Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Power In Many Forms ❯ Everywhere I Go ( Chapter 7 )

<b>Power in Many Forms</b>

Word Count: 3,343 (not counting the Disclaimer and Notes)

 

<b>Disclaimer: YuYu Hakusho, Inuyasha, Harry Potter, and Anita Blake are not mine; they belong to their respective creators. I hold no claim on them; just minor original characters.</b>

 

<i>Author's Notes: Okay, so I got a review from Pleather Boots at pomme de sang and they mentioned that the Anita scenes were disjointed and didn't seem to fit. And they're right, so from here on I'm trying to fix that. I'll do my best to make the connection. And I'm sorry for the extremely long wait. Last semester I could have sworn Japanese was going to kill me…how I managed to get an A+, I will never know. And we've moved back home to Kentucky so there was lots to do. Enjoy the long awaited chapter 7.</i>

 

XXX

 

“Damn!” I glared at the car in my drive way as if it were responsible for what awaited me inside. I was so not up for a fight with anyone, and I said a small prayer that nothing serious was going on.

 

It had been a while since I'd felt this tired, and it made me wonder if I was becoming so jaded that my mind took more in stride than it used too. But then I had a day like today, a day where I saw that haunted look in a kid's eyes. Days like this made me feel a little more human, something I sometimes forget.

 

But still, tired is tired and I did not want to see Richard. I got out of my jeep and continued to glare at his car as I walked past it. For some reason I had this urge to kick it, which made no sense, the car was not to blame. Not making much sense in my own head was a definite sign of needing sleep. Getting needed sleep meant getting rid of Richard, which would mean a fight with Richard. I wondered if I just collapsed on the couch unconscious if Richard would get the hint. Probably not.

 

At the door I took a breath before stepping inside, which was a good idea because I had to sigh the moment I saw the scene playing out in my living room.

 

Nathaniel was staring Richard in the eye, Richard was growling at Nathaniel, and Damien was staying between them, keeping them apart. It made me want to run to the circus and climb into Jason's bed. I knew he would at least let me sleep undisturbed. That or just leave them there to settle things childishly like men while I went to my own bed. My bed was closer than Jason's. Decision made, I closed the door and started toward my room.

 

“Anita?”

 

I hung my head and counted to a random number, all the while willing Richard to go away.

 

“Anita?”

 

Damn, no such luck. “I don't know what you guys are upset about, and right now I don't care…Go home Richard.” I looked up to see wounded brown eyes blinking at me from Richard's face. Crap.

 

“I just wanted to see you.” Richard started, the anger gone from his face. “I wanted to talk to you.”

 

I sighed again. “Is it Pack related?”

 

Richard frowned at me. “No.”

 

“Is there a new vampire making trouble?”

 

The anger was starting to come back. “No.”

 

“Is the Coalition in trouble?”

 

“No! Damn it Anita!” And here comes the eruption. “Maybe I just wanted to see you! Maybe I just wanted to spend time with you! Hell, maybe I just wanted to hold you for a while!”

 

“Richard.” Oh good, my voice is steady. “I can't do this tonight. I'm sorry if I'm hurting you, but I'm too tired to deal with whatever it is you need me to deal with. All we ever do is fight or fuck and I just can't do either tonight.”

 

He gestured rudely at Nathaniel and Damien and I spared them a glance, both of them were as still as statues, leveling blank gazes at us. Sometimes it amazes me how still Nathaniel can be. “But you can fuck them every night?”

 

“Richard—“

 

“Are you going to? Are you going to fuck them after I walk out that door?”

 

I glared at him and gave my best growl; evidently it was improving because it got a few wide eyed looks. “I'm not fucking anybody tonight! I'm going to go to bed and hope I don't dream of mangled little boy corpses!” Oh…that shot the anger right out of him. Richard looked lost suddenly, and a little green.

 

“What?”

 

“In the past twenty-four hours I've been to two crime scenes. I've been with RPIT the last eleven hours tracking a killer. We caught up with him only to get a partial ID before he got away. I got knocked through a wall because I almost wasn't fast enough to save the intended victim. I'm sore. I'm tired. And I can't deal with anything else tonight.”

 

“Anita—“

 

“Just…just go home Richard.”

 

Another flash of hurt eyes and he was out the door. A moment later his car was backing out of the drive way.

 

“Anita.” Nathaniel wasn't standing rigid anymore; he was starting to shrink into himself. Damien hadn't moved.

 

“I'm not mad at you. I always want you to stand up for yourself. If you don't want to tell me what was going on with Richard you don't have too.” Before I knew it I was across the room and hugging both of them. “I'm just really tired.”

 

“A child was killed.” Good old Damien, blunt and no nonsense.

 

“Were killing, there's a rogue fox in the area. Gil was seen there too.”

 

Nathaniel kissed my forehead. “Gil? He's gone rogue?”

 

“I don't think so. Gil's a nervous wreck in violent situations. I'm thinking since he's the only resident fox he sought the new guy out. Right now the police just want to talk to him.” I clutched them a little tighter.

 

“We have you Anita.” Damien mimicked Nathaniel's kiss.

 

I nodded into their embrace. “Thank you.”

 

xxx

 

He stared at the old abandoned farm house. It was a sturdy structure, built by a generation that appreciated a simpler life. A period long past and barely remembered. Recently the old house had been a place where children came to play, to pretend they were grown ups, acting out adventures they wanted to have. Now there was blood inside, staining the flaking paint and the creaking floors. Never again would children come here to play. And it was all his fault.

 

Gil stood at the edge of the old clearing and gazed at the small structure. He could smell the blood, terror and death from where he stood. He choked back a sob as he pictured the child's shredded body, remembered the screams that had halted in a wretched strangle when the boy no longer had lungs or a throat with which to scream. He saw the other boy in his memory hanging on to the Fox's back, screaming in outrage before being thrown to the side to land in an unconscious heap. He'd not gotten there in time to save the first boy, there'd only been wide blank eyes and a mouth opened in a silent scream to greet him as the monster he'd created licked it's muzzle.

 

Gil shuddered in sorrow. He had no control over the one he'd infected, he wasn't an alpha, and he was no where near strong enough to have any influence over the rogue. And now the police wanted to talk to him. There was only one thing he could do. He'd have to confront the beast again, and this time he would not plead. Action would have to be taken to insure that this didn't happen again.

 

“What are you thinking Akai-chan?” A voice that sounded like silk whispered from the shadows behind him.

 

Gil whirled around, eyes wide, heart racing and nearly squeaked. “I didn't hear you.”

 

“You would only hear me if I wanted you to hear me.” Gold eyes shimmered from the darkness and Gil relaxed a little. “Will you hunt with me this night?”

 

Gil licked his lips and lowered his eyes. “Hunt? After what's happened?”

 

Soft hands reached out to him and pulled him to the slim and graceful form. “You are upset.”

 

“Of course I'm upset! A little boy is dead because I couldn't take care of what I created!” Gil clutched at the soft body as slender arms wrapped around him.

 

“It was not your fault Akai. That one was mad to begin with; no alpha could have controlled him.” Gil let out a sob. “You saved the other child.”

 

“It wasn't enough.” Underlying his sobs was a hardness she had not heard from him before and she froze as though a chill wind had swept through her. She'd heard that same tone from another male many years ago…that time had not ended well.

 

“Akai, what are you planning?”

 

“What I should have done after the first kill—“ She cut him off.

 

“No! You will step aside. I will hunt this beast.”

 

Gil smiled sadly into the tunic she wore. “You've been good to me.”

 

“I will always be good to you.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“We are not saying goodbye here. I will hunt this mad beast, and you will stay safe.” She murmured into his hair.

 

Gil stayed quiet; he couldn't promise her such a thing. Not when he was responsible. “I love you.”

 

She did not answer for she could not return his feelings, so she held him tighter, already making plans to track the rogue before her lover did something foolish. She did not love him as he loved her, but that did not mean that she wanted to lose him. She'd lost enough, and she wasn't ready to part ways with this young fox.

 

xxx

 

Sirius gently pulled a spare blanket over Ginta; the demon had cried himself to exhaustion over an hour ago and was now asleep on one of the beds. Seeing Alice for the first time after so many years had been too much for the wolf and he had broken down at the sight of his wrecked daughter. The wizard could understand how Ginta felt, he hadn't really laid eyes on Alice and Frank since James and Lilly were alive. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to see two people who had once been so animated and full of life like this. It was an awful sight to behold.

 

He snuck a glance at Koronue, while the other demon had been just as shocked as Ginta; he seemed to take the state of the Longbottoms a little better. The bat had shed tears, but he was still awake, and was even now brushing Alice's hair. Oddly enough it seemed to calm her; she didn't fidget as much when Koronue ran the brush through her tresses.

 

When the demons had entered the Longbottoms' room Sirius' first reaction had been to stand between his friends and the threat the newcomers represented. However Botan had hit him again and told him to behave and not to offend Alice's father and grandparent. The other woman who had brought Ginta and Koronue had given him a pendant to wear…evidently Reikai had all sorts of trinkets to get past language barriers.

 

Botan had given the demons an account of what had happened, Sirius filled in a few details and told Alice's relatives what kind of person she'd been. That's when Ginta had broken down in Kagome's arms until he'd cried himself to sleep. After that the women had left, evidently Kagome had to pick up her son who was being looked after somewhere within the castle.

 

All in all it had been somewhat exhausting; the experience reminded him of a trip to the Gringotts vaults.

 

“They were brave warriors?”

 

Sirius nearly jumped out of his skin, he'd been so lost in his thoughts he'd nearly forgotten about Koronue. He allowed his heart to slow down before he answered. “They were at the top of their class at the Auror Academy; they were very good at bringing in dark wizards.” An image of Neville flashed in his mind, he'd only seen the boy during his fourth year, but he'd looked so much like his parents. “They have a son. He's friends with Harry.”

 

“Kagome told us that the boy…his name is Neville?” He waited for Sirius to nod. “She told us that he is here in Reikai. Kurama brought him here. Evidently Frank's Mother kicked him out because he likes young men…who is Harry?”

 

Sirius smiled sadly. “The son of some other very good friends; he's my Godson.”

 

Koronue stopped brushing Alice's hair and looked at the wizard. “Are they like this?”

 

Sirius shook his head. “No, James and Lilly are dead.”

 

“I am sorry.”

 

“It happened around the same time Frank and Alice were taken.” He smiled sadly. “Harry and Neville nearly share a birthday, the last couple of days in July.” Then what Koronue had said sank in. “Neville likes blokes?”

 

Koronue nodded. “I was told such a thing was not accepted among your people.”

 

Sirius nodded. “Well yeah…never stopped me though.”

 

Koronue picked up the brush again and started brushing Alice's hair once more. “Really?”

 

“Yeah, but then I was the ultimate disappointment to my parents. I was a happy fool born into a family of dark wizards. In fact, I made disappointing them a near sport.”

 

“You are a very unusual man.”

 

Sirius smiled. “So I've been told.”

 

xxx

 

 

“Kagome?” Botan glanced at her friend again, the miko was unusually quiet. Most days when they walked this route to what served as a `daycare' in the castle the two of them filled the air with constant chatter as best friends often do. Today however Kagome seemed far away and it made Botan worry when the priestess wasn't her usual perky self. “Hey, you better cheer up or Shippo will think you're not happy to see him.”

 

“Hmm? Oh, right. Sorry I'm so spacey, it's just…it's been a while since I saw anyone from my time traveling days.”

 

Botan nudged her a bit. “Didn't expect Ginta to look the same?”

 

“Yeah…it's just…for him it was more than a hundred years since we saw one another last. But it's just been about six years for me. It's weird…especially knowing he's dead, but I can still see him, talk to him. This job is really messing with me.”

 

“It won't always be like that, and you have to admit it's not always bad. You really have a talent for dealing with the recently deceased.” Botan smiled kindly. “It seems to really ease spirits when the first person they talk to after dying is a pretty girl.”

 

“That's not what you said about Yusuke.” Kagome smirked. “You said you'd never had such a lively new arrival.”

 

Botan snorted. “Yusuke was a stubborn pain.” She nudged Kagome again.

 

“What?”

 

“Are you really alright? I know seeing Ginta had to have brought back some memories better left buried.”

 

Kagome wove her arm through Botan's and shook her head. “I'm going to be seeing Ginta a lot, so I can't let it get to me too much. But you're right, seeing someone from that time made me think of Inuyasha and all the what if's I'd thought I'd put behind me.”

 

“What if's?”

 

Kagome nodded. “I was in love with Inuyasha for a long time, even after I came home for good. Deciding to stay in my time without him was one the hardest and easiest decisions I've ever had to make.” When Botan gave her a strange look she continued. “I loved him, but he couldn't stop comparing me to Kikyo. And I couldn't stand how he looked at me…like it wasn't me he was seeing. I just couldn't compare to her, her powers were stronger, she was wiser, more mature…”

 

Botan poked her in the side. “Kikyo was a walking clay corpse with a piece of your soul. Without your bit of soul to animate her she would have just been a doll. A pretty doll, if you like things that are pasty and heartless and have absolutely no sense of humor. But she was still no comparison to you Kagome. Shippo and I both agree on that. I mean, can you see Kikyo as a mother?” Botan shuddered in disgust. “Or as a best friend? I think not!”

 

Kagome laughed and poked Botan back. “I'm glad we're friends Botan.”

 

“Me too. And don't you worry; there are plenty of other canines out there.”

 

“Hey, just because I was in love with one dog doesn't mean I'm going to end up with one.”

 

Botan snickered. “No, but you sure seem to attract them.”

 

Kagome poked her again as they rounded a corner, however they stopped in their tracks at the scene before them, frozen in place until Botan started giggling.

 

Shippo had met Neville, and the young kitsune was currently trying to climb up onto the older boy's shoulders. And at twelve years of age he was really too big to be doing such things. Neville looked beside himself and had no idea what to do with the young fox, although he wasn't going into a blind panic which was good.

 

Neville looked up at them at the sound of Botan's laughter and Kagome let out a snicker of her own.

 

“Help?”

 

Shippo looked over his shoulder and grinned at Kagome before letting go of a frazzled Neville to bounce over to his adoptive mother. “Mama! He smells like a kitsune! Well just a little, he also smells like a human.” Kagome ruffled his hair as he came to a stop beside her.

 

“That's because he's Yoko Kurama's great-grandson.” Shippo's eyes grew comically wide at Kagome's words and he glanced back at Neville. “A silver fox.” And then his infectious grin was back. “They're some of the prettiest of our kind.”

 

Botan grinned back at him. “Nonsense, you'll grow up to be very pretty Shippo.” Shippo pouted at her, but it was gone in an instant and he was pulling Kagome closer to Neville.

 

“He also smells like bat and wolf.” They stopped at Neville's side and he looked at Kagome with very serious eyes. “Can you feel it Mama?”

 

Kagome looked at Neville, who was a little taller than her, his dusty green eyes gazed back at her in confusion. She closed her eyes and concentrated on his aura and could indeed feel the different energies swirling around inside him. She could almost see the edges of the cracked and crumbling seal, and she knew without a doubt that once removed all the power would mix and combine and with practice Neville would be able to call on any one of them. She opened her eyes again and smiled at the slowly freaking out youth.

 

“You're going to be very powerful once you get your powers straightened out. Kouga would be proud, Ginta too.” Both boys looked at her, jaws lowered.

 

Shippo was the first to snap out of his shock. “He's part of Kouga's tribe?”

 

Kagome nodded. “Well, Ginta was…and Ginta is Neville's grandfather.”

 

“Sugoi! That means we're kin!” Shippo bounced to Neville's side and clutched at his arm. “We're family!”

 

Neville gave Botan and Kagome an extremely confused look. “W-what?”

 

Botan moved closer and placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder. “Your grandfather, the wolf demon Ginta was part of a tribe of wolf demons. The Leader of that tribe is Kouga.”

 

Kagome grinned at Shippo's display. “I used to do a lot of time traveling when I was a teen, and during the feudal era I met Kouga's tribe and made quite an impression and they accepted me as kin, as a sister.” She nodded at Shippo. “This is Shippo, my adopted son, also accepted kin of Kouga's tribe.”

 

Neville blinked at them. “It seems I'm finding family everywhere I go…not that it's a bad thing. I'm just not…” He blushed and couldn't meet their gazes. “I'm not used to h-having…”

 

Botan took pity on him and put her arm around his shoulders. “It's okay Neville. You'll get used to having so many people around who care about you.”

 

Neville nodded as she moved away again and turned his attention to Shippo as the younger kitsune started bouncing again. “Mama let's go eat!” After which he proceeded to drag Neville down the hall. “C'mon Neville, you're really going to like the kitchens!”

 

Neville smiled at him and called over his shoulder. “I've got the letters for Harry ready. He can forward Luna's to her by owl.”

 

Botan waved at him to show she understood before she grabbed Kagome's hand and mimicked Shippo's display and promptly dragged the miko toward the kitchens.

 

XXX