Disclaimer: I do not own YuYu Hakusho or Inuyasha or any of their characters. I do, however, own any OCs created and the story written.

Chapter 11: Lamenting Beauty

Previously:

"Yeah, yeah." Souta swatted at her hand, "Keep it up." He smirked, "Now, how about that explanation for Kurama here? I mean, I could hear it again."

Kagome's eyes widened as she avoided the fox demon, "Maybe another time. Like when Yusuke doesn't need to talk with Keiko about everything."

"Thanks a lot, Kagome!" He yelled as Keiko walked out, "Keiko! Wait!"

"Enjoy yourself?" Kurama asked, walking over to her.

"Yep."

"Good. I would like that talk now. How about we go to your Temple?"

She stared at him and nodded.

1-2-3-4-5

Kagome was sweeping the temple grounds when her phone went off, "Hello?"

"Hey, Kags!" She smirked Yusuke's exuberance at talking to her, "I know it's been a couple of weeks, and that we haven't talked since I woke up froze the castle incident, but I've been given a video to watch by Koenma. I think it's my next assignment. Anyways, I know that you're not a Spirit Detective, technically, but I really like working with you and I thought… maybe…"

She chuckled, "Give me an hour and I'll come over to your house to watch the video with you."

"Go to Kuwabara's house. My player is busted."

"Alright. I'll be there."

"Thanks, cuz."

"You're welcome."

She hung up and stared at the steps with a sigh, thinking back to the conversation she had with Kurama.

1-2-3-4-5

"Here's the deal." Kagome said as they had started walking up the steps to her temple, "I can't tell you everything. There are reasons that are hard to explain, but I need you to understand that it's nothing against you."

Kurama sighed, "I understand that you and I knew each other. Quite well." He touched her arm, "I have thought about it and it is understandable not to want to tell me everything. With my work with Yusuke, if there was…" he shrugged, "something, between us, which I believe there was, it could be really confusing and cause problems between us with your cousin."

She nodded, "There was…" she smirked, "something, but you're right. I'm just worried that telling you too many details will affect how you see or think now."

"Or how you see me as I am now versus how I was then."

"Exactly." She smiled, "Okay. Basics. We met by accident. I ended up on your lands when I was looking for my friends. We became…" she hesitated, but he nodded.

"Understood."

"Anyways, um, I later found out that you were blood brothers with Youkai Lord of the Western Lands."

"Wait." He held up a hand, "Sesshomaru?"

"You remember him?"

"Everyone in Makai knows him. When the barriers went up, King Yama was strong enough to take him and his family on, so he created a treaty with the entire Taisho clan. Their lands were transitioned straight into Makai's western territories. A barrier would be placed around their lands that would keep the more dangerous Makai away from them, which included the Three Kings. King Yama gifted them a Golden Door, which would allow them to come and go from Makai without any problems, as long as they followed the rules. They have businesses here the Human Realm. Billion dollar businesses."

She stared at him for a moment and sat on the stairs, "They're alive. W-why haven't they found me?"

"Did they know what time period you came from?"

"They knew I was 500 years ahead of them."

"Maybe they don't know the exact time frame and are just keeping an eye out. Time moves differently in Makai. Dates don't really matter." He quirked a brow, "I'm related to Sesshomaru?"

"Not biologically. You're Blood Brothers. You did some sort of Demon Rite, similar to what human boys do now, where you mixed your blood together. You're in the book of Taisho."

He sat next to her, trying to take it all in, "This is a lot more than I thought."

She hesitated to tell him more, but she needed to trust him, "Do you know what the Shikon no Tama is?"

He looked at her in shock, "What demon hasn't heard of it?"

"Can you feel it?"

"Any demon living in the Human Realm can feel it's power. It just can't be located."

"Or used by a demon again. It's been purified." She touched her chest, "I was born with the Jewel inside me." His eyes widened, "I was sucked into the Bone Eater's well and it was ripped out of my body by a centipede demon. It was then shattered into a bunch of shards, I lost count so don't ask me how many, and I went on a hunt for them with Sesshomaru's Hanyou brother Inuyasha. Once it was whole and… I wished the Jewel out of existence. It left the past and reappeared inside me once I came back. The well closed up, keeping me from going back, and I had to make a decision. The Jewel was purified and now resides in my soul. It can't be taken out. I needed to someone to teach me how to be a real Miko and train me in my Reiki, so that the purity of the Jewel didn't consume me. That's how I found out what Yusuke was. We both met up at Genkai's when she held her tournament."

She looked back up at him, "As for us, I want to get to know this Kurama. I knew you in the past as Yoko. I know your personalities are different and that you're basically two souls merged together. Like we said, I don't want the past to influence the present. I'm probably going to be working with Yusuke more and I know you will too. So…"

He touched her shoulder, "I think it's a good idea. How's this. We hang out as friends. Not just during missions, but on normal days as well. Get to know each other as we are. I would like to know more about my past, but for now, let's keep it to who we are now." He smiled, "How about a movie."

She giggled, "Um…"

"As friends. We'll go dutch if it makes you feel better."

"Okay. Let's do it."

1-2-3-4-5

She shook her head as she walked up to Kuwabara's apartment. They'd been spending the last two weeks being friends. Go out on 'dates' and just hanging out at as many non-romantic places they could think of. And having a blast.

She knocked on the door and waited, "Hello?"

"Hi. I'm Kagome. I was asked to meet here with my cousin Yusuke."

"Come in. I'm Shizuru. Kuwabara's sister."

"Pleased to meet you."

"They're down the hall and to the left. I was making everyone snacks so I'll bring them in shortly."

"Thank you." Kagome, remembering the way from last time, opened the door to her cousin tearing into Botan.

"Ok, Botan. What the hell kind of explanation did you give her?! She thinks I'm a friggin' intern at some screwed up after-school program. For juvenile delinquents!"

"Wait," Kagome stepped inside, "are you talking about Kagome?" He nodded, "Botan, you told me that you explained everything to her. You and Souta kept using terms like Makai and insects. What the hell did you do?"

"Well I had to make up something believable to explain his absence without mentioning the supernatural," Botan said loftily. "A basic tenant of Spirit World is that it can't run properly if normal humans have proof of it!"

"How did you explain the infected humans, Botan?" Kagome demanded, not believing what she was hearing, "You can't explain that away!"

"I told her it was a delirium caused by a biochemical outbreak." The bluenette crossed her arms in a huff, "I didn't have a choice."

"We always have a choice, Botan, and you just made it harder on Yusuke."

"You made me sound so lame." Yusuke grumbled as he turned to his cousin, "I tried keeping my promise and tell her about my cases so she doesn't worry. I mentioned Spirit World and she looked at me like I had lost my mind."

"Enough already!" Kuwabara snapped. "Can we please just watch the tape instead of arguing? You're going to annoy my sister."

Yusuke crossed his arms and Botan stuck her tongue out at him.

"Real mature for a Reaper, Botan." Kagome walked over and sat next to her cousin.

"Besides, Botan is right," Kuwabara went on. "Keiko's not supposed to know, so the truth would only get her in trouble. Maybe you should care more about her safety than worrying about some stupid cover story."

"Oh, her protection?" Kagome stared, "That obviously didn't stop Suzaku from sending the Infected after her. If she's connected to Yusuke, she's eventually going to find out. She was already brought into it when she almost died, so how about we stop thinking of stupid cover stories and tell her the truth. It's better to be aware and be cautious, like my family is, then to get caught in the madness and die."

"Thank you!" Yusuke hugged the girl, happy someone was on his side, "I'm not happy about lying to her and I really feel like it's going to come back and bite me in the ass. It really sucks."

"Whatever." Kuwabara glared back at them, "Now, one more thing before I press play Urameshi! Whatever kind of mission it is, there's no way I'm getting involved!"

"Ok, ok!" Yusuke sighed. "Just start the tape."

It started and the first thing you see is Koenma holding a torch up in one hand while his other arm is behind his back. He's standing on a pedestal on top of some stairs and his name was spelled out in the back in big orange letters. The next was what looked like a one horned cave man sticking his body out of the letter in Koenma, now shown in red, repeating the word 'snarl'.

"Really?" Kagome asked, staring in shock, "That's ridiculous."

"They go all out huh?" Kuwabara said.

Yusuke face looked deadpanned, "Either he's full of himself or he's really bored."

"Welcome. How do you like my video?" Koenma appeared on the screen. "The great Koenma, ruler of the Spirit World, has yet another important case for you."

Kuwabara pointed at the screen, bug eyed. "This is seriously the guy you get your jobs from, Urameshi? This little bitty toddler?!"

"I said the same thing when I met him and Botan hit me in the head." Yusuke said, shrugging at the shock on Kagome's face.

Botan waved a hand in front of her face, "Perhaps that's why Koenma is doing the video this time; he can't bear these first reactions."

"This mission will be another doozy," Koenma continued. "Hopefully, you will survive. By the way, don't worry about people entering the room. This video was specially encrypted and will appear as annoying fuzz to anyone without heightened Spirit Awareness. Now, your mission is search-and-rescue. Except, without the searching. Watch my magic snap." He snapped his fingers and the image changed to a very unfriendly-looking forest.

"Come on, that's just some cheap camera trick." Yusuke complained as Botan started laughing.

"Computer editing." Kagome shook her head.

Kuwabara complained, "This looks hard Urameshi."

"Shut up!" Yusuke yelled.

"Spirit World intelligence reports that the captive is being held in a mountain stronghold, around 50 miles from your city. And not being of driving age yourselves, you will have to take the bus."

"I know we don't have our license, but what does he think the driving age is?" Kagome glared as Yusuke and Kuwabara snickered, "I mean, we are sixteen."

"The mountain is a base of criminal activity. Normally I don't mind that, but the humans have made ties with some very nasty demons. The captive's name is Yukina. She's an Ice Apparition, very rare. Equally rare are the beautiful jewels she can produce, which is why the criminals have captured her." He held a jewel that looked similar to a pearl. "They hope to profit greatly off of Yukina, forcing her to create these jewels at an unnatural pace. And by force, I mean torture."

"What?!" Kagome glared, anger overwhelming her, "Oh, hell no!"

"That's horrible," Botan said sadly.

"You see, there is only one way to make the jewels. Her tears," Koenma explained.

Botan gasped. "Yes, the Hiruiseki Stone! In the black market, those jewels sell easily for thousands!"

Kagome stared, "For just one?" Botan nodded, "Insane."

The TV changed again to show a helicopter and a squat of a man getting off of it. There were security guards all around him.

"Here is the human behind the operation. His name is Gonzou Tarukane. A jeweler and a thug, he's mad somewhat a name and a fortune for himself in the black market by selling rare jewels."

"Eee," Kuwabara groaned. "He's too ugly to be a human!"

"He's too ugly to be anything," Yusuke agreed.

"He looks worse than Jaken, the freaky looking toad that he was." Kagome shuddered, "And that's saying something."

Koenma showed a shadowy figure behind a barred window. "Here are the most recent pictures we have of Yukina. Memorize her face. This mission goes far beyond jewelary thieves. It is imperative that you bring her back quickly."

She was a tiny girl in a pale blue kimono with impossibly perfect mint-green hair. Her face looked serene, but her eyes were sad. Kuwabara pressed pause as his face had gone red.

"Oh, I feel awful for her." Botan lamented. "We have to leave today."

Kuwabara jumped to his feet like a rocket had been lit under him.

Yusuke nudged Kagome. "What's his deal?"

Kagome took one look at Kuwabara's face and shrugged, "Cupid's arrow?"

"You look miserable." Yusuke chuckled, looking up at his friend.

Kuwabara stared, "I… think I'm in love."

"What?" Yusuke looked dumbstruck.

Kagome smirked, "Cupid's arrow. Love at first video clip."

Kuwabara raised his arms. "Well come on Urameshi! Let's send those bad guys to the moon!"

"I thought you weren't coming," Yusuke sighed.

Kuwabara got right in Yusuke's face. "Don't try to dress up the facts again! I'm a good friend and I can't let you go save her alone. She's suffering!"

"Um, he's not alone." Kagome pointed to herself just as they realized they there was someone else in the room.

"Shizuru?" Kuwabara gaped.

"How long have you been here?" Botan asked.

Shizuru rolled her eyes and put down the tray she was carrying. "Calm down, princess. I just heard you watching that weirdo movie so I thought you'd like some kiddie snacks or something."

Yusuke and Botan were desperately trying to cover. "We're just watching fuzz!"

"Fuzz. Yes, fuzz. We find it relaxing."

Shizuru was unimpressed. "Oh, then I must've imagined the little boy with the pacifier giving you orders?"

Kagome chuckled, "Give it up you two. Apparently Spirit Awareness runs in the Kuwabara family. She saw the whole thing. Chill."

"Ok, Shizuru. You win!" Kuwabara said loudly. "Now can we have some money for the bus? Like maybe a million or so. That's enough, right?"

Shizuru rolled her eyes. "Kiddo, for a million bucks you could take a bus to Hawaii. Here's fifty."

Kuwabara happily took the money and ran out the door. "Ok, I'll see you guys in a couple of days!"

Kagome looked at Shizuru. "Did he eat paint chips as a kid?"

Shizuru shrugged. "You're not the first to ask."

"You think he knows the way to the mountain?" Botan sounded concerned.

Yusuke shook his head. "Doubt it,"

"That's my baby brother for you," Shizuru smiled. "You better eat your snacks. It'll take him a few hours to realize he doesn't know where he's going. Let's watch that tape again."

"Kuwabara only paused it." Kagome reached over and looked at the time on the video and pushed play, "It look like there's more to it."

"In closing," Koenma said, "I must say this case is quite delicate. You see, this Ice Apparition is not just some Jane Doe. Yukina is Hiei's sister."

Botan gasped and Yusuke's jaw dropped.

"What kind of demon is Hiei that he has an Ice Apparition for a sister?" Kagome asked, confused.

1-2-3-4-5

Once they got to their stop, they got off the bus, and stared at the mountains and forest in front of them, "Wow, now this is a big waste of time." Yusuke chuckled.

"You know Yusuke, some people like the wilderness." Botan pointed out.

He just rolled his eyes, "Yeah, old hermits and people who don't know how to talk to girls."

Kagome slugged her cousin in the arm, "I spent a better part of a year traipsing around in the wilderness. There's nothing wrong with it."

"That was 500 years into the past, genius." He smirked, "You don't live around it now. Besides, you had a whole entourage led by a half-demon with you. Just doing it on your own." He stared as Kuwabara started walking forward, leaving them behind, "Hey! Where are you going?"

Kagome glared, "I'm going to pinch him. Hard."

1-2-3-4-5

They were hiking up the mountain, with the sun beating down on them when Yusuke decided to break the silence. "Ugh! This place smells like ass!"

Kagome just stared at him, "And how many asses have you been sniffing?"

He rolled his eyes and shoved her with his shoulder as they shared a laugh, "You know there's no way we're going to find this house by nightfall."

Kuwabara frowned, "The forest looked a lot smaller on the map."

"He does know that, in the case of maps and reality," Kagome looked at her cousin with a smirk, "size is relatively inaccurate?"

"It's Kuwabara."

"Eh." She shrugged, "Point taken."

"Come on you three, the other trail leads to the top! I think it's our best bet." Botan called out, looking at her demon compass.

"Do we still have to walk?" Yusuke muttered, unenthusiastically.

Kuwabara broke into a run. "Let's go Urameshi! Wait for me, Yukina! Your true love is coming!"

They caught up to Botan and Yusuke just shook his head. "I guess he's done being in love with you, Botan."

"Darn."

"Ha!" Kagome laughed, "Don't sound so dejected. He might hear you."

"Oh, you." Botan flapped her hand at the girl.

Kuwabara stood on the path and waved his arms in the air. "What are you guys waiting for?! We've got a girl to rescue!"

Yusuke looked at Kagome with a grin, "You may be right about those paint chips."

"See?"

"Shouldn't we tell him about the rest of the video?" Botan asked, looking worried.

Yusuke shared her concern. "Well, I'd hate to ruin his fun."

"It won't be much fun if Hiei finds out and gets a hold of him." Kagome asked as they started walking again, "I mean, you've seen shorty's tolerance of Kuwabara already and that's just on the battlefield. What would happen if something ever happened between his sister and the idiot."

They got closer to the love-struck teen, "So we say nothing. For now." Yusuke nodded, agreeing with his cousin. Kuwabara came to a stop in the middle of the path, "What's wrong, Kuwabara?"

"I'm sensing something really bad."

Kagome nodded, "I feel it too."

Beeping sounded from Botan's compass watch, "Uh, the compass is going crazy!"

"Yeah, well I think I see him." Yusuke nodded over as a guy with shaggy purple hair and oval black glasses stood in front of them, "Hey! How's it going neighbor?"

"You're on private property boys and girls. You had better leave."

"Yusuke." Kagome whispered tugging on her cousin's sleeve.

"We can't leave! We just got here!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Yeah, we're lost, and the birds ate our breadcrumbs." Yusuke said and Kagome tugged harder on her jacket, "A little busy here, cuz."

Botan clapped her hands together and smiled sweetly at him, "Pretty please, let us stay at your master's house."

"I'm afraid that I cannot do that."

"We know he has plenty of room." Kuwabara said.

"That's right. After all, those dumb crime lords always have really swank houses." Yusuke commented, still ignoring his cousin's urgency.

"Crime lord. Well, you seem to know a lot for being lost." The others gasped besides Kagome, who just shook her head in frustration. "Well, you had your chance." His body started shifting as changed into a plant demon. "I'll have to make you leave myself. But I'm afraid I'm very clumsy! Everyone I touch always ends up getting killed. I really don't know why they keep making me the security guard." He said, stretching his out toward the travelers.

"For Spiritually charged people, you're a bunch of morons." Kagome exclaimed, slapping her cousin on the shoulder, "Seriously, Botan, you're a Reaper. How could you not tell that he was a demon?"

"Um," the Bluenette stammered, "a common misconception?"

"Unbelievable." She slugged Yusuke in the shoulder, "Don't ever shoosh me again!"

"Alright, alright!" He rubbed his arm, "I'm sorry."

"You're a demon hired by Tarukane, right?!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"That's very perceptive of you. I have orders to kill anybody who comes after Yukina!" He creature snarled.

"Well, that girl is a type of demon, right? Doesn't that make you cousins or something!" Yusuke asked, confusing his cousin.

"You're an idiot."

Kuwabara pointed at the demon and yelled, "Your own kind is being tortured so that no good human you work for can make money! Doesn't that tick you off?!"

"Not at all." The demon replied.

Kuwabara stared, "What?"

"It is said that there are humans who will sell their soul to the devil for power right? Demons can do it too." The demon started laughing, "Don't try acting holy, there isn't one among you who's loyalty couldn't be bought."

"Oh please!" Yusuke chimed in, powering up his Spirit Energy in his fist, "You creeps will say anything to make yourselves feel better."

Kagome pulled out her Chakram and did the same, "Not all humans are the same; and neither are demons. Some are good. Some are bad. We," she gestured to her group, "are good. You are bad."

"Yeah, you're just trash." Kuwabara agreed, following suite.

The demon looked at them in shock, "What did you say?"

"Can't you hear right?" Kuwabara asked, rolling his eyes.

Yusuke chuckled, "He must have gotten carried away and sold his ears off too."

Kagome smirked, "Now that's greedy."

"Oh, you will regret this… die!" The demon yelled jumping into the air above.

"You ready?" Kuwabara asked, glancing at his friends.

"Sure." Yusuke nodded back.

Kagome shrugged, "I needed a good warm up anyways. Let's go."

"Spirit Sword!" Kuwabara yelled. His sword appeared in his hand, and he jumped up to meet their opponent head on, slashing at him three time. Kagome threw her Chakram right through the creature's stomach and caught it just as the demon landed on the ground with a shocked look on his face.

Yusuke smirked and made his hand into the gun shape, "Spirit Gun!"

The creature was obliterated into nothing.

"And here I was thinking they would make it easy for us, huh Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked, smirking as he high fived his cousin.

Kuwabara nodded, "Yeah."

Kagome looked at Yusuke, "I brought my arrows with me, no respectable Miko goes anywhere without them, but I'm really loving my Chakram."

"I wonder if you can make one of those with your Reiki without the weapon itself?" He asked, studying the disc now back at her wait, "Like Kuwabara's sword."

"Working on it." She chuckled, "Just need more training."

He nodded they continued their trek, "I guess you go back to Genkai. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help you."

"That's the plan." She smiled, "We're supposed to continue my Spiritual healing training as well, so I just need to get the time to do it."

They stopped for a moment and looked around, "Kinda stupid to have a mountain trail that ends halfway up the mountain, huh?" Yusuke stated with a sigh, "I guess they don't encourage much camping around here."

"Yes, the stronghold is very well hidden." Botan said, looking at her compass, "But we should be able to find it eventually by following Yukina's energy."

"Why are you still using that compass?" Kuwabara asked, "Just follow my way. The Red Pinky String."

Kagome shook her head, "Anyone else think he's completely lost it?"

Yusuke raised his hand as Botan just stared in confusion, "The what?"

"The moment I saw her. My love stretched out and tied us together." He held his pink in the air and smiled in triumph, "You see? Let's follow the thread of destiny tied to my love!" They watched as he started running in the direction he pointed his pinky finger at.

Kagome turned to Yusuke and nodded sagely, "Paint chips with lead in them."

To be continued…

Thanks for ready and don't forget to review!

A/N #1: Anybody confused about the Paint Chips comments, go watch Tommy Boy. It is freaking hilarious. RIP to comedy legend, Chris Farley.

A/N #2: Should I write the Golden Seal Movie? If so, where should it be placed in the timeline? Does it take place before the end of season 1?