Disclaimers: Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho belong respectively to Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi.

A/N:  Ah... -reaches up and rubs the back of her head-  I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this one to turn out quite this long, but certain things had to happen before it was over and I didn't feel like cutting it in half.  Have to sweeten the pie, ne?  -laughing-  Anyhow, as always I must bow and blow adoring kisses to my reviewers for all their sweet comments and encouragement.  I lost a bet, but it's still worth it to hear that you're having fun with the story.  Enjoy!  ^__~

~*~*~*~

By Any Other Name

~Set in Stone~

            Kagome sighed, tugging ineffectually at the coil of concentrated ki wound over and over around her from her hips up to her ribs, "I'm setting a new record for times kidnapped in a single day, Sesshoumaru."

            "Technically, miko, the only time you may count yourself 'kidnapped' is when someone not within my control attempts to take you out of my reach," he replied matter-of-factly, slippered feet not making a sound as he carried her over his shoulder down the dimly lit hallways of the main house.  "Would such a thing ever occur, I would expect nothing less from you than every effort to free yourself and be waiting patiently for this Sesshoumaru's arrival to return you."

            "I can't move my arms," she pointed out, but the smile on her face carried over into her voice, making it impossible for her to accomplish the scolding tone she tried for.  Even if there was an ungodly amount of disdainful arrogance practically dripping off every word out of his mouth, the fact that he trusted her abilities to that extent proved just how highly he respected her.

            "Moving is not a requirement for you at the present moment."

            Kagome buried her face in the more modern kimono he was wearing, feeling her lips spread in an even wider smile as tears burned behind her closed eyelids, I must be absolutely insane...  I'm actually happy to hear him ordering me around as though not a day has passed.

            "You will also not cry for ridiculous reasons," Sesshoumaru instructed in a bland tone of voice, turning a corner before he reached for the shoji he'd waited for and pulled it open.  "I will not tolerate such weakness in my followers."

            "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama," Kagome giggled, lifting her head to look down when a flash of white caught her eyes, and tilting her head to follow as the tip of his tail prodded the corner of the screen and slid it closed again.

            "It is your influence that encourages your idiot brother to be disrespectful," he walked further into the wide room, flicking a hand to light the line of candles leading down a set of wooden steps.  "I expect you to correct this aberration."

            "It's in his nature to play tricks on inu youkai," Kagome let out a long-suffering sigh, huffing to blow her hair out of her eyes when he shifted her enough to send the entire mass sliding down over her shoulder.  "Actually... I'd say it's kitsune nature against pretty much anything.  You know behavior patterns better than I do, being the 'perfect youkai' you are after all."

            "I have had to threaten to feed him to dragons more than once," there was a subtle note in his voice that easily displayed the depths of frustration he'd suffered in his care of one hyperactive kit over the long centuries.  Or rather, one that was easy to hear if one was extremely familiar with the stoic taiyoukai, "He no longer has a proper sense for when he should be afraid of becoming dismembered."

            Kagome's ribs expanded on another deep sigh, shaking her head and offering, "I'll try and speak with him on toning it down, but he's old enough that he might ignore anything I suggest just as much as he does yours.  It's kind of sweet that he feels safe enough to question you, isn't it?"

            "There is nothing 'sweet' about disobedience, but your presence alone should prove helpful," Sesshoumaru finally came to a halt, dropping his shoulder to allow her to slide down until he could catch her by the arms and drag her forward.  "You have been the topic of his whining since the day you were born."

            Kagome was well aware she probably looked ridiculous, dangling at least a foot above the ground with her arms pinned down by the humming whip as Sesshoumaru's cold, amber eyes moved over every inch of her from head to toe, searching for signs of injury or neglect.  It never failed to amaze her just how much the taiyoukai could take in with such a short amount of time, but all the same, there was no mistaking his perception, and it was one of the ways he showed his seldom-won affections.  She let herself relax when she felt the wave of youki flow down his arms and seep into her a little at a time, searching inside her just as completely as his eyes searched her appearance.

            "You should not have waited so long to connect yourself with us, Kagome," Sesshoumaru's voice was filled with disapproval as he finally lowered her to stand on her own, one hand still supporting her slight weight when she weaved unsteadily.  "There is less of you than there should be, and didn't your monk warn you after you finally ceased purifying yourself that you would have to be connected with us to retain your sanity."

            "Miroku-sama said I would need it to retain my energy," she corrected him absently, mind drifting in a lazy haze of pleasure at the thick feel of power wrapping around her like layers and layers of silken blankets.  "I listened more than you think I did."

            One elegant eyebrow kicked up, almost daring her to question his translation of the observations they had made so very long ago, "I believe he said that you would be less inclined to block yourself off if you had gone too long without allowing yourself to be... consumed by something with enough power to satisfy that greedy artifact."

            Kagome's eyes glazed over, turning a much more vivid shade of blue as she leaned her head all the way back to look up the distance to his own eyes, "I haven't let it get to that point since the first, Sesshoumaru.  I'm the one in control."

            "There was cause for concern as the timelines as we figured gained more and more discrepancy," Sesshoumaru turned her around to face the wall, pressing his hands to her shoulders and pushing to encourage her to kneel down on the thin, square mat centered in the archaic room.  "Was that simply because you were unable to ignore it's call any longer?  Were you attempting to forget your past, little miko?"

            She let herself be guided down, seriously considering his accusations against her admitted procrastination as his youki started to wind around her with enough strength that it whispered audibly past her ears.  He stayed perfectly immobile behind her, the air thick with expectancy until she sighed and murmured, "I was still grieving for the past, Sesshoumaru-sama.  I couldn't have handled finding myself alone."

            "All the more reason to find us," he pressed a claw to her skin where the neckline of her shirt drooped down to reveal the prominent ridge of her spine.  "If you didn't wish to be separated from your youkai ties, you should have opened your soul and let us come to you."

            "I didn't want to open my soul and have nothing come back to me," Kagome admitted in a low voice, hands clenching tight where they were still bound against her hips.  "Not again."

            "At least you remember that lying to will do you no good," she heard the rustle of clothing as he mimicked her position, close enough that she could feel the body heat radiate off him and comfort the aches and pains from her particularly eventful day.  His claws brushed against the sides of her neck as he closed one hand around it from behind, curling his fingers around her throat until he could feel her pulse pumping slow and easy under them, "What else will that stubborn miko brain of yours remember?"

            Kagome took a deep breath, forcing her overeager powers to subside under the blatant challenge in that hold and his voice that was sending chills down her spine, "It hasn't been five hundred year to me; I haven't forgotten anything that happened."

            Sesshoumaru chuckled and leaned forward, drawing in a deep breath to fill his nose with the distinctive scent only a select few were able to detect, "One might think you were avoiding rejoining the family on purpose.  Were you so eager to avoid this Sesshoumaru?"

            Her chin slowly dropped down to her chest, eyes focusing on the mat in front of her as the pristine white was marred by the sudden burn of a violet crescent into the material just beyond her knees, "You already know I'm not afraid of you."

            "Perhaps you didn't want to admit to your addiction," he let his lips tilt up at one corner when he felt her heartbeat begin to increase.  "There is an infinite list of excuses that I can come up with that may have prevented you from coming to me the moment you were returned."

            Inus and their posturing, Kagome would have rolled her eyes if she weren't so hypnotized by the symbols slowly fading to life on either side of that crescent in a wider arc, forming the beginnings of a circle across the mat.

            "I trust that I will not have to use literal instructions on what is expected in the future," Sesshoumaru's hand tightened a fraction, keeping her aware of her surroundings enough to respond.

            Her shoulders slowly lost all the tension holding them stiff, a warm smile crossing her face as she leaned back towards him and retranslated that comment before answering, "I missed you too, Sesshoumaru-sama."

            The whip finally retracted with a light crackle, making her shiver slightly as it snapped across her with a faint chastisement for the faint taunt in her voice, "You will remember that you are no longer dealing with low-blooded creatures, miko.  There is no need for you to vocalize things that are so obvious."

            "You're such an arrogant bastard," she chuckled, closing her eyes and all but ignoring the spreading symbols and the hand wrapped around her neck as she reached up over her head, clasping her hands together to stretch her spine.  "You're lucky I like you."

            Sesshoumaru actually snorted, reaching up with his other hand to grip both her wrists and pull them back to bow her back even farther until she sighed in contentment, "Are you trying to purposefully provoke my temper in order to rush me?"

            "Is it working?" she twisted to look back over his shoulder and smile up at him with exaggerated innocence.

            "No."

            "Didn't think so," she sighed with mock regret, sucking in a sharp breath when the images finally completed their circle with a bright flash.  Sesshoumaru tensed the same moment she did, brows lowering when he felt pain run through her stomach, spreading out a searing heat through her blood.

            "Breathe, miko," Sesshoumaru's voice cut through the nearly overwhelming haze filling her mind, slowly trying to push away her reason.  "There is no reason for you to lose yourself or your focus at this time."

            "I can't-" Kagome's hands clenched into a white-knuckled grip, her head falling back as though the muscles in her neck could no longer support themselves.  "Sesshoumaru, I-"

            "You do not wish to," he interrupted her in a low growl.  "This is the reason you should be punished for waiting so long, Kagome.  You know just as well as I do how dangerous it can be."

            Kagome felt him slowly relax his hold on her arms, letting her body roll down bonelessly until her head rested in his lap, "I'm tired."

            "This Sesshoumaru is aware of this," he looked down at her hands, waiting for the color to leave them before he slid his hands down her arms to cover them.  "Takashima tells me you were making eyes at a male kitsune."

            She blinked, distracted from the urge to sink down completely into the security of that whispering power, "Making-?  The man at the café?"

            "He asked your late husband's favorite question?" Sesshoumaru tilted his head, waiting for her eyes to open, if not focused, at least turned in the appropriate direction.  "The gods only know what it is about such tactless questions that attracts you."

            Kagome wrinkled her nose, "Mou... It's not like I can't say no just because they say it like that.  It just... makes me think of good memories."

            "There is a reason even my fool brother agreed that I should supervise your personal interests," his eyebrow kicked up at her continued insistence that it wasn't one of her greatest weaknesses.  "Your taste in male companions is deplorable."

            "You just called yourself deplorable," Kagome smirked drowsily, making a stubborn attempt to stay awake just a little longer.

            "Even you are intelligent enough to know this Sesshoumaru is the single appropriate ally you have made," his eyes gleamed as her when she seemed to sink back even more completely.  "But this conversation can wait until you have had a chance to reorient yourself and rest.  Trust that I will keep you protected until I am satisfied your health is restored."

            She drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes and letting it out slowly, "You just want to play with the Tetsusaiga."

            "Sleep on your own or I will make you, miko," Sesshoumaru instructed with a hint of warmth to take the edge off the command.  "What I choose to do while you're sleeping is not your concern."

            Kagome chuckled softly, turning her face as everything around her blurred and melted away, "I think you would scare me if you ever changed, Sesshoumaru-sama."

            "You still have the habit of worrying over the most asinine things," one hand moved up until it covered her eyes, applying pressure at the temples to give her the last push.  "This Sesshoumaru will never change."

~*~*~*~

            "I have no idea what the hell it is, but it's the most disturbing thing I've seen for a long damn time," Yuusuke leaned back to look up the distance from the charred floor of the cave their search had landed them in, and up the tangled, fossilized mass of demons to the single figure on the top.  "Is this the Makai idea of art?"

            "Hardly," Hiei snorted in disgust at that idea, eyes narrowed as he slowly paced around the entire structure.  "It's a shell... but of what-?"  This feels strange, Kurama, like there used to be incredible power within it, but it's gone now.

            'How did I never find this thing?' Youko was nearly bouncing up and down in his eagerness to climb all over the bizarre artifact and familiarize himself with every inch of it.  'Get up there, Kurama, let's get a look at the heart of it and see if we can figure out where it came from.'

            "What is it doing here, though?" Kurama absently told him to calm down, but did walk forward to lay a hand lightly on the smooth surface, pulling back to stare at his palm when a grayish film wiped off that section.  "That little oni told us this was the last place Musou had been seen before he was chased off by the youkai who claimed this mountain...  Was this what he was here looking for?"

            "Is this a person?" Yuusuke made a face, backing away from the section he'd been looking at and drawing their gazes around to what definitely looked like a humanoid figure frozen in macabre pose amongst the thick coils.  "This is sick, you guys, what can make something like this?"

            Hiei and Kurama both slanted him a look before Kurama reminded him, "Youkai view things in a different light than humans do.  This... looks like an attack of some sort that failed."  Or succeeded.  If this was meant to be an example to others, I'd say it's a very... graphic one.  I'm impressed.

            Maybe an attack on this human man? Hiei leaned his head back, frowning up at the shadowed top of the entire mass.  Or something else in the middle that we can't see?  Damn, I thought I knew of all the youkai with tastes like this.

            'Will you get our ass up on top of this thing?' Youko hissed out in frustration when his wishes continued to be ignored.  'I'm telling you, Kurama, I've got a feeling what we want to see is up there!  This is what I'm good at, stop fighting me just because you're feeling pissy about lost time.'

            Kurama gritted his teeth, but finally swore and nodded, bending his knees and leaping upwards in a single graceful motion without a second thought to Yuusuke's swearing or the amusement coloring Hiei's thoughts, I am not feeling pissy, Youko, I'm just not inclined to indiscriminately climb all over anything I find in Makai just because it's interesting.  That's a good way to get our tail bitten off.

            'Good point... can't risk that until after we've stolen back our lover and made that baby,' Youko drew a stroking hand down his soul to show just how pleased he was at Kurama's way of thinking ahead.  'I'll forgive you this time.'

            You keep forgetting your 'lover' is in the hands of one of the most territorial types of youkai that exist, Fox, Hiei pointed out, waiting to see if there was anything worthwhile atop this jumbled mess.  By the time we leave Makai, it's highly possible you'll have to look elsewhere.

'Whatever,' Youko snorted, refusing to acknowledge his own fears regarding what the suspicious "Big Dog" would try to do to the girl he wanted before he had a chance to find her and take her away from him.  Instead he pushed down those thoughts and took over to turn their head, 'Now then... turn and- ah...  Well now.'

What is it? Hiei tilted his head slightly to one side.

If you thought that man down there was weird, you're going to love this, Kurama stared in stunned awe at the figure that appeared to be the focus of the youkai attack.  There's a woman up here... there's a hole the size of my fist through her chest and she was... being consumed, he walked forward very slowly, reaching out to let his fingers hover over the place her arm should have been.

"Climb," Hiei glanced over at Yuusuke before he shot up to join Kurama on the crystallized youkai.

"Oi!" Yuusuke hissed up after him, grinding his teeth and making a face as he looked up.  "I am going to take the longest shower of my life after this," he felt around for a handhold and started pulling himself up bit by bit.

'This is getting very interesting,' Youko purred out, trying to convince Kurama to reach up and wipe gods knew how many centuries of dust and smoke out of her face.  'Who was this person and why would there be so many youkai after her with such precision.'

More importantly, why would someone Koenma asked us to find be loitering around it? Hiei came into his line of vision, a frown twisting his expression as he reached up towards that hole, stopping right before he actually made contact.  And what in the seventh level of hell could have made this?  They were tearing her to pieces, so what stopped them?

"You could have yanked me up here, you know," Yuusuke muttered as his hand reached the top, dragging himself up and scowling at them both.

"And you could have jumped just as easily," Hiei turned a bland look on him, inwardly smirking at how well his instruction had influenced the human man.

He blinked and then shot up, stalking towards him and cracking his knuckles, "You little sonofa-!"

"This really isn't the best time or place for a fight," Kurama reminded them in a soft voice, oddly unwilling to let them go at each other's throats so close to this person.  "I'd rather figure out what this is and how it got here than watch the two of you beat on each other until you get bored."

Hiei simply shrugged, admitting silently that it had been his intention while Yuusuke continued to seethe until he glanced up and caught sight of just what Kurama had found, "What the-?!  That's a girl!"

There are times that I wonder what it says about our intelligence that we allow this human to play leader, Hiei turned just enough to hide his annoyed expression from Yuusuke, eyes turned skyward in a bid for patience.

He has his moments, Kurama's hands lifted as though wanting to touch the woman's face, brow furrowed in confusion at the nagging sense of déjà vu that went through him every time he looked up at her.  Given her condition, I'm willing to give his reaction the benefit of the doubt...  Just be thankful it's Yuusuke, can you imagine Kurabara's reaction.

            That idiot would go off the handle with his 'codes' and whatnot, Hiei shook his head, folding his arms over his chest as he looked down at the frozen faces of hate and rage making up the rising column.  On the good side for us, I highly doubt Koenma expected us to find anything like this.  This pretty much guarantees we'll get more information that he wants to give us.

            "How'd they get stuck like this?" Yuusuke interrupted the internal conversations, his eyes down as well, scuffing at one of the youkai heads with a foot before looking back up at the broken woman in her ancient armor.  "A youkai thing?"

            "Not any that I've seen before," Kurama shook his head, glancing at Hiei until the hybrid made a negative motion as well.  "There has to be something about this hole that answers at least part of what made this-" he trailed off, brows furrowed as he circled the imprisoned figure, eyes gleaming gold as they searched for... something.

            'We'll know it when we see it,' Youko assured him, expanding their senses and trying to see what kind of creatures had been around this cave and this statue.  'There has to be something here to help us.'

            "She is beautiful, isn't she?" the rich voice came from nowhere and everywhere, sending all three of them back into defensive positions in an instant, weapons ready and eyes searching the darkness for the source as it continued to echo off the shadowed walls.

            "Hiei?" Yuusuke gritted out impatiently, backing up until he felt his shoulders touch with his companions.

            "I'm looking," he shot back in a clipped voice, that statement -more than anything- saying just how dangerous this situation had become.

            Laughter bounced off the walls, unnaturally loud as it reverberated within the cave's acoustics and wrapped around them, chilling and seeming to hang thick against their skin, "You should know better than to try and rely on any youkai powers in this cave.  Even now, after her soul has been released, her corpse still holds such strength..."

            When the hell did he get in here? Kurama's eyes darted around the shadows until he finally managed to pinpoint one spot near the curve leading up and out, darkness made deeper by the faint glow acting like a backlight.  Down there... by the entrance.

            I see him, Hiei gritted his teeth, growing more and more annoyed by the minute.  This is the third person I haven't been able to feel since we saw that goddamn youkai in front of Yuusuke's house.

            There was a clicking sound, and then a bright flare of light as the youkai lounging against the wall below them struck a flint against the wall to catch a spark on the nearest torch.  His hand stayed poised, standing in profile and looking up at them over his shoulder with a curious demand gleaming in his dark eyes, "Is there a reason two strange youkai and a mostly human creature have come into my cave?  I'll warn you, if you've come to defile my miko, you won't live beyond your next breath."

            'Miko?' Youko went perfectly still.  'Sent to Makai?'

            She couldn't have lasted more than a day or two, Hiei's unblinking gaze followed the confident strides of the man below them, narrowing as he prowled closer with the same air as a serpent waiting for just the right moment to strike.

            "You haven't answered me,"             he reached up and flicked an errant section of dark, wild hair back over his shoulder.  "Why did you almost touch my miko?  Don't deny it... I could feel your hands hovering over her body."

            Yuusuke felt the faint rise of bile in the back of his throat, more than a little disturbed by the jealous intensity in the youkai in front of them, "Just what the fuck are you accusing us of, you sick bastard?!  You think we get off on this?" he gestured back to encompass the entire twisted mass.  "It's a corpse!"

            "You wouldn't be the first," he shrugged, pacing back and forth where he stood to be sure he had their attention.  "Youkai are always drawn to Midoriko and her descendants, hoping to increase their powers through their souls.  But they all die for the attempts."

            "Midoriko?" Yuusuke scowled, glancing at Kurama and Hiei when they seemed content to stare silently at the restless man.  "Is that her name?"

            The question pulled him up short, a frown creasing his perfect features for a moment as he tried to readjust his usual encounters to their ignorance, "What kind of creature are you if you don't know your own history?  How did you find this place?"

            "How did you?" Kurama took a step forward, stopping Yuusuke before he spoke as he slowly crouched down to get a closer look at their would-be attacker.

            Chiseled lips spread back in a slow, blinding smile, lifting a hand to touch his fingertips to his chin, "Destiny."

            Kurama had to grit his teeth against the urge to shiver in disgust over the way that single, softly whispered word coiled around his mind, more than willing to let Youko snarl in reaction and shake it off, "Destiny?"

            "Oh yes," he walked forward slowly, reaching out with that same hand to caress the face of the decimated man near the base.  "The falling of every generation from the great miko and down through her descendants has always been a man, a man willing to become youkai to catch her eyes.  But the cycle needs to come to an end, and how better to prove it than to find the beginning of it all locked away and lost in Makai?  Among the very demons she spent her lifetime exorcising...  Rather poetic, isn't it?"

            Yuusuke made an impatient sound, stepping forward to make the jump down onto the floor and scowl at the youkai more directly, "You'd better start making sense, you sick fuck, or I'm gonna be damn sure your soul dies right here."

            He turned to face Yuusuke, one brow kicking up arrogantly, "You want to add me to her collection?  You think you can when not one of her descendants has ever been able to end my existence?  However, I suppose you are welcome to make the attempt...  I haven't tried actually dying again."

            Hiei was in front of Yuusuke before he could take another step, holding him back while he watched the black ooze start to seep out of the youkai's palm to mold itself into long claws off his fingertips, "Don't, Yuusuke.  He's too eager to fight."

            What does he want? Kurama stayed perched above them, oddly loathe with the thought of leaving the miko's corpse bared to this lunatic's hungry eyes.  Who is this, and how does he know so much about a miko?

            "What are you?" Yuusuke's growled demand snapped Kurama out of his contemplation, watching the youkai carefully for his reaction when he started to pace a semi-circle around the two of them.

            "For the longest time I didn't know myself," he shrugged casually, folding his arms back behind his head as he continued to walk as though he was doing no more than discussing the weather with his friends.  "But that hardly matters once you reach Makai, does it?  This is the realm we're sent to when they want to forget you exist."

            As much as I hate to admit he's right... Hiei drawled out reluctantly.

            Focus, Hiei, Kurama cut him off, letting more of Youko's skills open up to give him everything he could sense about the strange, vague youkai. Whether he's right or not isn't the point. 

            'This is not a natural youkai,' Youko wrinkled his nose in disgust, prodding at Kurama to get closer and let him take in the absolutely bizarre aura of this person.  'Whatever it is...'

            That hardly matters either, Hiei took a step back when it seemed as though the youkai would reach for him, but he only started to prowl back and forth again, eyes hard and calculating.

            "They should not have dared to take her away from me a second time," he was saying, eyes growing ever darker as the corner of his lip started to kick up in a snarl before he smoothed it back into a mild expression.  "Creatures just like you... I don't care who you are, but I will not allow your filthy hands to come in contact with my beautiful miko."

            "News flash, freak, your 'beautiful miko' is dead," Yuusuke shook his head and pointed up at Midoriko again.

            The smile that spread across the youkai's face in wake of that blatantly rude comment was unnerving, sadistic and filled with hundreds of unvoiced fantasies as he leaned forward and cupped Yuusuke's cheek in one hand, holding him frozen with his eyes, "Why is it that you humans never look below the surface of things?  I told you... her soul has moved on and found a new body."

            Yuusuke wanted more than anything to yank away from that hand, beat the shit out of this youkai, anything to get away from him, but his body was frozen, What-?!  What the fuck is this thing?!

            The youkai would have leaned closer, but the katana resting against his throat made him pause, slanting a look down at Hiei and smirking as he backed down from the challenge in those blazing eyes, "So... that's how it is.  I see."

            "Not after I cut those eyes out of your head," Hiei's tone of voice never changed, leaning forward to press the blade deeper against the youkai's skin, just enough to break the surface.

            "You would only be wasting your energy," he shrugged, stepping away from the katana and lifting a hand to touch the blood before holding it up in front of his face and rubbing his fingers together lightly while the slice healed closed.  "I have a gift for fixing myself much faster than other youkai, regardless of the injury."

            Not yet, Hiei... just keep him talking, Kurama hurried to intervene when Hiei took a step, obviously intent on making good with his threat.  He knows how this Midoriko ended up half-eaten and frozen in Makai... make him tell us.

            Hiei hesitated for a moment, but finally sheathed his sword and sent a particularly frigid scowl to the unaffected youkai, "How did the miko die?"

            One brow kicked up and he made a show of leaning back to look up the spiraling column of youkai, "I can't imagine."

            Youko actually snickered slightly, 'He has a point... I mean... she is obviously less than whole and wound in a mess of youkai intent on ripping her apart.'

            Yuusuke can still find out about the baby thing, Hiei warned, folding his arms over his chest and giving that youkai a look that said he could wait as long as it took to get the answers he wanted.

            "She killed herself before the youkai could devour her completely," he dipped his head to acknowledge that he intended to answer this time.  "Such is the price for sealing away untold hoards of purely evil youkai in one fell swoop," he held his hand up to her, eyes again gleaming warmly as he ignored their presence.  "She's such a sacrificing soul... she knew she wouldn't live through her attempt to save the pathetic humans crying out for her protection."

            "Why were they after her?" Yuusuke tried to push around Hiei, glaring at him when the hybrid proved completely immovable.  "Just because she was a miko?"

            "Why else?" his voice lowered to that dark, silken tone again.  "Midoriko was the first of the line... the strongest miko to exist throughout history.  Letting her live to mother more like her would be sentencing youkai to death.  But then again, I had thought all youkai at least knew part of this story.  Even if they never manage to find my miko's cave..."

            He let that thought trail off into the taut silence, making his suspicions about just who and what they were as clear as day while he watched and waited for the slightest bit of movement from any of them.  The air around them thickened with menace as the youkai started to gather his energy, the smile on his face never changing as he let his intentions flash through his eyes, "Of course, I can't risk others passing along this information.  I like to have my privacy." 

He was intending to kill us the entire time, Kurama let out a mental snort, tightening his hand around his whip as they stayed poised in that stalemate.  It's the only reason he spoke to us so openly.

            If you're only just now realizing that, Kurama, I'm going to have to knock some sense back into your head when we return to Ningenkai, Hiei's voice was dry enough for Youko to start rolling his eyes, muttering a few less than flattering remarks for Kurama's ears alone.

            "Nothing personal, you understand," that shadows around him seemed to come alive, roiling and curling in on themselves until they reached the floor of the cave and started to spread out towards Yuusuke and Hiei.  "I simply cannot allow you to live knowing the face of my miko, not until I can be free of this godforsaken place and find her again.  Now that I know that ha-"

            "MUSOU!" the bellow reverberated into the cave, furious and filled with violent promise as the clear sound of metal dragging sharply across stone had them wincing in reflex.  "Damn you!  I know you're in there, I can smell your stink spreading halfway up the mountain!"

            "Well, fuck me," Musou's expression twisted in revulsion, turning to scowl back towards the entrance, shaking his head with a sigh of regret.  "How am I supposed to have the time to kill you if he won't leave alone long enough to have a moment's peace?"

            Yuusuke slid back and turned slightly to whisper to Hiei, "Is there another way out of this cave?"

            "Aside from through them?" he stayed tense and ready even as Musou dismissed them to face what he clearly thought to be the more immediate threat.  What about it, Fox?  Talk to your plants and get us a backdoor.

            You say it like I can just magically find a plant in the heart of a Makai cave and make a door, Kurama scowled down at him before his eyes closed, fanning out his senses to search for anything that grew naturally in their enclosed environment and could lead them to an exit.

            Just finding an opening large enough for Yuusuke and yourself would be fine, he watched intently as Musou seemed to ripple, dark spikes pushing up through his more "human" armor as he walked away from them.  I could have been gone by now, and you know it.

            "Come and get me if you want me to leave my miko, you worthless asshole!" Musou had raised his voice, bracing his feet wider apart as though he expected the attack to come through the mountain itself.  "You have yours, and I'm not giving up this one."

            "You gave her no peace in life, I won't let you torment her now either," that rough snarl was nearly muffled by the heavy pulse that shook the walls around them, dirt and debris raining down under the force of the unseen attack.

            Now would be good, Fox, Hiei snapped up at him, trying to judge with his eyes if the entire cave was about to come down around their ears.

            Kurama's eyes opened, flashing gold as he moved to jump from the spiral only to pause and frown at this Midoriko for another frozen moment, There's something-

            Kurama! Hiei put enough force behind it to make the kitsune jolt out of the strange enthrallment, shaking his head and making the jump to the unsteady floor.

            "There's an opening this way," Kurama motioned for them to follow, every muscle taut and begging to run out and join in when they heard the metallic shriek of metal on metal.  Still... running blind into a fight between the youkai they weren't supposed to have made direct contact with in the first place, and an unknown antagonist in a cave holding a grotesquely crystallized miko wouldn't be the most intelligent option no matter how well developed their powers were.

            "Damn it all," Yuusuke gritted out, vocalizing their collective displeasure as Kurama led them deeper into the gloom, following the thin vines and growing blankets of brackish moss spreading up the walls until a faint curl of warm air alerted them to the alternate escape.  "I am going to wring that bastard punk's neck for this!" he seethed, easing through after Hiei effortlessly slipped up the awkward path.  "Something serious is going on and all we're getting is bits and fucking pieces!"

            Kurama hesitated again with his hands resting on the pulsing stone, scowling back the way they had come as he heard the clash of swords and growling curses reverberating over and over off the vaulted ceiling.  Each dip and sway of the ground or shiver in the walls begged to be explored, to see just how that unnatural youkai fought, and more importantly who he was fighting against.

            'I agree with Yuusuke,' Youko growled out, making his own frustration clear as they turned to follow.  'And I'm getting damn tired of half-answers.'

            Koenma has to know who this woman was, Hiei joined in the mental discussion to add his own opinion.  He said it was an obsession they were worried about...

            Obsessed with Midoriko's soul, Kurama set his jaw, giving an impression of gratitude to the plants that eased his climb.  But they'd have to be insane to grant that Musou reincarnation.  He's obviously a complete sociopath.

            You enjoy human words a little too much, Hiei snorted, but at the same time agreed with that observation.  Where do you want to go from here?

            It's time for another talk for Koenma, Kurama's eyes narrowed.  Then we're going back to Ningenkai before any more time gets wasted.  I have a lover to steal back from a dog.