Disclaimer Part I: The characters of Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me. Aster and Dayandhi also belong to me. As unlikely as it would seem at first glance, this is a continuation story, not AU.
Inuyasha: A Fugitive Fairytale
Chapter Two
Mayhem in the Makai
"I don't care if the world is going to explode! You're getting in there and taking that test!"
"No way. I got better things to do."
The girl crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. "Oh yeah?" She paused in mid rant and looked at him curiously. "IS the world going to explode?"
"No."
"Are demons going to invade and take over the world?"
He scratched his head and thought. "I don't think so."
"Is the Apocalypse on the horizon?"
"Uh… no?"
"Then you march yourself down those stairs right this instant and go take that make up test before they fail you, Yusuke Urameshi!"
"No can do, Keiko. We've got company, and leavin' would just be rude, wouldn't it?"
The girl looked around, startled. Letting out a strangled sound she stepped backwards as a young man and woman appeared out of no where. From the looks of it, it was some sort of demon attacking a school girl. Luckily Yusuke was already on his feet and charging his spirit gun, ready to blast the demon into dust. Keiko prepared to help get the girl out of harms way as soon as Yusuke fired.
It was a bit of a surprise to see a demon attack on top of the school building. Usually he got at least a little bit of warning. Oh well, as far as Yusuke was concerned, fighting off demons was much preferable to taking tests. And it was one excuse that would keep Keiko from going ballistic.
Nothing was scarier than a ticked off Keiko.
Not even fighting a demon.
Or a whole horde of them for that matter.
Taking down one puny little demon would be no problem. Though maybe he could draw it out for awhile. At least until class ended. Now, if only the girl would get out of the way so he could get a clear shot… Hmmm… he was still covering her, and now was looking directly at him and Keiko. Yusuke's eyes narrowed. No one threatens Keiko!
"I'm your opponent, Cat-boy."
The obviously traumatized school girl looked up at him, then at her attacker. Then she repeated the word 'cat-boy' and started giggling. Poor thing. Maybe after he disposed of the demon she could go get counseling or something. It was just wrong to go around breaking pretty little school girls. Yusuke winced at his thoughts, then slid a glance to his girlfriend (though neither would admit to the relationship) to make sure that he hadn't voiced that last part out loud. Nope. Looked like he was safe.
"Don't worry, I'll save you."
The demon looked around, then looked at the defenseless girl, then back at Yusuke. When he did, he looked very angry. Oh well, that worked too. Angry demons were more fun to obliterate anyhow. Made it more of a challenge.
"Be careful, Yusuke!"
"CAT-boy!" The girl was still giggling.
"It ain't THAT funny, Kagome," the demon growled.
The demon began to stand, giving Yusuke the perfect opportunity to blast him. He gathered his energy and pointed his spirit gun (his finger) at the demon's chest.
"Yusuke! Wait!"
He cursed as Keiko grabbed onto his arm. It caused his shot to veer way off to the right. What was she thinking? She knew better than to get in the line of fire!
"Sorry," she apologized, "But I have a feeling they know each other."
Yusuke wondered if he had spoken his thoughts out loud or if she was just apologizing for messing up his shot. Then he noticed the girl, no longer giggling (but was still grinning), stand up and stand beside the demon. The smile faded as she looked around, and her hand grasped the cloth of the demon's funny looking red sleeve.
"Inuyasha… where are we?" She looked scared, but not of the demon.
"You know each other?" Yusuke asked as he lowered his hand.
"Yes." She looked back at them and gave them a nervous smile. "My name is Kagome, and this is my friend Inuyasha."
"The DOG demon," Inuyasha grunted.
"I'm Keiko, and this is Yusuke. Sorry for attacking like that. Yusuke tends to jump in without thinking things through."
"HEY!"
Kagome grinned. "Yeah? I know someone with that very same problem."
"HEY!"
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"Have you located them yet, Az?"
The young woman turned her head, one eyebrow arched. "Yes. Of course I have. Finding out just where and when they would have jumped to was simple. Took seconds really. I just decided to keep that information for myself and see if you've suddenly acquired mind reading powers."
Dayan bit his lip to keep from smiling. Her sarcastic tone was biting. Her eyes lit with fire. Teaming up with her may have been dangerous for his health, but he had never had so much fun before. The other officers were very crisp and very professional. Not to mention very boring. Aster was just as competent as the others, but didn't seem to take life quite so seriously. Plus she was fun to rile up.
"Yeah, well," he sat down beside her in his own chair and began fiddling with the controls (it was something to focus on instead of looking at his companion since he seemed incapable of keeping a straight face), "If SOMEONE hadn't let a little girl just take their Tripper…"
"MY FAULT?" she screeched, jumping to her feet and pointing angrily at him. "You're blaming this on ME? Who's the one who let some kid beat them in a wrestling match!"
"KID? He was a demon, Az! A demon!"
"Half," she sniffed.
"What?"
"Half demon, according to my information."
Dayan closed his eyes and counted to ten. Six times. It didn't help. He opened his eyes and glared at his partner. Once she realized that he was truly angry at her, she adopted the cute innocent look that usually got her out of scrapes. But he was too irritated to fall for it this time.
"You didn't feel the need to share that information with me BEFORE he attacked?"
"Heh… surprise…"
"You could have gotten me KILLED!" He stood up and slammed his hands down on the control panel, narrowly missing all those important buttons. This time he didn't have to feign anger.
She stood up and put her hands on her hips haughtily, but since she only reached his shoulders it didn't have quite the same intimidating effect. "I figured the EARS were a tip off!"
They glowered at each other for a few minutes, then both looked away.
"Just find them," Dayan snapped before he left to head back to his quarters on the ship.
As brilliant as his partner was, there were times when she was just too scatterbrained. Cuteness must be the defense mechanism Mother Nature gave her so that other people wouldn't kill her. And at the moment, Dayan wasn't too sure that even her curly haired cuteness would keep him from letting loose his temper. No one had wanted to partner with the girl, and now he knew why. Aster just did not play well with others. Lack of communication could get someone killed.
Like him.
He took two steps and sighed.
Dang it.
He couldn't even stay angry for two lousy steps.
He almost turned around and went back in to apologize for losing his temper. Then he grinned. Maybe he would just let her stew for a little bit. Putting his hands in his pocket he whistled as he made his way down to his quarters.
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"Quit smellin' her before I rip your head off your shoulders."
"Inuyasha… be nice."
"And back off! Get your grubby nose out of her hair!"
Kagome smiled apologetically to the young man who was smiling apologetically to her. At least the red head had the sense to raise his hands as a gesture of surrender and backed up two spaces from her.
"I do apologize, Higurashi. I had not meant to invade your personal space. Yoko, the fox demon that Yusuke spoke of earlier," Kagome didn't miss the slight look of censure sent in the other man's direction for spilling his secrets to relative strangers, "He is very interested in the scent of fox demon that seems to linger on your clothing."
"No problem, Kurama. And please, call me Kagome."
"STOP SMELLING HER CLOTHES!"
"Inuyasha!"
The dog demon crouched down on his haunches just in case she decided to 'sit' him. They had been here for nearly a week and so far no one here knew of that little trick of hers, and he hoped it stayed that way. There were too many of them here that were strong to show any trace of weakness. And too many of them seemed interested in his miko.
Kurama, the scrawny red haired guy claimed that the fox demon living inside of him was interested in the smell coming from Kagome. But Inuyasha wasn't an idiot. He saw the way that his eyes lit up when he was around her. He also noticed the change in posture and scent. Kurama was being way too friendly, and more than once suggested that he'd like to talk with Kagome. And Inuyasha knew what kind of 'talking' that would be. The kind of talking that tried to convince his poor gullible miko to give him up to go with this stranger and have fox babies of their own! Well, no sir! That wasn't going to happen! Not while he had a single breath left in his body!
And that shrimpy guy, Hiei. Another demon who found Kagome too interesting. He looked like he wasn't interested in anything or anyone, but he kept throwing glances in her direction when he thought no one was noticing him. The little twerp! If he didn't know better, he'd think that Hiei was deliberately sending flirty looks at Kagome just to make him and the red head mad.
Luckily the spirit detective (what the heck was that?) Yusuke had that girl Keiko to keep him in line, so Inuyasha didn't have to worry about him much.
That giant Kuwabara was of no consequence, either. He was too busy making eyes at that little ice demon girl (what was her name? Yukina?) to take more than a second glance at Kagome. Now how could an ice demon and a fire demon be so closely related? Inuyasha would have asked if he had cared, but he was too busy trying to keep these guys from hitting on Kagome or causing trouble. Like that Botan person.
First of all, Botan wasn't even really alive! But after hearing their story, she was asking too many questions about Kikyo and was upsetting Kagome. He hoped he wouldn't have to cut her down to shut her up. If it wasn't for that little kid Koenma hanging around with her, he probably would have done just that. He'd hate to have to kill her in front of the kid. Not that he wouldn't if it came down to that, but Kagome would probably get mad if he did.
"Please be nice."
The words may have been a request, but Inuyasha knew a command when he heard it. And though he'd much rather fight, he didn't necessarily want to fight with Kagome. Not when they were so very far from home. To make matters worse, they had slipped through some sort of portal into another world within that world called the Makai. It was full of demons. It wasn't like in Kagome's world where he had to hide the fact that he's a demon, or like in his own world where being a demon caused fear and loathing. In the Makai no one even gave him a second glance. Still, it made him uneasy. If they stepped through too many portals, would they ever find their way home?
"Keh."
Yusuke and Kuwabara were talking about a tournament that they were going to enter. Inuyasha wasn't interested in fighting for sport, though. He had enough problems without taking more on just for 'fun'. That cowardly fox demon hiding in human skin was going to fight with them too, along with the shrimpy one. Now, if he were able to fight against them, then maybe it would be worth it. But according to them, the team has to have four people. Not that he needed two extra people. Oh well, didn't matter. He was hoping to get out of this place with Kagome soon.
Of course, they still needed to figure out how that magic box worked first.
"Why don't you fight in the tourney, too?" Yusuke asked.
"You said you have to have four. In case you can't count, there's only two."
"Two?" asked Kuwabara. He looked around the area, confirming Inuyasha's belief that there was nothing going on in that big head of his.
The tricky fox turned his eyes to Kagome and really looked at her, making Inuyasha growl. Then he had the NERVE to turn back to him and glare! At HIM!
"Surely you do not mean, Hig… Kagome."
Inuyasha's nerves were frazzled. What he really wanted to do was fight. Having his relationship with Kagome questioned raised his hackles. It was only when he felt her warm hand at his elbow that he was able to relax.
"We fight together." She turned and smiled up at Inuyasha, calming him a little bit more. "Though he does most of the fighting. I use my bow, so I'm usually off at a bit of a distance when at all possible."
"You let Kagome fight?"
Inuyasha almost smirked as he heard the stupid fox speak one of Kagome's least favorite words. 'Let."
"Inuyasha does not LET me do anything," she snapped as her aura began to flare.
She reached for her bow, but realized it wasn't there. Of course, Inuyasha didn't believe that she would actually fry her new friends (though he hoped she would, especially that fox that was trying to woo her away from him with his stupid good manners and manipulative NICEness). Likely she was just going to make a point that she had powers of her own. Sadly, once she realized she had no weapon, the aura died down and she began to gain control of her anger.
Dang it.
"The girl has impressive psychic powers," the baby said around the thing stuck in his mouth. What did Kagome call it? Oh yeah, a pacifier. "Perhaps she would make a good addition to the team!"
"No!" Inuyasha growled as he used one arm to place Kagome behind him.
"No!" exclaimed Kurama.
Inuyasha glared at the young man. "What? Why not?"
Kurama turned his infuriatingly calm eyes on Inuyasha. "It is too dangerous for her."
"Too dangerous for Kagome? You saying she ain't good enough for you?"
Inuyasha heard Kagome sigh and step back. She went to go stand with the girl Keiko and the ice demon Yukina. One of them asked if she really did participate in fights. With her in a safe area, he drew his sword and crouched down into the position to prepare for attack.
"No one insults Kagome."
His rival barely had time to blink in confusion before the dog demon leapt into the air with an angry war cry. His startling response was to throw a rose at him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the giant create a sword out of nothing to stand at Kurama's side. Yusuke was still napping, and Hiei was leaning against a tree watching. The rose skimmed his cheek and blood flew. It was sharp as a knife! What kind of freaky weirdness was this? Then again, it wasn't the oddest weapon ever used against him.
"I am offended that you would imply that I would say anything derogatory in regards to Miss Higurashi."
"Fancy words won't save your skin, fox!"
Inuyasha landed swinging his sword, but the fox jumped out of the way, throwing more seeds at him. He had expected the coward to only have illusion powers like Shippo, but this guy seemed to have a whole different set of skills. No matter, Inuyasha knew he could still take him down.
But Kurama wasn't alone. Kuwabara started raising his own sword to charge, but was stopped by Kagome standing in front of him.
"How does the sword work?" she asked him innocently as she plucked the sword from his hands to study it a little bit closer.
Inuyasha almost smiled. Leave it to Kagome to find a way to take out one of the opponents with just words. The big man scratched his head in embarrassed pride and tried to explain how his weapon worked. There wasn't time for more than a brief glance since those harmless looking seeds sprouted into some sort of demonic plant that was intent on eating him.
Interesting.
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and smirked. This is gonna be fun.
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"Got them!"
Dayan nearly fell out of his bunk as Aster's scream startled him awake. "Huh?"
"Come on, come on! Let's go! They slipped dimensions and are now in a place called the Makai. Get a move on!"
Dayan yawned and took the computer she was shoving at him as she ripped his blanket away from him and tossed it on the floor. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he looked at the images of the fugitive and her new companions. Did she have to make so many friends? It was going to be a pain erasing all those memories. Az would be complaining for months over it. He studied the hologram again, then had an idea that nearly made him let out an evil snicker. Maybe he could have a little fun.
"Alright, but this time it would be wise if we dressed more accordingly."
As expected, Aster's hands went up to her hair protectively. "I like this color of green! It's pretty! I'm not changing it!"
Dayan went to the computer built into the wall and began inputting information. "I'm not talking about the hair, Az. Remind me to ask you later what possessed you to color it green. I'm talking about the clothes. We need to fit in while we hunt, otherwise we're too noticeable and it gives them too much of a advantage. Our clothes were the thing to make the girl suspicious of us. We need to blend in."
One final tap of the computer and he found himself wearing a green uniform similar to Yusuke's. Then he began inputting more information. The machine whirred briefly and the particles in Aster's clothes realigned themselves to the configuration he input.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"No."
"But a sailor uniform?"
Dayan kept his eyes on the computer to hide his merriment. He would have to make sure that he captured holographic images of this for later. Talk about great blackmail material. "The other girls are wearing school uniforms. You have to wear one as well if we're to blend in."
"But the skirts are so short!"
"Are they? I hadn't noticed."
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"You really do fight then?"
Kagome nodded as she took a sip from the can of soda Keiko had given her earlier. What was up with Inuyasha picking a fight with Kurama? Again. Maybe he just had to blow off a little steam. After all, the last week had been rather boring, aside from the fact that they were trapped who knows where. They had tagged along on a couple of demon hunts, but that was it. Inuyasha was used to being on the move, not sticking around in one place for long periods of time. But without any idea of where (or when) they were, it felt safest to stay near where they had first appeared. However, since her beloved dog demon was only moments away from a boredom meltdown, Kagome had asked if they could see the Makai for themselves.
"Yup. I use a bow and arrow."
"Sounds dangerous," Botan commented as she reached for another of the snacks in the basket.
"Isn't it perilous for a female to fight?" asked Yukina.
Kagome laughed, glad for this impromptu picnic, even if it was in the middle of some sort of odd demon world. "Well, fighting is always dangerous. But being a woman doesn't make you weak. My friend Sango is a demon exterminator, and probably the strongest human fighter I know. And all without any special super powers or psychic energy. She's really amazing."
Keiko pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She laid her head on her knees and looked at her boyfriend who was sleeping a few yards away.
"I never considered… fighting." She hummed thoughtfully. "It would be nice to be able to actually help Yusuke. Always being rescued makes me feel…"
"Helpless?" suggested Yukina.
"Useless?" Botan asked.
"Weak."
Kagome put her hand on her new friend's shoulder. She knew what it felt like to feel weak and helpless and useless. And guilty. Very very guilty. How many times had Inuyasha been hurt saving her? Even now, without her bow and arrows, she felt weak and helpless. Having a weapon like Kuwabara's would be perfect. She would never be without her weapons then. He had explained how he did it, but some of it just didn't make sense. But maybe… maybe she could figure out something similar…
"Maybe I should help out Kurama."
Kagome shook her head. "Not necessary, Kuwabara. Inuyasha isn't really fighting him. They're just sparring." She looked over at the two. At least, she was pretty sure that they were just sparring. Just sparring… enthusiastically.
Suddenly Keiko leapt to her feet, her hands clenched in fists. Kagome noticed that Yusuke's eyelid cracked open a fraction. He may look sound asleep, but he was still keeping an eye on Keiko. The thought made her smile and she turned her head to look at her hanyou fighting before giving her attention back to her new friend.
"I'm not going to just sit idly by and watch anymore," the girl swore. "I'm going to learn to fight!" She turned to look at her sleeping companion. "It may take me a long time, but I swear that I won't rest until I'm strong enough to fight by his side."
Yukina clapped her hands at the vow. "Oh Keiko! How wonderful!" Botan cheered along.
"Yes, wonderful."
Kagome gasped at the male voice behind her.
Those two odd characters were back, but this time they were dressed like Yusuke and HER? She didn't recognize them. But she did recognize the weapons pointed in her direction.
"Kagome Higurashi," the man said. "You're under arrest for crimes against the universal Law of Time. You have the right to remain silent, but failing to mention any facts in your defense may be treated as evidence against you in the Court. If you wish to speak, anything you say may be given as evidence in the Court. A representative will be assigned to you once you have been processed. You are also under arrest for theft of Law of Time property and assault on an officer. If you come along peacefully we will not have to use lethal force."
"Lethal force?" squeaked Yukina.
"I'll protect you!" Kuwabara placed himself in front of the petite ice demon.
"Step away from the perp," The female said coldly as she raised her weapon and pointed it at Kagome.
The miko breathed a sigh of relief as Inuyasha appeared in front of her. Kurama was almost instantly by his side. Yusuke had woken up and was holding his hand as if it was a toy gun, Botan was standing on one side of him holding her broom like a bat, and Keiko on the other side looking unsure of how she should be standing if she was going to participate in a fight. Koenma was no where to be seen, and Hiei stood off by himself simply watching. Though the fire demon may look like he didn't care about what was going on, Kagome knew that he would step in and toast them if he was needed. It felt like she had an army between her and the two time police officers.
"Kagome ain't going nowhere with you," Inuyasha snarled.
The machine they called a Tripper started humming. Kagome took it out of her pocket and opened it. Lights were flashing and words she didn't understand started zipping across the screen. Then the screen went black, but only for a moment before a map appeared in 3-D in front of her.
She couldn't stop herself. It was human curiosity. She touched the hologram.
Her body began to buzz, and once again there was the feeling of falling. Instinctively she reached out and grabbed a hold of Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha!"
Kagome tried to call out to her new friends, but she was engulfed in darkness. She prayed that Inuyasha was with her.
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Okay.
The girl was gone, and they were outnumbered.
Aster bit her lip and surveyed the group and went over their options. Either clean up the mess her and start erasing memories, or jump after Kagome. Quickly she did a mind scan and future probability inspection, checking to see just how much damage the girl had done. What things had she changed irrevocably by her presence?
Ice demon. Few changes in her present or future brought about directly by contact with Kagome. Kagome was merely an interesting companion. But not someone who changed her life. Much. Other changes that Kagome brought out in other people will make Yukina more confident in herself.
Fire demon. Few changes in his present or future brought about directly by contact with Kagome. Kagome was interesting to him because she was interesting to the fox demon. But his life was not changed by her.
Grim Reaper. Few changes in her present or future brought about directly by contact with Kagome. Lingering crush on Yusuke dies out and she focuses her attention onto her boss.
Kuwabara. Few changes in his present or future brought about directly by contact with Kagome. However, with Yukina's new sense of confidence, Kuwabara sees her less as a girl to be protected, and more as a woman. This knowledge changes his behavior and gains Yukina's notice.
Koenma. Few changes in his present or future brought about directly by contact with Kagome. Though how she came to appear on this world interested him, he was not so interested that he would take any unusual or life changing steps.
Yusuke and Keiko. And there was the problem. Kagome showed Keiko that a woman can fight beside the man she loves, making them partners. And the talk of Sango, who had no special powers whatsoever! That really got the girl thinking. Keiko would begin taking self-defense courses. Over time she would convince her overly protective boy-friend and his friends to teach her how to fight. She and Yusuke would learn to work together. And although she may rarely be on the front lines, she could still hold her own, and Yusuke would not have to worry about her nearly as much. In fact, knowledge that she would be able to take care of herself and anyone else who came along, got him to think about marriage and children years earlier than the original time line.
Big changes.
Big big changes.
But….
Aster glanced over at her partner. He looked amused, but that was nothing new. Would he say anything is she let this go, just this one time, without erasing the memories? Would she get in trouble? Fired? JAILED? She rubbed at her lip as she went over their futures one more time.
Years of heartache for Keiko as she waited for Yusuke as he trained and fought instead of taking her with him. Feelings of weakness as she hid during each battle or cheered from the sidelines, instead of feeling strong and capable. Feeling useless instead of vital. If she wiped away Kagome's existence from their minds, Yusuke would break his engagement to Keiko. Twice. It would be because he loved her and feared for her safety being married to someone like him. More heartache. Sure they would end up married either way, but…
Dayan cleared his throat, looking at the Tripper he held in his hands.
"Az, if we hurry we'll be able to catch up with them."
Aster looked at the angry group one more time. Then she smiled.
Catching Kagome was their first priority. Right? And surely they can't expect her to get around to erasing ALL the memories. Right? What's one little oversight in the grand scheme of things? She'd just make sure that the next time she caught up to Kagome and Inuyasha that they would do an extra thorough job of mind wiping.
"Let's get out of here, Dayandhi."
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Disclaimer Part II: The characters of Yu Yu Hakusho belong to Yoshihiro Togashi, not me.
Author's Notes:
Sorry about any grammatical errors (and misspelling Kagome's last name). I don't have anyone beta-ing, proofing, or editing. It's just me and my trusty ol' sidekick Spell Check. I catch what I can, but I don't always catch everything.
Also, I meant absolutely nothing bad by saying Trekkie. I grew up on Sci Fi and loved it. I understand the correct terminology is Trekker though. Sorry about that too.
And last but not least, please understand that views held of certain characters in the story do not belong to me, but to the other characters. It isn't my fault Inuyasha has jealousy issues.
Okay, I think that was all my apologies and explanations. C'yall next time!