Chapter 3

"Excuse me," turning Yusuke looked up to see Kagome standing nervously in the doorway. Her sapphire eyes finding his own and his heart tightened. She looked so frail and broken, so unlike the happy girl who lived in his memories. He yearned for a smile, and even the friendship she had once offered him so freely. Years had passed them, and they were bound to change, but he wanted her in his life, he always had.

"Feeling better Kagome?" He asked. Band-Aids and bandages littered her limbs. A gray sweater with rolled sleeves showed a wrapped right wrist, and left forearm, a pair of blue cotton shorts showed a wrapped left thigh and right ankle as well as the left knee, the other knee covered by a Band-Aid. She looked almost as bad as him after a fight.

"Not really," her eyes grew misty, but she shook her head the wet hair falling down her back. "But now's not the time,"

He sighed, again, for what may have been the hundredth time today. She might not want to talk about it, but they needed to know, no he needed to know so he could protect her. It was the least he could do, he owed it to her, he'd hadn't been able to protect her for the last several years, but he could protect her now better than he ever could."Why are you being chased by demons?"

She flinched gripping the marble hanging from her necklace. "I-" her voice cracked. "I can't say,"

"How can I protect you if you won't tell me?"

Her eyes narrowed heatedly. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Damn your pretty cute when you're mad," Kuwabara laughed causing the two to glare at him.

Punching him, Yusuke fought the urge to smirk as the taller boy yelped. Rubbing his arm, a scowl took shape on his face; his gray eyes narrowed at Yusuke who had turned his attention to the girl.

"Please," Kagome looked down into the violet eyes of a blue-haired girl she had yet to meet. "We only want to help,"

Biting her lip, she worried the flesh in what Yusuke would have called cute if he wasn't worried about her life. "They're after this," she opened her hand allowing him to actually look at the sphere of white and pink. He had felt power from her, a mass of rekai that coiled around her but there was something different as he focused. A spark of darkness that called out; whispering a promise of power, darkness, and finally death. But he couldn't feel anything that said she had any powers.

"Some marble?" He asked.

"Can't you feel it Urameshi?" Kuwabara shivered.

"It don't feel right,"

"It's powerful,"

"Yes," Kagome interrupted. "And I have to protect it till I can find a way to ensure evil can't use its power ever again," tears once more misted her eyes, her clenched hands trembling at her side. "This jewel has the power to make demons power multiple ten times what it currently is, and if they were to make a wish the world would be at stake,"

"Okay. We'll just have to find a way to get rid of it,"

She looked at him wide-eyed having expected him to not believe her.

"How do we do that?"

"I need to make a pure wish," she whispered.

"That should be easy," Yusuke beamed looking over at Kuwabara who still stared at the jewel.

She snorted with a huff dry of any humor. "In theory, but every wish is tainted by some form of selfishness. A purely selfless wish is near impossible. The jewel has its own agenda and if phrased wrong will use that wish to further its own desire,"

"How's that even possible?"

"It's a long story," Kagome sighed starting to feel the exhaustion of the past forty-eight hours.

"You can tell us now or later, but you will tell us," but what he really meant was me. So much time had passed them and yet they had found themselves caught up in a world in which stories with demons and monsters from their childhood were real.

"Tomorrow? A lot-" she gave a sigh. "A lots happened today," she was rubbing her arm uncomfortably.

He nodded.

~o.O~O.o~

Sitting alone in what she was told was the guest room Kagome held her now ruined shirt. She cried silently while crushing the fabric with clenched hands, inaudible sobs rocking her shoulders.

They were gone, taken from her in a rush of colors before she was thrown from their time. It had become hers just as it was theirs, having abandoned her birth-time (not without getting her GED to appease her mother) she had taken action to dedicate herself to finding the jewel shards and becoming a worthy guardian.

Looking at the sailor shirt, she laughed bitterly. She'd taken to wearing hakamas and a shirt or a gi depending on which was cleaner and once they had been ruined she had turned to her bag to see the old school uniform folded neatly at the bottom. Adorning the old clothes, the group had been attacked by Naraku personally. With her having most of the jewel, and the half-demons many failed attempts, he had charged them with hordes of demons at his back and reincarnations to either side. The battle has been long, spanning a total of hour Kagome wasn't sure of. But it had been enough of time for Sesshomaru and Kouga to appear and fight alongside them.

The sun had set only to rise again and begin to set again when she had called forth the jewel's missing parts. Shards had ripped themselves from Naraku's chest and Kouga's legs. In his mix of horror and surprise Naraku had failed to focus on the threats in front of him, Sango threw her Hiraikotsu cutting him in half, then Inuyasha attacked with his wind scar, and finally, Miroku sucked the remains of Naraku's body into the wind-tunnel the half-demon had cursed his family with.

They had won, without Naraku the battlefield stilled, all eyes turning to the bright glow emitting from the Shikon jewel in which the battle had been fought for.

Drifting down into the palm of her hand, everything was still all that could be heard was the breeze. Her orginal wish unable to take breath as the world blurred, a stream of colors and cries of her name taking the place of the feudal era. Her body was thrown backward, the air forced from her lungs as her body was thrust back into a hard surface. Blinking she was greeted by the well house ceiling.

Whatever that force was, be it the jewel or fate or the gods, she was now stuck in her birth-time.

Now that the jewel was whole once more, Kagome felt weaker than she ever had. Even now the Shikon wasn't as pure and it should, or could be. She had surpassed Kikyo, keeping that jewel pure shouldn't be a problem, just as she should have been able to purify the demon when she touched him, and she couldn't feel the demons that she knew to be outside. Since the gem had come into her possession again, it was hard to use or even feel her powers, it was like something was blocking them.

Angry eyes turned to the innocent looking gem. The only thing to change was the gem. She had become strong to protect it, and now it was looking to weaken her to avoid disappearing.

Growling, angry tears mixed with the one she shed for her family and friends who she would never see again. Shippo maybe but she would miss out on him growing up and becoming the great demon he promised to become.

"Hey," tearful eyes turned in surprise to see Yusuke but she then quickly looked away wiping at her tears. She didn't want him to see her cry.

"What do you want?" she didn't mean for it to be so harsh, he'd saved her, but she wanted to be alone.

"Well I'm gonna stay in here," He leaned down beside her and proceed to pull out a daybed.

"Why?"

He looked up at her with a shrug before grabbing a pillow off the bed. "Best way to protect you since you can't sense the demons outside," Laying down the springs squeaking under him.

She sighed. "I could before. I was strong and capable, now I'm-" nothing compared to Kikyo. Kagome trailed off unable to voice what she was thinking.

"Don't," she looked over at him a raised eyebrow as her question while he looked up with soft brown eyes. "Whatever it is, don't blame yourself. We'll figure it out, so I don't want to hear you talking bad about yourself,"

She blinked in surprise. He rolled over.

"Get some sleep, we have a long day tomorrow,"

"Excuse me?"

"If you really are having problems with your rekai I know someone who can help,"

"Why are you helping me?" She knew she'd asked it before, he'd given her multiple excuses but nothing as to why he kept helping. He could have killed the demon and been done with it. He could have offered her to Reikai, wherever that was, but didn't. Now he was willing to continue to protect and assist her. It didn't make sense. Sure they were friends as kids but a decade had passed.

He turned, looking at her from over his shoulder. His brown eyes taking on a hard but sad look. "I have a promise to keep," rolling over he continued. "Now get some sleep,"

Blue eyes widened fearfully. The boy towered over her, beady eyes staring her down with a sneer in place. To either side of him stood a mix of boys and girls, each having their own glare or cocky smirk. For whatever reason, they didn't like her, and they made a point to tell her.

Tears brimmed her eyes. Her mama was on the other side of the park and with no one to help her she almost cried. They were too big, she couldn't fight them, all she could do is hope they wouldn't hurt her.

"No one here to protect you now!" The boy fisted his hand eyeing his fist with a grin before turning eyes upwards to her face.

Her hope was shattered, he was going to hit her, and then they all would hurt her. With eyes pinched tight and hands clasped tight she held out for her last bit of hope: it wouldn't be too painful.

Nothing but an eerie silence filled the now deathly still air.

Chancing a glance at her slow attacker once fearful eyes widened in a mix of surprise and horror. Head forced to the side heat blazed in the once soft chocolate of his eyes. He looked at her that same softness flashing before he turned back to the group. She could practically see him grinning at the sweet tone added to his voice, he was excited. "My turn,"

He didn't flinch when the taller boy laughed, even if a little nervous sounding. "I'm not afraid of you pipsqueak!"

"You should be," without giving the boy a chance, Yusuke pounced. Punching him in the jaw, the boy fell, and Yusuke followed, hitting him two more times before standing walking back to Kagome."No one's gonna lay a hand on Kagome, ya hear!?" with quick nods the rest ran, only one helping the boy up.

Looking back their eyes met a large bruise beginning to form under his left eye. Tears sprang forth at the sight pushing Kagome to fling herself at the boy.

"K-Kagome," Blush flared across his cheeks. She hugged him tightly, face buried in the nap of his neck.

"Don't do that again," she sniffled. "I don't want you getting hurt over me,"

A soft smile pulled at his lips as he hugged her back. "Sorry I can't do that,"

She jumped looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"It's my job you protect you, now and forever," he promised with a cheeky smile.

A teary smile took shape before she leaned forward kissing his bruised cheek and hugging him tightly. "I love you Yusuke,"

Blush flared out across his cheeks and down his neck till his ears were flaming red. "I-I love y-you too Kagome," he mumbled in a rush before hugging her just as fiercely. He would protect her, no matter what it took, there wasn't a thing he couldn't face to protect her.

~o.O~O.o~

wolfYLady: And there you are chapter 3. In all honesty, I wanted to post all three chapters together as one but thought I would spread it out as I don't normally post 4000 worded chapters. Sorry but I am a bit lazy with the length of chapters. Now a thank you to everyone who reviewed. I had thought about messaging everyone who reviewed but this is easier as I get lost sometimes or my email it just really slow.

Thank you...

MidnightReader1: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, hope you liked this one just as much.

The Blue Insanity 8500: Thank you! ;)

Prince2527: Glad that you are liking it so much

CallaRose4ever: I know that jumping into a fandom crossover is hard because there is a lot of different rules of that universe. But if you like punks turned hero who deals with dying and demons then Yu Yu Hakusho might be up your alley.

tailandbeauty Your reviews have been absolutely delightful! I'm so happy that you are enjoying the story and hope you continue to do so. I hope this clears up any misunderstanding I might have missed or didn't explain all that well in the previous chapter.

Stargazer013: I am surprised that you were able to guess the next character I plan to add into the story. You must be a mind reader! ;)

MoonGoddess00: I am sorry you were disappointed in how I had them meet again but to tell you the truth I was given a prompt by a friend (Accidental meeting) and that scene is what I pictured, and I loved the idea so much that once provided the second prompt (Childhood friends) the story made itself.