InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ An Inseparable Bond ❯ Scattered Puzzle Pieces ( Chapter 3 )

An Inseparable Bond

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.

 

Summary: What is a miko to do when fate thrusts two troubled demons directly in her path? With her responsibility of reforming the jewel looming over her head, Kagome takes on the nearly impossible challenge that appear in the forms of a silver kitsune and forbidden child. Will the miko be enough to melt the ice around these demons' hearts or will their darkness over cloud her purity?

 

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Chapter 3: Scattered Puzzles Pieces

 

Kagome woke feeling as if a cloud of darkness had engulfed her mind. She felt sick and disorientated, not to mention physically weak. She tried to open her eyes but her eyelids felt too heavy for her to force up. She tried to remember what happened and felt panic grasp her as she recalled the events before she blacked out. Reminding herself to stay calm, Kagome used her other senses to figure out where she was and if she was in danger since her eyes wouldn't open just yet. Relaxing her tense muscles, she concentrated on the four other auras that were nearby.

 

One was Shippo and he was apparently right beside her. That helped her relax a little more but upon realizing that the three other auras were not Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku but the three demons that had stolen her Shikon shards, she felt her heart skip a beat. She was able to breathe a little easier when she noticed they weren't in the same room as she and Shippo were, if they were in a room that is. Knowing that it was up to her to get them out of there, Kagome tried to move. Her body felt heavy, as if weights were holding her muscles to the ground, but that wasn't going to stop her. She forced her eyes open as she concentrated on moving her body.

 

Upon opening her eyes and trying to get her body to listen to her, she realized that they were indeed in a room. From the looks of it, they were in a cave. The walls were made completely of rock but what surprised her were the many treasures that littered every corner of the room they were in. There were gems of colors she didn't even know existed. Shaking her head clear, she returned to concentrating on getting up. She heard Shippo gasp in surprise as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

 

“Kagome… are you ok?” Shippo whispered. She smiled down at him reassuringly. The kit was being quiet because he knew they were in a dangerous situation. She was proud of how brave and intelligent he was.

 

“I'm fine, we need to get out of here.” she murmured. She was going to pull herself to her feet but was stopped when Shippo shook his head vigorously.

 

“We can't. Even if we can get past the vines that cover the entrance, there are plants outside that will eat us!” Shippo explained in a whispered tone.

 

Kagome weighed their options for a moment. Deadly plants outside that could tear them to shreds or the cold brutal demons that would probably kill them slowly and painfully. She made her decision and got to her feet with great effort. She didn't understand what was wrong with her body but she couldn't let it slow her down. She could feel that the demons were all gathered in a room somewhere deep in the cave and this was their chance to escape. Lifting Shippo into her arms, she signaled for him to remain quiet as she forced her legs to move.

 

She silently crept through the tunnels of the cave, trying to find her way to the entrance by following the youki coming from the deadly plants Shippo had said were outside the entrance. Whatever was wrong with her body, it was making it very difficult to move. Every muscle in her body felt as if it was being pulled to the ground and it was taking a toll on her physically. She needed to get them out of there as fast as possible or they were dead meat.

 

“You continue to surprise me miko.”

 

At hearing a voice behind her, Kagome whipped around to see the kitsune and short demon dressed in black standing there with amusement evident in their eyes. `Damn stupid handsome demons. Why are the good looking ones the powerful and dangerous ones?' She complained to herself. She glared at them and threw a barrier around her to keep them safe from harm when she saw the shorter demon smirk. “What do you want with us.” she demanded.

 

“I'm impressed; you shouldn't even be able to move after inhaling my sleep powder.” the kitsune mused, staring at her with calculating golden eyes.

 

“I say we just kill the troublesome onna. We have the shards, it will be enough.” Hiei snorted, shoving his hands in his pockets.

 

Kagome scowled. “I'd like to see you try.”

 

A sadistic smirk appeared on his face as his hand rested on the hilt of his katana. “Don't tempt me onna.”

 

“You couldn't take me down no matter how hard you tried.” She retorted.

 

Youko shook his head. “You're arrogance will be the end of your life if you do not learn to remain silent.”

 

“Kagome isn't arrogant! If you're lucky, maybe she'll be nice enough to show you her powers.” Shippo grinned, though they could easily catch onto his sarcasm.

 

“Even your kit inherited that sharp tongue of yours.” Youko mused, his eyes still flooded with amusement.

 

“She will soon find that their tongues are not nearly as sharp as the edge of my blade.” Hiei growled lowly.

 

Youko rolled his eyes at his hot tempered partner before turning his gaze back to Kagome. “I'm curious, how did you possibly know the correct way to the entrance when you were unconscious when we brought you here?” Youko was not only impressed that she was moving even with the aftereffects of his sleep powder but was also just a few feet away from the room that would take her to the entrance to the cave.

 

“I was following the youki of your plants outside the cave.” Kagome stated. There was no point in not answering his question, now that they had been caught; they probably weren't going to get the chance to reach the exit again. Part of her also wanted to show these demons she was not only stronger than she looked but smarter as well.

 

“Impressive, her mind is almost as quick as a demon's.” Kagome internally groaned when she heard the voice of the third demon. How could she not feel them coming? She could have sworn they had been in that other room the entire time.

 

“How did you sneak up on me without me noticing?” She asked, curiosity getting the better of her. She figured that since she had willingly answered one of their questions, they would return the favor.

 

“Seeing as you located us so easily after we stole your shards, we realized you can locate youki with your abilities. When we heard you sneaking around the tunnels, we placed a decent amount of our ki in the room before concealing ourselves and coming after you.” the silver kitsune answered.

 

“Now I'm the one impressed; I didn't know demons could come up with something so clever.” She smirked slightly. As long as she was in her barrier, she and Shippo would be safe. And now after seeing the kitsune's seed trick, she wasn't going to fall for it again.

 

“You're signing your death warrant onna.” Hiei growled, glaring at her.

 

“Relax Hiei; it's refreshing to hold such an interesting conversation with a human. Although she acts tough, it's obvious that she's intimidated by our presence.” The bat smirked.

 

Kagome turned her glare away from the demon now known as Hiei and turned it to the bat demon. “What makes you think I'm scared of the likes of you?” she scoffed.

 

“If you weren't, you would not be hiding behind your barrier.” he stated, his eyes blazing with amusement.

 

Shippo panicked when he realized what they were trying to do. They could tell that Kagome didn't like being proved wrong or looked down upon. They were trying to trick her into dropping her barrier by chipping at her pride. “Kagome don't! He's trying to trick you!”

 

“Even her intelligence has rubbed off on the young kit.” The bat demon chuckled.

 

Kagome scowled. “It's alright Shippo, they don't scare me.” she said and Shippo felt his heart drop into his stomach as her barrier slowly dropped. Seconds after her barrier disappeared, Kagome was suddenly pinned against the wall she'd been using for support. Kagome knew the short fused demon was going to rush her so once her barrier was down, she had quickly dropped Shippo to the ground so he wouldn't get hurt. Now the kit stared up at his mother in horror as Hiei pinned her against the cave wall with his katana pressed against her throat. He was growling threateningly down at her but Kagome's expression remained unreadable. She refused to show this demon her fear and instead glared up at him.

 

“No, leave Kagome alone!” Shippo wailed, beginning to cry.

 

Not liking the sound of the kit's sobs, Youko stepped forward and placed a hand on Hiei's shoulder. “Calm yourself Hiei, the miko is to remain alive for the time being.”

 

Growling down at her for a moment longer, Hiei pulled away from her and sheathed his katana. Throwing a deadly glare at the miko that dared her to provoke him again; he crossed his arms over his chest. Youko held back his chuckle at the situation. This miko was something else, very different from the other human women they'd encountered. “She might prove to be more entertaining than I first expected.” Youko smirked.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~A week later~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Kagome glared at the ground under her feet as she paced back and forth, ignoring the irritating bat demon that was watching her in amusement. For the past week, she and Shippo had been trying to escape this cave! No matter what she did, these damn demons would stop her. She'd been there so long that she no longer even worried about putting her barrier up anymore. After the first few days, her attempts at escape had somewhat turned into a game. Kagome would think of multiple plans to try and get them out and the three demons would somehow stop her. There were several times that she nearly outwitted them. Her most recent escape attempt had been the best by far.

 

Hiei had left early that morning, leaving only Kuronue and Youko to keep an eye on her. Kagome had formed a barrier and sent it traveling in the opposite direction she and Shippo were going. After their last attempt, Hiei removed the torches from the tunnels, leaving them pitch dark. They didn't need the light anyway because of their heightened senses but Kagome couldn't find her way through the tunnels without the light and they knew that. So after sending the barrier in the opposite direction of her, she had Shippo direct them through the dark.

 

While Shippo led the way, she concentrated on keeping the barrier moving so it seemed that she was trying to escape but got lost. Her plan had worked and she felt both Youko and Kuronue chase after her empty barrier. She prided herself in successfully tricking her demon capers but it hadn't been enough because they still caught her. Shippo and Kagome had successfully made it to the exit and Kagome purified all the vines that blocked their path but once the vines were gone, the miko groaned in frustration upon seeing Hiei standing on the other side with his hands in his pockets and an amused expression on his face.

 

After that, and thirteen other attempts at escape, the three demons took it upon themselves to take shifts and watch the miko from the doorway of the room she called her prison. Hiei, Kuronue, and Youko were all beyond amazed by the miko. The extent of her intelligence was astounding and continued to amaze them. Not only was Kagome witty and sharp tongued, but she was creative. They never imagined she could come up with so many different ways to escape the cave. Even though most of her attempts failed miserably, there were several that were well thought out enough to get her to the vines that covered her exit but only her recent getaway gave her the time to actually remove that obstacle as well.

 

As the days went by Youko, Hiei, and Kuronue realized that the thought of killing Kagome was slowly growing less appealing. They were slowly growing fond of the little spitfire miko, even though none of them would admit it. Even when Kagome would throw her irritating remarks toward Hiei just to rile him up, he didn't think of the multiple ways to torment the miko once they no longer found a need for her. Instead, he found entertainment in getting on the miko's nerves until she snapped and attacked him. The first time Kagome lunged at him, intending on beating the life out of him, he'd been surprised. But now it was merely entertaining. He'd admit that the miko was quite a skilled fighter and possessed speed he didn't even know a human could acquire but she still wasn't fast enough to catch him.

 

Kagome's glare directed at the ground softened slightly as she thought about her three kidnappers. Sure they were holding them hostage and using them to lure Naraku and Inuyasha to them so they could fight them but Kagome realized after several days that the bandits weren't all that bad. They put on a cold and emotionless front but the miko knew they weren't as bad deep down. She'd learned that Youko was just as curious as any other fox. He seemed to be quite interested in her because of how much of puzzle she was but Kagome couldn't blame him. They all had her attention as well because to her, they were like huge puzzles as well.

 

Along with plotting her escape, Kagome often thought about the two most misunderstood demons of her three capers. Kuronue was easy to understand. He obviously hadn't wanted to harm her from the beginning and just found her interesting, not to mention seemed to respect her for the amount of power and intelligence she possessed. But Hiei and Youko were two completely different stories. They were similar but diverse at the same time. It was obvious that both of them had hard childhoods and in order to stay strong, they closed off their hearts in blocks of ice.

 

From what Kagome could gather; Youko was curious and intelligent. He was always trying to worm information out of Kagome when he was near her. When he wasn't trying to verbally get her to explain herself, she often caught him merely watching her with his calculating eyes. He was very observant and usually didn't miss a single detail. Over the days, Kagome also realized that Youko held a soft spot for Shippo. She wasn't sure if it was because he was a child or because he was of his kind but she was almost positive it had something to do with both. She also suspected that he held a soft spot for her as well because she had taken the orphaned kit under her protection.

 

Now Hiei was a bit more complicated than Youko. It was taking her much longer to figure out how the hybrid worked. He seemed to be the one that was most excited about the idea of killing her at first but he changed his mind pretty quick. She could tell that he held a certain amount of respect for her just as Youko and Kuronue did but it was slightly different. Youko and Kuronue always seemed curious about Kagome's attitude and actions but Hiei was always surprised by them. He was surprised that she possessed such a caring nature but also a fuse probably shorter than his.

 

He was surprised by her determination in her work and the fact that she refused to show any fear because she knew it would only bring pleasure to her enemy. Hiei's heart was enclosed in ice that was far thicker than Youko's but Kagome could tell that her presence was slowly melting it away. All three of these demons were quickly warming up to Kagome and she knew that it was only a matter of time before she could probably consider them allies in the battle against Naraku. She already practically regarded them her friends, although they were cruel friends that found entertainment in her frustration.

 

“Kagome, you're making me dizzy.” Shippo whined as he watched the miko continue to pace back and forth.

 

“Why don't you just sit down and behave for once? You're not getting past me and I doubt you can pull anymore plans out of your ass.” Kuronue smirked.

 

Kagome turned a glare toward the bat demon. “Watch your language around Shippo Kuronue.”

 

He rolled his eyes. “So the kid can watch you and Hiei duke it out but he can't hear a few inappropriate words?”

 

Kagome hmphed and turned away from him in irritation. “Shut up.”

 

“Point proven.” Kuronue grinned, chuckling when the miko shot him yet another deadly glare. Hiei appeared at his side with his usual bored expression. “Your turn?”

 

The hybrid nodded slightly and Kuronue grinned. “I'll be back with your dinner Kagome.” the bat announced to the fuming miko before disappearing down the dark halls. Silence fell upon the room as Kagome sat next to her kit and stared at the wall blankly. Several minutes later, Kuronue returned with two bowls of food. He made his way over to the miko and kit and placed the bowls on a table near them. He nodded slightly when Kagome flashed him a small smile of thanks before leaving the room again.

 

Kagome had to admit that even though they had kidnapped them, they were exceptionally nice to them. They fed them three times a day and even allowed them access to one of the hot springs hidden deep in the caves. Though Kagome was restricted from it for the time being since she had used it to try and escape once. It'd been a good two days since she last bathed and she was getting anxious. After finishing her meal, Kagome slowly stood and made her way over to Hiei who was leaning against the wall next to the door with his hands shoved in his pockets. She heard him growl softly when she was within a few feet of him.

 

“What do you want onna.” he growled softly, sounding more irritated and bored than angry.

 

“Can we take a bath?” she asked quietly.

 

“No.” he relied plainly.

 

“Please Hiei?” she pleaded; she knew if she pushed hard enough, he would break eventually.

 

“No, you used that excuse to try escaping last time.” he stated, turning a half hearted glare to her.

 

“We won't try anything, I promise Hiei. Please?” She asked again, pouting slightly. No one could resist her pout.

 

Hiei growled softly but pushed away from the wall. “If you pull anything I'll be painting the walls of this cave with your blood.” he threatened before walking out of the room.

 

Hook, line, and sinker! Kagome grinned as she quickly lifted Shippo into her arms and hurried to follow the moody hybrid. The only way she knew where to go was by following Hiei's aura, everything around her was pitch black. She couldn't even see her hand directly in front of her face. After a few turns, Kagome nearly cheered out loud when she spotted the lighted room up ahead. The entrance was covered with vines like the front of the cave but she could still see light peeking through small cracks between the plants. Hiei stopped in front of the vines and they parted, recognizing his aura.

 

He waited for Kagome to enter with Shippo before leaning against the wall outside the hot spring room. “Heed my warning onna.” Hiei threatened.

 

Kagome rolled her eyes at the hybrid whose bark was far worst than his bite ever since he began warming up to her. She knew he wouldn't follow through with his threat but she still found the variety of threats he threw at her quite entertaining. Flashing him a bright smile, Kagome made her way toward the steaming water as the vines closed once more. Shippo quickly stripped off his clothing and leapt into the warm spring just as Kagome eased her way under the water completely.

 

After nearly fifteen minutes of soaking in the warm water, Kagome pulled herself out and wrapped a towel around her body. She was so relieved that kitsunes seemed to like being just as clean as she did. Youko always kept clean towels in the room for whoever used the spring. Securing the towel around her tightly, Kagome grabbed another and dried Shippo off before helping him get into a clean pair of clothes that were folded near the towels. Not only did her capers provide them with food but they also gave them clean clothes to wear and the miko was extra thankful for that.

 

Just as Kagome was about to search for some clean clothes for herself, a loud explosion shook the entire cave. Rocks began falling from the ceiling of the room and Kagome quickly pulled Shippo out of harms way. She suddenly found herself thrown over someone's shoulder and before the person could dash off, the miko wrapped her arms around Shippo tightly so he wouldn't fall and get left behind. Kagome could tell that Hiei was the one carrying her because no one, not even Kouga, moved as fast as he did. He sped through the cave tunnels so quick that Kagome felt slightly light headed when he placed her back on her feet.

 

Briefly glancing around, Kagome realized that they were outside. It was dark out but to her horror, she could still see all of Youko's death plants torn to pieces. Kagome held Shippo even tighter to her chest when she spotted Naraku and Kagura standing a ways away from them. Youko, Kuronue, and Hiei all stood in front of Kagome as they growled at the intruders that had destroyed Youko's den.

 

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A/N:

 

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! ^_^

 

~*Icyfire*~

 

Next Chapter - Chapter Four: Long Awaited Return