InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Failing Hope ❯ Eri ( Chapter 3 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: littlestarlight 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Mystery / Suspense | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.29.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.7K | Visits: 815 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Mystery / Suspense | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.29.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.7K | Visits: 815 | Status: Completed
Chapter Three
The group walked in a box formation as they made there way towards the residence of Eri, the first of Kagome’s friends.
As they walked, Kuwabara, who stood to the left of Yusuke, began to mull over what they had heard from the teenaged monk.
He knew of course that the creater of the barrier's death would be painful. From the shocked looks on Hiei and Kurama’s face, he guessed like torture. However, some parts of the puzzle they were solving didn’t make any since.
Like why the barrier would suddenly start falling?
According to Koenma, it had been up since feudal times, and that was about as over 500 years ago. So why had it been up so long and just now begin to fall?
Also, why had Kurama freaked out when he heard about that jewel thingy? It couldn’t have been that important… could it?
But if it weren’t, then why were Hiei and Kurama both freaking out? And why would that girl stay in a time period that even Hiei was afraid of?
Contrary to the popular belief, Kuwabara wasn’t as stupid as everyone believed him to be. He could tell the fear in his short friend’s eyes and that was the only reason he was going along with this mission.
He, Kazuma Kuwabara, would not be the cause of the destruction of millions of innocent people, just because he held more honor than others. But that didn’t mean he was going to have anything to do withthe creater'scapture. He would help than as much as needed, but after that he would have nothing to do with her demise.
So what exactly were they going to do? What if they didn’t find the reincarnation in time? Would that be the end of human race as they knew it?
The sound of soft laughter drew away his attention as they passed by a small park. The trees were glittering in the sunlight and the birds chirping happily. He watched with a soft smile, as a group of children played on a tiny jungle gym. Their cries of laughter echoing with blissful unawareness; completely naïve to the fact that they might, in a matter of time be killed by raging demons. Oh how he missed such innocence.
“So Kurama, you gonna explain the importance of that jewel or not?” asked an irritated Yusuke.
“Of course,” sighed the fox, “you see it all started out long ago, back in the feudal era. But to understand the story you need to understand the setting. You see, these weren’t times as they are today. They were times of pandemonium and confusion. Where corruption was everywhere, and one could not, not encounter death. These were some of the darkest times that Japan has ever known.
“Back then demons and humans roamed the lands together, no once was ever truly safe. The humans feared demons above all else, and the demons feared certain types of humans, ones with powers that could easily destroy them with a mere tendril of their power… mikos. It was due to these opposing forces that made the times all the harder.
“It was during these times that the best and worst in people appear. And one woman, known as Midoriko, became a miko warrior.
“Midoriko fought many battles and won many victories for her kind. These victories brought her much fame and attention. Attention that would be the end of her.
“You see, demons, angry that their families had been destroyed, searched out for her and created a conspiracy against the miko. They gathered together and took the form of her lover and attacked her.
“The Miko and the demons battled forseven days and seven nights until the demons came together into one. Then theytookMidoriko into their mouth.Finally she, with the last of her strength, reached within herself and brought out her soul. She had then forced the demons souls out of their body and molded them all to form a tiny jewel with incomprehensible powers… the shikon no tama.
“This jewel is said to be able to grant a wish to any person. But nothing comes without a price. The jewel brings chaos and destruction everywhere. No one is safe from its lure except certain people whose hearts are completely devoid of darkness. And as you know that is impossible.
“Therefore no one can with stand the jewels temptations, and war is brought back as it was back then…”
Kuwabara looked curiously at Kurama and noticed with grim satisfaction that the reincarnated fox spirit was shaking. Was the jewel really that bad? A gem holding souls of the dead forever locked in battle…
Kuwabara stared at his feet and began to wonder slightly how they were going to pull of what they were trying to do.
If the girl, Kagome, had been looking for the jewel, was it for good or bad purposes in the end? Kurama had said that no one should be able to withstand the jewels temptations completely, so did that mean that the girl had fallen into the lure and tainted her soul? And if she had, would it have remained that way with her rebirth?
Thinking to hard always gave him migraines. He couldn’t really understand how Kurama did it, but who really could understand him? Ugh, he was doing it again, blast.
Kuwabara glared heatedly at the sidewalk, before he felt himself run into Kurama’s slightly smaller form.
“What happened?” asked a dazed Kuwabara as he struggled to gather his wits and remain balance.
“We are here,” replied Hiei shortly as he glared at the apartment door they had reached, within a very tall building.
Kurama knocked on the door as the group waited patiently for it to be opened; Yusuke, tapping his foot as he leaned on the wall nearby.
The door was soon answered by a young woman with short black hair; her eyes were the traditional brown and her skin soft and pail. She held an aura of sadness and grief about her that seemed to suffocate all of her other emotions, and left them slightly on edge.
“Yes, how may I help you?” asked the woman as she glanced warily over each of the men outside her door. Kuwabara was almost positive no one visited the lady because of her obvious distrust of them.
“We need to speak to you on certain private matters I doubt you would wish to speak about in the hall,” stated Kurama smoothly. Kuwabara felt a pain of envy within him as he watched the girl become wooed. He wished he had that voice, and then when he declared his love to Yukina, it wouldn’t sound so horrible to his ears compared to her voice. Of course nothing in his mind could match her heavenly voice.
“Exactly what is it we need to discuss before I let you into my apartment?” asked the woman suspiciously, her mistrust grating at her sadness.
“Kagome…” the answer was all they needed to find themselves ushered in without a second glance, and the sadness to overtake the woman once more.
They were told to take a seat on a comfy, but old looking couch, and each given a mug over warm tea.
After a couple moments over the woman’s bustling, the girl, Eri, sat down across from them and began to sip the steaming beverage while carefully eyeing her visitors. After a moment of this, she spoke, her voice soft and fully laden with tiredness that Kuwabara just now realized showed in her eyes.
“My name is Eri Takemuni,” spoke the woman with her eyes slightly downcast, “I was one of Kagome’s best friends before…” the woman trailed off and Kuwabara suddenly noticed the soft lines of salt water leaking from her eyes.
“Ms. Takemuni, my name is Shuichi and these people are Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara. We are trying to uncover some information about Kagome Higurashi’s disappearance.”
The woman seemed to be struggling with something on the inside before shaking her head and looking at the group.
“What is it you would like to know?” she asked the question slowly, deliberately trying to sound confident, but the tiny crack gave Kuwabara all the answers he needed. She was hurt, and she had no where to turn to. Her friend had disappeared with no trace, and everyone thought her dead. He felt pity rise up within him for her.
“How long have you known Kagome?” asked Kurama, sounding like one of the policemen off the shows that would come on late at night.
With a deep sigh, the woman began, “I’ve known Kagome just about all my life. We met one day when some older boys were picking on me. At the time we were only about seven, but she had been the same back then as she had always been. She hurt the older, bigger boys by kicking them in the shin.” The woman chuckled softly at the thought of a tiny Kagome kicking the big bully in the shin to get back her lunch.
“Kagome’s always been the best of friends; she’s one of the purest people I know, that’s why we found it hard to believe that she killed herself…”
“We?” asked a confused Yusuke interrupting the woman and her story.
“Yes, myself and Kagome’s other friends. There were four of us all together, Kagome being the one that held us all together. Once she was pronounced dead, we all sort of flittered away. Nothing was every the same without Kags…”
“Had Kagome been acting strangely the last time you saw her before her disappearance? Anything out of the ordinary?”
“She seemed happy like always, not even a little under the weather after her supposive heart attack. I personally believe that that boyfriend of hers was making her skip school, but then I have to wonder why her grandfather covered for her. And then there are the wounds she would acquire when she would come back to school.
“It makes one wander exactly what their best friend was up to. I think I finally figured it out though. After all this time, I believe… no I know, Kagome must have been in a gang. One where they hurt people, and people hurt her. I think she was forced into by that jerk of a boyfriend of hers. Did you know he cheated on her with his ex? And then he had the nerve to be jealous when another guy asked her out! She should have gone out with Hojo like we advised, but she didn’t. She’s avoid the subject, and when brought up would remember some thing she had to do at the last moment, all for some guy. She even claimed at one point to love the boy, and we’d never even met him!”
Yusuke interrupted her rant by asking the question on everyone’s minds, “What was her boyfriend’s name?”
“InuYasha. He was a punk, and was always getting into fights and stuff. Once Kagome had said he was half demon, proving that she had agreed that he was horrible! But then her eyes had widened and she’d run off as though afraid she’d let more slip.”
As the woman continued on with her rant, Kuwabara began to think over the story. So the woman had a boyfriend and was possibly half demon. Was that even possible? How could a demon have escaped long enough to mate and have a child? Or was this the InuYasha that the teenaged monk, Souta had mentioned before? Could it be that there were two InuYasha’s? But how could that be?
Taking another sip of her forgotten tea, Eri began to talk some more, this time not in the angry fashion as before.
“Kagome was a good person. She always did the right thing, no matter the cost to herself. She was a pure and selfless creature. However, Kagome was way to trusting for her own good and got caught up in the wrong crowd. The last thing she did before she disappeared was spend a day with us and the next day with her family. She seemed preoccupied the entire time, as though trying to forget something that weighted heavily upon her. At the time I hadn’t really noticed. We were all too happy when she said that she was going to quit be with that boyfriend of her soon. We had no idea she meant it in a way that she was going to die…”
Kuwabara straightened at this. Turning slightly, he noticed Kurama straighten as well. Kurama was saying something, but he wasn’t listening. He was to busy thinking about what the woman had just said.
If Kagome had known she was going to die, then why would she leave? Why not wait out the danger and then resume finding the jewel shards? But how would she have even known she was going to die? Was it possible she was one of those people who could see into the future? Or had she perhaps found a way to reveal the past?
“I’m not sure if what I told you helped any, but the teachers might be able point out something since she was forced to get to know some of them really well to pass her grades…”
The group nodded, and Kurama said the farewells for the group. Leaving the room and into the hallway.
When the woman had shut the door the group proceeded down the hallway towards where the elevators were located. When the doors were just about shut, a piercing scream knocked them out of their thoughts and Hiei rapidly prevented the door from shutting.
The group followed the scream until they found themselves at the same door they had just left.
Yusuke opened it swiftly with a kick to find a puke green colored demon pinning the woman to the wall of the apartment. One large yellow eye inhabited the top of the demons head, and a giant mouth occupied the remaining space.
It had a slender body with a somewhat humanoid figure. The fingers that occupied Eri’s windpipes were only four and seemed long and sticky.
“Hey let her go you demon!” yelled Kuwabara as he glared outright at the demon holding the defenseless woman.
“Kukuku, I haven’t had pretty blood in a while,” laughed the froglike as it squeazed the windpipe allowing no air to fill her lungs.
Yusuke began to raise his fingers in a gun position while Kurama began to reach for the seed hidden in his hair, Hiei's hand was only seconds away from the hilt of his sword, and Kuwabara was about to call forth his energy when something unexpected happened. A jet of green slime flew out of a lightning quick webbed hand to squash the entire team against the wall of the outer doorway in a sticky mess.
Then, as though watching some strange slow motioned movie, the demons head dipped down and three fanged like teeth pierced the woman's chest, digging inwardly to grasp something and coming back out with a half eaten heart, still beating and pouring blood as though nothing had ever happened. The woman's muffled cry, drowned in the eternal tick tock of the clock in the kitchen as the once joyful and innocent brown eyes faded dull. Liflessly staring as though blaming them for her death.
The group walked in a box formation as they made there way towards the residence of Eri, the first of Kagome’s friends.
As they walked, Kuwabara, who stood to the left of Yusuke, began to mull over what they had heard from the teenaged monk.
He knew of course that the creater of the barrier's death would be painful. From the shocked looks on Hiei and Kurama’s face, he guessed like torture. However, some parts of the puzzle they were solving didn’t make any since.
Like why the barrier would suddenly start falling?
According to Koenma, it had been up since feudal times, and that was about as over 500 years ago. So why had it been up so long and just now begin to fall?
Also, why had Kurama freaked out when he heard about that jewel thingy? It couldn’t have been that important… could it?
But if it weren’t, then why were Hiei and Kurama both freaking out? And why would that girl stay in a time period that even Hiei was afraid of?
Contrary to the popular belief, Kuwabara wasn’t as stupid as everyone believed him to be. He could tell the fear in his short friend’s eyes and that was the only reason he was going along with this mission.
He, Kazuma Kuwabara, would not be the cause of the destruction of millions of innocent people, just because he held more honor than others. But that didn’t mean he was going to have anything to do withthe creater'scapture. He would help than as much as needed, but after that he would have nothing to do with her demise.
So what exactly were they going to do? What if they didn’t find the reincarnation in time? Would that be the end of human race as they knew it?
The sound of soft laughter drew away his attention as they passed by a small park. The trees were glittering in the sunlight and the birds chirping happily. He watched with a soft smile, as a group of children played on a tiny jungle gym. Their cries of laughter echoing with blissful unawareness; completely naïve to the fact that they might, in a matter of time be killed by raging demons. Oh how he missed such innocence.
“So Kurama, you gonna explain the importance of that jewel or not?” asked an irritated Yusuke.
“Of course,” sighed the fox, “you see it all started out long ago, back in the feudal era. But to understand the story you need to understand the setting. You see, these weren’t times as they are today. They were times of pandemonium and confusion. Where corruption was everywhere, and one could not, not encounter death. These were some of the darkest times that Japan has ever known.
“Back then demons and humans roamed the lands together, no once was ever truly safe. The humans feared demons above all else, and the demons feared certain types of humans, ones with powers that could easily destroy them with a mere tendril of their power… mikos. It was due to these opposing forces that made the times all the harder.
“It was during these times that the best and worst in people appear. And one woman, known as Midoriko, became a miko warrior.
“Midoriko fought many battles and won many victories for her kind. These victories brought her much fame and attention. Attention that would be the end of her.
“You see, demons, angry that their families had been destroyed, searched out for her and created a conspiracy against the miko. They gathered together and took the form of her lover and attacked her.
“The Miko and the demons battled forseven days and seven nights until the demons came together into one. Then theytookMidoriko into their mouth.Finally she, with the last of her strength, reached within herself and brought out her soul. She had then forced the demons souls out of their body and molded them all to form a tiny jewel with incomprehensible powers… the shikon no tama.
“This jewel is said to be able to grant a wish to any person. But nothing comes without a price. The jewel brings chaos and destruction everywhere. No one is safe from its lure except certain people whose hearts are completely devoid of darkness. And as you know that is impossible.
“Therefore no one can with stand the jewels temptations, and war is brought back as it was back then…”
Kuwabara looked curiously at Kurama and noticed with grim satisfaction that the reincarnated fox spirit was shaking. Was the jewel really that bad? A gem holding souls of the dead forever locked in battle…
Kuwabara stared at his feet and began to wonder slightly how they were going to pull of what they were trying to do.
If the girl, Kagome, had been looking for the jewel, was it for good or bad purposes in the end? Kurama had said that no one should be able to withstand the jewels temptations completely, so did that mean that the girl had fallen into the lure and tainted her soul? And if she had, would it have remained that way with her rebirth?
Thinking to hard always gave him migraines. He couldn’t really understand how Kurama did it, but who really could understand him? Ugh, he was doing it again, blast.
Kuwabara glared heatedly at the sidewalk, before he felt himself run into Kurama’s slightly smaller form.
“What happened?” asked a dazed Kuwabara as he struggled to gather his wits and remain balance.
“We are here,” replied Hiei shortly as he glared at the apartment door they had reached, within a very tall building.
Kurama knocked on the door as the group waited patiently for it to be opened; Yusuke, tapping his foot as he leaned on the wall nearby.
The door was soon answered by a young woman with short black hair; her eyes were the traditional brown and her skin soft and pail. She held an aura of sadness and grief about her that seemed to suffocate all of her other emotions, and left them slightly on edge.
“Yes, how may I help you?” asked the woman as she glanced warily over each of the men outside her door. Kuwabara was almost positive no one visited the lady because of her obvious distrust of them.
“We need to speak to you on certain private matters I doubt you would wish to speak about in the hall,” stated Kurama smoothly. Kuwabara felt a pain of envy within him as he watched the girl become wooed. He wished he had that voice, and then when he declared his love to Yukina, it wouldn’t sound so horrible to his ears compared to her voice. Of course nothing in his mind could match her heavenly voice.
“Exactly what is it we need to discuss before I let you into my apartment?” asked the woman suspiciously, her mistrust grating at her sadness.
“Kagome…” the answer was all they needed to find themselves ushered in without a second glance, and the sadness to overtake the woman once more.
They were told to take a seat on a comfy, but old looking couch, and each given a mug over warm tea.
After a couple moments over the woman’s bustling, the girl, Eri, sat down across from them and began to sip the steaming beverage while carefully eyeing her visitors. After a moment of this, she spoke, her voice soft and fully laden with tiredness that Kuwabara just now realized showed in her eyes.
“My name is Eri Takemuni,” spoke the woman with her eyes slightly downcast, “I was one of Kagome’s best friends before…” the woman trailed off and Kuwabara suddenly noticed the soft lines of salt water leaking from her eyes.
“Ms. Takemuni, my name is Shuichi and these people are Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara. We are trying to uncover some information about Kagome Higurashi’s disappearance.”
The woman seemed to be struggling with something on the inside before shaking her head and looking at the group.
“What is it you would like to know?” she asked the question slowly, deliberately trying to sound confident, but the tiny crack gave Kuwabara all the answers he needed. She was hurt, and she had no where to turn to. Her friend had disappeared with no trace, and everyone thought her dead. He felt pity rise up within him for her.
“How long have you known Kagome?” asked Kurama, sounding like one of the policemen off the shows that would come on late at night.
With a deep sigh, the woman began, “I’ve known Kagome just about all my life. We met one day when some older boys were picking on me. At the time we were only about seven, but she had been the same back then as she had always been. She hurt the older, bigger boys by kicking them in the shin.” The woman chuckled softly at the thought of a tiny Kagome kicking the big bully in the shin to get back her lunch.
“Kagome’s always been the best of friends; she’s one of the purest people I know, that’s why we found it hard to believe that she killed herself…”
“We?” asked a confused Yusuke interrupting the woman and her story.
“Yes, myself and Kagome’s other friends. There were four of us all together, Kagome being the one that held us all together. Once she was pronounced dead, we all sort of flittered away. Nothing was every the same without Kags…”
“Had Kagome been acting strangely the last time you saw her before her disappearance? Anything out of the ordinary?”
“She seemed happy like always, not even a little under the weather after her supposive heart attack. I personally believe that that boyfriend of hers was making her skip school, but then I have to wonder why her grandfather covered for her. And then there are the wounds she would acquire when she would come back to school.
“It makes one wander exactly what their best friend was up to. I think I finally figured it out though. After all this time, I believe… no I know, Kagome must have been in a gang. One where they hurt people, and people hurt her. I think she was forced into by that jerk of a boyfriend of hers. Did you know he cheated on her with his ex? And then he had the nerve to be jealous when another guy asked her out! She should have gone out with Hojo like we advised, but she didn’t. She’s avoid the subject, and when brought up would remember some thing she had to do at the last moment, all for some guy. She even claimed at one point to love the boy, and we’d never even met him!”
Yusuke interrupted her rant by asking the question on everyone’s minds, “What was her boyfriend’s name?”
“InuYasha. He was a punk, and was always getting into fights and stuff. Once Kagome had said he was half demon, proving that she had agreed that he was horrible! But then her eyes had widened and she’d run off as though afraid she’d let more slip.”
As the woman continued on with her rant, Kuwabara began to think over the story. So the woman had a boyfriend and was possibly half demon. Was that even possible? How could a demon have escaped long enough to mate and have a child? Or was this the InuYasha that the teenaged monk, Souta had mentioned before? Could it be that there were two InuYasha’s? But how could that be?
Taking another sip of her forgotten tea, Eri began to talk some more, this time not in the angry fashion as before.
“Kagome was a good person. She always did the right thing, no matter the cost to herself. She was a pure and selfless creature. However, Kagome was way to trusting for her own good and got caught up in the wrong crowd. The last thing she did before she disappeared was spend a day with us and the next day with her family. She seemed preoccupied the entire time, as though trying to forget something that weighted heavily upon her. At the time I hadn’t really noticed. We were all too happy when she said that she was going to quit be with that boyfriend of her soon. We had no idea she meant it in a way that she was going to die…”
Kuwabara straightened at this. Turning slightly, he noticed Kurama straighten as well. Kurama was saying something, but he wasn’t listening. He was to busy thinking about what the woman had just said.
If Kagome had known she was going to die, then why would she leave? Why not wait out the danger and then resume finding the jewel shards? But how would she have even known she was going to die? Was it possible she was one of those people who could see into the future? Or had she perhaps found a way to reveal the past?
“I’m not sure if what I told you helped any, but the teachers might be able point out something since she was forced to get to know some of them really well to pass her grades…”
The group nodded, and Kurama said the farewells for the group. Leaving the room and into the hallway.
When the woman had shut the door the group proceeded down the hallway towards where the elevators were located. When the doors were just about shut, a piercing scream knocked them out of their thoughts and Hiei rapidly prevented the door from shutting.
The group followed the scream until they found themselves at the same door they had just left.
Yusuke opened it swiftly with a kick to find a puke green colored demon pinning the woman to the wall of the apartment. One large yellow eye inhabited the top of the demons head, and a giant mouth occupied the remaining space.
It had a slender body with a somewhat humanoid figure. The fingers that occupied Eri’s windpipes were only four and seemed long and sticky.
“Hey let her go you demon!” yelled Kuwabara as he glared outright at the demon holding the defenseless woman.
“Kukuku, I haven’t had pretty blood in a while,” laughed the froglike as it squeazed the windpipe allowing no air to fill her lungs.
Yusuke began to raise his fingers in a gun position while Kurama began to reach for the seed hidden in his hair, Hiei's hand was only seconds away from the hilt of his sword, and Kuwabara was about to call forth his energy when something unexpected happened. A jet of green slime flew out of a lightning quick webbed hand to squash the entire team against the wall of the outer doorway in a sticky mess.
Then, as though watching some strange slow motioned movie, the demons head dipped down and three fanged like teeth pierced the woman's chest, digging inwardly to grasp something and coming back out with a half eaten heart, still beating and pouring blood as though nothing had ever happened. The woman's muffled cry, drowned in the eternal tick tock of the clock in the kitchen as the once joyful and innocent brown eyes faded dull. Liflessly staring as though blaming them for her death.