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Yuusuke could only stare dumbly as the girl darted away. 'She kills a powerful demon with some sort of pink flame and then runs away from us?' Yuusuke snaps out of his shock, but by now the girl has disappeared.
"Hey, Kuwabara, can you track her energy?" Yuusuke asked hopefully.
"Sure, Urameshii, she is really powerful so it is easy to sense her energy. She is currently over there," he points, "and she appears to be moving away from us."
"Well don't just stand there! Come on, we have to follow her and you're better at tracking spirit energy than I am, so let's go!" Yuusuke started off in the direction Kuwabara had pointed. He was running at a gentle lope because he figured the girl really couldn't be that fast. She was a girl, after all, and he since he could easily outrun Keiko, he figured this wouldn't be much of a challenge.
"Uhh... Urameshii, she's gaining a lot of distance... too much more and she'll be out of my range." That statement was enough to put Yuusuke into full sprint mode. He knew if he lost this girl and Koenma found out about it, there would be hell to pay.
'Damn she's fast. She only had few minutes head start on us and she's already that far away. If she is almost out of Kuwabara's range that means she has to be nearing a mile in distance. We need Hiei if we're going to track her down.' He looked over to Kuwabara who was huffing and puffing but keeping up just fine. Truth be told, both he and Kuwabara liked to leave the running to the demons.
"Kuwabara, call Hiei and Kurama, tell them we need their speed to track down a girl... on second thought, tell them it's a suspect, leave out the fact that she's a girl..." Yuusuke could already feel the humiliation burning his face. "Outran by a girl... I hope Kurama and Hiei don't catch her either or I'll never live it down," he mumbled.
Before Kuwabara even had a chance to flip open the communicator a black blur they vaguely identified as Hiei raced past the pair. A few seconds later Kurama caught up to them, looking no more tired than if he was on a morning stroll. Yuusuke just grimaced at him causing him to smirk.
"Hiei has been tracking the youkai's energy, which is also how we found you. Did you guys actually see who it is that we are chasing?" Kurama asked.
"Yeah, we did, and it ain't a youkai. It's a girl who killed our loose youkai with pink flames and then ran off. She's fast too." Yuusuke wheezed. He slowed down, confident that Hiei alone would be sufficient to catch the girl.
"Did you say pink flames?" Kurama arched an eyebrow at Yuusuke while his mind was processing how that sounded familiar.
Suddenly Kuwabara stopped. "She's gone."
"Gone!? What do you mean gone? Did Hiei kill her!?" Yuusuke asked frantically, hoping the girl wasn't stupid enough to attack Hiei. If she was then that definitely explained why she was gone.
"I'm not sure, it's just that her energy disappeared all of a sudden. Maybe we should find Hiei..." Kuwabara trailed off, worried enough to use Hiei's given name instead of one of the friendly insults he usually used.
--
Hiei was closing in. Just a few more seconds, a minute at most, and he would catch whoever was emitting this strangely familiar energy. Whoever it was must be fairly stupid because they were running away in a straight line making tracking them just that much easier.
Hiei barely managed to keep from stumbling as the energy he was tracking disappeared entirely from his mind. 'Oh no you don't, bastard. You're not getting away until I figure out who you are.' Hiei sped up to frighteningly fast speeds. He would not be able to tell where he was going without the aid of the Jagan.
He assumed that since the person had been running away in a straight line, that if they had just masked their energy and not taken a portal, they would continue running in the same direction. That was his mistake.
--
Kagome knew she was outrunning the two young men that were following her. However, they did seem to be tracking her, which meant one or both of them could sense her energy. The shrine was almost directly north of her current location so instead of running straight back, she headed in a northeast direction. She planned to lead the men away from her home then mask her energy and double back.
It had been a good plan. Now, though, the rapid approach of two youkai meant a change in plans was required. It was difficult to track the two humans, even with their strange energy, since there were so many other people in Tokyo but the youkai were easy to track and stood out brightly to her miko senses. She wasn't positive, but it seemed like one of the youkai met up with the humans while the other one continued after her.
The other youkai was closing in quickly. Kagome had purposefully been running in a straight line and she hoped her plan would still work. She concentrated on completely masking her scent, since it was easy enough to do and run at the same time. She knew she only had a precious few seconds left, so she stopped and concentrated on masking her aura.
Masking her aura in the middle of Tokyo was much harder than in the Feudal era because of the lack of plant life. It was a fairly easy task to make your aura match that of the forest; it was somewhat more difficult to make it appear to be the aura of a random, non-distinct human.
Satisfied that she had masked both her scent and aura as well as she could, considering the circumstances, she ran the rest of the way down the block. She saw an opening approaching on her left. She ducked into it to find herself in a dark alley. Luckily she could see the next street, so it wasn't a dead-end. She ran down the alley and darted across the street into the next alley. Since she was now headed directly back home, she stopped to see what the youkai would do before leading him straight to her family.
She didn't have long to wait. She felt him stop and figured he had made it to where she had stopped to mask her aura. She could feel his power increasing and wondered why none of the people on the street noticed a change. A youkai this powerful in Tokyo was dangerous indeed. She knew that she would be hard pressed to take him on and win, even without his backup. With the addition of another youkai and two humans with strange energy, the odds were stacked against her.
Something was definitely familiar about the two youkai that had been following her and she wanted to try and sneak closer to catch a glimpse of them. Luckily her rational mind and her self-preservation decided to kick in and prevent such a stupid act. She slowly made her way back to the shrine, taking a meandering path that would hopefully confuse anyone still trying to track her energy. She felt the group she had been tracking disperse, but none of them moved toward her, so she was hoping that they had given up.
--
"What do you mean you lost her?!? You're the fastest one and she was not that far ahead of us. Plus you've got that creepy thing," Yuusuke pointed to the glowing eye implanted in Hiei's forehead, "to help you find people. So what happened?"
"Her energy signature ends here. That means that she either opened a portal, right here on the street, or she knows how to mask her aura well enough that the Jagan cannot sense it." Hiei glared at Yuusuke. "I certainly didn't see you catching her, Detective, even though you started close enough to see and hear her. How it is that you were outrun by a girl? A girl wearing a skirt, no less." Hiei smirked as Yuusuke's face flushed slightly.
"Shut up, Hiei," Yuusuke mumbled. "I'm going to go report this to Koenma, you are all free to go home. I'll let you know if anything else comes up."
The group split up, each member lost in his own thoughts.
Kuwabara was thinking of his love Yukina and how nice it would be to take her to the upcoming shrine festival. He had been afraid that she would turn him down, but she had just smiled beautifully and accepted. He wasn't even mad that she had invited Botan who had then invited Keiko, who had forced Yuusuke to promise to go.
Yuusuke then, seeing how badly he was outnumbered, had coerced Kurama into going, even though Kurama knew that he would more than likely get hooked up with Botan. He had tried to convince Hiei to go, therefore saving him from Botan, but Hiei had merely shrugged.
Kurama knew from the glint in his eyes that it meant "Yeah, I'll probably be there, but only for my own personal amusement and not to save your sorry ass from the Lady Death." Even knowing all of this, Kuwabara was still looking forward to the festival with his lovely Yukina.
--
Kurama was worried about Youko. The normally talkative fox hadn't said anything after Yuusuke had told them about the girl wielding pink flames. 'Youko, why are you so quiet all of a sudden?' Kurama asked.
Youko pondered how to best answer the question. Although he had shared much of his past with Suuichi, he had never mentioned the miko from the future he had met so long ago. He was wondering if it was possible that she really lived in this time and had been the one to kill the youkai. 'It's nothing Suuichi. I'm just thinking about a miko I once knew, long ago.'
'A miko? One of those girls dressed in red and white that takes care of a shrine? She must have been special to stand out among the long line of women you've, ah, known.' Kurama snickered at the mental scowl Youko sent him.
'The mikos you are thinking of are mere shadows compared to the mikos of old. Now they are merely there for tradition's sake, no one remembers the true power of the mikos. The true mikos were no longer needed after the separation of the three worlds and so they slowly died out. Now, even if a girl is born with miko power no one would recognize it or be able to train her in the old arts.'
'So what did mikos do before? And what does that have to do with pink flames?' Kurama asked, curious about the relation between the two.
'Many, many years ago it was a miko's job to protect the people of her village, both from sickness and from attack. During the Feudal era, youkai ran loose and would have destroyed everything if it had not been for the mikos. You see a true miko does not sweep the shrine steps. She has a holy energy that allows her to purify youkai on contact. Most mikos would use arrows to channel their energy, firing Hama no Ya.'
'Sacred arrows? You're telling me women went around shooting arrows at youkai and they were the only thing standing between the youkai and the total decimation of their village?' Kurama sounded skeptical, even in his thoughts.
'You do you not believe me.' It was not a question.
'Well, Youko, it is quite a story. I've seen many strange things since I became a spirit detective but women shooting pink flames is not one of them. Speaking of which, how do the flames relate?' It was always a good idea to distract Youko before he became pissed or started silently brooding.
Youko knew that Suuichi was merely trying to distract him and he allowed it to work, this time. 'The Hama no Ya were usually encased in a pink glow, the glow of the miko's energy. Few mikos ever progressed beyond this. Only a small number of very powerful mikos through history were able to channel their energy into other weapons or use their energy itself as a weapon. When a miko directly releases the energy stored in her body, it appears as if pink flames are surrounding her. However, even powerful mikos use this technique only as a last resort, since it drains such a large amount of their energy. An untrained miko using this attack could end up killing herself more quickly than her attacker.' 'As I almost found out,' he thought quietly to himself.
'So basically the girl Yuusuke saw earlier was either an extremely powerful miko or an untrained miko randomly using her power? Even though mikos died out many years ago? Still, why would the youkai be after her in the first place?' Kurama mused.
'I do not know, Suuichi, but I would talk to Hiei before talking to Koenma. He may find some more information.' Youko faded into the background before Suuichi could ask any more questions. He knew that Suuichi's interest had been captured and he would be less like to go straight to Koenma with the new information he had learned. After all, they both loved a good puzzle. 'Good luck, Hiei' was his last quiet thought.
--
Hiei smirked, so the fox had known that he was listening the entire time. He had merely planned on asking Youko if he thought a miko was responsible, but since he had entered in the middle of his explanation, he had decided to stay and listen in. 'Youko knows more than he is telling Suuichi. I wonder what it is that he is hiding?' Hiei was currently standing on top of the building where the girl's energy trail ended.
While he had not lied to the detective, he had not been completely honest either. The girl's energy trail did end here and the Jagan could no longer sense anything. However, because the energy seemed familiar to Hiei, he was barely able to sense the path the girl had taken. It was mostly intuition and his years of practice tracking things that did not want to be found, but he was certain he could find the girl.
He hopped down, glad everyone had decided to go their own way. If he would have had to make the trip back to the Reikai the trail would have been too old to follow. He began to follow the trail, turning down a dark alley. 'Stupid girl. Too bad a thug didn't catch her. Would've made her easier to track at least.' He crossed the street into another alley. 'At least she will be easy to track, since she is once again moving in a straight line.'
Two hours later, Hiei was beginning to regret his rash assessment. He had lost her trail no less than a dozen times and would often pick it up going the wrong direction. Not to mention the girl was not heading in any general direction, giving him no clues about her final destination. Hiei grudgingly admitted that she was fairly good, but it also meant that she knew she was being tracked, ruling out an untrained miko. 'That means she has been trained, but by who? The mikos died out hundreds of years ago, so who has the knowledge and power to train her today?'
The trail finally ended at a long set of shrine steps. 'So she lives at a shrine, that would make more sense. Perhaps her family has kept the old traditions alive in secret, all of these years?' Hiei gingerly reached out, placing his hand over the shrine property, expecting a barrier since her trail was lost completely. He was vaguely surprised when his hand passed through unharmed except for the slightest tingling sensation.
He cautiously moved forward until he was standing on the first step of the staircase. Nothing happened. He took another cautious step. He began to notice the purity in the air. Everything was still and calm and the whole shrine seemingly hummed with purity. He was amazed that the pure aura was not harming him but instead seemed to leech the tension out of his body. He leapt up the rest of the stairs, strangely eager to know more about the shrine.
He looked around. The first thing he noticed was the giant tree in the middle of the grounds. Past the tree was what he assumed to be the house. It was dark and quiet, it's occupants sleeping peacefully, unaware of the danger that was currently lurking outside. He thought about breaking in but decided not to alert the miko to his presence. Although he did not fear her, a powerful miko was always an opponent to take seriously.
He continued wandering around the shrine, trying to discover why this shrine had such a holy aura. Even Genkai's shrine did not have such a calming affect on him, though she kept it well protected. It appeared that the shrine was preparing for a festival, since half-completed booths were scattered around. 'I wonder if this is the festival the fox was trying to get me to attend. This could be interesting, maybe I will attend, after all.' Hiei had much to ponder as he faded back into the shadows of the night.
--
Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever had been bothering her miko had left. She couldn't tell if it was a youkai, although she assumed that it was. Something had woken her, a strange feeling on the shrine grounds. She had been stringing her bow when whatever it was faded away. She hoped, for her family's sake, that it was just a coincidence. She left her bow out and went back to bed, drifting into an uneasy sleep.
Someone was poking her, keeping her from getting the sleep she so richly deserved. "What do you want?" she whined.
"You never were much of a morning person, nee-chan. Glad to see that hasn't changed," Souta just smiled at her death glare. "I was wondering if you would like to spar this morning," he poked her with his wooden bokken again, "since all you've done so far is be lazy."
She groaned. She had not told her family about the youkai yesterday and she had been able to sneak in without anyone noticing her clothes. However, she had also been promising to spar with her brother for a very long time now. She had actually been the one to buy him the bokken he was currently using to poke her.
After he heard the stories she would tell about "Inu no nii-chan" he immediately started pestering her to train him. Since she didn't know anything about fighting, she had convinced their mother to sign him up for a martial arts class. He loved it. So, a year later, she had heard him complaining that he didn't have a bokken and he didn't want to ask for one since his mother was already paying for his classes. Kagome had taken her meager savings and bought two bokken, one for her and one for him, so they could train together when she was home. Unfortunately, with Kagome being gone so often, they had only trained a few times in the following years.
"Ok, Souta, let me get up and dressed and I'll meet you outside in thirty minutes. Ok?" He smiled and ran out of her room. He may be as tall as she was, but he would always be her little brother.
"Thirty minutes, nee-chan!" he yelled as he ran downstairs.
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled. She was actually quite happy that her brother wanted to spend some time with her, even if it was, she checked the clock, seven in the morning! "Souta, you little brat, you are so dead when I find you!" she yelled, but she got up anyway. She had always felt guilty about missing so much of her brother's life while she was in the past. He had grown up without her. Besides, if he showed potential then maybe she would feel better leaving, knowing he could protect their family.
Twenty-nine minutes later Kagome stepped outside, wearing a pair of light blue cotton pants and a darker blue sleeveless shirt. She was not expecting the wooden sword that was currently barreling toward her head. Her training kicked in and she reached up and grabbed the sword by the hilt before it could cause her brain some serious damage. "Souta...." her voice saccharine sweet, "run, you little brat!" She started chasing him, laughing and flailing the sword around in a way she was sure would have Sango cringing.
After she had extracted suitable revenge, they decided to spar for real. They moved further into the shrine grounds. That way they wouldn't have to worry about hitting the people helping to set-up for the festival and they wouldn't have to help with the set-up themselves. The annoying feeling Kagome had last night was back and she looked around surreptitiously. She didn't sense anything wrong, so she decided to not let it keep her from sparring with Souta.
"Alright, squirt, let's see what you've learned while I was gone." It had been over a year since she had last sparred with him, so she really was curious how much he had improved. They both turned serious and dropped into their respective starting positions; Souta in a traditional Kendo stance and Kagome in whatever it was Sango had drilled into her for so long. She may not have a name for it, but her body had memorized the positions and moves she needed to make it work.
Seeing that her brother was waiting on her to make the first move, she slowly thrust her sword towards the middle of his body. It was one of the easiest attacks to dodge or parry, but she didn't want to hurt her brother. She was only mildly surprised when he blocked the blow and launched a quick counterattack. As she dodged his blow, she laughed, "Souta, I do believe you were trying to hit me!"
He just gave her a bland look. "That is the point, nee-chan," he said while continuing to attack. Kagome just danced away from his blows, only blocking when she had to. He was getting frustrated. "Nee-chan, take me seriously!"
"Oh, but I am, Souta," she said with serious eyes. "I know nothing about your style or your skill level, so I am merely evaluating your method of fighting. You should do the same when faced with an unknown opponent." As she said this she saw an opening and hit him firmly, yet gently, on the ribs. Souta looked down, ashamed.
"I'm sorry for doubting you, nee-chan. Let's start over." They both resumed their starting positions. This time Kagome attacked more forcefully, aiming for his weaker left side. He blocked her attack, as expected, but left himself open in the process. She attacked the opening and was slightly surprised when he barely managed to block.
She raised her eyebrows. "You've gotten pretty good, Souta." He smiled at her complement. They continued to spar for another hour, but it became obvious that Kagome was still much, much better than he was. She had been given more training and the instincts that she gained from fighting for her life could not be duplicated in a dojo. However, she gave him lots of pointers and he felt that the sparring had been very useful.
They decided to stop and go out for breakfast. They were hot and sweaty, but neither of them wanted to go back to the house to clean up because they would get drafted into working. Luckily there was a take-out place nearby and then they could go to the park to eat. They ran through the main part of the shrine, pretending not to hear their grandpa yelling at them. Once they reached the bottom of the steps, they both started laughing, until they heard their grandpa still yelling and getting closer. They looked at each other and took off again.
After they ate, they stayed in the park for most of the afternoon, talking and playing like children again. Kagome could almost forget the pain of duty and remember what it felt like to be free of responsibility. Plus she got to spend the entire day with her brother, who she found had turned into quite an intelligent man.
It was almost like an out-of-body experience; sitting here and talking to her brother, without a care in the world, just like she had so many years ago, before the whole Shikon no Tama fiasco. She once again felt a pang of sadness at everything she had missed in his life. She hugged him.
"What's wrong, nee-chan?" he asked, looking into her glistening eyes.
"Nothing, Souta. I'm just glad I got to spend the day with you. Why don't we head home, I'm sure the festival preparations are almost done by now," she winked and smiled.
"Ok," he stood up, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "I'll race you! Last one there has to do the dishes!" He took off while Kagome was still sitting down.
"Hey, no fair Souta! Get back here!" Kagome took off after him, letting him win while making it appear that she wasn't just letting him win. Dinner was a quiet affair, except when Grandpa had scolded them for not helping with the preparations. Kagome and Souta had just looked at each other and then looked innocently at Grandpa, as if to say "We're sorry but we don't know what you are talking about."
After dinner Kagome did the dishes while Souta gloated in the living room. She decided that she should practice her archery because she had to do a demonstration tomorrow and hadn't practiced at all. She wasn't worried; archery had became second nature to her. She figured it was only because she was the reincarnate of a long line of mikos, but she was now deadly accurate with a bow and arrows.
She went upstairs and turned the light on in her room and grabbed her bow and arrows. She also turned on the porch light. She only needed to barely be able to see the target and that would be plenty of light. She pulled a practice target into the pool of light and measured her steps back to her position. Although she was standing in the dark, the target was well lit and easy to see. She strung her bow and tested the line. Perfect.
She mentally reminded herself not to let her energy seep into the arrows. Although she was not using specially purified arrows, it was such a natural occurrence to shoot Hama no Ya that it did not matter what she shot, her miko would automatically wrap it in energy. She drew an arrow and automatically dropped into the correct stance. She cleared her mind and concentrated on the target as the slowly drew back the arrow. She concentrated her gaze on the target, willing the arrow to hit where she wanted it.
For some reason when she practiced archery she was more open to her miko energy than any other time except meditation. It was because of this that at the very last second she swung her bow around and fired an arrow into the Goshinboku. Her miko had finally pinpointed the cause of her unease. "That was merely a warning shot. Come out, youkai, or next time you won't be so fortunate," she stated in a deadly calm voice.
--
Hiei grimaced. He had kept his youki masked but he knew that the girl was suspicious. Apparently she now knew his exact location. He had watched her this morning, sparring with her brother, and through the rest of the day. She was moderately skilled with a sword, even though he knew she had been holding back from her brother. He wondered how skilled she would be when she was fighting at full strength.
He also noticed that she was continuing to mask her energy, probably because she still felt uneasy. There was just something so familiar about this woman. She reminded him of someone, far in his past, he just couldn't quite remember who it was. He watched her prepare to fire another arrow. 'I still have not talked to the fox. It is too dangerous to engage her in battle without knowing more about her.' Hiei jumped from the tree landing at the edge of the shrine steps and raced away into the deepening night.
--
Kagome sighed as once again the youkai disappeared. She briefly considered chasing him, but decided she should stay with her family in case it was merely a ploy to lure her away. She continued practicing for tomorrow, each arrow solidly hitting the target in exactly the right position. After thirty minutes she decided she was as good as she was going to get tonight and put the target away. She went to bed and dropped into the light sleep she used when they were on guard in the Feudal era.
Kagome awoke just as the sun was barely crossing the horizon. She knew she would need to be extra careful today and rose early to meditate. She went outside and sat under the Goshiboku. The tree always had a way of calming her spirit, allowing her to drop into meditation more easily. She called her energy, letting it slowly seep into the tree and the shrine grounds, searching for anything amiss. Nothing. While she meditated she was more open to sensing youki, so she scanned the surrounding area for any stray youkai. Nothing. She wasn't sure whether she should be happy or worried.
She re-masked her miko energy and the energy of the Shikon shards, masking them both against the Goshiboku. The tree almost seemed to have a living spirit and was very useful for masking energy. Only exceptionally powerful youkai or mikos would be able to sense that she was anything more than a normal human woman.
She slowly came out of her meditation. She noticed the sun was higher in the sky and people were starting to mill around, doing last-minute setup. She stood, stretching her muscles. She would go check the scrolls her grandpa liked to plaster on everything. He may not have any holy power, but it never kept him from trying.
Kagome had modified the scrolls he hung around the perimeter of the shrine. Instead of preventing any youkai from entering, which would also prevent Inuyasha from visiting, she had changed them to prevent youkai with evil auras or intentions. All youkai would be able to feel the purity in the air, but only those that attacked would feel the true power of the barrier.
Every time she visited she made sure to check on the scrolls and re-infuse them with energy. She was actually unsure if they would work at all, but she hoped they would never need to be tested. She could still feel energy radiating from the first scroll. Hopefully that meant that the youkai that had been on shrine property for the past two days did not intend to harm her or her family. All of the other scrolls were the same, which meant the barrier was still in place. She infused each of them with more power, just in case it would be needed today.
She headed back to the house intent on eating some lunch and then preparing for the festival. It wouldn't officially start until the middle of the afternoon, but she intended to be outside scanning the crowd much earlier. She stopped and smiled wistfully as she saw the neighborhood girls helping with the shrine dressed in red and white.
She remembered a time when she too would don the traditional miko robes without a care in the world. Now every time she had to wear them, she was reminded of Kikyo. It was not because she hated her—no, quite the opposite, actually. She felt only tremendous pity and sympathy for the poor woman. Kikyo had a very tragic history and Kagome couldn't help but wonder if she wouldn't be exactly the same if she was in Kikyo's place.
She had definitely hated Kikyo for a while, especially when she found that Inuyasha would never be able to love her for being Kagome, but instead, in some dark corner of his mind, because he thought of her as Kikyo. She had been returning the Feudal era for slightly over a year when it happened. She had come home crying her eyes out and vowing never to return.
It was a life-changing event for Kagome, her first serious crush and the heart-breaking disappointment that came when she realized it wasn't going to work. Of course, time heals all wounds and she began to realize that perhaps she hadn't loved Inuyasha as much as she had thought. She knew the pain would fade and eventually she would find someone to love her just as she was. So, two weeks later, she once again jumped into the well, back the Feudal era. She still felt a twinge in her heart every time she saw Inuyasha, but that too passed with time. Overall, their relationship had improved tremendously. They were almost as close as siblings, taking care of each other and watching each other's back.
Kagome was brought abruptly out of her thoughts by someone tugging on her hand. She looked down at one of the smaller girls dressed in red and white. "What is it, sweetheart?"
"Here, I got this flower for you because you looked so sad," the child help up a weed that vaguely resembled a flower.
She couldn't help but smile; it was just too adorable, the child standing there clutching the "flower" in her tiny little hands, smiling up at her.
Kagome carefully took the flower from the child and smiled at her. "Thank you sweetie, you've made me a lot happier. This flower is very beautiful, just like you," she smiled and winked at the child who laughed happily and ran back to the other girls.
Kagome continued toward the house. She stepped into the kitchen and found a vase to use for her flower. Although it wasn't very flower-like, it was the thought that counted and just seeing it reminded her of the happy little girl. She put the flower in water and fixed a light lunch. When she finished eating she put her plate in the sink and went to get ready.
--
"So Yuusuke didn't tell Koenma about the girl?" Hiei asked.
"No, he just told Koenma that the youkai was taken care of and apparently Koenma didn't feel the need to question him further, so Yuusuke didn't volunteer any information." Kurama paused, waiting to see if Hiei would say anything further. When he didn't, Kurama decided to change the topic. "So, Hiei, are you going with us to the festival?" Kurama tried not to let the pleading note slip into his voice, but if Hiei's expression was anything to go by, he had failed miserably.
"Hn. I believe I will go to keep an eye on Yukina. I won't let the miko harm her. I may stay around the perimeter, though." Hiei watched Kurama's face fall.
Kurama sighed. "Very well, Hiei. We should both get ready though, since we are supposed to meet the rest of the group in an hour," he said with a barely discernible grimace of distaste.
--
Kagome looked at herself in the mirror. Her mother really had done an outstanding job on her clothes. A miko stood staring back at her. With her hair back in the traditional style and the sorrow still lingering in her eyes, she looked almost exactly like Kikyo. She smiled, shattering the resemblance. 'I hope that you are happy, wherever you are, Kikyo.' Long ago and far away Kikyo paused, feeling a bit of warmth and happiness radiating from her soul. She smiled, 'Thank you, Kagome.'
--
Kagome wandered through the crowd, keeping her senses alert for any abnormal energy. She still had about half an hour until her archery demonstration and she was hoping everything would stay calm. 'Damn, I jinxed myself,' she thought ruefully as she felt the approach of two, possibly three, strong youkai. Since they were already on shrine property, she was hoping that it meant they were merely here for the festival. Her hand clutched more tightly around her bow as she moved in their direction.
She paused as she found herself staring at the two men that had chased her the other night. Today, however, they appeared to be here with their girlfriends, which hopefully meant they weren't a threat. The smaller girl with teal colored hair was definitely a youkai. The other two were harder to identify. The tall blue-haired girl was... something... but she wasn't emitting youki. Finally the guy with red hair definitely had youki, but he didn't really feel like a full-blooded youkai. 'A hanyou, perhaps? His aura doesn't feel the same as Inuyasha's either, though. He is one of the youkai that was chasing me the other night, why does his aura seem so familiar?'
--
Hiei tightened the grip on his katana as the miko approached his sister. He wouldn't flinch at killing her and going to the Reikai prisons for eternity if it meant that his sister would not die. The only thing holding him back was Youko's threat not to harm the girl. He wasn't sure why Youko was protecting her, but if she made one wrong move, he would kill her regardless of the consequences.
--
Kurama carefully watched the miko approach. Youko was bouncing around in his head, but he wouldn't reveal why he was so excited.
'Let me out, Suiichi!' Youko demanded.
'Absolutely not. We are in the middle of a crowd of humans, not to mention on the property of a sacred shrine. Can't you feel the purity in the air?'
'It won't bother me, just as it is not bothering Hiei or Yukina. Let me out!'
'No! I will not continue to argue about this,' Kurama replied.
'You will let me out, NOW!' Youko yelled, letting his youki swirl violently in their system. They were both surprised at the shock they received. Not enough to truly harm them, but enough to get their attention. Youko tried an experiment. He raised his youki further, and was shocked more vigorously. When he reigned his youki back in, the shocking ceased. 'That's my girl,' he thought quietly, 'you've built a fine barrier to protect your family.'
They all watched as the miko paused in her approach with the sharp rise in Kurama's youki. She moved slightly into a defensive stance and moved her bow for faster access. 'I guess that answers the question of her training.' Kurama thought. They saw her relax slightly as Kurama's youki went back to normal levels.
Kurama looked over to the other members of the group, but none of them seemed to sense anything wrong. In fact, they didn't even seem to realize that this was the same girl they had been chasing the other night. 'It's for the best, I guess.'
--
Kagome sighed, happy that she wouldn't have to fight a youkai battle right here on the shrine steps. She continued to approach the group cautiously. She stopped about eight feet from the group, far enough away that she would have time to create a barrier and block most attacks. She eyed each group member carefully, but none of them seemed intent on harming her. She smiled and bowed slightly, "Welcome to Higurashi Shrine, please enjoy the festival."
She glanced around. The youkai that had been here last night had returned, but she was unable to pinpoint his exact location. She hoped he was the other youkai that had been chasing here and therefore was here with the rest of his group. His aura had seemed familiar too, but he was masking it well enough now that she couldn't really detect anything about it. 'I wonder why he was still in hiding, if the rest of his group is out in the open?' she pondered to herself.
"Kagome-chan, you grandfather is looking for her. It's almost time for you archery demonstration," her mother called to her from a short distance away.
"Ok, mama. I'll be right there." She bowed once more to the group before her and the turned to follow her mother to the impromptu archery range. Her grandpa had already set up the targets and quite a large crowd was gathered to see the show. Kagome was hit full-force by a case of nervousness. 'Calm down, Kagome, you can do this. Remember that big nasty, slimy, disgusting youkai you killed a couple months ago? If you can do that, then shooting arrows at an unmoving target will be a piece of cake.' Unfortunately, the little pep talk didn't seem to be helping.
She took deep breaths while her grandpa introduced her and called even more people over. She knew once she started, everything would be fine--it was just the wait that was killing her. Finally, she was given the signal to begin. She looked at the target. It was a tiny, filled-in circle about a quarter of an inch across, surrounded by a circle with a circumference of twenty inches.
She took a deep steadying breath as she drew an arrow. 'Remember, no energy.' She notched it and drew back the string slightly. Her miko absently noted that the youkai she had been tracking had joined his friends, confirming her theory, and they were all standing slightly to her left. She smoothly drew the arrow back and concentrated on the target. She let go and the arrow hit directly in the center of the small middle circle. A perfect shot. Now to just duplicate that a few dozen times and she would be golden.
She quickly drew another arrow, getting into the rhythm. The arrow flew true and the satisfying sound of splitting wood could be heard. Another perfect shot. She was so focused that she didn't even hear the applause of the crowd. She had purposefully fired her worst arrow first, knowing that she was going to split it. She had learned the hard way that while splitting arrows looks cool, it left one with no arrows and making arrows in the Feudal era sucked, even with Inuyasha to quickly cut the wood into smaller pieces.
She had found that shooting patterns was more difficult than shooting the center every time. Her body would naturally take a stance that would leave her aiming at the center, but to minutely adjust that stance for each shot required a great deal of skill. It was because of this that when she heard the crowd sigh when she hit the dead center top of the outside circle she just smiled.
She quickly fired three more arrows, one each at the bottom, left, and right sides of the outer circle. The crowd was finally catching on that she was "missing" on purpose. Now for the more difficult part. She had to put four arrows between each of the existing arrows on the outside ring, making sure they landed exactly on the line and were spaced the same distance apart. She fired the remaining arrows in her quiver. All of her shots were pretty good, within a few millimeters of their intended target.
Her grandpa turned the target so the crowd could see exactly what she had done. Now for the part she was dreading. She retrieved her next quiver of arrows and went ahead and drew the first arrow. Her mother came over and blindfolded her, while her grandpa was explaining what she was about to do. Souta, of course had to help as well and spun her around a few times, just for good measure. "Souta, you are so dead when I get done with this. I should have let Gramps talk me into shooting that apple off of your head."
Souta just stuck his tongue out, even though he knew she couldn't see it. "Okay, Kagome. You are pointed directly at the target, it is in the same spot as the last one. Good luck." He moved back.
She sighed. 'I'm going to kill Gramps for talking me into this.' She took a deep breath and notched the arrow. She envisioned the target in her head and let the arrow fly. Judging by the lack of screaming, she had at least hit the target. The next arrow produced the sound of splitting wood. Well, so much for the easy ones. She fired the rest of her arrows, hoping that they at least sort of resembled a circle when she was done.
Once her last arrow was fired, she took off the blindfold, eager to see how she had done. Surprisingly, it didn't look much worse than her previous target. When Gramps held it up, the crowd erupted into applause. She smiled and bowed.
The crowd had dispersed, back to the main festival area and Kagome was walking around taking in the sights. The youkai were still on the property but had not caused any trouble so she she decided to leave them alone. Perhaps they really were here just to celebrate. She was glad her archery demonstration had went well, she had been slightly worried when her grandpa told her the plan.
Well, the second plan, at least. The first plan had involved Inuyasha and a recreation of the legend of the Shikon no Tama but she had adamantly refused, even though her grandpa really wanted it. He had even used the "Well, I am getting older now..." card. It was one issue she refused to budge on, so that is why she agreed to shoot blindfolded. Then, of course, he wanted her to shoot Hama no Ya and the argument started up all over again.
She was pulled from her thoughts by someone calling her name. She looked around. 'Oh no, please, please don't be who I think it is.' Sure enough, Houjou was making his way towards her. She tried to turn around and disappear into the crowds, but the wall of people behind her wouldn't budge. 'What have I done to deserve this?' she thought miserably.
"Higurashi, wait up!" Houjou called. He finally made his way over and immediately started blushing and stammering.
'Just get it over with already.' Kagome thought impatiently.
"Ah, Higurashi, I was wondering if you would like to accompany me... here... around the festival. Your grandpa said you weren't busy anymore so you could have fun now."
'Gramps is so dead. So dead! Okay, just think quickly.' Kagome sighed. "I'm sorry Houjou-kun, I'm busy." Well, she was lying through her teeth, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Ah, Higurashi, you don't seem to be doing anything..." Houjou trailed off.
Kagome reached around behind her and grabbed the first arm she felt, praying whoever it was would play along. "Well you see Houjou, my friend and I were just about to, umm... take down the archery range! Yes, that's it! So I'm really busy and I'll have to talk to you later. Bye!" Kagome stalked off, muttering under her breath about dense, stupid boys and their lack of ability to take a hint.
When she got to the archery range, well away from Houjou, she realized she was still dragging her poor victim along. "Hey, I'm sorry about that, if you need me to apologize to your date, I certainly will. I just really needed to get away from that guy." She turned around and caught the first glimpse of her savior. Her eyes widened and her breath caught as she pointed at him dumbly, "You! You can't be...."
---------------------------
Ah finally! I've been dreaming about this ending since around page six and now I'm on page sixteen. Yikes. There were so many other good cliffhanger opportunities in this chapter, but this is the one I really wanted.
Here's a question for all of you Mediaminer authors. How do you get Mediaminer to correctly recognize the number of pages? All of my chapters are showing up as one page and it's starting to bother me. Right now I'm using RTF format and I have a feeling that is the problem.
I'm going to go back and reformat the chapters (no content changes), so if you have email alerts turned on, you may get a lot of alert spam. Sorry about that.