Really not much to say, I think the beginning of this chapter is going to be tricky to write. Enjoy! (and please review)

"Kurama! She's here!"

"Yusuke's girlfriend?"

"Of course, she's in human world, I can feel her energy."

"Do you know where?"

"No, my Jagan is being blocked, somehow."

"Very well, I'll meet with you, we'll see if we can find her. I should be able to determine if she has had recent contact with Yusuke. We must not engage her unless necessary."

Kagome set out of her house, no one was home at the time, so there would be no visiting. She set out for the mall first. Normally, this wouldn't have been a stop for her, but she had a few things she thought she should pick up in addition to her usual supplies (a new sleeping bag among them, she hadn't been able to get the blood out of her old one). The instant she stepped outside of the shrine she had the feeling she was being watched.

Back in the fuedal era, Yusuke was training with Sango again. Next to Kagome, he favored her the most in the Fuedal era. He was costantly improving his sword fighting, Sango almost felt a sense of pride. In the middle of a skirmish, Yusuke stopped.

"Something wrong?"

"Sango...I was wondering, why do youwant to kill Naraku? Kagome only told me about Inuyasha..."

Sango's face immediately fell.

"Are you sure you want to hear this?" She said.

Yusuke looked at her, "Only if you want to tell me." Yusuke had a feeling this was a painful subject. He could tell Sango was wary of telling him. Sango herself was considering telling him no, but he had joined them, and pledged to destroy Naraku alongside them, he deserved the truth.

"I come from a village of Demon-Slayers, one night, almost a year ago, the top slayers in my village were commissioned to destroy a demon that had been attacking a castle." Sango began, Yusuke was paying full attention (a high honor, from him). "It was a trap, Naraku had sent demons to the village to destroy it, while all at the castle were slain. He was after the jewel shards we had collected." Sango hesitated. "I was the only survivor."

"I'm sor-"

"Don't apologize, it was natural for you to be curious. Now, let's continue."

In the present, Kagome kept looking over her shoulder, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, even though she knew there was no one around. Little did she know, that the person watching her was across town.

"Hn. About time you showed up." Hiei said stiffly. Kurama had taken much longer then he had expected.

"I was detained shortly by my human mother."

"Whatever, I managed to locate her."

"Where is she?"

"I believe humans call it the 'mall'."

"Good, it will be easy to get near her."

Kagome walked into the mall, she'd be able to get all the extra supplies she needed. She was just about to enter a store with camping supplies when some one called out her name. Kagome looked around to see her friends walking toward her. Although their presence would make shopping more difficult, she was grateful for them, she felt safer walking with other people.

"So, are you still with Uramseshi?" Yumi asked her.

"Yeah."

"You really like tough guys, don't you?"

"You know, Yusuke's really sweet." Kagome felt like they'd had this conversation before.

"Has your ex been sniffing around?"

"Yeah...him and Yusuke ended up in a fight." Kagome said. Eventually the conversation steered into different waters.

"So have you two...you know, yet?" Eri asked.

Kagome turned extremely red. "NO!" She said.

"Oh, come on, you can tell us."

"We really haven't..." Kagome realized her friends had changed a little since she had started going to the Feudal era.

Kagome was lost in thought, when she collided with something.

"My apologies." said a red haired teen as he held out his hand to help her up.

Kagome took the hand, instantly sensing something "He's a demon." She thought.

"FOX! She knows, get the information you need and leave."

"I already know what I need to know. We shall follow her at a distance and see if she leads us to Yusuke."

"No problem." Kagome said. This demon didn't seem to mean her any harm.

The second Kurama was out of what they suspected was earshot, Kagome's friends started blabbering about how gorgeous that boy had been.

"Ok, well, I need to get some things." Kagome said, her friends didn't really get the hint. She entered the outdoor store with them.

"Kagome? Why are you getting a hiking backpack...?" Yumi asked.

"Umm...uh...Yusuke...likes hiking..." Kagome said, knowing that it was one of Yusuke's least favorite things.

"And?"

"It's a Birthday present," Kagome invented quickly, Yusuke's Birthday wasn't for a month and a half. She was really only getting it so he could help carry stuff (like his clothes).

"Listen, it was nice seeing you guys, but I have to go to the pharmacy."

Kagome went to the pharmacy and picked up al the medical supplies she needed, as well as something else (A/N: no, I'm never telling you what, even if you guess it). She then set out for Yusuke's apartment, the whole time feeling like she was being watched. "I'm just being paranoid." She told herself.

"So, what did you find?"

"She has definetly been close to Yusuke recently...very close." Kurama had smelled Yusuke on her clothes, the scent was fairly fresh.

They followed her at a distance, they watched her enter Yusuke's apartment.

"Oh my God! This is terrible!"Was Kagome's first thought upon entering. There were countless bottles and cans strewn about the floor. Kagoem had to wonder through them all before she discovered Yusuke's room, while it was still a mess, it was at least clear of alcholic containers. Kagome piled all the clothes she could find into her bag, along with a small tub of hairgel and walked out. She would return home now.

Hiei and Kurama follwed her to the shrine. "This is where she came back, I could see her right outside." Hiei said.

"Very well, I shall question her, all the evidence point to her being involved." Kurama said. He climbed the stairs. Kagome was at the well house already, she had droppen all the supplies to the bottom already and was about to jump in herself when she heard a voice.

"Hello, can I have a moment of your time?" Kurama asked.

Kagome turned around and saw the demon she had 'run into' earlier.

"What do you want, demon?" she asked, she wasn't concerned with being rude, she figured this was the one that had been watching her.

"Oh, so you know about demons? This makes things much more straightforward." Kurama said with a peaceful smile (even though Hiei had already told him this).

"I'm looking for a friend of mine, judging by your actions today, you know where he is."

"If you mean Yusuke..." Kagome said, she was ready to jump into the well at a moments notice.

"Hn. Bring the detective to us and I might choose not to torture you." Hiei said. Kagome hadn't even noticed him arrive, but that threat was all she needed, she jumped into the well.

"Damn!" Hiei cursed, her energy had vanished, he jumped after her, but all he found was the bottom of a dry well. "She went through here, somehow." Hiei said. Kurama jumped down too, nothing happened.

"This must be a portal of some kind, it seems that we cannot pass through. Hiei, we have to report this."

Kagome was falling back to the fuedal era, she wondered if they were Yusuke's team mates, she had trouble believing Yusuke would work with some one as hostile as the short, black-haired one. She started the climb out, Yusuke was waiting for her.

"Hey, I was beginning to wonder-Kagome? Somethin' wrong?"

"I...think your team really wants to find you..." She looked a little shaken.

"What happened?" Yusuke asked, he looked ready to jump through the well and kick some asses.

Kagome explained what happened, Yusuke calmed down, things could have gone worse.

"At least you're ok, Hiei can be a piece of work sometimes, but I doubt he would have done anything to hurt you..."

"He was the short one?"

"Yeah."

"I'm just shocked he's on your team."

"Don't knock 'em; once you get his respect then you've got it for life, and he's damn strong."

"And the red haired one?"

"Loud-mouthed idiot, or quiet genius?"

"Quiet."

"Kurama, he's the fox demon I told you guys about."

"Ok, it was kind of a tense moment."

"By the way, what's with the second backpack?"

"That's for you, I can't carry everything anymore."

"So what am I? Your pack mule?" Yusuke asked.

"Pretty much."

"Then turn around, your 'pack mule' is about to change...or you can keep watching, I don't really care if you see me naked."

Kagome chose to turn around. Yusuke quickly changed into the outfit he had worn during the Dark Tournament.

"You can turn around now." Yusuke said. He was pulling on a the shoes he had worn as well.

"There's this too..." Kagome said, handing over the hair gel.

"Thanks!" Yusuke said happily. Kagome watched as he gelled his hair up for the first time in days.

"You know, alot of people would consider your hair obsession girly."

"Ahhh, shut up."

They walked back to the village, hand in hand. They would be staying there again that night, which Yusuke preferred; he still wasn't used to sleeping in the open.

"So other then being stalked by my team mates, how were things in the present?"

"Alright; my family wasn't home though, I kinda wanted to say hi, but I got to see my friends at least." Kagome knew Yusuke didn't like her friends, and she couldn't blame him, they had tried to turn her against him before they had even gone out.

Yusuke kissed her on the cheek, he was more in favor of talking at the moment; they had been more physical then emotional lately. Him and Kagome remained in deep conversation well after the others had fallen asleep, they talked about anything, the topics were joyful, full of sorrow, playful, everthing, Yusuke didn't mention his demon blood, he came close, but decided he would allow Kagome the peace of mind that he was human a while longer.

It was as Yusuke began to drop off that he confronted his feelings once again, and as last time, his final thought before falling asleep was "Am I in love?" Little did he know that Kagome was asking herself the exact same thing.

The next day arrived (later that morning for Yusuke and Kagome). They set out, not stopping until around noon. Yusuke and Kagome had been dragging behind all day, they were tired. They nearly fell asleep together after a quick lunch, before being reawoken by Shippo. He said Inuyasha was talking about leaving them behind (an empty threat). They spent the entire day holding hands, they were closer then ever now.

The group managed to find a hut to sleep in. They were moving in the direction Koga had told them, having no other leads. Yusuke fell asleep just after dinner, as did Kagome. Niether of them knowing that in a few hours they would be awake again.

"EVERYBODY UP! DEMONS!" Inuyasha's voice rang out. Yusuke woke up instantly, as well as everyone else. They ran outside. Even from a distance Yusuke could tell: there were thousands of them. He felt their energy, he could tell that none were that strong, but in those numbers, they were in for a wild night. Yusuke was trying to feel out where the strongest were when he discovered something else, something that Inuyasha's nose had missed, a human's energy was mixed in with all the demons, but it was tainted, as if some other force was in control of it...

"Kagome, get in the hut!" Yusuke yelled, he knew she had power he had not yet seen, but he would be damned if she got hurt on his watch.

"I can handle myself just fine!"

"I know, just-PLEASE!" Yusuke yelled as the first wave arrived. Kagome obeyed this time, not because the demons had frightened her, but because she had heard something in Yusuke's voice she had never heard there before: fear.

Kirara had transformed. Had this not been such a dire situation, Yusuke would have stared in amazement as the once tiny cat joined the battle. Yusuke used a shot from his Spirit Gun which cut down about one hundred demons. Inuyasha followed suite with the Wind Scar.

The battle raged on. The demons were beginning to thin. Yusuke's sixth sense however, told him something bad was about to happen, and he didn't have to wait long. Sango spotted something amist the hordes of demons. Yusuke saw her run into the heart of them with a tearful cry of "KOHAKU!" less then a second later Miroku's voice was heard. "Oh no! SANGO!" the terror in his voice evident as he charged off after her. Yusuke heard him cry out something that sounded like "Wind Tunnel!" soon after and saw Demons disappear by the hundreds, some of the insect ones seeming to intentionally fly at Miroku's hand. Kagome was at Yusuke's side.

"What's going on?" He asked her urgently.

"Kohaku is Sango's brother." She said, she looked terrified. Inuyasha was distracting the demons that were left (a few hundred).

"She said she was the only survivor..." Yusuke couldn't take this in, it didn't make any sense.

"Naraku took control of him and forced him to kill their entire family, he kept Kohaku alive to torture Sango-"

"INUYASHA! PROTECT KAGOME!" Yusuke yelled. Miroku had fallen unconcious. Inuyasha jumped to her side, and sent another Wind Scar at the demons, who now seemed to take Inuyasha as their prime target.

Yusuke rushed to Sango's side. He wanted to help her, she had become something like an older sister to him. He just hoped he could...he had only seen the technique once, and Genkai had never gone into great detail how to do it.

Sango was dueling Kohauku, tears in her eyes. She didn't even notice Yusuke arrive, not until he caugfht the sythe that was about to impale her.

"Why did you intervene?" she asked him. He didn't answer her.

"I'm real sorry about this, kid. I really hope you're still in there somewhere..." Yusuke said as he formed his hands into what could have been a praying gesture. Spirit Energy erupted fom his fingertips and shot several feet into the air. He bagan chanting everything he remembered from the fight with Dr. Ichigaki. Sango was pushed back, powerless to help either side.

Yusuke finished the chant, he charged at Kohaku, hitting him where his heart was. He felt Kohaku's life energy disappear. He was completely drained.

It was a minute before Sango found her voice. Kohaku wasn't moving.

"What did you do?" She asked shakily. She couldn't tell if Kohaku was dead.

"I tried to free him..." Yusuke said as the others arrived, they began to bring Miroku around.

"You tried?" Sango said, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what that meant.

"I did something that should have set him free if his soul was still pure...I'm not sure it worked." Yusuke sounded empty, there was a lifeless look in his eyes, that showed his uncertainty.

Miroku was up.

Sango was about to respond, but never got the chance, Yusuke felt an immense demon energy. Naraku had descened upon them, standing at the opposite end of the field.

"So, boy, you killed my puppet?" Naraku said. He was far away, and hadn't yelled, but they heard every word clearly.

Yusuke's fighting spirit had leapt back into him. along with burning rage. "So you're the bastard that caused all this!" He yelled. He charged Naraku, forgetting he had no more Spirit Energy. He let out a battle roar, his fist raised, but the fist never connected, Naraku caught Yusuke around the wrist with one of his tentacles, another one wrapping itself around Yusuke's waste.

"You charge me with no power left? How admirable. You should have realized that you would have failed to free the demon slayer boy. No human can overpower my will." Naraku said. No one had eyes for anything but Yusuke and Naraku, the two of them only for eachother.

"You son of a bitch! I'll dance on your grave when I kill you."

"Oh?" Naraku said, bringing Yusuke's face close to his own so they could look eachother in the eyes, "Do you really believe you will succeed? I have you now, in my grasp, ready to break you in two." He sqeezed harder.

As an answer, Yusuke spit right in the center of Naraku's face. Naraku began to laugh maniacly.

"Naraku!" Kagome's voice could be heard, he stopped laughing, she had an arrow drawn, "Let him GO!" She yelled as she released the arrow. Yusuke saw the glowing arrow as it tore almost a quarter of Naraku's body away. Yusuke fell to the ground.

Naraku disappeared in a swirl of purple miasma, Yusuke inhaling large amounts of it. They heard Naraku's voice, coming from al around.

"I will let you live for some time yet. Take solace in the fact that as the Demon Slayer's brother is dead, I no longer control him. Farewell."

Kagome rushed to Yusuke's side, as did Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango seemed to be looking for something. Yusuke couldn't walk, the miasma had made his arms and legs go numb. Kagome and Inuyasha each threw one of Yusuke's arms over their shoulders and drug him back to Miroku and Sango.

"Kohaku's body is gone." Miroku said, he was still very weak from the poison of the insects, but was in no immediate danger.

"But Naraku just said he couldn't control him anymore..." Inuyasha said.

Something clicked, everyone whose head wasn't spinning understood what that must mean. Yusuke had succeeded.

Sango began to cry, a smile on her face.

"He's free." She said. Sure, he would have to deal with the guilt of what he had done while Naraku had him under his control, and she couldn't see him until Naraku was defeated, but at least he wasn't a puppet anymore.

"Thasgood." Yusuke slurred. He was carried back to the hut, Naraku would not attack again that night. Sango thanking him more times then anyone could count. He was a hero that night, but he didn't think he deserved the praise.

"I could just have easily killed him, I've never even tried that before, the fact that he's alive is a miracle." Yusuke said, and he was right, if it hadn't been for the jewel shard in his back, Kohaku would be lying dead, Yusuke had just gotten lucky and succeded in cleansing Naraku from him.

"Kagome," he whispered after convincing the others to leave him alone, "you saved my ass tonight, thank you."

"We can call it even." She said, Yusuke had saved her more then a few times already.

I'm not sure I like how that chapter turned out...oh well, too late now. I really don't think that Yusuke would be able to do that...anyway, I have an announcement: There is a slight possibility that the next chapter will be a little delayed. For starters, I'm sick right now and feel like sleeping alot, and the computer I use for this is starting to crap out, so I may have to wait until my new computer gets here (I ordered it yesterday, should be here in a week or two), depends on how long this one last. Please review!

Time for review responses!

Trinity of Kitsune Kunoichi: As you saw, he wasn't at her shrine, I realized people might think that after I posted it, and I wasn't going to go back and add another couple lines of dialogue to clarify. Thanks for the review!

Raine: You like saying that, don't you? Thanks for the review!

Jessica:As always, I'm not going to answer questions about Yusuke's demon blood, but I will gaurantee that it's gonna come up. As for the rest of the team: one of the major reasons I'm refusing to bring them in is because I have enough trouble keeping the characters I have there now in each chapter, after I get soem more practice I may do an alternate version of this fic with them in it. Thanks for the review!

Slowfatbunny: Wow, I was about to post this chapter when you reviewed, good thing I decided to check, I'd have felt bad if I missed you. Sorry if I got your name wrong. Thanks for the review!

NEXT CHAPTER: Prelude to a Rematch!

As always: please review!