Disclaimer: I do not own them and I'm not cool enough ever to do so...
A/N: It is decided! I am sticking to my original intent on making this a Kag/Kur pairing. By the way, I am soooooo sorry for the cliff hanger in the last chapter! I hope this chapter makes up for it! I hope...
Chapter Six: Understanding
Kagome watched as Yusuke struggled with the right words to say. She gave him a reassuring smile. He looked to the others in the room. This was not going to be easy. Kagome was tired and her annoyance with Yusuke's silence grew rapidly. Her reassuring smile turned into a frown.
"Forget it, Yusuke." She stood and walked from her room, "I'm sure it's not that important."
"It is important." Hiei retorted angrily, "I suggest you spit it out, Yusuke and get it over with."
"If it's important then tell me." Kagome watched from the doorway.
"You have to go somewhere with us." Kurama spoke up, "You and Shippo have to come with us to Spirit World."
"What?" Kagome blurted out and stared at the red-head in disbelief.
"He's right, Kagome." Yusuke motioned for her to sit on the bed, "It's time for us to be honest with you."
Kagome and Shippo listened to the detailed story of Yusuke and his friends. They explained all of the hardships they've had to endure. Kagome understood now why Yusuke seemed much older than he was. Kagome sighed quietly as Yusuke finished speaking. She turned from them again and exited the room.
"Kagome!" Shippo chased after her, "Wait for me please, mommy!"
Kagome turned and caught him as he leapt into her arms.
"What do you think?" she looked down at him, "I've got a bad feeling about this, Shippo."
"A bad feeling?" Shippo glanced back as everyone stepped out of Kagome's bedroom, "We could always go and if it is bad we can come home. Aren't you just a bit curious about this Spirit World thing?"
"Listen to the kid, Kagome." Yusuke leaned against the wall and smiled, "He has a good plan."
"If I don't like it, I want to be able to come right home." Kagome stated strongly, "We better not be put into any danger."
"I can assure you that you will not be in any danger in Spirit World, Kagome." Kurama smiled gently.
"Fine, then we'll go." Kagome nodded, "Tomorrow though. I am too tired for any trips tonight and we have school tomorrow."
"Fair enough." Kurama nodded in agreement.
"Then it's settled." Hiei walked out the front door.
"He has a pleasant attitude." Kagome mumbled. Shippo tugged on her shirt.
"Mommy, I'm hungry." His belly growled and she carried him into the kitchen.
"Mom must be working late tonight. I guess it's up to me to cook dinner." She set him next to the table and handed him sheets of white paper and a big box of crayons, "Why don't you draw some nice pictures for me and grandma?"
"Okay!" he grinned excitedly, "It's been awhile since I've drawn anything! There are so many new people for me to draw! Including grandma!"
"He calls you mother?" Kurama was next to her. She jumped and placed her right hand over her heart. He certainly was a stealthy fellow.
"Don't scare me like that!" she yelled. Kurama took a step back. Her energy had pulsed, "Please warn me next time."
"I am sorry. I didn't mean to make you jump." He touched her shoulder gently and she pulled back.
"You asked a question, didn't you?" she turned her back on him. Her heart beat faster and faster. A few images of Sesshomaru passed through her mind and she shook the memories away. She still didn't hear Kurama's question. Tears flooded her eyes and Yusuke stepped before her.
"Kagome?" he took her shoulders and shook her. Kagome stared at him and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, "It was just a passing memory. I get them sometimes."
"Kagome?"
"It's nothing, Yusuke. I am fine now. You guys should go watch TV while I cook dinner." She shooed them out.
"Okay, Kagome."
The boys and Botan retreated to the living room to find Keiko watching Souta play an interesting video game. Yusuke lifted Keiko off the couch and sat down in, placing her on his lap. He hugged her tightly and she ran her hand through his soft black hair. He sighed and faced Kurama.
"Did you feel it?" he asked. Kurama only nodded, "It's been happening a lot recently. Usually only when she gets angry, but..."
"It was wrong of me to approach her like that. She doesn't know me." Kurama raised his hand to silence Yusuke, "I must be wiser when dealing with her. She can, after all, purify me and kill me."
"She wouldn't though." Souta said as he mashed the controller buttons with his fingers, "Not unless she really saw you as a threat."
"You are sure about this?" Kurama leaned against the wall, watching Kagome's kid brother with wonder.
"I know my sister. She is a nice person. Despite her current overwhelming sadness, she...she always cares. Hating isn't really in her nature."
"I wish I could understand why she is so sad." Kurama frowned. He could hear Kagome singing a nursery rhyme to Shippo and the kit would laugh. He was sure that the bond between the two of them was very, very close, but he knew there was no way that the kit was indeed Kagome's son. But Shippo still called her mommy and she allowed him to do so.
"It's because of the child she is carrying." Souta spoke up and was silenced when he was abruptly hit by a pillow thrown by Yusuke.
"It's not for you to talk about, brat." He scolded the kid, "Your sister might not want everyone to know her story."
"Not even you apparently." Souta retorted angrily. He shut his game off and stalked out of the room.
"That wasn't nice, Yusuke." Botan snapped at her teammate.
"He's right though." Keiko looked to the blue-haired girl, "Kagome will tell us what happened. We just need to be patient with her."
"Exactly!" Yusuke added with a laugh. He kissed Keiko's cheek and whispered a thank you into her ear making her blush.
It was a short, forty minutes later when Kagome came in to get them for dinner. Her mother had returned already and was helping in the kitchen. Shippo held up his drawing for her to inspect. She was sticking it on the fridge when everybody entered.
"Kagome, I didn't know that there were this many people here." She counted everyone and looked at the table, "It'll be a bit cramped, but I think we can manage. I was wondering why you had made so much food."
"Yusuke, can you get Souta? He won't come out of his room." Kagome asked nicely and he nodded.
The kid's door was locked tightly. Yusuke knocked louder and Souta yelled for whoever it was to go away. Yusuke knocked again, this time louder.
"Come on, Souta. Open the door or I'll knock it down." Yusuke threatened, "It's my room too you know!"
The lock clicked and Yusuke entered as Souta slipped back into his bed, buried his face into his pillow and sniffed. Yusuke shook his head. He touched Souta's shoulder gently.
"Leave me alone." He cried and scooted further away.
"Why are you crying, Souta?"
"It doesn't matter." He cried harder, "Just leave me alone!"
"Come on now. It matters to me that you're crying."
"Why would it matter to you?"
"You're like my own kid brother, Souta. It pains me to see you this upset. Was it because of what I said downstairs?"
"It's just not fair."
"What's not fair?"
"It's not fair that he got killed! He was my best friend! I never got to tell him how much he meant to me! He was supposed to be with Kagome forever!" Souta cried harder into his pillow. Yusuke's eyes opened wide at the young boy's suffering. He must have been holding it in for so long and now he cracked. The poor boy pretended to be strong, probably for his sister and never took the time to think about himself. It had to be a trait he picked up from Kagome.
"Souta, it's gonna be alright." He rubbed the kids back, "I'm sure he knew how you felt."
"I looked up to Inuyasha. I barely got to see him, but when Kagome came home, she'd sometimes tell me of all the battles her and Inuyasha and their friends had gotten into. She always made it sound like Inuyasha was so brave."
Yusuke remembered hearing the name Inuyasha before when he had first met Kagome. He didn't know much about the guy other then he meant a lot to Kagome and apparently Souta too.
"Souta..."
"She should've told you, Yusuke." He looked up at him, "She should have told you what happened to her. I don't think I can keep it from you for much longer."
Yusuke sighed and rose to shut the bedroom door. He locked it and faced Souta, a deep look of concern etched across his face. He nodded to Souta.
"Then tell me." He sat again.
"But..."
"If it brings you this much discomfort, then tell me. I'll deal with Kagome later if she finds out you told me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, please tell me."
"Do you remember the well at the shrine?" Souta began and waited for Yusuke to reply. He nodded, "The thing is, Kagome used it to travel."
"Travel?" Yusuke gave him a confused glance, "Travel where?"
"Five hundred years into the past. It's where she met Inuyasha and Shippo."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes." He scowled, annoyed with Yusuke, "She came back one day, three months ago, and she had Shippo with her. She said that Inuyasha was dead and she had escaped from his brother's palace. The baby Kagome is carrying is Inuyasha's brother's child."
"His brother was the one who hurt her? What was his name?" Yusuke cringed at the secrets Kagome had been keeping from him.
"I don't know. She never speaks of him. I'm sure she's trying to erase him from her memory."
"Let's go downstairs before your sister and mother get worried, okay?"
"Promise you won't say anything?"
"I promise, Souta."
They rejoined the others and Kagome gave them each a glance. She smiled and motioned for her brother to sit next to her and eat his dinner. She never asked him why he had been crying, but then again, he probably wouldn't tell her. Yusuke, on the other hand, would be more likely to explain what had occurred between them. She'd let it rest for the night.
The Next Morning
Yusuke kept quiet throughout breakfast as he shoveled the eggs into his mouth. He was really starting to like eating breakfast, so much that he found himself waking up earlier than usual. He had surprised his mother a few times when he'd already been showered and dressed when she'd come in to wake him up. That morning she had put her hand to his forehead to see if he had a fever. He chuckled to himself and stopped only when he felt the others watching him. Souta rolled his eyes and Kagome sighed.
As they started to walk to school, Kagome had intended to ask Yusuke what had happened, but a slight change of plans occurred. At the entrance to the park stood Kurama and Hiei, and both of them had serious looks on each of their faces. Yusuke knew this wasn't a good sign and Kagome began to feel frightened.
"Guys." Yusuke nodded, "Fancy meeting you here this early."
"Yes, well something has come up and Koenma has asked us to go see him immediately." Kurama replied, "Kuwabara has gone to get Shippo and Botan should be here any moment."
"That's odd. We didn't run into Kuwabara on the way here."
"Botan brought him there."
"That would explain it." Yusuke turned to Kagome, "Hey, I'm sorry for the change, but the toddler needs us now."
"Yes, I'm afraid it cannot wait until after school." Kurama nodded in agreement. He stared at Kagome while her face held a puzzled expression, "Kagome?"
"Yes?" she looked at him, "Oh, I'm sorry. Did you say toddler?"
"You'll see what I mean when we get there." Yusuke laughed.
"Well then, for the time being, I'm going to go swing." She walked to the empty set of swings and began swinging.
. "Oh, man, Keiko's going to kill us." Yusuke took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "She's going to be pretty angry with me for not telling her."
"Don't worry. Shizuru overheard me talking to Kuwabara. She said she'd talk to Keiko." Kurama laughed lightly. He turned to face Hiei, but he was not there. Instead, the fire youkai was standing in front of Kagome and apparently having a discussion.
"Hey guys! I'm back!" Botan flew in next to Kurama and Yusuke, "Kuwabara's not back yet?"
"Knowing Kagome's mom, she's probably wondering why Kuwabara's there for Shippo on a school day." Yusuke could see Rei giving Kuwabara the 'I'm waiting' stare, with her arms crossed over her chest and leaning slightly to one side. He'd seen it a couple of time himself.
"He's coming now." Kurama pointed to Kuwabara chasing after a very excited kitsune. Shippo ran and jumped onto Yusuke's head and then into Botan's arms.
"Are we going now?" he asked. He was very hyper and left the others wondering just how much sugar he had had that morning.
"As soon as Kagome and Hiei are done talking." Yusuke answered, fixing his messed up hair. Hiei shot them an evil glance before he joined them. Kagome followed quietly.
"Are we all here?" Botan asked cheerfully, "Alright then!"
She looked around the empty park and opened a portal when she felt the coast was clear. Kagome stepped back a bit, but she found a warm hand slip into hers. She looked from the hand to the person it belonged to. She blushed at Kurama and allowed him to lead her into the portal.
They appeared in a large office. A large monitor covered one wall and across from it sat a desk. This is when Kagome first caught sight of the toddler Yusuke had referred to.
"Ah, good you all came." He eyed Shippo when the kit jumped onto his desk, "Can I help you?"
"Um...nope." Shippo smiled innocently.
"Why are we here?" Kagome got to the point quickly, "More importantly, why are Shippo and I here?"
"To be honest with you, Kagome, we've been picking up on your spiritual energy for a few months now. Since you know Yusuke, I thought it would be wise to meet you." Koenma replied and climbed out of his chair. While standing, he barely stood taller than Shippo.
"If that's the reason, why couldn't this have waited until later? I have school ya know!" Koenma gulped nervously.
"Kagome, calm down." Kurama said soothingly. She turned to him, surprised that her hand still rested in his. She yanked her hand away blushing and nodded.
"I was told this was important, pacifier breath. Care to share what is so urgent about being here this morning?" Yusuke yawned and stretched.
"Of course, Yusuke." Koenma pushed the small red button on his remote control and the monitor flickered on, "As you know, we do keep an observance on Makai. Usually there is nothing out of the ordinary, but one of our scouts reported in on the Lord of Makai. Normally I wouldn't have any concerns with the guy, but apparently something caught our scout's attention. This was discovered in his garden."
Kagome froze at the image on the screen and Shippo gave out a starling wail. He jumped into Kagome's arms and buried his little face into her chest. Everyone was surprised and concerned by their horrified expression. Kagome's eyes swelled with tears.
The picture on the monitor revealed what looked to be a large block of un-melting ice. Inside were two humans that appeared to be sleeping.
"Kagome?" Yusuke stepped towards her and she turned away from him to cuddle Shippo closer.
"Rumor has it that these two have been frozen like this for five hundred years." Koenma replied, "They were imprisoned just shortly after the mate of the lord ran away."
"Five hundred years?" Yusuke looked to Koenma and then to Kagome, "Dammit!"
"What is it, Yusuke?" Kurama questioned, he was eyeing the monitor and the images of the humans.
"Kagome, listen to me." Yusuke pulled her aside, "I know what happened. Souta told me about the well."
"He did?" she sniffed and sobbed louder.
"Only me though." Yusuke said assuredly, "Do you know who they are?"
"It's Sango and Miroku." Shippo looked up, "They were our friends."
"Yusuke, you have a new mission and I'm afraid it is not going to be easy." Koenma stood next to them, "You must go to Makai with the others and rescue those two humans. You will more than likely run into Sesshomaru. He is the Lord of Makai."
"I want to go home!" Kagome screamed loudly and frantically, "Now! I want to go home now!"
Her breathing had increased rapidly. She swayed a bit before fainting and falling backwards. Yusuke caught her quickly and Shippo leapt off of her and onto Kuwabara's shoulder.
"Tell me something, Shippo. Is he Inuyasha's brother?" Yusuke lifted Kagome into his arms.
"Yes." Shippo pouted and wiped the new tears that clung at the corners of his eyes.
"I thought so." Yusuke shook his head, "Botan, I want to bring her home now. If she wakes up here she's gonna be pissed."
"Alright."
Botan opened a portal and Yusuke stepped inside. Once it closed, the blue-haired deity turned back to them and frowned.
"That didn't go well at all." She said sadly.
"Kit, tell me, is she Sesshomaru's mate?" Hiei spoke from the other side of the room.
"That's not possible unless Kagome went to Makai without me noticing." Koenma crawled back into his chair.
"She didn't want to be his mate." Shippo frowned, "I want to be with my mommy. Please can I go home?"
"Yes, you all can go home. I want you back here tomorrow morning, with Yusuke."
The portal dropped them into the backyard and Shippo ran into the house to find Yusuke and Kagome. Kurama sat quietly on a swing before hearing Yusuke join them.
"I knew she was carrying an inu youkai, I had no idea that it belonged to Sesshomaru." Kurama said as Yusuke stepped before him.
"You know then?" Yusuke sat on the swing next to him.
"I know that Shippo isn't from this time, but how did Kagome get him here from the past?"
"Time travel through a dirty, old well." Yusuke replied, "Back at the shrine she was living at, there was a well. For some odd reason, one day she was pulled in and it sent her five hundred years into the past. The last time she returned through the well was three months ago, after Sesshomaru...after that bastard hurt her."
"There is a time portal here in the human world?" Botan was surprised, "I need to return immediately to Koenma. If anybody else finds this portal..."
"They won't be able to get through." Shippo ran and jumped into Kurama's lap, "The well only let Kagome and Inuyasha go through to each other's times."
"Then how did you get here?" Hiei snapped.
"Kagome held onto me very tightly and jumped in. I think it sensed her desperate desire to keep me with her." Shippo answered, "She won't go back through the well and Inuyasha is dead."
"So, you are saying that Kagome got pregnant five hundred years in the past?"
"Back then there was no separating humans and youkai. We were traveling together with Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango and Kirara."
"Kagome! Kagome, what's the matter?" Rei's voice yelled from Kagome's bedroom, "Yusuke, there's something wrong with Kagome!"
They ran into the house and Kurama and Hiei stopped at the door. Kagome's energy was pulsing way stronger then it had been before and they didn't want to get too close. Kurama pulled Shippo off the floor and motioned for them and Hiei to head back outside for the time being.
Yusuke stared at Kagome as she lay on her bed. Her entire body was surrounded by a bright pink aura. He had never felt her energy be this strong. She looked angelic as the glow brightened.
"It's okay, Rei. She's not in any danger." Botan sat next to Kagome, "Someone's miko powers just got a lot stronger."
A/N: Yeah, that'll do it for now. It'll be a few days before I add to this one. I have to update my other two stories over the next few days. I was gonna take the time to thank everybody individually, but this is soooo long already. So thank you all as a whole and next time I'll thank you separately!