Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Replaying History In More Than One Way ❯ Hojo ( Chapter 19 )

Tbiris: Now, what've heard from several reviewers is that the last chapter was seriously messed up. I am EXTREMELY sorry. I was on a different computer (because I couldn't kick my bro off of this computer) and from now on I'll blackmail and/or threaten him so that this doesn't happen again. Nothing serious, just that I'll stop writing for a while and start posting more… he's as addicted to this as some of the reviewers….

Karasu: More than I am to Kurama?

Yusuke: That's impossible, and when did you start talking again?

Tbiris: Since Neji sent Kurama over to punish him for inviting a stranger into her house… and other stuff.

Keiko: He must have been traumatized…

Karasu: *shrugs* I'm back though.

Tbiris: Good timing, you're coming up soon.

Yusuke and Keiko: WHAT!!!

Tbiris: *hurriedly* well, let's get started, review replies at the bottom again.

Chapter 19-Hojo

The Reikai tantei were walking the streets of Tokyo. First, to do some clothes shopping, second…

"Remind me why we're here again," Yusuke demanded. Kagome turned around to face Yusuke and started to walk backwards.

"We're following the pull of a shard, I think that some of the shards did stay in Ningenkai." She sighed. "How troublesome." Just as she finished her sentence, she tripped backwards over someone.

"Sumimasen!" (Excuse me) The figure stood back up and brushed himself off.

"It's okay, ah… Higurashi-san?" To Kagome's absolute dismay, the figure showed to be Hojo.

"Friend of yours?" Hiei asked sharply. Kagome flushed with embarrassment and just looked at her feet. Talking quickly and abruptly Kagome apologized.

"Gomen, Hojo-san, Sayonara!" She turned to leave, only to have Hojo hold her back by her wrist.

"If it isn't too much to ask Higurashi-san, are you free tonight?" Kagome opened her mouth, but Yusuke beat her to the chase.

"Why she happens to have the night off of work," he said cheerfully.

"SINCE WHEN?!" she screeched, catching the attention of many passersby.

"Since I wanted to spend more time with Keiko," Yusuke grinned. Kuwabara, who really needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut added.

"Since you needed a love-life." Kagome sent a fiery glare his way, imaginary flames appeared behind her.

"Meh! Joking, joking!" Kuwabara fell backwards, in a rush to back away from the angry miko.

"We have SHARDS TO COLLECT, YUSUKE!" Kagome rounded back on Yusuke.

"Am I missing something?" Hojo's naivete saved Yusuke a bashing when Kagome turned her head; hand midway through a slap. "Shards, like pink shards of a jewel, around a centimeter long?" Kagome's jaw may have dropped, Hiei and Kurama's eyes widened slightly in astonishment.

Pink? But that must mean that… Hojo's pure of heart? He can see them too though, powers of a monk, then.

"That is a good description, they can be a light shade of purple as well, though." Kurama replied. Hojo's face visibly brightened.

"Higurashi-san, I'll give it to you if you go on a date with me." Hojo looked so hopeful and they needed the shard, so, she was trapped. Sighing, she nodded reluctantly.

"I'll pick you up at six!" Hojo continued on his way, smiling brightly. A barely audible sound came from Kagome, then,

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five."

"What's that Kagome?" Yusuke bent looking at what he could see of her face.

`I wouldn't do that detective.' The warning came to late.

"Three, two, one." BLAM! Yusuke was thrown to the left and smashed into the nearest wall.

Kagome raised her head. If she had been a demon, chances were that she'd be in a blood rage. Her eyes showed her anger and irritation with Yusuke. She stomped off, leaving the gang to help Yusuke whilst portraying an `I'll kill you later' look. Kurama glanced to Hiei, who nodded and followed Kagome.

When she noticed his presence as they entered the shrine, she glared at him. He returned it in full force.

"You overreacted, miko. What was the cause?"

"So it's miko, again? How many BLOODY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU MY NAME!?"

"I am not them, Kagome."

"I KNOW THAT!" she yelled.

"THEN ACT LIKE IT!" Hiei yelled back. Kagome was startled, and hung her head.

"Hojo would always ask me out, but I never accepted his offers. It was my friends. Now Yusuke's decided to play matchmaker as well, and to include him in our mission." Hiei scoffed, and remained silent for a while.

"I'm sorry, Hiei." He turned to look at her and shook his head.

"You should erect the barrier, now." Kagome nodded, wiping away the tears forming in her eyes, before placing a hand on Hiei's forehead, right on top of the Jagan. She closed her eyes, and willed herself to feel his dilemma again. The pain nearly shattered her. Taking her time, she erected the barrier, first willing the destruction to one side and healing to another and carrying on. So was so absorbed with her work that she failed to notice Kurama's presence.

When she finished, Hiei opened his eyes and looked at her. "Arigato." Kagome shook her head.

"It was nothing."

"It was far from nothing, Kagome." Kagome jumped as she wheeled around, nearly hitting Kurama.

"Do you mind if I stay here while the others go back to wait for you?" he asked. Kagome shook her head quickly.

"It's okay, I suppose I should get ready." Kurama nodded.

"Have fun." His heart wasn't really in those words.

-$-$-$-

Hiei was sitting on a windowsill, sipping some tea Kurama had made. Kurama was at the table, also drinking tea. There was a prolonged silence between the two friends. Hojo had already picked up Kagome, Yusuke was with Keiko and Kuwabara was out shopping.

"We need to talk, Kurama." Kurama set down his tea and looked at the small Koorime.

"About what, Hiei?" Hiei remained silent, mulling over how to word his question.

"You've fallen for the miko." Kurama raised an eyebrow. "So the thief has had the most precious thing to him stolen. His heart." Hiei chuckled, before looking out the window, watching the dark clouds gather.

"As has yours, Hiei," Kurama was not going to lose this argument. Hiei chuckled again.

"She's a sister to me, Kurama." Kurama raised an eyebrow again. For Hiei to openly admit that, Kagome had cracked the walls that isolated the Koorime from the world. That was not an easy feat.

"She will be happy with you." Kurama sighed.

"Why are we having this conversation?" he asked. Hiei turned to Kurama, eyebrow raised.

"So that you would know that I'll be after your hide if you hurt her." The two friends watched the rain pour down, a calm feeling settling across the shrine.

"She'll need a proper katana," Kurama commented and Hiei nodded in agreement.

"I'll get one or make one before we go back."

Kurama smiled."Thank you Hiei, for trusting me."

-$-$-$-

-$ Kagome's POV $-

Note to self: kill Yusuke, again. I have to put up with all these stupid questions from Hojo! Why me?

"Why do these shards mean so much to you Higurashi-san?" I was caught off guard by the sudden intelligent question.

"Ano, it has to do with my illnesses Hojo-san. I'll explain in detail during dinner, okay?" Thank goodness he caught the hint! He actually stayed silent for a while, whilst we waited in line.

"What movie should we watch?" I asked as we got closer to the ticket booth. Hojo leaned to the side to try and read the movie listings. "I've heard that Finding Nemo's a good one," he suggested.

I nodded and we paid for our tickets and entered the movie theater. Hojo kept glancing at me, as if I would suddenly disappear. Finally, I grew tired of it as we sat down.

"Look Hojo, stop looking at me like I won't be there the next second." Hojo blushed slightly, and looked away.

"This is the first date that you didn't stand me up for. I'm just not sure if this is a dream or not." Well, there's a one-way guilt trip for me. I didn't mean to stand him up, not that I ever wanted to go, anyway.

I ran my hand through my hair. "I never meant to stand you up. I… had some other priorities related to my illness." Hojo nodded. It looked like I was going to have to explain a lot of things during dinner.

We remained silent during the movie, respecting other viewers. It looked like there was a moral to this story. Nemo was lost, and his father came through, despite the overcoming odds. Like Inu Yasha. Inu Yasha… why Kurama? If Youko hadn't taken over, then I would still see him as Inu Yasha and not himself. I avoided him, because I didn't want to make the same mistake as Inu Yasha, but I still did something as bad. I ignored him, how could I do that? Nemo, he never gave up, even if it seemed hopeless; just like our battles with Naraku. Hopeless, yet we always escaped with our lives.

Time had slowed down during the movie, yet afterwards it seemed to pass so quickly. In what seemed no time at all, Hojo and I were seated and ordered our food.

"What are the shards Higurashi-san?" Hojo broke the long silence. I took a bite of my pasta before answering.

"They're pieces of the Shikon noTama, a jewel created from a crystallized miko and youkai soul." I sipped at my orange juice before continuing.

"These last few years I was traveling to Sengoku Jidai where I shattered the jewel before. That's when Grandfather made up all those illnesses. I shattered the Shikon no Tama again recently, to protect it. Oddly, I was the only one able to see and sense the shards besides my incarnation. But, now…" I trailed off.

"Now, I can see them," Hojo finished. I nodded, staring at my pasta.

"Somehow, it calls to you as well, like it called youkai, but it can't corrupt you, thus it purifies. Not many can do that." I finished, looking up. Hojo had a small smile on his face. In his hand was a necklace.

It was a black dragon holding a bright red rose, the rose was clutched in one of the forearms. The dragon's head was raised, its wings spread, the tail curling to touch the rose. When I looked at the head, the eyes appeared sorrowful, like it had lost something. It reminded me of Hiei and Kurama. The Shikon no Kakera glittered in the stem of the rose.

Slowly, I reached out for the necklace. It must have taken months to craft. Hojo dropped it in my hands while his smile remained.

"I will keep an eye out for anymore shards, Higurashi-san."

"You should visit a shrine then, so that you won't be attacked. The master's name is Genkai. You can give her the shards you find." My throat began to close; I could feel the sting of tears.

"Arigato, Hojo-kun."

"No problem, Kagome-chan. I hope you can find happiness with your friend. I know that I don't have much hope to win your heart now." He never stopped smiling, even though he knew I was falling in love with someone else. I put the necklace around my neck, and placed the shard in my pocket.

$$$$

Well, there's another chap. Being sick sucks… but it means I get to update. I won't be able to for a while though, I have a summative due soon, and I'm running behind… If you want to see the necklace take a look at the related fan art.

Sesshomaruobsessed: Actually, when I wrote this chapter, there wasn't that scene… thanks for reminding me. I had completely forgotten about that little mini-plot hehehe…

Izzy: oops…I'm not all that good at keeping people in character… that's why I have Neji ^_^. She looks at it and USUALLY *cough cough* tells me. Its hard for me to keep so many characters in line with the plot, especially after the next few chaps when someone else joins them, and I have NO clue how he would normally act since he's a minor character in the anime.

Crying Crystal Teardrops: Really? I always look at Detsetsuno (sp?) Youko's fics for good Kag/Kur… I don't mine's that good since I suck at writing romance. I actually got a lot of ideas from By Any Other Name and asked Deviation (Deviant Nature on ff.net) if it was ok if I could some of the stuff ^_^.

Angel2youkai: You have no idea how many people tell me that…

Inuyuyu_15: AERO!!!! Thankies!!! Next update will be slower unfortunately; math teacher loads us with homework daily.

Thanks to all other reviewers too!!!

I have one important request. No one kill me after next chapter. It took me a lot to get Neji to not kill me. I had to post twice in one week so she wouldn't kill me.

Next Chapter: Stolen