Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Stay Gone ❯ Strains ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7: Strains

It was quiet. Painfully quiet. So quiet, that you could hear a pin drop… on a rug. Well, that is what it seemed like to Kagome. There actually was quite a lot of vocal activity going on around her, but it wasn't penetrating her awareness. She was focused on the road ahead and the person behind. And is didn't help that that said person had an annoying smile on his face.

As to why he had that smile on, she had no idea. She couldn't seem to figure out what his moods were. He was an enigma; and one that she didn't care to fathom about. Those tiny bits of information that he had already given her were sending her head through the grinder. Youkai, hanyou, princes, the Shikon, those were too much for her to take! Those were part of something that she thought she had buried and left in the past. But it seemed that it wasn't so. It seemed that her journey to eradicate all traces of her other life was no longer near its end. And if he was what he said he was, it was just the beginning.

"Do you hear anything?"

Kurama jerked up from his light daydream. "Pardon?"

Kagome swiveled her head around and scowled. "I said, 'do you hear anything?' I thought youkai were supposed to have better hearing than us humans."

Kurama nodded his head. Strangely, he still seemed to be unfazed by her frosty attitude. "That's correct. We do have better hearing, but I don't think I need it to hear this cacophony."

"That's not what I mean. Do you hear the sounds of people? I think Shippo would have sent out a search party for me by now. He is very overprotective and very paranoid."

"That seems strange. Didn't you say that he was ten?"

"Almost eleven, but that's not the point. The point is whether you have heard humans tramping through the undergrowth."

Kurama chuckled lightly, though he hid it behind a thoughtful hand. It wouldn't do to have Kagome upset, she was quite irascible already. "Well, I hear two adult humans and a six to seven year old child going in the opposite direction. Is that them?"

Kagome's face seemed to have relaxed minutely. "That should be him at least. I'm not so sure about the adults."

"I think that they are Yusuke and Kuwabara. Though I have no clue to why they would be with him."

"I guess we just have to find out. Shall we go and get them?"

"Of course. I'm sorry to say that neither of my companions have an exceptional sense of direction; though Yusuke's is moderately acceptable."

"Where the Hell are they?" a tired voice whined.

Shippo shot said 'tired voice' a glare. "No cursing, Yusuke"

That set Yusuke off. Not only was he tired and hungry, but a kid was basically telling him to shut up! "I will stop cussing when I want to!" he screamed.

Kuwabara reached up behind Yusuke's head and bonked him swiftly. "Gees, Urameshi, he is only a kid. Lighten up."

"Lighten up? Lighten up? You want me to lighten up?" Yusuke grabbed Kuwabara by the collar. "I'll tell you about lightening up, mister. I have been up since before the sun decided to 'lighten up' the sky! And do you know who woke me up at that hour? Hm? That freaking kid woke me up! So just shove it Kuwabara, I'm not in the mood!" Yusuke shoved Kuwabara to the ground, only to see Shippo looking up at him in a nonchalant manner. "What ya looking at kid?"

Shippo just blinked. "Oh nothing. You act just like Inuyasha."

"Who?"

"A friend of the family's." Shippo tilted his head to the side. "And you know what, you even scowl like him."

Yusuke immediately put on a blank look. "Whatever. Look, let's just find Kurama and your mom so we can go."

"There's no need," a feminine voice said from behind them. Yusuke swirled around, Spirit Gun ready. "What the heck is that for?" the voice continued, now heavily laced with scorn. "Are you going to hurt me with your thumb and your finger, Yusuke?"

"Who are you?"

A figure stepped out from the tree line. "I think you would recognize your own boss. I've only been gone, like what, 8 hours?"

"Higurashi?"

"The one; and the only one you know. How are you Shippo?"

Shippo's countenance had taken a total turnaround. Instead of sullen and panicky, he now looked carefree. "I'm fine! What happened to you?"

Higurashi's face softened. "I decided that the forest was too pretty to leave."

"Okay, okay! Enough family reunion!" shouted Yusuke. "Where's Kurama?"

"Right here." Another black-haired figure stepped out from behind the trees, this time it was someone Yusuke was familiar with. "I thought you had already sensed me, Yusuke."

"What is it about everyone and trying to scare the crap out of me?"

Higurashi looked curious. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well first I have someone pounding on the door at an ungodly hour of the morning; then I have the door on the ground and this kid… Shippo standing there; next I find out that Kurama hasn't come home, which is pretty unusual, and took a stroll in the woods with you; then, would you believe it, I go out in this freaking forest to go look for you and you pop up in front of me. Scared the living… um… tar out of me! How would you like to have that kind of day?"

Higurashi looked at him evenly. "I've had worse."

Yusuke snorted. He didn't doubt it.

"Why don't you get Kuwabara off the floor? He still seems to be shocked at our arrival."

Yusuke quickly looked down. Indeed, Kuwabara shocked. His mouth was opening and closing in a manner similar to a fish's and he wouldn't stop staring at Higurashi.

Yusuke walked over to the immobile object and gave a swift kick. "Get up! We haven't got all day, you know!"

Kuwabara turned his head to Yusuke, still making the fish movements.

Yusuke sighed. "Alright! I'll carry you! Gees!" Yusuke scooped up Kuwabara and threw him over his shoulder. "I hope that you know that I'm not going to be carrying you the whole way there." He received no response. He turned to Higurashi and Kurama, and made a motion indicating that they should go first. "I don't want to go looking for you again," he explained.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the plants were humming… not at all like the day before with that blue mist and the storm that never happened. Which led him to question, what was that storm?

'Very simple,' stated Youko.

'How so?'

'Well, remember how there wasn't any hint of moisture in the air?'

'Vaguely.'

'And do you also remember stating that someone or something had to be behind it?'

'That I do recall.'

'Well, who else had enough power to cause those types of reactions in nature?' Kurama's thoughts drifted to the youkai that attacked Kagome. 'No! Not that low-level thug! Who was he aiming for?'

Kurama's eyes widened. 'You mean…'

'Yes, I mean the chipmunk.'

'What?!'

'Gees, you think that you would recognize a joke once in a while! I mean Kagome! Didn't you see that mist coming from her? And the blue glow? She has power and potential. But we don't know what type of energy she has. We were burnt just by touching her! All I have to say is thank goodness for your human side, or else we would have been a pile of dust!'

'You have a point. What type of power would do that? It is nothing ever accounted for; at least, not in recent Spirit World records. What is she?'

"What the heck are you saying, Kuwabara?" interrupted Yusuke. He and Kagome were crouched next to Kuwabara, who was twitching slightly every few seconds.

Kurama rushed next to him. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

"While you were zoning out, Kuwabara was making a gallant attempt to regain consciousness," stated Kagome coldly. "Unfortunately, the ordeal was obviously too much and now he has been reduced to the quivering mass before you."

"You certainly have a way with words," muttered Kurama distractedly. He was too busy trying to see what was wrong with Kuwabara.

"So do you, it seems."

Then, Kuwabara started muttering. "Power… so much power! And purity! Pure power… but seems so cold. Distant and cold… So gentle, yet not. She…"

"Did he say she?" thought Yusuke. "A powerful, pure, gentle, and cold female? What are you muttering about?"

"It seems," started Kurama, "that his spirit sense has absorbed too much information about a certain someone too quickly. All he needs is some time to organize his thoughts."

"What thoughts? He has none!"

Shippo popped up and promptly kicked Yusuke in the shins. "Everyone has thoughts, Yusuke. Even though he doesn't make the most obvious of observations, he is smart! Give him some…"

Kagome scooped up Shippo. "That's enough Shippo. Now, apologize to Mr. Urameshi."

"Sorry."

"And you, Yusuke. I never want to hear you degrade anyone while you work in my staff, you understand?"

Yusuke gritted his teeth. "Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now, let's see if I can do anything." Kagome promptly went down on her knees and placed her hands on Kuwabara.

"I don't know what the heck you could do. We are in the middle of a freaking forest!"

"Calm down," soothed Kurama. "Watch and see what she does." In reply, Yusuke gave Kurama a funny look but complied nonetheless.

Kagome began to glow a bright blue. She made a strained face and Kuwabara glowed slightly too.

"What the…" Yusuke made a move forward. Kurama's arm shot out and barred the way.

"She says that her power cannot harm humans, let's see if she is telling the truth."

Yusuke stopped struggling and watched. After a moment's time, Kuwabara stopped twitching and a peaceful smile descended upon his features.

"I'm done," voiced Kagome. She rose to her feet. "All I did was relax him. Now could we please go home?"

"You shouldn't have done that, Mama."

"I know, sweetie." Kurama waited for her to elaborate, but she gave no hint of doing so.

"Wait! So you're the reason he is like this?"

She rested her eyes on Yusuke. "No, I am not the reason. It was his body's response to a shock."

"Let it be, Yusuke. She'll explain it later." Kagome shot him a glare, but Kurama only grinned at that. "Won't she?"

Yusuke was quickly looking back and forth between Kurama and Kagome. When Kagome had given her glare, Yusuke immediately froze. It should have affected Kurama too, but instead he had smiled and pushed one more button. What happened during last night? Does it involve her power?

"Finally! We're back!" yelled Shippo. He was jumping up and down rapidly, looking like a kid in a candy store.

"Calm down, Shippo," warned Kagome.

Shippo stopped jumping, but then he spun around and latched onto Kagome. "How do you expect me to calm down? We are back home!"

"What is his obsession about home?" mumbled Yusuke.

Kagome didn't spare him a glance. "Let's just say that he moved around a lot when he was younger." She yelled, "Shippo, I said calm down!" He ignored her. "Oh shoot!" she whispered as she ran up and scooped Shippo up.

Yusuke was intensely curious about that strange outburst. As he watched Kagome mutter severely in Shippo's ear, he moved along side Kurama. "Do you know what's up?"

Kurama was also watching the scene in a questioning manner. "Sorry to say that I don't."

Yusuke shrugged in a non-caring way. "Well I just figured that you might know something since you didn't seem to be surprised by her energy."

"I gained quite a bit of knowledge from her last night. More than I thought possible! But she is still hiding facts from us."

Yusuke whistled a low note. "Another Koenma?"

He chuckled. "Not quite, but close. The difference between the two is that Koenma chooses not to give us information because it makes him feel special. Kagome chooses not to because she is hurt, or at least I think she is."

"Higurashi hurt?" he said incredulously. "If you weren't so serious, I would take it as a joke!"

"I'm afraid that it isn't a joke. I'll tell you what happened in the forest as soon as Kuwabara wakes up."

"Suit yourself. Are you coming home now?"

"Maybe later," Kurama muttered distractedly. The youkai energy that had been driving him crazy was nearby. "I need to do something first."

This is a bit of Advertising, but I found this really great forum site that is just for the Kurama and Kagome pairing!

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Reviews! (In alphabetical order)

DM Youko: OH!!! So that is it! Are you Brazilian or something? Lol. I think I'm going to start using qua now!

Dream Vixen: I'm not sure if I'm going to use Sango's and Miroku's descendents. Currently that wasn't a plan, but maybe I'll work around it.

InsaneAuthoress: Gees, thanks. Maybe if you keep on saying those things I'll update more… which isn't likely, but I love having my ego bloated

Rosie13: poor Rosie! Having to lay off stories… I know what you mean by the amount of work. I feel like I'm drowning sometimes.

Thanks to: MusiqMistress, nekokitsune16, tbiris,