Disclaimer: I own nothing.
New Love
Inside Kurama's head
Flashback
Shuuichi speaking
Kurama speaking+
Youko speaking
Hiei speaking
'Thinking'
As a young, raven haired woman, browsed though a candy shop, memories of her friends flooded her mind. She had stopped by the strawberry section when someone bumped into her from behind.
She quickly turned around to apologize when a pair of vivid green eyes captured her full attention. The eyes held a certain mischievous spark that reminded her of her own adopted son. The more she remembered, the more tears started to form in her smoky gray eyes.
The young man was stunned; a small bump like that had hurt the young woman in front of him so much. He needed to keep his youkai strength under more control. Looking at the girl again, he felt a tug at his heart. He wasn't one for making girls cry, so he did the only thing he could think of; comfort her as best as he could.
"Please don't cry. I didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident. Please don't cry." said the red headed young man.
The sound of his voice had pulled her out of her memories. She looked at him as his words ran through her mind trying to make sense of them. After fully understanding what he had said and she chuckled, earning a curious look from him. "Oh. I'm sorry, but I'm not crying because you bumped into me... your eyes remind me of my son. I..." She trailed off when a lump had formed in her throat and more tears started forming in her eyes.
The man seemed to understand. But he couldn't help it; he had to know what happened. "How did you loose him?"
"I had to leave him behind with my best friend. I couldn't bring him with me: it would have been too overwhelming for him.'
"Do you hear from him?"
"No. I don't even know if he is still alive. I can't even contacted him because he's a yo-" that's when she realized what she was about to say. 'Great. What now? I'm sure he's gonna ask me to keep going, but I can't tell him about Shippo being a kitsune. If I do tell him about youkai, he'll probably laugh at me and then call an asylum. Oh, man. I better change the subject.'
Behind them a man with black hair and crimson red eyes held a look of astonishment on his usually expressionless face.
She looked up to realize that she had closed her self off in her worry, causing the young red headed to give her a curious stare waiting for her to go on.
"Sorry, I guess I just zoned out." She explained with a nervous chuckle. "Besides I'm just not ready to tell my story."
The young man just nodded in understanding. "Oh, that's okay; I just hope that I didn't do much damage to your emotional wounds."
The girl just chuckled at his sincerity. "I'm sure you didn't."
"Good." He said with a heart warming smile.
She looked pointedly at him for a couple of seconds. But in those few seconds she was able to search his soul to where she got a piece of information that would really help her out of this situation. With a slight chuckle she put her information to work. "My name's Kagome. And I'm gonna go out on a limb here but I think (she turned around and picked up a lollipop from a container) that your favorite flavor would have to be strawberry." She gave him the lollipop and waited for his reaction. When she got it, it was disbelief, shock, and amusement. "Good I'm glad I guessed right. But if you'll please excuse me I have to go now. Bye."
She started to walk away, but stopped briefly to take a closer look at the man with the crimson eyes that was staring at her. She examined him before she walked away with a slight blush gracing her peach cream skin. After she had left the store the young redhead looked at his young friend with worry.
"Hiei, what's wrong?"
Hiei started from his staring and looked at his friend. "Kurama, I..." He couldn't finish because he was still confused about what just happened. When he finally got his wits back he turned to them with a face of worry. "Follow her" was all he said before heading for the door.
Hiei followed the girl named Kagome at a distance, since she had gotten a pretty good head start. He wasn't running so he wouldn't gain unwanted attention.
Kagome was at a curb waiting for the light to turn green so she could cross the road. She knew someone was following her so she decided to check who it was. She took out her compact mirror and made it look like she was applying more makeup. As she was closing it she looked behind her in the compact. She saw the small group of people she was talking to at the candy shop and they were watching her intently.
So she did the only thing she could think of. She muttered a small hypnotizing spell below her breath. Soon everyone had turned around to face the four unwanted males. Their eyes glowed a bit due to the magic. They formed a tight circle around them not giving them much chance at escaping. They weren't allowed to use their unnatural strength in public. So they were stuck there.
Meanwhile Kagome was running down the street as fast as she could. When an alley came into view, she turned and ran down it until she came to a dead end. Then muttering something under her breath, she glowed a light green color and then in a blinding flash she disappeared.
While Kagome was running away the boys were having trouble getting away from the zombie-like crowd. They couldn't do anything without revealing their secret profession. So they had to stay put until the spell wore off.
After a couple of minutes everyone started to wake up. They hadn't realized that they were hypnotized and went back to whatever they were doing before.
After giving each other a confused look, they went after Kagome in the direction Kuwabara saw her go.
"Alright, can some one tell me why in the world we are doing what the shrimp says?" asked Kuwabara, a little annoyed.
They had searched an alley that was exploding with powerful magic, and the trail was still fresh which meant that either she was close or she left just recently.
"Hn. Portal. NOW." commanded Hiei.
"Phew, that was one close call. I hope they can't follow my trail this far, otherwise I'm in big trouble." said Kagome entering her house.
'The boy in black was weird. I;ve been feeling weird ever since I spoke to 'Strawberry' (her nickname for Kurama until she knows it) and almost let 'youkai' out. Weird.' she thought as she pulled out her homework. 'Hope I NEVER have to see him again. It'd be too weird.'
"So what seems to be the problem here." asked a perplexed Koenma. He was the one who usually called the emergency meetings, not Hiei.
"Well, we were wondering the same thing. Hiei has been acting weird ever since we met Kagome at the candy shop. Then he made us chase after her without explaining himself." informed Kurama. He, too, was a little perplexed as to why Hiei was so nervous about a human, a human girl no less.
They all watched as Hiei paced around the room with a frown on his face. He was too deep in thought to notice that they were staring at him. Only when Kurama spoke to him did he realize that he was not alone.
"Hn. Major problem. That human girl knows about demons." said Hiei. "And she was able to kick me out of her mind."
Everyone gasped.
"Wait, wait, wait! You mean to tell me that she kicked you out of her mind! But I thought that was IMPOSSIBLE!" yelled Yusuke, Hiei's worry was really getting to him.
"It's near impossible. You have to have a Jagan eye to do that. How she did it, I don't know..." trailed off Hiei. He was still worried about what he saw in her mind.
"I saw demons, strong demons, one was even near impossible to beat. They were constant as if she saw them every other day. There were so many, it's a miracle she is still alive today. Some attacked by the dozen, hundreds. Most were foes, but others were friends." Even though everyone else had heard him, ranted Hiei to himself. They stayed silent knowing there was more to come.
"I saw mikos, humans and demons living together. I saw demons fighting along side humans." Hiei paused to recollect what he saw in her memories. With a startled revelation he continued. "I saw… the Shikon No Tama."
Kurama, Koenma and Botan had heard the last part. They were beyond stunned. They all knew of the Shikon's power and they knew that this would mean more trouble than they needed right now.
Higurashi Shrine
Kagome was in her backyard trying to meditate. But she couldn't; her mind kept wandering back to the young man with the crimson eyes who was rummaging through her mind.
Flashback
She was talking to 'Strawberry' when she started to feel something was wrong. She realized someone was going through her mind. 'But who could it be?' She decided to end this once and for all. So she did the only thing she could think of. She looked through 'Strawberry's' soul to find something that would help her. When she found it, she put it to work for her.
After she had excused herself, she looked at the black haired guy and instantly knew it was him going through her mind. She pushed him out of her mind with a little miko power and put up a wall to protect her mind.
Unfortunately, her wall came up after he got one more memory from her. When she realized which memory slipped through, she let out an embarrassed blush.
It was one of her stepping out of a hot spring, dripping wet and naked.
End
"Argg! This is so frustrating!" yelled Kagome. She couldn't concentrate on her meditation. Her traitorous mind kept going back to the black haired man. 'Sure, he's cute, but that's no reason to make it hard on myself to forget him. I need to forget him like all the others.' reasoned Kagome.
Out of frustration, she got up and walked into the mini forest on the Higurashi property. She entered a clearing that you would pass by if you didn't know it was there.
The birds and animals sang and played in the small clearing, knowing nothing would disturb there peaceful little sanctuary. The grass was a healthy green, with small colorful forest flowers dotting the happy ground. At the far end, a shallow creek bubbled its way south, singing of its adventures in reaching its destination. In the middle of the clearing, there was a big tree that greatly resembled a beautiful weeping willow in appearances and stature.
To the normal human, it was only a tree, but to animals (although they wouldn't be able to tell you), someone with high spirit energy, a youkai, or a miko it glowed green with the power of nature. Instead of leaves hanging from the delicate green vines, there were light blue blossoms; they glowed intensely with her blue powers. They were a symbol of her purity and healing powers. Inside of the flowers were small leaf- shaped seeds that glowed pink with love; they represented her blessings to Shippo and his family, wherever they were.
She walked up to the tree without disturbing the frolicking animals, as if it were an everyday occurrence. Kagome rested a hand in the brown bark. The instant she touched the wood, it hummed with life, life of her grown kitsune son and his family. All of her frustration and paranoia disappeared with the knowledge of them still alive and well. She was relaxed and ecstatic to know that she would be getting a new bouncing baby grandson soon. The tree was her way of getting knowledge of Shippo and his doings. She knew everything that happened with Shippo and his family. No one was ever able to communicate with her and the tree; all except for one little mischievous kitsune. Her now deceased grandson and he had never told anyone how to contact her through the tree. She had insisted that it would be their own little secret. She regretted that now. She missed talking to a kitsune or any other demon for that matter.
Spirit World
"So what you're saying is, that girl has the universe's most powerful artifact and you didn't know about it." yelled Yusuke, his emotions going haywire. He knew what could happen if someone's evil hands got the Shikon no Tama, and he didn't like the vision that had embedded itself in his brain.
"Yes. You must bring me that girl. Her knowledge of the Shikon can help you get it and put it somewhere where evil beings can't reach It." said Koenma urging them to go, before something bad happened. "And get her here by any means necessary. ANY AT ALL." yelled Koenma at there retreating backs.
The YYH gang was walking down the street where they last saw Kagome, when Yusuke stopped all of the sudden having had a sudden insight.
"Wait. How the hell are we supposed to know where Kagome lives?" asked Yusuke. He was agitated due to his lack of information with this mission. "Koenma knew next to nothing about Kagome and her powers, but she used her it like an expert. HOW THE HELL DOES THAT HAPPEN?" all but whispered Yusuke. He was really in a bad mood today.
"We will just have to use our senses. Hiei and I will try to track her with our sense of smell and you and Kuwabara can track her with her spirit energy." ordered Kurama. He really didn't like the idea of the Shikon no Tama in the hands of such a young protector.
"How will you guys know which scent belongs to her? Did you memorize it?" asked Kuwabara. He was curious as how they were supposed to do this near impossible mission without the much needed information.
"Well. Yes, I did." said Kurama with a light blush. Yusuke raised an eyebrow at the slightly pink red head in front of him.
"I couldn't help it; she has a unique scent." said Kurama defending himself.
Hiei silently regarded the kitsune. He agreed she had a scent that he was sure no one would ever forget; he knew he couldn't nor would he try. The humans had a disgusting scent no matter how many times they bathed. While her scent was of sakura blossoms mixed with freshly melted snow, and it tingled his nose just the right way.
He also knew the fox was thinking along the same lines. He really didn't like the ideas and images going through his head, except the one of the girl dripping wet and naked.
Clearing in a forest behind the Higurashi Shrine
Kagome was leisurely laying on two large branches, trying her hardest to keep the memories that were begging to be viewed at bay. But they, apparently, had different ideas.
Flashback
It was night time and everyone was asleep, well except for…
"Kagome… " whispered InuYasha, drawing the futuristic miko close to him.
"Oh, InuYasha. I'm so happy. We have finally defeated Naraku. And the jewel has been finished." said the raven haired teenager, relishing in this rare and unique show of affection. "But what now? What will become of me?" asked Kagome, letting her worry seep into her voice.
"You'll stay and become my mate… if you want to." said the hanyou, anxious to hear if she would except her offer.
"Oh InuYasha, really? Is that what you really want?" asked Kagome pulling away from him so she could look him in the eye.
"Yes. That's exactly what I want." said InuYasha with a small smile that made the female in his arms melt. She leaned back against him with a content sigh.
All of a sudden, InuYasha sniffed the wind that delicately blew his hair behind him. His eyes flashed red before returning to their normal molten color. He looked down at the girl in his arms; she was snuggling closer to him wanting the warmth his body had to offer.
She had fallen asleep, tired of the previous days events. He gently jumped down from the tree they occupied and quietly walked in the hut, set the girl down, and raced back outside and headed south ward.
Meanwhile in the hut, Kagome's eyes snapped open. She quickly sat up, waking the young kitsune that had immediately attached himself to her being when InuYasha had set her down.
He tenderly rubbed his eyes and looked at his mother figure curiously. "Okaa-san, what's wrong?" asked the concerned kitsune kit.
She slowly turned her suddenly turned smoky gray eyes to look at her adopted son. Her eyes shone in the pale moonlight with unshed tears. She whispered only one word that made her protective kit growl.
"Kikyo…"
End
She was taken out of her alternate state of mind by the snapping of a twig. In the blink of an eye she was at the base of the tree in a fighting stance preparing to attack anyone that encouraged her to.
When no one attacked she sent out miko powers to do a quick scan on the perimeter. It turned out to be her cat, Buyo. He seemed to be wounded, if his flickering spirit energy was any sign to the feline's well being.
She carefully headed in the direction of Buyo, so as not to scare him. When she got there she noticed that he was badly injured, as if he had gotten into a fight with a much stronger cat. Kagome gently washed away the blood caked onto his fur and used her healing powers to heal Buyo.
She waited for a few seconds before he stirred. His amber eyes stared into her blue one's. then he bound off to chase a few birds. With a sigh she got up and started to slowly walk back to her tree. She climbed into her branch and fell into a deep slumber.
Kurama and the others were walking down the street near a high school, Sakouranki High to be exact, when Kurama suddenly stopped.
"Yo, Kurama. What's wrong?" asked Yusuke, concerned for his kitsune teammate.
"I feel it." answered a spaced out Kurama. He seemed to be concentrating on something only he could detect.
"Feel what?" question Kuwabara.
"The tree." answered Youko, as Shuuichi's eyes turned molten gold.
"Huh?" came Yusuke's predictable reply
Inside Kurama's mind
Youko, what's wrong? inquired the young red-head.
It's my mom's old tree. But- answered the fox.
But what? asked Shuuichi.
But she died a long time ago. I know she did. came the soft reply.
So, what does the tree have to do with this? asked Shuuichi.
The tree was connected spiritually to her. answered Youko as if this explained everything.
Which means? asked a frustrated human.
It means that if she died, then so would her tree. answered a bewildered Youko wondering how come the human didn't know this already.
Shuuichi ignored his tone of voice. Instead, he made an observation. But, if that's true … then what are you sensing?
… no reply.
Youko? concern was laced into his question.
… Maybe she was telling the truth all along. said Youko to himself.
The truth? Truth to what? Shuuichi pondered.
It's too hard to explain. Why don't I show you instead? Youko didn't wait for a reply.
Youko's flashback
A small demon child was walking all alone in the forest. He looked to be about 5 or 6 years of age. He had long silver hair and a puffy silver tail. His golden eyes shined with intelligence. His body was of a nice build (one that a child could have) and his posture seemed to say 'I'm a force to be reckoned with.' He was wearing a white fighting kimono.
As he was walking down a secluded path in the forest, he was intercepted by two tiger youkai and a hawk. One tiger was a female, while the other was male. The hawk was a male as well.
"Why, hello there little one. I'm Takuya." said the female tiger.
"I'm Yasui." verbalized the male tiger.
"And I'm Riku. Don't bother remembering are names 'cause were the last people you'll ever see again." stated the hawk.
"That's what you think." snarled Youko.
The hawk flew into the air and dived at Youko. Before the youkai hit him, Youko jumped out of the way and clawed at his right wing. Riku roared in pain and anger, then aimed for Youko again. This time Youko used his energy to create vines from the blades of grass. He used this as a distraction to plant a seed into the demon's body. While Riku was busy struggling with the amateur's attack, said amateur coax the seed to grow. Riku stopped struggling and instead of anger, pain and surprise marred the demon's face. But, before he could say a thing, blades of grass burst from his body. He fell to the forest ground; dead.
Before Youko could attack the other youkai, a claw slashed at him from his left 'causing a large gash to appear across his chest. He turned to look at his attacker. It was the female tiger and she was on the verge of youkai rage. Youko was tired; he had used so much of his energy killing the last youkai.
Yelping out in pain, Youko turned to his right were he had just been attacked from behind. It looked as if the youkai were going to fight at the same time. Slowly he backed away from both youkai knowing in his heart that this would be his last battle.
At the same time, both youkai pounced. But they were thrown half way across the clearing by two different, and much more welcoming youkai.
The first was a female kitsune and she was a little bit shorter than the second youkai. She had blue eyes, long black hair, black kitsune ears and two black fox tails. Her face was adorned with the symbols of the northern lands; a crimson star on her forehead and two orange stripes on her cheeks. The male was tall, well built and he had auburn hair and ears and three auburn tails. He had the same markings as the female. Both were standing protectively in front of the kit.
"You will not hurt this kit." grounded out the male.
"We'd like to see you try and stop us." yelled the female. "He killed my mate."
"Doesn't matter. Leave now or else you suffer the consequences." said the female.
"NO! You won't make me go away with out revenge." responded the male.
And with the conversation finished, the tigers, once again, pounced. But, soon it became apparent that the kistune were stronger and in the end they defeated the tigers without breaking a sweat.
"Well, that was fun." exclaimed the female.
"Indeed." responded the male.
With an air of surprise the female suddenly turned around to face the kit that was carefully watching their moves calculating the reasons behind their actions.
"Hello, my names Akiyami and this is Shippo, my mate. What's your name?" asked the now named Akiyami.
"Youko Kurama." answered Youko. "Well, Youko, where's your family?" probed Shippo.
"Dead." replied Youko indifferently.
"Oh, well why don't you come with us? We could train you and you would be sheltered and protected. Would you like that?" coaxed Akiyami.
Youko stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, weighing his options. After a while Youko nodded his head. Akiyami, happy that he would come with them, scooped him up in her arms and giggled. All throughout the exchange, Shippo had stood back and watched the way they interacted. He realized how much she reminded him of his mother, and how much he loved them both. He couldn't help but stare. Of course, Akiyami noticed.
"What?" she asked a little peeved. She didn't like it when people stared at her.
"Nothing. It's just that you remind me so much of Kagome, haha. chuckle She always did say that men usually chose women who reminded them of their mothers as mates. 'Scientifically proven.' She was right."
Akiyami giggled and hugged the chiisai Youko closer to her. Shippo smirked at her actions and walked up to her. He put his arm around her shoulders and they started to walk into the forest looking like a real family.
End flashback
This really doesn't explain about your mother, Youko. Besides you told the female kitsune that your mother died. interrupted Shuuichi.
She did and I'm not done yet. grounded out the fox spirit.
So, the demoness became your surrogate mother? questioned the curious ningen.
No, I was never close enough to her to like her like that. informed Youko.
Then who DID you like? asked the exasperated human.
… Hello, Hiei. Like the story so far? If not, you could always stop eavesdropping. hinted Youko. He really didn't like the idea of so 'many' people knowing of his past.
Hiei, of course, got the idea. But, he wanted to know why the kitsune was acting so strange. So, he decided to annoy him. Hn, it's better than anything in the baka's mind. baited the koorime.
As predicated, Youko took the bait. Are you comparing me to that HUMAN?
ENOUGH! Hello, Hiei. Welcome to the audience, want popcorn? No? Well then, Youko, you can continue your story now. AND NO MORE FIGHTING, YOU'RE GIVING ME A HEADACHE! yelled the usually tranquil human.
Hn. came the indifferent reply.
Well, as I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted. glare It had been a year… proceeded the thief.
Stamp.
Stamp.
Sigh.
Carefully the Reikai prince stopped his work and asked the question that was bugging him. "Botan, do you think they'll find her in time?" asked Koenma. He looked up expecting to see a pair of bubble-pink eyes observing his face for any clues. Instead he found himself looking at the top of Lady Death cotton-candy blue hair.
Without looking up, she responded. "I don't know, sir." After a strenuous silence, the deity looked up with pleading eyes. "What will we do if they don't, Koenma-sama?"
Sigh "I don't know Botan; we just have to pray that the boys find her in time. If not all three worlds could be in danger… I just don't understand how come we never sensed the presence of the jewel."
"Perhaps she has been protecting the jewel." Botan suggested.
"Perhaps. But we still can't take the chance that it's protecting her and not the other way around."
"I suppose you're right, sire."