Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha.
Strings of Destiny by Natala
Early October
Chapter 5
Thread One
Souta was the only one home when his sister climbed out of the well. It was raining and with a flash of insight that had him flinching, the boy realized it fit Kagome's mood perfectly, despite the fact he could see her trying to pull herself together and putting on a bright smile. It faded after a moment when Souta's own expression was sympathy filled and his eyes questioned her.
"Kagome?" Her precious little brother. A young teen already. She had missed so much of them already. Her eyes watered slightly and she pushed it back, staring at him and giving only a slight smile. He didn't return it, walking up to her through the rain and raising a hand to her cheek. For the first time she realized he was as tall as her. He was getting taller too. Soon she'd have missed his whole childhood.
"You've been gone two weeks. Yusuke was getting worried. Actually, he was worried when you left and spends almost more time staring at the well than he does working." Souta tried smiling then, and was surprised when Kagome burst into tears.
"Sis? Sis, what's happened?" Had it come already? He knew they were getting close, he read between the lines of what she said. She shook her head vigorously.
"Not what has happened. What will. We... should go inside, Souta. I'll explain in there." Puzzled and worried, Souta led the way as Kagome tried to control her tears. By the time they had gone in the door, she was drying her face.
"Sorry. Just a bit of my worries getting the best of me. Don't worry about it." Souta's expression told her he was worrying about it and they both sat down, Kagome staring at her hands. "I'll be staying in this time for two weeks."
"And then?"
Kagome raised her eyes and stared at him. Souta and Kagome looked at each other silently. Finally he lowered his eyes. The silence continued and dinnertime found them still sitting there. It was only after dinnertime Souta went upstairs and started using the punching bag he'd begged his mother into getting. When he fell asleep that night it wasn't before it looked much more worn than it had before.
---
Yusuke turned his head at the two following him, one calmly, the other hesitantly. Then again, she hadn't said anything to him since the day she had met Kagome. He didn't really get it, but he was feeling kinda guilty about not talking to her and sorting everything out so at least they had the possibility of salvaging their friendship. He had a hunch it was part of the reason Kurama had brought her along this morning.
"So..." Yusuke trailed off, for once finding that his mind was empty of anything to say, not even a smartass comment. Both glanced up at him, then at each other. Keiko returned her attention to her feet when he didn't say anything more. Kurama glared at him.
"Nice day, isn't it?" This was met with another glare and an incredulous look, as it was looking like it was going to begin raining more than it had the day before. The clouds in the sky were almost black.
"You really suck at this, huh?" All three jumped at the amused teenage male voice the popped up beside them. "Holy shit, Souta. How the hell do you do that?"
Souta smirked and then winked at the other two. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Brat," Yusuke grumbled. Keiko actually giggled and Kurama looked hopeful at the sound. Souta grinned. He hadn't wanted to stay in the house any longer so finding these three had been a nice way to get rid of dark thoughts.
"What are you doing here, Souta?" Kurama asked curiously. Immediately Souta became tight lipped as his gaze switched between Kurama and Yusuke and he looked off to the left of them. His steps seemed a bit heavier before he shrugged, not very adept at lying as he continued to look away and answer. "Oh, you know. Just a bit bored. The house was a bit to quiet this morning."
While Kurama and Keiko were looking at him sharply, Yusuke didn't seem to notice anything odd about Souta's tone and continued walking. "Quiet huh? It's probably going to be boring when I get to work today then."
Souta stared at his back and tried to figure out how to comment on this properly without giving anything away. Finally he decided on a half hearted, "Yeah."
"Kagome's back, isn't she?" Kurama asked with a sigh. Yusuke stiffened and whirled around, his earlier thoughts about at least trying to patch up his friendship with Keiko forgotten. "What?!"
"Well... She is, but I don't think you should go see her yet, Yusuke. I think Mom wanted to have a chat with her this morning." It was a smooth cover up. Souta was sure his sister would have given him at least a seven. Points off for the way his eyes flickered nervously to each side and the nervous way he played with the sleeves of his jacket.
"Oh? A mother-daughter chat? Damn, I definitely don't want to get in one of those. When do you think they'll be done?" Keiko was glaring adamantly at the boy she had once been engaged to and rolled her eyes angrily at Kurama. So much for them talking about things today.
"Oh, an hour or two." Enough time for Kagome to finish explaining to their mother that she would miss them, but she would come back. Enough time for her to lie with her mouth and look at her mother with those open honest eyes that had told him, 'I might die.'
Enough time for their mother to have a cry and compose herself, enough time to try and tell Kagome they could destroy the well and she didn't have to go back. Souta smiled bitterly. Enough time for his sister to solidify her decision and for her to work on a way she could tell Yusuke delicately. Two weeks left for training they had. Souta had a feeling she'd be even more driven than her trainer usually was. And he wouldn't have any idea why.
"That long? Jeez, girls take awhile to talk about these things." Kurama closed his eyes, already feeling Keiko stiffen beside him.
"Better than not talking about it at all!" The snap had them all wincing and Souta suddenly wondered if he wouldn't have been better off listening to Kagome explain what was happening. Then again, at least here it was other people arguing, not his whole family braking down. No, he was definitely better off here.
---
It had only been four days since Kagome had come back and Yusuke was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to stop training. She was training before he got here, and continued training after he left. He was also suspicious of how much sleep she was getting. And even he was beginning to realize that Mrs. Higurashi's suspiciously bright eyes as she stared at them wasn't about how proud she was of Kagome.
Kagome sent out another kick towards the post they had set up and glare at it when it only splintered slightly. Oh yeah? Kagome gave an almost demonic growl and kicked it again. Yusuke was startled from his thoughts when the top half of the post went whizzing by his head to crack a few tree branches before finally causing a small hole to form when it landed at the edge of the property.
"Right. And that was without your miko energy backing you up?" Yusuke was staring at her suspiciously. She wasn't one for pure strength, he'd found. She was fast and she had a lot of power. But she'd never needed the strength, as she pointed out, she just needed to be able to touch the demon. He'd pointed out that strengthening her body might also strengthen her powers. She'd countered that in that case she needed to be as fast as she could to increase how fast she could access her powers. He had agreed, and also told her quite pleasantly she'd be training in everything. Endurance, speed, strength, he named it, she trained on it.
"Nope. Not a lick of energy. So, next post?" She smiled sweetly at him and he shook his head. "Nah. Break. Day off."
When her face fell, he knew there was something wrong with her. When she opened her mouth to argue he snapped at her before he could. "No. Day off. We're going out. No more training for the day. We want you to be getting stronger, not being turned into a machine."
"What else is there to do? You're on work hours, it isn't like you can leave!" At the hidden triumph in her eyes, he snorted.
"Hey, Mrs. Higurashi, I'm taking Kagome out. Do you mind?" Kagome stared as her mother's eyes turned much happier than she'd seen them in days and she shook her head. "Not at all dear. You do have a nice date."
"It isn't-"
"Yes it is." When Yusuke interrupted her Kagome fell into a shocked silence. She found herself being shoved inside and her mother handing her normal clothes to change into while Yusuke listened to Souta chatter in the living room.
Kagome went to her room and changed out of her training clothes, huffing at the assumptions he'd made. What if she didn't want to go on a date? What if she wanted to stay here and mope all day and try to banish the nightmares from her mind that happened even during the day?
Kagome paused and shook her head, laughing at herself as she brushed her hair. She was being stupid. It would be nice to go on a normal date for once. Or, at least, go on a date. She doubted anything would be normal with Yusuke. She smiled a bit sappily at that. It was okay. She was used to non-normal. Liked it even.
By the time she went downstairs, Yusuke was waiting at the door and flipping through what oddly enough looked like the newspaper. She glanced at Souta to see him smirking and looking away. Suspicious, she glanced between them and by the time her eyes were back at Yusuke, he had put the newspaper down and was looking innocently at her with guileless brown eyes. Souta quickly made his face matched and she rolled her eyes. "I'll figure it out you know."
"Nothing to figure," Yusuke grinned at Souta and he grinned back. They were telling the truth. They'd just had a Kagome talk. Which did help him choose a movie. He very much doubted he'd be watching most of it, but that was part of the point. Outside of training, it was hard to get her alone recently, and after the scene from before she left for the feudal era, being alone with Kagome was one of his main goals.
-
"Let's go to a movie" turned out to be code for an hour an a half in a dark room where the two teens alternated making out or making fun of the movie, much to the consternation of the other people in the movie theater. The movie was a little too dramatic for the both of them, and no action at all.
Afterwards the two shuffled down the street, Kagome's melancholy mood banished to the back of her mind as Kagome watched in amusement as once in awhile someone would recognize Yusuke, screech something, and the whole path in front of them cleared. Yusuke was smirking at it.
"And the last time you were an actual bully was what, four years ago? Obviously your legend lives on." Kagome watched in amusement as people crossed to the other side of the street to avoid them. "People are very silly sometimes."
"Silly enough that they mope the whole time they're at home, exhaust themselves training, and refuse to tell me what their problem is?" There was a bit of a chill in Yusuke's voice and Kagome faltered in her steps. She didn't know what to say yet. She couldn't tell him right now. Not after they'd been having such a great time.
Yusuke put a hand on her arm and ducked his head down to look into her upset face. Grimacing and glaring around the street as if he could blame all of those people that weren't there, he guided her to a nearby diner. "Damn it, it can't be that bad. Just fucking tell me already."
Kagome opened her mouth to say something, to say anything really. She had no idea what would have come out if she had spoken, but a familiar voice spoke up before that. "Yusuke, Kagome, what are you two doing here?"
Both glanced around to find Kurama had been the one asking. He was sitting at a small booth across from Keiko. When both simply stared at him, he waved them over, noticing the people frowning at them for blocking up the entrance of the diner.
"I'm surprised you two aren't training." Kurama's voice was casual, but his eyes were on Keiko and both moved in. Kurama motioned for them to sit. Yusuke sat on Kurama's side and Kagome nervously took the spot beside Keiko, barely noticing the other girl looking concerned despite herself when her gaze immediately fell into her lap.
"We were. A bit too much. So we went out." Yusuke's terse reply sent both Keiko and Kurama's gaze toward him. He sounded angry. Kagome looked upset and guilty.
"Problems?" Kurama's inquiry was met with no response and Kurama sighed. "We were just about to order food. Would you like to join us?"
"I'm not hungry," Kagome answered automatically before frowning. She was actually, a bit hungry. It was nearly dinnertime and she hadn't had breakfast or lunch today. She'd been training too much. Maybe Yusuke was right. She was training too hard.
"Like hell you aren't. You didn't have lunch. When did you last eat?" Yusuke glared at her and she winced before actually thinking about it.
"Mother made oden for lunch yesterday," Kagome answered finally. Yusuke answer was to get up and shove away from the table to get them food. The miko girl winced and sank into her seat more.
"I have to get stronger, that's all," She whispered to herself, taking comfort in the thought that at least she hadn't even realized she'd needed food. Her own energy must have been taking its place enough for her to keep training and she hadn't even noticed she was hungry.
"What for? Your quest has been going on for years. It may go on for even longer. Surely you can calm down a few days. He seems worried about you." Kurama spoke without looking at either of the females and Keiko looked up sharply.
"Quest? What's this quest thing?" Keiko looked a little hurt and Kurama smiled gently.
"Yusuke found out about it from her. It's mostly in the past, so none of us are involved in it past Yusuke training Kagome for it." Keiko smiled back, grateful there weren't any secrets she had been missing out on. Though she was a bit curious about this quest. It did explain the training comment Yusuke had made.
"Eat." The terse command was delivered to Kagome as a sloppily made burger was placed in front of her. She stared at it in amusement. When what sounded awfully like Yusuke's best attempt at a growl hit her ears she jumped and quickly bit into it. It was better than the burgers she and Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka had eaten at WacDonalds.
She was glad of the turn away from the quest part of the conversation, even as a bit of nostalgia washed over her and she stared at the fries Yusuke had also slid toward her. When was the last time she had talked to them? Perhaps before she... went back, she should call them again. It would be nice to have girl's night out.
She didn't even realize she was just staring at them with her lip quivering a bit until Yusuke called her name, this time a bit softer, noticing her far away expression. "Kagome."
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I'm eating. I was just... thinking." She took another bite from her burger and relished the taste. Who knew how long it would be after she went back before she tasted this again. What if she never tasted this again? What if she was stuck there? What if her friends died there? What if she never saw Yusuke again?
She banished the thoughts from her mind, realizing she was about to start crying, and excused herself to the bathroom. The leftover three stared at each other. Yusuke fidgeted, suddenly uncomfortable. Then he looked at Kurama and Keiko, looking at each other and communicating only with their eyes, and he smirked. "So, you two on a date or something?"
Keiko and Kurama both stiffened and Kurama turned flinty green eyes on the toushin. "None of your business if we are, is it?"
Yusuke ignored the obvious danger signs. "Nope, not mine. Wondered where you've been going off to all this time, Kurama. Guess we know now. So... What have you two been up to?"
Both of them stared at him, wondering if they could possibly find a way to permanently shut his mouth. Yusuke's grin widened as a couple of plants outside writhed. This was making Keiko embarrassed, which he wasn't quite sure if he wanted, but most of all it was embarrassing and angering Kurama. Which was a bit dangerous, but a nice distraction.
Just as Yusuke was sure Kurama was going to have those plants of his drag him away, Kagome came back and Yusuke hurriedly put some money on the table and grabbed her food and his. "C'mon, we can eat as we walk. We don't want to take up anymore of their time. Bye Kurama, bye Keiko!"
The last thing the two saw was Kagome being pushed out by her boyfriend and glaring behind her at him while saying, "What did you do?"
-
Kagome stared at the piece of paper in front of her and decided this one would have to do. She glanced behind her at the stacks of crumbled up paper and sighed. She should have talked to him about it. But every time her mouth opened to say something, a different thing came out. She'd made leaps and bounds in her physical training, and she was sure the few days she would have with Kaede would prove as fruitful.
She folded the paper meticulously and with shaking hands she put it into an envelope. She sealed the white pristine paper and walked calmly down the stairs. Her clothes were looser than her school uniform had been now, her regular clothes. Sango actually, had made her taijya armor. She'd never worn it before; her friend had only just finished it. Now it was under the clothes, and once she was in the feudal era, both girls would be going around battle ready.
The envelope was laid on the table and the three members of her family stood across from her, each wearing a solemn face. Her grandfather handed her a large pointed pen and small rectangular sheets of paper. "Make wards with them granddaughter, as I believe you'll need them. Come back to us safe. I don't want to outlive you."
She accepted them in one hand and tried a tremulous smile. It failed and she watched her grandfather walk away, unable to watch her leave.
Her mother's eyes were filled with tears and she took her in a hug. "I believe in you. You'll do what's right and still come back, safe and sound. I don't have anything to give you except for my love."
Her mother left to wait outside the room, and she was left alone with her brother, who immediately pulled a box from under the table. "I got you something. To help keep you safe."
"Oh, thanks Souta, I'm sure whatever... you..." The half patronizing words died in her throat as the box opened. "Oh... They're beautiful."
Inside lay two long daggers in their sheaths. She held them up and took them out. The hilt was plain and she had thought unadorned except for some patterns. She took a closer look and gasped. Along the hilt, all over in what had appeared to be simple patterns, were protective runes. She didn't recognize all the languages there, besides her own, but he seemed to have found and dredged up every bit of protection for her that he could. She slid one dagger out and stared at the writing there.
'Pure hearts and souls,' adorned one. She slid the other from its sheath, running a finger as gently as she could along one edge before reading it. 'joined as one' was on the other. Kagome glanced up at Souta and he smiled sheepishly.
"I looked up all the ruins and explained it was for someone specials to me. The guy I had make them put that there. He looked a bit... odd. There was something different about him. But they're ok right? Not evil?" Souta looked up anxiously and was relieved as she shook her head She was studying them almost reverently. "Almost the opposite I think. Thank you Souta. I will cherish them."
"Just wanted you to have a last resort, and a bit more reach if your bow and arrows can't be used. No big deal." Kagome was already adjusting the sheaths, one on each hip. Inside her pants and over the suit, they were battle weapons after all.
"It's a very big deal. I will miss you little brother." They stared at each other and Kagome couldn't help the stinging tears. Souta tried to loom away, his lip trembling.
"I don't want to lose you, big sister. You've become my hero, even more than dog brother. Can't you stay? Just a little longer? I... don't... I don't want you to die, Kagome. I want you to stay here, and see me get into high school, and graduate, and I want us both to have families. I want... want..." Souta trailed into helpless sobs as all of the desperation he had been holding in was let out and Kagome caught him as he fell, her own tears falling into his hair as she cradled her little brother.
"I know. I want that too." Kagome's eyes burned and she tightened her hold, her thoughts going out to Yusuke and the letter. She tried to swallow and found her throat was closed up to anything but the sobs she was holding in. "I want to live, and joke, and talk to people again. I want to one day have kids to spoil, and nieces and nephews to spoil even more. Grandchildren eventually. I want to grow old, Souta."
"Then why not stay?" He wouldn't say please. He couldn't. There was no choice there. She would. And he couldn't force his sister into something she didn't want.
"Because this isn't about what we want. This is about what the world needs. What I have to do. I can't be a little girl, living by my own wants. I have to think about others. Everyone is counting on me. If I don't do this, people will die. People there, and probably change the past. What's the point in staying if in the end we don't exist at all?" Kagome ran a hand through his hair gently, feeling her own tears splatter onto her hand as she did.
"I'm sorry. I just don't want you to die." It was a bare whisper that had Kagome tightening her hold on him to painful proportions.
"I can't promise you anything. I can't. But I will try. I'll try Souta."
-
Yusuke appeared at the shrine whistling off key. The past two days had been relaxing. Kagome had toned down her training after almost two weeks of being almost frantic about it. She'd had a day with her friends and then yesterday she had spent the day with him. He was wondering if there was any place in the city they hadn't gone yesterday. They had spent an hour on a rooftop yesterday, just next to each other.
She had even been the one to suggest it, saying simply she'd been up there before and liked the view.
He knew she was probably going back today, but she had proven she was definitely getting better and well able to defend herself. She had even mentioned her friends had made her some new fighting clothes. Her feudal friends of course. She had seemed so happy yesterday, though near the end she had been dragging her feet, but so had he. Neither had wanted the day to end. Yusuke wouldn't realize for a few more minutes that it had been for very different reasons.
He stopped short of the door, puzzled at the silence. Usually Souta was up and about, watching Kagome at her early morning training, or their mother would be at the door greeting him happily and giving him chores to do. Something was wrong today.
The majin found the door open when he tried the knob and stepped in cautiously. The air felt wrong. Something was definitely missing here. "Hello? Kagome? Souta? Mrs. Higurashi?"
The first one to appear was the youngest, his eyes solemn and his head bowed slightly. His eyes seemed to dry. He looked up and Yusuke almost took a step back at the naked despair in his eyes. "She went back, Yusuke. For the last time."
"No!" It was the immediate, thoughtless protest. "She promised to tell me. She would go back to that damn time period without telling me."
Souta tried to smile. It didn't work. He handed over an envelope, white and unmarked except for the large girlish writing of his name. 'Yusuke' It said, radiating doom and the silence that already filled the house. He opened it with a flick of his hands. The letter unfolded neatly.
"Yusuke,
I think by now you're probably a bit angry with me, or in denial. But it's true. I'm long gone by now. I know. I promised I would tell you. But I couldn't wait today. It would have been to hard, and you would have tried to have your friends find a way for you to go through as well. It would have taken to long for you to realize there is no way. I have been trying to find the best way to tell you all week. That this is the last time. If I come back, it's for good. If I don't... If I don't come back, it isn't by choice, and I'm most likely dead.
I hope I don't. I want to come back home, but Naraku is waiting, and we have no choice but to go to him. Miroku's kazaana has grown so wide, if we hadn't been 'invited' already, we would have been tearing our way to Naraku anyway.
Yes, I said invited. One of Naraku's puppets came and taunted us. It's an obvious trap, but we think he really is there. I can sense him, Yusuke. Evil radiates from his position, and the jewel shards... he holds most of them, and I don't know if I can even get close enough to purify them without choking on the malicious power flowing from them. But we go, for the final time. It's now or never.
If I don't come back - and don't yell at me for being pessimistic, I'm not, I'm just covering all my bases - I want to thank you. For everything. The training, being there, showing that I still do belong in my own era. I've had good times with you, Yusuke. I want to be there for more. And I will do my best to come back to our era. To come back to you. But I won't promise, because I've already broken one promise to you, and I don't want to break another.
Love always,
Kagome"
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Thanks for reviewing: MysteryLady-Tx(correct guess), Sukera, PriestessKikyoMarie(correct), Cattiebrie393, lil-sis4556, Kogas-mate05, Ouatic7(correct), Amaya Tenka, Suuki-Aldrea, Fallen-666-Angel(correct about both the guess and the clue), Iraine, Choas Babe, Reality, Emidra, andrea10, and Dark Inu Fan for reviewing.
inu.-sess.fan: It isn't Kuronue and you aren't in the story, so how could you have him? This is planned out already, and everyone who is going to have a pairing has a pairing by Christmas time in this universe.
Night Seer: Thank you! And I have been working on Untamed Spirits a bit, so a new part of that might be out soon as well. And yup, it was Shippo, though some people are misinterpreting the clue a bit. Heh, guess it was a bit more obvious than I thought.
Metal Dragon1: Nope, sorry. I'm not sure why Kag's dad would be in a tree anyway, but none of them are correct. And yup, Kuwabara got to be the smart one! I decided it was time he was good at something the other's weren't, and I figured this might be one of those things. Yusuke will eventually have to learn how to cook oden, but I think right now it should be Kagome learning how to cook Yusuke's favorite food.
Foxylilraven: It's Shippo, but not Youko's mentor, or vice versa. They met once, and Shippo knows that Kurama is Youko and how cruel Youko used to be. Not Inuyasha though, and you'll find out why not in a couple of chapters. For a hint at Under the Mistletoe, check out Traversing Ideals, more specifically, the forums. It was originally a present for Rose(buffybot76) that spawned into this. And yes, Shippo has a pairing.
Winged Knight: Yes, but the problem is if they actually fought, even with the difference in their power, things would go kaboom real quick. And yup, it is Shippo. And if Yusuke fumed the last time she was gone... Somehow I don't think he's going to be very agreeable for awhile.