Kagome ran as fast as her feet could carry her. She was out of breath but she continued to run. The trees tore at her skin and the bushes wrapped around her feet but she ran on, tripping only to get up and run again. Suddenly she burst from the thick trees into a clearing. It looked at first to be an ordinary clearing but as Kagome paused to glance around she gasped. It was full of flowers and large healthy plants. It was like a garden. She saw cave off to the side too. She didn't stop though. She attempted to run out of the clearing an on as she had been doing but as she moved, vines wrapped around her feet. They held her to the ground and the trees vanished behind large vines and plants that grew up. Kagome gulped and realized she was in some demons territory.
"What do we have here?" A voice purred.
Kagome stiffened and attempted to turn around, but the vines had crept up her and held her firm around the waist and arms and even her neck. It was a few measly vines but they were god damn strong.
"A human female? And a pretty one." The voice said huskily.
Kagome shivered not wanting to know what was going on through his head. Suddenly the man stepped in front of her. She could only stare. The man had long silver hair that was longer then hers. On his head he had ears like Inuyasha but silver. Behind him was a long silvery tail that looked a bit like Koga's. He was very handsome. She could tell he was a kitsune too. She starred at him. He grinned as he looked her over. She had never been more conscious then now. She wore a deep green kimono but it felt like she was naked under his gaze. She wasn't very comfortable. She waited for him to make a move.
"What are you doing in my garden?"
She blinked at the question. 'Garden?' She glanced around and realized most of the plants didn't belong there and weren't natural. 'He made this place.' She realized
"So are you going to answer my question?" He asked.
"I was running."
"I could see that."
"I was running from someone and I stumbled in here. I would usually have sensed you before I got close but I wasn't paying attention."
He grinned again.
"So are you an ordinary human?"
"No. I'm a miko."
With that he jumped twenty feet away and scowled slightly.
"I won't hurt you. I'm different from most mikos. I won't hurt demons unless I have to."
He raised a brow.
"I even have an adopted kit…"
Kagome trailed off. Then she burst into tears and if the vines hadn't been holding her she would have collapsed. She barely noticed that they slowly lowered her to the ground. She had kept the sorrow bottled up till now. She cried her eyes out not carrying who saw. She faintly registered the arms wrapping around her, and the warm chest she cried into.
"What happened?" Came the kitsune's voice.
"I travelled with a demon slayer, a monk, a neko, my kit, and a half demon for two years looking for the Shikon no tama shards and trying to kill Naraku. I fell in love with the hanyou, but he loved my incarnate. She's dead but was brought back to life. But I still have half of her soul in me and she only has a clay body. Just today the hanyou mated with her after saying he loved me. Then he attacked me trying to get her soul back. I got away but he killed my kit. It hurts." She said between sobs.
He stroked her hair as she sobbed into his chest. She wondered why but didn't ask questions. After about half an hour she slowly stopped the tears. She looked up at the kitsune rubbing the tears away.
"I'm sorry about getting you wet." She half laughed half sobbed.
He gave her a soft smile.
"I'm Youko Kurama. Sorry about your kit. I heard about your group a lot. Lots of demons mention you. And Naraku came to me once offering me tainted shards if I killed you."
Kagome looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"I could smell the evil on him and refused."
"And you lived?"
"I'm safe in my garden. It's safer to me then a castle." He smiled.
She gave him a watery smile.
"I'm sorry about barging in and crying like that. I'm Kagome."
"Well Kagome I'm sorry again about you kit. I know hard it must be."
"He was my closest friend and family." She sobbed.
"Why don't you stay here the night?"
She sniffed and gave a nod.
..--..
Youko led her into the cave. She was asleep before he even laid her down. He could smell her sorrow and misery along with her hate. She seemed broken a bit. Kurama laid her on the moss bed and stroked her hair. She was really beautiful. He would have tried to seduce her but he could understand her grief. And if he tried it would probably make it worse and she might lash out at him. And he didn't want a miko lashing out at him. He did have some protection against a miko in his garden but a full blast of miko powers would really hurt and this was the most powerful of all mikos, the Shikon no miko. He new her story was true because one he saw half of the jewel on her necklace and two he knew Sesshomaru. They were close friends and Sesshomaru had talked about the miko and his half brother Inuyasha a few times. Youko sighed softly and walked back outside. He wondered what was going to happen now. The plants had been talking of change for a while, but he wondered if this was what they had meant.
..--..
The next day when Kagome woke Youko gave her some food and sat her down. She told him her whole tale right up to the betrayal where she cried again. After a while they talked and Youko persuaded her to stay and rest. She agreed. She stayed for three days and just rested, talked, and gardened with him. Over the time they got closer. In the end Kagome decided to stay and take lessons from him. He didn't mind at all. So for a year he taught her all about plants, how to wield a whip, how to do hand to hand combat, and taught her about Kitsunes. He also helped her learn how to use her miko powers to do the same things to plants he did, like make a whip from a rose or a seed. She got it down right away. Her natural element was earth so she said she found it quite easy.
Over the six months they became close. Not romantically close, but more like brother and sister close. At the end of the year Kagome had learned everything he could teach, even about stealing. But at the end of the year Kagome asked if he knew a good swordsman. He said yes and they left the garden to go see him. Youko hadn't told her who the swordsman was so when they showed up on the doorstep of the western lord's castle and met Sesshomaru Kagome was stunned. Youko had a good laugh about that, until Kagome smacked him to shut him up.
The three had a long conversation and in the end Sesshomaru agreed to let them stay. So for another year Kagome trained with Sesshomaru and when he was out, with his generals. Kagome learned the blade and how to wield a knife along with a few other techniques. She was also taught how to command an army, tactics and strategies, how to survive in the wilderness better, how to run a castle, and such from the soldiers, generals, and such people. She also learned things from the maids, cooks, and other people when she sat with them after her lessons. And somehow she managed to get time to stay in the library and keep up on her studies.
Then at the end of the year Sesshomaru adopted her. They went through a ceremony and became tied by shared blood. The blood also did something to her, bringing out the demon blood in her or something. She grew icy blue almost silver fox ears and a fox tail. She grew fangs and a tail too. And her eyes turned a blue that was between dark blue and icy blue, with some gold flecks. Sesshomaru and Youko informed her she had become a rare ice kitsune. And Sesshomaru became immune to spiritual powers that were weaker then Kagomes, which were most spiritual powers.
Then she and Youko repeated the ceremony. Youko also became immune to spiritual powers and Kagome got earth powers. So she was an ice kitsune with powers over plants. It was awesome as she said. The two males had agreed that they would look out for her but never would consider themselves brothers. To Kagome it was the most well spent two years of her life. But she knew the final battle was drawing closer. And she was correct. One day a scout ran in an informed lord Sesshomaru that Naraku was battling Kikyo, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Kirara, and Koga. Sesshomaru immediately alerted them and took off. Youko and Kagome were quick to follow him.
..--..
Kagome sighed as they ran through the trees at break neck speed, a blur to the human eye. She looked forwards and sighed again.
"Sighing to much can't be healthy for you." Youko said.
Kagome rolled her eyes and sighed again. She sniffed the air testily. She scowled softly and looked to Youko.
"Go one without me. There is something I have to do."
"Now?! Can't you do it later?!"
"No."
With that she was gone. Youko hurried forwards muttering about stupid sisters.
Kagome shot towards the deeper part of the forest they were in. She wrapped her miko powers around her hiding her scent and powers. She slowed as she reached a clearing. She sat high in a tree and watched carefully. Below was Hakudoushi. Akago was also there. She watched them with narrowed eyes. Akago sat in Hakudoushi's lap. They didn't look to happy.
"You are sure there is no way to get his heart out of me?" Akago asked.
"No. Unless I kill you, you are his heart. And I can't kill you since if you die I die." Hakudoushi grumbled.
Kagome smirked. This bit of info would work to her advantage. She dropped from the trees making the two spin to look at her. She grinned and called forth some ice. Before the two knew it Hakudoushi had ice freezing him waist down, to the ground. The ice crept over his arms holding Akago in place too. Not that the baby could do anything.
"Kagome." Hakudoushi said with narrowed eyes.
Kagome raised a brow. Few enemies cared to remember her name let alone call her by it. To them she was miko, wench, or bitch. Hakudoushi squinted even more.
"Miko and Kitsune?"
Kagome smirked. Then she whipped out a knife. Hakudoushi snarled at her. She clicked her tongue.
"You are of the same flesh yes?" She asked.
"Sort of. We are in a sense the same person, but living apart has given us each separate minds and personalities." Hakudoushi answered slowly.
"So you are like two people, yet one. Like twins."
He gave a wary nod, not taking his eyes of her knife. She grinned. She tucked the knife away and the two blinked at her. She slapped her hands together as if praying. She started to chant a spell under her breath as her now blue miko surfaced. She had learned that chanting the spell helped control it better and had more effect. The two now watched with wide eyes. Her miko powers took the shape of some symbols and then shot to the two. The words/miko powers wrapped around the two in a circle, hovering inches above their skin. Then the words enlarged and started to circle the two really fast making a large blue swirling band. The band started to shrink till it touched the two. Finally there was a bright flash of blue. When the blue faded Kagome grinned. In front of her stood two five year old boys that resembled both Akago and Hakudoushi. They had purple hair that fell to their shoulders and both had violet eyes and white outfits. They glanced at each other opened mouthed.
"There. I took Naraku's heart from you and gave it back to Naraku and separated your soul, dividing it evenly amongst you two. You will have the same knowledge and personality as before, you just look different. Distributing you soul evenly made you twins and made you look the same. If you add an infant and a ten year old and divide them evenly you get two five year olds." She grinned.
They starred at one another then up at her. They both grinned boldly. Then Hakudoushi ran to grab his spear, while Akago tried to walk. Kagome went to held Hakudoushi while Akago quickly learned to walk. Kagome once again used her powers on the boys spear to shrink it so it fit him better.
"You should have all of your abilities too." She said.
"Thank you." Akago bowed.
Hakudoushi followed his example. Kagome smiled.
"Come on. Let's go kill Naraku."
They grinned and leapt into the trees. They were both still demons so they could run as fast as her. They ran through the trees in silence. As they got close enough they could hear the sounds of battle. They finally leapt from the trees into the fray of battle. Hakudoushi and Akago stayed together. It seemed Akago had some sort of psychic abilities so he was fine. Kagome pulled her sword free and leapt towards Naraku. She froze all the demons she ran by ready. As she finally reached Naraku she found Inuyasha and Sesshomaru fighting him.
She ignored both and chopped at the mass of tentacles. Usually they would just regenerate but she froze the tips much to his anger. The battle lasted about ten minutes as they all fought the demons and tentacles. Kagome was the first to reach Naraku. He laughed as she saw an opening and stabbed her sword in his heart. But he soon realized he had a heart. He froze and looked at her in horror. She smirked and looked towards the twins. They waved and Naraku paled. Then in a blast of her miko powers he was nothing but a pile of dust. Everything changed after that. The last few of the demon horde flew off at top speed, Kagura leapt for joy and hugged her much to everyone's surprise, Kanna dropped her mirror letting it shatter while smiling, and Kohaku cried out and ran to his sister who hugged him. The others all starred at Kagome. She grinned at all of them.
She picked up the piece of jewel Naraku had had and walked to Sesshomaru. They spoke quietly a moment then headed to Kohaku. Sango gulped as she saw the jewel in Kagome's hand. Kagome didn't even say anything. She just pulled the shard from Kohaku's back making him die. Then Sesshomaru pulled his Tenseiga free and swiped it over the boy. Kohaku woke a second later and had a second reunion with his sister. Kagome then walked to Koga who already held his jewel pieces in his hand. He handed them to Kagome with a grin. Kagome took them gratefully and held all the jewel pieces in her hand. In a bright flash of pink she held the whole jewel. She looked at it a moment. Then she looked around the field at all the people standing around.
"The jewel is yours." She heard a voice whisper from the jewel.
She looked down at it then whispered her wish.
"I wish my soul to be copied and given to Kikyo so she may live again."
The jewel surrounded Kagome in a pink light. Then it pulled a white orb from her. She grinned as it flew and sunk into Kikyo. In a flash of pink Kikyo stood there with blue kitsune ears and a blue kitsune tail. She gaped and looked up. She had always looked similar to Kagome and now they even looked more similar.
"You copied your soul for her?" Sesshomaru asked loudly.
Everyone starred at her and she gave a nod. The jewel was still glowing. Sesshomaru saw this and leaned over it.
"I wish for her kit to be alive."
Kagome's eyes widened. There was a bright flash. And Shippo appeared beside them. He looked stunned a moment. Then he blinked and looked up at Kagome. He sniffed and lunged at her.
"Kagome!"
"Shippo." She sobbed.
They hugged while they cried. Everyone sort of looked away and let the two have their moment. When they finally dried their tears they laughed softly. Then Kagura cleared her throat.
"I wish to apologize for anything I have done to you."
Everyone starred at her. She snapped her fan open hiding the bottom half of her face.
"What? It wasn't like I had a choice."
Everyone still starred at her. They hadn't seen this side of her.
"I apologize also." Kanna whispered in her ghostly voice.
Everyone nodded. She had never seemed very evil. Suddenly Koga was beside Kagome his hands clasping hers.
"I am off to my clan. Ayame is waiting."
"Finally gave in, eh?" Kagome grinned.
He blushed and gave a curt nod.
"If you ever need anything come see me."
Then he shot off. Next came Sango and Miroku. They clasped their hands. They hugged Kagome together smiling.
"It was fun traveling with you Kagome." Miroku grinned.
"We'll miss you." Sango sniffed.
"I'll miss you too."
Then the two stepped back. Kirara stepped forwards and licked Kagome's face once in farewell. Then the two hopped onto her. Kohaku came up and thanked her and Sesshomaru. Then he also took off with Kirara and the two. Kagome watched them fly away. Then Inuyasha and Kikyo stepped forwards. Inuyasha was looking at the ground and his ears were twitching. He looked very ashamed.
"I'm sorry about hurting Shippo." He muttered.
"It's not his fault." Kikyo spoke softly.
Everyone looked at her.
"I was controlling him."
Kagome tilted her head and nodded. Shippo just looked up at her.
"Sit boy."
Inuyasha collided with the ground.
"Hey what did you do that for wench?!" He yelled.
"That's the Inuyasha I know. You are forgiven."
Inuyasha quieted and stood up. Kikyo bowed.
"I'm sorry for the trouble I caused. Thank you for the soul."
"Yeah. You're welcome and apology accepted." Kagome said.
The two then shot off together. Kagura and Kanna walked up to Sesshomaru.
"May we work for you in the west?"
Sesshomaru gave a lazy blink.
"I will allow you to stay in the castle as advisors."
Kagome clapped with a grin. Kanna and Kagura bowed their heads and stepped to the side to wait. Hakudoushi and Akago stepped forwards earning blinks from all the others.
"May we stay with you?" They asked Kagome.
She gave a grin and a nod. They each stepped on either side of her and held her hands. They looked up at her with smiles like they were the perfect children.
"Kagome…" Youko said.
Kagome looked up.
"Will you have to go to your time now?" He asked.
Kagome opened her mouth then snapped it shut. She sighed softly.
"I only have three days here. Then I must return."
Youko's ears wilted. Sesshomaru looked at her a minute.
"Then let us get back." He said.
Everyone nodded. Kagura pulled a feather from her air and shot into the sky with Kanna. Sesshomaru also rose on his cloud and the three flew side by side. Kagome and the twins just leapt into the trees with Youko. It took a little longer to get to the castle then it had to get to the battle field. As they arrived the sun was setting. They touched down and many guards cheered at them. The maids already had dinner ready and then hurried off to make extra rooms for their guests. They small group walked in to be met by Rin and Jaken. Rin just laughed and started to talk to Shippo and the twins while Jaken started to ramble on about Naraku's evil reincarnations. Most ignored him. They walked to the dinning room and sat down to eat while talking. Kagome sat beside Sesshomaru and they started to talk in low tones with Youko as not to be over heard.
"So you must leave?" Sesshomaru asked.
Kagome sighed and nodded.
"What of Shippo?" Youko asked.
"I do not think of him as a son but more of as a best friend. I wish him to stay here. He can grow up and train. If he comes with me he won't get as good of training and it will be too big of a change for him." Kagome said.
"And of the other two?" Sesshomaru asked glancing at the twins.
"That is Hakudoushi and Akago. I met with them and took Naraku's heart from them. Then I kind of took their souls and divided them equally changing them from one ten year old and one, one year old and making two five year olds. They are practically the same person, but split into twins."
Sesshomaru gave a smirk.
"And you like them."
"There just so cute!"
Sesshomaru smirked again and Youko sighed swishing his tail.
"So, you must leave in three days?" The kitsune asked.
"I have tomorrow and the day after tomorrow I must leave, in the evening." She said.
"And how do you know?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Jewel." She said pointing to the pink marble around her neck.
"It is still here? I thought it would vanish after the wish." Youko said.
"I did too. But it seems that nothing can destroy it. It always has power but the wishes take a lot of power out of it. It has to take time to recharged to power to give more wishes. It will just slowly take power from me and the earth till then." Kagome said.
"And how do you know this?" Sesshomaru asked again.
"It talked to me." She said.
They raised brows at her.
"Midoriko's spirit talked to me through it." She said exasperated
The two shrugged. Then the three returned to talking with the others and eating. After that everyone set off to rest. Kagome led the twins and Shippo to her room in the north wing. When she reached it she changed then flopped down on her bed. The twins curled up on either side of her and Shippo slept by her head in the crook of her neck. Kagome drifted off quite comfortable.
..--..
The next day was filled with showing the twins and Shippo around, playing with Rin, training, doing some reading, and spending time with Sesshomaru and Youko. It went by too fast for Kagome's liking. The next day Kagome woke up feeling tired and sad. She spent the day packing, saying goodbye to everyone, and telling the others the plan. At dinner Kagome stood in the courtyard. Her friends and such gathered around. Enti, Hakudoushi's still loyal steed, had returned to him and stood ready for Kagome, after agreeing to give her a ride to the well. Kagome gave everyone a last farewell and told them all they had better survive so they could see her in her time. Then she grabbed her bags and scrambled on the demon horse. Hakudoushi and Akago also jumped on in front of her looking quite happy. Kagome waved to everyone as the horse leapt into the air.
When they reached the well Kagome and the twins slid off the horse. They stood by the well and told Enti to be good. The twins each gave the horse a hug and Kagome kissed his muzzle. They watched him fly off and then turned to the well. She tossed her bags in and then grabbed the twins by one of their hands. Hey jumped into the well with her bags and were soon surrounded by a bright blue light. As they finally touched the bottom the blue light shattered like glass. Kagome sniffed and then grabbed her bags. All three jumped from the well and stepped to the well house door. They pulled it open letting the setting suns light fall on them.
Kagome sighed softly and grabbed the twin's hands again. They trudged across the shrine yard to the house. She hadn't been back in almost two years, since she had met Youko. Kagome scowled and sniffed the air. Something was wrong. She didn't smell her mother's, grandfather's, or brother's scent. And there were no lights on. She slowly opened the door and led the two inside. She scowled as they walked in. there was a layer of dust on everything. She got a sinking feeling. She walked to the kitchen and saw a large folder lying on the table. She let go of the twin's hands and dropped her bags. She slowly picked the folder up and tore it open. She pulled out the first letter.
To Miss Kagome Higurashi,
We regret to inform you of the death of your mother, grandfather, and brother. They died on October 15th in a car accident. A large semi crashed into the car killing all three instantly. We could not contact you because we knew not of your whereabouts. We contacted close family friends and they said your grandfather had informed them due to your poor health you had left the country for rest. We could find no leads so we could not inform you of the news. You have our apologies. Inside the folder are your families will and other papers.
Signed the hospital and police of Tokyo
Kagome let the paper drop to the table. She let the tears pour over her face as she reached for the folder again. She opened it with shaky hands and read over the papers that told her how much money she had left in her account and what she had inherited, which included the shrine. She let a soft sob escape. The twins just walked up to her and hugged her letting her cry. After she had stopped crying she led the twins to her mother's room. They brushed the dust off the large bed and all curled up on it.
"We have some work to do tomorrow." She said.
"We can see that." They sighed.
Kagome let out a small laugh before drifting off.
..--..
Kagome woke with the sun from the window falling in on her. She sat up waking the twins. They yawned and blinked at her. She looked at them.
"We'll start to clean, then we'll get the rooms organized."
They nodded.
"First thing to do is open all the windows." She smiled.
They grinned and jumped up. Then they ran off. Kagome just smiled. She had thought they would be quite intelligent and mature. But it seemed that even though they were intelligent they were childish. They acted their age you could say. Not that she minded. Kagome sighed softly again and jumped up. She moved to the window and opened it. As soon as all the windows were open the three started to sweep and dust like crazy, filling the house with dust. It took two hours to get all the dust and cobwebs out. Once that was done the three started to mop and wash. When that was finally done they sat back and looked at the clean sparkly house.
"Finally done." Kagome sighed.
"Yeah." The twins agreed.
"Now let's go find some of my brother's clothes that might fit you. Then we can go out shopping."
The twins looked excited at the prospect of going to look around her world. They hurried inside and to her brother's room. Kagome sorted through some of his boxes till she found some clothes that might fit them. When they were dressed, each in some jeans, and a different colored t-shirt, Kagome returned to her room and sorted through her clothes. She couldn't find any that would fit her anymore so settled for some of her mom's old clothes since all she had brought from the feudal era was kimonos and training clothes. Kagome also threw an illusion to hide her ears and tail.
When they were all dressed they set off down the shrine stairs. The two held her hands tightly starring at everything. The first thing she did was take them to a restaurant and get some lunch. They awed over the food and people and everything while they ate. When they were done Kagome paid and led them back out into the street. They caught the bus and rode downtown. The bus was even more exciting to the twins then riding Enti. When they reached their stop Kagome had to drag them off.
They went to a clothes store first and picked out everything the twins and she would need. They paid the clerk and hurried out carrying their bags. Kagome then stopped at a few other stores ordering some things. Then she held the twins off to the grocery store. They were as excited as on the bus. Kagome even let them ride in the cart which they said was as fun as the bus too. They grabbed everything they needed and then walked back to the bus stop, each carrying some bags. They caught the bus back home and talked the whole way as the twins asked question upon question.
When they reached the shrine, the two practically dragged Kagome up the stairs. When they reached the house they piled in and set their stuff down. They helped Kagome put all the groceries away then moved to the bedrooms. Kagome decided the twins could share Souta's room. With some hesitation she helped the twins sort through all of Souta's stuff. They boxed up the stuff they didn't need or want and kept the stuff they did. When that was done they stacked everything in the hall. Kagome walked to the storage shed and pulled out the brushes and paint. The twins chose a light purple for two of the walls, and a dark purple for the other two walls, and black for the ceiling. Amazingly they had all the colors in the shed the twins wanted. They started to paint talking the whole time and Kagome told them basic laws and rules of her world.
When the painting was finally done they moved onto her old room. They helped her move her old bed out along with most of her old stuff. They decided to make this an office of sorts. She said she was going to home school them for a while too, so they could use the room as a school room. They cleaned it out and then painted it a deep green. Then they moved onto her grandfather's room. This room was painted a deep blue and was going to be a spare room. Finally they moved onto her mom's room. Kagome decided to use it as her room. They painted it icy blue color. Then they spent the rest of the day downstairs as the paint dried. As the sun set they found the rooms to still be drying so the twins slept on the floor in the living room beside Kagome.
..--..
When they woke the next morning Kagome made some breakfast. They ate and talked about the plans. Then they glanced out the door. There were some large boxes of things waiting. The twins blinked at them but Kagome smiled.
"I ordered some things yesterday, seems they were delivered."
The twins smiled and helped her move them in. One was a bunk bed, which required some assembly. The twins watched as Kagome opened the box and pulled out the pieces. Then helped her get the tools they needed. They watched in amusement as Kagome tried to read the instructions and put it together properly. She sighed finally and the twins took over. Akago, with his small physic powers lifted the pieces while Hakudoushi with the help of Kagome screwed them together. After about an hour an half the thing was set up. They all cheered and grabbed the mattresses. They set the beds up with the white sheets and blankets. The boys argued about who got top and who got bottom for about a minute. Then they added some shelves to the room, along with a desk and two chairs. They put all the clothes in the closet and put the toys and gadgets away.
Then Kagome with the help of the two moved her desk back into the office along with two smaller desks. They set up some shelves and posters to. Then they moved the bed and such back into the spare room. Finally they moved to her room. They set everything up and headed downstairs. They reorganized the living room and moved in some new furniture in that Kagome had got. After that they had some late lunch. Then Kagome sent to two out to play in the shrine while she did chores around the shrine yard and cleaned the rest of the shrine. That night when she had tucked the twins in she fell into her bed and slept like she was unconscious.
..--..
For a month they three stayed close to the shrine. Kagome would spend the mornings till lunch working on her studies and teaching Akago and Hakudoushi (the last whom she started to call Haku for short) all the stuff they would learn in elementary. They caught on in a flash and as soon as she had taught them they learned faster then ever. Like when she taught them to add, subtract, multiply, and divide they went from a grade three level all the way to a grade seven level in a day. It made her life a lot easier.
Then after lessons they would have lunch. Then they would go outside and train. She started to teach them hand to hand combat and she helped Haku learn how to wield his spear better. She also started Akago on the axe. She also trained her self when she had free time. Then after a couple hours of that they would do the few chores around the shrine. Then they had dinner. After that they either went shopping, just relaxed, or trained more. She also worked on the barriers she put around the shrine, improving them and strengthening them.
After the first month the two didn't need the whole morning for lessons. So they only did lessons for about an hour or two or just read. Then they would do the same routine as before but more training and free time. Kagome also took them and showed them around the city once in a while. During the first month Kagome hadn't seen or heard from Sesshomaru or Youko. She was a bit worried but there was nothing she could do but wait. After three months of being back and not hearing from the two she was annoyed as well as worried. But still couldn't do anything but wait.
..--..
Kagome woke to loud knocking. She rolled from her bed and fell on the floor with a grunt. She stumbled from her room and dashed down the stairs throwing an illusion on. She ripped the door opened and blinked at the boy in front of it. He had slicked back black hair and wore a school uniform.
"Yes?" Kagome asked.
"I came here to talk with an old man."
Kagome's eye twitched.
"Who?"
"I was sent by Genkai. She runs a shrine on the other side of town. She told me that I would find an old man, a lady, a teen, and a kid that owned this shrine. She said I was to ask the old man for something." He grumbled.
"And you came this early."
He gave her an odd look.
"It's lunch time."
Kagome felt a vain pop.
"HAKU, AKAGO!" She yelled.
He heard twin yelps and saw the twins run from the back of the house and start to run to look for somewhere to hide.
"Did you turn my alarm off again?" She asked growling.
"Yes." The two laughed.
"You wait till I get my hands on you!"" She threatened making chocking signs as they vanished from sight.
She turned back to the boy who snickered.
"Well is the old man here?"
"I'm sorry my grandfather, mother, and brother died in an accident." She said.
He blinked.
"Sorry." He mumbled.
"It's fine."
"Wait! You mean I walked all the way here and he's gone!" He yelled.
Kagome gave a nod. The boy's eye twitched.
"Damn old bat." He muttered. "Well sorry for bothering you."
"What did you need?"
He blinked.
"What did you need to ask my grandfather for?" She asked.
"The old bat, I mean Genkai, sent me to buy some herbs and get an artefact he had." The boy said.
"What herbs and artefact?" She asked.
The boy rooted around in his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. It had a list of herbs and a picture of a dagger. She looked it over.
"I can get them for you." She smiled.
The boy sighed in relief.
"Follow me."
She headed out back to the back of the house. At the back she had set up a large iron fence that took up most of the back of the house, all the way to the forest edge. She opened the gate and made the boy wait outside. She shut the gate behind her. She couldn't have regular people walk in here. It had plants from the feudal era and from the present time. But most she had grown with her miko powers and the powers she got from Youko. So most of the plants were more alive, meaning they moved, grew at random times, bound intruders, and would eat people. She also had a death tree. Quite dangerous to those it didn't like.
Kagome wandered through the paths and plants. When she found the small clump of herbs she needed she picked them gently and held them in her arms. When she had everything she needed she walked back to the gate. She slipped out and led the boy towards the shrine house. She walked in and down the row of shelves. She grabbed a basket at one point and put the herbs in gently. Then she handed it to the boy. He in return handed her some money saying the old bat had said to pay for the herbs.
She soon found the dagger. It was quite easy. She had sorted through all the objects and put the most dangerous ones in one place, so she could get around to purifying them later. She starred at it a moment. She had stuck it in the dangerous place because it had a curse on it. 'Can't give it to the boy or the woman he's getting it for.' She thought. Kagome turned to face the boy who was looking around warily and shivering slightly like he could sense the evil of the objects.
"I'm sorry but it seems the object you want is an old family heirloom and its one of my favourite so I can't give it to you." She sighed.
He scowled slightly but gave a nod. She led him back out of the place not noticing the scowled he sent at all the objects. When they stepped out of the place Kagome locked the door. She noticed the boy looking impatient.
"If you need any more herbs feel free to come see me."
He gave a nod then stuffed his hands in his pockets, the basket on his arm. He set off down the shrine steps and Kagome watched him go. When she felt him leave her barrier she spun around. She sensed the twins in the tree and leapt up it. They squeaked as she landed in front of them grinning. She said their punishment for tricking her was to run a lap around the shrine. They gave her a look that said 'that's it?' She just grinned and made them run before leaping right into their training…after she changed from her pyjamas.
After that was finished and they had finished an dearly dinner they pleaded with her to let them go to the park that was a block away. She relented and let them go telling them to come home before dark. She wasn't too worried about them since they had mastered most of her hand to hand combat training. She grinned as she watched them leave. It was a couple hours of peace for her. She just stretched and went inside to read.
..--..
Yusuke scowled to himself as he walked away from the shrine. When he stepped off the last stair he got the same feeling as when he had first stepped on it. It felt like he was going through something, like a centimetre of water or something. Like something was there that he couldn't see. He could faintly sense something but it was like it wasn't there so he couldn't tell what it was. He shook the thoughts off as he hurried down the streets. When he found the meeting place he stepped into the alley. A moment later a blue portal opened up. Yusuke hoped in and hopped out at Genkai's shrine. He found Hiei, Botan, Kuwabara, Kurama, Yukina, and Genkai sitting outside.
"How did it go Yusuke?" Genkai asked.
"Seems the old man, the lady, and the boy died."
Genkai scowled.
"But the teen girl was still alive."
"So his granddaughter lived?"
"Yeah." Yusuke sighed.
"So you didn't get the things?"
"Kind of; I got the herbs. The girl took over the shrine and seems to know herbs and such."
"What about the dagger."
"She wouldn't give it to me." Yusuke scowled.
"What do you mean?" Kurama asked.
"Well she said she had it and could get it for me. Then she got me the herbs and led me into a large shed of sorts. We passed a whole bunch of odd things but then we entered the back of the shed and everything felt evil."
Everyone listened closely.
"It felt like everything was tainted. The girl walked up to the dagger and scowled. Then she said it was her favourite artefact and couldn't give it to me. I wasn't about to force her so I left with the herbs. She said I could come back anytime if I needed more." Yusuke said.
Genkai frowned thoughtful.
"Her grandfather and I were good friends. He believed in demons and such even though he had no spiritual powers at all. But he said his family didn't believe in them. He inherited a lot of old artefacts though. And I visited once and took some of the cursed ones off his hands. He said a while back that I could take any artefact that was tainted from him no question. But now that he's gone this may prove a problem." She said.
"Oh and the girl grew her herbs in an odd garden." Yusuke said sitting down.
"Odd garden?" Kurama asked.
"Yeah. I sensed some small amounts of demon energy in it." Yusuke said.
Kurama scowled.
"So the girl inherited a shrine from her grandfather that held demon traces, and cursed artefacts. Lucky her." Botan sighed.
"We have to do something about the items in the shed though." Yusuke said. "I had goose bumps just stepping in there."
"He's right though. I once put off getting a cursed artefact from the man and it turned out to be an ancient Noah mask. I heard it destroyed half of their wall, started a fire, destroyed a fire truck, and killed about twenty people. I never found out how they dealt with it." Genkai said.
"We could go tonight and say that we need more herbs. And while she's busy getting them some of use can get into there and grab the cursed items." Yusuke said.
"That's a smart plan. I can't believe you thought of it." Genkai said.
Yusuke glared at her.
"So we go tonight?" Kurama asked. "If you guys grab the stuff I can keep her busy by talking about the gardening with her. And I can take care of the garden too."
Everyone nodded. Suddenly another portal opened and a letter fluttered out before the portal vanished. Botan grabbed the letter and opened it letting her eyes scan it.
"It's from Koenma. He says he has a mission for us. We're to investigate Higurashi shrine because he has felt some unknown demon energy there." Botan said.
"Hey that's the girl's shrine." Yusuke said.
"Perfect." Genkai said. "We will investigate. I'm guessing the demon energy he felt is from the garden and cursed artefacts."
Everyone nodded agreement again.
"We should leave in three hours, after dinner."
"What do we do till then?" Kuwabara whined.
"Train, sissy." Genkai scowled.
Yusuke was perfectly fine with that for the moment. He dragged Kuwabara off to spar while Kurama said something about going to the garden before walking off. Hiei just sat in a tree and closed his eyes like he was napping. Yukina just said she had some chores to do. Genkai remained sitting, sorting through the herbs and drinking some tea. Botan set off through a portal saying she had work. After the three hours were up everyone stood in front of Botan who had a portal open.
"This should take us straight to the steps of Higurashi shrine." Botan chirped.
Everyone nodded and stepped into the portal. They stepped out into an empty street. Kuwabara groaned at the look of all the stairs.
"I can't believe I have to climb these again." Yusuke muttered.
They all snorted in amusement and took the first step. Both Hiei and Kurama felt a small shock and blinked in surprise. Botan didn't seem to feel anything but the others looked slightly thoughtful.
"Did you feel that?" Yusuke asked.
"Like we walked though something?" Kuwabara asked.
They nodded. They took another hesitant step and when they felt nothing continued up the stairs. After five minutes they stood at the top of the stairs. Hiei was the first to move. He vanished in a blur to find somewhere to watch from. Kuwabara and Yusuke moved quickly to the wall so they weren't visible from the house. Genkai also followed. Botan vanished back through her portal and Kurama moved towards the front door of the house. He knocked softly and everyone waited.
.--.
Kurama stood in front of the door and waited as he heard feet coming towards him. The door swung open to show a woman who looked to be in her late teens. She had long raven black hair to her waist and blue eyes flecked with gold. She wore some deep blue baggy cargo like pants, and a light blue t-shirt. She looked at him and tilted her head.
"Yes?"
"My name is Shuichi. I heard my friend came here earlier and bought some herbs." Kurama smiled politely.
She gave a nod.
"I'm a garden you see and herbs are some of my specialty. I was wondering if I could see your garden and buy some herbs and seeds."
She looked him a moment before slowly nodding. She stepped from the house looking at him suspiciously. He watched her hands go to her necklace unconsciously. He looked at the pink jewel a moment. It held power. She walked past him and around the house to some large iron gates. Yusuke was right. He could feel a slight demonic aurora inside. The woman reached for the gates and opened them slowly.
.--.
Kagome looked at the man who had asked to see her garden. She sensed a kitsune spirit in him and it felt too much like Youko for her peace of mind. She wanted to ask him about it but if he was unaware of it then he would think she was crazy. She had felt five people enter her shrine, and now only saw one so she wondered where the other four were. As she rested her hand on her gate handle she let her powers seep into the garden warning the plants to be still. She also let her powers ripple out a bit. None would sense them but they would tell her where the others where. She scowled softly. She felt a demon in the sacred tree and three humans near the room with the artefacts. One of the humans was the boy from before. And now she sensed spiritual powers in him and the other two.
She opened the garden gate and led the red head inside. As she shut the gate behind him, she smirked. He was in her garden now. She was in command. And she had also felt Haku and Akago enter the shrine, moving quickly up the stairs. If they tried anything she had the advantage. She wondered why they were even here and guessed the boy from before had sensed some things in the shrine. And on top of that he could be here for the dagger. She wondered why they had wanted it but shook the thoughts off as she led the tall man deeper into her garden. She made sure he couldn't see her smirk.
.--.
Kurama had a bad feeling. Like this girl knew more then they wanted. As she led him into the garden he watched everything closely. Twice he had caught the plants moving. The woman didn't seem to notice meaning either she didn't know her plants were alive, or she knew and was purposely ignoring them. He hoped it was the first. Suddenly he heard a yell from outside the garden. He spun to look at the direction it came from. It had sounded too much like Kuwabara's for comfort. He turned back to the girl to find her gone. He gulped as the plants came to life. They had already blocked off his escape route. He dodged a large vine that came at him. He flipped back and ran down the trail dodging all the plants and trying to communicate with them and tell them he was friend but they all thought he was the enemy.
He ran for about ten second before he screeched to a halt. He paled slightly. In front of him were a death tree and another tree that felt demonic. The demonic tree he could not identify seemed to move too. Suddenly branches were coming for him. He tried to jump back but bumped into the vines. The vines grabbed him and he paled more. The tree's branches grabbed him and constricted around him painfully. They pulled him towards the tree which let out cackling laughter. His eyes widened as it laughed. The branches wrapped around his upper arms tightly almost cutting his circulation off. They held his arms out and held his legs together tightly as if he was on a cross. He cried out again as the branches around his chest tightened. He heard three cracks. He could feel his ribs breaking almost one by one.
Then one small branch stabbed into his thigh and went right through it. He cried out again. The small branch pulled out and stabbed his other thigh. It did the same to his arms. It stabbed him in the stomach once to. He was sure it had missed his vitals but he wasn't completely sure. He tried to talk to the tree but ended up getting one of the branches slap him hard across the face cutting his cheek. Then one of the smaller branches wrapped around his throat. He felt it constrict a little making it harder to breath. The tree seemed to like his blood and kept his branches whipping him and drawing blood in various ways. Kurama knew he was in trouble. And Youko wasn't talking to him.
.--.
Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Genkai watched as the girl led Kurama towards the back of her house. Once out of sight they ducked around the shed and hurried to the door. They stood there a moment frowning. The door was locked. Yusuke pulled out a hair pin and started to try and pick it. Suddenly it hissed and melted. They starred at it.
"Seems we aren't dealing with a normal person and shrine." Genkai frowned. "That girl must know more then she let on."
Yusuke nodded. Kuwabara just summoned his energy sword and got ready to slice the lock off. As he rammed his sword down on it a pink light flickered over the lock in a sphere. Kuwabara's sword hit it and vanished. Kuwabara gaped along with the other two.
"That's spiritual energy but it's too pure to be just any normal persons. It has to be a miko's." Genkai gasped. "But they died out hundreds of years ago."
Suddenly they heard some soft laughter. The three spun to look at two kids. They looked exactly the same. Each had light purple hair to their shoulders, but one kid had his in a pony tail, and they both had violet eyes. They looked to be five or so. They wore white yukata-like outfits. They grinned like kids and had their hands clasped behind their backs.
"What do you need in there?" The boy with the pony tail asked.
"None of your business brat." Yusuke said.
The two kids just continued smiling. It freaked the three out slightly
"Our mother said no one is allowed in there unless she gives them permission."
"The black haired girl is your mom?" Kuwabara asked in disbelief.
"She's our adopted mother." They chorused.
"Well just run along and pretended you never saw us, and we won't have to hurt you." Kuwabara said.
The two tsked and shook their heads.
"Our mom said we have to stop anyone who tries to get in there without her permission." The kid with his hair down said.
"And how are you going to stop us?" Genkai asked slowly.
She didn't like the grins they wore or the look in their eyes. They grinned even more, but in more of an evil way. Suddenly they pulled their hands to the front. The three gaped. In the kid-with-the-ponytail's hand was a large axe. And the other kid held a large spear. The three wondered how they had got those and hid them behind their backs but it wasn't the time to ask that. The kids lunged forwards with inhuman speed. Yusuke narrowly dodged having his heart carved out by a spear, but his shirt did get cut. Kuwabara cried out as the axe sliced his chest pretty deeply. He fell back summoning his shield to block a second blow.
Yusuke dodged about ten thrusts of the spear but didn't dodge the kid's foot which nailed him in the gut. He flew back into the wall and hit it hard sliding down. 'You think a five year old wouldn't be able to even move me let alone kick me into a wall.' He thought in annoyance. Kuwabara glanced at him but was to busy defending against the axe. The kid pulled the same trick as his twin and ended up kicking Kuwabara right into Yusuke. The two slowly stood up. Kuwabara was panting and covered in blood from his wound while Yusuke was sure he had a broken rib from the boys kick.
Suddenly the two heard a scream. Their heads shot to look at the garden fence. They were sure that was Kurama's voice. The twins grinned again and got ready again. Yusuke fought on with Kuwabara but both were getting tired and the twins looked as fresh as ever. They fought for two more minutes, but with in the two minutes Yusuke got stabbed in the leg once, he got a huge gash up his chest, and broke two more ribs. In the end he collapsed to his knees. Kuwabara fared no better then Yusuke. He had it worse since he was a bit weaker then Yusuke. He ended up with broken ribs, two gashes on his leg, and a nasty cut on his arms. The two were in trouble and they knew it. Genkai had tried to help but one twin had engaged her in battle while the other kept the two wounded ones busy.
.--.
Hiei watched from the tree with narrowed eyes. He couldn't get in the girls mind. That was a bit unnerving. And he couldn't hear Youko in Kurama's mind. He watched the fox walk towards the garden with the woman. He kept an eye on the other three though. He scowled even more as he saw the pink light repel the three. He was fairly surprised when the two kids showed up in a blur. He watched with wide eyes as they beat both Yusuke and Kuwabara with in minutes. Then he heard Kurama's scream.
He decided he had to help. He tried to move but froze. His eyes widened at the ice covering his legs. He hadn't even noticed it. The ice and some branches from the tree wound up his legs to his waist. He tried to burn them off but it didn't work. The pink light kept his fire from even reaching the ice and tree. He struggle but found it useless. Suddenly the woman stood in front of him. She grinned and flicked her fingers. The ice and branches left but then his feet were shackled by the pink light which burned if he struggled too much. The same light tied his hands behind his back. Hiei snarled at her. She smirked and he saw an illusion shatter. He starred at the girl who now had icy blue kitsune ears and an icy blue tail. She also had claws and fangs. She grabbed his collar and dragged him from the tree towards Yusuke and the others. The twins stepped back as she walked up. The three starred at her and Hiei. Hiei growled and struggled but a nasty shock from the pink light left him stunned a minute.
"Come boys. Let's take them to their friend the fox. I want to see how badly my tree tortured the poor thing." The woman said.
The kids nodded. The woman flicked her fingers again and the same pink light tied Yusuke's and Kuwabara's hands behind their backs. The twins each grabbed one and dragged them non to gently across the ground. Genkai, who didn't have a scrape on her, followed the woman cautiously. They all entered her garden and starred at the plants that moved around. Kagome dragged Hiei down the path. The twins followed dragging the other two and Genkai just followed. As they reached two large trees the four starred at Kurama.
He was slumped forwards. The only thing holding him up was branches that were around his upper arms and legs, and some around his waist and neck. He looked like he had been crucified by his position. He was also covered in wounds and blood. He looked to be barely conscious. His eyes were half closed and his breathing was laboured. The four just starred at him. He cringed as one of the branches cut his cheek slowly. He looked like he had gone through hell. The woman scowled slightly and tsked.
"Lei, let him go."
The tree seemed to groan before the branches pulled back letting Kurama drop to the ground. Kagome walked up to him dropping Hiei in the process. She helped Kurama stand and let him lean on her shoulder. Some vines moved to reveal a bench. She set him on it gently.
"Now I want you to explain what you are doing on my property, trespassing, breaking in, trying to steal some stuff, sitting in the sacred tree, and tricking me. If you tell me I may let you go." The woman scowled.
Genkai sighed.
"We sensed demonic energy around here and thought it might be dangerous. Besides that your grandfather and I had an agreement. I took cursed items off of his hands and he gave me herbs. Last time we talked he told me his family didn't believe in curses and demons so we kept it between us. I didn't think you would be a demon or know about curses and such so we came to take it off your hands. Besides that these guys are called the spirit detectives. They work for the king of the underworld and deal with demons and such in the human realm. They were just doing a mission to investigate your shrine and deal with anything dangerous."
"Mmh. Well I'm Kagome and that is Hakudoushi and Akago." The woman said.
Kagome rested her hands on Kurama's chest and he glowed a soft pink. All his wounds healed up and his breathing became normal. He sat up slowly and just sat there in silence. She did the same to Yusuke and Kuwabara. When that was done she flicked her fingers and the pink vanished leaving them free. She looked them over to see if they would attack. None were foolish enough to try with all the moving plants watching them carefully.
"So you were only doing your job." She muttered. "I guess I can forgive that…Wait… Human realm? What did you mean about that?"
They all blinked at her.
"You don't know about the three realms?" Yusuke asked.
Kagome shook her head. Suddenly a two people came running into the garden. The plants hissed at them but Kagome waited till the two were up close. One was Botan and the other was Koenma Jr. floating along. Kagome, Hiei noticed, starred at them a moment.
"We've been sent to explain everything to Lady Kagome." Botan chirped.
Everyone blinked
"Lady?" Genkai asked.
"And you were ordered?" Yusuke asked Koenma.
"Yes. The king of the Makai sent us." He sighed. "Sit down everyone."
The spirit detectives all sat quickly. Kagome slid onto the bench beside Kurama and the twins hoped up to her and sat on each side of her. Enma sighed.
"I was sent to explain about the three realms and the demon world during the present time." Koenma said to Kagome who nodded.
Everyone still wondered why he had been ordered by the king of the Makai to tell this girl of all people about the Makai. They sat patiently though and listened as Koenma launched in an explanation. They all watched Kagome and the twins warily though. The three people had defeated them all and hadn't even broken a sweat. It was unnerving. After about half an hour Koenma had given Kagome a rough explanation of the three realms and what went on in the demon world.
"So that's about it." Botan said.
"Who is the king of the Makai?" Kagome asked
"Sesshomaru." Kurama said in a deep voice.
Everyone looked to him to see that Youko had taken over. Kagome's eye widened.
"Youko!" She yelled lunging at him.
He caught her in a hug with a grin.
"How could you let the tree torture me?" He asked with a frown.
"You mean Lei?"
"You named it?!"
"Yeah. He's my own creation. Now I let him torture you because you took to damn long to find me."
"But I didn't know where to find you." He whined.
"You could just have remembered the location of the well and came here."