Here's another chapter for you all to enjoy. I realize that some of you may not have like the last chapter, but everything has a purpose so don't worry. And thanks again for all the reviews!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho, though I wouldn't mind coming home to find Kurama sitting in my living room ()
Scene/Time Changes
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
Telepathy
The Final Battle: Alliances Across Time
---- Chapter 11 ----
Later That EveningEveryone with the exception of Hiei was settled around the fire that they had built outside of the hut that they were using. Hiei had been settled inside the hut to sleep off the herbs that Kurama had given him. The aura of the group had changed since they first left Kaede's village. Everyone was, for the most part anyway, more comfortable and relaxed around each other now that they had been in a battle together. Everyone was taking turns telling of one battle or another that they had been in, telling jokes, stories and just relaxing in general.
"Well, one of my favorite memories of the dark tournament was not even the battles," Kuwabara was saying "We were all sitting in our room with the girls playing cards. Shorty wasn't playing though, he wasn't being very friendly." He added as an after thought.
"He doesn't seem to be the friendly type anyway." Kagome said thoughtfully.
"That's just Hiei. He has been a loner for most of his life." Kurama added with a small smile.
"I think the best part of that was when Kurama tried to get him to play, 'Come join us Hiei, were like a family' and Hiei goes 'Don't make me rip out your precious voice box Kurama'." Yusuke said laughing, which caused everyone to laugh or chuckle.
"Yes, well I think that the reason Kuwabara liked that particular moment was because he was with his precious Yukina." Kurama said, his eye's dancing with amusement as Kuwabara turned red at the teasing.
"Okay, my turn. One of my favorite memories is when Yusuke got Puu." Botan said laughing.
"Botan!" Yusuke growned, while Kuwabara and Kurama laughed along with Botan.
"Puu? Well that's and unusual name, what exactly is it?" Sango asked curiously.
"Puu is Yusuke's spirit beast." Kurama said as he chuckled.
"Spirit beast? I don't believe I have ever seen one of those." Miroku said. "Could you tell me more about Puu?"
"Sure. Well you already know Yusuke died, well one of the trials that Yusuke was given was to hatch a spirit beast egg. The egg feeds off of your spirit energy, so basically, if your a good, your beast will be good and if your bad, then your beast will be bad and eat you." Botan said. "Here, I have some pictures!" She said as she pulled out a small photo album from out of know where. She took out a couple of pictures of Puu and handed them to Kagome, who was sitting next to her.
"He's soo CUTE!" Kagome said.
Sango, Inuyasha and Shippo looked over here shoulder. "THAT is your spirit beast!?" Inuyasha said as he broke down in laughter. Sango just smiled as she looked at the pictures.
"He has your hair." Shippo stated innocently which caused Kuwabara, Botan and Kurama to breakdown into a fit of laughter.
"Kayko said the same thing." Kurama said as he caught his breath.
Miroku chuckled at the pictures after Kagome passed them to him, "You and Kayko must be proud." He said as he looked at one of Yusuke with his arm around Kayko's shoulder who was holding Puu.
"Hey, watch it Miroku." Yusuke said in an annoyed voice.
"They do make quite the little family don't they." Kurama said smirking at Yusuke.
"You too fox boy." Yusuke said as everyone broke down into laughter again.
"Hey Yusuke," Shippo said as he sat down between Miroku and Yusuke and looked up at him with a serious face. "Does that mean that you have gotten farther with Kayko than Inuyasha has with Kagome?" He asked in a innocent voice.
"What!?" Both Yusuke and Inuyasha yelled at the same time while Kagome hid her red face in her hands and everyone else fell over clutching their sides from laughing so hard.
"Why you little runt!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he dived for Shippo who hopped over Miroku and landed in Kurama's lap as he yelled "Save me!" while Yusuke was sputtering in shock and indignation.
"Calm down Inuyasha," Kurama, who was trying to catch his breath, said as he wrapped his arms protectively around the kit "he's still too young to full understand what he just said."
After a few moments Miroku took on a more serious face and turned to face Yusuke and Kuwabara. "Could you answer a question for me?" He asked.
"Sure." Kuwabara and Yusuke said in unison.
"Who is this Genkai that Botan said would be joining us?"
"That's easy. She is Yusuke's teacher." Kuwabara replied. "She was also the fifth fighter on our team during the tournament."
"She must be very strong then." Sango said.
"Yeah, the old hag is a good fighter." Yusuke said, glad that everyone had stopped teasing him.
After a few more hours of talking everyone started to settle down for the night. The girls, Shippo and Kirara went to sleep in the hut, they weren't worried about Hiei bothering them because he was still passed out and wouldn't be able to move around very well anyway, while the rest of the boys camped out around the fire outside the hut. Soon everyone was asleep except for Inuyasha, who was sitting under the nearby tree looking at the moon and Kurama, who had joined him under the tree. They sat there in companionable silence for a while before Kurama spoke.
"Can I ask you something Inuyasha?" He asked.
"Sure." Inuyasha replied, eyeing the red head out of the corner of his eye.
"Hiei has not been very nice to you and yet you saved him, why?" Kurama asked, turning his head slightly to look at the boy next to him. After a couple of minutes, Kurama turned away figuring that Inuyasha was not going to answer.
"Well......I feel responsible for the people that I travel with, like its my job to protect them." Inuyasha stated. "Sango, Miroku and even Kagome are strong fighters in their own right, but I know that I am stronger then them, so I do what I think is necessary to help and protect them....even if I get sat for it. They are the closest thing to a family that I have." He said as he gazed off into the distance with a thoughtful expression. "And I figure that if Hiei really wanted to kill me he would have tried to by now."
"I will not make excuses for him. Hiei has never been much of a people person. He can be as cold and heartless as the worst of them, but he is not truly evil. I am probably the only one who truly understands him and can feel for what he has gone through in his life. Though, I will admit that he confuses me at times." Kurama said. "I do not know why he picks on you like he does. But I will tell you this, his life has been hard, maybe even harder than yours."
"Feh, what do you mean by that? He's full demon, he hasn't been shunned by both sides of his heritage like I have." Inuyasha said in a huff.
Kurama sighed slightly. "It is not my place to tell you his past or what he has gone through. I just hope that he works out what ever is bothering him. I would rather not have the two of you fighting each other, especially after that encounter we had with Kagura. We need to be working together, not against each other." He said as he looked at Inuyasha again.
"Yeah, well I can't promise anything, but I won't go after him if that's what your worried about." Inuyasha said as he looked up at the moon.Four Days Later
Everyone was walking in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Kurama, who at this point was walking next to Hiei, was still waiting for him to explain his strange behavior. He was a bit worried about his friend and kept looking at him out of the corner of his eye.
What do you want Kurama? You're beginning to annoy me.
Kurama smirked slightly. Nothing.
Don't lie to me. Hiei thought as he looked at Kurama.
You know me well then. I have been concerned, you have not told me what has been going through your head lately.
Hn. It is none of your concern.
On the contrary, it is my concern. I do not wish to see anyone I consider a friend hurt because of their lack of concentration. I would like to help, if I can.
Hiei glanced at him for a moment. I have been thinking about Yukina....I am worried about her. He paused for a minute as he though about how to express himself to his friend, and the only person he ever really confided in. I am afraid of what may happen to her if she accepts Kuwabara as a mate. I want her to be happy, but taking a human mate will put her in grave danger. Inuyasha is the perfect example of what could happen, both parents killed and his own brother wants him dead.
Kurama considered this for a moment But you are a type of hanyou yourself Hiei, you still haven't answered why you pick on Inuyasha.
Hiei glanced at him again before replying. I find him annoying, but he is more interesting to verbally spar with than Kuwabara, his temper is quicker....it's rather amusing.
This surprised Kurama greatly. He looked over at Hiei again and noticed the slight smirk on him face and the mischievous glint in his eyes. He started to chuckle, which caused everyone to stop look over at them curiously.
"Oh, and Kurama," Hiei said as he started to walk ahead of Kurama, "tell anyone and I'll kill you."
"Of course Hiei." Kurama replied, still chuckling softly as he walked past the others.
With that everyone looked over at Yusuke and Kuwabara hoping for an explanation.
Yusuke chuckled himself slightly. "That's normal for them," he explained "Hiei has telepathic abilities and he has a tendency to have private conversations with Kurama telepathically." He said as he started walking after his two friends.
It was mid-afternoon when they reached Kaede's village, where they were welcomed back by the elderly miko.
"I see that ye have returned, and all in one piece." She said as she greeted them. "How did it go?"
"The battle went well lady Kaede." Miroku said.
"Though, the jewel shard was taken from us by a demoness named Kagura." Kurama added.
"Aye, I feared as much. Naraku is becoming desperate." Kaede said thoughtfully. "What are ye plans now?"
"Well, Botan and I are going to go back to my era. We need to get more supplies and Yusuke's mentor Genkai will be joining us." Kagome said.
Inuyasha growled softly. "Why do you have to go back to your time? Can't Botan go by herself?" He asked.
"Inuyasha, I have to go back. Botan has enough to do with getting Genkai and we are going to need more food and I want to make sure we have enough medical supplies." Kagome stated matter-of-factly. "Any way, we're only going to be gone a couple of hours, we'll be back by sundown, right Botan?" Kagome said as she turned to said girl.
"Of course. And if it would make Inuyasha feel better, we can meet back here at the village so that when your done you can come right back and not have to worry about me and Genkai." She said.
"That's fine with me. How does that sound to you Inuyasha?" Kagome asked sweetly, ready to sit him if he objected to such a good idea.
"Feh, whatever." He said as he turned and sat under a nearby tree.
A couple of hours latter Kagome returned to the village with her yellow bag to see that camp had been set up under the tree again and that there was already a small fire going with everyone except Botan sitting around it. "Hey guys." Kagome said as she put her oversized pack down. "Has Botan come back yet?" She asked.
"No, not yet." Yusuke said from his spot by the fire.
"She should be back soon though, its almost sundown." Sango said smiling at her best friend. Just then two auras could be felt heading towards the village from the woods. "I think she's back." Sango said as one of the two auras felt familiar, while the other one, which was a lot more powerful than the first was different.
"Hey everyone, sorry were late." Botan said as she approached the group with a shorter person right behind her.
"Hey Botan." Yusuke said as he looked behind her. "Hey grandma." He said.
"How's my favorite dimwit?" Asked the shorter person as they stepped into the fire light to reveal an old woman in a red and blue tunic over a white shirt and white pants.
"That's Genkai!? She ain't nothin' but an old hag!" Inuyasha said in disbelief.
"And this 'old hag' can kick your ass." She said as she put down a dark blue duffel bag and another long cloth wrapped bundle
"Well anyway, let me introduce you." Botan said as she mad introductions.
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