Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Black Widow Miko ❯ Unexpected Discoveries, Unwanted Reactions ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

DISCLAIMER: Takahashi-san and Togashi-san are true masters of manga, and have managed to create the beloved series “InuYasha” and “YuYu Hakusho,” which they own, and reap fame and fortune from all by themselves. Poor madmiko-san can’t even claim to be a master of her own home because she created four beloved mini-clones who take up all her fortune and garner all the fame and glory, while she just stands on the sidelines cheering for them. And she wouldn’t trade places with anyone.

talking
mental/telepathic conversations - “Hiei” “Kurama” “Youko”
(thoughts to self)

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Last time:

When Hiei and Eishumaru got there, the smell of wolves and blood was almost overpowering. The bodies of the large, brown and gray creatures littered the ground, and there were two clusters of them attacking two figures on the far side of the field. Kagome and Zhang were each surrounded by the snarling, howling animals as they tried to take them down.

“Stand back, old man!” a feminine voice yelled. “We’re not here for you, -- just that murdering bitch! She may have killed Lord Kouga, but there’s no way she’s going to kill Lord Yemon, too!” And several ookami youkai rushed at Kagome.
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When the others reached the field, they immediately raced to help out the beleaguered miko and Immortal, and jumped right into the fray. From the number of bodies on the ground, it was evident the attack had been going on for a little while. It was also apparent that the youkai had planned for the wolves to wear down the miko before they faced her. Even as she was surrounded by the ookami youkai, the vicious animals continued to rush in at her back and sides, leaping at her and snapping their jaws to try to tear at her flesh and pull her to the ground.

Flashes of pink light and the groans and screams of the dying began to dominate the action until a fresh wave of wolves broke from the tree line and overran the battle site. Kagome, who had taken out most of the youkai arrayed directly around her by charging her hands with her purifying powers and using the eight fists of Tibetan Hop Gar to deadly effect, suddenly paused for a second right as the warrior she was facing raked her side with his claws. Her pause was just long enough that one of the wolves behind her snagged the neck of her tunic in his teeth, and giving a mighty shake, pulled her off balance so she sprawled on the ground beneath him.

“Kaa-san!!”

The air in the field practically crackled with the sudden surge of power emanating from the three youngest youkai fighting there. The detectives were startled to see jagged purple lines slash across their cheeks, and the flaming arrow symbols on their foreheads appeared and began to glow, as their eyes turned blood red and their fangs and claws elongated. All three suddenly leapt into the air and landed surrounding their fallen mother. Sassouta raised his right arm and the Goraishi claws appeared. Sweeping them at the wolf atop Kagome, he unleashed powerful arcs of lightning, that when they hit the creature, turned it black and ripped it apart before it completely disintegrated into dust.

“I am Sassouta, son of Kouga, and Master of the Goraishi Claw. You creatures of the Northern lands owe me your allegiance. Kneel or die!”

At the strident command from the young ookami, the wolves stilled, and then one by one lowered themselves to the ground and bowed their heads. There were only four ookami youkai still standing, and three of them looked anxiously at each other, trying to decide whether to kneel down like their animal companions or make a run for it.

“No! It doesn’t matter who he is! He isn’t our lord! We have a duty to protect Lord Yemon! I won’t let her get her claws into him! She took Lord Kouga away from Princess Ayame and she killed him, but she can’t have Lord Yemon -- he’s mine!” And the female youkai charged at the woman who was being helped to a sitting position by Eishumaru. Yusuke swiftly stepped into her path and knocked her out cold. The other three youkai quickly surrendered to the detectives, and Kurama used some roots to tie all four of them up.

“Kaa-chan, are you all right?” Eishumaru asked, kneeling down beside her. The markings had vanished from the boys’ faces, and their eyes returned to their normal blue as their fangs and claws retracted.

“I killed him. I didn’t want to kill him,” she said quietly, causing the detectives to stare at her. Then she reached out a hand and touched the face of the warrior on the ground in front of her. She lifted him slightly and put his head in her lap and ran her fingers through his short, light brown hair. Her other two sons came over and kneeled down, too.

“It’s Hideo,” Daitano said, his voice gruff with emotion.

“Hai,” she said sadly.

“I … I can’t believe Hideo would stand against us. We grew up together. He was always tagging along with us when we lived in the Northern lands, and he even came to visit us all the time at the taijiya village. He was our friend. At least, … I thought he was. Dirty, rotten, traitor.” Eishumaru spat. He stood up and kicked him. “Filthy bastard!”

Kagome looked up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “Eishu, he did not turn against you. They weren’t here to make a stand against Sassouta or his claim. They were here for me.” She lowered her head. “Gomen nasai.”

“Don’t say that, damn it!” Daitano grabbed her shoulders. “Don’t you ever say that to us.” He moved Hideo’s head off of her lap and pulled her onto his. “Kaa-chan, we’d rather have you with us than rule all the lands of the Makai. And that’s what our otou-sans would have wanted, too.” It was then that he suddenly noticed the rapidly growing area of dead grass around them. “Master Zhang.”

“No.” She turned to look at the old man who had quietly walked up behind her. “There’s too much to do now.” She slowly got to her feet and reached out a hand to her sifu. A soft glow enveloped her hand and flowed through it into his body. He bent down and covered her hand with his. “Do not waste your strength healing me, daughter. You know this body of mine heals rapidly.”

“I could make the same argument,” she said, right before she fell backward, slumping against Shippou. Removing his hand from the back of her neck, he picked her up.

“Hai, you could make the same argument, daughter, and then it would take you twice as long to heal,” Zhang nodded at Shippou.

“She always was stubborn,” the kitsune said. And he and the old man hurried back to the house with her.

“Did she pass out? Is she gonna be okay?” Kuwabara asked, clearly worried about his friend.

“Shippou rendered her unconscious since she kept Master Zhang from doing it. She heals faster that way,” Sassouta explained.

“Wouldn’t it have been better to let her use her miko powers to heal herself? Wouldn’t that have been the quickest way?” Kurama was curious.

“She can’t heal herself that way. When she heals someone, using her miko powers, she is literally drawing from her life ki to reinforce theirs. To use that on her own injuries, she would weaken herself as much as she healed. In other words, it would be to no effect,” Eishumaru told him. “Shit, look at how much blood she lost. I’m going to check on her.” And he took off in a blur.

As Daitano and Sassouta started to hurry back, too, Kurama asked, “Wait. What are you going to do with those wolves, Sassouta? Do you want us to take them back to the Makai after we take care of them?” he pointed to the four youkai.

“They accepted me as their rightful leader, acknowledging my mastery of the Goraishi as proof that I have our ancestors’ blessing, as my otou-san did before me. They will stay and patrol the forest here for now.”

“It is a shame the ookami youkai cannot be as easily persuaded,” Daitano commented.

The detectives silently agreed with him. After everyone else was gone, Yusuke contacted Botan for a portal into the Reikai. “Well, crap. What the hell do we do now?”

“Now we need to find out just how widespread the knowledge of their return and location is. I think we can try to find that out from these four,” Kurama said, his brow furrowed in thought.
“The only other people who knew they were here are Koenma, Botan, and Yemon. I think we all know what that means,” Yusuke said, cracking his knuckles. “He sent them to wipe out the threat to his position.”

“Not necessarily, Yusuke,” the avatar told him. “I think Kagome was right -- they weren’t here to assassinate Sassouta, -- they came for her. I don’t think this attack had anything to do with the Northern lands at all. Hiei, once you get them to the Reikai, you should use the Jagan to search their thoughts and memories, particularly the female’s. I have a feeling this was more of a personal vendetta, and therefore the knowledge of their return may not be as widespread as we fear. But we need to know how they knew where Kagome is.”

“And where do you plan to be while we are finding out these things?” Hiei asked him.

“At least one of us should stay, and I am going to offer my skills to assist Master Zhang in her healing,” he replied.

“Good idea, Kurama! You should hurry, -- she didn’t look too good. I think that wolf ripped her back up pretty bad,” Kuwabara said, still worrying about her.

“When you return we will have a great deal to talk about, -- not the least of which is the way those boys transformed during the fight,” Kurama said silently to Hiei.

“Hn.”

And as Botan arrived and the others shoved the youkai through the portal, Kurama turned to go to the house.
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It was several hours later when Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara made it back to the house. They weren’t alone, either. Lord Koenma and Lord Yemon both stepped through the portal rather anxiously.

“Where is she?” the wolf lord demanded.

“What the hell is he doing here?!!?” Eishumaru jumped up from the chair he’d been sitting in.

“He is merely concerned about Lady Kagome and wanted to see for himself that she is all right,” Koenma tried to soothe the tall, extremely agitated inuyoukai.

“We appreciate the sentiment, but how can we be sure he is not the cause of her current condition?” Daitano narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he, too, got to his feet and stood next to his brother as if to block Lord Yemon from going to see their mother.

“I had nothing to do with it,” he snapped. “Why would I send someone to kill her? I want to mate with her!”

“Other than them,” Eishumaru indicated the detectives and Koenma, “you were the only one who knew where we are.”

“True. And unfortunately, you are partially correct -- I was, inadvertently, responsible for them knowing where you are. I only told one person: my most trusted advisor, so he would know where I was when I came to visit. When he found out I planned to mate with your mother, he told his daughter, Misao. She was the one who led the attack. I have put both of them to death, along with the remaining three ookami who followed her.”

Koenma nodded. “He did. And we don’t believe anyone else knows of this location, or of the truth of your return. There are still a few rumors to that effect, but it is not common knowledge and most people don’t seem to believe it.”

“May I see her?” Lord Yemon asked.

Daitano looked at him for a minute, then nodded. “Don’t disturb her, though. She is sleeping. Eishumaru, you can take him up.”

A minute later, Kurama came downstairs to join them. “Lord Yemon certainly lost no time coming to see her.”

“He was quite upset when he heard what happened,” Koenma said.

“How sure are you that his involvement was as inadvertent as he claims? If his advisor feared for his safety, why would he tell his daughter to lead an attack against okaa-san? It would have made more sense to send out a handful of trained assassins,” Daitano stared at Koenma.

“The advisor didn’t send the daughter to attack her. He just told her because he knew that she … um, well, … that she entertained hopes of becoming Lord Yemon’s mate herself,” Koenma explained, with a slight blush creeping up his face.

“What Koenma is saying is that Yemon was sleeping with the girl, and when she found out about your mother, she got a bunch of her friends to help her by claiming Lord Yemon had fallen under a spell and was in danger,” Yusuke told Daitano.

The inuyoukai just stared at him a minute, then shrugged. “Hmph. Well, the bitch couldn’t have been that good if he just put her to death without a second thought. She obviously had no chance of becoming his mate whether okaa-san showed up or not.”

Kuwabara’s eyes bulged out of their sockets. (He did not just say that!)

Kurama and Hiei exchanged glances and then Kurama arched a brow at the boy. “I daresay you are correct.”

“Don’t tell me you are surprised by my words, or is it my attitude? I am a full-blooded youkai, and I am past my hundred-years. It would be more surprising if Yemon did not have a mistress or a lover at his age and rank. However, I would think he would know better than to let them get such ideas about their future.” He smiled a bit wickedly then. “And he should have cleared his plate of the appetizer before ordering the main course. He will quickly find out he is no match for okaa-san. If he can’t keep a simple ookami bitch in her place, then he doesn’t have what it takes to satisfy an onna who was the mate to three Taiyoukai. Not that any of you has a chance, really, because none of you seem to know what you’re chasing after -- even if you manage to make your way into her bed,” he looked straight at Kurama.

Kurama smiled at him a bit indulgently. “You are still a boy if you don’t realize that that could be the prize all by itself.”

Daitano smirked at him. “No, it might seem like a prize for a while, but only a fool would be satisfied with that for long. My otou-sans all knew better: the real prize is her heart.” And he turned to leave. “Please excuse me, and when Lord Yemon comes down, you might ask him if he would like to help in the field. Sassouta, Ginta, and Hakkaku are taking care of the dead according to their ways, and they are his people.”

“I see that the eldest son has no problem speaking his mind,” Koenma commented dryly. “He certainly has the bearing and arrogance of a Taiyoukai.” He turned to Kurama. “Yusuke told me about the markings that appeared on the boys during the battle. Do you really think they were kaikyuushou?”

“Although they were a bit rough and jagged-looking, hai. I can only surmise that even though they were able to summon it when it looked like their mother’s life was in danger, they are not yet strong enough to control that kind of power. But I do believe it indicates that all three of them will eventually reach Taiyoukai status, -- provided they live long enough, of course.”

“Quite right.” Kurama smacked his neck, and a tiny flea demon floated to the ground.

“Myouga?” Yusuke said. “Are you spying on us?”

“Not at all. I was merely on my way to my office, and I couldn’t help hearing your conversation. I can shed some light on the boys’ power, if you wish.” At their nods, he continued, “Kurama is completely correct. Though it is unusual for kaikyuushou to manifest themselves before a youkai actually attains that level of power, it is not unheard of. In the case of the boys, I believe it is more a case of their age and experience not being sufficient to maintain the power at their command. As you know, only youkai of noble blood and heritage have the potential to claim Taiyoukai status, but very few even come close. And those that do don’t usually attain that level until they have reached their maturity, but all three of their fathers did at astoundingly young ages. However, they were engaged in great battles, and in Lord Inuyasha and Lord Kouga’s case, it was their efforts in the Great Quest that proved their status.

Being a hanyou, Lord Inuyasha had times when he transformed into a full youkai, and he, too, bore the evidence of jagged kaikyuushou on his face. But his partially-human body was unable to maintain that level of power for long -- it was dangerous for him, and threatened to take his mind. It was at those times that Lady Kagome was the only one who could reach him and anchor him to his sanity. She gave him a reason to control the power raging in his youkai blood, and by believing in him, helped him to believe in himself. It wasn’t until he defeated Naraku that he was strong enough and confident enough in body, mind and heart to be called a true Taiyoukai. I believe the boys will prove their worth to hold that status when they reclaim their lands.”

“That’s very interesting. Knowing about their fathers definitely helps when we are trying to understand the sons’ situations. Perhaps we can talk more about the Taiyoukai after Lord Yemon departs,” Kurama suggested.

Myouga looked at him a bit suspiciously. “Perhaps at a later date. I will be quite busy helping prepare for the cha-no-yu, especially since Lady Kagome is currently indisposed. Now, if you will please excuse me, I should get to work.”

“Of course. Arigatou.”

“Well, they all seem to be rather calm after this morning’s events,” Koenma noted.

“Hmmm. Despite the boys’ apparent youth, we should remember what their situation was during their time. They were ‘in hiding’ even back then. By comparison, this must still seem like a fairly secure position,” Kurama said thoughtfully. “And it is beginning to look like they really are ‘the true heirs of the Makai,’ just as the legend states. How unusual, when there are so few youkai who ever achieve that kind of status, that three brothers, who have three different fathers, seem destined to become some of the most powerful Taiyoukai ever.”

“How’s Kagome, Kurama?” Kuwabara wanted to know.

“She will be all right. She lost a lot of blood, though except for letting that one youkai she knew take a free shot at her, I don’t think any of the others landed a single hit. It was the wolves who did the most damage. She has deep wounds on her back and side, and numerous lesser ones all down her arms and legs, but most of those are already healing.

According to Zhang, the wolves fell on them when they were deep in meditation. Being animals, they don’t give off the kind of aura her miko powers would detect. He said it was only a feeling of disturbance in the air that brought them to themselves in time to face the attack. I don’t know if you noticed or not, but both of them seem to have combined their snake style kung fu with the Tibetan Hop Gar he has been teaching her. And she does know how to use the Death Touch. I saw her take down at least 5 wolves that way, and that was the method she used on the youkai she knew that she said she didn’t want to kill. Though most of the time, with the numbers she was facing, she resorted to using the eight fists instead. And if she wasn’t so good at evading, she would have been torn to pieces. Facing animals, especially in those numbers, can be more difficult than humans or youkai sometimes. You saw how easily she dealt with the ookami youkai. She called her purifying powers into her hands and released them with each blow she landed. She may be one of the most dangerous females I’ve ever seen,” the avatar admitted.

“But not the most dangerous? What female have you seen with more power and killing potential?” Koenma asked curiously.

“None.”

“I don’t understand,” the demi-god said in confusion.

“He is referring to her hesitation to kill the youkai she knew as a boy. Her sentiment is a great weakness, and will be probably be her downfall someday. It reduces her effectiveness and potential,” Hiei told him.

“But, doesn’t that prove she couldn’t have killed her mates?” Kuwabara spoke up.

“Kuwabara, the situations are entirely different,” Kurama held up a hand to stave off his protests. “Just listen for a minute. We are still keeping in mind the possibility that there are two other women who might have had motives to kill two of her mates. But you also have to consider that if they were jealous over losing them and angry enough to kill them because of it, Kagome may have had the same feelings, and therefore motive, to kill them herself if she thought they were straying or even possibly going to set her aside for their former lovers.

We haven’t had time to tell you yet what we have learned about Lord Sesshoumaru’s death. He was killed with the kaiken he presented her with, and she was found unconscious near his body with his skin and blood under her nails, and claw marks down her arm from his claws. Apparently, she hit her head on the wall, and she claimed she couldn’t remember what happened.”

“Damn. I was starting to hope she might be innocent,” Koenma grumbled.

“That doesn’t prove anything. They could have both been attacked,” Kuwabara pointed out.

“Then why didn’t their attacker kill her after Lord Sesshoumaru was dead?”

“Maybe because he was the only target. And she was pregnant when he was killed, right? Maybe they didn’t want to kill a pregnant lady.”

“Crap. This whole thing is just such a mess. Look guys, you’re right -- that sounds bad. Especially the part about them clawing at each other. But I just don’t know. Kuwabara’s right, too. She really doesn’t seem like the kind of person to do something like that. And there are the other two women to consider. I say we just keep our eyes and ears open for now,” Yusuke said, running his hand through his hair.

“The ookami is coming,” Hiei told them.

When Lord Yemon reached the bottom of the stairs, he said, “Well, Koenma, I need to get back to the Northern lands. I will have a lot more to take care of now if I am going to join Lady Kagome in a few days.”

“Daitano wondered if you wanted to help with the bodies of your people,” Kurama mentioned.

“Hmph. They acted on their own and they died on their own. I won’t help them reach our ancestors. Let’s go,” the wolf leader commanded.

“All right. Keep me informed. We’ll be back in three days for the cha-no-yu,” Koenma said as Botan arrived, and they left through the portal.

“He’s certainly a cold fish, isn’t he? Leaving his people to be cared for by the people they attacked,” Yusuke said, frowning.

“If they acted against his wishes, then it is his right to choose to expel them from his clan, -- even all mention of them,” Kurama explained. “Of course, some of them aren’t going to reach their ancestors anyway because Kagome purified them completely -- body and soul.”

“Yeah, I saw a few of them turn to ashes. How come the others didn’t?” the toushin asked.

“She reeled in her powers. I think she deliberately held back to avoid destroying their souls.”

“Wait. Does that mean that if their bodies don’t turn to ashes that their souls aren’t purified? Weren’t the bodies of at least two of her mates still there? Does that mean their souls couldn’t have been purified?”

“No, it doesn’t work like that, Yusuke. Hai, if the body has been completely turned to ash by purifying power, then the soul was obliterated, too. But the soul can also be purified and the body still be there. After a youkai is dead, the soul leaves the body and is carried to the Reikai -- you should know that. A powerful miko can see the soul as it leaves and can purify it separately,” the avatar told him. “After all, turning the whole body to ash would be a dead giveaway that the killer was most likely a miko.”

“Oh.”

“Well, I’m going to go up and check on Kagome, then I’m going to help the others in the field,” Kuwabara announced.

“Yeah, I guess I will, too,” Yusuke said. And the two of them trudged up the stairs.

“Did you find out anything else in the Reikai?” Kurama asked.

“Not really. I did find out it was just a group of them acting on the female’s word, and from what I could see in her memories, the wolf never did give her any reason to hope he would take her as his mate. Baka female.” Hiei snorted. “So, since it appears this was an isolated attack, we won’t have to relocate them. I did have Koenma check on the ookami princess’ whereabouts, out of curiosity. She has been visiting people in the Eastern lands for the last three weeks and probably hasn’t even heard the rumors, which explains why she hasn’t been to the Reikai yet demanding Koenma do something about the miko. I noticed you didn’t mention the servant who heard Lord Sesshoumaru yell her name.”

“No. I didn’t see any point unless Koenma wanted to look for the servant, and I don’t think he does yet. I found out a couple of interesting things while you were gone. She does have old scars from claws on her left arm. I have to think they must be from Lord Sesshoumaru, though I am not sure why they didn’t completely heal.”

“Perhaps because they were made by her mate.”

“Perhaps.”

 220;What else did you find out?”

Kurama smiled wickedly and his eyes flashed with gold, but Youko was the one to speak, “That even injured, she’s magnificent without her clothes. Apparently, she was blessed with certain celestial maiden traits, which are truly intriguing. And her coloring is most unusual, too. All that beautiful, porcelain-like skin, and yet her …”

“Did you find out anything else that pertains to the case?” Hiei asked him, getting rather irritated.

“What’s the matter? You don’t want to hear about her soft, silky thighs and incredibly enticing breasts? I’m telling you, those nipples were just begging for …”

“I’m surprised the other kitsune let you touch her at all.”

“Heh heh! He didn’t want to, but Master Zhang recognized the value of my plants and the salve I made for her wounds. I can’t wait to get my hands back on her once she’s up and about. And that strawberry taste of hers really is quite appetizing. I can’t understand the toushin preferring the taste of bubble gum,” Youko shuddered.

“Hn. Is that all you have?”

“Hai.”

And when Hiei left, Youko grinned evilly. “What is it?” Kurama asked him.

“Haven’t you noticed? He was getting extremely agitated with our description of the lovely widow’s charms. It’s just like I thought -- he wants her, too. But he’d never admit it.”

“You didn’t expect him to, did you? Hiei is a very private person.”

“True. But how does he expect to get what he wants that way? It’s not like she’s going to come knocking on his door and ask if she can crawl into bed with him.”

“If I know Hiei, he’d rather not give in to those kinds of desires anyway. He prides himself on his control. So, if our widow is getting under his skin, it’s sure to be a sore spot with him. I suggest you don’t tease him about it.”

“Are you kidding? It’s not often we get a golden opportunity like this -- we can really stick it to him when we stick it to her.”

Kurama closed his eyes and shook his head. “Youko, that was crude, even for you.”

“Would you prefer that I comment on the fact that I intend to nail her before we nail her for these murders? Because it won’t take much more to pin them on her. You and I both know she’s the only truly viable suspect. So does Hiei. And if the story behind what happened to her first mate is as damning as what happened to her second one, even Kuwabara will have to see the truth. And then we shall have to find a way to take her in without having to kill these future Taiyoukai.”
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L ate that night, Hiei was staring out his window. (What the hell is wrong with me? It’s one night, damn it. I was completely satisfied less than 24 hours ago -- that should last me for months if I want it to. This is all that damn Youko’s fault. And he did it on purpose, too, going on and on about her body like that. I think that damn fox gets some kind of perverse pleasure out of walking around with a tent in his pants, but I sure as hell don’t.) On the one hand, at least Kurama knew about the claw marks on her arm, so Hiei didn’t have to figure out a way to tell him. But, on the other hand, he was annoyed with how annoyed he was that the fox had seen everything else.

It had nothing to do with her, in particular, though. She was irrelevant. He didn’t care if someone else looked at her. Or touched her. Or that both Youko and Yusuke had kissed her and knew that she really did taste like fresh, ripe strawberries. It was just the idea that for once, he had something that someone else wanted. He had had precious few things to call his own in his life, and it was actually rather … satisfying knowing that at the end of the day, the onna Youko was trying so hard to seduce was going to be in his bed. And even though he didn’t like her, or care about her, or even want to want her, the fact was, she had picked him to be her lover. So, he couldn’t help that nagging little feeling of possessiveness that had hit him when Youko had started talking about her. And that REALLY annoyed him.

She wasn’t his. He didn’t want her to be. She was simply a warm body serving a purpose. And if things kept going like they were, she wouldn’t be a warm body for long, because they were going to have to take her in and Koenma was going to have to have her executed whether he wanted to or not. Of course, that was assuming there weren’t any more attempts to kill her before then. Hiei swore to himself. (I can’t believe we fucked up like that. We are supposed to be protecting her and those boys, and we just let her go off, without any of us anywhere around, to get attacked by a bunch of fucking wolves. We should all have our asses kicked. Well, that won’t happen again. From now on, she goes nowhere without at least one of us going with her.)

And just as that thought crossed his mind, he saw a small, dark figure heading for the enclosed garden out back. (What the …?!!?) With a curse, he left his room to head her off.


“What the hell do you think you’re doing, onna?!!?”

Kagome whipped around when she felt a hand grab her shoulder. She smiled when she saw Hiei standing there. “Are we back to that?”

“Wasn’t nearly getting yourself killed this morning enough for you?” He narrowed his eyes and looked at her carefully for a moment. “Why are you out here? Shouldn’t you be sleeping? Your sons said you heal faster that way.”

“I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I came out here to walk a bit and … think.” She idly ran her fingers over one of the nearby roses.

Hiei looked around at the path she had taken so far. Several of the roses were crushed and petals were scattered about on the ground. “I take it your thoughts were not pleasant ones.”

“What?” she asked in confusion. Then she followed his gaze. “Oh! I guess I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.” She frowned a little, then her expression turned sorrowful.

The apparition tilted his head as he watched her. “You are still feeling regret for killing the ookami? Even though he tried to kill you? That is a waste of time. Your sentiment is misplaced.”

She sighed. “No, affection for a child is never a mistake. Hideo … Hideo was just a few months older than Eishumaru. His mother died in childbirth, and his father was a member of Kouga’s Guard. We would take him with us when we went on picnics and outings, and he ran around in our rooms just like one of the family. When his father was on patrol, I would just tuck him in with Daitano and Eishumaru at night. I never thought …”

She began to walk, and Hiei fell into step beside her. “I’m afraid my mistake may have been the years I hid my sons from the world. I had hoped that bringing them back after the three realms had been split and settled would give them a better opportunity to reclaim their heritage. But, perhaps I did them an injustice because I was too selfish to give them up. When it was decided that the realms would be split and the barriers set, I was afraid for them to be left to face their enemies in the Makai alone, without our taijiya allies. We were being hunted relentlessly then. And I knew that when the barriers went up I would either be thrown into the Ningenkai, or …”

“Or?” Hiei prompted.

She closed her eyes for a minute and rubbed her temple. “Or taken to the Reikai to be locked up or executed,” she said quietly. “I hoped that after 400 years, people would have forgotten that there were heirs to three of the Houses of the Makai who would seek to regain them, and the boys could train and prepare in relative peace.”

“Hn. You hoped the murders would be forgotten so you could remain free.”

To his surprise, she nodded. “Hai. At least, I hoped the furor over them had died down enough that I would have time to help my sons.” She stopped and rubbed her temple again. “But it looks like the only thing I may have done is lost them some of their allies. If they had been around, and maintained their ties with Hideo, and possibly others, maybe they could have made a bid for their lands sooner, without me around to muddy the waters of people’s loyalty.”

He didn’t say anything to that, and they walked on in silence until she raised her hand to her temple again.

“You need to go back and sleep,” Hiei told her gruffly.

“I can’t. I’ve been tossing and turning for hours. That’s why I finally came out here.”

“I thought you had given up your late-night wanderings.”

She blushed profusely. “Gomen nasai. I didn’t think you would want me to come to your room in these bandages.” She fingered the bandages at the back of her neck, drawing his attention to the way they were visible through the almost sheer black nightgown she was wearing since her robe wasn’t tied.. He raised a brow when he saw how they had been wrapped around her torso -- Kurama had to have done it. They wrapped around just under her breasts all the way to her navel in a way that emphasized the full, pale globes and the slim curve of her waist. (That damn fox.)

“I was not suggesting you should have come to my room. I am not some pathetic, desperate, sex-obsessed weakling who needs to satisfy his urges on an injured female,” he said scornfully.

“Oh, I wasn’t implying that you were,” she hastened to assure him. “On the contrary, I was pretty sure you would be, well, disgusted if I showed up looking like this. I’m hardly anyone’s idea of appealing, at the moment.”

“Onna, your appeal isn’t in question, -- it’s your health and comfort level that are dubious,” he informed her.

She stopped and stared at him. (Why does he keep saying and doing things I don’t expect from him?) Was he actually concerned about her injuries? Or was he just annoyed that they were getting in the way of their arrangement? Because the truth was, there wasn’t a chance in hell of her going back to sleep. She had actually been awake for the last 5 or 6 hours, but hadn’t wanted her sons or Shippou to start fussing over her. But every time she closed her eyes, she saw Hideo’s lifeless face. And she couldn’t help but remember the boy he had been and how much he had meant to her and her sons.

When she had recognized him, as he stood in front of her, his eyes flashing with hatred, she had been unable to lift a hand against him. It had been an instinctive movement when the wolf had grabbed her that caused her to deliver the Death Touch to the enemy facing her -- to the little boy she had hugged and played with and loved. Had she been cursed to watch those she cared about die all around her? Was she doomed to be the cause of their death? She really didn’t want to think about it anymore. She didn’t want to think at all. “Hiei? Would you … I mean, if you’re serious that it doesn’t … um, if you aren’t … could we …?” she stammered, as she looked down at the ground.

Hiei’s eyes grew wide. (She’s just full of surprises, isn’t she?) Even in the pale light from the moon, he could see the color staining her cheeks. “If that’s what you want.”

She raised her head and looked at him intently. “Hai. I’ll make it up to you.”

There was something swirling in those deep blue eyes of hers that made him pause for a moment. This was different than the deal they had made. She was asking him to do this as a favor. Instead of both of them seeking “release” from physical desires, she was looking for an escape from her doubts and regrets. And she was asking him to take her away from it all. Well, he wasn’t averse to that.

He took her arm and pulled her down a different path that led around the outer edges of the garden. He could tell she was surprised he hadn’t headed for the house, but she didn’t protest. He came to the tall fence that surrounded this side and told her to lean forward and put her hands on it. There were vines of climbing roses all along the fence, and she had to be careful where she put her hands because of the thorns. She heard the rustle of clothing behind her as he dropped his pants, then she felt his hands slowly slide up the outside of her legs, taking her gown and robe up with them. He paused when he came to a couple of long, thin scratches on the side of her right hip. He knew she had deeper claw marks along her left side, and that he would have to be careful about rubbing against her back, which was why he didn’t just throw her down on the ground and fuck her senseless like she had basically asked him to do. It really was going to be a bit of a challenge for him because he wasn’t used to being careful. But, just this once, he’d make the effort.

Putting a hand on her lower back, he bent her down further and let a finger trail along her center from behind. Slipping it inside, he slowly began to slide it in and out as his other hand reached around her to firmly rub that sensitive pleasure spot that made her inner muscles clench around his finger involuntarily. He added another finger, grunting lightly at how tightly she fit around them. As he pulled them out, he circled her entrance, spreading the moisture before pressing back inside. He had only repeated this process a few times when she suddenly clasped her thighs together in an attempt to stop his movements. “Hiei, please … just …”

He was more than willing to do as she requested. He was already so hard he could feel his pulse throbbing all down his length. So, he just about couldn’t believe his ears when he heard himself ask her, “Are you sure you want to do this now?”

He nearly breathed a sigh of relief when she said, “Hai, I’m sure.” Bending his knees to put himself at the right angle, he grasped himself firmly with one hand and placed the other on her stomach to pull her back onto him as he guided his staff into her slick entrance. Once he was partway in, he felt the muscles in her thighs tense as she braced herself for the thrust she knew was coming. He smirked to himself as he thought how well she seemed to know him already, and he wasn’t about to disappoint her expectations. Pulling back slightly, he plunged in forcefully until he was buried as deeply in her soft, wet, heat as he could get.

Pausing just long enough to run his hands down the front of her thighs and back up to her hips where he anchored her in place, he began to move in a hard, steady rhythm that allowed no time for thoughts as both of them were caught up in the tide of sensations sweeping through their bodies. The familiarity of the age-old movements did not dim the pleasure in them. Instead, it added to the growing feeling of confidence and security Kagome had about choosing to allow herself to have this kind of relationship with someone -- and about choosing Hiei to be that someone.

All of her senses focused inward, shifting from the rising temperature of her blood under her skin to the loud pounding of her heartbeat, then to the slowly growing ball of electricity deep in her center that kept giving off sparks that shot outward until they made her fingertips and toes tingle. Behind it all was the one point deep inside her where she could feel him as though he was a part of herself. She could feel how perfectly his hot, rigid flesh melded with her soft, accommodating core. He filled her so completely that each time he pulled back, she felt a vague sense of loss and began to tighten around him even more as if to hold him in place. This caused him to thrust more forcefully, which in turn added to the sweet friction between them, until soon, she threw her head back and let out a soft cry as she shattered around him.

Hiei moved one hand to her lower abdomen, where he could feel her muscles spasm through her skin as well as all around him inside her. He leaned over her back and braced his other hand against the fence next to hers as he fought to contain his own release. He was just getting started. As he felt her calm, he briefly nuzzled in the hair at the side of her neck, inhaling her enticing fragrance. Surrounded by a garden of roses, the only scent that appealed to him was the rich smell of gardenias and the faint musk of sex in the air.

When he began again, he straightened somewhat so he wasn’t leaning against her back, and brought his other hand back to her body. Both of them moved up her stomach, over the bandages, until he was cupping her breasts. Filling his hands with the full, round globes, he was glad for the simple cut of her nightgown as it gaped away from her so accommodatingly. As he squeezed and kneaded the warm flesh firmly, her low moans goaded him onward to quicken his pace. He scarcely even paused when he came, just letting the spasmodic jerking of his hips overtake the rhythm of his thrusts for a few minutes before resuming. If he was lucky, maybe he could get his fill of this onna tonight so his treacherous body would stop plaguing him. With that thought in mind, he drove on, riding her hard through two more climaxes and another of his own, until he felt her start to sink to the ground, -- her legs unable to support her any longer and her arms shaking in their effort to hold her away from the fence.

He lowered them both to their knees and held her back against his chest, not breaking the intimate contact of their bodies. He chuckled to himself between slightly ragged breaths as he rested his cheek against her temple, where strands of her hair were plastered to the side of her face. Giving them both a minute to catch their breath, he massaged her thighs before bringing his hands back up to her breasts. Seeking out her swollen nipples, he circled them lightly with his fingertips before rolling them gently between his forefinger and thumb. As she arched her back and let her head lay back against his shoulder, his ministrations became rougher as he tugged the tightened peaks and rubbed them firmly with the pad of his thumbs.

Shifting slightly behind her, he encouraged her to raise up on her knees as he began to thrust up into her. Soon, he was slamming into her as hard and as fast as he could. Instead of letting her move to meet him, he held her tightly in place. He could hear her gasp for breath as each thrust seemed to drive the air from her lungs. He had pushed her up towards that peak fast and furiously earlier, then had relit the fire and stoked the flames, keeping her simmering until she thought her blood would boil, only to do it again and again. But this time, he took her up so fast that her entire body was taut and aching with the strain, -- every muscle, every nerve stretching and reaching for the blissful oblivion she knew awaited her. And he was driving her towards it so fast, she thought she might break under the pressure. She could feel herself trembling, inside and out, as he thrust into her sharply over and over, and she would have cried out with each movement, if she could make a sound.

Feeling her body’s unbelievably quick response to his latest efforts just fueled his own desire almost to the point of desperation. Even though he had just spent the last couple of hours indulging his body’s needs, for some reason, this time he felt if he didn’t hit that point of heavenly relief soon, he was going to burst into flames. Hiei was breathing as hard as she was, and the back of his shirt was wet with the sweat of his exertions. He was so focused on the exquisite torture of her heated flesh rubbing against and clinging to his aching member that he was completely oblivious to everything else. No sight, no sound, nothing else existed except the intense feeling of her around him as he pounded himself into her depths. Then, just when he was ready to explode, he was hit with the unmistakable scent of fresh blood. He froze and blinked a few times, trying to process what his senses were telling him. Suddenly he realized he had clutched her to him so tightly that his chest had been rubbing against her back. He would have cursed himself if he could think straight, but Kagome dug her fingernails into his arms where she had been gripping them, as he had wrapped them tightly across her chest while clasping a breast in each hand. “Don’t! … Don’t stop! … Don’t you dare stop!” she threatened him as she struggled to breathe.

Pulling out of her quickly, with a hiss of protest escaping his lips, he lifted her up and turned her to face him, impaling her again just as quickly, with a vicious growl. “Hold on to me,” he told her harshly. No sooner had she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist than he proceeded to plunge in and out of her rapidly. In this position, his thrusts were even more shallow than they had been before and he made up for it by grinding his hips into the cradle of her thighs, seeking to press ever deeper within her. It only took a few repetitions of this movement before her already over-sensitized body hit its limit, and she clung to him as tightly as she could while her world fractured around her. Throwing his head back as a guttural cry tore from his throat, his fingers dug into her hips as he continued to grind into her while her wildly contracting muscles squeezed and pumped his entire length until he had nothing left to give.

Lowering himself to sit, he felt her begin to gently rock her hips against him in a slow, soothing motion as she lay her head on his shoulder. It wasn’t a passionate or even a sexual gesture at all, -- it was a gentle caress, and Hiei found himself responding to it by rocking with her. He didn’t think about it, though, as he was too concerned with the injury to her back. He lightly ran his hands over the bandages trying to tell just how much she was bleeding. She winced slightly when he touched the area where her blood had soaked through. “S’okay,” she said, her voice muffled against his shoulder. “It’s stopped.” Her breathing was slowing and he could tell she was practically asleep.

“Why didn’t you say something?” he asked roughly.

“Didn’t notice.” And he felt her smile right before she nuzzled lightly against him and pressed her lips softly against his neck. With a contented little sigh, she gave herself up to the pull of sleep.

Hiei sat there for a long while, still slowly rocking against her while her breath warmed the spot where she’d kissed him. This night had not turned out the way he thought it would, and he had a bad feeling that this whole arrangement he’d entered into wasn’t going to be as simple as he’d thought it would be. And he’d back out of it if he thought he could stay away from her. Now he thought he understood why three Taiyoukai had claimed her as their mate. Hell, even if the damn onna did kill them, they probably thought it was worth it to have her as long as they did. She wasn’t a miko -- she was a damn witch, -- either that or she exuded some kind of aphrodisiac narcotic through her skin, because he knew his body was rapidly becoming addicted to hers, if it wasn’t already. If that damn Kurama had just done his job like Koenma told him and seduced her, he wouldn’t be having this problem. And if a tiny little voice in the back of his mind tried to tell him he was already having a problem before he’d ever even touched her, he ignored it.

Knowing he needed to take her in, Hiei got to his feet. He chuckled to himself when he realized he still had one pantleg around his ankle. There was no way he was going to be able to get his pants back on without disturbing her, and for some reason, he was loath to do that. (Because she’s injured and needs to sleep.) So, with a small kick to free his leg, he simply incinerated them and headed back to the house. After he was gone, a tall, dark figure walked out of the shadows and came to stand where the lovers had so recently been. Kicking the small pile of ashes, he scattered them in the wind.

Checking carefully to make sure no one was up and about, Hiei carried Kagome to her room. He was relieved to find she had left the door unlocked, so he didn’t have to try juggling her while picking the lock. He put her down on the bed, making sure to lay her on her side. He debated whether or not to try re-bandaging her back, but someone would be sure to notice the difference, so he left it as it was. He did decide to get a washcloth to remove any visible evidence of their activities just in case someone, like Kurama, managed to ogle her body again while supposedly checking her wounds.

Just as he was about to leave, he remembered the oil to mask his scent on her. He didn’t want to have to go to his room and come back again, -- that would be risky. So, he started searching around to see if she had a similar jar in her rooms. Fortunately, he found one in her bathroom cabinet that looked identical to the one she had given him. Opening it and giving it a sniff, he was satisfied it was the same kind of oil. After dabbing a drop on her and one on himself, he noticed she still had on her robe. With an exasperated sigh, he gently eased it off of her and covered her with the blanket, all the while mentally rolling his eyes at himself. (Details. It’s going to do me a lot of good to take care of all these little details and get caught walking around in the halls butt-naked.) Finally making his way to his own room, he threw himself down on the bed and immediately fell asleep.
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Kagome slept until early afternoon. When she got up, she felt a lot better than she had the night before, if a lot more sore. After what had happened with Hideo, she had been seriously doubting herself and the choices she had made. Being able to put everything out of her mind for a while, followed by some restful sleep had done her a world of good. Once upon a time, she had been able to travel to the past, but she knew there was no way to go back and change things now, and she needed to deal with the situation as it was as best as she could. With that in mind, she re-dedicated herself to doing everything she could to help her sons.

She was grateful to Hiei for helping her out last night, but she felt a little guilty for using him like that. Even though she had asked him to be her lover for purely rational reasons to solve a problem she was having, somehow it still seemed somewhat cold to have asked him to have sex with her just to help her forget everything for a little while. She really would have to do something to make it up to him. But what?

When she and Inuyasha fought and she wanted to make a peace offering, or if she just wanted to do something special for him, she had always tried to fix him a special dinner of his favorite foods. Being unable to go back to her time to get the instant ramen noodles he loved so much, she had even learned how to make them herself. If Sesshoumaru seemed especially tense or a bit distant due to his responsibilities or if they had disagreed about something, she would set up their room with candles and vanilla incense and give him a massage. As for Kouga, well, if he got mad at her for being stubborn, she would put on one of her shortest yukatas that barely covered her butt, and walk up to him and whisper in his ear about all the things she was going to do to him when they got to their room. When they did, she would prove to him that her being a strong-willed woman with forceful opinions of her own wasn’t such a bad thing, and that it was okay for him to just sit back and let her make some decisions on her own. Come to think of it, her way of making things up to Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru usually ended up about the same way, too.

Well, she wasn’t real sure any of those were the best way to do something for Hiei. He hadn’t shown much of a preference for a particular food, except he seemed a little partial to sweets. He wasn’t much into being touched. And he definitely liked to be dominant in bed. But, … maybe she’d try them anyway. For now, she had to get back to preparing for the cha-no-yu and their Golden Week trip.


Everyone except Kagome, Master Zhang, and Shippou followed their normal training routine. Shippou had been sitting by her bed when she woke up, and he had fussed upon discovering she had somehow re-opened some of the wounds on her back last night. But Zhang had treated them and pronounced her fit enough to continue the cha-no-yu preparations -- just no training until after they returned from their travels. By that evening, most of her injuries had healed, except for a particularly deep bite mark on the back of her neck. You could still see the claw marks on her back and side, but as long as she was careful, they probably wouldn’t re-open, and even those would be gone in another day. Zhang didn’t even bother to bandage them before dinner.

After dinner that evening, instead of a single sweet offering for dessert, everyone was served a plate of shu cream and ichigo daifuku, along with a dish of vanilla ice cream. Kagome had made sure beforehand that Hiei was served an extra-large helping.

“Hey, kaa-san, what’s the occasion? Since when do we have so many sweets after a meal?” Sassouta asked, stuffing a shu cream in his mouth.

“No occasion. I just thought everyone might enjoy a treat after recent events. But you don’t have to swallow them whole,” she admonished him. “Now, if you all will please excuse me, I think I will retire early. I will see some of you for the first cha-no-yu tomorrow evening.”

“Are you feeling all right, okaa-san?” Daitano asked, frowning in concern.

She touched his cheek. “Hai, I’m fine. A little extra rest and I’ll be as good as new. Good night.” She bowed and left. She didn’t want to worry her sons, but she didn’t feel the least bit guilty for using her injuries as an excuse to escape Kurama’s advances for the evening.

Late that night, she knocked on Hiei’s door and entered as usual when he answered. But, when he crossed the room to join her at the bed, she surprised him with the offer of a massage, complete with warm oils. Realizing this was all part of her “making it up to him” for last night, he decided to take her up on her offer. He had noticed and appreciated the extra ice cream earlier, along with the other sweets. Inwardly he smirked to himself -- as far as he was concerned, he’d done himself as big a favor as he had her. He had certainly been satisfied enough to make it worthwhile.

The massage was surprisingly … pleasant. And erotic. He had been so relaxed, he was happy to turn the reins over to her for the next three hours just to see what else she had in mind. And afterwards, he was even happier. The widow was incredibly talented, and she had proven quite conclusively that she knew how to thoroughly pleasure a male. The only thing that had marred his enjoyment of her demonstration of her many talents was the sight of those claw marks on her smooth, beautiful, pale skin -- not because they dimmed her appeal, but because it irritated him that the wolves had had the chance to hurt her like that. (Damn ookami.) And even though for his purposes, nothing beat a good, hard fuck, he had to admit, he was intrigued to discover he appreciated and enjoyed the skills and variety she brought to the bedroom just as much.

Maybe it was just a temporary fascination with the unknown. She constantly surprised him by the things she did and the way she moved. Maybe it was the way she moved. Or the way her skin glowed. Or how soft and smooth it felt under his hands and against his own skin. Or the way she felt around him -- all warm and wet and welcoming, and so incredibly tight, like she had been fitted to him. Or maybe it was those amazing eyes -- so blue, but so many different blues, -- constantly changing in intensity in response to her thoughts and emotions and desires. Whatever the hell it was, he couldn’t deny he was fascinated. And that irritated the hell out of him.

He didn’t want to be fascinated, or even mildly interested in anything about her. He still didn’t like her -- she was too nice, and friendly, and charming. He couldn’t even completely respect her power after discovering her hesitancy to use it, even to defend herself, against those she held some form of affection for. She might be some kind of a celestial being now, but she still held that fatal ningen flaw of listening too much to her emotions instead of letting her instincts guide her. The strongest instinct of all is to survive at all costs.

He still didn’t trust her. If she had turned against her mates, especially over feelings of jealousy, she simply could not be trusted. And even if everything else could be turned around to point at some other woman, the fact was, she and Sesshoumaru had obviously fought and she had the scars to prove it. And if Kouga had been killed by that Death Touch method, as far as they knew, Princess Ayame did not know how to do it. Kurama had said it was rarely taught even in China, and the only one who was around at the time who seemed to know it was Kagome since Zhang had returned to China before Kouga was killed. And there was simply no escaping the fact that the souls of her mates were gone. He had witnessed her purification powers himself. Who else at that time had that kind of power?

And speaking of power, he really, really didn’t like the fact that she seemed to hold some strange kind of power over him. No matter how many times he sated his body, he still wanted her. She really was a witch or some kind of siren to keep stirring his desires. But what was even more disturbing was when they were together, he often found himself reaching for her. It was becoming a compulsion to have her close. And he enjoyed the way she touched him -- not just during sex, but afterwards, and he didn’t think she was even aware she was doing it. So, maybe he wasn’t the only one feeling strange compulsions. But that didn’t change the fact that he didn’t want to want her and he just couldn’t make it go away. He really should have drowned her when he had the chance.
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The next day was when the first cha-no-yu would be held. Due to the large number of people there, Kagome had decided to hold two separate ceremonies to best allow the personal interaction and feeling of individual attention that was a central purpose of the cha-no-yu to come through. Traditionally, the ceremony was set for four guests to insure the intimacy of the experience, but she would be serving 7 guests both days. Still, she was confident in her ability to make it a special experience for each person.

When she had decided to hold two ceremonies, she had divided the guests to serve family and friends first, followed by the suitors and elders. But, feeling pretty uncomfortable with the formality of the whole thing already, Yusuke had asked to attend the first one with Kuwabara instead, and she had wanted to include Jaken as well as Myouga in the preparations. So, she had switched Yusuke and Hiei, which meant that for today’s cha-no-yu, Jaken would stand as her assistant, or hanto, and the guests would be Daitano, Eishumaru, Sassouta, Ginta, Hakkaku, Kuwabara and Yusuke. Tomorrow, Jaken would be one of the guests since she thought he would enjoy that company, and Myouga would stand as hanto, while the other guests would be Koenma, Yemon, Kurama, Shippou, Master Zhang, and Hiei. Kagome felt a little odd seating her lover with her suitors, and changed the theme she had in mind for that ceremony.

None of the Spirit Detectives had ever attended a cha-no-yu before, but Youko had, so Kurama was able to instruct them on what to expect and how to respond. Although a cha-no-yu could vary in length and detail, Kagome was preparing a full chaji, which would include a detailed tea presentation and the serving of two different types of tea, along with a three course meal. The main idea behind holding a tea ceremony is for the host and guests enjoy a quiet interlude while refreshing the spirit and enjoying the harmony of the universe, all the while recognizing that every encounter is a singular occasion which will never happen exactly that way again, and therefore should be cherished and savored.

The small teahouse was located in a special section towards the back of the enclosed garden. When the guests arrive, they are shown into the waiting area by the hanto, where he offers them sayu, the hot water which will used to make the tea. The guests choose one of their number to act as the main guest. Today, they chose Kuwabara, which made him really nervous. Then Jaken led him, with the others following, to a section of garden that had been sprinkled with water, but was devoid of any flowers. This roji, or dew ground, was a place for them to rid themselves of the dust of the world. They all sat on the waiting benches provided until Kagome, serving as the teishu, or house master, arrived.

Kagome filled a stone basin with fresh water and using a ladle purified her hands and mouth before going through the chumon, or middle gate, to greet her guests with a bow. With no words being spoken, she led Jaken, Kuwabara, and the others through the chumon. The middle gate symbolizes the door between the physical world and the spiritual one of the tea. The hanto and guests purify themselves at the stone basin and then enter the teahouse, bowing low and crouching to go through the three-foot-high door. This emphasizes the reality that everyone who enters is equal, regardless of status.

The chashitsu is a room designed for the express purpose of serving tea. The only decoration in the room is a kakemone, or scroll painting, carefully selected by the host, which sets the theme for the ceremony. Each guest in turn steps up to admire the scroll and then the kettle and hearth. Kuwabara and Yusuke were surprised by the scroll Kagome had selected, having expected something stuffy and boring, but the others just laughed. Instead of some simple Buddhist scripture, she had selected a zen koan, -- a parable about Trading Dialogue for Lodging.

The story was about two brothers who were monks dwelling in a temple in northern Japan. The elder was very wise and learned, but the younger one was stupid and only had one eye. Custom dictated that if a wandering monk came and asked for lodging, he could challenge them to a debate about the sublime teachings of Buddhism. If he won, he could stay, but if he lost, he had to move on. A wandering monk came to the brothers’ temple and challenged them. Tired from so much studying that day, the elder brother told the younger one to take his place and debate the stranger. “Request the dialogue in silence,” he advised his brother.

Shortly afterwards, the stranger came to the elder brother and told him, “Your brother is a wonderful fellow and scholar. He defeated me.”

“Relate the dialogue to me,” the elder brother said.

“Well, first I held up one finger, representing Buddha. So he held up two fingers, signifying Buddha and his teachings. I held up three fingers, representing Buddha, his teachings, and his followers, living the harmonious life. Then he shook his clenched fist in my face, indicating that all three come from one realization. Thus he won and I have no right to remain here.” Saying that, the traveling monk left.

Just then, the younger brother ran up to the elder one. “Where is that fellow?”

“I understand you won the debate.”

“Won nothing -- I am going to beat him up!”

“Tell me about the debate,” his elder brother said.

“The minute he sat down, he held up one finger, insulting me by pointing out I only have one eye. Since he is a stranger, I tried to be polite, so I held up two fingers to congratulate him for having both of his eyes. But he wouldn’t let it be, and held up three fingers to emphasize that between us we only had three eyes, so he must be better than I am. So I got mad and started to punch him, but he got up and left.”

Not only did the kakemono give them something fun and interesting to talk about later, but it succeeded in setting a more casual, relaxed atmosphere that Kagome had felt sure would better suit this group. They were all seated at the proper tatami mats that had been set out, and then greetings were exchanged, first between Kagome and Kuwabara, and then between her and each of the others in turn.

Each guest was served the first course of nimono, foods simmered in broth, and yakimono, grilled foods, which Kagome did not eat. Sake was served. During the second course of uminomono, seafood, and yamanomino, mountain food, which Kagome did eat, each of the guests took a turn in serving her sake, again symbolizing that they all were equal by temporarily acting as the host to their teishu. After the third course of konomono, fragrant things, the guests cleaned the utensils they had used with a soft paper they had brought with them. A principal sweet, or omogashi, concluded the meal. Then Kagome invited them to retire to the garden or waiting area while she prepared for the tea.

Since it was evening, a bell was rung 7 times to summon the guests back inside. If it had been during the afternoon, a gong would have been used. They purified their hands and mouths again before re-entering. Kagome had swept the room and arranged the utensils for preparing the tea. She replaced the kakemono with some flowers she had arranged. As before each guest stepped up to admire them. Since Kuwabara and Yusuke didn’t know anything about hanakotoba, Jaken explained the meaning of the flowers she had used in her arrangement. One part of the arrangement consisted of jasmine, which he told them represented her role as teishu because she is graceful and friendly. The majority of the arrangement was a bountiful amount of red poppies, signifying their group as being outgoing and fun-loving. The whole arrangement was liberally sprinkled with delicate azaleas because they all needed to show a lot of patience with each other.

After they were seated again, Kagome entered with the chawan, or tea bowl, which held some of the other implements for the tea preparation. She arranged them all next to the water jar, which represents the sun, or yang. The tea bowl represents the moon, or yin. She went back to the preparation room to retrieve the rest of the items and then returned. Over thirteen items are used and each one is costly and considered art by itself. Using a fukusa, which is a fine silk cloth representing the spirit of the host, Kagome purified the tea container and scoop. At this point in the ceremony, deep significance is placed on the teishu’s careful inspection, handling, and folding of the fukusa, since the level of her concentration and state of meditation are being intensified.

When the tea was ready, she passed the bowl to Kuwabara, who bowed as he accepted it. He raised the bowl and rotated it to admire it. Then he drank some of the tea, wiped the rim, then passed it to Yusuke. After all of the guests had had some, the bowl was returned to Kagome, and she rinsed it and cleaned the tea scoop and container, then offered them to the guests to examine. Now they were free to discuss the various objects, presentation, and other things. For this group, the talk flowed freely and was very lively and full of laughter.

Then Kagome rebuilt the fire for usa cha. The thin tea is supposed to rinse the palate and prepare the guest for leaving the spiritual world of tea for the physical world. Some dry sweets, or higashi, were served, and each guest received an individual bowl of the usa cha. When they had finished, they all expressed their appreciation for the tea and complimented Kagome on her fine art as teishu. She stood at the door and watched them leave to return to the house. In all, they had spent four leisurely, pleasant hours at the teahouse.
------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------


While the others were gone, Kurama and Hiei took advantage of the opportunity to corner Myouga to try to find out some more information about Kagome and her mates, -- particularly her first mate, Inuyasha. They invited him to join them for some sake after dinner, while they asked him ostensibly about the next night’s cha-no-yu.

“So, have you served as hanto for Kagome before?” Kurama began.

“Hai. Actually, I aided in her instruction in the art. When she was mated to Lord Sesshoumaru, he told her how his father used the cha-no-yu to entertain and relax important guests, especially his allies or potential allies whenever they had important business to discuss. He never discussed touchy subjects until the day after they enjoyed an evening spent in quiet companionship.

Lady Kagome wanted to be able to help her mate and saw that as something he would appreciate, and she was right. He truly enjoyed having her serve as teishu when he had important guests. He was very proud of her and liked to show off her grace and skill as well as using the ceremony in the same manner his father had. She served her very first cha-no-yu one month after Daitano was born. Amazing, really, since it usually takes years to be able to successfully pull one off. It wasn’t perfect, but she really did do quite well. And her willingness to learn the art and to perform in that capacity for him was, I think, one of the first things that made Lord Sesshoumaru begin to see her as something more than an obligation. Actually, I believe it may very well have been the first time he seriously considered the possibility of making her his true mate.”

“What do you mean by that?” Hiei asked.

“Well, after Lord Inuyasha was killed, Lord Sesshoumaru immediately brought Lady Kagome to the Western lands and marked her as his mate to protect her and his half-brother’s unborn son from their enemies. She was six months pregnant at the time. It was well over a year after Daitano was born that the two of them realized they had fallen in love, and it wasn’t until then that they truly mated,” the flea demon told him.

“How interesting that she should fall in love with two brothers,” Kurama commented, pouring Myouga some more sake.

“Hai. Quite,” he chuckled. “Though her relationship with Lord Sesshoumaru was considerably less stormy than her relationship with Lord Inuyasha.”

“She and her first mate didn’t get along?” the avatar smiled as if amused.

“Oh, they fought like cats and … well, dogs,” he laughed at his own wit. “But, they were both young and pretty much inexperienced when it came to relationships. And Lady Kagome has always been rather strong-willed and determined, while Lord Inuyasha was just stubborn and not good when it came to dealing with his feelings. He never quite seemed to know how to tell her what she meant to him before they mated, but he showed it in the way he protected her and took care of her. And she couldn’t hide her feelings about him, though she was too shy to tell him directly, but everyone could see it in her eyes and in the way she cared for him. Never having had true affection shown to him as a hanyou in those days, I think it startled him that she was so willing to be close to him physically. He often carried her on his back, or sometimes when they walked along, she would take his hand. Many, many nights they would sit next to each other and just look at the stars. Sometimes I wondered if they would ever get together, but they did. They were so obviously destined for each other.” He held out his cup for more sake. “Arigatou.”

“I understand they were only mated for six months,” Hiei said.

“Hai. Such a tragedy. After all they had been through, you would think the fates would have been kinder to them,” Myouga shook his head sadly.

“I understand Lord Inuyasha had attained his Taiyoukai status just shortly before they mated, as a result of the power he was able to command when he finally defeated Naraku.” At Myouga’s nod, Kurama continued, “Obviously Taiyoukai are not invincible, but still, I was surprised one of his enemies was able to kill him so soon after he had proven himself so strong.” Hiei refilled Myouga’s cup.

“Well, as you know, even though he was finally able to maintain command of that power, he was still a hanyou. As such, he still had one night each month when he became completely human,” the flea explained.

“He was human when he was killed?” Kurama asked, his brows raised in surprise. That hadn’t occurred to them.

“Hai.”

“So his killer knew which night the youki in his blood receded. I would think he would have guarded that information,” Hiei said.

“Oh, he did! Arigatou,” Myouga thanked Kurama for pouring him some more sake. “Only a handful of us knew, or so we thought. Kagome and the others from the Quest knew, of course. Totosai, the blacksmith, knew. Kagura, the wind-user, found out, but I don’t believe she ever told anyone. I’m not even sure Lord Sesshoumaru knew for sure, you’d have to ask Jaken.”

“Someone must have known, unless they just happened upon him by accident that night and took advantage of his state,” Kurama suggested.

“No,” Myouga said, “somehow, someone must have found out. It had to have been planned for them to kill him the way they did.”

“How, exactly, was he killed? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard anyone mention it,” Kurama asked.

The flea demon turned red in the face with anger. “It was pure evil. Such a cruel way to end his life. He was pinned to a tree with an arrow through his heart -- just as he was when Lady Kagome first found him. Only instead of being sealed away in sleep as he had been as a hanyou, as a human, he was killed.”

“I remember the legends about the Great Quest mentioning he had been sealed to a tree for 50 years by a miko after he attempted to steal the Shikon no Tama. I always thought it very interesting that he ended up helping the miko who was the Guardian of the Shikon no Tama put the jewel back together. You’re right -- for someone to kill him in that manner seems quite deliberate, almost like they were making a statement that he never should have been released to begin with,” the kitsune avatar stroked his chin as if deep in thought.

Myouga sighed, and took another drink of his newly-refilled cup of sake. “Poor Lady Kagome. As if it wasn’t bad enough to lose the mate she loved so dearly, the scoundrel had the nerve to use one of her arrows. And by sampling his blood, I was able to determine he had been weakened to begin with by poison, -- just like her other two mates were later.”

Kurama and Hiei looked at each other. That pretty much settled the matter. “We will have to contact Koenma.”

“Hn.”

Myouga sighed again. “It’s such a shame Lord Inuyasha let his feelings for Lady Kikyou interfere in his relationship with Lady Kagome for so long. Otherwise, they might have had more time together as mates.”

Both Spirit Detectives stared at him. Finally Kurama said, “Excuse me? Lady Kikyou?”

“Hiei, is he saying what I think he just said?”

“That there is another onna who was involved with her first mate? Hai, I believe that is what he just said.”

“Hai. Lord Inuyasha’s first love. He had a difficult time deciding which one of them he truly loved the most. It was obvious to all of us, of course, that what he had with Lady Kagome was far more real than what he had with Lady Kikyou, but he felt a certain loyalty and responsibility to her as she was the first one to capture his affections.”

“Ah, Myouga, there you are. You know Kagome will need your assistance first thing in the morning, so you might want to make an early night of it to make sure your head is clear,” Shippou glared at Kurama and Hiei. He had just come around the corner into the room, but he had heard enough to know what the detectives were up to.

“Hmmm. You may be right, Shippou. Gentlemen, arigatou gozaimasu. It was a very pleasant evening.” And the little flea demon staggered off towards the stairs.

“So, you are still determined to investigate her for her mates’ murders. I would have thought you had been around her long enough by now to realize she couldn’t possibly do something like that. And you,” he narrowed his eyes at Kurama, “pretending to court her and trying to seduce her. What do you hope to gain by that?”

Kurama simply arched a brow at him. “I think that would be obvious.”

“She won’t succumb to your tactics.”

The avatar merely smiled at that. “I don’t think she will be able to help herself. But don’t worry, -- I’ll make sure she enjoys it.”

Shippou opened his mouth as if to retort, but instead, closed it and clenched his fists tightly. Then he turned and left.

Kurama sat back and closed his eyes, then rubbed his temples with his hands. “Well, I guess we can put off contacting Koenma. You were wrong -- the kamis do have that bizarre a sense of humor.”
--------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------


When the others returned, Kurama and Hiei asked Kuwabara and Yusuke to join them on the 2nd floor in the common room to discuss things. Their teammates were very enthusiastic in their praise of the cha-no-yu. They told them about the zen koan on the kakemono and the interesting discussion they had all had about it later. Kuwabara went on and on about how incredibly graceful and calming Kagome’s movements were, and how at ease he had felt. Yusuke commented on how beautiful she looked, and how pleased her sons had been to see her in a soft pink iromuji kimono. They had been disappointed when they saw that most of the clothes she had bought when she went shopping with Shippou, while they weren’t black or white, were very muted or dark colors, like gray or navy blue.

“She looks different in pink -- softer, and warmer. Man, if I didn’t have Keiko, I really would be tempted to court her for real,” the toushin declared. “And I never thought I’d enjoy that fancy kind of stuff, but the whole thing really made me feel … well, good. Even if we did have to dress up in these stuffy old kimonos like a couple of old geezers.” He plucked at the flap of his plain, black kimono disgustedly.

“You know Kagome said we didn’t have to wear them,” Kuwabara frowned at him. “But personally, it makes me feel kind of important to put on traditional clothing for a special occasion.”

Kurama smiled at him. “Good for you, Kuwabara.” Then he grew serious as he looked over at Hiei. “We have some more information you should know.”

Yusuke sat up at the look on the avatar’s face. “About the murders?”

He nodded.

“Good news or bad news?” Kuwabara wanted to know.

“That would depend on what you consider good or bad, idiot. Unfortunately, it isn’t enough to close the case yet,” Hiei told him.

“Shut up, shrimp. Good news would mean you’ve found out she’s innocent.”

“Well, we certainly can’t say that yet. However, there is another factor that plays into the possibility that her mates were killed by other people, -- it seems her first mate had another woman in his life, too,” Kurama informed them, with a wry smile slightly twisting his lips. “And since Myouga referred to her as Lady Kikyou, it is likely she is another youkai noblewoman like Princess Ayame, which would mean her complaint to the Reikai would carry a lot of clout.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Yusuke shook his head. “She stole three other women’s men? I’m surprised they didn’t kill her. But it does mean that those three women each had a motive to kill one of her mates.”

“Apparently so. However, Inuyasha was killed by having an arrow pierce his heart and pin him to a tree, the same way she first found him. So his killer had to be extremely proficient at archery, which we know Kagome is. The interesting thing about his death is he was human at the time. When he was pinned to a tree before, he was in his hanyou form, and the arrow would have been specifically spelled to seal him. The one that killed him was hers.”

“Kagome’s?” Yusuke interrupted.

“Hai. But that’s not all,” Kurama continued, “He was only human for one night each month, and very few people knew which night that was.”

“But this other woman probably would have known, wouldn’t she? If they had a relationship and all,” Kuwabara pointed out.

“That’s certainly possible,” Kurama agreed. “But, we still have to keep in mind the fact that whoever killed the Taiyoukai destroyed their souls, too. It is unlikely any of the three women had that kind of ability, let alone all three of them. And there was something else, -- Myouga said that Inuyasha had been weakened by poison, just like her other two mates were later. That points to a single killer.”

“Maybe,” Kuwabara said.

“Most likely,” Hiei argued.

“Whatever. It still doesn’t mean it was her.” The tall man smiled and got up. “I think I’ll go on to bed.”

Kurama stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t get your hopes up too much, okay? It still looks really bad for her.”

Kuwabara just grinned. “Yeah, maybe so. But in the beginning, you were convinced it was her. Now you’ve come up with three other suspects. Who knows what we’ll discover next?” And he walked off whistling.

Kurama looked at his other two teammates. Yusuke just shrugged his shoulders, but Hiei was looking down the hallway where Kuwabara had just gone.

“What are you thinking, Hiei?”

“The idiot could be right.”
--------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------


When Hiei collapsed onto his side, he took Kagome with him so she lay spooned against his chest. The sounds of harsh breathing seemed loud in contrast to the silence of the night. He closed his eyes for a few minutes and just let himself feel the way her fingers lazily traced designs on his arm that was wrapped around her waist.

“The two idiots I work with enjoyed your cha-no-yu.”

He could hear the smile in her voice when she said, “Good. I’m glad.”

“If you wear more pink, the detective may fall in love with you.”

She laughed softly. “Then I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have anything else pink. But I do have something I think he’ll like for our trip.”

He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her questioningly.

She arched a brow at him. “I can’t tell you, it’s a surprise.”

“A surprise for the detective?”

“Hai.”

“Hn.”

Kagome looked at him. “What is it?”

“You’re always surprising.”

“Really?” She turned to face him and pushed him onto his back. Sitting up, she swiftly straddled his hips and lowered herself onto him, breathing in sharply through her mouth and closing her eyes as her inner flesh briefly resisted the sudden intrusion, then letting out a small groan of satisfaction when he was fully embedded in her. The soft noise she made was lost in the loud groan of pure pleasure that came from her lover’s lips. Opening her eyes, she smiled wickedly down at him. “Are you complaining?”

The only answer she got was a low growl as he grabbed her waist and bucked his hips.
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At the next evening’s cha-no-yu, Koenma was chosen to be the main guest. When Kagome greeted them with a bow at the middle gate, Hiei and Kurama recognized the brilliant sapphire blue iromuji kimono she was wearing as the one they had seen hanging at the back of her wardrobe. Not only did it fit her as if it had been made specifically for her, and it probably was, but the color perfectly complemented her fair skin and dark hair, and emphasized the amazing color of her eyes. She looked absolutely stunning in it, and Koenma was glad that he had once again opted to appear in his older form.

When they had all entered the chashitsu, they took their turns admiring the kakemono Kagome had selected. Master Zhang couldn’t resist chuckling when he read the zen koan on it, and the two detectives exchanged amused looks, too. This parable was called The Tea Master and the Assassin. It was about a warrior, named Taiko, who lived in Japan before the Tokugawa era. He began to study cha-no-yu with Sen no Rikyu, a teacher of that aesthetical expression of calmness and contentment. Taiko’s second-in-command, the warrior Kato, saw his superior’s enthusiasm for tea etiquette as negligence of state affairs, and so he decided to kill Sen no Rikyu. He pretended to make a social call on the tea master and was invited to drink tea with him.

The tea master saw at a glance the warrior’s intention, so he invited Kato to leave his sword outside before entering the room for the ceremony, explaining that cha-no-yu represents peacefulness itself.

Kato would not listen to this. “I am a warrior. I always have my sword with me. Cha-no-yu or not, I have my sword,” he declared.

“Very well. Bring your sword in and have some tea,” Sen no Rikyu consented.

The kettle was boiling on the charcoal fire when suddenly the tea master tipped it over. Hissing steam arose, filling the room with smoke and ashes. The startled warrior ran outside.

The tea master apologized, saying, “It was my mistake. Come back in and have some tea. I have your sword here covered with ashes and will clean it and give it back to you.”

In this predicament, the warrior realized he could not kill the tea master, so he gave up the idea.


Koenma instantly realized how very clever a tea master Kagome was, and he sincerely hoped she would be able to serve in this capacity as the Celestial Liaison to the Three Realms. He wasn’t particularly encouraged by his team’s latest discoveries, but he could hope. However, he couldn’t recall any youkai noblewomen named Kikyou, though he did think that was the name of the third complainant. He would have to look into it when he got back.

After they had all been seated, and had each exchanged greetings with her, they settled in to enjoy the meal. Lord Yemon took the opportunity to size up his competition. He vaguely remembered Shippou living with Kagome in the Northern lands when Kouga was alive, and he had heard of him through the years. He was said to be rather powerful in his own right. But the wolf didn’t think he was serious about trying to win the beautiful miko for himself -- he had always seemed like part of her family. And while he had never met Kurama before, he had certainly heard of him and the Reikai’s other watchdogs. The stories about the kitsune spirit Youko Kurama were quite legendary. Now he could be a serious rival. The other detective who had declared his intent to court her had obviously been prompted by Lord Koenma for some reason, and was therefore of no account. No, the avatar was the one he had to watch.

When the meal was done, they retired to the garden while Kagome prepared for the tea presentation. Upon returning, they each admired the flower arrangement that had replaced the kakemono. Kurama silently explained the meaning of the flowers she had used to Hiei.

“She has chosen to honor this group by complimenting our power and courage with the edelweiss and our wisdom and maturity with the lotus blossoms, though I am sure those are more for Master Zhang, Jaken, and Myouga. The daffodils signify the respect she is showing us. I am sure Koenma is taking note of the extreme diplomacy of this arrangement.”

“Is this unusual?”

“It’s a very interesting choice, perhaps made to soften the clever warning of the earlier kakemono.”

After the tea, and the examination of the scoop and container, they began to discuss the scroll painting.

“I was very intrigued by your choice of a zen koan for the kakemono,” Kurama said to Kagome. “Looking around at the company gathered here, I have to wonder, though, which meaning you intended to convey? Is it a warning, or a challenge? And in what capacity should we face it? I am certain you don’t view us as potential assassins, so I must assume you are challenging some of us as potential lovers. I assure you, you won’t find my devotion shaken by the threat of a few ashes,” he said with a decidedly wicked grin.

“I’m sure our fair teishu is quite aware of your tenaciousness, in both capacities. And I am quite sure there is no challenge in the koan, nor a warning. If you read it carefully, you must recognize the simple truth in it,” Shippou answered him.

Unaware that the Spirit Detectives were investigating her for the murders of her mates, Lord Yemon wasn’t sure what other capacity Kurama had been talking about. But he definitely saw how the story could be a warning to some of her potential suitors. “A woman who knows the fine art of subtlety is to be prized, and will make an excellent mate for a powerful male. Your interpretation of the story was very interesting. Perhaps you read it that way because it was meant for you to,” he taunted Kurama.

“And sometimes, gentlemen, a story is just a story, meant to while away the time in pleasant amusement,” Kagome said quietly, her soft voice immediately injecting the air with a sense of peace and calm.

“Quite so, my daughter, though we could even look at that one on a grander scale, expounding the virtues of tea and peacefulness over deceit and violence,” Zhang announced.

From there, the discussion moved on to the flowers, the meal, and the beauty of the presentation and utensils used.

“That was really quite masterfully done. She managed to cleverly warn us away, and turned aside any possible unpleasantness in conversation, restoring the peaceful atmosphere of the cha-no-yu. Master Zhang helped reinforce it, of course, but still, she’s really very gifted to be able to broach topics in such a manner -- a true tea master. After today, Lord Koenma will be anxious to be able to utilize her skills for Reikai business, especially when dealing with the other realms.”

“I believe you are correct. He is practically drooling at the thought. And she would be useful in that capacity. She is exceedingly clever and seems to have a knack for knowing just what will appeal to someone. And her grace and charm make it easy to enjoy the cha-no-yu as you said it was intended.”

Kurama turned to look at him and lifted a brow exaggeratedly. “You are fulsome in your praise of our widow.”

“Of course he is. He’s barely taken his eyes off of her since we came in,” Youko teased. “I believe he quite approves of the way that blue iromuji clings to her curves. And I’m sure he’s imagining, just like we are, and the wolf is, how those graceful movements of hers would look as she tends to his every need and want in bed. I’m betting she is every bit as good a courtesan as she is a tea master.”

After everyone had enjoyed the usa cha in silence, the guests all expressed their appreciation for the tea and their admiration of Kagome’s skills as teishu. Kurama managed to inject a little innuendo and suggestiveness in his compliments, while Yemon was straightforward in his comments about how much he would enjoy having her serve as teishu for him as his mate. She was able to accept and acknowledge all of their praise with grace and quiet composure. The only one who caused her to briefly blink in surprise was Hiei, who merely said very quietly, “I was honored to be here,” before nodding his head in the closest gesture resembling a slight bow he was ever likely to make. As she stood at the door to watch them go, she couldn’t help but think that might be the single greatest compliment she had ever received as a teishu.
--------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------


When they were both exhausted and completely sated, Hiei lay on his back with Kagome partially on top of him. They were both content to simply listen to each other’s breathing as it slowly returned to normal. He glanced down to where her head was lying on his chest and saw that her eyes were closed. He was convinced she had no idea at all that she was caressing his side. He had a hand buried in her hair at the small of her back. He rubbed some of it between his thumb and fingers, enjoying the silky texture of the thick mass.

“The cha-no-yu was … pleasant.”

“Arigatou.”

“I understand you mastered the art in a very short amount of time. You have a natural talent for it.”

She lifted her head and looked at him questioningly. “Who told you that?”

“The flea.”

“Hmmm.” She knew he was still looking into the past to discover what had happened to her mates. It was one of his primary purposes for being here. And she couldn’t help but wonder what he might find out, but obviously he and his teammates weren’t ready to haul her into the Reikai yet. She sighed. When they returned from their trip, she would take up the jian with Master Zhang. Soon, they would begin to make discreet inquiries in the Eastern and Western lands. She hoped her sons would be ready to petition for their challenges in a few months. As much as she wanted to be able to put her mates to rest, she had to hope Hiei and the others didn’t find out anything too damning for a while. She really needed to be able to stand beside her sons now.

Hiei felt the slight tension that ran through her body and sensed her change of mood. Was she worried about what they might have learned from Myouga? He let go of her hair and rested his hand on her back.

“I need to go. We will be leaving in a few hours.” She sat up and left the bed. After she had put on her nightgown and robe and used the oil, she tossed him the jar as usual. “Arigatou, Hiei.” Just as she was about to turn out the lights and leave, she snapped her fingers. “Damn it,” he heard her mutter. “Hiei? Gomen nasai, -- the next three days are when I am in my most fertile state, so I won’t come to you while we are staying at the first hotel.” Then she left.

As he lay there in the dark, he clenched his fists. “Damn it.”
------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------


Kagome was being extra careful as she made her way back to her room. Yemon had stayed the night so they could all leave early in the morning. She breathed a little sigh of relief when she closed her door, but as soon as she turned around, she began to feel uneasy. Looking around quickly, she realized there was the faint feel of youki coming from her window. Walking over to it, she saw a feather stuck in the window sill on the outside. Looking out she saw the silhouette of a figure looking back up at her.

Masking her aura again, she quickly made her way outside and approached the person who was waiting for her. She wasn’t sure what to expect from this confrontation, but she knew there was no way to avoid it.

“So, you have finally returned. You’re not an easy person to find. I think it’s time we had a talk, don’t you? Woman-to-woman.”

“It’s been a long time, Kagura.”
-------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------
Hai - yes
Arigatou gozaimasu - a formal “thank you”
Gomen nasai - “forgive me” -- a formal apology
Goraishi Claw - the weapon Kouga fought for and claimed that was guarded by the spirits of his ancestors -- “Five Thunder Fingers”
Hideo - excellent -- the boys’ childhood ookami friend
Misao - fidelity, loyalty -- Lord Yemon’s mistress
Kaikyuushou - rank insignia -- I use this for the stripes on their face to indicate Taiyoukai status
Cha-no-yu - “hot water for tea” -- refers to the traditional tea ceremony
Kaiken - a ceremonial dagger, traditionally a Japanese bride carries one
Shu cream - Japanese puff cake
Ichigo daifuku - Japanese sweet cakes with strawberry and anko filling
Hanakotoba - the language of flowers
Jian - Chinese double-edged sword

I hope all of the other mothers out there had a great Mothers’ Day! Part of the reason this chapter took me so long was because my wonderful kiddos, and surprisingly thoughtful hubby, took me out of town on Friday to see one of my favorite older bands: Cheap Trick! What a great surprise!
The other reason this chapter took so long is because a couple of my scenes spawned other scenes I hadn’t planned on. Also, I had to rip out about 5 pages because I just didn’t want to reveal something so soon. *ducks eggs and rotten tomatoes*


SadBrokenWings - You know, even when I know what I’m about to write, even I don’t always know what will end up on the page.
Miss Mischief - I’m trying to balance the relationship evolution with the mystery -- don’t know if I’m always successful, but I’m trying.
Selenity potter - Congrats on the girl! I had 3 boys before I had a girl -- she’s spoiled rotten and tough as nails. This chapter’s cliffy isn’t quite as bad -- or is it?
Sardave - The lemons take me forever -- the 3 pages that this one took up took me 3 DAYS to get it to turn out like I wanted.
Angelwings21 - Sorry about the evil cliffies -- it’s the only way I know how to end a chapter.
HeartStar - I know I led everyone to believe Kagome was going to face Ayame in this chapter -- I couldn’t resist. But, she really IS facing Kagura now. How’s that?
Youkos Kitsune - Glad you enjoyed the Hiei/Kagome scenes last time. No Ayame, but what do you think Kagura wants?
Animeboysrock23 - Heh heh! I’m sorry. I really did set that up to look like it was Ayame coming to get her. I should be slapped. As for the truth about Kagome’s mates, well, she might not know all of it. Heh heh!
Seiteki Tenshi - You know, I actually debated on whether Hiei would participate in the prank like that, too, but I decided he really wanted to teach Yusuke a lesson. You’re right -- this chapter IS kind of crazy, but maybe not in the way you thought it would be.
Loveinuyasha911 - Thanks for the wonderful comps! I’m thrilled to hear you passed some of this on to your friends -- that’s high praise indeed. I’m betting the outcome of the wolf attack was different than you thought it would be.
Vyncent - I really appreciate the way you mentioned particular scenes that worked for you -- that helps so much! And Hiei and Kagome DID decide to go right for the end result -- at least, what they THOUGHT was the end result. They are starting to find out that some things turn into more than they start out to be.
Hentai Vixen - Glad you enjoyed last chapters’ lemons. Well, now you know HOW all three of her mates were killed. Does that help?
Anonymous O - Well, Yemon didn’t come to help, but he’s there now to make his move.
Bloodbunny - And the not-as-casual-as-they’d-like relationship goes on. I should really be ashamed of myself for leading everyone to believe that was Ayame coming to get her. Heh heh!
Yue no rei - I’m glad you like the length of my chapters -- I seem to have caught some kind of disease where I can’t stop writing. And I like to think Kagome WOULD be a lot wiser and more logical after 134 years. Heh heh!
Drachegirl14 - I’m so glad you tuned into this story! Thanks so much for all the kind words -- I hope you continue to enjoy it.
Purplebabe - Oh, yeah -- it’s definitely a Hiei/Kagome story. You’ve probably guessed they’re my favorite pairing.
Kaira2828 - I’m so glad you liked the last chapter. I hope this one is all right, too!
Ness - Glad you like the Hiei/Kagome relationship. I’ll bet the fight with the wolves didn’t turn out like you thought, huh? Hope you liked it anyway!
Kawaii-KeKe-Chan - Well, they’re keeping it under wraps okay so far, -- except for the person who saw them in the garden. Heh heh!
Blkwolf1 - I agree -- Hiei/Kagome pairings DO rock!! (I even threw in a little “rocking” in this chapter. Heh heh!) Glad you’re liking the story!
Shadeless Night - I appreciate the thought that I might be a “master of cliffhangers” instead of just an irritating bitch for leaving everyone hanging. Heh heh! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. The confrontation with the wolves was really just a small part of it, but it drove several events and discoveries.
Halfblackwolfdemon - Yeah, Hiei was glad to be able to get back at Yusuke even just a little bit by participating in their little prank. Glad you liked the lemons -- there will be more in the future.
SKnFS - I hope this chapter measures up as well. Let me know!
Beckyducky - I love my reviewers!! I’ll definitely check out your story -- will you post it on MM?