Chapter 16 -- A new toy
Everyone watched as the priestess ran out of the room. No one made a move to stop her from leaving. Jinenji was saddened the most at her untimely departure.
"Yusuke you are such an ass!" Keiko berated her boyfriend as she smacked him over the head. "Kagome was only here to help, and you chased her away!"
"Oh," Yusuke scoffed, "What was she helping you with when she was sitting there drinking tea?" The venom rolled off his lips. "She was probably laughing at a demon's death. Yeah, that's a real good one there Keiko. That woman is nothing but a snake!"
No one noticed as Hiei slipped out of the room and went after Kagome.
"That bitch is only out to harm everyone and everything on this planet. Even the spawn of Satan has a better disposition than her! For God's sake Keiko, the woman came all the way over here to scoff and laugh at a dying demon." Yusuke ranted.
Shizuru, who remained seated this whole time, waved her brother over. "You want some tea?"
"Are you sure it's okay to leave them like this?"
Shizuru looked at her younger brother. Sometimes he had too big of a heart. He cared about everything and everyone. "Yeah, Keiko will be fine once she knocks some sense into him."
"I wasn't talking about Urameshi; I was talking about the girl."
She leaned over and tufted his hair. "No wonder she likes you. You are too kind for your own good."
Kuwabara started to stutter, "I have my precious Yukina, I hope she doesn't mean like me as in she's madly in love with me. I don't want anything to happ—"
"Settle down little bro." She interjected. "She likes you as in nice guy, good friend, dependable guy likes…not that way." She sipped her tea and shook her head as Yusuke dug his grave even deeper.
"That bitch should be dead. But being dead would be too good for her, she's worse than a demon, no worse than scum! I would be insulting demons if I placed her in the same category as her."
Jinenji not being able to take anymore bad mouthing finally stood. "I think it's time that I return. Botan, will you please take me back?"
Kurama shot forward and interjected. "Jinenji, we just returned and I would have liked to sit and catch up on good times."
Jinenji snorted. "Now why would I want to stay in a place where my friend is being put down? She only came here to save your friend. She has no ties to you or your demon friend. She came here out of the goodness of her heart. If it weren't for Kagome then your friend Yukina would have died. She saved your friend not me."
"I'm sorry Jinenji." Kurama hung his head while trying to plead his case. "But you must understand; we met the girl under different circumstances and we have a rather cautious attitude when it comes to her."
Jinenji snorted, "She is nothing but a kind person. I would have thought that you of all people would have seen past that. Aren't you the one that's not allowed to enter several market places in the demon realm because of misunderstandings?" He shot back.
Kurama could not reply to that comment. He was left speechless, and it hurt his pride.
"Botan, I'm ready now." Jinenji said impatiently. Kurama tried to grab hold of Jinenji's arm, but the horse demon shrugged it off and ignored him.
Sighing, Botan opened a portal and gave Kurama a pleading glance. "I'll come by and visit you. I have a stock of the roses you like so much."
Jinenji glared at his friend. "Actually, I want nothing more to do with you. You have insulted me by insulting my friend, and I won't stand for it."
"You're willing to throw away our friendship over her?" Shizuru watched as the fox lost his temper. Kurama rarely lost his composure, but it seemed as if the loss of this friend was more than he could take. "We've been friends longer than anyone can possibly imagine. Why would you throw that away? I was the one that helped you out when you needed it. I was there when you needed a friend."
"Unlike you, Kagome has been nothing but a kind friend with no ulterior motives. If it wasn't for her, I would have been dead long ago. She showed me that people are kind, not everyone is as they seem. I can't throw away a friendship like that. Besides, she's been my friend for longer than you've been born." Without looking back Jinenji stepped into the portal.
"That was a waste." Kurama seethed and stood by the window overlooking the forest. His aura screamed anger. The boy was furious and if anyone had said anything, they would have felt its full fury.
The room was silent and full of energy. However, the energy wasn't positive. It was brimming with rage and hate. Keiko stood with her bangs covering her face. Her fists were clenched at her sides. She tried to calm her breathing, but simply thinking about all the mean things he said about Kagome simply made her blood boil.
She couldn't take the pressure building up behind her eyes, and she did what came naturally. She drew back her clenched fist and punched him for all she was worth. She stood panting, she felt the surge of release then she exhaled and threw her head back as the tension left her.
She should have done that from the start. Yusuke had flown a few feet and landed hard on the floor. His head hit the wooden floors then bounced and hit again.
Yusuke sat up and glared at his girlfriend. When she wanted to be, she could be quite scary. It just so happened that this was one of those times. "That hurt Keiko!" He whined as he rubbed the sore spots on his head.
"Yusuke, you are such an idiot." She ground out through her clenched teeth.
"You know guys, as much as I love to see some action happen right in front of me, does anyone know where Hiei ran off to?" Shizuru questioned while setting her teacup back on the saucer.
The group looked all at each other. They all feared and assumed the worst. They all stood and silently vowed to track down Hiei, even if it was to make sure that he was alright and sulking in a tree somewhere.
As they were leaving the door to the main room they heard a blood curdling scream coming from outside. Their worst fears were confirmed.
They rushed outside and watched as Hiei, with his sword poised for attack, slowly let go of the sword and fell to his knees. The sword fell to the ground with a loud clang and moments later Hiei dropped to the ground with a deadening thud.
The guys ran outside and onto the scene first. The whole picture was crystal clear now. On the opposite side of Hiei, there stood two females. One of them was obviously a demon, while the other was the girl.
Kagome's face looked as white as Kanna's. Slowly the blood started filling up her cheeks now that the eminent danger was over.
"What the hell happened here?" Yusuke snarled while Kurama hurried over to his friend.
Kanna stood upright looking into her mirror. "He attacked her." Her voice was so willowy and soft it partially creeped Yusuke out.
Kurama shook his head and stood. "He's dead." A cackle of energy and power surrounded the two boys.
The group stared at their friend's body. It seemed so surreal. He just left them not too long ago. It seemed so unfair that he would die…and without a goodbye or a fierce battle to the death.
"He's not dead." Kagome said standing behind Kanna. "He's just missing his soul."
"Well then put it back!" Kuwabara shouted, secretly afraid of the confrontation before him.
"What happened here?" Keiko asked, being protected by Yusuke's body.
"Don't go near her Keiko. I don't want you to die either." She simply rolled her eyes at him and stood back to pacify his possessive and protective nature.
"He attacked her." Kanna repeated herself still looking into her mirror.
"Why? Why would he do that?"
Kagome looked at Shizuru then to the lump of flesh and bones lying on the stone courtyard. "I would like to know that myself. I was leaving when he came out of nowhere and started to attack. Kanna appeared out of nowhere too and saved me." She looked at her savior and smiled, "Thank you."
"Why are you thanking her? She killed Hiei."
Kagome looked at the man with red hair and shrugged. "What else are you supposed to say to the one that saved your life? Besides, only his soul was taken."
"You sound as if having your soul taken from you is not a big deal."
Kagome gave a haughty laugh and shrugged her shoulders. "Really it's not a big deal. I spent many years with only part of soul, and I've even had it stolen from my body on several occasions. So, trust me when I say it's no big deal."
Kanna nodded her head in agreement. "Where yours is large and pure, his is dark and tainted."
Kagome looked into the mirror. She knew what Kanna was talking about. She pitied the poor guy. His whole life was made into a picture show because of her mirror. "Kanna, I think he learnt his lesson. I think you should set him free. It will be okay now, because his friends will stop him from attacking." She looked at the group for reassurance, "Right?"
They all nodded their heads. Instead of going along with them, Kanna stubbornly held the mirror to her chest. "No." She stated like a child being forced to give up her favorite toy. "He's mine and I think I'll keep him. I like my new toy." Her right index finger traced the mirror as she continued to look on into its depth.
AN: shorter, but it's been only a couple weeks cheers besides, it's only a filler chapter. Thank you Naruto grumbles 23 more fillers so I can justify one stinking one to get to the good stuff.
AN: part 2: See that's how long ago I wrote it and sent it off to my beta that lost it like I lost hers. Oh and I guess I'll be reviewing via response mode or whatever it's called now
Sharishima: I hope this answers part of your question…and thank you for being so patient. Like right now I should be reading for my Cisco exam, and I haven't opened the book yet…and it's in the morning. Oh and don't get me started on new anime…just ask the poor beta . she gets a copy of everything! (Note it's been so long that I passed my Cisco course with 95)
Water Block: Yeah the guys are in for a real shocker. They still haven't seen Yukina yet. And as for Hakudoshi…he's coming, next chapter. That's why I needed the filler. Happy belated birthday!
EEevee: See that's why I love Inuyasha. Everyone love/hates each other. And if someone kills someone...then it's all acceptable and fine. And I know you hate me now, but this is what you get for leaving me for like 4 days! whistles and you thought 7 hours was bad...(man how long ago was that?)
Amin Vanima Mellonea: I think I'm used to the new name now…I hope. Yeah I hate fillers too. See and I just wrote this. I had a "plot" for this chapter for ages now. I finally sat down and wrote it. Boring stuff is hard to write. Just don't flame me about writing Jinenji this way. I don't know how he'd act in this situation, but I am assuming he would be like me. Thanks for reviewing, I love reading your review(s).
LadyAkina: I think Yusuke just upgraded from jerk to … dunno. Now you'll just have to wait and see for the final chapter evil grin
Princess Fey: naw, I just like making Yusuke look like a fool. Besides, revenge is best served cold. Oh and making someone realize they are an ass is even better. Not cussing is cool, I swear like a trucker…but then I'm around guys all day. Oh and let's not get started about school work cringes
Tbiris: The ego is such a fragile thing…and I like to crush it ;-D
SnowBlizzard: There's one question answered…and the other should be answered soon
Thanks to all the reviewers and readers…especially now that FF keeps a track of it. Plus I never thought this story would be so popular!
Beta: I didn't lose it. I just forgot about it! I have it sitting right there … of course, I figured that out after I redid all of it.