InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Fall to Pieces ❯ Chapter 1

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Title: Fall to Pieces
Author: inuyashagirl5
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Angst, Action, Romance
Pairing: Undecided at the moment.
Disclaimer: Inuyasha is owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Yu Yu Hakusho is owned by Yoshihiro Togashi. I only use their characters for my own amusement.





Chapter One


She stared out the window, out into the snow covered yard of her home that she occupied all on her own now. What remained of her family had left, moved away and left her there to deal with her past. It had been only six years since she had returned home from the Feudal era, but there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't sit in that same spot and wait. There was no telling if any of them would come for her, to come and let her know they were okay, that they had lived through the final fight with Naraku. She only wished she had been able to stay with them, but Fate had decided to stop the well from allowing her passage to them, to the past. It had broken her heart, her soul and even to this day she hadn't recovered fully.

 She had finished high school, though in the process, her modern day friends had alienated themselves from the sullen girl. The only time she had ever spoken while in school was when a teacher would call on her to answer the question and instead of trying to help cheer the girl up, they had just started ignoring her. It took a little while for her to get over it, but she knew that they had every right to ditch her and let her wallow in her misery alone. Hojo, on the other hand, had tried relentlessly to cheer her up. He had spoken to her everyday and whether she responded or not, he didn't seem to care. It had been what she needed to piece little bits of herself back together and she had even managed to smile and thank him for his kindness before he passed away in her arms. It seemed Fate had other things in store for the young boy and he too had been taken away from her, leaving an emptiness, but she stayed strong. She had promised him she would and she wasn't going to break the promise to someone who had done so much to help her mend.

She sighed softly to herself at all the memories. She didn't have much time to dwell on things from the past, she had to get to work. The bills didn't pay themselves and she got very little money from her mother. She slipped her boots on and wrapped her thick jacket around her slim figure before stepping out into the snow covered courtyard and frigid wind. She made her way to the sacred tree as she did every morning. She let her hand caress the rough bark for a few minutes and whispered to the wind that her friends, wherever they were, be safe and loved.  Reluctantly pulling herself away from the tree, she walked a few steps before kneeling down before a light gray stone bearing her grandfather's name.

"I'm off to work again. I'll see you when I get home, Gramps." she ran her fingers over his name and the dates shown. He had been dead for almost a year she realized, but at least he was where he wanted to be. He had always loved the shrine and now he would forever be a part of it.

She walked quickly through the thick snow and silently cursed at herself for not having brought an umbrella with her or at least a scarf. It was going to be a long, cold walk for her that morning and she hoped her boss wouldn't fire her if she ended up being late. Her boss, Takao Mitsune, wasn't the friendliest person in the world and there were many times when she would look up from her work and find him watching her. The look in his eyes always creeped her out and she would look away quickly. His eyes always held a mixture off longing and determination, things that just didn't sit well with her. But, since she hadn't gone on to a university after high school, she was stuck with the secretary job her mother had gotten for her. She was just thankful that she was the secretary for the vice president of the company and not for Takao himself.

She turned the corner and froze at the sight before her. She hadn't felt anything out of the ordinary when she left the house, but now she was staring at a group of demons, confronting a human male about her own age. Behind the male lie the bodies of two females, their own auras were very faint and she knew they were going to die if she didn't help in some way. She shook her head. There wasn't anything she could do to help them. She wasn't a trained priestess and she hadn't even shot and arrow in almost four whole years. She would only make the situation worse.

Her head shot up at the male's strangled sob. It was apparent that one of the females had died and the guy was giving up hope as he hugged the body of the dead female in his arms. Her heart clenched at the sight, but she remained still and unmoving, even when the demons began to advance on the guy. She heard the startled yell and watched the guy jump to his feet, in his hands he clutched a sword of a strong energy and he swung like crazy at the approaching demons. He managed to kill a few before they started ganging up on him and beating him.

 She had never felt so hopeless and useless before this and she shrunk down to the ground and closed her eyes. She couldn't watch them anymore. She couldn't see the guy die.

"That's enough." a male voice purred and Kagome shivered at the familiarity of it. Her eyes snapped open and took in the unbelievable sight of a slightly older Naraku standing in between the male and the demons, "I think you have broken him enough."

"More than enough I say." another familiar voice spoke and soon Inuyasha was standing next to Naraku, "Ugh...he's almost dead. We can't have that. Uh oh...I think they killed his sister and Urameshi's bitch."

"I could care less." Naraku turned and addressed a couple of the nearby demons to lift the male, "We have another piece. Let's get to work on finding the others. I take it that you'll be going to her today?"

"Don't remind me. Kagome's the last person I want to see." Inuyasha growled lowly and she could see the red bleed into his golden eyes, "If she wasn't a damn piece in this thing, I'd have gone and killed her the second I got through that damn barrier."

There were two swirls of miasma and then both the half-demons and the male were gone, leaving Kagome still staring wide eyed at the spot where Naraku and Inuyasha had been standing. She choked back the sob threatening to spill from her lips by covering her mouth with her hand. She couldn't understand it. Why would Inuyasha be with Naraku? Why did he want to kill her? What had happened in the past to cause such a change? Something must have gone wrong.


They had arrived seconds too late to save them. Kuwabara was gone and Shizuru and Keiko were dead. It was a difficult moment dealing with Yusuke who had gone from worried to outraged within seconds of seeing the girls lying there lifeless. It had taken a couple of their associates to finally pin him down and subdue him while a few others began scouting the area for clues. It was becoming a difficult case for the Reikai and they still didn't have much to go on. Just that there were pieces to a puzzle and that they had learned too late that Kuwabara was one of those pieces. He had been the fourth to have been taken, the others having been two demons and one human. One of the demons being Hiei's own sister, Yukina. Koenma had every possible person, demon and reaper working the case, but yet they didn't know what would happen next.

"What are you doing out here?" Touya's question brought the attention over to him and the small figure sitting on the ground before him, "Hey, I asked you a question."

"What is it, Touya?" Kurama approached him quickly.

"There is a human girl. She's comatose though, very unresponsive." he knelt before the shivering girl, "She must have seen what had happened. What should we do with her?"

"She is my responsibility." there was a soft pop and one of Koenma's reapers appeared, oar in hand and a frown on his face. He knelt next to Touya and lifted the girl's chin, forcing her to look at him, "Kagome? Hey, snap out of it."

She blinked once and her blue eyes cleared slightly before flooding with tears at the sight of the one before her. A sob escaped her as she flung herself into his arms and hugged him with everything she had.

"Strange girl." Touya muttered before standing.

"Please, Touya, don't be disrespectful to Kagome." the reaper pulled back and held Kagome out in front of him, "Did you happen to see what happened here?"

"Yes." she whispered softly, her fingers running gently over his face, "How are you here? You are dead. You died in my arms, Hojo."

He scratched the back of his head and gave her a sheepish smile. Kurama cleared his throat, diverting the attention away from Hojo and to him.

"We should report to Koenma. Bring the girl with you. We will deal with Yusuke and return shortly." he stated, not giving the reaper a chance to answer as he turned and walked back to the cluster of demons standing around an unstable Yusuke.

"Come on, Kagome." Hojo helped her to her feet, "I'm going to bring you someplace warmer. You probably have a million questions and they will all be answered, I promise, but there are questions we have to ask you when we get there. Are you okay with that?"

She gave a short nod and was abruptly hauled onto the oar with Hojo. She clung to him as he shot off into the sky. Yeah, she had a million questions, but the most prominent was what had happened in the past after she had been unable to return and what was she supposedly a piece of?

She pondered everything as they drifted through the clouds and then through a barrier to a new place. Kagome gasped at the enormity of the gates before them. They creaked open as they approached and Hojo swiftly flew through them and then down long, alabaster corridors, dodging demons and other creatures along the way. Kagome wasn't sure where they were, just that the place held a strong, indescribable aura.

"Hojo, Koenma wants to see you and the girl immediately." a blue-haired, female reaper flew alongside them, "Don't fill out any paperwork, just go."

"Hojo, where are we?" Kagome asked while she watched the other reaper become a blur down the hallway ahead of her.

"This is the Reikai, Kagome. Hold on tight, I'm going to go a lot faster." he stated and waited until her grasp on his waist tightened before zooming off down the hallway in the same direction the other reaper had gone, "You need to know a few things before we reach our destination, Kagome. One, I am dead, but I was chosen to be a grim reaper after I died. I'm able to keep all of my memories and still be able to walk amongst the living in exchange for my duties to the Reikai. Two, you're about to meet the prince of the Reikai. His name is Koenma and please be polite when speaking to him, even if he happens to look like a toddler. Three, what you saw today in the city, it's just a small thing compared to the big picture."

He landed before a large, blue door and helped Kagome down from the oar before hopping off himself. He pushed the door open and stepped into the room, Kagome following closely behind him.

"Koenma, sir..." Hojo began, but Koenma, in teenage form, held up his hand to silence him. His expression one of seriousness and anger, a sign Hojo knew was not at all good.

"Lady Kagome, please have a seat." he pointed to the couch and waited for her to sit before speaking again. He pinched the bridge of his nose first, "I'm deeply sorry about dragging you into this, but you saw something today, did you not?"

"I did." Kagome answered simply, but then added, "More than I wanted to see I might add."

"Yes, I am sure seeing people die deeply horrified you. I wish it had been prevented, but my team arrived too late. Can you tell me what it was you saw? You can take your time if you'd like. I won't rush you." he sat next to the young woman and waited as she seemed to sort things out in her head before speaking.

"I was going to work like I always do on a weekday. Nothing felt unusual to me, so seeing the demons ganging up on that guy took me by surprise. The two females were almost dead at that time. I couldn't move to help or anything...I feared I would just be more trouble than help. One of the girls died and the guy was upset and he started swinging around a glowing yellow sword. He managed to kill a few of the demons, but he was quickly detained and beaten. That's when..."

"What is it, Lady Kagome? You can tell me. Nothing can hurt you while you are in my custody." Koenma urged her to continue and placed his hand on top hers, "Please, Lady Kagome?"

"That's when they arrived. Naraku and...Inuyasha. They spoke of the guy as if he were a piece to a puzzle."

"Those names haven't been spoken in hundreds of years." Koenma frowned and recalled what he remembered, "Inuyasha betrayed his friends and traveling companions just shortly after the disappearance of the priestesses. He started assisting Naraku in the retrieval of the sacred jewel shards, but his former friends and his half-brother managed to take what Naraku had and complete it. The completed Shikon no Tama vanished from existence when it and the one holding onto it was pulled into the void. Luckily enough the we managed to save the jewel and the soul before they were completely destroyed."

"Uh...Koenma, sir?" Hojo's voice spoke hesitantly and when Koenma looked up at him, he pointed to the crying priestess next to him. Koenma frowned again and shook his head.

"But that was a little over five hundred years ago. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that they reappeared with some sort of a devious plan." he added quickly, but it didn't stop the woman from crying, "Kagome?"

"So...they completed the Shikon no Tama with Sesshomaru's help only to have it get sucked into Miroku's wind tunnel with Miroku? He didn't get to have his family, did he?" she spoke sadly and Koenma's eyebrows shot way up as she continued, "What happened to the others? Did he kill them?"

He sat there and contemplated everything she had just said to him. How did she know specific names? He stared back at her, unsure of how to continue this conversation. But she knew things about the current ordeal, she knew the ones behind it. It was more than they had had before this. He could share a little of what he knew.

"Actually, Miroku and Sango did have a son. As a matter of fact, there is a female living today that is a descendant of their's, but she is currently being held. No doubt now that Naraku is probably the one who took her as a piece to his puzzle." he explained, glad to see a small bit of happiness within her almost blank and empty eyes, "How did you know of Miroku, Lady Kagome? How do you know of Naraku and Inuyasha?"

"I was there." she whispered and then her story flowed over her lips like a waterfall, "I was one of the two priestesses, the reincarnation of the other. The one known as Kikyo. It was the well on my shrine. It allowed me to go through to the past where I met them. The Shikon no Tama came from my body and then it was shattered. We traveled all over collecting the shards and fighting off Naraku and other enemies. I returned home one day to stock up on supplies, but then the well wouldn't let me back through. I wasn't allowed to go back to be with them."

"Well..." Koenma was speechless. How had this slipped past him and his father? A time traveling priestess? A well that served as a gateway between her time and the past? "That explains a few things."

"This puzzle that they're putting together...Inuyasha spoke earlier about me and it. It seems I too am a piece to their puzzle."

"All the more reasons to make you stay here." Koenma stood quickly, "That is, until you have completed your training and are capable of facing them with the others. I have some things to return to you, Lady Kagome. So please stay here until I return."

He departed from the room quickly, leaving Kagome and Hojo silently thinking over the whole situation. Kagome looked up as Hojo cleared his throat and she knew he was getting ready to lecture her by the look on his face. She sighed and hung her head, knowing all too well what Hojo was like when he got into lecturing mode.

"You were never sick, were you?" he asked quickly and continued, "No, I suppose I should have realized that. I think I knew but I was waiting. Why couldn't you tell me the truth, Kagome? We are friends, Kagome. I would have listened to you. That's why you were so depressed all those years ago. You couldn't go into the past and fight alongside your friends...well, Kagome, I am your friend too. You should have told me. Imagine that. You were a time traveling priestess...that's just amazing! But still, you should have told me everything!"

"Yes, you're right, but...how would you have taken the truth when you were still alive? You didn't know demons existed then, did you?" when he shook his head she continued, "You would have looked at me like I had gone crazy, Hojo."

"I would not have. I loved you, Kagome. I would have believed you."

"I'm sorry I lied, Hojo. I just didn't think anybody would accept the truth."

"I forgive you." he grinned, "At least now I know and I can help you."

The door to Koenma's office opened to reveal the other demons that Kagome had seen earlier, including the one who had thrown a fit. She cowered a bit behind Hojo as they came in and closed the door behind them. Their combined auras were incredibly strong and Kagome was feeling overwhelmed.

"Where is Koenma?" the one who had been outraged earlier growled, taking a couple intimidating steps in Hojo's direction. Hojo put his hands up as a show of submission and shook his head at the demon's behavior.

"He is currently retrieving something that belongs to Kagome. He should be back momentarily, Yusuke." Hojo replied and stepped in front of Yusuke as he snarled down at the girl on the couch, "Do not take your anger out on her, Urameshi. She didn't do anything to you."

Kagome recognized the name when Hojo said it. It explained why he was so angry. Inuyasha had said one of the girl's had been Urameshi's bitch. One of them had been his girlfriend or maybe even his mate and she hadn't been able to help her. She closed her eyes and lowered her head as she fought to keep the tears back. She didn't want to appear even more weak than she already felt, especially not in front of a bunch of demons.

Hojo sighed in relief when Yusuke took a couple steps back, his eyes were still watching Kagome, but they seemed clouded and confused. He turned away from them abruptly and stalked to the other side of the room to lean against the wall. The others in the room adjusted to sit around the office as well and Kagome found herself sharing a couch with the red-head from earlier. His aura confused Kagome, but she held back from pressing her own aura against it. She didn't want them to know that she was a priestess just yet, at least not until Koenma returned. It was bad enough that a shorter demon with gravity defying spikes was already glaring at her like he knew something.

Koenma returned a few moments later and he held up his hand to keep them all from talking until he was ready to deal with them. His eyes focused solely on Kagome and he knelt before her. She watched as he held his fist out to her, familiar prayer beads dangled from the side and she could feel the pulse from within his hand. She paled visibly and shook her head.

"I don't want it." she protested, "NO! Not again!"

"You have no choice, Lady Kagome. You are the only one who can keep it purified." he opened his palm to reveal the black jewel, "As you can see, it is tainted. It needs you. We need you to take it off of our hands and use it. See? You haven't even touched it and it's already being purified. You, Lady Kagome, you're the only one worthy to be the guardian of the Shikon no Tama. We know this, Miroku knew this. Even he wasn't capable of keeping it completely purified. It needs to be with you again.""No." she shook her head, "No, I can't."

"Kagome..." Hojo stepped forward and Kagome jumped to her feet.

"NO! I can't! Don't you see? I am not....I'm not strong enough to guard that! I can't even...I couldn't even...I couldn't do anything to save or protect them. I am not worthy to possess the Shikon no Tama!" Tears escaped her eyes as she shook her head back and forth, "You can't expect me to do this...not after today."

"Lady Kagome, you know them. You know what they're capable of. I need you to help us." Koenma stood up and walked towards her, "We need you to help us solve this before more people die. You don't want more people to die over this, do you? Because they will if we don't stop them."

"You speak as though you know the bastard that killed Keiko and Shizuru." Yusuke growled from his spot, his eyes locked with Kagome's frightened blue eyes, "You had a chance to save them and you didn't...did you? Why didn't you help them? What kind of a priestess are you?"

Her mind spun around and around. She didn't recall stating that she was a priestess...Koenma and Hojo hadn't said anything. How did he know? His growl echoed through the room and she paled more and cowered backwards again. She was trapped and his aura just kept getting stronger and bigger, suffocating her where she stood.

"Quit it, Urameshi!" Hojo's voice cried out and he rushed to Kagome's side and caught her as her body started slipping to the floor.

"Yusuke, control yourself now. I can't have you scaring her to the point she refuses to tell us what she knows." Koenma snapped out and glared, "She couldn't have done anything to help Keiko and Shizuru. She isn't a trained priestess and if she had tried, they would have just taken her as well. She too is a piece they are looking for.""You keep saying they. Then you do know who is behind this?" Kurama interjected and was surprised when Koenma nodded, "Can you elaborate?"

"In a moment, I promise." Koenma turned back to Kagome, "You need to take this, Lady Kagome. Starting tomorrow you will also begin your training. Genkai will be here at dawn."

She hung her head in defeat and held out her hand. Once the jewel touched her palm it glowed bright pink again. Koenma gently ran his fingers through her hair before turning to face the others. It was time to get down to business and everyone present was about to be included in the mission. The rest of the group would be along just as soon as Botan located them, which he hoped was soon.

"Okay, listen up." his tone drew attention and the group turned their eyes to him, "There are two behind this, though we're still not certain what they are up to. Their names are Naraku and Inuyasha. Some of you may recognize the names from many years ago, needless to say, they've decided to reveal themselves and are collecting these so-called pieces to a puzzle. We know so far that he has four pieces. Kuwabara and Yukina are the two most recently taken. Then there are the female descendant of the monk and demon slayer from five hundred years ago, Aiko and the fox demon named Shippo."

"Shippo?" Kagome's voice spoke up and Koenma nodded at her, "You didn't tell me he was involved too."

"Please, Lady Kagome. Everything we know will be told right now. I can answer any questions you have afterwards." he retorted and Kagome fell silent again. Though it was difficult to focus on what was being said with Yusuke glaring so hatefully at her. She let her gaze fall to the floor as Koenma continued the meeting.

Her thoughts drifted to the last time she had seen Shippo. He had accompanied her to the well that last day she was in the past. She had promised to bring him chocolate and a lollipop because his training had been going along so nicely. He had chatted almost nonstop the whole walk to the well and she had laughed at some of the meaner things he had to say about Inuyasha. He had been so vibrant and innocent. She could only imagine what he looked like today, how tall he had gotten, how strong he was.

She was shaken suddenly, brought out of her thoughts and found herself staring up into the older blue eyes of Kouga. She nearly fell over backwards at his closeness, but he held her tightly and pulled her up onto her feet. Her eyes scanned the room, falling on the blue-haired reaper girl from earlier and on familiar, yet older demons, including Sesshomaru who was staring at her in confusion. Clearly he had never learned about the well, Kouga too for that matter.

"Is it true?" Kouga asked, his face right in front of hers, inspecting her. Kagome blushed vividly.

"Is what true, Kouga?" she asked gently and he pulled back quickly in surprise. He looked to Koenma who nodded, then to Sesshomaru who shrugged and then back to Kagome who was still staring at him.

"How are you...still alive?" he asked her quietly, as if it was a secret between the two of them.

"I come from this time." she responded just as quiet, "I traveled through time via a well on my shrine grounds."

"Really?"

"Yes." she nodded, "Though it stopped working six years ago and I was stuck here. You know what happened though. You can tell me?"

"Yes, but..."

"He'll have to do it later, Lady Kagome and please do try to pay more attention to what's being said. There is much still to discuss and the more we get done, the sooner we can take action." Koenma scolded her and she nodded in agreement. She had spaced out so badly she didn't even see Kouga or Sesshomaru enter the room, she didn't even feel them enter the room.

"So, it is Inuyasha and Naraku? They finally came out of hiding?" Sesshomaru asked, his voice sounding the same as Kagome had always remembered it.

"Yes, but it's rather disturbing news to hear that they have found another piece to their puzzle. I am sure that Chuu will join with us now that Rinku has been taken." Koenma replied and Kagome realized she had missed a great deal of the conversation while remembering her last day with Shippo.


The meeting had lasted for a few hours longer before Koenma dismissed everyone in the room with the exception of Kagome and Hojo. Yusuke had tried to protest, saying he had things he wanted to discuss with the inadequate priestess. The comment had brought growls from Kouga and his two pack brothers, Ginta and Hakkaku as well as an annoyed glare from Sesshomaru, but Koenma quickly silenced all involved and sent them on their way. He didn't need this now.

"Listen to me, Hojo. You are to stay with Kagome at all times. The only exception of course is when she's in the bathroom. Yusuke is going to continue to be a stubborn and persistent guy until he finally sees the truth behind Keiko's death and with him, that could take a lot of time. She was his best friend, his mate. It's going to take a lot of time to heal."

"I will, Koenma, sir." Hojo bowed to the godling.

"Lady Kagome, I am deeply sorry about getting you involved in this."

"It's not your fault, Koenma. I would have been brought into it either way. They apparently need me for what ever their plans are. All I can do now is become a trained priestess and fight against them." she frowned and turned to Hojo, "I'm really tired. I would like to lie down if I may?"

"Of course, Lady Kagome. You'll need the rest for your training anyways. Genkai is ruthless. She won't go easy on you." Koenma scooped her hand into his and kissed her knuckles lightly, "Thank you, Lady Kagome. Thank you for helping us."