InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Unexpected Ally ❯ Koenma Comes Clean ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: YYH belongs to Yoshihiro Tagashi; IY belongs to Rumiko Takahashi; I'm neither, pity me!!

 

Unexpected Ally

 

Chapter 10: Koenma Comes Clean

 

Short, stubby fingers massaged the temples of a chibi face, trying desperately to alleviate the pressure that was building between them. A pacifier hid the twist of the scowl behind it. Suddenly, the pacifier moved as the mouth began to speak. “If you will all, please, stop talking for a minute,” the Junior Ruler of Reikai slammed his balled fists onto the top of his desk to get the group's attention, “I will tell you what you need to know!”

 

Hiei and Kurama immediately gave their attention to Koenma at the promise of information. Botan used her oar to gently encourage Kuwabara and Yuusuke to follow their friends' example.

 

SMACK! CRACK!

 

“Oi, Botan!” both boys cried out, rubbing their heads.

 

“Pay attention,” she replied as nonchalantly as if she had merely tapped them on the shoulder with a finger.

 

“Alright! Jeez, Botan, you couldn't think of any other way to get my attention?” Yuusuke complained.

 

The girl merely shrugged and returned her attention to Koenma.

 

Deciding to drop it, Yuusuke turned to the Junior Ruler as well. “So, you gonna tell us or what, toddler?”

 

“As soon as you're quiet, I'll tell you!” he paused to take a breath, and grew angry as he realized something. “And don't call me `toddler'!” he shouted, his face growing red as he shook his fist up at the taller boy.

 

“Koenma-sama, please continue!” Botan pleaded cheerily.

 

“Certainly, Botan. How shall I begin, though?”

 

Hiei spoke first, “Why was there a youkai in Ningenkai that we couldn't sense, and could barely smell enough to register it as anything other than a common dog?”

 

“Hiei, I'm sorry, but that is one of the few questions I have absolutely no answer for.”

 

“One of the few questions you don't have an answer for? Meaning there are more questions you do know the answer to?” Yuusuke demanded.

 

“Well, I have theories, Yuusuke. That's why I put you on the case: to see if you could prove my theories without me telling them to you first. It looks like you may have, but we still need a confirmation.” Koenma answered.

 

“Eh? What're you babblin' about?” Yuusuke grumbled.

 

“Just ask me a question about something concerning your suspicions for your case, and I'll answer with either my knowledge or my theory to see if I'm correct.”

 

Yuusuke looked puzzled as he scratched his chin.

 

“Oh, for Kami-sama's sake!” Botan growled irritably. “Just ask him what you want to know!”

 

“Okay, Shrimpo, I got a question,” Kuwabara spoke up, “Why can we only detect Kagome-chan's reiki when it's in use?”

 

“I'm sorry, Kuwabara, that is another question I simply don't have any ideas about yet.” Koenma mumbled around his pacifier.

 

Kurama stepped forward casually and asked, “With how strong her reiki is, why was she never detected before?”

 

“Ah, yes Kurama, well my theory about that is that perhaps she hadn't realized her powers until recently. As I'm sure all of you are well aware, life gets a bit more stressful during adolescence. Perhaps that was a catalyst in bringing her powers out of dormancy. This is just a theory that you four will still need to investigate, of course.”

 

“Of course,” Botan agreed through teeth clenched in a fake smile. If Koenma didn't give them real answers soon, she worried for her boss' health. Yuusuke was already starting to twitch, and was clenching and unclenching his fists as if he'd like to strangle the childlike ruler.

 

“No matter what the reason may be that we can't sense her powers, the fact still remains that she has them. Don't you keep track of that sort of thing here? I mean, that is your job, right?” Hiei demanded to know.

 

Koenma took a deep breath, contemplating his answer. He had always known it would eventually come back to haunt him; he just hadn't known it would be this soon. After all, it had only been a little over sixteen years. Usually, mistakes like that wouldn't come into the open for several centuries, long after the scandal no longer mattered. It seemed that would not be the case this time, however. He exhaled a sigh of long-suffering, coming to the conclusion that he could not avoid the issue forever.

 

“Perhaps you should all take a seat. George, go get some chairs for our tantei,” he ordered his faithful servant. The blue oni quickly left the room and came back with an armful of five chairs stacked on top of each other. He set them down and the four tantei, plus Botan, took a seat. “Okay, everyone comfortable?”

 

Yuusuke had no patience left. “We're fine, would ya just get on with it?!!”

 

“Okay then.” Koenma clasped his fingers together and placed his folded hands on the desk before him. “Well, you all know the recent events that occurred here in Reikai; it's been dubbed `The Great Filing Mishap #5,126,982,456,321.'"

 

"What's with the random number?" Kuwabara questioned.

 

"Well, unfortunately, this is not the first time something like this has happened." Koenma answered lowly.

 

“It's not? Koenma-sama! When was this? Why don't I know about any others?” Botan questioned.

 

“Well, there have been quite a few incidents like this during the history of Reikai, but the worst by far was incident #5,126,982,456,320, which was a little over sixteen years ago. You had less security clearance back then, Botan, and it's our policy to keep information on these situations limited to a need-to-know basis.” Koenma answered the girl before continuing his explanation. “Anyway, it was a situation similar to what happened a few days ago. It started small; just a missing file for a reincarnated soul. Soon it escalated. An unstamped judgment file here; an incorrectly filed judgment there. The sloppy attempts to quickly fix the problems only seemed to cause more problems, though. Incoming souls were delayed their judgment as most of the department sorted through all the papers to separate the judged and unjudged.”

 

"If this has happened so often, why hasn't Reikai improved its organization by now?" Hiei scoffed.

 

Koenma's face burned bright crimson at the accusatory tone. "Although it may seem like it's happened often enough for there to be a system to follow, unfortunately that isn't the case. And besides, these last two times were really the worst cases. All the other incidents were fixed easily according to the history books." he answered quickly before continuing his previous explanation.

 

“Now, as you may or may not know, the responsibility of judgment approval rests completely on my shoulders. It is my responsibility to review each individual case and decide what happens to their soul. Most ningen souls will go to one of the least severe of the seven hells to await reincarnation. Some go to the deeper levels along with the youkai, and are either sentenced to wait longer for reincarnation, or are refused it completely. A few are occasionally appointed to positions in Reikai; usually that only happens after a soul has gone through many incarnations and has basically completed their life lessons. This isn't to say they're perfect, mind you, just that they've gained all they can from a life in Ningenkai.”

 

“Okay, we get it. Most of that we already knew anyway. Would you get on with it?” Yuusuke snapped.

 

“Patience, Yuusuke, I'm getting to it.” Koenma assured him. He continued, “Okay, so all that is my responsibility, but I quickly realized that, if I tried to do it all myself, things would get even more backed up. So I delegated some of it to a few of the oni that were doing the sorting. Unfortunately, having no previous training in the matter, they didn't do the best job, and many souls were judged improperly. Mostly, the mistakes were easily caught when the souls were being escorted to one hell or another, but I think there were some reincarnations that were approved that probably should've been denied.”

 

“Wait, you think? You don't know for sure?” Yuusuke exclaimed incredulously.

 

“Yes, well, you see… it was a rather large mix-up, to say the least, and even once it was over, it was never truly resolved. Over the years, I've been suspicious of the souls of a few evil humans, wondering if they're one of the ones that were accidentally reincarnated. That's the whole reason Reikai employees of certain rank now have to go through a training course called Judgment of the Soul, so they at least know the basics if they're temporarily needed to help out.”

 

Yuusuke exhaled loudly in frustration, “That's great and all, Koenma; really informative. But what does all this have to do with Kagome?”

 

Koenma merely ignored the boy as he continued, “As I said before, the whole incident started with one lost reincarnation file. A reincarnation file that had been approved. Once all the sorting was said and done, I fully expected that the file would be found. Approval-stamped reincarnation files don't normally just disappear into thin air, after all. At the end of the three days that it took to sort it all out, however, the file still hadn't been found. I received 200 spankings for that file alone, besides what I was given for letting inexperienced oni handle judgments. We never did find out what happened to the file, though there were suspicions and rumors that a Reikai employee had been disloyal and stolen the file for a youkai. Nothing was ever confirmed, though a few of the suspicious employees had never returned since that first day it went missing.”

 

Hiei had had enough. His displeasure with Koenma beating around the bush showed openly on his face. He was on the verge of a Yuusuke-esque outburst of `Get to the damn point' when Kurama spoke.

 

“Why was that one reincarnation file so important, Koenma?” the crimson-locked boy asked.

 

Koenma looked Kurama in the eyes, “That's exactly the point I was getting to, Kurama. The reincarnation that had been approved was no ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill ningen reincarnation. It was the soul of a powerful miko that had met a tragic end centuries ago. In fact, it was so tragic that she had not been able to let go of her bitterness and anger for 500 years. Everytime she would come up for review, she was denied reincarnation. That year, though, she had a sudden change in her. She was at peace with her past and ready to move on, and her reincarnation was finally approved. Due to her immense reiki that still coursed through her soul, however, it was standard procedure to keep a close eye on her reincarnation. But, because the file was lost, we were not able to do so.

 

We did all we could to find her. The Ningenkai monitors were under constant surveillance the first five years after the incident, watching for any signs of where the miko had been reincarnated, but nothing ever showed up. Eventually, it was decided that the reiki had gone into dormancy when the soul entered its new body, and the search for the miko was officially closed.”

 

Emerald eyes grew wide with realization as the point of the story dawned on Kurama. Realization slowly seeped into the brains of the others as Kurama began speaking, “And you believe that Kagome may be that reincarnated miko.” It was a statement, not a question. He and Youko both knew they were correct in their assumption.

 

“Hai,” came the confirmation from behind the pacifier. "The levels we've been picking up from her are close to the miko's, and she's the right age to be the reincarnation, as well."

 

“Well, that explains why there are no records of Kagome in Reikai. And, now that I think about it, I do remember an awfully slow week for us spirit guides all those years ago.” Botan stated. “So do you think my theory is correct about her living at that shrine we located in Tokyo?”

 

“Hai,” Koenma repeated.

 

“If she's from a shrine family, why did her powers take so long to show up?” Kuwabara wondered aloud, “I mean, you would think she would be undergoing training to strengthen her reiki in the first place, and if she's got all that reiki from the miko in her, it'd already be pretty strong.”

 

“In theory, that's true, Kuwa-chan,” Botan explained, holding up her index finger to get everyone's attention as she made her point, “But do you remember how I told you that the keeper of that shrine was found to have extremely low reiki levels?”

 

Three heads nodded. Hiei simply stared unblinkingly at the girl, waiting for her to continue.

 

“Well, it wasn't just low; it was barely detectable. I don't think that shrine family has trained their powers for generations! And if that's so, that could be another reason it took so long for Kagome-chan's reiki to surface.”

 

`But what caused it to surface?' Kurama pondered to himself.

 

`He did say it could have been brought on by stress.' Hiei offered.

 

(Hai, but the normal pressures of human adolescence are not usually so intense that they could bring about such a sudden burst of power. She must have undergone something more life-changing than the physical and emotional trials of puberty.)

 

`She didn't seem surprised by the attack on the beach, and she showed no hesitation when she was fighting the youkai. Perhaps she had a confrontation with a youkai, causing her reiki to awaken?'

 

(That is certainly a possibility. Maybe Koenma would know something about that. We should ask him.)

 

`I think I can ask him on my own, thanks, Youko.'

 

`I agree with the kit, fox. It would be best if you left the talking to Kurama.'

 

"Koenma," Kurama finally said aloud, "is it possible a confrontation with a youkai may have brought on the awakening of her powers?"

 

"You know, Kurama, you have a good idea there. We won't know for sure until we get the Kagome girl in custody, though. That would also seem to explain why she knows about youkai in the first place. It doesn't explain why she seems to have an inu-youkai as a companion, though." Koenma answered.

 

(He has a point there.)

 

'Aa, that he does.'

 

"It also doesn't explain why she is already seemingly accustomed to being attacked and fighting." Hiei added.

 

"Yeah, and speaking of which," Yuusuke broke in, "what the hell is up with the Makai barrier? There've been all these breakouts lately, but they seem pretty random to me." Yuusuke questioned.

 

"I haven't noticed any kind of pattern yet, either. Even the location of each breakout seems random." added Kurama.

 

Koenma shook his head with a look of apology, "I don't have any new information on the Makai situation, yet. I have a feeling that it's somehow connected to Kagome, however."

 

"Right, so how do we find her?" Yuusuke asked.

 

"As Botan said, we believe she may live at the same shrine that we investigated that first day the reiki showed up. The investigators didn't report seeing a teenage girl on the property, but Kagome may have been away at the time. In fact, she could have already left for the beach by the time they got there."

 

"That could explain it. Also, if the youkai are connected to Kagome in some way, perhaps that is why the barrier problem moved from Tokyo to the beach." Kurama suggested.

 

Leaping to his feet, Yuusuke exclaimed, "Okay, so show us where this shrine is already!"

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

"Just our luck," Yuusuke grumped, kicking an empty soda can down the sidewalk, "Everyone was asleep at that shrine!"

 

"Well, it is almost one in the morning, Yuusuke." Kurama reminded him.

 

"Yeah, well, it woulda been nice if we coulda finished this case tonight."

 

"The girl wasn't there anyway." Hiei remarked.

 

Kuwabara looked skeptical, "How do you know that, shorty?"

 

"Simple," He explained, rolling his eyes before closing them boredly. "While you three were politely knocking and waiting, I slipped in an open window and checked for her. I found an old man—"

 

"—most likely the shrine keeper Botan told us about." Kurama interjected.

 

"—a middle-aged woman, and a cat." Hiei continued as if he hadn't noticed the interruption.

 

"Great, so this probably isn't the shrine she lives in anyway," Yuusuke complained.

 

“I believe it was,” said Kurama, “I picked up what I believe to be her and Inuyasha's scents around the shrine grounds.”

 

"I can't tell you if it is for sure, but I can tell you there were two empty bedrooms; most likely one for a girl and one for a boy, judging from the way the rooms were decorated. And I can give you this..." Hiei replied, handing Yuusuke a photo. "That was pinned on a corkboard in the empty girl's bedroom."

 

"Guys, look at this," Yuusuke said, stopping suddenly. Kurama and Kuwabara stopped and walked back to him. Hiei stayed where he was a few paces ahead. He already knew what was in the photo.

 

"That looks like Kagome-chan and Inuyasha!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

 

"Aa, but who are the other three?" Yuusuke wondered.

 

"More friends of theirs, obviously," Kurama answered.

 

'Hmm,' he thought, 'they look like some sort of cosplay group.'

 

(Cosplay?) Youko asked derisively. (Are they not a bit old to be playing dress-up?)

 

`That little guy did a pretty good job, you have to admit, Youko.'

 

(Aa, if not for the fact that this is a modern instant photograph, I would believe he was the real thing.) Youko commented approvingly. (It has been a couple centuries since I have seen a kit at all, though, let alone around humans in Ningenkai. I wonder what they were cosplaying for.)

 

'Some anime, most likely. Those look like the type of characters that would be in an anime.'

 

"Well, I guess if Kagome's still not home, back to the beach we go!" Yuusuke exclaimed, unaware of Kurama's internal conversation. He pulled out the compact communicator. "Oi, Botan, come take us back to the beach!"

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

"Damn, it's been over a week, and still no sign of them," Yuusuke exclaimed, falling heavily onto one of the hotel room couches, "Any word from Kurama and Hiei yet?"

 

"No, not since yesterday." Kuwabara answered.

 

"One of us better find her soon. There's barely a week left of summer break. I'd like to enjoy what's left of it while I have the chance."

 

"And there's nothin' to do now that Yukimura-san came and took Keiko-chan back home a few days ago, eh, Urameshi?" Kuwabara teased, poking his friend in the side with his elbow.

 

"At least I'm not hangin' out with my sister all the time." Yuusuke teased back.

 

The boys' friendly banter was close to becoming an argument when Hiei and Kurama stepped into the room. Their attention was immediately on the kitsune and fire apparition.

 

"Ohayo, Yuusuke, Kuwabara-kun," Kurama greeted.

 

Yuusuke glanced out the windows before looking back to Kurama, "What're you talkin' about, 'ohayo'? It's still night."

 

"Technically, it is after midnight, and therefore morning. In fact, it is almost three in the morning, so—"

 

"Okay, okay, ohayo. Jeez you didn't hafta explain your greeting like it was a test question or somethin'. This isn't school, y'know, Kurama."

 

"Any sign of the girl?" Hiei put an end to their useless argument.

 

Yuusuke exhaled heavily, "Iie." He looked at the two youkai, "So, I take it you haven't found her, either." It was not a question.

 

"Just the same mother, son, and grandfather that have been there since we followed that silver van back to Tokyo the day after she disappeared." Kurama replied. "Not even the three girls and one boy you pointed out to us on the beach have been back. They came to the shrine a few days after Kagome left, looking for her. The family said she was sick and couldn't have visitors."

 

"That's strange, why wouldn't they just tell them she wasn't there?" Yuusuke wondered.

 

"Perhaps she is somewhere they don't want anyone to know about." Kurama offered. "They certainly went through enough trouble keeping information from us. Even the mother and grandfather had excuses for avoiding us."

 

"Yeah, and that Souta kid wouldn't even acknowledge that she was his sister." Yuusuke remembered. "Any hint as to where she might be, yet?"

 

"We've overheard the family talking about 'when Kagome gets back,' but never where she's getting back from." Hiei answered.

 

Kurama confirmed Hiei's statement, "Hai, and they don't seem to know when she's coming back, either. Her mother believes she'll at least be back for the first day of school, which, I overheard her say, starts back the same day as ours, but she's not sure if Kagome will 'be back for supplies' before then. Yesterday, she came home, apparently from shopping, and told Souta she had 'stocked up for Kagome.' She asked him to get the supplies ready for Kagome to take with her."

 

Hiei spoke then, "I was able to spy the boy as he put Kagome's supplies into a separate bag. It was an odd assortment of supplies."

 

"Like what?" Kuwabara asked.

 

"There were normal things a ningen might need on a regular basis, like shampoo, soap, and toothpaste. There were also several packages of instant ramen, pocky and cans of soft drinks. But then there were also first aid supplies—"

 

"That's not that weird, especially if she's gone on another trip before the summer break ends." Yuusuke interrupted.

 

Kurama shook his head at the boy, "It wouldn't be weird if it was a normal assortment of first aid supplies, but it wasn't just bandages, antibacterial spray, and pain reliever, Yuusuke."

 

"So what else was there?"

 

Hiei continued, "There were also several packages of gauze and tape, instant coldpacks, splints, slings, and a manual on first aid, CPR, and how to treat serious wounds."

 

Kuwabara chimed in, "Well, that's like that saying, 'Better safe than sorry,' right?"

 

"I would probably think that, as well, Kuwabara-kun, if not for what Hiei heard him say while he was packing it."

 

They looked at the Jaganshi once more, questioningly.

 

Hiei entertained the idea of remaining silent. He was not usually so forthcoming with so much information, and it was becoming quite irritating to him. But he knew the more information they had, the more likely this case would be resolved soon. Giving in to the questioning looks, he answered, "He was commenting on how amazing it is that Kagome is always able to fit it all in her backpack, and he said he couldn't believe how quickly she runs out of that stuff."

 

"What could she be doing that she'd run out of things like that on a regular basis?" Yuusuke asked.

 

"I think we can add that to the list of questions we will ask her when we finally find her." Kurama answered.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Kurama took off the complimentary yukata he had donned after his shower and laid it over a chair, pulling silky boxers on before searching for clean clothes to wear. He hadn't been at the hotel much, only coming around to keep Yuusuke and Kuwabara updated and take the occasional shower, as he had tonight; and he hadn't been home for even longer, so he hadn't been able to get his laundry done. In fact, his laundry hadn't been washed since they had first arrived on the beach. Finally, Kurama found a light blue, long-sleeved shirt, his dark red fighting tunic with yellow trim and sash, and a pair of dark blue pants, and dressed.

 

Gathering his laundry, Kurama noticed an odd scent. 'Nani?' Searching through the clothing, he found the jacket he had worn over a week ago. The jacket he had worn the day before the beach incident, in fact. The jacket he had used to wrap up a bloody shirt he had found in an alley dumpster. A jacket that now smelled strongly of inu. And not just any inu; inu-hanyou. 'Why didn't I smell it before?'

 

(There was no scent on it before. It smelled metallic like blood, but nothing that would connect it with a certain person, creature, or youkai. As if it was intentionally covered up.)

 

'By a spell?'

 

(That I cannot say for sure. I do not know much about miko spells, which is obviously what it would be if it is a spell.)

 

'Why do you say that, Youko?'

 

(We have been searching for a girl with a lot of reiki, who may be the reincarnation of a powerful miko. We find the girl, Kagome, who seemingly keeps company with a silver-haired youkai named Inuyasha. An inu-hanyou scent suddenly appears on a bloody shirt we found several days ago after a suspected youkai-attempted-kidnapping. An attempt during which we smelled an inu scent trailing after the youkai and the girl, and after which we saw Kagome with a shirtless Inuyasha. Do you see a pattern here, Kurama?)

 

'Kagome must've been the girl they tried to kidnap. Inuyasha probably got hurt during the attempt and had to get rid of the bloody shirt in order to not call attention to himself once they were around other people, ' Kurama realized. 'He had a pink band tied around his arm; that must've been part of the dress Kagome was wearing. Judging from her mother's choice in first aid supplies, we already suspect she must be used to treating wounds like what he might've had.'

 

(And if she is used to doing all that to take care of him, there is no reason to believe she doesn't also cast spells to conceal his scent and youki. No wonder he has been able to hide in Ningenkai. The spell must have worn off over time, and that is why we can smell it now.) Youko spoke this bitterly. It was obvious the girl cared about the inu-hanyou if she would go to such lengths for him. Youko did not like that idea one bit.

 

Now was not the time for such thoughts or discussions, however, so Kurama ignored Youko's tone. 'I suppose we should tell the others that we know Inuyasha is an inu-hanyou, now, before Hiei and I go back to watching the shrine.' Picking up the bag with his laundry in it, which he would drop off at his mother's house before returning to the shrine, Kurama left his hotel bedroom to join Hiei and the others in the living area. He left the jacket with the bloody shirt out. That, he would give to Botan, so that she could take it to Koenma as evidence... or whatever Koenma did with those types of things.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

"Okay, so this Inuyasha guy is an inu-hanyou, not a full inu-youkai," Yuusuke said after Kurama finished telling them what he'd realized. "And the youkai are after Kagome for some reason?"

 

"Aa." Kurama nodded his head once. "Haven't you noticed, this whole time we haven't been able to find her, there have been no escaped youkai on the monitors?"

 

"Shit, this is gonna turn into a babysitting job once we do find her, isn't it?" Yuusuke complained. "Once we find her, Koenma's gonna make us be her personal bodyguards or some shit until we find out what's going on in Makai."

 

"Have any of you ever stopped to wonder what, exactly, Koenma wants her for in the first place?" Hiei asked suddenly.

 

"Come to think of it, no, I haven't." Yuusuke answered, scratching at his chin.

 

"You think he wants her to join the team?" Kuwabara suggested.

 

The dark-haired boy shrugged, "I don't know. Why don't we get Botan to find out?" Noticing Botan wasn't in the room, Yuusuke went searching for her. "Oi, where is that girl? She was here earlier."

 

"She wasn't in the room with Shizuru tonight." Kuwabara told him.

 

"Che, probably off annoying people in Reikai for once," Yuusuke laughed.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

"Well, Koenma-sama? What are your intentions for Kagome-chan?" Botan asked her boss. They were watching the scene at the hotel through Reikai video surveillance.

 

"I don't know yet, Botan. All I'm concerned with right now is fixing something that went wrong sixteen years ago. If I can get Kikyou-sama's reincarnation back on file and under surveillance, father will surely be quite pleased with me." The pint-sized ruler beamed behind his pacifier. `From what the boys have told me of her powers, it is a possibility I will offer her a job working for Reikai, but not until I've seen her powers for myself.' He said to himself.

 

"Koenma-sama, what about the Makai situation? Do you think Kurama is right and it has something to do with Kagome-chan?" The blue-haired girl asked.

 

"That is a possibility, Botan. He's right that we haven't picked up anymore youkai on the Ningenkai monitors. What he doesn't know is that Kagome's reiki hasn't shown up on the monitors either."

 

"Perhaps she knew they were after her and went into hiding? Maybe that's why she needs those supplies. But why would her mother be so carefree about it? Unless she doesn't know what's really going on, either."

 

"True, but if her mother doesn't know, what reason would she have to lie to Kagome's friends?"

 

Botan didn't have an answer for that. There were still more questions than answers, it seemed.

 

"Whatever the reason may be," Koenma spoke again, "I think it's obvious that we won't find Kagome until she comes home. Tell the boys that three of them need to start their investigation to find out who in Makai is after Kagome. One of them watching the girl's house should be enough, though you should probably make sure either Kurama or Hiei are the one to do it, since they're stealthier."

 

Botan nodded her understanding, "Hai, Koenma-sama!"

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

It was almost 6 in the morning. Yuusuke had only gotten home three hours before from spending a week in Makai, and could have slept at least another day or two, let alone the hour left on his alarm, but he was awoke suddenly by Hiei leaping into his open window.

 

"Whatever it is, it can wait." The teen grumbled before turning over and pulling the covers over his head. After a few minutes of silence, he groaned and sat up, glaring at the fire apparition still perched in his window. 'I don't think I'm makin' it to the first day back to school, Keiko.' he thought to himself. Sighing in defeat, he spoke again, "Okay, Hiei, what is it? I'm gonna be in big trouble with Keiko today, aren't I—damn, what happened to you?" Yuusuke was surprised to see Hiei had a black eye and a few gashes that looked like claw marks on his shoulders.

 

"The girl has returned." was Hiei's only reply before he leapt back out the window.

 

End Chapter 10

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Words First Appearing in Chapter Ten:

chibi: little, small, etc.; generally used to describe children, or people that act or look childlike

aa: yeah

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

A/N: Just letting you guys know, as of the next chapter, this will be rated NC-17 on MM, and a “cleaner” version will be on FF due to rating restrictions there. Those of you that may want to check out the other versions can find them at

http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/view_st.php/83734/ 1 and

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2178355/1 / (remove spaces), respectively. Oh yeah, also, chapter 9 set a new personal record for me for reviews… a total of 12 altogether, plus a request to host it on another site that's just for Inuyasha crossovers! When she lets me know it's up, I'll post about it in my author's notes. ^____^

 

MM . org review replies:

 

Ryukotsusei and tbiris: Thanks for being such loyal readers! Glad you liked that last chapter. Hope I didn't disappoint with this one.

 

kitsuneluvuh: Hahaha! I love both your reviews. ^____^ Gotta love a review that mentions cracking a whip and bishounen tied up and gagged *smirk*. Yeah, anyway, the whip thing is really funny cuz I say that a lot to my friends who also write, and when I'm typing while on YIM I have a status message with a whip cracking at me. LOL! So, yeah, just thought I'd share that cuz it's too funny you said it as well. Okay, on to my actual response. Yes, technically Inuyasha isn't a teenager by human standards, but by demon standards he is. I believe I read that Takahashi-sama wanted him to be like a 15-year-old (I've also read 17, but either way…), so when I call him a teen it's meant as a characterization of maturity/looks rather than actual age. Saying this, I also realize he can sometimes act more mature than a normal teen, but he's still got that kind of mentality/temperament for the most part. Anyway, hope that clears that up for ya! ^___^ Oh, btw, could ya let me borrow Inuyasha and Kurama for just a bit? I promise you can go back to torturing them later. :P

 

kawaiipie007: Thanks for the enthusiastic review! Glad you like it so much!! Don't worry; I will definitely keep at it, even if it takes awhile between updates.

 

Shabopo: Yayzies! I know how you feel about the whole “let's sit down with a group of strangers and tell them our best-kept secrets just for the hell of it” scenarios. It's not very believable for any of them. Thanks for reviewing!

 

Eartha: Thank you for the review! ^_____^ I love hearing that my story is the exception for some people when it comes to not usually reading crossovers!! I don't know if you guys even know how great that feels, so thank you so much. Also, I'm glad you think Youko's thing for Kags makes it interesting; things will be getting even more interesting later on… and that's all I'll say for now. *evil smirk* For now, keep reading and I'll keep writing!!

 

TheStatue: Oooh, another person curious about the pairings. But you actually have a few different ideas about what could happen, which is cool. It almost makes me want to spill the beans, but… nah. What I will say, though, is yes, there will be pairings in this fic. When I first started it, I hadn't decided what they would be, if any, but after the first few chapters I'd made up my mind. So just keep reading and hopefully you, and everyone else, will be cool with what I'm planning…

 

TheAlmightyAya-sama: Thanks! More is in the making!!

 

FF . net review replies:

 

Ookami666:Heheh… uh… welcies! Glad to hear you'll stick 'til the end… and don't worry, it's looking to be a bit epic still. I'm not sure yet exactly how long it'll be, but definitely past 20 chapters, if not longer.

 

montrith: Niiiiiiiice… another uberly long review. :D Well, as you can see, the Tantei didn't go down the Well. I do have plans for the Well in the future, but as for what those plans are… well you'll just hafta be patient. :P And, OMGoddess, I did a happy dance when you mentioned my choice in villain! You're the first person besides one of my betas to say anything about her. *continues dancing while husband giggles at me*

 

Kagome-reincarnation: *gasp* *shock* Look another new chapter! I will surely try to keep up my quality of work, as I'm a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like that. And, yeppers, chapter 8 was 35 pages, though that was in Word with the text size on 14 so I can actually read it, lol.

 

To all my reviewers: *hands out strawberry pocky* Love you guys bunches! You can tell cuz you get the strawberry pocky, which I normally horde. ^____~

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