Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha
Chapter 6 - Respite
Kagome sat outside, sitting in the grass. She was supposed to meditating. Controlling little bits of her power at a time. Fine tuning what she could do. But really, she was thinking. It had been another two days since she and Yusuke had trotted off to see her mother. Kagome was keenly feeling the absence of Sango right now. Five hundred years separated them, but Kagome desperately wanted to talk to her about this whole mess. She had almost gone to Yukina and simply spilled out all her emotions, but she wasn't sure how Yukina was reacting to the fact that Kagome's enemy had bled one of her friends.
No one had a viable plan yet. And getting everyone in a room together was difficult. Kurama seemed to have a cold anger about him now, and he was constantly looking at her thoughtfully. Shippo was off. She hadn't realized why until she had stepped out from the kitchen one time to see him looking at Keiko with a very familiar and apologetic look on his face.
Kagome had cocked her head like a dog that had caught a confusing scent. Keiko had smiled at Shippo, all forgiveness and light and something more in the soft touch on Shippo's arm. They had been together for a few days in Sesshoumaru's castle. Now that they weren't in danger, Shippo had been avoiding her before that little scene. Kagome was uneasy at that look. It reminded her an awful lot of Inuyasha and herself when the hanyou had thought he had failed to keep her safe. Shippo's expression was a bit older, a bit more haunted, a bit more hidden, and Keiko's was calmer and the smile a bit more strained. But the core was there.
Kagome had seen them together more often after that, talking quietly about their lives. She had been surprised to see Kuronue had joined them once or twice, but she understood. Kurama was angry and Kuronue was curious a bit about both kitsune and human. The miko didn't join in.
Everything was so strained. Hiei, when he was there, distrusted them. Kuwabara was much the same, and he frowned at her often, a bit disapprovingly and had pointed out to her brother that he shouldn't let her fight. Neither of them had known she was in a nearby doorframe. She was getting good at lurking. Souta had laughed in his face.
Finally, her mind turned to Yusuke, her only near-friend in the group of former detectives. Presently, that familiar aura was approaching. She winced. She really wasn't good company right now. But here he was, coming over. She opened her eyes as he sat down next to her.
"Yo," He said calmly, and he grinned at the involuntary uplifting of the corners of her mouth. Point for him then. If none of them were getting anything done, they might as well be a bit less depressing about getting nothing done. "Not really doing well on the meditation thing. You just look tenser."
"Any reason I shouldn't be?" She asked, keeping her voice level. The smile dropped from her lips. For just a second, she had forgotten about Sesshoumaru. But no, now he was back, in a little corner of her mind. Golden eyes were burned into the back of her mind. Red and gold matched, and now they were matched colors of death. Red eyes, gold eyes, eyes that laughed at her of stared through her, stripping her down to nothing. Another, brighter set of gold came into her mind and she shoved them away.
"It's not going to help." He stretched himself beside her and she scowled. He snorted. "You don't really scowl scarily. Just looks wrong on your face, now that I've seen you smile."
She blinked a bit, surprised, confused, and feeling a little awkward. That had sort of been a compliment. He put his hands behind his head. "We'll figure something else. If we don't a little old fashioned ass kicking might do some good. Not exactly a weakling here. And we'll be more prepared this time. Since you know, this time I get to actually get in on the action."
"It was our fight," She said defensively to the slight accusation in his voice. Things had been different just a few days ago, and she wouldn't have felt right asking him to come with them. He hadn't been an ally. Her eyes went a bit distant as she thought about that. Too many things had changed in the past few days. Things were going swiftly out of control. Or more so. The tingle down her spine was familiar. She had walked the past when everything had been out of control. She missed it sometimes. This was different, yet the same.
"Hey," Yusuke said sharply, and she blinked to find him scowling at her from too close, their arms almost brushing as he leaned up and toward her. "You're getting lost again."
She leaned away, shivering slightly. He was too close right now, when she desperately wanted space. This was thinking time that he was interrupting. She didn't respond right away to his comment, instead picking at the grass as she shifted away from him.
Finally, with a slightly bittersweet smile, she said, "I think I may have been just a bit lost since I turned fifteen. In thought too."
She could sense him scowling harder, and glaring at her slightly and she dropped the three blades of grass in her hands. They settled perpendicular from everything else. If she looked at them in a certain way, they looked like they going through the other pieces.
"Cryptic much," He snapped after a few second of silence and she grimaced. She didn't want to lose the bits of friendliness between them now and she quickly looked up, her eyes seeking his, but now he was the one sullenly turning his head to the side.
She scooted hesitantly closer. She didn't need space enough that she would drive off the only person who had actually come to speak to her in the past two days. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be. But I have. Fifteen was when I first discovered demons. Or, they first discovered me, I guess."
It was an offering, and Yusuke's head whipped around a bit too fast. She shied away a bit but he was grinning at her, slightly smugly. He didn't even bother to hide it. She was partly angry and partly amused that he would go to such lengths. It was a bit more of story telling time, then. Obviously he had eventually planned to get her to tell this. By the slightly startled expression underneath the smug happiness, he hadn't thought it would be so soon.
She shifted until she was facing him and leaned back to prop herself up on her elbows, forcing herself to relax. It would help, if he knew more about the whole situation. Help them all plan, if a plan could be made.
"Kurama was right about the time traveling," She began, and paused, a bit lost.
"Couldn't tell," He murmured sarcastically and she made a disapproving face at him before smiling and taking a deep breath.
"I suppose it began, for me anyway, on my fifteen birthday. You see, my brother had followed my cat into our well house."
"What is she doing?" Shippo asked from his position on a far away roof from the toushin and miko. "Why are they even talking? Their very natures-"
"Mean nothing, and you know it," Kuronue shot back, a bit fascinated by the growing friendship. Between them, Keiko was also staring curiously.
"I didn't know when you said, 'Let's go on the roof' that it really meant, 'Let's spy on our friends'." Keiko smiled at Shippo and he ducked his head, shrugging. Kuronue smirked at the both of them, watching them look at each other from the corners of their eyes. Keiko was perfectly aware of some of the more gruesome parts of Shippo's past now, and had brushed it aside. Not that she hadn't been a bit shaken by either of their pasts, but as she'd pointed out, they had changed. It bothered her sometimes that Shippo at least did have that in him, but when he had spoken of Rin she could understand. He never wanted it to happen again. And they were evil, those he killed.
And Kuronue's sense of mischief that popped up was balanced by his serious, protective nature. He was loyal to a fault, though he did have a tendency to jump to conclusions a bit. He based a bit too much on first impressions sometimes. He really was the calmer of the two, and when Shippo's more relaxed self peaked out, it caught both Keiko and Kuronue's breath to see the cunning there, and the mischievous kitsune that had been stunted by the death of those he loved, and how he had killed.
Kuronue knew that Souten's death had been just as hard on him as Rin's. Another he loved that he had been unable to protect. But he barely spoke of that, and Keiko didn't push. Kuronue didn't push him to tell her more of that either.
The bat smiled slyly. "Didn't you know? That's always the code for 'Let's spy on our friends'. Well, unless its code for, 'Let's make out where no one will see us'. " Kuronue stopped and looked at them. "Unfortunately, its obviously not the last one."
"I knew that one. Yusuke never should have kept meeting Botan on the roof. It would have made me less suspicious when I first met her," Keiko said lightly, but she was watching Yusuke and Kagome now, a puzzled frown on her lips.
"I think we're missing the 'What the hell is she doing?' part of this. Look, I know neither of you quiet have my range of hearing-" Shippo was interrupted.
"I come pretty close. Might even be better. He wants to know. Stop being so protective. He's not too bad. Right Keiko?" Kuronue smiled slyly as Keiko turned brown eyes on Shippo and the kitsune looked away. At least this gave him something to do besides avoid Kurama, watching these two just be the slightest bit foolish. He wondered if it could really come to anything. After all, kitsunes were all thieves, and the toushin wasn't exactly guarding this treasure very well.
"Yusuke's really ni-... Well, he has a good heart. And he can keep secrets. Besides, when he's curious about something, he doesn't let go. He doesn't get curious about other's pasts very often, you know. I think Kurama's comment intrigued him. She doesn't seem to mind. Why do you?" Keiko glanced up at the kitsune and green eyes finally looked down into hers.
"Its my past too. And theirs. I just... He isn't safe, whatever else he is. She trusts too much." Shippo shifted his eyes to look into the distance. Kagome had been hurt too much. Her innocence had been so tarnished and destroyed by this. He remembered the smiling eyes and the gentle comfort, and the looks she and Inuyasha had exchanged.
"You know, I did wonder about the friction between them before," Kuronue said suddenly, putting it out there for the other two to study. Mostly he watched Keiko, who appeared startled, but not very betrayed for someone who was affianced to one of those in question. He watched relief, confusion, and finally guilt run across her fact. The bat youkai smiled when she glanced at Shippo. Much better. He knew they had known each other for what, a few days, a couple of weeks? It didn't matter. It would either fade just as fast, or stick forever. It would be interesting to watch.
And it gave him something to do besides join Kagome and Souta in angsting.
Shippo's reaction was typical. Kuronue was ready to restrain him if he had to. The golden tailed kitsune snarled and looked quickly back down at the pair. Yusuke appeared entrapped in the story Kagome was weaving and both of them had blocked out the rest of the world, lost in the story. It was a good thing, because Shippo and Kuronue made a racked when the bat grabbed for the kitsune too late and they began to tumble off the roof.
"Oh!" Keiko gasped, and started to grab for them, futilely she knew, when both with sudden and almost identical grace flipped themselves and dug claws and hands into the roof. The edge dangled closer and Kuronue's wings flashed out, one hand digging into the roof, the other flashing out toward Shippo.
No one said anything for a moment. Keiko breathed in relief and felt a bit foolish. The roof wasn't high enough to hurt them. Yet, her heart still beat a bit too fast.
"Sorry about that," Kuronue said finally to his friend and carefully let go of the kitsune, who snorted, a bit angrily, but also in embarrassment. Their claws had made long marks on the way down.
"I could have jumped back up," he said finally.
"True, but Keiko probably would have panicked if you had," Kuronue pointed out, jerking his head upward. Shippo followed his gaze and Kuronue removed his hand as he felt the muscles tense in the demon's shoulder. An instant later he had managed an almost graceful climb back up to Keiko. Kuronue rolled his eyes expressively at the way they stared at each other a moment, hovering a bit too close. Kitsunes were foolish about few things, but females and shiny things were two of them. Well, Kuronue was a bit too attached to his own necklace, which was also a shiny thing, but that was personal.
It was evening when Kagome stopped speaking. They had taken a break once, to acquire water. She had given him the bare facts, and as many details as she could remember. She knew there were things to fill in. Tsubaki, she felt, had been overlooked too much in that section of the story, but then, it was a bit hard to put into words what she had done to Inuyasha and Kagome. Deja vu for the hanyou, and a horrible despair for Kagome. Funny even now how the tainted shards could have done that to her. The visions, not the controlling. She had seen them control others. But she was the only one who was connected to the jewel in her soul. That had been a bit hard to put into words too.
But the end had been the hardest, explaining Inuyasha's death. She remembered kissing him before the battle began. But he hadn't lived. Nor had Kikyou. Or, rather, she had become truly dead once she realized Inuyasha was gone, and Naraku had been destroyed. There had been nothing left for her. Well, almost nothing. Kagome had been sitting beside Inuyasha's body. Kikyou had stopped by where Naraku had disappeared. Then she had walked over and dropped the Shikon no Tama into Kagome's hands. It had gone from cold to warm quickly, and Kagome had shivered as she realized that it felt like it belonged against her skin - under her skin even.
She wanted to get up and run now. Yusuke was giving her the most compassionate look she had ever seen him give and she hated it. She hated this. Why did the past have to be so hurtful? She brought her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and buried her head out of view, silently letting the tears fall. She missed Inuyasha so much sometimes, but it wasn't just that. She missed them all, and parts of the tears were from the guilt and fear of Sesshoumaru. Wasn't it partly her fault that this was happening? What if she had stayed in the past? Or even just a few days ago been a bit faster, had managed to get there sooner...
"Yusuke!" A new voice shouted. "Koenma has news!"
"You told Koenma?" Yusuke asked the female voice, sounding slightly offended. Kagome tried to place the voice. That girl... a woman their age. She remembered now. Not a woman at all. Her aura was different. It was a glowing light in a fake human body. A spirit to guide dead souls. Botan.
Kagome shuddered and backed down away from the sensation of energy all about her. That was odd, and she was pretty sure it was a side effect of the jewel around her neck. Especially since it had happened once before since she had used it. The jewel seemed warm against her skin. She briefly wondered if it could be put back inside her. That thought, too, was put to the back of her mind. But those horrifying thoughts had stopped her tears. She still didn't look up, cocooning herself in darkness.
"Of course I did! The worlds are in danger from this demon! Anyway, he seems to be... gathering things. Certain demons mostly. And searching for a way in. He has resources. There is always a way from Makai to Ningenkai. He could simply suppress his powers until he steps onto this side. But he is also gathering other demons. They're... strange. There are also rumors that he thinks the Shikon no Tama is in Ningenkai." Botan rolled her eyes as Kagome looked up. Kagome's eyes shot to Yusuke, who avoided hers. She smiled just a bit at him and when his eyes caught hers, he smirked back.
"Oh dear! Have you been crying? Are you all right?" Botan was by her side in another instant and peering at her with those oddly colored pink eyes.
Kagome leaned away slightly and wiped at the tear tracks on her face, smiling at the fretful spirit. "I'm okay. Just some bad memories getting to me."
Botan hesitated and stared at her a few moments worriedly. Then the blue-haired woman leaned back with a sigh. "Something about Sesshoumaru? You shouldn't blame yourself for this, whatever he was to you before. You can't always predict someone's actions, no matter how well you know them."
Kagome's smile faded. She opened her mouth to correct Botan. She didn't know Sesshoumaru very well, and never had. He had helped them for his own reasons, and he had betrayed everything that Kagome had thought was good inside him. She couldn't help blame herself. She should have tried to know him better, to watch him and see him for what he really was. It was her almost blind trust she felt guilty for, not for being blind to a friend's faults. She should never have counted him as a friend in the first place.
"You're right of course. Silly of me," She managed to say instead and shifted her gaze back to the ground, feeling Yusuke's eyes on her.
"Oh, not silly at all!" Botan exclaimed quickly. "It's a normal and very human mistake."
Kagome met her eyes and smiled. She wondered if she could trust any of them with her story. She had told Yusuke already, so that was too late to take back. But she couldn't trust this spirit, something neither human or demon and who reported to a being that Kagome had never met and hoped not to meet for a good long while. She didn't trust what she didn't know.
Yusuke shifted restlessly as the silence between the two girls stretched out. It wouldn't have been half so awkward for him if he hadn't seen that stupid girl truly smile a few times now. He knew enough about her to know she was faking her ready agreement to Botan's assumption. He willed Botan to leave so he could ask the miko why she was misleading one of his friends.
"I should go get everyone else gathered up. There's other news too. Koenma was quite confused by the appearance of you and your brother. And the fact that Kuronue is alive. I know that the weapons he carried out were swords... And his name sounds familiar..." Botan trailed off, looking at Kagome thoughtfully. Kagome knew perfectly well she was probably thinking about Kurama's comment about time traveler. She hoped she hadn't told Koenma about that as well.
"We'll be there soon," Yusuke said, interrupting the two girls. Both jumped slightly to stare at him. He glared at them. "What, forget I was here?"
Kagome was caught between a "Yes" and a "Never" and settled on smiling at him as Botan flushed. Obviously she had actually forgotten he was there a moment, so intent upon Kagome.
"I'll leave you two to finish up your conversation." Botan shot a look at Yusuke that Kagome obviously wasn't supposed to notice. The miko smiled at the warning in the guide's eyes. Maybe eventually she could trust that one too.
Both of them waited until Botan was inside the shrine before turning their attention to each other. Yusuke quirked an eyebrow, his eyes narrowing. Kagome shrugged her shoulders and met his eyes seriously.
"I don't trust her. You can't expect me to. I don't even know her, and she'll report everything to her boss." Kagome ground her teeth a bit as she heard her voice turn defensive. Yusuke was still studying her intently, but there was a slight change and Kagome stubbornly met his gaze.
"You told me," He pointed out. Kagome shifted slightly, glancing away, and wondered if she could feel any more awkward.
Finally she quirked a smile and shrugged again, saying lightly, "Must have been all the stress going to my head. Makes me act a bit crazy."
Kagome caught him still staring and held her breath. Inwardly, she hoped he left it at that. She didn't want to look at why she could trust him, who had been so rude and gone out of his way to anger her. She didn't even want to have to admit she trusted him, especially when she the present situation she was in was for trusting too much in the wrong people.
"Nah, can't be the stress," He began, and she tensed, but he was looking into her eyes and she waited. He grinned at her and said flippantly, "You've always been crazy."
Kagome stared at him a moment, caught between pretending to be angry and simply being amused. In the end, her laughter ran out and she giggled slightly before getting to her feet, watching Yusuke do the same. They both glanced toward the buildings where distant voices could be heard. Kagome sighed out loud.
"It won't be that boring," Yusuke said, turning his head slightly toward her.
"No, it's not that. It's just... this is going to be a long battle. One that's my fault. I already went through that once." Her eyes went distant as four faces appeared in her mind, one simply a younger, smaller version of Shippo. Sometimes it was hard to reconcile that cheerful youngster with this present Shippo. But she did, somehow, and it pained her to think of what he had to go through to get that far.
"That's bullshit," Yusuke scoffed. She jerked her head up in surprise but he continued before she could speak. "You can't just put all the blame on yourselves. The crazy asshole is responsible for his own actions. Hell, they both were. The first time, yeah, you broke the jewelry, but you didn't cause what people did with it."
He began walking and she hurried to catch up. She frowned and opened her mouth, only to be cut off again. "You must have known this at one point. You couldn't have come this far by blaming yourself for every little thing that went wrong because of something you did. Why blame yourself for what some overgrown mutt does?"
Kagome's eyes flashed, a bit angry, but she bit her tongue to keep herself from saying something that would damage this fragile alliance. She couldn't - didn't want to - risk breaking this friendship, and she knew anything she said in anger would do just that. The voices from nearby were closer and she was surprised to see they had walked quickly over to the building. Yusuke stopped and looked at her. She realized he was waiting for her to say something.
"Maybe you're right," She said reluctantly, and held up a hand, "But maybe you aren't. It doesn't matter right now. What matters is Sesshoumaru and what he's doing. We can sort out who is or isn't for blame once he's dead."
Kagome had to admit there was also the option that they would be the ones dying, and rather thought that was more likely, at least for her. Yusuke was glaring at her, his jaw ticking. "It matters more now than after he's kicked the bucket. You can't fight him if you're feeling guilty for his actions. You might as well fight yourself!"
"I don't have time to think on it now!" Kagome cried, too frustrated to stop herself this time.
"Then make some damn time! You won't be any use if you're moping around!" The doorway opened nearby and all of their friends stared out as the two faced off, a familiar stance by now. Kagome heard Kuronue growl slightly.
"Can't you two ever not fight?" He snapped at them, just as frustrated with their argument as they were with each other. His good mood was quickly evaporating.
A smaller figure slipped in front of him and Keiko stood there, looking angry with both of them. "No ones going to get any closer to getting this demon if you two don't stop this right now, and come inside! We're waiting on you. Even Hiei's here today!"
Yusuke and Kagome reluctantly dropped their gazes to glance over at Keiko. Yusuke looked behind her and was surprised to see that was true. Hiei really was there. Either he was on one of his periodical "visits" where he stared at them from a tree all day and perhaps talked to one of them, or he was doing the same thing as them. Yusuke thought that, considering he wasn't in a tree, he was probably here to find out if they had any more information on this dog demon than he had found on his own.
"Fine," Yusuke said, a bit childishly, and stomped by the gathered crowd, only stopping when he was standing by his usual seat and didn't hear the miko's steps follow. He glanced back and saw that both her fox and bat were whispering, Kuronue looking angry, and Shippo looking protective and arguing with both Kuronue and Kagome.
Souta was the only one who wasn't still gathered at the doorway. He had slipped down onto a cushion and was staring with a confused expression at the spectacle the three were making. He glanced over at Yusuke. "I guess you and my sister must fight a lot for Kuronue to be so exasperated. But what did you say to Shippo? He looks angry, and I don't think it's directed at Kagome."
"I didn't do anything!" Yusuke snapped, and grudgingly softened it when he saw how startled the kid was. "Not as far as I know."
Kagome's voice was slowly rising from outside as she glared at her two companions, waving her arms a bit wildly. "Neither of you two are my keepers! I will say what I want, to whom I want, when I want! If I want to spend time with someone besides you two, I will!"
She stomped by the onlookers and sat down - next to Yusuke's usual seat. Yusuke sank down and looked at her from the corner of his eye. She wasn't looking at him, or her friends, or in fact anything. She appeared desperately interested in a spot on the wall opposite them. An invisible spot that apparently moved whenever Shippo or Kuronue came into her line of sight.
"If we're all done with the drama for today..." Kurama trailed off, staring at them coolly.
Kuronue, perturbed, replied nastily, "I don't know, isn't it your turn? Sure you don't want to cause some damage? I know, let's bring up all of our thieving days this time. We've already done Kagome's past, don't you think it's our turn? Oh, we can even bring up when I died! Won't that be fun?"
Kagome and Shippo seemed to forget they were angry at him as they gaped at the bat youkai. He rarely got that snippy with them. It was difficult to plan things when your voice of reason started being the unreasonable one.
"Kuronue?" Kagome questioned hesitantly. He didn't even glance her way, staring at Kurama. She could feel his aura flickering. She was surprised the sounds in the room - what few there were at that moment - didn't begin fluctuating with his aura. That was what his youki controlled. Thankfully, the sound of the wind blowing outside stayed steady, and the slight breaths from nearby stayed quiet.
"Kuronue?" Keiko echoed, worry in her voice. "Are you all right?"
The extra question added on seemed to do it, as he turned away from his staring matched with a surprised Kurama to look at her. He gave her a slight, reassuring smile. "I'm all right. We're all just... a bit too stressed."
"Crazy," Yusuke muttered under his breath. Kagome smiled slightly next to him. Shippo glanced over and growled at Yusuke. Yusuke glared back at him. He hadn't done anything to the kitsune.
"So! Plans!" Botan exclaimed into the tense silence. "Anyone have one?"
Everyone stared at her blankly.
Botan sighed. "That's a no, then?"
End part.
Review please!
Thank you to: tbiris, FoxylilRaven, and Dark Inu Fan for reviewing.
Winged Knight: He couldn't use Tetsusaiga when he took it out, but alas, that didn't last. As for the sword idea, Inuyasha doesn't know how to use a sword either, he just starts swinging it. And it will take a lot of work for them to stop Sesshoumaru. Horror of horrors, they'll have to work together! For Yusuke - I never saw him as a hanyou, because a hanyou is half and half, but a random half and half. Yusuke gets a certain set of the demon genes, and keeps a certain set of the humans ones - a hybrid, to borrow someone else's word. Like when plant genes are mixed together carefully to get a certain kind of plant that looks a certain way and has properties they want. Yusuke still has his human appearance (ignoring the fangs) as long as he doesn't transform, and his human ki along with his demon, which is very unlike Inuyasha's hanyous. I see him as having a lot of the demon genes, considering he has a nucleus and not a heart. shrug It's all theories anyway as it's not like they go into what percentage of each he has inside him in the show. It gets a bit confusing, so I think I'll just stick with calling him a majin since it could encompass most any of the theories and explanations.
Ryukotsusei: Thank you. Kurama's always a difficult one. He's so calm and cool but when he gets angry he stays angry.