Set Me Free

A/N: Here’s a long awaited update. Sorry it took so long, loves.

Disclaimer: *sigh* I don’t own diddly.

Set Me Free
Chapter 2: My Story


“…so let me get this straight…” Youko started, trying to process all the information this girl had told him so far. “…you were fifteen when you were somehow pulled into the well on this property, and you ended up in the Senkoku Jidai, roughly five hundred years in the past. Your first time there you end up shattering the Shikon no Tama, and then spent the next four years completing it, and taking out an evil demon named Naraku. Am I forgetting anything?” he asked, his smooth voice somewhat dark now as the disbelief filled it.

“That’s exactly right. I don’t expect someone like you to believe me, but it’s true. I don’t know how much plainer to make it, except show you the Shikon, but I’m not slicing myself open just so I can prove I’m not lying.” She huffed back, irritation seeping into her being. ‘I should have kept my mouth shut…jerk.’ She thought, growling internally before a strangely familiar voice interrupted.

“So that’s where you went, fox. Trying to get into another female’s pants?” Hiei said, smirking at the look of outrage and embarrassment on the miko girl’s face.

“What do you want, Hiei?” they asked together as similar looks of confusion formed on their faces.

“How do you know him, Kagome?” Youko asked, looking to her quizzically.

“Let’s just say I met him at the club.” She said stiffly, before getting up to walk into the kitchen.

Her hands were shaking and she couldn’t find it in her to hold back her tears. “Another jerk…none of them believe me…” she whispered harshly to herself before she made up three cups of tea.

~*~

“What are you doing here, fox?” Hiei asked, a bit of a growl in his voice. The girl peaked his interest greatly, and the fox in her home was not a good sign.

“Jealous? My, my Hiei. One would think you have become smitten with a human female…” the kitsune smirked as Hiei’s eyes narrowed. He went to reply, but felt a tremendous pull on his soul as the girl’s tears assaulted his senses.

‘Another jerk…none of them believe me…’ her words echoed in his head as the Jagan flared to life, pulling her thoughts to it’s owner.

“What did she tell you, fox?” Hiei asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs in the living room.

“It was a bunch of bullshit. None of it can be true…there’s no way in hell.” He said, waving it off with a hand.

“Did she smell of deceit?” he asked, confusion coming to the forefront of his mind.

Youko looked up with a look of pure shock on his face before it turned to confusion. “No…come to think of it, she didn’t smell of deceit at all…that’s the strange thing…but what she told me it impossible…” he replied before Hiei said, “As impossible as the sharing of souls in one body?”

At that moment Kagome came back in, still smelling of tears, but none were present. “Here…drink up…” she said, her voice soft and reserved.

They both waited for her to take a drink before taking sips of their own. They didn’t trust her not to poison them just yet.

“So…I take it you two know each other?” she said softly, looking to each of them.

“Friends.” Youko said, filling in the silence.

“I see.” The silence that was so prominent before came back, almost suffocating them, but it seemed not to bother Kagome.

“I’m not lying.” She finally said, her eyes narrowing in anger and defiance at the kitsune, as she almost slammed down her half full cup, sloshing some of the contents onto the table. Ignoring it, she kept steady eye contact with the kitsune, her powers flaring to life on their own.

“How can you prove it, miko?” Youko shouted back, his own aura flaring in response to hers.

“I can’t! Less of cutting myself open to show you the jewel, I can’t prove anything! Unless you can read minds, which I doubt you can do…” she shouted but Hiei interrupted her, saying, “I can, miko. Does that mean you would allow me permission in your mind?”

Two pairs of eyes locked with his, and he resisted the urge to break away from the miko’s eyes.

“You can? Then I don’t care. If it’ll prove that I’m not lying, go ahead…it won’t…hurt…will it?” she asked as an afterthought. At his shake of ‘no’ she relaxed and said, “Then…what are you waiting for?” she asked, her body stilling as he kept staring at her intently.

“Lower your shields, miko.” He said, and Youko looked ready to murder. “Don’t do that, Hiei!” he shouted, growling.

“What? I gave him permission! Shut up and leave me be, fox boy!” she shouted, her patience completely gone with the kitsune.

He snapped back at the insult and went to retaliate before she shouted, “If you won’t be nice, I have a gift I’m sure you will enjoy!” her voice was dripping with hidden glee…something that worried the kitsune.

Concentrating, she lowered her shields and Hiei pulled off his bandana, freeing the Jagan beneath. It went straight for the miko’s mind, and she hissed softly as it went swiftly into her mind, breezing past her thin mental barriers.

The images that assaulted Hiei were nothing short of amazing. Her falling into the well, shattering the jewel, meeting her team mates, defeating Naraku, burying her first love…’It all makes sense now…she loved a demon named Inuyasha…a hanyou no less…’ he thought, her previous words coming back to him.

Youko stared intently as Hiei went through her mind, his facial expression never changing and his face now dripping with sweat.

He looked around at the various images that littered her mind, and noticed that she was quite alone in her mind. The images showed betrayal after betrayal of the hanyou she loved, yet she still held love for him. He saw the miko named Kikyou steal part of her soul…that piece was still missing from her body.

He watched the final battle in her mind’s eye, everything was vivid and painful, even in this dream like remembrance. He watched her fight alongside demons—powerful demons like the taiyoukai Sesshoumaru, in order to destroy the vile hanyou.

Then he watched as she buried the one she loved, and he couldn’t help but pity this human girl. So much time and energy was poured into her duty that she lost everything that she held dear. The past was stripped of her as she was forced back to this time…the future. She was strong…he would give her that.

‘What are you doing in here…?’ a soft voice asked him, shocking him. ‘Are you trying to converse with me, miko?’ he asked, irritated that she didn’t leave him free to explore as she had asked.

‘I am Midoriko…who are you, and why are you in Kagome’s mind?’ the voice said, materializing in front of him.

Her softly flowing hair was caught in an invisible breeze as she looked confused to the hybrid. He didn’t seem malicious, but looks could be deceiving.

‘So you are not the owner of this mind…I could ask you the same thing, Midoriko.’ He said, narrowing his eyes at the woman.

‘I see…so you like to play that way.’ She said before she assaulted his mind and brought forth his past, invading his mind like he had done to Kagome.

~*~

Youko watched as Hiei spasmed and fell to his knees, as did Kagome. Tears coursed from her eyes and she sobbed, but she didn’t seem able to control it. Her face was blank except for her tears, and she reached for Hiei subconsciously. Youko watched, fascinated as she reached one hand in front of the other, crawling to the hybrid slowly. She didn’t seem like she was going to attack him, on the contrary, she seemed to want to comfort him. His eyes went wide as she grabbed a hold of him and pulled him to her body, cradling him close to her.

~*~

The sound of crying filled the air around her. It sounded like a child…and her heart went out to whoever it was. She had to reach him! Her energy swirled softly around her, and she went through her mind, walking along unfamiliar paths.

Images snaked around her and she flinched at some of them. A man that looked just like Hiei beheaded demon after demon, and blood raged in the images. She studied an image where his screams could be heard echoing in her mind. The Jagan was being implanted in his forehead and his cries circled around her, making her body ache to help him.

Unknowingly to her, a dragon followed her, inspecting her every move.
She felt the presence before dismissing it. It seemed to be just watching her, like it was curious about her appearance.

‘Hiei…where are you?’ she asked aloud, her voice echoing softly around her. She heard the crying intensify and she began to panic. ‘Where are you? It’s me, Kagome!’ she shouted out, before she was stopped by the dragon. He seemed to realize that she wasn’t going to hurt his master, she just wanted to help him.

Nodding in silent understanding, she followed him deep into the recesses of her mind and the cluttered images to the center of the chaos. Over and over a woman threw him down from a cold, icy place wrapped in sutras and strips of white, ragged cloth. He fought against an evil looking demon who had stolen a shinning orb necklace from him; met up with Kurama; stole a sword from a heavily guarded vault; got beat by a boy in a green school uniform; and other such images filtered through the air around her.

In the center of the images was a child…a small child who looked up, tears coursing his small face and he growled at her.

‘Who are you? What are you doing here? Go away!’ the child shouted, glaring at Kagome with sad crimson eyes. Nothing menacing lay below the surface of those crimson depths except a deep, foreboding sadness.

‘My name is Kagome…I’m here to take you home…’ she said softly, holding out a hand to the child Hiei.

He looked at her a moment and then her hand before he shouted, ‘I’ll fight you! I’ll fight you and I’ll win! Go away, human!’ he shouted, glaring harsher, but not reaching his full potential with it because of his tears.

‘Hiei…’

‘Who are you!? How do you know my name?!’ he shouted, lashing out quickly, but not hitting her.

‘Hiei…please…’ she reached out her hand again, which he stared dumbfounded at. She looked intensely at his eyes, which she locked with, before she picked him up and held him close to her chest, much like she would do with Shippou when he was upset or frightened.

He struggled first, before the struggles turned to sobs as he clung to her. Her heart went out to him, as she stroked his hair gently and whispered soothingly, ‘Shh…it’s okay, Hiei…I won’t leave you…’ she said softly, comforting him with her embrace and soft words.

‘I’m a hybrid…why are you being so nice?’ he asked, his voice laced with disbelief and sadness.

‘Because…it doesn’t matter to me. Hybrid…hanyou…it doesn’t matter to me…I like you just the same.’ She said gently, hugging him closer.

‘But…you’re a miko, too…aren’t you supposed to destroy me?’ he asked, stiffening in her arms.

‘I don’t want to destroy you, Hiei. I want to be your friend…I want you to trust me, I will never ever hurt you…okay?’ she replied, before he nodded into her chest. The images around them swirled before breaking into crystal pieces and falling to the floor of her mind. She pulled the child closer to herself as she protected him from the glass shards. He placed a hand on her arm and squeezed as suddenly, the area cleared, and the child Hiei turned into the adult Hiei, and they were awake on the floor of Kagome’s house, and she was crying as she held him, whispering out his name like a mantra.

~*~

Youko was shocked. He watched as Hiei looked up into her crying eyes, confusion and other unknown emotions filtering through his own. The miko opened her eyes and pulled the fire apparition into a tighter embrace, allowing his head to rest at the junction between her neck and shoulder.

He let her hold onto him, and he couldn’t find it in his body to pull away from her. Her words echoed over and over in his mind, and he couldn’t shake them away. ‘Because…it doesn’t matter to me…hybrid…hanyou…it doesn’t matter to me, I like you just the same.’

He had never found someone who would accept him unconditionally before. She just met him hours ago, but she already accepted him, already had seen his past and hadn’t condemned him for it. The only question he could voice was, “Why?”

His soft voice so laced with confusion finally reached Youko and Kagome. She pulled away slightly, but didn’t let him go fully. “Why, what?” Youko interjected, looking even more puzzled and awed that his friend hadn’t dismembered the female in front of him just for touching him. He knew for a fact that the hybrid hated emotions, but this girl was freely having physical contact with him and he hadn’t killed her yet. Needless to say, he was very much perplexed.

Hiei glared at Youko before looking back to Kagome, who’s tears were drying somewhat. “Why not? I told you…I don’t care that you had a mother that was koorime and a fire apparition for a father. I don’t care about that. I…want to be your friend. I want you to be able to trust me. I know it won’t happen overnight, but I want you to trust me, eventually. And I will work hard to earn your trust, Hiei.” She said, a deep conviction in her voice. She didn’t want to see him suffer anymore. She wanted to be someone who could help him not be so lonely.

‘Since I am alone, and he is alone, then we can be not-so-alone together…I want him to trust me. He needs to be able to trust someone.’ Kagome thought, wiping her stray teardrops away. He looked even deeper at her, his eyes still holding deep confusion. As if he just realized what he was doing, he growled to himself, pulling out of her embrace.

‘She was touching me! And I let her! What the fuck did she do to me?!’ he shouted mentally, anger spiking greatly in his being. Youko and Kagome both looked to the fire apparition and fear crossed Youko’s face, while confusion crossed the miko’s. Before either could say another word, he was gone, bound out of the open window, leaving Kagome sitting there with sadness on her face.

‘He hates me…he hates that I touched him…that I cried for him…’ she thought, before placing her head in her hands and sobbing once more. All she could think about was the many times that Inuyasha had degraded her, telling her she was weak, and useless. ‘I couldn’t even attempt to take away his pain…’ she thought, while Youko watched on a moment, trying to collect his thoughts, but all he could think was, ‘What the hell happened here?’

A few moments later, Kagome wiped her tears away again, this time a new resolve under her belt. ‘I WILL help him…if it’s the last thing I ever do. I will help take away some of his pain. Even if it’s just by being his friend…I have to…help him…’ she thought, looking over to Youko with a fierce determination.

“I don’t care if you believe me anymore, fox-boy. Hiei knows the truth. If you want to see for yourself, then you go talk to him. Enough story time.” She said, glaring at the kitsune. Just as she did, Kurama took back over, making Kagome take a step backwards before sighing.

“You could warn me before you do that, Kurama.” She said sarcastically. His soft smile reached her and she sighed. “Your alternate personality annoys me, I hope you know that.” She said, shaking her head.

“I’m sure you’re not the first person to say that, Kagome.” Kurama responded, chuckling as Youko outburst mentally, ‘Hey! She started it!’

The chime from her wall clock brought her attention to the time. It was after 3 in the morning, and she didn’t even realize it. Shaking her head, she smiled back at the red head, saying, “You can sleep in my brother’s bed if you want, or Oji-chan’s. I’m going to bed. It’s been a long night.”

He nodded, and followed her up the stairs to her brother’s bedroom. It was definitely a boys room. There were posters of games and anime on the wall and baseball pictures on the ceiling.

“Good night, Kurama.” She said softly, before heading for her own room, the nights events gnawing on her mind. Subsequently, the one she was thinking of, was thinking of her, although his thoughts were much more malicious.

‘Damn that onna…she had to have done something to me…that Midoriko bitch…’ he growled to himself, perched in a tree that had a good view of the miko onna’s bedroom.

The woman’s words echoed in his head, and he growled again.

‘Hiei…you do not know Kagome…you cannot even begin to comprehend her sorrow. She is like you…her heart is full of pain…but she has not lost her compassion, no matter how much that hanyou hurt her…she is pure of mind, body, spirit and heart…she can help you, if only you will let her…’ the ancient miko said, smiling softly to the stubborn demon. He was so much like the hanyou, Inuyasha, in personality, that she knew that her counterpart would be drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Her counterpart loved to help others, and especially those who would otherwise not have a confidant. She saw his shock at her words to his youkai spirit, who was still childlike in appearance, and she couldn’t help but smile softly to him.

It would be a long journey for him, and for her. But…Midoriko knew…they would heal each other of wounds long time inflicted on each.

Hiei looked through the girl’s window once more as she undressed. He cursed her mentally for having a nice body. If she was ugly than there would be no reactions to her nude form, but she had soft looking skin, long gentle black hair, and sparkling sapphire eyes. Batting down his youkai beast, he growled again, masking his energy from her.

‘Damn this onna…damn her all to hell!’ he thought, anger filling his being. He hated her. He hated her enough to kill her. This night…he would rid himself of this problem. He would for the sake of his sanity. He would kill her.

He watched as she fell into a deep slumber, growling to himself as the first suns rays became known to him. He stealthily entered her window, one hand twitching precariously over his katana that had been so much before bathed in blood.

A glint of malice came to his face, and red seeped into his eyes. ‘You will pay for invoking such emotions into me, onna.’ He thought before raising his blade in the air, ready to bring it down and sever her head from her neck. But just as he went to bring it down, a beeping sound filled the air. Cursing mentally, he sheathed his sword and jumped back out of the window.

Opening the communicator, he resisted the urge to kill the toddler on the other line. ‘Wait…Koenma?’ he thought. Suddenly he was on the alert. Koenma never contacted him personally. Usually the demi god left it to the ferry girl or spirit detective to inform him of something.

“Hiei, there’s a huge problem! I need you and the team here right now!” he shouted, getting Hiei’s attention further. Somehow, he knew something was seriously wrong, and he was going to find out what. Snapping the device shut, he mentally called Kurama, whom he knew was occupying a bed in the miko’s home.

After bringing the fox around, he headed straight to Yusuke’s house, all the while, a deep sense of foreboding intensifying in his gut, and the strange miko girl being pushed further and further from his mind.

~*~

“So what’s up, toddler?” Yusuke asked, a yawn in his voice. He hated getting up early, and it was just past 4 in the morning when Hiei had to come barging in on him and wake him up. He wasn’t as cranky as usual, because Hiei had said that it was Koenma that had asked for his presence, not Botan or anyone else. That in itself was unusual.

Kuwabara was still half asleep and leaning against the wall, threatening to go back to the land of dreams. Kurama yawned as well, wondering what could be so important that he wasn’t even allowed to sleep, and his adventures with the strange miko had kept him out late. ‘This is YOUR fault you know, Youko…’ Kurama complained, yawning again.

‘But you wanted to know about her as much as me, so don’t give me that, Red.’ The kitsune replied, frowning somewhat.

“Focus, guys!” Koenma shouted, fear plastered on his face and lacing his aura. Everyone looked to him quickly, giving him their undivided attention. Something was definitely up.

“This is horrible! Somehow, the Shikon no Tama has come back on our scanners, an ancient artifact that was thought to be lost forever in the Feudal Era approximately 500 years ago! If any demons with malicious intent get ahold of that jewel, all hell could break loose, literally! There was a Guardian of the jewel almost 550 years ago by the name of Kikyou. She ended up having the jewel buried with her body, and so, the jewel was lost. Then, a miko from the era ended up somehow, being reborn with the jewel. This is what we have confirmed so far with the soul of Inuyasha, a hanyou who was personally involved with this particular case.”

“So what’s the problem? Get to the point, toddler.” Yusuke interrupted, wondering why the demi god was going off about something that happened centuries ago.

“Urusai, Yusuke!! (*shut up*) The girl who was born with the Shikon didn’t know of its existence, and it was also dormant, therefore, it was in no danger, and neither was she. Somehow, she traveled to the past and shattered the jewel into many small fragments, therefore twisting the past. She recollected the shards with help from others, and ended up defeating a very evil hanyou named Naraku in order to complete it fully. Then, she came back. We looked in on her, and it seemed that the jewel had become dormant once more in this time period, and as long as it’s with her, the new Guardian, then the jewel will stay pure, and untainted.”

“Again, what’s the problem?!” Yusuke shouted, growling out his frustration.

“The problem is that somehow the jewel has been reawakened, and it’s power has stretched into the Makai! Every demon who even has an inkling of what it is will come after her and it, just to get it!” he shouted, his face turning red with anger, fear still filling his eyes.

“What exactly does this jewel do?” Kuwabara asked, somehow getting brains while still half asleep.

“The jewel holds immense power and will give rise to unforeseen abilities to the wielder. Then, there’s the added power of a wish. A single wish to the holder, if the wish is selfish, then the one who wished will be consumed by evil, and throw the world as we know it into complete darkness.” He said, looking to everyone with anything but a calm expression on his face.

“Can’t you just confiscate it from the girl?” Kurama asked, growling mentally. That girl wasn’t lying, and he felt like such a fool now to doubt her, while on the other hand, Hiei was furious. That girl just kept coming back after him like the plague. Somewhere in the back of his subconscious, he was slightly glad that he hadn’t killed her. That would have been a huge disaster, not only with the Reikai, but also with the Makai. He didn’t feel like having all of Makai coming after him for some stupid jewel.

“It has to stay with the miko! She’s it’s Guardian and the only one who can keep it pure.” Koenma said, finally taking a seat.

“So what are we supposed to do about it, toddler?” Yusuke asked, not liking the sound of the world in complete darkness. He was right to assume it was something really serious for Koenma to have his hands in it.

“You are to get the miko to Genkai’s. Hopefully she will be able to learn something from her, get some sort of hold on her untapped miko powers. Then, we must have her mate a youkai. Someone who will be strong enough to protect her from any of those demons that would come after her for the jewel until she is able to adequately protect herself.” He sighed deeply, not looking forward to the news that would befall the girl. Somewhere in his heart, he felt sorry for the girl. She seemed like she was always sacrificing something else for that forsaken jewel. She lost time of her life, her friends and even her first love for the jewel, and he didn’t know how much more the girl would be able to stand before completely breaking down. ‘She is only one human for Kami’s sake!’ Koenma thought, cursing mentally.

The Rekai Tantei looked to each other briefly, each one catching surprise and anger in the other’s eyes. It sounded too much like a baby-sitting job to them, and Kurama and Hiei even had a head’s up to who the girl was. Hiei was beyond pissed, and was contemplating leaving right then and there, but he had his probation to think about. He was so close, yet so far away from being free from the treacherous community service to the Rekai. He had to admit though, there was some good that came from his servitude to the toddler, he met his match with Yusuke, and could honestly say that he trusted the Spirit Detective.

Koenma cleared his throat and directed their attention to a screen. “This is Higurashi Kagome.” He said, getting Yusuke and Kuwabara’s attention. She was a hot looking girl, with a fine figure and nice curves. The thing that got them was her burning sapphire eyes and happy smile. Kurama looked slightly guilty at the picture and Hiei scowled. Oh how he wished to kill her slowly and painfully.

“She lives here…” the picture changed, “…at Sunset Shrine. She used to be able to use the well on her property to travel to the past, but has since not been able to use it once she came back for good. She has a mother, brother, and grandfather that live with her on the premises. Do not involve them for any reason. Your job is to get there, get her, and get out. She won’t purify you, if that’s what that look is about, Yusuke…” he said, catching the look of slight fear on the detectives face.

“She will want answers. Try to be brief. You can explain everything once you secure her at Genkai’s. It is imperative that you get her out of there as fast as you can. Now go!” he shouted, just as Botan appeared out of thin air and opened a portal.

They all walked through, just as the sun was finally coming up, and they found her quickly. Hiei was still scowling, Kurama still looked guilty, and Yusuke and Kuwabara were worried at how forceful they would have to be with the girl.

She awoke to soft voices in her room. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she frowned. Kurama and Hiei were there, both looking pissed now, and there were three others with them. She did the first thing that came to mind, and asked, “Who are you?”



~*~

A/N: Ah, sorry for the cliffy. It seemed like a good place to stop. I love the reviews, keep em’ coming! Love you guys so much! ^_^