Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-Yasha or Yu Yu Hakusho, but I do however own this plot muhahahahaha!

Summary: Warning, Slight A/U: The hunted always look for a means to run from the hunter; Kagome knows this all too well. Escaping to the Ningenkai from demon pursuers who want her for unknown reasons in Makai, she soon learns that blending in and living life as a human is more difficult than expected. In her life of bitter ice she runs across a kindred spirit known as Hiei with a burning angry fire. A strange bond draws them to each other, and through a twist in fate her first seeming friend becomes yet another hunter as the Spirit Detectives are sent to capture her. Oddly enough, she finds it harder to resist capture as an odd companionship, forged through blood and sacrifice, forms with Hiei when her demon pursuers from Makai come once again to claim her.

Dark Angel

Prologue: An End to Start a Beginning

Drip

Drip

Labored breath puffed out white vapor against the cold, red-stained sneakers moved sloppily through the foliage. The smell of smoke was thick in the air, and in the distance a faint orange illuminated the otherwise velvet sky. The moon was only a sliver of light in the smothering darkness, nearly empty. Honey-brown eyes stared ahead unfocused, yet somehow determined. Behind each foot-fall a trail of crimson watered the earth.

'I'm sorry, but I can do nothing for you…'

One hand clutched a deep gash on her right arm, while that hand managed to cling tightly to a blood smeared envelope. The deep wound in her side was left to bleed, liquid red steadily streaming down her clothing. The path she took was firmly ingrained to her memory, and it was that familiarity that lead her steps now. After a few more minutes of painful travel, she finally broke through the forest to a small clearing. In the centre an old wooden well lay innocently undisturbed.

'…nor could I for your friends.'

For a moment her unfocused eyes cleared at the relieving sight, before just as quickly they darkened again. No, this wasn't like all the other times. She took another step forward, but it seemed her will had finally out-lasted her body. With barely a cry she fell, landing harshly on the cold grassy floor. For a moment she stared at the well just ahead, and then she released her injured arm and began to pull her limp body toward it. The importance of her task fueled her desire as inch by agonizing inch she grew closer to her destination.

'I can only watch as slowly…'

Her hand felt the smooth surface of the well before she recognized it in front of her. The familiar scent calmed her somewhat as she drew herself closer. She reached for the lip and managed to hoist the top half of her body onto it. Using her arms to support her position her gaze shifted to the envelope still clutched in her right hand. Tears suddenly fell from her eyes, slowly at first before gaining in momentum. Her hand shook, rattling the paper it held as gradually she moved it over the impenetrable darkness below. With a cry not from physical pain, she let it drop, a faint pink glow inside the only thing lighting its path as it descended into darkness. A sudden blast of blue light filled the night and she collapsed back beside the well, her sobs un-subsiding as they mingled with the blood pooling the ground.

'…you fade away…'

Kagome Higurashi was dying, this she knew all too well. She decided her life would end here in the feudal era, alone with the misery of her failure. The thought of spending her last few moments at the bottom of a dank, dark cold well - only to be found who knew how long later by her family rotting away - was less than appealing. 'In the end…I'll die alone.'

'…Only to be reborn again.'

That was the last thought Kagome Higurashi experienced before darkness took her forever.

…100 years later…

"Lord Koenma!"

His gaze swerved to the ogre that had rudely burst in, a habitual annoyed expression already rising onto his face. Even at the ogre's hysterical theatrics his annoyance didn't fade, for panicked ogres were common in the Spirit World with so many catastrophes constantly happening in the new worlds.

"Well, what is it?" He demanded, impatience starting to be a more common emotion thanks to his added workload. Curse Fate and her rash choices; he had enough paperwork handling two worlds, now he had to worry about three?

The ogre brushed away his boss's mood, instead making urging gestures for him to follow, "The Files! The Files-they're missing!"

Koenma's face paled and he quickly stood, rushing from his office. 'It can't be…' he thought wildly, vaguely aware of the ogre hastily following behind him. 'The guarding was foolproof! Fate herself was watching!'

A moment later the awful truth was confirmed as he slammed the door open. The room itself appeared to be in its usual order; the Soul Files that were neatly sorted into boxes littered the room in random disarray. A large table sat off to the right, four soul piles organized upon its surface as per usual.

The only change was the enchanted safe resting open on a shelf just beside the table, empty.

…

Comments: I decided to re-edit this prologue because after I re-read it I found it a bit to theatrical in some parts and not overly flowing in others. So there is the re-set. Not a huge difference but enough to make me happier.

Next Chapter Preview: Welcome to the Ningenkai: "…"If you draw, I will kill you." It was right in her ear this time, and she felt hot breathe tickle her neck as the cool pressure of metal made itself known against her throat. A small smirk played at her lips, and in the next second she was already twenty feet away with her sword drawn and ready, "Come get me then."

Thanks To: Everyone who is still willing to even read the story after I fell off the Earth for five years! Yay to you!