Chapter Thirteen:

They arrived at the Higurashi Shrine, an old Shinto relic just on the outskirts of the city. From the sidewalk, stairs seemed to stretch up halfway to the sky and a pair of ancient trees stood sentinel in the front yard. Botan was already outside waiting at the base of the stairs for them. Hiei bit the inside of his cheek so hard that he drew the coppery taste of blood. It didn't matter that his feelings for her were part of some a spell his well-intended sister cast. They felt very real and they really pissed him off.

"Her little brother is missing," Botan said. She stood and looked behind her towards the shrine. "The grandfather, he's an elderly fellow, but he has a touch of the Holy powers. Souta has quite a powerful Spirit Energy, but not as much as his older sister. Lord Koenma had considered recruiting him as a Spirit Detective, but the time never seemed right."

"Oh, you mean he didn't die prematurely and there was no opportunity for Koenma to blackmail him into the job?" Yusuke asked with a roll of his eyes. He cracked his knuckles impatiently and Keiko laid her hand gently upon his arm. The tension in him seemed to deflate as soon as she touched him.

Hiei scoffed finding his human companion weak. If it wasn't for the necessity of using them to find Kurama he'd bail on the whole lot of them.

"Behave, dear brother," Yukina whispered at his side.

"We need a device to track Spirit Energy. Then we'll be able to find Kurama and the others," Kawabara suggested.

"That's a great idea!" Yukina exclaimed, gripping his arm and smiling softly at him.

Hiei bit the inside of his cheek again. His sister's attachment to the moronic human was disgusting. "Don't you think we thought of that already?" Hiei asked in annoyance. "There's a very limited range in such a device." He reached into his front pocket and pulled out a handheld spiritual tracker.

"So that's how you were able to follow us!" Yusuke snatched it out of Hiei's hand and examined it closely. "What's the range?"

"Five kilometers," Hiei answered. "And no, that's not how we followed you." He took the device back before Yusuke had an opportunity to break it. "The Wolf King had us tracking you in his little game with The Lord of the Western Lands."

"So what do we do now?" Kawabara asked. "Someone needs to point me in the direction of the enemy so I can smash his lights out!"

"Idiot. As if you could stand a chance against someone that outwitted Kurama," Hiei scoffed. He wanted to explore the shrine more and look for clues about the abduction, but the anti-demon wards were too powerful. He could probably get past them, but it would be at the expense of many painful injuries to himself. While he might be willing to risk it himself, he'd didn't want Yukina to suffer regardless of any foolish attachment she had to the moron. And he wasn't optimistic that Kagome's grandfather would have anything useful to share.

"I think we should return to Makai and see if King Sesshoumaru has made any headway," Yusuke suggested.

"Hey! What are you all doing down there?" An old man with a broom shouted from the top of the stairs. His eyes focused on Keiko. He reached up and adjusted his bifocals. "Keiko? Is that you?"

Keiko stepped forward and bowed politely. "Yes, Higurashi-san, pardon our intrusion," she apologized.

The old man hurried down the stairs surprisingly fast and agile for an old human. He looked over the team assembled on his front sidewalk before settling on Keiko. "Wait, do you know something about the disappearances?"

"Kagome and our friend Kurama were taken captive by a madman. I'm afraid he took Kurama's mother and Kagome's brother as hostages," Keiko explained.

Higurashi scratched the back of his balding head. "I don't want to worry my daughter-in-law. You'll find them, right?" He scanned the group more closely and his cataract covered eyes landed upon Hiei. He pulled out a protection ward from the front of his robes. "Youkai!" He waved the ward in Hiei's face.

It stung a little, so Hiei incinerated the paper. "Let's go. He can't help us," Hiei stated. He shoved his hands into his front pockets and began to turn back to the street. Maybe a visit to Makai was all that was left.

"Wait! The Bone-eaters well in the back. It used to transport Kagome back in time. Maybe you can use it to find her now?" Higurashi suggested. The obvious, desperate hope in his voice almost made Hiei feel pity for him. He turned back to make some asinine comment, when Botan interjected.

"The well worked in the past because Kagome had the power of the Shikon jewel," Botan said. She touched the shrine master's shoulder gently. "Koenma's sources already researched this avenue."

The old man's hope visibly deflated.

"Damn it," Hiei growled. "Stop your caterwauling, old man. We'll find your grand kids," he promised.

"Thank you, vertically impaired youkai. I apologize for throwing the ward at you. It's been a long time since we had any youkai visitors, and usually it was just Inuyasha." Higurashi's shoulders slumped and he leaned on his broomstick heavily. His face brightened and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small Shikon no Tama souvenir key ring. It also had a small figure of a dog eared, silver-haired hanyou in a bright red haori. "This is Kagome's. It was her good luck charm. She left it with Souta when he started university. Maybe it will help," he suggested optimistically.

Hiei took the key ring and eyed it skeptically. "Thanks," he murmured. How did he become the group leader? "See you." He turned back and started for the street. There was a door to the Maiki nearby. He twirled the key ring idly on his index finger. He could sense a trace of spirit energy on the item. Whether it was from Kagome or her brother Souta, he couldn't tell, but perhaps it didn't matter. If they were really lucky, they'd find all the missing persons at the same location.

"Wait!" Botan called. She ran to Hiei's side and laid her hand upon his shoulder. He turned towards her with a glare and she quickly withdrew her hand. "I don't know that Koenma will be okay with us entering the Makai without first making the proper arrangements."

"We don't have time for all the red tape," Hiei argued. Hiei started back towards the passageway. It was about two kilometers east of the Higurashi Shrine and they didn't have time to spare debating. "I'm going with or without Koenma's permission. If he didn't have such a gambling problem Kurama and Kagome wouldn't have been in this situation to begin with. He can fire me if he likes, but I'm going. What you do is up to you."

Botan took a deep, steadying breath. "I'll be at your side, saving them then."

The corner of Hiei's lip twitched. It was probably the spell making him soft, but he appreciated the support.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Yusuke cried out running to catch up.

OoO

Kagome opened her eyes and blinked in confusion. Her back muscles were sore from sleeping in an odd position. She looked up, she'd been stretched out across Kurama's chest, her hand curled up in a fist just over his heart. Quickly sitting up, she shook his shoulders and his golden eyes gazed down at her lazily.

"When did we fall asleep?" Kagome demanded. The last thing she remember was tracking Souta's location using a connection between their Holy Powers and then preparing to leave with Kurama. There were several passageways, but only one direct path. They had a clear course and plenty of time, at least they did. She wasn't sure now.

Kurama groaned and then stood, offering his hand to Kagome in the process. She rose up beside him. "It must have been the Sandman Plant. I thought I saw one earlier, but forgot about it. It does that, makes you forget and makes you so relaxed you fall asleep." He looked around and the plants within the room had grown thicker and more wild.

"We've been out at least for several hours," he observed thoughtfully, his voice deeper and with even fewer inflections than usual.

Kagome looked at him curiously. His voice was strange — more abrasive than usual. And he seemed to have more demonic energies now than he did when they first entered this labyrinth. Would he be fully youkai before the quest was completed? Kurama was nice enough, but Youko Kurama was a different matter entirely.

"Then we have no more time to waste," she said. "If you'll clear the way, I'll show you where we need to go." She pulled the leather jacket on her shoulders more securely and then pointed towards where she had sensed Souta earlier. She led the way past the crawling the vines while Kurama held his hands aloft and manipulated the more persistent vines to move out of their way. He reached into his hair and pulled out a rose. It extended into a whip and he used it to slash the thicker bushes blocking their path to make a cleared space for them.

Kurama's arm banded around Kagome's chest and he jerked her back suddenly to stand behind his taller more broad frame. A large, growling beast-like plant stood before them blocking their way to a huge, thick wooden door. Kurama used his whip and split it in two as if it were a simple housefly to be rid of easily.

"Allow me," Kurama said. "Our prizes aren't far now." He pulled back his rose whip and slashed it in the form of an X creating a gaping hole in the middle of the door. Kagome swallowed nervously. He could have easily severed a human appendage with that weapon.

Kurama adjusted his stance and then back-kicked his foot against the door splintering it and sending the bulk of it crumbling to the floor. Absolute darkness greeted them on the other side. Kurama reached into his pouch and pulled out a seed. He held it in the center of his palm and then blew on it gently. The seed began to glow with a pale green-yellow light and then started to multiple. He continued to blow on it and a circle of dandelion-like seeds began to float around them illuminating the area around them.

Kurama stepped into the final room between them and their loved ones and held his hand out for Kagome. She grasped it, appreciating the firmness of his grip even though his claws dug painfully into her hand. She cringed at the discomfort and stepped over the broken door. The glowing seeds floating around them continued to multiple and then shoot off into the various directions of the room. It seemed at first that they were alone, but there was an incessant buzzing sound at first in the distance. It began to draw closer.

Kagome swatted away at something that had gotten caught in her hair. Maybe it was a bat? She was surprised to see it was an origami paper crane. Though, the surprise transformed into terror as the origami bird attacked her, drawing blood from her hand.

Kurama gripped Kagome at the waist and held her pressed tightly against him while he made a whirlwind of rose pedals. "Wind Pedal Waltz Configuration," he ordered calmly. Rose pedals as sharp as razor blades created a destructive vortex around him and Kagome. The attacking origami hit the rotating rose pedals and unable to get past Kurama's defenses were shredded and fell to the ground in a ruin. He eventually relaxed his grip on Kagome and stilled the rotation of his of the pedals. The pedals fell the the ground at their feet in a shower of harmless confetti.

By now, the light seeds had illuminated the room with an eerie glow. In the far corner stood a hulking figure. It straightened as the origami that had been assaulting him were no more. He turned towards them, his face and arms a bloody mess of countless gashes and lacerations.

Kagome recognize those glowing, crimson eyes and the violet facial streaks across the pale flesh of the silver haired creature across from them.

"Inuyasha," she whispered.

Recognizing his name, the enraged, demonic beast lunged for them with a roar of madness.

OoO

Kurama pushed Kagome out of the way and grabbed hold of the deranged hanyou's wrists. Its claws dripped with poison and he was freakishly strong. Kurama, especially in his kitsune state, was no weakling. Though, compared to this Inuyasha, he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep up. If this was the legendary Inuyasha, then he was facing the strongest hanyou that ever lived. Though, while Inuyasha may be have been gifted with brute strength, Kurama's specialty was in strategy. You didn't have to be stronger or quicker than your opponent — just smarter.

"I suspect this Inuyasha is a friend of yours?" Kurama asked. He dodged a vicious kick and then barely avoided razor-sharp fangs from the dog demon.

"He was my closest companion in my travels," Kagome answered quietly. Kurama chanced a look at her over his shoulders. She clutched at her neck with a lost expression on her face. Tears began to slide down her cheeks.

Kurama felt only annoyance at the sight of such weakness. The longer they remained in Maiki, the stronger Youko's influence became. "Get a hold of yourself, Higurashi. Purify him or die by him," he snapped. "Or, if you prefer, I can feed him to a Death Plant."

"Inuyasha, I know you can recognize me," Kagome said in a quiet, soothing voice. The ears on the top of Inuyasha's head swiveled in her direction and his struggle against Kurama weakened. "What happened to you? I was brought back to my time when the jewel was destroyed. I'd hoped you would find me, but you never did."

Kagome moved closer, she touched the tips of her fingers to the puppy ears on top of Inuyasha's head and tweaked them playfully. Kurama's nose twitched in annoyance. What was this? He didn't sign up to be the odd man out in some romantic reunion. She better not try that on one of his ears. He needed to free one of his hands, pull out another seed and destroy this last obstacle. Maybe not a Death Seed since his ally was friends with the mad creature. He had another seed that could create Binding Fist of the Demonic Vine. With his flora sword he could cleanly slice off this Inuyasha's head and be done with this last delay.

Inuyasha's arms became slack and Kurama pushed him away. He reached into his pouch, but instead of using the vine plant to decapitate his prey, he used it to trap its enemy into an immobile state. The yellow vines twined around Inuyasha's legs and waist, securing him in place. This was Kagome's battle to fight, not his. Kurama folded his arms over his chest and stepped a safe distance away to observe.

Inuyasha's crimson eyes faded into a golden color, not unlike Youko Kurama's irises. That was curious. "Kagome?" His voice was harsh from disuse.

Kagome nodded and Kurama watched bewildered as she approached the enemy he just subdued. She touched his cheek and the purple stripe faded entirely. Inuyasha reached up and gripped both her arms, blood began to spill from shallow cuts he created, but there was no poison that Kurama could smell. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah, you idiot, it's really me," Kagome said with a sad smile. "What happened?"

Inuyasha's eyes roamed the room wildly before settling upon Kagome again. "You were gone for so long." He looked over at Kurama. "You brought her back to me, brother, thank you."

"I'm not your brother," Kurama snapped. His fingers itched to encourage the vines to destroy the hanyou. He wanted to squeeze the very life out of him so that they could reach their true enemy. No hard feelings, no feelings at all, but this Inuyasha was in his way. Kurama shook his head. They must have been asleep a lot longer than a few hours for Youko's merciless ways to be so dominant.

"Keh, of course you'd say that, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha said, he turned his attention back to Kagome and then down to his vine entangled lower body. "I waited for you, for so many years, Kagome. Then, everything was dark." He frowned and shook his head. "I think I may have died."

"Did Byakuya find you in the underworld? Is that how he trapped you here?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha released her arms abruptly. "You're bleeding. I hurt you."

"It's fine, Inuyasha. You can finally rest now. Would you like that?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha nodded. "I just needed to know you were okay."

Kagome wrapped her arms around Inuyasha in a fierce embrace. The hanyou's arms encircled her in response and he buried his face against the crown of her dark hair. "Go in peace, Inuyasha." A soft glow of pink, purifying energy began to surround Inuyasha.

"Miroku and Sango had lots of children," Inuyasha said. His body began to fade. "That old hag, Kaede, she trained Rin to become the next village priestess. Kouga joined up with some other wolf tribes. He became their king. Sesshoumaru adopted Shippo. Made him Lord of the Western Lands."

"Thank you for telling me these things, Inuyasha." Kagome had tears streaming down her cheeks, but still she hugged Inuyasha tight and continued to purify him.

"I can see them. Can you see them, Kagome?" Inuyasha's voice was soft in awe. "Sango is waving to you. She says for you to keep in good cheer." Inuyasha was silent for a few moments. "Kikyo is there too. I'm sorry, Kagome. I think it's time for me to go."

"Go to them, Inuyasha. I'll see you there one day," Kagome promised.

Inuyasha's body faded away until there was nothing left, but a rosary necklace. "He can now rest in peace," Kagome stated. She crouched down and picked up the rosary and wrapped it around her forearm.

Kurama stared at her in shock. She just purified her ex-boyfriend. He congratulated himself on his prior decision to remain in her good graces. His cunning might not matter in the face of purification.

Ominous laughter filled the emptiness of the dimly lit room. A bright purplish-pink light began to overwhelm the yellow-green seed light. Byakuya manifested in front of them stooped over from a manic laughter. Within his hand was the bright orb of light.

"The Shikon no Tama," Kagome whispered. "But, I destroyed it! This is impossible!"

Byakuya's laughter stopped abruptly and he lifted the jewel above his head. The wall behind him crumbled and Kurama could see both his human mother and Kagome's younger brother held captive. "It's almost complete," he sneered.

Kurama could feel an uncomfortable pulling sensation at the pit of his belly. He turned to Kagome with an unusual sense of panic developing within. "What's happening?"

"Somehow he used us to create a Shikon no Tama. I can feel it tugging at my spirit," Kagome explained. "It's trying to absorb us as it's holy and youkai forces! We'll be trapped inside where our opposite natures will be at constant war!"

Kurama shook his head stubbornly and reached into his seed pouch. "I don't think so."

A/N: I'm so glad interest in this story has picked up again! I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. Two more to go my friends! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave me reviews!