Inu Hakusho
Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha nor Yu Yu Hakusho. There, happy? XP
Kagome has managed to shatter the Shikon no Tama…Again. This time in the present, where Naraku now roams free. Yusuke and company happen upon a demon with a shard. IYYYH. San/Hiei Kag/Yus
'This is it…' Kagome thought as she raced into the Forest of Inuyasha, the completed Shikon no Tama clenched tightly in her fist.
Behind her, her companions of the last few years fought for their lives against Naraku. She stole a quick glance back and saw Sango and Kirara knocked from the sky by a blast of miasma. She bit her lip to keep from crying out to her friend, turning back around and running in the general direction of the Bone Eaters Well. The sounds of the battle that raged behind her faded as she ran farther and farther into the trees.
The lower branches snagged her hair, and she cried out in pain as bit of her scalp were ripped away. A tree root tripped her, but she was up in an instant, and running once more. Her breath was coming in haggard gasps, however she knew that if she stopped, Naraku would come after her. This was the only idea that they could come up with to keep near-completed jewel out of the evil half-breeds hands.
flashback-
The close-knit group of friends sat together by the fire, each enjoying a bowl of Kagome's ramen. Miroku set his bowl down having finished, and contemplated their upcoming battle with Naraku.
"We really should have a plan when we finally do find him." Miroku commented to no one in particular. They didn't have to ask to know whom he was talking about.
"Miroku's right." Sango said, also setting her bowl down. "We need to come up with some way of keeping him from regaining the jewel, should it come into our possession during the battle."
"Hmph. Why don't we just kill the bastard and be done with it?" Inuyasha interrupted, finishing off his fourth serving of ramen.
"Well, duh Inuyasha, but if he manages to escape again, we won't be any better off, now will we?" Kagome was the only one who dared talk to the irritable dog demon that way.
Inuyasha only 'hmph'ed again and looked away.
Sango gently scooped Kirara into her lap, and scratched her behind the ears as she tried to think of something they could do to keep the jewel out of Naraku's grasp. "What about the Bone Eaters Well?" She said slowly, a plan forming in her mind's eye.
Inuyasha looked at her from the corner of his golden eyes, not sure what she was hinting. "What about it?" He retorted.
"Well, it's not too far off. If we should get the Shikon no Tama, then Kagome could run to the well and take it to her own time with her." Sango said. Then she gasped as she realized what she was suggesting. She looked at her friend, who in turn looked startled at the suggestion.
Then Kagome realized that if that plan were carried out, then she would never be able to return to the Warring States Era.
-End Flashback-
Kagome was jolted out of her reverie when her knee made precise contact with the side of the well. "Ow…" Kagome muttered under her breath.
Blinking a small tear of pain away, she prepared to jump into the well, when a loud crashing noise nearby caught her attention. She paused for a moment without thinking, to listen. Another crashing noise followed, this one sounding suspiciously like a tree falling somewhere in the forest.
It didn't occur to her that Naraku had followed her until she heard Inuyasha shout, "Get back here, you bastard!" Eyes widening as she saw Naraku begin to enter the clearing followed closely by her friends, she hopped over the side of the well and in.
Once in the present, she wearily climbed out of the well, jewel loosely held in one hand, her bow in the other. She made it outside the well house before falling to her knees in grief as she realized that never again would she see any of her closest friends.
Never again would she and Sango talk while enjoying a bath in the hot springs. Never again would she see Inuyasha chase Shippou around the campfire after the young kitsune had insulted the dog demon in some way, shape or form. Now that she no longer had them, she realized she missed her friends more than she thought she would.
The jewel clinked softly as it hit the ground, rolling a good four feet away from where Kagome had begun to cry softly.
She stayed in that position crying, until a thunderous roar filled the silence, and the well house was blown away. Whipping around in shock, her tear-blurred eyes met a terrifying sight.
Naraku stepped down from the well house and stood before her.
"Stay back, Naraku." Kagome ordered him, removing an arrow from her quiver and notching it in her bow. Her voice dripped venom as she uttered his name.
Naraku, however, didn't hear her, his eyes fixed on the glittering prize that lay, unguarded, not three feet from where he stood. Kagome, following his line of sight, realized what he was going to do as he jumped into action.
Inuyasha walked onto the scene, Tetsaiga drawn, as Naraku lunged toward the jewel and Kagome released the arrow from her bow. He gasped in shock and nearly dropped the giant katana as he witnessed what Kagome had done. Without thinking, he ran over to her and picked her up, running behind the Ancient Tree. Naraku was not as lucky and his eyes widened as Kagome's purifying arrow struck the Shikon Jewel.
The Shikon no Tama exploded in a flash of light, dozens of shards impaling Naraku as they sped through the night sky.
Koenma was sitting at his desk in his too-big chair, stamping papers. He hated stamping papers. Day in and day out, he was sitting at his desk, stamping. Why did he, King Enma Jr., have to sit at a desk all day stamping papers? Couldn't Ogre stamp for him?
Just as he realized this, none other than Ogre ran in, looking panicked and nervous at the same time, holding two papers in his hands. "Koenma, sir! I have some very important news!" Ogre interrupted before Koenma had the chance to ask him what was wrong.
"Ah…Ogre. I was just thinking about you." Koenma said, sitting back in his too-big chair, putting his stamp down.
Ogre blinked in surprise, his very important news temporarily forgotten. "You were, sir?"
"Yes, I was. Do you know how to stamp?" Koenma asked.
Again, Ogre blinked. "Why, uh…yes, sir."
"Good." Koenma said in a dangerously calm voice…right before he jumped on his desk (knocking all the papers off of it in the process) and started yelling. "Then you can do all of this stupid stamping!" Koenma threw his stamp at Ogre, and it hit him in the face, leaving a bright red stamp on his light blue skin.
Ogre wisely decided to ignore his lords shouting. The evidence of the news he held in his hands was too important to be ignored for too long, even if Lord Koenma was in a foul mood, which he certainly would be after he actually heard the news.
"Sir?"
Koenma, tired from his day of stamping, sat calmly in his chair. "What is it Ogre?"
"I have some important news for you, sir." Ogre was stalling now, knowing that he had to tell Koenma, but not wanting to, all the same. Curse his bad luck at drawing straws!
"So you said. What is it?" Koenma looked at him suspiciously, as if he knew that Ogre was stalling for time.
"Well, sir…it would appear that the Shikon no Tama has resurfaced." Ogre braced himself for the torrent of anger that Koenma was about to bathe him in. He was not disappointed.
"What?" Koenma shouted, his face bright red with anger that he could only direct at himself. It was, after all, his fault that the precious stone was stolen from the Spirit World Vault over 500 years ago.
He gulped, his anger replaced with fear of what his father would do to him if he discovered that the Shikon jewel had been found. King Enma had been angry enough when the deadly gem had been stolen. As far as Koenma knew, his father believed the jewel to have been replaced in the vault. Enma didn't visit that section of the vault often, preferring to fawn over the Three Dark Treasures (even though the Mirror of Darkness was still cracked).
"Well, Ogre." Koenma managed to keep the tremor of fear out of his voice. "Call Botan in and tell her to prepare Yusuke for a search."
"Very well sir. But, um, Sir?" Ogre said, knowing that he had not finished delivering the bad news.
"What is it now Ogre?" Koenma said wearily. The news about the Shikon jewel had drained him of what little energy he had left.
"I just thought you should know, sir, that the jewel was shattered."
"WHAT?" Koenma practically exploded, his energy returning with another wave of anger. "What do you mean, 'SHATTERED'!"
"Well, sir." Ogre laid the two pieces of paper he held on the desk in front of Koenma. One was an image of a bright blue sky with pink streaks across it. "This is an image we had in the archive of the first time the jewel had shattered." He pointed to the other image, this one of a nighttime sky. The pink streaks were visible against the black sky. "This is an image taken earlier tonight." Ogre moved to the door, so he could leave Koenma to absorb the devastating news.
"Would you still like me to call Botan in, sir?" Ogre asked cautiously.
"Yes Ogre. But tell her to bring Yusuke and the others with her." Koenma sat in his chair, hands covering his head. How was he going to get out of this one?
Ogre looked at him, surprised. "You want Botan to bring them here?"
Koenma glared at him. "I didn't stutter, Ogre."
"Yes, sir." Ogre practically ran out of the office. He wasn't going to try Lord Koenma's patience today.
Silence had quickly replaced the sounds of battle in the meadow. Miroku, breathing slightly heavier than usual, leaned against the side of the well while Sango paced worriedly in front of it. Kirara, still in her larger form, lay beside Miroku, her eyes ceaselessly following her mistress's every move. Miroku's eyes followed Sango as well, but for entirely different reasons.
"Worrying isn't going to help us, you know." He commented after a few minutes of watching Sango walk back and forth.
"I know, but I can't sit here and do nothing!" Sango snapped at him.
Seeing the hurt look on the monks face, she sighed. "I'm sorry, Miroku." She sat cross-legged next to Kirara, petting the giant cat absentmindedly. Hirakotsu lay within arms reach. "I just hate not knowing what's going on." Sango looked forlornly at the seemingly harmless well.
Miroku, sensing opportunity, slid from his seat on the lip of the well and settled next to Sango, his staff lying across his legs. "I know what you mean."
"We almost had him! Another few minutes and he'd have been dead!" Sango, in her anger, didn't notice Miroku's hand resting on her shoulder.
She sighed, finally managing to rein her anger in. It was then that she noticed Miroku's hand, which was moving rapidly south.
Miroku nodded in sympathy with her anger. "We just need to be patient and have-" Sango never found out what they needed to have, because Miroku chose that moment to grope her, and in response she backhanded him.
Inyasha peered out from around the trunk of the tree. Seeing that Naraku had vanished, he observed the scene.
What had remained of the well house had been totaled. The shrine appeared to have been undamaged; however there were now several lights on in the house. Some branches of the Ancient Tree had fallen.
"Inuyasha, you don't have to hold me so tightly." Kagome said, and Inuyasha looked down at her surprised. He had completely forgotten he was holding her. He let go of her.
"Sorry." He murmured, a light blush spreading across his face.
"Um…It's alright." Kagome said, stepping out from behind the tree.
Then a glint among the wreckage of the well house caught his attention. He walked over and picked it up, already knowing what it was. "Look what you did to it!" Inuyasha shouted, holding up the shard. "Again!"
"Well, sorry, Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted right back at him. "It was either that, or let Naraku get it again!"
"What was it doing on the ground anyway!"
"SIT!" Kagome shouted, and Inuyasha was thrust, headfirst into the ground, ending the argument.
Souta, and the rest of Kagome's family came rushing out of the house just as Inuyasha pulled his nose out of the dirt.
"You can explain everything to your family, and I'll explain things to Sango and Miroku." Inuyasha said, pocketing the shard and walking toward the ruins of the well house. He was eager to leave before Souta reached them. Not that he didn't like the kid; it was just that he got on the hanyou's nerves after a while.
Kagome nodded at him and turned to face her family, ready to explain the night's events. Inuyasha walked to the well, and after moving some debris out of the way, hopped in.
Naraku limped into the swiftly decaying building. He had multiple wounds, his most serious ones given to him by the explosion of the Shikon jewel.
As he lay down, he began to inspect the multiple injuries his body had sustained. There were a few gashes left by Hirakotsu and some left from the Tetsaiga. There were multiple holes in his body as well, created by the jewel shards as they sped off. Some were larger that others, but all the ones he saw had left both entry and exit wounds.
Inspecting his left arm a little closer, he noticed that one of these holes didn't go all the way through his arm. He inserted two fingers into the wound, hissing in pain. His suffering was made worthwhile when his fingers located a shard that had remained in his arm. He pulled it out quickly, both it and his fingers covered in his own blood.
He cursed the wench that Inuyasha traveled with. After those many long months –years! - of gathering shards, she had shattered it once more. He clenched his teeth as he willed his body to heal. He would kill her, he vowed to himself before he fell into a deep, healing slumber. Her blood would be on his hands.
The demon stood from his seat, recovering the mirrored table with a satin cloth. His long, white hair tied in its ponytail flew out behind him as he stepped out onto the deck that was connected to the apartment in which he lived. The wind caressed his face, and he closed his eyes, allowing it to wash over him.
He stood there for a minute, allowing the scents and sounds of the world to take him away. At last, he reopened his eyes, one a deep blue and the other a bright golden.
"Finally, it's begun." He whispered to himself. He opened his fist to reveal a Shikon shard.
Yusuke sat in Koenma's office, yawning as the toddler recounted the tale of the Shikon no Tama. Botan whacked him on the back of his head and he glared at her, before returning his attention to Koenma.
Kuwabara, who was sitting next to Yusuke, looked utterly bewildered. Hiei leaned against the wall, his face showing no emotion. Kurama seemed to be the only one who knew what Koenma was talking about.
"Yusuke. Your mission is to recover the shards of the Shikon no Tama." Koenma said.
Yusuke yawned again. "Awright, sure I'll look for these shards. But couldn't you've called us in the morning? It's almost midnight."
"This mission is top priority Yusuke. It couldn't wait until morning." Koenma said. "Any demon that-"
"-gets his hands on one of these shards could become a real problem. Yeah, yeah, I got it." Yusuke interrupted.
Koenma glared at him. "Very well, then. Be off and good luck."
After Koenma dismissed them, Botan opened a portal to the human world and they all climbed through. After Botan left, presumably to get some sleep herself (1), Yusuke walked off, toward his house.
"Yusuke." Kurama called after him.
"In the morning, Kurama. It's too late for this crap." Yusuke said, continuing to walk away. Kurama shook his head in amusement, before walking off himself. The rest quickly followed suit.
(1) Does the Grim Reaper need sleep?
A/N: Well, that's it for the first chapter. In the second one the two groups will collide. Please review to give your opinion and/or any advice or anything you think should be remedied. No flames please.
Ja ne!