Redirection

Chapter Eleven:

Friendship

"This time is so boring." —Yusuke Urameshi

Kagome jerked suddenly and instantly awoke when she heard a yell. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up, glancing around the hut, but only saw the few others around her as they too were startled out of sleep. Before she could open her mouth to ask, someone else beat her to it.

"What the hell was that!" Yusuke yelled as he too was awoken from sleep. "That sounded like…"

The boy broke off as he jumped to his feet and rushed outside where Kagome could hear more harsh noises coming from. She quickly made a grab for her bow and ran outside after him in an attempt to find the source of the commotion.

She did not have to look far. Just as she exited Kaede's home, her eyes found Kuwabara as he fell to the ground on his back. He was sprawled out on the dirt, though he jerked backward as a blade came and buried itself in the ground between his legs. His eyes were wild as his gaze trailed up the sword's blade and to its owner.

"What is wrong with you!" Kuwabara yelled as he scrambled backward.

Hiei easily extracted the sword even though it was deeply imbedded in the ground. The villagers that were nearby quickly scattered away from them and into the sanctity of their homes. Kagome looked past the two making a scene and to Kurama across from her. He met her eyes for only a moment, but then switched his gaze to his two companions.

Hiei swung his sword at the boy in what could only be described as a near lazy action—they had all witnessed his speed and knew what he was capable of; though his swipe was still fast for a normal person. Kuwabara just managed to dodge it as he rolled to the side and scrambled to his feet. Hiei was already prepared and swung twice, each time Kuwabara's dancing backward to miss it. A few more swings and Kuwabara stumbled back and fell to the ground once again.

Why? Why was no one trying to stop them?

When Hiei pinned his blade just above Kuwabara's heart, keeping him frozen in place, Kagome protested as she took a step forward. A held out arm stopped her as she tried to go to the boy.

Kagome glanced upward at Miroku, but he was not looking at her. Strangely enough, his eyes were locked with Kurama's across from them. Kagome had no idea what exchange was made, but something passed between them in the extensive time they held each other's eyes.

Finally, Kurama stepped forward. "That's enough, Hiei."

Red eyes darted towards the redhead. His hand tightened on the hilt of his sword, but then he put the weapon away. "Death is too good for you."

Kagome glanced from Kuwabara and Hiei to Kurama and then spun around to face Yusuke. Her eyes were accusing and her face gave away her bewilderment. "I thought you said you were friends!"

Yusuke had not taken his eyes off the two since the ordeal began. "They've avoided each other for months. Kuwabara never knew that she… that Hiei was…" He left it there.

Hiei turned his back to the boy and looked as though he were about to leave.

"It's not my fault!" Kuwabara yelled.

The demon halted and his entire body stiffened.

"It wasn't my fault!"

Hiei glanced over one shoulder, eyes smoldering. "Who are you trying to convince?"

He blurred out of view and disappeared without waiting for a reply. A tense silence followed and set itself over the others. Kagome wanted answers, but none seemed willing to answer her anything. She would have opened her mouth anyway, but all words were forgotten when she was suddenly lifted off the ground.

"You're going home."

The hanyou threw her over one shoulder and she protested loudly and vocally as she squirmed, but he would not relinquish his hold. Without another warning, he took off toward the forest and then ran through the trees, never stopping until he reached the clearing with the well.

"—d, put me down! Hey! Lemme go!"

She pounded on his back with her fists and he finally dropped her to the grass, though not as nicely as she had hoped. Not that it matter since she instantly sprung to her feet.

"What was that about!" Kagome exclaimed.

She would have continued, but when his golden eyes met her brown ones she was silenced. There was deep emotion there. Concern.

"I don't trust these people. It's dangerous if you stay."

She wanted to argue, but was not sure she could. These four strange companions and friends—and she used the term "friend" lightly after what she just saw—were fighters. They were powerful and certainly not harmless. They could not even quell fights amongst themselves; what were they capable of in regards to strangers or their foes?

"Go home."

Although it was hard, she swallowed her argument for Inuyasha's sake. He was worried about her. She felt… touched. Yet even that would not have stopped her from protesting, if she did not have something she needed to do back in her own time.

"…Fine. But I'll be coming back soon!"

She found him sitting in the shade of one of the villagers' houses, slouched down with his back leaning against the wall and his feet sprawled out in front of him. He looked like he was dozed off, but the demon slayer knew better than that. Sango knew for all his peaceful appearance, he was still wide awake.

"Your demon friend is gone again?"

She had regrettably missed the show that morning. She had gone out that morning with Kirara in tow in attempt to alleviate some of the stress the previous night had laid upon her shoulders. Fighting was less taxing; demons she could handle. Emotional stress she would have rather avoided.

Yusuke cracked open an eye. "After he almost castrated Kuwabara, he took off," he said dryly. He closed both eyes again and shifted his shoulders as he settled more comfortable against the wall. "But I know he'll be back this time on his own."

She would have to take his word on that. He knew the demon better than she.

Feeling it was odd that she was standing while he was sitting, she knelt in front of him. He must have heard or sensed her movement, but he said and did nothing.

"Why was he trying to hurt Kuwabara?" she asked. Yusuke seemed to pause so she pushed forward. "It has to do with the reason you're here, doesn't it?"

"Let's just say something bad happened."

Again with the vague answers. Why were they avoiding the subject? Both he and Kurama would not answer her question before. What were they trying to hide?

"I'd like a clearer answer than that." Using her only trump card, she added, "We are going out of our way to help you, not to mention I was the one that saved you."

A short laugh escaped Yusuke as he opened both eyes. He sat up straighter, though not entirely upright. "Ouch. You're using that against us now?"

He smiled and it must have been contagious because she felt the edges of her lips turn upward in a small smile. A short silence spread between them until Yusuke abruptly jumped up from where he was sitting. Sango spun on her knees to watch him as he walked a small ways away, kicking a pebble in the process.

"This time is so boring. What the hell do you do with all your free time?"

Sango shrugged. "Fighting demons takes up most of my time."

As she watched him walk back and forth, an idea came to mind. She braced her hands on her knees and stood. "I have a proposition."

"What?"

He seemed eager to do anything to chase away the boredom.

"If I bring you somewhere that'll entertain you, then you have to tell me what's going on."

He eyed her with some suspicion, but interest dominated his gaze. Finally, a grin spread across his face. "You got yourself a deal."

"Alright, stir them up again."

"How many?"

"As many as you can get."

Sango did not need him to be turned his way to know that there was a smirk on his face when he made that last comment. Not that if he even turned to her she would be able to see the smile anyway. The cave that they were in was exceedingly dark with little light seeping in from the sun at the mouth of the cave.

The demon slayer lifted her large weapon and let it rip through the air, stirring up the petit bat demon on the ceiling and walls. They let out screeches as the weapon passed near—though never touched—them and took flight as they flapped around a bit. Yusuke took the opportunity to let loose what he called his "shotgun", which struck a few of the demons and sent them shrieking to the floor before they stopped all movement and sound.

"How many was that?" he asked.

Sango took a step forward and crouched down as she quickly counted. "You knocked down eight," she told him as she stood back up.

"Only eight? Damn."

"And you knocked a piece of the ceiling off so that's minus one."

"Oh come on!" he protested.

He sounded none too happy and gruffly signaled for her to take her turn as he turned away.

With a small smile, Sango hauled her weapon over her head and gave it a good spin. It spun quickly through the air and caught four of the small bats while on its return trip it managed to slice in half another seven.

"Eleven," she told him nonchalantly.

She overheard him grumble, "it's unfair because your weapon's bigger."

The comment might have made others angry, and in another situation "others" might have included her, but at that moment it made her smirk. "You're just a sore loser."

He gave her a look, but let it drop there. "What's up with these bats though? They dangerous?"

"Right now, no. But these bats can grow to be huge and start feeding on humans. We're doing humanity a favor here," she informed him while gesturing toward the little beasts.

The Spirit Detective raised his hand in its gun-like position up to eye level. "Then I'm up for another round."

The two continued their competition well into the day, playing quite a few more rounds while changing the rules ever so slightly each time. One time, it was how many of the creatures they could bring down in thirty seconds, which Yusuke dominated at, and another round they changed it to who could stir up, but not injure the most. All in all, Sango kept the boy entertained, just as she had promised.

They paused around midday to take a break and walked outside the cave to a cliff where they settled at the edge with their feet dangling off the side. Yusuke laid back on the hard ground, lifting one arm to shade his eyes from the sun.

After only a few minutes, Sango spoke. "Time to keep your end of this bargain."

His face was partially obscured because of the arm laid over her eyes so she was not sure entirely what he was feeling, but she did see his lips twitch.

"I was hoping you'd forget 'bout that," he admitted. "You wanted to know about Kuwabara, right? Someone close to him died."

He moved his arm higher so that it still shaded his face, but also allowed him to look at the demon slayer next to him as he talked. When their eyes met, Sango could not look away.

"When she died… Kuwabara changed. It wasn't always noticeable, but he was—is different."

He sat up next to her abruptly, breaking the contact. He stared below them instead at the steep drop.

"He was distraught at first, then became obsessed with finding a way to somehow bring her back. Spirit World could do nothing… they only deal with the souls of humans."

She had to know so she had to ask. "But why does she matter to Hiei?"

If not for the display that morning that she had missed, she never would have made any connection to Hiei and this mysterious person who had died. But from what Miroku had told her, the red-eyed demon had been attacking Kuwabara while the latter had said how "it" wasn't his fault. Was this "it" related to the girl and her demise? And why did Hiei care about her? From what she could gather of his personality, he did not seem to be the type to explicitly care about anyone or anything; yet he had openly attacked Kuwabara… because of this "she"? It did not seem his style and yet he had done it. Maybe a reassessment of his character was in order…

Contemplating the thoughts in her mind, she did not realize the short silence that stretched between the two until she stopped her analysis of burning questions. She then felt Yusuke give a small nudge to her side. Any harder and she might have fallen over the edge.

"Why, you jealous?"

In response, she gave his foot a small kick, though she was much more timid about it. She was not used to this kind of kidding around and much less used to casual touching, not including Miroku's advances. But she would not call those "casual" anyway.

"You know that's not it."

Her gaze followed him up as he stood and she cautioned him since it was a long way down. His hands had disappeared inside his pockets; a sign, she had come to realize, that he was somewhat unsure of himself. What, she was wondering, he would not elaborate on. Or, perhaps, could not?

"Come on, let's go for a few more rounds. I need to beat you sommore."

She knew he had changed the subject purposefully, but allowed it all the same. "Actually, it was the other way around," she told him as she stood. "I did more of the 'beating' than you did."

He opened his mouth in what she knew would be a loud protest, but refused to listen as she passed by him and disappeared into the cave.

The redheaded fox closed his eyes contently as a cool breeze passed over him. It was somewhat warm that day; enough so that he had decided to rest under the shade of a tree. Being overshadowed by the trees branches and leaves made the day perfectly enjoyable and comfortable.

He knew that he did not want to sleep and instead he ran the events of the day over in his mind. It had started with a short conversation with Hiei, though most of the talking had been done by him since Hiei was laconic as always. He had left to wash up then, only to come back in the middle of Kuwabara's struggle against the angry demon. Kagome had been flustered by it while her monk companion had met the fox's gaze with curious and penetrating eyes. His eyes were not as sharp as his and Hiei's or even Yusuke's could be, but questioning and insistent all the same. It was then that Kurama had stepped in, though he knew he could not stop his demon friend if he really wanted to continue.

In a more lighthearted moment, Kurama remembered with some amusement, a conversation he had had with one of Kagome's companions after she had disappeared to her time.

Kurama had had lunch a little later than the others—not including Yusuke and the demon slayer, who were no where to be seen—and had been left alone in the hut to eat, save for one other.

He approached Kurama and sat right in front of him, his arms crossed as he stared. "So," he had begun with what Kurama supposed was meant to be a hard stare. "You're a kitsune too."

Kurama met the gaze of the small demon—Shippo, he recalled—in front of him, giving him the attention he sought.

"Why would you say that?" Kurama asked lightly.

He looked indignant. "I know another fox when I sense one," he replied haughtily. "But you're weird. You're human. …Except not."

He gave a simple answer. There was no need to go into excruciating detail. "Yes."

"You know… she likes me better."

Kurama blinked as he comprehended the quick change of subject by the small kitsune in front of him. He, of course, knew right away who this "she" was implying. He had noticed how close the small fox usually stuck to the girl.

He decided to indulge him by asking, "Is that so?"

"Yeah. I mean, she's being nice to you and she's been helping you, but she still prefers me."

"I'm sure she does," Kurama assured him.

Shippo's gaze wavered and he hopped to his feet, excepting Kurama's words. He seemed revealed, as though a weight had been lifted.

He walked toward the door, though paused just before exiting. Shippo glanced back. "I'm her favorite. Just so we're clear on that."

It was an effort, but Kurama refrained from smiling. "Crystal."

After recalling the conversation, he found himself on the edges of slumber, but it was disturbed by an all too familiar loud voice. Kurama did not even bother opening his eyes to see who it was.

"You cheated!"

Kurama heard a girl's laughter in response. "I don't believe it's possible to cheat." There was a fraction of a pause before she continued, "And if anything, you cheated when you hit my hiraikotsu with one of your blasts."

"It's unfair since you have two chances, when you throw it and on the return trip. I was evening things," he retaliated. "And I still want a rematch!"

"Maybe tomorrow…" she drawled. "…If I feel another victory is in order."

"Hey!"

Kurama opened his eyes and turned his head to the side to watch Yusuke and the girl Sango as they walked toward the village. His gaze only left them momentarily as he noticed the girl's companion, the neko Kirara, dash past him in her smaller form.

"You two seemed to have found a way to amuse yourselves," Kurama mentioned as he sat up and acknowledged their presence. They seemed to notice him for the first time when he spoke and diverted their course to walk toward the redhead instead.

"I had fun, but Yusuke's just annoyed he lost our competition," Sango informed him.

"I did not lose."

The demon slayer laughed once again, but abruptly caught off. Both men turned to her when they noticed the abrupt change. Kurama watched her curiously as her face turned a paler shade and her attention darted to the side. Her hands tightened their grip on the strap of her weapon.

"I… Sorry. Stay here. I have to go."

She spoke hurriedly and no sooner stopped speaking as she ran toward the nearby forest, disappearing into the trees.

Yusuke glanced at the fox and in his eyes, Kurama saw a small conflict there. Then, with an exasperated noise, Yusuke took off after the girl.