Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Feelings for a Fox ❯ Chapter 19

Thanks for all the reviews this last chapter: Arella Hallo, Silverclaws, TearDrop, Star Silver fox, dd, DemonLady1, Moon-n-Universe-Goddess, Defafaeth Mechqua, Rhexi, Serena SilverMoon, Ivan's Kitsune, heLLoissMe,Houndingwolf,ColdFang, Angie, Dark Topaz, Deviant Nature, kagome-angel2000, sashlea, kikitravel, wackoramaco87, bloodbunny, dunken, LLJade, Kurama no Miko2003, Silver Neko

Also a special thanks goes to wackoramaco87 for beta-ing.

And to the reviewer who caught the allusion to Grendal's final words… you get a cookie! Oh that made me so happy, you have no idea!

~

{/…/= Youko's "talking"}

{*…*= Kurama's "talking"}

Kurama's POV

~Chapter 19~

After I had left Kagome to drop off Inuyasha and pick up the guys we were going to hurry back to Kagome. However there was a major breach in the barrier and demons had begun pouring into the streets of Tokyo. We had to fight them off. I was frantic thinking Kagome was dead if the barrier was falling this much. I don't remember much after my vision went red. I think I went ballistic. I can't remember getting any of my wounds or killing the huge pile of demons that had built up behind me.

I do remember Yusuke punching me to try and snap me out of my murderous haze. I nearly attacked him before what he was saying sank in. He ordered me to get Yukina and go find Kagome while the rest of them held the in flowing demons off. I was torn for a moment until I saw Hiei nod his agreement. He was trusting me to guard his sister while he guarded the humans. I didn't think beyond that. Botan took me to Genkai's temple to get Yukina and then she opened a portal for us into the Makai.

I nearly went insane when I found Kagome, laying on top of that girl, as though she had been shielding her. Her back was torn and bloodied from what I guessed was the blast that had ripped a blackened crater in the ground and reduced the trees to blackened stumps. Yukina ran to heal her and I begged her not to leave me, kept telling her she couldn't go to sleep, that I loved her. At least that's what I was trying to say, I'm not sure how coherent I sounded. I couldn't hear myself clearly past Youko howling in panic and rage in the back of my mind.

"NO DON'T GO TO SLEEP!" I started to panic when her head lolled against my chest.

"Kurama," Yukina was shaking my arm gently to get my attention. I looked up from where I cradled Kagome. "It's alright. Some of her powers responded and amplified my own energy. She's completely healed but she needs to sleep now."

/She'll be all right?/ So she'll be ours soon right?/ I could feel Youko's mental ears perk up at that thought. I began to laugh, slightly hysterically from a combination of relief and Youko's predictability in this regard.

"We should hurry back. Even though the barrier is probably fixed now there will still be a lot of demons running loose in the Ningenkai."

"You're right, let's hurry." I picked up Kagome and had Yukina use the communicator to contact Botan who brought us back home. She also picked up the girl who I vaguely recognized as that girl Kagome hung out with at school to take her back to the Spirit Realm. Botan explained that they were going to alter the girl's memories so that she wouldn't remember exactly what happened. Kagome would probably be happy to hear that.

I dropped Yukina and Kagome off at Genkai's and hurried to rejoin the guys. We spent the rest of the day finishing off the demons who had escaped.

~*~

That had been nearly a month ago.

She fell asleep and she hasn't woken up since.

When I'm not at school I'm with her. And Shippou. I've been getting to know him really well lately. He's a bright little boy.

/Of course he is. He's a fox./ Youko sniffed disdainfully at me.

*Do you ever give a compliment that doesn't vicariously compliment yourself while you're at it?*

/Not very often, why?/

*Never mind.*

And since we are at the temple, Yukina watches over Kagome during the day while I'm at school, or out with Shippou. Also Rin and Keri, whose name I now know, and even Inuyasha have been visiting frequently.

I'm not sure I like Inuyasha, although I can sympathize with his situation. He has been adjusting surprisingly well to his new life, although I still worry about his mental state at times when he stares at my Kagome. He'd better not think he can make her his replacement. She's mine.

Rin is just… interesting. It's kind of like being around Kagome, if she were hyper and slightly evil. Rin dropped in to say that she was leaving Japan for a week. That she was going off to the darkest America to convert the Christians. She's supposed to be back today. She's an odd one, but we've all grown rather fond of her.

Except for Hiei who has been conspicuously absent since Kagome's people have descended upon the temple. He's been doing border patrolling for Mukuro most of the time, and learning about the paper work involved in being the heir. Too bad for him. He's not around to play chaperone for his twin.

Without big brother breathing down his neck Kuwabara has made some headway with Yukina. She finally realizes that he's interested in her, although she still doesn't seem to know exactly what it is he wants from her. At this rate, he may be able to talk her into dating. She still doesn't know Hiei is her brother, but if she can't find her twin she may just settle down and live a happy life with Kuwabara instead.

Things have settled down in the Makai as well since the major ass kicking of a surprising number of demons at our hands. Also with Inuyasha getting trained to be the next Spirit Detective, Yusuke has been spending more time with Keiko, and improving his grades. I think they're starting to get more serious since he's not always running off on missions. Although this is Yusuke we're talking about; he still somehow always manages to get himself into trouble on a regular basis.

Today I'm taking Shippou to meet Shiori. I've been meaning to for quite some time, but either she was working or we were at school. Just something always coming up on that end. This is the first weekend mother's had off in weeks.

I uneasily wonder if I should have let Shippou have that ice cream before we left…

We reached my house without any problems, so I'm guessing it was alright. We walked in the front door and I called out to my mother. Shippou reassumed his normal form with a small puff. Mom called back from the kitchen and I lead my hopefully son-to-be to meet his hopefully grandmother-to-be.

"Shuichi! I've barely seen you lately! Has Kagome gotten better yet?" she asked, drying her hands on a towel before rushing over to hug me.

/Cookies!/

*Mmm, monster cookies!*

/Quick! Get the chit chat out of the way so we can get to the cookie part!/

"Shuichi! Are you even listening to me?!"

"Huh? Oh! No Kagome's condition hasn't changed yet," I frown before shaking it off. "But I thought you'd like to meet Shippou so I brought him by to meet you." I nudged Shippou forward. He had looked up shyly at my mother who immediately lowered herself so she could stare into his face.

/Cookies!/

*Shhh!*

"Shippou! Kagome's son?! Why she used to talk about you all the time!" She cupped his chin her hands as she took a closer look at him. "You know you look a lot like Shuichi did when he was about you're size! Aren't you a cutie?!" she cooed, doing that googly eyed mother thing over him.

"Yes I am," he responded immediately recognizing her as an easy mark for child charm. He gave her a endearing grin. "I'm modest too!" he then launched herself into her arms, making her laugh in delight. He snuggled down, looking smugly at us.

*He's clever.*

/Definitely a fox./

I blink before grinning at the scene myself. Mother was off in her own little world, already contemplating how she could best spoil the bundle of charm in her arms. Then she noticed his fluffy tail and she fell completely in love.

/I wonder if we can use him to get more cookies?/

*Good idea. Quick while she's distracted with his tail!* I eased over toward the mouth watering cookies that were perched on the counter.

"Shu-chan I know you're not about to steal one of my cookies! Those are for desert!"

*/Busted!/*

That's another mother thing. It's like they have radar. Or in this case, cookie-dar. I can only be grateful that no one ever thought to set their mother up guarding anything when I was a thief in the Makai. I would never have been successful.

Mother walked over and handed Shippou to me while she returned the filched cookie to the plate and then searched for that see through wrap stuff she uses to shield her culinary efforts from wayward fingers. Shippou and I shared a look before we both turned to watch the sweets getting snatched from our grasp. Mother noticed the looks and she hesitated before conceding. Score! The mother unit caved beneath the combined impact of our 'hungry little boy' looks.

We both grinned at her before happily grabbing a fistful of cookies each. She gave a helpless laugh at our antics. Apparently she decided that a seal of plastic would not be enough though because she proceeded to hide the rest of the cookies in a cookie jar of protection +7. Then she placed it beyond reach in the cabinet of doom over the unassailable refrigerator of cookie thief rebuffing. Briefly I wondered what the odds were of getting mom out of the kitchen long enough to snag some more cookies were. By the knowing look she sent me I figured the odds were slim.

Sigh.

Shiori settled us at the table and fixed us some tea while we tried to prolong the existence of the cookies we had managed to get. She settled down with her own cup of tea and smiled at us. I had barely been here since Kagome was hurt. And I had barely seen mom at all. It felt good to be back home.

"Hey people!" a sing song voice interrupted my thoughts and we all looked toward the new person. We all reacted at the same time.

"Rin!" Shippou cried in delight.

"Hey, you're back."

"Oh Rin, it's so good to see you again!"

Rin hugged my Shiori's neck from her she stood behind her. She grinned at us over the top of my mother's head. Mom quickly motioned her to sit down and then hurried to get another cup to pour some more tea. I wonder how Shiori had met Rin. Hm, probably through Kagome. The dark girl plopped down in the seat across from me and grinned at us.

"Thanks Hun. You know Kurama, you're little friend is a very tense sort of fellow. You should tell him to relax a bit."

"Little friend?" I asked. Hiei?

"Uh huh. I ran into that Hiei fellow on my way over here. I don't think I would have startled him as much if he weren't so stiff."

"You saw Hiei?! How's he doing?! Has he used my gift yet?!" Shippou began jumping in his seat as soon as he heard Hiei's name.

"Yes I saw him. He seems to be doing fine, except I think I traumatized the poor soul some more, and no I don't think he has used the stones yet. But don't worry I'm sure he will." Rin answered with a tiny grin.

"So tell me Rin, did they figure out how Kagome was injured? And where Karasu disappeared to?" Shiori asked resuming her seat. Rin stared at her for a second before going into peals of laughter. We all in turn stared at her. Finally she regained her composure enough to tell us about what happened.

"Well actually Kagome would never have even been injured if she hadn't redirected her power to try and shield that Keri girl when she popped up. Oh you don't have to worry about Karasu anymore. We realized he died when he showed up in Hell, along with Kikyo. He's not going to escape again."

"So what happened?" I demanded.

She giggled into her cup before she filled us in.

"Well as it turns out when Karasu escaped from the Reikai he had to merge with a human quickly so they wouldn't catch his escape. So he merged with the first being who had a strong connection with Shikon Jewel. That way he would be connected with someone who would already have a reason for wanting to challenge Kagome. He ended up with Yotaru, who as you know, was Kikyo reborn. Problem for him was he merged with the reincarnation of a miko. When Karasu tried to attack Kagome he was using violent demon energy. Kikyo's dormant energy come to life, and it tried to combat the attacking power Karasu tried to focus on Kagome. Basically the conflicting energy used by the two souls trapped in a contained space of one body created a negative force field."

"Meaning?" mother asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Meaning the miko power didn't agree with the demon power and it caused Yotaru to implode!" Rin went off into a fit of helpless giggles again.

"How stupid! How…"

"Anticlimactic?" I suggested.

Shippou nodded in agreement before joining her. I couldn't help it. As soon as my mind worked around the concept I joined in as well. Soon we were all laughing so hard we were practically crying.

"That's priceless!" Mother gasped. "He's been a major threat for as long as I can remember and he died from a simple miscalculation on his part!"

/Somehow I can see that./

*No kidding.*

I suddenly froze as an unfamiliar sensation swept through my body. My ki fluctuated wildly in response and I could feel the plants around me respond to the unexpected spike in my energy.

My blood heated and began to burn through my veins. The world darkened at the edges as my focus slid to a single point on the bare white ceiling. Vines that I hadn't summoned, flooded through the window and began to wrap around my body, lifting and tugging, brushing against my sensitized skin. I felt the heat coiling through my stomach and the moisture gather in that secret place between my thighs.

What the? I don't even HAVE one of those! What the HELL is going on?

Somewhere in the background I heard Rin addressing me.

"By the way, Kagome woke up. She's at Shippou's Den."

*Kagome's awake?! Then that means?*

/MINE!/ Youko howled in my head.

I didn't hear anything else that might have been said. I was already out the door.

/Faster! She's going to finish without us at this rate!/

I tripped and crashed into the cement sidewalk when I felt a vine slid along my body, rubbing up against the nub of my pleasure, making me arch my back in pleasure. I pushed myself to my feet.

/Mineminemineminemine!/

*Ours!* I smacked Youko down and kept running.