Lightning strikes down upon a grassy hill, illuminating an all out brawl to the girls sapphire eyes. She smiles. "I've finally found them, I hope I'm not to late." She mumbles, jumping to another branch and then to another.
It had been three years since she had fallen down the well that day, and now Kagome Higurashi--who happened to be turning 18 today--found herself with an even busier schedule. Last year she had recieved a visit from Botan, the 'feared' grim reaper. She had become an official spirit detective that day. Since then she had been recieving a lot more training than even she thought she could handle, but after a year of battling Naraku, training with Genkai and doing odd missions for Koenma, she had become a fighter with skill almost equal to Inuyasha's (much to his dismay.)
And now she was sent tot the city park at 9-o-clock in the morning to help Yusuke and the others destroy a gang of demons one of which was a level 1 demon by the name of Kaine.
'Ahh, now is no time to think about the past, I've got work to do' She thought aiming an arrow at a lower demon whose shape shifting abilities were giving them some problems.
She let her arrow fly just as the demon was sending it's spear towards the chest of a red-haired boy. She smiled at the shock she saw on his face and moved further into the shadows when he looked her way. She let out a sigh when he turned his head to destroy a stray demon.
Not long after that the lesser demons had been disposed of and Kaine was the only one left.
"I see you've destroyed my minions... ...Oh well, I can find more after I've destroyed the five of you..." He said, flashing a look in Kagome's direction.
"Five?...And here I thought I was bad at math." Replied Yusuke, giving the demon a confused look.
"I believe that you know who I'm talking about, there are four of you here and one up in the tree." He pointed towards Kagome, "Come on, do I really look that dumb?" He asked, drawing a long katana that emited a unholy aura on it's own.
Kurama nodded. "He's telling the truth. There is someone up in the treetop, I'm not sure who exactly..."
Kagome smiled, and set a rather fierce looking mask upon her face. Her body was draped in a large black kimono and grey hakama, and with her breasts bound, she looked more like a small man than a girl. She jumped down from her spot in the tree and dropped her bow and arrow, drawing her short sword and walking towards the demon with an unseen grin.
"Well, now that you've found me, I suppose it's a little stupid to stay in the tree." She said.
Kurama eyed the newcomer and raised a brow at the feminine voice that came from the strange man.
Hiei frowned and watched the man as well, drawing his katana just in case.
Yusuke frowned. "Who the hell are you?" He asked in a rather arrogant way.
Kagome made a face underneath the mask. "Only here to help." She mumbled.
"Stop this friendly chatter, I've got things to do after I kill you!" Said Kaine, charging at the distracted Yusuke. As the fight commenced, Kagome moved back away from the two, determined not to interfere unless she was really needed.
Kurama watched the fight, making sure to be wary of the newcomer as well. Something about the man seemed a little strange, and he was sure that there was more to him than he let on.
Fifteen minutes later the fight had started to become a bit bloody, with Yusuke on the loosing side. Kagome turned to Kurama and Hiei. "Aren't you going to help him? He is your friend right?" She asked, a bit suprised that neither of them had helped him yet.
"It's Yusuke's fight, he wouldn't want us to help him." Said Hiei in a rather cold voice.
Kagome bristled. "Well, I was told not to leave until Kaine was killed so sorry if I'm a little impatient. I do have other things to do." She said bitterly.
"No one asked you to help us!"
"On the contrary I was asked to help you, Hiei." She said, smiling at the surprise shown in his crimson eyes for half a second.
"Excuse me, but who is it that asked you to help us?" Asked Kurama, a little more than intrested now.
"Can't you guess? You're the smartest of the entire group Kurama." Kagome said with a hidden smile.
" Alright then, Koenma must have sent you. But who are you, I've never seen anyone like you in the spirit realm." Said Kurama.
"Just call me Higurashi for now until I can tell you my full name." Said Kagome, drawing her sword again. "And apologize to Yusuke for me, I'm running out of time, someone's expecting me later." She said, advancing forward.
"I hope your friends are more of a challenge than--"
"Excuse me, but I've got a schedule to keep, and this fight is taking a bit too long." She said, holding out her sword. "Your opponent is me now." She said, hearing the swear words coming from Yusuke.
"Hey, I didn't ask for your help! " Yusuke said, slowly getting up from the ground.
"Sorry Yusuke, but I gotta hurry this up." Kagome said, falling into stance.
"I suppose I can kill you instead, little man." Said Kaine, standing about 3 feet over Kagome.
Kagome smiled and let her sword glow with her miko powers, grinning when she saw the fear begin to show on Kaine's face.
"What...What are you?" He asked, taking a step back as the aura from her sword began to burn his skin.
"Just you everyday Spirit Detective." She mumbled, letting her aura engulf him, turning him into ash. "There now that that is over, can we please hurry to Koenma?" She asked.
" Hey you've got a lot of nerve coming over here and--"
"--Butting into my fight?" Kagome finished. She chuckled, and began to apologize as a portal opened up beside Kurama. "Ah, finally it's time to go!" She said, running and jumping into the portal.
"He's a strange man..." Yusuke mumbled as he walked into the portal after the others.
In Koenma's office
"Hey Koenma! Can I go now, Inuyasha is going to kill me if I'm late again, and I've still got a lot to do before I go back."
"I'm sure he can wait for a little while, Besides, I think the others are going to want an explanation." He said as they all entered the room as well.
"Alright then, I guess it's alright if you say so. I'm just glad I can finally take this mask off!" She said, turning around. "I'll be right back, excuse me. " She said, brushing pass the others and exiting the room.
A few minutes later she returned, walking back pass the others. She grinned at the looks of shock on their faces. Kurama was the first to recover.
"Umm...this is kinda akward..." Kagome said, smiling. "Nice to meet you all, I am Kagome Higurashi." She said.
Yusuke looked at her in disbelief. "You mean you were the scrawny guy back there?" He asked, feeling a bit bad for having been out done by a girl.
Kagome nodded. "Yeah, and sorry about the fight. Don't feel too bad though, the only reason I was able to beat him is because I'm a miko." She said.
"And that's precisely why I have decided to let her join your group." Said Koenma from behind the desk.
"What?! You mean you're letting this girl join the group?!" Yusuke asked.
Kagome bristled. "Hey! I do have a name you know! And besides this girl could kick your butt any day!" She said crossing her arms. She turned back to Koenma. "Maybe it'd be best if I remained solo. I don't think me and Yusuke are gonna get along very well." She said.
"Well that's tough, but you are going to join the group. I've already told Genkai that you all will be training with her for the summer." Said Koenma.
"Hold on! What about Inuyasha and the others? I can't just go back and say 'Well the prince of the spirit world says I can't come back to help you guys anymore' Inuyasha won't take no for an answer. He'll probably try to destroy the well again to keep me from going back!" She said, breathing heavily.
Koenma grinned. "You can go back every now and then, but we need you in the future more often, you've been gone for months at a time!" Said Koenma.
Kagome growled. "I'm sorry to point this out to you but, there are more demons in the past than there are in the present so, I think I need to be there more often!"
"Well I don't think you train enough! What if you go soft on your days with Inuyasha!"
Kagome huffed. "All of my days with Inuyasha are spent fighting demons waaay stronger than the ones here! Besides the fight with Naraku might be coming up soon! I'm getting more training there than I do here!"
"Alright Alright!!" Said Koenma, glaring at her. "You can go back to the past to help the others, BUT!!! Yusuke and the others are going with you!" He said.
" What!?" Cried out Yusuke and Kagome at the same time.
"That idiot can't even get through the well, how do you suppose he's going, much less the others!" Kagome said, unaware of the glare coming at her from Yusuke.
"Easy I'm sure if they're holding on your hand when you jump down then they will go as well." He said.
Kagome took in a deep breath and began to calm down. "Yeah yeah, whatever...we might as well go now before Inuyasha comes to get me."
Yusuke frowned. "So you're telling me we have to go with this...girl to some guy named Inuyasha and help them fight some guy named Naraku?" He asked.
Koenma nodded. "Yup."
"I'm never gonna get a date with Keiko." Yusuke said, scratching the back of his head.
Kurama gave a faint smile. "Let me tell my mother that I'll be gone for a while and I'll meet you all back here" He said.
Kagome turned to him with a smile. "If Botan'll help you can all get a portal to the shrine from her, but please try to hurry." She said, not knowing why she was being so nice all of a sudden.
Kurama nodded slightly and walked into the portal that Botan opened for him.
End
Preview for next chapter: A Whole New World
Sango held back her tears in vain, falling down on her knees beside Kagome and hugging her motionless body. "Why, Why does everyone in my life have to leave me? Naraku took my entire family away from me...and now Kagome as well..."
Miroku put a hand on her shoulder supressing his own tears for her sake. Not even he wanted to admit that Kagome was finally gone, he couldn't bring himself to speak a word, not even a prayer.