Fragmentation
Chapter One- Sorry!
Kagome bit her lip worriedly, watching the clock as it softly ticked. Every second seemed to take an eternity to pass and each sound the contraption made drove her slightly insane. Each time the second hand moved, her eyebrow twitched in time with it. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. She felt a frown tug at her lips as her hand searched for her shoe as the sudden urge to chuck something at it swelled within her. Anything to stop it from producing its maddening noise.
Finding her discarded shoe, she leaned back in her chair to get a better aim at the clock and—
"I'm sure they're alright."
—fell backward in surprise, her chair and herself with it both falling to the floor with a pronounced thud.
Shippo jumped awake and nearly toppled off the couch at the sound. Kagome sat up slower, rubbing the back of her head. "Ow," was all she managed to say before she sent a mini-glare Sango's way, clearly telling her that it was all her fault.
Sango paid no attention to her antics, and continued, "They're probably fine, just a little late. It was, after all, a routine demon hunt."
Kagome was tempted to pout, but decided against it. Sango was right. As of late, the group had been hunting down nearby demons in Kagome's era, no less, as they tried to collect information about Naraku and the jewel.
Why Kagome's era? That mess began six months previous, when Naraku had let out an all out attack on Kagome and the others. At that point, all the stray pieces had been collected and were held by either Kagome or Naraku. It had been the final fight; they had all felt it in their bones.
Except not. As the fighting got heavier and Kagome and her allies got pushed farther and farther back with no sign of victory in sight, Inuyasha had insisted quite stubbornly that Kagome go back to her own era, for her own safety. She refused, flat out. And that was when he forced her to.
She disappeared down the well… but not before Naraku spotted her and (because the demon was incapable of making their lives easier) followed her through.
The next part went without saying. Disaster struck.
Through some miracle, her friends were able to follow through too, and the fight was brought into Kagome's world with barely a lapse between. It was not long, however, before they were overpowered by Naraku and the many demons that made up the hanyou and he managed to get his grimy hands on the rest of Kagome's shards. Knowing the world would truly be hell on earth if the entire jewel remained in his possession, Kagome had wasted not a second and did the first thing she could think of.
She broke the Shikon Jewel.
Again.
Now, with the jewel scattered around Tokyo, they continued their search in a very different setting that was foreign to the majority of them.
Kagome shook her head to release herself from thoughts of the past. "I wish they had brought us with them though."
After rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Shippo sat up and joined the conversation. "But it was only a little demon, so they didn't need our help," the kitsune chipped in. "Plus it's really late at night and Inuyasha wanted you to sleep."
"Some sleep I got," Kagome mumbled as she glanced at the offending clock with its constant ticking. Almost two o'clock in the morning and she had yet to sleep that night.
Then again, neither had Sango, but her demon slayer friend showed no sign of fatigue. Since they came to Kagome's time, Sango had been keeping odd hours, staying awake most nights and sleeping during the day. She had not mentioned it yet, but it made Kagome worry. Sango had isolated herself greatly in the past six months, even though the miko couldn't blame her.
Naraku had had possession of every last shard Kagome and the others had not already collected; that much had been painfully obvious when the jewel completed itself right before their eyes. Seeing the completed jewel tore Sango apart. It was undeniable proof that Kohaku was truly dead. That shard in his back had been the only thing keeping her brother alive.
Sango offered a small smile at her comment before she turned her attention back to the small radio she had turned on to chase away the awkward silence that had settled itself upon the room. After half a year in the foreign time, Sango had become somewhat accustomed to the advanced technology, though enjoyed more subtle contraptions like the radio as opposed to the loud and often annoying television set.
Kagome finally rose from her spot on the floor and made her way over to Sango, plopping down on the couch next to her, though took extra care not to disturb the neko lying beside the demon slayer. Shippo jumped into Kagome's lap almost immediately and snuggled up against her with a yawn.
Just as the silence between the three began to stretch and feel uncomfortable, the door burst open and in stumbled their two male comrades. Kagome stifled a laugh when she saw their state. Green slime covered both from head to toe, stubbornly sticking to every inch without fail.
"We're back," Miroku said, looking less than thrilled.
"And don't you look lovely," Sango said dryly. The monk didn't seem amused. In fact, he merely turned on his heels without a word and headed toward the apartment across the way.
"Have a little trouble?" Kagome asked with fake sweetness. "It looks like King Kong sneezed on you."
Inuyasha fixed her with a glare. "I didn't know that those demons exploded when you killed them. A little warning would have been nice."
"What? Did you expect them to have a sign around their necks that read 'don't kill me, I exploded'?" Kagome asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Would've been nice…" he muttered under his breath as he stepped into the apartment. Kagome leapt out in front of him before he could get too far.
"Nuh-uh, go mess your own apartment up. I don't want you walking around here covered in slime," Kagome told him, indicating the apartment across the hallway.
"I need to use your bathroom. I don't doubt that the monk's in ours and I'm not stayin' like this for however long it takes Miroku to get outta the shower."
"Fine," Kagome said with a sigh, "but try not to track goo everywhere. Or else you get to clean it up."
"You stink," Shippo informed the hanyou as he passed him.
Inuyasha glared at the kitsune as he trudged toward the bathroom, but said nothing. The look, however, was enough for Shippo to dodge behind Kagome, his protector. It was for reasons like those that justified Shippo's permanent spot in the girls' apartment instead of the guys.
"Find anything out?" Sango called after him, her voice suddenly void of all emotion, hiding her rage. Her voice was always so when it came to talking of Naraku.
"No," was Inuyasha's clipped response as he shut the bathroom door firmly behind him. Seconds later they heard the water running.
Kagome sighed again. They were getting nowhere in their attempt to find out where Naraku was. He had gained a great deal of followers in the short time he had been in the future, yet none gave up where his hiding spot was. The majority of them didn't even know, he just made unexpected appearances. Sounded like Naraku alright.
"Well, I'm going to get some sleep," Kagome said, "Night, Sango."
Sango only nodded absentmindedly as she leaned her head on the back of the couch, her eyes sightlessly staring at the radio. Kagome looked at her for a moment more before heading toward her bedroom with Shippo not too far behind her.
"I don't see why we need to go shopping," Inuyasha grumbled as he walked the busy sidewalks with Kagome. The wind picked up and he instinctively grabbed onto his red cap to keep it from getting swept away. That's all he needed, somebody to point and stare at his inhuman dog ears. His hair and eyes were bad enough as it was, though nothing she said would make him dye his hair or wear colored contacts.
"That's because you need new clothes," Kagome told him, shifting the bag she was holding from one hand to the other. She had gotten him in the habit of wearing regular clothes since his fire rat attire tended to stand out, though he still usually wore it underneath the more modern clothing. In a way, it reminded her of Superman. She half expected him to run into the nearest phone booth and tear off the exterior clothing at the first sign of a demon.
"Do not," he said defiantly.
Kagome tried very hard not to roll her eyes at him. She lost. "Let's see. Besides the clothes you slimed up last night, there are the multiple ones that have blood stains that we can't get out, others that are torn beyond recognition, another with purple gunk on it that I don't even want to know—"
He cut her off. "Alright, alright, point taken."
"And while we're on the subject, you can start doing your own laundry."
She expected him to protest, but he surprised her by giving her a wicked look instead. "Oh fine… but remember what happened last time."
Kagome stiffened slightly as she recalled the last time she had taken Inuyasha to do the laundry. Kagome had tried to teach the half-demon boy to do it on his own and after bring him down to the room, she explained to him what had to be done and stepped out to take care of some other business. Thirty minutes later, she came back just in time to see him slash the machine with his sword, call it a demon, and effectively destroy the whole darn thing.
"…Um, no?" Kagome replied.
A brief silence passed between the two.
"I don't want to!" Inuyasha said abruptly as he crossed his arms and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, causing people to give him glares and odd looks as they walked around him.
"You're worse than Shippo," Kagome informed him as she tried to tug him along. He wouldn't budge. Kagome's temper began to rise. "You are so irritating, you know that?"
Well, if he was going to act childish, then she could too. She spun on her heels, tossing him a glare and letting out a "hmph!", as she stomped away.
Inuyasha groaned. If she went away angry, he'd pay for it later. He knew from experience.
He jogged to catch up with her, dodging through the people. When he was close enough, he grabbed onto her wrist to stop her. Kagome tried to yank her hand back, but he had a firm hold.
"Kagome…" he began.
"Let go of me, Inuyasha," Kagome said. When he didn't, she continued, "Don't make me use the s-word."
He dropped her wrist as though it had burned and Kagome smirked inwardly. Nothing worked better that threatening him with her sit command.
She continued walking, leaving him behind and hoping he didn't follow her again. He could get his own clothes for all she cared or he could just keep wearing the ruined ones he had. It's not like this was how she wanted to spend her Saturday, getting insulted by Inuyasha as he grumbled about it nonstop.
Frowning prettily, she kept her gaze on the sidewalk as she continued to walk, letting the crowd around her aimlessly guide her. So stuck was she in her thoughts that she failed to notice the cry of "Whoa, hey!" and was startled when abruptly she felt her wrist grabbed once again.
The person who had hold of her yanked her backward and into them. She growled softly, her temper rising. Kagome took her bag and with most of the strength she could muster, she swung it around and hit her captor in the side of the head.
Only it wasn't who she thought it was.
Instead of seeing Inuyasha and meeting amber eyes as she expected, her eyes met with dark brown ones. His jet black hair, gelled back to give him a tougher look, was slightly disheveled from the blow to the head she gave him.
"I'm so sorry," Kagome said quickly as she took the bag away from his face and held it back at her side. She noticed the right side of his face was entirely red. "So, so sorry."
He rubbed his face and offered a small half-smile to calm her down. "It's alright. I'm use to it."
"I'm still so sorry," she informed him. "I thought you were somebody else."
"Boyfriend?" he asked, eyebrow raised. "Or stalker? Or are we talking both?"
She bit her lip to keep from smiling. "None of the above," Kagome answered with a quick shake of the head. "How come you grabbed onto me though?"
"Sorry, do you like getting flattened by traffic?" he asked. "Because, trust me, it's not as fun as it looks."
When she gave him a blank look, he gestured behind her and, following his finger, she looked to where the cars were going by and the little red person on the sign, symbolizing not to walk. And she had just step right into the middle of it.
She smiled sheepishly. "I guess not," she responded. She noticed as he rubbed her cheek again. "I'm still really sorry."
"I'm fine, really. Haven't been hit that hard in awhile though," he told her, thinking out loud. "Caught me by surprise." Keiko used to hit that hard, he thought, which put a damper on his good mood.
"Girlfriend?" she inquired in the same tone as he had used, though with a slight teasing edge.
He smiled at her. "Nope." He held out his hand. "I'm Urameshi. Yusuke Urameshi."
She took the offered hand. "Nice to meet you, Yusuke."
There was a pause and he didn't let go of her hand. "Ya know, in civilized conversation, this would be the point where you tell me yours."
She grinned playfully. "And why would you want to know something like that?"
The cars began stopping as the light turned yellow, then red, and the people moved to walk across the street. Kagome followed suit, not waiting to see if Yusuke walked with her or not. Somehow, though, she already knew he would.
Sure enough, said boy jogged slightly to catch up to her. "Why don't you tell me, for curiosity's sake."
Kagome tapped her chin with one finger, as though considering it, while she tried not to release her laughter. She was having fun talking to this Yusuke guy.
"I could, but how 'bout no? I think you'll have to earn it," Kagome told him.
Yusuke sped up until he was in front of her, only he walked backward so he could see her as they walked. There was a devious twinkle in his eyes as they met her brown ones. "And how do I do that?"
She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face in response to his, but it suddenly dropped a notch when she noticed that she was about to reach the clothing store and there was a certain hanyou waiting inside for her. She wasn't surprised he had reached there before her, he probably had jumped from rooftop to rooftop (His stupidity at times never ceased to amaze her. What if someone spotted him?). She was surprised, however, that he had come at all.
"You don't," she told him, somewhat regretfully. She had enjoyed talking with him. "Because this is my stop. It was nice meeting you, Yusuke."
He seemed mildly disappointed himself. But only mildly, as though the butterfly he was just admiring had flown away. Nothing significant, but disappointing nonetheless. He stopped walking and watched as she moved away from him, hands in his pockets.
She waved goodbye to him and he nodded in return, watching her as she disappeared into the store. He stayed like that for a moment later before he shook his head, as though trying to get some thoughts out of his head. Then he walked away without looking back.
Kagome made her way inside only to look outside a few seconds later, but he was gone. Feeling slightly disappointed, she walked over to Inuyasha.
Inuyasha eyed her warily, as though she would spring on him at any moment. Then noticing the small smile on her face, he questioned her curiously. "What're you so happy about?"
She looked outside the window to where the boy had stood moments ago, feeling her smile grow. "Nothing."
AN: Just in case any of you were wondering… Kagome is 18 in this fic, meaning that this takes place a little more than two and a half years after Kagome started going to the Feudal Era and then Naraku found her time period. Six months after that gets you to when this story is taking place.
The same time passing for Yu Yu Hakusho, meaning Yusuke's 17, Kurama's 18, etc.