Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time Traveler Meets Spirit Detective ❯ Chapter 16 ( Chapter 16 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha.

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Chapter 16 - Rescues

Kagome felt a weight on her chest and a small worried voice speaking to her. She groaned and tried to block it all out. She wanted more sleep. Didn't anyone respect a girl's beauty sleep anymore?

"Kagome! Wake up before he comes back!" Kagome frowned, the voice seeming oddly familiar to her. Who was coming back? Where was she? Where was everyone else?

"Kagome?"

"Shippo?" She asked finally as she identified the voice that had been calling to her. Her kit gave a sigh of relief and she could have sworn she heard him yip. Her eyes opened slowly, expecting sunlight, or perhaps starlight and moonlight. She frowned, seeing what looked oddly like the ceiling of a cave above her head.

"You awake Kagome?" Shippo's worried green eyes met hers. She gave a small warm smile, wanting to take the worry away from him.

"Yeah. Are we in a cave?" Kagome slowly sat up, Shippo backing off of her as she looked around. There were animal furs on her, but she didn't see wolves or a pack of wolf demons as she expected. The cave seemed almost unused in fact.

"Yeah. Kouga muttered something about old caves while he ran. At least, I think he did. I was struggling to hold on to your bag. He took that too. He must think if you have your things you'll be more likely to stay. Stupid wolf. Oh, I dropped mushrooms too. So, everyone's probably on their way!" Shippo smiled brightly, and Kagome giggled, forgetting for a moment where she was.

"Well, if we have my bag, and a trail of mushrooms, we can get out of here, right? They'll lead us out as well as in, right?" Shippo gulped as she said that and Kagome frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Shippo bounded out of the cave into another broader one, with an entrance to the outside. Kagome noted her bag in one corner of this entrance chamber and followed Shippo to the edge.

"That's what's wrong," Shippo said nervously as he pointed downwards. They were on a sheer face, not as high up as she'd been before, but definitely too high up for her to jump down. She studied the cliff face and gave her own bright smile.

"Oh, that's no problem. They're are plenty of hand and foot holes and you can float down with my bag! You can handle my bag right? I'm sure it doesn't weigh that much!" Shippo seemed hesitant of this plan, especially when Kagome dragged the bag over and placed it in front of him.

"Kagome, your bag is really heavy."

"And I don't want to be here anymore. I didn't expect Kouga to ever try and kidnap me after the first time, so I don't want to stay and hear his explanation. I just want to get back to the others and make sure no one else was wounded during the fight." Kagome stopped and frowned. "Why is my shoulder healed up anyway?"

"Botan has healing powers." Shippo explained as he eyed Kagome's bag dubiously.

"Oh. She never said anything about that!" Kagome sighed, then glanced down crouched down, easing her feet down and slowly going down a few feet. She looked up at Shippo.

"Come on Shippo, maybe you'll see someone as you float down." Kagome grinned at him encouragingly and he took a deep breath, pushing her bag off the edge while holding onto it, suddenly changing and floating down. Faster than she was climbing, but not fast enough to injure him.

Kagome sighs in relief. 'Oh good. I almost thought that maybe he wouldn't have been able to bring the bag with him, even with his baby demon strength. Looks like my doubts are put to rest.'

Even as she said that their was a suddenly shriek and she stopped climbing down to look in horror as Shippo suddenly plummeted towards the ground, in his own form. Kagome's hand reached out for him, since he had only been a bit lower than she had. She seemed to have forgotten she was holding onto a wall at the time.

Shippo heard another shriek besides his, and his eyes widened even as he fell himself. Kagome was falling too! Then, there was a blur, and none of them were falling. In fact, he and Kagome's bag were on top of Kagome. Kagome's eyes were wide and frightened, and blue met blue as Kouga's cocky grin came into view.

"You shouldn't have done that Kagome. Next time I might not be there to catch you."

Kagome closed her eyes, her breath a bit shaky. To think after all the demons they'd fought, it had almost ended simply because she hadn't held onto a cliff. She looked up at Kouga as she spoke, and nodded. "Maybe not Kouga, but... Well, can you put me down a minute? Down here, not in the cave."

Kouga frowned, but let her down. Shippo hopped a few feet a way and watched as Kagome calmly put her bag down, then turned to Kouga, the look in her eyes surprising Kouga. He stepped back a couple of feet, looking at her warily. "Kouga, I'm very thankful you caught me, but do you know why I was climbing down in the first place?"

Kouga looked confused at the anger in her voice and slowly shook his head. "Because you kidnapped me you idiot!"

Kagome's fierce glare sent Kouga back another few steps and Kagome took the time to look around, her eyes widening at the time. The sun was already beginning to set! It had been morning when the demon's had attacked.

"But Kagome, dog-turd wasn't protecting you! You were hurt! They healed it up somehow, but I could still smell the blood where it happened! I was protecting you!" Kouga protested.

"What right did you have to make that choice for me?" Kagome shrieked at him, emotions boiling over at her naive kidnapping friend.

"I think she has a point there, wolf. You really shouldn't have taken her from us," came the growl from the shadows of the trees nearby. A mushroom in the hanyou's hand made a noise and Inuyasha grinned at Shippo.

"Looks like they were useful this time, eh kit?" Shippo looked confused at the lack of brat, but both his and Kagome's eyes narrowed at the bruises on him. Bruises that looked hours old, and with hanyou healing should have been healing up. They were light bruises, but light bruises shouldn't be showing at all.

Kagome clenched her teeth when the others came out, Botan alternating glares between Inuyasha and Yusuke and she could see the edge of a bandage that was on Yusuke's shoulder. "Gee, here I was about to ask how no one noticed me being kidnapped."

Yusuke flinched but Inuyasha seemed to ignore it as everyone's attention focused on her and Kouga. "You had no right to take her out of our camp, wolf."

The cool voice came from behind him and Kouga turned, only to find the voice had moved. "Why they are even your ally is hard to figure out."

Kouga snarled, but was frustrated when all he saw was a black blur. "You offer no special skills, and are more of a hindrance than a help."

The blur stopped moving and Kouga was shocked to find a sword at his neck, held by a small demon with crimson eyes that were narrowed to slits as they looked at him in disgust.

Kagome grabbed her bag and went to stand besides Sango and Botan. She stared at Kouga and Hiei, but for once decided not to interfere with demon fights. She turned her back on the two and directed a narrowed-eyed glance towards Yusuke and Inuyasha, but once again her eyes caught the bruises on Inuyasha. Demons didn't bruise. In fact, the only time it took more than a few minutes for Inuyasha to heal from scratches or bruises were on new moon nights.

Kagome's eyes widened in realization and her head jerked up as she stared at the slowly darkening sky. That made more sense now. As the day wore on his demon powers became sluggish, so he had probably been midway through healing when they slowed down.

Kagome almost swore then caught herself and nudged Sango. Sango looked at her questioningly, and worriedly, checking her over for any new wounds. Kagome rolled her eyes and simply pointed upwards then nodded towards Inuyasha. Sango frowned, but connected it and then slapped a palm against her face, turning all attention to the girls.

"What's going on?" Yusuke asked suspiciously. Botan looked confused while both Sango and Kagome briefly looked at Inuyasha. In return, Inuyasha growled warningly. Kagome's eyes narrowed and she directed her best glare in Inuyasha's direction.

"Um, what's with the growling?" Kuwabara asked, looking around to make sure there weren't any demons around. He frowned, watching the raven-haired girl face down the white-haired half demon.

"Hey, dog-turd, what's up with you and my woman?" Kouga asked in similar confusion, sniffing the air to determine there was no danger. Inuyasha froze as Kouga's jaw dropped in shocked realization. Then he grinned.

"At least now I won't have a dog scent stuck in my nose. I'll be back tomorrow to fight for my woman. When you're up for one." Confused silence from the Spirit Detectives and nervous silence from the shard hunters was left behind as Kouga left in a whirlwind of dust and leaves.

"That wasn't the reaction I thought he'd have." Kagome muttered as she tried to come to terms that her kidnapper become friend become kidnapper again had just sniffed out Inuyasha's greatest secret and thought it was no big deal.

"Reaction to what?" Kurama asked in a puzzled tone, exchanging glances with the other detectives. Hiei had sheathed his sword when Inuyasha and Kagome had begun glaring at each other, but he knew he would see the wolf again and show him that his speed was useless if he couldn't use it properly.

Silence answered Kurama as one by one the shard hunters turned to look at Inuyasha expectantly. His ears flattened to his head as he briefly looked at the sky and winced. He had about half an hour before they'd see what the problem was if he didn't tell them now. Sullenly, Inuyasha bared his teeth at his own group.

Kagome sighed but left it alone this time. It was his secret. Miroku stepped forward this time and refused to meet Inuyasha's gaze as he looked over the Spirit Detectives thoughtfully. "How much do you know about hanyous?"

"What's to know? They're half demon's, have some of the traits of the demons, some of the human, there's not much to them." Suspicion creeped into Yusuke's voice even as he spoke, trying to study Inuyasha out of the corner of his eye.

"Blood. At certain times their demon blood recedes and they turn human, and I believe that their demon blood can also take over sometimes," Kurama said while studying Inuyasha.

"So what does this have to do with all the looks and that demon's weird comment?" Yusuke asked in exasperation. Hiei and Kurama exchanged knowing glances when Inuyasha growled again.

"He's not healing." Kuwabara said suddenly. "Or, he is, but like one of us. And he stopped following the scent at the end, using Shippo's mushrooms instead."

A few shocked looks were pointed in Kuwabara's direction at his acute observation while Inuyasha grudgingly gave in to the looks he was getting from his companions. "Damn it. Fine, it's my fucking human night, ok?"

After a few moments of silence, Kagome suddenly giggled. "Your mouth is going to make a nice fly trap if you don't close it Yusuke."

Yusuke's mouth closed with a snap, but he continued staring at Inuyasha. The half dog-demon stared right back, showing fangs that wouldn't be there in a few minutes. Yusuke was thrown for a loop. All right, perhaps it wasn't that surprising, but the hanyou had seemed as untouchable as he had. For him to be human for a night would weaken him. Yusuke jerked his gaze back to Kagome. "Does Naraku know? Did he attack this morning because of that?"

Kagome shook her head, but at the same time her attention seemed only half on Yusuke as she gazed thoughtfully at the caves above their heads. "No, he doesn't know, or we'd probable be long dead. Not to say we're totally defenseless on these nights, but before we could barely hold back Naraku's attack when we were all at full strength. Besides, he would have attacked tonight if he knew, Inuyasha was still hanyou this morning. Only when the new moon is out at night does Inuyasha begin to turn human. Or, when it's not out I guess. When the sun totally goes down he'll be fully human. Hey, do you think Kouga would mind if he used those caves for the night? He's not using them."

Yusuke shot a glance towards Inuyasha. "Aren't you hunted just for being a hanyou? How'd you survive?" Yusuke asked curiously. The three girls exchanged glances at Inuyasha's snarl and Kagome gave an exasperated sigh and clapped her hands together.

"Alright, that's it, everyone up the cliff. We're making sure that nothing bad happens tonight. No giant man-eating demon spiders, no evil swords, nothing! We're going to stay in those caves until daybreak, and Inuyasha, you're sleeping as far away from the entrance as possible. If any thing's going to happen to you, it would happen tonight. Now get up before you lose your strength too and we have to carry you."

"You sure you want to go back up Kagome? You fell last time." Shippo piped up worriedly. Everyone turned to stare at Kagome.

"You fell? Can't you stay out of trouble for a moment?" Yusuke paused as everyone turned to glare at him and Inuyasha pointedly. "Forget I asked that," Yusuke muttered.

"I was trying to escape! It's not my fault he kidnapped me while I was asleep, it's his stupid one-track mind's fault." Kagome said sulkily. "Now, up everyone. Bad things tend to happen on this night, let's not have them happen today."

Sango and Botan exchanged quick glances, surprised at their friend's behavior. After being kidnapped they should be making sure she was all right, not the other way around.

"Kagome? Are you all right?" Botan asked as everyone else started up, either via their special powers or a lift from Kirara.

Kagome watched everyone go up and exhaled quietly, shaking her head slightly. "I don't know. The kidnapping and all the planning, it's really just a way to take my mind away from what happened. I can't believe Kikyou would do that! Kill me and then take my soul maybe, but have Naraku do it?"

"Why don't we go up Kagome? You still look tired."

"Yeah, but not yet. I need a bath, this outfit is ruined. It looks like I'll be back to using my school uniform." Kagome sighed and started going through her back for her uniform.

"Your school uniform? Can't we simply wash that outfit?" Botan asked. Kagome raised an eyebrow and pointed to her shoulder, where Naraku's tentacle had gone through.

"Nope. I'll be fine; I just need a good bath. There should be one somewhere around here..."

"It's down that way," a voice beneath them chirped. Kagome and Botan looked down to see a grinning Shippo. Bright green eyes looked up and he nodded behind him.

"Sango wanted to know too, so I sniffed one out. Can I come too? I'll smell demons long before any come!" Shippo looked up pleadingly and the two girls sighed and agreed.

Once the three had found Sango, they carefully crept off to the hot springs, convincing Kuwabara and Kirara to cover for them somehow.

"You do realize that we're leaving our cover stories with a not very clever teenage boy and a fire cat, right? It won't take long for the boys to realize that all three of the girls and the smallest member of their group is gone Kagome." Botan grinned as Kagome blushed and shrugged.

"Maybe it's not the brightest idea, but I need a nice bath. Besides, if we're lucky they'll all be too busy waiting for Inuyasha to change that they won't even notice that all of us are gone." Even Shippo gave her a disbelieving look at this. Kagome sighed, but all three girls forgot about the boys back in the caves when they saw the hot spring.

A few minutes later all three girls and Shippo were in the hot spring. Shippo seemed to find just sitting and talking boring, and proceeded to paddle around the spring. All three girls jumped for weapons when Shippo shrieked.

"Please desist in yipping kitsune. If I was going to attack you and the females, you would be dead." Kagome and Sango stared as Sesshoumaru stood at one end of the hot spring, a small and very dirty girl holding onto his hand.

"Rin?" Kagome questioned. A toothy grin was her answer and suddenly the girl was flying into the water.

"Please escort her in that direction after she is clean. I will leave clothes for her. Good day miko, taijya, spirit guide." The demon lord wheeled about and left the four shard hunters with a dirty and giggling human girl. Kagome sighed.

"Does he really think he can just order us around like that? And how did he know what I am?" Botan glared in the direction the demon lord had gone in. "And how can he just barge in on us while we're naked and not apologize?"

"Yes, and because he's Sesshoumaru to the last two. She was dirty and he probably doesn't want to clean her himself. And Jaken probably refuses to do it. Sometimes I think he seeks us out whenever Rin's dirty just so he doesn't have to deal with a dirty child." Kagome sighed and helped Rin clean off.

"As for walking in on us naked, I doubt he noticed. We're human, and you're at least in human form. He's not interested by a long shot. He'd rather see us as prey than see us like that." Sango grabbed some of Kagome's soap and handed it to the miko as she scrubbed Rin clean.

"Sesshoumaru-sama doesn't like it when Rin is dirty! He put Rin with Kagome-sama so Rin can be clean again!" Rin said cheerily as the last of the dirt was washed from her.

"If he doesn't like humans, why does he have one traveling with him? And why would he leave her with us?" Botan asked in annoyance.

"He trusts Kagome. Or, more like it, he knows Kagome's to honorable to do anything to Rin. Rin likes Kagome, so he drops her off. Besides, Rin's fun to play with!" Shippo dunked Rin under the water, soon finding her returning the favor.

Sango sighed. "So much for a relaxing bath."

"Why does he trust Kagome?" Botan questioned.

"Long story involving me getting more lucky than any one person should be. Eventually it comes to that I saved Rin a couple of times from demons one day. Now I have baby-sitting duties when Lord High and Mighty's in the area. Lets him go kill things without interference too." Kagome got out and donned her school uniform as the others got dressed.

"Let's go take Rin back to Sesshoumaru," Sango said with a weary sigh.

"I can't believe Inuyasha lets you guys do these things Kagome!" Botan exclaimed as they traveled, Shippo in one of Kagome's arms, Rin 's hand in her other hand.

"He doesn't know. He's never gotten a good enough whiff of Rin to identify her scent and I cover it up." Kagome shrugged at Botan's shocked expression.

"Girl. Release Rin. I am here." Rin immediately slipped her hand out of Kagome's and went spinning around Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru's narrowed eyes surveyed the other three females and one kitsune, then spoke once more. "If you and the rest of your mixed group manage to make it before I kill him, I will see you at Naraku's castle."

Then they were gone again and Kagome sighed. "Arrogant much? No thank you? Fine. Dog demons are so hard to understand."

When the girls and one kitsune managed to climb back into the cave, instantly there were calls. Two very loud ones.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Yusuke and Inuyasha roared in unison. Botan rolled her eyes and walked primly passed the boys, ignoring the glares she got from the rest of the Spirit Detectives. Sango and Kagome followed her, refusing to allow the boys to stop them. Or, that's how it was for Sango anyway.

Inuyasha reached for Kagome, but was beat by Yusuke, who dragged her off to a section of the front cave where he got yell at her in moderate privacy. Inuyasha glared, then winced. Kuwabara looked up at the sigh of the hanyou and stared at what he saw. "Wow, you really look different don't you?"

"Keh," Inuyasha muttered uncomfortably under the three scrutinizing looks.

Back in another section of the cave, Yusuke wasn't really doing any talking. He seemed to enjoy glaring at her. A lot. It was making her nervous. Finally she shifted her weight and tried to leave. "Kagome."

Kagome sighed and then sat down. Surprisingly, Yusuke joined her. "Where were you?"

This wasn't fair! He was supposed to yell enough to make her angry, then ask so she could storm away and not tell him in a fit of female rage at overbearing males. "At the hot springs," she mumbled.

Yusuke was silent for about two seconds. "You were where?! With only the other girls and Shippo? What the hell were you thinking? Do you not remembered you were jut kidnapped?"

"I was also dirty and my shirt had blood on it! It was ruined too! I'm sorry for cleaning up after getting a wound through my shoulder and being kidnapped by a wolf demon. I'm sorry for trying to have a few minutes of relaxation!" In fury, Kagome had stood up. Yusuke did the same and reached out one hand and this time brought her to the edge of the cave.

"And do you remember what almost happened when we weren't here? You fell, your own fault, and we weren't here! Getting clean is no excuse for not telling us where you were going," Yusuke said firmly, grip hard on one shoulder. Kagome winced, not from his hand, but the rage in his aura.

"You're right," she said simply.

"Don't you start - Huh?" Yusuke stared blankly at her as Kagome sat down with a sigh on the edge of the cave. He followed her, easing his grip on her shoulder, but not removing it completely. This was, he convinced himself, simply because he wanted to make sure she didn't slip off and fall.

"It was my fault I fell. But, I didn't know when you guys would get here, and I didn't want Kouga shipping me off to the main caves. You'd probably have lost my trail completely, and even if Inuyasha remembered the way there, we're to close to Naraku to risk that." Kagome closed her eyes and shuddered, remembering her two terrors of the day. She was usually more worried about the other than herself, but today had been a big day for seeing how close she herself could come to dying.

"We should have been faster. Shouldn't have let him get in the camp at all. You shouldn't even have gotten injured." Yusuke looked away guiltily.

"You couldn't have stopped that. At least he didn't manage to kill me. I really thought I was going to die. Just a little bit lower and to one side, and then my soul would have been on its way to join Kikyou. Even when it went through my shoulder, I was still terrified, that another tentacle was going to kill me, that I'd never be able to finish the quest, never have the whole Shikon no Tama in my hand, never see my family again, never..." Kagome abruptly trailed off and shook her head. "The funniest things you regret not doing when you think you're about to die."

Yusuke was stunned enough not to keep a grip on her shoulder and she began to stand up and walk away. He shook himself out of it and grabbed her hand, pulling her back down with an angry frown. "We wouldn't have let you die."

"Yusuke, if he had gotten me through the heart-"

"Then we'd have found a way! There's always a way! Always! Don't even think about dying. Ever." Yusuke's tone was final and Kagome sighed. The silence turned thoughtful ad Yusuke mulled over the rest of the scared miko's words.

"What was the other thing?"

"Wouldn't that have to do with thinking about dying?" Kagome asked snidely.

"Nope, with not dying. A thing to live for. What was it?" The anger had left Yusuke as Kagome seemed to gulp and began to blush. He eyed her curiously, his observations telling him this was definitely something he wanted to know.

"N-nothing. It was silly." Kagome looked away, trying to inch away before she realized he was still holding her hand to keep her there from when she'd tried to run.

"Sometimes silly things are the most interesting, eh Kagome?" Yusuke grinned at the deeply embarrassed look on her face. By the indication the blush gave him, he could guess a few different things of what it was. He leaned forward when she continued looking away. "Ah, come on Kagome."

Kagome glanced back at him and found him closer than he had been. And he wasn't going to allow her to evade this any longer. Still, she closed her mouth. "It's embarrassing."

"I can see that by the way your face is now a pretty pink color. You can speak perfectly well Kagome; sometimes you speak too much. A few words couldn't hurt, right?" Yusuke's eyes were triumphant when Kagome sighed.

Before Kagome could get even a syllable out, Kuwabara spoke up as he approached. "Hey! Urameshi, don't you want to see what Inuyasha looks like as..."

Kuwabara paused as he saw the two teenagers staring at him with their faces almost touching. "Hey, what are you guys doing?" he asked suspiciously.

They both looked at each other and then at the position they were in. With a defeated sigh Yusuke let go of Kagome's hand, and she shifted away and got up. "Nothing Kuwabara. I was talking to Kagome."

Kuwabara snickered and started to say something until two angry gazes bored into his head. He winced and nodded. "Right. Talking."

He went backed away and Kagome and Yusuke walked towards Inuyasha. As Kagome split away to go into one of the back caves, Yusuke smirked. "Kagome."

She stopped at the call and looked over her shoulder curiously. "What?"

"We'll finish that conversation later." Yusuke grinned as she glared at him and stomped off, beginning to blush again. He laughed and went to go see where he was bunking, only glancing at Inuyasha's human form for a moment.

"Hey, what conversation?" Inuyasha demanded.

Yusuke ignored him.

"Damn it, just 'cause I'm human doesn't mean I'm deaf!" Inuyasha glared as Yusuke simply turned around and grinned at him, walking on again.

"I think I would have preferred getting attacked," Inuyasha muttered.

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