Kagome sat on the rim of the well, gazing at the trees around her and
the twilight sky above her. She glanced at the path way in front of her
from time to time, hoping to see the familiar kitsune staring at her, but
he hadn't gotten there yet. Kagome thought back to the day when she had
first learned that the well was a lot different then she thought. The day
she first learned how to control it's true power.
~* memory*~
Kagome had, once again, just been in a fight with Inu Yasha on
whether or not she was allowed to go home. He had blatantly denied letting
her go, and she had left some obvious death threats hanging in the air. It
had all gone pretty normally until she called him an idiot, that's when he
decided to throw some pretty nasty comparisons between her and Kikyo into
the fight.
The prayer beads had, once again, proved an important ally to the
teenage girl, and a dangerous enemy to Inu Yasha, who then found himself in
a ten foot deep crater. Kagome had felt tears of both sorrow and rage
swell up in her eyes and, preferring not to let him see how he affected her she jumped into the well.
When the swirling blue and pink lights surrounded her, Kagome once
again noticed the stars that seemed to float in the abyss around her. But
this time, she also noticed the little marks on the faces of the twinkling
spheres. She looked at the stars and noticed that no two where the same.
One in particular caught her eye.
On the face of this particular jewel was an elaborate picture of a
rose. There was a clawed hand holding the rose gingerly, as if it was the
greatest treasure in the world. The sharp claws seemed almost like they
could cut through the world itself, and yet they didn't even scratch the
roses petals. What caught her attention, though, was how realistic it all
appeared. The whole picture was gray and yet you could almost see the
tinge of pink in the petals and the fleshy color on the hand.
Without really knowing what she was doing, Kagome reached out and
grasped the flower star. Just as her fingers enclosed on the star, she
felt her body heat sore as it did when she was just about to appear on the
wells other side, and a bright light surrounded her. She pulled her free
hand up to cover her eyes, but just as her hand reached her face, the light
disappeared, and Kagome felt her feet hit solid ground.
Looking up, Kagome saw something that she had definitely not
suspected.
Where' s the well house? Kagome spent several moments gazing at the
canopy above her. Hardly any sun shone through the leaves. The well...
it... it didn't let me through?! What happened? Did something go wrong?
Maybe it was just some sort of mistake.
Kagome began to climb out, figuring that she could jump back in again
and go home. But about half way up, she began to hear the sounds of metal
clashing on metal. She knew that noise. It was a sword fight. What if
it's Inu Yasha? He'd just tell me to get out of the way anyway... Kagome
decided to wait out the fight where she was, latched securely on the vines
of the well.
She occasionally heard a snatch of some sort of conversation, but
most of it didn't make sense. They said things like 'you didn't deserve
such a beautiful gem anyway,' and 'you haven't the right to say that!'.
She soon heard something that made her nervous though. One called the
other thief. 'Thief' called the other Sir, but neither 'Sir' nor 'thief'
sounded remotely familiar. Kagome caught herself wishing sincerely that
whoever won this duel would be friendly. She didn't really like the idea
of being cut up right now.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Kagome didn't have to wait long before
the sounds of the swordfight ended abruptly when a scream of agony sliced
through the air. She cringed when she heard the scream turn to a gurgle,
and then fade into nothing. The thud told her that the loser had fallen,
and she said a silent prayer for the mans soul.
She silently began to climb the vines but stopped a couple of feet up
when the sound of a conversation reached her ears.
"I don't think I'll ever understand why you insist to fight these
weaklings in their own way instead of just killing them right off and
getting them out of the way..." Kagome was already starting to think that
maybe the good guy didn't win.
"I do it," that was thief's voice, "simply to prove that I can.
Whether or not you understand my methods has nothing to do with it."
Through the scorn, Kagome could almost hear the smirk in his voice.
"I'm sorry, sire... that was disrespectful of me," the voice of the
first man had become humble.
"Yes. It was. But no matter, general, just take this body and get
rid of it."
"Yes, Master Youko," Kagome listened to the man leave, and then
pondered on that name. Youko... where have I heard that name before... it
was in my time I think...
~*~*~*~* flashback *~*~*~*~
A red-head walked down the side walk staring ahead with a blank
expression. Kagome was walking several feet behind him, along with half
the school and anyone else who lived in this part of the city. She made
any glances she took of him look casual, and tried to altogether avoid
glancing at the other demon who seemed to be following him.
She knew that there were at least four other demons in the dozens of
people behind her, all seemed to be following the same people she was. She
could sense the creatures behind her, and slowly maneuvered herself to a
hearing distance of them. Kagome kept herself insignificant, and listened
to the conversation they were having.
"Your an idiot, Kurome! How can this boy possibly be Youko! He's a
ningen for the gods sake!" one voice hissed.
"I didn't say he was Youko I just said that he smells like him..."
Kurome replied.
"How the heck would you know! He disappeared when you were nothing
but a guppy!?" Guppy? Kagome had to hold in her giggling. Are these guys
fish or frog demons? And what the heck are they doing in Tokyo?... The
voice who had said this seemed to be female, but she couldn't quite tell.
"My father said he smelled like rain and rose petals..." Kurome
finished.
"Rain and rose petals? What a girly smell..." This was a new voice,
and Kagome already knew he was probably the true idiot of the group.
"Rain and rose petals? Rain and rose petals!" The first voice
hissed, "There are hundreds of people that smell like rain or rose petals!
And some are even Youkai! How can you possibly be so sure of this one?!"
"He doesn't look like an ordinary human..." Kurome was loosing the
argument.
"Youko was a legendary thief! Nobody could beat him! He made
himself a legend, and you think this... this ningen is somehow connected to
him just because he doesn't 'look like an ordinary human'!!! You are
wasting me time Kurome!" And with that, the four dispersed.
~*~*~*~* two months later*~*~*~*~
Kagome searches through dozens of books of legends and myths. Hardly
anything is mentioned about a demon thieve named Youko but there is enough
to tell her about what all happened to the demons. She found hidden web-
sites on the internet that told her of the spirit and demon realms. She
found enough here to get herself the knowledge she needed to find out about
Youko.
She eventually found a portal to the spirit realm. After dawning a
cloak and covering her human scent and aura, she let herself in to the
cities local library. It didn't take her long to find hundreds of scrolls
on the notorious thief Youko Kurama. He had stolen most of the most
brilliant jewels in his time, building an army to follow him in his
adventures.
Kagome found herself amazed at his many jobs. He had seemed to
prefer the more difficult jobs. He passed over the seemingly impossible
guards with a supreme type of ease that brought shame to most all of those
who were hired to make them protected. He was clever, devious, and
incredibly good at what he did. He never seemed to do anything without
being fully prepared.
Kagome was strangely put out when she found out his fate. He was
separated from his men during his last job, which appeared to have been a
set trap. He was then ambushed, and killed. She spent the rest of her
night reading about what had happened over the last couple of years. She
had visited that same library once a week from then on, keeping track of
what was going on in the spirit world, and slowly learning about what was
common knowledge here.
~*~*~*~* end flashback *~*~*~*~
All of these memories had come to Kagome in the space of three
seconds, and she gasped as she realized three things. One, she was only
about a hundred years in the past instead of five hundred. Two, the man
above her was a thief and possible killer. Three, she had just come across
a man of legend, one who most likely didn't like humans.
But Kagome realized her mistake too late, and only when she heard the
exiting footsteps of the kitsune thief stop. Slapping her hand to her
mouth, she covered her aura over and pulled herself into the shadows.
She heard his footsteps approach the well, and then saw the vines
grow and then shrink to help in him into it. She used a little more of her
miko gift to make her own body camouflage with the well's wall. Hoping to
the gods it had worked, Kagome watched as his body descended, and felt her
breath catch in her throat at his beauty.
Youko stopped descending when he was only a few inches in front of
her. He leaned his face forward, sniffing the air around him and
unfortunately putting his nose only about four centimeters away from hers.
Kagome mentally slapped herself when she realized that she had chosen this
time to realize that the youkai month ago had been right, Youko did smell
of rain and rose petals.
Kagome felt her heart speed up as he leaned even closer, close enough
that she could feel his breath on her lips. She ignored all this in favor
of fear, though, when it seemed his eyes locked with hers. Doubling her
efforts in camouflaging her body, she was relieved when the vines retreated
and he jumped over the well's rim. Kagome waited a few minutes after his
footsteps faded into the distance before repeating his actions, minus the
help of the vines.
When Kagome did pull herself from the well she realized that she must
be in the Makai. Not only because of the strangely colored sky but also
because of the shape of the trees. She shrugged, trying desperately to
ignore the blueish demon blood on the ground by distracting herself. Makes
sense that I'm in the Makai. How else could I run into Youko Kurama?
As soon as those thoughts entered her mind, they were thrown out to
make space for new ones as a hand slid around her waist and roughly pulled
her into a rock hard chest. She gasped as a clawed hand came up to her
throat and pressed against the skin, a basic threat to do whatever your
told.
"Very clever ningen. Though you forgot to suppress your scent..." A
voice drawled in her ear, causing shivers to go up her spine. Youko had
not fallen for her little trick after all then. The claw pressed harder
when his voice came back to her, "But tell me, how could a ningen use such
magic. Tell me quickly, I have little patience when it comes to what I
want."
~*~*~*~* end memory *~*~*~*~