Hey guys! I'm back! Let me just say right off the bat that I love you all. I've gotten such nice reviews from everyone and it practically killed me not to be able to update for you all. But my computer is working again and I will tell you that I've already got two more chapters written for this story that will be going up within the next few days. So thank you all for your patience and words of praise. It makes me feel good.

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

Beloved

Chapter 6

"Damn you! Damn you, you conniving little bitch!" A woman's angered cry rang far into the dark night, reaching out through the vast expanse of the shadow realm to where it almost reached that of the pure realm beyond; the light realm of the kami. The dark realm seemed even darker than normal that night and all who dwelt there avoided the dark castle like it contained the next plague.

Beside fierce-looking woman, a man lying on his side, wearing brown pants and a white long sleeve haori, started snickering, black eyes filled with amusement and some glee as he observed the pacing, obviously infuriated woman. Ah, it seems everything is going according to plan, the man thought still snickering at the pathetic woman.

"Shut up!" The woman kicked him in the ribs harshly, causing him to choke on his laughter. He coughed under his breath, however his black eyes continued to watch the angered woman with delight and mischief. Onigumo looked back and exchanged glances with the blood red eyes of another man with long, wavy black hair, sitting in the blackest corner of the room and observing the goings on with interest. Naraku, a spider hanyou, watched the proceedings as well, though his eyes never portrayed anything but curiosity. He wondered just what had happened to cause his mistress such grief, although it wasn't like he cared. The stupid woman could never plot.

Angrily the woman turned her attention of the two disrespectful men and raised a shaking fist to the frigid night sky, tipping her head back, as she bellowed out tears of bitterness and rage. Energy poured out of her body in waves as the woman's anger reached new heights, causing all those human servants unfortunate enough to be near to her dark castle to be incinerated instantly by the sheer force of her dark power. The woman, who's face could not be seen beneath her hooded cloak, was filled with malice and loathing as she gazed into her glowing crystal ball and watched as her sister stole yet another mortal that should have been hers.

It wasn't fair! It had always been this way. Her sister always ruined things for her. Since the time of her younger half sister's birth, her little sister had always gotten whatever her puny little heart desire. People doted on her, told her how beautiful, how pure, how special she was; while she, Kikyo, had been left back in the dark, forgotten like some spoiled piece of long-forgotten food. Their mother, the beautiful and haunting fox god, Inari, daughter of Aphrodite, had forgotten all about her; her, Kikyo, said to be one of the most beautiful children born in the realm of the Kami. And yet as soon as she, that Bitch, came along, Kikyo had been forgotten, betrayed, becoming so filled with jealousy and hatred that she'd tried to kill her younger sister when they were both fairly young. Her sister had been three (300) at the time and already their mother loved her more.

Kikyo had grown up being known as Kikyo, the Beautiful Child and the Goddess of Dignity and Grace. Her mother had doted on her giving her everything she wanted. And although she'd never known her father, her mother had been enough for her. But Kikyo had always been a quiet child and prone to bouts of jealousy. She did not get along with any of the other girls, however many times they tried to befriend her. So Kikyo spent her time reading and learning magic, not bothering to care about anyone else but herself.

And then Kagome had come along. Her mother had fallen in love with another god, something that had set Kikyo off as soon as she heard of her mother's involvement with the powerful kami, Rukane, God of War, underneath Hades himself. Kikyo's father had been a common demon their mother had taken as a temporary lover. In fact Kikyo had no idea who her father was. It had never bothered her before as she had the powers of a goddess anyway. But when her mother fell in love with a true god, Kagome had been born and blessed with enough power to put even some of the oldest gods to shame. And everyone loved her. Even her father, normally a cruel and ruthless man, showed love to her.

Kagome, the Beloved Child, they all called her. Kagome, the Pure One, Kagome the Goddess of Light and Purity. Honestly what was so great about Kagome? She was a little weakling who tricked all into liking her by acting innocent and kind, while really she was just a little whore attracting attention through her good looks (at least that's what Kikyo thinks). Kikyo hated everything about Kagome; how beautiful she'd aged, how sweet and kind the young goddess was, how adored she was by each and every god. Even the shadow gods liked her, while they hated Kikyo.

See, the kami realm was split into two realms, called the light realm and the dark or shadow realm. And it wasn't that all dark kami were bad, it was just that these gods preferred the darkness over light. In fact Kagome's own father was a dark kami, though now he resided with Inari. Kikyo was a dark kami, only after her powers of light were revoked. She was made to be weak, a sorcerous at best, but had grown much stronger in the years since her abandonment.

No thanks to Kagome.

Kikyo felt ill even thinking about that little wench.

Kikyo had always been in the shadows, watching as Kagome was doted on by both a loving mother and father, while she had been all but forgotten by her mother.

But jealousy is a powerful ally and Kikyo grew spiteful and vengeful, vowing to kill her younger sister.

She grew to hate her sister so much that she had come up with a plan to kill her even though such a thing had never been attempted before. For how do you kill a being that is immortal? Kikyo had always known there must be a way and had taken to questioning her mother, who was said to own a book of all dark spells known in the kami realm, called the Book of Shadows. Her mother's answers were simple and gave nothing away, already suspicious of her older daughter's behavior towards Kagome. But Kikyo hadn't cared.

So when she was five, about 500 in kami years, Kikyo had become fed up. She was already literate enough to understand and translate even the hardest of spells.

One day while her mother was off with Kagome, Kikyo snuck into her mother's private sitting room and stole the Book of Shadows, which she still held to this day. Her mother had never known who had stolen the book, although a massive search had been performed unearthing nothing of the book's whereabouts. Of course those fools couldn't find it, Kikyo thought mockingly. They are weak and would never think a child capable of such treachery.

Kikyo had spent many hours digging through the black spells until she found a spell that would turn an immortal into a mortal, thus enabling an immortal to die. And she'd almost succeeded. Just a few more seconds and her younger sister would have been gone forever, for her soul would have vanished as well. However there was one thing Kikyo had never taken into consideration. Although she was young, Kagome had power, massive amounts of power, and because Kikyo's power was already dark with hatred, her sister's power had swelled with purity and overwhelmed her enough to knock her out. Kagome had been trained extensively by her father so she knew how to kick some major ass.

The next thing Kikyo knew she was waking up in front of a court ready to be tried and judged for attempting to kill a god. Kikyo was sentenced into banishment, never to return to the realm of light again, less she want her soul ripped from her body and out of existence.

The young goddess named Kikyo, the Beautiful Child, the goddess of Grace and Dignity, became known as Kikyo, Sorcerous of Wickedness. Her powers only continued to darken with age and nearly 2000 years later, she had more than enough power to challenge her sister.

Kikyo had been severely weakened after he banishment and it had taken her several millennia to even begin building up her powers so that she could one day take her revenge against her sister, mother, and everyone else involved with Kikyo's banishment. By now Kikyo's power had way surpassed anyone's wildest dreams. Her plan was to turn all of the immortals into mortal so that she could reign over all. But her first plan of action was to take out her hated sister by stealing every last one of her sister's Beloved's.

You see, every kami in the gods' realm was required to find several Beloved. Those that are determined to be Beloved were then made to serve that kami for all eternity. They could be a mortal of any kind; demon, human, hanyou, fae, fairy, elf, whatever. Once that being was claimed they were automatically loved and protected, charged with one of three jobs. A Beloved could be a body guard, protecting the kami for any kind of threat to their power. A Beloved could also be put on council as an aid in decision making. Or...they could be loved enough to be used for pleasure. Some were even lucky enough to be chosen as mates. That's how Kikyo had come to be, although her mother had never mated with the demon. As soon as she gotten her fill she'd cast him aside and ser about for her next lover or lovers. Inari had, had many lovers until Kagome's father came along. Now she was completely magnanimous, a rare thing in the realm of the kami.

Kikyo's energy swelled around her again, fire billowing out of the castle tower as if scared to face her wrath. Kagome already had three Beloved and now she had acquired a fourth, all four of which should have been hers.

Since Kikyo was a goddess, she too was supposed to find her own Beloved and had tried on several occasions to recruit some. However, her sister had foiled her every attempt she'd ever made, stealing the best warriors Kikyo had previously laid claim to.

The first Beloved Kikyo wanted had been a woman by the name of Sango, a very strong demon slayer back during the Feudal Era. Kikyo had hoped that by finding each and every one of her Beloved, she would be able to persuade them to help aid in her sister's destruction. After all her Beloved were supposed to feel loved and do her every bidding. They should be honored by having such a strong kami choose them. Sango had been a fierce warrior back in the Feudal Era and Kikyo had admired the girl for her strength. So she'd sought to have the girl for herself, when her sister interfered and took Sango before Kikyo's very eyes.

Kikyo had made her first mistake that day and had payed for it ever since. Kikyo had been filled with rage as she watched her sister take the slayer. The girls were now best friends and all hopes of finding an ally as strong as Sango had failed. At that time Kagome had already acquired one Beloved, a monk by the name of Miroku, and so it upset Kikyo greatly that she hadn't even accounted for one Neloved while her sister already had two.

Kikyo had been so upset that she'd thoughtlessly taken another demon slayer as her first Beloved. And what a mistake that was. The so called demon slayer had turned out to be a mere hapless bandit, pretending to slay demons to find a way into villages. His name was Onigumo and he had never once respected Kikyo. Onigumo hated Kikyo, even she knew it but his place in her home was obsolete. There was nothing he or she could do about it once she claimed him. In fact most of his time was spent making fun of or belittling her. His favorite game was teasing her about her sister; telling Kikyo that Kagome was more beautiful than her, more powerful, and certainly a greater goddess. And, much to her horror, she was unable to punish him for his snide remarks and rude comments. Because of the bond between them, Kikyo was unable to kill the stupid git. Oh, she could hurt him, she just couldn't kill him. Her kami instincts wouldn't allow her to go that far. They were ingrained generation after generation and so were passed onto her as well.

On Kikyo's next try she attempted to steal a young kitsune kit, who's parents had recently been slain, intent on raising him as her son. It was against the rules to take one so young, before he had even began the path towards his own destiny. However, Kikyo was never one to play by the rules and had sought him out in order to adopt him and raise him as her son. So she'd sat and bided her time, unaware that her sister was already in contact with the boy, blocking him from Kikyo reaching his mind. Kagome had been in the background watching over the boy, speaking to him softly and keeping him safe. And when Kikyo had come down to earth to claim him, her sister had already done so, whisking the little kit away and immediately taking him in front of the kami council, informing them of Kikyo's plot. Kikyo still wondered how Kagome had found out about that but it angered her nonetheless.

Of course every kami in this stupid realm loved Kagome and they were willing to let the young kit stay with her without consequence. Shippo had never been happier and even the gods and goddesses loved the little kit. They easily over looked that the kit should not have been taken so young and for what? For her!

That was twice her sister had stolen something away that was supposed to be hers! That left Kagome with three Beloved already and only one Beloved for herself; a Beloved that refused to cooperate and totally ruined all her plans. From the day she'd taken him, Onigumo had been nothing but trouble, a bandit who never listened to her and always caused her endless amounts of grief.

So Kikyo tried a different approach on her next try. She had chosen a man she was sure Kagome would choose, both for his looks and for his power. She had been sure that Kagome would fall head over heels in love with this beautiful man and had immediately taken him as her second Beloved. But much to her ire, her sister had not been angry and appeared to care less for the hanyou. In fact Kikyo had caught the girl laughing and calling her foolish many times.

Still to this day Kikyo had no idea if she'd made the right choice. Naraku was a hanyou and was as devious and cold as they came, always seeming to keep secrets from her. He always talked down to her or made her seem as if she was his pet and not the other way around. Still, Naraku was better than Onigumo. And he was powerful, trained especially by her. She had never bothered training Onigumo, never even sent him for the required training.

Neither Kikyo nor Kagome had taken another Beloved in centuries. Kagome had obviously been waiting for something and Kikyo was waiting for Kagome to choose.

So it came as a surprise when Kagome suddenly disappeared from the kami realm and appeared to be making a move. Unbeknownst to the Goddess of Light and Purity, Kikyo had followed her and found another child, this one a human with a bit of demon blood in his system, though she figured it was too little to count. There would be no way of knowing if the boy could even access his demon blood. At first Kikyo hadn't bothered to keep up as much watch on this young boy. To her he'd been nothing special. Just a weak human boy who would never amount to anything, judging by his already dwindling life style.

And yet Kikyo began to notice something. Her sister's feelings for this boy were very different than what she portrayed to the monk, the slayer, and the kitsune. At first her feelings had been purely motherly towards this boy and yet something in Kagome's voice changed every time she spoke to him. When it became apparent that Kagome loved the little boy, even more so than her other Beloved, Kikyo finally realized she might have a way to break her sister once and for all. She had intended on stealing the boy when he came of age taking away something she was sure her sister loved purely with the heart of a woman.

She had been all set to travel to the human realm and claim the boy, however Onigumo had distracted her, causing a major fight to ensue. When Kikyo finally realized what she'd done, she arrived just in time for Kagome to disappear with the young man.

She'd been too late...again! And Onigumo still had not stopped laughing.

To say the least Kikyo was tired, tired of watching her sister steal everything away from her, tired of watching her sister find happiness while she had to suffer by herself with nothing but a scheming Naraku and a stupid git who hated her.

"That stupid bitch had to have trick that fool. He was supposed to be mine! Damn you!" The ruby lipped woman stalked her dark corridor, footsteps clanking heavily as she paced her dark room.

The woman's dark ebony hair flowed out in waves around her body, giving her certain witch like attributes as her red-brown eyes flashed with anger. "It's not fair!" The woman cried. "Why must my sister always win! What is it about her that everyone loves? She's just a spoiled wretch, that's what!" Kikyo risked another glance in her crystal ball of where her sister had recently departed from. Sometimes caught her eye.

"Hello, who have we here?" Kikyo whispered glancing back and forth between a very handsome red haired demon and a black haired demon. That's when she noticed the marks visible on their foreheads which could not be seen by any human's eye. They obviously had no idea they'd been marked. Kikyo's eyes widened and then she began to laugh, the harsh, grating sound spilling out through crimson lips, curled with every devious thought that flew through her wicked mind. It would seem that her sister had already chosen two more Beloved.

Kikyo's laughter bellowed long into the night, causing an evil smirk to fall across the hanyou's darkened features. His long black hair lay in waves around his body as he listened to the evil goddess plot and plan. Beside him sat a bored-looking Onigumo with short black hair just reaching his shoulders. He merely rolled his black eyes and tried to cover his ears.

Onigumo was able to block out the witch's harsh laughter with some difficulty. He knew she would fail. Kikyo always failed and she always would. She was weak in her assumption that her sister was weak. Kikyo had no idea how to plan for anything which is why all her previous attempts at destroying her sister had all backfired. Kikyo had no idea that her time was coming and then he could finally be free from her grasp. He loathed Kikyo for tricking him the way she had. Onigumo's black eyes opened and warmed slightly as he thought about the woman he loved and of the way her eyes had looked the day Kikyo had stolen him away. His hands clenched at his sides, sharp nails digging into his palms. One day...one day he would have his freedom. Onigumo fought not to let loose his own laughter. Kikyo had no idea of what was in store for her.

He was finally here! The Goddess of Light and Purity could hardly contain herself as she skipped through her mother's castle. Oh, how she loved her little one, how excited she was that he would finally be with her. Kagome's smile dimmed a bit. Of course she wasn't allowed to have any contact with him until he went through some serious trials. It was like that with all the Beloved. All of them had to go through the same tests as they had to have power to be able to protect their goddess. Most of them came out just fine, in fact the few Beloved she had acquired had all come out 1000 of times stronger and most gained an extra ability.

Kagome began grinning again and giggled as she pictured her handsome demon's face. Yusuke had grown into such a beautiful man with power and the know how to survive any kind of obstacle thrown at him. He would have to, to face what was coming next. But she had faith in him. She always had faith in him. That's why she'd left him alone for so long. She'd known long before his 'accident' what was going to happen to him. Oh, she hadn't known the specifics of course, but she'd felt the energy surrounding him, knowing that he would soon face some life threatening situations. And oh, how he'd grown!

Her soul had been lonely when she started searching for her next Beloved, even with the three Beloved already in her company.

Miroku, her first beloved and one of her closest confidants, was like a brother to her. She had discovered him about 100 years before the Sengoku Era. He'd been but a traveling monk, but he had fascinated her from the get-go. He was wise in his ways and knew much about the human realm. Kagome was fascinated by how much knowledge was present in one human monk. Which was why she'd sought him in the first place. Miroku had followed her willingly...after he'd asked her to bare him a son, sight unseen. After he'd awoken from a powerful blast of energy, he had found himself alone in the middle of a fast moving tornado. From there Miroku learned to train his body and mind eventually becoming worthy enough for Kagome to claim him. As a result of his intense training he had gained power of the wind. She placed him as her council and she'd loved him ever since.

Sango had been her second Beloved and it was quite by accident that she'd found the young slayer. Kagome had gotten a tip from an unknown spy that her older half sister was in contact with a demon slayer of strong mind and body. Naturally, Kagome investigated the claim and indeed found a demon slayer. And Kagome was hooked. The young demon slayer had a strong heart powerful body and was worthy to become hers. Naturally, she could not allow her evil sister to acquire such a powerful woman and approached Sango without her sister's knowledge. Naturally Sango was already on the defense since Kikyo was already trying to recruit her. But Kagome was a good speaker and Sango was a good judge of character. When she felt she was ready, Kagome asked the slayer to become one of her Beloved. Sango agreed and was whisked away to the deepest parts of the ocean, where Sango battled for many months to over come the power of the sea. And when Sango passed her test as well, she too became one of Kagome's Beloved. Sango gained power over water and had been placed as a guard.

Kagome's blue eyes darkened slightly as she thought about Kikyo's next move. She hated her sister. You might think it strange that a goddess of light and purity could find it inside her soul to hate. Nevertheless hate is a small portion present in everyone's heart. It is your choice how you deal with that hate that affects the person you become. Kikyo let it consume her and became a creature of hate. Kagome simply shrugged her hate off and was done with it. Holding a grudge for as long as Kikyo apparently had, was not on Kagome's to do list. It was beneath her and she had no intention of Kikyo being anywhere near the top of that list. However if there was one thing Kikyo had done that really pissed her off, it was her attempt to steal a young kitsune kit, barely old enough to survive on his own.

Yet again Kagome received the tip from the same anonymous source, telling her of her sister's plan to raise the kitsune as her son. Kagome had been filled with rage that her sister could be so heartless as to do this. And so Kagome had taken the kit away, much to Shippo's confusion and Kikyo's irritation, and taken him to the council. At first they had wanted to go after Kikyo but Kagome had managed to turn their attention off her stupid sister and onto the situation at hand. Shippo, who had simply sat around and cowered behind the pretty woman, was very confused and had answered all the questions the gods and goddesses had asked. Yes, his parents had been killed, yes, he was an orphan, and no, he had no one else to take care of him. He had been surprised when the council asked if he wanted to stay with Kagome. Shippo had been told he had to go through trials as well and that they would be very tough, especially for a young child. But Shippo had wanted to stay with Kagome. He already found himself loving her and had wanted to prove himself to her. So Shippo stayed, completed his missions, not without some difficulty as he was dropped directly into the heart of the sun, and became Kagome's third Beloved.

And so Kagome had been quite content those last couple of centuries with her three Beloved. Miroku, her best friend and confidant, Sango, her sister and body guard, and Shippo, her son and also bodyguard. At least until Kagome started feeling like something was missing.

Her mother had suggested that it might be time to search for another mortal to love...while also hinting about finding a mate, something Kagome had immediately objected to. It's not that she hadn't wanted a mate at the time, it was just she hadn't found anyone worthy enough to warrant her attention. All the gods of this realm were power hungry. All wanted her for a many number of reasons, none of which were really important to Kagome. They wanted power, prestige, jewels, wealth, her body. She was more than willing to bed with some gods, most were quite beautiful. But she would never mate with one. None of them were worthy of becoming her mate...at least not until she found Yusuke.

Kagome's strides came to a stop in front of her bedroom. She effortlessly tossed the doors open and swept in, expensive golden robes billowing around her form. She stepped over to the bed and leaned down, fighting herself to keep from touching the handsome boy lying so peacefully on her bed.

He was still so beautiful, even after all these years.

She had been wandering the human realm when she'd come across a small child sitting on a roadside curb. He looked like he'd been waiting for someone to come pick him up and yet there was no hope on his face. It was as if he had already decided no one was coming and that he was all alone in this world. Kagome had spotted a few bruises forming on the boy's wet cheeks and was struck by how much she wanted to comfort him.

Kagome closed her eyes and smiled as she remembered the first time she'd spoken to him...the first day she'd seen the poor boy, looking as if he held the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Whew! That was really long. And it was so fun to write too. I wanted to create a bad guy and made Kikyo the fall guy. I just thought it would be more fun. Kikyo is a bad guy, but she also makes a lot of stupid mistakes so rest assured that she will never win and Kagome will always kick her ass. So now that you know the background between Kagome and Kikyo, thenext chapter will show you how Kagome found Yusuke and will go into flashback mode. We'll get to see what Yusuke was like when he was a child. After that, we won't see Yusuke again for another six months and we'll check in with Kurama, Yoko, and Kuronue and see what they've been up to. We'll also find out what Kikyo has planned for Kurama and Kuronue.

Just a few things I should comment on. Onigumo is a seperate entity than Naraku. He was a bandit but his story will be a bit different. Naraku has no ties to him, as he is simply a spider hanyou. Onigumo is still a human however he's sort of immortal since he's one of Kikyo's Beloved. Also, if you didn't get that, Onigumo hates Kikyo and he'll have a bigger role to play as this story moves on.

Thank you all for answering my question and now I have new one to pose to you all: Which bad guy of Yu Yu Hakusho did you hate the most (I.E. Toguro, older Toguro, or Sensui)?

I'll give you my response. I personally hated elder Toguro, you know the shoulder monkey. I laughed when he finally got his after Kurama fed him to the Sinnning Tree. His laugh was annoying and he played with his victims like Naraku would. I think he was even more evil than his brother. I also hated younger Toguro. He was a bastard who simply wanted to play with a young teen? He had to kill Genkai and then fake killing Kuwabara, which I'll admit made Yusuke stronger than the dickens, but still. And last, I actually liked Sensui as a bad guy. I liked all those different sides to him, even though he eventually killed Yusuke. I liked how at the end he sort of reverted back to what he was before the accident and everything. I liked his story, it was very ineteresting.

So, now I'd like to know what you guys think. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but it would be really interesting to know what you guys think.

Ja ne.

Kura