InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Chaos ❯ Recovery ( Chapter 6 )

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

Warnings: Gore and Strong Language

Recovery

 

“You felt it, too?” Kuwabara asked as Yusuke, along with Keiko and Hiei, appeared, running toward Genkai's. From a third street appeared Genkai and Yukina appeared, also running.

“Felt it? It was like a huge freakin' nuclear explosion!” Yusuke barked.

“Yes, quite,” Hiei sighed, obviously hating the need to agree with Yusuke in insulting the oaf.

“My radar didn't pick anything up, though,” Yusuke sighed. “I could feel the energy, but I have no idea who it belongs to.”

“I wonder which energy you're referring to, dimwit,” Genkai said as they all converged into one group, running through the forest around Genkai's.

“I don't know any of them, but there's a weird wind blowing through the entire city. Think that demon bitch did something while we were gone?”

“Perhaps,” Genkai sighed. “But don't forget what wasn't felt.”

Yusuke looked at her blankly, causing Genkai to sigh.

“She means the fox, fool,” Hiei said as he began moving through the trees.

“It would take a lot to incapacitate Kurama, wouldn't it?” Yukina asked, her eyes wide with worry.

“I don't know what you're all going on about, but I felt Kurama, for a few seconds,” Kuwabara said, surprising them into slowing down.

“What? Did that bitch somehow manage to take Kurama down? She was having a hard time breathing when we left!” Yusuke growled, making him shrug.

“I felt four energies. Then there were three, and with that huge explosion, there are only two, but one's so weak that whoever it belongs to is either almost dead or on the way to it. The other's stronger, but not by much…”

“We need to hurry,” Genkai said before taking off with a speed so far above a human's that Yusuke found himself, not for the first time, wondering if his `master' was part demon. The rest quickly followed, and they were shocked at the sight before them.

All around them, there were massive gouges through the ground, as though a massive explosion had went off at various places. The air was so thick with youki and reiki that Yusuke found it slightly hard to breathe.

At Keiko's gasp, his attention went to the temple. Or rather, what was in front of the temple. A body, barely covered in flesh and drenched in blood, was lying face-down, black hair making her face obscured. Around her body, the energy was condensed, as though it were alive and waiting to attack. The ground all around her was drenched in blood, and Yusuke's demonic nose let him tell that it was part human.

Yusuke took off, the others close behind as he stopped next to her.

“Who… Who is that?” Keiko asked, her voice hesitant and scared.

Reluctantly, Yusuke reached down while everybody else gathered around. As he gently brushed the hair away, there were gasps of shock and horror throughout the group at Kagome's face, drenched almost completely in blood.

That's when Yusuke took stock of her injuries, and he abruptly released the contents of his stomach out on the ground. Her entire body was covered in massive, bloody gashes. And only half of her still had intact skin, combined. The worst wound of all, though, was her right side.

Whatever had hit her there had done such immense damage it was a wonder that she was even managing the occasional, pained pants that she did. Where skin had been not too long ago was now a bloody mass of destroyed tissue and bone.

“Oh… Oh my god…”

Yusuke, unable to look at his friend, looked around the temple, seeing the others now.

Further toward the temple, Kurama was face-down, though he appeared to be untouched other than a small trail of blood underneath him that started a few inches away.

Leaning against the temple doors was the wind witch, her body covered in blood that was obviously Kagome's. Her eyes were closed and she was panting as blood slowly leaked out from the multiple wounds covering her body.

Jumping to the wrong conclusion, Yusuke stalked across the grounds and lifted her by the hem of her robe, causing her to gasp in pain.

“What the fuck did you do to her!?”

Her red eyes slowly opened, and then they slid toward Kagome. As soon as the wind witch's eyes fell on the girl, tears began to fall from her eyes and her body started to shake for reasons other than her pain.

“Oh god…”

“Hey!” Yusuke yelled, bringing her attention back. “What the hell'd you do!? There's a lot of youki around her, and a lot of it's yours! Those injuries are a lot like something a person could do with the power to make tornadoes!”

So quickly that Yusuke didn't react, she swung her hand up and pushed him back. She fell to the ground, her eyes cast downward, though Yusuke didn't know it was because of shame, and not guilt.

“Hey! I asked you-”

A pained scream filled the air and Yusuke forgot the witch, rushing toward Kagome, who was clutching her side.

“Yukina, heal her. Quickly!” Genkai yelled. “I'll help. You too, dimwit,” she added before the three knelt down by Kagome, who was thrashing around in a pain-filled blindness.

Yusuke hadn't missed the small note of hysteria in the stoic woman's voice, and so he didn't hesitate to use every ounce of energy available to him to help heal her.

After a full minute of exerting their energies, the three fell back, not satisfied with their results but unable to continue.

At least the wound in her side was slightly smaller, though the damage was still immense. The previously broken bones were now realigned and not in danger of falling out of Kagome. But healing the multiple broken bones in her body was something that had taken all of their energy, and she was still missing essentials; water, blood, and skin.

A scraping sound brought their attention to Kagura, who was staggering toward them as blood slowly drenched her legs. In her hand was a sword, its static electricity burning her hand as she came closer.

“What do you think you're doing?” Yusuke growled, standing up and taking a defensive stance in front of Kagome.

“Shut up,” she bit out. “Move.”

“Not a chance in hell,” he growled, pointing at her. “If you take another step, I'll blow you to hell.”

“You can't do anything to me. I'm already dying. But her wounds are because of me, and I'm not dying with an unpaid debt. This damn sword should help her…”

That's when Yusuke noticed the black smoke coming from her hand and the trembling through her entire body.

She finally reached the group and winced as pain shot through her body once more.

“You're not getting anywhere near her,” Yusuke growled, though he was half-convinced that she couldn't even make the distance on her own anyway.

“There are three youki here. Mine, hers, and that bitch's. I'm not the one that did that to her.”

Kagura had taken another step forward and suddenly found his finger pressed to her forehead, a massive power filling the air around it.

“I told you that you're not touching her.”

Just then, the Tetsusaiga pulsed and Kagura threw her head back in a scream as massive jolts of electricity coursed through her. The electricity cut off and she dropped to her knees, gasping for air as smoke rose from her blackened arm.

She'd fallen in a way that she was inches from Kagome, and she quickly put the sword in her open grip, wrapping her fingers around it. The pain shut off in Kagura and she fell limp on the ground, panting as even more of her small amount of remaining youki was spent healing her wounded arm.

Energy pulsated through Kagome's body and the group watched in shocked awe as, very slowly, the energy coating her changed and became flesh, beginning to armor the miko's body.

With a pained gasp, Kagome's eyes shot open.

A groan left her body as electricity slowly engulfed her, and then her wounds were healed even further.

“What the hell's happening!?” Yusuke barked, aggravated by his helplessness.

“Just… get her to her bed,” Kagura panted before falling into a coughing fit that left the ground underneath her scarlet.

There was a grunt and the group watched as Kurama stood up, shaking his head to clear the daze he was obviously in.

“Kurama, you alright?”

“Yes, no wounds to anything but my pride,” he said, brushing the dried blood off of his shirt, where there was what appeared to have been a large, ragged cut but was now a slightly pink line.

“What the heck hit you?” Kuwabara asked, looking at the wound and imagining what it had been like when open.

“The wind, oddly enough. With a touch of the Jagan.”

At that, Hiei's eyes widened.

“The Jagan?”

“Yes,” Kurama sighed. “A strange woman showed up and attacked Kagome. I interfered and was knocked unconscious because of it. I'd imagine I missed quite a show, if the energy around her is anything to go by…”

His eyes fell on Kagura and he quickly walked over to her, kneeling at her side.

“You didn't exactly help the situation, you know,” he said in a scolding tone, earning him a glare from the deathly-pale demoness.

“Bite me, fox. I helped her better than you did.”

At that, the effort to talk finally hit Kagura and slowly, she fell limp.

Upon seeing his teammates' questioning gazes, he shrugged.

“Perhaps it would be better to take them to a better place for healing.”

“The onna looks as dead as when she showed up on that feather,” Hiei observed.

“Yes, well, I'd imagine something interesting happened after I was taken out of the fight… Now then, let's get them inside so we can discuss what's happened.”

Yusuke gently lifted Kagome off the ground, getting a pained whimper in response, bringing a terrified look to the detective's face.

“I think that the witch will be better off unmoved,” Kurama said as Hiei started lifting her.

“Why's that?”

“She's a wind sorceress. Out here, on a windy day, she will most likely regain strength faster if someone just watches over her to ensure no further damage occurs. As Lady Genkai and Yukina will be healing Kagome with Yusuke, that leaves us to keep anything unsavory away.”

“Not likely,” Hiei growled. “Whatever demon was here, this bitch has the same stench.”

“Yes, she said something about being her sister,” Kurama sighed. “As it is, we need to keep her alive. Either she's an ally or a prisoner, depending on her allegiances, but she did use almost every ounce of the youki that had returned to her to fight against the other one in order to protect Kagome.”

Yusuke carried the miko into the guest building while the three men take a position to watch the wind witch, who was slowly enveloped in a bubble of wind.

None of them noticed the three sets of large eyes staring at them, horror filling them…

 

Eight hours later, Yusuke fell unconscious where he stood, having used every ounce of non-necessary energy to heal Kagome. The children were staring wide-eyed at their mother.

“The dimwit's done,” Genkai sighed. “You should take a break, Yukina.”

The koorime stepped back, her energy flow cutting off. She gave a grateful nod to Genkai before leaving for her own room.

After eight hours of constantly releasing their power reserves to heal Kagome, she was still deathly pale and the wound in her side was still open, though less so than before. Even with the Spirit Wave's healing abilities and Yukina's natural powers as a koorime, they had only barely managed to seal off the bleeding all over her body. The skin, for the most part, was covering her body once again.

But the fact that their immense combined powers hadn't been able to seal the wound on Kagome's side bothered Genkai. She wasn't as weak as the dimwit with the energy reserves, but even the powerful psychic was weakened.

“Is momma okay?” Shippo asked, his voice shaky and clearly afraid.

“No,” Genkai sighed. “But she won't die. After everything we did, it's up to her to finish the healing, but she probably won't be able to move for several days, at the least. You can stay in here with her, but don't try to wake her up, got it?”

The three children nodded enthusiastically and Genkai quickly vacated the room…

 

With a low grunt, Kagura rolled onto her side and stared up at the sun, her pain slowly lessening to a livable amount.

Carefully, she tested her muscles and found that, with a lot of pain, she could move everything. Slowly, she rose from the ground, finding three men around her instantly.

“I guess I've outstayed my welcome, then,” she sighed before pulling a feather from her hair.

“We can't let you go anywhere,” Kurama sighed.

“I can't stay here. Kagome's got real allies, so there's no point in staying here.”

A sword suddenly materialized at her throat, drawing a glare toward the apparition.

“It's not your choice, onna.”

“Not to antagonize,” the redhead sighed, “but can you even use your powers with the depletion of youki that you're currently suffering with?”

“As a matter of fact, I can't, until I heal,” she growled out. “But at this point, me being here's going to be a pain in the ass for you bunch of boyscouts. Naraku's new whore will be back for me, if not for Kagome. I can't do anything to fight her.”

“Obviously you can do something,” the redhead countered.

Kagura glared at the fox before pulling an elaborate fan from within her destroyed robe.

“This is my weapon.”

With a practiced flick of her wrist, Kagura opened the fan, and Kurama's eyes widened at the numerous holes covering it.

“I wrap my youki around it and when I swing, I can create attacks from the wind around me. I can control wind without it, but it's a big pain in the ass without a medium to channel it. I destroyed it trying to beat that whore. And I failed. So I can't do anything to fight her if she returns.”

“I can fix that,” a new voice said, drawing all of their eyes to one of the children.

“Oh? And what do you know of spiritual mediums, Kohaku?” she asked bitingly.

“When I got back to sister, she taught me everything I could ever need to know,” he said with a cocky smirk. “I can fix that fan of yours. Consider it repayment for before.”

With a `hmph', Kagura tossed the destroyed fan to the boy, who caught it with ease and walked into the temple.

“How exactly do you know that boy?” Kurama asked, having noticed something strange during their conversation.

“Doesn't matter.”

“You are from the Sengoku Jidai, yes?”

At that, her eyes narrowed.

“And how did you come across that information?”

“Kagome told us,” the redhead returned with a shrug.

“Did she? If she told you then you must know all about me. Or at least, who I came from.”

“We only know that the demon after her is a male hanyo named Naraku, but that was the basic information we had before we were sent to bring her out. The only thing we've learned is that the demon's from the Sengoku Jidai, but she doesn't talk about any of it. It's rather frustrating, having to listen to an old boyfriend as her topic of choice.”

At that, Kagura raised her eyebrows.

“She's told you about Inuyasha?”

“Yes, but even with the great detail of him, she's been vague. It's rather difficult to know anything, as we don't want to hurt her for information.”

“Speak for yourself, fox,” the apparition sighed. “I wouldn't mind cleaning my hands of the troublesome onna.”

His eyes widened as his response was laughter from Kagura.

“Something amusing, witch?”

Instantly, she sobered and her eyes took on an amused glint.

“You think you could kill her. Stronger demons than yourself by far have attempted and failed. I highly doubt you'd be able to do much, and whatever you managed would be your final act.”

“You speak from experience?” Kurama asked, catching the hint of disdain in her tone.

“Not personal experience, but I've felt what that sword of hers can do, and I'd imagine it's even more potent in her hands. But I've seen many demons fall to her and her powers.”

“Yes, well, that's all very interesting, but you're forgetting something. At the moment, she's unconscious from blood-loss and powerless. You are one of the two, without your medium. Any thoughts now?”

“I've seen her kill without being conscious,” Kagura said with a shrug. “As her enemy, I feared her. As I am now, neither enemy nor ally, I find her powers to be just as impressive. Even with youki sealing her miko qi, she managed to knock a demon stronger than myself away.”

“Hn.”

The apparition slowly sheathed his blade, his eyes locked with hers.

“You don't scare easily. That's good. It'll make getting information much more fun.”

“It's not my information,” she said with a shrug before she heard a distant, loud gasp of pain.

“I believe that Kagome's going to need something similar to her nearby for the next few hours. Her youki's replenishing, but as she can't be outside due to her wounds, she will heal much too slowly, if that bitch takes after Hakudoshi.”

“Another of your… siblings?” Kurama asked, seeing the line of her jaw tighten in anger.

“He was. Long ago. If you'll excuse me…”

With that, she walked right through the two-demon wall and staggered toward the guest house…

 

The sharp scent of demonic blood hit the nose of the unconscious detective and immediately, he was up. What met his eyes shocked him.

The wind witch was kneeling next to Kagome, a pained expression on her face. Her arm was extended and seemed to be pressing against Kagome's mouth, which seemed to be moving of its own accord. That's where the smell of blood was coming from.

“Oi! What the fuck are you doing!?” Yusuke barked, starting to run at the surprised wind witch.

“You should relax,” she sighed as he began to draw energy into his fingertip. “I'm speeding up her healing process.”

“Like hell! You're making her drink your fucking blood!” he growled, preparing to pull his mental trigger.

“Correct. My blood, as a demon with wind youki, will heal her, as she also has wind youki. The sword and you humans can only do so much.”

“There's no fucking way! You and whatever demon was here before are related, and I don't trust you, bitch. Step away from Kagome.”

“If I do, her healing will stop. As it is, that bitch's mark is still gaping wide open even after all of your help. But it's getting there,” she said, pointing at the wound on Kagome's side, which was now incredibly better looking.

“Wha-!?”

“It's my youki. It's reacting with hers, which is speeding up the healing process. Should I stop in the middle of this, her healing will take twice as long because the youki will need to calm down before healing her.”

“That's bullshit! I don't know what you're doing, but giving her blood isn't going to heal her.”

“Shut up, dimwit,” Genkai sighed. “Your voice is so loud it woke me up from a good dream.”

“Yeah right, you hag!”

“Perhaps now would be an opportunity to learn Kagome's story, as the demoness there seems to be incapable of moving at the moment.”

At that, Kagura's eyes widened before a small smirk appeared.

“You're perceptive, psychic. But I told those simpletons outside, and hopefully you can get this. Any information you're looking for isn't mine.”

“Not quite true,” the fox said, appearing at the doorway. “You have a part in her story. As it is, whatever we learn can be used to protect Kagome, and she's currently in no state to tell us. So any information you have would be important.”

The demoness's dark red eyes glared at the fox, hating that it made logical sense.

“Why do you even care?” Yusuke asked, bringing the glare to him. “You're related to her enemy. Why in the hell do you even care about her safety or privacy?”

“To be completely honest, I'm not sure,” she said with a shrug. “It wasn't this way in the past. For some reason, I do care, but I don't know what that reason is…”

“Regardless, if it's true that you care about her safety in some way, you should tell us what you can.”

“I'm not your captive that you can make me do something,” she bit out, glaring at them.

“Until you can move, you basically are just a captive. You're sticking around until Kagome wakes up, and then we're going to figure out whether you're an enemy or not.”

“Aren't you a psychic, hag?”

Genkai smirked at the demoness's strained words.

“Odd that you call me a hag when you're several centuries older than me.”

“Whatever. So, as I've obviously got no way out at the moment, ask away. If I feel like answering, I will.”

At that, Kurama launched into his interrogation mode. He quickly started his rapid-fire questions.

“Who's Naraku?”

“A Hell spawn created by an arrogant human making a pact with a horde of bloodthirsty demons.”

“How are you related to him?”

“He made me. He calls us his `children' but we're really just a bunch of freaks created by his DNA and the Shikon.”

“How many has he made?”

“I don't know, and I don't care. I was the first, I think. He made me to test Inuyasha's power.”

“Who attacked Kagome?”

“The bitch's name is Kagehime.”

“Family problems?” Yusuke sneered, earning him a glare.

“Shut up, hanyo. I've tried getting out, several times. The only person left that can kill that bastard's currently drinking my blood to heal. The rest of them died five hundred years ago.”

“How can we be sure you're not poisoning Kagome with your blood?” Kurama asked, which brought a growl from Yusuke.

“She's lost too much blood as it is. Do you think I'd be stupid enough to give her tainted blood?”

Before Yusuke could respond, Kurama clamped a hand over his mouth, effectively cutting off his insult.

“What kind of demon is Kagome?”

“Not a question I'm going to answer. It's her business.”

“Very well… Who was she traveling with in the Sengoku Jidai?”

“A rather strange bunch. A demon slayer who got along with demons, a perverted Buddhist monk, that kit pup that's listening in,” she said, allowing a small smirk to form as she saw a blur of orange that quickly vanished outside the room. “The demon slayer's brother, and her hanyo, Inuyasha.”

“She told us about his travels fighting Naraku. How did this Naraku fellow kill such an extraordinary group?”

“Heh. He used what he did best. He set a rather elaborate trap to separate her from her friends. That's all I'm going to say on her past.”

“Very well… I guess the rest of my questions on her past will be saved for when she awakes… So, what exactly happened outside?” Kurama asked, his curiosity showing.

“Kagehime,” Kagura sighed. “That bitch gets on my nerves.”

“So I've gathered,” the fox said wryly. “I was asking what happened, not who did it.”

“Well, after you were taken out of the fight, I woke up feeling panicked. Not something I'm used to, so I followed it to the source. I found Kagome being choked to death by Kagehime, and I cut her control long enough for Kagome to get up. She knocked that bitch down a few pegs, that's for sure,” she said, smirking.

“You don't seem to have problems with her beating your sister. That's a good thing,” Kurama sighed.

“I'm not exactly a willing part of that bastard, and now I'm not part of him at all. So, Kagome beat her, and then she ran to me instead of doing the smart thing and killing her. She was too distracted to see another attack coming until it was within her range. It ripped her arm apart, but that didn't stop her. I distracted Kagehime and Kagome used an attack that was on par with the hanyo's sword. It blew apart half of Kagehime's body, which is where a lot of the blood outside came from.”

“Kagome did that?”

“It would make sense, Yusuke. You taught her to use the Spirit Gun, and it would make sense that she would attempt a more powerful version against an opponent that had already wounded her badly,” the fox said, sighing at the detective's excitability.

“She used that, too… But only after her body was hit by a massive blade of wind…”

“There's a rather odd tone of sadness in your voice there. Or guilt. Something on your mind?” Hiei asked, having appeared so suddenly that everyone but Kagura, who couldn't move, jumped.

Kagura stared at the wound on Kagome's side, which had healed considerably since she'd started talking.

“The reason she got that damned wound was that she was distracted trying to make me go back inside. She hit that bitch with everything she had, and almost died more than once because of that, and she kept coming back after every single hit. Naraku gave her the power to heal everything short of being completely obliterated in one move. For someone who was human, Kagome is definitely not someone that gives up easily…”

“What happened before Kagome finally beat Kagehime?” Kurama asked, dreading the answer.

A small, humorless laugh escaped Kagura before she winced.

“That stupid bitch was so pissed that Kagome managed to hurt her. Kagome'd lost too much blood by that point and her attack to stop the healing broke down. Kagehime regenerated and was torturing her, repeatedly hitting the wound in her side. And still, Kagome didn't `beg for forgiveness' like Kagehime wanted. So, she started choking her again. Kagome and I knocked that bitch away, destroying everything but her head, and then… Kagehime attacked me.”

As soon as she said that, the unexpected happened. Tears started to roll down her face as she stared at the wound, which was even smaller than before.

“She used her attack in a massive concentration of youki that was meant to destroy me, who has a body built like hers… And that's how Kagome's body was almost ripped apart. She jumped in front of it to save me. She went to kill Kagome after she saw her breathing, and I got in the way. I lost consciousness when she threw me into that temple, but only for a few seconds. When I woke up, she was gone and there was an incredible amount of power in the air.”

Kagome winced once again, and the scent of blood in the air slowly faded as she found the ability to move again.

Slowly, Kagome's eyes slid open to find the entire room staring between her and a panting, and oddly enough, crying, Kagura.

“Did I miss something?” she asked, seeing the looks of shock on the room occupants' faces…

 

A/N:

There's chapter 6! I'm sorry for the recap of the past chapter, but I wanted to tell the story from Kagura's perspective as well, and I couldn't do that in a few sentences. Either way, I loved writing this chapter, and hope you enjoyed reading it as well.