InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Blue Anshan ❯ The Rescue 14 - Unexpected Company ( Chapter 36 )

The Blue Anshan

By Alesyira

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho are not mine. I made a few OCs to fill in my gaps.

Summary: Regrouping to plan for what should be the last task of her Makai adventure, but you know how it goes: nothing ever goes according to plan.

Chapter Rating: T

Author's Note: Check my profile on FFN for story progress and some teaser snips.

Arc 4 - The Rescue 14 - Unexpected Company

the present

Kurama frowned. 'We've been gone for less than ten minutes.'

~Yes, but haven't you noticed? He's fast.~

Kurama brushed a hand across his face in exasperation. 'It feels like you're meddling. Didn't you want this girl for a solid debriefing?'

~Getting in a good romp on the forest floor with an attractive being is one of my favorite things, but if that falls through, my next favorite thing is to inspire others to get in a good romp with attractive beings, especially if I can watch. Plus it means there is even more to tease him with.~

'Always planning ahead.'

Kurama briefly met Hiei's eyes when they stepped back into the clearing. The two were conspicuously apart, but as he knelt next to the still blushing girl, he could tell they'd been much closer moments before. Traces of blood oozed from her forearm and he could see a scattering of purple spines nearby. He bit his lip to hide his smile before meeting her gaze.

"So there's good news and there's bad news. Which do you want first?" Yusuke asked, leaning against a tree trunk.

Kurama shot him a glare. "There's just one enemy ahead that we could spot, and he's been destroying a god tree." He was quick to snag her arm as she tried to leap from her spot on the ground. "It doesn't look very good right now. This individual is a high level opponent that none of us are familiar with. If we rush in, there's no telling what he might do."

"This tree is sacred - more than any of you can understand." She looked frantic and ready to do anything to save her tree. "What the heck is the good news?" She demanded.

Yusuke coughed and looked a little uncomfortable. "There's five of us and only one of them?" That seemed like 'good' news. "Lady, no offense, but this enemy is another fire-youkai and looks way more dangerous than the others we've seen today, and your current record against them is pretty bad." Yusuke crossed his arms and gave her weapon a closer look. "You've got a bow and arrows, which look like they're made out of flammable shit. If that asshole can generate any kind of fire defense, your arrows aren't going to do—" He trailed off after he noticed her staring daggers at him. "Um, y'know… Fire. Wood. Bad?" He rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort at the death glare he received for just speaking the truth. "Look, unless you've got something pretty crazy up your mysterious sleeve, you better let us handle this one."

Kurama sighed, then tried to smooth things over with the angry female. "Let's try talking to see if he wants to monologue us. Maybe you can charm him out of his destruction." Kurama winked at her. She cringed and pulled her arm free from his grasp. They stood together as she adjusted her pack over her shoulders.

"We can't wait any longer. If I can talk him out of it, I'll try." She gripped her bow and held an arrow in her free hand. 'And if we can't talk him out of it, I'll just put an arrow through him. I have something pretty damned crazy up my sleeve.' She grimaced, but her resolve was steady.

*Talking? Since when has talking ever been a good approach? In, out, and she can ask questions after he's in pieces.*

'You saw the bodies in the clearing. If we approach directly, he might retaliate immediately. If we can get her to distract him for just a moment, you will have your opportunity to strike.'

Hiei narrowed his eyes but reluctantly agreed.

-o-

He leisurely traced his burning claw against the trunk of the massive tree, carving swirled patterns that glowed with the lingering heat of his magic. Great branches —as well as the charred bodies of those who had tried to interfere— littered the clearing around him. Much of the tree had already been cut to pieces. He could still feel it crying beneath his touch and felt the curling warmth of satisfaction in how long it had held out against his lengthy attentions.

His followers had managed to keep him mostly undisturbed for his times spent away from the mountain, bringing him suggestions and points of interest each time he awoke. One or two eventually managed to bypass his guards, but they met quick ends and their horrific blackened remains seemed to deter others. He'd assumed the last three to spy upon his work had taken the hint, but they'd quickly returned with two others.

He tipped his head back and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of the cool evening air.

A fire youkai was nearby. He flexed his bare toes in the dirt and felt the male's magic trickling through the earth. Not one of his.

He paused, tasting the air again. Another approached with magic that was very faint but singing with familiarity. His heart lurched unexpectedly against long-forgotten memories. He sighed, intending to ignore them entirely so long as they kept their distance.

Kagome gasped and nearly tripped over herself as she stared in shock at the destruction in the clearing. 'So much ruin…' Slow, methodical destruction was happening before their eyes. The distance to the Goshinboku wasn't too bad, she could flash it with a holy arrow and repel the youkai from doing further damage. But would her magic cause damage to the Goshinboku in this realm? Would it survive a purification?

Her attention focused on the strange male standing with his claws dipped into glowing grooves on the Goshinboku's trunk. She lifted her bow. She forgot about the others. She would just shoot the bastard first and…

As she fell into her stance preparing to aim, Kurama touched her shoulder and gave her a pointed look. Her eye twitched. Her hand clenched on the bow in frustration, and then she noticed that Hiei, the silent angry fast one, had zoomed partway around the clearing and waited somewhere to their right, which would put the enemy's back to him once she drew his attention enough to have him turn her way.

Her fingers clamped down hard on the wood. Fine. She would accept their aid. Hiei could just slice the jerk into pieces and then she'd reduce his bits to ash in good riddance. Now, what to say to draw a badguy's attention? 'Over here? Say cheese?' She sighed, closing her eyes in frustration. Maybe just follow her heart. "Please, stop!"

Her voice struck a strange chord within him, and he slowly turned to peer at the strangers. The three males standing around her were completely disregarded, but his gaze immediately sought out what he hoped he wouldn't find. The same red hair, green eyes, swishing tail... sadness and fear in her expression.

"Why are you doing this?" Tears ran freely down her cheeks as she stared searchingly into his expressionless face, looking for any clue of his motives.

He almost laughed. Those words... He shook his head once to clear the momentary confusion. It was merely someone who resembled—

He didn't even need to turn his gaze from her to see his treasure from his periphery, still standing right where he'd left it just out of their sight along the edge of the clearing. It was pure luck that they hadn't approached from a slightly different angle or one of them would have run right into it. He would never hear her lying voice again nor gaze into those deceitful eyes.

He turned his attention to the girl that questioned him. The shape of her face was wrong, her hair was a bedraggled mess, and she was too short. A poor resemblance. He pulled his claws free from the trunk and stroked a fingertip along the gouges he'd left.

"It is a gift for my love." His lips turned up into a half smile. And such a gift it had been.

He sensed the fire youkai sliding silently through the forest behind him. He could feel the tingles of his element as the hidden male sought out a position from which to attack.

Five. These five did not appear to be weak, and if his minions were missing, they were either slain or they had run away in fear. His time in the clearing had come to an end, but he had a few weeks yet before he would have to withdraw to his island. With their current proximity, it would be a risk to try and take his treasure. He would return for it, soon. They were inseparable, forever more.

His head tilted to the side as he allowed himself a brief chuckle. "She enjoys destroying things."

His shoulders slumped in a moment of sadness as he stared, unseeing, through the gigantic ruin of trunk standing before him. She had loved destroying things he cared about. And now he returned the favor.

He could feel the fire youkai still hidden within the trees gathering his ki and knew the time had come.

The temperature ticked up immediately around him in a swirl of sparks as liquid fire gathered toward his claws. These people had come to save their tree, but he would finish his task in one blistering moment while they ignorantly stood there watching him suffer through old memories.

He sensed the fire youkai flashing suddenly toward him and latched onto the burning energy that coursed through the male. With a small motion of his head, he redirected the energy's trajectory to fling his attacker bodily toward the others standing at the edge of the clearing. The dark male flew by him in a blur, the tip of a sword missing him by inches.

His focus dipped into the ground at his feet and he pushed, forcing the dirt and rocks around him to explode outwards, hurling molten rock toward the four that had just scattered to avoid their companion.

-o-

Kagome started getting the feeling that the enemy wouldn't be easily dissuaded, and she was beginning to sense the creepy feeling of impending doom (which happened to be the rising youki from a crazed, angry fire youkai) just before everything seemed to go wrong all at once.

She didn't notice the others next to her suddenly scattering, nor could she sense Hiei's form flying uncontrollably toward their position.

She did, however, recognize the blast of ki as it happened with just enough time to react. A barrier snapped into place to block the burning hail of matter, which harmlessly pinged off the invisible protective shield or sizzled into wisps of steam. Their defensive positions relaxed as they stared in confusion at the shock waves from the impacts, and their enemy used their distraction to his advantage.

The next moments happened in a blur of fiery motion, as the unknown youkai turned and flung great handfuls of glowing red all over the Goshinboku. It splashed along the trunk and up through the branches, immediately bursting into flame. "Kami, no!" Kagome choked out in surprised horror.

The tree was burning, fast, and the forest around them was already catching into smaller flames and filling with smoke. The youkai suddenly vanished and Kagome shoved her way through the stunned others that had thought to protect her and leapt toward the burning tree. When she reached it, the Goshinboku's ancient voice was strained and almost panicked as it begged her to put out the fire. Kagome helplessly responded, "I don't know how! There's no water!"

'It's youki—lend me your miko-ki!'

She didn't hesitate.

She planted her palms on the trunk as the glowing, burning liquid dripped down the trunk toward her fingers. She closed her eyes and felt her magic gather in her hands, leaking into the tree. She pushed with her mind and willed it to move faster, to fill the tree with everything she could offer. The tree helped, pulling her power faster and faster through her life-long connection to the human realm's Goshinboku.

Pale pink light began to illuminate the trunk, creeping up and outward along the branches high above. The highly destructive youki flame went out with small, harmless sparks wherever her magic spread, and soon the entire clearing was lit from the single humongous tree, extinguished of all fire and entirely glowing with holy magic.

'It is done.'

Kagome slumped against the tree in exhausted relief, thoroughly drained. She wanted to cry in frustration. The youkai that had caused all the trouble had run away, and she couldn't just go home now because he could come back at any time to finish the job. She would have to find him and stop him from coming back.

First, though, she would have to figure out a way to stand up again.

Her breath came in short pants and her eyelids fluttered. Maybe just a tiny nap and then she could get moving after the escapee.

But no...

there was...

something approaching the clearing, fast.

She slowly turned to look over her shoulder at the woods to her left. Her face scraped numbly against the glowing tree bark. She vaguely noticed four identical expressions of comical disbelief on the detectives' faces as they stared between her and the tree, but the other thing approaching was traveling at a very high speed directly toward them.

Kuwabara stepped hesitantly toward the glowing tree and the woman that had collapsed against it. The other three hadn't come any closer —and probably wouldn't— with the amount of power clinging to the tree it might be a little dangerous for any youkai for a while.

A streak of color shot toward her from the woods, and before she had time to work up a defense, strong arms surrounded her and pulled her into a frantic embrace, warm lips smothering her protest with dozens of tiny kisses. "Kagome! Kagome Kagome!" Her name was repeated endlessly in an unfamiliar tenor voice between the small pecks on her lips, cheeks, and nose.

Everything within her immediately recognized the assailant before she could see his face. "Shippo?" she giggled through a kiss.

He finally pulled back and looked her over carefully. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner, I just found out that he had woken up!"

"What?" So many questions scattered through her brain but her mouth couldn't form the words. He? What did Shippo know?

"There isn't time yet! Kami, Kagome, this tree is going to draw youkai for hundreds of miles." He brushed a hand through her hair and across her face, torn between duty to the Goshinboku and his favorite person but also clearly wanting to just take her with him and run.

Duty won. "You have to get out of here!" He lifted his arm and faced his palm toward the edge of the clearing. His eyes slipped closed in concentration and he slid his arm sideways through the air, directing a flaming blue barrier to spring up along the tree line. He helped her stand and looked back at the four detectives waiting nearby. "Take her somewhere else - I'll set up a distraction for anyone who comes to investigate what's going on here."

He didn't wait to see if they'd comply, instead turning to touch two fingers to his forehead with a new look of concentration. The ghostly image of a dancing shrine priestess in tattered, ancient robes appeared before the tree. The illusion twirled in shimmering circles around the clearing, swinging a staff around her in a ceremonial dance. He hissed at the lingering group, "I'll catch up in a bit, just go!"

Kurama stayed put, but Kuwabara quickly approached the exhausted girl and gently took her by the arm. "Shorty, where can we go?"

Hiei scowled in irritation and reached out with his mind. "This way." He shot off through the trees toward the east.

Kuwabara tugged her arm carefully, "Miss? We need to go."

Kagome was not immediately responsive. Her eyes lingered on her years-long friend. Too much had happened in such a short time, and her reserves of energy were practically nil. She wasn't even sure how she was still conscious. Warm arms scooped her legs out from under her and she was carried carefully after the disappearing apparition.

"Holy... holy shit!" Yusuke hissed from somewhere just behind them. "Fuck, Koenma is going to have a fucking heart attack."