"Kagome, dear, are you feeling okay?" Her mother's brow furrowed with worry as she reached out to feel her daughters cheeks and forehead for signs of fever. "You look absolutely exhausted." The miko didn't doubt she looked little better than death warmed over, for she had slept for perhaps an hour last night before she was awoken by another nightmare.
"I'm fine, mama." Kagome sent her what she hoped was a convincing smile as she sipped on her morning tea. The late night of drinking and sudden attack last night hardly helped her haggard appearance this morning, and pile on top of that her body's conditioning to wake at or before dawn thanks to a certain inu hanyou and she was lucky to string together more than five hours of sleep a night.
Her mother returned her daughter's smile, though the expression did not quite reach her eyes. The pair chatted amiably over their early breakfast. Souta had gone to spend the weekend with a friend and her grandfather rarely rose early anymore.
Kagome pulled a still damp loch of hair out of her eyes as she went about caring for the shrine. The soft fragrance of her shampoo wafted over her as she focused only on the tasks at hand. She dressed traditionally this morning, but in lieu of the red hakama she chose green. The girl just could not bring herself to wear what in her mind were Kikyo's colors, though the time was long past that she would be mistaken for that woman.
Several visitors milled about on the shrine grounds as she carried out her chores. It was a little late in the season for tourists so the gift shop was closed, not that gramps was in any condition to man the shop anyhow. The autumn was slowly giving way to winter and there was a distinct chill in the air that even the sun couldn't dissipate. Kagome took a breath of the crisp air and smiled to herself. While it was a far-cry from the almost sweet air of the feudal era, the cool air was fresher by far than summer.
"Kagome!" Said girl's head snapped up at the voice and she smiled at Ayumi cresting the shrine steps. Her face was pink from the exertion of running up the stairs and she could see a few strands of hair plastered to her forehead from sweat, even on this cool day.
"Kagome..." Her friend bent over to rest her hands on her knees and pant. "I...heard what happened...last night." Kagome took her friends hand and lead her to one of the benches on the shrine grounds so that she could sit and regain her composure.
"You weren't answering your phone." Her friend scolded, "You had me so worried!"
"Gomen." Kagome pulled her friend into a hug. "None of us were hurt, everything's ok." Her friend pushed away and leveled a stern look at her.
"What were you thinking going into a dark alley by yourself!?" The priestess blinked in surprise, "Who knows what kind of creep could have been lurking in there! Especially with a woman half dead...if there had been someone there they could have gotten you, too." By the end Ayumi's voice had lowered and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.
"It's alright." Kagome took her friend's hand and held it gently as Ayumi wiped tears off her cheeks with the heel of her hand.
"No, it's not alright!" She continued stubbornly. "I know you think you can handle yourself after dating that two-timing delinquent in high school, but you can't put yourself in danger like that."
A familiar pain entered her heart at her friends words, but it was an old pain that echoed hollowly through her chest. She took a breath to fight back the slight ache that shot through her throat. When she was sure her voice would not betray her she spoke.
"You're right. I'll be more careful in the future." The two embraced and Ayumi pulled her off the bench.
"You're done with your chores now right? Let's go, Eri wanted to meet up with us for some shopping. There's a killer sale at the department store." At the reluctant look in her friend's eyes Ayumi bit her lip and gave her the full-force of the puppy eyes. "Please?"
Kagome was torn between sighing and laughing. "Whoever taught you three that trick is going to get a five-finger sandwich." The pair shared a grin. "Come on, let me change into something more casual."
An hour later found the trio perusing the mall. Each girl had at least one bag of shopping.
"I'm so glad finals are over." Ayumi blew out a breath, "the new semester is starting on the first, are you going to take anything other than dusty old history classes?" Her chest swelled up with pride, "I'm going to advanced choir."
"Congrats!" Kagome gushed honestly before she began to ponder. "Let's see...I think they're offering archery this semester."
"You really are a shrine maiden." Laughed Eri, "at least I know who to come to if I move into a haunted apartment!" She nudged Kagome's shoulder playfully and the three shared a chorus of laughter.
The group settled in the food-court and Kagome watched the setting sun outside the window with a content smile as her friends bantered across the table. Last night's incident seemed as if it belonged to another universe it was so far from their minds.
"What we really need is to get Kagome set up with a man!" Ayumi's voice jolted Kagome back to the here and now. "Ever since Hojo moved on to medical school you haven't even gone on a date. Seriously you're going to get cobwebs in your lady-bits at this rate."
Kagome's face flushed crimson and she hissed at her friends to keep it down, only for the two to laugh raucously at their embarrassed friend.
"Sorry Kagome, but we worry about you." Eri said when her mirth had died down. "I mean, it's not healthy to be alone."
Another pang echoed in her chest before she forced a small smile and put her hands over her friends.
"I'm not alone. I've got you guys." The trio shared the warmth of the moment with smiles.
It was dark when the three began heading home. Her friends took the bus together and waved her off. It was only a twenty minute walk to the shrine from the bus stop. Kagome adjusted her purse on her shoulder as she walked through the rapidly cooling night. She could see the shrine steps in the distance when she felt it.
Her entire frame tensed up and she had to restrain herself from looking behind her. There were two this time. One was significantly more powerful than the last. She closed her eyes and took a steadying breath as she pretended to be adjusting her skirt and cardigan. The evil energy came closer and she could hear it's-no his she could distinctly feel it was masculine-foot falls coming up behind her.
As she fiddled with her clothes her eyes cast about for something to use as a weapon and tried to surreptitiously look over her shoulder to get a look at this new demon. The man behind her grinned when he caught her eye and her heart stuttered in her chest. Like the last one on the surface he looked like a regular man, but just under his skin she could see a tint of blue to his skin and crimson eyes behind his brown.
She looked away and held her breath as she cast her senses out again. Where was the other one? She had felt a distinctly powerful demonic aura, one to rival Inuyasha or Koga. She flinched as a clammy hand fell onto her shoulder. Shit, she had let herself get distracted.
"Need some help, miss?" The man leered down at her and she struck his hand off of her and leveled her best glare at the man. "Aw come on, don't be a stuck up bitch." He moved closer to her and she felt her power hum to life under her skin at this new threat.
The demon grabbed her wrist and immediately screamed and took a step back. His hand dissipating as ash in the wind. "What the fuck are you!" He snarled as his other hand reached into his jacket and pulled out a ten-inch knife.
'Oh shit.' Only years of life and death situations against much more threatening demons than this helped her to avoid the swift strike. Her cheek burned where the cold blade had made contact and she drew more of her holy powers to the surface and held her hand out as she had with mistress centipede all those years ago.
White hot pain blossomed over her palm before her powers surged forth and the knife clattered to the ground as sparkling ash fell on and around her. Kagome cradled her sliced palm to her chest. Blood dripped from the wound to stain her cardigan and land with soft patters on the sidewalk.
Still full of adrenaline Kagome's shaking legs carried her towards the shrine steps and she raced home. She absolutely did not understand what was happening. Two years she had been back and not one demon had bothered her, and now two nights in a row she had been attacked?
Her body quivered as she felt the high level demon from before closing in on her faster than she could imagine and her already hammering heart began to beat painfully in her chest. 'I wish I'd put up a barrier around the shrine!' Miroku had taught her how to make the sutras and infuse them with her energy, but she hadn't thought she'd need such techniques here.
'If I live through this I'm going to put up a barrier to put mount Hakurei to shame! I won't take one more damn step off shrine grounds.' She veered away from her house as she felt the energy closing in. She didn't want the thing to know she lived here.
The energy paused near the base of the shrine steps. It was probably looking over the remains of it's friend. Kagome ducked behind one of the large trees in the patch of forest behind the shrine and held her breath. Her lungs immediately burned in protest to the action but she closed her eyes and tried to sense what the demon was doing.
It's aura was wild, and a bit angry. Her heart beat painfully in her chest as she waited to see what the demon would do. If it decided to come after her she was, in the famous words of Inuyasha, fucked. Suddenly the aura began to move away, and just as quickly as it had appeared it vanished.
Her breath exploded out of her lungs. Kagome couldn't be bothered by the embarrassingly loud breaths she was gulping in as tears of relief built behind her eyes. It hadn't sensed her. It hadn't come for her. The pain in her palm and cheek flared to life once more and the miko remembered herself as she slid down the thick trunk of the tree to sit on the damp, grass-covered earth.
Her mother would shit a brick if she came home like this...
She took another steadying breath and concentrated her powers on the wounds. Slowly the bleeding stopped and the skin was seamless again. Still, Kagome didn't move for another twenty minutes as she cast her senses out to make sure it was truly safe. Shakily she rose and made her way towards one of the store-houses where she could find some of the sutras Miroku had given her before the final battle.
'I'll make more in the morning.' She promised herself as she charged and slapped the sutras on several places on the house.
"Kagome? What's going on?" Her mother's voice came from the top of the stairs just as she was finishing up with the barrier around the house. She guessed that it was a statement that her mother did not comment on the blood on her blouse, her family was so used to her coming home covered in the stuff.
"Mama." Kagome's still shaking fingers came up to grab her mom's hand. "A demon attacked me. I put a barrier up. Please don't leave the house tonight." Her mother's eyes locked with her own and she could tell that the woman wanted to ask questions.
"Of course." Her mother's grip tightened on her daughter's hand. Her brave, beautiful daughter who had faced demons in the past all without the support of her family. Her mother was here now, and what kind of mother would she be if she couldn't support her only daughter through this new dilemma.
Hiei was not stupid. He was a far cry from Kurama's calculated genius, but he had strategy of his own when the situation called for it. Very rarely did that strategy involve retreat, but as he surveyed the ash and bloodied knife, as he took in the strange lightning-like scent of the human blood that lead towards the steps of a shrine he thought that, perhaps, a tactical retreat might be in order.
He had felt the terrible aura and seen the pink flash light the area up like a damn Christmas tree, even from his perch almost a mile away. He knew this was connected with last night's incident, how could it not be? Not many could render a demon into ash with just a flash of aura, even a level E.
Hiei glared in the direction he could feel the aura dripping with desperate fear in the trees on the other side of the shrine. He entertained the idea of destroying it and purging the world of that dangerous power, but instead he snatched the assault weapon from the side-walk and after a moment of hesitation grabbed the purse and shopping bag as well.
The shadow disappeared back into the night as he made his way to the apartment of someone who may be able to make sense of all this. Kurama.
A/N
Thanks to those who read and special thanks to Ashley Renee for the correction on spelling and Heaven-water-sister for the feedback.
