Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Changed Miko ❯ Inner Musings ( Chapter 6 )

 

 

Morning came too soon for the girl's personal preference. She had never been a morning person to begin with and since her travels with Inuyasha, she had been forced to learn the art of getting up before dawn. Even now, when she still had three days left of her `vacation' from the slave driving hanyou, she was once again awake before the first rays of light had even broken the horizon. Moaning into her pillow, Kagome sat up and gave a tired yawn. She wasn't really tired but she simply hated being up so early on one of the few days where she wasn't required to be.

 

She slid her blankets down, swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stood up to stretch. Kagome hadn't felt this good in a long time. It had only been two days since the most recent incident with her dog halved companion and yet, she was feeling surprisingly well. Normally, when something of that magnitude happened, it left Kagome feeling depressed and worthless for a good three days at the least.

 

Something had changed in her. That night after her bath, Kagome had cried her heart out in silent pain under the light of the stars and moon at her window sill. She let all the pain of rejection, insults and constant comparison wash over her and pull her down into an emotional undertow. After crying into the night air for a good hour, her tears slowed and ceased and a feeling of peace and contentment filled her soul. Kagome knew then, that she had survived her first love and heartbreak.

 

The entire time she was resting in her window, she had the feeling that someone was watching over her. Not a guardian angel per se, but a guardian nonetheless, and it made her feel safe, loved and protected. She had longed for those things to make themselves known in her relationship with Inuyasha, despite his constant protection and affection for the dead miko.

 

As she reflected on that night, she realized that the very air that surrounded her had felt odd. Not bad or dangerous, but strange. Kagome knew that she had sensed a presence outside her window, but when she hadn't seen anyone there, she let it slide, thinking it was just her exhaustion playing tricks on her. Actually, now that she thought about it, the entire day had felt a bit off. As if she was at the beginning of a new chapter in her life. That thought made Kagome chuckle to herself as she moved to the closet to pull out some clothes. `A new chapter? I haven't even gotten to finish this one yet!'

 

The priestess sighed and pulled on a pair of cut-off denim shorts and a blue tank top, then moved to the bathroom to pull her hair into a low ponytail. Giving herself the once over in her mirror, she headed downstairs to make something to eat.

 

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To say that Yusuke was pissed off would have been a gross understatement. Just two days ago, he had been complaining about not having any missions at all and now here he was being awoken at eight o'clock in the morning by the ever-to-cheerful Grim Reaper.

 

“Come on Yusuke! Koenma told me to bring you all in as soon as possible! The others are downstairs waiting on you!” Boton said with a note of urgency added to her usual cheerful disposition.

 

“I heard you, I heard you! Just what in the hell is so important that the damn toddler has to wake me up so early?! And after two months of doing nothing!” Yusuke huffed. He wasn't a morning person and despised being woken up by Boton at any hour. He knew if he didn't get his rear end in gear soon, he would become reacquainted with the Ferry Girl's oar. And boy, oh boy did that hurt!

 

“I don't know, but he said it was important and unlike most of your missions. That is all he would tell me, now hurry up!” Boton chimed as she swung her oar in the direction of the detective's head.

 

Yusuke ducked just in time to miss the arc of the oar, “Damn it woman! I can't get dressed with you in here and I certainly can't do it if you knock me out!”

 

“Alright then! I will be downstairs waiting with the others. And Yusuke? Hurry up!” The exuberant, blue haired girl said, swinging her oar at him once again and giggling.

 

Ten minutes later, Yusuke was stomping down the stairs. Part of him was relieved that the team finally had something to do, but he wasn't sure he was going to like it. Every time there was mention of a mission being “unlike most other missions”, it didn't bode well. “Alright I'm here. Can we go now?”

 

Boton just smiled at the group and made a portal to Reikai. Stepping into the familiar office of the demi-god, the group assembled before his desk and stood waiting for him to acknowledge their presence. Well, some of them waited.

 

“Oi! Toddler! What is so important about this new mission that you had to wake me up so damn early? It is the middle of summer and if I don't have to get up for school, then I don't want to be up at this time!” The spirit detective seethed.

 

“Shut up Urameshi! You don't even get up this early when we do have school!” Kuwabara said.

 

Hiei smirked and Kurama chuckled, “Well, he does have a point Yusuke. Honestly, I am surprised that you are even making it into the next grade!”

 

This statement caused Hiei's smirk to broaden slightly and Kuwabara to fall to the floor, clutching his sides with laughter. Yusuke, meanwhile, was fuming.

 

“Alright, that's enough! Really Yusuke! All bent out of shape over a mission? Did you forget that this is your job? And don't call me toddler!” The Prince of Reikai grumbled around the pacifier in his mouth.

 

“I believe Boton mentioned that we have a rather important mission to embark on, Lord Koenma?” Kurama asked in his always-present polite tone of voice. He threw in the added connotation of `Lord' to smooth over the ruffled feathers of the demi-god.

 

Obviously, it worked, for Koenma settled down immediately and got down to business. Pressing `Play' on a remote in his hand, a video started playing on the screen of the television in the corner. A picture of a brilliant pink jewel came across the screen, “This is the Shikon no Tama. An artifact of unknown power that was created by the very soul of Midoriko herself, it was said to have been burned with the body of its last guardian.” The screen now held an image of a young woman with dark hair and hateful eyes dressed in the familiar red and white of the miko, “This was Kikyou, the last known guardian of the jewel. She died over five hundred years ago and the jewel was burned with her body. Or so we thought.”

 

At this point, Koenma shut of the television and continued talking, “We have recently discovered that the Jewel of Four Souls was never actually destroyed. Instead, it lay dormant in the body of a young woman; the new, and current, guardian and the very reincarnation of Midoriko herself.” Koenma paused at this juncture in his speech to take a breath and let his words start to sink in.

 

Looking at the faces of his detectives, and seeing that they had processed what they had been told thus far, he continued. “This young priestess resides in this era but has the ability to travel to the past…five hundred years in the past, to be exact. She has been making these travels for the past four years after she was pulled into the well at her shrine by a centipede demon on her fifteenth birthday. From what we understand, the jewel was ripped from her body by said demon and subsequently shattered. She now returns to Feudal Japan to hunt for the shards of the jewel so that she can return it to its whole form and continue guarding it.”

 

Yusuke and Kuwabara were so caught up in the story, and Koenma was caught up in telling it, that none of them caught the look that passed between the two demons of the group.

 

'That's her Red! It has to be! She is powerful, (beautiful), she lives at a shrine, (beautiful) and she is a miko! It has to be the same girl! I can't wait to find out the details of this mission. Maybe, if we are lucky, we will get some up-close-and-personal time with her'

 

`Youko, we don't know anything for sure yet. Koenma hasn't even mentioned her name! Why are you so happy about a mission?'

 

`I am only happy about this mission Red. And why? Because that woman is simply amazing! Besides, if anyone could learn to love us, it would be her.'

 

`Wait a minute Youko. Love? Us? We haven't ever even considered having a girlfriend and here you are talking about loving some girl we haven't actually even met yet and could purify us with one touch? Have you truly lost it?'

 

`Hn. I believe he has.' Hiei added, smirking at the conversation his partner was having in his head.

 

`And what do you have to say for yourself, Hiei? We both know that you didn't go home right away that night.'

 

`Fox, you had better keep your `other half' in line. I do not have to explain my actions to anyone.' Hiei snapped and closed off his link. The damnable fox was right, though. He hadn't even made it away from the tree until just before dawn and had even returned the following night!

 

Hiei and Kurama had both just refocused on Koenma when he said, “So, your mission is to find this girl and protect her. She will be continuing her journeys to the past to finish collecting the jewel shards and with the four of you to add to her present companions, it should speed up the process.”

 

Hiei merely nodded in acceptance, as did Kurama. Kuwabara was standing quietly, obviously still trying to process so much information. Yusuke however was never one to disappoint.

 

“What in the hell do you mean? We have to travel with some priestess to Feudal Japan for undetermined amounts of time to find pieces of some stupid jewel?! Keiko is going to skin me alive for this toddler!” The detective was all but coming apart at the seams.

 

The Prince of Reikai, however, was not in the least bit intimidated. “You will travel with her, you will aid her in her quest and you will protect her! This jewel is not some simple relic to be treasured! It holds immense power and has a guardian for a reason! Boton! Open a portal to the Higurashi Shrine!”

 

The Ferry Girl came into the office with her ever-present smile, “Right away boss!”

 

In scant few seconds, the Spirit Detectives were standing in front of a very long set of steps.

 

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Kagome had just finished off her breakfast and moved her dishes to the sink when she felt…a ripple. That was the only way she could describe it. It felt like a slight disturbance in time, almost akin to the feeling she had when she went through the well.

 

As soon as the `ripple' had passed, she felt it…she felt him. It was that feeling of utter chaos and power that she had sensed from the shorter demon of the group she had come into contact with from a couple days ago. Though now, his youki was surging outward, as if to tell her he was here. She felt his inner turmoil sweep her up in a wave of anguish and she had to brace herself against the kitchen counter to keep from being brought to her knees. And as quickly as it hit her, it subsided into nothingness.

 

In that sudden flash of energy, Kagome knew why she had sensed so much ruthlessness in his aura. This demon had led a life that would have destroyed any other being in little time at all. He had been thrown against every obstacle possible and had become murderous to survive. The young priestess suddenly felt very close to him.

 

A knock at her door soon brought her from her inner ponderings. As she made her way to the door, she felt the presences of the other three from that same day. Now, her curiosity was piqued. `What on Earth could bring those four here? How did they find me?'

 

Kagome pulled open the door to find the exact four, plus a woman with blue hair and an oar, standing on her porch. She smiled warmly and was about to make with the pleasantries when she was cut short by the tall, Elvis wannabe.

 

“Hey! It is that same pretty girl from the other day!” The boy exclaimed, grabbing her hands and dropping down to one knee, “Will you be my girlfriend?”

 

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