Chapter Three

Kagome felt the strange undercurrent of power between them the moment she ran into them on the street, and in that moment she knew it would not be the last time she found herself in their company. She shuddered, a little unnerved by the whole exchange.

Perhaps it was silly to think it, but she'd seen the way the tall, orange-haired teen had looked at her. He was as surprised as she and twice as alarmed. The expression on his face was one of complete shock, though for the life of her she couldn't say what she'd done to elicit such a response. He'd looked at her like she'd just suggested hiding razorblades in candy and he couldn't decide whether she was serious. It was hard not to be a little offended, honestly.

"Kagome? Kagome, are you even listening to me?" Eri huffed when she realized that, once again, her friend had no idea she was talking to her.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, Eri," Kagome said, shaking her head to bring herself back to reality. "I'm just a little tired," she offered in a half-hearted explanation. She had zoned out altogether, forgetting her friend was even with her at the moment. "In fact, I think I'm just going to cut through the park."

"I don't know, Kagome," Eri mothered. "It's getting late. You really shouldn't go that way by yourself."

"I'll be fine," she reassured her friend. "If I hurry, I'll be home before it gets completely dark."

Eri sighed, knowing it was completely useless to argue with Kagome once she had set her mind to something. "Well, OK then. I guess I'll see you on Monday."

"See you then," Kagome replied cheerfully over her shoulder, already half-way into the park entrance. She normally wouldn't come through the area this close to dark, but she really was anxious to get home and could save a good 10 minutes by coming this way.

She almost regretted her decision when she came upon the section of her route that took her past the woods and through a rather remote area of the park, though. Her body tensed and she hesitated a moment to continue on her path.

'Oh, stop being paranoid, Kagome,' she inwardly berated herself before moving forward briskly, completely unaware of the two strangers shadowing her every move.

Koenma let out an exasperated sigh and shuffled through the endless stack of papers littering his desk. He'd been through countless scrolls — each giving a vague account of the legend of the Shikon no Tama and the great battle that saw to its end. In truth, they were of little help; there were simply too many discrepancies between texts and not enough detail to support any conclusion drawn from them. He couldn't even determine how the jewel had been destroyed. Of course that was if it had been destroyed.

If. It had been the question rolling around in his mind since the boy had revealed himself. The implications were serious: if the child was sustained by a fragment of the Shikon Jewel, as the stories seemed to suggest, then the remainder of the jewel could not have been destroyed ... not without rendering the missing fragments powerless.

The boy should be dead. So, where was rest of the Shikon no Tama?

Koenma groaned as a whole new list of problems emerged in his mind.

"Sir?" Botan asked a little sheepishly from the other side of his desk. She was concerned about him, he could tell.

"I'm fine Botan, really," Koenma reassured in his most convincing tone, but he knew he failed miserably. He normally wouldn't have bothered, but in truth, he felt bad for her. She had guilt written all over her face. It was a look wholly unsuited for her he decided, especially given the circumstances.

"This isn't your fault, Botan," he began, trying to ease her mind. "Things were different before the reform."

He wasn't lying, Spirit World had been different then; they were unorganized, understaffed, and entirely unprepared to deal with the continual warring of the time. Up until the forging of the great barrier and the Reikai reform movement sometime toward the end of the feudal era, it had been quite difficult to keep track of the deceased.

"Does it matter? If I hadn't lost his soul to begin with, this may never have happened." Her tone was void of its usual cheer. "I was careless."

"We were all careless," the Reikai Prince replied. "Besides, we don't even know if it's him yet."

True, they didn't know. She hadn't had the chance to see him before; in fact she'd missed him altogether. She hadn't even suspected until the stories began. The accounts were few — only three in the last 450 years — but they all shared a common thread. The exterminator child had been resurrected with a tainted Shikon jewel fragment, something that could not be done unless his soul was adrift in the first place. Botan wasn't stupid, she knew a lost soul when she saw one and when she saw his face on screen that morning there was no doubt left for her. She could feel it right down to her bones. That boy was neither living nor dead, and it was her fault.

Her feelings of guilt were only compounded now that her friends were involved.

"We should have told them more," she said in a hush. "It isn't fair to send them out without knowing what they might be up against."

Koenma shook his head vigorously. "Do you have any idea what could happen if word got out that that kid may be in possession of a fragment of the Shikon Jewel?" Koenma snapped. "Every demon in Makai would be trying to snake their way into the human realm just to get their hands on that kid. In the best-case scenario, the Ningenkai is overrun in no time and we have a serious mess to clean up. And that's only if it turns out not to be true!"

He shuddered unconsciously, not really wanting to think about what would happen if it was true and the shard fell into the wrong hands, Sensui or Itsuki hands for instance. They wouldn't be satisfied with just a shard, as if that wasn't bad enough. Oh no, they'd not rest until they found the rest of the jewel, of that Koenma was certain.

"No, this information stays between us, Botan. We can't risk that kind of damage until we know for certain, and if that means leaving Yusuke and the others in the dark, so be it!"

Botan flinched and Koenma instantly felt worse. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but his own culpability was weighing on his nerves and making him even more irritable than usual. He sighed heavily, and brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Why don't you check back in with Yusuke? I can handle things here."

"Are you sure?" She questioned, clearly not as convinced as he.

"Quite. Besides, he may need your help," he replied, effectively shooing her from his office. "Oh, and Botan, remember what I said: not a word."

She nodded, her mouth set in a firm line and the sparkle of newfound determination flashed in her eyes as she exited the huge double doors. It didn't matter how she felt about his orders so long as she followed them. And she would. She would do whatever he asked of her, just as she always had. Only this time, she wasn't about to let him down.

Kuwabara watched from a careful distance as the girl made her way through the park. He should have caught up to her by now, but somewhere along the way he realized he had absolutely no idea of what he would say to her when he did.

'Hi, I just so happen to get this tickle feeling every now and then that lets me sense the supernatural and I think the creepiest spiritual energy I've ever felt is sleeping inside you as we speak.'

Um, no. He may not be the smartest person in the world, but he knew enough to know that that probably wouldn't do him any favors. So he opted for the safer route: follow her until something happened. He still wasn't sure why, he just knew that he should — even if it meant abandoning the mission for a moment and risking a thorough pounding when Urameshi got a hold of him.

Kuwabara was literally shaken from his thoughts when a firm hand grabbed hold of his shoulder and yanked him back roughly, causing him to spin and almost fall forward into the face of his assailant.

"Idiot!" Yusuke hissed. Man, was he ever pissed. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I … uh … well, that is — " Kuwabara stammered unsuccessfully.

"Just shut up and come on," his words were dripping with venom as he wound a fistful of Kuwabara's shirt in his hand and jerked him in the direction of where he had parted ways with Kurama. He really didn't want to hear whatever lame-brained excuse Kuwabara surely had at this point. "We found the kid. Kurama's tailing him now."

Yusuke was more than a little surprised when Kuwabara firmly rooted his feet to the ground and jerked his upper body out of his grasp.

"I ain't going anywhere, Urameshi!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Pissed wasn't the half of it, now; Yusuke was down-right livid. "Didn't you hear me? I said we found the kid. Now. Let's. Go."

He was already balling his fist, ready to knock Kuwabara cold. At least that way he could go help Kurama with the kid and not have to worry about his friend doing anything monumentally stupid while he was gone.

"I can't," he began only to see Yusuke's fist heading straight for his face. He dodged to the left, trying to spit out his excuse all the while. "You don't understand, Urameshi! There's something really freaky going on with that — "

Kuwabara stiffened and the detective froze in the middle of throwing a vicious right hook. Both heads snapped in the direction of the woods; the hair on Kuwabara's neck and arms stood on end, and he began to feel nauseated.

Yusuke had felt it too, though not as forcefully, and he suddenly found himself running as fast as his legs would take him to the disturbance. Kuwabara was right on his heels as they tore through the clearing, stopping abruptly when they reached Kurama, whose typically cool and collected disposition had given way to obvious alarm. He stood slack-jawed and wide-eyed, frozen in his tracks as he stared out at the scene unfolding before them. Yusuke gasped, equally stunned.

He suddenly realized why Kuwabara had taken such an interest in that girl.

Kagome jumped as the sound of angry voices infiltrated her ears. It came from somewhere behind her, and she decided the best course of action was to move quickly. She had no desire to be caught up in some sort of gang squabble, if that's what it was. She kept watch over her shoulder, and quickened her pace.

In her haste, she failed to see the figure that emerged from the shadows and settled directly in her path until she had very nearly barreled over it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I—"

Her body went rigid, and the words hung in her throat when she got a look at the boy's face. She knew this boy. Though she wasn't entirely sure about his features, she could never forget those eyes: haunting, molten pools of liquid earth and fire, shrouded in tortured indifference. A shiver ran up her spine. It was like staring straight into purgatory and altogether the most frightening sensation she had ever experienced.

Though her mind desperately pleaded with her body to turn away, she could not move or speak. Kagome had relinquished all control to the boy before her, the one that had plagued her dreams for so long. She felt the air around them turn cold, as he studied her so intently she felt as though she were a butterfly, pinned and wriggling. The priestess tried frantically to look at something else, anything else as he scrutinized her; the abysmal unrest in his eyes had become unbearable.

Yet, she couldn't tear her gaze from him. Something was tugging on the edge of her subliminal being, begging to be recognized, though she couldn't seem to put her finger on it. The boy was oddly familiar to her, more so than the encounters of her dreams, and for a moment she felt a little comfort in that. Still, she needed answers to the questions in her mind. Her mouth began to dangle upon the likeness of words, like a fish out of water, and slowly her vocal capabilities returned to her.

"I … It's you" she finally stammered, unable to form anything else.

He said nothing, but the look in his eyes told her all she needed to know: he recognized her as well. Suddenly, the tension and fear running amuck in her mind dissipated. She had seen the fleeting look of recognition play across his features and realized he had been searching for her. Somehow, he needed her as much as she needed him.

"Why?" she whispered, it was the one thing that made no sense to her at the moment.

He reached one hand into his cloak and fished out a strange looking, opalescent sphere, letting it rest in the palm of his hand. He studied it a moment, eyes tracing the pattern of its flaws. There were pieces missing, and it had lost a great deal of its luster. Yet, for all of its surface scars, it had been his most prized possession. His only possession. The only thing in the last 500 years he'd felt compelled to protect. And now, he was just as compelled to offer it freely, extending it to her in silent invitation.

Kagome was instantly mesmerized, her entire being filled with an electrified anticipation, and the world around them vanished in her mind. She hadn't noticed her kitsune audience, nor would she notice his friends when they would arrive moments later, or the ferry girl shortly after that. Only two things existed for her in that moment. The stone and her inexplicable and overwhelming urge to take it.

She reached out tentatively, studying his face for a moment before taking the jewel into her grasp and turning it in her slender fingers for a better look. She jumped as a soft luminescence splintered out from its cracks on contact, the rainbows of refracted light dancing across her face as she held it closer.

"It's beautiful," she whispered as the glow intensified in her grip and enveloped her hand. Then suddenly, without warning, the gem dislodged itself from her grasp and shot toward the center of the clearing.

The wind picked up and emitted a low whine, and dark clouds gathered to block out the last of the evening light as the jewel began to oscillate. White light crept out from its confines and spiraled around the priestess, encompassing her completely. Her eyes widened in fear as the energy entered her, infiltrating her senses through every possible opening: mouth, nose, eyes, every pore of her skin filled with blinding light as the invading energy coursed through her veins and purified her with torrents of white fire, burning her every fiber from the inside out. An inhuman shriek escaped her lips from the sheer force of it. Her body lifted from the ground and began to spin, mimicking the jewel itself.

The images came flooding in, filling the gaps in her life with the knowledge of a past existence. Every second of every moment of her eternal being rushed, overloaded her senses and left her anesthetized as her soul adhered once more to her flesh.

Just as suddenly as it had begun, the light dimmed and Kagome collapsed, her screams dying with the wind. The world went eerily still for but a moment, the stifling silence only broken by a low rumble gaining in intensity around them. The earth shook and a thunderous crack resonated through the trees as the jewel splintered, a black light and deep purple gas spilling out from its walls. The gas saturated the clearing with noxious fumes and a heavy fog that made it virtually impossible to see.

Kurama paled and did his best to cover nose and mouth with his sleeve. "It's poisonous," he coughed as his eyes began to water. "We have to get them out of there."

Yusuke nodded and hung his shirt collar on his nose. "Right. Stay here I'll take care of this."

Botan gripped his arm firmly, and he paused. "Wait, Yusuke. I think the fog is clearing."

She was right. The fumes began to dissipate, leaving only a heinous laughter on the wind. Kuwabara cringed, not wanting to know what exactly was behind the veil of smoke. Yet soon enough the wall cleared, revealing the most frightening demon he thought he'd ever seen.

In the middle of the clearing stood a writhing mass of tentacles, a horrendous and freakish abomination latched on to a humanoid body. The beast was bloody and disoriented, but still he laughed menacingly. He took a moment to study his surroundings, taking note of the half conscious boy nearby and the meddling priestess lying in a heap at the slayer's feet. The miasma curled and rolled along the unmoving bodies of her human companions and the foolish dog like smoke.

And in his palm, the nearly completed jewel glowed with a malevolent darkness. The demon smiled — outright smiled — as he realized his good fortune.

Kurama gasped as the fog unfurled and revealed the others to his sight, and Yusuke rounded on the ferry girl at his side.

"Just what the hell is going on here, Botan!" He snapped angrily. "Spill it. I know you know something."

"I ... I 'm not sure," she whimpered.

"Save it," he growled, eyes on the demon as he steadied himself and slithered toward those on the ground. The detective slipped to the edge of the clearing and summoned the energy to his fist, ready to attack should the demon still unaware of their presence make a move.

"Honestly, Inuyasha," the demon chastised. "Even you should know better than to allow an untrained miko to attempt such a spell. No look what it's gotten you." He clucked his tongue and shook his head. "Such a pity to have to kill you all now, when you're not awake for me to enjoy it."

The demon stooped, grabbing a fist full of of silver hair and yanking the limp head back to look the half-breed in the face. He sneered at the bloody mess of the dog's face, and let it fall back into the dirt. How pathetic.

He stood, ready to pierce through the half-demon's skull with a swift tentacle, when an unfamiliar voice caught his attention.

"Spirit gun!"

Naraku barely had time to register the impending threat to dodge. He spun and managed to move just enough to miss the brunt of the attack, but not fully. The tremendous blast caught half of his body, and in a wicked twist of fate, effectively shattered the Shikon Jewel. Again.

The shockwave that followed drove them all to their knees as the fragments sprayed across the sky like tiny meteors skipping across the surface of the atmosphere. Dozens of miniscule pieces rained down, penetrating the barriers that separated human from demon, living from dead, destroying the threads of reality and then mending them as though they were never snipped. The force of it was beautiful; an exquisite symphony of destruction and rebirth.

The earth stilled in its magnanimous wake.

Naraku grit his teeth and hissed in pain as he tried to collect himself from his place on the ground. He could smell his own charred flesh and decided then that his victory would, once again, have to wait for another day. Before anyone had time to react he snaked a tentacle around the boy and both disappeared in a thick cloud of poison miasma.

"Damn it!" Yusuke cursed loudly and threw clenched fists to the ground. He was completely confused at this point. How could he let that monster escape in to the human realm? With the kid no less! Injured or not, that thing was dangerous, and he'd bet his life that they hadn't heard the last of him.

"I just wish someone would tell me what the hell is going on," Yusuke ground out, frustrated. "What the hell was that thing, Botan?"

Botan clamored to her feet, ignoring the vertigo that overwhelmed her as she stood upright. She wasn't sure how to answer him. "I don't know, but I have to get to Koenma. He needs to know about this."

"Bull shit!" Yusuke was furious at the mention of the child prince's name. It suddenly dawned on him that the boy they had been trailing was responsible for the stone that let the demon loose in the first place, and he was certain that Koenma hadn't been in the dark about it. "You can't tell me that damned toddler didn't know—"

"Perhaps this isn't the time, Yusuke," Kurama interjected. He was kneeling over the girl in black, checking her injuries as he had with the others. "These people need help, and if I'm not mistaken the police are on their way."

"Shit! What are we supposed to do with them?" Yusuke didn't like the idea of taking these people with him without knowing exactly who they were and whose side they were on, but by the looks of them he knew he couldn't very well leave them there, either.

"We could take them to Yukina," Kuwabara suggested, wrapping his arms protectively around the tiny cat that had accompanied the boy. "She could heal them, and maybe they'll know something about the demon."

"That's good thinking, Kuwabara," Yusuke replied. "C'mon, let's get out of here before the cops show up and things get messy."

He hoisted the half demon up over one shoulder and the girl he had run into earlier over the other and turned to Botan. "Get us outta here," he commanded, clearly still irritated with the ferry girl.

She opened a portal and ushered him through without question, not really wanting to try his patience any more than she already had. She waited as Kuwabara tossed the other boy onto his back, and Kurama carefully lifted the girl into his arms, avoiding her injuries as best he could. They stepped through the portal, leaving no evidence of their confrontation, just as police began to swarm the area.