Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho!
Fragmentation
Chapter Seven- Unlikely Compromise
She became aware only once and awhile at odd moments, giving her a few fragmented memories in what probably was hours. Traveling unimaginably fast, the surroundings hardly even a blur… being placed on something soft… two emerald orbs in front of her… cold air against her skin… the feeling of something sucking the life out of her. Though Sango supposed she should be thankful; if she was aware even the slightest bit, it meant she wasn't dead. At least, not yet.
Bits of conversation had come to her too, but her mind hadn't caught up enough for her to actually understand the words. She knew they were speaking her native tongue and knew the words they were using, yet at the same time the meaning was somehow elusive to her. She could pick up key words, however, such as "Hiei", "woman", "hanyou", and "unconscious", though even these hardly made sense.
When she was finally conscious for more than a few seconds, the first and only thing she could notice was the throbbing pain her body was experiencing. Her head was aching with a dull thud and her ankle still hurt, though surprising not as much as before. There was also a pulsating feeling coming from the arm Naraku's bee had stung. Kagura had done quite a number on her.
She peeked open one eye to look down at herself and survey the damage, though immediately wished she hadn't. As soon as she saw the random assortment of cuts and bruises littering her skin, the stinging of them suddenly came to her. Why was it that she always only started feeling pain after catching sight of a wound?
As soon as the pain rushed through her, she squeezed her eye shut, wishing for the darkness to take her again, but by then she was already too aware to go back to the bliss unconsciousness would have brought. While she attempted to suppress the pain, she began noticing things around her, small details that she could notice without even opening her eyes. She lay on a soft object, most likely a bed, because, really, what else could it logically be? The quiet ticking of a clock could be heard through the dark room—when she had cracked open an eye briefly she had noticed how dark the room was, probably the only light coming from the moon through her window somewhere, allowing her to see a small bit. Was it the same night, or had she been out for a whole day? Or maybe more? And how had she gotten home? She didn't remember walking there… Had Inuyasha, or someone else, found her and brought her back?
The object she lay on creaked ever so slightly when she moved and her body stiffened. Her bed didn't creak. Which meant… she wasn't home.
"You are finally awake," a smooth, male voice said from the back of the room.
Sango opened her eyes and tried to lift her head in his direction, but her head felt too heavy to keep up and she let it drop back to the pillow. Instead, when she heard no protests or movements from whoever was in the room, she lifted herself up with her arms (carefully, not wanting to upset her already annoying headache) and leaned against the headboard behind her.
The man continued, "I was beginning to worry I hadn't taken the poison out in time."
She focused her hazy gaze to the back on the room and found a red-haired man sitting in a chair off to the side, a man she recognized as one of the ones she and her friends had fought, specifically Miroku, having several whip wounds to show for it. Her body tensed further and she discreetly slid a hand behind her back, searching for one of her knives—just in case.
However, she was not as discreet as she'd hoped.
"I've removed all the weapons you had on you," he informed her, his tone as polite as ever even though he probably knew what she had had in mind. As he spoke, she found his words true as her hand only met the decoration of vines attached to the headboard behind her. Her mind raced, thinking of another option. "I couldn't take the chance of you waking up and attacking me while I was trying to help you," the redhead explained. He motioned to a desk by the window on the other side of the room from him, all her weapons laid out almost innocently on the top. Once again, seeming to know exactly what was going through her mind, he commented, "they're all there."
Not trusting his words—he was, after all, the enemy, at least at this point—she mentally went through all the weapons she had brought with her and found them all gone. Sango kept her eyes on the man, though from the corner of her eye looked at the weapons. He was sitting away from them. If she made a jump for it, she could most likely get there before him. He was strong, he had to be to use a whip like he did, but if she could get a weapon… The red-haired man couldn't be as fast as the short demon, she could make it. Though with her hurt ankle…
In one quick movement, removing pain from her mind as much as she could, she brought her knees to her and planted her feet firmly on the bed. She was about to spring up and make a jump from the bed when suddenly something wrapped around her wrists from behind, tying her down. Not expecting this and already starting her jump, she fell back onto the bed with force as she lost her balance. Her headache came back full force, throbbing and she groaned.
Sango glanced backward at her wrists, her arms in a painful position behind her as she was half-lying down, her hands behind her back preventing her from truly lying flat. Vines were tangled around her wrists, tying them together and keeping them against the headboard; the same vines she had thought were just decorations attached to his headboard. She cursed herself mentally for not thinking of the possibility of him having some sort of power.
Her pride as a fighter slightly bruised, she sat up once more to get in a more comfortable position and leaned heavily against the back of the bed while her wrist remained tied. Struggling only made them tighten around her.
Sango heard the man sigh. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to tie you down, but if you're going to be violent…"
She spoke for the first time since regaining consciousness. "Where am I?"
"You're inside my home," he answered simply.
He reached over and turned on a small lamp, allowing her to see her surrounding better in a bit more detail, as though he were trying to make her more comfortable with the area around her. Although she was grateful as her eyes focused better, she still regarded him suspiciously.
"How'd I get here? And why am I here?" she asked slowly, mostly because of her throbbing skull, though warily all the same. Was the reason they took her the same reason they had taken Kagome?
"You have Hiei to thank for that," he began.
"Hiei?" she interrupted.
"The demon that you were fighting last time we met," he explained. When she nodded her understanding and kept quiet, he continued, "I believe he would have brought you to Yukina to be healed, she is much more effective than I, but he didn't trust you… to behave yourself with all your weapons." He got up and moved closer to Sango, leaning against the door, which either was the way out or a closet. He went on before she could ask who this "Yukina" girl was. "So he brought you to me instead." He turned his emerald eyes to look to the other side of the room, near the window. "Isn't that right, Hiei?"
"Hn."
Sango nearly jumped but was able to stop herself from reacting. She had not realized he was there, let alone when he had arrived, which wasn't good. She was usually very capable of sensing demons near her. Her guard was down and she was becoming easily flustered. Not good. So not good.
Looking over to regard the demon—who she now knew as Hiei—their eyes met, though he looked away as soon as they did, crossing his arms. "Don't jump to such absurd conclusions, fox," he snapped at the red-haired one. "I only brought her because she might have some information that's useful." Pause. "If not, then we can dispose of her."
Being held no higher than a toy would, being able to thrown away at will, annoyed her, but she choose not to argue back. As long as she was unable to move her arms, infuriating the demon didn't seem to be the wisest thing to do. Of course, now all she had to do was keep that in mind, which would be harder than it sounded.
Kurama, however, knew something the woman did not. Hiei was never one to take any prisoners and always killed the enemy, if the opportunity presented itself. He smartly kept his mouth shut.
"But obviously you don't trust me, taking everything sharp and pointy away from me," she said dryly. "Then you wouldn't be able to tell if anything I said was a lie or not." Sango ignored Hiei, talking only to his emerald-eyed friend that she had yet to learn the name of (though the demon had called him "fox", which she did not know the significance of).
"Actually, even if I did trust you, I would have had to take them away to address your wounds. Giving them back, or rather, lack there of, shows my distrust," the fox said with a small smile.
Rather than responding to that logic—and mainly because Sango didn't have a reply to it—she changed the subject. "Why did you help me?" she inquired curiously. Her gaze shifted unknowingly to Hiei for a second then, realizing what she was doing, she snapped back to look at the fox.
"We have no real reason to kill you," he answered simply.
Only the hanyou, was the unspoken part. "That doesn't answer my question."
Kurama remained quiet after her statement, as did Hiei, but that wasn't unusual for him. Why he was silent… the reason he had helped her was mainly because Hiei had brought her to him; Kurama hadn't thought twice about it. As to why Hiei brought her though, that was only known to him, or maybe… not even he knew the answer. Either way, both stayed silent.
When it was obvious that neither were going to speak, Sango let out a breath and shifted her position trying to get more comfortable. She felt the vines ease just the slightest bit, enough to still be tight so that she couldn't escape (not that she had much of a chance to get anywhere with he fox and Hiei now in the room) but loose enough for comfort. She slouched against the back of the bed, feeling the strange pulse that seemed to go only through her right arm, but the comfort of silk sliding against her skin made up for it.
For the second time that night (the first time being when she discovered she wasn't in her own bed), she felt the shock of realization. Sango looked down at herself and her face turned immediately red from embarrassment and anger when she found herself in emerald, silk pajamas instead of the outfit she had started out in.
"W-where are my clothes!" she blurted out. It was one thing to take her weapons, it was another to remove her clothes when she wasn't even conscious!
Noticing her obvious alarm, the fox quickly reassured her, while either not noticing or not caring about the glare Hiei was giving him. "I put them on the side." He gestured to a bloody heap of materials, which at least use to be her clothes, but hardly looked like it now with so many rips in it. "Your clothes were in shambles already and you were bleeding from various wounds on your body. I needed to treat them as soon as possible or else you might have scarred, if not bled to death. There was no time for modesty."
She brought her knees up to her chest in a shielding position as the redhead explained, as though hiding herself now would make up for it before. Of course, being fully clothed now, it didn't make much of a difference. Well, it could've been worse she supposed. Her undergarments well still intact and in place, meaning at least some of her had been concealed.
Her face still red with embarrassment, she looked away while bringing her knees still closer, covering herself as much of her as possible. She silently wished she was able to hug her legs to her. "Pervert," she muttered.
A startled laugh escaped Kurama's lips. He couldn't help it; no one had ever accused him of being a pervert before. "I assure you, your virtue is still intact." For some reason, the short demon looked annoyed, but the fox didn't pay any attention to it. His gaze remained on Sango and looked down to her right arm, half hidden behind her back. "Though that reminds me…"
The redhead moved closer to her and Sango, now unnerved by him, shifted away as much as she could but her restraints held her in place. He sat on the edge of the bed and reached for her arm, giving her a small, reassuring smile that hardly put her at ease. Under normal circumstances it would have probably worked, but not now.
He pushed up the sleeve of her—or rather, his—pajamas on the right side, revealing a small plant attached to her arm. A few of the little, green limbs actually were in her arm, going under her skin, and pulsating in time with her heartbeat. So that was what was making her entire right arm pulse?"What is that?" Sango asked, alarmed.
"You had poison inside you. Luckily, Hiei got you here fast enough that this plant was able to take out the poison from your veins. Though if you leave it in too long, they'll start to leeching off your life force," he told her calmly as he removed the plant carefully, while Sango tried not to wince in pain.
Meanwhile, as he so gently removed the implement he had used to save her life, she was asking the same question over and over in her mind. Why are you helping me? The enemy didn't normally help the prisoner, which left her puzzled as to where both of their groups stood. But, no, she told herself firmly, they had been trying to kill her and her friends before, or at least, hurt them. She couldn't forget that.
After he put a bit of some kind of healing salve on her arm—since it was bleeding where he had removed the plant—she spoke. "Can you untie me too?" she asked, annoyance in her voice. She still didn't like the thought of the fox so close and talking was a good distraction.
"Do you actually believe that I would give you a chance to go for your weapons once again?" He asked with a wry smile.
Sango watched as the plant in the redhead's hand grew smaller and smaller until it digressed into its earliest stage, a seed. Her eyes widened a fraction in surprise, watching a process in reverse that would normally take months take place in only seconds. Finally when she tore her eyes from it, she responded with a small shrug, "it was worth a shot." The fox moved away then, and she breathed an inward sigh of relief, some of the tension leaving her muscles as she turned to Hiei. "And you? What's your say in this?"
Somewhere during her and the other man's conversation, Hiei had moved so that he was sitting on the windowsill, staring out into the night. He turned his intense, cold gaze to Sango, sending a chill down her spine, though it wasn't entirely a bad feeling. "I've seen you fight," he responded. He looked to the emerald-eyed man. "Keep her tied."
She felt a mixture of emotions. Annoyance that she was still their captive, yet a bit flattered by the unintentional compliment to her fighting skills. She knew so little about him, but knew enough that the demon probably rarely gave out anything resembling a compliment.
Some of her thoughts must have been readable on her face (though she was usually good at keeping her face blank—was he that good of a reader?) because Hiei snapped, "Don't think yourself special just because we haven't killed you yet."
"Oh, I think myself very special with these… precautions taken on my account," she said, tugging on her tied hands to show them what she meant. She gave him a bitter smile.
Then just like that, he was in front of her. She hadn't seen him move, not even a muscle, from where he was sitting on the sill. A warm hand, almost too warm, was closed around her throat, crimson eyes trying to burn through her. Man, if he had heat vision, she'd be dead already.
"I should kill you," the demon informed her.
Although her heart was pounding even more than her head, she responded calmly, "you wouldn't go through all the trouble of bringing me here just to kill me now."
Their eyes locked for only God knows how long, neither showing any sign of backing down.
"What is it with you women and talking back?" an obnoxious voice came from the door.
Both turned their heads to look at the new arrival, Sango with caution, Hiei with an expressionless face. A man was leaning one shoulder against the wall, his arms crossed, and watching Hiei and Sango with a sly smile. Sango immediately remembered him as the man who had shot that weird energy out of his finger and at Kagome and Inuyasha. Even if she'd forgotten such an important detail, his arrogant nature would have been familiar to her.
Her eyes narrowed, though in her mind she was thinking of his question. Normally she wouldn't be so free with her speech (and anger), but with her captors now… She felt no hostility from them. Somehow she knew they wouldn't hurt her and that's why she let herself snap back at them without fear. Was this how Kagome felt when they captured her? Possibly, but not matter what, Kagome would show resistance and speak her mind even with the consequences that'd come with it. Perhaps that would be her downfall.
Hiei let go of his grip on Sango as the fox greeted the newest person. "Yusuke, this is…" the redhead paused, realizing he had never learned her name. "I'm sorry, what is your name?"
Sango stared at him incredulously. How could he be so polite? She was tied up and he acted like they were at some kind of formal dinner. She continued to stare, not answering.
"Sango," Hiei answered for her curtly.
She whipped her head around in surprise (and immediately regretted it when flashes of pain swept through her), looking at the demon. "How do you know that?"
Yusuke came up and slung his arm around Hiei's neck in a friendly way. "Hiei's just a real people person. Loves them to death, really," Yusuke said, his voice thick with sarcasm.
Hiei didn't even move, though he glared upward. "Remove your arm now, or I'll remove it for you." From the way he said it, he meant more than just kindly detaching it. Oh, no, if Yusuke didn't move his arm, Hiei would take it away by removing it from its socket in the most painful way possible.
Yusuke, however, only laughed it off and began walking around the room. He whistled appreciatively when he saw the various knives and other weapons on the desk, all the implements the fox had taken from Sango. He then moved back until he was leaning against the wall, bending one leg so that he could rest one foot against it as well.
It was then that a second person burst into the room, his cheeks red and he seemed exhausted. He turned his black eyes on the rest of the group, looking for some answers. "Alright, what's so important that we had to get up and come here so early—" he stopped talking, finally taking notice of Sango. "Who's that?"
"Is your memory that bad?" Yusuke asked his friend, one eyebrow raised.
"Fool," Hiei muttered while Kurama began explaining, "she is one of the women with the half-demon."
"Oh, great. Another one of you," Sango said, while her nervousness grew. Being in a room with four men—well, three men and a demon—and not being able to defend herself, let alone move her arms… yeah, she was just a bit uncomfortable and nervous about that fact. With her nervousness, the vines grew tighter around her. Great, just great. Trying to keep her mind off it, she asked, "who are you then?"
He seemed to grow taller then, puffing his chest out proudly, and action that reminded her of Shippo. "I am the great Kuwabara!"
She controlled the small laugh that wanted to escape at the display, but allowed a small smile. Some of the apprehension eased away and the plant around her loosened, giving her wrists some space to move, though still not enough to be able to escape. Not that she had much of a chance anyway with so many people, not to mention she wouldn't want to leave without her weapons. Hey, they were expensive.
Kuwabara might have gone on, but the fox made a small motion to quiet him. He seemed very alert and quickly walked to the door, signaling the others to be quiet as well, which tempted Sango to yell , but she held her tongue. Hiei, seeming to know what she was thinking, gave her a look, telling her that if she did, she deeply regret it. Not that that's why she hadn't done it. Okay, well maybe that was part of the reason.
The redhead's hand reached for the doorknob and in one fluid motion, he opened the door, making a most surprising person drop into the room, almost falling to the floor if it hadn't been for Kurama.
"Er… hello."
She reached blindly for her coat, hand reaching and almost knocking various other objects over in the process. Luckily nothing fell and all remained quiet (and dark) in the apartment. Putting on her coat and wrapping her scarf around her neck,—it was getting chilly outside—Kagome then proceeded out of her apartment, only stopping for a moment to lock the door.
Feeling a bit giddy that she had gotten with it, she smiled smugly as she crossed her arms, heading down the dimly lit hallway… when of course, she was suddenly yanked back by her scarf.
Kagome turned, prepared to detach whatever her scarf had gotten caught on, when she found hands holding the end of it. Slowly she looked up, knowing she was in for it now, and not surprisingly, saw an irritated Inuyasha looking down at her.
She laughed nervously.
"And where do you think your going?" he inquired with a bit of an edge to it, tugging a bit on her scarf for emphasis.
After the run in with Yusuke and his friends, Inuyasha had told her and Sango to stay put; they'd go out all together as a group after some sleep. Neither her nor Sango seemed to obey that order.
Kagome wasn't too concerned for Sango though—she often went out at random hours, demon hunting. However, that didn't stop the weird feeling she got in her stomach when she thought of her friend out there tonight. Not necessarily bad, but not good either. She pushed it aside. If Sango didn't come back by the time Kagome got home, then she'd alert the guys.
Meanwhile, Kagome tried to stall. "How'd you even know I was leaving!"
While speaking, she yanked her scarf away from his grasp, trying to get free and causing yet another disturbance to put off having to explain. She anticipated him to try and hold onto it so she used extra force. Unfortunately, he didn't, causing her to almost fall backward. Inuyasha stopped her from falling at the last minute by grabbing and tugging on the scarf she had just gotten back from him, causing her to gag for a moment. She glared at him and took the end of the scarf back once more.
He looked amused. "Feh, I was getting a snack. And you're a noisy walker," he informed her before moving so that he blocked her and her way out.
She'd almost forgotten, those big (though very cute) dog ears of his weren't just for show, they actually did give him an acute sense of hearing. Which meant, though she tried to be discreet, even at her quietest, he'd probably hear her. Damn.
"Am not!" she said in a pathetic defense while her mind was racing. She distracted, "Hey, where's your hat? You know you shouldn't go out without it, people would freak, seeing someone with cat ears."
"They're dog ears," he replied, annoyed.
Shoots, scores, and the crowd goes wild. Her distraction was working.
"Well, they look like cat ears," she responded, taking a step toward him.
"I don't—hey, are you trying to change the subject?" he asked suspiciously, eyes narrowing.
"I think it is you who is trying to change the subject," she said while going on her tipitoes, giving him a jab in the chest.
He looked at her with a half-annoyed, half-perplexed look. "How is that possible? You're the one that started this whole ear thing," he told her. "Are you trying to confuse me?"
Kagome backed off a bit, offering a half-smile. "Depends. Is it working?"
Pause. "Kind of." He shook her head, as if trying to clear his mind of all the nonsense she had distracted him with. "Where are you going?" His tone was on this edge of harsh, wanting a straight answer.
Luckily, by then she already had her excuse all planned out. "I'm going out to the laundromat next door."
"Then how come you have no laundry?"
Well, she never said it was a good excuse.
Plan B might have been run! but she had a hunch (just a small one) that he'd be able to catch her. Right, that was out. She'd have to talk her way out of this one.
"Well, er… that's because I… my laundry's already there! Yeah, and I left it there by mistake and with all the confusion lately I, um, forgot about it," she told him quickly.
He raised an eyebrow. "And you have to get it now? In the middle of the night?"
"Er, yeah because then I won't have anything to wear tomorrow! So if you'll excuse me…" Kagome pushed past him, but he grabbed her arm.
He said her name in a way that made her stop and feel guilty, but she mentally shook her head, getting it out of her mind. They spent the next few minutes arguing quietly (more like she was quiet and she had to keep reminding him to keep his voice down since other tenants were trying to sleep). Finally, she convinced him, assuring him that she'd be back very soon and she didn't need a babysitter to walk ten feet, thank you very much. It was only a short walk, after all.
Sorry Inuyasha, she thought guiltily as she walked the opposite way from the laundromat, the wind chilling her down to her bones. She felt sorry that she lied to him, but her resolve was set. She had decided a few hours before that she needed to talk to Yusuke and his friends, and she needed to do it alone. Inuyasha wouldn't stay peaceful long, if at all, just wanting to fight the others. It wasn't like he didn't have good reason to, she could understand his wanting to pound them, but if she could just talk to them even for a minute… she had a gut feeling it would do some good. Kagome knew Yusuke was a good guy. She knew.
…She hoped.
Her plan of action had been to go to where she had met Yusuke the second time, at his work. She hoped they'd be willing to give out an address of some sort, or that maybe she could charm her way into getting it. Though she really hoped whoever was working there now would just give it out, because she was almost positive she would fail miserably at the latter. Or, if Lady Luck was really with her, Yusuke would have the shift there tonight. Was she really that lucky? No, no she wasn't.
Kagome buttoned her jacket so she wouldn't have to keep holding it closed, though the cold air nipped at her either way. It was fall, it wasn't suppose to be this cold. Oh, well, nothing she could so about that.
A rather cruel gust of wind came at her, almost causing her to shiver, and lifted her scarf right off of her. Kagome squeaked in protest, though, of course, it did no good as she tried to grasp the elusive accessory. It began flying away, caught in the wind and Kagome ran through the city after it.
"Get back here!" she cried as she ran, pushing the hair that blew into her face away. Finally, the gust died down and the scarf stopped, falling to the sidewalk. "Evil wind," she muttered as she snatched it up.
Kagome straightened herself, though she was unable to see because of her wild hair had fallen in front of her face. Trying to push it away properly without tangling it, she wasn't expecting someone to suddenly run into her. A small "oomph" escaped her as she staggered back, steadied only by the person who had run into her.
"I'm really, really sorry, miss," the man said quickly before he sped away.
Finally giving up, Kagome shook her head until her hair parted and she could see again. She was about to call after the man to say something along the lines of, "it's alright" but stopped herself abruptly when she saw the man who was jogging away.
Was that…?
He looked familiar, but… No, she couldn't mistake that orange hair and he was wearing the same outfit, at least, she thought it was.
Yes, it definitely was one of her former captures.
A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as a plan formed in her mind. Well, she wanted to talk to one of them. He was as good as any and he wasn't totally impulsive, like Inuyasha and Yusuke. She might be able to reason with him. Yes. Yes, she was certain she could.
And the hunter stalks her prey—so they can have a civilized conversation, of course, Kagome thought as she began following him.
And it wasn't easy. Seeing that he was tall so therefore had longer legs, was in shape, and male, he was generally faster than her. The only reason she was able to really keep up with him was because he seemed tired or at least not using all his energy at the moment.
Remembering how Inuyasha had called her noisy, she tried to be as quiet as possible, but he was oblivious anyway. She followed him for who knows how long until he finally stopped at a small house. Everything in the house seemed still, no lights on from what she could see through the windows, but she was certain that someone lived there. It was too well kept for there to be no residents, not to mention the picturesque garden to the side.
The man went up to the door, tried the doorknob and, finding it unlocked, just walked right inside. Kagome cautiously opened the gate and followed the path up to the door. She paused at it, suddenly unsure. Should she really just walk in?
She shook her head to removed all doubt and pushed the door open, seeing as how the orange haired man had forgotten to close it all the way. Kagome gently closed it, feeling the need to make the house secure, plus, it was the polite thing to do.
Once in the house, she searched the darkness and upon seeing a soft light coming from under the crack of a door upstairs she concluded that was where they must be. Her heart suddenly beating quickly, she walked toward the stairs, one hand holding both ends of her scarf so they wouldn't catch on anything and knock anything over, alerting them of her presence.
Ascending the stairs, she was silently thankful that the steps did not creak at all and she slowly went to the door with the light. Her heart was still pounding, she could feel it in her chest and her ears pounded in time with it as well. Letting out a shaky breath, she closed her eyes and leaned against the door, putting her ear against it to listen inside.
She heard voices coming from inside, meaning that there was more than just the orange haired one in the room. She could only hear the muffled talking, no words clear, only their tones and the general sound of their voice. She counted at least three males and surprisingly, she heard the feminine tone of a woman. Strange, she hadn't remembered a woman with the group, except the blue-haired one but her voice had been higher and had an accent.
The talking ceased, but Kagome didn't seem to notice as she tried to place the woman's voice. The female's voice inside kind of reminded her of…
The door abruptly opened and for the third time that night, she was falling, only this time, she was falling forward. She tried to find something to hold onto to keep her from falling, but found none. Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited for impact. However, the person who opened the door went to their knees and caught her before Kagome's face could come into contact with the floor.
She peeked one eye open, but all she saw was the red material of someone's shirt. Blinking open both eyes, she looked up into emerald eyes.
"Er… hello."
Most of them in the room looked surprised to see her, or, in Hiei's case, not really caring at all. Slowly, she stood up, the man who caught her standing up with her, his arms still around her as though he wasn't sure she'd stay up on her own. Kagome recognized him as the one who had drugged her and she stepped away though trying not to be rude, which was ironic really, since they had been the ones to kidnap her.
She looked around to see Yusuke's two other friends and Yusuke himself in the room, their eyes locking for a moment before she looked away. "It's like one big party in here, isn't it?" It was then that she became aware of the person on the bed. "Sango!" Kagome exclaimed at the same time her friend said her name, though Sango said it with more warning, like a mother would say to a child who she knew was up to no good.
A sheepish look came upon Kagome's face as she nervously looked around her, locking her hands behind her back. Okay, maybe she should have thought her plan out more thoroughly, but it wasn't like she expected them all to be there! Or have Sango with them for that matter.
"Kagome! What are you doing here?" Yusuke questioned skeptically.
She began twisting her fingers behind her back as she responded, "well, um, I came to talk actually."
He raised an eyebrow while Sango groaned, letting her head fall back to hit the headboard, shaking it. "Kagome…"
"Look, I think we just need to talk, that's why I came. You're not bad people, and neither are we," Kagome explained while Sango continued to shake her head.
Yusuke scoffed at her words and Kuwabara said, "brainwashing…" in a low singsong voice.
At Sango's baffled look, Kagome told her, "they think Inuyasha brainwashed us and that he's our master or leader or something like that."
The demon slayer's face looked angry then, but before she could voice her protests, Yusuke spoke to Kagome, his voice having much irritation in it. Maybe it was the mention of Inuyasha's name, or maybe it was that he didn't like to hear that they, or mainly Kagome, had a "master" that she was completely devoted to.
"Would you just go sit with your friend," he ordered her, "we've got the upper hand here, four to two and not even that since your friend is tied. That means you're our hostage now." He added as an after thought, "again."
Kagome looked startled, then crossed her arms in a huff, refusing to follow his command. Her eyes dared him to do something about it. The rest just watched the exchange, wondering what the Spirit Detective would do. Yusuke let out a breath of pure annoyance, before trudging over to Kagome and, without a word, picked her up, throwing her over one shoulder. She squeaked in protest, but didn't have enough time to react before he dropped her on the bed next to the demon slayer.
Kagome got up from her sprawled position and sat down properly next to Sango, but not before giving Yusuke a dirty look that only made him smile haughtily.
"Welcome to my hostage situation," Sango told her dryly.
"Ha ha ha," she replied without any humor, "how'd you get here anyway?"
"I got injured pretty bad by a… demon," she said, deciding she'd tell Kagome later who exactly it was. There was no time for discussion now. "He," Sango nodded her head toward the demon, "brought me here."
Hiei looked away from her, gazing out the window into the night instead.
"What?" Kuwabara asked, surprised. He looked to Hiei. "You actually helped her? Out of your own free will?" A grin came on his face, affirming Hiei's suspicions that he wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "Aww, looks like the shrimp's getting soft!"
The death glare the tall, orange haired man received was even worse than the one the demon had given Sango when he had his hand closed around her neck. She hadn't even thought it was possible to give someone a dirtier glare then the one he had given her, but obviously she was wrong. That was talent, right there.
The two men, Yusuke and Kuwabara, began teasing Hiei, though the third stayed out of it, only allowing a smile to grace his lips at their words, while Hiei looked like he was thinking of which of them to kill first. Meanwhile, Kagome and Sango continued to softly talk, one of the things Kagome inquiring about were who each one of them were and her friend explained as best she could.
"Yusuke I know," Kagome said and quickly continued before Sango could ask how she knew him, "the demon is Hiei, who was the one you were fighting, but you don't know what type of demon he is." She didn't mention to Sango that she felt a weird, though familiar power coming from him. Could he have one…? "And the orange haired one is 'the great Kuwabara', right?" Sango nodded, smiling. Kagome gestured to the redhead. "Then who is he?"
"All I know is that Hiei called him 'fox'."
Kagome frowned, not satisfied with the answer. She at least wanted to know the names of the people she was dealing with. "Fox," she called. The redhead turned to her in surprise, probably wondering how she knew that nickname. "What's your real name?"
He looked at her for a moment, really looked at her, before replying. "My real name?" he repeated almost thoughtfully.
"Yeah, you know, your name. What people call you, how you're addressed…" she said with a half-smile.
Hearing her question, the other two men stopped their teasing (though it looked as though Hiei might take out his sword and chop them in half anyway) and looked at the fox, wondering what he might say.
He met her questioning brown eyes. "…Kurama."
Yusuke didn't even try to hide his surprise. He didn't give out his real name to many humans, just having them call him 'Shuichi', his human name. Only those he trusted knew his real name and he certainly couldn't trust them. Then what was different about these two girls?
He shook his head, getting such thoughts out. "Can we all just remember for a second that we're enemies and stop all this polite, nice crap?"
"We're not enemies!" Kagome protested.
"Then what are we?" Yusuke exclaimed.
"The... thenon-enemy type people!" Kagome retorted after a moment's thought. She wasn't able to give a better answer, though her reply was horrible.
Yusuke let out an exasperated breath, taking a few steps toward the bed. "Then why the hell are we fighting all the time!"
"That's what I'm saying!" she replied, going to her knees on the bed so that she was closer to him.
He moved so that he was by the side of the bed, making him not even a foot away from her. "You're not making sense!" Yusuke informed her.
"Um, guys…" Kuwabara said, taking a step forward, trying to get them to calm down. He was ignored.
"I'm making perfect sense!" she declared, sitting up taller so that their faces were only inches apart since he was bent a bit to look down at her. Her brown eyes were ablaze, as well as his, until suddenly, his softened and a grin tugged at his lips.
Yusuke abruptly started laughing, backing up until he hit the wall, his shoulders shaking with his laughter.
"I don't see what's so funny," she said crossly, arms crossed.
"We're fighting over the stupidest thing," he said between gasps of breath.
Sango looked at Yusuke like he was crazy, while Kuwabara and Kurama only shook their heads. Hiei muttered something that sounded like, "humans," in a negative way. Kagome, however, could feel a small smile form on her face. Seeing Kagome's smile, the grin on Yusuke's face widened.
Sango tugged on her restraints, trying to get more comfortable since her arms were hurting from being in the same position for so long, but could not without making the vines tighter. She let out an annoyed sound, before collapsing back again the headboard.
"Having trouble?" Hiei said with a small smirk.
She glared. "I won't be here for long before Inuyasha comes and knocks the house down with his sword."
Kagome interjected into the conversation. "Actually, that's not true. He… kind of doesn't know you're missing."
Sango lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean kind of? You didn't tell them, did you?"
Kagome's eyes shifted and she began twisting her hands in her lap.
When Sango began to groan, Kagome protested, "but you disappear for hours often, so how was I to know you were in trouble? But I saw him," nodded her head to Kuwabara, "and got a bad feeling so I followed." Okay, so she lied about the reason why she came, but she didn't feel like getting scolded by her friend or getting told how foolish she had been from anyone else in the room.
The demon slayer rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and got yourself captured. Again. In the same night."
Kagome frowned. "Well, what was I suppose to do? I didn't know you were inside, but I thought if I listened in I might be able to find out something, so I just came in." Oh, if she were Pinocchio, her nose would be huge.
"With no plan whatsoever," Yusuke added with a smile.
"Hey, I'm making this up as I go along," she declared as she got off the bed, hands on hips. His smile turned to a grin at the display.
Hiei looked annoyed at the whole conversation, though only because they were letting their captives talk back so freely to them. He took a threatening step toward Kagome, which seemed to work since she took a step back and went back onto the bed with Sango. Until Kagome found out exactly what the strange energy was coming from the demon (though she was almost positive what it was) she'd try to stay on his nice side. Though even then, she doubted it would help much, he probably wouldn't be willing to give it up…
A knock came at the door and a soft call of, "Shuichi" was heard. Stopping talked as the rest of them hushed up as Kurama went outside into the hallway. Kagome and Sango shared a look.
The room remained quiet, not even Kagome and Sango breaking the silence as she heard the soft murmurs of talking outside, Kurama's voice sounding apologetic. A third voice entered the conversation and it went on for another minute or two before it was quiet and Kurama opened the door.
The redhead reentered the room, only this time a familiar woman followed him inside. After all, blue hair like hers wasn't that easy to forget. It bounced in its ponytail as she walked, her pink eyes dancing with happiness as they always were. The girl seemed to be as alive and cheerful as ever, even at the ungodly hour where sleep was wearing down on most of them. Most, not all.
"Everyone's all together I see. Good, it makes my job much easier. Hello, boys," she greeted. She blinked in surprise. "And girls." She looked to Kurama questioningly.
He sighed. "It's a long story, Botan."
She just shrugged and turned to the girls. "Hello, I'm Botan. Ferry girl for the Spirit World."
Ferry girl? Spirit World? Kagome found herself wondering, but decided to ask about it later.
"Why does everyone act like they're not hostages?" Yusuke asked, annoyed. He threw up his arms in a surrendering sort of way. "I give up."
"Well actually, Koenma been doing some more research on Kagome," Botan started, pausing for only a second when Kagome let out a "hey!" in protest, "and actually had a few questions for her. I was just going to tell them to you, Yusuke, since you seemed to know her, but this worked out wonderfully."
"Wait, if you were looking for Yusuke, why'd you come here?" Kuwabara asked.
"You weren't home so I thought Kurama might know where you are," Botan said as though it were an obvious answer.
She then took the briefcase that she had by her side and set it on the bed. With an "excuse me" to the two girls on it, she climbed on as well, beginning to do something with the case, which Kagome noticed had a small screen on it. She began murmuring to it, but she couldn't hear because Botan was speaking too soft.
"What kind of questions?" Kagome asked, "and who's Koenma?"
It was Kurama that answered, since Botan seemed to be concentrating. "The Prince of the Spirit World."
"What's the Spirit World?" Kagome inquired. Now seemed as good a time as any to ask.
"Is it like the Demon World?" Sango asked from beside her. Kagome looked at her, surprised. There was a whole world of demons! Where had she heard that term anyway?
"In the Demon World, there are demons, and the Spirit World, well…" Kuwabara began.
"Spirits?" Sango finished for him.
"Yeah," he agreed, nodding. He hadn't wanted to just come out and say it because then she might think they were insane. Then again, she knew of demons, spirits were that much of a stretch.
"Here we are!" Botan said happily.
She turned the open briefcase toward Kagome and she was surprised to see a man in the small screen in it. He had short brown hair with matching eye color, though the two things that struck her as odd were, for one, the abbreviation of Junior that was on his forehead and the strange object in his mouth. Was that a pacifier?
"Talk away," Botan instructed with a smile.
Kagome moved back onto her knees to be closer to the screen, bracing her hands on her thighs so she could lean downward to be on a closer level with it. "Um, hi," she said to the man in the picture, while wondering if he could even hear her.
"Hello, Kagome," he responded. He folded his hand on the desk he sat behind. "I didn't expecting to talk to you in person, but I guess it works out better this way. I have a few questions for you."
She nodded. "Alright." Okay, her plan was finally seeming to work. If she could convince the Prince here that they were good, he could then convince the rest. Then her friends and Yusuke and his allies could stop attacking each other.
Here goes nothing… she thought, while knowing it was the exact opposite.
"You're helping a hanyou, right?"
Kagome nodded. "I help Inuyasha fight demons…" She almost went on about the jewel, but stopped herself. She'd save that for later.
"And you are the priestess Kikyo, are you not?" he questioned.She paused, while a part of her felt annoyed. When would people learn that her and Kikyo were different? "I'm her reincarnation, yeah—er, yes." She was talking to royalty, after all—the least she could do was speak properly. "But we are two separate people."
He seem to wave off the last of her words. He was the Prince of the Spirit World, he knew all about the reincarnation of souls. "Then why do you help the hanyou that killed her?"
Oh, now she was upset. Her hands balled into fists as she retorted, "Inuyasha didn't kill her! It was Naraku's dastardly deeds that killed her. Inuyasha would never harm Kikyo!" As much as it still hurt her to say that last part, it needed to be said.
Botan, being a woman, gave Kagome a sympathetic look. Whatever they were, foes, allies, acquaintances, she could sympathize with the girl and admired how devote she was to defending her friends.
Koenma looked taken back by her anger, so tried not to say anything to infuriate her more. "Naraku?" he inquired curiously.
"Look, all the things you think Inuyasha's done, that was Naraku! Inuyasha one of the good guys, like me, Sango, and the rest of my friends," Kagome said, trying desperately to get him to understand. "if you have any information on Sango or Miroku, you'd see that they are good people too."
He stopped talking then and, after seeing how serious she truly was, began searching through many papers on his desk, going through different files. "I must have it somewhere…" he mumbled to himself as he looked.
Botan shook her head. "He's so disorganized sometimes…"
Yusuke sneered as he moved closer to Kagome and Botan to be able to see the prince in the screen. "Yeah, more like all the time."
Koenma, finding one file in particular, picked it up and began reading from it. "Miroku, travelling monk. Lived during the Feudal Era. In search of the half-demon who cursed his family. Has a hole in his right palm that can take anything in the surrounding area into a void. Disappearance, age twenty-two." He frowned, then shook her head, moving on. He picked up another file, reading it aloud. "Sango, demon exterminator. Lived during the Feudal Era. Entire village, including family, slaughtered. Brother killed by half-demon that she seeks vengeance on. Disappearance, age nineteen."
Sango let her head fall downward, her bangs hiding her eyes from view. Her hands began shaking in anger, though gladly no one could see them. Just even hearing it… hearing what he had done to her brother… it made her so angry! He brought him back with the jewel… only to kill him later on. Right in front of her.
"The Feudal Era… that was over five hundred years ago," Kurama murmured, mostly to himself.
"What do you mean 'disappearance'?" Yusuke asked Koenma curiously.
"He means I never died," she said quietly, her voice void of emotion.
Botan elbowed Yusuke in the stomach before he could say something stupid like, 'you're over five hundred years old!', all the room grew uncomfortably quiet. Most of the others looked at Sango and then away, but Hiei kept his eyes on the slayer. As though feeling the eyes on her, she glanced up until she found Hiei and met his eyes with her own, so filled with angry and beyond that… emptiness. Wanting to stop the odd feeling in the room, Kagome spoke to Koenma quietly. "Now, if they wanted to destroy this half-demon that you think is Inuyasha, why would they be helping him? The half-demon you're talking about is Naraku.""Who is Naraku?" he asked once more.
"He's the reason we're here, we're trying to fight him and stop him from hurting people while trying to put the Shikon Jewel back together before he does." She sighed heavily. "Can't you see? We're on the same side, I know that now. Your… group was trying to stop Inuyasha from killing—though that wasn't him—but it means you're the good guys. Well, so are we."
"The Shikon no Tama?" Koenma breathed, his eyes widening. "Gives power and one wish to its user. It's been lost for…"
"Five hundred years, around the same time Sango and the other disappeared," Kurama finished. He looked to the two women. "How is that possible?"
"We have… ways of traveling back and forth between the times. Now we're just here in the present. And the Jewel is here now, which is why everything has been in such a chaotic lately."
"The jewel here? Who has it?" Koenma asked urgently, sitting on the edge of his chair to be closer to the screen.
Kagome suddenly looked embarrassed, her cheeks red. "Well… it's kind of… broken. Lots and lots of little pieces." She stopped there, not telling him it had been her who had broken it for the second time. It wasn't like she had much of a choice! It was either break it again or have Naraku use it, which probably would have ended in the destruction of her world. The first choice was much better and at least gave them some more time. Hopefully they'd get the completed jewel this time.
Koenma slumped in his chair, muttering what sounded like, "my dad's going to have a fit."
Once again, the room quieted until someone spoke. "You mean pieces like this?"
Kagome turned to the speaker to find the demon, Hiei, holding two small fragments of the jewel, looking at them. He tossed the two into air and caught them again before they fell.
Her suspicions from before were confirmed, though it still startled Kagome, causing her eyes widened as she exclaimed, "where did you get those!"
Yusuke was surprised as well, though it answered one question in his mind. He had thought Hiei had been somewhat faster than normal lately… "What does this jewel do?" Yusuke asked, inspecting it before Hiei put it back so it was hidden in his cloak.
Koenma, not able to see what was going on but able to hear well enough to know what was going on, shook his head. "I think we need to discuss this more thoroughly. In person," he added.
Kagome paused for a second before nodding. They talked for a few more minutes with some comments from the others in the room and agreed to meet tomorrow afternoon. He'd send Botan or someone else to get them to Spirit World. Kagome bit her lips after agreeing, wondering how she'd explain any of this to Inuyasha without him getting angry…
After giving Yusuke the address to where to find them (and assuring Kuwabara that no, it wasn't a fake), Kurama finally released the plants that held Sango. She sighed in relief and brought her hands in front of her, stretching her arms before rubbing her wrists where the vines had so tightly held. Seeing this, Kurama politely offered an apology that Sango accepted. Realizing she had never thanked him for saving her life, she thanked him as well. Though, she still seemed skittish when he was close. Give her a few weeks, then she might be over it.
Sango went over to the desk that held her weapons and began to take them back, while Hiei commented on the blades. Though his tone was harsh as he spoke, she knew not to pay attention to it, only the actually words mattered. Sango gave him a small smile, some of the anger and tension finally starting to seep out of her.
Meanwhile, Yusuke spoke to Kagome, saying, "I guess this means you guys are free to go."
Kagome got up and stretched, going onto her tipitoes before turning to Yusuke. She poked him once in the chest. "I told you we weren't enemies," she said with a smug smile. She turned toward the door and began walking away, though once she turned back a smile lit her features.
"Yeah, well that's still up for grabs," he replied and grabbed her scarf as he did, tugging on it just as he said the word grabs, in effect making her stumble backwards.
"Okay, I'm just never wearing a scarf again," muttered to herself as she regained her balance, then turned to stick her tongue out at Yusuke for such a cheap trick.
They left a few minutes after that when Sango had gathered all her things, telling the group that they'd see them soon. A few of them had mixed feelings about that fact.
As they descended the stairs quietly—Kurama wanted to avoid waking his mother up again—they talked softly, just as the others had begun to do once Kagome and Sango had closed the door.
"This demon world… it's probably where Naraku's hiding. That's why we've only been able to find his minions lately, and not him." Sango ran one hand through her bangs instead of shaking them out of her eyes. "Even if we can't entirely trust these people," she put up a hand to stop the arguing she knew was going to come from Kagome, "yet, we can at least find out what else they might know about Naraku and this demon world. They're sure to know something that could help us out."
They reached the door and Kagome opened it while saying with a sigh, "if only Inuyasha could see that…"
Sango gave her a pat on the shoulder as she past her, going through the doorway. "I'll leave Inuyasha up to you."
"Oh, what a good friend you are," the miko muttered, catching up to her.
Sango laughed, but it died down when she recalled something. "By the way, we've got more problems," Sango informed her friend.
"Tell me something else that's new," Kagome responded, putting her hands in her pockets since they began to feel cold.
"Oh, this is new alright. This problem goes by the name of Kagura. I ran into her last night," Sango informed her. Not feeling like going into a long explanation, she continued, "I'll tell you more once I get some sleep."
Was it saddening that it was almost sunrise and all she could think about was sleeping the day away? Maybe just a bit."Alright then." Kagome, remembering something she had to say since she'd seen Sango that night, smiled her sweetest smile. "Oh, and Sango?" Sango looked over to her inquiring. Kagome's sweet smile turned into a grinned. "Nice pajamas."
To her dismay, Sango felt her cheeks heat up and was immediately thankful for the darkness that hid her blush, though it didn't stop her from grumbling."Not a word. Not a single word."
AN: Hmm, a so-so chapter, mostly talking/discussion. Hoping for some action next chapter.
Next Chapter Title: Chapter Eight: Different Worlds (Likely to change)
