Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Paradox ❯ Youko Kurama, aka Minamino Shuichi ( Chapter 7 )

Title: Paradox

Author: Somnambulicious

Rating: NC-17

Disclaimer:
I don't own either
Inuyasha or YuYu;
Somebody else does.

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Chapter 7: Youko Kurama, aka Minamino Shuichi.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Inuyasha. "Let's get planning."

Kagome gave Inuyasha a grateful look. He'd come such a long way in the past few years. In the beginning, his "plans" usually consisted of two steps: 1. Find Naraku; 2. Kill Naraku. Apparently he'd learned a few things about strategy in their ongoing struggle with the evil hanyou.

"First things first," said Koenma. "Kagome, you said that you usually go to the Sengoku Jidai on Friday nights and stay until Sunday evening, correct?"

"Yeah, for the past six months or so, that's been my routine. I've been trying to concentrate more on school, since we haven't been able to find Naraku or very many shards lately."

Koenma nodded. "You will maintain that routine until we're ready to fight Naraku. If you go back right now, it will tip him off that something is going on, and we don't want him to know that you've found the last of the shards. You will not bring your friends through either, until we're ready to show our hand."

"But that stupid wolf won't leave the village until she comes," said Inuyasha. "And Naraku is bound to know that something's going on, since I came through to get Kagome today."

"That's easy to take care of," said Kagome. "We'll find a saimyoushou, and have a big discussion in front of it about how you ran out of ramen. I'll send you back with a bagful."

"Well, the ramen is okay with me, but what about that wolf? I don't want him around stinkin' up the place until you get back," said Inuyasha.

"You're just going to have to put up with it. If you send him away, who knows how long it will take for us to find him?"

"Keh. I can smell those stinkin' wolves from halfway across Japan. It's not that hard to find them."

"You could just tell him what's going on," suggested Kurabara.

"No," said Koenma, "the less people know about this, the better. We can't take the chance of tipping Naraku off, either now or in the past."

"Perhaps you could let it slip that you've heard a rumor about Naraku's location," said Kurama. "That would get rid of him for a while, and you would know where he is as well."

"Okay, but if he doesn't leave, I'm not responsible for my actions," said Inuyasha, crossing his arms.

"So that's settled. Next order of business, we need to find out Naraku's location. Kagura's information leads us to believe that he is hiding in Makai. Do you have any reason to distrust her?" asked Koenma.

"No. She hates Naraku even more than I do, and she'd do anything to get rid of him," said Kagome.

"I received information today about some rather unusual disturbances in Makai that could be related to Naraku. Youkai in some of the lower levels have been disappearing at an alarming rate, and from what you told me about Naraku's power to absorb youkai, it could be that he is gathering his strength for the final battle," said Koenma. "I will send a team to Makai to investigate these rumors and attempt to find Naraku, but not engage him. This mission will be reconnaissance only.

"We can't leave Kagome without some protection, though," said Yuusuke. "With Inuyasha going back to the past, that means it will have to be one of us."

"Hiei, since you've been doing such an exemplary job at keeping up with this young woman," Koenma said, glowering at the fire apparition, "you will continue to shadow her. Dispose of any saimyoushou you come across, but do not allow them to see you."

"Ch."

"Yuusuke, you, Kurabara, and Kurama will leave for Makai tomorrow. That will give you plenty of time to pack and prepare for your trip. You will return to report to me by Thursday night, whether you find anything or not."

"That will mean that I have to abandon my kung fu classes. Kagura said that Naraku was aware of the 'investigators.' If Naraku is spying on Kagome, surely my absence would tip him off that something is wrong," said Kurama.

"That is a problem," said Koenma. "I don't like sending Yuusuke and Kurabara into Makai without a youkai escort." He pondered the problem for a moment before he came to a solution. "Ogre! Get in here now!" The blue ogre shuffled into Koenma's office.

"Yes, Koenma-sama?" he asked.

"Ogre, you know how you're always complaining about having to do so much paperwork?" Koenma asked with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Uh...yeah?" The ogre wasn't sure what was going on, but he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it.

"Well, here's the opportunity of a lifetime! You're going to be escorting Yuusuke and Kurabara on a recon mission in Makai!"

"But...but..but I'm just a bureaucrat!" he stuttered. "You can't send me to Makai with them!"

"We don't need his help, Koenma! We can handle ourselves just fine!" said Yuusuke indignantly. Being stuck in Makai with those two idiots is more dangerous than going by myself!

"Ogre, can you pick up the scent of the wind user's youki off of Kagome?" Koenma asked, ignoring Yuusuke's outburst.

The blue ogre leaned toward Kagome and sniffed the air thoughtfully. He looked to Koenma and nodded. The scent was faint, but it was unmistakable. Something about it sent shivers down his spine.

"Good. Yuusuke, Kurabara, and the ogre will go on the recon mission to Makai. Hiei will follow Kagome, who will maintain her current schedule. Inuyasha will return to the Sengoku Jidai with extra ramen. Kurama will maintain his current schedule as well, and be ready for Hiei to contact you in case of an emergency." Koenma leaned back in his chair and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "We're going to have to discuss this Naraku and come up with a plan of action for our confrontation." He took a look around the room. Kurabara was half asleep in his chair, and Yuusuke was yawning. Everyone looked tired, with the exception of Hiei. "But I suppose it can wait until Thursday. You're all dismissed."

******************************************

Botan's portal led the group back to the dojo. Kurabara left immediately to pack and write a letter, as he said, to his 'beloved Yukina.' Yuusuke went home, preparing himself for the worst when Keiko found out he was going on another mission to Makai. Kagome and Inuyasha walked back to the shrine, with Inuyasha's ears covered by a bandana. Hiei followed them in the shadows.

'There is a saimyoushou waiting for you at the shrine,' Hiei informed Kagome. She nodded and gave Inuyasha a thumbs-up sign, which he understood.

"What are you doing here, Inuyasha? I told you I wasn't going back until Friday!" Kagome yelled once they had reached the shrine.

"Feh! You forgot to leave enough ramen, wench! I'm hungry!" Inuyasha yelled back.

"Fine! I've got some extra in the kitchen, if it'll get you to leave!" Kagome and Inuyasha made a big show of bickering as they procured the ramen and walked to the well house.

"Don't be late on Friday! We've still got shards to find, and Naraku's still missing," said Inuyasha.

"Am I ever late, Inuyasha? I'll see you Friday. Take care." Kagome watched as Inuyasha left through the well, and then went back to the house. With that taken care of, Hiei surreptitiously cut the spying saimyoushou clean in half before taking his perch on Kagome's windowsill.

Kagome ignored the fire apparition as she gathered her school books and laid out the next day's clothes. She was still miffed at him for not telling her about Reikai, and, to tell the truth, a little hurt to think that he'd only been following her because he'd been ordered to. Why do I care? Kagome wondered. It's not like he's been nice to me, anyway.

For once in his life, Hiei was uncomfortable with the silence. The girl was obviously upset with him, but for what reason? Hiei thought back to the pained look she'd given him when she'd heard that he'd been ordered to follow her. Why did that bother her so much?

During their mental conversations that evening, Kagome had lowered her mental defenses a bit, and it was enough for him to catch a few stray thoughts and emotions from her. He'd picked up on her worry for Inuyasha and the panic she'd felt when the hanyou was threatened. That was to be expected, as were her feelings of general confusion and anger. But what had surprised Hiei were the emotions he picked up when she thought about him. There was fear for his own welfare, and then a bitter wave of betrayal and pain. When he thought about it, it wasn't too unexpected for her to react that way, he reasoned. But he couldn't reason away the underlying feelings of warmth and friendship the girl held for him.

What on earth possessed the girl to actually like him? He was youkai, dangerous and unkind. He certainly hadn't tried to endear himself to the girl, but she held onto those strange emotions nonetheless.

And then there was that unwanted surge of protectiveness he'd felt toward her when the hanyou had called her a bitch. He'd even growled out loud. What was he thinking? She was a human, and his complete opposite. He had no reason to care for the girl. And yet, here he was, troubled over the silent treatment she was giving him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kagome finally asked softly. She had turned out the lights and snuggled down into her bed, but sleep eluded her. She just had to ask him.

'It did not matter,' he answered. It was the truth, somewhat at least. He didn't really care what Koenma wanted of him, and while he followed Kagome out of duty at first, what had happened in the past week was entirely his own will.

"I just feel so silly," Kagome confessed. "Here I was, trying make some friends in my own time, and I come to find out that they were just doing their jobs. Silly me."

Friends? Hiei wondered. He didn't have time to ponder that before Kagome continued.

"All I've gained are more protectors. I wanted to train with Sango so I could defend myself, but now I've got protection around the clock!" She was sounding less self-pitying and more angry now. "Am I really so weak that I have to have a 24/7 bodyguard?"

Hiei shifted on the windowsill and thought carefully before he responded to her.

'You are not weak,' he told her decidedly. 'Your power lies in drawing people to you, both human and youkai. You have gathered the strongest of allies to yourself. You wield your friendships like a powerful weapon. Do not underestimate it.'

Kagome was surprised at his lengthy answer. I never thought about it that way before. I guess he's right.

'I do not stay because Koenma ordered me to,' Hiei added unexpectedly. He didn't stop to wonder why he was telling her this, or what he was thinking.

"What?" asked Kagome.

'I could care less what the Reikai brat tells me to do. I am here because I wish to be.' Hiei's confession surprised himself. He hadn't known he felt that way until he told her. What is it about this girl, this Kagome, that makes me forget myself so easily?

"Why?" Kagome whispered. Hiei didn't answer, because he wasn't sure of that himself.

******************************************

After the private lesson the next evening, Kurama suggested to Kagome that she join him for dinner in his apartment, away from prying eyes and ears. Kagome agreed. There was so much she wanted to ask him. She and Kurama both tried to coax Hiei into joining them, but to Kagome's disappointment and Kurama's relief, the fire apparition didn't answer them.

"What did Hiei threaten you with to get you to tell him your story?" Kurama asked once the two of them had sat down for dinner. Kagome frowned down at her rice. She'd learned a thing or two from Hiei over the past week about misdirection, so she decided to try it out on Kurama. Instead of answering his question, she asked her own.

"What did Inuyasha mean when he said you weren't human?" Kagome asked.

'Oh, ho, what have we here?' Youko was amused. 'Sounds like a challenge to me. This could be fun.' It had been a long time since someone had evaded an interrogation from the kitsune avatar, even longer since a female had done it. They usually melted in the presence of the seductive fox. 'Give her a little information. Make her feel like she's won something. Then we'll get our answers.'

"What do you know about kitsune avatars?" Kurama asked her. Kagome thought back to the stories Shippou had told her.

"Kitsune are capable of possessing humans. It's a power called 'kitsune seduction.' An avatar is a human body that a kitsune spirit possesses at birth. Eventually, the kitsune will eat away at the human's soul and completely overtake the body," she answered.

Kurama nodded. "That's mostly true. I am a kitsune avatar, a human body possessing the spirit of a kitsune and the soul of a human. Contrary to most legends, we coexist peacefully in this body," for the most part, anyway.

"Is that why everyone calls you Kurama, instead of Minamino?"

"Yes. The kitsune part of me is Youko Kurama, a 400-year-old kitsune. My friends prefer to refer to us as Kurama instead of by our human name." That seemed to satisfy Kagome, so Kurama decided it was her turn to give some answers. "Did Hiei threaten you? Is that why you told him your story?"

Kagome sighed. It looked like Kurama wasn't going to let go of it. "He did at first," Kagome admitted, thinking back to their initial confrontation at the well. "But I told him the whole story because I wanted to."

"You wanted to? Why?" It didn't make sense at all. Youko found it hard to believe that the girl had resisted Kurama's questions and given in to Hiei's.

"I guess I was a little lonely," Kagome confessed with a shrug. "My family are the only people on this side of the well who know about my adventures, and I haven't even told them everything. They don't know how dangerous my life really is, because I don't want to worry them. Talking to Hiei, it just felt so...cleansing. Once I started talking, I just couldn't stop."

"Why did you take him through the well with you?" Kurama asked.

Kagome shook her head. "No, it's your turn to answer a question. Koenma referred to me as a taijiya. How did he know?"

"Youko recognized your fighting style as taijiya, and we knew that the form died out three hundred years ago. We were investigating you on our own because you piqued our curiosity, but Koenma found out and sent the rest of the detectives to investigate you."

"Then Hiei was just doing his job, following me," Kagome said. Kurama could have sworn she sounded disappointed.

"Partly, yes. But I've never seen him follow Koenma's orders to the letter like he did with you. Do you know why?"

"I'm not sure. He hasn't exactly poured his heart and soul out to me," Kagome said wryly. For some reason, that made Kurama feel better. Hiei had been avoiding him ever since Kagome had entered the picture, and some small part of him was jealous. He'd been Hiei's only friend for so long.

"Next question. Why did you take him through the well with you?" Kurama asked again.

"He swore to me that he wouldn't hurt my friends or kill any humans while he was there. I didn't see any reason not to," she said, avoiding mention of Hiei's disturbing threat on the matter. She figured Hiei was probably nearby eavesdropping, and she didn't want to lose what little trust she'd earned from him by ratting him out.

Kurama got the feeling that she wasn't telling him the whole truth, but he decided not to pursue the matter for now. 'You have to be slow and gentle with this. She'll get skittish if it turns into an interrogation,' Youko said.

"How well do you know Hiei?" Kurama asked.

"Not well," she confessed. "I know he's a killer. I can see it in his eyes. He is more alone than anyone I've ever met before. But there's something about him... He's done horrible things in the past, I can feel it, but he's not entirely irredeemable. But beyond that, I know next to nothing about him. He won't even tell me what kind of youkai he is," she said sadly. "I picked up on something when I tried to feel him out with my ki, strong opposing forces in his nature, but that's all I could find out."

Kurama kicked up an eyebrow at that. 'The fact that she managed to figure that much out...she's far more powerful than she realizes.' He was somewhat glad that the fire apparition had found someone who would look past his brusque exterior and try to befriend him, but that didn't dispel Youko's consternation that Hiei had taken his puzzle and run with it. Kitsune were nothing if not extremely possessive, and in Youko's mind, he had laid claim to the girl first.

Kurama watched Kagome as she cleared away the dishes for him. 'You have to admit that she's attractive,' said Youko. 'And powerful. And limber.'

'And a miko,' Kurama reminded him. 'As I said earlier, do you really want to be purified that bad?'

'Ah, but the danger makes her so much more alluring. Don't you want to know what she tastes like? Can you imagine the thrill, delving into a delicious morsel like her, knowing that she could kill us at any given moment?' Youko was practically purring as he indulged in one of his favorite fantasies, and Kurama felt the heat rise in his cheeks.

'But I don't want to use her like that,' he protested. 'I don't feel for her the way she'd want a lover to, and I doubt she'd give herself up for a one-night stand.'

'You underestimate my virility if you think that what we would do with her would only take one night,' said Youko.

Kurama ignored that comment and continued. 'And I know what we would do to a lover. I'm not going to allow you to drain her.' It was the main reason Kurama had never taken a lover. Someone had once likened kitsune to spirit vampires, and the comparison was valid. When they took lovers, kitsune would feed on their spirit energy, often leaving the unfortunate humans completely drained and spiritually dead.

'But she's got such a large soul,' Youko reminded him. 'We would only take just a little bit. Don't you wonder what it would feel like, to feed on one such as her?'

'She won't give herself to us.'

'Is that a challenge?' Youko asked.

'I really don't want to suffer the embarrassment of failure,' said Kurama.

'Trust me. She will be like putty in our hands.'

******************************************

When she finished putting the dishes away, Kagome wasn't sure what she should be doing. She couldn't think of anymore questions for Kurama, but he was strangely silent, still sitting at the dining table. With nothing else to do, Kagome sat back down across from her silent host and waited for him to say something.

"I should probably be getting home," she finally said. "I called my mother and told her I was going to dinner with a friend, but she'll be expecting me soon."

Kurama broke out of his internal conversation when Kagome spoke up. "Hm? Oh, yes, that would be wise. I will escort you home, if you like." Kagome would have to take a short bus ride to get back to the shrine.

"I'm sure Hiei will be following me," said Kagome. "You don't have to trouble yourself."

"It's no trouble at all, Kagome. It will be my pleasure." The way he said her name sent shivers down Kagome's spine.

"Oh, okay. Let me get my purse, and we'll get going."

Hiei watched the exchange through the window, as he'd been doing for the entire evening. It was obvious that the fox was up to something, but what? He couldn't actually be trying to seduce the girl...could he? For some reason, the thought left a bitter taste in Hiei's mouth. He followed the girl and the fox at a distance, keeping his presence hidden.

Kurama avoided any mention of the Sengoku Jidai or Reikai on the way to the shrine. Instead, he commented on the weather and inquired about Kagome's school work and grades. Kagome was grateful for some semblance of normal conversation, even if it was with a kitsune hiding in a human's body.

When they reached the shrine steps, Kagome turned to Kurama and smiled. "This is it," she said, gesturing to shrine. "I guess I'll let you go now."

Kurama didn't say anything. Instead, he smiled softly and reached up to push a stray tendril of Kagome's hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering there for a moment. Kagome was lost in those emerald green eyes gazing down at her, with something unfamiliar darkening his expression. What is he doing? she wondered.

It was at that moment that Hiei decided to make his presence known. He seemed to materialize right next to Kagome, his arms crossed and his expression unreadable.

"I'll take it from here, fox," Hiei said. Kurama stepped away from Kagome and a brief look of annoyance crossed his face. He did that on purpose?

"Goodnight, Kurama, and thanks for dinner! I'll see you tomorrow in class!" called Kagome as she walked up the steps. Kurama stayed and watched until she and Hiei disappeared from sight into the shrine grounds.

'Why would he stop us?' Kurama wondered.

'Perhaps he's taken a fancy to her,' Youko suggested.

'Hiei? You actually think Hiei likes a girl? Don't be ridiculous. Hiei never likes anyone.'

Youko shrugged in Kurama's mind. 'There are more things in Heaven and--'

'Oh, shut up.'

******************************************

Hiei waited in the tree branches for Kagome to open her window so he could sit on the windowsill for the night, as that had become the routine. It wasn't really necessary for him to be so close to her to keep watch, but he felt calmer in her presence, and she didn't seem to mind.

After she'd brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas, Kagome opened the window for Hiei. Her mother and grandfather had been a little suspicious lately, since she'd been retiring to her room earlier than usual at night, but she told them that she spent a few hours studying every night before going to sleep. They still didn't know about Hiei, and he was careful to mask his presence from them. Kagome didn't want her family to know about Naraku's threat to the modern era, and she hadn't told them about Reikai. No use in worrying them with something they can't do anything about, she reasoned.

The girl and the youkai shared a companionable silence while she studied for an upcoming English exam. Finally, Kagome shut her book, and stood from her place at the desk, stretching. She turned out the light, but she didn't want to go to sleep just yet. She had figured out that Hiei was more comfortable in the darkness, and she figured she could get him to talk more if he was comfortable. She sat back against the pillows on her bed and looked at Hiei.

"You never told me what kind of youkai you are," Kagome reminded him.

"Ch."

Well, that didn't work. Time to try something a little different... she thought.

"Kurama told me about Youko tonight, and I'm glad he did. I think I understand a lot more about him now."

Hiei mentally chuckled at the girl's poor attempt at manipulating him. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she was getting at. She wanted to know more about him...so she could better understand him?

Hiei snorted at that thought. If she knew about my past, the truth of what I really am, she'd wish she'd never asked. She was too pure, too naive to handle the truth about him.

But was she really all that naive? She must have seen a thing or two in the Sengoku Jidai. Those friends of hers weren't exactly innocent, either. The houshi was an unrepentant hentai; the taijiya was a steel-eyed warrior; the hanyou...

The hanyou. Hanyou were outcasts from both youkai and human societies. The taboos against interbreeding carried unfortunate consequences for the offspring of such unions, and Inuyasha must have struggled daily for survival in much the same way Hiei had to. What was it like for him, having the sheer strength of the inu-youkai blood coursing through his veins, battling for supremacy with the human blood of his mother?

And yet, the hanyou seemed to fit easily enough into the odd group they had formed. The roughness in his personality hadn't been smoothed over, but the houshi, the taijiya, the miko, and the full-blooded youkai -- four who should have, by all rights, rejected the hanyou completely -- accepted Inuyasha. Hiei hadn't had time to observe the group's dynamics for very long, but from what he'd seen, he had gathered that it was Kagome's influence that led the others to accept him, as well as calming the hanyou's wild nature enough for him to coexist with humans.

Maybe he was wrong about her. Maybe she could accept him for what he really was. If she didn't, he could put this whole thing behind him and forget about the girl. If she did... He wasn't sure what would happen if she did, but suddenly, he just had to find out. If he could gain the forgiveness and acceptance of one such as Kagome, perhaps there was hope for him after all, perhaps he could find the courage to tell Yukina the truth.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Hiei asked Kagome, startling the girl. She had almost drifted off to sleep in the silence, but his question brought her back to consciousness quickly. She knew that he was asking her whether she wanted to know the truth about him.

"Yes," she said, trying to hide her excitement. It wouldn't do to spook him now, when he was about to open up to her.

Now that he had decided to tell her, Hiei was unsure how to proceed. Telling his story verbally, or even telepathically, would take hours, and he was never very comfortable with talking. But if he could show her...

Kagome eased her mental barrier when she felt the gentle nudge in her mind. She settled back against the pillows to prepare herself for what was to come. But there was no way she could have anticipated the images and raw emotion that poured into her over the mindlink.

Kagome gasped as the memories of violence and bloodshed threatened to overwhelm her. The transfer only took a few seconds -- Hiei hadn't shown her all of his memories, just the ones that were most significant -- but Kagome needed time to process what she'd been given. She breathed deeply and sank further against the pillows.

Half fire, half ice...the Forbidden Child...abandoned by his mother...raised by thieves in an unforgiving landscape...pain...blinding anger...blood...a gem...a third eye...the dragon that brought both victory and vulnerability...a girl with ice blue hair and red eyes...Kurama...a stolen sword...Koenma...

Time passed slowly for Hiei while Kagome sat in silence on the bed. Minutes passed, or was it hours? Hiei's eyes never left the girl as he waited with baited breath for her reaction.

When she finally rose from the bed and walked toward him, Hiei second-guessed his decision. Would she slap him again? Scream at him for all the killings? Shove him out the window and tell him never to see her again? Let her, he desperately told himself. I don't care. I don't care at all.

Kagome stood before him with a blank stare for a moment that stretched into eternity for the fire apparition. And then, with a muffled cry, she threw her arms around his neck and sobbed, her tears falling against his throat and trickling down to dampen his cloak. He didn't dare move for fear of dispelling the spell. Finally, he pushed her away gently and spoke.

"I don't need your pity."

Kagome sniffled and looked up at Hiei. "You don't understand. I don't pity you, Hiei."

"Then why do you cry?"

Kagome thought for a moment before she answered. "I cry because you..you never did." Hiei helped her to stand and guided her to the bed. She clutched at his cloak when he turned to leave, and he answered her silent plea by sitting down on the bed next to her. He remained there until her tears dried and she drifted off to sleep.

******************************************

Kagome awoke to dawn's light streaming in through her bedroom window. Hiei, as usual, was gone. Kagome stared at the ceiling, wondering whether last night was all just a dream. But the memories Hiei had shown her were too lifelike, too focused and graphic to be anything but real.

She went through the motions of getting ready for school in a daze, barely acknowledging her family's usual morning greetings over breakfast. She had expected Hiei's past to be full of pain and violence, but what he had shown her was beyond anything in her experience. Most disturbing of all were the atrocities committed by Hiei himself. She was glad that she probably wouldn't see Hiei until that evening after kung fu. She still needed some time to sort out how she felt about him.

Kagome was preoccupied for the rest of the day. Her teacher finally lost patience with Kagome's failure to pay attention, and assigned her extra homework. That's all I need. More work on top of everything else. Could anyone really blame her? She had to figure out how to stop a virtual apocalypse in the next few weeks; she had to listen to her fellow students chatter about college entrance exams that she wouldn't have the chance to take; there were demonic wasps attempting to watch her every move; her sifu, who was a kitsune by the way, was acting awfully strangely around her; and she'd just received the memories of a murderous, thieving hybrid youkai. And now, she had homework. Life sucked sometimes. Stupid life.

Kurama noticed her distraction during class as well, but let it slide in light of recent events. She waited while the rest of the students left, but Kurama told her to take the rest of the night off instead of staying for the private lesson. He and Youko were still at odds over the girl, and he didn't want to risk Youko taking over his body and making him do something untoward.

During the long walk home, Kagome kept looking over her shoulder, expecting Hiei to pop up like he usually did, but he failed to appear. By the time she reached the shrine steps, Kagome was getting worried. Had something happened to him? Or had he been angry at her reaction last night? She waited by the steps for him to appear, but ten minutes later, she was still alone. Kagome sighed and headed up the stairs. He can take care of himself, she thought.

But by the time she was ready for bed, Kagome was getting seriously worried for Hiei's welfare. She opened the window and waited for him, but he still didn't come. What do I do? she wondered.

"Hiei," Kagome called, leaning out the open window, "I just need to know if you're okay. If you don't come in, I'm going to call Kurama." She blinked, and Hiei was there, sitting in front of her like he'd been there all along.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" she cried, giving him only the second hug he'd had in his entire life. He didn't like it. He pulled away from her.

Kagome turned off the lights and lay down in bed. "I thought all day about what you showed me," she said, and Hiei dreaded what she was going to say next. Would she push him away? "I can't condone the things you've done. You stole from innocent people. You killed in cold blood. I can't say that it's okay." She stopped for a moment, and Hiei's cold heart sank. "But I can feel that you're not evil, not like Naraku. You have a warmth in your heart that has nothing to do with your heritage. I won't tell you to change, and I won't try to make you. It wouldn't be fair to you. But I'd like you to see the goodness you have within you. Can you see it, Hiei? Can you feel the softness in your heart?"

Hiei's crimson eyes stared emotionlessly out at the shrine grounds, but inwardly his heart was racing. She hadn't rejected him, but she wasn't happy about his past. He could live with that. But she'd asked a question that demanded an answer Hiei didn't know how to give. The girl lay silently on the bed, but Hiei could tell that she wasn't sleeping, waiting for him to speak. He would never admit to such a pathetic weakness as 'softness in his heart,' but there was one thing he could tell her that he'd never breathed to another living soul.

'My sister,' he finally said softly. 'I would give my life for her.' Kagome smiled in the darkness, fully satisfied with his answer.

"I'm glad you told me, Hiei," she said as she yawned and turned over to sleep. "I'm glad you let me be your friend."

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Meanwhile, in Makai...

"This is stupid," said Kurabara, kicking at the dirt.

Yuusuke had to admit that he was right. They had spent two days tracking down rumors in the sectors of Makai from which Koenma had said youkai were disappearing, but the remaining inhabitants were either too weak to have the power of speech or too frightened to talk. Not even Yuusuke's special brand of 'persuasion' was enough to get any information out of them, and he was getting sick of what was turning into a wild goose chase.

Now they were chasing another rumor that would probably turn out to be fruitless. It was said that the Consumption, as Makai residents had dubbed the strange presence, had intruded on the Western Territories and been driven away by its Lord. Yuusuke wasn't familiar with these parts, since the Lord kept his subjects in check and meted out his own ruthless justice. George was getting more nervous by the minute, and seemed to have developed a tic in his neck over the past few hours.

"What's with the flinching, Ogre?" he finally asked. "What's got you so jumpy?"

"Koenma has an agreement with the Western L-lord. We're not supposed to enter his lands without permission."

Yuusuke frowned at that. This Lord is strong enough to get Koenma to agree to such a thing? he wondered. It didn't matter. Time was of the essence, and they had to track down Naraku as soon as possible.

Yuusuke turned to tell Kurabara to be careful, but to his surprise, his friend was gone. "Kurabara? Kurabara!" he yelled, scanning the forest they'd been walking through for any sign of his friend. He found none.

"Where the hell did he go?" Yuusuke asked the ogre, who was almost catatonic with fear. Yuusuke cursed Kurabara's stupidity and turned around to look for his friend again. When he turned back, the ogre was gone as well.

Now seriously worried, Yuusuke let his ki flare up in a warning to whoever had taken them. "Who are you? Show yourself!" he shouted, holding his hand out in front of him, prepared to fire off the Rei Gan.

Hearing an amused snort from behind him, Yuusuke whirled and pointed his finger in that direction. He was startled when the unconscious forms of Kurabara and the ogre flew through the air and landed with a thud at his feet.

"Foolish," said an emotionless masculine voice from the shadows. Yuusuke could see a tall figure lurking beneath the trees, and he suddenly sensed a flare of youki that threatened to choke him. What the fuck...that power! The figure suddenly blurred, and Yuusuke could only stare in shock when the youkai appeared in front of him, looming over him with a disapproving frown on his angelic face.

"You will never defeat Naraku with such bumbling fools," said the mysterious youkai before Yuusuke felt a sudden blow to his head, and then there was darkness...

Edited 17 May 2005