InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Unexpected Ally ❯ Artifacts of Ages ( Chapter 15 )

Unexpected Ally

 

Disclaimer: YYH belongs to Yoshihiro Tagashi; IY belongs to Rumiko Takahashi; Unfortunately, I am neither one of them. Pity me!

 

Chapter Fifteen: Artifacts of Ages

 

The sun was already down on the other side of the well, and no stars shone through the cloud-filled sky. Kagome peered through the darkness, letting her eyes adjust as she sat on the edge of the well after climbing out of it.

 

“Inuyasha!” she called, knowing it was most likely in vain. Her voice echoed into the night, giving her the feeling she was the only person in the world. She shivered at the thought as she stood, eyes finally adjusting to the darkness.

 

“Mou, Inuyasha, why are you always so difficult?” she mumbled to herself as she entered Inuyasha no Mori. Stumbling along in the darkness, she slowly made her way through the forest. Every few trees she passed, Kagome called out his name again.

 

Finally, she came to the place they first met; Goshinboku. Frowning up into the empty branches, Kagome breathed a sigh of frustration as she leaned her back against the tree and slid down to sit on the ground.

 

After a few minutes' rest, she stood again, and looked at the tree once more as she brushed grass off her butt. She stared at the scarred bark of the tree, remembering all that had happened during that first day.

 

Kagome rolled her eyes at herself. “I don't have time to get sentimental,” she mumbled to herself. Then she took a deep breath and yelled into the darkness, “Inuyasha! You may not think it matters, but I am going to school tomorrow. I don't have time to wait around here for you all night!” The end of her declaration echoed through the apparently empty forest. She listened for movement, response, even a telltale, `Keh!' but there was nothing.

 

Kagome concentrated on her senses, but didn't feel Inuyasha's familiar youki either. Continuing her trek through the woods, she eventually came to the river she usually bathed in when they stayed in Kaede's village. There was no sign of her hanyou there either. Kagome growled in frustration and decided to check the village. It was eerily quiet as she walked through the empty paths, nearing Kaede's hut. She knocked on the frame that the tatami mat `door' hung from and was soon greeted by the old miko.

 

“Kagome, back so soon? I was not expecting you back for a few more days.”

 

“I know, Kaede-baa-chan, I'm not officially back yet. I was just wondering if Inuyasha had been here?”

 

“Inuyasha? No, I have not seen him. Why, did something happen?”

 

Kagome waved her hands from side to side, shaking her head as she said, “Oh, no, it's fine. He just got upset about something silly and came back through the well. I already checked the forest and by the river bank, so I thought I'd check here.”

 

“Ah, I see,” the old woman said knowingly. Inuyasha and Kagome were both well-known by now for their petty arguments and quick tempers. It most likely was something silly as the girl had said. “Well, do not worry, Kagome. I am sure he will come back once he is calmed down. He always does.”

 

Kagome nodded, then looked around the inside of the hut. She and Kaede were the only ones here. “Where is everyone?”

 

Kaede looked up from a basket of herbs she was separating to peer around the room as well. “Oh, a messenger came today from a village nearby, asking for help from the famous band that had defeated Naraku. Apparently, many youkai have started terrorizing the country again since Naraku has been gone. You all have made quite the name for yourselves in Musashi and the village sent the messenger to hire you for protection,” the old miko had a glint of pride in her eye as she looked at Kagome, before turning her attention back to her herbs. “Miroku-dono and Sango accepted the offer, and Kohaku and Shippou went along with them and Kirara.”

 

“Wow, so they took a job protecting a village? Do you think they'll be needed long?” Kagome wondered.

 

“I know not how long they will be gone.” Kaede answered, shaking her head. “The messenger did say the area had become rather overrun with youkai. However, I do know where the village is, so you and Inuyasha can join them when you do return together.”

 

“Okay,” Kagome said, “Well, anyway, where's Myouga-jii-chan? Maybe he'd have an idea where Inuyasha could be.”

 

Kaede set aside her now-empty basket and picked up another one full of various plants and herbs, continuing to separate them into like piles. “I have not seen Myouga since the others left. I imagine he fled in the opposite direction of the supposed danger, though.”

 

“As usual,” the girl remarked dryly.

 

The old miko nodded.

 

“Well, Kagome, since you are here, would you care to have some tea with me?”

 

“Well…” Kagome hesitated, “I really need to get back before too long. I still have school tomorrow and Mama and Jii-chan will be wondering where I am.”

 

“Okay, child, I understand.” Kaede nodded, “If I see Inuyasha, I will tell him you were looking for him and try to send him back to you.”

 

“Arigatou, Kaede-baa-chan.”

 

The two said their goodbyes and Kagome once again returned to her time through the well.

 

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

 

Amber eyes glowed in the darkness as Inuyasha watched Kagome jump back down the well. He felt a twinge of loneliness as he realized she'd finally given up her search for him. He'd spent most of his time so far staying out of the range of her senses, but now he was only a couple hundred feet away in the woods, and it seemed she still hadn't sensed him. `Keh, whatever,' he said to himself, `It's about time that damn wench stopped bothering me. I couldn't even relax in my tree with her here.' The hanyou then leapt into Goshinboku and got comfortable, trying to ignore his feelings of loneliness by replacing it with his anger over the day's events.

 

First he'd woke to that damn kitsune on Kagome's family's shrine grounds, and then he was attacked by him and that black-haired midget. Next, Kagome actually agreed to meet with them and answer their questions. `And that went so well, didn't it, Kagome?' He rolled his eyes to no one in particular, seeing as he was alone, save whatever animals made their homes in his forest. `You had to go and tell them too much, and then that baby goes and calls you Kikyou.'

 

This was working; he was quickly forgetting any pangs of sadness as his temper began to boil, thinking of those Reikai fools. “And how the fuck do they know about Kikyou?!!” he exclaimed, slamming his fist against the trunk of the tree as his words echoed into the night. A few animals scurried away at the noise, and scared birds took flight.

 

Just as Inuyasha's thoughts began to turn toward the next chain of events, and, inevitably, Kagome's `rescue' by Yukio, there was a call up into the branches of Goshinboku.

 

“Inuyasha,” the old, gravelly voice said, “I know you are there, so do not even try ignoring me.”

 

“What do you want, Kaede-baba?” the inu-hanyou asked, shifting his position on his branch so his legs were dangling off the side as he glared down at her with a look of annoyance.

 

“I know you know Kagome was here. I will not ask why you are avoiding her, or what happened between you two, but I do wish you would go back to her time. She is worried about you.”

 

Her words sparked his interest, and he, a little too eagerly, asked, “She said that?”

 

“She did not have to. It was clear from her actions and the look on her face. If you could not tell from the fact that she searched all over these woods, in this darkness, you truly are an idiot.” With these words, the old woman left the hanyou with his thoughts.

 

“Keh!” Inuyasha grunted, returning to his former position reclining against the tree. “Worried about me? She doesn't need me. She's got her precious `Yuki-kun!'” Inuyasha grumbled, trying to ease his conscience.

 

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

 

Kagome entered her home and greeted her family, but quickly excused herself for the night, saying she'd already eaten and had homework to do. Once up in her room, she flopped facedown on her bed and groaned into her pillow.

 

`Damn that Inuyasha! Making me chase after him all over the forest in the dark… and I didn't even find him! What's hisproblem anyway? He has no right to be upset about Yukio, especially after all the times I've caught him with Kikyou! And I didn't even kiss Yukio back!' She turned over to lie staring at the ceiling. `He always does this, though; gets jealous over any guys I'm friends with. But it's not like I'm his. It's not like he has any claim on me whatsoever. It's clear he's still not over Kikyou, and probably never will be, so I have every right to be kissed by other boys… and to kiss them back!' She frowned in anger and nodded her head forcefully once in agreement with her own thoughts. Then her eyes softened into a kind of sadness, and she turned to her side, one hand cradling her head while the other lay in front of her, parallel to her body. `He'll never be ready to be with me and just me, I already know that. I'll always be Kikyou's reincarnation to him; there's no way to ignore that fact. I need to just move on… if only he would let me.'

 

Not too long after these thoughts, Kagome was asleep, a small shimmer of unshed tears held between her closed lashes.

 

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

 

Once again, the four tantei were sitting in Koenma's office, waiting for more light to be shed on the case they were working on. They didn't have to wait long, however, as the miniature ruler soon came through the door, followed by his loyal servant, the oni George. Both carried files in their arms, though Koenma's load was much lighter than the oni's. Koenma carried a single, thick file, whereas George could barely see over his stack.

 

Koenma sat at his desk, placing the file in front of him, and directed George to set his pile on the last little bit of clear space on the desk. The rest of the desk was littered with stacks of file folders at least a foot high, and there were several boxes filled with more files stacked on the floor on either side of the desk. The four tantei, Botan, and George watched and waited in anticipation as Koenma opened the file folder he'd carried in, flipped slowly through the pages, closed it, and clasped his hands over it. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, preparing to give them this new information.

 

“Oh, enough with the dramatics, already, just tell us why you brought us here, ya damn baby!” Yuusuke demanded exasperatedly, leaning forward in his chair to glare over the papers at Koenma. It had been a long, unfulfilling day, and his already low patience and short temper had reached their limit.

 

“Calm down, Yuusuke, I was just about to,” Koenma replied without concern, and reopened the folder. Once more, he stared down at the papers contained within.

 

“Do you have information on the Artifacts of Ages?” Kurama ventured.

 

Koenma glanced up at the kitsune boy, “As a matter of fact, Kurama, I do.” He said nothing further as he began to flip through the papers again, seemingly rereading.

 

“Well,” Hiei began shortly, exasperation coming into his voice a bit as well, “Do you intend to tell us, or simply continue to stare at that like an idiot?”

 

Koenma acted as if he hadn't heard, and continued to look through the papers until he again was done and closed the folder. Finally he looked at his detectives.

 

“I have just come from an audience with my father, and I believe I have new information that may be vital to this case.” Koenma looked straight at Hiei, mouth pursed like he was about to continue, but instead he paused. Mouth agape and pacifier barely stuck to his lip, he asked, “What happened to you?!”

 

Hiei's brow went up in question, before remembering the state he and Kurama had been in most of the day now. With all that had happened, he'd almost forgotten about his injuries from their sparring. “Hn,” was all he said, and barely gestured a nod in Kurama's direction.

 

Koenma turned to the kitsune to see he also was injured, though just a cut and some bruising at the corner of his mouth rather than the black eye Hiei sported.

 

At the look Koenma gave him then, Kurama smiled and sweatdropped, glad Koenma couldn't see the injuries under their clothes, “Early morning spar.” From the corner of his eye, Kurama saw Botan's curious look turn to a mild understanding. He thought she must have been wondering since she'd first seen them earlier in Ningenkai, but hadn't wanted to ask in front of Hiei or Inuyasha. Kami, she probably even thought it was Inuyasha that had happened, just as the others had at first.

 

Koenma raised a curious brow but said no more about it, turning back to address Hiei finally. “You are positive Kagome-sama said `Inuyasha's time,' correct?” The honorific on Kagome's name did not go unnoticed, by anyone in the room.

 

Hiei quirked a brow at the question before scowling in discontent over once again being questioned on his Jagan's accuracy. Koenma evidently took this as his answer, and continued.

 

“Because of this new information, and Kurama—or, rather I believe, Youko's—” Kurama tipped his head in a semi-nod, confirming this, as Koenma continued, “—suspicions about the Artifacts of Ages being involved with this somehow, I consulted my father about the Artifacts today. I have since learned much that I hope will be of use to you.” He patted the folder in front of him.

 

“Oh, Koenma-sama, will you just get on with it?!!” Botan ignored the surprised looks her outburst received, already too tired from going through so many files, as Koenma had requested before he'd met with King Enma, to have the patience for his long drawn out answers.

 

Koenma looked taken aback by the blue-haired girl, then looked as though he would reprimand her, but instead merely continued, “Yes, well, it seems that the Artifacts do still exist as Youko suggested earlier. The truth of their continued existence, and the reasons for it, has been a sealed and closely guarded secret of my father, Enma-Daioh-sama, and his close personal advisors for nearly five centuries. Even I was kept in the dark about this until today.”

 

“What are these Artifacts, exactly, anyway?” Yuusuke wondered. “I mean, they're the Artifacts of Ages, and they have something to do with time travel. I get that. But what are they, exactly? How do they work, what were they made for?”

 

(Quite the curious kitten, suddenly.) Youko commented to Kurama.

 

Kurama allowed for a small smirk, though only Hiei noticed. Everyone else was interested in the answer to Yuusuke's question as well.

 

Koenma cleared his throat and took a breath. “Ahem, the Artifacts of Ages were five items created from the five Trees of Ages. The Trees of Ages had existed since the dawn of time; since before history even began; and they had magical properties that manipulated time. The Trees produced no fruits, nuts, or seeds from which more could grow, and when wood was cut from the tree, new growth appeared almost spontaneously. The wood that was cut and used did retain a small amount of the Trees' magical properties, but they didn't last long and were not nearly as powerful as the Artifacts later turned out to be. The Artifacts were produced by the very Trees themselves, rather than by ningen or youkai. The Artifacts were: a decorative hair comb, a staff, a mask, the mouth of a well, and a bow. The Trees they came from were: The Tree of Youth; The Tree of Stopped Time; The Tree of Power; The Tree of Time Travel; and The Tree of Timing.”

 

Youko's invisible ears perked up at this new information. This was more than he'd ever heard before. Koenma must be actually telling them what he'd learned that day from the sealed records!!

 

`Settle down, kitsune, or I'll have to put the leash on.' Hiei said idly into their head.

 

Youko drooled mentally at Hiei and grinned, (Promise?)

 

Kurama and Hiei both rolled their eyes. Luckily for them, everyone was still looking at Koenma.

 

“What's with the dorky tree names?” Kuwabara asked.

 

Koenma huffed, “These are the names they're given in the records in order to identify them. Each Tree was named for its specific power. At the time this occurred, however, I believe each Tree was simply referred to as a `Tree of Ages.' Now, are there anymore questions, or may I continue?”

 

The question was met with attentive silence, and he continued.

 

“The comb from the Tree of Youth gave its wearer continued youthful beauty. It sprung forth from a low branch one day and dropped as if it were a fruit; a present. A young hime was there and happened to see it, and thought it was interesting. She liked it and kept it, and soon came to realize it was special somehow. She began wearing it all the time, but it was not until several years later that she came to realize, when looking in her reflection, that she did not look a day past her 16th year, when she had begun wearing it often. She had found it when she was 15, but had not often worn that comb at first. The hime was surprised to realize it must be the comb that had affected her that way, and began to become paranoid that others would notice she did not look her proper 24 years. She would be found out! They would steal her treasure and her youth! She became detached and soon did not care about her duties, her husband, or her villages.

 

She had no children. She barely gave that idea a chance as she neglected the husband her daimyo father had accepted for her. She began wandering about aimlessly, finally running away through the woods, in order to keep her precious comb safe.

 

Finally, she came upon a witch in a shack deep in the woods, who said she could help the hime with her plight: to keep her youth and beauty. She said, if the hime served her for five years, she would tell her how. In desperation, the hime agreed, and became the old woman's servant, doing whatever she was told. Mostly she was made to do chores for the woman, and fetch things from deep in the woods and from nearby villages, but occasionally she was also made to carry out orders to kill. Usually, it was only animals needed for food and potions, but sometimes the witch wanted humans as well.

 

The hime became accustomed to this over time, though, and soon her five years were up. The witch said she would finally tell the girl the secret. All she had to do was become a demon.

 

“But, I am ningen, baba, not youkai,” the young woman had spit out at the old witch.

 

The one-eyed woman grabbed the runaway hime's precious comb along with her hair and hissed, “Would you rather die now a ningen, and give me your youth and beauty then?!”

 

“No! No!! I'll do it, whatever it is, if I can keep my youth and beauty, I'll do as you say!” the hime cried.

 

“Riiiiight,” the old woman creaked. “Then first, I shall need your hair in exchange for this service.”

 

The hime gasped and tried to back away, holding her hair and shouting, “No! How can I keep my youth and beauty if I am bald? What use is my comb if I've no hair to keep it in?!”

 

The cockeyed woman suddenly opened her other eye to reveal a completely milky-white eye and took a step towards the girl with a beckoning, slightly-clawed finger to her chin, and croaked, “You shall have hair. It just will not beyour hair…”

 

The young hime became interested at this. She wasn't quite sure what that meant, but she was now willing to listen again.

 

The old witch said, in return for the price of her precious youthful hair, the witch would turn the hime into a demon. Her precious comb, that had become her talisman for her very self worth and reason to live, would become the vessel of her life force, and it would live in a skull that the witch had placed a special curse on to keep it protected. She would collect power for herself through collecting heads for their hair… she would run her gained youki through the hair to grow it and manipulate it, collecting the heads mainly around where the actual comb-containing skull was lurking, protecting itself. Yura's consciousness would be able to manipulate her beautiful, youthful body, but her life force would be forever frozen within that comb; her precious treasure.

 

Despite what these circumstances would mean, that her body would basically merely be a puppet for her to manipulate with hair, the hime accepted the witch's proposal, and gave her beautiful, coveted hair as payment. The witch later used the hair to make a concoction to restore her own youth and beauty, but that is another story entirely, and the hime did not know. The former hime, who would from then on be known as Yura of the Hair, was then contained in her comb until she had strands of hair to manipulate.

 

Unknown to her, during her five years of serving the witch, the old hag had been stealing her comb at night and loaning it to local villagers, who used it to brush the hair of the dead before they were to be buried. It was thought by the villagers that the powers of her comb would bring good luck to the departing souls, but instead the hair the comb collected gave power to the comb, just as the witch had expected it to. This is how it gained its evil youki and was able to be Yura's life force vessel once their pact was complete.

 

Once Yura's life force was contained within the comb, and the comb was placed in the red skull with a protection spell, her soul became even more corrupted than it already had been, through the evil of the comb. She became power hungry and bloodthirsty, and she had to kill to retain her promised youth and beauty. She found that the more beautiful the hair on the heads she collected was, the more beautiful she became. Her first victims' hair was used to replace the hair she'd paid to the witch, which mysteriously never grew back.

 

Yura soon had collected many heads, and was in control of many strands of hair that she ran her consciousness through. Her basically lifeless body had gone through many battles and wounds, even some that would have formerly been fatal, but Yura was able to use her hair to repair the puppet body and keep it as her personification. It was where her youth and beauty were stored, though her soul was in the comb.

 

“However, not much more than half a century after Yura was granted the `gift' of being a youkai,” Koenma said, “She and her comb tomb were destroyed… coincidentally by the user of both the welland the bow…”

 

Youko was still drooling, but now it was because of all the valuable information he was getting for free. This whole thing seemed to run much deeper than they'd originally thought…

 

“But she did not fight alone,” Koenma continued, “Though they never say the time traveler's name, we know it was a miko, because she used her reiki with her Tree of Timing bow. The other Artifact I said she used was the well… but she did not travel alone, at least not always. Just as she had not battled Yura of the Hair on her own, the miko had a hanyou with her. He is always referred to, only, as `the hanyou'.”

 

Now even Hiei was sounding excited to him, `Kurama, is any of this sounding familiar to you? Did you have any idea this ran this deep?'

 

Youko purred, (None, but I must say I am not disappointed. This is getting more and more interesting by the minute.)

 

`Indeed.'

 

Koenma was not yet done with his tale, and so continued telling them what his father had told him that very afternoon.

 

“The staff from the Tree of Stopped Time sprung forth out of the ground from the tree's roots. A young man on a journey found the staff and took it with him, soon realizing the staff's powers to stop time around him so the young man could travel wherever and whenever he wished without fear of bandits and other such evils that were lurking in the woods and on the roadside.

 

However, the young man became careless in when and where he used the staff, and drew attention to himself from a very powerful young inu-no-taiyoukai. The youkai, whose name is also not given, quickly disposed of the ningen and took the staff to an old weapons smith who used it to make an item called the Nintoujou, or Staff of Heads. The heads of a ningen man and woman were affixed atop the staff and the combined powers of these three things created an even more powerful artifact that was able to shoot fire, and used the time stopping properties in order to be able to open and enter other dimensions. This worked by creating a sort of time rift, where time stopped in one dimension in order to open another one without harming either world.

 

The staff was soon after entrusted to a toad imp that served as a vassal to the taiyoukai, and he wielded it almost exclusively from that point on.

 

Exactly what happened to the staff in the end is still unknown, though there are also hints in the sealed records that the Nintoujou was somehow involved in the separation of ningen and youkai and the creation of Makai. It gives no specific details on this, however, and I've come to suspect that perhaps the truth about that in particular is in yet another sealed record, most likely containing the true history of the barriers, that my father has yet to show me.

 

What is in the files, however, is the fact that the miko and the hanyou also came into contact with the Nintoujou. In fact, the hanyou was the taiyoukai's younger half-brother, and they were considered enemies; though, in all their fighting, neither was ever able to kill the other.

 

The wording of the records also seems to hint at there being more to their story as well, but again it does not go into detail.”

 

Koenma paused in his story and beckoned George to fetch him a glass of water, which he immediately drank from when it was handed to him. His thirst satisfied, he continued speaking to his raptly attentive audience.

 

“The mask of the Tree of Power has a slightly different story. Before the Tree produced the mask, a shard of a powerful gem was embedded into the bark. The tree formed the mask from its trunk, in the form of a Noh theater mask. The mask had the ability to give great power, as the Tree of Power's time manipulation allowed it to collect power from several generations through its roots, which grew through several dimensions of time from now until eternity; and the mask, too, gained these magical properties and lent them to its wearer.

 

The young boy that found the mask on the forest floor, though, was oblivious to the power contained within. He returned to his village with it and used it to play Noh theater with his friends.

 

However, the power of the mask, and the gem contained within, did not go unnoticed by everyone. Soon many youkai and apparitions were after it, drawn by the scent of power the mask and gem exuded. One night, as the boy slept, a bodiless evil apparition possessed the mask, hoping to gain the power of the shard within the wood, along with the power of the Artifact itself. When the boy used the mask again, the possessed mask ate his flesh to take over his body and merge with it, trying to gain a body of its own.

 

The village was plagued by the now-evil Nikuzuki no Men, or Mask of Flesh. Finally, a powerful monk was able to contain its evil, though he could not purge the apparition from the mask, and the Noh mask would not burn in order to be destroyed. It was kept by the remaining family of the boy, forever their heirloom and burden, and was left to them to keep it contained.

 

It seems this worked for nearly 400 years, until around the turn of the last century. A descendant of the family evidently wanted to be able to display the heirloom mask, and gave it to a local Shinto priest for exorcism, but he was unable to do more than renew the seals that were on it. So, the Noh mask was given over to the safekeeping of the shrine and evidently became heirloom and burden to yet another family, though this time it was a shrine family. It was kept safe in this family for nearly three generations before the Noh mask was awakened by the presence of another shard of the gem here in modern Tokyo.”

 

Koenma addressed the tantei, “Even you four may recall the reports we had coming in last year of a large youkai devouring many victims in the city? That, evidently, was the Noh mask after it had already gained much mass due to the flesh it had consumed. However, before Reikai could find it and get it contained, it was destroyed. The one the records say destroyed it… was none other than the hanyou, user of the well Artifact. Of course, he seemed to have been accompanied by the miko as usual. The only difference was, this time they were in modern day Tokyo, though the records say it was still the same hanyou and miko that had been in contact with the other Artifacts in the Sengoku Jidai. At the time, you four were busy with another assignment and I wasn't even informed of all these details; my father took care of all the cleaning and covering up.”

 

“Now you do know, though, Koenma-sama,” Botan said, sounding awed.

 

“Now, we all know,” Kurama remarked.

 

(...Indeed…) Youko was practically speechless. He could already see how this could all be coming together, though the hanyou and miko remained nameless. The constant appearance of the duo, the connection with the Artifacts, and even the existence of the as-yet-unexplained well Artifact, all seemed to point in the direction of Inuyasha and Kagome in his mind. Especially now that Koenma's story had moved on to present day.

 

“Yes,” Koenma agreed, “but this is not all. There are two remaining Artifacts to tell you about, and the story of the well has a small twist to it also.”

 

Everyone was still paying attention to the Junior ruler, a rare occurrence indeed, and Koenma continued.

 

“The well mouth of the Tree of Time Travel was a gift of the tree specifically for the village it grew near. The village was in the middle of a kind of youkai hot-spot, and was constantly under attack by all sorts of creatures. Though the village was also the birthplace of many a powerful miko, and therefore greatly protected, the excess of youkai corpses became a hideous, stinking, and disgusting problem very quickly. At first, they tried burying and burning the bodies. However, burying not only was time consuming, but impractical in that other youkai would be drawn by the bodies, digging them up in hopes to consume whatever power was left in the remains. Burning also took a long time, some of the bodies wouldn't even burn, and if they did they also attracted more youkai from the smell.

 

The village didn't know what to do, and they all hoped and prayed for an answer to come. Then one day, while the miko of the time was walking through the woods, she stopped to pay reverence to the sacred Tree of Ages in the middle of the forest.

 

It is said she lamented out loud about the village's predicament, and wished she had the wisdom of the trees to help her village. Then she touched the Tree's bark as she went to leave. As she turned around, she heard a couple loud noises behind her, and looked back quickly only to see two of the Tree's large branches now lying on the forest floor. When she inspected them, she saw they had not broken, nor did they look like they had been cut. In fact, they looked almost as if they had grown themselves right off of the tree, with both ends of each branch tapered and leaved.

 

Putting her hands on one of them to see if she could possibly lift it, as it was at least twice as long as she was tall, and three times as wide as her, she was suddenly dizzy and overcome with a vision. In her vision, she saw the branches being made into boards, and then shaped into the frame of a well. Next, her premonition flashed forward even more, and she saw the well frame put into the ground atop a newly-dug dry well. The next scene showed the villagers throwing a youkai corpse into the well, and the miko's vision sight followed the youkai down only to see it almost immediately decompose, becoming bone and then dust to fill the bottom of the dry well.

 

When the miko came out of the vision, and she gained back her sense of balance, she ran quickly to her village and told her elders of the vision and the Tree's gift. They immediately followed the `instructions' the Tree had given her, and all the girl had been shown soon came to be.

 

The dry well came to be known as the Bone Eater's Well, or the Bone Gobbling Well. The wood of the Tree of Time Travel that was used for its frame and mouth was the key to its power. The wood merged its powers into the soil, creating a kind of time warp within the well, causing the dead evils thrown into it to decompose rapidly.

 

Little did the villagers know that there would be another use for the well in the future.”

 

Koenma again paused to sip at his water, and Yuusuke took the opportunity to speak.

 

“So now, I expect, we're about to hear this `twist to the story' you mentioned?” He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, waiting expectantly for Koenma's answer.

 

Koenma merely nodded before he continued.

 

“The Bone Eater's Well existed and served the village without fail for two whole centuries before the next chapter of its life began. In fact, not only was it the first Artifact to not become corrupted or used for ill will, it was the first Artifact of Ages ever, predating all the others by nearly 200 years. Next was the bow, then the staff, the comb, and finally the mask.

 

This, however, is not the twist. The twist comes into play with a bit of sketchy history. Sketchy because, as with quite a few other facts in these now-unsealed records, I believe the complete truth has been stricken in places my father still finds necessary to keep sealed.

 

So, the story the records give is that, for some unknown reason, a hanyou became pinned to the Tree of Time Travel by a sacred arrow when a miko from the village tried to kill him. The miko died soon after from wounds thought to be inflicted by the hanyou. However, rather than killing him, the combination of the Tree and arrow's magic merely stopped time for the hanyou and preserved him in a sort of suspended sleep.

 

The villagers did not know why he did not die from their precious, and now-dead, miko's arrow, but decided it would not be wise to risk trying to finish the job. Rather, the forest was named for the hanyou, as a sort of warning and reminder; and the Tree of Ages became even more of a protector to the village, keeping the hanyou wrapped to the tree in his coma. The villagers named the tree Goshinboku, the God Tree, and gave it great respect, almost as a patriarch of their village.

 

But, one day, about fifty years after the hanyou was pinned, the Bone Eater's Well glowed with magic and a young girl climbed out of it. The villagers found her and thought her a youkai because of her strange clothing, but in actuality she was a miko from the future.

 

Of course, at the time, it was not known exactly what time she was from, but the notes in the file now indicate that she was from our time in modern day Tokyo.

 

So, this miko from modern times was brought through the well into the Sengoku Jidai, with no clue how or why it had happened. And, again, the history here gets fuzzy. Somehow, she released the hanyou from his sleep-spell and freed him from the tree. Then the two began a journey that took them all over Musashi and into some of the surrounding areas, and their journey lasted nearly two years.

 

As you have already heard in the tales of the other Artifacts, during their travels the miko and hanyou came into contact with all of the other Artifacts. They destroyed two of them that we know of, the fate of the Nintoujou still being unknown officially, and both the miko and hanyou used the Bone Eater's Well to travel between their respective times.

 

The fifth and final Artifact is the bow of the Tree of Timing. This is another Artifact with a twist and an obscure history.

 

The bow was a gift from the branches of the Tree of Timing, and not only helped its user with aim and concentration, but actually slowed or sped up time as need be, in order to help the arrow hit the mark. It is noted in the records that this Artifact does not work on its own, however. The archer does need to have a bit of skill and understanding of the weapon, and their own power must be lent to the bow in order to make use of its time manipulation.

 

The twist to this story is that, not only did it come to be in the hands of the miko of the Time Traveling Well, but before her it was used by the miko who had pinned the hanyou to Goshinboku in the first place. That miko was not the original owner of the bow, either, and the identity of its original owner is still unknown.”

 

Koenma took a final gulp from his glass around his pacifier, set it down, and cleared his throat, “So, there you have it. The histories of the Artifacts of Ages and what they were used for. Anymore questions about them before I tell you the rest of what I brought you here for?” Koenma picked up his empty glass again and gave it to George to refill.

 

Kurama spoke up at once, “Koenma, the legends that have been passed down through Makai speak of any item made from the Trees as being an Artifact of Ages, yet you say there are only five. Even if the only true Artifacts were the ones made by the Trees themselves, surely it's possible that there were more. Each Tree could have produced more than one Artifact, could they not?”

 

Koenma nodded at the kitsune's usual intuition, “I asked my father the same question, Kurama, and he assured me that once the existence of the Artifacts was made known to Reikai they were on the lookout for anymore that may exist. Only the five were ever found, and we have the histories here.”

 

“If yourfather is so confident in this, why was the order made to destroy the Trees and the Artifacts?” Hiei asked in his cynical voice.

 

“Yeah,” Yuusuke piped up, “And if the Artifacts were dangerous enough to be destroyed, why weren't they?”

 

“I was just getting to that part,” Koenma answered.

 

“For ages, no one but the villages and individuals that had come into contact with the Trees or Artifacts knew of them. However, somehow during the travels of the hanyou and miko, people began to learn about them. Once the knowledge of the Artifacts' existence got out, the stories traveled all over the continent. They became legendary and everyone wanted to get their hands on a precious Tree of Ages artifact of their own.

 

The locations of the Trees came to be known through these stories as well; and soon the country was overrun, and the Trees were plagued by swarms of greedy ningen and youkai alike. Reikai was forced to step in.

 

At first, since ningen and youkai lived together, as Ningenkai and Makai hadn't been separated yet, Reikai simply kept an eye on the Artifacts; back then, Reikai never really stepped in to the affairs of the living, just kept an ever-watchful eye on things to make sure the two main races, ningen and youkai, didn't kill each other off. But when the rush for the Artifacts of Ages occurred, however, it was like Naraku all over again.”

 

“Wait up,” Kuwabara interrupted.

 

At the same time, Yuusuke said, “Hold on, who's Naraku?”

 

Koenma looked at the human boys. “Ahh… Naraku… is another story that will have to wait until later. All you need to know for its relevance to this story is that the time of the evil hanyou, Naraku, was not one of the most easy or pleasant times in ningen history. If Youko remembers back to that time still, perhaps he can tell you. It wasn't too long before the Artifact Rush, after all. For now, the Artifacts are what's important for this case. The story of Kikyou-sama, Naraku, and the Shikon no Tama can wait. History isn't going anywhere.”

 

All six other sets of eyes shot open wide at the mention of Kikyou's name in relation to a significant story in history.

 

Though Kurama was surprised, Youko scoffed. (What legendary thief wouldnot know the story of the Shikon no Tama? Though I was not in Musashi at the time, the story of what happened quickly made its way to me. Even if it had not, I would have found out when I eventually sought out the jewel for myself. However, by that time, Kikyou, Naraku, and the Shikon no Tama no longer existed.)

 

Kurama's curious expression became knitted at the brows as he spoke, “But, Koenma, you called Kagome `Kikyou-sama' this afternoon. Does that mean Kikyou was the powerful miko Kagome is supposed to be a reincarnation of? And Kagome also mentioned the Shikon no Tama. Surely that isn't just coincidence, and that story also has bearing on all of this?”

 

“Hey, yeah,” Kuwabara agreed, “Kagome-chan did say that she'd found the shika-what's-it, didn't she? And she freaked out when you called her `Kikyou-sama,' Koenma.”

 

“So did Inuyasha,” Yuusuke added, remembering.

 

“…” Koenma blinked and sucked his pacifier contemplatively. He had almost forgotten that part of their earlier conversation with the girl in his plight to learn the truth of the Artifacts of Ages.

 

“Koenma-sama?” Botan prompted when the young demigod had still not said anything.

 

Koenma looked up from staring at his hands on his desk. “Honestly, I hadn't really thought about it,” he admitted casually.

 

Botan and Kurama sweatdropped as Yuusuke and Kuwabara both started a rant at Koenma. Hiei merely rolled his eyes at King Enma's son's ineptness.

 

Koenma waved his hands impatiently to quiet the humans yelling at him, “Well, anyway, that will still have to wait for what I need to finish telling you now. I will need to have another audience with my father, this time concerning the Shikon no Tama, before I can address that issue. Our records say it was destroyed, so perhaps the jewel Kagome-sama found is some sort of imitation and merely resembles the original.”

 

Yuusuke groaned tiredly, “Whatever, Koenma, fine, it'll wait. Just tell us what you need to tell us so I can go home.”

 

“Right,” Koenma again drank from the water George had finally returned with and continued once more.

 

“So, things with power hungry ningen and youkai were getting out of hand again, and Reikai finally had to step in. I was still merely a child, and have no real knowledge of the occurrences of this time; but, according to the records, Reikai employees were sent to control the situation.

 

Officially, the Trees of Ages were quarantined, their magic contained and the Trees destroyed, so no other Artifacts would make their way into the hands of evil. Imitation artifacts had been made by the few able to get their hands on the coveted wood, which the Trees were then quickly, and rightfully so, become stingy about sharing. These fakes were also collected and destroyed, though their powers quickly waned within a matter of days anyway. And so, out of reality and into the history books went the Trees and the Artifacts of Ages. That is the official, open-records story that was passed through legend from that time forward.

 

As I'm sure you've already guessed, though, this is not what really happened as I have learned today.

 

What really happened was this: Reikai tried to do exactly what the official records say they did. However, the magic of the Trees had existed since the dawn of time; perhaps even before Reikai; and even my father and his most powerful underlings could not overcome the ancient powers of the Trees of Ages. They did destroy all the fake artifacts, but the most they could do about the Trees was put barriers around them so they would not be found and further exploited. Then the story of their destruction was leaked out purposely in order to deter anyone else from searching for them.

 

By that time, the comb had been destroyed and only four of the five true Artifacts remained, since, during the Sengoku Jidai, the Nikuzuki no Men had not yet been destroyed, and Reikai contemplated doing the same with them as they'd done with the Trees. However, the Nikuzuki no Men had already been contained by the monk's efforts, they could not locate the taiyoukai or his imp vassal that possessed the Nintoujou, and the well and bow of the miko and hanyou were deemed still necessary. Evidently, during the process of putting the barriers around the Trees, it was learned, through a vision given by the Tree of Power to one of my father's closest and most trusted advisors, that each Artifact had a specific purpose for its creation. The comb that had been destroyed and the mask that would be destroyed had strayed from their intended path, but the remaining three had yet to disappoint the Trees that made them. Furthermore, not allowing the Artifacts to play out their parts would be dangerous, in that it would mess with the flow of time as it was meant to be.

 

Apparently, the true reason for the Trees' existence in the first place has something to do with the flow of time and, though they were not exactly kami, they were something similar. Almost nature's embodiment of the same forces Reikai stood for, but in the mortal realm. They allowed Reikai to put up their barriers, in order to safeguard the world they were meant to protect by keeping time in order, with the promise that Reikai would, in turn, protect the remaining Artifacts. No actions were to be made to interfere, unless evil got its hands on an Artifact again. Reikai was to simply sit back and watch, keeping their invisible vigil, and let things play out naturally. If, however, the remaining Artifacts became corrupted, they were to be immediately contained as the Trees had been. In fact, they were to be placed in the same barrier with the Tree they'd come from, in order to be purified of evil and forevermore hidden from the likes of ningen and youkai alike.”

 

“And there you have it,” Koenma said finally. “That is everything I've gotten from the records my father has given me. These files George brought in when we came in earlier contain copies of the records for you, in case you need to refresh yourselves on any details I've given you.” He motioned to the stack the oni had put on his desk, and George passed several files out to the group.

 

Kuwabara took his share of the file folders and flipped through them a bit. It seemed there was one folder for each of the five Artifacts. “I have one more question, Shrimp. If the Trees wanted Reikai to contain Artifacts that had gotten into the hands of evil, why did they let the taiyoukai keep the staff? I mean, he was evil, wasn't he? He killed humans, and even had human heads added to the staff to make it more powerful!”

 

Koenma shrugged and shook his head, “It isn't stated clearly why they let the taiyoukai keep the staff, only that its destiny hadn't been completed yet. As I said before, back then, it wasn't necessarily seen as evil to kill a ningen. Only when the killing became massacres and threatened the balance of ningen and youkai did Reikai get involved. After all, youkai were still mostly seen as the dominant species back then, and had existed far longer than mortals. Mostly the affairs of the living world were handled by the kami and deities of that time. And, as I also said before, the staff may have played a part in the separation of Ningenkai and Makai. If so, that may have been the destiny the Trees had in store for it and why Reikai was made to leave it be.”

 

The four tantei soaked it all in, feeling their minds become much fuller from the excess of new information. They all left the offices of Reikai that night with many new thoughts about their current case, and what their next steps would be in regards to Kagome and Inuyasha.

 

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

 

Botan collapsed into one of the remaining chairs in Koenma's office after taking the tantei back to Ningenkai. Koenma was busying himself with his usual task of stamping papers and hadn't noticed her. She took a look around the room, thinking of all the hard work she'd put in to find the boxes of files that still bookended Koenma's desk, and sighed.

 

“Koenma-sama?” She spoke, finally catching his attention, “Did you still need these files, or should I go ahead and return them to the Records Room?”

 

The demigod looked up from his task to cast his gaze around at the boxes he'd asked the girl to bring him earlier and sucked his pacifier in thought. “Take them to Yuusuke and the others. Maybe they'll find something useful in them too.” Rethinking this idea, though, he added, “Better give them copies, though, Botan.”

 

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

 

Pale lips pressed in a thin line, black eyes slowly glowing with a ring of red beneath colorless bangs as their owner contemplated her plan's progress. Or, rather, lack thereof. The lips opened slightly to reveal short, almost child-like fangs, and a low growl escaped between the exposed teeth. “Ah, where has she hidden them? Where has Kagome hidden the Shikon no Tama no Kakera?! She must have them!”

 

The once again completely black eyes squinted into a round mirror, narrowing at the picture of a peacefully asleep Kagome she saw there.

 

“Na-kun!” she called out suddenly.

 

Her son immediately appeared in the doorway from one of the many halls leading out of her main throne room. She beckoned him to her with a motion of her hand, and he bowed low before her, at her feet. When he raised his head, his eyes held a certain light in them she hadn't seen for years. It caused her to revert to her normal soft, calm, almost monotone voice.

 

“When will your plan begin to work, Na-kun? If it takes much longer, the Reikai dogs may ruin everything again.”

 

“Okaa-sama,” the boy addressed her in a similar monotone, casting his eyes down again, “Gomen nasai. I know it is up to me now, and I have been failing you. I promise you, my failure will not continue. Just give me a little more time. I am following the instructions and warnings you gave me, but it is not something that can be rushed. I promise, though, we shall see the fruits of all our work soon enough.”

 

“Very well, my son,” she replied, bowing her head in acceptance of his promise. “I have waited this long, I do have patience enough to give your plan time to work.”

 

“Arigatou, okaa-sama,” he bowed again to the ground and she dismissed him.

 

When the boy was gone, she turned again to her mirror. Softly she spoke to the peaceful reflection, “I will have the tama, miko. I have waited all this time; it will be mine.”

 

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

 

Papers were spread all over the floor, bed, and laps of the four boys sitting or, in the case of Yuusuke, lying in various positions in Yuusuke's room. Five boxes of files sat relatively in the middle of the room, lids off and contents ruffled from having been rifled through multiple times already. Not that any of this made much of a difference to the state the room had been in before, only added to it.

 

“What time is it?” Yuusuke groaned from beneath the papers he barely held above his head to read.

 

Kurama looked up from his papers and read the clock he could see from across the room. “Just past one.”

 

At this, Kuwabara jumped up in a panic, “It's that late already? I gotta go home. Shizuru's gonna kill me.” He started packing up his portion of the papers Koenma had given them, leaving the papers from the extra files Botan had brought them for Yuusuke to keep there.

 

Kurama stood calmly and gathered his things as well. “Perhaps it's time I head home as well. Kaa-san may worry if I don't return soon, and we do still have school tomorrow.”

 

“I don't,” Hiei took it upon himself to point out.

 

“By all means, stay with Yuusuke if you would like, Hiei,” Kurama replied with a small smirk.

 

“By all means, feel free to leave, Hiei,” Yuusuke countered.

 

Hiei scowled at both of them, red eyes flashing, and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall he sat in front of.

 

Yuusuke chuckled tiredly and stretched, sitting up on his bed. “Okay guys, I'm ready to call it a night too. Damn Koenma, as if I don't have enough homework without Reikai adding to it… Anyone read anything useful, anyway?”

 

“Not really,” Kurama answered, “Most of the cases in these files were only instances where time travel was suspected, but were found to be the result of youkai spells or drugs that simply altered the memories of their victims, or something of the like.”

 

Hiei nodded in agreement with this statement, still scowling.

 

“Same here,” the black-haired human stated. He turned to the other redhead in the room. “Kuwabara?”

 

The tall teen paused in his shuffling of papers, staring down at the pages still in his hands that he was trying to stuff back into a file box, “Half of the stuff on these I can't even understand. I've mostly been reading back through the papers Koenma gave us.”

 

“You don't understand it?! I knew you were braindead, Kuwabara, but I thought you could at least read,” Yuusuke quipped.

 

“Hn,” Hiei chuckled lowly at the remark at Kuwabara's expense.

 

“That's not what I meant, Urameshi!” Kuwabara defended, “It's in some sort of weird language…” He flipped back through the papers still in his hand and held out a handful, “See?”

 

Kurama took the proffered pages and looked through them, immediately seeing what the carrot-topped boy meant. “He's right, this seems to be in an archaic Makai language. I haven't seen this for ages...”

 

Hiei stood and looked curiously over Kurama's arm to read the pages for himself. His eyes widened and he wondered aloud, “Who writes the reports for Reikai?”

 

Kurama looked down at him, brilliant green eyes crinkling in a soft smile, “So you noticed as well, Hiei?”

 

“Huh? Noticed what?” Yuusuke asked.

 

“Well,” Kurama began, “I don't know what the rest of the reports in this box are like, but it seems this particular case, at least, was written up by a foreigner.”

 

“A foreigner?” Kuwabara was puzzled.

 

“Someone not from Makai, who doesn't speak the language,” Hiei answered simply.

 

Yuusuke looked confused. Didn't the oni and other creatures working for Reikai originate in Makai? He took the papers to check them out for himself. His eyes nearly crossed trying to understand the weird shapes and symbols contained on the pages, turning the papers every which way while squinting, and he asked, “How can you tell?”

 

Hiei rolled his eyes and snatched the papers back, retreating to the wall nearest the window once more. “Baka.”

 

Kurama explained, “A lot of Makai languages incorporate dialect into them as well. You can usually tell what area the writer is from just from the form of speech in the writing.” Kurama glanced back at the papers in Hiei's hand, the fire youkai now reading through them intently, and added, “We can tell this wasn't written by a fluent speaker, though. There is an utter lack of dialect, plus the order of the phrasing is way off. It's written as if by someone trying to translate from Japanese.”

 

Kuwabara's brow furrowed, “But why? I thought Japanese was the official language of Reikai. Why go through that trouble, if it was originally in Japanese anyway?”

 

Kurama shrugged, “I'm not sure why, Kuwabara-kun. It's not only that, either. The Makai language it's written in hasn't really been used for a couple hundred years. Perhaps the case itself holds some clues, though.” He looked to Hiei for his opinion.

 

The Koorime met his gaze, giving no answer before returning to reading the pages.

 

Frustrated at being left mostly in the dark still, Kuwabara demanded, “Well, Short Stuff?”

 

Hiei whipped his fiery gaze to the human boy, eyes narrowed, and Kuwabara gulped slightly, backing down.

 

Yuusuke ran his hand over his face, rubbing at his tired eyes. “Alright, well we can go over this more tomorrow, ne? Now, I just want to get to sleep. Keiko will be on my case tomorrow if I'm late again… Oh shit!” he suddenly proclaimed.

 

“What's wrong, Yuusuke?” Kurama asked.

 

“I completely forgot about Keiko! I told her we'd meet up with her and Shizuru after we met with Kagome. Dammit! Now she really will kill me.”

 

“Don't worry, Urameshi, we'll come to your funeral… again,” Kuwabara remarked in amusement.

 

“Speak for yourself,” Hiei muttered, lip twitching slightly as he tried to keep his expression stoic.

 

“Haha, you're funny,” Yuusuke replied dryly, and pointed to his door. “Everybody out.”

 

Kurama turned to retrieve the papers from Hiei in order to put them away, but the hybrid had already made his exit. The breeze from the slightly ajar window ruffled the pages that lay on the floor, having been abandoned by the small youkai. Sighing as he picked them up, Kurama handed them back to Kuwabara, and said, “Shall we meet here tomorrow after school, then? It would probably be best not to confront Kagome further until we have a better idea of what questions to ask her.”

 

Yuusuke half-nodded, half-shrugged, “I guess. Whatever.” He yawned as he put his own papers into a messy pile beside his bed and began to undress for bed, leaving his guests to show themselves out.

 

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

 

In the morning, Inuyasha still wasn't back. Kagome woke early in order to do her reiki meditations. She found a secluded part of the shrine grounds to work in, and was undisturbed for almost an hour before Souta came to get her for breakfast.

 

Kagome joined her family in the kitchen and ate quickly to leave for school. When she was about to leave, however, she couldn't find her backpack anywhere. Remembering that Yukio had carried it for her the night before, she hoped that he had it and would bring it to her at school. She suddenly wished she'd gotten his phone number so she could call to make sure, and vowed to herself to get it today. It would be useful to have, anyway, since he would be her tutor until her grades picked up.

 

At school that day, she felt a bit more relaxed around Yukio than she had the day before, though she still felt his gaze on her quite often. During lunch, her friends even mentioned it, sounding giggly and swoony at the thought of the mysterious new guy being in love with their Kagome-chan.

 

Kagome continued to roll her eyes and deny any romance between them… but she couldn't help but blush at the comments. A couple times, she'd caught a gleam in Yukio's eyes when looking at her, that wasn't there with anyone else, and was surprised to find her heart speed up in excitement. She found herself counting down the hours and minutes until school was over.

 

Before class, Yukio had asked Kagome if that afternoon would be okay to begin their tutoring sessions. Seeing as Inuyasha still seemed to be stubbornly pissed at her, and she had planned on being in her time at least another two days for school anyway, Kagome agreed. Yukio had smiled genuinely when she said yes, and Kagome wondered at how he could have such a vacant look the rest of the time.

 

When the school day finally ended, Yukio joined Kagome and her friends as they walked home. The girls split off at an intersection, proceeding to their respective homes, and Yukio and Kagome continued on to her house at the shrine.

 

Kagome introduced the boy to her mother, and then led him to the living room to begin their session. Souta was in there playing a video game, but was promptly kicked out by Kagome with orders to do his homework first, which he followed only after a bit of arguing with his older sister. The two teens then started in on their own homework before beginning Kagome's actual tutoring.

 

When their normal assignments were mostly done, Kagome still having math to do, the real studying began. Yukio helped Kagome with her formulas and she finished her homework with a near-understanding of her work and how she'd gotten the answers. Then Yukio made up some extra problems and they worked on them together. When she would get stuck on something, he would lean closer to her and gently explain the theory.

 

He kept finding excuses to do this. As Kagome became more confident in her own work, he would give her praise and lean even closer to admire her work, the side of his body pressing against hers. A couple times, he pointed to a problem Kagome was working on right then, just barely ghosting his fingers against hers in the process.

 

Kagome at first thought maybe it was coincidence, accidental, he didn't know he was doing it. The third time, however, he ran his index finger over hers lightly but deliberately, and Kagome gasped and looked at him in question. She barely had time to see that look in his eyes again, the one he'd been giving her all day, before he stole his second kiss from her in twenty-four hours.

 

End Chapter Fifteen

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Words First Appearing in Chapter Fifteen:

Mou: Jeez, etc.

Inuyasha no Mori: Inuyasha's Forest

Musashi: the country side of feudal Japan where Inuyasha takes place

hime: princess

daimyo: Japanese feudal lord

baba: old woman/hag

inu-no-taiyoukai: high class dog demon

Nintoujou: Staff of heads

Noh(or `Nou'): a classical Japanese performance form which combines elements of dance, drama, music and poetry into one highly aesthetic stage art (source: http://www.iijnet.or.jp / NOH-KYOGEN / english / english1 . html other research source: http://www.yohkihi.com/project/japan/5nou . htm [remove spaces] for more info, google)

Nikuzuki no Men: Mask of Flesh

Shikon no Tama no Kakera: shard(s) of the Shikon Jewel

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A/N: Happy Late Thanksgiving! Hope everyone had a great holiday… here's a new chapter for ya while the holiday weekend's still goin' on. ^___^ Sorry if it's rather… Koenma-monologue-y… Wouldn't it be nice if the next one was up in time for Christmas?? *cough* yeah.. um… don't hold your breath… *sweatdrops* I think I've put too much on my plate, sorry. Okay, so just to give you guys an idea, here's my current plan: After posting this chapter, I'm going to write the next chapter for my other IY/YYH fic, AND2, then I'm going to finish my Gravitation fic, Disappearing Act, since it's going to be much shorter than any of my other fics and only has a few chapters left anyway. Then I will get working on UA again… somewhere in there real life has to fit in too… so, yeah, it'll be a bit before UA updates again, but there's still lots to go on it and I've been refining my outline for the ending lately, so hang in there with me, it'll get there eventually. I'm thinkin'… well, it'd be nice if I had the next chapter up by my birthday, but it's probably more reasonable to just hope for sometime in February rather than the first week. Hope you guys can be patient with me `til then! Who knows, maybe a sudden inspiration will hit me for a chapter that I'll just have to write down and you guys will get an update sooner than expected! Hey, it could happen! *cough* yeah… again, don't hold your breath…

 

To All My Reviewers: I'm glad you guys are sticking with me and are still enjoying the story! I hope those of you that wanted a certain pairing from this story aren't too disappointed to keep reading… and… though I'm still not saying what the ultimate pairing will be for Kagome… it may not be what most of you expect… but who knows… we'll see I guess… heheheh… anyways…

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Please Read and Review!