Reikai Tantei - Down The Well

Yu Yu Hakusho (c) Yoshihiro Togashi. Inuyasha (c) Rumiko Takahashi.

CHAPTER SIX

"Demon ants?" Sango asked as the three stared at a strange mound.

"They appear to be ordinary ants, but there is an evil youki coming from them." Miroku stood up.

"Looks like they're going toward the well." Kuwabara stood as well.

"This has to have something to do with the gateway. We should keep a few of these, they might be able to lead us to something." The Demon Slayer scooped a few ants into a small jar.

Kuwabara smiled at how unaffected she was by the disgusting creatures she carefully picked up. // Man, they creepy me out, but she doesn't seem to care. She must be pretty tough...I mean that is a big ass boomarang...//
"But how could ants open a gateway through time?" Kuwabara starred puzzled at the jar. Trying to clear his mind of any unpure thoughts; as he started to notice the curves hidden by the girls tight, black outfit.

"That is strange..." They all shook their heads in confusion.

"Lets follow the mounds..." Miroku said as they moved on.

- - - - -

"Man, this is useless!" Yusuke shouted slumping to a seat on the ground.

"The shard must be gone...there's no aura anywhere." Kagome did the same, pulling a soda from her backpack. Chucking Yusuke one.

"Hey, where's your friend?" She looked around.

"Probably miles from here sulking."

"What's up with him anyway? Why so moody?"

"Well, he's not from around here, I mean the Ningenkai...in the future." Yusuke struggled to make sense.

"Don't worry, I understand. I have a hard time explaining too."

"Well, anyway, where he is from is rough...so he didn't exactly have the best life growing up. So he can be hostile. But he's really a good person once you learn how to take him, and he begins to see you as not a threat."

"When I first met Inuyasha, he tried to kill me for the jewel." She laughed, "But now if someone looks at me wrong he gets all jealous. He loves me, and I love him. But he'd never say it." She winked.

"Speaking of Inuyasha, I wonder is he and Kurama found anything?"

"We all have these warning bombs. Its a giant pink cloud/ball thing with eyes, so we didn't miss it..."

"Yusuke! Human girl!" A voice came from the trees.

"Hiei?" He looked up and the small form flashed in front of them.

"I found something you two should see..." He said in a monotone voice.

- - - - -

"Damn, they just stop here!" Kuwabara turned around.

"Then this must be where they start." Miroku looked just as annoyed.

"We should head back and tell the others." Sango took a few more youkai ants.

- - - - -

"Its like a fingerprint of demon energy. Being as large as it is something with great evil energy was here for quite some time. A week maybe." The Koorime spoke calmly as the two humans behind him gawked.

It was a circle about a mile wide of fading, crackling, purple warped energy. All plant life was dead and petrified within it.

"Its Naraku. His miasma does that to anything it touches." Kagome spoke up.

"Judging by the size of it he was performing some kind of ritual or spell."

"Like possessing a gateway youkai well?" Yusuke already knew.

"Hnn..." Came the familiar answer.

"Time to use this!" Kagome pulled the string, and before they could blink a big pink Shippo like form began to float high above, whistling loudly.

"What the fuck?" Hiei looked at it in shock, hand on sword.

"She wasn't lying when she said, 'you can't miss it'." Yusuke laughed covering his ears to the whistling.

- - - - -

"Houshi-sama! Look!" Sango pointed up, all three seen the creation.

'Let's go!" He jumped on Kirara too.

"W-what's that thing?!" Kuwabara was pulled up as well.

"Shippo's warning bomb."

"Oh..."

- - - - -

"Hmm?" A white ear flicked and an eye peeked open, "Kuso, that's Shippo's leaf!" Inuyasha sprang up. He was nude under his fire rat coat. // Must have fallen asleep//

"Kurama, wake up!" He shook the still sleeping red head. With a little coaxing the Kitsune stirred and sat up slowly, a little sore from their encounter.

"What's wrong?" He yawned.

"Someone's signaling us with the leaf bomb." He was already getting dressed and chucked Kurama his disheveled clothes.

"Good, they found something." The fox smiled, slipping slowly into his pants.

- - - - - ` ` ` ` ` - - - - -

"Kagome!" Sango shouted as Kirara landed.

"Hey guys...well I guess you can see it too..." She motioned to the devastation behind them.

"What the hell?" Kuwabara jumped off the cat.

"Naraku's miasma..." Miroku said seriously.

"Hiei said it looks like he was casting a possession spell or ritual." Kagome began to explain, Hiei gave a 'Hnn' out of agreement.

"Possession ritual?" Sango had an idea, "Like the kind to posses something like this?" She held out a jar with the youkai ants.

"Gross...what are those things?" Yusuke grimaced.

"We found them not far from here." Sango began.

"They had mounds that lead toward the well, but started in the middle of nowhere." Kuwabara finished.

"And there were tons of Saimyosho too." Inuyasha jumped down from a tree. Kurama slowly walking up to the group, somewhat hidden in the bushes. "We never saw them, but their scent was strong." He said calmly, taking a look at the area.

"Naraku's all over this." Yusuke sighed, still not sure what to do with this info. Then his eye caught something that made him laugh.

"What's up?" Everyone looked at him then noticed what he saw.

"Hey, Kurama?" Yusuke choked out.

"Why are you all-" He stopped noticing it too, his blood turning to ice.

"Why is your shirt inside out?" Yusuke said laughing. The normally pink uniform was white liner, the stitching comically visible.

"You have twigs and leaves in the back of your hair too.' Kagome politely added.

Kurama paled then blushed furiously as he shook the debris free and fixed his shirt.

"What happened fox?" Hiei added a glare in his eyes, he knew something was up.

"Umm..." He froze, all of Yoko's wit halted.

"We fell down a tree, the limb snapped under our weight. His shirt got caught so he had to take it off." Inuyasha replied calmly smiling.

"When we seen the sign, I must have been rushing so much I put it on wrong." He sighed, going with the hanyou's lie.

"How unlike you, Kurama." There was acid in the way Hiei said his name. Kurama didn't let it go unnoticed, as he shot the Koorime a quick evil glare.

"Anyway..." Yusuke ended the issue, "How do demon ants and this field tie into our well thing?"

"Well, we know Naraku was here, and that he is the one who possessed these ants." Miroku deduced.

"Wait, let me see that jar, I have a theory..." Kurama took the ants over to the edge of the energy print. "Exactly." He stated, kneeling down.

"What?" Everyone asked.

"Look at the ants...normal, ne?" He stood up holding the jar out. They nodded.
"Now look what happens when they are near the youki." As soon as they got closer the ants turned to spheres of purple light, then forming into one larger sphere.

"Woah, they joined together." Kuwabara remarked.

"In essence the ants are just vessels to carry the possessors energy." Kurama said smiling at the ants as they came back to their normal form. "I've seen it used before with bees, and wasps."

"But why?" Sango asked still very confused. Kuwabara smiled and nodded to her, wordlessly asking the same question. Sango directed her eyes to the ground quickly, blushing slightly.

"When we first entered the well I noticed it had many cracks and crevices in it's stone walls. These spaces could easily be entered and filled by these ants. Since the Honekui is alive, it would be like a parasite. Slowly filling the Honekui with their own youkai, in this case Naraku's youki." The red head returned the ants to a shocked Sango.

"Hnn. So, with these ants delivering Naraku's energy to the well he slowly gains more control over it. Eventually possessing the well itself...not bad fox. Your making up for your ealier lack of intelligence." Hiei gave a challenging smile, to which Kurama countered with his own.

"Not bad? I'd say that's amazing. Not to sound dumb but for a minute there I was clueless." Kuwabara smiled shyly. Sango, Kagome and Miroku nodded.

"Hnn, your always clueless." Hiei shot back still smiling. Angry at the Kitsune and wanting to take it out on someone else.

"What did you say?!" Kuwabara balled up his fist.

"Stop. We don't have time for this. We have to destroy all the mounds and ants we can find." Kagome broke it up, "Sango, can you take us to where the mounds started?"

"Yes, I marked it with some of the lampweed's Kurama gave me."

"Good cause it will be night in a few minutes." Inuyasha added.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go." Yusuke cracked his knuckles and with that said, the eight were off.

- - - - -

//So, Inuyasha and those others are working together...//
Kagura was floating high above on her feather, out of scents range.
//Where did that red headed one come from, I didn't see him before? I must tell Naraku they've found the ants, but it seems they haven't figured it all out yet. Humph, so quick to draw conclusions...fools.//
She laughed turning around and flying upward thru the purple sky.

END CHAPTER SIX