Jewels of Our Hearts

Chapter Five

Red fabric fell in gentle waves, flaring across skin, folding into hair. The smell of forest. The touch of wind. Silver cascaded, mixing with midnight black. The tendrils moved like waves, tangling in fingers. A hand brushed across flesh; lethal claws tracing harmless patterns. Goose bumps. Lips parted. The embrace of home, the taste of power. Falling further and further. Lost. Pouring everything into the moment, feeling the sensations. Nothing but now. Just eyes of gold sunshine, playful growls of thunder. Smooth and rough, urgent and gentle. Not enough time. It slipped away. Somehow they were frozen. Fast and slow. Savouring. A sigh. She allowed herself to be consumed without regret.

Then it stopped. The vibrant gold faded. He fell upon her, motionless. She held him, confused. Something damp spread across her fingers. She pulled it back to stare. It was stained red, blood spilling down her arm.

He disappeared. Darkness stole the world away. She stood alone, suddenly desperate and afraid. Her feet moved, but the darkness chased her. She couldn't get away. A drop fell upon her nose. She paused, looked up, and then suddenly it was raining. Except the rain wasn't water. It was blood.

The blood of everyone she killed.

She screamed and screamed and didn't think she would ever stop.

/.../

Kagome was getting worse.

Shippo studied her as she slept with worry, green eyes creased in tension. Her skin was feverish, holding an unnatural pallor that made her look sickly. She let out a small moan, breathing ragged and uneven. The cuts wouldn't heal, despite the salve he had made for them. Unfortunately he was never very good at the healing arts; that was more a trait the rare Silvers of his race specialized in. It also didn't help that her miko powers were fighting the energy he infused, still waging angrily inside her. He didn't understand what was happening – it should have ended the moment she regained control. Yet there she lay, tossing from side to side, never waking.

It was strange watching someone you viewed as a parental figure grow before your eyes into the woman you had first become accustomed to. How could he not though, after waiting so long to even catch a glimpse of her? He was there from the moment she first breathed, through the first heartache of youth, the first scraped knee, the first bike ride, the first Christmas after her father's death, the first trip down the well…The first everything he was there. He watched her learn and understand, even met her once as a child lost in the woods by her shrine, protected her from the shadows, watched as she risked herself over and over again. As such he had gained a new perspective he hadn't thought on in his youth, a newer appreciation for who she truly was. He never understood the sacrifice she had made until he saw what her life had been before the well corrupted her fate, understood how in this world she was still merely a child clouded with the innocence of youth.

Suddenly she let out a small pained cry, and then continued to toss relentlessly in her sleep. He wetted a cloth, carefully dapped at her forehead.

In some strange twist of fate, he felt as if their roles had switched. Now he was her guardian, even if she didn't actually know he was there. He felt extremely protective, as he would for any kit he claimed his own. She was his, their fates were forever entwined and now that he finally had her again – could have her again – he would never let her go.

With a sigh he stood, then stepped out of the room she slept in, closing the door behind him. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a phone before speed-dialing a number. It rang once before a male voice answered. "Do you have her?"

"Yeah."

"Did they see her?"

He flinched. 'I hoped he wouldn't ask that.' Taking a breath he replied, "Unfortunately they arrived first and got a nice eyeful."

Silence. It was unnerving. Then finally, "How is she?"

He rubbed his head, staring at the closed door that separated them. "She's been better."

A pause. "Explain."

"It's…complicated." He tried to elaborate, "Her powers, they're more unstable than I remember. She managed to regain control but something else is wrong. I'm not sure if I can help her."

"You better fix this fox. We can't having her dying on us now."

"That won't happen." A growl escaped him. 'Not on my watch.'

A low rumble was returned. "Do not forget your place kit. See to it that I'm not disappointed. I leave her to you, if she dies then consider your life forfeit. I will handle the detectives."

Click.

Muttering angrily he stuffed the phone back into his pocket. "Fucking arrogant dog." Green eyes studied the door where his new charge slept fitfully. Worry consumed him. There was only so much he could do, despite his determined assurances earlier. 'I know you can pull through this Kagome. Please…you have to.' A sudden thought occurred to him. Perhaps he, as a demon, was a bit out of hid depth? Maybe it was time to enlist a favor?

/.../

"Anything?"

Yusuke eyed Kuwabara impatiently, pacing back and forth as he waited. The orange-haired teen scratched at his head, eyes closed in concentration, but his mouth was quirked down in growing frustration. Yusuke's footsteps thumped loudly against the floor. Over. And Over. And Over again. Kuwabara suddenly snapped, "Will yeah quick that already! How can anyone concentrate with you carving a line behind them like that?"

Pursing his lips, Yusuke stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Keh!" His wandering legs stilled as he chose to lean against the ledge of the building instead. Head tilting, he stared at the sky. 'Just who the hell was that?'

Kurama joined him. "How did we not notice until it was too late?"

Yusuke didn't need further elaboration, his thoughts were focused on the same thing, but he had no answer. He hadn't even sensed the damn youkai until it was practically on top of the girl. Not even Hiei was quick enough to react. Now their only lead was kidnapped. He stared at the dark pool of blood that stained the concrete, frowning. 'Hopefully she's still alive.'

Kuwabara growled. "I can't pick up anything!" Begrudgingly he turned to Hiei with a raised eyebrow. "How 'bout you shorty?"

"Hn."

Yusuke threw his hands up, "I take that as a big fat 'no' then. Great. Just fucking great!"

Kurama suddenly stepped forward, emerald eyes focused on the dark stain of blood just before him. "There may be another way to track her…"

"How?" Yusuke joined him, staring at the dark liquid with unease.

Hiei narrowed his eyes. "What are you scheming Fox?"

Kurama ignored them both, instead choosing to demonstrate. Silently he pulled out a single seed, its outer coating made of pure white. He let it rest in the middle of his palm, before closing his eyes and focusing his energy upon it. The seed glowed a bright blue, before quickly fading back to its original colour. He opened his eyes, then flicked his hand to the side. The seed tumbled from his grasp, falling with a small plunk into Kagome's blood at their feet. The blood suddenly glowed blue, before evaporating into fine mist. Once the smoke cleared, all that was left was the seed, except now it was dyed a deep scarlet. Kurama picked it up. "This is how."

"Move over Urameshi I wanna see!" Kuwabara shoved Yusuke to the side so he could get a closer look. His face turned slightly green. "That's so gross. Did that thing just absorb her blood?"

Unaffected by his apparent disgust Kurama nodded. "Indeed it did. I've never tried it on miko blood so I'm not sure it'll work. If it does our timeframe will likely be short so we'll have to act quickly."

Yusuke pushed Kuwabara back to his original spot. Then he peered at the seed curiously. "How does it work? Do you just focus your energy on it or something and then it pulls you in the direction?"

"Sort of…I have to eat it first."

Kuwabara paled. "That's just sick."

Kurama shrugged.

Hiei glared.

Yusuke's pocket beeped. Blinking, he reached inside and pulled out his Spirit World Communicator. Flipping it open he stared at the screen as Koenma materialized before him. The child-ruler looked tenser than usual – maybe even a little afraid. Yusuke quirked a brow. 'That's unusual.'

"Yusuke! You need to abort your mission and get over here quickly!"

A vein just about exploded in his head. "WHAT?! No fucking way! No way no how diaper breath!"

Koenma's face darkened, and he felt a chill traveled up his spine. "Get. Here. Now."

The screen turned dark.

He looked up to find the others staring at him. He shrugged. "Guess we gotta head back?"

Kuwabara threw a fit. "How can you say that? There's a wounded girl out there who needs us Urameshi! We can't just abandon her now!"

"For once I actually agree with the idiot."

"Hey!"

Kurama interjected quickly, "I agree with them too Yusuke, it seems illogical to stop now after how close we've gotten. I know she is somehow the key to all of this. We can't give up and leave her to whatever fate that demon has planned."

Yusuke pulled at his hair. "I know I know alright!? I don't want to either but you guys didn't see that Toddler's face! Something's up, something big." He looked uncomfortable. "I've…I've never seen him look like that before. Like he was afraid."

Hiei threw Kurama a look. The red-headed stared him down, then slowly dipped his head in agreement. "You and Kuwabara go check in on Lord Koenma. Hiei and I will continue the search in your absence. That way the trail isn't lost."

"No fair! Why does the shrimp get to stay behind?"

Crimson eyes narrowed. "Because, idiot, I'm a better tracker than you. I may not have your spiritual awareness, but I have my Jagan eye which," he smirked, "is even better. We will find the girl."

"But-"

Yusuke grabbed the scruff of Kuwabara's shirt. "C'mon just leave it already. We don't have time for this shit." He opened up his communicator and dialed Botan.

Kuwabara squirmed. "Urameshi! Let go of me!"

Ignoring his friend he watched as blue hair and bubbly pink eyes appeared on the screen. "Hey Yusuke! Long time no see!"

"We need a portal to Spirit World. Now."

She pursed her lips in a pout. "Jeez someone's in a mood. Think you could squeeze in a please or something?"

Kuwabara continued to thrash against him. "Lemme go!"

Eye twitching he growled. "Now Botan. I don't have time." Then, with an aggravated sigh added, "Please."

She beamed. "There! Now that wasn't so hard was it?"

Kuwabara tried to punch him in the face. He narrowly avoided the assault.

"Botan!"

"Ok ok! One portal to Spirit World coming right up!"

The screen went dark. A moment later an orange portal opened up in front of him. Dragging Kuwabara, he stepped inside and was instantly transported to Spirit World.

/.../

It seemed even after all these years, he was still welcomed here. It was nice to know; he hadn't been looking forward to the idea of possibly being electrocuted by a barrier. It allowed him through though, and for that reason he knew he had made the right choice.

He looked down at Kagome, who still tossed fitfully even in his arms. He could feel the heat from her skin; her fever was climbing. The dampness of her sweat caused him to shift his grip on more than one occasion. Her wounds still oozed through the bandages. She wasn't getting better, she was getting worse. He didn't know how much time he had. All he had was hope.

He hurried up the shrine steps.

"Still bringing trouble are we, Shifter?"

Aged brown eyes studied him casually over her shoulder, dull pink hair failing down in tight curls. In one hand she held a single cigarette, smoke billowing from her lips after the drag she just took. A single eyebrow rose when her stare landed on the bundle in his arms. She jumped from her post on the balcony, flipping in the air before landing on the ground easily despite the height. She waited as he approached her.

"Can you help?" He looked at Kagome, worry etched in every feature of his face. "She won't stop burning up."

Genkai took a step closer, studying the girl carefully. She placed a single hand on Kagome's head, then another on her chest. Brown eyes closed, then opened a moment later. Her face was grave, and he felt his heart sink. "How did this happen?"

"She tried to use her power, but it backfired somehow. I don't know why. She hasn't woken up since the incident"

"Tch. Stupidity by the sounds of it."

He blinked. "What?"

She stared at him with a bored expression. "You heard me. She must have tried something she wasn't ready for."

"Why do you say that?"

She gestured at Kagome as if it were obvious. "Just look, that's the result. Her power is eating her alive. She's lost almost all control of it. I'm surprised you can even touch her without being purified into instant ash."

"I thought she had control of it? You should have seen her before…" He then stared down at her thrashing form. "And she knows me. She would never hurt me."

"You call that control?" She scoffed, then eyed him curiously. "And that's a rather interesting thing to say."

"What is?"

She smiled coyly. "You say a priestess that strong would never hurt a full blooded demon? She knows you enough to somehow keep from purifying your ass even in the state she's in? How...interesting. Where did someone like you manage to meet such a creature?"

He pursed his lips, refusing to say more.

Genkai turned away from him and began to walk towards her house. "Come this way Shifter. I can fix her so you can wipe that dismal look of your face already. She'll be fine – whoever she is. She's not even really the problem you need to worry about."

Hesitantly he followed. "What is?"

She turned abruptly and pointed. "That little trinket there. That is why your friend is having so much trouble getting herself back together."

She was pointing at the Shikon no Tama. It lay exposed, dangling by Kagome's cheek. It must have fallen out while she was thrashing away. He stiffened, but when Genkai made no move to grab it, relaxed. Instead Genkai quirked an eyebrow at him, then looked back to the jewel expectantly. He frowned, eyes following to study the jewel in confusion. It was still glowing a gentle pink, and he felt no influence brush against him. The jewel was perfectly fine. "There's nothing wrong. It's still purified. I can't even feel its presence."

He could see her disappointment in that statement. She sighed miserably and turned away from him again. "How do you think that's possible, as she is right now? Who is keeping the jewel safe?"

His eyes widened. He looked back at Kagome. "No, it couldn't be…?"

"It's because she's wasting all her focus on keeping that thing in check without any regard to the damage its dueling her." The old woman threw her hands up. "I'm surrounded by idiots!"

/.../

"I don't like this plan."

Emerald eyes clashed with Crimson.

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

Ruby red averted their gaze.

"Thought so."

Hiei folded his arms, almost as if he were pouting. That couldn't be though, the hybrid never fell prey to such belittling mortal antics! Inwardly Kurama smirked at that. The fire demon hardly realized the influence his little group had on him. He was acting more and more 'human' as the days went on.

"I still think it's a stupid idea."

Kurama studied the red seed with little enthusiasm. "If we want to find her in time, we have no other choice. I have to risk it."

"You're a demon. You have no idea what ingesting that blood will do to you."

A part of Kurama felt touched. "I didn't realize you cared about me so much Hiei." Inside his head he heard Yoko purr. 'My, the leaps we've manage in our ever-growing friendship!'

"I have no such pitiful sentiments!" An angry embarrassed blush settled across Hiei's cheeks. "It would just be incredibly intolerable to be left with those two bumbling idiots without you there to keep them under control."

Kurama smirked. "Alright, if that's what you wish to tell yourself."

"It's true damn it!"

"Shall we start the mission?" He sent Hiei a placating smile. "I'm not sure how much longer this seed can hold."

"Fine. Get it over with already."

Kurama took a breath, then swallowed the seed.

…

Aaaaand that's a wrap! My goodness the responses to the last chapter were awesome! Quite a random bunch I'd say. Keep it up I love hearing from you all! As a lot of you may know, I respond to all my reviewers through a PM if they log in so be sure to do that if you choose to drop me a line ;) I hope this chapter was worth the wait. My computer was trying to self-destruct, but I managed to make it behave. Gave me a fright though – almost lost all my work! Now to those who did not log in when they submitted their review, here are my responses (my only caveat about posting without logging in is to please PLEASE create a unique nickname...It gets confusing to reply to the generic 'Guest' as you will see below):

Diane: Happy to see you're still enjoying my work! Glad that last chapter got a nice big WOW from yeah ;) I hope this enlists the same response! :D Also happy to know you didn't catch any more embarrassing mistakes .

Alice: Good to still see you checking my work out! It makes me smile really big every time I see your review. I google translated again but it left me rather confused. I'm starting to think you secretly enjoy tormenting me with your cryptic messages :PI hope you meant that you were happy to see Shippo – if it was the other way then I hope you can look past it! As always, I'll look forward to deciphering the review for this chapter :) Assuming I still get one of course . Shouldn't just take you for granted now should I?

Erica: Why hello again! I take it this chapter didn't go quite the way you intended! Guess you'll just have to wait to see Kagome's reaction. I'll be nice and ease your worry – Shippo is never leaving her side again (at least not for a while unless circumstances dictate otherwise) so when Kagome does finally snap out of it he'll be there! I hope you liked this chapter nonetheless and as always I eagerly await your newest response!

Guest (Posted on Feb 4): Hey there! Thanks for the review! Always happy to know that people are enjoying my work :) I'm not sure if you're the same 'Guest' that reviewed from last chapter, but if you are, then thank-you for your continued support :D I love hearing from everyone, especially the ones who've been continually up-dating me on their opinions! I hope this chapter met your expectations as well. If you do choose to respond again I do ask that you please choose a nickname as I had many 'Guest' usernames this time around which makes directly replying to you people a bit difficult :P

CL: Thank you for your review! I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying the chemistry between Kagome and Kurama. I'll admit it's rather fun to write :) I like them as a pairing too, but I also like Hiei and always battle between them. Who knows where this one will go, the polls are kind of split :S I hope this up-date was soon enough and that you liked reading it! I hope to hear from you again :D

Ari: Thanks for your review! Really happy to know you're enjoying my work so far. I hope this newest chapter met your expectations :D You can't have a post Inu-Yasha fic without our favorite Shippo ;) Looking forward to possibly hearing from you again :) Until next time!

Guest (Posted on Feb 8 – first Guest-posted response on that date): Thanks for your review! I have no idea if you are the same Guest who reviewed my last chapter but if you were thanks for your continued support. Glad to know you really like my story and find it amazing. Hearing words like that really make all the effort worth while :D I hope this chapter met your expectations as well! If you do choose to respond again I do ask that you please choose a nickname as I had many 'Guest' usernames this time around which makes directly replying to you people a bit difficult :P

Guest (Posted on Feb 8 – second Guest-posted response on that date): Thanks for your review! Happy to know you are enjoying the story so far! I have no idea if you are the same Guest that posted last chapter, so if you are thanks for your continued support. I hope this latest instalment came quick enough :D If you do choose to respond again I do ask that you please choose a nickname as I had many 'Guest' usernames this time around which makes directly replying to you people a bit difficult :P