Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Stealing Starlight ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Stealing Starlight

Disclaimer: Neither Inuyasha or Yuyu Hakusho belong to me.

A/N: Please don't kill me! Now that I finally feel like writing fanfiction again, as opposed to my original fiction works, this seems to finally be getting off the ground. I am very glad this received such a warm welcome for the first chapter. So here is a new chapter for everyone who is paying attention.Oh yeah … a slight deviation from the original anime, I know that Kurama and his step-brother actually have the same name, but for the sake of my mind I am going to change it a little. It'd just get too confusing to try and keep them separate when they have the same first name. So for this fic, the other boy's name will be Toushiro

Chapter One:

The kitsune avatar known as Youko Kurama sneezed as he sorted through the dusty objects in his mother's attic. He was looking for something of his mother's from when she was a child to write about for his English class, an assignment he was quickly coming to resent. A dozen boxes hidden away in the attic and not one of them seemed to have a single child's toy. He found dozens of pictures of someone he assumed to be the sire of his current body, several bouquets of dried flowers, and even a battered and torn top hat boxed up with a fake magician's wand, but nothing that could possibly have been a toy or other artifact from his mother's childhood.

Did she simply keep nothing from when she was young? Odd.

Sitting back on his haunches with a frustrated sigh, Kurama ran a hand through his vibrantly colored hair. Finally, he picked up the box with the costume in it, deciding that since he didn't know its story, he could write something about it being for a Halloween costume party or some such function. It was yet another thing that had filtered in from America, Halloween. He personally preferred the traditional holiday for honoring the ancestors to the mockery that was the heavily commercialized American holiday. He knew, objectively, that his sire had been an American, so perhaps it had been something she'd worn for the day.

Sneezing again as he left, Kurama flipped off the light and gracefully glided down the awkward stairs to his own bedroom.

He'd chosen to remain at his family's home while he attended college, partially to keep the cost to a minimum, and partly because he didn't want to let go entirely just yet. His mother was the most important thing in the world to him and he wanted to keep and eye on her as long as possible. It was just his nature to hoard the things he found precious to him.

Settling himself before his computer, he swiftly began to type, etching out the storyline before filling in the gaps. So intent on his work was he that he didn't notice when his step-brother leaned in his doorway, a grin stretching his lips at the sight of Kurama plugging away at the keyboard. “Suuichi-nii-san, Okaa-sama says it is time for dinner,” he called finally.

Startled out of his contemplation of the story he was weaving, Kurama, blinked at his step-brother before he nodded in understanding. “I see. Thank you for telling me Toushiro. Please inform Okaa-sama that I will join you shortly?” the avatar replied as he turned back to the computer.

As the younger boy headed down the stairs, he frowned at the way Suuichi had spoken. Granted, he always spoke like that, but that was part of the problem. He spoke like someone used to being obeyed, some one who had grown up around people who spoke like that all the time. Nobility. He knew his step-brother was hiding something, but somehow, he didn't feel like delving into the elder's secrets, so long as they caused no harm to the family. He was glad to see his father so happy, and didn't want anything to mess it up.

But if whatever his brother was hiding began causing problems, he was going to pin the other boy to the nearest wall and demand to know.

Unknowing of his step-brother's concerns, Kurama saved his document and turned off the computer. Just as he walked out the door, his Reikai communicator chirped merrily at him, making him glower at it for just a moment before he picked it up. “What is it this time, Koenma? I was just about to go down to dinner,” he coldly asked of the face that appeared on the screen.

“I need you to play … bodyguard for lack of a better term. There is a … artifact whose safety I cannot ensure in the vaults at this time. I am unsure of its importance as I am only told that it contains a message for someone in the human realm, and that it will only activate once in this person's hands. I get the feeling that you will know who it is intended for by the artifact's reaction.”

“There is something you are not telling me, Koenma. What is it?” Kurama growled.

“It looks like a kitsune child's toy.”

“A child's toy? You must be joking,” he deadpanned.

“I am quite serious, Kurama. It appears to be one of those colorful tops kits use when they are first learning their abilities. Though this one looks much worn, as though it had been kept purely for sentimental reasons. The personage who ordered me to get it to the human realm told me that its origins were none of my concern.”

Kurama smirked at the annoyed tone in the Spirit-Prince's voice. Anyone who could put that tone in the toddler's voice was okay in his book. “Why me in particular, Koenma?”

“Because if it is a kitsune toy, then you would be the most likely to be able to neutralize any potential traps set on it. The person who gave it to me informed me that tampering with it would prove … detrimental to the meddler. However, being kitsune yourself, I thought that perhaps you may be able to unlock its secrets.”

Sighing in resignation, Kurama tried to get some clue as to who might possibly have enough power to make Koenma this nervous. “That is twice that you have avoided telling me who gave this object to you. Why?”

Dead silence met his innocent inquiry. Finally, seeing the ancient kitsune wasn't going to just let this go, the Spirit-Prince decided that a part of the truth would be enough to appease the kitsune. “It's nothing personal. The individual in question simply asked me not to reveal his identity until he deemed it appropriate. I would prefer not to tempt fate by ignoring his request.”

“Hmm. I see.” Two pieces to the puzzle, Kurama thought to himself. “Very well. Have Botan bring the object to me, I will see what I may discover.” Closing the little compact-style device, the avatar smirked lazily to himself. Well, perhaps the Reikai prince wasn't a total loss. He'd been able to deduce two things from just that one little snippet of information. First, the being who entrusted the toddler with the object was either dead or a demon, and second, he had enough power to make even the Prince quake at the thought of crossing him.

Finally, a decent puzzle to occupy his time!

With that rather pleasing thought in mind, Kurama set the device down and closed his bedroom door to head down to his evening meal. He wanted to get out of the house so he could meet up with Botan. More than once the idiotic ferry girl had popped into existence in the middle of his bedroom just before his mother came in. He'd finally told her that if his family was home, she had to knock on the front door like a normal person. That still hadn't stopped her from doing it. It would just be better for everyone if he simply left the house as soon as possible.

Dinner was its usual quiet affair, the meal of Domburi, gyoza, and his mother's prize-winning onigiri, light but filling. Ordinarily he would help his mother prepare the meal, but with this new essay he had to work on, she had told him not to worry.

Leaning back Kurama smiled at his mother. “That was wonderful, Okaa-sama. Thank you. If you will please excuse me, I am afraid that I received a phone call just before dinner. I must to meet up with Yusuke for work. Oh, and Okaa-sama, I'll make dinner tomorrow night. Just to make up for not being able to help you tonight.” Gathering his dishes, he took them into the kitchen and set them in the sink before slipping quietly out the side door.

Taking a deep breath before jogging off, Kurama tried to put as much distance between his family and the ferry girl as possible. Hopefully, he would run into the hybrid or the detective before he had to go too far.

A:B:C:

It took Kagome a few minutes to recognize where she was, the heart-breaking anguish of her last minutes with Inuyasha burning itself into her memory even as the pink and violet glow of the Shikon no Tama receded into her body. Clutching the last of the ashes that were all that was left of her first love, the broken miko stumbled blindly toward the structure that housed her family, Tetsusaiga left lying forlorn and forgotten in the empty courtyard before the well house.

Her appearance before her shocked family did nothing to draw her out of the near-catatonic state she was in. Her mother watched with wide eyes and then jerkily moved to stop Souta from approaching the girl, whose pain-darkened eyes saw nothing but a continuous replay of the hanyou's last moments, and the love she saw in his eyes as he literally disintegrated in her hands. Mama Higurashi reached out to touch her daughter's hand, her heart breaking at the desolation in the girl's face.

Feeling her mother's touch Kagome looked up at her, despair echoing around the hollow where her heart once was. Lifting her hands, she looked at the contents, a look of hopelessness flitting across her face. She stared at her ash coated hands in befuddlement then turned again to he mother. “This is … it's all that's left of him, Mama. I wished, and the jewel … he was too close … we purified him, mama,” she said softly, her voice a haunted whisper.

Mama Higurashi didn't miss the “we” comment, but let it pass for the moment, wanting only to get her obviously distraught daughter into bed. With tears tickling her eyes, she slowly led Kagome up the stairs to her room, leaving Souta in the living room with a bewildered expression on his face. Then the young man turned on his heel and headed outside, determined to wait for Inuyasha to show up.

The sight of Tetsusaiga left lying on the ground made his heart jump into his throat. Misery making his movements slow, Souta bent over to pick up the battered katana, a single tear dripping from his face to land on the pommel, making with ancient weapon pulse in reaction.

Souta knew then that things would never be the same. His hero was dead at his sister's hands, and he felt a pang in his heart for the pain she must be in. His own must pale in comparison. Cradling the worn weapon in his arms, Higurashi Souta looked up at his sister's bedroom window and made an oath, that one day, he would be strong enough to stand beside her and shield her from some of the pain she brought upon herself with her selfless sacrifice of her heart for the happiness of others. No one would ever be allowed to hurt her that way ever again, he swore.

Mama Higurashi led Kagome upstairs, taking care to gently pry the fine ash out of the girl's hands, slipping it sorrowfully into an empty jar in the bathroom before lowering Kagome into a bath ,and after drying her off and getting her dressed, put the unresisting girl into bed. She sat by the girl's bedside for an hour before deciding that she needed to start making dinner for the boys. She couldn't spend every moment at her daughter's side, just hoping she would say something.

That was what frightened her more than anything else, the simple fact that her talkative little girl had not said a single word beyond that one sentence when she first walked in the door. It frightened her in a way she had never thought she could be. Closing the door to Kagome's bedroom behind her she turned and started to find Souta standing in the hallway holding the battered Tetsusaiga. The sight of the rusty katana truly drove it home to her that dog-eared hanyou that had barged his way into their lives and hearts was really dead. Letting a few tears drip down her face, she nodded silently at the boy's equally silent request.

Slipping into his sister's room, he gently set the sword in a corner of the room, hoping that somehow its presence would bring her some solace.

Days turned to weeks as Kagome lay listless in her bed. Her once robust figure became so emaciated that Mama Higurashi began to worry that her daughter might never recover from the mental illness that consumed her. Making a decision nearly a two months after Kagome returned from the past, months marked by nightmares and periods of silent refusals to eat, Mama Higurashi finally decided to have Kagome admitted to a hospital, explaining to the doctors that her daughter was suffering severe mental trauma, without giving them any information beyond that. She figured that they didn't need the more … intimate details.

While the doctors were able to stop the wasting of her body, there was little they could do to bring her out of her near-coma. Whatever the reason, Kagome remained unresponsive, no matter what they attempted, from simple presence to pricking her fingers and toes with needles. Nothing worked.

Nearly two weeks after she was admitted, they hooked her up to a REM monitor. The next morning when they checked the readout they were astonished. Where most people only had around two hours of REM sleep where they dreamed, Kagome was spending anywhere between ten and twelve hours in REM sleep. Finally they pressed Mama Higurashi for more details on how Kagome ended up in this state.

Though she did her best to avoid telling the doctors too much about what had happened to her daughter, she could not avoid telling them that the girl was to some extent responsible for her first love's death. She wasn't able to tell them more than that, first because she still didn't have any real details on how Inuyasha had died at Kagome's hands and second because she could not tell these people about her daughter's trips through time, or the fact that Inuyasha was in actuality a half-demon, or that Kagome herself was a miko of great power.

Once again days turned to weeks and weeks to months as Kagome lay listless in a hospital bed. At first her friends came and visited, but one by one, they slowly trickled away, until the only one who was left was Hojou. He was a med major in college and hoped that by staying near Kagome he'd perhaps be able to help her one day. He'd long since given up on attaching her as his girlfriend, noting with more than a bit of wry humor that it would be far better for them both if he let go. Mama Higurashi told him what had happened to Kagome, and he figured that if someone's death could put Kagome in this state, then it must have been true love. So he chose to remain at her side, and hoped that someday she would be happy.

Finally one day he could take it no longer and began delving into coma research, trying to figure out what it was that was keeping her in this state of suspended animation. He was grateful he'd gotten into med school, and had so many resources at his disposal. He even spoke to teachers he'd never met before, searching for something to help her. He only hoped he'd succeed before it was too late to save her. He couldn't imagine life without her.

 

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Well, here it is. I hope this satisfies your cravings for excellent writing. And if you don't like it, at least tell me why you don't like it. And no, “It's stupid” doesn't cover it. Just so you all know, this is a Kur/Kag story. I should have the mext chapter up in … oh … two weeks, tops. I have classes.