Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time Traveler Meets Spirit Detective ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 12 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha.

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Chapter 12 - Family

In the midday light a bright blue glow suddenly started in the well house on the Higurashi property. Inside, one hand clutched the edge of the well itself, throwing a yellow bag over the top with the other. Kagome sighed as she went the last few steps up the ladder, Yusuke quickly followed with Shippo clinging to the shoulder of his jacket. Kagome opened the door and stepped out into the sunlight, looking around questioningly.

"No noise, that's strange. Oh, I forgot, it's a weekday, Souta's at school." Yusuke rolled his eyes as Kagome began talking to herself, picking her bag up and putting it across his other shoulder as the well glowed blue again. He quickly stepped out to join Kagome as the others began to appear. Botan handed a shard back to Kagome then flipped out her oar.

"I need to report to Koenma. I know we're not staying here long, so when are we leaving Kagome?" Botan watched Kagome curiously as a strange emotion passed over her face. It was a mix of fear and guilt. Botan's eyes narrowed, but she passed the look off as her imagination when Kagome smiled cheerfully.

"I was planning on tomorrow afternoon. It should give everyone time to explain to the parents more than the brief notes," She paused, looking at Yusuke. "-or lack there of, gave the boys. So, about two o'clock tomorrow afternoon?"

Botan grinned back at her, knowing that Yusuke had skirted around the issue a bit with his mother before leaving, probably because he felt guilty for leaving. "Well then, boys, meet back here at that time tomorrow. And try to pack accordingly, we don't know how long we'll be there this time, this could just be a trick of Naraku's. See you tomorrow!"

Botan waved and Kagome enthusiastically waved back. Yusuke winced as Kagome elbowed his ribs and briefly raised his hand to wave. Hiei could be seen speeding off even as Botan began to disappear. Kurama stood in front of them and smiled at Kagome.

"This was an interesting mission so far. I will see you tomorrow, Kagome. You too, Yusuke."

Kurama bowed politely to Kagome and headed towards the steps. Kuwabara looked around forlornly. "Do I have to walk? It will take me hours!"

Kagome giggled, then shook her head. "I'll ask my mother to drive you home. It's a bit out of the way, but she can pick Souta up on the way home. Or there, depending on what time it is. Just wait right here!"

Kagome heard Kuwabara acknowledge her command and quickly headed inside. "Mother!"

"Kagome! You're home on time for once. Neither early nor late. This is truly a surprise. I suppose it was because of the boys?" Mrs. Higurashi smiled as Kagome looked slightly stunned.

"I do notice when there are strange people milling around my house Kagome." She looked slightly amused and Kagome blushed and then cleared her throat. 'Well...one of the boys doesn't have a way to get home. He lives near Yusuke I think. I was wondering if you could drive him?"

Mrs. Higurashi smiled; it was good she could still do these small normal things like driving a friend of her daughter's home. "Of course Kagome. Now, I may have meddled a bit with Atsuko. Do you know Yusuke didn't even tell her where he was going? He just said he'd be gone. He's disappeared like this before, and I have a feeling that he's doing something similar to what you are. So, I told her all about your adventures in the past. She didn't believe me yet of course, but I'll get her to come around. What's wrong Kagome?"

Kagome was staring at her mother with a horrified expression. She turned a bit pale as Yusuke poked his head in the door, dropping her bag off by the stairs as he walked towards them. "Hey, Kagome, why do you look like that?"

Mrs. Higurashi looked between her daughter and her best friend's son and shrugged. Why did she look so pale? Atsuko deserved to know where her son had been. "Kagome, why don't you explain while I go drop off your friend."

Mrs. Higurashi bustled outside, quickly gathering up Kuwabara, having him explain where he lived as they climbed down the shrine steps to the car.

Back in the house, Kagome was eyeing Yusuke nervously. "Yusuke, before we go see your mother, why don't we go for a walk. Now."

Kagome took a tight grip on his jacket, calmly lifting Shippo off and putting the kit on top of her bag. "Stay here Shippo."

Kagome began to drag a puzzled and more than slightly confused Yusuke down a path into the woods nearby. After a few minutes of walking Kagome stopped. "My mother did something that you might not exactly like."

Yusuke eyed her suspiciously. "What'd she do? It's not like she could have done much, the only person she talks to that I know is..."

Yusuke trailed off and his head whipped around back towards the house, then towards Kagome. "Uh, Yusuke, she might have told your mother a few things. Like say, that you went back in time with me to fight demons."

Yusuke looked puzzled for a moment then realization crossed his face. "She did WHAT?"

~_~_~

Keiko looked up at the shrine steps for the fourth time this week. She had been trying, yet again, to apologize and go back to being friends with Yusuke. Except, he wasn't there. Well, Atsuko was, but every time she came here, Yusuke was gone. In fact, the last time she had come here Atsuko had been quite upset, and muttering something about demons. Keiko wasn't sure, but she had a feeling that Atsuko was a bit more informed about Yusuke's job than she had been.

The other woman there had been overly nice. She'd said her daughter and Yusuke were both away with some friends, and he would be back soon. In fact, she'd said almost the exact same thing each time. Keiko was getting more than a little suspicious, but the woman had seemed so nice. She'd just have to see if Yusuke was back today. Though she was getting tired of having to take the train up here every couple days.

She shook herself, climbing up the steps slowly, the same as she had done the other three times. When she got to the top she frowned. Keiko could have sworn she just saw the well house glow blue. She turned in that direction when a well-known voice called out to her. "Keiko, are you here again? Apparently Yusuke's home, but he took a walk. I'm going to have a long talk with him when he and Kagome come back."

Keiko frowned, ignoring the well house for the moment in order to walk towards Atsuko. "Kagome? Oh, the girl that lives here. I suppose I'll just wait until they get back then."

"They shouldn't be gone to long. Now, excuse me, I have to find where she hid my alcohol." Keiko watched as Atsuko went back inside, apparently looking for something to drink. Keiko was about to follow when she saw a flash of red to her left. She whipped her head in that direction, but all she saw was a few tree branches swaying slightly. Keiko's brown eyes narrowed and she stepped firmly in the direction of the huge tree that had been called the God Tree. That was where the branch that was shaking the most was coming from.

She peered up into the tree, and took a step back as angry golden orbs glared back down at her. "What are you looking at wench?"

Keiko's eyes narrowed dangerously at the golden-eyed boy. "What did you just call me?"

The boy dropped down and she almost gasped as she saw the rest of him. He had silvery-white hair and cute little triangular ears on the top of his head. Keiko's hand naturally reached out to touch them as the boy began to speak. "I called you a wench and - Hey, what are you doing? Don't touch my ears!"

Keiko's hand shot back, her face turning read from embarrassment and anger. Obviously he was some kind of demon, but that gave him no excuse to call her a wench. "You are very rude and should apologize!"

The boy bared sharp looking fangs and snarled. "Like hell! Why should I?"

His answer came an instant later when the girl's brown eyes narrowed and her hand shot forward, palm hitting his cheek. She didn't care if he was a demon right now! No one called her names, demon or not.

The boy stumbled back in surprise, one clawed hand shooting out to dig into the bark of the God Tree. "What the hell was that for?"

"For being rude. I came here today to find Yusuke, and instead I get a rude silver haired demon. Where is he anyway?" Keiko frowned, how long did it take to walk around anyway? Then she looked up again in puzzlement.

"And who are you?" At her question the boy shot back up in to the tree, seeming to decide that he couldn't hurt her for some reason. She frowned when he growled, but heard the answer anyway.

"I'm Inuyasha. How do you know Yusuke?" Inuyasha crouched on the branch, watching the human teenager as she looked up at him suspiciously.

"I'm a friend of his. My name is Keiko. How do you know him?" Letting go of her anger for the moment, she settled herself beneath the tree to talk to the apparently safe demon that sat above her.

~_~_~

"Oh, come on Yusuke, she probably won't believe my mother no matter what she says. Mama just thinks parents should know what their children are doing." Kagome smiled hopefully at Yusuke. He scowled at her and she dropped the smile.

"You know, it is suspicious when you disappear for long periods of time with only a brief half baked explanation. I have to wonder how your mother believed you before this." Kagome frowned, remembering how her mother was determined to convince Atsuko of the truth. Then again, all she had to do was catch Inuyasha when no one was around. Or Shippo, who she had left at the house with only Atsuko around. Kagome stifled a groan of disbelief at her own stupidity. Hopefully she wouldn't notice.

"She was usually partying and getting drunk or something. She's not the most suspicious type," Yusuke muttered, glaring at the ground. He didn't notice Kagome's expressions, or how she suddenly decided to change the subject.

"So, how'd you like the Feudal Era so far?" Kagome winced slightly, she hadn't meant to ask that, and it was making her feel guilty.

"It's all right. Lots of demons to fight at least. Still too many trees." Kagome rolled her eyes at his indifferent answer.

"What is it with you and trees? And fighting with Inuyasha?" She glared at him as a quick smirk passed over his features. She was beginning to think she needed to put them in separate corners like children to stop them from fighting.

"I don't like the trees. As for the stupid puppy, he's just annoying. The only good thing he did was attempt to beat up that wolf." Yusuke suddenly realized what he'd said and winced as he heard Kagome shift towards him from where they stood leaning on separate trees.

"That was stupid of both of you. I understand why you did it, and I'm grateful that you both wanted to protect me, but Kouga is my friend." Yusuke eyed her suspiciously. She was taking this a bit too well. What was she up to? She seemed to want to just keep things friendly and keep them from arguing.

Kagome kept speaking, seemingly unaware of Yusuke's suspicious gaze when she didn't begin yelling at him. "It was nice having you travel with us," she said quietly, hurriedly adding on to it as she realized what she'd just said. He almost smirked.

"All of you I mean, people from my era. Interesting to here the stories too. It’s to bad Hiei doesn't speak more often, I'd like to here more about the Makai. And having another girl in the group was nice too, even if it was spoiled by there being four more guys." He watched her as she kept going and grinned, eyeing her as she babbled on.

"I think the thing I most enjoyed was the hot springs," he mumbled under his breath. She looked up sharply, and stared at him.

"What did you just say?" She asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. Just saying that it was nice to be able to meet some new people." He paused, then added on to it with a smirk. "Even if there were too many trees."

She looked put out with him, but was interrupted by a soft sound about her.

"Puu!" came a small and excited voice. Yusuke groaned as a small blue creature came flying down, perching itself on top of Yusuke's head. He glared at Kagome as she began to giggle. She only laughed harder.

"Shut up. It's not funny." He scowled as she grinned and then walked to his side, studying the creature with long ears that it had used for wings.

"What is it? It has your hair." Yusuke rolled his eyes as Puu and Kagome stared at each other. Puu gave a cry and suddenly launched itself towards Kagome. Used to Shippo's frequent hugs, she easily caught the flying creature.

"He does not. And that's Puu. He's my spirit beast." Yusuke watched as she pushed Puu back slightly, studying the creature before holding it to her and cuddling it again while looking at Yusuke skeptically.

"This is the spirit beast you mentioned? Are you sure it's yours? It's awfully cute." Kagome ducked her head with a grin, playing with Puu's hair as Yusuke shrugged.

"Yeah, I didn't really expect him to be - Hey! How is him being cute proof that he's not mine?" He glared at her and she grinned impishly at him before starting to walk back towards the house.

"We should go back now Yusuke, I'm getting hungry."

"Puu," Puu said, seemingly in agreement. Yusuke frowned and followed after them.

"Stop taking her side, you’re my spirit beast." Yusuke glared at Kagome again as she giggled, and Puu gave a forlorn "Puu!" at his anger. Yusuke groaned and spent the next few minutes grumbling to himself as they walked back.

He almost bumped into Kagome when she came to a sudden stop and he heard her gasp. "Inuyasha is talking to someone! I wonder who she is."

Yusuke peered around Kagome and felt like gasping himself at the scene in front of him. Inuyasha was peering down at Keiko of all people, with a curious but wary look on his face. 'Wary? Him? Of Keiko?'

"That's Keiko. She shouldn't be here." Yusuke scowled, remembering that he was still upset with her. Or he should have been. Except, he really wasn't upset anymore. He sighed as Inuyasha's head jerked up, narrowed golden eyes focusing on him and Kagome. Yusuke could almost hear the growl from here.

"That's her?" Yusuke's head jerked around, he hadn't told her anything about Keiko.

"How-?" Yusuke began to ask, only to be quickly interrupted by Kagome as she studied the other girl, who was in turn at the moment studying her.

"Botan told me," she answered shortly as she began to walk towards the other girl. Yusuke winced at her tone, but followed along at a slower pace. Puu, seeming to sense the tension, quickly flew up and landed in the God Tree. Thankfully, he was far away from Inuyasha, who was sniffing the air, looking between Puu and Yusuke in confusion.

"Hello, I'm Kagome Higurashi." Kagome introduced herself to the other girl with a bright friendly smile. Inuyasha and Yusuke shuddered at the tone. Bright and friendly it might have been, but both could tell Kagome was measuring the other girl. For what, neither knew at the moment. Kagome's hand reached out into the space in between them, the customary offer of friendship.

"Pleased to meet you. I am Keiko Yukimura." Keiko smiled pleasantly, and didn't hesitate before reaching out and shaking hands with Kagome relaxed slightly after studying the girl another instant, letting her hand drop. Kagome backed away, seeing the girl glance over to Yusuke. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha.

"Come on Inuyasha, Let's go inside, I'll make some ramen." Inuyasha dropped down beside her and the two walked towards the house. Kagome paused at the edge of her doorway, remembering what Botan had said about Keiko. Her eyes darted from Keiko to Yusuke meaningfully, her gaze clearly convey she wanted Yusuke to actually listen to Keiko. He grimaced and she disappeared into her house while Yusuke stared after her, not wanting to meet Keiko's eyes.

"Yusuke. I just wanted to explain. I just wanted us to be friends, and stay friends. I liked having my best friends, but then you wouldn't talk to me... Please, just look at me." Keiko hadn't meant for their relationship to end so badly, she truly hadn't. Her head lowered to look at the ground. She had hurt him, and he would never forgive her.

"So...you came all the way here to apologize? How'd you even know I was here anyway?" Keiko's head jerked up in surprise as he began asking questions. He was actually talking to her; instead of giving her those hurt looks.

"I asked. And your mother asked me to take care of the apartment while you two were gone. And yes, I did. This is the fourth time I've been here in the last week."

Yusuke looked startled and turned his head to look at her searchingly. He opened his mouth to reply when a shriek came from inside, quickly followed by Kagome's voice apparently trying to soothe someone. Yusuke recognized that shriek and glared at the house. "Looks like my mother just discovered Inuyasha. Or possibly Shippo."

"Shippo?" Keiko questioned as Yusuke began to stomp towards the door. He shrugged and waved towards the door.

"You'll see," he grumbled as he pushed the door in. Brown eyes surveyed the scene in front of him with a scowl on his face. Kagome was holding Shippo, alternating between soothing a bewildered looking fox demon and keeping his mother from panicking. Inuyasha was on the couch, half in a crouch as he stared warily at Atsuko. Yusuke bit back a swear.

"So, who'd she see first? Inuyasha or Shippo?"

"Inuyasha. When she saw Shippo, after he transformed back into himself, she actually became a bit calmer," Kagome answered Yusuke. He rolled his eyes.

"Figures. The puppy-dog would scare anyone with a face like his." Yusuke smirked as Inuyasha growled at him, but his face quickly fell when Atsuko's face blanched at the sound. Behind him, Keiko came in, taking in the scene with a wince.

"It's all true, isn't it? I thought she was making up some stories. Then she kept being serious, and showed some of your old uniforms, Kagome. You really do travel into the past and fight demons, don't you? And you, Yusuke? You and your friends went with her." The last sentence was more of a statement as Atsuko began to tremble.

"Don't answer. I saw that little child transform into a balloon after he," She pointed towards Inuyasha, "said something that sounded threatening to him. I really wish she hadn't hid my alcohol. This is one of those perfect occasions to get drunk. Or maybe I am. Because demons are not real. And Yusuke certainly didn't travel into the past with my best friend's daughter." Atsuko kept shaking her head in disbelief. Kagome's eyes widened in shock.

"She took it away? She's interfering a lot recently." Kagome looked puzzled, but suddenly Keiko was taking Atsuko’s hand.

"You know, maybe she was right to do this. She has the right to know. Why don't me go for a walk?" The question was directed towards Atsuko as Keiko tugged on her hand. Yusuke opened his mouth to protest, but Keiko just scowled at him.

"She needs someone to explain it to her. And you aren't exactly subtle Yusuke. Let me do it. To make it up to you." Yusuke reluctantly let them go out the door, and Inuyasha was suddenly looking like he'd rather be anywhere but where he was.

"Inuyasha! You have demon senses! How could you not have heard her coming up?" Kagome turned on the dog demon, and Yusuke gladly took the distraction of watching her berate the hanyou. He didn't want to think about what his mother would say when she came back.

-~-

A formerly sleeping Yusuke rolled over, suddenly coming awake as he heard a small thud from near Kagome's room. He frowned in confusion, his tired mind moving sluggishly as his senses urgently tried to send signals to his brain. He hadn't exactly had the best day. His mother and Keiko had come back and both seemed to be avoiding the subject of what Shippo and Inuyasha were. Mrs. Higurashi had come back and made some tea for everyone before deciding his mom needed some sleep.

That had relieved some of the tension in the room, and Inuyasha had quickly left at that point, hoping not to get another scolding from Kagome. Yusuke had briefly wondered why he was there at all but had soon forgotten it as the day wore on into night. When he went up to sleep, he had found that besides Souta, he was also sharing a room with Shippo and Puu that night, who both insisted on snuggling into him.

Careful not to roll on top of either of them, Yusuke sat up, stifling a yawn as he caught another slight thud, this time in Kagome's bathroom. With a scowl Yusuke slid out of bed. Whoever was up right now was going to be sorry. He liked to sleep in. He didn't need to be awoken before the sun was even up.

He snuck out into the hallway and resisted yelling as he saw Kagome, fully dressed and with a bag over her shoulder. Instead he watched as she looked around nervously, making her way to the stairs. Yusuke's eyes narrowed, a suspicion entering his mind. She'd been acting guilty all day long, and he would bet that she had every single jewel shard around her neck.

Yusuke slunk back into his room, grabbing his jacket and hurrying after Kagome. He bit back a curse when he almost tripped down the stairs. Stupid girl, she had lied to him.

_~_~_

Kagome's expressive sapphire eyes showed only determination and guilt as she opened the well house door. The pink shards shimmered in the early morning darkness from their place around her neck. The girl lifted her head to search the interior of the well house, finding glowing amber eyes in one corner.

"About time Kagome. Let's go." Inuyasha sounded oddly impatient, and for once wasn't grouchy. Kagome's eyes narrowed in anger. He didn't have to be so pleased that she had chosen to leave Yusuke and his friends out of this. It simply wasn't their fight. Hopefully he'd forgive her when she came back for good.

"You go first Inuyasha. I want to see if the wards I made work. I did them how Grandpa taught me, except I tried to channel my miko powers into it." She glanced down at the wards in her hand, hearing the slight shuffling sound as Inuyasha went towards the well. Then the well glowed blue and she couldn't sense him anymore.

She turned around and her eyes went to the house, just visible in the dark gray light. 'They'll all be so mad at me. But I don't want anyone getting hurt. The demons with shards are nothing compared to Naraku. We all have a reason to fight him. I broke the jewel. Sango's brother. Miroku's curse. Inuyasha's revenge. Not them, they just have a mission. Perhaps they'll understand.'

She turned her back to her home, setting the wards on all four sides of the well, as well as on the inside. They would, if she had done it right, keep the demons away. Though her Grandfathers thin little pieces of paper never worked. She hoped she'd done it right, because it had tired her out, and she hoped she'd be able to sleep when she arrived at Kaede's village.

As she finished setting them up, she turned once more towards the house, looking towards her brother's window, where Shippo and Yusuke were hopefully still sleeping. "I'm sorry."

After saying her simple apology that they would never hear, she walked to the edge of the well. She heard a noise behind her as she pushed off, holding firmly to her worn bag as she pushed off with the other.

"Damn it!" She heard a voice say as the well began to glow, an instant before she felt her wrist grabbed. The well's glow died as she was pulled up roughly. The dark light of the early morning made it hard to see, but she had no doubts who had caught her as she was pulled out of the well house and into out into the brightening property.

"Next time you decide to sneak out, you really shouldn't make so much noise. And just for your information, six in the morning looks nothing like two in the afternoon." Angry chocolate colored eyes met sapphire blue ones and she quickly looked away. Beneath that anger was a tiny bit of hurt that she had tried to leave him behind. She said nothing as he started to pull her along towards the house, and she could feel his anger growing at her continued silence. Did he want her to deny it? She couldn't, nor could she say it was Inuyasha's idea. It had been her own. Especially to leave Shippo behind.

"We're going inside the house and were going to have a little chat about what the hell you thought you were doing."

"Puu!" came the agreement to Yusuke's statement. Kagome looked up in horror to see Puu and an angry and hurt Shippo.

Inuyasha was going to kill her when she came back with them. Or possibly Yusuke would take care of it. Either way, Naraku would probably have one less thing to worry about by noontime.


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That's it for that chapter.