InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Shifting Times ❯ Chapter III ( Chapter 3 )

Shifting Times

Chapter III

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Yuyu Hakusho.

 

Dedication: There are four dedications for this story. WhiteDemoness11, I hope that you enjoy this story as you've read all my others. Madmiko, I hope you also read and enjoy this story, as I hoped to match the length of your chapters with my own. Ryukotsusei, I love your stories and hope you like this one. And the final dedication is to KagHieiLuver. I hope you enjoy the scenes ya little pervert lol. I wrote it for you mostly, but all the others were in mind as well.

 

Author: Chrystal-Hearts

 

Summary: Kagome is crossing between the present and the past while trying to balance school, friends, and even a lover. Many things will happen as the Inu-gang will be forced to face off against Naraku many times, while things in the present might be getting a little difficult.

 

Let's get telepathic!

/Hiei/

\Youko\

\Kurama\

(Kagome)

 

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Last Time:

It wasn't long before they caught up with the hanyou and they saw a large piece of devastated land. Miroku managed to remain conscious long enough to reach this place and commented that it felt of Kagome's energy signature. Before they could ask him anything else though, he passed out. Inuyasha sniffed around, but couldn't find any signs of a trail so they went on a guess but had to make camp soon so Miroku could rest.

 

This Time:

 

I guess he doesn't like it when you spit in his face. The girl laughed at her own thought as it flowed through her mind. She found it rather funny actually. The man who decided to bring her here in the first place had decided that torturing her would be fun, and so he decided to be evil about it. So far she had been in this place for two weeks and had suffered near daily beatings and torture. On the latest meeting with her captor, she'd spat in his face when he'd tried to kiss her… While it had been funny, it had also earned her a bit of pain. There was a nice claw mark on her cheek from where the jerk had decided she needed `scratched'. A punishment for defiling his person. Oh well.

 

She'd long ago given up on trying to heal any of the wounds that he'd given her. As it were, he added some sort of poison into the wounds he made so that she couldn't heal them. I mean she had no idea how to even use her powers, so how was she supposed to purify the poison so she could heal herself? Answer: she couldn't! Not like she really cared at the moment though. Her main concern was trying to figure out a plan of escape. A derogatory remark took her attention to the `animals' that were placed outside her cell. The demon who brought her here actually called the things `guards'. While they were human, they held so much taint that Kagome could plainly feel it without using any of her powers.

 

With that thought came another. I could kill the guards in order to escape. Before trying to push that thought from her mind, she paused and thought it over. Going over pros and cons in her mind before moving to other factors. Inuyasha had killed humans before, though when he'd killed the bandits for pure fun he'd despised himself. Sesshoumaru killed anyone who stood in his way. Hiei probably killed a few humans as well. The humans that guarded her were tainted. They could even become more Narakus. Cue shivering at that thought. Changing her point of view, she looked at this from a neutral point. Demons killed humans and their own kind. Humans killed their own kind while those that could killed demons. Would her killing a human really be so different from her killing a demon when she saw no difference between the two?

 

Now more questions began flowing through her mind, questioning when she'd lost her mind to think such thoughts. But still, was there a difference. The real answer: no. Both were alive and both bled. Both had hearts, even if their hearts beat differently. But then again she didn't like killing demons anyways. Was her life really worth theirs? She didn't think so. But if she remained Naraku would try to taint her and turn her against her friends. Her falling into his hands was worth their lives… wasn't it? A sigh. What do I do? The question reverberated through her mind until she heard a yip within her own head. Hello Hikari. That was the name which she'd deemed was the kit's. During her time as a captive, she'd decided on why there was even a kitsune in her mind. Like Kirara, this kit had a special feel to it. The kit was a soul animal, or spirit beast as some could call it. Though this was an animal born of the soul, not from it's energy.

 

The little kit yipped again and rubbed against her mind. Closing her eyes, she materialized next to the kit and picked her up. “What do you think little one? Do I kill humans to escape, or do I find another path?” The kit seemed to be in thought for a moment before it barked then yipped. “So I should kill them?” Bark. “Won't that taint me?” Growl. “Are you sure?” Yip.

 

A sudden jerking sensation had her returning to the present as she opened her eyes to see the one she'd deemed `asshole' was back to torment her. A heated glare was sent his way, but he merely smirked before digging his claws into her thighs. A growl tried escaping her throat at that as one thought crossed her mind. Only Hiei can touch me there! Getting rather fed up with the `asshole', she once again did something not so smart. She once again spit on him. Her action earned her a hard slap across the face.

 

He apparently didn't like when she stuck her tongue out at him after being slapped as he decided that she needed a harsher punishment. Moving to the wall of the `cell' (you mean torture chamber) he grabbed a coiled leather whip with steel studs lining it's length. Kagome eyed the weapon as the demon smirked and gather several bottles of liquid. Able to catch a scent that wafted to her, she shivered on the inside at the idea of what it was. Poison. Turning back to face the wall, she steeled her nerves against what she knew would be coming. And she didn't have to wait long to feel the sting of the steel studs digging into the flesh of her back.

 

“I'd enjoy this more if you screamed my little miko.” `Asshole' said with a sadistic smile.

 

“I'd enjoy this more if it wasn't happening.” She grumbled to herself, though it was loud enough for him to hear.

 

“But if this wasn't happening, you wouldn't be able to enjoy it.” The demon pointed out as he cracked the whip against her legs.

 

Groaning and screaming inside her mind, she made not a peep on the outside. Hikari was growling viciously as she felt Kagome's pain through her screams. The whip cracked against her flesh many more times before the man growled dangerously and glared at her. An evil glint suddenly passed through his eyes and he grabbed yet another liquid and managed to force her to drink it. He then ordered the guards to return her to her cell. They happily complied as that meant they had a chance to touch her.

 

It was hours later and she knew that she was in trouble. Her head was spinning as her eyes blurred. She knew that it was poison that the demon had forced her to drink, and it was causing quite a few problems. A squeaking sound had her turning to the cell's door as her mind began blurring. An image of Inuyasha stood there, smiling softly at her. His normally gruff features holding a soft and caring look as he looked at her. “Kagome, are you alright?”

 

“Inu… yasha?” Her voice whispered the name questioningly as her mind blurred further. Oh how she hated poison.

 

“Hai Kagome. I've come to save you.” He whispered as he leaned down to kiss her.

 

Smack! “Don't fucking touch me!” Inside her fuzzy mind she was snickering like crazy at her own words.

 

`Inuyasha' pulled back from her and glared before slapping her as he transformed back into being `asshole'. “How did you know bitch?”

 

“Ah…” That's a very good question. “I didn't.” It was the only logical response since it was the truth. Mentally shrugging through all the haze she looked up into his glaring face. When he went to smack her again, she smacked his hand away and sat up. “Get out of my room!”

 

He quirked a brow at her. She's delirious. The thought passed through his mind before he smirked darkly and mentally shrugged. Quickly pinning her, he pressed his lips to hers. It'd be so easy to take her right then and there, I mean she was barely wearing anything since her clothes were completely ruined. At least it should have been easy. When he let off the kiss he smirked and licked his lips. “Delicious.”

 

The girl smiled at him, and it seemed pretty innocent. Too bad he didn't realize what that meant. Lifting her hand to him, she smirked and a blast of spirit energy shot from her palm and through his body. Giggling at his stupidity, she pulled herself to her feet and started to leave the cell. Three human guards were in the hall and instantly tried to stop her, which resulted in her using the same attack on them. It's actually starting to look more like she was drugged then poisoned.

 

Kagome quickly made her way outside and blasted anything that tried to stop her. It was a rather interesting sight though. An injured woman taking down anything in her path simply because she seemed high and unlike herself. Though she did stop to gather a bow and several quivers of arrows proclaiming that one needed to be careful upon entering a forest. Yeah, bad guys shouldn't poison her anymore.

 

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“Just leave it!” A silver haired man with large furry ears and a tail shouted as he looked to his violet eyed friend.

 

Said friend had long black hair and black leathery wings sprouting from his back. He looked to the silver haired demon with pained eyes. “I can't.” Turning quickly he made a grab for the blood red pendant, only to get stabbed through with several bamboo spears.

 

“Kuronue!” Shouted the silver haired and golden eyed demon as he started to run to the dark haired one.

 

“No! Run Youko! Leave me!” The dark haired one hollered with a pained voice. The kitsune looked torn but one final shout from his friend had him turning, only looking back with sad eyes before he disappeared from sight.

 

Several men appeared carrying more bamboo spears and glaring at him. He looked at them with a calm coldness in his eyes that made them glade harder. Just as they were about to plunge more spears into his body, a voice called out; telling them to stop. “Just what are you doing?”

 

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Several hours since Kagome had `escaped' the castle, found her laying in an unknown clearing. Slowly her eyes opened and there was a searing pain in her head. “Ugh… Where am I?” Her voice slurred slightly as she looked around, now completely confused on where she was. Fractured memories returned to her and she realized that she'd somehow managed to escape. Giving up on that line of thought, she pushed herself up to her feet and looked around the clearing that she was in. A distant noise alerted her to there being someone nearby, and she was of course curious, so she made her way to it. What she saw shocked her a lot. Men, tainted men, were glaring down at an amazingly untainted youkai. They were about to kill him when she called out to them, commanding that they stop. “Just what are you doing?”

 

The men all turned to look at her and their eyes instantly held lust as they looked upon her figure. She growled as she noticed their auras darken with ill intent. “Are you out here all alone?”

 

“Yes, you could return to the castle with us.” Stated another man.

 

“Let me think… no.” She said before drawing her bow and rapidly firing several arrows in succession. The arrows sparked to life with her miko ki and easily injured the humans, knocking them unconscious. With that done, she turned to the demon and quickly raced to his side. He looked at her with a cool calmness that she almost laughed at. After assessing the demon's wounds, she decided that the one in his ankle was worse as it had hit an artery and he'd die in a few minutes if it wasn't treated. Quickly grasping the spear, she yanked it out and placed her hands over the wound. Somehow she managed to call forth her healing powers and fixed that wound. Then she turned her attention to the rest of his injuries and began yanking spears out.

 

“Why are you helping me miko?”

 

“Kagome.”

 

“What?”

 

“My name, it's Kagome.”

 

“Why are you helping me… Kagome?”

 

“Why wouldn't I?” She questioned as she ripped strips from her torn and already ruined kimono in order to bandage the demon. “Now these bandages won't be the best, but I don't really have any supplies.”

 

The bat demon merely nodded as his mind suddenly started fogging. Blood loss was beginning to take it's toll on him, but he managed to remain conscious though his mind was fuzzy. Once she had managed to stop most of the bleeding, she helped him up, grabbed the necklace that was on the ground, then started moving away from where they were at. It wouldn't be wise to wait around for more men to appear, it'd be completely stupid.

 

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Shippo was distraught over not being able to find Kagome, and wouldn't quit crying. Miroku had to continuously comfort Sango who was stressed out and going between screaming and crying. Inuyasha would growl whenever anyone said anything about it. Their search turned nothing up, and it had taken close to a day for Miroku to get over the affects of the poison. Inuyasha had tried to take the shards from Shippo, but found himself surrounded in blue flames as the little kit growled at him.

 

It didn't help that the group was constantly being attacked. Miroku and Sango had several wounds, Shippo had the most since he wouldn't let anyone else take the jewel shards, and Inuyasha had the least since he did the most damage to whatever came after them. If things kept going the way they were, Miroku was worried for the little kit. Demons were constantly going after the fox, but still he refused to give up the shards.

 

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“Ji-chan!” Souta screamed as he raced to the older man and slid to his knees at his side. “Okaa-san! Call an ambulance!”

 

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It was cold and she was shivering as she walked through the many trees in the forest of the park. It was dark, but she didn't care as all she wanted to do was run. A few tears trailed down her face, but they were quickly wiped away as she continued through the trees. Images of the scene she walked into replayed through her mind. Once again Inuyasha had been kissing Kikyo, only this time it was going farther as their hands were roaming bodies. The girl was annoyed at how her own body ached to be touched. She was sixteen and she wanted to know what it was like. Though she had been saving herself for Inuyasha, she decided that she couldn't… no wouldn't wait for him.

 

Plopping down on the ground, she sighed and looked at the little pond not two feet in front of her. The water shimmered as the moonlight drifted over it's shiny surface. A red glow off to the side caught her attention and she turned to it, only to be shocked at what it was. Blood. Moving quickly to her feet she followed the trail while gripping the straps of her book bag. It was a surprise for her to come upon what looked to be a young man. He had hair that stuck up, seemingly only to defy the very laws of gravity. Edging nearer, she noticed that he was injured. The surrounding moonlight shifted so that she had the perfect view of his features and she nearly gasped at how handsome he looked. Shadows played across his soft sleep coated features making him look almost angelic, but looking to his hands she knew better. Fingers tipped with claws was a giveaway that this man was in fact a demon.

 

Stretching one hand toward him, she slowly allowed her fingers to trace along his jaw before she blushed and jerked the appendage back. Her other hand cupped her wrist as her eyes once again took him in. Realizing that he was still bleeding pretty badly, she snapped herself from her daze and pulled her bag to where it was in front of her. Searching through it quickly, she pulled out her first aid kit as well as a small dagger that she kept with her for emergencies.

 

Shoving the bag aside, she pulled her first aid kit to her side and moved to him. The shirt he wore was very torn and practically useless. Taking her dagger, she quickly divested him of the useless item so that she could see his wounds. A large gash trailed across his stomach, which she blushed at seeing. Shaking her head of the rather impure thoughts that were crossing her mind, she pulled out disinfectant, antibiotics, and bandages. When she was done with his stomach, she moved onto the other injuries, including a deep wound to his chest.

 

With a sigh she grabbed her pack and pulled out a soft plush blanket, she spread it out so that she could move the demon onto it. Once that was accomplished, she moved to treating the few injuries which littered his back. Her blush returned full force when she realized that there was also an injury on his leg. It was rather funny to see how red she went. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she reached for his belts and quickly undid them. Before doing anything else, she gathered another blanket and placed it over him, then she pulled his pants down.

 

She was happy that she had a way to cover him. Working quickly, she sewed the deep slice on his inner thigh shut. A bandage was placed over it before she quickly slid his pants back up. All that went through her mind was that she was so glad that he was asleep and no one was here. Taking several more deep breaths, she rolled the demon onto his back and covered him with another spare blanket before pulling out a blanket for herself as she leaned her back against a nearby tree. Closing her eyes, she fell into a light sleep.

 

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Kagome jumped awake as she looked around before groaning as the pain in her back hit her full force. She was starting to miss the poison that had rendered her unable to feel the pain. Pushing it to the back of her mind, she stood with a slight wince and moved to the demon who was also with her in the little cave. He seemed to be doing alright, though his clothing was completely ruined. With a sigh to herself, she looked down at her own rags before a small smirk appeared on her lips. Moving towards where she had been laying, she picked up several bags of coins and started snickering. Guess they should've listened to me. Heading for the cave entrance, she decided to see if there was a town nearby. Hopefully there was so that she'd be able to buy some clothing. Clothing would be good.

 

An hour later saw her grumbling. The only thing nearby was a shrine, so now she sported miko robes… Did she mention that she hated miko robes? But then again, it was at least something to wear that covered her. The miko at the temple had asked what had happened to her, so she gave a little information about being in a battle with a demon and getting dragged out here before she could kill it. When offered shelter, she kindly declined, mentioning that she needed to return to her village.

 

At least the other miko had been nice and given her some food for her `journey'. Making her way back to the cave was easy enough, mainly because she was ignoring her pain and pushing it to the back of her mind. When she made it to the cave entrance, she sighed and moved to set a few things down before grabbing the bow and a quiver. Making her way back outside, she started looking for herbs to use to heal the demon inside.

 

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Five days passed before the bat demon awoke. He looked around cautiously before remembering what happened before. It was still dark out, but signs of light were beginning to creep up and enter the world. Looking around himself, he found no one to be in the cave with him. Though he knew a girl had helped him here, a miko if he remembered correctly. Speak of the devil. The girl had just walked in wearing miko robes and carrying several rabbits.

 

After a moment she looked up at him and gave a kind smile. “Hello youkai-sama, I'm not sure if you remember but I am Kagome. Are you feeling any better?” As she spoke, she neared him till she kneeled down next to him.

 

“I am fine.” The demon murmured before taking in her form. “Though I doubt I'm as fine as you, my lady.”

 

Talk about smooth, he even kissed my hand. A dark blush stained her cheeks as she looked down to the ground. Though she did have a lover, she wasn't use to such compliments. Rather, she wasn't use to any compliments. “Umm… Thank-you.” After fighting for control of her blush for a few moments, she looked back up at his face. “Are you hungry? I managed to catch a few rabbits.”

 

“I am rather famished. How long have I been asleep?”

 

“Five days.” The miko said calmly as she turned back to her catch and pulled out a dagger to skin and clean them. “Anyways, may I have your name, youkai-sama?”

 

“It's Kuronue, and quit with the formalities. I don't care for them much.”

 

She smiled then. “Good, I don't really care for them either.” He chuckled at her words and gave her a smile. When she looked back to him, she reached into her haori sleeve and pulled out the amulet that she'd found on the ground. “I'm not sure if this is yours, but I figured I'd grab it just in case.”

 

Violet eyes looked at her in a thankful awe as he accepted the blood red jewel from her. “Thank-you Kagome, this is very precious to me.”

 

“It's not a problem Kuronue.” She practically whispered back before once more setting to her task. The bat smiled as he held the trinket in his hands. Several minutes later and the girl had a fire ready with a few rabbit on sticks. “Would you prefer raw, slightly cooked, or cooked?”

 

“Slightly cooked sounds good.” The bat replied smoothly. “Out of curiosity, do you know of what happened to my partner?”

 

“Partner? No. There were only several humans nearby.”

 

“So then, he must've gotten away.”

 

“I didn't notice any other demons around, though I'm not quite adept at sensing them.”

 

“Aren't you a priestess?”

 

“Sorta.” The girl responded softly. “I learned of my powers close to two years ago and have been journeying on a mission ever since. My group and I are trying to reclaim a.. trinket if you will, as well as destroy a demon who has wronged many people. So, I'm not very well trained; though I am apprenticing to a monk and a demon slayer. The village miko of Edo also teaches me when we stop there. That village is sort of our home base.”

 

“Edo?” The bat youkai questioned. “Where is that?”

 

A sigh. “The western lands.”

 

“How did you manage to get into the southern lands then?”

 

“So that's where we are?” Kagome questioned thoughtfully before shaking her head. “I was kidnapped by a demon who wanted to hand me over to our enemy, and he brought me to some castle around here. It was at the base of some cliff and surrounded by a ningen village.”

 

“Will you be returning to the west then?”

 

“Hai. I'm sure my group is searching for me.”

 

“The monk and slayer?”

 

“Also a hanyou, kit, and nekomatta.”

 

“You have an odd group.”

 

“Hai, but we work well together.” The girl commented as she added seasonings to the meat before handing two rabbits to Kuronue. “There, only slightly cooked.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

She gave a nod and waited for her food to get done before eating. With a smile, she then relaxed back against the cave wall. Looking to her youkai companion, her smile widened slightly. “So what shall you do now? Though know that you aren't leaving till I'm positive you're alright.”

 

The at looked at her with a curious expression on his face after she spoke. “Why do you, a miko, care so much about me, a youkai?”

 

Kagome bit her lip for a moment as she thought about how to word her answer. “I do not think that everyone is bad, and I believe that we all have some good; however small an amount. We are all living, breathing beings, and as of late I am redefining the way I look at things. In order to escape from the prison of which I was kept, I was forced to kill human men. I kill demons on a daily basis, and now I must also think of how I killed these animals for food. They were living and breathing, just like us. I could've picked some sort of plant, but I desired meat. Since this entire mess with being kidnapped, I've been asking myself if there is a difference between slaying evil demons and evil humans, especially when I see no difference between the species. So you see, I don't see you as any different from myself.”

 

“You are an interesting ningen.”

 

“I hear that a lot actually.” She replied with a giggle.

 

He smiled at her as he, too, relaxed against the cave wall. “I'll be out of your hair in a few more days, then I'll go look for my partner.” His violet eyes flicked to her before he spoke once more. “And as to your questioning, there is no difference.”

 

“I've been coming to the same conclusion.” She whispered as she allowed her eyes to slide shut and she went into a meditative trance. Once she was within her own mind, she once again began pushing some of her shenki into the void within her soul. Once that was done, she returned to her `practice' area where she picked up the little kit and started calling forth her powers. Her reiki swirled around her form as it easily bent to her will. Deciding that she wanted to try something, she imagined a target inside her mind.

 

Once the target was set up, she focused her reiki into the palm of her hand and shot a blast. Shards of spirit energy collided with the target and it reminded her of the attack she used on `asshole'. Come to think of it, she never did learn his name. Oh well. Ignoring that, she decided she'd try a new attack. Holding her hands like she would with a bow, she called power into her hands making one materialize in a shimmering blue color. Giggling to herself as the kit licked her ear from it's perch on her shoulder, she summoned shenki to form an arrow.

 

After a bit she decided she wanted to learn to use a sword. Summoning one made of energy was simple enough, then she closed her eyes and fell into a stance she'd seen Sango use. It was easy for her to go through the motions that she'd seen the slayer use, as there weren't many of them… and she was within her own mind. Of course she also tried to go through the moves she'd seen Sesshoumaru use. That resulted in her falling on her face. She really needed a teacher for this. Shaking her head, she began performing them once more. This time resulted in her landing on her butt. Fine. I'll go over them before doing them.

 

Closing her eyes, she easily pulled the moves through her mind so she could watch as they were performed. It was simple enough, and she memorized everything about them. While it wouldn't be the best style, she'd at least be able to defend herself if she could get this down. When her eyes opened, they held determination and she instantly dropped into a defensive stance she'd seen Sesshoumaru use. Next she started going through his moves that she'd seen. Amazingly she'd managed to stay on her feet.

 

It was probably several hours after she started her meditation that she allowed her eyes to open. Kuronue was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, though Kagome seriously doubted he was asleep. A smile touched her lips as she slowly rose to her feet before moving away from the wall. She noticed that the bat's eyes opened a little to look at her and she smiled at him. “I'm just going to stretch and practice some gymnastics.”

 

“Some what?”

 

The girl sighed and shook her head. “Flexibility.” Was her simple response before she began stretching. The bat merely watched as she bent forwards to touch her toes before bending backwards to touch the back of her feet. Her exercises were odd to him… and very arousing. Though he couldn't tell because of the miko robes, he was pretty sure that she had a lithe body.

 

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“Where the hell could that damn demon've taken her!” Inuyasha shouted as he glared at everything around him. It'd been almost a whole month sense Kagome had been kidnapped and the entire group was losing hope that they were ever going to find her.

 

“I don't know Inuyasha.” Miroku said with a sigh as his wife collapsed into yet another fit of tears. He quickly moved to her side and pulled her into a tight embrace.

 

Kirara mewed as she nipped her mistress' ear in hopes of cheering her up some. Shippo sat on the ground just looking at the other with a blank face. His entire body was pale and dark circles lay beneath his eyes. He no longer spoke much, and the rest of the group was worried about him. Sango would whack Inuyasha with her weapon any time he even tried to get near the kit because she was afraid of what he'd try to do since said kit still retained Kagome's shard.

 

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The wind blew gently through the trees as a young woman in miko robes looked upon the border between the southern and central lands. It was with a defeated sigh that the miko crossed into the central territories. She so didn't want to be here, mainly because she was alone. I should've accepted Kuronue's assistance. He was willing to escort me. Her and the bat youkai had become close while he recovered. It was amazing how close they got in a week. He'd promised to come visit her in Edo once he'd found Youko. Youko was a spirit kitsune who was his thieving partner.

 

She really didn't care that they were thieves, she only warned him about stealing from her. Her threat was that he'd find himself wearing a pretty beaded necklace if he even tried. When he questioned how a bead necklace was threatening, she told him of Inuyasha's pretty necklace. That's when he took the threat seriously. He also promised that he wouldn't steal from her, and neither would his partner.

 

At the moment though, she needed to concentrate on moving as quickly as she could through this land. From what she'd heard it was ruled by a man eating beast who devoured humans. That wasn't a very pleasant thought, and she didn't have very good control of her shenki yet; though her reiki control was rather good. She'd actually used her reiki to blast several demons away from her. Even used it on some human bandits.

 

As it was, her progress was rather slow. Looking up at the sky, she sighed upon seeing that night was starting to fall. Moving into a deeper part of the woods, she started gathering what would be needed to make a camp. Once she had a fire going, she grabbed a bamboo canteen as well as her bow and headed out to hunt for something to eat. Hopefully she'd find something small since she wasn't all that hungry.

 

While she was hunting, she came across a group of demons that were attacking several… she'll use the word `people'. The group consisted of two demons and several humans. None of the demons seemed to be doing well at fighting, but they also seemed to be somewhat young. With an annoyed sigh, she stepped out from the trees and into the demons' line of sight. “I suggest you leave that group alone.”

 

“A miko.” One of the demons hissed as it turned toward her.

 

Had to be a snake demon. Growling darkly at one of the demons who called her something that wasn't really nice, she turned to him with a glare. “That wasn't a very nice comment.”

 

“Doesn't matter, you'll be dead soon.” One of the other demons said in a voice tinted with amusement.

 

“Really?” Kagome asked in an innocent manner. When the demons agreed, she smiled sweetly. “If I do die soon, it won't be by your hands.” She threw her own hands out and light shot from them. “Spirit Shards!” The attack destroyed all of the attacking demons, leaving the two who appeared to be with the group alone. Turning to said group, the girl smiled. “Are you all alright?”

 

“Thank you miko-sama! Thank-you so much!” One of the humans screamed as she turned toward the young woman.

 

“Please, call me Kagome.”

 

“Thank you so much Kagome-sama. I was sure we were all as good as dead.”

 

“It was nothing, I was simply in the area.” Kagome replied with a slight smile. “Where are you headed?”

 

“To the capital.” One of the other humans replied.

 

“Ah.” The young miko replied. “I'm sort of heading that way… I think.”

 

“You think?” Questioned one of the demons.

 

“I've really only been to the northern and western lands.”

 

“Then why are you here in the central?” Questioned a human.

 

“It's a long story.” The miko replied with a sigh. “Perhaps I could accompany you for part of the way though.”

 

“You would travel with us?” Questioned another human as her eyes flickered between the two demons of their group.

 

“Why wouldn't I?”

 

“We are traveling with demons, Kagome-sama.” Said a different human.

 

“I could care less. I protect, not destroy mindlessly.”

 

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The journey to the capital took about a week and a half because of how slow the humans were. Kagome was grumbling about it since she wasn't use to traveling with ordinary humans. I mean you can't exactly call a monk and a demon slayer ordinary. Apparently one of the demons heard her grumbling about slow humans because he dropped to her side and was chuckling. “You complain about humans, yet you are one?”

 

Looking to the side, she sighed. “I'm used to more… athletic humans. I normally travel with two youkai, a hanyou, a taijiya, and a houshi.”

 

“That would put your traveling standards quite high.”

 

“Yes, so who are you again?” The miko questioned as she looked at the demon beside her curiously.

 

Chuckling, he replied “Hokushin.”

 

“Alright.” She replied with a nod. “Why are you traveling with humans anyways? The majority of demons I've met don't normally care for my kind.”

 

“They were heading to the capital, and so were Toho and I. It's easier to travel in a group then simply by ourselves.”

 

“Mind if I ask why you're heading to the capital?”

 

“In order to serve in the king's army.”

 

“The king? He's a mazoku, right?”

 

“Hai.”

 

“Don't mazoku normally eat humans for food?”

 

“Normally, but the king refuses to eat human flesh.” Hokushin said quietly. “Would you stop him if he still did?”

 

“Depends upon the human he tries to eat.” The miko murmured quietly, earning an odd look from the demon beside her. Giving him an amused smile, she slowly shook her head. “My opinions on wrong and right have been changing for a time now.”

 

“What happened to cause such a change?”

 

“Well, I was kidnapped by a demon who used humans as guards. I ended up killing them with my reiki in order to escape. It was while I was their captive that I began questioning myself. I mean, I see demons and humans as equals, yet I'd only purify evil demons. It made no sense the more I thought about it.”

 

“That is an interesting point of view.”

 

“So how far away from the capital are we?”

 

“About two days at this pace.”

 

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The city was simple, having towers and buildings made of stone and dirt. Humans and demons alike moved around in the village that surrounded the stone buildings. Sapphire blue eyes lightened as soon as she saw many stalls filled clothing. Hokushin quickly took her arm and kept her heading toward the main tower with them. “Come on Kagome, you're going to meet the lord.”

 

“But I wanna buy a kimono!” The miko complained with a pout.

 

“You have your miko robes.” The demon pointed out.

 

“But I hate miko robes.”

 

“Then why are you wearing them?”

 

“It's the only clothing I had.”

 

“You can look around after you meet Lord Raizen.”

 

Pouting more, she huffed. “You can be so evil.”

 

“I am a demon.”

 

“Just because you're a demon doesn't make you evil.” She huffed out as she shot a glare at him. “I'll have you know that I have demon for a lover.”

 

Well that made Hokushin stumble. “But you're a miko! Miko can't have lovers!”

 

“Well I do!” She huffed out. “But don't say anything, I don't want my hanyou friend knowing quite yet.”

 

“Your secret's safe with me, Kagome.”

 

After a while they'd finally made it to the tower, and the two demons dragged her into it. It wasn't long before she was face to face with a very powerful demon. His power made Sesshoumaru's look small in comparison. The demon had pure white hair, violet eyes, and tribal markings. Said demon was currently looking straight at them. “Who is this?”

 

“This is Lady Kagome, she's a miko who helped us to travel here.”

 

“A miko?” The demon questioned with curiosity hinting through his voice.

 

“Hai Raizen-sama, I am a miko.” Kagome responded as she smiled. “My name is Higurashi, Kagome.”

 

The demon looked at her and he smirked. He could easily see the blue fire in her eyes that stated she was defiant, and he could tell that she was different from normal miko. “Where are you from?”

 

“The western lands.”

 

“Then why are you in mine?”

 

“Long story, but to summarize I was kidnapped and taken to the southern lands.”

 

“I assume you are returning to the west then?”

 

“Hai, I need to find my group… well, I mean friends.”

 

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“Kimonos!!” The exclamation rang happily through the castle as Kagome opened the wardrobe in the guestroom she'd been given to use. Quickly picking one out, she rushed to the door and called for a servant so she could ask where she could bathe. With a happy smile, she was led through the castle to an underground spring where she immediately discarded her miko garments and dove into the hot water.

 

After soaking for close to an hour, she pulled herself out and quickly dried off before donning the beautiful violet kimono that she'd chosen. On the back was the mark of the mazoku, and symbol for the central lands. Looking around, she found that her original ensemble had disappeared, and she simply couldn't care what had happened to the outfit.

 

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Hehehe… I made yet another chapter. This one is thirty chapters long and I hope that you enjoy it!

 

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