Title : Arrows and Whips

Disclaimer : I do not own Inu Yasha and YuYu Hakusho.

"..." Talking

'...' Thinking

Scene change

...... Telepathy

Previous Chapter:

"Even the shrimp can't trace them." teased Kuwabara. He received a death glare.

"Hn." Hiei walked away.

"What's with him?" Kuwabara scratched the back of his head.

Chapter 11:

Kagome woke up from the sound of the birds chirping. The sunlight assaulted her eyes through the leaves. She moaned slightly and sat up before stretching her body. She let out a small yawn and rubbed her sleepy eyes. It's been a week since she went to Sengoku Jidai.

A couple weeks after school started, Kagome had decided to go to Sengoku Jidai by herself. Shippo and Souta had argued about this since they also want to come. Kagome wanted to bring Shippo with her, but by bringing him, Souta would undoubtedly used him as his reason to go with her. Fortunately, Shippo understood and stayed at the modern era.

Kagome managed to avoid Inuyasha's group during her shard hunting. As far as she knew, Inuyasha had not yet noticed that she was a demon, since the last time she fought him, he was in his demon rage and most probably won't remember anything.

She picked some scents that Inuyasha refused to identified near the Well : Kikyo's and Naraku's . They were very faint, but she caught enough to confirm her suspicions.

She was going home that day. She knew if she stayed too long, she would stirred the curiosity of the Spirit Detectives, minus Hiei and she didn't need them snooping around and get in her way. She sighed. In her old school, everyone would believe at the false stories her grandpa made and she could stay as long as she wanted to. She gave the responsibilities to Souta now since he could think more logical then her grandpa. In fact, anyone was more logical than him.

While thinking about her dreaded school, she packed and started to jump from tree to tree towards the Well. She knew that she would has to stay at school until late, in the favor of her lessons, and that thought nearly made her groaned. She had tried, but she would never like the place called school.

'Well, if only lessons, I can get Kurama to tutor me later.' she thought. She slipped and almost fell to the ground if her demon senses didn't kicked in. She landed on her feet gracefully before jumping to the trees again. 'Where the hell did that thought come from?!' she mentally screamed. She threw out every thoughts which were related to something called 'romance' in order to return to the Well safely without anymore slipping.

Kagome jumped out of the Well with ease. She felt a familiar presence in the God Tree and smiled softly. She proceeded to the said tree and found the person she was looking for.

"Hello Hiei!" she greeted as she reached the God Tree. A curt nod was her reply. Kagome rolled her eyes at the Hiei-ese reply, but brushed it off as daily occurrences.

"Momma!"

"Kagome!"

Kagome turned to her son -who tackle her at the sight- and her brother -who had started to call her with her name instead of 'Sis'.

"Missed me?" Kagome laughed. Shippo mumbled a 'yes' in her shirt while Souta only nodded. "Hiei, do you want-" she looked up only to find that her surrogate brother had left. She shrugged. He often did that, only to make sure that she was safe (he never actually said it though). She was grateful for his attention. Her son tugged her clothes and they all went back into the house and enjoy a nice, warm dinner.

"Higurashi!" the teacher exclaimed in surprise. "I thought you broke your leg."

Kagome sweatdropped. She would have stayed longer should she knew that was supposed to have a broken leg. "Well...Yeah, but it was not that bad." she laughed nervously.

The teacher accepted her explanation without any further questions. She let out the breath she was holding and sat down in relief. Not long, she felt a sharp gaze on her back and when the teacher was facing the board, she stole a glance and surely Kurama was staring thoughtfully at her. She visibly stiffened and berated herself for ignoring the fact that an ex-bandit was in the class before uttering a lie. And so, Kagome spent the whole class uncomfortably, hoping that her lie wouldn't be uncovered.

"Minamino."

Kurama turned from the door he was about to exit to the teacher. "Yes, sir?"

"Can you take these notes to Higurashi's house? I forgot to give them to her just now." he requested lightly.

"Sure." Kurama agreed without thinking as he took the notes from the teacher.

"Thank you." the teacher looked relieved. "Ah, and tell her that there'll be math test tomorrow."

Kurama made his way to the shrine without any problems. His luck, however, left him when he ascended the stair to the shrine. A sudden surge of pain caused him to stumbled and fell to his knees. He gritted his teeth to prevent himself from screaming. His hands clutched his sides in hope to reduce some of the pain. Soon enough, the pain became unbearable. Shouts of a female were the last thing he heard before he lost his consciousness.

"Will he be all right?" asked a voice. A boy's voice to be exact.

An annoyed huff was heard, followed by, "This is the last time I'm telling you this. He. Will. Be. Fine." a female voice answered. "Now out!"

"Geez. No need to be so hostile, Kag." the boy said before the door was shut.

Kurama suppressed a groan when he was completely back to the living realm. Instead, he stirred a bit. Emerald eyes unveiled to meet sapphire ones. Kurama blinked a few times before registering the fact that someone was hovering over him.

"Kagome?" he asked as he sat up. Kagome took her seat on a chair in front of her desk. "I mean Higurashi." Kurama corrected his mistake. She smiled softly at him.

"Kagome's fine." she said. Kurama took in his surroundings and concluded that he was in her room.

"What happen?" he asked, curious about the sudden pain that tore through his body.

"Well, I'm not really sure " she hesitated. "I found you fainted on the top of the stair. We are lucky a friend of mine was here to carry you up. Are you sick, Minamino?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine." he replied. "Just Shuuichi, Kagome."

Kagome nodded. "And what exactly are you doing in this shrine, Shuuichi?"

"Am I not allow to visit a friend?" he smiled teasingly. He chuckled at the light blush that appeared on her face. Kagome frowned and hit him lightly on his arm.

"Not funny."

"There are some notes the teacher forgot to give you." he replied.

"Oh, you mean those papers?" she pointed to the stack of paper neatly arranged on her desk. He nodded.

"And we have a math test tomorrow." he added. The expression that took over Kagome's face was one of horror and disbelieve.

"WHAT?!" she practically shrieked. Kurama winced at the volume of her voice. "Oh my God! I won't be able to pass it."

Kurama watched in amusement as she paced back and forth muttering under her breath about how she would not be able to learn the whole thing in a night. Apparently, she had completely forgotten about him.

As much as he enjoyed the show before him, he stopped her pacing. She turned to him and made a perfect imitation of a tomato.

"I'm sorry, I forgot that you were here. I am really worried about the test, I'm sorry." she started to rant.

"Never mind it." he said, cutting her apologies. "I'll help you if you want to."

Kagome's mood visibly lifted. Kurama found himself engulfed in a bear hug before he could even blink.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." she chanted happily "I don't know what I'll do if you don't help me."

"Learning until the sun rise and hope that you'll pass the test miraculously." he teased.

"Aww, that' not nice, Shuuichi." she pouted. Kurama laughed and was followed by Kagome. It seemed that Kagome had somehow manage to bring out the playful part of him.

"We should start learning or we won't get anything done." Kurama suggested.

Their study session went quite eventful. Kurama was pleased to now that Kagome was almost or maybe as intelligent as him. It made him tutoring her easier than he had previously imagine.

"That should do it." Kagome said, stretching her arms and legs under the table.

"It seems that you don't need my help at all." Kurama complimented as he read over the paper they were working. "You're capable of doing this by yourself."

"Nah. You're the good teacher, Shuuichi." Kagome replied. "I never even know how to do it until then."

Kurama nodded slightly. They started to rearrange the papers and books scattered around the room when they were learning. Kurama looked up from hearing Kagome gasped.

"It's this late already?" she said in astonishment. "I thought we still have an hour or so before the sun sets."

"Kagome, dinner's ready!" Souta's voice was heard from downstairs. "Is your friend staying?"

"Well?" she looked at him.

"If it's not too much trouble."

"We're coming down!" she shouted back.

After calling his mom, Kurama settled down with the Higurashi family around the table. Shizu served out the dinner, which include a hot, steaming oden. Kagome's eagerly ate her meal like a child finishing her long awaited candy. Dinner went merrily, with Kagome and Souta's constant bickering and Shizu acted as the peacemaker.

Shippo did not stay silent during the dinner. He kept asking Kurama questions, like.

"Is your hair color natural?"

"Will you be staying here for the night?"

"Now, now, Shippo. Let the man eat in peace, okay?" grandpa said.

Shippo nodded. "One more question?" he asked, giving Kurama his puppy dog eyes. Seeing Kurama's nod, he launched his ultimate question.

"Are you going to be Kagome's boyfriend?"

Kagome, who happened to be chewing her oden, choked her meal. Shizu and Souta slapped her back to cease her choking. Kurama was looking rather red and was brainstorming for a good answer.

"Shi-Shippo, do you know what a boyfriend is?" Kagome stammered with a red face, which was caused by either the choking or embarrassment or both.

"Nope." he answered lightly. "I heard them said it in the so...so..."

"Soap opera." Souta supplied.

"That's it. I heard it from the soap opera in the TV." he replied eagerly. "What does it mean?"

"You'll know when you're older." Kagome ruffled his hair lightly. The auburn kid pouted.

"Why everything I asked will be answered when I am older?"

"Because." Kagome left it hanging there. Shippo continued sulking until Shizu gave him some chocolate milk to be drank when he was watching some cartoon.

"That was really.... unexpected." Kurama commented when he and Kagome reached the front door.

Kagome blushed a little and replied, "I'm really sorry about that. I never know Shippo will ask such question."

"It's fine."

"Thank you again for tutoring me." she said. "You're a life safer."

"It is not a problem." he said. "I'll be happy to help if you get more difficulties."

"I hope I get none." she giggled. She mustered all her courage and tiptoed so that her lips met Kurama's cheek. "Good night, Shuuichi." she said with a pretty blush.

"Sweet dreams, Kagome." he replied with a smile after recovering from the peck she gave him.

"Where have you been, Kurama?"

"Yusuke? What are you doing here?" Kurama asked back.

"I was at toddler's office. He said some demon escape but it ends up with a couple misunderstandings." Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Anyway, why are you still walking around this late?"

"I went to Kagome's house-"

"It's Kagome now, huh." Yusuke commented as they walked together.

"-to bring her some notes from the teacher." he ignored Yusuke.

"Until this late?" Yusuke asked incredulously.

"I fainted." he replied calmly. He stopped short.

"Kurama, what are you doing? You said you fainted, then."

"I woke up in her room and I tutor her for tomorrow's test. We have dinner and I left." the red head explained hastily.

"Oh." was Yusuke's comment at the whole event. After sometime of walking, "Wait a minute. Did you say you fainted? Fainted, as in 'lost of consciousness'?"

"I am not aware there are other meaning of the word 'fainted'." Kurama said humorously.

Yusuke scowled, brushing off his fox friend's comment by saying. "It's not like you to faint without any reason."

Kurama turned serious also. "I know."

"We have to investigate the shrine again." suggested Yusuke.

"I don't think it is necessary." said a voice behind them.

Yusuke managed to not fall out of his skin. He turned around and met his shorter, fire apparition friend.

"Hiei! If I don't know better, I'd have you killed with my Spirit Gun." he almost yelled.

Hiei glared, his look as if saying 'as if you can kill me with that.'

Kurama decided he should prevent the fight that was about to start. "Why is that so, Hiei?"

"It is a shrine, fox." he replied simply. "They might have some sort of barrier surrounding it."

"Nothing happen when we last visited it." Yusuke protested.

"The miko might not yet be able to construct it." Hiei retorted.

After some thinking, on Yusuke and Kurama's side, Hiei's explanation was logical. After some time of walking, Kurama and Hiei separated with Yusuke.

"How do you know all that, Hiei?" Kurama demanded when Yusuke was out of hearing range.

"Hn. I know what I know." he replied shortly, providing no other information. Kurama sighed silently and resumed his way home with his friend in tow

"Mom! Mom! Can we go and visit Sango and Miroku?" Shippo asked.

"Well...."

"Please? It's been ages since I met them." he pleaded. Kagome sighed.

"All right, but behave yourself, I don't want any trouble with Inuyasha." she warned. Shippo let out a cry in triumph and went to tell Shizu about it.

You need me with you, Kagome? Youko asked.

"Yes. It'll better that way." she said grimly. "I'm going as Kagome, not Vixinia. Inuyasha is less of my concern. It is Kikyo I'm worried about."

That's natural. We don't know if she is working for Naraku or not. Kouran appeared at the doorway to the kitchen, followed closely by Souta.

"Want me to come too?" he asked. Seeing his sister shook her head, he continued. "I'll cover you if you want to stay there for couple of days."

"Thanks. I hope I don't get to meet Inuyasha though." she wished.

"Hopefully." Souta nodded. Shippo rushed to Kagome and they proceeded to the past.

"Sango." called Miroku.

"Hm?" was Sango's reply. She was polishing her Hiraikotsu to make it better.

"Do you think we can get more Shikon shards?" he continued. Sango stopped shortly before resuming her work.

"Why do you ask, houshi?"

"Because we barely heard anymore rumors about them." he explained. "And I afraid they are already in Naraku's possession."

"We cannot be sure yet." Sango said. Kirara, who previously was sitting on Miroku's lap, ran out of the hut. "Kirara!"

Sango changed into her demon exterminator outfit and followed her trusted cat demon to the outskirt of the village. When she arrived, she saw Inuyasha was standing in front of a person she knew very well.

"Kagome!" she cried out in joy. Miroku arrived beside her in no time. He was also smiling with happiness.

But their mood did not fit with Kagome's. She was visibly frowning at the hanyou in front of her. At the sight of them, Shippo ran down from the fully-grown fox demon to Sango's embrace.

"Sango, Miroku. I missed you!" he said. Kirara mewed. "You too, Kirara."

"What are you doing here, Shippo?" Miroku asked.

"I want to see you, that's all. And it's been a long tie since I came to Sengoku Jidai." he replied eagerly.

"Why don't you just go home, wench!" they heard Inuyasha shouted. Apparently, they had missed the early part of the fight.

"I have a right to be here, Inuyasha. You can't forbid me from coming." Kagome yelled back.

"We don't need you anymore. You can just go home and have those precious tests of yours." Inuyasha said smugly. "Because we have Kikyo here."

"You mean that clay pot?!" Kagome said in disgust. "She can't even feel the presence of the shards anymore. She is no better than I am!"

"How dare you!" he roared. Youko immediately took his position in front of Kagome. "You are nothing but her copy, her reincarnation."

Kagome started to laugh. Inuyasha's comment had struck a cord in her. She could no longer take his insult when she was obviously stronger than him.

"I am no weak human reincarnation, Inuyasha." she said coolly. "Kikyo had lost her soul and she stole mine to prolonged her existence on this earth. One day Inuyasha, I will claim it back."

"You won't be able to." he growled. "Because I will protect her!"

With the last word, he jumped to strike the future miko.

"SIT!"

But ended up hitting the ground, face first. Muffled curses could be heard from the small crater formed. An arrow whizzed and would strike Kagome's heart if it were not for the barrier she erected.

"You are stronger now." commented a emotionless voice. Youko almost wince at the rotten scent that assaulted his sensitive nose. He chose to settle for a growl instead.

"Hello, Kikyo." Kagome greeted pleasantly. "Still alive I see."

The dead miko frowned at her words. "Hand over the shards you have. They are rightfully mine to keep as I am the Guardian of the Shikon"

"Tch, tch, tch." Kagome mocked as she waved her index finger. "I believe you should say was the Guardian. I bear the responsibilities of it now. It is you who have to handed the shards over to me."

"We have it your way then." Kikyo notched her arrow.

"I thought we were over this, Kikyo. If I remember correctly, you got a pretty bad gash on your shoulder last time we fight." Kagome taunted. "I am stronger than that day, Kikyo. I'll have the shards today and no one will stop me."

Kikyo released an arrow surrounded by black aura. Kagome's barrier effectively destroyed it to mere ashes.

"My turn." Kagome said.

Green vines grew from under Kikyo's feet and wrapped around her waist, hands and legs, locking her every move. She kept struggling in vain. Inuyasha jumped to his feet and attempted to release his dead lover.

"Sankontes-"

"Sit! This has nothing to do with you, Inuyasha! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT!"

For the second time, Inuyasha was subdued. Kagome too this opportunity to stride to Kikyo and pulled out the Shikon shards Miroku and Sango failed to steal during the hunt. Ignoring Kikyo's shout of protests, she turned away from her and walked to her comrades.

"Sango, Miroku. Please take care of Shippo. I'll be back after the new moon." she said quietly. "And don't give me that face, Shippo. I know you want to stay here after a long time you spent in my era."

Shippo closed his mouth and nodded. "I'll miss you, Mom."

"It's not like I'm going away for a very long time." she laughed. "Three days max. I'll fetch you then."

"We will take care of him, Kagome." Sango said as she hugged her friend. Miroku nodded.

"You can trust him to us, Lady Kagome." Miroku said solemnly. Kagome's hand met his cheek in a painful slap.

"Pervert!" she shouted and left on Youko's back.

Shippo shook his head. "You and your wandering hand, Miroku."

A/N : Yo folks! How are you? I'm back with only a short, uneventful chapter. I'm really sorry for the delay, but it is necessary. Flames are welcome and if in some parts I made a mistake, please point that out for me. I've stopped writing for quite a while, so I kinda forgot what I've wrote. He he he. Anyway, read and review! Oh, by the way, if there are any grammatical mistakes, I had done my best to correct it.

Sincerely
Flying Phoenix

Review Responses:

blk13 : You're quite right. I should have the national examination I was talking about was the one after the 2003. It took three months to study for the preparation test and another one for the REAL test. Thanks for the review and sorry for the delay.

Kanna Fan : Sorry. But I've updated, ne? I will finish this story even if it takes a long time. Thanks for reviewing.

Anonymous (There are a few who have the same name), MLD, Chaos Demone, miko, amo-yasha, Lenne, Kris, gatoyasha-chan : Thanks for the review. Hope you'll love this chapter, it is short compared to others and had nothing really important in it.

pinkjingling, SlplessWitch951, Sango132004, wolf-woman54, kitty-cat229, Last Cherry Blossom Falls, DoRKyLiCouS, SilverKitsune-hime. Lady Kisa Sohma, Psycho Pyrowolf, angelkitty77, Star Mage1, Kitsune Samurai, VashnKnives, ptbear, Eris Goddess of Chaos, Acid-Rayne, Death Phoenix, Kawaii Silver Kitsune, Randomunit02, Shinigami Clara, Hiei-Kurama Darkdemon Angel, Midnight-Blue-Wolves, Suki1, DevilWench, ColdFang, Amaterasu Omikami, silvervail, Sweet Sakura Curls, Star Silver Fox : Thanks. Do you enjoy this one? Please review. And I'm sorry there's no Kurama/Kagome fluff around.

Choas Babe : I don't really get what you were saying, but Thanks for reviewing. Please ask if there's something unclear in the story.

sesshomarus-love92 : How can I make a sequel when I haven't finish this one? .

inu.-sess.fan : I think so. Next chappie perhaps

kara : I know there are no much fluff in it because : I don't know how to write a good one. ;.; And if you think chapter ten is short, you should see this one. Chap.10 was the longest one I've ever made. Thanks for the review.

momo : They didn't see the necklace because he hid it under his clothes. She ran because it was instinctive for her to run as she unconsciously try to hid the fact that she didn't want to explain herself to them. Or maybe you'll think of a better reason and please tell me about it?

Sapphire-sama Dreamer : Thanks for putting me on your favorite author list

anime072 : Thanks. I never thought anyone would like my story that much. sobs sobs Thanks for the review.

sesshoumarulover713 : Thanks for the review. I was wondering. What happened to 'Youko Kurama', do you deleted it? I apologize if I am mistaken. But I am sure you're the one who authored it.

Ivan's Kitsune : I won't give any pendant to Kurama because the relation in mating is different as in the family. Shippo and Hiei are supposed to be brothers to Kagome, but as Kagome had already considered Shippo as her pup, she left it that way.