Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time Traveler Meets Spirit Detective ❯ Chapter 18 ( Chapter 18 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha.

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Chapter 18 - The Maze

The mist stirred sluggishly as the blue-eyed miko strode out of the mist going straight toward a large door. The door was opened slightly, and Kagome shivered as the dark taint surrounding the building seemed to swallow her and attempt to take her into itself. Kagome shook off the feeling and opened the door wider, stepping into the eerie room.

For a moment, she wondered exactly what she was doing there. She should have stayed with Yusuke. Then her plan resurfaced in her mind and she winced. He'd never have approved of that plan. He'd have knocked her unconscious to stop her from trying to do that if he knew what she was planning. She squared her shoulders at the thought and studied the room.

Nothing was here. Four walls, a ceiling, and a door on the opposite side. Through that door, Kagome saw a hallway. She had a feeling Naraku's castle was going to be like a maze, except the prize at the center wouldn't be had automatically when you got there.

She followed her feelings into the room at the end of the hallway. This wasn't the tainted feeling she was getting, but something much different. She turned her head slightly, feeling the energy of one of her companions approaching. She winced at the furious crackle that showed up in the energy, but he was still at least a minute behind, and the minor demons out there might get in his way. Well, in the rage he was in, probably not.

She stepped into the room and looked around. "Nice place that you have here, Kikyou."

"Isn't it? My dearest reincarnation, you really should just let me have my soul. I could handle the power much better than you," Kikyou said, her gray eyes seeking out the younger and more alive miko girl.

Kagome spoke slowly, carefully, and wholeheartedly. "Could you? I don't think you could. The Shikon no Tama was in my body for 15 years. The power is not only in my soul, it flows through my very veins."

Kikyou's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, but she drew her bow back anyway. "This changes nothing."

-~-

The silver-haired hanyou was swearing up a storm as he swung Tetsusaiga through the massive amounts of demons in front of him. He defeated them by the hundreds, but they didn't seem to notice, they just kept coming. With a frustrated growl the hanyou managed to come out on the other side of the mist, near a medium sized door. He sniffed around and found that none of the group had been here.

"Keh! Should have known those slow pokes couldn't do anything right!" Inuyasha muttered as he crept into the room, sniffing about and immediately having to duck aside due to the energy being thrown at him. He glared up at what could only be another of Naraku's incarnations.

"Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha asked, dodging to one side again as the creature floating in the middle of the room grinned. "I am a nightmare. I am darkness, I am your worst fear, I am negative emotions, I AM-"

"Talking to much. Shut the hell up, won't you?" Tetsusaiga clashed against the long black and red sword that had been throwing out energy and Inuyasha snorted.

"You think your sword is better than mine?" Inuyasha grinned as the other demon simply smiled, then pressed Tetsusaiga forward, watching in detached anger as the sword cut through demon and sword like butter.

"Moron. Obviously Naraku doesn't have any quality incarnations anymore." Inuyasha walked on growling as he sensed another being nearby.

"Dog-turd! Where's my woman?"

"The one you kidnapped and almost got killed? That one? She's not yours," Inuyasha snarled angrily.

"You saying she's yours?" Kouga demanded.

Inuyasha was silent, then slowly shook his head. "No. I'm just saying she isn't yours. She's already chosen, and it isn't either of us. I'm living with it." Despite his words there was a spark of jealousy in his eyes.

"What? She's with another guy? Damn it, what have you been letting her do? You let that little human go near her? He's the only other one who showed interest in her, the new guy. I'll just fight him, too. You're still alive, so he can't be that powerful!" Kouga puffed up, staring as Inuyasha actually laughed in his face.

"Like Kagome would really let us hurt each other. The only time we've managed to do anything is when she was unconscious. Just give up wolf." Kouga snarled at the hanyou's words, but all he got was a simple baring of fangs before Inuyasha swept by him to sniff out his next opponent.

Kouga hesitated, then with a sudden decision, he fell into line next to the half dog demon. At Inuyasha's smirk, the wolf growled. "I'm only doing this until Naraku's destroyed. Even I need help sometimes, and you may be useful. Besides, you know where Kagome is."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, but the two canines kept walking to the next opponent.

-~-

Hiei stared at the small door, and eyed it suspiciously. It was mocking his height, he could tell. Behind him, Kurama and Miroku were suspiciously silent, and he shot a glance over his shoulder to find them both looking at him with innocent inquiring expression. The fire apparition's eyes narrowed.

"Hn," he said briefly before opening the door and striding into the room. it was empty except for a small mirror in the middle of a table. Kurama walked past Hiei after stooping to get into the room, reaching out to touch the mirror, his eyes moving over the frame, starting to drift to the clear surface.

"Don't look at it!" Miroku commanded sharply and both demons turned to him just as Kanna appeared, the mirror fitting into her petite pale hands perfectly.

"It will steal your soul," Miroku said. "Don't let her point it at you. It also-"

Miroku didn't have time to finish his sentence as Hiei rushed the mirror, sword slicing at the mirror from the front. He was surprised when the sword was turned away by a shield and the sword attack was reflected back at him.

"-reflects attacks." Miroku finished with a sigh. Hiei glared at him, then glared at the sword. Kurama stepped back for a moment to consider the situation, studying the silent girl.

"Anything ever stopped this?"

"Kagome's arrow was the only thing that has ever damaged Kanna's mirror and has not been reflected back," Miroku said. The three suddenly jumped away from each other as Kanna began to turn her mirror on them.

"Plan, fox?" Hiei questioned.

"If I knew more about it, it would be very helpful. As it is, the best way would be to get Kanna and the mirror from behind. Obviously we can't shatter the mirror from the front, and as Kagome is not with us, we obviously can't use her or her arrows." Kurama had drawn a rose from his hair, quickly turning it into Rose Whip while attempting to stay out of the mirror's way.

Kurama only had time for a brief cry of shock when Kanna turned upon him with startling speed. His soul was sucked out of his body and the kitsune fell to the ground. Kanna's soulless eyes turned to the fire apparition. "One down..."

"Your time to go," Miroku said as his staff swept towards her back and the back of the mirror.

-~-

Yusuke glared at the wide open door with ferocity. Shippo was sniffing at it and his wide green eyes looked up into Yusuke's and nodded. She'd been here. Yusuke swept by the kitsune, putting Puu down inside the doorway. "Stay here a moment you two."

Both of the small creatures obeyed as Yusuke went ahead, through the door at the end of the hallway and dodging under the arrow that whizzed by his head. He looked up and was shocked by what he saw. The next arrow flew into the wall where his shoulder had been a moment before as he stared at the miko. She looked like Kagome, but her eyes were empty, and her very body seemed to lack life.

"You must be Kikyou," Yusuke said, still a bit unnerved by how alike they could look at one glance. The woman looked him up and down disdainfully.

"Indeed. What does my reincarnation see in you?" Kikyou seemed to mutter to the empty air as Yusuke continued dodging the arrows. "Inuyasha is better looking, though he of course, is half demon and would have been hurt by now by the miko energy still lingering in the room from when my reincarnate was here."

"Kagome was here?" Yusuke asked, his eyes immediately narrowing.

"Of course. She got away before I could manage to get my soul. After all, the only reason I'm not still locked up is for the chance at her soul, since Naraku botched it up when he did it." She sniffed, the derisive tone showing what she thought of Naraku and his schemes.

"It's not your soul," Yusuke said, and this time he caught the arrow. It wasn't hard to catch it, and she couldn't purify him.

"It is. I can find shards as well, if not better, than her. Why would Naraku want me to find the shards instead of simply kidnapping her if that was not the case? After all, she can't fight back like I can." Kikyou's smile was chilling. "All I need is my soul, and then I could have defeated Naraku and brought Inuyasha to hell."

"You died, it's not even your power anymore. It's hers." And with this Yusuke got fed up with the arrows coming towards him and shoved off the similarities in looks between her and Kagome. She wanted to kill Kagome, and had apparently tried recently. His arms came up after dodging another arrow and his hands went into his traditional gun shaped position.

Kikyou watched the gathering of energy and nodded to herself. "So, this is why, is it? The power is in your blood, as it is in hers. A different power but many similarities."

As the energy began to glow on his finger tips, something white and glowing struck him, knocking him off balance, just as another arrow crashed into the wall. He hissed angrily as he felt the small trickle off blood it had made. He looked up to see the white snakelike soul stealers wrapping themselves around Kikyou, trying to drag her away.

"Like hell! You think I'm going to allow you to get away and come after Kagome again?" This time the energy formed between his palms in the familiar shape of the Spirit Wave.

"You have no choice. Can you really kill me, one who looks so much like her? It is like Inuyasha thinks he is in love with her, because she looks like me, and he can not kill either of us. Neither can you." Kikyou's serene smile made Yusuke blood boil in rage.

"You forget one thing. I can tell the differences of a girl with a soul, and a girl without. I never knew you with one, so I have no reason not to. The main thing here, you stupid, lousy excuse for a miko, is i'm not Inuyasha. SPIRIT WAVE!" And Kikyou didn't even scream or cry out as the energy blast swept into her body. Her lips tilted slightly into what could almost be called a blissful smile before the magic working her body was destroyed and the undead miko was truly dead once again.

Yusuke glanced at his shoulder and grimaced. It wasn't much, but he'd have to be careful not to land on it, it would hurt like hell. His eyes widened as he saw a small ball of light hovering in the air and looked all around it. "What the hell is this?"

"A piece of Kagome's soul," Shippo said quietly as he peeked in the door. When the noise had stopped, both he and Puu had rushed over to see who had won.

"Isn't it supposed to go to her?"

"I don't know. The only time she's gotten pieces of her soul back is when she's unintentionally called them. When someone she cares about has been in trouble because of Kikyou. Which usually means Inuyasha. Or, meant," Shippo said softly, glancing at the last little piece of soul, hovering sadly by itself. Shippo reached up and tried to grab it, and found it seemed to be just out of his reach. Actually, his hand seemed to go through it.

"I don't think we'll be able to grab the soul kid." Yusuke sighed as Puu decided to try. Obviously no one was listening to him. Then, surprisingly, the soul seemed to hover in front of Puu.

"Puu!" The small blue creature said firmly, in a slightly scolding voice. Soon afterwards the soul floated swiftly out of the room. Just as quickly, Shippo bounded after it.

"Come on! It's going to Kagome!" Shippo shouted exuberantly. The three followed it through twists and turns, Puu flying in front of them, soul in his sight. Yusuke smirked darkly. When this was over, he was going to lock that girl up and never let her get near danger again. Of course, she seemed to attract danger, so he probably wouldn't have much of a choice.

-~-

"You'll die, miko!" Kagura exclaimed harshly as Kagome stood against her winds, unafraid.

"Maybe. But what else can I do?" Kagome's calm face frowned for a moment as her reluctant enemy faltered, then the winds spun about her again slashing at her bare skin, tiny scratches marking where she failed to get out of the way.

"You can run! Surrender! Take your jewel shards and hide! If I had my heart, it is what I would do," Kagura stated harshly, crimson eyes glowing desperately as she failed to move the miko.

"But I have what I need to defeat him, Kagura. My powers are in my very blood, and I can't just give in to him," Kagome's blue eyes passed the meaning along to Kagura and the wind sorceress narrowed her eyes.

"Perhaps. But you will never get a change if you can not defeat me, miko. Prepare yourself girl!" And the winds swept about them, failing to knock away the arrow that sped from Kagome's bow straight towards Kagura's floating form.

-~-

Sango, Kuwabara, and Botan, with Kirara of course, had gone through the middle sized door, and finding it empty quickly kept walking. As had been suspected, they had quickly been separated from everyone else. Now Sango was facing her worst nightmare with two people who had never seen this boy and knew nothing of what this fight meant to her. All they heard was the anguish in her voice as she called out to the oblivious boy. "Kohaku!"

The two taijya fought, the shard in Kohaku back glowing unnaturally as Naraku's control struggled against the boys deeply hidden emotions. Only when a fiery sword slashed in between them did the siblings separate. In that short amount of time, Kirara pounced. The sickle-headed chain slashed her leg, but the claws were already slashing at his back.

The boy taijya and the fire-cat's pain-filled howls mingled as a dark shard dropped to the ground. There was silence as the boy seemed to waver on his feet, then dropped to his knees. He looked up with unclouded brown eyes. He managed to choke out, "Sister. I'm sorry."

The three stood there with shock as his body fell to the ground, until Botan stepped forward, moving to touch his form. She could make sure his soul got to a good place, and that he wouldn't be blamed for his actions, with a simple recommendation to what was then the things that carried away souls. A deathly calm voice stopped her, freezing her in her tracks. "Do not touch the human."

Botan obediently backed away as the elegant inu youkai appeared from the doorway. Tenseiga's thin blade swirled through the air. Sango only saw the sword and cried out, trying to interfere. She was too late and saw it swipe through her brother's body. The enraged and unthinking taijya ignored something telling her that was the good sword and glared at the inu youkai. Botan put a hand on her arm as she watched the soul stay in the boy's body.

"Tell the miko my debt to her is repaid. A child's life for a child's life." Sango stared at the demon before slowly looking towards her brother's breathing body. "Oh," she whispered softly.

"Foolish human. What is the point of doing damage to one already dead?" Then the taiyoukai swept out of the room, presumably to go find Naraku. Kirara put her large head under the boys body and shifted until he was on top of her. She meowed at them determinedly and walked away. Sango tried to go after her. Surprisingly, it was Kuwabara who held her back. "The cat knows what she's doing. They're both injured and if he's nearby you won't be able to fight."

Sango bit her lip, then the remembrance of what Naraku had done to her village, her family, and made her brother do straightened her spine and the three walked towards the last door.

-~-

Kagome leaned back against the wall of the courtyard she found herself in, squinting towards the door opposite her. She could feel what was beyond it. He was there, waiting for her to approach. She winced as she pushed herself off of the wall and went to walk forward. Kagura, despite the sudden ending to their battle, had managed to wound her. She had a dozen minor scratches, but they hurt and bled, and she knew the blood alone would call some of her friends here.

She had only taken a few steps when she froze and swung around to the door she had exited from, just in time to see a flash of white speed towards her and enter her body. "My soul," She whispered in awe, and closed her eyes at the rush of feelings sent through her as her soul was completed.

She felt Yusuke long before she opened her eyes, but she couldn't bring herself out of her mind before he came. She understood now why Kikyou had wanted a full soul. The power and feelings were never what she knew they could have been. Even that tiny piece that was missing from Kagome had held to much. But then, if she had a full soul, that meant...

Kagome's eyes flew open in realization and she stared up at an angry and relieved spirit detective. "You killed Kikyou."

"She wanted to kill you," Yusuke said, bristling at the accusation in her voice. She frowned and sighed, nodding her acceptance to that statement. "She did."

"And you were going to do the work for her!" He accused. Her gaze immediately became angry. "I was not!"

"I'm not deaf and I heard perfectly well what you said! I know damn well what it meant! You were planning something that would get you killed!" Her gaze lowered to the ground guiltily and he would have smirked in triumph if not for the implications of her lowered gaze. She was practically admitting it with just that one look.

"It won't necessarily kill me. Just...probably," She muttered halfheartedly.

"You're right. It won't. Because you're not going to do whatever it is." Yusuke glared at her as her eyes lit up with determination and rebellion. "You can't keep me from doing something that will save everyone!"

"Like hell I can't. Watch me. I'll drag you out of this damn place by your hair to keep you from this battle if I have to." The two began glaring at each other until they were interrupted by other parts of their group storming in from other doors.

"You are so slow dog-turd, I can't see how..." Kouga's eyes went wide, and then there was a wolf demon in between Yusuke and Kagome. "Kagome! Are you all right? You're bleeding. I knew I shouldn't have left my woman in the hands of the dog!"

Yusuke glared at the demon's back, then gripped one shoulder and threw the demon a few feet away from Kagome. "I was trying to have a conversation here and... Hey! You are bleeding!"

"Are you all right, Kagome?" Shippo asked in concern as he and Puu came up. Kagome groaned as then three more males of their group came out, a few moments later followed by Sesshoumaru through the same door Kouga and Inuyasha had recently passed through.

"I'm fine," Kagome said through gritted teeth. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself, though her heart was pounding with fear. They weren't supposed to be here yet. She could feel how powerful Naraku had grown, and she knew despite the obstacles in their way that those had only been minor annoyances compared to the other incarnations he had with him. The power was like a cloud of darkness around him, enveloping and destroying everything in its path.

"Bleeding doesn't usually make one fine," Inuyasha said as he eyes the wounds on her carefully, at the same time digging his claws into Kouga's arm to make him stay back. He could sense Yusuke wasn't in any mood to deal with the wolf, and Inuyasha doubted the boy would hold anything back this time.

"They're only scratches!" Kagome protested as Sango, Kuwabara, and Botan made their way out of their doorway. Now everyone was here, and Kuwabara was frowning, and shivering a bit.

"This place doesn't seem right," He said nervously and Kagome almost sighed in relief. At least she wasn't the only one sensing it. The whole group went still as another voice entered their conversation.

"I apologize for that, but I simply could not get the right help to make it acceptable to you and the miko's heightened senses. I do hope you can forgive me, but as you can see, my children had other things to do."

Naraku stepped - or perhaps floated would be the better word - out of the door on the opposite wall, followed formally by his children just as masses of lesser demons rose up over the walls. Naraku ignored the looks from the rest of the shard hunting group, but focused specifically on Kagome and Yusuke. "I am sorry for letting the others in before your entertaining spat was over, but they were just so impatient."

"I don't think we will," Kagome said suddenly. Naraku tilted his head curiously, smiling slightly. "You don't think you will what?"

"Forgive you," Kagome said darkly.

"Ah, that. Well, I didn't really expect you to. Let's begin."

The masses of demons surged forward with the incarnates spreading across the battlefield to meet the shard hunters or give orders to the masses of lesser demons. Kagome felt Naraku's taint spreading across the battlefield and felt her own aura rising in response. Their eyes met and Kagome felt her heart beat speed up and the purifying powers spread through her. They were both ready. It was time for it to end.



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Next chapter prepare for Kagome attempting to put her half-witted plan into action. If anyone can guess what it is, go ahead. She gives hints when she speaks to Kikyou and Kagura.

Thank you to katiepatie, Hieis_Mate, rocknroll7806, and tailovesyama.