A/N: So I haven't had a lot of time to write this week, right? Well, that's because I had too much to do this weekend, and the only time I could find to write was today. I actually would've written some on Monday, but we had a huge storm here and school was cancelled. The same storm also knocked out our internet at home, so I wasn't able to get on.

I've already had some people asking about Shippo. Please be patient, I am going to try and explain it in later chapters. Of course, if you're still confused after that, I will personally email you and explain it until you understand what is happening. 'Kay?

Anyways, I don't know if I'll be able to update again. I will try, but tomorrow I need to play catsup and Friday I have a bunch of tests...but if I find the time, I'll work.

Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to bring all this into light for the final confrontation... Don't worry, I'm confident my good ol' friend Writer's Block won't visit again on THIS story.

Which reminds me, one final thing. If you like this story (well, the pairing and the shows, at least. Actually, if you prefer crossovers with more YYH cast), please check out my other story, The Truth of Beauty. I like writing it a lot more, and feel it deserves a little recognition here.

Now, enough rambling. I'm done.

Hiei was furious. He had finally made it to that idiot human boy's house (he refused to think of it belonging to a mere mortal woman) to get Kurama to calm down, and the thrice damned fox had disappeared.

Apparently, the boy had opened the closet door to let Kurama get some air. Then the police had appeared, and the fox had taken it into his head to take off without anyone's permission, running too fast and dodging under too many trees and shrubs for anyone to follow him. Maybe if Hiei had been there, he could've been followed...

Now Hiei was left with trying to hunt down the runaway demon before Koenma blamed him. Not that it was Hiei's fault; it was never his fault. He just kept getting blamed for things.

A thought crossed Hiei's mind that made him smirk. He could always blame it on Kuwabara. The idiot's stupid honor code would make it so he couldn't deny an accusation when it came to people he looked up to. That would work to get him out of trouble.

Of course, the short fire demon still had to investigate that warehouse place. Even from where he was, still some distance away, he could feel the evil aura wafting from the building. He was taking some time to stop and actually try and identify it, not rushing into anything. He had all the time in the world to investigate, after all.

Kagome sat up slowly. Her head was aching from the fall she had taken when she had been gassed. She could remember that much, at least.

Gingerly, she touched the back of her head, letting out a hiss when her fingers came into contact with a particularily sore spot. She wondered how anyone in their right mind would use gas on someone who had come of their own free will...Then again, she thought, this is Naraku I'm talking about. He is as far from sane as someone suffering from schitzophrenia. I wouldn't even be surprised if he is a schitzo.

Kagome slowly took stock of her injuries. She had a million bruises, a nice collection of scrapes and cuts, and her head was pounding a nice rhythm. She figured she probably suffered a slight concussion from the fall, and hoped it wouldn't do anything to jeapordize her chances of getting out of there.

She was able to finally stand and turned slowly. She was in a small cell that looked to be underground somewhere, probably a basement or something. It was very chilly down there. Kagome wrapped her arms around herself to help stave off the cold.

She looked down at the floor and gasped. Rushing over, she kneeled next to a very beaten, very bloody Shippo. She bit her lip as she turned him over so he wasn't lying on his face and tears came to her eyes.

With the care that a mother gives her young child, Kagome began to check the extent of his injuries. He was definately suffering from multiple breaks in one of his arms, but luckily, it wasn't the one that had been broken before. His ragged breathing told of a torso injury, bruised ribs or worse. There were many lumps on his head from either hitting the floor or from something very solid coming into contact with his skull. What really worried her were his legs. They were laying at odd angles that were extremely unnatural, and there was no doubt in Kagome's mind that if he wasn't in blinding pain, then he was obviously paralyzed.

She gently lifted him into her lap and cradled the young boy against her chest. Her brow furrowed as she realised something about him she didn't know before.

He had a demonic aura.

And not just any demonic aura. Shippo was a young fox, a demon probably a lot younger in his mindset than normal humans. It shocked Kagome that she wasn't able to pick up his aura signals the first time she had met him after returning from Genkai's temple.

Kagome then berated herself for thinking about meaningless things when she should be worried about the little red-head.

The first thing to do was to wake him up so that she could find out if his injuries were worse than she had first thought. Gently shaking him, so as not to jar his hurts too much, she called out, "Shippo, it's time to wake up. I need you to open your eyes, alright?"

A small groan came from the fox-child, and Kagome took that as a sign that he was still well enough to know his name. "Come on, I need to talk to you. It's alright to wake up right now, whoever hurt you isn't going to be back for a while." I hope, she added silently.

Shippo slowly cracked open an eye. After all these years, why did he feel like a child again? Why did he feel like he was back in his mother's arms, listening to her tell him stories about when the demon and human worlds were one and the same? He waited for his vision to clear, then raised his head slightly. His sight was filled with the angel he had only hoped would come and comfort him, dreams he had given up on long ago.

Kagome smiled, hiding her suprise at how old the young boy's eyes looked. "Hey, there you are. Welcome back. Sorry I took so long to get here." Her eyes blurred slightly with tears that she wanted to shed, yet held back because crying would do nothing for either of them at the moment.

Shippo opened his mouth to say something, but his dry throat wouldn't let more than a whimper leave his mouth. He licked his lips and tried again. On the fifth try, he was able to croak out, "Kag'me."

Kagome nodded. "Yeah, I'm here. I won't leave you alone willingly again, alright? I just need you to answer a few questions. Do you feel any sharp pains when you breathe?" Shippo went to say something again, and Kagome put a finger to his lips. "Don't talk, save your breath. Just nod or shake your head." Shippo shook his head. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. "What about your legs? Can you feel them, and does it hurt to move?" Shippo nodded yes to the first, and no to the second. Kagome wanted to scream in sympathy as she feared the worst. If she could remember correctly from the few years she had studied medicine...that wasn't a good sign. "Alright, what about your head? Do you get dizzy just by moving your eyes? Do you hurt a lot? Do you have a bad headache?" Two nods and a head shake answered her questions.

Kagome noticed that Shippo was nodding off. "One more question, Shippo, and then you can go to sleep. Do you feel nauseous?" Shippo shook his head. Kagome gave him a small hug and smiled softly at him. "You're a very brave person, Shippo. You can go to sleep now. I won't leave you."

Shippo sighed in, if not happiness, then content in the knowledge that someone was watching over him.

As for Kagome, she was too busy worrying about what would happen to her young burden if she didn't do something soon.

End Chapter

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