Searching for Shelter

Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. They belong to their respective owners. I make no profit from my writing.


A/N: Oh wow, people, the response is overwhelming and makes me feel all squishy inside! Not to mention my muses, who are like, “OMG!!” So, here’s another chapter, and I’m keeping in mind character pairings, so we’ll see what happens, ne?

*****Some events of this chapter takes place before the events at the end of chapter three.*****


Searching for Shelter
Chapter 4: Shelter from Myself


Koenma rubbed his head gently as he sat in his large office, paperwork piled up on his desk as George carried in stack after stack of new paperwork to add to the already growing towers. So much work was on his plate right now that it was making him irritable, and very cranky. Even for a toddler.

However, one thought seemed to be able to clear his traitorous thoughts of escaping away from the job for awhile, and that was the girl that was fighting so hard to come back to life. He had researched as much as he was able to about the Shikon no Tama, and even went so far as to get answers from two of her former human comrades, Sango and Miroku. Their spirits were more than happy to give him all of the information he eagerly sought, starting with how she came to be in the Senkoku Jidai in the first place: by falling through the Bone Eater’s well on the property where she lived.

Some of the stories they shared with him were just unbelievable. How she could mother an orphaned kitsune kit, befriend an inu-hanyou, and single handedly take down one of Feudal Era Japan’s most feared demons was incomprehensible. However, their stories were true, all of them, even down to the final moments of her life, where she sacrificed her life for the inu-hanyou.

Again he wondered what she had done in her past life to deserve so much sorrow and responsibility that seemed to be thrown at her at every turn. Fifteen years old was no age to be running around in an era full of demons, when the most difficult issues she should have had to deal with would be high school and dating.

Standing from his plush chair, he once again pulled out her slightly incomplete file. He had gotten a lot of information from the souls of her friends, and was surprised to find he had more information on her than he normally had on special cases like her. Yusuke was the son of a prominent demon for kami’s sake, and he had no idea, until it came to light later in his life.

Reading over the comments and looking over the picture, he had to admit that while troubled in her life, she still found the ability to smile. Her pure soul radiated even in her pictures, and he was glad that he was able to help her in some small way. His father was already against him helping yet another human get their life back in such a short amount of time, but he didn’t care what his father said, at least on this matter. The girl was important not only as protector of the Shikon no Tama, but as the last of a long line of powerful mikos, she would be needed to continue the line, and keep the Shikon in pure hands.

He set her file aside and started to get back to work. While he wished to think more on the girl, he had more pressing matters to attend to, like the overwhelming stacks of paperwork now littering his desk.

However, he had no idea that trouble was brewing in the medical wing of the Reikai, involving said girl’s body in question.

No one had anticipated the Shikon’s negative reaction to Kagome’s soul being separated from her body, and least of all the Reikai spirit leader, until it was too late. Unfortunately, Hiei was on his way to see Koenma when he was quickly drawn into the fray that was rapidly becoming a massacre.

~*~

The little hi-youkai was on his own today, having been summoned by Botan for a quick mission in the Makai. It was nothing tragic, he had been told, and so he went as ordered, taking care of a small problem that was attempting to get out of hand. He was on his way to Koenma’s office when he heard the screams and felt pulse after pulse of energy coming from a close part of the castle where he was.

Ignoring his better judgment, he swiftly moved towards the energy masses, taking note of the many ogres that were vacating the premises. What in the hell was going on? As he stepped into the room where the concentration of power was greatest, he got his answers…sort of.

Wide eyes took in the sight as a young girl’s body floated precariously in the air above her bed. If anything she looked like a fallen angel, with her blue-black hair hanging down from her head, and her pale porcelain face devoid of any emotion. He could feel the pulses of energy becoming greater and quickly drew his katana. The energy was conflicting, a mix of demon energy and miko energy. Something was seriously wrong here, and even as the seconds passed, more and more ogre doctors and nurses came forward to try and bring the girl’s body back down and restrain it. However, the girl would have none of that, or rather, her body wouldn’t, as pure holy energy lashed out at the nearby ogres, quickly purifying them.

‘Or at least enough to stop their attempts to touch her.’ Hiei thought darkly, seeing an arm being quickly purified from one doctor, making a gush of blood add to the chaos already in the room.

A few more moments passed, and the pulses of energy became stronger, this time setting up a thin veiled barrier around her and her bed, pushing back the nurses and doctors even further, while taking out a few more with the energy released. More blood was spilled as it coated the floor, pooling out from the freshly dead bodies. Eyes narrowing, Hiei’s Jagan flared to life, surging forward towards the girl and the barrier, inspecting every inch of it to try and find a weakness or someway to counter it to stop the bloodshed. Were it any other situation or circumstance, he probably wouldn’t give a damn, but the girl was killing off Reikai officials right and left, and she was still seemingly asleep. Looking up, he saw a spirit being pulled forcibly into the room by an invisible force, and once again, his confusion and irritation spiked. What in the hell was going on here? Who was this girl? Growling, he quickly sliced through her ghostly form, not knowing of her feelings, or thoughts, or even of her pain. In his mind, the only thing he could think was, this had to stop, and now, however, he had not anticipated what happened next, and had the girl’s spirit not thought quickly, he would no longer be alive.

~*~

Kagome screamed as she was ripped from the Ningenkai to the Reikai, her spirit egg burning into her ethereal hand, glowing blood red as she clutched it in her hand. She had no idea what was happening, but she was terrified. What was wrong, and why was she feeling so much pain? She was just a spirit, but it felt as if she were flesh and blood. Her nerves felt as if they were on fire, and as she zipped through the halls of Reikai castle, she barely noted that everyone else was fleeing away from her.

Forcing down the urge to scream again, she tried to focus on her situation at hand, trying to ignore the waves of pain that rushed over her. It felt as if someone was waging war on her soul itself, and she was losing.

As she floated through the chamber that held her body, she cried out in agony again, both from the pain, and the sight that beheld her. Bodies lay strewn around her hovering form, all of them still and lifeless, while others held stubs where limbs used to be. Recognizing the energy as her own miko powers, she rushed forward to try and do something; however, she was stopped in her tracks when another wave of pure pain gripped her. Crying out, she didn’t notice the katana slicing down at her body, until she looked down and saw a blade sticking out through her ethereal form.

~*~

Hiei waited for something to happen, and happen it did. Kagome looked from the blade, to him, to her body as she tensed, the waves of energy that permeated the room stilling a fraction of a second. She didn’t know how she knew, but she knew what was coming. The Shikon was at the center of all this, and something bad was going to happen. Gripping the spirit egg tighter, she turned to Hiei, and the others, shouting, “Run! Get away!” However, they were all fixated on her hovering body, and took no heed to her words, not that they could all hear her or see her anyway.

Rushing forward, Kagome’s mind frantically tried to figure out a way to stop anyone else from getting hurt, and for a brief moment, a flash of a familiar face appeared in her mind, before she was thrown back towards Hiei, and as she did, surprise made her drop her spirit egg, but before she could worry about it breaking, her eyes flew to her human body.

Hiei froze as his eyes widened. The girl’s body was glowing so brightly now that it was hard to look at it, but he watched as the spirit was thrown back towards him, just in time for an incomprehensible amount of energy to be released, decimating the area they were in, purifying all in its wake, and quickly killing all demonic creatures in the entire east wing of Reikai castle. Hiei’s eyes closed quickly at the brilliant flash of light, and he waited to feel the sting of purification, the pain of death, or something else that would ring true with what he had just seen, but he felt nothing, but a slight uneasiness, as a gentle power enveloped him, caressing him in a soft, caring manner, making him pause with confusion and curiosity.

What was this power? It was as if it knew him, and wanted to sooth him in this distressing situation, but he didn’t recognize it. It wasn’t familiar to him, although it wasn’t entirely unwelcome either. It was soothing to him, and to the conflicting elements within him. Hell, even his demonic spirit was content and that was rare, unless he had just had a particularly thrilling fight. He thought for a moment, that he had died, had been purified and was now crossing over through the realm of the living to the realm of the dead, but his fingers around his katana told him otherwise. He could still feel the warmth of the handle and the solid tiles of the floor beneath his feet.

Kagome’s eyes slowly opened, squinting against the flash of light, as she tried to find out what in the hell just happened. A sob tore itself from her throat as she saw the bodies everywhere around her. As she turned, her breath caught, as she saw a lone body in the sea of blood and death. That boy from earlier today was standing there, eyes closed, and he looked to be puzzled, yet, he looked to be unharmed. Drifting forward, she reached out a sheer hand towards him.

“Are you alright?” she questioned softly, focusing on the one living thing around her. He had survived the blast of holy power, though he was a demon. She wanted to question how, but was more worried about him being okay, than questioning the fates.

Hiei heard a soft female voice echo in his head, and his eyes snapped open. Standing there in front of him was the same girl whose body was hovering in the air just moments ago. Glancing behind her, he saw her body lying limp on the bed, yet she was standing right here in front of him. ‘Her spirit?’ he questioned mentally, gripping his katana a little tighter.

This girl was familiar feeling, like the power that had enveloped him. Had she saved him? Was she the one to protect him from the holy blast? He shook those thoughts away. No way was a human strong enough to protect a demon like him from something like that, even if she was a miko herself. She didn’t look strong enough to protect herself, so protecting him was out of the question…wasn’t it? Especially if she was a miko—he was a demon, she wouldn’t be protecting him at all, if anything, she would be the one delivering the final blow.

“Hn.” He replied lightly, taking her appearance in. She looked disheveled, with her hair stuck up in odd places, and her body bloody and dirty. What surprised him most was the large hole that was in the center of her chest, with large stains of black acrid liquid pooling from the center. What was this that he was seeing? Surely she wouldn’t be alive with those kinds of wounds. “You’re bleeding, ningen.” He spoke, wondering if she even noticed her appearance, and kind of wondering where she got those wounds to begin with. She was just a spirit. Nothing more.

Raising an eyebrow, she looked down, her eyes widening in shock and fear. It was the same place where Naraku had pierced her skin, and hesitantly she took her hand and brought it to her chest. She grimaced as she touched the place where her blood and poison flowed freely, though she felt nothing, she could almost see it spread to her hand, before it disappeared. Turning from him, she ran to her body, looking it over, before lifting her night shirt that was put on her by the doctors to look at the scar where the Shikon was imbedded into her body. The red scar that was there was now a putrid black and it seemed to be spreading. She couldn’t help the anguished cry that escaped her lips.

Hiei looked up as Kagome’s scream filled his ears. Moving over to her side, he looked down to the human body, frowning at the dark infection that was spreading from the side of her abdomen. What was going on here?

~*~

The wave of energy that had permeated the air around the Reikai leader didn’t go unnoticed, and surprisingly, the first thought that reached him was that of the girl. Was her body okay? Was she? Koenma raced down the corridors of the East Wing, running into Botan midway and brought her along as well. He also changed into his teenage form, upon seeing body after body of his officials purified partially, leaving only body parts in pools of blood as evidence that they existed in the first place. What had happened? What was going on? These questions and more plagued his mind, and upon reaching the room that held her body, he was rendered speechless.

Amid the most concentrated mass of death he had seen yet, was Hiei, standing near the girl’s body. Instantly, he got on the defensive, his eyes narrowing at the hi-youkai.

“What is the meaning of this, Hiei?!” he shouted out, holding out a hand to stop Botan from running inside the room.

“Hn. None of this was my doing.” He replied listlessly, still looking down at the girl’s body. The darkness that even now was spreading over her pale skin was disturbing, though he knew not why.

Raising an eyebrow, Koenma turned to look at the mess again. Hiei couldn’t have done this much damage in the brief amount of time unless he had unleashed the Dragon of Darkness, and the power he had felt wasn’t complete darkness. Hiei also didn’t have any blood on his person, even further solidifying his innocence, but that left even more questions than answers.

That was when he noticed Hiei’s gaze upon Kagome’s body. What was he doing, looking at her unclothed like that? The hybrid didn’t strike him as the hentai type, so he walked over, eyes widening at the black that was spreading out from her side. “Kagome!” he cried out, but knowing that she would not awake, however, the spirit Kagome felt calmer at seeing the spirit leader there.

“I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t know why I’m looking like this!” she called out, more than slightly panicked.

Hiei tilted his head towards Kagome, before looking back to Koenma. He still didn’t know how he had survived the blast of holy energy, but wasn’t going to question it just yet. Everything was confusing and a little overwhelming at the moment. All he wanted to do was figure out what had happened, and seeing as how the Reikai brat knew more about this girl than he did, he would remain quiet for now.

Koenma looked up at her panicked scream, eyes widening as he saw how her spirit form was appearing. Normally, spirits took on the form of being completely healthy, though they were dead. Before, she appeared as her normal self, but now, she was looking as she had when she died. He couldn’t explain it. It was beyond him, how had this happened? And what was going on? Looking back to Botan, he gestured her into the room.

“What is it you need, Koenma sama?” she asked softly, but a bit fearfully. Many of her comrades and acquaintances were now dead, and she didn’t know why.

“Come here. There’s a spirit I need you to try and contact, but it will take both our efforts.” He replied quickly, not knowing she had called up Shuichi and Youko on the communicator and even opened a portal for him, while he and Hiei were trying to figure things out. He didn’t expect to see the red head, or to see the expression he was wearing; one of fierce determination, and worry.

~*~

Kurama was dressed and ready to go as Botan appeared instantly in his room. She looked scared, and looked thoroughly worn as she opened a portal to the Reikai. He didn’t bother to ask what was wrong. He didn’t have to be an inu-demon to detect the massive amounts of blood and gore around him as she led him further and further into the East Wing.

Upon entering one of the rooms that Botan led him to, he paused, seeing Hiei. What was he doing here? Confusion swept over him before he saw something that made his heart plummet in his chest. The spirit girl he had just become familiar with was standing there, and she was standing near a body. Upon closer inspection he assumed this was her body, and something was seriously wrong. As Koenma spoke to Botan, his eyes darted to lock with the teenage demi-god’s. What was he going to do?

~*~

Koenma gestured for the ferry girl to stand on the other side of Kagome’s body, while she herself was wondering what they were doing. “Koenma, what’s going on?” she asked, the question on the forefront of all their minds.

“We’re going to talk to Midoriko. She will know better than anyone what is going on.” He informed her, moving his hands above the inky black skin where the Shikon Jewel rested.

Her eyes widened as she stepped back. “Midoriko? Can you do that?!” she questioned loudly, unsure of how that would affect the Shikon, or her body.

“Yes, now quiet, Kagome. We need silence to concentrate.” He replied a bit harsher than he would have liked, but he couldn’t help it. It seemed as if the black that was spreading was also affecting her very fragile life force, as a cold sweat broke out on her body’s forehead, and her breathing became labored.

Eyes widening, she looked to Hiei, and then to Kurama, though the kitsune couldn’t see her as the hybrid could. She seemed on the verge of tears, but Hiei had no need to console her, or even to look at her, so he diverted his attention to the demi-god and Botan, ignoring her pleading looks of reassurance.

Youko could feel her uneasiness, but remained silent. Like before, he just did not care. Kurama however, could also feel her upset, and quietly said, “It’ll be alright.” Kagome looked up at his words, wondering how he knew she was worried, but then pushed the thought away. He was trying to comfort her though he didn’t know her. It was a sweet gesture that helped sooth her a little, as she turned her attention to the two Reikai officials that were now glowing an unearthly red. The crimson waves flowed around them and through their hands that hovered above her body, before slowly descending into her skin.

She didn’t know what was going to happen, and watched with baited breath, figuratively speaking, before a lone, wispy white soul rose from the inky darkness on her skin. She recognized the figure easily, and watched as the ancient miko materialized next to her own spirit form.

“Kagome, there are things I must tell only to you. Please listen.” She said, her voice almost sagely as she spoke. Koenma and Botan both remained quiet, their hands held unwavering over the miko’s body.

Listening intently, she nodded. “What’s happening with my body? What happened just now?” she questioned, looking scared, and for once, completely helpless.

“Child, do not fear, all is not lost. But many problems have arisen from your death, young one. The first being of the Shikon.” She replied, placing a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder. She wished things had been done differently, but because of the hanyou’s diversion to the un-dead miko, time had been messed with, and it was a lesson he was about to learn, and pay for, dearly.

“Like what?” she questioned, interrupting the miko’s thoughts.

“Like the demon’s within, and the purity of the Shikon no Tama. Because your soul isn’t within your body to keep it untainted, the demon souls have become stronger and are overpowering me, and darkening the jewel. It’s becoming impure, and because of that, I had to try and take the upper hand. I released a lot of power in that blast, but it did the unexpected. Your body now holds the taint that was in the jewel. The only way to fix this is to purify your body ritualistically. Something easily done, but it is just a temporary fix. We need to get your soul back to your body.” She answered, her voice and looks stern.

“I was working on this spirit egg thing…but then I dropped it…” she spoke quietly, feeling guilty. She couldn’t do anything right it seemed. She died protecting the Shikon, and failed to even do a simple thing like hatch her spirit egg.

“Don’t worry about that. If you had not dropped it, this demon here would have been purified. You and I both know that you would not have allowed that to happen. Your spirit would not have allowed him to die. If you would have hatched that egg, it would have devoured your soul.” She informed her curtly, waving off the girl’s obvious distress.

“What? Why?” she asked, eyes widening.

“Because of the demon taint. That spirit beast feeds off of emotions, and while yours are the epitome of pure, the Shikon also harbored an influence over the spirit beast growing within. Later on you will discover that your energy has not gone to waste, but for now, I need you to listen. Soon, there will be a chance for you to be revived, as rare as an opportunity as this is, you must not mess this up. It only happens approximately every 500 years, and with you having died in the past, it’s because of this that the opportunity will even present itself. Koenma will explain this in further detail to you later, but do not fear. Things will be set right as they should have been. I promise you, Kagome.” She smiled softly, before glimpsing briefly at Hiei and then Kurama. It seemed she was already gaining the new allies that she so desperately needed.

Nodding mutely, Kagome’s head swam with all of this new information, but it seemed that things would be okay…eventually, anyhow. Just as she went to reply, the ancient miko disappeared in a flash of light, and Koenma and Botan looked to her. It wasn’t there doing, but that of the miko, and all they could do was try to digest all of this information, and come up with a plan of action. Kurama and Hiei exchanged simultaneous looks. Things were bound to get a lot more interesting soon. Very interesting.



A/N: Another chapter up! Hope you enjoyed this one. Please, Read and Review!
Keep a lookout for the plot bunny that tells me what the main pairing(s) is(are) going to be. I still have no idea. >_> But I am keeping your suggestions in mind! ^_^