InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Ultimatum ❯ Chapter 16 ( Chapter 16 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: BoxingKing 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.09.2008 | Pages: 7 | Words: 8.3K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.09.2008 | Pages: 7 | Words: 8.3K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Completed
Ultimatum
Chapter 16
Boxing King
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For the record, I have no idea how to get rid of the blackbars in the middle of a scene. It’s not an intentional break of any kind, so if it shows up, just ignore it. <.< Sorry all. They won’t allow me to select them, and thus delete them, and they are showing up on the bottom of every page…
In other news, FINALLY! All done! Check out my blog for updates otherwise. I talk about this a lot. About ideas and progress. Go on, check it out, and leave a comment. ?
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Naraku stood surrounded on three sides on the roof. The setup was laughable, in his supreme estimation. These three were hardly worth any effort. One, complete human, didn’t have comparable speed, let alone power. The other two would be a bit more difficult, but he had absorbed more powerful people in his time.
It seemed to be a standoff until one of them made a move. Well, let it be him, then.
Naraku lunged at Yusuke with a punch to the head. The detective easily dodged, ducking down, preparing to swing back with a right hook of his own. He missed Naraku leaning down, grabbing his shoulder, and pulling him into a knee into his gut.
Yusuke went stumbling back, trying to breathe properly. Naraku leaned into kick his head and was jerked back by a whip that came soaring by.
Kurama’s thorny weapon barely missed slicing Naraku’s head. He turned and smiled at the Fox in his corner of the roof.
He waited for him to come attack, contempt all over his face. It puzzled Naraku until he realized that they all seemed to be waiting for something.
Then it occurred to him that there was a fourth to the group that was missing. Of course, that delectable little halfbreed. He was most likely off hiding Kagome. As if he couldn’t find her later. They were probably waiting for him to come, him with his better speed and his Jagan.
He would have the Jagan back after touching Kagome. It had to be what he was doing. Naraku didn’t really want to deal with the Jagan right now. His plans weren’t yet finished, and the Koorime would only interfere.
With a small sigh, Naraku decided to abandon this fight. It wasn’t like he wasn’t going to be able to pick one later. Of course he would.
Naraku looked at the weakest team member, fidgeting in his corner, impatient to fight and prove his mettle, but stuck following orders. It would be the easiest way off the roof.
He lunged at Kuwabara and prepared to rip his throat. The pathetic human raised his hands and let a surge of energy fill up and form a sword. Naraku let him run towards him, screaming his pitiable war cry.
He let a macabre grin fill his face at the prospect of slicing away the human’s head.
He missed the small demon coming up along his side and thrusting the sword in.
Hiei smiled viciously, face similar to Naraku’s just a moment before, as he twisted the sword in deeper. His third eye began to open and glow a soft purple. Wind began to gather around the pair.
Naraku looked at the Koorime and laughed. Hiei looked at his sword, coated in blood. Why would he laugh at an almost fatal wound? It slowly began to slide deeper, taking back in the blood as it went. Hiei let go with a snarl as the sword was sucked into Naraku’s body.
With a giggle, Naraku kicked out at Hiei, sending him into Yusuke’s racing body, and then took off. Running faster than Kuwabara could see, and faster than the others could react, Naraku was soon miles away.
Hiei sat up with a shake of his head. The damn bastard had taken his sword. And easily escaped from them. Pathetic.
No matter. Kagome was safe. Or should be at the base of the building. With a few choice swearwords Hiei leaped off roof to race towards her side.
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Safely away on a random building, Naraku hunched over and extricated the sword. He grunted as he pulled, hilt first, the jabbing piece of metal tearing at his insides. The worn metal sliced his stomach as he pulled it out.
Damn Koorime, getting in a blow like that.
He looked down in disgust at the bloody blade. It was fragile, now, after being in his body, completely black and flaking off in bits. Eyes on the blade, he let it drop to his feet. He viciously stepped down, letting it crumble beneath his foot.
Damn Koorime.
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Hiei landed gracefully on the balls of his feet, hand touching the ground. He took a moment to control his face, clearing off any emotion before raising crimson eyes to gaze at the unconscious female before him.
He supposed it was damn good luck that she hadn’t been swiped by the enemy. Or cripes, mugged by a human. The irony would have been thick enough to walk on.
He raised to his full height and slowly stalked over to Kagome. She looked so peaceful there on the ground. Her face relaxed as she slept (drugged or not…), and an innocent expression stole up. He could actually believe it, considering she was knocked out cold. Hard to fake things then.
He gave a small snort and bent down.
A hand strong on his shoulder spun him around.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Hiei?” Yusuke was staring pissed into his friend’s face. “For that matter, what the hell were you thinking?” A fine red flush snuck up his face. “You just left her there! Anyone could have taken her, you jackass!”
Hiei’s spine straightened, and his eyes narrowed. “Nothing happened, Yusuke,” he said slowly, enunciating each word clearly.
“That doesn’t excuse it! She could have been kidnapped! What would have happened had Naraku simply been a diversion for us?”
Hiei flexed his fists, trying not to smash them into the detective’s face. Everything he had said was true, but that didn’t mean he was going to take shit from him!
“You didn’t follow orders, Hiei! Why the fuck not?”
Hiei’s fist swung up to punch Yusuke square in the jaw. He stopped and inch away from his face, hand shaking. He closed his eyes on Yusuke’s face, right next to his fist and not even flinching.
“Hiei,” Kurama calmly spoke up, “What is going on? You haven’t been this… rash… in centuries.”
Hiei breathed deeply, taking in as much air as he could and letting it out slowly. When he felt he could control himself once more, his fist sank back down to his side.
“I don’t know, Kurama.” He wouldn’t look at anyone while he spoke, instead turning to stare at Kagome. “It’s like, like I’m out of control. I get so, so,” he paused, searching for a word. “So geared up. I get so angry, or excited. And I take the nearest outlet nearby.”
No one spoke, staring at their small companion. What would happen if he lost control, so eager to fight, and brought the dragon into the mix, into an area full of humans? Koenma would lock him up, without a second’s hesitation, and throw away the key.
“I think,” Yusuke started, “I think we need to get to the Spirit Realm. It would probably be the safest place for everyone right now.” Hiei nodded slowly, and bent to pick Kagome up once more.
“No, Hiei.” Once more Yusuke’s hand settled on his shoulder. He pushed past the demon and picked up his cousin, carrying her gently in his arms, teddy bear pressed between one arm and his side. Brown, bead eyes seemed to stare accusingly at Hiei as Yusuke walked away.
It took more restraint than Hiei thought he had to let the detective walk away, unharmed, carrying Kagome. More restraint than everyone thought he had. Furious, he stalked off after Yusuke.
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An unconscious Kagome was settled into a corner of Koenma’s office, teddy bear clutched in her hands, as the Spirit Detectives tried to piece together the puzzle laid out before them.
“Ok, Hiei, let’s start with you.” Yusuke ignored the tensing of Hiei’s shoulders at his tone. “You told us earlier that you couldn’t use the Jagan, right before we were going to fight Naraku. So how the hell did you get it back?”
Hiei shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot before replying, voice deadpan. “I touched your cousin.”
Yusuke stopped pacing and turned to stare incredulously at his friend. “What?”
Kurama cleared his throat. “He caught her Yusuke.”
Yusuke visibly relaxed. “Oh yeah. Whew, had me worried there for a minute.”
Inwardly cringing at the thought of Yusuke knowing what was going on between him and his cousin, Hiei glared at Kurama, silently telling him to keep his trap shut.
The fox narrowed his own green eyes, obviously disagreeing with Hiei’s plan.
“Ok, so what else can we bring to the table? What has all been going on?”
Hiei turned away from Kurama and pretended to seriously consider Yusuke’s question. It was difficult to find anything legitimate without lying. It wasn’t like he could tell Yusuke that he was having extremely realistic erotic dreams with his cousin. And he couldn’t blurt out in front of Koenma that he had almost lost control of the Jagan when Naraku (as he could now presume) had gained control of it somehow. That would raise some serious questions of whether he could control the Dragon. Questions that had his death as an alternative. The tool was too dangerous for any demon if he could not control it.
“Ok, let’s start simple.” Yusuke slapped his hands together in preparation of the brainstorming. “We know he has a connection with spiders. He has a connection with electric demons.”
“I think we can discard that one, Yusuke,” Kurama spoke up. “I think he made a momentary deal with those demons. He might call on them later, but I don’t think he has any kind of connection besides bribery.”
Yusuke nodded his agreement. “Ok, next then.” He paused, trying to think of anything else. “He swallows leaders. We must assume he gets power from this. He hasn’t shown any unusual techniques, so I would guess he only gets mass power and that’s it.” He continued as everyone nodded agreement. “Is there any chance that Inuyasha character Kagome spoke of is alive, Hiei?”
“None, Detective. He absorbs their body and soul. Why would anything be able to live after that?”
Kuwabara shifted uncomfortably. “Can we just dismiss all of those lives that easily, though, Yusuke? What if we could save them? Are we not obligated to?”
“As far as I am concerned, they are dead, casualties of war. My only concerns now are Keiko and Kagome.”
Kuwabara nodded his assent slowly.
“Ok, next?” Yusuke’s head swiveled to each person in the group individually. “Nothing? How can we know so little after all of this time?”
Hiei continued to stare resolutely at the wall, avoiding all gazes.
“Ok, let’s try this tract then. Why is Hiei’s Jagan connected to Kagome?”
The room went completely silent. Finally, Hiei spoke up. “No idea, Yusuke.” Kurama barely muffled his snort. Ruby eyes glared at the Fox.
“DAMNIT!” exclaimed Yusuke! He turned to pound his fist into the wall in a fit of anger and stopped at the sight of Kagome struggling awake. “Kagome,” he voiced deadpan. “You’re awake.”
Kagome grunted her assent as she struggled to sit up. Her head pounded, and she seemed to be having a hard time thinking. It seemed like her head was full of cotton, and it was damn hard to think through. She slowly blinked, getting the room into focus. As soon as she saw who she shared the room with, she glared at each occupant.
“What,” she began thickly, “What the hell is going on?”
Kurama decided to speak up as Yusuke was decidedly ignoring his cousin’s gaze. “We captured you, Kagome. It wasn’t like we could just let you walk away like that.”
She stood, using the wall for balance. “I walked out once, what’s to keep me from doing it again?”
A tight smile appeared on Kurama’s face. “Try it.”
A hot anger coursed through her so fast she staggered. The bastard. She would show him, all she had to do was fry his ass. All of their asses, while she was at it. Even if she had to get a legitimate match for Kuwabara.
She straightened and narrowed her eyes. She would begin with that damn fox. She began to concentrate, trying to bring her miko powers to the front of her mind. A fine sweat started to perspire her forehead. She frowned. It seemed to be a hell of a lot harder than before.
“It’s not going to work, Kagome. You’re powers are gone.”
“Shit!” She turned to run and didn’t make one step before strong arms wrapped her upper body. She briefly tried to struggle, but the drugs made her lethargic and slow. Before she knew it, she was roped and sitting on a chair, staring once more into the face of Kurama.
“Oh, this is just great. Where are my miko powers? And what the hell are all of you planning? Going to beat the location out of me again?”
Kurama snorted. It seemed to Kagome that he enjoyed being the one to talk to her, the one to give her the ugly announcements.
“Hardly. We saw how well that worked last time. We have a new plan for you, Kagome.” She shuddered slightly at the sinister tone his voice held. “As for your miko powers, it seems they have nicely transferred back to Hiei. We all much prefer him in control of the Jagan, anyways.” Her eyes riveted to the smaller demon. He had her powers? Why the hell wasn’t he getting crispied?
Kurama saw the question in her eyes. “Unfortunately, we have no idea how that particular trick works.” He shrugged. “We were just discussing all the facts before you woke up. Since we know you like to blab to the enemy, we’ll wait to go further.” Kagome inwardly rolled her eyes at their idiocy that still seemed to prevail.
In his corner of the room, Hiei was secretly pleased that he had a delay. He had to find some way to keep the facts of what was happening between him and Kagome from everyone else. He probably couldn’t count on the Fox for help, as he seemed to alternate between glaring at him to give it all up and leaving hints for the Detectives to blissfully ignore.
The doors to the conference room banged open with a suddenness that startled everyone. Koenma regally walked in, demanding attention for his very presence. The ogre walked behind meekly, carrying a few wire contraptions.
“It is time. She has awoken, and we can now sift back through her memories.”
Kagome sagged in her chair at this news with a muttered fuck. It was real, just as Naraku had said.
The prince looked down on her even with his small height. The contempt in his eyes was clear to all watching. “Since you are so uncooperative, and normal methods of persuasion don’t seem to be working on you, we are going to access your memories and see where the Jewel is for ourselves. We are also going to get the lowdown on Naraku as you know it. Should be educational.”
Kagome cringed back into her chair at the thought of the violation. She began to panic, her body being seized by shaking. Would they be able to find the Jewel? How did this contraption work, exactly? And what else would they find out? There were clearly things that only a select few were privy to in the room, and she would rather it stayed that way.
Yusuke apparently had some of the same questions Kagome did. “So, Toddler, how does this doodah work?” Caught up in the brevity of the moment, Koenma did not reprimand the detective for the insult.
“It’s relatively simple. We go through her memories. What she saw, we see. What she thought, we think.”
“So what, is it like Google for the brain?” Koenma stared blankly at Yusuke. “Are we going to be accessing the Spirit World Ethernet or something? Can we just type Shikon Jewel into a search box?”
Koenma blinked slowly. Finally he spoke slowly. “No, Yusuke. It’s kind of like a VCR. We rewind from this point back to find what we want.”
“That’s a lot of shit to sift through. Is there any way we can just jump scenes like in a DVD?”
Koenma covered his eyes with a muttered curse about dimwits. “No, Yusuke. We don’t have such advanced “technology” here.” He turned around shaking his head. Yusuke simply shrugged and began to whistle aimlessly, trying to ignore his panicking cousin.
Hiei began to panic himself. Sifting back through her memories one by one would definitely reveal certain dreams they had shared. Shit. Not to mention that favor he owed her…
“You are all perverts!” Kagome announced in a last ditch effort to prevent what was about to happen. “Loser men, all of you, sifting through a girl’s private thoughts. That’s like reading my diary!”
Kuwabara shifted from foot to foot. “Maybe we should have Botan do it, or something. To give her some sense of privacy?”
He blushed under the incredulous glances he was getting. “Well come on, guys. She’s going to have private girl thoughts and moments that we don’t need to see. You know… going to the bathroom… undressing.”
A few stares turned away, and Koenma actually blushed slightly. “Well, ahem,” he coughed slightly, “We weren’t meaning to look at those moments, Kuwabara. We will, ah, fast-rewind them. No one will see anything.”
“I guess we should hope she didn’t flush the Jewel down the toilet, then,” muttered Hiei. Yusuke snorted. “Or do any of her important thinking while on the porcelain throne,” he added.
Koenma rolled his eyes. “Kagome,” he spoke directly to her now, “We will do our best not to look at moments like these, but if an initial search turns up nothing we will have no choice. I will… evict the less mature people from this room if that becomes necessary. However,” his eyes turned hard, “You are a prisoner at fault and thus shouldn’t have any rights at all. Human rights are not necessarily applicable to the Spirit Realm. It would be best if you remembered that.” He cleared his throat once more.
“Now, let’s begin.”
Ogre walked up to Kagome and began attaching little sticky pads connected to the wires to her forehead in various spots. With a final stick, he announced her finished with five different pads. He then walked over and plugged the whole contraption of cords of wires to the TV. Koenma picked up his remote.
He pushed the power button. The TV flickered to life, the screen going to a white. Kagome’s eyes closed and she dropped forward in her chair, suspended only by the ropes.
“She’ll be effectively unconscious for the entire period,” murmured Koenma. “We can rewind all of the past hour or so. “I think we can start at the rooftop where you found her.” All eyes
suddenly became riveted to the screen as it flickered to life.
Naraku’s sneering face peered out at the detective’s. They shuddered slightly at the pure malevolence focused on Kagome.
They heard Kagome thinking about purifying the demon in front of her as if she were talking. The only clue they had that she wasn’t really talking was the slightly airier quality to the tone of words.
She began to glow a white pink. Her power snaked up her arm and flowed to her fingers. It went over Naraku’s boot and began to wind around his leg.
He laughed. Naraku laughed as her priestess powers tried to burn him.
“Now, Kagome, you didn’t actually think that would work, did you? You didn’t think after all this time that I wouldn’t find a way to counteract your purification? Tsk, tsk.”
What? Her powers weren’t working on a demon? Why the hell not?
She wasn’t given time to think as Naraku grabbed her arm and hauled her up to face him, still hanging over open air.
“Let me take your powers once more, Kagome. Just like I did in the alley.”
Kagome’s eyes widened right before she began to scream as she was suddenly encased in a purple mist.
Koenma paused the TV. “Ok, why the hell weren’t her powers working on him?” He grunted as everyone kind of looked at him blankly. “Does anyone know of any way to counteract a miko and her powers? We know at this time she had them, so that’s not in question…” He faded out waiting for an answer. At the blank stares he was getting, he finally grunted and started the TV up again. “Alright then, let’s back it up a bit more.”
“What makes you think you can get it this time Naraku? Nothing has changed since last time.”
“I can take you with me, Kagome.” A strange light came into his eye. “Did you know there is technology that will allow me to sift through your very memories? All I need to do is sift through until I find the day you hid the Jewel, and then voila, I can get it.”
Kagome’s shoulders kind of hunched. Go figure that there would be something so dastardly in the spirit realm somewhere.
“Imagine all that I could see, Kagome. Have you been doing anything with your little halfbreed? You do look so much like Kikyou. It would almost be like having the real thing in front of me.”
Oh god, he was such a freak. A pervert.
“So you’ve stopped to the level of a peeping tom now, Naraku?”
Everyone in the room kind of hunched slightly at the accusation that hit so close to home. No one stopped to question the halfbreed mention, and for that Hiei was grateful. Hopefully, if and when they would see her in an erotic moment, they would fast-backwards before seeing he was involved. Oh God.
Koenma hurriedly clicked back some more.
How had Naraku known to come to Yusuke’s? How had he known she would be there, after all this time? He had timed it perfectly. He had also known about Yusuke and the others. He had known more about Hiei than Kagome did. Was it possible Hiei knew him more intimately?
She dismissed that idea. She didn’t peg Hiei as a traitor of any sort. She frowned. Naraku seemed to know an awful lot of what was going on. The others would just attribute it to her telling him, but there had to be something more… A spy? Who would spy for Naraku? An ogre, perhaps? She had no idea how trustworthy Koenma’s people were. She frowned harder. She had no idea how trustworthy Yusuke’s friends were. She had thought she knew them, but how they had reacted to the Jewel made her doubt everything.
It didn’t really matter now anyways. It wasn’t like she could tell Yusuke and have him believe her. And they would hopefully figure it out soon enough for themselves once she wasn’t there to listen in and ‘coincidences’ kept happening.
A loud click stopped the proceedings.
“Holy shit, she’s not the spy!” Kuwabara had a surprised look on his face. “But if she’s not the spy, then who is?”
Koenma leaned back in his with an oath. “It could be any of the ogres,” he grunted out. “Regardless of what she thinks, I know it’s not any of you, so it has to be an ogre.” Everyone turned towards the blue ogre in the corner. He began frantically shaking his head right before Koenma spoke up. “It’s not him. He’s the most trustworthy of the lot, which is exactly why he is my personal assistant.” Ogre calmed down and relaxed at the backward praise from Koenma.
“Let’s continue, Koenma,” spoke Kurama. “We can trust everyone in this room, so let’s not waste time.”
The TV clicked back on. “We’ll just fast-rewind the point where you idiots let her escape…”
An hour later, Koenma had his finger stuck to the button that was saving them time. “Blah, blah, blah. We were all there when this happened. This is nothing new…”
While everyone in the room had their eyes glued to the TV, glazed looks took away any semblance of concentration. None of them had realized quite how boring it would to sift through someone’s basic memories.
Koenma leaned down for a moment trying to give his eyes a rest, finger still firmly on the rewind button, when Kuwabara’s shout drew his attention.
“Wait! We haven’t seen this part yet! Right before she told us she was a traitor!” Koenma jerked forward and jammed the play button down. “She talked to Naraku and we need to see what she said…”
Kagome’s lusty moan filled the room followed by Hiei’s low grunt.
The group sans Hiei watched in stunned disbelief as he began to accost Kagome through her shirt, which she obviously enjoyed.
A small click paused the tape midaction, capturing Hiei’s face center screen, caught up in the heat of the moment. Everyone turned towards Hiei with varying expressions of incredulity.
The small demon swallowed convulsively.
“Uhm…” he muttered, “It’s not what it looks like…” Never in his life had he sounded so whipped. He struggled to straighten hunched shoulders and look Yusuke in the eye. It wasn’t as if they had done anything wrong, dream world or not.
“Not-” Yusuke struggled for words, face going red, “Not – what – it – looks like?” Hiei nodded slightly. “It looks like, Hiei, that you are fucking my cousin. Explain to me how that, that,” he pointed dramatically towards the screen, “Is not what it looks like.”
Hiei mentally cringed at the anger in the Detective’s face.
“It isn’t actually… happening, Yusuke.” He paused at the strangled sound Yusuke emitted. “It was more like a dream… That we both happened to share.” A little too late Hiei realized that he probably should have just denied the whole thing and blamed it as Kagome’s dream. Yeah, that probably would have played out better. But it wasn’t like he could count on Kagome to keep her mouth shut when she woke up.
Koenma broke the tension slightly when he smacked his forehead. “That’s right! You two were fighting right before we got that box with… erm, the box,” he finished quickly, not wanting to bring that up right now. “You both mentioned being in dreams, and…” he trailed off. “The Jagan! Shit, Hiei, you mentioned the Jagan being controlled! Why didn’t you bring that up again after we all forgot when the box came?”
“Screw the Jagan, Toddler, why the fuck is he with Kagome in dreams doing that?” snarled Yusuke.
All eyes turned back towards Hiei. “Well, Hiei? What’s going on?” Koenma was staring pensively down at the detective that was the greatest liability of the group.
“I don’t think he knows, Koenma.” Kurama, apparently done holding his silence, decided to try and defend his friend. “He hasn’t been telling me everything, but he has had some problems with the Jagan. Someone tried to take control at one point, and he managed to kick the demon out of his head. He has also had an out of body experience that is probably related to the Jagan as well.”
Koenma swore briefly before narrowing his eyes at Hiei. “Tell it all, now.”
Hiei sighed dramatically. “Fine. Someone tried to take over the Jagan. Once I figured out what was going on, I kicked them out of the Jagan. Another time I had a dream where I couldn’t control any of my actions and I looked different. Turns out I was experiencing the past through someone else’s body, Kagome’s past, as it were. And…” he hesitated, looking over at Yusuke, who was remarkably holding onto his temper in the face of reason, “I’ve had a few dreams with Kagome. She apparently shares them as well. That’s it.”
“And you couldn’t bother telling any of us this?” Koenma stared aghast at the Koorime.
“I didn’t want you to think I was losing control of the Jagan. You made it very clear when I joined the team that if I did so, I would be executed with all due speed.”
“Shit, Shorty, this could have helped up figure out the mystery a long time ago.” Hiei glared at Kuwabara.
“Hardly. How can this information help you at all now?”
Koenma rubbed his brow, trying to piece together the puzzle. “You and Kagome share something, some bond. That much is clear. You both switch off on powers upon physical contact. Apparently, you and she also share dreams, and you have contact with her memories.”
“We already knew all this! What use was seeing what you did if it only recaps what we already kno-”
“Naraku has a connection to the Jagan.” Yusuke glared at Hiei while making his announcement.
“Why would you say that?” Hiei belligerently stuck his chin out, daring the detective to say he didn’t have sole control.
“He tried to take it over. He has to have a connection to be able to do that in the first place. And, he has to have a connection to connect you and Kagome that closely.”
Hiei struggled to wrap his mind around this accusation. “Impossible,” he said at last. “I would have felt it if he lingered.”
“Would you have, Hiei? If his first attack was so violent, would you have noticed something much more subtle? Especially with you losing the Jagan at times. You didn’t even notice until you tried to use the Jagan. He could be dulling your connection towards it.” Kurama was looking at Hiei as if her were a puzzle.
The interrogation stopped when they heard a low moan. Collectively, everyone swiveled to look at Kagome. She shook her head slightly in the bonds, trying to wake herself up from the hazy state she had been stuck in. She blinked slowly, letting the TV in front of her come into focus, once again back to white static now that the link was broken.
She looked around the room, picking up the tension.
“So… What did you all find out?” Please, God, don’t let it have been the Jewel.
Yusuke glared at his cousin. “So… You and Hiei?”
Kagome’s eyes widened. “You saw that? What happened to passing over any personal moments? What the hell did you see? Did you sit and watch me in the bathroom, too? Oh my god, you are all perverts!”
Koenma snorted. “Get real. We came upon this accidentally. And this, this isn’t something that has no bearing on the case. Holy shit, you two! You should have come forth with this! At the very least, we could have stopped the dreams.” He shrewdly looked at them both. “Or did you both want those to continue?”
Kagome and Hiei both looked at Koenma as if he were crazy.
“You mean,” she finally spoke up, “that you could have stopped them?”
“Shit,” muttered Hiei. “That would have helped a long time ago.”
“What the hell does that mean? You don’t think I’m good enough?”
Kuwabara sucked in a lungful of air. The shit was about to hit the fan.
“Of course not, you idiot! I would not ever willingly sleep with you.”
“Hey, there is nothing wrong with Kagome, Hiei!” Yusuke shouted, trying to defend his cousin.
Kagome’s shout drowned out Yusuke’s. “You ass! You didn’t seem to object in the heat of the moment! What, no self control?”
“It was Naraku,” Hiei threw out offhandedly, turning his shoulder away slightly. “He controlled the dreams, and thus he had to be controlling my actions.”
Kagome’s gasp practically knocked her over. “Like hell! He wasn’t controlling anything! You wanted to go all the way with me! You took the initiative!”
“If he can control the Jagan, put us together in a dream, and switch our powers, then he can certainly control how a dream goes. Maybe it’s simply a planted fabrication.”
Kagome opened her mouth to talk, could think of nothing to say, and snapped it closed again. “You asshole,” she muttered.
“What would he gain from these dreams?” asked Kurama. “He did mention watching Kagome as we were, except in a much more lewd manner. He mentioned another woman, too. A Kikyou. Is he living out his fantasies through these two?”
Kagome looked at Kurama with horror. That could possibly be the grossest thing ever. Naraku had had fantasies about Kikyou from the beginning, about sleeping with her, being with her, killing her… Was he using her to fulfill those?
“Tell me, Kagome, what do you know of Kikyou?”
She let out a kind of strangled choke at his words.
“Ah, this must mean I have hit upon something with my musings. Who is she?”
Kagome decided she wasn’t going to share a single word about Kikyou. She had nothing to do with what was happening now, nothing at all. She hadn’t even been heard from in hundreds of years. Chances are that she finally died. Somehow…
Her intricate thought processes were interrupted by the TV flickering to life once more.
Gazes flicked over to the screen (damn electrical demons again…) and quickly filled with dread. Kagome heard Yusuke stifle a cry. Keiko was center screen, foot chained to the ground in a dingy room. Kagome forced back feelings of familiarity. It would do no good to tell the detectives that she had been held in that very room; she didn’t remember where it was. Even though she had run from there. Her mind had been filled with thoughts of never returning, so a map to his lair hadn’t been top priority.
Keiko clearly didn’t have any idea that there was a camera on her. That thought sickened her, and she was suddenly glad that there hadn’t been technology five hundred years ago.
Keiko sat hunched by the ring in the floor holding her down. Her face was hidden against her knees. She looked dejected. And frail. Kagome could make out the bruises coloring her light skin.
Kieko twitched as the sound of the door opening filtered throughout the cell before trying to make herself more inconspicuous, hunching further.
“Why hello, Keiko, darling.” Naraku’s drawling voice took the place of the screeching door. “It turns out that the detectives you are putting so much faith in to rescue don’t care enough to try and find you. Your boyfriend” his lip curled back as he said the word, “is too busy with his cousin to remember you.”
Kagome felt Yusuke twitch next to her. She saw his hands clench into fists out of the corner of her eye.
“So, we had to cook up a little video to send to Yusuke. Turn your head to the corner, Keiko, and say hi to the camera. Why, in just a few hours, Yusuke will be watching our time spent together.” The room held its breath as Keiko slowly peeked up and finally saw the lens focused on her. Yusuke gave a small cry as he saw the blackeye.
“It seemed to me that your friends just didn’t appreciate the terror that poor Kagome went through, seeing the people she treasured be devoured. Therefore, I find it fitting to show them.” Keiko physically jerked as his words penetrated her stupor. She turned terrified eyes up to Naraku.
“No, please. Please don’t. I’ll do anything. Just don’t do that to me!” Her voice started as a whisper and ended in a moan. She began to tremble as she looked in his pitiless red eyes.
Naraku looked at the camera, glee on his face. “Why, it was just a few days ago that I showed dear Keiko here what I can do with a spare body and soul. Unfortunately, no one she knew. Her relatives are hardly worth the energy expended during the process. It was some helpless demon I found wandering around my land. She was appalled, to say the least, at the poor human cries that the demon gave off.”
He reached down and grabbed her arm.
“Let’s hear what kind of cries you give Keiko,” he hissed out.
Keiko began screaming weakly as Naraku began pulling her towards him. It was clear to all that it had happened before, had practically become routine.
He stretched out her hand by flexing his wrist. He slowly forced her forward until her palm was flat upon his naked chest, the end of her scabbed over pink easily seen by all.
Her whimpers stopped as nothing happened and her shoulders fell slightly as tension left.
He looked at the camera. “For you, detectives.”
And her hand began to sink into his chest.
Her screams picked up then, loud and ragged. One after the other, barely pausing to get breath, Keiko screamed. Her eyes frantically went to the camera, begging for help. Her other arm kept trying to beat Naraku away. He ignored her feeble attempts, and glared into the camera.
It seemed like his beady eyes bore into her own, specifically finding her in the crowd. Kagome shivered slightly at the intensity in his eyes.
Keiko had sunk in up to her elbow, the skin farther up on her arm puckering and turning a purplish tinge.
That was when he stopped, stopped pushing her arm entirely.
“It is your choice, Yusuke. You control your team, and you must make the final decision.” Naraku looked down on Keiko with a look that could only be described as wistfully. “While I would enjoy eating darling Keiko here, I’d rather have Kagome here in my arms.” His eyes swiveled to the camera again.
“So, I am giving you one ultimatum, Detective. Fail this time, and you won’t be seeing your woman again. Bring me Kagome. Bring me your cousin to trade for your girlfriend. I’ll know what you decide, and I’ll be in touch with the directions if you chose the right path.”
He slowly began pulling Keiko’s arm out of his chest, until it was just the palm resting on his chest once more. Kagome cringed at the sickly tone of color Keiko’s arm had become. It was a mottled purple, with the fingers slightly blackened.
“You have one day, Yusuke.” And the screen went blank.
The room was silent, and Kagome stared as hard as she could at a blank wall as she ignored all the stares turned her direction.
“Well.” Koenma tried to break the silence but couldn’t think of anything to say. “I guess we know she’s still alive.”
Kagome held back a snort of laughter. She’d probably get smacked if she laughed out loud.
“What do we do?” asked Kuwabara. He turned to look at Yusuke. “What do you want us to do? It’s your choice. Kagome… or Keiko?”
Kagome swallowed past a suddenly tight throat. After all that had happened between them, would Yusuke choose her? Or the woman that he had been missing since the beginning?
Yusuke look away and turned, running a hand through his hair. “I… I don’t know. What can we do? Is there… is there a way to save them both?”
It seemed as if he was pretending that she wasn’t there. It probably helped him think of the situation in a bit of a more rational tone. Damn if she didn’t want to sway his decision by having hysterics right there. He probably wouldn’t sacrifice her then. Kagome opened her mouth to speak right before she was interrupted.
“Let’s do it. Let’s take him up on his ultimatum. Let’s give him Kagome for Keiko.” Kagome snapped her mouth shut with an audible clack. She turned wide eyes towards Kurama.
“Wh-what?” she stuttered out.
“You are of no use to us, Kagome. You won’t give us the Jewel. If it’s a choice, I think everyone hear would rather have Keiko than you. You have been nothing but trouble, and that is a mild description. You’ve put us all at risk with your stupid hopes of saving that halfbreed.”
Hiei was eyeing his friend critically. “How do you know Naraku wouldn’t be able to get the Jewel from her now?”
“We wipe her mind. Completely and utterly.” Everyone turned.
“The words right out of my mouth, Koenma.” Kurama’s grin was predatory.
“We take away her mind, and she can’t tell him of the Jewel. It remains as safe as it was before.”
“But we can’t leave her with him.” Yusuke whispered brokenly. “We can’t just sacrifice her to him.”
Kurama’s voice turned kind. “Yusuke, if we take her mind completely, she wouldn’t be cognizant. She wouldn’t know of what was happening around her. And she wouldn’t know how she had gotten there.” How he had betrayed her was the unspoken statement.
Kagome felt trapped. The conversation was happening to fast around her. But she had to stop them. She had to interrupt.
“Yusuke?” She whispered. “You’re going to give me up to him?”
Yusuke stifled a moan.
She turned wide eyes to Kuwabara. “You’re going to let them destroy me, aren’t you? Taking a mind means nothing to you? Nothing at all? How can you condone that?”
“It’s not going to work, Kagome.” The words were quiet but firm. She looked over at the small man in the corner. “They aren’t going to be swayed, and you are going to be traded.”
She thrust out her chin. She was helpless. She had no heroes amongst this group of men. She had no one to save her. And she couldn’t save herself. “Fine. Do it, then. I’ll at least have the satisfaction of none of you ever getting your filthy hands on the Jewel.”
“Maybe,” Kuwabara’s voice was hesitant, “Maybe if she gave us the Jewel. Could we come to a compromise then?”
Koenma turned tired eyes to the most innocent of the detectives. “She won’t give up the Jewel, Kuwabara. And even if she did, it wouldn’t save Keiko. That path is no longer going to save anything. I don’t see another way.”
Yusuke turned and faced Kagome. “Kagome. What do I do? I can’t save you both? Who do I save? What we had between us, it’s… gone. And that’s never going to come back. Can you blame me for trying for what I have now? What’s still there?”
Kagome’s eyes turned hard as she realized the inevitability. And Yusuke was asking for forgiveness.
She closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair, the rope digging hard into her side.
She wondered what it would be like, inside Naraku. Would she still have a mind – even after the detectives got rid of it? Would she feel pain or emotions? Most likely. Would the others be there?
Kagome let a small hope build inside of her. If nothing else, she would finally be able to see Inuyasha again.
And they would be together again. Until Naraku’s death do them part.
She snorted. Oh, the irony. Kagome decided it was time to tune out everyone around her planning her death, first mentally, then physically. She wondered whether any of them would see it as two deaths. Did they really think no mind meant no pain? Her body would still feel it, feel the agony of being tortured.
Kagome idly wondered if Naraku could reverse whatever the fiends were going to do to her. It seemed as if the detectives’ plan was full proof. She opened her eyes and turned randomly towards the desk.
Her gaze sharpened on the still form of a fuzzy eight legger. Why would Koenma have a spider on his desk? Didn’t he know anything? That Naraku would be listening through the spider…
Kagome mentally smacked her head. Of course, their spy. No wonder Naraku knew everything. And the detectives here were too stupid to figure it out, right in front of them. She opened her mouth to say just how stupid they all were, when just how useful that spider could be occurred to her.
Naraku obviously wouldn’t want her mind destroyed. She had no chance in hell of stopping the detectives. But maybe Naraku could. If she left the bug where it was, he would know all their plans, know how to stop them.
He could save her.
In a roundabout manner, true, but it would be better than being mindfucked for life.
Even though Keiko would die.
She herself would live.
Kagome stared resolutely at the spider sitting all alone on the desk before firmly closing her eyes.
She made her decision, and now could only wait for the repercussions.
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(Be brutal in your critiques! Be honest and tell me what y’all think. Especially about that fight scene in the beginning. Not really liking that myself, but couldn’t seem to get it any better. Otherwise, Enjoy!)
Chapter 16
Boxing King
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For the record, I have no idea how to get rid of the blackbars in the middle of a scene. It’s not an intentional break of any kind, so if it shows up, just ignore it. <.< Sorry all. They won’t allow me to select them, and thus delete them, and they are showing up on the bottom of every page…
In other news, FINALLY! All done! Check out my blog for updates otherwise. I talk about this a lot. About ideas and progress. Go on, check it out, and leave a comment. ?
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Naraku stood surrounded on three sides on the roof. The setup was laughable, in his supreme estimation. These three were hardly worth any effort. One, complete human, didn’t have comparable speed, let alone power. The other two would be a bit more difficult, but he had absorbed more powerful people in his time.
It seemed to be a standoff until one of them made a move. Well, let it be him, then.
Naraku lunged at Yusuke with a punch to the head. The detective easily dodged, ducking down, preparing to swing back with a right hook of his own. He missed Naraku leaning down, grabbing his shoulder, and pulling him into a knee into his gut.
Yusuke went stumbling back, trying to breathe properly. Naraku leaned into kick his head and was jerked back by a whip that came soaring by.
Kurama’s thorny weapon barely missed slicing Naraku’s head. He turned and smiled at the Fox in his corner of the roof.
He waited for him to come attack, contempt all over his face. It puzzled Naraku until he realized that they all seemed to be waiting for something.
Then it occurred to him that there was a fourth to the group that was missing. Of course, that delectable little halfbreed. He was most likely off hiding Kagome. As if he couldn’t find her later. They were probably waiting for him to come, him with his better speed and his Jagan.
He would have the Jagan back after touching Kagome. It had to be what he was doing. Naraku didn’t really want to deal with the Jagan right now. His plans weren’t yet finished, and the Koorime would only interfere.
With a small sigh, Naraku decided to abandon this fight. It wasn’t like he wasn’t going to be able to pick one later. Of course he would.
Naraku looked at the weakest team member, fidgeting in his corner, impatient to fight and prove his mettle, but stuck following orders. It would be the easiest way off the roof.
He lunged at Kuwabara and prepared to rip his throat. The pathetic human raised his hands and let a surge of energy fill up and form a sword. Naraku let him run towards him, screaming his pitiable war cry.
He let a macabre grin fill his face at the prospect of slicing away the human’s head.
He missed the small demon coming up along his side and thrusting the sword in.
Hiei smiled viciously, face similar to Naraku’s just a moment before, as he twisted the sword in deeper. His third eye began to open and glow a soft purple. Wind began to gather around the pair.
Naraku looked at the Koorime and laughed. Hiei looked at his sword, coated in blood. Why would he laugh at an almost fatal wound? It slowly began to slide deeper, taking back in the blood as it went. Hiei let go with a snarl as the sword was sucked into Naraku’s body.
With a giggle, Naraku kicked out at Hiei, sending him into Yusuke’s racing body, and then took off. Running faster than Kuwabara could see, and faster than the others could react, Naraku was soon miles away.
Hiei sat up with a shake of his head. The damn bastard had taken his sword. And easily escaped from them. Pathetic.
No matter. Kagome was safe. Or should be at the base of the building. With a few choice swearwords Hiei leaped off roof to race towards her side.
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Safely away on a random building, Naraku hunched over and extricated the sword. He grunted as he pulled, hilt first, the jabbing piece of metal tearing at his insides. The worn metal sliced his stomach as he pulled it out.
Damn Koorime, getting in a blow like that.
He looked down in disgust at the bloody blade. It was fragile, now, after being in his body, completely black and flaking off in bits. Eyes on the blade, he let it drop to his feet. He viciously stepped down, letting it crumble beneath his foot.
Damn Koorime.
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Hiei landed gracefully on the balls of his feet, hand touching the ground. He took a moment to control his face, clearing off any emotion before raising crimson eyes to gaze at the unconscious female before him.
He supposed it was damn good luck that she hadn’t been swiped by the enemy. Or cripes, mugged by a human. The irony would have been thick enough to walk on.
He raised to his full height and slowly stalked over to Kagome. She looked so peaceful there on the ground. Her face relaxed as she slept (drugged or not…), and an innocent expression stole up. He could actually believe it, considering she was knocked out cold. Hard to fake things then.
He gave a small snort and bent down.
A hand strong on his shoulder spun him around.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Hiei?” Yusuke was staring pissed into his friend’s face. “For that matter, what the hell were you thinking?” A fine red flush snuck up his face. “You just left her there! Anyone could have taken her, you jackass!”
Hiei’s spine straightened, and his eyes narrowed. “Nothing happened, Yusuke,” he said slowly, enunciating each word clearly.
“That doesn’t excuse it! She could have been kidnapped! What would have happened had Naraku simply been a diversion for us?”
Hiei flexed his fists, trying not to smash them into the detective’s face. Everything he had said was true, but that didn’t mean he was going to take shit from him!
“You didn’t follow orders, Hiei! Why the fuck not?”
Hiei’s fist swung up to punch Yusuke square in the jaw. He stopped and inch away from his face, hand shaking. He closed his eyes on Yusuke’s face, right next to his fist and not even flinching.
“Hiei,” Kurama calmly spoke up, “What is going on? You haven’t been this… rash… in centuries.”
Hiei breathed deeply, taking in as much air as he could and letting it out slowly. When he felt he could control himself once more, his fist sank back down to his side.
“I don’t know, Kurama.” He wouldn’t look at anyone while he spoke, instead turning to stare at Kagome. “It’s like, like I’m out of control. I get so, so,” he paused, searching for a word. “So geared up. I get so angry, or excited. And I take the nearest outlet nearby.”
No one spoke, staring at their small companion. What would happen if he lost control, so eager to fight, and brought the dragon into the mix, into an area full of humans? Koenma would lock him up, without a second’s hesitation, and throw away the key.
“I think,” Yusuke started, “I think we need to get to the Spirit Realm. It would probably be the safest place for everyone right now.” Hiei nodded slowly, and bent to pick Kagome up once more.
“No, Hiei.” Once more Yusuke’s hand settled on his shoulder. He pushed past the demon and picked up his cousin, carrying her gently in his arms, teddy bear pressed between one arm and his side. Brown, bead eyes seemed to stare accusingly at Hiei as Yusuke walked away.
It took more restraint than Hiei thought he had to let the detective walk away, unharmed, carrying Kagome. More restraint than everyone thought he had. Furious, he stalked off after Yusuke.
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An unconscious Kagome was settled into a corner of Koenma’s office, teddy bear clutched in her hands, as the Spirit Detectives tried to piece together the puzzle laid out before them.
“Ok, Hiei, let’s start with you.” Yusuke ignored the tensing of Hiei’s shoulders at his tone. “You told us earlier that you couldn’t use the Jagan, right before we were going to fight Naraku. So how the hell did you get it back?”
Hiei shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot before replying, voice deadpan. “I touched your cousin.”
Yusuke stopped pacing and turned to stare incredulously at his friend. “What?”
Kurama cleared his throat. “He caught her Yusuke.”
Yusuke visibly relaxed. “Oh yeah. Whew, had me worried there for a minute.”
Inwardly cringing at the thought of Yusuke knowing what was going on between him and his cousin, Hiei glared at Kurama, silently telling him to keep his trap shut.
The fox narrowed his own green eyes, obviously disagreeing with Hiei’s plan.
“Ok, so what else can we bring to the table? What has all been going on?”
Hiei turned away from Kurama and pretended to seriously consider Yusuke’s question. It was difficult to find anything legitimate without lying. It wasn’t like he could tell Yusuke that he was having extremely realistic erotic dreams with his cousin. And he couldn’t blurt out in front of Koenma that he had almost lost control of the Jagan when Naraku (as he could now presume) had gained control of it somehow. That would raise some serious questions of whether he could control the Dragon. Questions that had his death as an alternative. The tool was too dangerous for any demon if he could not control it.
“Ok, let’s start simple.” Yusuke slapped his hands together in preparation of the brainstorming. “We know he has a connection with spiders. He has a connection with electric demons.”
“I think we can discard that one, Yusuke,” Kurama spoke up. “I think he made a momentary deal with those demons. He might call on them later, but I don’t think he has any kind of connection besides bribery.”
Yusuke nodded his agreement. “Ok, next then.” He paused, trying to think of anything else. “He swallows leaders. We must assume he gets power from this. He hasn’t shown any unusual techniques, so I would guess he only gets mass power and that’s it.” He continued as everyone nodded agreement. “Is there any chance that Inuyasha character Kagome spoke of is alive, Hiei?”
“None, Detective. He absorbs their body and soul. Why would anything be able to live after that?”
Kuwabara shifted uncomfortably. “Can we just dismiss all of those lives that easily, though, Yusuke? What if we could save them? Are we not obligated to?”
“As far as I am concerned, they are dead, casualties of war. My only concerns now are Keiko and Kagome.”
Kuwabara nodded his assent slowly.
“Ok, next?” Yusuke’s head swiveled to each person in the group individually. “Nothing? How can we know so little after all of this time?”
Hiei continued to stare resolutely at the wall, avoiding all gazes.
“Ok, let’s try this tract then. Why is Hiei’s Jagan connected to Kagome?”
The room went completely silent. Finally, Hiei spoke up. “No idea, Yusuke.” Kurama barely muffled his snort. Ruby eyes glared at the Fox.
“DAMNIT!” exclaimed Yusuke! He turned to pound his fist into the wall in a fit of anger and stopped at the sight of Kagome struggling awake. “Kagome,” he voiced deadpan. “You’re awake.”
Kagome grunted her assent as she struggled to sit up. Her head pounded, and she seemed to be having a hard time thinking. It seemed like her head was full of cotton, and it was damn hard to think through. She slowly blinked, getting the room into focus. As soon as she saw who she shared the room with, she glared at each occupant.
“What,” she began thickly, “What the hell is going on?”
Kurama decided to speak up as Yusuke was decidedly ignoring his cousin’s gaze. “We captured you, Kagome. It wasn’t like we could just let you walk away like that.”
She stood, using the wall for balance. “I walked out once, what’s to keep me from doing it again?”
A tight smile appeared on Kurama’s face. “Try it.”
A hot anger coursed through her so fast she staggered. The bastard. She would show him, all she had to do was fry his ass. All of their asses, while she was at it. Even if she had to get a legitimate match for Kuwabara.
She straightened and narrowed her eyes. She would begin with that damn fox. She began to concentrate, trying to bring her miko powers to the front of her mind. A fine sweat started to perspire her forehead. She frowned. It seemed to be a hell of a lot harder than before.
“It’s not going to work, Kagome. You’re powers are gone.”
“Shit!” She turned to run and didn’t make one step before strong arms wrapped her upper body. She briefly tried to struggle, but the drugs made her lethargic and slow. Before she knew it, she was roped and sitting on a chair, staring once more into the face of Kurama.
“Oh, this is just great. Where are my miko powers? And what the hell are all of you planning? Going to beat the location out of me again?”
Kurama snorted. It seemed to Kagome that he enjoyed being the one to talk to her, the one to give her the ugly announcements.
“Hardly. We saw how well that worked last time. We have a new plan for you, Kagome.” She shuddered slightly at the sinister tone his voice held. “As for your miko powers, it seems they have nicely transferred back to Hiei. We all much prefer him in control of the Jagan, anyways.” Her eyes riveted to the smaller demon. He had her powers? Why the hell wasn’t he getting crispied?
Kurama saw the question in her eyes. “Unfortunately, we have no idea how that particular trick works.” He shrugged. “We were just discussing all the facts before you woke up. Since we know you like to blab to the enemy, we’ll wait to go further.” Kagome inwardly rolled her eyes at their idiocy that still seemed to prevail.
In his corner of the room, Hiei was secretly pleased that he had a delay. He had to find some way to keep the facts of what was happening between him and Kagome from everyone else. He probably couldn’t count on the Fox for help, as he seemed to alternate between glaring at him to give it all up and leaving hints for the Detectives to blissfully ignore.
The doors to the conference room banged open with a suddenness that startled everyone. Koenma regally walked in, demanding attention for his very presence. The ogre walked behind meekly, carrying a few wire contraptions.
“It is time. She has awoken, and we can now sift back through her memories.”
Kagome sagged in her chair at this news with a muttered fuck. It was real, just as Naraku had said.
The prince looked down on her even with his small height. The contempt in his eyes was clear to all watching. “Since you are so uncooperative, and normal methods of persuasion don’t seem to be working on you, we are going to access your memories and see where the Jewel is for ourselves. We are also going to get the lowdown on Naraku as you know it. Should be educational.”
Kagome cringed back into her chair at the thought of the violation. She began to panic, her body being seized by shaking. Would they be able to find the Jewel? How did this contraption work, exactly? And what else would they find out? There were clearly things that only a select few were privy to in the room, and she would rather it stayed that way.
Yusuke apparently had some of the same questions Kagome did. “So, Toddler, how does this doodah work?” Caught up in the brevity of the moment, Koenma did not reprimand the detective for the insult.
“It’s relatively simple. We go through her memories. What she saw, we see. What she thought, we think.”
“So what, is it like Google for the brain?” Koenma stared blankly at Yusuke. “Are we going to be accessing the Spirit World Ethernet or something? Can we just type Shikon Jewel into a search box?”
Koenma blinked slowly. Finally he spoke slowly. “No, Yusuke. It’s kind of like a VCR. We rewind from this point back to find what we want.”
“That’s a lot of shit to sift through. Is there any way we can just jump scenes like in a DVD?”
Koenma covered his eyes with a muttered curse about dimwits. “No, Yusuke. We don’t have such advanced “technology” here.” He turned around shaking his head. Yusuke simply shrugged and began to whistle aimlessly, trying to ignore his panicking cousin.
Hiei began to panic himself. Sifting back through her memories one by one would definitely reveal certain dreams they had shared. Shit. Not to mention that favor he owed her…
“You are all perverts!” Kagome announced in a last ditch effort to prevent what was about to happen. “Loser men, all of you, sifting through a girl’s private thoughts. That’s like reading my diary!”
Kuwabara shifted from foot to foot. “Maybe we should have Botan do it, or something. To give her some sense of privacy?”
He blushed under the incredulous glances he was getting. “Well come on, guys. She’s going to have private girl thoughts and moments that we don’t need to see. You know… going to the bathroom… undressing.”
A few stares turned away, and Koenma actually blushed slightly. “Well, ahem,” he coughed slightly, “We weren’t meaning to look at those moments, Kuwabara. We will, ah, fast-rewind them. No one will see anything.”
“I guess we should hope she didn’t flush the Jewel down the toilet, then,” muttered Hiei. Yusuke snorted. “Or do any of her important thinking while on the porcelain throne,” he added.
Koenma rolled his eyes. “Kagome,” he spoke directly to her now, “We will do our best not to look at moments like these, but if an initial search turns up nothing we will have no choice. I will… evict the less mature people from this room if that becomes necessary. However,” his eyes turned hard, “You are a prisoner at fault and thus shouldn’t have any rights at all. Human rights are not necessarily applicable to the Spirit Realm. It would be best if you remembered that.” He cleared his throat once more.
“Now, let’s begin.”
Ogre walked up to Kagome and began attaching little sticky pads connected to the wires to her forehead in various spots. With a final stick, he announced her finished with five different pads. He then walked over and plugged the whole contraption of cords of wires to the TV. Koenma picked up his remote.
He pushed the power button. The TV flickered to life, the screen going to a white. Kagome’s eyes closed and she dropped forward in her chair, suspended only by the ropes.
“She’ll be effectively unconscious for the entire period,” murmured Koenma. “We can rewind all of the past hour or so. “I think we can start at the rooftop where you found her.” All eyes
suddenly became riveted to the screen as it flickered to life.
Naraku’s sneering face peered out at the detective’s. They shuddered slightly at the pure malevolence focused on Kagome.
They heard Kagome thinking about purifying the demon in front of her as if she were talking. The only clue they had that she wasn’t really talking was the slightly airier quality to the tone of words.
She began to glow a white pink. Her power snaked up her arm and flowed to her fingers. It went over Naraku’s boot and began to wind around his leg.
He laughed. Naraku laughed as her priestess powers tried to burn him.
“Now, Kagome, you didn’t actually think that would work, did you? You didn’t think after all this time that I wouldn’t find a way to counteract your purification? Tsk, tsk.”
What? Her powers weren’t working on a demon? Why the hell not?
She wasn’t given time to think as Naraku grabbed her arm and hauled her up to face him, still hanging over open air.
“Let me take your powers once more, Kagome. Just like I did in the alley.”
Kagome’s eyes widened right before she began to scream as she was suddenly encased in a purple mist.
Koenma paused the TV. “Ok, why the hell weren’t her powers working on him?” He grunted as everyone kind of looked at him blankly. “Does anyone know of any way to counteract a miko and her powers? We know at this time she had them, so that’s not in question…” He faded out waiting for an answer. At the blank stares he was getting, he finally grunted and started the TV up again. “Alright then, let’s back it up a bit more.”
“What makes you think you can get it this time Naraku? Nothing has changed since last time.”
“I can take you with me, Kagome.” A strange light came into his eye. “Did you know there is technology that will allow me to sift through your very memories? All I need to do is sift through until I find the day you hid the Jewel, and then voila, I can get it.”
Kagome’s shoulders kind of hunched. Go figure that there would be something so dastardly in the spirit realm somewhere.
“Imagine all that I could see, Kagome. Have you been doing anything with your little halfbreed? You do look so much like Kikyou. It would almost be like having the real thing in front of me.”
Oh god, he was such a freak. A pervert.
“So you’ve stopped to the level of a peeping tom now, Naraku?”
Everyone in the room kind of hunched slightly at the accusation that hit so close to home. No one stopped to question the halfbreed mention, and for that Hiei was grateful. Hopefully, if and when they would see her in an erotic moment, they would fast-backwards before seeing he was involved. Oh God.
Koenma hurriedly clicked back some more.
How had Naraku known to come to Yusuke’s? How had he known she would be there, after all this time? He had timed it perfectly. He had also known about Yusuke and the others. He had known more about Hiei than Kagome did. Was it possible Hiei knew him more intimately?
She dismissed that idea. She didn’t peg Hiei as a traitor of any sort. She frowned. Naraku seemed to know an awful lot of what was going on. The others would just attribute it to her telling him, but there had to be something more… A spy? Who would spy for Naraku? An ogre, perhaps? She had no idea how trustworthy Koenma’s people were. She frowned harder. She had no idea how trustworthy Yusuke’s friends were. She had thought she knew them, but how they had reacted to the Jewel made her doubt everything.
It didn’t really matter now anyways. It wasn’t like she could tell Yusuke and have him believe her. And they would hopefully figure it out soon enough for themselves once she wasn’t there to listen in and ‘coincidences’ kept happening.
A loud click stopped the proceedings.
“Holy shit, she’s not the spy!” Kuwabara had a surprised look on his face. “But if she’s not the spy, then who is?”
Koenma leaned back in his with an oath. “It could be any of the ogres,” he grunted out. “Regardless of what she thinks, I know it’s not any of you, so it has to be an ogre.” Everyone turned towards the blue ogre in the corner. He began frantically shaking his head right before Koenma spoke up. “It’s not him. He’s the most trustworthy of the lot, which is exactly why he is my personal assistant.” Ogre calmed down and relaxed at the backward praise from Koenma.
“Let’s continue, Koenma,” spoke Kurama. “We can trust everyone in this room, so let’s not waste time.”
The TV clicked back on. “We’ll just fast-rewind the point where you idiots let her escape…”
An hour later, Koenma had his finger stuck to the button that was saving them time. “Blah, blah, blah. We were all there when this happened. This is nothing new…”
While everyone in the room had their eyes glued to the TV, glazed looks took away any semblance of concentration. None of them had realized quite how boring it would to sift through someone’s basic memories.
Koenma leaned down for a moment trying to give his eyes a rest, finger still firmly on the rewind button, when Kuwabara’s shout drew his attention.
“Wait! We haven’t seen this part yet! Right before she told us she was a traitor!” Koenma jerked forward and jammed the play button down. “She talked to Naraku and we need to see what she said…”
Kagome’s lusty moan filled the room followed by Hiei’s low grunt.
The group sans Hiei watched in stunned disbelief as he began to accost Kagome through her shirt, which she obviously enjoyed.
A small click paused the tape midaction, capturing Hiei’s face center screen, caught up in the heat of the moment. Everyone turned towards Hiei with varying expressions of incredulity.
The small demon swallowed convulsively.
“Uhm…” he muttered, “It’s not what it looks like…” Never in his life had he sounded so whipped. He struggled to straighten hunched shoulders and look Yusuke in the eye. It wasn’t as if they had done anything wrong, dream world or not.
“Not-” Yusuke struggled for words, face going red, “Not – what – it – looks like?” Hiei nodded slightly. “It looks like, Hiei, that you are fucking my cousin. Explain to me how that, that,” he pointed dramatically towards the screen, “Is not what it looks like.”
Hiei mentally cringed at the anger in the Detective’s face.
“It isn’t actually… happening, Yusuke.” He paused at the strangled sound Yusuke emitted. “It was more like a dream… That we both happened to share.” A little too late Hiei realized that he probably should have just denied the whole thing and blamed it as Kagome’s dream. Yeah, that probably would have played out better. But it wasn’t like he could count on Kagome to keep her mouth shut when she woke up.
Koenma broke the tension slightly when he smacked his forehead. “That’s right! You two were fighting right before we got that box with… erm, the box,” he finished quickly, not wanting to bring that up right now. “You both mentioned being in dreams, and…” he trailed off. “The Jagan! Shit, Hiei, you mentioned the Jagan being controlled! Why didn’t you bring that up again after we all forgot when the box came?”
“Screw the Jagan, Toddler, why the fuck is he with Kagome in dreams doing that?” snarled Yusuke.
All eyes turned back towards Hiei. “Well, Hiei? What’s going on?” Koenma was staring pensively down at the detective that was the greatest liability of the group.
“I don’t think he knows, Koenma.” Kurama, apparently done holding his silence, decided to try and defend his friend. “He hasn’t been telling me everything, but he has had some problems with the Jagan. Someone tried to take control at one point, and he managed to kick the demon out of his head. He has also had an out of body experience that is probably related to the Jagan as well.”
Koenma swore briefly before narrowing his eyes at Hiei. “Tell it all, now.”
Hiei sighed dramatically. “Fine. Someone tried to take over the Jagan. Once I figured out what was going on, I kicked them out of the Jagan. Another time I had a dream where I couldn’t control any of my actions and I looked different. Turns out I was experiencing the past through someone else’s body, Kagome’s past, as it were. And…” he hesitated, looking over at Yusuke, who was remarkably holding onto his temper in the face of reason, “I’ve had a few dreams with Kagome. She apparently shares them as well. That’s it.”
“And you couldn’t bother telling any of us this?” Koenma stared aghast at the Koorime.
“I didn’t want you to think I was losing control of the Jagan. You made it very clear when I joined the team that if I did so, I would be executed with all due speed.”
“Shit, Shorty, this could have helped up figure out the mystery a long time ago.” Hiei glared at Kuwabara.
“Hardly. How can this information help you at all now?”
Koenma rubbed his brow, trying to piece together the puzzle. “You and Kagome share something, some bond. That much is clear. You both switch off on powers upon physical contact. Apparently, you and she also share dreams, and you have contact with her memories.”
“We already knew all this! What use was seeing what you did if it only recaps what we already kno-”
“Naraku has a connection to the Jagan.” Yusuke glared at Hiei while making his announcement.
“Why would you say that?” Hiei belligerently stuck his chin out, daring the detective to say he didn’t have sole control.
“He tried to take it over. He has to have a connection to be able to do that in the first place. And, he has to have a connection to connect you and Kagome that closely.”
Hiei struggled to wrap his mind around this accusation. “Impossible,” he said at last. “I would have felt it if he lingered.”
“Would you have, Hiei? If his first attack was so violent, would you have noticed something much more subtle? Especially with you losing the Jagan at times. You didn’t even notice until you tried to use the Jagan. He could be dulling your connection towards it.” Kurama was looking at Hiei as if her were a puzzle.
The interrogation stopped when they heard a low moan. Collectively, everyone swiveled to look at Kagome. She shook her head slightly in the bonds, trying to wake herself up from the hazy state she had been stuck in. She blinked slowly, letting the TV in front of her come into focus, once again back to white static now that the link was broken.
She looked around the room, picking up the tension.
“So… What did you all find out?” Please, God, don’t let it have been the Jewel.
Yusuke glared at his cousin. “So… You and Hiei?”
Kagome’s eyes widened. “You saw that? What happened to passing over any personal moments? What the hell did you see? Did you sit and watch me in the bathroom, too? Oh my god, you are all perverts!”
Koenma snorted. “Get real. We came upon this accidentally. And this, this isn’t something that has no bearing on the case. Holy shit, you two! You should have come forth with this! At the very least, we could have stopped the dreams.” He shrewdly looked at them both. “Or did you both want those to continue?”
Kagome and Hiei both looked at Koenma as if he were crazy.
“You mean,” she finally spoke up, “that you could have stopped them?”
“Shit,” muttered Hiei. “That would have helped a long time ago.”
“What the hell does that mean? You don’t think I’m good enough?”
Kuwabara sucked in a lungful of air. The shit was about to hit the fan.
“Of course not, you idiot! I would not ever willingly sleep with you.”
“Hey, there is nothing wrong with Kagome, Hiei!” Yusuke shouted, trying to defend his cousin.
Kagome’s shout drowned out Yusuke’s. “You ass! You didn’t seem to object in the heat of the moment! What, no self control?”
“It was Naraku,” Hiei threw out offhandedly, turning his shoulder away slightly. “He controlled the dreams, and thus he had to be controlling my actions.”
Kagome’s gasp practically knocked her over. “Like hell! He wasn’t controlling anything! You wanted to go all the way with me! You took the initiative!”
“If he can control the Jagan, put us together in a dream, and switch our powers, then he can certainly control how a dream goes. Maybe it’s simply a planted fabrication.”
Kagome opened her mouth to talk, could think of nothing to say, and snapped it closed again. “You asshole,” she muttered.
“What would he gain from these dreams?” asked Kurama. “He did mention watching Kagome as we were, except in a much more lewd manner. He mentioned another woman, too. A Kikyou. Is he living out his fantasies through these two?”
Kagome looked at Kurama with horror. That could possibly be the grossest thing ever. Naraku had had fantasies about Kikyou from the beginning, about sleeping with her, being with her, killing her… Was he using her to fulfill those?
“Tell me, Kagome, what do you know of Kikyou?”
She let out a kind of strangled choke at his words.
“Ah, this must mean I have hit upon something with my musings. Who is she?”
Kagome decided she wasn’t going to share a single word about Kikyou. She had nothing to do with what was happening now, nothing at all. She hadn’t even been heard from in hundreds of years. Chances are that she finally died. Somehow…
Her intricate thought processes were interrupted by the TV flickering to life once more.
Gazes flicked over to the screen (damn electrical demons again…) and quickly filled with dread. Kagome heard Yusuke stifle a cry. Keiko was center screen, foot chained to the ground in a dingy room. Kagome forced back feelings of familiarity. It would do no good to tell the detectives that she had been held in that very room; she didn’t remember where it was. Even though she had run from there. Her mind had been filled with thoughts of never returning, so a map to his lair hadn’t been top priority.
Keiko clearly didn’t have any idea that there was a camera on her. That thought sickened her, and she was suddenly glad that there hadn’t been technology five hundred years ago.
Keiko sat hunched by the ring in the floor holding her down. Her face was hidden against her knees. She looked dejected. And frail. Kagome could make out the bruises coloring her light skin.
Kieko twitched as the sound of the door opening filtered throughout the cell before trying to make herself more inconspicuous, hunching further.
“Why hello, Keiko, darling.” Naraku’s drawling voice took the place of the screeching door. “It turns out that the detectives you are putting so much faith in to rescue don’t care enough to try and find you. Your boyfriend” his lip curled back as he said the word, “is too busy with his cousin to remember you.”
Kagome felt Yusuke twitch next to her. She saw his hands clench into fists out of the corner of her eye.
“So, we had to cook up a little video to send to Yusuke. Turn your head to the corner, Keiko, and say hi to the camera. Why, in just a few hours, Yusuke will be watching our time spent together.” The room held its breath as Keiko slowly peeked up and finally saw the lens focused on her. Yusuke gave a small cry as he saw the blackeye.
“It seemed to me that your friends just didn’t appreciate the terror that poor Kagome went through, seeing the people she treasured be devoured. Therefore, I find it fitting to show them.” Keiko physically jerked as his words penetrated her stupor. She turned terrified eyes up to Naraku.
“No, please. Please don’t. I’ll do anything. Just don’t do that to me!” Her voice started as a whisper and ended in a moan. She began to tremble as she looked in his pitiless red eyes.
Naraku looked at the camera, glee on his face. “Why, it was just a few days ago that I showed dear Keiko here what I can do with a spare body and soul. Unfortunately, no one she knew. Her relatives are hardly worth the energy expended during the process. It was some helpless demon I found wandering around my land. She was appalled, to say the least, at the poor human cries that the demon gave off.”
He reached down and grabbed her arm.
“Let’s hear what kind of cries you give Keiko,” he hissed out.
Keiko began screaming weakly as Naraku began pulling her towards him. It was clear to all that it had happened before, had practically become routine.
He stretched out her hand by flexing his wrist. He slowly forced her forward until her palm was flat upon his naked chest, the end of her scabbed over pink easily seen by all.
Her whimpers stopped as nothing happened and her shoulders fell slightly as tension left.
He looked at the camera. “For you, detectives.”
And her hand began to sink into his chest.
Her screams picked up then, loud and ragged. One after the other, barely pausing to get breath, Keiko screamed. Her eyes frantically went to the camera, begging for help. Her other arm kept trying to beat Naraku away. He ignored her feeble attempts, and glared into the camera.
It seemed like his beady eyes bore into her own, specifically finding her in the crowd. Kagome shivered slightly at the intensity in his eyes.
Keiko had sunk in up to her elbow, the skin farther up on her arm puckering and turning a purplish tinge.
That was when he stopped, stopped pushing her arm entirely.
“It is your choice, Yusuke. You control your team, and you must make the final decision.” Naraku looked down on Keiko with a look that could only be described as wistfully. “While I would enjoy eating darling Keiko here, I’d rather have Kagome here in my arms.” His eyes swiveled to the camera again.
“So, I am giving you one ultimatum, Detective. Fail this time, and you won’t be seeing your woman again. Bring me Kagome. Bring me your cousin to trade for your girlfriend. I’ll know what you decide, and I’ll be in touch with the directions if you chose the right path.”
He slowly began pulling Keiko’s arm out of his chest, until it was just the palm resting on his chest once more. Kagome cringed at the sickly tone of color Keiko’s arm had become. It was a mottled purple, with the fingers slightly blackened.
“You have one day, Yusuke.” And the screen went blank.
The room was silent, and Kagome stared as hard as she could at a blank wall as she ignored all the stares turned her direction.
“Well.” Koenma tried to break the silence but couldn’t think of anything to say. “I guess we know she’s still alive.”
Kagome held back a snort of laughter. She’d probably get smacked if she laughed out loud.
“What do we do?” asked Kuwabara. He turned to look at Yusuke. “What do you want us to do? It’s your choice. Kagome… or Keiko?”
Kagome swallowed past a suddenly tight throat. After all that had happened between them, would Yusuke choose her? Or the woman that he had been missing since the beginning?
Yusuke look away and turned, running a hand through his hair. “I… I don’t know. What can we do? Is there… is there a way to save them both?”
It seemed as if he was pretending that she wasn’t there. It probably helped him think of the situation in a bit of a more rational tone. Damn if she didn’t want to sway his decision by having hysterics right there. He probably wouldn’t sacrifice her then. Kagome opened her mouth to speak right before she was interrupted.
“Let’s do it. Let’s take him up on his ultimatum. Let’s give him Kagome for Keiko.” Kagome snapped her mouth shut with an audible clack. She turned wide eyes towards Kurama.
“Wh-what?” she stuttered out.
“You are of no use to us, Kagome. You won’t give us the Jewel. If it’s a choice, I think everyone hear would rather have Keiko than you. You have been nothing but trouble, and that is a mild description. You’ve put us all at risk with your stupid hopes of saving that halfbreed.”
Hiei was eyeing his friend critically. “How do you know Naraku wouldn’t be able to get the Jewel from her now?”
“We wipe her mind. Completely and utterly.” Everyone turned.
“The words right out of my mouth, Koenma.” Kurama’s grin was predatory.
“We take away her mind, and she can’t tell him of the Jewel. It remains as safe as it was before.”
“But we can’t leave her with him.” Yusuke whispered brokenly. “We can’t just sacrifice her to him.”
Kurama’s voice turned kind. “Yusuke, if we take her mind completely, she wouldn’t be cognizant. She wouldn’t know of what was happening around her. And she wouldn’t know how she had gotten there.” How he had betrayed her was the unspoken statement.
Kagome felt trapped. The conversation was happening to fast around her. But she had to stop them. She had to interrupt.
“Yusuke?” She whispered. “You’re going to give me up to him?”
Yusuke stifled a moan.
She turned wide eyes to Kuwabara. “You’re going to let them destroy me, aren’t you? Taking a mind means nothing to you? Nothing at all? How can you condone that?”
“It’s not going to work, Kagome.” The words were quiet but firm. She looked over at the small man in the corner. “They aren’t going to be swayed, and you are going to be traded.”
She thrust out her chin. She was helpless. She had no heroes amongst this group of men. She had no one to save her. And she couldn’t save herself. “Fine. Do it, then. I’ll at least have the satisfaction of none of you ever getting your filthy hands on the Jewel.”
“Maybe,” Kuwabara’s voice was hesitant, “Maybe if she gave us the Jewel. Could we come to a compromise then?”
Koenma turned tired eyes to the most innocent of the detectives. “She won’t give up the Jewel, Kuwabara. And even if she did, it wouldn’t save Keiko. That path is no longer going to save anything. I don’t see another way.”
Yusuke turned and faced Kagome. “Kagome. What do I do? I can’t save you both? Who do I save? What we had between us, it’s… gone. And that’s never going to come back. Can you blame me for trying for what I have now? What’s still there?”
Kagome’s eyes turned hard as she realized the inevitability. And Yusuke was asking for forgiveness.
She closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair, the rope digging hard into her side.
She wondered what it would be like, inside Naraku. Would she still have a mind – even after the detectives got rid of it? Would she feel pain or emotions? Most likely. Would the others be there?
Kagome let a small hope build inside of her. If nothing else, she would finally be able to see Inuyasha again.
And they would be together again. Until Naraku’s death do them part.
She snorted. Oh, the irony. Kagome decided it was time to tune out everyone around her planning her death, first mentally, then physically. She wondered whether any of them would see it as two deaths. Did they really think no mind meant no pain? Her body would still feel it, feel the agony of being tortured.
Kagome idly wondered if Naraku could reverse whatever the fiends were going to do to her. It seemed as if the detectives’ plan was full proof. She opened her eyes and turned randomly towards the desk.
Her gaze sharpened on the still form of a fuzzy eight legger. Why would Koenma have a spider on his desk? Didn’t he know anything? That Naraku would be listening through the spider…
Kagome mentally smacked her head. Of course, their spy. No wonder Naraku knew everything. And the detectives here were too stupid to figure it out, right in front of them. She opened her mouth to say just how stupid they all were, when just how useful that spider could be occurred to her.
Naraku obviously wouldn’t want her mind destroyed. She had no chance in hell of stopping the detectives. But maybe Naraku could. If she left the bug where it was, he would know all their plans, know how to stop them.
He could save her.
In a roundabout manner, true, but it would be better than being mindfucked for life.
Even though Keiko would die.
She herself would live.
Kagome stared resolutely at the spider sitting all alone on the desk before firmly closing her eyes.
She made her decision, and now could only wait for the repercussions.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
(Be brutal in your critiques! Be honest and tell me what y’all think. Especially about that fight scene in the beginning. Not really liking that myself, but couldn’t seem to get it any better. Otherwise, Enjoy!)