When they popped out the human world side of the portal, the SDF soldiers were knocked back off their feet. Two giant birds with a half-tonne of power each, easily, will do that to a person. Shippo changed back once Kagome and Kurama jumped off his back and landed on the ground. Puu flew up out the hole in the roof after Yusuke, Koenma and Kuwabara were down and he'd picked Hiei off his back, handing him over to Kurama to carry.
It was a bit of a walk, but the crisis was over, and it felt really good to walk out of the cave and into the pre-dawn light, with their friends and allies – including Mitari – standing there waiting for them.
Kagome smirked then quickly bit her lip to keep from laughing when she saw Shizuru using a tied up Sakyo for a chair as she lit her cigarette with his lighter. The word 'whipped' came to mind, and they weren't even officially in any kind of relationship yet.
"Yusuke!" Keiko yelled, running straight for him and throwing her arms around the boy.
"Oh Yusuke, always stopping my heart," Botan added, also running up. "Though not always with make overs. What is this?"
"I'd kill to get my hair to grow that fast," Yano said.
"Those markings, are they tribal incantations?" Kaito asked, fiddling with his glasses.
"What is this, a press conference? Gimme a break, like I know how this happened," Yusuke answered with a chuckle. "Hold those thoughts guys, I gotta take care of something," he added more seriously, turning back to the cave with a frown.
It seemed that the SDF had recovered.
"It appears not everyone feels that this case is resolved," Kurama observed.
"Koenma! You know Spirit World won't overlook this treason," the captain said.
"Treason?" Kuwabara asked.
"Oh yeah, you weren't around for their little argument," Kagome said, tapping her chin.
"You have disobeyed my orders, delivered directly from your father, to erase that boy! You've let the Mazoku emerge, fully knowing what that could bring. You'll take responsibility and come with us," the captain insisited.
"Yes, I'm no fool captain. I realised what the consequences would be," Koenma agreed, bowing his head in submission.
"You stupid tools!" Yusuke said, balling his fists. "Think you can hide behind your uniforms and push people around? Look, I don't start fights with the defenceless, but you're really starting to piss me off, and that's a whole different thing. And since you're new here I'll give you a tip: threatening the guy who helped save us will definitely piss me off. Koenma did what he could to help, and if that's what it takes to protect him, I'll kill you all, one by one."
The captain stumbled back in fear at that statement, which really didn't help the imposing figure he was trying to portray himself as.
Yusuke just flexed his power a little bit, scowling with his teeth bared.
"They've got a way with words, these powerful, half-demon types with bad attitudes and people they care about," Kagome observed. "And don't you have a hole you're supposed to be fixing?"
"I'd love to accept the challenge, but sealing the tunnel takes precedence. Let me assure you, this isn't over," the captain said, trying to get his cool back too late. Everyone had seen him sweating as he forced his spine straight. Still, it was probably the most honourable retreat he was going to get in the circumstances. "Soldiers!"
"Sir, yes sir!" they answered, glowing and dashing back into the cave.
"Sorry, was that a little much?" Yusuke asked as he turned to Koenma.
"Not at all Yusuke," he answered gratefully. "Took the words right from my mouth."
"Man I missed that sun," Yusuke said, turning to watch it rise of the city. "Matter of fact, I think I'll go find a hammock."
"I have a better idea," Kagome said, resting her head on Shippo's shoulder, as Kurama's was taken at that moment by the sleeping Hiei. "How about you all come over to my family's shrine? Pancakes, freshly squeezed orange juice, bacon, eggs, sausages, on the house. We can probably set up a hammock if you want Yusuke. Mama and Souta would love to hear about all this, and it's been a while since we had a real half-demon in the house."
"Wh-what?" Koenma asked, stopping in his tracks even as everyone began to follow Kagome – Kuwabara carrying the bound Sakyo.
Kagome smiled. "Well, you'll just have to come and ask Souta for all the details, won't you?" she teased, a cheeky half-grin tugging at her lips.
"Hey Keiko, Koenma, if you really like that cave so much, we can come back another time!" Yusuke called back.
"Coming!"
~oOo~
Kagome watched Yusuke carefully as the day wore on, talking to various members of their party about the boy. She knew about half-demons better than anyone in that group except for maybe Shippo, and most of his experience with InuYasha had been as a child.
"What are you thinking my love?" Kurama whispered in her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"I'm thinking that if Yusuke is the heir to the Mazoku, and his ancestor is alive, the old guy is probably going to want to meet his kid, and Yusuke needs that. I'm also thinking he's not ready for a world full of demons, and that his friends aren't going to be too happy about him going back to demon world," she answered, looking across the room. "Particularly Keiko."
"I don't begin to understand the relationship that those two have," Kurama admitted.
"Then you are fortunate," Kagome said, turning her head to kiss his cheek.
Kurama blushed slightly, but smiled fondly at the action, and reciprocated.
"What do you plan to do about it? Don't try and deny it either, if you were thinking that, then you're planning something," Kurama said.
"I'm thinking it's time we went camping," she answered.
"And by 'we', who do you mean to include?"
"You and me, and of course Yusuke, as the trip will be for his benefit. Keiko probably as well, so that they can sort out whatever it is they've got. Hiei and Shippo too, if they want to go," Kagome answered.
"Not Kuwabara? He won't like being left behind."
Kagome shook her head. "He's not going to demon world, and he has enough of an understanding of his powers and the world around him that he should be okay. Besides, his sword will help Shizuru keep Sakyo in line, and I know Shizuru wants him to do well in school."
Kurama nodded his understanding. "My mother is remarrying soon. I'm going to try and use that to slip out of her life."
"Won't work," Kagome stated. "She's your mother, she'll be interested in what you're up to until the day she dies."
Kurama gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Well, at least I can move out of the house. Perhaps even..."
"Move in with me?" Kagome suggested slyly. "That means putting up with Gramps all the time you know, not to mention Souta, Shippo and Hiei."
"That's twice I've heard my name in your conversation," Hiei said, walking up to them with a frown on his face. "I thought I was promised to not be a victim of any of your plans."
Kagome laughed. "Actually, Kurama was just talking about leaving Shiori to come and live at the shrine with us. I was just warning him about having to live with you all the time," she answered.
"That accounts for one mention of my name," Hiei said.
"The other was a plot about Yusuke," Kurama answered. "He is going to need help adjusting to being a demon. Kagome was suggesting a camping trip, and who might come with us."
Hiei nodded. "Hn, that sounds reasonable. Who else do you intend to take on this camping trip?"
"The three of us, Shippo, Yusuke of course, and Keiko," Kagome answered, tapping her chin, Kagome thought of one more. "And Puu. Yusuke needs to learn about interacting with his spirit beast now that he's had an upgrade."
Hiei frowned. "Why the human girl?" he asked, glancing at the girl in question.
"Because she's the person with the greatest emotional attachment to Yusuke apart from Kuwabara, and he knows more about demons than she does. Keiko needs to learn about what Yusuke has become, and figure out if she can handle that. Yusuke needs to know if she can handle that as well," Kagome answered firmly. She wouldn't accept refusal of Keiko's attendance on this trip, from Hiei, Keiko herself, or anybody.
"I'll go and approach them with the idea," Kurama said, removing his arms from around Kagome and giving her a peck on the cheek before he walked off.
"Anything you want to pack?" Kagome asked Hiei. "And don't say ice cream, it won't keep without a freezer and we can't take one with us."
"I travel with nothing carried but my sword," Hiei answered flatly.
"Always good to have someone who doesn't have any load to bear but the one on his soul," Kagome said with a resigned sigh, causing Hiei to growl, but she just walked off to tell Shippo and the rest of her family about the planned camping trip before heading over to a doubtful Yusuke and a reluctant Keiko, who Kurama was clearly having a hard time convincing that this camping trip was a good idea.
"I hate hiking," Yusuke stated. "I don't see why I would like camping any better."
"I'm not sure about going away for so long, and what about baths and stuff?" Keiko asked.
Kurama was struggling. He knew how he had lived before modern convenience, and while he had been at ease in a completely natural environment, he didn't really know how to sell it to these younger teenagers who had grown up with every luxury being at their disposal. He looked to Kagome for help.
She dropped the bombshell.
"You don't have a choice," she told them flatly. "This camping trip is neither optional, nor just for the sake of having a bit of fun in the woods. Keiko, Yusuke, you both need to sort out what you want from your lives, long term, and you need to figure it out now. If you want a normal life where you go to school, study, play video games, eventually graduate and get a regular job, or if you want to stay mixed up with the comings and goings of the spirit and demon worlds. You're also going to have to figure out what those choices mean for your relationship, because those two options I just gave you? They aren't compatible," Kagome stated. She wasn't completely unkind about it, but she was still almost brutally honest, and gave the kids the facts that they needed to know. "You will both meet here at nine a.m. in seven days time with whatever you need to get you through a week, and that you can carry for a few hours without getting too tired."
"Yes ma'am," Keiko and Yusuke answered nervously, gulping in the face of Kagome's direct orders.
"Hiei and Shippo are coming with us as well, to help teach you about what demons are like," Kagome added. "I will see you both at nine a.m. sharp, ready for a week of roughing it, and Yusuke," she said, fixing her eyes on him. "Don't cut off the hair. Think of it as weight training for your neck."
~oOo~
Kagome stood next to Kurama at Shiori's wedding, two days after the Chapter Black case was closed, the day before final exams, and Kurama told his mother then his intentions to move out of her home and live with Kagome and her family. That, in conjunction with three plane tickets to Hawaii – one each for Shiori, her new husband, and his son – was his wedding gift to her. She couldn't have been happier.
Kurama and Kagome had graduated, and would be living together, engaged with the approval of all family members, including Shipppo. The full extent of their relationship was kept very quiet however. They didn't need the Demon World knowing about it after all.
~oOo~
"Kagome, you're even crazier than Grandma!" Yusuke complained as they hiked through a forest a few hours out of Tokyo. "I hate hiking!"
"Would you rather run to our camp site?" Kagome asked.
"I don't know where we're going, remember?" Yusuke said waving his arms around in exasperation.
Kagome smirked. "I never said anything about you taking the lead Yusuke, just suggested you might prefer running to walking."
"If I run, you won't be able to keep up, and Keiko really wouldn't," Yusuke growled.
Shippo halted and moved to stand beside Kagome, bracing his legs slightly apart.
"So carry her," Kagome told him, grabbing Shippo's shoulders and resting her knees over his hips, stabilising herself without Shippo having to hold her.
"What the hell?" Yusuke said, staring. "That doesn't look safe!"
"I agree," Keiko said, eyeing the position distrustfully.
"Safe as houses," Shippo countered, jogging around the small group with Kagome lightly holding onto him. "Look Ma, no hands," the fox demon teased gently, getting a laugh out of Kagome as he stopped.
Kagome slid off Shippo's back, whispering in his ear before stepping away from him.
"Well, if you don't think you can carry her Yusuke, then I guess I will," Shippo said, walking up to Keiko and pulling her onto his back, despite her – rather loud – objections.
Kurama allowed Kagome to climb onto his back in the same manner, then the two fox demons took off with their cargo of women, leaving a very shocked Yusuke behind with a smirking Hiei.
"I think that a fox just stole your woman Yusuke," Hiei observed. "You'd better catch up with them before she learns any of the wonders of fox demons."
"Meaning what?"
"You cannot be so blind as to fail to see that all fox apparitions are physically beautiful Yusuke, even when they disguise themselves as humans to avoid detection by Spirit World. Of course, by now they are easily a few miles ahead of us."
"What!" Yusuke demanded.
"Hn. Can you not smell the scent they left behind? Or sense their energies at all? Find something to follow, detective," Hiei said, jumping up into the trees and taking off himself.
"Damn!"
~oOo~
"We're here," she said, slipping off Kurama's back and watching Shippo put Keiko down on the ground once again. "Did you enjoy that Keiko?"
"It was fun I guess. Mostly I was just scared though. Um, are you sure it's okay to just run off like that? What about Yusuke? I thought this camping trip was to help him with his, uh, his..." Keiko trailed off.
"Say it Keiko," Kagome insisted. "If you can't do even that, then there is no hope for you accepting him. You both deserve to know if you are capable of doing that. Even if you can't accept it completely, you must at least acknowledge it, or you won't be able to move on."
"You sound like Master Genkai," Keiko said quietly.
Kagome smiled, flattered, but didn't relent. "You have to at least say it Keiko."
"Yusuke's demon blood," she murmured.
"Well done," Kagome said gently. "This camping trip is as much about you as Yusuke, Keiko, and even if it doesn't look like it, this is teaching him. He has to find something, and because that something is you rather than just the camp site, then he has good motivation for doing so. Now, you and Shippo build a fire while Kurama and I go gather some food and find water."
"Did you just say 'find water'? I brought a water bottle with me, I thought everybody did," Keiko said. "And since you planned the camping trip I assumed you would bring food too."
Kagome shook her head. "Nope. I've got two shirts, three changes of underwear, a purse of toiletries, the first aid kit, a pot, a canteen of water, a pocket knife, a sleeping bag and my quiver. One canteen of water won't last a week," Kagome pointed out.
"And why pack food when you can catch it," Hiei's voice said from the trees, a pair of dead rabbits dropping moments before he did.
Keiko quailed in fright, moving backwards on her hands, feet and rear like some kind of demented crab.
"Thanks Hiei," Kagome said, picking up the two animals by their ears and pulling her knife from her pocket, getting to work skinning them as Shippo gathered twigs and logs for a fire, as well as breaking off a few green sticks so that Kagome could spit the rabbits to cook them over the fire.
"I'll find some berries and that water source," Kurama said with a smile, walking off.
The camp site itself was a clearing of compact dirt and a small, shallow cave, the back of which could be seen from the entrance, with no hidden tunnels for surprises to appear out of. No bats either. There was room enough in the clearing for Puu though, when he landed shortly after the fire was started.
"How far away is Yusuke?" Kagome asked, looking up from the rabbits to Hiei
"Two miles," he answered, "and he's mostly just yelling."
Kagome sighed. "He needs a hint," she said. Turning to Shippo, she saw that the fire was ready. "I am impressed," she said, smiling. "Five hundred years, and you still remember how to use just enough energy to spark a flame for cooking. Thanks Shippo," Kagome praised.
Shippo smiled bashfully. "Not something I'd forget so easy," the fox said.
"What about your blue flames? The ones that don't actually burn anything? Yusuke's not making any progress," Kagome wheedled.
Shippo's smile turned into a smirk. "I think I can get him here before it gets too dark," he answered.
"Keiko, will you dig a couple of small pits?" Kagome called to the girl as Shippo left the small clearing.
"Uh, sure, what for?"
"One for the girls to use, one for the boys, and one to bury the remains of the rabbits," Kagome answered. "The first two should be about two feet deep, if they're going to last us a week."
Keiko blushed deeply, but went to do as she was asked, grabbing a fairly flat piece of broken wood from the wood pile Shippo had left to use as a shovel.
"She has a long way to go before she learns, and accepts, that the world is not all going to fit into her preconceived notions of it," Hiei commented as he watched Kagome spit the rabbits.
"I know. That's why she's here," Kagome answered. "Nothing makes a girl realise that sort of thing like being forced to rough it with demon companions."
"And you would know?" Hiei asked. "I've been hearing nothing but samples of your abridged story for months. I would like it in full if you please."
Kagome smiled. "Wait until everyone is here," she said quietly, turning the rabbits.
~oOo~