Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Question of Intimacy ❯ Chapter 1, Unconciousness ( Chapter 1 )

Pain. He was lost in a world of hot and cold pain between waves of cravings so strong he could not concentrate on anything for more then a minute. His aura was clashing with itself causing his youki to spike uncontrollably. He ran toward the most isolated spot he could think of and whispered a prayer that no one would be hurt as he passed out.

~/~/~

Higarashi Kagome was enjoying getting to know her guide at her new college. They were on their way to the library to do their math homework and get to know each other better as study partners. Keiko was perhaps a year or two younger than her, but with Kagome's late start they would graduate at the same time. Keiko was explaining how most of her male friends seemed to work all of the time and could only manage part time classes when they made them at all. That was when Kagome felt the pulse of youki from the woods of a nearby shrine.

"Youkai..." she whispered suddenly.

"You know about youkai?" Keiko asked incredulously.

"Hai. I'm a miko. Let's go, we can argue on the way, just keep up." Kagome answered and took off running at a fairly good clip. Keiko did her best to keep up and was almost able to out pace the older student.

"What are we running for?" Keiko yelled as best she could.

"There is a youkai either in trouble or up to no good a block away dead ahead to the left." Kagome answered.

Once at the shrine, the girls bypassed the steps in favor of plunging directly ahead into the forest. Not far in was the youkai the miko had sensed.

"Hiei!" Keiko gasped at the sight of the man unconscious and shuddering on the ground. She was startled again when her companion stopped her from reaching him.

"Don't touch him. He is too out of it and could attack without warning. Do you know of a place where we can take him? I'm certain I can move him once he is convinced I am not a threat or prey." Kagome asked seriously as she analyzed what she was sensing and seeing. The little demon was clearly in serious trouble. She wondered how her study partner knew the youkai since she was human and yet could name him on sight.

"This is Genkai's shrine, he is welcome here pretty much any time. What's wrong with him? Why is he here and not upstairs?" Keiko answered and asked in a rush. She wanted to know just what was going on. The stoic little youkai had come to be a good friend over the years. She could not imagine what could take him down like this.

"He probably came here to die without harming anyone else. I suspect he was delirious at the time. It is pretty instinctive for youkai to do something along those lines when they are sick or injured to the point of near fatality. I'm not sure what is wrong with him, but there are three auras fighting each other coming from him. I think I need to ground him out. Get whatever help you can and bring them here. I need to know his biological make up and an estimate of his age to best be able to help him." Kagome explained as she stepped closer to the fallen youkai. Treading lightly, Kagome walked around in a large circle, keeping Hiei in the center of it. Hiei had gone fetal and continued to convulse lightly as she began to near him. Approaching Hiei from the front, Kagome gently mummered, "Hiei-san, my name is Kagome, I'm a friend of Keiko's. I am a miko, but I will not hurt you."

~/~/~

Keiko was just starting up the steps when Boton and the Spirit Detective team piled out of a portal right in front of her. Immediately, she glomped Yuuske and explained in a rush, "It's Hiei. There is something wrong with him. Kagome just sent me to go get you." Letting go of her long time boyfriend and current finance she said, "Follow me" and led them right to the miko and the ailing youkai.

Kagome had just gotten close enough for Hiei to take a swipe at her. Instead of jumping back, she blocked his harm and grabbed his hand. The effect on his auras was instantaneous. The youki quit fluctuating and balanced out against the miko's holy aura."Hiei-san, I said I wouldn't hurt you and I mean it." she said gently. She placed his hand under the collar of her shirt on her shoulder and said, "I am intimately familiar with youkai." With that comment she let go of his hand and reached gently for his face. Brushing the hair away from his eyes, she gently felt down his neck and under his collar very gently and deliberately checking both shoulders. Slipping her hand out from under his clothes, she removed his hand and held it between her own.

The spirit detectives had arrived in time to witness this strange scene. Kurmura knowing the most about youkai behaviors was fascinated. The girl had demonstrated great trust in his friend by putting his hand at her throat before she reached for such sensitive areas on his body. Protecting the throat and face was highly instinctive to youkai. The only ones who usually got to touch a youkai's neck were mates and healers. It was clear to him at least that the girl was checking to see if Hiei had taken a mate.

"Kagome?" Keiko asked loathed to interrupt the strange rapport that seemed to be going on, but very curious as to what that was all about.

"Back already? That was quick." Kagome remarked. "Can they answer my questions so that we can move him somewhere more comfortable?"

"Depends on the questions." replied Yuuske brusquely. "What was that about and what's wrong with him?"

"I'm still figuring out what's wrong with him. That is why I need to ask questions. As for the rest, it is and incredibly bad idea to approach a sick or injured youkai. This one has led a particularly harsh life and is more liable to attack out of self defense then most. He is not conscious, but he is still processing sensory information. I had to convince him that I wouldn't kill him and that attacking me would be foolish before I touched him. I have to keep direct skin contact to keep his youkai grounded." Kagome answered neatly avoiding a more direct answer as to why she was checking his neck in particular in such a fashion.

"Grounded?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yes, grounded. He has three separate auras which isn't supposed to be possible, I think I might even be sensing a fourth that is completely dormant. It feels like two of them are balanced out, but the third is thowing them off. I'm basically giving his auras something to fight to balance out that third aura. The fourth doesn't feel like it would be much of a balance if I woke it." the miko explained.

"What ever you do, do not wake that fourth aura!" Kuwabara shouted quickly in horror. "That is not something you want to mess with."

"I'll take your word for it." Kagome gave a wry smile having sensed as much. "How old is he?" she asked sharply.

"How should we know!" Yuuske exclaimed.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Keiko asked.

"It is very important. How old is he and what is his genetic make up?" Kagome repeated, petting his hand and arm as she gripped it tightly in anticipation of the answers.

"He is ninety-three. The oldest Forbidden Child on record for the last six hundred years." Boton answered, surprising the others.

"Forbidden child? You can't mean a hanyou because he is not at all human. He has to be a hybrid of some sort which explains the balanced auras." Kagome mused aloud.

"He is an elemental with opposing elements, fire and ice. The third aura is his Jagan eye which was implanted some time ago. The fourth is a sort of bound black dragon that masquerades as a tattoo most of the time. The dragon is very dangerous and should not be bothered if at all possible. Are you thinking what I think you are thinking?" Kumara asked considering the links between her questions and her actions.

"Probably. He is old for this to be the first time, but it will be that much more intense because of it. Best we can do right now is make him comfortable and keep him grounded." Kagome replied brushing the youkai's hair off his face where it had fallen back to reveal a much calmer expression.

"You do realize the risks you are taking being so close to him?" Kumara inquired seriously.

"Yes." Kagome replied. She straightened the collar of her shirt, flashing an old scar where Hiei's hand had been at Kurmura.

The kitsune avatar's eyes widened momentarily in silent shock before he replied, "I see you do. Let's get him up to a comfortable bed."

Kurmura approached the pair on the ground only to have Hiei growl at him. Kurmura stopped located the wind direction and walked downwind. From that point he approached the pair. Hiei's growling went much softer, but didn't stop. "Hiei, I'm just going to carry you. You are too heavy for her to easily manage with all those steps." Hiei quested and Kurmura gently picked him up like a father would do to a sleeping child.