InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Matter of the Soul ❯ Chapter 6

 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Inu Yasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.

 

 

A Matter of the Soul

 

Chapter 6

 

“You are not what I had expected of the Great Miko.”

 

Kagome silently watched the youkai. He was not Sesshomaru, yet he was extremely similar in aura and physiognomy. He was gorgeous that was for sure. His black hair was short, with long silver strands framing either side of his face. His bangs fell just short of his chin. He had Sesshomaru's facial features. High sculpted cheekbones, straight elegant nose and oh so kissable lips. He, just like Sesshomaru, was borderline feminine. It was the very male jawline that saved him. He had that high and mighty appearance, with his head tilted to the side and up, as if he were looking down on the rest of the world. And he just might have been. He had to be at least 6'2, making him an inch or so taller than Kouga. His body was slender for a male, but definitely not delicate. His shoulders were strong and she could see muscle corded under the black tank top and heavy leather jacket he wore. She hadn't even noticed the chains hanging from his belt. There were about six heavy silver chains in all. Three on one side that went from front to back and hung at the side of his black pants, all at different lengths. Two on the other side that hung in the same fashion, and one that went from left to right and hung in the back near the bend of his knees.

 

She could admit when she was checking a guy out, and well, she was checking him out. So what? It's perfectly normal for a hormonal teenager and she had been practically asexual since the whole ordeal with the school. Just no time for boys. But this one was making her want to change her mind. The blush on her cheeks was evidence of her not so innocent line of thinking.

 

He could have passed for human, if he weren't so unnaturally beautiful. The biggest giveaway was his ears, delicately pointed with a silver stud in his left ear. The next telltale sign was his eyes. Around the pupil, which in itself was catlike, the color was a rich, warm vibrant gold, but faded outward to a blood red. Looking into his eyes was about the same as watching the sun set. His eyes were narrowed in the same fashion as Sesshomaru, but weren't at all cold and empty of emotion. Instead, Kagome noticed, they were alight with some sort of mischief. His lips, which had been so seriously set into a frown but a moment ago, was now upturned into a devilishly handsome grin. Twin fangs, glistening white in the streetlight, peaked out.

 

“You are much more attractive.” He said smoothly, in a voice that would melt just about any girl's knees. He stalked towards her, a gliding movement that screamed Sesshomaru. It was catlike, or to be correct, doglike.

 

Kagome stood her ground, but slipped into a defensive stance. He hadn't threatened her yet or said anything about the jewel, so there was no need to start an unnecessary fight. She called Naraku's youki to her hands and they took on a black glow. Her nails blackened and lengthened to sharp talons, and began dripping miasma. A trick Naraku had taught her a while back. The youkai halted immediately, watching as the blue in her eyes shifted to blood red. This was… unexpected. A smirk found its way to his mouth. A sparring match was sounding pretty good right now. A blue crescent moon and magenta stripes faded into view and his claws began to drip poison. The air around them was now filled with an acrid stench. It burned to smell, taste, and breathe. A silver blur sped behind the unknown youkai and smacked him upside the head. This youkai was entirely familiar.

 

“Ryo… You just had to aggravate her. Couldn't just do what you're told for once…” Sesshomaru was grumbling. The markings on Ryo had disappeared once again, and his hand was no longer spouting poison. Sesshomaru took a deep breath and let it out in choking coughs. Finally snapping out of her daze, Kagome drew the miasma back into herself, and with her miko powers, purified the air.

 

“My apologies Lord Sesshomaru…”

 

As if finally seeing her, Sesshomaru about did an impression of a fish out of water. He watched her black talons revert to fingernails, slightly pointed, and her crimson eyes bleed back to blue. He was speechless.

 

Ryo smirked at his father's stunned expression. “Yeah, it surprised me too, dad.”

 

Sesshomaru was probably about to smack Ryo upside the head again, but Kagome noticed that a light had recently turned on and she didn't want to explain the damaged sidewalk and plant life. “Let's continue to my house and we can talk with the others there.”

 

Sesshomaru gazed dispassionately at the melted sidewalk and now rotted grass, though it had been browned from the cold beforehand. The trees had been mostly restored to health when Kagome purified her own miasma. But the question he wanted to know was, how can she be youkai and a miko? How is that even possible? They should have canceled each other out. It had to be a side effect of absorbing Naraku.

 

With Sesshomaru and Ryo at her side, Kagome continued on her way home, discussing the past month. Sharing Rin's progress with him.

 

-

 

The buzzing broke his concentration and Yusuke lost a life to the goblin. Cursing, he pressed pause on the game he had been engrossed in and fished his cell phone out of his pocket. Taking a gulp of soda, he flipped it open. “Yo.”

 

“Yusuke, I think you need to come down here. I think there was a demon or something outside the house.”

 

He ran a hand through his long unruly black hair. Keiko had been gone for about a week now, and this was the first time they'd talk since. She had been accepted into a better high school and had transferred. Her family was thrilled and had moved closer to the school, to Tokyo. Sure, their relationship had pretty much hit the rocks after his return from Makai, but he had never thought that she'd just up and leave. She had never really been able to accept his mazoku side, so it was really his fault that he'd let the relationship go on as long as it had. He kept thinking, just give her time, but it never changed. If anything, it got worse. She wanted a nice normal life, and he would never be able to give that to her. He hadn't been anywhere near normal for four years now. First being a spirit detective, she'd handled that okay, but he was still at least human then, but now he was a youkai and there was no hope for them.

 

“Yusuke? Are you still there?” came the timid voice.

 

He exhaled slowly. “Yeah, Keiko. I'm still here. Are you sure it was a demon? Because I know that you're new there and all. Maybe you just aren't used to the city and-”

 

She sounded annoyed now. “Yes, I'm sure! I wouldn't have called you in the middle of the night if I weren't. Besides, I know youki when I feel it. I have been around youkai for the past few years, after all.” There was a bitter note to that last part, but he chose to ignore it.

 

“All right Keiko, I'll see if I can get in touch with someone in Reikai or Makai. I'm not a spirit detective anymore, so I don't know if I'll be of much help on this.”

 

“Okay.” And then the line went dead. No goodbye anymore, just `okay'. Looking at the receiver, he dialed Kazuma's number. He told him to meet him at the train station and that he'd fill him in then. There were no questions from Kuwabara, just acceptance. He trusted Yusuke not to get him out of bed for something pointless or stupid. Next he called Shuichi. (AN: I know that Kurama chose one personality over the other and all, but, using creative freedom, I'm going to say that he didn't. Sry if that was a spoiler.) The younger Shuichi picked up the phone. He had to be what, 16 now. It had been ages since he'd seen Kurama's younger stepbrother. They all decided that the two looked quite a bit alike and yet were opposites in the way they acted. Though they presumed that it could be due to the presence of a certain Yoko Kurama.

 

“Hey Shuichi. Is your brother home?” There was a pause.

 

“Uh, yeah. Hold on a sec. He's probably in his garden, watering the flowers again. I swear he makes me wonder sometimes…” Yusuke laughed at the kid, though he was hardly a kid anymore. He was already an inch taller than Hiei, and even Hiei had grown to a decent size for a guy. So that made Kurama's little brother, what? 5'7? There was shouting from the other end of the phone and he heard the younger of the two laughing.

 

Suddenly Kurama was on the phone, and he didn't sound happy. “Hello?” It was a huff.

 

“Hey Kurama.” Yusuke couldn't keep the smile from his lips at the kitsune's obvious state of irritation.

 

The tone in his voice did a complete turn about. “Hello, Yusuke! What a pleasure to hear from you!”

 

Yusuke scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He felt a bit guilty. He really never talked to his friends anymore, unless it was business. And with spirit detective stuff far behind them all, business happened rarely. “Well, Kurama… I was actually hoping for a favor, sort of.”

 

He was cautious a moment before responding. “Of course Yusuke. We are still friends.”

 

“Well, Keiko called me a little bit ago. She said she wanted me to come down there because she felt youkai energy in front of her house. I already told Kazuma to meet me at the train station. If nothing else, it's an excuse to get the old group together again. It is the weekend after all. What's a night out with the guys?”

 

Kurama smiled as they exchanged good byes. Then he went of to tell his mother he'd be leaving, possibly for the night and not to worry. He nodded his head as he passed his stepfather and thumped his brother on the head as he went to change out of the wet shirt. Little pain in the ass dumped water on him when he'd been watering the plants. Pulling out a thick green sweater and heavy, yet warm black pants, he set them aside to change into.

 

Yusuke shut off his game and went to change into something more weather appropriate. Digging through a pile of clean clothes, he brought forth a plain white hooded sweatshirt and slightly faded blue jeans. Grabbing his wallet and keys on the way out, he attached them to a chain he connected to his belt loop and then stuffed them in his pocket after locking the door. Walking down the street, he decided to amuse himself by watching his breath come out in puffs.

 

Kazuma was already there, waiting for him, dressed in a black hoodie and blue jeans. How Kazuma had changed over the years. He was relatively handsome, Kurama still had him beat, but Kazuma was definitely still in the running. He no longer kept his hair in the Elvis impersonation, but instead let it go naturally. Oddly enough, his hair looked a bit like Hiei's. It was all spikes and odd angles. It had darkened as well, bringing it to an auburn color. His appearance had done a great deal of softening, and was now quite lust worthy. His blue eyes were hard and steel like, years of fighting youkai will do that to you.

 

“Hey Urameshi. So, what's up?” Kazuma smiled slightly as he lit a cigarette.

 

Yusuke watched the end flare to life. “Those things will kill ya, you know.”

 

Kazuma snorted, taking a puff on the cigarette and then letting it out. “A lot of things might kill me, but I think this one is the least likely to do it. You do know about Koenma and King Enma's little war, right?”

 

Yusuke did a double take. “Their what? Did you just tell me that the pipsqueak finally grew some balls?”

 

Kazuma laughed at the crude remark. “Apparently the “pipsqueak” was more powerful than everyone thought, even his father. He had been storing all of his energy into that stupid pacifier. It also shielded the energy in it. Finally, a few months ago, he released it and restored it into his body. Yusuke, he's damn powerful…”

 

“Oh dear…” Kurama was standing just behind Yusuke, who was still soaking up the information. “To your best judgement, Kazuma, do you think that Koenma's power rivals his father's?”

 

Kazuma thought for a moment, then nodded once. “Yeah, I do. You two haven't been around much. Reikai is a mess.”

 

Yusuke was surprised, but it didn't show on his cool exterior. “You've been to Reikai recently?”

 

Kazuma practically heard the wheels turning in Yusuke's head. “No, Yusuke, I haven't died. I've been working there. With Koenma busy fighting against his father, there was no one to look though the papers and pass judgement on the departed. There were more people stuck in there than after any tournament. None of the ferry girls knew what to do, so Botan called me. Koenma okayed it.”

 

Yusuke looked from Kuwabara to Kurama. “I haven't heard anything about any of this. I haven't had any connections with Reikai or Makai. If things are as hectic in Reikai as you say, then what Keiko said could be a possibility.”

 

Kurama was about to respond, but was cut off by Kuwabara. “Keiko called you? Is that why we're here?”

 

Yusuke shrugged. “Well, I actually hadn't really thought that she'd sensed a youkai, but I figured it was as good as any of an excuse to have a guy's night out. But, with what you said, there might actually be something to what she said. Maybe we should hurry up, just in case.”

 

Kurama cleared his throat to get his friends' attention. “I have no connections to Reikai anymore, however, I do still see Hiei on the rare occasion that he stops by. The last time, almost a month ago, he had mentioned that he was tracking down a few youkai that had gotten through the barrier. He also said that it has become a more frequent problem, that the barrier was weak in a few places. Many human have also been finding such places in the barrier.”

 

Yusuke chimed in, “That's right I've been seeing a lot of cases like that on the news. They go missing for a few days and then return, with no memory of what had happened.”

 

Kurama was quiet for a second before adding, “Some of them don't make it back.”

 

Kazuma cursed. “I had been so busy with just reading their reports, that I had to forgo a lot of the causes of death. Otherwise, I'd still be neck deep in paperwork. They had just been piling up with Koenma so busy. If I had paid attention…”

 

But he trailed off as the train arrived and they, along with a few others, boarded it.

 

~*~*~*~

End of Chapter 6

 

Rewritten. very minor change.