Hey, guys. I already had this one written, it just needed to be tuned a little bit and to be honest it still does. I'll go back later and revise it again, but I wanted to at least get a little along with the story. Anyway hope you like it.

Yukina's Story

Chapter 2

Out of all the reactions Koenma could have expected, Yukina's reaction to the story of Kagome and her jewel was by far the strangest. Yoko and Kuronue were of course interesting in digesting all they'd learned about the jewel, finding the miko's story both fascinating and intense. They were both curious as to what kind of woman, especially a young teenager such as her, could have survived such treacherous times. Yusuke was feigning disinterest as some chick with too much power and a glowing jewel seemed to fanatic for his tastes. He didn't believe that any girl would have been able to accomplish all she had in the years she'd reported to Koenma. As you can see Yusuke was turning quite the chauvinist, even while being mated to Keiko. Kuwabara was not present as he was still in school and really Koenma found no need for Kuwabara's assistance for this one.

This mission was purely to get the facts straight and he didn't feel as if there was any particular danger yet. Besides, if there was, he was sure the others would be able to take care of anything.

Yukina, though, her reaction was purely out of character. "Ano...Koenma, sir," she interrupted the talking team. She gulped a bit when everyone turned to her and stared. Even after all these years in the Ningenkai she still hated having everyone's attention. She blushed but continued with her question. "What did you say this miko's name was?"

"Her name is Kagome," Koenma responded. "Why, do you know something?"

Yukina frowned and bit her lip. Could it be the same miko she met a couple months ago? But that girl didn't seem anything like the one Koenma was talking about. For one, the miko she met had worn clothes slightly similar to the clothes that Yoko and Kuronue wore. The girl she'd met had worn all black and carried other weapons beside her arrows. "Koenma, what is her last name?" she asked, and this time the look in her eyes was enough to make everyone realize that she could be on to something.

"Higurashi," Koenma concluded.

Yukina's jaw dropped. "It couldn't be," she murmured.

"Do you know her, Yukina?" Kuronue asked.

Yukina turned to the bat youkai and nodded tentatively. "I don't really know. She told me her name when I met her, but Koenma sir, your description of her was totally different than the one I got of her. Could there be two women of the same name?"

"Hm," Koenma murmured. "I have a picture of what she looked like the last time I saw her. Would that help? Would you be able to recognize her?"

"I don't know," Yukina murmured.

Koenma turned back to his desk and pushed a few buttons and brought up a picture of a young woman wearing blue and white miko robes. The girl was very pretty with black hair about waist length, though it was tied back in a high pony tail. She was standing in Koenma's office giving the camera the peace sign. She had a pack of arrows on her back and in her other hand she loosely held a nice looking long bow.

"Wow," Yoko murmured, thinking that she was very pretty...as far as mikos go.

Yukina's soft gasp confirmed it for everyone. "Th-that's her, but...I don't understand. She looks so different than the girl I met. The girl, no woman I met seemed...colder, though I could tell her heart was pure. She was just...a bit guarded."

"Why don't you tell us when and how you met her," Kurama suggested. "It might help us."

Yukina nodded and began her story.

"Well you see about five months ago I was alone at Genkai's meditating and practicing my ice magic when a demon came out of nowhere and tried to kidnap me. He said that he was going to take me back to Makai and make me his mate so he could make a profit off of my tear gems. I was scared but managed to get away enough to hide my energy. I ran out into the forest and managed to find a nice grove to hide in, but somehow he found me anyway. He started to come after me again and I thought I was going to die. But then…she came."

All were in awe of Yukina's story, though Kuronue, Yoko, and Kurama were quite angry that someone had tried to kidnap her again. But the mention of she and the way the ice apparition's eyes glowed and her smile grew, they could tell that something wonderful had happened to her.

"She came out of no here; I didn't even feel her coming. When she released her energy I was surprised to find out she was a miko. She must have sensed my unease because she spoke very low and very soft. She told me to stay down and that she wasn't trying to hurt me. She said she had felt the demon's aura and could feel's its malicious intent. And for some reason...I believed her. I didn't even see her move when she attacked him. He was angry and tried to grab her and she was so fast, she made him look like a snail. It was almost as if she were playing with him. I suppose she got bored because one minute the demon was standing there and the next, he was purified out of existence. His aura completely vanished and all traces of him were gone. She turned to me and she smiled, though I don't think the smile reached her eyes. She seemed...very sad and I could feel her soul pulsing with some kind of emotional pain. But she asked me what my name was and if I was okay. She told me she owned the shrine next to Genkai's and that she'd felt the demon's aura and had come to investigate it. I asked her if she was all right and she just smirked."

Yukina turned to Yoko surprising him when she grinned. "She-she acted like you after you beat an opponent or find a new puzzle or treasure to study. I can't explain it. She was so...confident."

"She certainly sounds like him," Kuronue murmured as Yoko tried to look indignant, though it only caused Kuronue to smirk and Kurama to chuckle at him. Instead he was wondering when he would be able to meet this enigma of a girl.

"So...what happened next?" Yusuke asked eyebrows rose in curiosity.

"Well when I asked her if she needed healing of any kind she claimed she was fine. She called him a weakling and said that she could probably take on five of him and suffer not a scratch." Yukina giggled as she pictured the arrogant stance of the taller woman. "She turned to leave and I couldn't help but ask her to stay for a little while. She was so…interesting. She had such a peaceful aura about her, yet her eyes were filled with such sadness." Yukina's eyes dropped to the floor as Kurama wrapped a loose arm around her waist in comfort. "I wanted to help her and I was surprised when she said yes. She didn't talk much about herself or her life. She just listened as I told her all about myself and my brother. I told her that sometimes I felt like a fool because Hiei had been there my whole life, right under my nose and I didn't even know it. I told her that he still refused to come out and tell me to my face that he is my brother; that I wanted him to come to me, not the other way around."

"Yukina…" Kuronue whispered. "You're not-."

Yukina's smile startled everyone. "Do you want to know what she said?" Everyone leaned in closer, waiting on bated breath.

"She said that the real fool is my brother because he refuses to look beyond his own past. She told me he is missing out on the greatest gift life can offer."

"Family," Kurama murmured after a moment looking to Yoko and meeting the eyes of the one he now called brother.

"Greatest gift life can offer…" Koenma murmured. Then a small smile fell across his face. "Yeah, that definitely sounds like her. Maybe she hasn't changed as much as I fear."

"Is that all, Yukina?" Yoko asked.

Yukina frowned. "Yes. She didn't stay very long. But she did tell me that she now considers me a friend and that if I ever needed anything, she would assist me and she did say I could visit her shrine anytime I wished. I would have taken her up on the offer to visit; I just haven't had the time, what with being a full time spirit detective. I guess I just lost track of time."

"What did she look like?" Kurama wondered, taking a peak at her previous photo and turning back to the ice apparition.

Yukina smiled softly. "She was very beautiful, I was almost envious," She whispered, which caused some questions to arise. Yukina was a very pretty woman herself and if she were saying she was slightly envious, there must be something there. "She was about as tall as Yusuke and her hair was very long, even longer Yoko's or Kurama's. She wore all black, like a female warrior and she carried two swords though I only saw her use one. She was very good too, almost as fast as Hiei."

"So...she was a female dominatrix in spandex," Yusuke grumbled sarcastically. "Yukina are you sure you saw what you did and it wasn't some crazy dream? I have a hard time believing that a woman could be strong enough to take down a demon all by herself, even if she is a miko."

A couple of those comments set wrong with Yoko and Kuronue. Both demons had worked with some very strong female thieves in the past and knew that not all women were weak and pathetic as Yusuke made them out to be.

Yukina looked down. Is that really what Yusuke thought about women; that they were all weak and pathetic? "Is that what you really think, Yusuke?" Yukina asked quietly. "Do you think I'm weak?"

"Of course not, but you're different," Yusuke protested waving a hand.

"How so?" Yukina asked a little too serenely. "Just because you seem to think you know me?" Okay she was beginning to get mad, but she tried to keep her anger from showing. Beside her Kuronue gripped her shoulder, knowing she was bothered and smiled down at her, comforting her a bit.

"But I do know you, Yukina, and you're a great fighter," Yusuke stated. He just had to finish that thought. "But you have to face facts. You'll never be as strong as a male, no matter how much power I think you have."

"That's enough," Yoko cut him off, growling when it looked like Yusuke would continue his rant. He had noticed the way Yukina had stiffened after each comment and the way Kuronue was glaring heatedly from over top the woman's head. He sighed tiredly, wanting to get on with this meeting so they could leave.

I don't know how we put up with him for so many years, Kurama, he commented through their bond.

He watched as Kurama shook his head in reply. He never used to be this way, he murmured thoughtfully. Of course he was always cocky, thinking he'd beat every opponent who came his way, regardless of whether it was a man or woman.

True, Yoko agreed. But I wonder where all these ridiculous notions are coming from. Even I know a woman can be just as strong or smart as any man. In fact I employed quite a few at one point in my life. For one, most of them are lithe enough to get into the tiniest of spaces. And they are flexible as all hell. Hell, even their speed is maxed out.

I wonder if he's been having trouble with Keiko. She's not strong at all, at least not in the fighting aspect, and has always looked to him for protection. Maybe he feels all women are like that.

Yoko had no comments, but threw it to the back of his mind with his list of things to think over. It was a good conclusion. He would have to think on that. He turned back to Koenma just as Kurama was asking a question.

"So...Koenma, how do you propose we approach the miko, Kagome was her name? You said in the past that this girl, Kagome, had many demon friends and was even a sort of mother figure to a young kit. Do you think she would view us as a threat?"

Koenma had to think then shook his head. Maybe if she were a normal miko. "I don't really believe she would...at least not on purpose. You have to remember Kagome was raised here in the 21st century as a normal human girl. She was taught to accept all races of people and from what I can tell she accepted demons just as well. She always tried to get the whole story before attacking anyone. As to how I think you should approach her...maybe you should have Yukina talk to her first. You did say she invited you over to her shrine, right Yukina?"

"She did," Yukina remarked slowly. "And I really would like to see her again. I never got a chance to properly thank her for saving me. She disappeared soon after she spoke with me. Is that all right with everyone else?" She didn't want anyone to step on any toes or anything, especially with the way Yusuke's been acting.

"Well," Kuronue mused. "I suppose it's all right."

Yoko nodded as well. "Just as long as you take a weapon and use caution," he finished.

Yukina smiled gratefully at her two older 'brothers'. Now if only Hiei would just get over his fear and tell her. It's not as if she hadn't tried to get him to tell her. But each time she brought up her lost brother, Hiei went tight lipped and said she would find him some day.

"I agree," Kurama put his two scents in and everyone turned to Yusuke.

"Who the hell cares what she does? I doubt some broad who fancies herself a warrior could even scratch someone like you Yukina."

"Broad?" Yukina choked shocked at Yusuke's derogatory name for the woman who had saved her.

"That's enough of that, detective. I've had enough of your incessant rambling about how weak and pathetic women are," Kuronue growled. "Women are not weak and most are highly intelligent. Most have more brains than you. Some day soon you're going to find out what I'm talking about when some woman kicks your ass because you were too stupid to see her as a threat."

"Shut up, bat! Nobody asked you!" Yusuke challenged.

"Please stop," Yukina's soft voice washed over the pissed off Yusuke and the equally angered Kuronue. She laid a hand on Kuronue's arm, soothing him like he'd done earlier. "Just let it go, Kuronue," she whispered. "Just let him find out on his own. I know Kagome is strong and she doesn't seem like the type of person who would put up with Yusuke's mouth. He'll know soon enough." She shot him a smirk which oddly resembled Yoko's when he was in one of his playful moods.

Yoko chuckled at the sight and kissed her on the cheek, while Kurama came to the same conclusion. "Yukina, I think you've been spending entirely too much time with Yoko," Kurama teased her. "I think he's beginning to rub off on you."

Yukina giggled and at once forgot all about Yusuke and his biased comments. It was times like this she enjoyed being around the boys. They made her feel comfortable and happy. There was no other time when she felt more content. "Well I don't know, Kurama," she grinned. "It could just as easily have been you. After all you've been acting more and more like a kitsune every day. Maybe it is you he is rubbing off on."

"Hey," Yoko pouted. "Everybody's against me."

Kuronue chuckled and looked at his partner. "No we're not Yoko...we're just not with you." Kurama, Kuronue, andYukina laughed harder at the deadly glare Yoko sent his partner, though they could tell that Yoko wasn't angry as his lips kept twitching at the corners.

Koenma watched the four demons pick on each other and play around and had to smile at Yusuke's angered expression once he realized he was being ignored. Koenma sighed and called them to attention and told them where to go to find the miko. Kurama, Yoko, Kuronue, and Yukina walked out of Koenma's office when Yukina mentioned that she wanted to go see the shrine and speak with Kagome. Yusuke continued grumbling as he followed the others out. Wasn't he supposed to be the leader of this band of fools?

Well, what did everyone think. Oh and thank you for the reviews I've recieved so far. I'll try to respond to them soon, but for now here ya' go.

Ja ne
Kura-kun's-lovr