A/N: Long time no see, right? A lot of things have happened in the last eight years or so. I'll spare you the details except to say I haven't even thought about this in YEARS. Then, for no particular reason I can really pinpoint, this story started rolling around in my head again. And it just wouldn't leave me alone. So, yeah. Here we have it; the universe lives again. Hope you enjoy.
Also, I've been cleaning up earlier chapters and posting revamped work in the last couple of days. Mostly just minor edits for improved reading, but the whole thing is under construction. Look to have the entire thing finished this week, if you're so inclined to read again.
Chapter Fifteen
It hadn't been the homecoming for which she'd hoped.
Kagome stilled, a fear settling on her skin like frost as she approached the gate at the entrance to her family's ancient shrine under cover of darkness. Her breath quickened as her fingers paused over the latch, a dread unlike any she'd ever felt screaming in the back of her senses.
"What's wrong?" Yusuke asked in hushed tones, aware of the way her hand suddenly trembled as she froze there in the waning hours of night.
"I ... I'm not sure," she answered honestly, swallowing past the block of ice in her throat. "Something doesn't feel right."
Yusuke's eyes sharpened in the dark, concern drawing his lips into a tight line. He looked to the top of the steps, watching shadows dance along the concrete into the inky black of beyond and felt a chill settle in his spine. He'd never been to the Higurashi shrine, but he knew without having to be told that Kagome was right: Something didn't feel right.
The detective placed a reassuring hand on her outstretched arm and gave a slight nod, a gesture to move forward when she met his eyes. The priestess held his gaze a moment, firming her resolve to turn the latch and push against the wrought iron bars. The hinges groaned loudly, and they both froze once more, listening for any indication that their presence had been detected.
Kagome let loose the breath she'd held when after moments passed, they remained alone.
"C'mon," she whispered, and motioned for him to follow. "Hurry."
The ball of lead in her stomach only seemed to grow heavier as she raced up the steps as quietly as she could manage. Kagome could feel it on her skin, the malignant force in the air threatening to turn the air in her lungs to ash as her thoughts ran circles. What if something had happened to her family? What if Naraku had found them? What would she find when she reached the top of those stairs? Gods, she'd never forgive herself if they'd been discovered.
"Hey! Wait up!" Yusuke started, his voice a harsh whisper as he sprinted up the stairs behind her. Gods, but he hated stairs. "I don't like this."
But Kagome was beyond hearing him as she rushed on, fear beginning to cloud her judgment as she ran headlong through the doors of the shrine once she reached the top, heedless of his warning. She had to get to them. She had to see.
"Mama?!" she called, running through the dark of the kitchen and up the stairs toward the bedrooms. "Mama? Souta? Gramps? I'm home!"
Kagome paused to listen for a response as she stood in the hallway, facing her mother's room and watching the clock flash in the darkness. They should have been there. They should have been in bed, but instead there was nothing.
"Mama! Where are you?" she called once more, fighting to keep the panic she felt in her chest from rising up in her voice as she hurried back down the stairs toward the den. "Souta? Somebody answer me, please!"
She burst into the living room and her heart stopped. Her mouth worked soundlessly around words as Kagome dropped to her knees, a shuddering sob the only thing to escape from her throat.
"Damn it, Kagome!" Yusuke grouched as he rounded the corner, stopping short when he met her in the doorway and took in the state of the Higurashi home. He clenched his jaw, the sound of her incoherent cries wrapping around his heart like a vise, and the detective balled his fist, throwing a hard punch of frustration at the wall and feeling the fissures split and expand in the drywall beneath his knuckles.
"Fuck!" He yelled angrily.
Little had been left untouched in the den. Glass littered the floor, the only remnants of family photos smashed and ripped from the walls. The contents of every cabinet and shelf in the living room were strewn across the floor, as though someone had gone rifling through their possessions, searching. The television lay screen down, shattered and the arnoir on which it rested tipped.
And in the center of the room, Kagome's grandfather hung lifelessly from a support beam, his head folded forward, eyes bulging and filled with blood from the pressure of the cord wrapped around his neck. The deep, angry furrow on his neck, a grossly distorted purple V, and the scent of decay in the room spoke volumes; he'd been there, hanging like some grotesque scarecrow for days.
"Kagome, I ..."
"Don't," she sobbed, pushing at him as he knelt before her and took her by the shoulders. "Just stop, Yusuke. Don't touch me."
She couldn't bear it, the thought of that gentle touch when she'd done this. All of this. From the minute she fell down that well, she'd brought nothing but destruction upon anyone and anything she touched.
Once upon a time she had been foolish enough to believe that this was her safe haven, that evil hanyou and tainted shards would never follow her here. Her darkest fear was that one day, she would find that untrue. How very naive she'd been.
"You didn't do this," he said softly, knowing instinctively where her mind had turned. She lashed out in her despair, struggling against him as he grabbed her arms and tried to still her once more. "You hear me? This wasn't you."
"You don't know anything about what I've done!" she cried, body wracked with heaving sobs as he pulled her to his chest. She continued to struggle, but he paid no mind, letting her beat his chest in heartwrenching frustration and self loathing. "You don't know anything!"
"I know you," he said simply, holding to her as she broke down, her tears streaming down his neck and into the collar of his shirt. "I know you, and that's enough."
He held her there for what seemed like hours, until the desperate cries of heartbreak turned to a quieter whimper, and her breathing eased. He pulled back and looked into her eyes, swollen and red, a resolute set to his features that left no room for argument or disbelief.
"We'll get them," he promised softly. "If it takes everything I've got in me, those bastards are going to pay."
And Kagome knew, felt it as keenly as she felt the rift splitting her heart in two: He meant every word.
Yusuke sneered, wadding the crumpled paper into a ball and shoving it into his pocket. It was a trap, he knew, but it seemed they had little choice.
He'd found it on the old man, after the priestess had calmed enough to help him do a quick search the grounds for anything else. They found nothing, of course, save the piece of paper pinned to the elderly priest's robes: 24465 Kyoto Drive. No further instruction, no over-the-top demands. Just an address written in blood.
The detective kicked at the dirt and swore, furious at the position they'd been placed in and not certain where to go from there. It had taken him forever to get Kagome to leave, which was understandable but not particularly wise given the circumstances. She was devastated; deeply hurt at the lack of dignity afforded her grandfather. Her guilt was only compounded when they were forced to leave him there, an anonymous call to law enforcement as they slipped away the only real option available to them.
They'd had no choice, damn it all. Yusuke knew they'd been watched and likely followed, too. It wasn't safe to linger, and to make matters worse they couldn't go back to the hotel and risk blowing their safe spot.
"We need to get to a phone," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder anxiously. "Safety in numbers."
Kagome sniffled, nodding her head in agreement. She'd been crying silently from the time they left the shrine. "Midtown bus," she said quietly, voice strained and quivering. "There's a stop with a payphone not far from here. We can call, then hop the bus; it runs all night."
Plus, Midtown was bright. Populated, even in the hour before dawn. Smart, Yusuke thought. He knew those goons from down at the pier might be watching them, but he didn't think they were ready to jump them yet. Why bother to lay the trap otherwise? They should be safe to rendezvous with the others in the city. Then they could go beat that pretentious bastard's face in and get Kagome's mother and brother back.
Presuming the two were still alive.
Her thoughts must have mirrored his own, because the priestess let out a loud, shuddering sob before snapping her hand to her lips to stifle herself as they walked. Yusuke's heart seized in his chest. Gods, it just wasn't fair.
He took her hand in his, ignoring the way she stiffened as he laced their fingers together and squeezed her palm in a show of support. Maybe it wasn't the smartest decision; he knew there was something complicated brewing between them that wasn't entirely welcome for either of them. Yet, now he found that he didn't care. Right now, she needed the support. Right now, she needed someone to just be there. He could do that.
She let the tension go in her shoulders after some moments had passed in silence, and Kagome relaxed against him, taking his arm in hers as they walked. Yusuke exhaled heavily as they settled into a comfortable rhythm the two did not break until they approached the bus stop and the priestess dropped to the bench, exhausted.
He offered a slight smile as he stopped and stood before her, brushing the hair from her eyes to tuck an errant strand behind her ear. Kagome's cheeks colored when he lingered there, wash in the gentle hues of rose and gold as the sun broke over the horizon, though she did not look away.
And looking at her there, she was just so beautiful. Tragic and raw and worn as she was, Yusuke thought he might never have seen anything so pure and so delicate. He just couldn't help himself.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
And then he kissed her.
Sango shifted adjusted the pack of supplies she carried to rest more comfortably on her back, slinging the strap and unfinished bone over her shoulder. Akuma territory yielded less than they had hoped, though it was hardly a wasted effort. The group had managed to pick up some valuable pieces of information in the week and a half they'd spent turning over leads in the demon city, in addition to two other shards. And while she was more than accustomed to traveling in less than ideal conditions - wounded and tired and spending the night on the forest floor - the demon slayer had to admit, it was nice to have comfortable shelter to return to at the end of the day. Chu's apartment had served them well. She was going to miss it by the end of the night, she knew.
They'd said their goodbyes early that morning, having decided to turn their attention toward the southern provinces on the way back out to the border. Chu elected to remain in the city, gathering what information he and his misfits could to assist in their efforts. It would prove an invaluable asset, Kurama had said, and Sango was inclined to agree.
She adjusted the bone on her shoulder once more, annoyed at the awkward distribution of weight in its incomplete stage. The demon slayer would be glad to get to a point where she could finish it out.
"Looks like it's coming along well," Kurama said pleasantly, eyes traveling the length of the ivory in appraisal. "How much longer?"
She smiled, and it was natural and easy, a far cry from where they'd been just days ago. The tension that had drawn so tightly among them had snapped under the pressure of their argument, and while things had been a little awkward the morning after she'd been foolish enough to imbibe, the incident had helped them reach a deeper level of understanding, collectively.
Sango had to admit, it was a welcome change. Even things between she and Hiei had improved. The undercurrent of angry distrust had settled. While they were hardly friends, she found that the aggravation had subsided and at the very least they could work together. She supposed that was enough, all things considered.
She sighed, her gaze drifting to the dark apparition at the tree line on the edge of the city. He'd even managed to help her find just the right demon bone to fashion into a new weapon, although it had less to do with her than strengthening their defenses. At least, that's what he'd told her, rather rudely, when he dropped the bloody corpse of a low-level demon at her feet while out on patrol one night. It was strange, she thought, given that he hadn't actually been a part of the conversation about her skills and choice of weaponry. He'd obviously been listening, though, and Sango found she was grateful just the same. The size and weight of the bone were more than suitable.
"Oh, not long now," she answered candidly. "Just a couple more days. The biggest challenge will be managing the appropriate heat without a proper forge. But I've worked with less."
Kurama looked contemplative for a moment. "You know, Hiei could likely be of some assistance," he said, ignoring the annoyed scowl the fire apparition leveled at him.
"Volunteering my services yet again, fox?" Hiei interjected, somewhat irritated as he dropped suddenly before them, though Sango noted the icy contempt once commonplace in his voice was lacking.
"You said it yourself," Kurama countered, unfazed by the diminutive demon's annoyance. "Providing Sango with a substitute for her primary weapon would, indeed, improve our defenses. It would be wise to use our resources to expedite that process, would it not?"
Hiei set the fox in a heated stare, though Sango noticed he didn't seem inclined to argue.
"It would be appreciated," she told the dark apparition honestly. "Thank you."
Hiei rolled his eyes and flitted back into the treeline, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Humans."
Sango smiled in spite of herself, knowing that it was as close to "you're welcome" as she'd ever get. Not so very long ago she might have been offended at the response. It had taken some time to work out the nuances of demon rationale, but she'd learned well traveling with Inuyasha. Concepts like gratitude and appreciation, while perhaps felt on some level, were understood without the need to qualify it into expression. It was what it was. Why complicate it with words?
"Something amuses you?" Kurama asked quietly, ever observant.
"Oh, it's nothing," she said, shaking her head and content to keep her thoughts about the common characteristics of Inuyasha and Hiei to herself. The demon slayer's smile turned melancholy as her thoughts returned to her dog demon friend, and not for the first time, she wondered how the others had fared in their respective worlds.
They had been rather fortunate, Sango knew. Though Kurama and Touya had discussed at length the shift in the air in Makai, Sango could feel it somehow: Her friends had met with far greater challenges than they. Kirara, who had padded alongside the slayer in her petite form, lept to her shoulder and nuzzled the slayer's face reassuringly as Sango absently reached up to scratch behind the neko's ears.
"I'm sure they're fine, Kirara," she said, though she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince.
"They will, ya know."
Sango stifled the surprised squeak at the wind apparition's sudden intrusion into her space but found she jumped nonetheless, and Jin laughed heartily. She quirked a brow at the demon, but he only laughed that much harder, much to her chagrin. Stupid demons.
"Ah, lass, you're a right funny little thing, ya know," he laughed, nudging her playfully with his elbow.
No, Sango didn't know, but she grinned at his toothy smile nonetheless. She couldn't help it; for all his overzealous flirting and embarrassing attention (though she suspected he exaggerated for levity), Sango found that she liked Jin. Not in the way that he hoped, she knew, but the demon slayer had discovered a kinship there just the same. True, they had little in common, but Jin had a very uncommon way of bringing her spirits up and keeping her mind from the dark places in which she so easily trapped herself.
Like now, when she had difficulty shaking the restless discontent from her mind where her friends were concerned. Though she told herself he was right, and they were in fact OK, the shadow of doubt had been growing for days, before they'd ever left the demon city behind that morning. She knew that Inuyasha would never let anything happen to Kagome, but Miroku was essentially on his own with those they barely knew.
Sango felt the knife in her chest twist at the thought of the monk. She had loved him once, and still did to a point, but it seemed they were always just one step out of sync, like verses out of rhythm. Somehow she knew, like she so often did without understanding precisely how, that they were just not intended to be. Still, she cared for him and worried at the gnawing certainty that he was in danger.
She sighed unconsciously, and Jin took it as his cue. The demon summoned his jyaki, and with a great burst of air, swept the slayer into his arms and shot into the air like a bullet screaming toward the sky, delighting in the shocked, "God bless, Jin!" that escaped her as he did.
"Have you lost your mind?" Sango squawked, one arm swinging out to capture her balance as he lifted them, the other fisted into the soft, white cloth of his tunic. Kirara mewled loudly in protest and sunk her claws into the girl's armor, perturbed at the wind apparition's spontaneity. "We'll be seen!"
"Ah, relax love," he said pleasantly, coming to a stop far above the treetops. Kirara growled her disapproval, extracting herself from Sango's shoulder and hopping away from the two, transforming mid-air with a decidedly feline huff. Jin laughed outright, unfazed. "We're miles from Akuma. Not a soul around."
Sango scowled, unconvinced, and the mirth in his eyes diminished, though only just.
"Look around, girl," he sighed. "Breathe it in for just a wee moment. It's beautiful, ya know."
She supposed it was, really. Sango took a moment to just let her eyes trace the horizon and the way the clouds burned in the evening sun. Twilight had always been her favorite point in the day; it was a fact that remained true even in the demon world.
"We don't really have time for this," she said, though her tone told Jin she minded less than she let on. He set the huntress in an expectant look, waiting. She eyed him out of the corner of her eye, noting the minute wiggle of his ears at the point, and relented with a sigh. "But, yes, I suppose it is beautiful."
"Haha, girl!" The demon boasted merrily, enjoying what he viewed as a win. He grinned once more and tapped her playfully on the nose. "You, lass, think way too much. Ya oughta stop and look around once in awhile. Ya miss the most important things when ya don't."
"Perhaps," she said quietly, keenly aware of how his eyes had softened and his gaze had settled on her face. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks and would have cut off her own arm if it meant putting some distance between them.
"I can help ya know," he said, uncharacteristically quiet. "Whatever it is you're fightin' inside, girl, I could be with ya."
Sango found herself struggling at the sentiment, warring between the knowledge that the wind apparition had just opened himself up to her in some way that was poignant and special and the reality that she absolutely wished he hadn't. The huntress squirmed in his grip, awkward in the face of his confession.
"Jin - gah!" she squeeked, throwing the hand by which she'd held his shirt up to catch his lips with her fingertips as he closed the distance between them. The move unsettled the balance of her weight, and Sango tipped awkwardly to fall gracelessly from his grip. The wind demon scrambled to catch her, his fingers just missing the sole of her boot as she dropped back.
She landed in an undignified sprawl across the cream-colored fur of the neko as she caught her, driving the air from her lungs. Sango wheezed, though entirely grateful. "Thank you, Kirara," she said, stroking the demon's fur. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
The neko touched down artfully, and Sango dismounted quickly, fighting the color down in her cheeks as the wind apparition landed beside them rattling apologies at 90 mph.
"Are you alright? Kurama asked, though she had no chance to answer. Hiei dropped in their midst, sword at the ready, agitation radiating from him in palpable waves. The fire apparition gestured with an inarticulate grunt and nod to the edge of the forest.
"There," he groused, leveling the wind demon with a scalding glare. "You might have seen it sooner if you hadn't been playing Dream Date."
"Easy there boy-o," Jin responded, the typical light timbre of his Irish lilt replaced with something darker. "Hardly your business is it?"
"Enough," Kurama countered softly, throwing water on the brewing conflict. "There," he dismissed, eyes fixed on the distance ahead. "Hiei, is that...?"
Sango took off at a flat run, Kirara at her heels.
"Kohaku!"
Stupid girl, the fire apparition thought as he cut through the heavy undergrowth of the demon forest with irritation. She was quicker than he'd previously given her credit, and while she was still no match for his speed he was willing to give her a moment's advance. He'd never admit as much, but the girl wasn't a fool; whatever the reason she'd engaged in pursuit of that boy, it had to be important.
It was a setup, of course, and she knew it. He could feel it, the anxiousness and indecision boiling over in the split second before she fled. And yet she did not care. Hn. Interesting.
Still, it had been foolish, dividing their forces like that. The moment she broke through the wooded realm, a second emerged from the shadows beyond. A great hulking beast of a man, with snow white bristles of hair and a square set to his rugged jawline. He was certainly older than they, at least it appeared so, and the strange twist of his jyaki and aura told Hiei that creature was neither human nor demon. Not entirely, anyway.
The beast grinned maliciously. "Gentlemen, what's the rush?" he spoke, and it was languid and dark as a rich, slow molasses. "We have so much to talk about. I'm curious about you. Don't you want to know more about me, fox?"
Hiei could feel Kurama bristle beside him, and the fox moved imperceptibly to retrieve a seed from the hem of his sleeve. "Hiei," the fox commanded telepathically though he never broke eye contact with their foe.
It was all he need say. The dark apparition disappeared from view, little more than a vapor trail as he took off after the slayer, noting briefly that their adversary made no attempt to stop him. Hn. Also interesting.
Hiei flinched as the switch of a branch he'd pulled back recoiled and struck him across the face, drawing a long thin line of blood across his cheek. Again, he couldn't help but think this woman was far more trouble than she would ever be worth.
The sounds of a struggle met his ears, and he intensified his efforts cutting through the undergrowth. Just a little bit farther and he would be upon them.
He broke into the clearing just in time to hear the girl scream, the neko collapsing in a bloody heap before her as the child retracted his scythe.
"No! Kirara!" Sango cried, dropping to her knees and feeling along the demon's fur to get an idea of her injuries. The neko snarled and Sango slung the great bone in front of her, absorbing the impact of his weapon just in time. "Kohaku, please!" she begged, maneuvering the bone to defend herself from her place in the dirt as he struck out again. "Please! Just look at me!"
He released his weapon again, this time wrapping the chain around the bone to yank it from her grip with a hard pull. He moved back in, deceptively quick, drawing his sword to strike in the wake of her vulnerability. She countered with her own, though only just, and thrust upward, driving his arms up and leaving him exposed. She rolled onto her back in that split second, planting her feet squarely into his sternum and kicking up hard.
The boy stumbled but recovered quickly and surged forward to bring the blade down upon her as she followed through the momentum of her arc before she could recover her footing. Sango drew a sharp breath, knowing she was exposed and unable to defend herself from the onslaught.
But it never came. The metallic ring echoed in the deepening twilight as the child's blade met with the steel of Hiei's own sword as he intercepted the blow. The fire apparition's eyes burned with scalding intensity as he flung the once-exterminator back with sheer brute force.
The child grunted as he hit the ground, and before he could so much as raise to his elbows he froze, the demon's blade at rest above his neck. He said nothing, but gazed at the fire apparition through the expressionless void of his eyes as Hiei scrutinized him openly, curious about the boy who had turned Reikai on its head.
It was rather pitiful, he thought, on further inspection. No longer living, but undead. Not a boy, nor a ghoul. He was a wraith, subsisting on a compulsion he did not understand. He could kill him easily now, and more than a part of him thought that maybe he should, regardless of Spirit World orders.
Hiei stiffened when she rested a trembling hand upon his wrist, the touch a delicate entreaty. "Please," she whispered.
Her expression was worn, tired; the dirt on her face marred by tracks of sweat and tears. But beneath all of that, the pain of an old burden and familiar sadness. Their eyes met, and Hiei felt something constrict in his chest at the look he found in the aphotic depths of her gaze.
"Please," she pleaded once more. "Don't."
"It would be a mercy," he said softly, the harsh edge that so often colored his tone absent.
"Maybe," she acknowledged. "But if he's in there somewhere ... I ... I have to try."
Remnants of a long-spent conversation in Spirit World pulled at his memory, and Hiei felt the tightness in his chest return at the dawning realization it brought. This he understood all too well.
"He's your brother."
She held his gaze, though she did not answer, and Hiei exhaled heavily, letting the blade drop from the boy's neck to his side. She let go of his wrist and nodded graciously, turning to secure him with the length of rope she kept in the armor Koenma had gifted her. She hadn't yet made the first knot when the sound of a great explosion reached their ears.
"Kurama," Sango gasped as a great white light burned in the distance, and the ground began to quake and crumble beneath their feet.
The boy took the opportunity for what it was and slipped free, sprinting into the darkness as she lunged for him, coming up short when the earth below her feet gave way.
"Damn it!" Sango cursed and cried out as the great chasm opened its giant black maw, threatening to swallow her whole. "No!"
Hiei snatched her by the waist, pulling her from the edge of the dark, but the rift only grew beneath them. The ground popped and groaned and tore itself apart as they fell, tumbling with the landslide into the abyss below.