Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Legal Human Practice ❯ Just a Cat ( Chapter 39 )
Just a Cat
calikocat
Word count: 1311
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It was rather quiet that day at the shrine, despite the number of people. There weren't many tourists, which was good considering they'd been invaded by a group of the Kuwabara Clan. It had been a while since so many relatives had come to the Higurashi Shrine all at once. Her mother had been ecstatic to host them for the day and was busy fixing lunch for all of them.
Kazuma-ni and Hiei-ni weren't with them today; they were meeting with their lawyer, Kako-san, Eiko-san and Sohma Kazuma. There were things that needed to be dealt with, to make sure that the Sohma clan never again got their hands on Kyo-chan. Luckily magical law was on their side, the Sohma's were practically ignorant of the magical world, thinking the curse upon them was wholly unique.
Kyo's 'curse' had been registered with their Ministry of Magic, which had been simple enough. Then they'd taken him to a magical hospital to be examined. Since the Sohma's had no magic users among them there was no telling how easy or difficult the spell was to remove. Kagome wasn't sure the Sohma who could erase memories counted as a magic user, she'd have to meet the man first.
The medical staff they'd taken Kyo to had been perplexed by the magic on him. They'd never seen anything like it. They'd been fascinated but at a complete loss, it was so old that they didn't have any counter spells. However since Kagome was a fully trained priestess they bowed to her expertise. They didn't have anyone who had dealt with magic on a level that she had since she'd faced all sorts of things in her adventures.
So she had a few thoughts about how to get around the spell on Kyo and had been working on a new bracelet for him. Kagome sighed as she watched Kyo and the other children play. He was so unsure of himself and didn't know how to deal with other children, it made her heart hurt for him. They did their best though, trying to bring him out of his shell, to get him to interact. It helped that most of them were boys and weren't likely to make him change into his cat form with too much contact. Many of them were the same age as well, or close. In fact Kyo and Touya were both eight while Shippo was seven and Souta was ten.
Still Kyo was stubborn and did his best to avoid touching anyone, especially Sakura. The little girl seemed to sense that he was sad and kept trying to crawl into his lap a soft smile on her face. Kyo kept backing away or doing his best to keep Xander between them.
“It’s a weird sight.” Buffy said from her left and Kagome nodded.
“He seems really attached to Xander.” She agreed. “How long as she been in her hyena form now?”
“About an hour?” Willow guessed. “I didn't check the time or anything.”
“How often has she taken that form?” Kagome asked her recently located cousins.
Buffy and Willow shared a look and Buffy asked her; “Three?”
“Yep,” Willow confirmed. “Once at your house, then at the Sohma compound;”
“And here,” Buffy finished. “This time it wasn't because of an emergency though.”
“Nope.” Willow grinned. “Xander is just Kyo's emotional support hyena.” Xander turned her head toward them and glared, her eyes glowing green just a bit. “A hyena with really good hearing.”
Kagome laughed a little. Buffy wasn't wrong. It was weird to see Kyo clinging to the hyena that was Xander while Sakura sat on the other side petting Xander's fur and babbling at Kyo. Touya watched the other boy in confusion, while keeping a close eye on Sakura and Xander. He knew the hyena wasn't really a hyena but it was still a strange sight.
Nearby Tsuna and Hari were playing with blocks on a mat with Shippo who was enjoying keeping the younger kids entertained. That left Souta trying to pull Kyo and Touya into some sort of conversation.
Kagome sighed again, she might as well start. “Kyo-chan!” She called out to the boy. “Can you come here please? I'd like to try something.”
Kyo nodded, stood and walked over to them slowly; as if about to face judgment. Buffy tried not to frown. “Anyone else want to set that Akito guy on fire?”
“I'll bring the marshmallows.” Willow said cheerily.
“You two are weird; would you really roast marshmallows over a funeral pyre?”
“Depends on the person,” Willow told her.
Kagome shook her head and held out her hand to Kyo as he reached them. Cautiously he accepted her hand and she gave a little tug to lead him to a further corner of the shrine. “Do you know why Kazuma-ni and Hiei-ni brought you here Kyo-chan?”
“They're talking with a lawyer.”
She smiled and ruffled his hair. “That's why they're not here. They brought you to me because I'm related to you on both sides.” At his confused stare she kneeled down to his level. “It’s been a long time since I've seen him, but my father is Sohma Hayao.”
“I don't know him,” Kyo admitted. “But there are a lot of Sohma's.”
“There are, but you and I are related through the Kuwabara's and the Sohma's. Plus my magic is really strong. Here, I've made this for you.” She held out a new warding bracelet. “This might work better for you.”
He reached for the bracelet and touched it as well as her hand. She then heard clumsy footsteps and turned to see Sakura toddling over to them. Her smile was bright and happy and she reached for Kyo's other hand. Suddenly a magic circle appeared on the ground under and around them. The sun was prominently in the middle with a crescent moon off to one side. Kagome frowned because the magic was unfamiliar and it certainly wasn't Sakura's.
Above them a faint image of a man appeared, it was hard to tell but he might have been smiling. Sakura laughed and waved at the figure before he and the circle disappeared. Kyo and Kagome shared a confused look before she shrugged and carefully put the new bracelet on his wrist, and then slipped the old one off.
He clenched his eyes tight, waiting for his cursed form to appear. Kagome ruffled his hair again. “You're fine. Look.” Kyo opened his eyes again and looked down at himself with a sigh. Then Sakura latched onto him, holding him tight, and he didn't change.
Kyo's eyes grew wide. “I'm not a cat. She's hugging me, and I'm not a cat.”
“Let me try something?” Kagome asked and Kyo nodded. She slipped off the new bracelet, there was a poof and when the smoke cleared he was an orange kitten. “Huh. It looks like your cursed form was sealed away.” She put the bracelet over his paw and he poofed back to human form. “Not bad.”
Kyo put his clothes back on and stared at the new bracelet in wonder. “Did you do that?”
“Well, my goal was to keep you from changing to a cat when a girl hugged you, but Sakura's friend seems to have sealed away that other form of yours. That would mean the curse has been altered.” Kagome frowned, “which means that guy, whoever he was, was the one who cursed the Sohma's to begin with.” They stared at the little girl in wonder. “Sakura, who was that man in the vision?”
Sakura looked puzzled for a moment before smiling and saying simply, “Clow-san.”
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