Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Missions of the Heart ❯ Those Cinnamon Eyes ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Another intrusion from the spirit detectives leaves Kagome a bit ruffled. They are getting a little to close on her secret. Meanwhile, Yusuke is a bit stressed and Hiei isn't helping. Feeling betrayed on all sides he decides to let Kurama talk him into leaving the hospital and coming back later. To bad, because a sudden demon attack could lead to terrible trouble for a weak Kagome! Will she be alright? Find out and read!

Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Action / Angst | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.25.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 7.6K | Visits: 2.2K | Status: Completed

Guide:
'The person's thoughts'
'Yoru's thoughts. (The fire-ice Neko Kagome got)'
'Youko's thoughts'
'Hiei's thoughts'

Missions of the Heart
Chapter Five: Those Cinnamon Eyes

Kagome sat alone in the hospital, staring absently out the window. Shippo and her fire-ice neko lay in her lap contently, two kitten-like creatures curled up around each other. Shippo had transformed into a kitten with a fluffy tail since he wasn't old enough to disguise his tail yet. Her mother had left to go and run some errands so she left Shippo and Kagome's fire-ice neko here with her. The doctors had actually agreed to let the `animals' remain with Kagome as long as the 'animals' stayed in her room and away from the other patients. (A/N: I know that would like never happen, but in this story it does!)

"What should I call you anyways?" Kagome pondered out loud as she gazed thoughtfully at her fire-ice neko.

`Mistress, what is it?' she heard her neko question in her mind, causing a smile to light her features.

'What do you wished to be named?' Kagome responded back with a small smile.

After a long pause the neko replied hesitantly, 'Midoriko always called me Yoru, but you may call me what you wish.'

"Yoru, like night?" Kagome asked, looking down at her fire-ice neko, who responded to her question with a sleepy mew. Kagome smiled softly down at her friend; she liked that name, even if it was quite the opposite of how the neko actually looked. "Yoru it is then" she declared silently, smiling softly at the two on her lap.

'I hope Inu-Yasha's happy with Kikyo in the other world. I hope they're all happy,' she thought quietly in her mind, not noticing that Yoru was awake and growling at the doorway.

Someone knocked on the door, and Kagome's head turned quickly towards it. Listening to Yoru's growling she quickly guessed that it was a demon outside. She regretted the current weakness of her powers; all she could sense was that the auras outside did not seem malevolent at the moment.

'Maybe I can pretend to be asleep?' she thought hopefully, for almost all of her powers were gone. Between the fight and holding her together, she was lucky that they were strong enough to sense auras and let her tell that the people outside weren't malevolent. She wouldn't even know that they were demons if it weren't for Yoru's aggressive growls. Maybe she shouldn't have used some of what little remained of her reserves to make it so that she could at least sit up. On the other hand, if a demon came that was after her she would have a hard time using what she had had left if she couldn't even sit up.

'No, you can not pretend you're asleep,' an unfamiliar voice echoed in her head, causing Kagome to stiffen. Her mental defenses didn't have enough power yet to sustain them, so she hadn't noticed the intrusion into her brain.

The doorway burst open, revealing four boys. Apparently the one who could read minds had told them that she was aware of their presence and to go right on in. 'How nice of him.' Kagome seethed.

To her surprise, it was Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara (that jerk), and an unfamiliar boy who walked in. Just by the look in the unknown boy's eyes, Kagome knew he was a demon. One, his eyes were red; two, he looked unhappy to be here; three, he was screaming touch me you're dead and four, he was carrying a sword.

"Hey Kagome, how's it going" Yusuke asked, looking at Kagome's bandages and how the blood was seeping through, then wincing.

Kagome ignored that and answered his question"Fine, and you" they all sweat-dropped at that, here the girl was, it was obvious that she was in a great deal of pain, and she acted like they happened across each other on the street.

"What happened miss Kagome? How did you receive such wounds" Kurama asked, concern evident in his velvet voice. Kagome smiled sadly, her eyes closed so they wouldn't see the tears welling up in them; forgetting that demons could smell tears whether her eyes were closed or not.

"Oh, I fell while rock climbing! Isn't that dumb of me" she said brightly, trying to hide the hurt she really felt.

Everyone in the room was silent as they gazed sadly at her, and slightly doubtful. She couldn't have been injured rock climbing, she was supposed to be sick. Obviously something totally different had happened, but what? Yusuke walked up to her, an expression of sympathy on his face"Kagome, are you sure you're fine" he asked softly, looking into her now open eyes.

"I'm fine" Kagome assured him quickly, smiling again in hopes that it would both reassure him as well as make him more inclined to believe her, or at least drop the subject, but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes . Flashes of Inu-Yasha dying in the battle crossed through her mind, but she roughly pushed them away. 'Now is not the time to be thinking of that.'

Everyone was surprised when Hiei spoke up"Onna, stop lying and just tell the truth. They will understand more then you think" he spoke with his normal expressionless voice, but Kurama could tell that he felt sorry for the girl. Whatever Hiei had seen with his jagon eye must have been bad.

'Dammit, he went into my mind again! Curse that demon.' Kagome seethed inwardly at the demon, not liking that he saw things she didn't want people to see. She glared in his direction; he ignored her in favor of looking out the window that Kagome had been looking through a few minutes earlier.

'Kurama, she is sad. Look at her eyes, they are crying out in despair! Go cheer her up! You always are too polite with girls; that's why we don't have any girlfriends! You always let all the goods ones go!' Youko whined.

Kurama blanched slightly. Could Youko think of nothing else? Youko wondered why Kurama would never go with a girl when it was quite obvious. He didn't want a cheerleader in his head, or worse, Youko taking control and doing something that they both…or at least Kurama would regret. He HAD been enjoying Youko's rare nap, but apparently he was awake and back to his normal self. 'She needs time to mourn over whatever loss she has faced. It is not right to disturb her as of yet.' Kurama replied back, annoyed with his other half and hoping that for once Youko would leave a pretty girl alone.

'Yes! You admit she is pretty! That is the first step, we have made progress!' Youko shouted. Kurama wondered once again if it would be considered suicide if you killed a fox spirit that had decided to join with you before you were born. He had learned many things at an early age, especially when Youko almost took control of him when he was only ten years old and tried to make him go after an innocent twelve year old. At that moment he had made a few critical decisions: learn to control Youko, never let him out, and never, ever get near a girl like that again. He sometimes wished that Youko wasn't quite so difficult, else he might consider a relationship when he was older, but Youko couldn't control himself. It was ridiculous, the spirit was centuries old and he had no control!

`I resent that, I have plenty of control. I don't go after the ugly ones! And if I had known you would react in such an extreme way I would have waited until you were older!' Youko protested.

`I was ten years old for goodness sake! What on Earth made you think I was old enough!' Kurama asked.

`Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time,' he muttered. Hiei shoot Kurama a quick look.

`Stop arguing! I am trying to concentrate!' Hiei said rather loudly in Kurama's mind. Satisfied with the silence Hiei returned to reading the girl's thoughts, ignoring the strange look Kurama gave him. Luckily the mental argument hadn't taken any more than a few seconds, and Kurama shook his head slightly and returned to what was happening outside of his head.

"Kagome, what's Hiei talking about" Yusuke questioned, looking at Kagome curiously. Kagome's eyes widened as she realized that that was the demon's name, but any further explanations of questions were cut off due to Kuwabara.

"Hey! It's you! The girl who took on Yusuke! What are you doing here" he shouted. Yusuke sweat dropped, and an annoyed Hiei saved Yusuke the trouble and whacked Kuwabara on the back of the head, effectively knocking him out.

'I missed seeing that.' Youko commented in Kurama's mind, staring amusingly at the now unconscious Kuwabara.

'Yes, he will most likely be like that for the rest of this visit. That was a hard hit.' Kurama thought, amused and forgetting about the argument that he and Youko just had, and looking at the unconscious Kuwabara.

`First Hiei stopped our argument, then he knocked Kuwabara out. Can you think any reason that he might be doing that. Surely if he is trying to read Kagome's thoughts it is not that difficult. Is he in a bad mood? Hiei does look preoccupied.' Youko asked thoughtfully while Kurama remained silent and took too observing his friend for himself.

No one in the room seemed to take notice of Yoru and Shippo for which Kagome was grateful, though she made sure that she didn't think that very loud. It seemed to work for Hiei did not turn to look at the two `kittens'. "Nothing, just never mind. So what brings you to the hospital anyway? Did you hear of my accident that fast" Kagome questioned, looking suspiciously at everyone. She had to be on constant guard after all since the Shikon jewel was in her body once again.

No one noticed Hiei's widening eyes. Once he had entered Kagome's mind, he didn't leave. He was curious to know what she was thinking since her mind seemed to be on something other then shirtless guys winking, Hiei smothered a shudder at the disturbing thought. No, her mind seemed to be on a gruesome battle of some sort, where she lost some people who seemed to be close friends of hers. Why she was in such a battle, or how, or even when and where, was unknown to him, and he wished to find out. What made his eyes go wide was not the battle though; it was the stray thought of the Shikon no tama being in her side.

'Onna, what do you mean the Shikon no tama is in your side,' the now familiar voice echoed in Kagome's mind once again. 'So it's you who is the mind reader, hm? Enjoy the images of guys without shirts winking at you?' Kagome was deliberately trying to avoid the topic at hand by trying to make Hiei uncomfortable. She had figured out he was the stalker demon from the trees when the last little bit of her reserve miko powers had allowed themselves to be accessed, her instincts saying that she needed to be protected.

"What brings us here? Well we were visiting a friend and heard that you got sent here for serious injuries so we came to visit" Yusuke said cheerfully, trying to sound honest, but in actuality making it quite evident that he was lying his socks off. Everyone in the room sweat-dropped at the obvious fib.

"Ok, that's nice, now why don't you tell me why you're really here" Kagome said, still waiting for a response from Hiei in their mental conversation, though at the same time hoping that he would just give it up. Yusuke nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, ok we heard from your mom that you were hurt and came to visit" Yusuke made a better attempt at a lie, and Kagome decided to let it slide since he didn't seem like he was going to tell her the truth anytime soon, and it wasn't like she was telling them everything either.

In the mean time, Hiei replied to their mental conversation, 'Do not change the subject, why is the Shikon in your side?' to her great displeasure Hiei caught onto her little game.

'Nuts, I was hoping you would drop it,' she sulked inside her mind as Hiei smirked in the corner causing Kurama to stare at him even harder.

'What's got him smiling?' Youko pondered in Kurama's mind, also taking notice of the fire-ice demon's strange behavior.

'No clue, perhaps after this meeting we should ask him? I have a feeling this talk will end soon, she looks like she doesn't trust us much,' Kurama responded back to Youko, who in turn simply nodded (mentally) his agreement.

"Well it was nice of you guys to drop by, but I'm really tired so do you mind coming by some other time" Kagome really didn't feel like company, besides she wanted to get rid of Hiei so he couldn't talk to her about the Shikon. Fortunately for her, some of her mental defenses were returning as well, and they were able to keep Hiei at bay in her mind.

Hiei glared at her, knowing the real reason why she wanted to get rid of them. 'This isn't over. I will be back,' he told her telepathically making his displeasure evident. Kagome gave him the 'I don't know what you're talking about' look, knowing that it was quite obvious she knew perfectly well what she was doing, but still trying to bluff anyways.

'You were right, I wonder if it has something to do with Hiei? I have a feeling he is talking with her, make him stop!' Youko whined loudly in Kurama's mind, causing him to flinch slightly. If this kept up he was going to have a headache!

"Oh, sorry Kagome. See you later and get well quickly" Yusuke called over his shoulder, as Kurama gave a light bow.

"Get well soon miss Kagome, I look forward to eating lunch with you at some time" he said, and then they departed, dragging Kuwabara behind them.

Kagome sighed in relief, for just because Hiei had seen glimpses of her battle against Naraku, that didn't mean he understood it. What made her wonder about him was the fact that he looked cold and tough, like someone who you didn't want to mess with, but when he talked with her, he seemed It must just be her imagination. Hiei was more like a Sesshomaru/Inu-Yasha combined person...scary.

Yusuke was a bit like Hiei, for a hotheaded punk, he could be sweet when he wanted to. He to really did seem concerned about her, and he looked worried as well. Actually, Yusuke reminded her of Inuyasha, for while he was tough on the outside, he seemed to be quite sweet on the inside. 'Inu-Yasha...'

Kurama, to her, was a polite gentleman with some kind of demon energy in him. She had noticed during some of the conversation his mind seemed to be elsewhere. It was strange, she could have sworn she seen a speck of gold light his eyes for only a second.

"Yoru, they didn't even notice you guys were demons! If I remember their spirit energies correctly, they should have noticed something" Kagome stated to her fire-ice neko, who in turned look to her thoughtfully.

'Perhaps they were too concerned for you, mistress, to notice our weak energy signals. We were concealing ourselves,' Yoru replied back, and Kagome nodded her agreement. She was happy that they didn't notice them in any case.

"I'm glad I have you guys to talk to." Kagome spoke out all of a sudden, gazing sadly out the window. Yoru mewed her understanding, before curling up and falling asleep.

"Well that didn't go so well. We found out nothing" Yusuke complained loudly, inwardly cursing himself for being so soft when they were supposed to be finding things out. Everyone else just remained silent. Of course, in Kuwabara's case he didn't have a choice.

'Fox, there is something not right about that onna.' Hiei stated in Kurama's mind, who in turn nodded in agreement. He felt like there was something really off with her as well.

'She looked sad! Why didn't you do anything?' Kurama sighed, Youko was still complaining loudly in his mind about how he never made a move on Kagome. Would he never give up?

`No,' and Kurama just hung his head. It would be a long rest of his life.

"We should go back and demand answers" Yusuke stated all of a sudden, causing everyone to stare quizzically at him. He just glared at them in return. "What" he asked when he finally got annoyed with all the sceptical looks.

"We can't do that Yusuke. She is unwell, to push her in that state could cause unwanted stress on her body, damaging it further and causing her to possibly go into a relapse. We don't want to harm her" Kurama told him sternly, giving him a look that said drop it or you'll be sorry. Yusuke simply fumed.

"Hiei, You saw something in her mind, what was it" Yusuke asked all of a sudden after a long pause.

Hiei glared at him"Hn." Was his usual and currently unwanted response which just caused Yusuke to grow angry. Yusuke was really feeling stressed, and Hiei became the unfortunate candidate to relieve that stress, since Kuwabara was currently knocked out.

"Tell me Hiei" Yusuke demanded, walking up to the fire-ice demon in an attempt at intimidation. Hiei wasn't affected, which just made Yusuke angrier.

"No,” was all he said back to the angry spirit detective, who in turn just grew madder at him. The truth was, he didn't really understand what he saw for it could have just been a dream she was remembering. 'But if that were true, why did the pain in her memories feel so real?' Hiei silently wondered to himself, not able to make sense of the strange things that lay in Kagome's mind. 'There also was that little fact that she knew I was looking in her mind, as well as the fact about the Shikon.' The puzzle known as Kagome simply got harder and harder to solve.

"You better Hiei! WE NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS! IT COULD HAVE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE WELL! AND IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, THE WELL IS OUR MISSION" Yusuke was screaming his head off at Hiei, which only accomplished two things, to make Hiei's ears hurt and to make Hiei want to hurt him.

"You will cease your stupid human babble before I rip out your tongue" Hiei stated in a deadly tone, his aura flaring in warning. He didn't let anyone talk to him like that, regardless with how long he knew them.

Yusuke simply glared at him, not liking the fact that Hiei was keeping secrets from the group, mainly himself. How he wished to shake the information out of the stupid little fire-ice demon, just to deflate that cocky attitude he seemed to have picked up. 'Don't even try it human,' Hiei's voice warned in his mind.

'Great, we're back to human again,' Yusuke thought sarcastically, knowing that Hiei read his thoughts. To his great dismay the demon remained indifferent. Nothing was going is way today, and now one of his friends was being secretive, one that had taken ages to make him trust him and this girl had taken over him in one meeting. He conveniently forgot the fact that that had been what Kagome had done to himself. He felt betrayed on all sides, first that stupid girl Kagome and now even his friends were turning against him.

"Come, let us leave the hospital and come back another time" Kurama spoke out, trying to break the heated tension between Yusuke and Hiei. He didn't want to have to explain why the hospital roof was suddenly in flames, or the hospital wall was suddenly destroyed.

Giving each other one last glare, they turned away, Yusuke stalking out of the hospital, and Hiei, being Hiei, simply disappeared into thin air. Kurama followed shaking his head, carrying the knocked-out Kuwabara with him.

Kagome awoke to a strange crashing noise in her room. Startled, she ended up falling off her bed, waking Yoru and Shippo up as well when they all came crashing to the floor. A great amount of pain shot through Kagome's still quite wounded body when she came into contact with the cold floor. Letting out a pain-filled gasp, Kagome gingerly tried to stand up once again.

"Ow" Shippo mumbled, rubbing his head since he turned back into a fox demon out of reflex when he got hurt. Yoru simply shook her head and got up, peering around for danger. The three turned when they felt the familiar feeling of a demon in the room.

"Miko, I have finally found you! Give me the jewel" the unknown demon declared, charging at Kagome. By now, Kagome was in a panic; she wasn't in any type of condition to take on even a weak demon. She had only a bit of her miko powers left, and they were quickly draining away as they worked furiously trying to heal her damaged body.

Yoru quickly transformed into her larger form while Shippo let out a blast of foxfire. Kagome was grateful that her mother managed to convince the doctors to allow them to stay; otherwise she would be in huge trouble, or worse, dead.

Yoru blasted a fire wave at the demon, effectively turning it into ashes. Yoru was incredibly strong it turned out, and Kagome couldn't be happier about the concept. If she was weak she knew she could count on Yoru for aid.

Shippo had gotten a lot stronger too, which surprised her. Her young kit was growing up, and with it his powers. Kagome no longer had to worry too much about Shippo not being able to defend himself anymore, at least against the weaker demons, one of which was the demon currently sitting in a small pile of ashes.

"Thanks guys, I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here to help me" Kagome spoke to them happily, hugging them even though it hurt. Shippo gained a small blush while Yoru mewed her appreciation.

'Kagome, you need to be in bed, you are still quite wounded,' Yoru stated firmly in her mind. Kagome sighed and nodded.

"Can you guys help me back to bed, I don't think I can stand" Kagome said a little embarrassed, she hated feeling so weak. Shippo and Yoru simply shared knowing looks before helping her back into the hospital bed.

"Thanks" Kagome said sleepily, her eyes already growing heavy from the stress her body was put through. 'As soon as I can stand, I'm going to train,' she thought with determination as her mind continued to drift between awareness, and blissful sleep. The last thing she remembered was Yoru transforming into her kitten form, and Shippo turning into a cat with a fluffy tail.

Yusuke sat by himself outside, gazing intently at the setting sun. His mind wondered to Kagome lying injured in the hospital. He had a feeling that she was lying about how she actually received such injuries, hell, he was sure of it.

Another thing he was sure of was that Hiei knew something about Kagome and how she really got her wounds. If the little scene in the hospital wasn't enough proof, it was the way he defended her. It was odd to see him doing that to someone he just met in person.

And what about those eyes, Kagome's cinnamon eyes? They reflected pain and loss, but what could have happened to cause such emotions to lie there? She seemed happy, but at times her grief got the better of her. What could have happened in the last five days of her 'sicknesses' to cause such things?

Sighing, Yusuke began to walk home, wondering if his mother was drunk again. It wouldn't be the first time, or the last. He wondered if his mother would ever quit drinking, but highly doubted it. She had become a lost cause. If only his father hadn't…he shook his head. He didn't need to think about old wounds like that.

Another thing to ponder about was what made Hiei respect her. He didn't go defending people out of the blue; it wasn't his style. Hiei seemed to actually maybe...like her. For some reason that thought brought hostile emotions to arise in Yusuke. Again, he was confused.

"Kagome, why do you have such an effect on people" he wondered aloud, looking to the heavens for guidance, even if he had given up on such a thing long ago. It didn't hurt to try every now and then.

"Yusuke" A familiar voice rang out towards him as Yusuke turned to see a smiling Keiko running towards him.

Smiling in return, he waved her over "Hey Keiko, how you feeling" he questioned her when she caught up, she had been sick for a while.

She smiled brightly at him "Fine thanks for asking! I'm a whole lot better now!" it seemed like Keiko was in a really good mood today, which made Yusuke happy. Normally she would be yelling at him about his job or skipping classes, but not today!

"Keiko…" Yusuke started, not knowing exactly how to begin. Keiko looked at him curiously, wondering what got Yusuke so riled up.

"Yes?" She pushed, curiosity getting the better of her.

Sighing, Yusuke shook his head and looked back to the setting sun "Nothing, just never mind,” he said passively, smiling slightly.

Keiko looked at him with a calculating gaze; Yusuke was acting odd. 'I wish he would just tell me what's bugging him.' Keiko thought sadly, standing beside Yusuke and leaning her head against him.

He returned the gesture and set his head on top of hers while putting an arm around her and hugging her closer, both of them just looking at the setting sun in the distance.

'Perhaps I'll just leave it,' Keiko thought after a while, liking the comfy atmosphere that had surrounded them, and which they had seldom got to share. She didn't know why he was acting so different, but for the time being she figured she might as well enjoy it. If it was something really important then she knew Yusuke would tell her...eventually.

Sighing contently, Keiko let her eyes flutter closed. 'Yes, I'll just leave it for now,' she thought sleepily as she bathed in the warmness and security only Yusuke could ever bring. She never realized just how much she had missed that feeling.

Yusuke was also enjoying their time together. He wished he could have more times like these with Keiko, but he knew it would never last forever. One of these days he was going to get killed in a mission. That, or he would have to leave for her for her own safety. He didn't want to put her into any more danger then she already was.

He hadn't noticed what her just leaning against him could bring up, or the emotions a simple smile could do. 'What about Kagome?' a currently annoying thought rang in his head. 'What about her?' he answered back, satisfied. Keiko was his, and would be for as long as he could make it, or for as long as she would put up with him.

Kurama was also watching the setting sun, his thoughts as well on the girl Kagome. There was just something strange with her, it must have been her eyes. They held such great sorrow and pain, but she never showed it. It confused him to what might have happened, though he knew it didn't have anything to do with everything that Kagome and her mother had told them, for they were obviously lies.

'Kagome, what secret do you hide?' he wondered inside his head, still watching the setting sun.

'You have noticed it to then,' he heard Youko state inside his head, making him cringe slightly. He had been enjoying the peace.

'You know our minds are linked, I know you are displeased with my presence,' Youko commented slyly, making it apparent that he had noticed the rising annoyance in his counterpart. Kurama ignored him.

'You're crabby, I simply made a comment and you are annoyed by me for it,' Youko stated, now growing annoyed with Kurama instead of Kurama growing annoyed with him. It was odd sharing a body with a fox spirit sometimes.

'Sorry, I just simply wanted some peace to think about things.' Kurama told Youko, knowing that the fox sprit had a point; he was being kind of rude.

'You are forgiven,' was all he got in response before Youko headed back to the recesses of his mind.

Sighing, Kurama shook his head. How did his life get so strange?

In the mean time, Hiei was heading back to the hospital. He wanted some answers and he wanted them now! No stupid ningen onna was going to get out of answering him when he wanted them to! 'I said I was going to be back, and so I shall.'

For once in his life, Kuwabara was thinking back on some things. 'I don't know how I got here?' he thought sadly in his mind, remembering when he woke up in his room when he was supposed to be at the hospital, questioning that pretty girl Kagome. 'What happened anyways?' he wondered silently to himself, not recalling anything after he noticed Kagome in the hospital.

"I wonder what my kitty is doing." He asked out loud, his mind already switching to a new topic at hand, and a less confusing one.

"501 years, and she is finally done her task. Soon Kagome, we will meet again." A dark unknown figure whispered to the wind as he gazed through a window at a girl with raven black hair "Yes, soon we will meet Kagome."

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Hey all! Sorry about the wail, I was sick and then my computer had a virus that messed it all up! So then we had to go get it fixed and so on and so forth. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one will be up later tonight, just for a treat since I didn't post when I said I would! Bye all and happy reading!