Title: The Shikon Missions
Chapter: 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha.
Author's Notes: So...This chapter took a bit long. And it's a bit shorter than I wanted. But hey, hopefully this means I won't be blocked on this anymore and there will be another chapter soon!

Chapter 3 - Butterflies

Kagome leaned back on her chair as she watched the boys eat hungrily. She had declined eating for now, the prospect of working near demons again kept her mind occupied, and she doubted she could have forced herself to eat. She didn't eat much lately anyway.

Kagome understood why Shippo had wanted to invite them in. If anything relaxed people, it was a good hot meal, and it was easier to attempt to read people when their guard was down. What she didn't understand was Shippo. He was still able to understand her with a glance, and she him. It was confusing, but utterly satisfying. Her son was home, even if she couldn't call him that in front of anyone else.

"You know, you don't really look sick," Yusuke commented, and she looked up from her thoughts and found him gazing at her thoughtfully. She opened her mouth but closed it quickly as nothing came out. What could she say to that, that she had been running around in the past chasing after a mystical jewel that she had broken? Yeah right.

So Kagome said the next best thing, sure to shut anyone up that had seen her when she'd been at the graves. "I had to stay away from school sometimes. It had to do with the people who died." Kagome spoke quietly, trying to deny the tears glimmering at the edge of her eyes their right to fall.

"What peo- Ouch! Urameshi, what was that for?" she heard Kuwabara say sullenly. She brushed her tears away quickly and watched in surprise and found Kuwabara holding one foot and hopping round glaring at Yusuke. Kurama was hiding a smile, but his eyes kept flickering between her and Yusuke curiously. Yusuke ignored them all and focused wholly on his ramen. He glanced up once and quickly looked away when he saw her watching. Shippo watched them both and Kagome noted a new look in his adult eyes. Mischief had always been a constant expression, but never that calculated look. Shippo's mischief had always been short term. If it became long term, she was sure things were going to become interesting.

Kagome leaned back from the table, bowing her head to hide the tears that still stayed in her eyes. She closed her eyes and took a few breaths, willing the memories to go back to where they belonged. The memories receded and she looked up with a bright smile that she had used countless time in the Feudal Era so that the others would think she was all right. "So, what kinds of things do you do at this job? Any good stories?"

She was immediately bombarded with Kuwabara's versions of the stories that mainly made it out that he had defeated everything. Kurama toned it down to as close as he could get to what really happened. When Kuwabara got to Yukina, the stories stopped coming and turned into how many adjectives Kuwabara could use to describe Yukina's beauty. Kagome raised and eyebrow but ended up giggling anyway at the dreamy look he had on his face.

"I guess he really loves that girl," she said, but the word 'love' brought to many memories she didn't want to see. She caught Shippo's concerned gaze and sent him a smile.

"The loves mostly one-sided though. Yukina doesn't seem to even realize what he wants." Yusuke snickered but only Shippo noticed Kagome's flinch as she began to collect their dishes.

"Hey, why don't you three go wait in the living room while I help Kagome?" Shippo's said it as a question, but the look in his eyes sent Kuwabara and Kurama out quickly. Yusuke's eye narrowed at the kitsune. He didn't like being ordered around. Shippo shrugged and went to collect dishes, leaving Yusuke there glaring at nothing. The majin scowled but left the room.

"You all right Mama?" Shippo asked quietly in concern when he was sure none of them were listening.

Kagome nodded in response, sighing slightly. "Yes. I'm just sensitive to some things. He...well, you know, he went with her. Too many things remind me now. And being around demons again... I'll be all right, the memories just keep assaulting me at the oddest times."

Shippo sighed, brushing a clawed hand through his hair before nodding. "All right, but tell me if anything gets too much for you. We'll be out of here and on a long vacation before you can say time travel if you do. You ready? Botan should be back soon."

Kagome caught the slight undertone as he mentioned Botan's name and a slight smile graced her features. "You like her."

Shippo stopped as they were about to exit the kitchen and shook his head bit too quickly. "I do not!"

Kagome breezed by him. "Sure, sure," she said as she joined everyone else in the living room.

The three boys looked up with varying degrees of concern of their faces when Kagome came in the room and Kagome gave them a bright smile that seemed to make Kuwabara relax, and Kurama even allowed himself to lean backwards. Yusuke kept studying her. She sighed to herself, but brightened up when she felt Botan's energy appear. "Botan's back."

The five of them went outside to see Botan floating in midair. Upon seeing them she motioned them towards the portal below her. "Come on everyone, Koenma wants to meet Kagome, and then he has a mission for you."

Kagome started forward with the others, but hung back as they got closer to the portal. Shippo and Yusuke glanced back. Shippo sensed her unease and waited patiently. Yusuke was a bit different. "Hey, you coming?"

"Yeah. I guess. I'm just..." She trailed off, but Shippo nodded his head in understanding. "Nervous."

Yusuke looked between them suspiciously as Kagome smiled gratefully in response and nodded her head. "How do you two know each other so well, you've only been out for a little while from what Koenma says."

Suddenly having found her courage Kagome practically ran through, Shippo quickly following. He looked up at Botan and Botan shrugged. She didn't know any better than he did what was going on.

--

"Nice to meet you Kagome! It's been a long time since we've had a powerful miko in our midst. It's unfortunate that we need one, but it's a precaution that my father set to make sure my detectives 'behave'." Koenma smiled pleasantly, in his teenage form to make a nice impression on the girl. Kagome tilted her head in confused surprise that turned into a smirk as she realized the connotations of that.

"So, I'm a demon baby-sitter is what you're saying? And I thought this job would be something new." Shippo grinned when she looked pointedly at him and both their thoughts went to a silver-haired hanyou.

"Just something about you M- Kagome. You always get stuck with this." Everyone else watched the slight banter between them before Koenma returned their attention to him with a clearing of his throat.

"Yes well, before I tell you about the mission, I would like to know how powerful you are. We do need to know. Unfortunately, it's required for paperwork." Kagome smiled at the grimace, then frowned and looked at Shippo. How was she supposed to know how to classify her own power?

Shippo was no help. He shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands helplessly. Kagome sighed, then shrugged and relaxed her shields and control on everything but the Shikon no Tama. She let her aura flare to its maximum power she could when she wasn't in battle.

Kuwabara caught his breath and shuddered at the feeling of so much pure power, actually stepping away from it. Kurama did much the same, but he was wincing painfully.

For Yusuke, it was like an itch up and down his skin and his blood boiled, urging him to destroy what could turn into a dangerous enemy. He squashed the desire and watched as Koenma gaped, his pacifier beginning to slide out of his mouth. Kagome looked embarrassed and quickly bundled up her power and hid it again.

Shippo had been prepared and had backed up to the door of the office. It still had been uncomfortable, but not as much at the majin who had stood still during the whole thing or for his fellow kitsune who had quickly backed up when the power hit him. "So, how powerful would you say she is?"

Koenma managed to stop gaping as the golden-tailed kitsune smirked at him. The miko looked uncomfortable. Koenma smiled nervously. "I believe that will be enough power to sate my father."

"Now, the mission has to do with three orbs which were stolen from the vault."

"You'd think after the first time something was stolen from there you'd get better locks," Yusuke muttered.

Koenma shot him a glare. "Anyway, these three orbs hold special powers. They were made a long time ago; the only problem is their creator was killed before he could tell anyone how to activate them. Which, in this case, is a good thing. It means the demons don't know how to activate them either."

"They are the orbs of Memory, Strength, and Emotion, and all we know is that each has something to do with their name. Controls memory for the Memory one perhaps, or strengthens the one holding it for the Strength one. I don't know. No one does. But, if these demons were desperate enough to steal them, they must have an idea of how to activate them." Koenma waited a moment and saw that everyone was still listening intently.

"We'll portal you as close to the last place they were sensed as we can without them immediately sensing you. There should be four of them, butterfly demons if I don't miss my guess. They may be a bit odd looking, but they can be dangerous, especially if they figure out how to work those orbs." Koenma nodded to Botan and she turned about, opening a portal next to the doorway.

"Dismissed! Have a nice mission Kagome!" Koenma smiled charmingly as they left, his three original detectives shooting him amused glances as Kagome smiled back. Yusuke frowned a bit at that but shrugged and followed the others through the portal.

They came out into a forest very familiar to Yusuke and Kagome. Shippo recognized it too and immediately his eyes narrowed to slits as his teeth were bared slightly. "They're near the graves."

"Graves?" Kurama asked curiously, exchanging a confused glance with Kuwabara. The question was never answered as Kagome and Shippo immediately took off, closely followed by Yusuke who jerked his head in an indication they should follow.

All five gathered before the clearing, Shippo's tail swishing back and forth in anticipation as he took a good whiff of the air. "They're afraid. That means they haven't discovered how to work the orbs. They'd be much more confident if they had. Let's go!"

With a happy grin the kitsune bounded forward. Kagome stayed back for an instant, shaking her head. "Apparently he spent too much time with Inuyasha. Running in blindly was his trademark."

There was a fond inflection to Kagome's voice that had Yusuke gifting her with a questioning look. She didn't notice it and slipped forward, almost bumping into Shippo as he bounced back, the fur on his tail standing on end in righteous anger.

"They're at the graves and trying to gather the energy there to protect themselves!" Outrage made the kitsune's eyes seem a bit red as he turned, Kagome following swiftly after.

Kagome was wary of them immediately as she only saw and sensed three, but when another didn't appear even when they screeched as they saw her, she decided the information must have been wrong.

The butterfly demons had a humanoid form to an extent. They had wings appearing out of their backs and bug like eyes in their heads. One butterfly made Kagome almost laugh. She hoped it was a girl. It was pink, purple, and red on its wings, with its body being white. The one in the middle had wings swirling with green, yellow, and orange, with a red body. The last looked the most foreboding, but she sensed the most fear off of it. It had a black body with silver, grey, and brown wings. Light was already trailing into its hands, apparently some sort of an attack.

An arrow sprouted in its chest briefly before that combined with a kitsune's fiery claws made the demon into nothing more than a pile of ash. Shippo bounded forward to pick up a black orb now lying on the ground.

At the quick removal of their companion the other two fumbled with weapons and orbs. Kuwabara and Kurama took the red-bodied one on. It proved to be a bit more formidable now that it was more prepared, but in short order it too was destroyed. Kurama picked up a white orb, pocketing it quickly as they went to face the last one.

Yusuke had hung back to watch the two new ones. Despite the seeming weakness of the darkest demon, Yusuke knew that it hadn't been as weak as they had made it look. They had just made it seem easy.

And now Kagome had an arrow notched and pointed at the last one. A faint glow surrounded her and the arrow before she released it. The last pastel colored butterfly futily held up its hands, one hand still clutching the orb it had in its hand.

The arrow hit the orb, but instead of bouncing off or going through it, it stopped it midair. The glow that had surrounded the arrow reappeared and then was transferred from the arrow onto the strange orb. The orb glowed eerily. It had found its power source and now was changing the pink power into a silver glow.

"The Orb of Memory," both kitsunes muttered at the same time. Kurama in awe, Shippo in aggravated annoyance.

The arrow suddenly dropped to the ground, shattering like brittle glass. Kagome stared at it with a dumbfounded expression on her face. Her miko powers had worked too well. They'd been used for a different purpose than had been intended.

Yusuke was as shocked as the rest of them, but when the demon seemed to get over it's shock and began chanting, he quickly decided that he didn't want to see what that orb did.

"Spirit Gun!" The call was almost too late. Perhaps it was, because the last thing the demon said as it was incinerated was, "Orb of Memory! Hear my call! Use your powers on my enemies and take my revenge!"

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Long winded for a demon."

Kagome snorted and looked like she was about to reply before a silver light abruptly shot up from the orb and split into five strands, twisting around the five and then shooting off into two or three others. All at once, the five Spirit Detectives dropped to the ground, their bodies glowing silver as the orb did as it was bid.

Even as the five were forced into memories not their own, another demon dove in from the sky. Its wings were a rainbow of colors, and it was approximately ten times larger than the dead butterfly demons.

Upon seeing the carnage caused because of the three orbs, the demon's blue head tilted towards the sky in a grief filled high pitched screech. Winds crackled around the clearing, threatening to pick up the detectives bodily and throw them away as the massive wings fluttered wildly.

Two multifaceted great black eyes suddenly were fixed upon the five detectives, and the clearing was suddenly still. A hiss echoed in the clearing. "My precious babies. They simply wanted to defend themselves. But you killed them. I'll kill you!"

The head turned slowly, surveying the languidly. As long as they were still in the throes of the orb, she had all the time she needed to take her revenge. A glimmer around the only female's neck caught her eyes. Fury filled her and the demon immediately started towards Kagome.

"And I'll start with the cause of this. You Guardian. You caused all the turmoil that made us run. I'll make sure you feel everything my babies did and more before you die!"

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I don't even know if any of you are reading this anymore, but I thought I'd respond to you anyway.

Thank you to: Reality, rogue solus, smile7499, Alexis of the Westlands, Eriee, Fire Kitsune Goddess, BloodRoseOTDemon, Setsuna Guardian of Sorrow, kitsunekagome23, Phyre Spryte15, BuffyBot76 for reviewing!

SilverKnight7: There are plenty of Kag/Kur stories already, so sorry, I'm not doing a Kag/Kur.

sugarfreak: Yes, she'll meet Hiei, and no, I don't have a Kag/Hiei. This won't be one either.

Winged Knight: Oh, he'll explain what he is eventually. After the mission after this. And Shippo might freak just a little. Maybe more than a little.

Kurai Mori: Thanks for reviewing! I love your stories! As for Shippo and Botan, you are correct, he does like her, and they will get together.

Jesscheaux Kuwabara: There was supposed to be more Kuwabara not wanting Kagome to fight, but it some how got cut out when I deviated from the rough draft. Well, I'll try to have more of him next chapter! And, you are definitely correct about who gets paired with Botan! Isn't Shippo adorable? I got send a picture of what he might look like as an adult and he was just hot! I so had to have a pairing for him. There are plenty of things the need to be revealed. The Spirit Detectives need to find out about Kagome guarding the Shikon no Tama, Kagome needs to find out what the heck is going on, and of course, everyone needs to find out what the heck happened to our other immortal demon characters? We know Naraku's dead, Kouga tried to escape from Makai, and Shippo's all grown up. We still have plenty of mysteries that need to be solved! Thanks for reviewing and all the wonderful compliments! I love it when you review!