InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Light in the Dark ❯ Silver Bells ( Chapter 8 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Shippo was still perched on Kagome’s right shoulder and leaned down inspecting Shen intensely, almost menacingly seeing if she matched Kagome’s every little detail. Shen looked up also looking at Shippo taking in every detail of him, only instead of scrutinizing as heated as he was she looked softly, almost shyly, still hiding behind her hand. Her thin tail was swaying a bit behind her, hanging off of Kagome’s lap. Arashi, being that she was still behind Kagome, looked over the celestial’s head and proceeded to look at Shen with the same curiosity the young kitsune had for Shippo. Shen noticed this as soon as she was done looking over Shippo, and looked back at the older kitsune, who was Shippo’s last blood relative.

This lasted for what seemed like 10 minutes. During this time Kagome sat perfectly still and refrained from saying anything, only vaguely aware of the anxiety creeping into her person. On small occasions when the kitsune went to sniff the other, Kagome would send barely noticeable looks toward Hiei and Kurama for help. Hiei couldn’t help but send a small look of sympathy, he could do no more. Kurama noticed the looks but did nothing, only because he was holding back Youko. Youko wanted to get out and inspect Shen as much as the other kitsune who were.

When they were done though Kagome calmed down noticeably, although unaware of when she tensed up. Arashi being satisfied with her scrutinize of the young kitsune wrapped her arms around Kagome’s shoulders and rested her head on the miko’s left shoulder. Shippo being done however just stayed where he was, although never taking his eyes off of the kitsune on Kagome’s lap. Shen, satisfying that part of her curiosity, looked over to the rest of the new group. She looked each and every one of them up and down as they did to her. Hiei’s was less noticeable than all the others. To anyone else it would seem as though he was burning holes into her person with his stare, as he did most. Shen ignored it and continued, although it gave her chills.

To everyone who knew him, it seemed as though Hiei’s inspection wasn’t as bad as most, although in truth it was the most intense out of all the others. Hiei wanted to memorize every little aspect of Kagome’s miracle child. If something were to ever happen to Shen, he was sure Kagome would go all out to get her back, as she would for Shippo, and if anything Hiei made sure that he would protect his ward’s children to keep her happy. It was obvious to him that he was growing some feelings for the young miko. No matter how much he despised himself for allowing the feelings to even stir in his being, he would try to make her happy.

After all curiosity was fulfilled Shen finally remembered her manners and her cheeks became a rosy color. Her tail had stilled and she fidgeted a bit in Kagome’s lap. Kagome let go of Shen and let her stand. Shen stood as close as she could to the miko. She held her head up high and let her hand fall from her face and placed both of them on her legs and bowed quickly. Her eyes gained a soft gleam to them.

“Ano, hello... my name is Shen.” the young kit blushed harder. She was very nervous. “I’m, ano”, Shen looked over at Kagome who just smiled and nodded her head approvingly, “I’m very happy to be here and to have been able to meet all of you. Thank you for looking after my Okaa-san, my Nii-san, and me.” Shen rushed the last part, but everyone heard her perfectly.

As soon as she was done Shen ran into Kagome’s side and held on tightly. To her it felt like the hardest thing she would have to do all her life. Apparently meeting people was not her thing. Kagome smiled warmly at her and patted her hear in a silent praise.

Hiei wanted to smile at the kitsune, but refrained. Shen’s actions slightly reminded him of Yukina. She was a youkai, yes, but she was truly a shy person with a good heart. Of course her being Kagome’s daughter, the last part didn’t surprise him.

Everyone else did smile at her though. Shippo crawled down into Kagome’s lap and placed a small hand on her shoulder.

Shen looked over to see a pair of green eyes looking into her own sapphire ones. It was plainly obvious that she was still blushing. Shippo just smiled at her, one fang over lapped his bottom lip. Shen’s blush lessened, but a pink hue was still there. She smiled back at her new older brother, showing off her two shiny fangs that poked over her bottom lip. Arashi, still being there, smiled watching the two kitsune easily get along. She was very interested in watching the two interact, especially up close. Her tails were swaying in perfect content with her mood.

“So wait, if Shen is here then where’s your sword?” Yusuke asked bluntly.

Kagome just smiled and shook her head. It was understandable to why he would be curious, but to Kagome... he would just have to wait and see like everyone else.

Yusuke, having grown respect over his years of fighting and being a spirit detective, just rolled his eyes and slouched. It was slightly annoying not being able to get the exact information he wanted, but all the same time he would just get on with life and this mission.

Kurama and Youko though, seemed a bit peeved at the fact that out of the few secrets Kagome was keeping from them, the location of her weapon was the one of them, and out of all the secrets they knew she had, this one was starting to bother them the most. If anything were to happen to the celestial miko or her little kitsune children, they would like to know that she would be able to take care of herself and them. Of course with all of detectives and Arashi protecting them, the chances of that happening were slim, but still there. And they didn’t know how strong this Naraku character was. As far as they were aware, he was a puppet master and a threat to all the world and time itself.
However that was basically of all their great missions, either do it right or die and end all the worlds, but as expected Kurama kept a calm facade, deceiving everyone to what he was really thinking and what his true emotions were.

Kagome looked over to Kurama and frowned at him. Kurama looked over and smiled with some sympathy.

“What’s wrong, Kagome?” he asked gently.

Kagome frowned even more.

“Kagome?” he asked a little worried.

Kagome put her children down, looked over silently asking Arashi to let her go, which was complied, and walked a little away from everybody, but waved a hand for just him to follow.

Kurama did as she wished from him. From there Kagome turned and walked for about 5 minutes, not far from camp but far enough so no one could hear, not even with enhanced hearing.

“Kagome?” he asked slowly, worry was still etched into his voice.

Kagome looked him straight in his green eyes and poured all the sadness from her toward him. Kurama almost flinched, the pain seemed very familiar, but so odd, especially in her gray eyes.

“Why, Kurama? Why do you lie? You have to be true, or no one will. You hurt on the inside. You bleed almost as much as Hiei, and I mourn for the both of you. I can feel your pain and all the regret you carry. So tell me... why do you hide it?” she asked, tears brimming at her eyes.

Kurama was almost taken aback and frowned himself. She wasn’t supposed to know. So why did she..., and why ask? It was obvious that the miko cared for all, but to try and heal what was there for so long....

The only thing the kitsune could fully think of was how he should tell her. It was clear the only thing she would accept was the truth. The thing was; how do you tell one of the most pure beings to ever walk the earth something so dark and personal.

Kurama and Youko were very ashamed of themselves. They were the ones causing Kagome pain and sadness. Kurama held back the tears that were close to falling from his emerald eyes. Suddenly it was hard to look her in the eyes, so he tried looking at the roots of a nearby tree to his right. This didn’t work being that Kagome put a hand under his chin and forcing him lightly to look her in the eyes. This time when he looked at her she was crying, crying blue tears.

“Kurama, tell me why?” she whispered as a new set of blue tears fell down her cheeks.

Kurama didn’t know what to do... the shame he felt was a heavy burden on his heart at that exact moment. Youko, too, was ashamed. Instead of saying anything he fell on his knees and his shoulders started shaking. He tried to hide in his hands as tears raced down his face from his eyes. A pair of warm small arms wrapped around him and held him tight. Kurama let his hands go from his face and wrapped them around the waist of the woman who held him like a child as he cried.

Kagome began to rub small circles on his back while the other ran through his hair as he cried into her small figure; a grown man... a grown youkai, crying like a lost child.

Time seemed to stand still for the two. When Kurama was done crying he lifted his head and looked into the miko’s face. She was smiling down at him with red rimmed eyes. One hand was on the back of his head while the other was on his back. Kurama just cuddled himself into her small stomach like a child and held tighter to her waist. Kagome just stroke his hair some more.

“I’m sorry, Kagome. I shouldn’t hide things from you.... me and Youko consider you... family. We’re sorry. We’ll try to be more true to our feelings, just for you... Imouto. We’re sorry.” he mumbled.

Kagome gripped his shoulder in understanding. Still smiling down at him she whispered, “That’s all I want. I just want you to try... Onii-chan.”

Kurama looked up at her once more before getting up full height. When he did Kagome dusted him off and smiled. Just as she was going to walk Kurama turned her around and hugged her. The miko wasn’t expecting it so she stood still.

“Thank you, Kagome.” he whispered in her ear.

With that he let go, only to grasp on to her hand and started to walk in the direction. There was a small smile on his face as he walked dragging Kagome along. Kagome smiled that at least she made someone happy, and she was getting a second chance at having a family in the feudal era. While they were walking Kurama looked back and smiled apologetically.

“I’m sorry, Kagome. I seemed to have gotten your.... kimono… wet...” he slowed down noticing that she was wearing traditional miko clothes.

Kagome smiled. It wasn’t something to be understood. This was just one of those things you would never get the answer to. It was something for Kagome to know and Kagome only.

Kurama smiled back wearily. Normally he knew the answers to most things, but somehow Kagome seemed to keep the answers from him. It wasn’t even a full day and yet she knew more than he did. She knew what might be important and wouldn’t let him know.

Kagome sent him a pointed look with her arms crossed over her chest and lifted an eye-brow. They just talked about this, and here he was again being irritated.

Kurama just lifted his hands in defense and laughed sheepishly. “I’m sorry Kagome, I just don’t like not knowing things.” With that said he avoided her eyes and looked at his nails, as though inspecting them to see if they were dirty. He noticed that he did have some dirt under them. They seemed like the most important things at the time.

Kagome just sighed heavily, took his hand away from his gaze and began dragging him back towards the camp by the wrist. Her face held a dry look the whole way.

When they reached camp Kagome let go of his wrist as her children ran and clung to her calves. She smiled and pat them each on the head. Hiei sent Kurama a pointed look and just received a smile and a laugh in return.
‘/Fox, what did you do with the miko? Her clothing has changed.’

‘Calm down Hiei, nothing happened. She just wanted to talk, that’s all. Apparently I’ve been accepted as family. The clothing thing though is something that happened while she was crying.’

‘Not just family, we’ve been accepted as her older brother. Her ‘Onii-chan’. Oh! Don’t worry she was just crying because we wouldn’t tell her why we were upset at first, but we told her.’ Youko gloated.

For a brief second Hiei’s eyes widened with shock then became hostile before he retained his stoic mask.
‘Hn.’

‘Don’t worry Hiei, we won’t take her from you. Just tell her how you feel.’ Soothed Kurama.

‘That’s none of your business fox.’

‘We know Hiei, but if you don’t hurry soon I think someone else will try to steal that golden heart of hers.’

‘. . .’

‘After all it is a treasure most would love to have for their own.’ The silver fox explained.

With that Hiei closed their link and began to think to himself as he watched Kagome set up camp along with the rest of the group. She seemed like she belonged in the forest, Kagome. Her smile was bright and her eyes seemed to glow with happiness. She giggled every now and then, as did her children. He noticed a similarity in Kagome and Shen’s laugh. . . they rang like silver bells. Kagome’s was more of a melody though. It was soothing.

‘Kurama is right. . . she is a treasure most would love to have, myself included. But how could she love someone like me? Her laugh is a sweet melody that can take the edge off of the sharpest sword. If I ever want her to look at me in the light I see her. . . I don’t know. I don’t even deserve someone as her, I’d just taint her purity.

With all the thoughts flowing through his head he didn’t notice that he had sighed aloud or that his face became softer. It looked more delicate and approachable. But it was his sigh that was carried on a soft wind and swept by Kagome’s ear.

Kagome heard it and looked up at Hiei. It wasn’t really until just now that she noticed how attracted she was to him. He seemed like a mixture of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. She never admitted out loud that she was indeed attracted to the taiyoukai. He seemed like a kind, but strict lord who knew his priorities and put his whole person into whatever needed to be done. Plus he was a great care-taker to watch over Rin. He acted the part of father very well, and he was strong. Of course Kagome would be attracted to a strong male.

But Hiei was like a mixture of the two brothers. He was stoic, like the lord. He didn’t belong, like the hanyou, and he was handsome and strong like the two. He was deadly, but could be soft. He knew his priorities, he was honor bound.

Her thoughts drifted to when they jumped down the well.

‘His hand felt calloused from his sword, but his grip didn’t hurt at all. Almost as though he was afraid of hurting me. . . breaking me. He was great with Shippo; he didn’t lash out, lose his temper, or ignore him. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Hiei cared about me. . . . Maybe even have feelings for me.’ with the last part Kagome put her hand to her face and a light blush crept upon her.

Luckily for her the only people who seemed to notice this were Arashi and Kurama. Arashi tilted her head a bit as one of her ears twitched. This was very interesting to her, to watch a miko fall in love with a youkai. Kurama on the other hand smiled to himself. If things went right, the two would be together in no time. They seemed to fit each other if one asked him. They needed each other whether they knew it or not.

‘Red, Kagome does have feelings for Hiei!’

‘I can see that Youko, but they both seem inexperienced in that category.’

‘That just makes it all the better.’

‘It’s a matter if Hiei sees it or not.’

‘If he doesn’t we could tell him.’

‘It’s bad enough that we know he has feelings he refuses to express.’

‘Then we can... push him in the right direction with a little help from another kitsune.’

‘Youko, I don’t think Kagome would like for her children to be involved with this.’

‘Who said anything about a child? I was talking about the vixen that Kagome ran into while she was bathing.’

‘Arashi?’

‘She seems to have noticed Kagome’s recent display of a wandering mind, while gazing at Hiei himself. Plus it would be lovely to spend some time with her, especially being that you’re still a virgin in this body.’

‘I refuse to let you bed a human.’

‘You don’t know what you’re missing.’

‘With the mental images you send me I can feel it as well and you know it.’

‘I just try to help you when you’re reaching a sexual frustration limit.’

‘. . . .’

‘So are we in agreement to do a side mission?’

‘Apparently being that you’ve put it that way, I see you’re set on it and I have no choice.’

‘Good. We’ll discuss things later in the night.’

Arashi looked over and noticed for a brief second Kurama was gazing in her direction. She mentally smirked to herself. She knew he had some kitsune in him, she wasn’t exactly sure how, but she knew.

‘He’s not bad looking. That red hair of his looks just as good as a fresh silk kimono. Plus his eyes... are an emerald green. Typical for a kitsune to have jewel colored eyes. What’s his name again... Kurama? ... sounds familiar.’

Slowly she headed in Kurama’s direction, making it look discreet by helping set up camp along the way. When she seemed to be working and putting full attention to checking the ground for things that would get in the way of a nice camp site, she bumped into him.

“Oops. Sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” she started with a smile.

Kurama looked at her, he was taller than her now, but in Youko form he was sure he’d be much taller. She seemed about Kagome’s height to him. He noticed her coming but decided to stay in the same place just to see what would happen.

“It’s alright.” he said to her with a small chuckle.

Arashi looked him in the eyes and blinked. Within that blink her special sapphire colored eyes held a small twinkle in them. Kurama looked at the twinkle and raised his eyebrows. He scanned her face for any hint of where she was going. The only thing he could really see though was her smile and the twinkle in her eyes. The smile was honest and the twinkle was mischievous.
What awaited him he wasn’t sure, and it was because of that he wondered if he wanted to know. For all he knew she wanted him just as much as his fans did. He was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. Of course Youko scoffed that a youkai would be so much like a human in that aspect. He was sure as a kitsune she would have more self-respect than that, and if she didn’t... Youko almost shivered in slight disgust.

It was revolting to think a kitsune wouldn’t have the respect for their own person. He would be damned if she didn’t, but if she didn’t then would gladly take over and put her in her place. A kitsune like her...

Kurama almost gasped at the images Youko was sending him. How Arashi should be and what he would do to her if she wasn’t. He almost blushed at some of them. Thankfully he kept his face schooled so as not to worry her or let her know what he and Youko were thinking.

End Chapter