Ch. 11 – Battle

The light in the clearing fades. Shita is lying on the ground unconscious, the ground around her smoking, literally. Kagome is still standing, hand raised, and eyes glowing blue. Youko is standing over by a tree, a little shaken up about what just happened.

"Kagome…"

(Elsewhere)

"I win again." Daihoushi states in a monotone. "That's 53 to 24. We should check on Shita and Kagome now."

"One more game!" Raihoushi challenges again.

"Dude, you lost. Get over it. Now let's leave."

"Fine. But we're playing again when we get back."

(In the Clearing)

"Kagome…I'm sorry." Youko looks at the ground.

"Youko…" Kagome's eyes fade back to normal and she falls backwards. Youko uses his demon speed to catch her before she hits the ground. "Ow, my head. What a killer headache."

"Are you alright?"

"I should be fine in a few minutes. What happened? Nice catch by the way."

A light shade of pink spreads across Youko's face. "Umm…you're welcome? Do you even remember what you did?"

"Huh? All I remember is feeling threatened and then the next minute it was gone why?"

"You took out Shita." Youko gently sets Kagome on the ground and gestures to the unconscious hell demoness.

"Shita!" Kagome runs over to her. "I didn't hurt you too much, did I? I'm sorry."

"…No." Shita slowly opens her eyes. "I underestimated you. I didn't think you wish to protect him would be as strong as it was. You pass."

"Pass? Pass what?"

"Koenma asked the twins and me to test you, to see how well you've healed. I offered to test your emotions. Any other miko would've been tainted by hatred towards their lover. But you didn't blame him and you attacked me instead of punishing Youko. The twins should be coming…never mind." Kagome's vision goes black. Daihoushi appears behind her and catches her. He looks over at Shita.

"Looks like she got you pretty good." Dai teases.

"Shut up and get me out of here." Shita snaps back. "I can't move."

"Alright. Here Youko, catch." Dai tosses Kagome. Youko moves to catch her. The wind picks up and something zooms by Youko and Kagome vanishes in the air.

"Too slow!" Youko looks over to the other side of the clearing to see Raihoushi standing there, with giant eagle wings, holding Kagome in his arms with a big smile on his face. "I got her before you did!" Rai taunts Youko. "You're really slow."

"That's not funny you damn shape-shifter." Youko growls. "Give her back."

"No."

"Play nice Rai." Dai speaks up. "I'm gonna bring Shita back to the house. You two stay here with Kagome. I'll be back soon." He picks up Shita and disappears.

(Later that day)

Kagome wakes up in a strange room. The walls are black, the ceiling is white, and the floor a dark green. As she looks around she finds various sharpened weapons hung, around the room. "Where –"

"Our place." Dai fades out of the wall. "I had Rai bring you here. After an hour you didn't wake up so I told him to bring you here. I sent Youko home, Shita is still out and Rai is downstairs raiding the fridge. Welcome to my room."

"What's that?" Kagome points to a small bladed weapon.

"That's a Shrinken." Dai takes it off the wall and gently hands it to her. He explains all of its features and uses as she inspects it. "You know…it's not easy to locate where you live if you have seals all over the place."

"If you know there are seals on it then you must have found it." Kagome states, still checking over the blades on the small Shrinken.

"Oh yeah, I found it all right. You're lucky I can't die, cause those little paper words of yours sure do pack a punch."

"Oh my goodness!" Kagome notices that Dai is covered in black patches. "What did you do!?"

"The barrier around your house burns. Take it down"

"I didn't want demons to attack my home."

"Or old friends to visit either apparently."

"Sorry, I didn't think I'd see you guys again."

"You forgot that I can track you within a matter of minutes. You could always find me without a problem as well."

"Well if I knew you were gonna go to my house I would've made sure you could get through." She grabs hold of his arm, surrounding him in blue as his burns slowly vanish. "You should have told me."

"Youko and Rai will be coming in 2 minutes." Dai states.

"So they're in the house?"

"Yes. They're coming up the stairs. Who will you choose?"

"What do you mean?" Kagome questions.

"When they enter the room you must hug one before the other. Who will you choose? Your brother…or your lover?"

"Umm…"

"Rai is determined to keep you and Youko separate. He does not approve of that fox courting you. If you hug Youko first, then you are saying that you are ok with this. That you willingly choose the fox and Rai will step down. I'm sure that Rai will have some objections. Based on how well you handle the situation, I will give my approval."

"Finished." Kagome releases his arm.

"Thanks. Now decide quickly if you really want to keep Youko around, here they come."

The two demons burst into the room. "She's my sister! I get to see her first!" Raihoushi tries to shove Youko out the door.

"I haven't seen her in a while! You can't keep her away from everyone!"

"I'm not keeping her away from everyone! Just you! You shouldn't be near her at all! You're a -!"

"Youko…" Kagome has walked across the room and hugged the fox while the two were busy arguing.

"WHAT!" Rai is stunned. "Sis! You can't be serious!"

"And if I am?"

"You're insane! He's a killer and a thief!"

"He's not anymore."

"That doesn't take away the fact that he did kill!"

"I don't care!!!" Raihoushi is suddenly quiet and takes a step back. "I do not care about who he was in the past. I care about who he is now. I love him because of who he is. I do not care how many bad things you have to say about him. I will not love him less because of mistakes he's made. And you cannot take my feelings for him away. Just because you do not like him doesn't mean I can't love him. You're not in my position. This is my decision, not yours. I will choose who I love."

"But Kags –" Raihoushi's voice squeaks.

"You dare to stand against me?" She glares at him. "You wish to stand in my way on this? If you do so then I guarantee we will have a duel and this will end quickly. Which side would you like to choose? The quiet one on my side or the dead one on the other side? What to duel?"

"…I'd prefer not to duel you by myself." Raihoushi looks over to Daihoushi, looking for some form of help.

"I will not fight either of you on this. You will either have to fight her or yield. I will not help either of you." Dai states.

"That's so unfair! You're my brother you should be on my side! Why aren't you helping me!?"

"I've already told Kagome what I think. But it is her decision to make, not ours."

"Unbelievable!" Rai notices Kagome still holding onto Youko. "Let go of him right now Kagome!"

"Or what?" She glares at him.

"You either let go of him on your own or I'll take you from him!" Rai threatens.

"Never." Kagome just holds onto Youko tighter. Raihoushi goes to pull Kagome away from Youko but Kagome puts up a small barrier. But it starts to flicker in and out as Rai starts to break through it.

-She's too weak to hold a barrier against Rai. That attack on Shita the other day took a lot of power. She's done her part, she's defended him. Now it's Youko's turn.-

Dai thinks to himself.

-What will your decision be Youko? She won't be able to hold out much longer. Will you fight? Will you protect her? Or…will I have to step in?-