Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha.

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Chapter 2 - Meetings

Kagome could feel the hot rush of tears in her eyes once again, the moist droplets rolling down her cheeks. Unlike at the graves, these were not tears of grief or anger. She was happy, happier than she thought she could have been so close to the time they'd died. It was impossible for her to not be happy when there was a now adult kitsune by her side spilling his own joyous tears.

"I found you. I said I would."

"I know kit. But how could I know you would remember? For me it has been a few weeks, for you five hundred years!" Kagome leaned back as she spoke, smiling her first true smile in the last few weeks. The kitsune grinned and stood up from where they had collapsed on the ground, taking her with him. Kagome tilted her head back a bit and studied him, noticing that he had grown a lot. He was taller than she was now.

"I guess I can't cuddle with you anymore Shippo. You've grown quite a bit." Kagome's smile turned wistful and Shippo suddenly engulfed her in a hug, nuzzling into her hair.

"Maybe I have Kagome. But we could still cuddle. Even if it would look weird to others. For three years of my young life you were willing to be my mother. No youkai would have taken me in, and certainly no other human would have taken in a demon child. I always felt safe when you were around, and uneasy when you were gone. After my original parents, you are the only one I ever called mother."

For once it was she who snuggled into him, not caring that he had grown or it had been five hundred years for him. He was still her kit. There was a brief moment of silence as they took comfort in the familiar, yet at the same time unfamiliar, embrace. Finally Kagome stepped out of the kitsune's embrace, grinning for the first time in weeks.

"So, it has been five hundred years. Did you make any little kits for me to spoil?"

Shippo's mind briefly drew a blank before he turned as red as his hair. "Kagome! I... No! Well, there is a girl who I would if I could, but she pretty much hates me. So, no, no kits for you to spoil."

Shippo continued blushing and Kagome smirked. Evidently five hundred years hadn't made him grow up too much. She frowned slightly. It should have. Perhaps he'd been busy. She shook her head and shrugged. "So, what have you done to occupy your time the last five hundred years?"

"Most of the time trying to avoid Reikai authorities and sneaking out of Makai for a few years to visit whichever one of Rin and Kohaku's descendants was their then. I lost track of them three or four decades ago, a bit after I found your family. At first I thought they were going to be your ancestors, but, hey, I was wrong. I have a nice little den in one of the few peaceful parts of Makai; I have some illusions around it and some foxfire traps. Hey, I should show you later the - What's wrong?" Shippo looked at Kagome worriedly.

Kagome's head was dizzy from a few things right now, but one question stood out in her mind. "What's the Makai?"

"Oh! That! Exactly what it sounds like, a world of demons. Why the feudal era had so many demons is a long story that I'll tell you later, but now most of us live in the Makai unless the Reikai lets us live here or we make our own doorway in the barrier, like me. But then we're hunted down, punished, and returned to the Makai. I've gone through this a few times and the Reikai doesn't change its tune much, though I heard they got some Spirit Detectives that can actually last this time." Shippo stopped talking for a second, and Kagome took the time to absorb what he was saying. A whole separate realm for the demons. And a barrier keeping the demons from wreaking havoc on humans like they had in the feudal era. Then Kagome giggled, looking at the familiar impatient expression on his face.

They were interrupted when a girl flying on an oar suddenly appeared over the treetops, her pink-eyed gaze falling on Shippo without acknowledging that Kagome was even there. From inside, Kagome heard her mother back away from the window in surprise. Kagome's eyes narrowed when she saw the others hostile gaze and she signaled to her mother to stay inside, and to keep away from the windows. The girl may have looked harmless, but that didn't mean she was.

"The one time we actually need someone like you and you go gallivanting off through the barrier! Again! Now you're going to help the Spirit Detectives and - who's she?" Perhaps Kagome had a short temper, but she was getting ticked at being ignored by this...what ever she was. Not a human, but not a demon. What else was there? When the woman finally noticed her Kagome couldn't help but feel a bit satisfied. Of course, the tiny trickling of miko power she'd allowed to show probably had nothing to do with the other woman turning her gaze away from Shippo.

Shippo breathed a sigh of relief when Botan's tirade broke off. He really hated it when she went off on a tangent. Forest green eyes lingered on her as he carefully explained Kagome. "She's Kagome. I came from the Makai to visit her, but she has nothing to do with this. Leave her alone Botan, you can't use her like you did some of the other ones."

"She's a miko?" Botan sounded surprised, and a little pleased. Kagome's eyes narrowed at the tone and she backed up to where her bow was leaning against the house. She took the quiver full of arrows and the bow and took a few steps forward as they all sensed three more beings coming up the shrine steps. She had an arrow notched by the time two demons and a human had appeared over the edge of the steps. Kagome's eyes widened in recognition of one of the demons. So did the boy who had just appeared over the steps, Yusuke.

"Hello again." She smirked as he eyed her bow warily.

"You know, we can dodge a little arrow. Besides, we're just here for the fox over there. Can you put down the weapon Kagome?" Kagome snorted at the reasonable tone in his voice. Like she couldn't read the frustration in his voice. She eyed his two friends briefly, seeing that the green eyed one who felt like both kitsune and human was looking between her and Yusuke questioningly. She put her attention back onto Yusuke and gave him a wide innocent smile before shaking her head.

"Nah. See, I don't think you should take 'the fox' anywhere." To answer his question if she could use the bow she pulled the bowstring back and let it fly, aiming carefully beside his foot. He didn't even flinch when it landed. Until the flare of miko energy swept out before disappearing.

"Shit! What the hell was that?" Kagome kept her eyes trained on Yusuke's new position, where he had jumped to while swearing. She ignored the gasp that came from the kitsune yet human man, but her attention quickly snapped back at his next words.

"That, Yusuke, was miko energy. I believe this mission can be said to be almost over. We have found the fox, and we have found our miko."

A barking growl sounded, almost identical to a regular fox as Shippo bared his fangs at the other kitsune. "She's not your anything! Go away! She doesn't need to be hunted by any of you damn Spirit Detectives!"

"Shippo, I can defend myself. Spirit Detectives, huh? Before today, I'd never heard of you." She paused, her gaze becoming cold as the wording went through her mind again. How dare they. She was not property; no one called her theirs unless she wanted them to! "What do you want with me?"

"We need a miko on the team so we can save go on missions. These missions frequently have us saving Ningenkai and the other two worlds as well. Please, help us." The emerald eyed Spirit Detective looked straight into her sapphire blue ones, apparently trying to turn on ever charm he could to get her to join with just a few sentences.

Kagome could see Yusuke, who had gathered up the scattered scraps of his pride, roll his eyes at his team mates attempt to charm her. Despite herself she flashed him a quick grin and found her self pleased when he smirked back at her. She didn't have time to be shocked at her own reaction because the orange haired human was looking between them and it finally seemed to click that Yusuke had used her name earlier. "You know her, Urameshi?"


Kagome cleared her throat to stem off the possible argument that would come from the pointless question. She ignored the other two in favor of the red head who seemed a bit put out that she hadn't caved in immediately after a few words and a pleading look. "No thanks. Let them save themselves. I'm sure the people in the three worlds could if they really tried."

Kagome winced when out of the corner of her eyes she caught Shippo's stunned expression. She was relieved when his eyes moved to the chain around her neck and a look of realization came over his face. She nodded slowly at him. She had saved Feudal Japan from being overtaken by Naraku, or any demon that wanted the jewel, and kept the timeline intact. That was enough for her.

Unfortunately, Yusuke understood none of this and he was moving towards her before she realized it. He kept moving even when she notched another arrow, pointedly ignoring the threat as his angry brown eyes looked into hers. "How can you not care? You live in this world to!"

Kagome stared at him, wondering how she was supposed to explain that she had gone through enough pain when she'd saved the timeline and the world. She didn't want to go through it again, make more friends that she would eventually lose or who would betray her. She wouldn't go through that again. Behind her she heard Shippo and Botan arguing harshly about something, about what she couldn't be sure.

She regarded Yusuke sadly. How could she explain anything without telling about the Shikon no Tama that rested on a necklace around her neck? She wasn't about to tell any demon about it, even one she instinctively felt she could trust. Not after the trouble it had caused. Before she could open her mouth to tell them to leave or she'd shoot them, that blue haired girl, Botan, spoke.

"You know, if you join us we can lessen Shippo's punishment. We could even let him stay in Ningenkai!" Botan smiled pleasantly, sure Kagome would at least consider it now.

Kagome looked towards Shippo and found the tailed kitsune avoiding her eyes with a forlorn look on his face. Her heart almost broke at that look; it was that same expression, just on an older face. Was the punishment that bad? If it was for the only one who had stayed with her after the Jewel was completed, the only one of her feudal family left, she would risk anything.

Yusuke apparently thought she was taking too long. "Damn it, you don't care about anything, do you? Those two people died and you just don't care now? There are other people who-"

"Alright." Kagome quietly interrupted Yusuke, putting away his comment on the graves for the moment. She would confront him about what right he had to say anything about her later. Botan heard her quiet answer and smiled triumphantly and Shippo's eyes flashed with a hidden emotion before eyeing Botan and the three Spirit Detectives. "So, who are you? I know Botan and I heard Kagome call you," he indicated the black haired Spirit Detective, "Yusuke. What about you two?"

"I'm Kurama," the human-looking kitsune stated.

The only human of the boys still seemed to want to know how Kagome and Yusuke seemed to know each other. Finally he shrugged and answered the question. "Kazuma Kuwabara."

"Everyone just calls him Kuwabara," Yusuke commented, brown eyes still brimming with anger over her earlier words. Kagome sighed and reconciled herself with the fact that she was probably going to be helping save the world for a long time to come. Despite the painful memories, she strangely felt better with this new 'job'.

~-~

When the three boys and Botan had left Koenma's office, the boys had immediately started interrogating Botan about the demon they were looking for.

"He's a kitsune demon who seems to escape at least three times each century. At least, three times that we catch him." Botan answered, her expression souring slightly on the last part.

Kurama looked up at where Botan was floating in the air, suddenly interested. "A kitsune? What kind? How strong?"

Botan seemed to think for a moment then answered thoughtfully. "He's ruby colored in fox form, though he has some golden hairs that seem to spread out more as he gets older. He told me his father was totally golden. He proved it when he showed me his father's coat that he had managed to save. Is their significance to that?"

Kurama's eyes seemed to glow slightly. "Really? A ruby with a partly gold coat? He has illusions and fire then, right? Blue fire? If I remember correctly there are a numbers of ways they can use foxfire when they get older. There was much bickering about which was better, the illusions and fire or the plants. The illusions were common, but the fire seemed to be thinning out. Only the rubies with golden coats, or partly golden coats had it."

Kuwabara stopped Kurama's excitement at seeing another kitsune by looking up at Botan with a confused and slightly horrified expression. "He had his father's coat? He didn't... kill him did he?"

"No, two Thunder elementals killed his parents because they had something the demons wanted. That was in the Warring States Period, no one had any alliances with anyone usually, if they did they were easily broken off. Demons were against each other, against humans, the whole thing was just chaotic. Miko's did keep the peace in the villages they protected, at least against demons, but -" Yusuke stopped Botan's history lesson with a questions.

"Stop, let's get onto a topic we might need to know about, since we're apparently searching for one. Miko's?" Yusuke waited patiently, or as patiently as Yusuke could while still being himself, as Botan switched gears.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Neither of you know about them do you?" She watched Yusuke and Kuwabara nod their heads and then smiled, clapping her hands together.

"Well, that's easily fixed. Miko's have purifying powers. Or I should say, girls who have purifying powers become mikos. Usually boys with miko powers become monks or priests, or some other type. Miko's seemed to have the more purifying power, or perhaps they were just more unusual. Anyway, powers differed from one miko to another, but a strong and properly trained miko was a demon's worst enemy. Hopefully we find a nice one who doesn't blast you and Kurama on sight Yusuke." Botan kept smiling, apparently oblivious to Yusuke gaping at her. Kurama sighed and got ready for an explosion.

"What? You're putting someone who has powers specifically centered on destroying demons on the team with us? We won't be able to go on missions if we're dead! Damnit, let me go back and knock some sense into the toddler!" Yusuke looked as if he was ready to go storming off and try to find a portal of her own. Botan's smile turned sad at she looked down at the irate majin.

"You won't be doing missions without a miko either," she reminded him softly. He stopped in his angry movements and grimaced, fighting to control his temper at the situation he'd been put in.

Botan's look turned far away before she suddenly grinned and crowed with delight. "Found him! I've had to find him so many times before it just gets easier! He's at the Higurashi shrine! I'll go up ahead and make sure he stays there, you three catch up, the stairs to them aren't too far from here! You can't miss them!"

She missed the surprised look on Yusuke's face when she disappeared from view. Yusuke continued looking shocked for a moment before hiding his expression. That girl's last name had been Higurashi.

"Higurashi shrine? Isn't that the last name of that girl who used to go to the school nearby here and was always getting sick? There were always rumors about that around." Kuwabara looked between them to see if the other two had recognized the name. Yusuke just shrugged while Kurama gave a slow and thoughtful nod.

"I believe it is. Shall we go?" Nothing more was said as the three boys arrived at the shrine shortly after Botan had disappeared. Yusuke began walking up the stairs, hearing the other two following close behind. He frowned as he neared the top, he could have sworn he heard a string being stretched. He never expected to see Kagome pointing an arrow at him when he got to the top. He knew his own expression must have mirrored Kagome's wide eyed one and he was startled out of his surprise when she greeted him calmly with a smirk on her face. Was she protecting the kitsune? She could put the bow down anytime now, it wasn't like a little arrow couldn't be dodged or would really hurt them anyway.

He was proved wrong when the arrow did in fact hurt him even though it hadn't touched him. He listened to the explanation after forcing himself not to try and rip that bow out of her grasp. Apparently she really was protecting the fox demon. She'd protect that fox but not her own people, other humans? He ignored the arrow pointed at his chest as he started shouting at her. None of it seemed to get through until Botan mentioned the kitsune's punishment. That was a laugh, Kurama and Hiei had stolen items straight out of Spirit World and their punishment was helping him. He had a feeling the kitsune's 'punishment' would be similar.

He hadn't even thought the threat to the kitsune had gotten through to her until she had interrupted the beginnings of an angry rant with her quiet agreement. He stopped immediately and eyed her suspiciously as the two others introduced themselves to the kitsune and miko duo.

"Everyone calls him Kuwabara," he noted absently while still studying Kagome.

"So, the reason your energy felt strange in the forest is because you're a miko." Yusuke finally said, relaxing slightly as she waited.

Now it was her turn to eye him suspiciously. "So, what exactly is a Spirit Detective?"

Yusuke gaped at her. He had forgotten she'd said she hadn't heard of them before today. "You just said you'd join with us without knowing anything about it? Can you even fight? And I don't mean just shoot your pretty little pink arrows either."

Yusuke realized that had been a terrible question to as when her eyes smoldered angrily and her gaze went pointedly to her arrow still pointed to his chest. He heard a suspicious giggle from Botan before he decided just to answer Kagome's question. "A Spirit Detective is someone who works for the Reikai to keep the peace between the Makai and Ningenkai. Right now things seem to be heating up a bit again."

"Because of certain circumstances we needed a miko to help us out," Kurama explained, careful not to say exactly what the circumstances were. It wouldn't do to tell them that they weren't even trusted by Enma even after all they'd done.

"And Shippo's punishment can be to serve Reikai in the capacity of another Spirit Detective! Won't that be fun?" Yusuke groaned as Botan said those words. Could she have been more predictable? Yusuke's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as Kagome seemed relieved and Shippo and Botan exchanged smug grins. They had planned this! That was what they'd been arguing about while He'd been yelling at Kagome. But, he had to wonder why the kitsune had agreed to it.

"Yeah, but you better stay off the battlefield girl, you can use your arrows from far away, right? I couldn't let a girl get hurt," Kuwabara said seriously. Yusuke could've sworn she'd growled at that point and Shippo winced for unknown reasons.

"Are you calling me weak?" Kuwabara didn't seem to notice the dangerous tone and continued on happily. "Girls shouldn't fight, they get hurt too easily. I don't see how they expect you to keep demons in line."

Both Kurama and Yusuke shot Kuwabara a glare as Kagome stopped looking so angry and started studying them with something akin to amusement in her eyes, "Keep demons in line? Is that why you specifically need a miko?"

Yusuke scowled as she and the kitsune exchanged amused glances. "At least there's nothing to collect this time and if we're lucky there will be compensation of some kind," Shippo said with a grin.

Yusuke eyed them with suspicion as they grinned with each other, apparently caught up in some kind of exchange. Finally Shippo spoke again, the amusement dancing in his eyes. "At least you weren't kidnapped this time."

"No, but you almost were," Kagome joked.

"I could have gotten away," Shippo whined with a pout.

Yusuke couldn't help but notice that even though they both seemed to know exactly what the other was talking about, they made sure no one else did. It was annoying the hell out of him.

You know, why don't I go just go tell Koenma about our newest members while you all get to know each other and start telling her about the job. Kagome you said your name was?" Botan looked at the raven-haired girl questioningly. Kagome smirked and Yusuke went back into cautionary mode.

"Actually, originally Yusuke said it, but yes, I'm Kagome Higurashi." Yusuke glared at her as Botan frowned at him, obviously wanting to ask more questions. After a brief internal struggle that showed plainly on her face she flew off to Koenma. Now Yusuke was left with an amused miko and three curious boys.

"I met her while walking in the woods earlier today, ok?" He glared at his male teammates and then glared at Kagome.

Kagome began to giggle and Yusuke almost gasped at the sound. He heard Kurama behind him actually gasp in surprise. While her laughs and chuckles and smirks had been filled with amusement, her giggling changed her whole demeanor. She didn't look like a miko who had lost at least two people that Yusuke knew of. She looked like a normal, and even innocent, young woman.

Was it just him or had the tailed kitsune just yipped? Yusuke watched as Shippo grinned at her suddenly, eyes twinkling. "Ramen or oden?"

Kagome stopped giggling and even seemed to flinch slightly at the word 'ramen' and then looked slightly confused. She seemed to realize something and studied the boys with a calculating look in her eyes. Yusuke watched her in confusion. How did she go from seeming about to kill them to now putting down her bow and looking so... normal?

"Ramen. They don't look like oden people unfortunately." Kagome seemed to pout a bit at her own answer before turning to them and grinning.

"Well, come on in, Mama wanted to go shopping anyway, I'll just ask her to take Souta and Grandpa along so that you can tell me about my new job privately. She'll understand, she always does. If they stayed you'd probably never get a word in edge wise with Souta asking questions." There was an outraged and muffled yell from inside the house that Kagome ignored as she opened the door.

"Come in." The boys began to obey before they even realized they were moving. Yusuke stopped and glared at the blue-eyed miko. She grinned at him.

"Someone's sour. I'm not going to poison you. Purifying is much more fun." Kagome smiled wickedly and Yusuke couldn't help but have a feeling of foreboding. He exchanged a glance with Kurama and both of them shuddered.

Being purified didn't sound fun to them.

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Review and ask any questions you have. If you already reviewed read below for my response to whatever you said.

Review Responses:

rogue solus
What fox that Kurama tried to save? I'm confused. And yes, this is going to be Kag/Yus, as well as a Botan pairing. As for Sango, she is staying dead as far as I know, but there's still a chance that Kurama will have a pairing, just not with someone from IY, and no, not Botan either.

Angsty Goten Worshipper
Yes, Inuyasha will be in this, though it won't be in more than memories for awhile. And people may not like him when he does come in.

Reality
Yes, over the centuries Shippo has gone out and found mikos, mostly because he was trying to see if Kagome's family would come from one of them.

Sozoku
Thanks. Here's some more reading for you.

wayfarer-redemption
Thank you, I updated as quickly as I could with two other stories mucking about in my head plus a little gift fic to a friend that I wrote during Christmas vacation. Sorry for taking a bit longer than I should have,

lady sakura
Thank you! Here's some more.

SilverKnight7
Here you go! Please review again!

CrimsonBlades16
Yup! Shippo's here! Though I did notice his tail is more gold than red so I made an explanation for that considering his father's coat was gold. And yeah, it's Yus/Kag as well as having a Botan pairing and maybe a Kurama one. I should probably just admit defeat and say that there will be a certain Kurama pairing, because one certain person has gotten me addicted to a pairing with him in it. So the juries still out on Kurama having a pairing. Thanks for reviewing!

Buffybot76
Thankies! And look, I did the second chapter too. This is much easier than the other stories because I actually thought about it before I wrote it. What a concept that thinking. Maybe I should do it more often. Of course you know the pairing. I know most of yours for your stories; it's only fair that you know mine.