Golden Fire
Chapter 1: Halloween

Inuyasha let me put my arm around his, but I knew that he wasn't just indulging me. The loud music and general raucous made him uneasy.

"Is the music hurting your ears?" I asked. I didn't have to yell, so I hoped for the best.

"No, not really. It's okay." He was looking around with a mixture of disgust and awe on his face. I realized that the smell would probably be overpowering, but before I could ask, he spoke again. "What are those people doing?" He pointed to the middle of the living room.

I stifled a laugh. "They're dancing, silly."

He snorted. "You call that dancing?"

I couldn't reply because my friend came up to me. "Hana! Hi! Thanks for inviting us. me." I shot a glare towards Inuyasha, but he wasn't looking.

Hana was dressed as an angel. She wasn't a close friend, but even I knew that she must have chosen it for its irony. "Kagome! And who's this?" She gave a seductive glance towards Inuyasha.

"Just a friend. Inuyasha." I said his name before I could stop myself. Hana stopped staring at him and turned to me. I felt Inuyasha turn towards me and I mentally slapped myself.

"Interesting name. Well, I hope you guys have fun!" She bounced away.

"What was that for? Isn't that kinda obvious when you call me the demon that I am?" His tone was angry but his eyes told the truth. He was happy that I had slipped up for once. Oh, I'd never live this one down.

At that moment, I noticed a girl watching us. She had on pants, a tank top, a jacket and boots. They were all made of black leather. "She must be going for a Matrix look," I told myself. I should have taken more notice of her then. She was clearly older than everyone in the room by at least two years. It was my own mistake when I turned from her gaze and joined the party.

A few hours later, Inuyasha and I were slowly walking back to the shrine. I was surprised to learn that he had enjoyed the party and wished to know when the next Halloween was.

"It's only once a year. I'm sorry, Inuyasha. But I promise to bring you to a party every year on Halloween."

He scoffed. "Hey. I didn't enjoy it that much. Don't get ideas in your head."

"Oh, our poor little hanyou feels left out."

"Oh, shut up, will you? Feh. humans. They never leave a guy alone."

I sighed and went inside. Souta was still up and awake, counting his candy while Grandpa and Mom watched. We greeted them and barely had closed the door when the doorbell rang.

"Now, who could that be?" My mom opened the door. "Oh, hello. You must be one of Kagome's friends." She stepped aside and let the visitor in. But the girl was not one of my friends. She was the girl in leather from the party. When I didn't greet her, my mother frowned. "Excuse me, are you sure you have the right house?"

The girl wasn't smiling. She looked at my mother and then at me and Inuyasha. "You are Higurashi Kagome, are you not?"

"Yes. Who are you?" I put my hand on Inuyasha's arm, which had moved to draw out Tetsusaiga. "I recognize you from the party, but I don't think we've ever met."

"No," she agreed, "we didn't. I am Yuki. I admit that I was at that party to find you."

I looked at her. She didn't look anything except tired so I offered her a seat and asked her to explain.

"Thank you," she said. She settled down next to my grandfather. Even Souta stopped counting his haul to look at Yuki. "Kagome, if I may call you that, I really don't want to be melodramatic, but I must be for sake of time. People want to kill you and are coming soon."

Silence fell. Then I laughed. "This must be a joke. And if it isn't a joke of humans, it must be a joke of the gods. I'm always in danger!"

Yuki glared at me and stood up. I stopped laughing and realized that her small frame was quite overpowering. She crossed her arms. "This is serious. You will die if you stay here. The reason I know is that I am one of the many sent to kill you." She reached under her jacket on both sides and pulled out guns with silencers. My mother gave out a silent scream and my grandfather put his head in his hands. Inuyasha hesitated a moment, not knowing what the strange metal objects were, but soon realized they were dangerous. In a flash, Tetsusaiga was drawn and pointed at Yuki.

She held up her arms and slowly placed the guns on the table before her. I was the only one who hadn't moved. "Who are you?" I asked her.

Yuki looked at me. "Isn't it obvious? I told you. I'm Yuki. I'm an assassin hired to kill you."

"But I'm still here."

She waved her hand at me. "That does not matter. I could have killed you two weeks ago when the assignment was given to me, but I didn't. I was told to kill Higurashi Kagome and steal the jewel around her neck. But I became curious. I am the best assassin my employers have, and yet they send me to kill a little girl? I am no common thug. I reminded them that I do not kill children and I only kill women when they threaten my own life. They told me that you were a youkai. They expected me to believe in fairy tales because I worked for them. They expected me to act like a common thief, to steal a rock from a dead girl's neck."

"They must have paid you though," I said. I realized quickly that it sounded like encouragement for her to kill me.

She sent a piercing stare towards me. "Money or no, I have my own values to uphold. I came to investigate before I killed you. If you had been a youkai, I might have done it, but so clearly you were not. By rejecting an order, I have signed my own death warrant with the Yakuza. I have already killed three thugs sent to murder me. Next time they will not be so careless. They'll send an assassin. They will send my arch-rival, known only as Black Death." She paused and looked at Souta, whose eyes were filled with fear. That's when I noticed he was still there, listening to a girl talking about the impending death of his sister. Yuki turned her attention back to me, and her eyes softened. "Do not be fooled. They have not forgotten about you. I have kept watch over you for the past two weeks, but soon they'll send an army to kill a girl."

"No way! Nothing is going to happen to her!" Inuyasha still had Tetsusaiga drawn. I could see that he didn't trust Yuki, although she had clearly risked her life to simply see me.

She closed her eyes and her voice dimmed down to a whisper. "You are right. Nothing will happen to Kagome. If I must leave the Yakuza, then I must employ myself to another. If she is willing, I will protect her with my life until the threat has passed."

I stood up to face her. "No, Yuki. I'm flattered that you are willing to do these things, but I have somewhere to go. A place I know I'll be safe in."

"And your family?" she asked.

I bit my lip. "But they're looking for me. Why would they hurt them?"

Yuki gave a short, cruel laugh. "Why do cats hunt even though they are fed in warm homes? Why do dogs bark to protect borders they have no control over? Because it's in their blood, and to them, it is the essence of living."

My mother came over to me. "Kagome, go and escape. Take Inuyasha with you. I know he'll protect you. Let us worry about ourselves."

I sat down and put my head on my hand. "So they're all trying to kill me for a jewel they probably know nothing about."

Yuki nodded. "I know these men. I have been working for them for years and have been watching them that entire time. They don't know why this jewel is important. I am myself knowledgeable in the legend of the Shikon no Tama, but until I saw you two weeks ago, I thought it was just a myth. The stories tell of its great power, but I do not think that is enough to motivate my bosses. They are vicious leaders of a vicious gang and have many talents, but wisdom is not among them. I believe the Yakuza has fallen to a greater power. What that is, I cannot say."

Inuyasha bent down beside me. "Kagome, let's go. You should be safe."

I was so lost in my own thoughts that his uncharacteristic kindness did not strike me as odd. Instead I looked towards my family. "Mom, Grandpa, Souta, I'm not leaving you here to wonder if you're going to die for my sake. You're all going to come with me. You can stay with Kaede."

Yuki picked up her guns slowly and put them back under her jacket. "Kagome, I must come with you. I have no life here and can protect you with my guns better than this boy can protect you with his blade."

Inuyasha growled at this but said nothing. I only looked at her. "Yuki, I don't mean to be rude. But you would never believe where I'm going for refuge and if what you say is true, I don't have time to explain. Believe me when I say there are dangers there that only Inuyasha can handle. As unlikely as this sounds, you'll be safer here. I'm sure you'll escape."

She stared at me. "Kagome, I have been following you for two weeks. I know about the well."

A/N: There - a longer chapter. Mainly because I'm going away for a few days and won't be here to update. But don't worry! If you're hooked (as you should be. haha) then you'll get another fix in a few days. Yuki will accompany the others down the well and then she's got some splainin' to do. Side note - I'm really trying to keep this fic centered on Kagome and Inuyasha, although this chapter really doesn't convey that (predictably. someone needed to explain things.) So if I don't go enough into the whole IY/K side of things enough for you guys, tell me!

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