Disclaimer- I do not own inuyasha

Kuro Tora

Chapter 1

It was dark inside the well house when she landed, and she could not even see past her own feet. All she could hear was her own breathing and that of whatever was in here too.

Her heart pounded loudly as she tentatively said, " Hello? ".

Her answer was a pained growl.

The young miko's eyes widened and she gasped. Whatever it was, it was in deep pain, and its breathing was ragged.

Slowly, she climbed out of the well and came out.

'Could it be a youkai that somehow got through the well?' She briefly wondered as she followed the sound of the painful huffs of breath to a dark corner, where she found a wounded animal.

She only fought against her common sense and instinct to flee for a while, before tenderly picking it up best as she could, since it was almost bigger than her. It didn't fight her, and allowed itself to be picked up.

If it could stand right now, it looked like it would reach up to her hips. She grunted at the heavy weight of the animal as she lifted it over her shoulder.

From what she could feel of the animal, it was injured very badly, and just after running her hand once through its soft fur, it came out wet with blood.

Sometime while she had been searching for it, it had fallen unconscious. She dragged and carried it out of the well house and into her house, where she called to her mother for help.

"Mama, mama, come quick! I found something in the well house!" her mother rushed down the stairs, worried at her daughter's tone of voice.

"Welcome back, dear, how was-" She took one look at her blood-covered daughter carrying something bleeding over her shoulder and immediately turned from care-free to serious.

"Come, bring it into the kitchen," Kagome's mother took the other side of the animal and they carried it into the kitchen.

"I found it in the well house right after I came back, and I just couldn't leave it there injured, right?" Kagome explained as they gently set down the animal on the kitchen floor.

Mama Higurashi sighed, used to having to put up with injured wild animals, thanks to her daughter's kind heart, which, of course, was inherited from her. Although, she was relieved that her daughter wasn't injured from her latest adventure in Sengoku Jidai.

She got out the soft blankets that they kept for this purpose and arranged them into a nest on the floor.

Together, mother and daughter then lifted the animal onto the blanket nest and started to examine its injuries.

Now, brought into the light, they could clearly see the extent of its injuries. They both gasped at the fresh wounds on it and some old and infected wounds. There were numerous whip marks on it, some old and some fresh.

There were also many cuts and scratches on it, some still bleeding. There were also the three gashes on its back, open and bleeding, it looked like they had been caused by claws.

After getting over their shock, Kagome took out their first aid kit as her mother soaked some cloths in a basin of water. They treated the worst wounds first.

After her mother had gently cleaned the wounds, Kagome treated it with antiseptic and bandaged it. This was a familiar routine for them, used to treating injured animals or Inuyasha, for Kagome's case.

For the gashes, she wrapped bandages around its chest and back and for the smaller cuts, she just left them uncovered.

Mama Higurashi continued washing the animal until it was clean, and they could finally tell what it was. They had already known it had soft black fur and a striped tail, but could not see anything else under the dried blood and wounds.

Now, a black tiger wrapped in white bandages lay unconscious on the pile of blankets in front of them. They were shocked again. There were white tigers, but black tigers?

The tiger was actually more of a lighter black, with darker black stripes. Other than its colour, it looked just like any other tiger.

The two of them exchanged confused glances, and Kagome spoke up first, "Well, let's just wait until it recovers before we decide on anything,"

-----

A week later

"Ehm... what should we do now?" Kagome sheepishly asked.

Only one week had passed, and the tiger had surprisingly fully recovered. Somehow, it had battled all the infection in its wounds, and the gashes had sealed up. Of course, they couldn't keep a tiger in a shrine, even though it was quite tame and didn't attack anyone.

First, they had tried releasing it into the forest behind the shrine, but it had just turned up in front of their house.

Then, they tried taking it to an animal shelter, but they didn't accept tigers and the tiger had frightened all the dogs there.

The zoo didn't even want such a rare animal, since the tiger easily broke out of any cage they tried to put it into. They continued to try to release it into forests and nature reserves, but it kept on coming back to the shrine.

After umpteen tries, they finally gave up and let it live on the shrine grounds indefinitely until they could find a solution. It only drank a dish of milk every day, so it was not much of a problem.

One of the nights when the Higurashi family had been out late, a burglar had sneaked into their house, hoping to find some antiques to steal.

However, he had been given an unpleasant surprise when he found the black tiger waiting for him in the living room. The tiger had been let in, because it was cold that night.

Upon sighting the burglar, the tiger had immediately attacked, knowing that the man carried bad intentions from his nervous scent. The burglar, having been already frightened out of his wits at the sight of a big black tiger, fainted when the tiger jumped towards him.

In the end, when the Higurashi's came back, the sight that greeted them was an unconscious man wearing a mask in the middle of their living room with their new pet tiger sitting innocently beside him, washing its paws.

They had called the police to take away the burglar, then treated their brave 'pet' to a nice steak.

After that incident, something else had happened. They had just come back after another failed attempt to release the tiger into the forest. It had happened when Kagome wanted to check on the wounds and see if they had healed alright.

Kagome had been fretting over the scars on its back, when a voice suddenly said in her mind, it is alright, these scars will fade with time.

Kagome had been so shocked that she nearly fell over. She had been kneeling down beside it when she heard it, and was unbalanced. The tiger looked up at her with clear blue eyes, similar to her own.

Are you alright? I hope I did not surprise you that much. The voice sounded in her mind with a hint of concern.

Kagome blinked.

"Ehh?! Umm, did you just speak in my mind?"

Yes, of course, who did you think was talking to you? The wall? The tiger snorted, clearly amused.

After getting over the fact that the tiger was telepathic, she timidly asked, "Umm, what are you then? If you don't mind me asking?"

I am a kuro tora, a tiger with the power of darkness. The clear blue eyes turned black, and the tiger glowed with power.

Kagome's eyes widened as her reiyouki flared to clash with the tiger's aura. Her power shone through her now white eyes, and they stared into each other's eyes as their auras battled. Black locked with white in a battle of wills.

Black tore away first, and their eyes returned to their normal hues of blue as the two drew back their powers.

"Your aura... It is not evil..."

Of course not. Darkness is a being of light. The tiger scoffed again.

"But, how can darkness be light? Isn't darkness evil?" Kagome was confused.

No, darkness, as a being of light, cannot be evil. However, darkness has been used by evil before, thus, we are always wrongly accused of being evil.

The tiger looked disgusted at the thought of being used while Kagome looked guilty at thinking that the tiger was evil.

There are different types of light, the one darkness belongs to is non-light. Your power, it seems, is of the purest of light. It is said to be the most powerful of the miko powers, which are a step higher than us creatures of power. Thus, you are my superior, both in status and in power.

The tiger rose up on all fours, and lowered its head towards Kagome. I would be honored to serve you, great miko, in gratitude for saving my life.

Kagome looked flustered at the title and awed by the revelation of the strength of her powers, and tried to object, "Ahh, umm, you really don't need to serve me! A simple thank you is fine."

Please, allow me to serve as your bodyguard when you venture into the feudal era.

"Huh? How did you know about that?" Kagome glared suspiciously at the tiger, who looked away guiltily as he replied, I.. read your mind while you were tending to my wounds.

She raised an eyebrow at him, and he continued hastily, I will never do it again, without your permission, but I wanted to understand your thoughts, and the reason why you rescued me.

'That makes sense. He would be wary of a stranger who rescued him, and might want to exploit his powers.' Kagome looked thoughtful at this revelation.

And I can read the minds of others as well, but only if my mistress wants me to. The tiger looked expectantly at her after that.

Kagome thought it over for a while, considering the pros and cons of bringing the tiger along with her to Sengoku Jidai.

One, she counted on her fingers, he could protect me, two, he could help the others in battle, three, he could play with Shippou and there were lots of other things he could do, like carry her bag.

She brightened up at the thought of someone else carrying that horrendous big yellow bag.

Cons... she stared blankly at her fingers.

"Okay! I agree!" The tiger actually looked happy. "But..." He turned downcast at that. "Firstly, you're not my servant, or my bodyguard. You will be my friend! Got that?"

Continuing, Kagome ignored the tiger's astonished face. "Secondly, you will play with Shippou and help me to look after him! No bullying him, or else!" At this, she glared at him.

He nodded, having already known about her kit from reading her mind. She seemed to love the kitsune as her own son, and the kit in turn, loved her as his own mother.

"Hmm..I think that's about it..." Deep in thought, trying to figure out something she knew she forgot, she didn't see the tiger until it had crept right in front of her.

"Whoa!" Kagome gasped, and laid her hand on her chest to quieten her fast-beating heart, not expecting him there when she looked up.

Letting out a huff of breath and calming down, she said in a triumphant tone, "Ah-ha! I knew I forgot something! What's your name?" She looked expectantly at the tiger.

I do not have one. Perhaps you could give me one.

"Hmm...How about.. Kuragari?"

Darkness? He sounded amused. It is a fitting name. Yes, I am Kuragari.

-----

Another week later

"Well, everything's packed, now let's go!" Kagome said cheerfully.

With her yellow bag overstuffed with ramen and other necessities, and Kuragari by her side, fully healed, she was ready to go back to Sengoku Jidai.

After this whole two weeks of rest, Inuyasha would surely nag at her and pick up the pace of their shard hunting. She walked over to the well house, and down the steps.

Together, they stared at the well for a while.

"It might not let you in...I think..." Kagome did not know whether Kuragari had come in through the well, or by some other way.

'Actually, come to think of it, he hasn't told me how he came through to here in the first place. Or, how he had gotten those horrible wounds... He looked like he was being whipped, maybe he was a slave and he escaped?' she mused.

It will work for me, as it has done for many times. His eyes were closed, and he looked peaceful as he reminicised.

"Well, I'll go first then," Kagome stepped forward and sat on the lip of the well, as she had always done, and swung her legs over. "See you on the other side, Kura!"

With a wave, she jumped into the well and let the familiar blue flash carry her off into the past.

Kuragari had opened his eyes in surprise at the nickname, and mused, My mistress never fails to surprise me. Anyway, it's time to go.

His shoulders reached past the edge of the well and he peered into the darkness below.

The last time I went through this well... The circumstances were so different... His eyes took on a pained look and he shook his head to clear away memories of the past.

Then, he took one last glance around the well house before taking a step back and leaping into the well, a black flash and his striped tail the last thing that could be seen.

After his departure, a shadow crept out from its corner.

"So, you think to hide from me, eh, my pet?" It gave a sinister cackle.

"No matter, I will let you go, for now..." It grinned and showed sharp teeth.

"But, you had best take care of that little miko now, you wouldn't want anything to happen to her, would you?"

The shadow slipped into the well, and a flash of sickly green light flashed in its passing of the time stream.