Yusuke's POV:
As soon as Kagome was gone we turned to that cat. We could all sense the demon aurora from it.
"Here kitty, kitty." Kuwabara said.
The cat sniffed at him and rubbed against Yukina again.
"We can't let Kagome keep that demon cat." I said trying to grab the cat.
It jumped back. I lunged again but it kept dodging me easily while seeming to wear a smirk.
"If it hasn't done anything yet then it probably won't." Genkai said. "Besides if you kill it or take it, Kagome will get mad. If you're her cousin you have to know how frightening she gets when mad or how attached she can get to an animal."
I immediately stopped chasing the demon cat. It returned to Yukina quickly.
"I still can't believe some one as intelligent as Kagome is related to you." Genkai said sipping at her tea.
I glared at her. She glanced at the cat again.
"I think the cat is an ice cat." Kurama said. "They are really rare. They are cats that can stay small like a house cat but transform into a large cat the size of a horse."
"If it were an ice cat that would explain why it likes Yukina since she is also related to ice." Genkai said.
"Maybe if the cat gets attached to Yukina, Kagome will let it stay with her, and Genkai can keep an eye on it." Kurama suggested.
The cat stopped rubbing against Yukina and stepped away glaring at all of us with its unreal icy blue eyes.
"It doesn't seem to like the idea." Kuwabara said.
He was looking at the cat with longing. He loved cats and seemed to want to scoop this one up and hug it to death. As if that cat sensed his fantasy it turned and hissed at him. I laughed as Kuwabara tried to glare at the cat. Suddenly a blue portal opened up out of nowhere. Botan hoped out and looked at us and starred at the cat. She opened her mouth but we stopped her.
"My cousin is here, so don't say anything with her near and the cat… we're dealing with." I said.
Botan blinked then slowly nodded. When we didn't sense Kagome near Botan started to speak quietly.
"We wish to inform you that another dark tournament has been announced." Botan said.
We all looked at her quickly.
"The king of the Makai is sponsoring it and has invited you."
We all nodded slowly.
"There need to be five on your team and your coach may not count as a member since she will be a spare."
I growled.
"There is Kurama, Kuwabara, Hiei, and me. Hiei might not even want to join. I guess we don't need to enter…"
"Yes you do."
We all looked at Botan.
"Any who do not enter will be threatened till they agree to enter or they will be killed for refusing."
Everyone winced.
"Well you need to find another member quick. A demon will be here to check whether or not you will join. It will also take your names. If you do not have enough players it will assign you one." Botan said quickly.
"When will the demon get here?" I asked as quickly as she had talked.
"I don't know. It could be here in a minute or in a week. Now the tournament will be on Hangman's island. It will start in two weeks. I know you haven't had warning but no one did."
We all sighed and growled in frustration. Suddenly another portal opened and a tiger demon stepped out grinning.
"I am here to register your team for the dark tournament."
Everyone panied, some mentally and many outright.
Kagome's POV:
I listened to the whole conversation between the grim reaper girl and Yusuke and them. I smiled to myself. It seemed Yusuke had been having an interesting time since I had last seen him. I saw them panic when the tiger demon stepped in.
"Well Genkai is our coach and Kuwabara, Yusuke, Hiei, and I will be on a team." Kurama said not loosing his entire cool.
"And your last member?" The demon asked.
They all winced slightly.
"We will arrange for one then if you don't come up with anyone in the next minute."
His grin promised a weak person or one who would slit their throats in their sleep.
"Well…" Yusuke asked.
I stepped out from around the corner. They all blinked at me. I put on my blank mask.
"I will be there last member."
The tiger demon looked slightly disappointed but slowly got his pen positioned to write my name on his paper. Everyone else was either gaping or starring at me in shock.
"Name?" The demon asked.
I walked up to him.
"Kagome Taisho." I whispered to him.
His eyes widened at my last name. He went to bow but I stopped him.
"Do not bow. They do not know who I am yet."
He scowled.
"You are heir to the Makai they should respect you." He growled.
"They will in the future. Please write that when at the tournament I do not wish my last name to be revealed. And could you tell Sesshomaru I will be entering?"
He nodded. He scribbled more stuff down then stepped back through his portal. I turned to the others still wearing my mask of emptiness.
"Now another person knows of demons." The one named Botan sighed.
"I knew of them long before this." I said bluntly.
She seemed to sigh in relief.
"YOU ARE NOT ENTERING THIS TOURNAMENT!" Yusuke yelled.
I sniffed.
"Yes I am."
"NO! I WILL NOT LET MY WEAK COUSIN COMPETE!"
I wanted to beat some sense into him but remained still. I still felt angry, though, at the weak part.
"Yes. I am entering." I said.
"Genkai, Kurama, help me out!" Yusuke said.
"I agree with Yusuke Kagome. You know nothing of fighting and you are allowed to kill in this tournament. We don't want you to die because we can't protect you."
I stiffened more trying to rein my anger in.
"Kagome you are an ordinary human. I'm afraid I'm with Yusuke and will not let you enter this tournament. We won't be able to protect you." Kurama said.
"Yeah we can't let a woman fight it goes against the code." Kuwabara said.
"Besides this has nothing to do with you. It would be better if you went home and forgot about this." Botan said nodding.
I was now rigid with fury.
'How dare they say that!?' Kean snarled. 'You are anything but weak!'
'They should show me respect not insolence!' I added. 'They are all pathetic humans! And I do not always need to be protected!'
Kean was fighting to take control. It took all my will power to keep her back. Rei was also growling all his hair on end. He stepped up beside me. Everyone seemed to see how angry I was, now. I looked at the ground as I felt my eyes start to bleed red.
Kurama's POV:
"Use your common sense Kagome. You can't enter a tournament where you could get killed. Leave it to us. You can just go home and bake or garden. It's what you are good at while we're good at fighting. You were never a strong fighter physically or emotionally so we don't want you to enter." Yusuke said.
Kagome shook slightly. We waited for her to respond. Then she looked up. As soon as Kagome looked up I froze. Her eyes were flashing from blue to red. Everyone seemed shocked. I slowly stood.
"You guys step back slowly." I said quietly.
They all looked at me.
"Only a powerful demon's eyes can do that and only when they are extremely angry. If her eyes turn completely red it means her demon has taken over and she will not hesitate to kill us. And believe me; she will be able to kill us if she wants."
I said keeping my voice low. They all gulped.
"But Kagome is human." Yusuke said.
Suddenly we all saw a barrier around her shatter. Black wolf ears, a blue crescent moon on her forehead, blue stripes on her cheeks, materialized and an out of this world aurora radiated off of her. If Genkai didn't have barriers around her shrine every demon with in a hundred kilometres would have felt her power.
"Oh Shit." Yusuke cursed.
Yukina was shaking uncontrollably now, her eyes wide. It would be hard for her to stand the aurora since she was a weaker demon. Genkai sensed this and grabbed her shoulder shielding the ice maiden with some of her spiritual powers. Youko was cowering in my mind.
"You see the stripes on her face? Those means she is a demon of noble blood. She is either related to the king of the Makai or one of the old lords. And the crescent moon means the same thing." I said.
Suddenly Kagome's eyes stopped flashing and just turned red. Her claws grew and her fangs also grew. Her stripes became a bit jagged and blood lust and anger radiated off of her.
"YOU PATHETIC HUMANS WILL PAY FOR BEING SO DISRESPECTFUL TO ME!" She growled. "HOW DARE YOU ASSUME I AM WEAK AND IN NEED OF PROTECTION!?"
The cat beside her growled too. Suddenly in a flurry of snow it transformed into a large panther that had huge fangs. Kagome spread her feet ready to attack and lifted her claws which glowed green with poison. She lunged at us and we all jumped back. Her claws melted the floor where Kuwabara had been. We all gaped. She looked up at us and growled. She lunged at the closest person who happened to be me. I dodged her claws, just barely, as the poison swept past me. I felt the front of my uniform burn a bit. I had to use my demon speed to get away from a kick she aimed at me. And even after I tried to jump away, her foot connected with my chest.
My eyes widened as I was thrown back into the table. I hit it full force, snapping the table and landing in the rubble. I tried hard to get my breath back but it was hard with a couple broken ribs. Kagome dismissed me and looked to her cousin. She was no longer growling in rage but grinning in excitement. She lunged at him. He spread his spiritual powers through his body and caught her kick. Then he jumped back. Kuwabara had come to help Yusuke and was thrown back hitting a wall hard. The ice cat was keeping Botan from helping and was partly keeping the innocent Yukina safe.
"Sorry about this Kagome." Yusuke said.
He fired a ray gun that would hurt her, but not kill her. Kagome was pushed back a bit but as soon as the power disappeared Kagome stood up straight. Her shirt hadn't even been singed. We all now saw that her clothes were layer with spiritual power and were as strong as armour. We briefly wondered where she had got the clothes but it wasn't the time to think about that. We all gaped at her a moment as she grinned again, and didn't even seemed fazed by the blow.
"We need to calm her down. If she stays this angry she will transform and you don't want to see her like that. She'll be bigger then this house." I said breathlessly.
Kagome's power was slowly rising. Yukina was on the verge of tears. Genkai was doing her best to keep the barrier around the two. Botan jumped beside Genkai and tried to help. I looked at Yusuke and he seemed to see what he had to do. He slowly stepped towards Kagome who grinned and got ready. Yusuke fell to his knees and bowed, his head touching the floor.
"We are sorry Kagome. We meant no disrespect. We did not know you were this strong. It was a mistake. Please stop."
The cat seemed to calm a bit and Kagome's power stopped growing. She still growled and her eyes stayed red. Genkai stepped forwards and bowed too. The same with Kuwabara and I, once we got up. Kagome's power suddenly disappeared behind another barrier and her eyes turned back to their normal color. But her demon features stayed shown. She took some deep breathes. Her cat changed back to the small one. Yukina started to calm and everyone sighed in relief.
"Where the hell did you get those powers and how the hell did you become a demon?" Yusuke asked.
Kagome looked at him anger and the excitement of killing, still written on her face.
"Not the best time to ask questions." Genkai hissed at her student.
He quickly nodded and sat by the table. Suddenly Hiei burst into the room his sword drawn. When he saw no threat he walked to Yukina and kneeled beside her. He tried to comfort her. We all knew she was Hiei's sister now. He had told us right after his growth spurt. I smiled slightly at the thought. After the last tournament Hiei had started to grow. He said he was due for a growth spurt. Now he was as tall as me. He was actually taller then Kuwabara. Kuwabara was ticked at that. I noticed Kagome looked at Hiei with a curious expression. I watched her a moment.
-She should so be our mate- Youko said.
I choked on some air.
. up Youko.--.
-No. She is strong, beautiful and intelligent. And I like her more by the second-
I ignored Youko as he rambled on. When Yukina was finally calm Hiei looked up.
"What hap…"
He froze in mid-sentence. He starred at Kagome with wide eyes. She smiled at him. She was still standing a little ways from the table. Kagome grabbed a necklace that had a red drop that almost looked black on it, from around her neck and started to play with it. Hiei starred another minute. Then he slowly stood. We had never seen show emotion before. But now he showed slight surprise and joy. Even if it was only a wisp of it, it still surprised us. He walked slowly over to Kagome. Then he bowed and stayed bowed. Now we all starred wide-eyed or in Kuwabara and Yusuke's case, gaping with their jaws on the ground.
"Lady Kagome." Hiei breathed.
"Hiei you remember me." She laughed.
"I would never forget you milady."
I was now gaping openly. I had never heard Hiei speak with such respect or use a title. Not even to the prince of the underworld. Kagome walked up to Hiei and rested a finger on his chin and pulled him up. They looked into one another's eyes a moment.
"It seems you have grown." She laughed.
He blushed slightly and only my eye sight caught it. I gaped more.
"I have been trying to find you. But I couldn't, it was like you vanished." Hiei said.
"I didn't think you would keep that promise." She said.
"I swore in our blood." He said.
"You have been looking for me all this time?" She asked tilting her head.
"Yes. I trained and got strong. Then I set off to find you but could find no trace. I am sorry it took so long."
Now we all gaped. No one in the room had heard him speak that much.
"What has it been? A couple hundred years?" Kagome asked
"I have been looking for you for four hundred and seventy years, ten months, three weeks, and two days." Hiei said.
Kagome laughed while we gaped still.
"Hiei you should have given up."
"No."
She smiled. Then she wrapped her arms around him hugging him tight. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. Then Kagome pulled back and kissed his cheek.
"It is so good to see you well. I was worried when you left." She admitted.
Hiei nodded and got his stoic look again.
"WHOA! BACK UP! Will some one please explain!?" Yusuke asked.
Kagome smiled slightly.
"Well dear cousin…."
"Cousin?" Hiei interrupted.
She raised an eye brow at him. He shut up.
"I do not wish to tell you cousin." Was all Kagome said.
Then she leaned against the wall. Hiei stood beside her, less then an arms length away. Youko wanted to kill Hiei for being so close too, as he called her our 'future mate'.
"I will not answer your questions till I feel like it. Now I want to go home and start training.
"First we have to go introduce you to our boss." Botan sighed.
Kagome looked at her and nodded. Botan stood and a blue portal opened up.
Hiei's POV:
I stood close to Kagome as the others jumped through the portal. I had just found her after almost five hundred years and I wasn't going to let her out of my sight. When she finally set towards the portal I followed closely. As we stepped into Koenma's office Yusuke spoke up.
"Hey toddler, meet my cousin and our new member."
"What Have I Said About Calling Me Todd…Your cousin?" The toddler asked.
At the moment he was sitting in a high back chair facing away from us filing through a cabinet. We couldn't even see him. We could just hear the flipping of papers.
"Yeah. Her name is Kagome."
Suddenly there was silence. The chair slowly started to turn to reveal the toddler in a red outfit and the hat with the word 'Jr.' printed on it. He had a soother in his mouth too. Kagome smiled at him.
"Hello Koenma." She said.
We all looked at her.
"We didn't tell you his name. Did we?" Botan asked.
"No need to. I have known Koenma for a long time."
"Kagome!" He yelled finally.
He flung himself at Kagome. We all gaped, well my eyes just widened. Kagome hugged the toddler to her laughing.
"It is good to see you Koenma."
"You missed my last birthdays!"
"Yeah I did. I guess I owe you presents then don't I?"
"Yeah." He said excitedly.
We watched closely. Koenma looked like a toddler but never acted as one, now he was cuddling up to Kagome like a happy child.
"How do you know Kagome?" Botan asked.
"I met her with my father. She was the one who gave us the miko powers to set up the barrier between the Makai and this dimension." Koenma chirped.
We all gaped at Kagome.
"Don't tell them anything else Koenma. I will explain it all to them later but I would rather keep it a secret right now." Kagome said.
"Okay Kagome."
We gaped again. We had never seen him obey anyone but his father.
"Did you take care of the present I gave you for your hundredth birthday?" She asked.
"Yes."
Koenma reached his neck and pulled string from his shirt to show a small jewel like Kagome's. I blinked. The toddler had been wearing one of my tear jewels the whole time.
"I gave it to him for his birthday." Kagome said to me.
"What does Hiei have to do with it?" Koenma asked.
"It is one of the jewels made by his tears." Kagome said.
"Hiei cried?" Yusuke said.
He almost started to laugh but with Kagome and me glaring at him he shut up and took a step back.
"I have seen you cry plenty of times Yusuke." She sniffed.
Now everyone looked at Yusuke. He scowled.
"Like the time you tried to steal cookies from me and I beat you and threw you down the shrine stairs. You came back up covered in scrapes and sobbing."
Kuwabara and Botan were laughing, while the others just grinned.
"You know I think I have some pictures of you crying, some of you beaten up, some of you cowering from me, some of you sitting in the corner pouting, and so many more wonderfully embarrassing ones."
Yusuke froze.
"I wouldn't mind some of those." Genkai said.
"They're great to use as black mail." Kagome grinned.
"If you want me to do something you could just turn into the red eyed demon that scared the shit out of me." Yusuke grumbled.
Koenma looked at him sharply.
"You made her angry?" He asked very sharply.
"Yeah she almost transformed as Kurama put it."
"What did they say?' Koenma asked Kagome.
"They kept pestering me about being weak and needing protection, and they tried to order me from entering the tournament." Kagome said.
"If she transforms none of you will be able to stop her. I guess if you teamed up and went full out you may have a chance." Koenma warned.
We all nodded even Kagome.
"Well I'm going to go back top my shrine. I'll meet with you guys a day before the tournament. And I'll bring you your birthday presents." She said the last to Koenma.
He 'hoorayed' and we all snorted. Then Kagome set Koenma down on his desk.
"I'm coming with you." I said.
Everyone looked at me.
"I've been looking for you for hundreds of years. I am not going to let you go now."
"Hiei loves Kagome." Kuwabara taunted.
I glared at him.
"I made an oath in our blood. I am bound to that oath." I said.
Kuwabara shut up. Even he understood that I was bound now till I died.
"I can release you from you duties." Kagome said.
"I do not regret swearing my life to you. I owe you." I said.
She smiled softly. Then she walked up and fingered the white scarf around my neck.
"I see you kept it."
"I grew so now the other parts don't fit anymore. They saved my life a couple of times."
"Did you keep the sword?"
I pulled my sword from under my cloak. The black hilt shone and the black sheath looked brand new. I pulled it from its sheath slightly and the blade glinted. It looked like it hadn't been used once.
"You kept it in good condition." Kagome said.
"She gave you that sword?" Kurama asked.
"Yes. It is made of one of her fangs."
Everyone blinked. Kagome smiled at then yawned.
"Well I'll be going now. You can come if you want Hiei. You know where I live if you need me Yusuke."
He nodded. Then Kagome flicked her wrist. A small crystal on a bracelet, I hadn't seen, glowed and a blue and black portal opened. Everyone blinked at it. Kagome stepped in and Rei who had been on Yukina's shoulder also jumped in. I followed quickly as the portal started to close.
Kurama's POV:
We all watched as Kagome, the cat, and Hiei vanished into the portal.
-Getting close to her will be hard with Hiei guarding her- Youko frowned.
. said we would try to get close to her.--. I said.
-I did, so stop complaining-
I snorted mentally in amusement. I looked at the others.
"If that fire brat tries anything with my cousin I'll kill him." Yusuke growled.
"He probably won't. He seems very loyal to her. Besides he's honourable." Genkai said.
"I wonder why he made a blood oath with her though." I wondered.
They all nodded in agreement.
"And how come our boss is so friendly with her? If you touch her again I'll kill you too." Yusuke threatened Koenma.
"Like you could kill me." Koenma snorted. "Besides she gave me permission to hug her."
"Kami, Kagome kept a tone of stuff from me." Yusuke sighed.
"You kept a lot from her to." I pointed out.
"Well we had better go start training." Genkai said.
Everyone nodded. Suddenly a demon burst in to the office panting.
"What is it George?" Koenma asked.
"King Enma is on his way here."
Everyone tensed.
"Stand straight and be respectful." Koenma said to us.
We all stood beside one another and stayed quiet as King Enma walked into the room. It was very intimidating with him standing over us and looking us over.
"So this is your team of spirit detectives." He boomed.
"Yes but one is gone at the moment." Koenma said.
King Enma nodded.
"I came to tell you that the king of the Makai has invited us to watch the tournament."
Koenma blinked.
"Why?" He asked.
"His heir is participating."
We all tensed.
"The heir of the king of the Makai is competing in the dark tournament?" Genkai asked.
King Enma glanced at us before he nodded.
"Well maybe we should just forfeit now." I said.
King Enma snorted.
"The king of the Makai won't let you. He said he wants the winners of the last tournament to compete and if they didn't they would never be allowed in the Makai, if they lived after his guards were done with them."
We all winced.
"Oh! Guess what dad!" Koenma said looking happy and hyper.
King Enma looked at his son.
"What?"
"I saw Kagome! She was just here."
King Enma blinked.
"Really?" He asked.
"Yeah. It turns out she is close friends with Genkai and she's Yusuke's cousin."
"Mh. I'll have to have her come visit one of these days. I'll show her how much her spiritual powers helped."
We all blinked. It sounded as if Kagome was friends with the king of the underworld not just his son.
"Is she in the Makai?" He asked.
"No, she lives on sunset shrine." Yusuke said.
"Mmh. Does she have a guard? I wouldn't want to have her get killed." King Enma said.
"Hiei is with her. He swore a blood oath to her." Koenma said.
"Good. Now I must go see Sesshomaru. He said he wanted to talk to me."
Then King Enma walked out the door. Koenma sat back down in his chair and we relaxed.
"So, is the heir of the King of the Makai is strong?" Kuwabara asked.
We all gave him the, you-are-an-idiot look, except Yusuke who seemed confused too.
"The king of the Makai rules all the Makai and all the demons. He is the strongest demon alive." Genkai said.
"It would only make sense that his heir would be strong too." I said.
"It would be nice to be king." Yusuke said.
We all sighed. He was an idiot.
"I am guessing that at the tournament if we face off against the king's heir and his team we we'll be royal beaten." I said.
They all winced.
"Let's go get training. I only have two weeks to whip you into shape." Genkai ordered.
We all nodded. Botan opened a portal for us and we all filed through.
Hiei's POV:
As we stepped out of Kagome's portal I saw that we were on a shrine. Suddenly I saw three people walking towards us. One was an old man, one was a teen boy, and the other was a middle aged woman. They all carried bags. Kagome blinked.
"Mother?" she asked.
I blinked too.
"Sorry Kagome but we have a plane to catch." The woman smiled.
"Where are you going?"
"Caribbean!" Souta laughed.
Kagome blinked and looked confused.
"A friend of yours gave us plane tickets and told us the whole vacation was paid for. He said something about a tournament and that you needed to train and we had to be somewhere safe in case we were targeted." Her grandfather said.
"He was the cutest young man. He seemed about eighteen with orange hair in a green ribbon. He had pointy ears and green eyes. And the softest orange tail. He said he was a Kitsune." Her mother said.
"You mean Shippo." Kagome breathed.
"Yes that's his name. He said he had wanted to see you but you weren't here and he was really busy."
"I'm just glad that I know he's alive." Her voice cracked with emotion.
Then we heard the horn of a taxi.
"Well we'll see you later Kagome. Be careful in the tournament." Her mother yelled as they walked down the shrine stairs.
When they were out of sight Kagome sighed happily.
"Well that solves the problem of getting them out of the way for a while."
I nodded.
"Well come on. I'll show you to a room."
I followed her as we walked into the house. As we did I looked around the shrine and memorized the layout. Kagome walked into the house and I quickly followed. She showed me the kitchen, bathroom, living room, her room, her grandfather's room, her mother's room, and her brothers room, which I would be staying in. Then she told me she would go get dinner ready for us. I nodded and dropped a bag I had been carrying on the bed.
I then walked downstairs and sat at the table as Kagome cooked. I noticed that she had thrown on barriers hide her demon scent, miko powers, and appearance. She hummed as she cooked and I just watched her. It had been five hundred years but she hadn't changed at all. I liked that. I liked her just the way she was. When she had finished cooking she handed me some food and we dug in. When we had finished she washed the dishes and ran to her room. She grabbed a purse and we both headed outside.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"I need to do some shopping and it's only about five so everything will still be open."
I nodded and followed. We got groceries and things for around the house. I felt like a husband following his wife around. We got the 'what a cute couple' every time Kagome held my arm or dragged me off. We also stopped at a fabric store and Kagome measured me getting black clothe. She said I needed a new outfit and she would make one. I tried to tell her I didn't need one but she was stubborn and ignored me. When we had finally finished and started to head home Kagome hummed and hung onto my arm. Suddenly she stopped humming and stopped walking. I looked at her and saw her scowling at a man who was walking towards us. The man stopped in front of us and glared at me, then scowled at Kagome.
"So are you two timing? What happened to the other guy with the red hair?"
I scowled as I knew he was talking of Kurama.
=I used Kurama as an excuse to get away from him last time= Kagome said telepathically.
I blinked. I hadn't known she could speak telepathically.
~Nh~ I replied.
"I am not two timing." She said. "Hiei here is my friend, not lover, Hojo."
Hojo just glared.
"But why are you so close, hmm? He seems more then just a friend."
"Just give it up. I am not going to date you ever again. I do not love or even like you Hojo." Kagome said calmly.
"But you led me to believe that. You dated me all those years and threw yourself at me like all the other girls."
I looked at Kagome, whose face had hardened.
"I did not throw myself at you. My friends always set up the dates and you never waited for my answer. You just agreed with them and left. I never loved you Hojo. Now step aside or I will hurt you."
"As if you could! You may have pushed me down the shrine steps but you couldn't beat me one on one."
"Then test me." She hissed.
Hojo stepped forwards. I stepped in front of Kagome.
"Move Hiei." Kagome said.
"No Lady Kagome. I am sworn to protect you."
Kagome sighed while Hojo sneered.
"'Lady' Kagome; don't make me laugh. She is a whore, not even close to a lady. And Kagome can't fight for your self? What happened to your boasting? I knew you were a coward who hid behind others."
"Your threats are false. Besides if you think your taunts can hurt me you are wrong. You are just a bug beneath my shoe I have no need to be hurt by the words of a bug." Kagome said calmly.
Hojo snarled and went to move around me. I punched him hard in the gut. He fell back, the wind knocked from him. He snarled at me. Then he stood. He lashed out in a kick. I blocked easily.
"I have been taking Karate lessons, I'm now a black belt and you're just a thug. You have no chance of beating me." Hojo snarled.
I now saw he wore a karate outfit under his coat and seemed to be heading to his karate lessons now. I snorted in amusement. He lashed out again and I had to admit he was good…for human scum. I grabbed his leg with my demon speed and tossed his whole body to the side with one hand. He smashed into the wall. He sat there, stunned. Kagome walked up to him and crouched down.
"Where do you take Karate lessons?" She asked.
"Two blocks down in the recreation hall." He mumbled still dazed.
Kagome snorted and grabbed him by the collar. She gave me the bags she had been carrying and held Hojo under one arm. It was getting late and most people weren't out. But every time someone did pass Kagome pretended she was helping Hojo home so she didn't raise suspicion. When we reached the building Hojo had said Kagome walked in. She walked to the dojo and knocked on the door.
The room had at least twenty five people in it and they were all exercising or sparring. They all wore the white karate outfit and belts. No one looked up as she knocked. Then one man who seemed to be the sensei frowned and walked up to us. He glanced at Hojo who was still a bit confused and who was being held by the collar by Kagome. Kagome looked blank as she looked at the black belt.
"Did Hojo fight someone?" he asked.
"Yes. Me." I said.
"Why? Did you attack him?" He asked.
"No. I left Hojo a little while ago and he saw me with my friend here. He said he wanted me back and tried to fight me. My friend here intervened and stopped him."
The man frowned. Hojo seemed a little more aware now and stood on his own watching. Then the sensei grinned. Four others walked up and also grinned.
"You know what happens to those who use their karate for purposes other then self defence." The sensei grinned.
"They get kicked out!" One man laughed.
The sensei grabbed his black belt and tore it away. Two of the men grabbed Hojo and dragged him to the front door by his arms. They opened the door and tossed Hojo out, roughly. Then they returned.
"We have been looking for the chance to expel him for a while. He is rude, rough, and mean." The sensei said.
"Serves him right." Kagome sniffed.
"Are you going to be okay? I mean when your friend leaves will Hojo attack you?" The man asked concerned.
Now Kagome laughed.
"If Hojo could beat me one on one he would have long ago."
"So you know self defence?"
"Yes. I am a high level black belt." Kagome said.
The sensei's eyes lit up in excitement.
"Hojo was the only other black belt here and it got boring to spar with him when I could still beat him. Would you mind sparing with me?"
Kagome grinned.
"Sure."
"Would you like to borrow a different outfit?' He asked looking at her skirt and shirt.
Kagome nodded. He grabbed one from a shelf and she changed in a wash room. When she emerged everyone quite what they were doing and started to watch the two. They had mats in the center and Kagome and the sensei stood on them. They each put a mouth guard in and some other safety things. Then they began a full out fight. It went on for about ten minutes. Kagome could easily win but she seemed to want to fight and have fun. Finally she used her strength and threw the guy off the mats and made him yield. Then they all cheered and the two shook hands.
"That was really good. You were toying with me the whole time." The sensei laughed.
Kagome smiled.
"Well we have to go."
The man nodded. Kagome changed. When she went to hand the outfit back to the man he grinned.
"Keep it. A trophy for beating me."
Kagome bowed and thanked him. Then with a wave we walked out the door. Kagome slipped the outfit into one of her bags and took them from me. As we walked back we let silence fall. When we reached Kagome's shrine she unlocked the door and we stepped in. She put all her stuff away and pulled out a sewing machine. She started to sew my clothes and talking about how much easier sewing was with a machine. I sat across from her just watching and relaxing. A little before midnight, Kagome finished my outfit and handed it to me. I thanked her and she smiled. We both walked up stairs and went to our rooms. I fell asleep slowly but I did.
.--.
I woke in the morning to the smell of food. I frowned as I got dressed and walked downstairs. Kagome was cooking pancakes and looked to have just got out of the shower. I frowned as I sat.
"I didn't hear you have a shower." I said.
"I cast a barrier around your room so you wouldn't, and so you could sleep longer."
"But I need to hear in case you need my help."
"I can look after myself and I was just having a shower." She snorted in amusement.
I sighed and watched her. When she was finished we had breakfast, then she cleaned and we headed outside. We trained the day away. We spared, trained alone, and took care of our weapons. When it was dark out we continued to train. I noticed Kagome even wore a blindfold sometimes, to train her senses. We did this routine for almost two weeks. We would eat, train, sleep, and then start the whole order over again. We did improve over the weeks and had fun. We rarely did other things but we did talk a lot while we trained and Kagome told me about herself and some of her past. When the day to meet the others finally arrived we were ready.
.--.
I watched from the doorway as Kagome packed her clothes and put her weapons into jewels. I had seen her do that early in our time together and so wasn't surprised anymore. When Kagome was packed she did a quick clean of the house with me always near. Then she grabbed her bags, and I grabbed mine. She locked the door and smiled at me.
"Well here we go. You think you're ready? Packed everything?"
"Yes Kagome." I sighed
After the first day of training she had told me not to call her milady, or lady Kagome. I had agreed after a while. She smiled at me again and flicked her wrist. The crystal on her bracelet glowed and her blue and black portal opened. We both stepped through and reappeared in a clearing by the sea. I saw boats ready for the teams of fighters waiting. Kagome and I hefted our bags up and headed forwards. When we reached the boats we stood to the side and waited for the others.
Kurama's POV:
For the whole two weeks Yusuke had trained non-stop collapsing more then once from exhaustion. He had said he had to get stronger so he could protect Kagome. He had improved quite a bit too, in just the two weeks. Kuwabara also trained hard, not as hard as Yusuke but still a lot. Yukina had cheered us on and helped us with encouragement. Genkai had trained the first two and helped them improve.
I knew she had also trained herself too. I trained too, but more by myself. I had also improved with Youko as my instructor. For once the fox had shut up in his ramblings and helped. He had said it was so our future mate wouldn't get hurt. I was a bit surprised that he was still hung up on her, but ignored most of his comments about her. Finally the day arrived to go meet Hiei and Kagome.
.--.
We had all packed and stood waiting when Botan's portal opened. We all jumped through the portal and found ourselves in front of Yusuke's house. We found Keiko, Atsuko Yusuke's mom, Shizuru Kuwabara's sister, Koenma in human form, and Botan all waiting for us. They waved.
"Are you ready to whoop some ass Yusuke?!" His mom asked/yelled.
"Yup!" Yusuke said with enthusiasm.
"Because you had better win! I'll be watching and if you don't beat some people at least you'll get it." Atsuko threatened.
"I heard your cousin will be competing." Shizuru said smoking.
"You mean Kagome?" Atsuko asked.
"Yeah." Yusuke sighed.
"She will do fine." Koenma scoffed.
Everyone looked at him.
"I know she will because I have seen her fight before." He said answering the silent question.
"Well you had still better look after her." Atsuko said to her son. "My sister-in-law would kill me if Kagome got hurt."
Yusuke nodded.
"Ready to go?" Botan interrupted.
Everyone nodded and picked their bags up. We all jumped through the portal Botan opened to find ourselves in a clearing near some boats. We walked closer looking for Kagome and Hiei. As soon as we saw them we trotted over. Kagome waved back grinning and Hiei looked blank.
"So ready to go?" Kagome asked.
"Yeah." We said.
"Hello Auntie." Kagome grinned, hugging Atsuko.
"Hey Kagome. I heard you got stronger." She said.
"Yup." Kagome laughed.
When Atsuko stepped back Koenma bounded to Kagome He hugged her and smiled.
"Oh! Koenma I have your late birthday present here."
"Hooray!" He yelled.
Kagome reached into her bag pulling out a tin. The tin held cakes, chocolates, and cookies. Koenma grinned then hugged Kagome tight. Yusuke growled. Koenma at the moment in his human form looked suspicious as he held her. Kagome laughed and hugged him back.
"Dad will be watching the match." Koenma said.
"Enma? Well I'll have to visit him. I haven't seen him in years. Has he changed much?"
"No." Koenma grinned.
Kagome nodded.
"So you know King Enma?" Botan asked.
"Yes." Kagome nodded.
"How?" Genkai asked.
"Secret." Kagome sang.
We all sighed. Even though I had known Kagome in the past and sworn my life to her I still knew very little about her other then her personality, likes, dislikes, and her strengths. We saw the boat pull up and we all walked up. Other demons were already on and many followed us up, but stayed a safe distance away from us. As soon as the boat was loaded it set off. We all stood on deck waiting. If it was anything like last year then we would all fight on the boat and only one – three teams would make it to the island alive. It seemed this way as the captain stepped up to a mike. We all waited and listened.
"We will start the preliminaries here. Only two teams will be allowed to leave this boat when we get to Hangman island. Good luck." He chuckled.
We all pushed Yukina, Atsuko, Shizuru, Botan, and Koenma behind us. The cat on Kagome's shoulder leapt off and transformed growling at advancing opponents. All the other teams seemed to want to eliminate us first. We stood waiting. I made sure I was close to our friends so they didn't get hurt. I saw Hiei stand close to Kagome ready to protect her. The ice cat also stood next to Kagome. The demons watched us a moment then they all sprung. I had to focus on my opponents so I didn't see what happened with the others.
I easily killed off about fifteen people. I now could look to the others. Genkai, Yusuke, and Kuwabara had also easily killed their opponents. At Youko's nagging I looked at Kagome. She stood pouting slightly. It seemed she hadn't got to fight at all. Hiei and the cat Rei were in front of her blocking her from the demons. They had more then easily killed their opponents. I looked around to see another group of people on the opposite side of the deck. I didn't know any of them but they grinned at us.
They were all demons. There was a tiger demon, a cheetah demon, a panther demon, a leopard demon, and a lion demon. It looked as if they had just sat there the whole time while the other demons jumped at us. I watched them a moment, then I looked around again. The captain stood gaping at us. Beside him were two women. One was a woman with black hair in a bun, and red eyes. She wore a kimono and held a fan. The second was an albino teen. She held a mirror and also smiled softly. I watched them and followed their line of sight. They were watching Kagome. I saw Kagome sigh and look at them. When she saw them she blinked. Then she squealed and jumped up to them. She hugged each one and they all grinned. I wondered who she knew them. She motioned us forwards and we all walked up.
"Guys, this is Kagura, a wind sorceress and this is Kanna of the mirror." Kagome said.
"I know them. They work for the king of the Makai." Koenma explained.
We all blinked.
"And this is my cousin Yusuke, his friend Kuwabara, Kurama, and Genkai, our coach. This is Atsuko my aunt, Shizuru Kuwabara's sister, Botan the grim reaper, Yukina Hiei's sister, and Keiko Yusuke's girlfriend." Kagome introduced us.
We nodded at our names.
"And Kagura you know Hiei."
The woman Kagura and Hiei starred at one another a minute.
"Sorry about the attacking you thing." Kagura said.
Hiei nodded. We wondered what that was about but ignored it.
"Yusuke looks like an idiot, Kuwabara looks like a bigger idiot, Kurama seems calm and intelligent, Genkai seems wise, and Hiei seems like Sesshomaru." Kagura said.
Yusuke and Kuwabara glared at her while the rest of us smirked slightly. Kagura just ignored the glares though. Kanna took a step forwards and pulled something from a pocket. She handed it to Kagome and Kagome smiled. She opened the envelope and pulled a letter out.
Kagome's POV:
I looked the letter over quickly.
'Dear Kagome,
I heard you were entering the tournament and I wish to say good luck. Do not die though. Kagura and Kanna will watch you till you get to the island. I will be there along with the others. We may not see you right away though. Enma is going to come watch the final match. I hope you make it that far. You have all my confidence. Kagura also has a gift for you from me .I trust her and Kanna completely. She may forget though so remind her. She sometimes forgets things if she doesn't think it important. She does not know what the gift is. I suggest you do not show it to everyone, it will put you in danger at some times. Wear it if you have a suitable guard or protection around you though. The people should know who their future leader will be. And if you can, try to find a suitable guard.
Signed Sesshomaru
I read it over a second time then handed it to Hiei. He looked at me.
"Burn it please."
He nodded and it burst into black flame. When it was gone I turned to Kagura.
"He said you have something for me?"
"Oh! Yeah, almost forgot." She said.
Kanna rolled her eyes. Kagura walked off towards a room. She returned a minute later with a cloth bundle. She handed it to me and I took it nodding.
"Who sent you that?" Yusuke asked.
"Someone you don't know." I said.
"It might be dangerous." He said.
I laughed.
"I trust the person who sent this to me with my life. And I doubt Kagura would double cross him and give me a dangerous item in its place."
Yusuke just grumbled. I slowly untied the bundle and opened the bundle. I looked down and saw a knife. It was about two feet long. The blade was ordinary enough. The hilt though was beautiful. It was a blue color and looked like water. It had a deep blue, crystal, crescent moon at the top of the hilt inside the blue metal that served as the hilt. The sheath was also a deep, deep blue, almost black. It was plain except for the small crescent moons around the top and bottom. They were engraved into the sheath. I loved it. I saw Koenma gaping.
"Those moons are the symbol of…."
I covered his mouth and pushed him away from the group.
"Don't tell them." I said.
He looked at me then slowly nodded. I lifted my hand.
"So you are the heir to the Makai?" He asked so quietly not even the demons in our group would hear.
I nodded.
"I thought it would be Inuyasha. He is second oldest no?" He asked.
"Correct but Inuyasha didn't want the place and is not cut out for it." I said.
He nodded.
"So the crescent moon is the symbol of the King of the Makai?" I asked.
"Yes. No one wears a crescent moon unless they are given permission by the king of the Makai. Or those who are born with a crescent moon marking. His most trusted vassals wear them and his close family. Kagura has one on the bottom of her fan and Kanna has one on her mirror."
The others were watching closely and curiously. I nodded and we walked back to the group.
"Thank you Kagura." I said.
She nodded. I wrapped the cloth back around the knife.
"You're not going to wear it?" Kurama asked.
I knew the thief in him would love anything pretty and he would have worn it,
"No. It's too dangerous."
"I thought you said he wouldn't send you anything dangerous." Yusuke said.
"It won't hurt me but it may make others come after me."
"To steal it?" Atsuko asked.
I shrugged. I held the bundle an arm and went to the railing. I leaned on it and looked at the waves. I felt the cool breeze blow my hair and sighed in content. I had seen Rei walk off with Yukina and I had seen Hiei walk off to a different part of the deck to train. Everyone sort of just wandered around. The captain had also shown everyone their rooms. I just stayed at the railing looking out over the sea. After a bout an hour I heard someone walk up next to me. It was the tiger from the other team. He just stayed next to me looking out over the railing. I didn't mind. His team seemed more civilized and more polite then the other teams. They weren't human haters and they weren't rude, loud, or mean. They seemed nice.
"May I ask why the two women that work for the king of the Makai seem to listen to you and why the prince of the underworld also obeys you?"
"So you recognize the women and prince?" I asked
"I saw the crescent moons and I have seen the prince from a distance before."
I nodded.
"Are you loyal to the king of the Makai?" I asked.
"We are part of the castle guard. We wanted to enter the tournament to show to our king how strong we are." He said.
"So you protect the king of the Makai?" I asked.
"Well we are some of the palace guards. We are higher then the guards who stand guard on the walls of the castle but not as high as the elite guard who guard the king personally."
"You are loyal to him?" I asked.
He nodded. I smiled.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you who I am as long as you don't tell anyone else."
"I promise on my honour." He said solemnly.
I unwrapped my bundle and revealed my blade. His eyes widened and he gaped. He looked at me then the sword.
"Only the king of the Makai and his siblings have knives like this." He whispered.
"My name is Kagome Taisho. Sesshomaru is my big brother."
The guard gaped a moment then stumbled ten feet from me. He bowed low and stayed like that. I saw his team members walk over to us. Suddenly the tiger growled and they all bowed too.
"Who is she?" one whispered.
"I can't tell." The tiger said.
He seemed to be fighting between his promise to me and his duty to serve me and make sure others showed me proper respect. I sighed.
"I guess you can tell if you want."
"She's the heir to the Makai throne."
Their bows deepened.
"Stand up. You do not need to stay bowed." I said.
They stood but looked at the ground.
"My lady, we will drop from the tournament and act as your guards till have a… proper escort."
"You mean the elite guards?" I asked.
"Yes." He said.
I sighed.
"You do not need to do that."
"Yes we do. We are sworn to your family. We will serve you till we die." They all said.
They all kneeled on one knee and stayed with their heads bowed. I sighed again. Then I smiled slightly. Sesshomaru had told me to find a guard, and I guessed I had just found one.
"Fine."
"Thank you for this milady. We swear to serve you forever."
They all stayed bowed. I rested my hand on the tiger's shoulder. He looked up.
"Stand."
They all stood slowly.
"You may protect me if you wish."
"We will milady. We won't leave you unguarded."
I sighed again.
"If I'm not to forward I would like to say you should wear the knife milady. You must show who you are so people treat you with the proper respect."
"I guess I should."
I slipped the blade into my belt at my waist and folded the cloth. One of the guards stepped forwards.
"I will take that to your room for you."
"Thank you." I smiled.
He bowed his head and trotted off with the cloth. I looked at the tiger demon who was apparently the leader.
"So what are your names?" I asked.
There was Suko, he was the one who had returned the cloth to my room, then there was Minko, Mito, Sai, and the leader, the tiger was Kito. I smiled at each of them then turned to Kito.
"Will you spar with me?" I asked.
He blinked and slowly nodded. I pulled my knife free and he pulled his free. The other three guards stepped to the side to watch. We crossed our blades and began. At first I think he was worried about hurting me but as soon as I gave him a smart whap with the flat of my blade he fought back. We exchanged blows, dodged, and parried. I think we had been fighting for ten minutes when we were interrupted. Yusuke jumped between us and glared at Kito.
"What are you doing?" He asked me.
"Sparring."
"With the enemy? If he wanted to kill you he could and we would be short one member."
"I would never hurt her." The guard said sharply.
"How can I trust you?" Yusuke asked. "You're the enemy."
I walked to Yusuke and looked at Kito.
"Thank you for sparring with me. Ignore my cousin."
"Kagome…" Yusuke started dangerously.
I glared at him and he shut up but glared right back. Finally he took a step back. I slid my knife into my sheath and the guard did the same. The other guards stepped up behind me and waited.
"What is going on?" Genkai asked.
She, Kurama, Kanna, Kagura, Koenma, and Hiei walked up.
"Kagome is sparring with the enemy." Yusuke said.
Everyone looked at me quizzically.
"They are not my enemy." I said curtly.
Yusuke opened his mouth but Kito cut him off.
"We are her guards."
"Why does she need Guards?"
They looked to me and I shook my head.
"You'll figure it out later."
"So you decided to wear the knife." Kurama said.
I nodded. I looked at the others. They all seemed to except the fact I had guards except Yusuke who looked irritated. Hiei stepped closer to me and stood next to me. He looked the guards over. I knew he wouldn't trust them completely.