Across Time

foxgloves

Chapter One

"Does there have to be so many fucking stairs?"

"Oh, shut your trap, Urameshi! It's not that bad!"

"What'd you say, you big lug?! You look like you're gonna pass out!"

"Come back here and say that to my face!"

Calm green eyes looked over the shoulder of a decidedly handsome young man. Brushing a hand through his vibrant red hair, he called back to his companions as they squabbled, "I don't suppose you two could play nice together? These are sacred grounds."

"I could play nice if Urameshi wasn't always talkin' smack," the taller of the two groused as he finally crested the top of the staircase, shooting glares at the dark-haired man who was smirking at him.

"This place doesn't seem that special," Yusuke Urameshi remarked in a bored voice, planting his hands on his narrow hips. "Don't see why the old hag made a call to diaper-pants about it. What do you think, Kurama?"

"There is something here…" Kurama declared quietly. "Kuwabara?"

"Definitely," Kuwabara agreed, nodding his head. His sense for the supernatural was the most developed. "Not sure where it's comin' from though."

Yusuke ambled further into the grounds, still looking around with boredom. "This place is deserted. Kind of hard to find anything out if there's no one to talk to."

In the meantime, Kurama had drifted over to a rather lofty tree that anchored the courtyard. While he didn't outwardly appear to be having any kind of conversation, his expression became focused as he stood before it.

Yusuke smirked. "Looks like Kurama's talking to his friends again."

Kuwabara rubbed the back of his head when he felt a tingle, gaze drawn across the grounds to a small storehouse. "Well, maybe his friends can give us some information. What'd Genkai tell Koenma again? Somethin' about a well? You think it could be over there?" He pointed towards the building that had caught this attention.

Yusuke shrugged, non-committal. What were the chances of anything malignant even existing in a place like this? Sure, Genkai had been having some kind of recurring vision about it, and she wasn't an amateur when it came to this kind of stuff, but based on the direction they'd received from The Toddler, it hadn't felt like a bad omen or premonition… simply that it was annoying her.

Kurama wandered back to them. "The spirits here are protective of this place, and not keen to divulge any information although they don't suspect we are here to cause trouble."

"Alright, so that basically tells us nothing." Yusuke surmised gruffly.

Scuffing his shoe against the ground, Kuwabara sighed. "So, what do we do now? We shouldn't go sneakin' around the place. That's like… trespassing."

Looking past them, Kurama held up a hand, silencing them both before Yusuke could do any wise-cracking. "We may not have to."

"Huh?" Yusuke questioned, swiveling his head to follow the fox's gaze. Across the courtyard, a young boy watched them, a soccer ball tucked under his arm.

"Awe, man. He's just a kid – what's he gonna know?" Kuwabara grumbled. Rolling his dark eyes, Yusuke scowled. It was a good thing that Kurama was with them. He was the diplomatic one. This kid probably thought he or Kuwabara was going to steal his lunch money.

Seemingly knowing what the detective was thinking, Kurama tucked his hands into his pockets and moved in the boy's direction. Following his lead, Yusuke jerked his head at Kuwabara and they trailed behind him docilely. So much for him being the leader.

As they approached, the young boy's expression became mildly guarded, but he stood his ground. "Can – Can I help you? Tours are done for the day."

Kurama put on his most disarming smile. "Hello. Indeed, it would seem that we are too late. Do you happen to know the caretakers here?"

The boy was silent for a long moment, adjusting the soccer ball under his arm. "Erm, yeah… this is my family's shrine. Is there something that you wanted?"

"We heard there was a distinguished priest here… we were hoping for a blessing. A dear friend of ours is battling a serious illness, you see. But if it's too late…"

Scratching behind his ear, the boy looked unsure. "Well, Gramps isn't home right now… and it's my sister you'd want to talk to anyways. She's the real deal."

"Is she around, then?" Yusuke cut in, impatient. Kurama shot him a quelling look and he shrugged at him. Whoops.

"Um, no… she's not either." The boy's eyes slid across the courtyard to the same small building Kuwabara had been getting the tingles from, before they focused back on them.

"Say, what's in that building over there?" Kuwabara blurted out, pointing to the shack.

Kurama suppressed a sigh and looked up to the dusky sky. They were effectively blowing this. The boy's eyes sharpened, his mouth thinning and jaw jutting out in defense.

"Why do you want to know? It's just a shed."

"Anything interesting inside?"

"No." came the terse reply. Gaining confidence, the boy's expression turned full out skeptical.

"Souta? Dear, is everything okay?"

Four sets of eyes turned to the middle-aged woman that approached them, and Yusuke crossed his arms trying not to roll his eyes. Oh boy, Mama bear coming to rescue her cub.

Souta immediately went to her side, though still standing slightly in front of her protectively. "These people wanna talk to Grandpa."

"Oh?" Running a hand through Souta's hair to soothe him, Mrs. Higurashi perused each of them. "My apologies, but my Father isn't here right now."

"It's no problem; we understand," Kurama interjected smoothly before either Yusuke or Kuwabara could respond. If the woman also turned suspicious they weren't going to find out anything without having to come back under much more discreet means.

"The kid says it's your daughter we really wanna talk to, anyways. You know when she'll be available?" Yusuke asked, giving the fox a pointed look. Damn Kurama, always being too nice. The fox's face was unreadable, but there was a glint in his eyes and Yusuke knew he was starting to getting irritated, which was quite the feat.

The woman's pleasant expression faded slightly at the mention of her daughter, and similar to the young boy, her eyes travelled to the storehouse before flickering back and another amiable smile appearing on her face.

"Kagome… my daughter – she's away right now. We are not sure when she is going to be home, unfortunately. Grandpa is more than capable despite what Souta says," Mrs. Higurashi tried to laugh, pulling her son close to her side.

"We're gonna be late, Mom…" Souta looked up at her imploringly, eager to be rid of these strange people asking… strange questions, and he didn't buy the story about wanting a blessing from Grandpa. Why were they so focused on the well-house? How would they even know to ask? He may've been a kid, but his sister's double-life was a secret. And they protected that secret steadfastly.

Checking the watch on her delicate wrist, Mrs. Higurashi started. "Oh, you're right!" Adjusting her purse on her shoulder, she gestured to the three boys. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that we have to go… Souta here has soccer practice and I need to go get my Father."

"Of course," Kurama said, giving a small bow. "Thank you for your time."

Yusuke wanted to roll his eyes. More like thanks for nothing. They hadn't found out a damn thing, but hey that was detective work for you sometimes, even if there wasn't an actual case yet.

"Thanks ma'am," Kuwabara offered awkwardly.

The woman smiled. "Please come again."

With that, the three boys made their leave, silence amongst them as they passed out of the shrine grounds and began descending the long staircase. At the bottom, they formed a triangle and started their debrief.

"So, we comin' back?" Yusuke asked them, quirking an eyebrow.

"There's somethin' there," Kuwabara qualified. "In that building. And that kid was actin' pretty defensive about it. I say we go back to check it out."

Kurama sighed. "I was hoping we would not have to resort to more… covert measures, but it would seem that we don't have a choice. Really, you two, do you think you could try to be a little more tactful?"

"Sorry," Kuwabara mumbled.

"Yea, yea, whatever. You call it lack of tact and I think you beat around the bush too much. Balances out just fine if you ask me." Stretching his arms behind his head and linking his fingers, Yusuke set off down the sidewalk. "I'm starving. Let's go get something to eat and we'll come back when it's dark."