IGS is back with another chapter.

Pairing: Hiei x Kagome

Warning: DO NOT FLAME.

Soulless Tragedy

Chapter Two

Wounds of the Heart

Kagome's POV

The darkness around me was so heavy. I realized that I was not breathing, yet I remained in this state, simply in existence, without knowledge of time and space. I looked around, for I could not imagine how I ended up in this world of pure darkness. The last thing I remembered was that I had purified Naraku, for the most part, but he killed me by shooting a tentacle through my beating heart. Was I dead, then? Surely I could not have survived such a deadly blow . . .

"No, you are not."

The voice that emanated from the darkness startled me. I looked wildly around me, for I could still see nothing but black darkness, an endless stretch in every direction.

Suddenly a light flashed from somewhere and the darkness shrank back. The shadows faded and I found myself staring out into a beautiful sunny meadow covered with patches of flowers. The most common was the white rose and the violet-red chrysanthemum.

A beautiful young woman sat in the center of all the flowers. She had long, jet-black hair that was untied, falling to her waist in straight, shining layers. Her honey-brown eyes were slightly lidded over, staring at the young white daisy held delicately betwixt her slender fingers. She wore a white fighting kimono that was layered over by armor. Her sword lay beside her, glittering in the light.

I could only stare helplessly at this woman of wonder. Who was she? Where am I? Where was Inuyasha and the others? And . . . where was Hiei?

The woman seemed to sense my presence, for she looked up at me with a soft smile. "Hello, young one. Your name is Kagome, is it not?" she asked, gesturing for me to have a seat next to her.

"Yes," I said hesitantly. "How do you know my name? Where are we?"

She gave a quiet laugh that I found quite pretty. "We are in the Shikon, Kagome. You are here because your soul is trapped. You have not died yet, so to speak, but your body is in a comatose state which will seem like you are dead. When you wake up, you will be back within your own era," she explained.

I was still digesting this information. "So," I began, "I'm not dead. I'm just . . . sleeping."

"Yes."

"Then who are you?" I asked.

She smiled at me. "I'm surprised you do not recognize me," she said. "My name is Midoriko."

I gasped loudly. "Midoriko? As in the legendary miko who could cleanse demonic souls?" I said. "You're the ancestor of the demon slayers' village?"

"I am."

I gaped at her incredulously. I must look very silly right now, considering my eyes felt wider than dinner plates and my poor mouth was hanging to the ground. In other words, I was plain stupefied.

"I have called you here because here you will remain for five years, training and honing your skills to perfection. Barely a day will pass by in the real world," Midoriko said.

"Thank you," I said, bowing slightly. "So, after my training, do I just imagine myself waking up?"

"No, you must convince your body to wake up," she said. "Otherwise you'll remain trapped here."

"Oh. We can start my training then?" I asked. I was eager to learn from the legendary Midoriko.

"Yes," she said, with an evil, evil grin that made me shiver, wondering if this was actually a good idea.

Five years/One day later . . .

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Yusuke Urameshi groaned audibly as his hand reached into the confines of his pants pocket and pulled out a communicator, which he answered grouchily, "What the hell do you want now, toddler?"

Koenma ignored this comment and said, "Yusuke, we have detected a powerful aura in the vicinity! A B-class demon has broken through the barrier and is headed your way! Take care of it!"

Click! Koenma closed the connection.

Yusuke scowled and slipped the communicator back into his pocket. "Stupid pacifier-sucking brat," he muttered, trudging off to round up their little gang of four.

Beautiful sapphire-blue eyes opened to the world. Kagome stared up at the dark ceiling of the mini-shrine, taking a moment to regain her senses. Slowly she sat up, noting the fact that she was wearing her dark-blue fighting kimono that she'd been wearing when she was with Midoriko.

She brushed the dust off her and walked to the doors, sliding them open to let the fresh air in. The bright light hit her face, revealing the shrine grounds. Smiling, she stepped outside, closing the doors behind her.

"Ah, it's good to be alive," she said to herself, walking across the courtyard to the doors of her house.

She knocked on the door, to let her family know someone was at the door. She didn't want to take any chances to just waltz into her house and pretend nothing happened when Inuyasha might've come to her time and told her family that she was dead.

The doors slid open, revealing the gloomy face of her mother. The sad face turned into shock when she realized exactly who was standing on their front step.

"Ka . . .Kagome?" she asked tearfully. "My baby girl's not dead?"

Kagome smiled and said gently, "No, I'm not dead, Okaa-san. I was merely in a comatose state of existence."

A black blur raced out and tackled Kagome to the ground, crying hysterically, "KAGOME! YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"Of course I am, Souta," she said, giggling. "I'm too stubborn to die."

Souta sniffed loudly and said, "B-but Inuyasha came and said you were killed by that evil Naraku!"

Kagome paused. "Well, I kind of died . . . not really. He pierced me through the heart with his tentacles, but I was drawn into the Shikon, where I met Midoriko and trained there for five years."

Kun-Loon pulled her daughter inside and said, "Well, we need to hear the details." Kagome didn't protest at first, but suddenly a demonic aura pulled at her senses.

"Wait, Okaa-san. I sense a demon nearby. I'll take care of it quickly and come back," she said, running out of the house and down the steps.

Yusuke was definitely unhappy. The demon was fucking huge and its hide was tougher than steel! Not even Hiei's sword could pierce it, nor could Kurama's Rose Whip.

Kuwabara's Aura Sword did nothing either, and Yusuke's Rei Gun didn't work at all. The demon raised a claw and brought it down in a smashing blow, but Kuwabara jumped out of the way.

Suddenly the demon froze and let out a horrific scream as it exploded into white light. Everyone stared in shock, except Hiei, who merely looked surprised.

A woman stepped out from behind the trees, her blue eyes examining us. Her eyes widened when she spotted Hiei. Hiei also looked totally shocked.

"Kagome?" he whispered, staring at the woman.

"Hiei?" she asked, staring back.

Kuwabara was surprised. "Hey, pretty lady, how do you know the shrimp?" he asked.

The woman sent him a menacing death-glare and even Hiei shrank back from its intensity. "That is none of your business," she said crisply, abruptly turning on her heel and leaving.

"Kagome!" Yusuke and Kurama watched as Hiei raced after the woman, disappearing into the foliage after her.

Kuwabara blinked. "Well, I wonder how he knows her," he said.

"I've never seen her before, and Hiei generally hates humans," Kurama said, frowning.

That woman . . . I thought she died 500 years ago . . . Youko said from the back of his head.

What do you mean?

I would never forget a face like hers. She's the Guardian of the Shikon no Tama, but after she defeated an evil half-demon named Naraku, she died. But she's alive in this era!

She's the Guardian of the Shikon?!

She was 500 years ago. I doubt it now.

"Kurama!" Yusuke called, shaking the red-head from his thoughts.

"Sorry, what?" Kurama asked.

"We have to report back to Koenma," he said.

A portal opened and they stepped in.

"Kagome! Kagome, wait!" Hiei called to the woman in front of him.

Kagome turned back to him. Hiei caught up to her. "How are you alive? I saw you die," he asked, his eyes narrowed.

She turned away for a second, to look into the distance. "I did not die," she said quietly. "I was put into a comatose state that seemed like I was dead, but my soul was actually drawn into the Shikon. There, I trained with Midoriko for five years before forcing my body to wake up."

"Then how are you alive now?" he demanded. "If you were alive 500 years ago, you shouldn't be alive now. I know you're not a demon, and I know that you weren't reincarnated, because you look almost exactly the same as back then."

Kagome smiled. "To be honest, Hiei, I was born in this era," she said. "There's a well inside the mini-shrine next to the house that allowed me to travel 500 years into the past. That's why I was alive back then and why I'm alive now."

Hiei stared at her skeptically.

Frankly, her little story sounded completely unreasonable to him, but Kagome had never lied to him. Ever. So why did he find himself believing her?

"So you took care of the demon?" Koenma asked as they stepped into his office.

Yusuke smiled sheepishly. "Well, I'm not really sure what happened. None of us, even Kurama and Hiei, could scratch the demon, but then out of nowhere, it explodes into white light. Then the next thing we know a woman stepped out from behind the trees and she and Hiei seemed to know each other," he explained.

"What did she look like?" Koenma inquired.

"Long black hair, blue eyes, a dark-blue fighting kimono and that's all I noticed," Yusuke said, scratching his head.

Kurama added, "I believe Hiei called her Kagome."

Koenma's eyes shot wide open. "Kagome Higurashi?!" he exclaimed. "Hiei knows the Guardian of the Shikon no Tama?!"

Yusuke and Kuwabara were puzzled, but Kurama said, "Yes."

Koenma sat back in his chair. "Well, this brings about a whole new level of complications," he groaned. "I just hope they weren't enemies before."

Yusuke gave him a dead-panned look. "By the way Hiei practically shouted out her name and ran after her, I'm pretty damn sure they aren't enemies," he said.

Yowzer, I got 33 reviews for one chapter! That's a pretty good start.

Thanks to:

Not-Obsessed-With-Itachi, Evil RULZ, MangaFreak15, ShadowFoxMoon, Music ADD, SakuraBlossom24, zoey tamagachi, Reads-way-2-much, hotshorty, LM Kitsune, PLF94, Chrystal-Hearts, Devil-Babe-911, Black Firelight, Demonic kunoichiKagi, Aashni, mia 1837, Demonic Cho, PiratekitAG, condorfan, Bloodcherry, Rosie hater, LeafeKnight7, Serenity digo19, -Yuna's Reincarnation-1, fox of the darkness night, CatgirlKitsune, moon eclipse shadows, Phantom Thief Kyuubi, Kage Hasu, KagHieiLover, Kagome Miko207, and kagz1nonly.

They were really great reviewers and most of them liked the "Touch this grave and die" message Hiei engraved on Kagome's grave in the last chapter. Thanks for your reviews, and I hope you had a happy reading!

Please review, because I seem to get more alerts and favs than reviews . . . but I don't mind that much, cause I got a lot of reviews anyway. :)

1 chapter

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2076 words

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See ya next time!

IGS

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