hiei." Everyone quickly snatched up the appropriate cup and wrapped their hands around the styrofoam. The morning was cold and tipped with frost: hopefully the last one of the year. "Well," she said, put out. "Isn't this just a peaches and cream kinda day. What's wrong? Didn't anyone sleep?"
"No," Yusuke and Kuwabara grumbled together.
"I don't sleep," Hiei said. "I rest."
Kurama shook his head at them. "I slept quite well, thank you Boton." He lifted the cup of tea apologetically.
"I don't see how." Yusuke answered. "All that talk about time and change and demons taking over had me thinking hard about my own decisions." He ran a hand over his hair, careful to be sure not to mess up the gel. "Besides, that girl does the same things we do only without breaks and with multiple demons at one time. I was kinda jealous."
"You're an idiot." Hiei said matter-of-factly. "Some of those demon are beyond even your abilities."
"Well, who do you think is the worst one?"
Hiei didn't hesitate. "Kikyo, the dead Miko."
Yusuke stopped. "Really? I figured it would be a toss up between Sesshoumaru and Naraku. I didn't even think of the woman on those terms."
"That's why she's the most dangerous. Only Kagome truly sees her as an enemy," Kurama said agreeing with Hiei.
"Um. So what you are saying is that she is the one they are least prepared to face and so the most dangerous?"
"Exactly."
"Well, I don't like her." Boton said crossly. "She has no business walking around in the living world anyway."
"Hn."
They arrived at the shrine house in time to see Sota, Kagome's little brother, run off with a friend.
The long set of stairs curved at the top, hiding the actual shrine from view. They tackled the stairs together, reaching the top in no time. The shrine was well managed and though old, it was beautifully kept up.
An old man was sweeping and mumbling to himself. His eyes widens when he saw them. "Oh! Kagome is sick! She has-" he picked up the newspaper by his feet and began frantically searching through the pages. "-mad cow disease." He held out the paper with a black and white picture of a
cow in the corner.
"She'd love that one!" Kuwabara laughed.
"Eeh?" Her grandfather looked embarrassed.
Boton patted his shoulder. "It's okay. We know the truth. Kagome told us all about it."
He looked anything but relieved. "You're friends with Kagome? I've never heard of you guys before. I know all her friends," he announced proudly. "I think I talk to them more then she does." he said rubbing his balding head. He eyed them suspiciously.
"We just met her two days ago," Kuwabara said.
"Oh-ho! So why would she tell you anything? Huh? Huh? HUH?" He glowered at the pug-faced boy.
"Uhhh..."
"Hmmm. You kids better not-"
"Grandpa!" A woman admonished from a window at the house. "Shame on you! I'm sure if Kagome told them anything, she had a good reason to trust them." It was clearly Kagome's mother. "Come in! Come in!" she called. "I'll make tea. You must be cold." She disappeared from the opening.
They hesitated only a second before following the sounds of Mrs. Higarashi into the house. She was folding a set of new school uniforms that matched those of their school. She greeted them and led them into the living room.
A quick trip into the kitchen and she returned with several cups and a pot of tea. "Are you friends of my daughter? From her new school?"
"Yes," Boton smiled. "She's very easy to like."
"Mrs. Higarashi smiled into her cup. "Hmmm." she said. "She isn't home now. Perhaps I could have her call you when she has time?"
"Well, actually," Boton began, "we know she's not here. Inuyasha picked her up yesterday morning."
Mrs. Higarashi put her cup down carefully and looked Boton in the eye. "I figured as much, with her bag gone. But it is not like Kagome not to stop to say bye, first."
"Inuyasha does seem a bit temperamental," Boton agreed.
"He is good for Kagome. He is a loyal friend." Mrs. Higarashi said with a frown.
"Uh...yes."
"If you knew Kagome was gone, why are you here?"
"We want to see the well," Yusuke butted in.
"Yusuke!" Kurama said. "Forgive him. There was so much to try to comprehend in so short a time. It has put everyone on edge."
She looked at the red-haired boy and nodded in understanding. "When Kagome first disappeared, it was very hard. We did not believe her story, thinking she was ill, until Inuyasha showed up to prove her words. He has the cutest ears!" she winked at Boton.
Boton giggled nervously. She had seen ears like that on a certain Youko Kurama and had to agree.
"If you would like to see the shrine and the Bone Eater's Well, I will take you. My father has told me all of the stories of the old days. I know the history of all the things here, but grandfather is usually the one to talk of such things." She rose and collected the cups and walked them back outside.
They took a quick tour with stops at the shrine house, God tree, and stopped at the well house. "I will leave you here. If you have need of anything else, grandfather or I will be happy to answer any questions. Feel free to look around." She started to leave.
"Wait!" Boton stopped her. "I don't understand why-why show us so much with no proof we are friends?" Boton was confused.
"My daughter is a smart child. She has seen and done more than I ever will. In some ways, she has grown to where I will never match her. In such things, I have no guidance to offer. If she trusted you, so too will I ." With that, she returned to her home to wait for her daughter once more.
"Oh..." Boton said in a small voice. Kurama stared after the woman's departing figure and wished he could believe his own mother could trust him so much. There were things that he ached to tell her. It hurt him to keep secrets from her. What hurt even more was that he knew that she knew he did so.
"This is it?" Kuwabara said kicking the wood doubtfully.
"Hn."
"Jump in," Yusuke said to Kuwabara.
"What?!"
"Come on. Are you scared?"
"WHAT?!"
"Ha!"
"I'll show you scared!" The big oaf threw one leg over the well rim and gulped. With a deep breath, he let go. "AAAAAaaaaaahhhhh-ouch."
"Idiot." Hiei said.
Kurama looked to the heavens for support and saw Koenma floating above them. He nodded a greeting which the child returned.
"If you had listened to Kagome's story, you would have remembered that you need a Shikon Shard or a strong link to Kagome herself to travel through the well," Koenma said.
Kuwabara pulled himself up the old latter. "Oh yeah. Forgot."
"What are you doing here?" Yusuke asked.
"I wanted to see the time portal," he hopped down and peered into the dark hole. "Ummm, not much to look at, is it?"
No one bothered to answer him. It was actually severely disappointing in appearance. He sighed. "Oh, well!" he snickered and looked to see if anyone heard him. They just looked bored. "Yes, ummm, ahhh...."he blinked, trying to think of something witty or dignified to say to repair the damage he had just inflicted upon himself with that pun. "I, uh, also wanted to be here to greet Kagome when she got back."
"She's coming back already?" Boton said surprised. "I thought she was usually gone for a least a week or more at a time."
"Hn."
"Yes, it seems that she had another fight with the dog. Seems he couldn't be civil to her because she smells like-" he stopped and blushed, "roses." He snuck a look at Kurama. "Well, that's the part of the conversation I caught, anyway," he continued, disappointed that Kurama showed no reaction to his news. Hiei glared at the floor. "Besides, they hadn't gotten very far with Kagome trying to fight in a kimono." He wiped invisible dust from his shirt. "She refused to wear the traditional Miko outfit."
"I don't blame her. She gets mistaken for that Kikyo person enough as it is."
Hiei stopped glaring at the floor and instead backed into the wall to watch the others. Smells like roses? Heh! He gritted his teeth. Stupid fox...stupid dog, he amended.
"When will they get here?" Yusuke asked.
"In about ten minutes?" he guessed. "...er...seconds." he said when a flash of blue light and a wave of unfamiliar energy flowed over them. They heard a voice.
"You better not take no hour-" sniff...a red and white blur dissolved into the golden eyed Inuyasha balanced on bare toes at the edge of the well. He sniffed the air and recognized the scents still clinging to Kagome. He growled and refused to loosen his grip on the sword at his side. "Kagome! Why are those strange people here?!" he yelled down the well, never taking his eyes off the strangers.
"Maa! Inuyasha! First it's my smell, then my clothes. Then, you say I'm too slow, and worthless in battle. What more could you possibly find to complain about now?" She stuck her head up over the edge and peered between Inuyasha's braced legs. "Oh! Why are you guys here?"