Chapter 3: Explanations With More Questions Left Unasked

Walking through the hotel lobby was the single-most uncomfortable thing Kagome had ever experienced. Imagine fourty rich people dressed to the nines, staring at you as you check into the hotel suite, sizing you up, judging you...while you're dressed in your old, slightly damaged school uniform. She would rather join Naraku for afternoon tea and discuss all the demon gossip. First item on the list would be how Lord Sesshomaru kept his long hair so silky with only one arm. Actually, she would love to learn that secret. Yes, she was human and subject to hair damage but she sincerely doubted that the only reason Sesshomaru's hair was so perfect was because of his demon heritage!

"Miss Kagome?"

She snapped out of her inner-rant and looked up at Kuwabara. He was holding out a hotel keycard. "Sorry..." she apologized sheepishly and accepted the card. "The way these rich people are staring is creeping me out. It's like we're lambs for the slaughter..."

"Glad it's not just me. Makes me wonder how Urameshi would take all this if he were awake..." Their team leader was currently hauled on the ginger's back and the sight reminded her of better times. "Speaking of wondering..."

Kagome was focused on following the rest of the team to their suite and making mental notes for how to find the way through the massive fancy hotel without help. After all, what if she wanted to get away from the group for a bit? There was trees all over the island, dense forest, and she had a feeling that she could find some secret spots no one had manufactured. "Yeah?" She wasn't paying Kazuma any mind but heard his voice, coarse and grating.

Kurama opened the door once they arrived and everyone filed in. The masked fighter ensured that the door was locked before they all made themselves comfortable. Yusuke was placed on a sofa with Kagome taking off his shoes for him.

"Why did you say 'sit boy' when that demon insulted you? I mean, it wasn't nice of him to say what he did but that's kind of a weird reaction."

The miko froze. She didn't...did she? Oh no. How was she supposed to explain that? There was no loe in the world that could be plausible but the truth was so bizarre, would they believe her? A knock at the door gave her a brief pause so she could gather her thoughts and make a decision. Kurama watched her with curious eyes, Hiei's crimson orbs glared at her passively. And Kuwabara answered the door, oblivious to the weird atmosphere. A hotel staff member came in, offering them all a complimentary cup of coffee. She asked if they had tea and the man asked her for her preference. With a calming cup of lavender tea, she breathed in the soothing scent and hoped it would calm her nerves enough to tell the strange tale.

Kuwabara had declined the coffee in fear of potential poisoning. He couldn't be dissuaded though it didn't make sense to invite them only to poison them before the tournament. He figured it was better safe than sorry and pulled out a can of tea from his bag. "So about that reaction..."

"Wait. Why is there only one cup on the table?" Kurama asked, looking at the offending coffee. When Kuwabara said it was his, the intelligent redhead debunked it, reminding him that there should be two cups because Yusuke was unable to drink his complimentary beverage.

Everyone's attention was immediately brought to a slurping sound on a nearby table and a small boy who looked around 10 or so was drinking from the missing cup. He wore a pink and yellow shirt and matching hat, blue pants, and had 3 pink stars under his left eye. Green eyes looked at the group with a spark of mischief while he informed them that he came in through the front door. That mischievous look brought tears to Kagome's eyes and she had to look at her tea in an effort to calm down. If anyone noticed her slight breakdown, no one said anything. They were too focused on the boy who was now balancing on the cup, handle first, as he talked about how jealous he was that the specially invited team didn't have to sit in at the boring opening ceremony and listen to all the rules.

"Rinku... what are you doing here?" A tall blond man with pale skin stood in the doorwat, alarming the group once again. Rinku got off the cup and rushed to his teammate, claiming that he only wanted to see the new team before they died since Team Urameshi were their first opponents. Zero (that was his name, according to Rinku) reaffirmed the young boy's claim of certain death and told them that they would end up like the cup on the table. As soon as the two left and the door closed, the cup split in half, spilling the contents on the table.

Kagome huffed and got up to get a towel. "So rude... he could have at least showed off with Rinku's empty cup... stupid vampire wannabe..." She noted that Hiei was focused on the broken edge of the cup and took a look, picking up the pieces to towel up the rest of the mess. "For such a slob, this cut is too clean..."

"Who cares about that? Did you see that little punk?! I swear, he's asking for a pounding and I'm just the guy to do it--teach him to doubt me just 'cuz I'm human!" Kuwabara aggressively drank his tea as he tried to chill out.

"He's a kid, Kazuma... he's testing you like any other younger brother-figure. He probably pegged you as an only child or the youngest child in your family and is using that to control your temper...by turning it all the way up. I'd watch it if I were you... Shippo used to do that all the time..." Kagome felt her heart twinge at the mention of her surrogate son but she also felt the warmth that used to flood her body when she called out to him upon her return, holding him tight as they slept under the stars with Inuyasha watching them (when he wasn't abandoning them to go see Kikyo).

Hiei's eyes narrowed at the surface emotions his Jagan eye was picking up-- pain and love, lots of loneliness and longing for something. He scoffed silently. Whoever this Shippo was, there was no hint of arousal in her scent so they weren't a lover or a potential lost love. Her words previous made it seem like she had known them as a child. But even still...it wasn't like he cared.

Kurama, however, did not keep silent. And if he had come up with the same deductions as his demon ally, he was not one to let it be if he could find out the truth from the source. "Shippo... would this name have anything to do with what you've been trying to tell us earlier?"

Her eyes looked at the fighters around her and she nodded. "He's a kitsune child that I met...500 years ago." A human could hear a pin drop in that room, Yusuke's snores and light mumbles did nothing to ease the tension in that room. Before anyone could say anything, she continued, "Before you say I'm lying, it's true. I was pulled down the Bone Eater's Well at my family's shrine a few years ago by a centipede demoness and wound up in the warring states' era..."

Kuwabara tilted his head and looked from Kagome to Kurama. "Hey, uh... not that I'm dumb or anything but you're really smart--any of this make sense to you?"

"I'm afraid that magic wells are a little out of the usual, even for us. But I suppose with the right amount of spiritual power...the well must have been made out of some sort of material to act as a catalyst..."

Kagome smiled and nodded. "Yep. From the wood of an ancient holy tree, the Goshinbuku. It's right outside of our well house and we pray to it." She was hiding something but her words rang true so no one called her on it. For that, she was grateful. "Oh, and the 'sit boy' thing comes from my first friend in the past-- Inuyasha. He was a half demon with a really nasty temper. An old miko named Kaede made a rosary and got it around his neck. With it, I managed to place a subduing spell on him using the word 'sit' and until he went to Hell with my reincarnation Kikyo, who was Kaede's older sister and was brought back using a body of grave soil and her remains, Inuyasha always said mean things, called me names, or picked on Shippo so I was always saying that out of anger. Guess it's still kind of a habit..."

Kurama thought for a moment. "While your story seems entirely farfetched, I suppose it would account for you being so at ease amongst demons and how you knew the name of those demon blades you were talking about earlier."

Kagome smiled as she reminisced. "We had a small group but we were so close, practically a family. Sango, the demon slayer; Kirara, the fire nekomata who helped her; Miroku, the monk with the right hand cursed with a wind tunnel; Shippo, the kitsune who I practically raised as my own son; and Inuyasha, the half dog demon who fell in love with Kikyo. And myself, a time-traveling girl who found out she was a reincarnated miko but had no control over my powers." Their own ragtag team facing the day, battling enemies, making new friends... "...about 6 months ago, we finished our mission and saved...pretty much the entire world from an evil hanyou named Naraku."

The unspoken question burned at the back of everyone's minds--what was the mission? But Kagome yawned after she finished her tea. "I think I gave you guys enough to think about for now. We're here for a tournament and need our rest." She placed her cup and saucer on the serving tray since there was no sink in the suite and stood up, stretching.

Hiei now noticed that the small school uniform was clean but had evidence of battles--torn frayed edges, slight blood stains that would never truly wash out, and a sewn spot that looked like someone's claws had gone straight into her side. This was more than a fashion statement if her story was to be believed. The school uniform would have been entirely inappropriate to wear 500 years ago...surely someone would have wriiten some sort of account on the strange miko. He would see if Kurama knew anything about it.