Jewels of Our Hearts

Chapter Four

School continued rather uneventfully after that. Shuichi had done as she asked and kept his distance. At least something was going right. The female populace still glared daggers at her though. 'Can't win it all.'

She pondered about Shuichi and his odd friend. She still was rather uncertain on what exactly Shuichi was, but she knew his mysterious friend was a full blooded demon. A strong one at that. It made her nervous that they were so close. It also confused her. How could either of them be here? 'Did my wish not work? I don't get it.' She felt the jewel's heavy weight against her chest and sighed. The teacher continued to drone on about the current book they were studying.

Her eyes drifted to the window. For a moment the scenery changed, woods filling the empty field as a red blur danced through the trees. She shook her head. 'You live in the present.'

"Is everything alright, Higurashi?"

The class laughed, and her cheeks tinged in an embarrassed blush. "Yes?"

"Then care to answer my question?" The teacher quirked an eyebrow. She fumbled and the laughter grew. With a roll of his eyes the teacher looked to the student beside her. "Fukushima, care to enlighten us since Higurashi is clearly lost in a more interesting world?"

The girl smirked at her and opened her mouth to speak. The bell suddenly rang, and she closed it. The teacher eyed the clock in the classroom skeptically before shrugging. "Alright read chapters five through eight for tomorrow. There may or may not be a pop quiz. Class dismissed."

She gathered her books, thankful at being saved from further humiliation. 'And so ends another wonderful day at my lovely new school.' She reached for her bag, and paused when the blue strap changed to an all too familiar yellow. Her face paled. She forced herself to grab it. It changed back to blue. Her mouth quivered. The jewel pulsed. 'You live in the present.' She swung the bag across her shoulder and left the classroom.

/.../

Kurama dreaded the ending of this day. He knew Yusuke would not be impressed with his findings, or lack thereof. The Toushin wasn't known for his patience. Still, he felt it could not be helped. Pursuing Kagome at this time would prove too suspicious. He would have to try again tomorrow, when her temper had cooled. 'I still can't believe she called me a stalker...'

The final bell rang, and he gathered his belongings with a tired sigh.

Hiei was waiting for him at the gate. He raised a curious eyebrow; normally the hybrid would have wandered away by now. His gaze turned suspicious. "Were you hoping to catch another glimpse of Kagome?"

Red eyes glared.

'Right on the money.' He smiled tiredly. "It wouldn't be wise to prod her now."

"Hn."

"Come on. Let's go meet up with Yusuke. I'm sure he'll be thrilled with our findings."

Hiei smirked. "Yes, the detective will be pleased to know you gathered absolutely nothing on the girl."

He scowled. "I wouldn't say nothing. We know for sure she sensed you now, that's something at least. Normal girls can't sense you."

"Hn."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Sometimes there was just no reasoning with Hiei. 'His pride is wounded. That's all.' Kurama wondered at that and decided Yoko was right. Hiei was used to being unseen and likely didn't enjoy the fact that someone could pierce even his veil. Least of all some slip of a girl. Amusement danced in his green eyes as he thought on that more. 'The mighty Hiei bested by a teenage woman.'

In his head Yoko chuckled, and in the corner of his eye he saw Hiei's mouth turn down in a scowl. The hybrid apparently had been listening in. That would teach him to read his private thoughts.

/.../

Kagome was walking home when it happened.

A chill.

It danced between her shoulders in ominous warning. The wind picked up, brushing her school skirt against her knees. The sun had mostly set, the day almost at an end. Pace slowing, her eyes warily scanned for what caused the sudden shift in energy. Danger. It lurked like a shadow stalking every step she took. Something was following her - something malicious. 'Where is is?' The ally seemed deserted, but she knew better. Whoever was out there was close. Very close. 'How did I miss sensing them until now?'

Walking as casual as possible, she tried to eye her options without seeming obvious in her intentions. Escape was her first instinct. She had only a single concealed dagger for a weapon; not something very effective against any skilled opponent. It would prove a momentary distraction at best - maybe buy her enough time to run. The only problem was she had no idea where to run. If she couldn't defeat what was coming, then who could? Who would be safe? 'There's no Inu-Yasha anymore. C'mon Kagome, get it together this is all on you now.' She briefly clutched the jewel through the fabric of her blouse. 'You have to keep it safe.'

Resolved she chose to remain where she was.

The demon finally revealed himself, stepping around the corner at the end of the alleyway where she had previously been headed. It simply stood there, staring at her. She was slightly impressed he had been able to hide from her this long. Studying him more, she decided to re-evaluate her decision. She barely sensed any energy from the thing - that was probably why she hadn't notice him until now. Her posture relaxed; this was something she could handle.

The demon didn't seem to take insult at her uncaring demeanor. He was oddly rather human-shaped for a lower class demon too. The only telling feature was the unnatural pallor to his skin - an odd paleness that no mortal possessed unless death gripped them. That and his eyes were blue gems of alien steal. They were oddly void of emotion, like staring at glass. She grew a bit worried. There was a nagging at her senses. She was missing something, but she couldn't figure out what.

The demon took one, sloppy step forward. It was awkward, like the limb had jerked to life as if pulled by a magical string. Realization lit her eyes. "You are dead!"

The body suddenly flew at her, and she barely had enough time to dodge to the side. That was when the others revealed themselves. Dozens of dead demon bodies fell from the rooftops above, spilled in from the entrance and exit of the alley, and all but flooded the tiny area she found herself now trapped in.

Kagome cursed at herself. She should have realized the danger the moment she picked up on the weak signal. Now that she studied it more, she could see that there was a small pool of energy in each body where the heart used to be. It somehow seemed oddly familiar, but she just couldn't place from where. The energy steadily drained as more time passed, but the rate wasn't fast enough. The corpses would be active long enough to overwhelm her if she didn't think of something quick. 'It's almost like that time...' A memory surfaced.

Blood. It dripped, crawling across flesh to spill down shoulders, arms, fingers, the handle of a blade, the earth below. It painted her, soaked into her soul and fed the grass at her feet. The fluid of life, spilled by the metal of her sword.

She forced herself to focus. Her eyes caught an escape, 'A ladder!' and she hastily pulled out her dagger to swipe off the hand that was trying to grab her. The demon corpse evaporated on contact, her blue pure powers causing it to burst into flames the moment it touched the metal. She fought her way through the swarm, able to effectively evade most attacks but unable to keep from scoring some blows to her back. She finally made it to the ladder and hastily forced her dagger into the ground below. The concrete cracked, and a blue sphere of energy suddenly erupted. She quickly climbed. Time was of the essence; that barrier wouldn't hold for long.

She made it to the fist ledge and hurriedly climbed the stairs. Finally she found herself at the top, the roof of the building one step away. The metal rattled under her hand. She didn't have to look down to know her barrier was broken. The zombie demons were following her up. 'Think. There must be something you can do?' Her eyes studied her hands. There was something, but..

Demons swarmed, eyes hungry, teeth flashing in anticipation. Wanting to taste her. Wanting to bath in her blood and the blood she shed. Too many to fight anymore. Too many to kill.

The undead demons roared below, getting closer. She forced her mind back to the present. Eyes frantic, she searched for an escape. The other buildings were too far to jump to. She spotted a door and ran to it. The blasted thing was locked tight. 'Think! Think!' Still, her mind circled back to that moment. Nervousness gripped her. Her hands fisted at her sides. 'There must be some other way?' The demon growls continued, louder and great in number. She didn't have much time. The images of the past continued to play haunting memories.

Fire. It was exhilarating. Never had she felt more powerful. Never had she felt more weak. All this locked inside, all this used too late. Always too late. In her mind those ruby eyes were laughing, mocking her and everything she ever strived for. Wasted efforts like ashes at her feet. Except those eyes were not a memory. They were staring right at her. She would destroy them- she would tear away everything he was. Or die trying.

Her breathing increased, panic bubbling. She forced herself to relax. Her abilities were rather wild, listening to her one moment and rebelling the next. Panic made it worse. She heard Kaede's voice inside her head, "Now child, ye must do this only in circumstance of great peril, and only if ye has mastered thy power first." The demons were getting closer, and her options were limited. There wasn't anywhere she could really run to anymore. She had no dagger to fight with. There were too many to take on anyway. 'I didn't listen then either; I guess I won't listen now.'

Determined, she walked to the centre of the roof and sat down cross-legged. There was no other choice, she had to try. Palms resting upwards on her knees, she inhaled slowly, attempting to calm herself.

The blood turned to ash and floated on the wind. The fire was gone. She had failed. There was only one choice left now. Her hands opened and in her palms she held the completed jewel.

Terror gripped her. She willed it away. 'Clear your mind. You live in the present.' The memories faded. She breathed in deeply, then slowly let it out.

Blue fire engulfed her form. 'Bigger...it needs to be bigger.' She frowned, concentrating harder. The flame grew, but bits of it started to tinge pink. 'Focus.' She lectured, willing herself to be calm, to be in control. She couldn't allow herself to slip, or the flames would turn on her instead. 'Bigger...more energy...slowly.' The flames returned to their steady blue and grew larger around her. 'Easy...a little more...then hold it.'

The zombie demons were on the roof now, heading towards her with unnatural steps and awkward lurches. 'Hold it...' The demons were practically upon her, some moving to surround her from escaping while others ran at her. The blue fire continued to burn steadily around her, and every time a corpse drew too close it burst into ash. 'Just a bit longer...make sure they're all up...' One of the demons roared in anger. It felt like it was right beside her. An image sprang to mind, a flash of light and a scream. Suddenly, a piece of fire turned a vicious rebellious pink. Fear gripped her. 'No focus!' But doubt was like a poison in her mind, and for a moment her will faltered.

She lost control.

The blue flames burst into wild pink. Her eyes snapped open. The energy exploded around her and she screamed as it burned mercilessly across her senses. The dead demons screamed too - a wave of pure wild power swooping them all into nothing. The fire continued to rage and she felt it tear from her very soul with no signs of slowing down. It would leave and take everything she was with it. Agony. It was all she could feel as she hugged herself tightly, as if her very arms could keep the power from leaving. Her skin began to rip; lacerations tearing open randomly as the power threatened to end her. Blood pooled at her feet.

A single blue eye peeked open, teeth gritting angrily together to stem her painful cries. 'I need to take back control! She studied the wild fire that consumed her.

She didn't know if she could.

/.../

"So basically you figured out absolutely nothing?"

Yusuke was in a foul mood. Kurama had returned from school with no useful updates into his miko theory. Another day wasted. With an aggravated growl he kicked a nearby stone. Lately stones were the only things he could release his rage upon. That annoyed him too. "Damn it!"

Kurama tried to placate him. "Trust me, she's got something to do with all this. How else would she be able to sense Hiei?"

"Hn."

Yusuke glared at him. "So what? Maybe she's just got freaky good senses like Kuwabara or something? It doesn't mean anything! Did you even see her with the jewel?" The fox shook his head, and Yusuke threw his hands up in frustration. "We're getting nowhere and the demons just keep coming in!"

"These things take time. We're looking for a jewel thought to have vanished over five hundred years ago. You can't expect it to just mysteriously show itself now. Whoever has it, is good at hiding it."

Kuwabara scratched his head. "That's what bugs me though. Why suddenly now?"

"What do you mean?" Yusuke glared at his orange-haired friend.

"Why are all the lower class demons able to sense it now? If it was so well hidden for all those years, why is it not well hidden now?"

They all looked at each other. It was a valid question.

"I dunno. That's what the Toddler wants us to figure out I guess."

Further conversation was stalled when a sudden burst of energy drew all their attention. Hairs rose on Yusuke's arms and he rubbed them nervously."What the fuck is that? I've never felt anything like it!"

Kuwabara stared in the direction of the source with an awed look on his face. "It feels...pure. I can't even describe it. Like a wild storm full of happy thoughts. It's electrifying."

In the distance a burst of pink light filled the sky. Kurama grew nervous. "That my friends, is what untamed miko energy feels like."

Hiei glared at it. "Just what the hell is happening over there?" He felt the aftershocks of power wave across his senses. Warnings flared up his energy, the demonic powers instinctively trying to protect him against it.

Yusuke smirked. "Only one way to find out."

/.../

Her power was literally burning her alive.

She tried desperately to rein it back in, but it whipped around in wild bursts like a raging stallion bucking its rider. The power would not be tamed. She had ignored it for too long, allowing it to simmer silently under her reach. Another cut tore open on her lower leg. She winced, but refused to be defeated. The Shikon burned angrily against her chest. 'Damn it all!' The power continued to spill to the sky. She forced herself to stand; one shaky leg, then the next. Panting she closed her eyes and tilted her head to the clouds. Arms lowered, hands open, she forced herself to breathe deeply. She focused back on her power, wincing at the mental jab it lashed at her, resolute in her concentration.

In her mind's eye she saw it. A swirl of pink rage at her very core. She reached for it, but it rebelled. Flashes of the past spiked through her, and suddenly the real reason for the torrent became clear. In that power she saw her friends from the past, their smiles and their laughter tinged with the bitterness of its impending end. Her failure. Her doubt. Her pain. Her fear.

Her concentration faltered as the images swarmed her. Another cut tore across her cheek. She refocused, and willed herself to face what she had been forcibly ignoring for so long.

The final battle against Naraku.

/.../

Hiei climbed the stairs behind the others, every fiber in his being willing him to head in the other direction. His unstable demon energies quivered within him, both becoming restless in their delicate balance as the pure power swirled them into tense fury. Instinct was telling him danger lurked ahead, urging him that the power he was gaining ever so close to was something that could unmake his very soul. Still, he forced his feet to continue to climb the metal stairs that lead to the top. Overhead the pink energy circled to the sky, electric sparks flaring off the main wave like some giant storm of miko fire. It was oddly beautiful, the way it thundered above them in a display of raw power. It was nature to its core.

"C'mon! Hurry up we're almost there!"

Yusuke sounded impatient, but Hiei knew it was a cover. He could see the nervous gleam in the detective's brown eyes, the tenseness in his muscles. Rightly so. Anything with a drop of demon blood should feel anxious this close to such extreme pure energy. He would wonder at the detective's sanity otherwise.

Finally, they reached the top.

Ruby eyes widened.

At the core of the inferno stood none other than the girl from before. Her raven black hair billowed around like the fire that engulfed her, uniform soaked in blood. A pool of the liquid surrounded her feet. A sudden laceration opened across her palm. The pink fire seemed to be literally tearing itself from her very body. Her face was expressionless, eyes closed in complete concentration. 'How is she not screaming?'. He could sense her agony from here, smell the pain that wafted with every drop of blood spilled.

The group eyed one another warily. None of them knew quite what to do.

Kuwabara growled. "That energy is killing her! We have to stop it!" He took a step forward before Yusuke roughly shoved him back, "What are you thinking idiot!? You have no idea what that power will do to you!"

"Just look at her! We don't have much time! How can you just stand there and watch!" Kuwabara pointed angrily at the girl, "She's dying Yusuke!"

The detective was at a loss for words. He knew it was true, but had no idea how to stop it. If he tried to get close, the raging fire would destroy him before he could do anything. Brown eyes grew frustrated. "Damn it! What the hell is happening to her Kurama!?"

The Fox looked equally troubled. "There is nothing we can do." His voice was quiet.

Kuwabara grabbed him. "What do you mean nothing! There's gotta be something!?"

"Only she can save herself. This energy...it belongs to her."

Kuwabara stared back at the girl, watched as another cut tore along her forearm. The fire continued to erupt around her, angry and untamed with no signs of stopping. It would burn until there was nothing left. Rage filled him. How could someone be doing this to themselves? It made no sense! He punched the ground. "Damn it!" The energy didn't seem so beautiful to him anymore.

A sudden gasp drew their gazes back to her. The wild pink energy flickered, growing more unstable. Then, it burst apart. They quickly ducked back down the stairs, narrowly avoiding the wave of power as it passed above them. The deafening roar stopped. Silence followed. Cautiously they went back up.

She stood there, breathing heavily as tears streamed down her cheeks. Slowly, blue eyes opened to stare at them. The pain reflecting in their depths was enough to cause even Hiei to flinch. Then she fainted, landing in the pool of her own blood.

"Is...is that you're miko?" Yusuke looked truly troubled.

Kurama barely breathed out a reply. "Yes."

Kuwabara moved to rush to her side, but stopped when a sudden spike in youkai broke across his senses.

A figure suddenly leapt over the ledge of the building. The stranger landed with grace by the limp body of the girl. A single green eye glared at them all in complete rage. Then his gaze shifted to the girl who remained motionless before him. His eyes grew tender. With an odd gentleness he reached down and picked her up. Sandy orange hair shifted in the soft breeze. A fox-like tail twitched behind him. He looked back up at them and growled a warning. Then, just as suddenly as he came, he disappeared, a cloud of smoke masking his departure.

The girl was gone.

Yusuke blinked. "What. The. Fuck!?"

...

And that's a wrap! Whew. That was a dramatic chapter...hopefully not too dramatic . It just kinda wrote itself I HAD NO CONTROL I SWEAR! Anywho I hope you all enjoyed it! I loved hearing from everyone. It was great to get all that feedback! I hope this chapter was to your liking as well. If not, be sure to let me know. I accept all reviews :) Also make sure to log in and I'll even reply back to you through a PM. Now, for those who were not able to log in, here are my responses:

Diane: AAAH! I completely slipped there! Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I fixed it right away! Kagome does not know Kurama's actual name you're completely right! Surprisingly you were the first to notice it . I was glad because I was able to change it before anyone else saw that embarrassing blunder *blush*. I hope this chapter was less disappointing. I'm also really happy to see your continued support of this story! Please keep me in check! :P

Alice: As always a pleasure to hear from you yet again. Thanks for your continual support in this story. Glad to see you're still reading it *grin*

Guest: Thanks for your review! Maybe you'll get that pairing. Maybe you won't? Only time will tell *wink* I hope you continue to enjoy my work!

Dragonlily22: Haha! Ok ok ok ok ok ok ok! I will up-date and (try) to up-date the other ones soon. Though I admit that this is currently taking all my creative energy. Please don't hate me? I hope this chapter came soon enough and that despite my neglect of my other works you continue to at least enjoy this one? *bambi eyes* Please?

Until next time everyone!