InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Cataclysm ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, YuYu Hakusho (As much as I'd love to) or any of the anime/manga characters.

 

Explanations

 

“Kagome!”

Azumi Higurashi saw her daughter being carried into her home, half naked and shaking violently, by Yusuke.

“It's alright, aunty.”

“She's practically seizing! Yusuke, what happened to my daughter!?”

“She got hurt,” said a new voice, followed by a man draped in a black cloak appearing.

“Hurt? Why wasn't Inuyasha with her? Who let her get hurt!?”

Kagome's eyes opened a fraction and she coughed.

“Not… their fault.”

And then, she was out again, and Yusuke gently carried her up to her bedroom.

“Excuse me, Miss Higurashi,” said another new voice. “If you would allow me, I believe I can explain this. I'm assuming you know of youkai, correct?”

She nodded and the redhead seemed relieved. He was not going to bring up her daughter being a demon, or the fact that her injuries were created by a sword that she'd held.

“That makes this easier. Your daughter was… attacked, while you were away. She won, but the results were… well, what you saw was an improvement after healing her.”

“And who're you?”

“He's a friend of mine,” Yusuke said after reaching the kitchen. “Shippo, go watch over her, would ya?” he asked the kit, who was practically crying. With a nod, he dashed up the stairs and into his mother's room.

“The onna got carried away and unleashed something dangerous,” the man in black said. “She should recover shortly, after a few hours of hibernation.”

Azumi didn't miss the youki coming from the two men, but she decided to let it go for now.

“Alright. What happened, Yusuke? Was it Naraku?”

All of them stared wide-eyed at her, but the redhead and man in black were quick to cover it.

“It was,” said a feminine voice from the doorway. She turned to find Sango glaring at the floor.

“If it counts for anything, she seriously beat whatever it was he was using,” Yusuke said with a smirk. “I don't think he'll be able to do much for a while.”

“It doesn't, really. So, why wasn't Inuyasha there to save her!?”

“Inuyasha… he died while you were away,” Sango said quietly.

“Who could kill Inuyasha!?” she asked incredulously. “From the stories Kagome's told me, he's almost invincible.”

“Evidently not,” the man in black said.

“Yusuke, who are these two?”

“Oh, how rude of me,” the redhead said. “My name is Shuichi Minamino, but you may call me Kurama,” he said with a slight bow.

“Nice to meet you. I'm Azumi… Could you please stop doing that?” she asked, her eyes starting to hurt from the heat mirage-like shadow that kept appearing.

“Doing what?” he asked obliviously.

“The illusion. It's starting to hurt my eyes,” she said as the shadow became more defined and took on the appearance of a man in a white toga.

“Illusion? I'm not… Oh. Pardon me, that's my… other half.”

He closed his eyes in concentration and the shadow vanished.

“Thank you… What kind of youkai are you?”

His eyes widened slightly in surprise.

“You assume I'm a demon?”

“She's Kagome's mother,” Miroku pointed out. “Perhaps she has her senses.”

“Ah, that's possible,” Kurama nodded in agreement. “Well then, I'm a Kitsune Avatar.”

“I see…”

Her head began to blaze with a painful ache and she glared at the man in black.

“Stop that. It's not right to invade others' minds,” she scolded, making everyone's eyes widen in surprise. “I am a shrine keeper,” she said with irritation lacing her tone. “Now will someone please tell me what happened to my daughter? And how did Inuyasha die?”

“Inuyasha… he was killed by Kagome…”

“What!? Don't be ridiculous! What really happened?”

“The fool attacked her and she defended herself,” the man in black sighed. “Nothing more, nothing less. She killed him so he wouldn't kill her.”

“Hiei, it's more complicated than that,” Kurama objected.

“You want to explain to her why the fool acted like he did?”

“Well… no… That's for Kagome herself to do and for none of us to interfere with…”

“Exactly, fox. So, just leave it at this; something bad happened while you were away, and when Kagome returned, the inu hanyo attacked her. She didn't want to die, so she defended herself, and killed him in the process,” he said to her.

“And that something bad that happened was what?”

“It's not our place to tell you, Mrs. Higurashi,” Kurama stated calmly. “That's for only Kagome to decide what to tell you.”

“Fine… So, what happened that she's injured?”

“Because Inuyasha died, we didn't know what to do with the Tetsusaiga,” Sango started. “After a number of events, she ended up having it… It transformed in her hand and in the process of transforming, it broke her control on the power inside of her. She's like she is now because she let the power loose.”

“What? I thought the Tetsusaiga doesn't transform for anyone without youki… At least, that's what I understood of it when she explained it…”

“That's correct,” Miroku said, staring at the floor. “The Tetsusaiga is a sword made with the fang of an inu taiyoukai, and the only ones capable of wielding it are Inuyasha and, with the help of a human arm, Sesshomaru. To use it, you need to have both human and youkai energies.”

“Then how did Kagome… oh…”

Azumi's eyes widened as realization hit, and she quickly sat down.

“Oh… Kagome… to lose her miko powers like this…”

“She didn't lose them,” Hiei sighed. “That much is fact. Whatever happened to her, she didn't lose her purity, though it's rather depressing,” he said before vanishing.

“Don't mind him. He's not much of a people person,” Yusuke sighed. “Aunty, Kagome will be fine once she wakes up… She's just had a really rough week…”

Sango started up the stairs, smiling sadly.

“I'll make sure nothing happens to her.”

She vanished around the corner and entered Kagome's room to find Shippo crying, his head on her chest and his arms around her stomach.

“Momma, please be okay! I don't want to lose you!”

Sango gently lifted the kit and covered his mouth. She placed a finger to her lips and shushed him quietly.

“Shippo, she needs to rest to get better,” she whispered. The kit nodded in understanding and she released him, though he stayed in her arms.

“Is Momma really going to get better?”

“Kagome is very strong,” Sango said with a warm smile. “She'll definitely get better… Now then, I'll let you sleep with her if you promise not to wake her up.”

The kit's eyes began to shine brightly and Sango almost laughed before placing him next to the miko. As if it was an instinct, she turned on her side and pulled him to her chest, where he quickly fell asleep.

Sango took in the sight with amazement. Regardless of blood or species, Kagome was, for all purposes, the kitsune's mother. Such a thing between a human and youkai was rare, and something like that between a miko and youkai was never heard of. This miko was truly incredible…

 

Hiei watched the miko sleep peacefully, the kitsune pup in her arms and the demon slayer watching over them.

He began to think about that. How was it possible that a demon could let his guard down enough to sleep in the same room as a miko and a taijiya? And to even go so far as to sleep in the miko's embrace?

This odd group of friends definitely warranted some investigation, Hiei decided as he watched the miko's sleeping form with the Jagan. Something about this woman made him feel strange. Almost cared for. But that was impossible. He was the Forbidden Child, hunted down by youkai and human alike because of what his parents did. Nobody cared for him, although Yukina was closer than anybody else could come to it.

That thought lead him to thoughts of the years hunting for his sister, and the pain he'd gone through to get to that point…

 

When Kagome awoke, she found herself incredibly relaxed and rejuvenated. When she took a deep breath, she found that she could suddenly smell everything in the building around her. She could smell all of the people, several of which were demons. Then, there was the warmth in her arms, snoring lightly.

When she looked down, she saw Shippo as the truly beautiful creature he was. Hair a bright, shiny orange donned his tanned head and beautiful, cream fur covered his body, up to the velvety orange and cream tail near his legs. She could see the long, made-for-running muscles flexing and bending underneath his skin as he moved to accommodate her shift in position. Apparently, this small shift was enough to alert the kit, because his large emerald eyes slowly opened and focused on her.

A bright smile spread across his face and he wrapped his small arms around her neck.

“Kagome!”

She sat up and affectionately rubbed the spot between his ears, inciting a satisfied growl.

“Hey there, sweetie.”

He looked up at her and she smiled before standing up. The second she was vertical, she realized there were two other faces staring at her. She turned to find Hiei and her mother, though Hiei was outside on a tree limb and yet unnoticed by her mother.

“Hi, Momma.”

Her mother's eyes were locked on hers in fright and her breath hitched.

“What?”

“So it's true,” she practically whispered. “You really have become a demon…”

Kagome's head turned to the mirror at her side and she gasped. Staring back at her was a taller, tanner, more demonic version of herself. Dark, blood-red eyes stared into her own, and her long, blood-red hair was now its original black with red tips at the bottom.

“Wow…”

She turned to her mother and found her eyeing her up and down.

“They didn't tell me how this happened. They said it was your business. But they told me you killed Inuyasha. Why? What could you have possibly done to get him angry enough to attack you?”

“It wasn't what I did. It was what I didn't do that made him angry… I would really prefer not to talk about it,” she sighed.

“Alright, you don't have to. But I want to know something. I was gone for less than two days. What happened that you went from having your friends with you and hunting Naraku to be unconscious, in the arms of your cousin, who knows two demons?”

“Well… Here's the thing. Yusuke's a psychic, kind of. And he works with those demons doing the same thing we did in the Feudal Era, only in the present.”

“I thought that there were no demons in the present.”

“I thought so too,” Kagome said with a shrug. “Which is a good thing, I guess. That means they're doing their jobs well.”

“That little psychic one was rather rude, probing my mind.”

Kagome's eyes widened and slid over to Hiei, who was frowning, before quickly returning her gaze to her mother.

“Well, I'll make sure that he feels bad for it later,” she sighed.

“As if that's going to happen,” she groaned inwardly.

“So, they're demon slayers like your group?”

“Yeah. Although I don't think they're exactly `demon slayers,' but that's a good way to think about them.”

“Okay. So why are they here?”

“They're after Naraku, and they have to work with us to do it. Well, that's what their boss said, but I think they could handle a lot by themselves…”

“Alright. So, they're good demons, then?”

“Well, I'm going to have to say definitely, even though I don't think Hiei would like that,” she said with a smirk, seeing his glare.

“Hiei?” her mother asked.

“He's the psychic one. He's saved my life more than once now, which makes him good in my book.”

“Well, as long as they're not evil, it's fine,” her mother sighed. “My house seems to be getting rather crowded.”

“Yeah… Well, Yusuke's group shouldn't be here for too much longer. I'd imagine they'll leave as soon as I break the barrier around Naraku's castle down and he's done with…”

“I thought that Inuyasha was the only one that could break barriers.”

“Well, Sango can break Naraku's barrier with her boomerang, but the barrier around the castle will probably fix anything small too fast to get through. The Tetsusaiga would be the only way, and since Inuyasha's dead, and Sesshomaru can't wield it, I'm the only one that can touch the thing without getting burned. Well, I guess that's not true, considering how I ended up here,” she mumbled thoughtfully.

“They said you can wield the Tetsusaiga,” her mother said, though it sounded more like a question.

“Well, I can. In the beginning, I was the one that pulled the thing out of its trap, because Sesshomaru couldn't touch it and Inuyasha couldn't seem to pull it out. Humans would be able to touch it. But, about a month ago, it started acting strangely and the only ones who could touch it were myself and Inuyasha. I think it's because, as it was made to protect Inuyasha, the sword recognized me as a co-master. But I couldn't actually use it because I didn't have youki. Now, I do and Inuyasha's dead, so it's logical that I'm the only one that can wield it now. I know how its powers work, but again, I was never able to actually use it, so it's all theory right now…”

“I see… So you're going to end this, when you recover, then?”

“Yeah…”

Her mother looked at the floor, a hardened edge to her expression as she considered her words.

“What if I were to ask you to not fight?”

Kagome stared at her blankly, thinking she was joking.

“You know I have to, momma,” she sighed.

“No, you don't… It was one thing when you were in the past, with Inuyasha and everyone to protect you, but now… In the present, it's more dangerous because everyone in your group is unfamiliar with everything and your being in danger is more real to me here… I don't want you to go to whatever kind of place Naraku is hiding.”

Kagome attempted to get her mother's gaze, but she was adamant on not looking up until her daughter responded. Somehow, a sense of foreboding was overtaking Kagome.

“And… if I say that I have to fight… what will happen?”

Her mother shook but looked up, then, a determined look in her eyes. A look that said that she was going to do something she really didn't want to do.

“Then I'm afraid I need to kick you out, Kagome.”

Whatever Kagome had been expecting, it had definitely not been that. It felt as if she'd just been punched in the stomach with a brass knuckle.

“W… Why?” she asked after a long moment of silence, trying to reacquire her voice.

“I already watched my parents and husband die… I won't do it with you, Kagome. So please, don't go and fight,” she practically begged. “If you don't fight, then nobody's in danger that's relevant, but fighting against that demon here… it will put more than just yourself in danger, Kagome…”

Kagome found that her throat wouldn't work and that tears were beginning to form. Whatever she was, she was not irresponsible, and being called that was making any form of sorrow or self-pity into self-righteous anger.

“He wants me, and my group, but nobody else,” she argued.

“Yes, he wants you. And you live here, with me and your brother. Kagome, if you insist on this fight, no matter how righteous or just it is, I'm afraid that I have to ask you to leave. If it was just you, I would still feel this way, but you're putting us at risk being in this time with demons around,” her mother said, her shaking worsening.

Kagome also began to shake, but for an entirely different reason.

“Momma, I can't just be homeless… I'll tell you something that recently happened. I was made into a demon myself!”

“Yes, by Naraku,” her mother said in a satisfactory sort of way. “He did that to you. What do you think he'd do to your family if you somehow failed to win?”

Kagome looked at the floor, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that their voices had escalated to the point where it didn't take demonic hearing to hear them anywhere in the house. Not a single one of the people in her home… Not a single person in the house were moving a muscle, completely focused on them.

“Look,” Kagome sighed, “if you're making an ultimatum between living with my family, happy, or fighting to defeat Naraku and trying to heal everything he's done because I broke that fucking jewel, I think we both know which one I have to pick,” she said, shaking violently.

Her mother's mouth dropped at her tone, and she quickly stood up, standing inches from her daughter.

“Kagome, is that what everything's about!? Guilt!?”

Kagome met her mother's eyes with her own blood-red ones, and she didn't fail to notice her mother's shudder.

“No, it's about more important things right now. Guilt's part of it, but he's hurt entirely too many people to be allowed to live. Regardless of right or wrong, if it comes down to a simple explanation, the reason I have to fight is because I want him to suffer for everything he's ever done to hurt people.”

Her mother's eyes widened even further at that.

“So it's revenge you're after… Revenge is an ugly emotion, Kagome. It only leads to pain and suffering, and it's not something that a shrine maiden should feel towards any living creature.”

Kagome straightened and was now openly glaring at her mother.

“You know, when I'd first gotten back here, I would probably have agreed with you. But I've since learned that there are just some things that are unforgivable. And, whether it damns me or not, I'm going to kill Naraku, if it takes every ounce of strength I have and I die in the process. I can promise you that. There is no way he's getting away alive. I've let him go too many times.”

The two women stared at each other, both red in the face with anger.

“If that's how you absolutely feel, I don't want you in my home,” her mother bit out. “Having no problem with murder is something that I cannot condone, no matter how much familial love I have for you. I'd thought I taught you better than that…”

Her eyes were starting to overflow with tears and she looked at the floor, speaking in an emotionless shell of her voice up until now.

“You have an hour. Get anything you can take with you, get your friends, and get out,” she said before storming out the door. Kagome stared with wide eyes at where she'd been, the tears flowing down her face unnoticed by her…

 

Kagome quietly packed anything and everything she could possibly carry by herself in fifteen minutes; a suitcase full of all of her clothes and one piece of jewelry, her backpack with a laptop, all of her books and school supplies, and she had her armor, along with the Tetsusaiga, which had been placed next to her by somebody, on her person, and a wallet full of fifties that she'd gotten doing odd jobs around town whenever she returned for a few days. As she looked around, she began to cry again, though less forcefully now. If you didn't know someone lived here, you would never know, because her room was now just a desk, a bed, and a lamp. There were no personal effects or touches anywhere in the entire room.

Shippo had obediently stayed on the bed and watched his mother moving around like a robot the entire time, knowing she was upset but not knowing what to do or say about anything.

As soon as Kagome had finished packing everything she owned, she turned to find that all of her friends were watching her with scrutiny.

“Lady Kagome, what exactly happened?” Miroku asked as she lifted her backpack onto her shoulder and she hefted the small black suitcase.

“I was given a choice between living with my family and stopping Naraku from destroying everything. I made my choice and now I need to find a place to live…”

“Is this because of us?” Shippo asked suddenly. Kagome lifted the kit into her free arm and smiled sadly.

“No, it has nothing to do with you guys. I'm just sorry I pulled all of you into this… I'll find a solution once we win,” she said as she walked to the door. Everyone quickly moved down the hallway and stairs and to the front of the shrine.

“We can't do anything until you're completely healed, I'm afraid,” Kurama said.

“I know… I have enough to pay for a stay at a hotel for a few days,” she said as she started heading for the shrine steps. A hand caught her shoulder and she turned to Yusuke.

“Hold it, cuz'. There's no way in hell I'm letting you stay at a hotel.”

“Yusuke, I seriously doubt that your house is big enough to push my problems on Aunt Atsuko,” Kagome sighed. “It'll be fine.”

“Perhaps Genkai would-”

“You think that hag'll care enough to let people stay at her batcave?” Yusuke cut in, making Kurama give an exasperated sigh.

“Genkai?” Kagome asked.

“A powerful psychic that lives at a secluded temple,” Kurama sighed.

“I know. She helped me out when I first started to learn about my powers… Come to think of it, Yusuke and Kuwabara's energies are like hers…” she trailed off.

“That hag trained you?” Yusuke asked, surprised.

“Hey! She's not that old,” Kagome defended, despite not having seen the woman for more than two years.

“Who is this Genkai woman?” Miroku asked.

“She's a powerful psychic,” Kagome said. “She trained me on the basics of using my powers. Remember when I was gone for two weeks and I came back being able to make a weapon from nothing but my own energy?”

Miroku and Sango both nodded and Kagome smiled.

“That trick was something Genkai taught me.”

“Well then, I suggest we see if you can stay with her,” Kurama said, eyeing Yusuke warily. The expression vanished when the detective didn't interrupt this time.

“Her place is huge,” Kagome sighed, memories coming back quickly. “Well, seeing as I really don't have many options, let's see if this will work,” she said as she headed for the shrine steps. Everyone followed, and she watched as Hiei jumped down next to her as they passed the Goshinboku.

After thirty minutes of silent walking through Tokyo, they came to a massive set of steps leading as far as the eye could possibly follow into the dense forest before them.

“She lives in there?” Miroku asked as they stopped walking.

“Well, not really. The forest is a kind of defense for her house, which is way far back,” Kagome said as she started trudging into the woods.

“I sense several dozen strong youki,” Miroku said as he scanned the forest.

“They won't attack us unless we make ourselves look threatening to Genkai,” Kagome said, eyeing the various different creatures in the forest with her new, demonically enhanced sight.

“Interesting. Demons that guard humans?”

“Not all demons are dangerous and vicious toward humans,” Kurama stated. “But they're not exactly fond of humanity in general, so in exchange for Genkai letting them live in her forest, where there is recluse from humans and a large abundance of food, they guard Genkai so she doesn't have to waste energy on people who want to try anything.”

The group took in the forest as they silently walked through the woods, but suddenly stopped when a particularly strong aura began to move rapidly towards them.

“Who are you, bitch?” a painfully high-pitched, loud voice asked as a small black demon appeared in their path.

Kagome met the demon's eyes with her own and the cat demon smirked.

“I don't like your aura. If you've come here to do anything to Genkai, I'll kill you where you stand.”

Kagome quickly put Shippo, along with her bags, down and was behind the cat demon before her eyes even comprehended that she'd moved. The demon spun to find her walking up the stairs.

“You're boring. Go away,” she sighed.

She could hear the muscles in the demon's claw tightening, but refused to provoke a fight with her.

“Stop where you are or drop,” the demon said as she started walking up toward Kagome. “I don't care if you're here with Urameshi and his freak show; I'm not letting you take a step closer. Your aura's full of bad emotions. Violent emotions. You're not getting through.”

Kagome turned to the cat demon and smirked.

“Look, I'm not here to fight. I really don't want to fight you. I just want to see Genkai. To be completely honest, though, I'm probably fast enough to get to the temple before you even move again.”

A claw lashed out at her and, out of basic instinct, Kagome's hand shot up and wrapped around the wrist. Before she even knew what was happening, she had the cat demon on the forest floor, holding her down by the wrists. Her eyes widened as she jumped back up, releasing the demon in surprise.

“Bitch!”

She lunged at Kagome, who once again moved on instincts. As the woman swung her claws rapidly, one right after the other, Kagome was slowly backed into the forest as she blocked each attack. Their hands met and smoke rose from Kagome's hand each time they made contact.

“Listen, I don't want to hurt you,” Kagome said when she suddenly realized her friends were coming after them.

“I don't have that problem,” a male voice said before Hiei appeared, his sword pressed to the cat's throat.

And then, the cat knocked the blade away and dove for Kagome, her claws gleaming with dark energy. Kagome grabbed the Tetsusaiga from her side and lifted it as she pulled it from its sheath. The cat's claw met the untransformed metal and electricity blasted her backward.

“I really don't need to deal with this,” Kagome sighed. She picked up the stunned demon and threw her with every ounce of her strength, sending her barreling miles into the woods.

“Let's get going,” she said, taking up their original path again.

The two met the rest of the group and they took off toward the temple with a newfound speed that was impressive for humans after Shippo jumped back up to Kagome's arms and she picked up her bags again. Of course, Kurama, Hiei and Kagome could use incredible speeds and probably get to the place in a second or two, but the four humans weren't that fast.

They reached the temple just as the sun began to set and Kagome found a blue-haired demon sweeping the grounds. As soon as they left the forest, her head shot up and her wide eyes took in Kagome's appearance with fear. It immediately vanished when the rest of the group appeared behind her, and Kagome's eye twitched. She wasn't that negative.

“Well well,” an older, gravelly female voice said near the girl, “what's the dimwit dragged here today?”

A woman who perfectly fit her voice stepped into view, her grayish-pink hair pressed to her head by a large round hat. Her eyes fell on Kagome and she smirked.

“Ah, so it's you. It's been a while, Kagome.”

“Hello, Master Genkai,” Kagome said as she bowed.

“Some respect. You should try that sometime, dimwit,” she said to Yusuke, who was smirking.

“Yeah, I'll get right on that, hag.”

Kagome tapped the back of his head and he met a meaningful glare.

“So, why are you here, Kagome?” Genkai asked, taking in the large number of people behind her. She noticed the kit in Kagome's arm, as well as the bags, and came to a painful conclusion.

“Well… can we talk?” she asked. When Genkai nodded, the two women, along with Shippo, disappeared into the building behind the girl…

 

A/N:

Well, that's chapter six! I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot. I sincerely hope that you, the readers, did too. I love criticisms and thoughts on my writing almost as much as I love writing. Make sure to review!