Disclaimer: I don't own these wonderful anime/manga.
Chapter 6
Filling time
Everyone had moved into one of Sesshoumaru's studies and had seated themselves of the zabuton that the servants brought in.
"So, what's this about Sesshoumaru?" Koga asked. Sesshoumaru looked towards Kagome and she answered.
"Souta, my younger brother, has been kidnapped. I need help taking down the people responsible and getting him back safely." She spoke steadily. Ayame's eyes widened in shock and sympathy. Koga grunted, understanding.
"So, what are we up against? Another Naraku?"
"Not quite," Shippou said, "While the target is powerful he should not pose much of a threat. It is his employer that we will need to worry about,"
"First we need to find this magician," Hiei pointed out. "Once we have him it will be easy to find out exactly who his employer is. Unless he doesn't know, which is unlikely,"
"Yes, Hiei-san, if we manage to capture him alive then your jagan will come in handy," Shippou smiled and inclined his head respectfully. Hiei gave a curt nod in return.
"You know about..." Yuusuke, his hand freed from the rock by Kagome's express wishes, trailed off with a groan. "Never mind. I'm not going to bother,"
"Better that you don't,"
"So what are we going to do now?" Kagome asked. Sesshoumaru looked towards Shippou.
"Have any of your Kids found any trace of the magician?" he asked. Shippou shook his head.
"I just got the orders out last night, after Momma got to sleep. The best we could hope for is early afternoon and not much sooner," Shippou apologized.
Ayame looked at Kagome, concerned. "How long has your brother been gone?"
"About three days now,"
The wolf princess took the miko's hand and patted it comfortingly. "Don't worry. We will find him and bring him home. We owe you too much to fail in something this important,"
Kagome smiled at Ayame. "Thank you so much Ayame-chan,"
"Well, we might as well just wait until one of my kids reports. Will you open the dojo to our guests, Sesshoumaru-sama? Or...?" Shippou asked. Sesshoumaru stood and nodded.
"Show them to the dojo if they so wish. Houshi, I will be sending a missive to Totousai commissioning you a new shakujo so that you may enter battle with us as well," and the youkai Lord slid fluidly out of the room, sliding the shoji screen door closed behind him. Shippou smiled.
"So, who wants to train while they wait?"
"Have you recovered your youki from yesterday yet, Yuusuke?" Kagome asked, checking on the katana tucked into her obi. The Detective shrugged.
"I'll be fine just so long as you don't hit me with one of those things again,"
"That's good. I was worried that I had made it too strong for you to handle." She smiled with relief. Yuusuke snorted, bragging about how no puny spirit arrow could keep him down. Everyone smiled.
"So, Miroku-sama," Kurama turned to the monk, "How do you fight? Do you use sutras like Miss Kagome?"
"Yes," Miroku nodded. "But I also used my shakujo. Until Totousai makes me a new one I will have to make do without,"
"Ah! Miroku-sama, hold on for a second," Kagome exclaimed before she darted across the dojo to a rack of weapons. She ignored the katana, sai, naginata, all the little sharp throwing things and almost jumped for joy when she found a bo staff. Picking it up and turning around she smiled brightly. "Will this do in the meantime? I'm sure Sesshoumaru-sama wouldn't mind too much if you used it to channel your houriki,"
"Why thank you Kagome-sama," Miroku accepted the staff. "It is not quite the same as my shakujo, but I can adapt." The staff glowed blue for a moment, raising the hairs of the nearby youkai as Miroku filled the weapon with his holy energy.
"Probably won't stand up to as much, but it's better than nothing, right?"
"Quite," The monk and the miko smiled.
:When do I get to spar with Kagome:
-Ask her. I'm sure she wouldn't mind kicking your butt as well,-
Just try not to get us killed.
:Don't worry. I'll behave. For a while...:
Yoko!
:Just ask:
Kurama cleared his throat. "Miss Kagome? Yoko would like to spar with you, if that is all right,"
Kagome glanced at Shippou who frowned but did not say anything negative. "It's fine with me. Let him out,"
Yoko took dominance and followed Kagome's bouncy movements to the center of the spacious dojo. She tied her long ebony hair back with a hair elastic. Yoko rotated his shoulders to loosen the joints up and watched as Kagome slipped into a light, comfortable stance.
"Yuusuke? Say when," Kagome grinned at Yoko. The silver kitsune thief grinned back, his sharp fangs peeking out dangerously. Yuusuke gave the starting signal. Yoko pulled a rose out of his hair and started circling. Kagome moved to match his movements and raised a questioning eyebrow.
"A rose? I'm flattered Yoko-san, but this is hardly the time or the place,"
Yoko snickered and a thorny vine-like whip replaced the rose. "My rose whip is not something that should be taken lightly, you should be warned,"
"Oh crap," Kagome moaned, dodging a strike. "Sesshoumaru fights with a whip too. I HATED those training days. Well this seems about as good a time as any to try out my new sword," she drew Fumetsu from it's lacquered sheath and blocked another whip lash. "Let's see what this baby can do!"
Kagome darted to the side and forward closing in past the range of Yoko's rose whip. Yoko jumped back, dodging a cross slash to his side. The kitsune discarded his whip seeing that gaining the distance they had begun with was going to become increasingly impossible. Instead, he turned to hardened blades of grass, which he threw at the miko like knives.
Kagome was able to dodge five of the blades, but the sixth got past her guard and landed in her bicep. She dropped and rolled out of Yoko's reach before pulling the offending weapon out and throwing it back. Bright red blood dripped to the worn and polished floor. It seeped between her fingers as she held her hand over it to keep pressure of the injury.
"Now that hurt," she scowled.
On the sidelines Shippou was as tense as piano wire as he watched, and smelled, his mother's blood. Miroku placed a calming hand on the kitsune's shoulder, silently reminding him that she had endured much worse and had not complained. A few feet away they could hear Yuusuke muttering death threats to Yoko for daring to harm Kagome. The priest had to raise an eyebrow at some of the colourful language that the young toushin was using, not being used to common street slang that Yuusuke spoke so fluently. Inuyasha could have taken lessons from him, that was for sure.
Everyone watched as the combatants danced around each other. A strike, a parry. A lunge, a dodge, a trap, a grapple. Even if Kagome was human and therefore inherently inferior when it came to speed and stamina, her training with Sesshoumaru had changed that weakness drastically. She matched Yoko's speed and had not even begun to break a sweat. Training under a matchless Taiyoukai bent on perfection did wonders for a girl's combat skills.
Kagome let loose a combination of attacks so fast that they blurred, event to the trained eye. Yoko caught her and threw her to the ground, landing on top of her prone body before she could move. He sat on her stomach and pinned her hands above her head.
"Got you," he whispered in her ear. Kagome looked miffed.
"So what are you going to do about it?" she challenged. Yoko got a devious look on his angelic face.
"Well," he drawled, inching closer. "I could claim a prize," Kagome's eyes widened in shock as his lips descended upon hers. Cries of outrage could be heard from the sidelines.
Yoko pulled back, looking quite smug. He did not notice when one of Kagome's arms had come free from his grasp. He also did not notice the industrial strength haymaker coming in from his left. He did notice when it connected, sending him flying off the miko he had been sitting on.
Kagome rolled to her feet and glared down at the amorous Kitsune. "Don't try that again." she snapped, stalking off. A few feet away she paused and turned back, "Well, at least ask first," she amended.
"Kagome!" Yuusuke shouted, shocked. Kagome shot him a glance.
"What?" she demanded. "If you were a woman I'm sure you'd understand. Until then, don't judge,"
Yoko smirked behind Kagome's back at the toushin, looking quite proud of himself even as he massaged his aching jaw.
:She will be mine yet: He bragged to Kurama.
Right. His human side did not sound convinced.
"Got to give him points for daring," Miroku commented, "Most youkai wouldn't even think about doing something like that in the fear that they could get purified into the dust from whence we all came,"
"Could she really do that?" Yuusuke asked. Miroku nodded.
"And for Kagome-sama it wouldn't even be all that difficult," he nodded. "At one point in time she could purify hundreds of youkai with one burst of panicked release. That was before she learned to harness her powers. She did not wish to harm any of her friends or allies if she got trapped and panicked."
"Why did she not receive training before?" Hiei asked.
"As far as I understand, there are few true spiritualists in the world today. Kagome probably did not know anyone who even knew what she could do much less how to control it. Both mikoki and houriki can be tricky to control in the company of youkai, as yin is to yang. Kagome held admirable control over her mikoki for the most part of two years before she got too strong. Without training she was, what would she say, a walking time bomb when it came to being around her youkai friends. And Kagome-sama did not like the feeling,"
"That's about right," Kagome chimed in, bandaging her arm, "While I don't think I could live with the constant control Sesshoumaru-kun practices, I couldn't live like a miswired time bomb, so I had to do something," she grinned and sat down beside Hiei. Yoko moved to sit beside her, but was detained by Shippou before he could reach his goal.
"You got some nerve doing that to my mother." He growled. Yoko sighed and shook his head.
"Are you going to call me out over it?"
"She's not going to be a fling."
Yoko stared at Shippou for a moment. "As a kitsune yourself you should understand when I say that I hold Feelings for your mother. Unless she refuses it will never be anything less than the best," he said pointedly.
Shippou caught himself, shocked to his toes. He searched the bandit's face for the slightest sign of deception. He found none. Curtly nodding, Shippou silently gave Yoko permission to present his suit to Kagome.
"But if you hurt her in any way I will do everything in my power to hunt you down and make sure you can't take refuge in another living body. Understand?" Emerald eyes sparked a dangerous light and challenged a passive gold. Yoko nodded and bowed his head.
"If I do any harm to your mother then you and Sesshoumaru-sama can punish me in any way you deem fit. But please remember in doing so that an innocent, Shuiichi, my human counterpart, would share an equal measure in any physical hurt."
"That won't be a problem," and the Master Spy turned on his heal and stalked back to his mother.
Yoko watched, looking amused, but his head was filled with serious thoughts.
What was that about?
:It's simple. The kit was protecting his mother.:
No, not that. Why did he back down all of a sudden?
Yoko contemplated his words. :As a kitsune he understands the natural ability to find? Sense? Your future mate. Both a blessing and a curse gifted to us from Inari-sama.:
So you can sense that Miss Kagome is to be your mate?
:In essence:
I suppose that it would save time...
Yoko shook his head. :Kurama, why do you think we live so long: He asked patiently.
Oh. Sorry.
:Forgiven:
"Yoko-san?" Yoko looked up from his mental conversation into the violet eyes of the monk Miroku.
"Yes Houshi-sama?"
"What is it that you said to Shippou that has his spirit so disturbed?" he asked bluntly. Yoko smiled, showing off his sharp fangs.
"Why, Houshi-sama, what makes you think that it was something that I said?" he asked innocently, playing with the human. Miroku raised an eyebrow.
"I may be a mere human, Yoko-san, but I am not blind." He waited.
Yoko sighed inwardly, trying to ignore the voice of Kurama pestering him to let him out. "Priest, I only made it clear that I am nothing if not honorable." He hedged.
Hiei snorted quietly.
Miroku raised his eyebrow again, but did not press the matter. Interrogating a full grown kitsune was not something he wanted to be doing right now.
Kagome laughed and smacked Yuusuke lightly upside his head. The toushin grinned weakly and rubbed his abused skull, laughing something in return. Miroku noticed how innocent and young Yuusuke looked when he let his guard down. He was much like Inuyasha, but also so different.
"So, who's next?" Miroku changed the subject, casting his gaze around the gathered fighters.
"I gotta hit something." Shippou muttered as he stood and walked to the center of the dojo.
"Well," Yuusuke said, hauling himself to his feet and following his cousin's son. "We're in the same boat there, Shippou. Someone say when,"
Kagome, oblivious to why the boys were so upset, jumped up and counted down from three, shouting 'Go'.
Yuusuke held still while Shippou blurred in and out of human vision. He felt a wave of vague deja vu and a memory of fighting Hiei flashed across his vision. A glimmer of a grin cracked his lips.
Shippou flitted fluidly before the toushin. He could see that Yuusuke was unable to follow his movements with his eyes. A shower of razor sharp leaves appeared at his command and swirled around gently before homing in on Yuusuke. The detective dodged every leaf with the speed and skill of one who had spent years fighting youkai and surviving their tricks. Shippou grinned.
Yuusuke dodged the leaves expertly, no stranger to deadly flora. His sixth sense hadn't improved through the years of training under Genkai, so he didn't bother to try and follow Shippou's movements that way, having to rely on what he could see and a good old-fashioned fighting instinct. Instead, he started the groundwork for a trap.
That is right, after training under Genkai for so long he had finally gotten some strategies beaten into his head. He lured Shippou into a seductive weave around the dojo floor.
Only few watching from the sidelines could see what was going on. A beautiful clash of youkai and spirit magic. Yoko studied the younger kitsune's tactics decisively. He used plant life, like most kitsune, but incorporated a strong amount of illusion and physical attacks. A tricky business to learn and implement. Yoko himself only used plants and physical attacks and defenses, as the two worked well for him.
Yuusuke fired a bolt of spirit energy at a clone. The clone vanished with a puff of smoke and an innocent leaf. The toushin cursed. Kagome smiled.
"Shippou sure has improved over the years," she remarked as proudly as any mother could.
"That he has. I almost wish that we had had this adult self of him to aid us in battle. It would have made your burdens much easier, Kagome-sama. Then maybe you wouldn't have gotten so injured." Miroku considered.
"That's the past, Miroku-sama," Kagome whispered, her spirits falling. "We have no place wishing on the impossible. It will only turn our thoughts dark, and I cannot afford that,"
"Forgive me, Kagome-sama," he apologized sincerely, "I did not mean that maliciously,"
Yoko, Kurama and Hiei all wondered at Kagome's reaction to Miroku's words. What had happened in the battles with Naraku that Kagome did not want to talk about? Hiei once again cursed the mental barriers that denied him access to the miko's thoughts, considering it highly unfair.
Yuusuke stepped to the right, the left and jumped back as another volley of deadly vegetation was tossed violently his way. Just one more point he had to complete, the he could unleash the product of his training, something he was quite proud of. Just one more step.
Shippou tensed when he felt Yuusuke's reiki level skyrocket. He tried to jump away. He did not move. He could not move. He growled instead.
"What did you do to me?" he demanded. Yuusuke grinned.
"Hey! It worked!" he crowed victoriously.
"Yuusuke, what did you do?" Kagome cried in amazement. "It looks like my motion binding spell, but you didn't use a sutra!"
"Binding spell Genkai taught me," he grinned evilly, "Binds anyone with youki inside the circle, leaving only the caster free,"
"So you think you've won?" Shippou asked levelly. Yuusuke shook his head.
"I'm not that stupid. You've gotta have something up your sleeve, or else you wouldn't have lasted long under Sesshoumaru," he said before springing to the side. Several vines followed. "Besides, I've watched Kurama fight and you're not too different,"
"Is that so?" Shippou asked, arching an eyebrow. Yoko arched his as well. How had the Detective come up with that conclusion?
"Yeah. To a point," another dodge and the dojo floor bore the brunt of a razor sharp vine.
"How so?" a large dragon sprang to life and roared loudly. Yuusuke dodged its claws and stuck it hard on the forehead, shattering the reality of the illusion.
"He doesn't use magic like you do."
"You consider this magic?" vines shot up from all sides and wrapped themselves around Yuusuke. Yuusuke's reiki levels spiked as he burst free, causing the binding circle to flare up as well. Shippou took in the pattern before it faded from his sight, devising a way to interrupt the spell.
"In a way," Yuusuke readied a reigan blast and pointed it towards the trapped red kitsune. "It's over," and fired.
Shippou watched as the blast hurtled through the sir towards his chest and a frisson of fear skirted up his spine. His one thought before it connected was 'Aw, crap!'
Kagome cried out as Shippou was thrown several feet through the air and skidded several more along the floor. She threw off Yoko and Miroku's restraining hands and dashed over to her son.
"Shippou!" she knelt beside his still form and checked him for injury. Shippou cracked open an eye and smiled.
"You know, Momma, if I had had one more minute I could have broken his spell," he commented, ignoring the pain in his chest. Kagome blinked at him for a moment before turning her thoughts back to his injuries.
"Where does it hurt, Shippou-chan?" She ran her hands over the singed skin of his chest.
"Just my chest. Don't worry, it'll be healed soon. I'm a youkai, remember?" he laughed a little and sat up. "Man, Yuusuke-san, you pack a wallop!"
Yuusuke grinned and held his hand out to help the kitsune to his feet. Shippou accepted.
"Thanks Shippou. Although the old hag wouldn't agree with you,"
"Ah yes, the infamous Genkai. She was quite the terror to many youkai back a couple of years. She's getting on in years, so I hear," Shippou commented. Yuusuke nodded.
"That happens to humans, you know,"
"Yuusuke? Are you all right?" Kagome asked, checking him over for injuries as well, breaking into their conversation.
"Don't worry, Kagome. It's just a couple of scratches," he dissembled. Kagome huffed and glared at him.
"Yuusuke, something that I've learned about fighting youkai for that past five years is that even a scratch is something to worry over. Now take off that shirt." She commanded, he voice leaving no room for argument.
"Hey! Why aren't you demanding Shippou take his shirt off?" Yusuke protested.
"Because Reiki doesn't do the same to S-Superior youkai as mikoki or houriki, neither of which you possess. And Shippou is already healed. Look." She pushed aside Shippou's shirt to show off the smooth, unsinged flesh beneath.
"I'll need a new shirt, though," Shippou grinned and shrugged. Yuusuke grumbled as he pulled his top over his head and submitted himself to Kagome's scrutiny.
Kagome pushed her cousin to sit on the floor. His chest and arms were covered in old scars and fresh wounds, the tale of a toushin written in silver threads and red ink across his tanned skin.
"Let's see," Kagome peered at the bleeding wounds and started plucking wicked looking thorns out of the tears in his skin. "Blackberry, Shippou? That is nasty. These things can be poisonous, you know,"
"They are?" Yuusuke yelped and glared at Shippou. Shippou grinned.
"He's tough, momma. He can take it,"
"Well, it could be worse," Kagome sighed and continued to pull thorns. "I'll need to disinfect these before you get blood poisoning. Someone get me something to disinfect this with,"
A servant was sent out and returned swiftly with the required first aid material. Kagome dabbed at the cuts with an alcohol soaked cloth, ignoring Yuusuke's complaints about the pain. Once his chest and arms were cleaned up to her liking Kagome whispered a prayer and stroked her hands over each wound, closing them over as fresh skin grew at an impossible rate. Yuusuke watched in amazement.
"If you could have healed it just like that then why didn't you?" he demanded. Kagome snorted.
"And seal the poison inside your body?" she packed up the medical supplies and handed them back to the servant. "If any red lines show up around the cut tell me. I might have missed some,"
"Why? What do red lines mean?" he asked.
"Blood poisoning, Yuusuke," She answered seriously. "And don't take it lightly. They might not carry much poison, but it's enough to make you regret ever seeing them," Kagome tugged at her shirt as she turned back to the sidelines.
"Kagome? Where did you learn all this medical stuff?" Yuusuke asked, following.
Kagome shrugged, "We fought, Yuusuke-kun. And most of the time someone got hurt. The medicine back then could only do so much, and I was the only one with access to modern medical supplies. So the duty fell to me,"
Yoko smiled inwardly.
:She's good. How many people know that blackberry vines can be poisonous:
Only those who have been on the receiving end, I'm guessing.
:If that:
Kagome slid next to Yoko. "What's got you so happy?" she asked.
"How did you know that blackberry vines are poisonous?" he asked, shooting her a curious glance. Kagome grimaced.
"A couple years back I found out the hard way just how much a pair of sneakers can take before anything can poke its way through. We had found a huge patch of blackberries and had to get through them to get to a jewel shard. My feet and legs swelled up so much Sesshoumaru had to carry me home. It was a good thing Mom knew what to do," she shuddered. "I couldn't believe how many had gotten stuck in my socks,"
"Ah, yes. I remember that time," Miroku said, sidling closer to Kagome. "As I recall it was just after Sesshoumaru-sama increased your training and started you on – what was it? – naginata?"
Kagome nodded and calmly moved Miroku's hand away from her backside. "Yes. He wasn't too happy that I couldn't walk for a couple days. I don't think that I've ever seen him so sullen. It's almost like he had been looking forward to training me and then had the pleasure snatched away like someone took away his chocolate on Valentines." She smiled. Miroku didn't quite understand the Valentines' reference, but Yoko snickered quietly.
I can't quite imagine the Lord of all the Makai looking sullen. It just doesn't seem to suit him.
:Use your imagination, kit:
"Unfortunately," Kagome continued with an exaggerated sigh, "I found out the hard way that there are worse things than going to school, namely six hours a day, at least, of straight practice with Sesshoumaru-kun. Nearly killed me,"
Yoko's eyes widened in amazement. Six hours at least of martial training for a human? At least? It was sheer lunacy. Kagome was lucky to survive! What had Sesshoumaru been thinking?
"And after Sesshoumaru-sama got through with you, you were turned over to Kaede-sama and I," Miroku chuckled. "I swear that it must have been truly Buddha's wish that you survive. Nothing else could have pulled you through what we made you do,"
"Were you TRYING to kill her?" Yuusuke demanded, shocked.
"Yuusuke, don't blame them," Kagome laughed, "They had to train me like that. They didn't want to, didn't want to push me too hard, but I was tired of being dead weight. Sesshoumaru-kun though that I should only train for three or four hours, but I would just train myself if he left me and same with Miroku-sama and Kaede-sama. You would not believe how many books Sesshoumaru-kun had on mikoki and houriki. Took me forever to read though them," she trailed off thoughtfully.
"Why?" Yuusuke asked. As far as he knew Kagome had always been a top student. Why would it take her a long time to read something?
"Because, they wrote different back then. I had to sign out so many books on Old Japanese from the library just to get the gist of it. If you went to your History classes you'd know that Katakana and Kanji were the main writing systems back then. Hiragana was a woman's language and the way they wrote kanji had shifted over the centuries. No one could ever read what I wrote,"
"Because you wrote in a future language," Yoko nodded. "That would be interesting for one of your human archeologists to find. A five hundred year old book written in a modern tongue," he snickered. Kagome stared at him for a moment, a smile playing on her lips.
"That would get them so turned around. I wonder what they would say?" she covered a giggle with her calloused hand. "Especially if everything about it was authentically done, except the writing,"
"Fox, don't you have something better to do with your time other than flirting?" Hiei scowled. Yoko mimed a wounded heart.
"Hiei! Can you not see the beauty before your eyes? I am merely trying in my own – dare I say – very charming way to make her sparkle," he declared, grasping Kagome's hand and kissing the palm. Kagome blushed dark red.
Yuusuke growled and was about to pull the kitsune away from his cousin when Shippou held him back.
"There's nothing we can do." He ground out, glaring at Yoko. "He has every right to try to court her," he said to the surprise of the wolves and Miroku.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuusuke snapped, watching Yoko present Kagome with another deep red rose.
"It's a kitsune thing, and it's hard to explain. Basically, we can sense our future Mate. And Yoko-san has staked his claim."
