~*~*~*~* Support *~*~*~*~
Kagome was starting to get bored. They had been whispering in the
corner for an hour now, still under the misunderstanding that she couldn't
hear, trying to decide whether or not she was trustworthy. She couldn't
blame them for being suspicious but still, it wasn't like the were any
closer to a decision then they had been when they started.
"Hey, guys?" Kagome started. Yusuke glanced her way with a look of
suspicion in his eyes. Kuwabara turned to her and stuck out his tongue,
"Oh yeah sure," Kagome began sarcastically, "that's REAL mature, Kuwabara!"
His tongue disappeared and he sent her a last withering glare before
turning back to the rest.
"I don't like her. She seems like she's up to something," Kuwabara
seemed under the impression that he was in charge, "She needs to be checked
out by Koenma's (an: thanks for the spelling) ogre thingies, and then when
they say she's evil or something we can fight her." Kagome gave a wry
smile in the direction of the four boys backs and waited for a reply.
"Hn..." okay.... well, I didn't REALLY say anything about it being a
supportive reply, or for that matter an unsupportive reply... but still...
what does he mean by 'Hn'???
"We're not doing that Kuwabara," Yusuke started, "It's just a little
dramatic. But I don't really trust her either." Yusuke brought his voice
even lower and leaned toward the rest, "I think we should spy on her. See
if we can find any unusual ways that she could have used to find stuff like
what she knows about us. She can't really be smart enough to expect it."
Kagome snorted. Unfortunately, Kurama caught the sound and glanced at her.
"I believe that the girl may have heard us," all four boys turned to
look at Kagome. She smiled sweetly, feigning ignorance.
"Anybody want ramen?" of course, this got the desired response. Hiei
'hn'ed, Yusuke smirked, Kuwabara scowled, and Kurama shook his head
politely before all of them turned back into their regular position.
"Your getting paranoid, Kurama," Yusuke said after a moment. But
Kagome had a feeling that neither of the demons had bought the ignorant
recreation on her face. Kagome was getting tired again.
"Will you guys STOP WHISPERING ALREADY! I have important things to
finish you know! And watching you guys in huddled up in the corner wasn't
one of them!" Kagome finally shouted. All of the boys turned to look at
her. Hiei scowled.
"Stupid ningen thinks..." Kagome was sure the Hiei would have gone
on with the sentence. Adding as much angry curses as possible. That is,
if Kurama hadn't stopped him.
"We are sorry that we have... interrupted whatever it is you had
hoped to accomplish." Removing the hand that he had used to keep Hiei from
advancing on a seemingly 'defenseless' human, he continued, "But I hope you
don't mind me asking, where did you get this information?" Kagome smiled.
Now that somebody had asked nicely for a change...
Kagome sighed. But no... better not risk clueing them into what you
are. Explanations would lead to Genkai-sama and Genkai-sama would
eventually lead to her. And that... oh yes that, would cause more trouble
then explaining to them would avoid. Kagome's shoulders slumped, and she
was sure she looked visibly put out.
"I'm sorry Youko-sama, but I can't allow you to know that. Not until
I've finished what I must," all of them looked surprised for a moment,
excluding the demons of course. Though Kagome knew perfectly well that
they were a little shocked at her change in attitude. But of course, the
orange haired little monkey had to go pull the corks out of bottles he had
not place dealing with, and therefore shattered what little pleasantries
they may have gained had they continued in civil conversation...
"What the HELL do you mean you can't tell us!? It's more our
business to know then yours!" Here Kuwabara stalked over towards Kagome,
"I don't hit girls... But I can still put enough fear in your heart to make
you beg for us to let you tell us what you know!" With this, Kagome
snapped.
"Oh please! I'm am SO sorry to disappoint you, but nothing, short of
dressing in drag, that you could do or say could effect me in anyway!"
Kagome had already jumped up and started backing him into a corner, even
being two heads shorter then he, "I've seen people slaughtered, Kuwabara!
You ever seen that? Seen their blood flow across the ground from a mangled
body laying practically sliced in half on the ground! Have you ever looked
into the eyes of the dead and almost swore you could see the little demons
that try to take the souls of the dead away to hell? I've seen that! I've
been part of the people who bury the dead and say their rights! I've felt
how cold and stiff a child no bigger then my kid brother can feel when
their life has been taken!! How dare you think in any way that I am weak
enough, after working so hard to be strong for those people, to be scared
by the likes of you!"
Everything in the room had gone deathly quiet. Kuwabara was pale.
Yusuke looked sick. Kurama looked understanding. Hiei almost looked
sympathetic. None dared to speak as they watched the small, shaking girl
point angrily at the man she had cornered. They could see the tears in her
eyes. And the faraway look. Both of the demons knew what she was going
through, though neither understood her sadness over it.
Kagome was thinking of the massacred village they had passed just
before Inu Yasha's betrayal and Kagome's departure. Sango hadn't been able
to look at the village without bursting into tears. And Kagome had
instructed Shippo to go with her when she waited outside the village. He
hadn't understood. He had seen massacres before. But Kagome knew that he
had never seen any as bad as this.
Body-parts were strewn randomly across the streets. Only a few
torso's and heads were still attached. Black-red blood had been flowing
down ditches and into the cracks of the earth for hours and were now dry.
What had scared Kagome the most though is that every body they could piece
together seemed to be missing something. A finger, a foot... their eyes...
The body closest to being intact was a child. And what had really
hurt Kagome was the fact that this child was almost a female replica of
Souta. Her black hair was scattered around her head. Her vivid and almost
black eyes seemed to stare beyond this earth, and they were filled with a
terror Kagome almost couldn't handle. Kagome had found the arm and leg
that were missing from her body, and when they finally were pieced together
she realized what was missing.
A slit that went down most of the child's thigh still almost seemed
to bleed. Kagome looked across the severed muscles, horrified at the way
the skin all around the cut seemed empty. The hollow appearance is what
had gotten Kagome's attention, and she had slowly checked. She immediately
ran outside of the hut and turned to a gutter. She retched.
The demons who had done this had taken the child's leg bone.
Kagome was brought back to reality by the hand that had grabbed her
shoulder, spinning her around. She snapped to attention and looked into
the guarded eyes of Hiei. Before she could question what he had done, he
began to speak.
"Things happen, ningen. And they cannot be stopped. Blood will run
and hatred will surge and there's nothing you can do about it. Life throws
fireballs at the ususpecting ones. Help what you can and know that what
you did was all that fate would allow. Life is painful, and only the
strong can deal with it," Hiei was scowling the whole time he spoke, but
Kagome could see the light in his eyes. He was attempting to show her the
harshest of truths, for if she could come to terms with what is reality,
she would thrive in life. She found all of this comforting.
But Kagome noticed with a glance around the room that the other
humans didn't seem to understand. In fact, they almost seemed to think
that she was going to start screaming at them any second because of the
'insensitive' things their demon friend had just thrown at her. Youko...
er.... Kurama as they seem to want to call him seems a lot more interested
in how I will react.
"Your right," Kagome stated after a long pause. Both of the humans
seemed surprised at first. So did Kurama. Hiei had his emotionless mask
on again, but she thought she saw a spark of interest in his eyes. She
turned to Kuwabara and grimaced. "I'm... sorry, that I blew up on you like
that.... But don't take any of that personal! I still think your a baka
ni... a clueless baka and don't think I won't point it out to you!" She
almost smiled when she saw the expression on his face. He seemed half
thankful and half ready to explode and scream at her just how great a ugly
baka could be.
Before he could answer, Kagome turned to the others and smiled.
"Despite the fact that you guys seem very interested in the answers
to why I know about you peoples lives, I think it's best if you leave. My
mother should be here soon and I'd rather not explain why I've got two
demons sitting at my dinner table," for some reason, this excuse seemed to
work better then any other she had used.
"We'd still like to talk to you about what you know though! So don't
try to leave town!" Yusuke yelled. Kagome rolled her eyes. Oh, she
wouldn't leave town, she just wouldn't stay in the same century.
"Oh I won't. How about you guys meet me back here in oh, say two
weeks?" Kagome tried.
"Three days!" Yusuke snapped.
"Ten days?" Kagome tried.
"Three!" Kagome sighed.
"Look, I can't talk to you for at least a week," Kagome hoped she'd
have even that much time. If she couldn't find Naraku right away who knew
how much it would take.
"Fine, then exactly a week!" Yusuke was starting to get on her
nerves.
"I have a private doctors appointment in a week. Day after that I'm
staying with my uncle, and yes he lives in town. I may be able to squeeze
you in that night but I wouldn't bet even a buck on that deal. I think
your best chance to work with is in ten days. I'm staying here alone for
about six hours while my brothers at camp and my mother and Gii-chan are
staying at my aunts house in England. Will you settle for them?" It was
pretty obvious Kagome was ticked off, so Yusuke didn't try his luck
anymore. Grumbling a, 'fine, wench,' he shuffled out the door. Followed
by Kuwabara, Kurama, and last of all Hiei. Before he closed the door he
cast one more look at Kagome, which she secretly caught, before closing the
door and disappearing after his team-mates.
Kagome sighed. I guess I'll wait another night before I leave. I
have a feeling I should.