THE PROTECTOR
Higurashi Kagome twisted her head and saw that a youkai, one of Naraku's numerous offspring, was at her heels. With eyes of bloodlust and saliva seeping from the mouth, it was a terrifying sight to behold. There was no doubt that it had carnivorous tendencies and she was its chosen repast.

Tempering her morbid fascination of the beast, she made herself to look elsewhere and continued racing through InuYasha's Forest. Having lost her bow in an earlier scuffle, she could not offer opposition, so she kept running and prayed for the best.

It was commonplace for her hanyou guardian, InuYasha, to make an apropos appearance when situations similar to this arose. She realized, however, that there would be no fortuitous arrival on this occasion because he was otherwise engaged.

Kagome was left to fend for herself.

Her fist reflexively tightened around an etiolated jewel. A jewel that her companions and she had dedicated the last two years of their lives in assembling piece by precious, burdensome piece. The Jewel of Four Souls. Shikon no Tama.

Today was the first time since her fifteenth birthday that the Shikon no Tama was whole. More importantly, it was whole and with her where she intended it to remain.

Like so many instances ere, she was fortune's favored and, in her aimless flight, happened upon Hone Kui no Ido - the gateway between modern Tokyo and Sengoku Jidai, also known as the Bone Eater's Well. Her hopes soared. All she had to do was reach it and she was home-free, literally.

Guilt enveloped her at contemplating abandoning her friends who were currently combating Naraku and his minions in Kaede-baa-chan's village. Leaving them to deal with the threat just seemed... dishonorable. Nonetheless, there was no alternative. Her primary responsibility was the Shikon no Tama. She had to keep it from Naraku for everyone's sake. For the sake of those in the past and those in the future.

The youkai was practically breathing down her throat when Kagome scaled the well and set for transport. Peering over her shoulder, she briefly locked gazes with her ardent pursuer. She permitted herself to jump and a taunting victory smile tugged at her lips amidst descent.

Her victory celebration was to be fleeting.

As the enchanted well engulfed her, she noticed that an energy ball had been hurled in her direction and was closing in fast. She was shocked to see that it was traveling through the portal with her. With dawning horror she gathered that she would not get out of this predicament unscathed for, when she landed on the other side, there would be no dodging the lethal orb. The blast would hit her dead-on. Dead being the operative word. Kami, she was going to die.

The only solace to be found was that the Shikon no Tama was with her and safe from Naraku.

* * *
A middle-aged woman and older man, presumably the woman's father, were on their knees excavating the wreckage that had been their well house. It was apparent that the pair was hunting for something. Rather, someone, a veiled bystander amended when a beseeching wail rent the air, "Kagome!"

Whereas most would sympathize at the distraught couples' plight, Hiei watched with detachment. He cared little for the casualties and more for the causation. His instructions were to ascertain why the well had exploded and, subsequent to the explosion, why a backlash of reiki had been unleashed. Immense power that had been felt throughout Makai and Reikai, inducing an uproar in the inhabitants.

"That tree-" Kurama pointed, indicating which he meant, and faltered.

The falter earned a sidelong glance from the Koorime outcast. "What?"

"It's... calling me."

From anyone else, Hiei would have declared the comment absurd. His partner was not merely anyone though. If he said the tree talked, the tree talked. "Hn."

"Goshinboku."

The God Tree.

Both of their interests were piqued and they surreptitiously made their way across the grounds to better inspect Goshinboku. It required minimal exertion to stay concealed from the mourning ningens. Consumed by their sorrow, they had attention for nothing beyond the debris of the decimated well house. Neither was in any state to detect the otherworldly presences trespassing on their property.

Again, the wail for "Kagome" filtered to them. There was still no reply.

Halting at their destination, Kurama flattened his palm on Goshinboku and concentrated. As he attempted to mentally converse with the tree and discover whether or not it had any connection to the recent power surge, Hiei rounded and physically examined it. In the course of his scrutiny, he was brought up short. His countenance flickered in surprise.

He hated being surprised.

A teenage girl slumbered against the base of the tree. Her rest would have been construed as peaceful had she not been attired in a tattered green and white uniform that barely covered her battered form. So battered that her facial features were indistinguishable due to bruising and swelling. If it had not been for the rise and fall of her chest, he would have assumed she was deceased. Reiki was inherent in all ningens, varying in degree, yet, peculiarly, not her. How was that possible?

"Kurama-"

"Goshinboku's silent now," Kurama simultaneously remarked.

"Kurama," Hiei repeated. "Here."

Kurama joined him, demonstrating no outward sign of startlement at spying the girl. His troubled tone belied the composed fa�ade, "She's alive with no reiki. This has to be why Goshinboku beckoned us."

The reikai tantei did not appreciate that such a creature existed, ningen or no. Without reiki to trace and if properly trained, she would be capable of taking the strongest of youkai unaware, including themselves. It was a disturbing prospect.

Another wail for "Kagome" resounded.

"The ningens aren't planning on giving up their search for a while. We should transfer the girl to Reikai for healing and interrogation."

At Hiei's nod, the red-haired youkai incarnate crouched and cautiously hefted her into his arms. She moaned in protest but did not rouse. Shifting for comfort, her clenched hand settled itself directly above her heart as she dozed.

"Konnichiwa, Kagome," Kurama greeted and commenced walking.

* * *
Never before had I seen the baboon pelt absent from Naraku. It was unfair for a vile, unconscionable monster to be that attractive is my initial coherent thought. He ensnares me by the scruff of the neck and I freeze in abject terror, all thoughts of his attractiveness dissipating. Indeed, his maniacal glare alone makes him quite unappealing.

I cringe when he touches the curve of my breast, idling prior to edging upwards and wrenching the handmade necklace supporting my kakeras. If he combined my kakeras with his, the Shikon no Tama would be restored.

This was bad. Real bad.

The urge to weep and concede defeat was almost overpowering. With the Shikon no Tama in his custody, how could he be stopped? For once, I maintain control of my wayward emotions, understanding that it is crucial to have my wits about me should there to be an opportunity to retake the jewel.

InuYasha was going to be furious with me. If I had not defied his order to hide, none of this would have occurred. My excuse for disobeying is, as always, sentimental - observing a massive amount of youkai bombarding Kaede-baa-chan's village, the community that had warmly welcomed me, obligation drew me into the fray. I had to help them.

Oh, how I should have listened to InuYasha.

In truth, I have attended plenty of battles. A greater truth is that I am by no means a seasoned warrior. More often than not, I was a spectator at these battles, not a participant. My lack of battle skills led to an effortless capture for Naraku.

Why had I not listened to InuYasha? Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.

Speaking of whom... InuYasha must have a sixth sense of when I am in danger. There was no other explanation. Only seconds after I was in Naraku's grasp, the earth trembled from Tessaiga's wrath. Kaze no Kazu, wound of the wind, created a path to my captor and I.

InuYasha angrily strode forth and there was no blustering or posturing, as per norm, when confronting his nemesis. "Return what's mine."

He was determined to reclaim what he deemed rightfully his - the Shikon no Tama and me.

"Kukukuku." Naraku had no intention of relinquishing either. Using me as a shield, he withdrew his portion of the Shikon no Tama and was on the verge of uniting them with the kakeras previously pilfered.

At this juncture, InuYasha became indecisive. Allow Naraku to complete the jewel or attack and risk harming me, those were his options.

I tried to make his decision easier. "InuYasha, you baka, do it!"

My beloved emitted a grief-stricken howl at the command and charged with Inutaisho's fang. Holding it aloft, he was prepared to strike knowing that there was no way to come into contact with Naraku besides going through me. I was to be sacrificed for the good of the world.

This is the end...

Kagome awoke with a gasp. Her body ached in all the wrong places, meaning everywhere. Was this hell? Cracking a lid to view her surroundings, she was distressed to find a stoic, three-eyed youkai staring at her.

She screamed.

* * *
Hiei tuned out Kuwabara and Yusuke�s ranting about a ningen teacher, Iwamoto, detaining them from accompanying Kurama and he to investigate the reiki incident site. Instead of listening to their insignificant prattle, he was absorbed with studying the girl they had stumbled upon at Sunset Shrine. Probing her mind at Koenma�s behest, he received flashes of a hanyou, houshi, taijiya, neko-youkai, and child kitsune. Overshadowing these five was an evil entity ruthlessly seeking the-

She revived before he could delve further and, in a blink, their case was solved. Reiki-less no longer, she was irrefutably who (or what) they had been tracking. The raw power emanating from her rendered the reikai tantei speechless

Unfortunately, she had no such vocal impediment. When her vision cleared and Hiei came into focus, she yelled. The yell�s high pitch resonated the containment cell, impairing Kurama and his enhanced youkai hearing.

Yusuke, despite his apprehension of the vast reiki, facetiously noted, "Well, at least her lungs work. Even if the rest of her isn�t at a hundred percent."

"InuYasha," she rasped. "I want InuYasha."

InuYasha? Dog demon?

Hiei, intuit to Koenma�s approach, stepped aside and gave him wide berth to their prisoner. Pleasantries were not exchanged. "Who are you?"

The bedraggled girl warily looked from Koenma to the remainder of their motley crew. She showed no astonishment at being interrogated by a tot, signifying that she was accustomed to the abnormal. Intriguing.

Her fist constricted at the inquiry of her identity and Kurama, being one for details, spotted the action. "Her hand. Check it."

"No," she pitiably refused when Hiei advanced. "Don�t."

Resolute to unravel the mystery she presented, he latched on to her arm and pried rigid fingers loose. A luminous jewel lied in the cusp. As soon as he caught a glimpse of the bauble, a purification beam was discharged from her free hand. The beam roughly propelled him into a wall and caused momentary disorientation.

She had surprised him again.

Regaining his footing, Hiei was braced to pounce. Koenma�s sudden directive to stand down was all that saved her misbegotten life. He impatiently awaited the Reikai prince�s reasoning for defending the ama. He wanted answers and he wanted answers now.

Gawking at the jewel, Koenma implored, "Say that isn�t what I think it is."

There was a bitter curl to her lips as she unsuccessfully struggled to sit erect on the cell cot. "Okay. It isn�t what you think it is."

"Oh, man. My dad�s going to kill me!"

"He�s going to have to take a number unless you tell us what�s going on," Yusuke grumbled in the background.

Koenma had bigger concerns than Yusuke�s bullying. "Five hundred years. It vanished five hundred years ago. How do you have the Shikon no Tama?"

Hiei and Kurama inhaled sharply at mention of the Shikon no Tama. The jewel was considered a legend by many. A fabrication. Was Koenma correct? Did this slip of a girl have the jewel? Is that why so much reiki radiated from her?

"You�re the miko of the Shikon no Tama, aren�t you?" He insisted. "It isn�t tainted by you. You must be."

"I�m not gettin� any bad vibes from her," Kuwabara supplemented. "It�s as if she�s... pure."

"InuYasha. I want InuYasha."

At this stage, Koenma would not deny the modest request. Whatever the miko of the Shikon no Tama desired. If it would placate her, this InuYasha would be brought in. How hard could it be to fetch a dog demon? "Yes, yes," he promptly agreed. "Where is he?"

A forlorn expression crossed her disfigured visage. "I have no idea."

Sapped, she was close to losing consciousness when Koenma assured, "It doesn�t matter. He�ll be located. What�s your name?"

"Ka. Go. Me."

* * *
This is the end...

        ...or so I believe.

Naraku, is utilizing me as a screen to deter InuYasha. I am his trump card. He is convinced that InuYasha will not forfeit me for the Shikon no Tama.

Ahou.

The concept of self-sacrifice is foreign to him. He does not comprehend that no cost is too steep when it comes to his being vanquished. Those who are impartial would claim that I, a girl from the future, am a small price to pay in achieving this aim.

"Hiraikotsu!"

Sango is not impartial. And it is thanks to her partiality that I am granted a reprieve from martyrdom.

At her war cry, Sango�s sizeable boomerang sails and InuYasha pauses his frontal assault. Her weapon crashes into its designated target - Naraku. He and I collapse from the force of impact. As luck would have it, he suffers the brunt of the blow, which leads him to lose his hold of the jewel and me. Now is my chance.

Shoving at the dazed Naraku, I grab the jewel. Sango and InuYasha shout in accord, "Run!"

"Uhhhn." Kohaku thrusts the sickle of his kusari gama into Sango�s back. Though I was not there to bear witness, I am certain the stab is sickeningly reminiscent of his past betrayal. His past puppeteered betrayal.

I waver, yearning to assist. Miroku then enters the brother-sister conflict by disarming and knocking Kohaku out. He kneels to tend Sango.

Recuperated, Naraku gets up and InuYasha swiftly barricades himself between us to abet my getaway. "Kagome, run!"

Jewel in hand, I do as bade.

* * *
The infant ruler sat at the overlarge desk of his Reikai office and tutored the detectives on the history of the Shikon no Tama and its properties. Everyone was engrossed; Hiei was no exception. His demeanor to the topic was, as usual, indifferent while he intently processed what was being said.

There was a miko warrior, Midoriko, with the ability to extract a youkai�s soul and purify it. Midoriko�s ability was so capacious that she could destroy ten youkai at a time and, on account of this, the youkai feared her. They plotted her demise. The youkai came across a man who coveted Midoriko and possessed him. A battle involving Midoriko and the youkai that had possessed this man raged for seven days and seven nights. On the seventh day, Midoriko was weakened and the youkai began devouring her. Too weak to purify them, in a final act of valor, Midoriko extracted the youkai souls and entrapped them within herself. Afterwards, Midoriko and the youkai perished. The Shikon no Tama was born from their deaths � a sacred jewel that houses the souls of Midoriko and the youkai. A jewel that increases its owner�s strength and can endow its owner with a wish. Inside the jewel, the battle of Midoriko and the youkai persists and, therefore, the jewel can be good or evil. A good soul can purify the jewel and an evil soul can corrupt it.

Yusuke was skeptical. "Let me get this straight. All of that reiki isn�t her? The bulk of it is from that teensy-weensy jewel?"

"Exactly," Koenma confirmed. "And the emission of reiki proves that Kagome-sama is a fitting keeper of the jewel. It�s not tainted by her. If she were evil, the jewel would be corrupted and we would sense youki. Our sensing reiki verifies her goodness."

Kuwabara scratched his head in confusion. "Why don�t we sense anything when she�s asleep? I don�t get it."

"Well, I have a theory..." Koenma pensively trailed off.

Kurama prodded, "The theory being?"

"It�s a defense mechanism. When Kagome-sama is asleep [out of it] she can�t protect the jewel, so her body instinctively cloaks its ki."

Hiei was not buying it. "Your theory�s flawed. It doesn�t explain why we didn�t feel the jewel�s existence before today."

"This isn�t adding up," Yusuke snapped. "We need to wake her and get definite answers."

As one, they pivoted and regarded Kagome clutching the jewel in repose. She had been moved from the containment cell and was now soundly sleeping on a specially acquired futon in the rear of the room. Cleaned and bandaged, her condition was steadily improving. Extra rest was essential for a full recovery and, because of this, Koenma was hesitant to wake her. It was vital she recover quickly.

"We won�t bother her," Koenma decided. "We�ll fulfill the promise to locate this InuYasha and perhaps he can clue us in."

Yusuke's eyes glinted in anticipation. "Maybe I�ll get to beat the info outta him."

"No unnecessary fighting," he was warned. "This is a goodwill mission. We want Kagome-sama as an ally and, if InuYasha is with her, we want him too."

"Urameshi the diplomat," Kuwabara guffawed.

Kurama chuckled. "A public relations nightmare to be sure."

"Hmpf," Yusuke muttered at the jesting. "It�s a simple search and retrieval. Kuwabara couldn�t even mess it up. Quit your bellyaching, toddler. This�ll be a piece of cake."

Famous last words, Hiei thought.

TO BE CONTINUED
TERMS TO KNOW:
Ahou: Moron.
Ama: Bitch.
-baa-chan: Grandmother.
Baka: Idiot.
Goshinboku: The God Tree.
Hanyou: Half-demon.
Hiraikotsu: A large bone boomerang. Primary weapon of Sango.
Hone Kui no Ido: The Bone-Eater's Well. A portal between modern Tokyo and five hundred years in the past, Sengoku Jidai.
Houshi: Monk/Priest.
Jagan: This is the third eye implanted in Hiei's forehead. It enables him to see at great distances, read minds, etcetera.
Kami: God.
Kaze no Kazu: Wound of the Wind. One of Tessaiga's attacks. Others include Bakyruuha, Hijinkessou and Sankontessou.
Kakeras: Shards.
Ki: Spirit power. There are two types: reiki and youki.
Kitsune: Fox.
Konnichiwa: Hello.
Koorime: An ice country in Makai (demon world). Hiei's birthplace.
Kusari Gama: A Japanese sickle that is attached to a chain with a heavy iron weight at the end. The wielder may attack with either the chain or the sickle. The ideal way to use it is to tangle the enemy�s weapon in the chain and then strike or disable with the sickle.
Makai: As in Yu Yu Hakusho, the world of demons.
Miko: Priestess.
Neko-youkai: Cat demon.
Ningen: Human.
Reikai: As in Yu Yu Hakusho, the spirit world.
Reikai Tantei: Spirit detectives.
Reiki: Spirit power that is inherent in denizens of Reikai (spirit world) and Ningenkai (human world). Power levels vary.
-sama: Denotes respect to a person of a higher social class, such as royalty.
Sengoku Jidai: A period of constant civil wars in 15-16th century Japan.
Shikon no Tama: Jewel of Four Souls. It is a powerful, sacred jewel that contains the souls of an ancient warrior, Midoriko, and many demons. To possess even a fragment of the jewel will dramatically increase its owner's strength.
Taijiya: Demon exterminator.
Tessaiga: A sword made from the fang of InuYasha and Sesshoumaru's father, Inutaisho. It is capable of destroying one hundred demons with a single stroke. Types of attacks include the Bakyruuha, Hijinkessou, Kaze no Kazu, and Sankontessou.
Yaro: Bastard.
Youkai: Demon.
Youki: Spirit power that is inherent in demons. Power levels vary.
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