Kyou: What are you making this those pairings for?
Yuki: I agree with Kyou on this one. It doesn't make any sense.
Ayame: Awe. Are Kyokyo and Yuki jealous?
Kyou: Shut up!
Yoruko: To answer your question, because I'm the author and what I say goes. So since I like these pairings, this is what I'm writing.
Ch.1: The 14th Zodiac
It was breakfast time on a Thursday in the Sohma household. Kyou walked into the dining room, having gotten the mail. He was going through what there is. Then suddenly, he stopped and stared at an envelope for a second, then got one he had just looked at and compared the two. This made Shigure and Tohru look at inquisitively.
"You have a letter, Tohru. You too, Shigure- from the same person." Kyou said as he handed them their letters.
"Oh? Who from?" Tohru asked.
"It doesn't have a name." said Kyou, "Just a return address."
Shigure and Tohru opened the envelope they each were now holding and took out their letters. As they read them, Yuki noticed that both of their expressions changed from pleasantly surprised to happy and almost wistful to delighted. Shigure smiled widely- which looked suspiciously like one of his grins and therefore put Yuki on edge- and Tohru's eyes sparkled with excitement and she smiled brightly. Yuki and Kyou exchanged a look- they agreed enough- when it came to Tohru, Shigure, and Ayame, at least- to know that the other had essentially the same thought going through their head as they did: 'What's going on?' After all, considering Shigure's personality and the fact that Tohru is so innocent and even tempered that she liked people like Momiji, Shigure, or Ayame to the point that she seemed to have a soft spot for them- her friends being proof of this- they were both apprehensive and suspicious. Then Tohru squealed.
"I had no idea that you knew her, Tohru-kun, let alone were related to her." Shigure said, "Though now that I do know, I can't say that I'm surprised. You two are somewhat similar."
"Shigure-san- you... know Nee-chan?" Tohru asked.
"Will someone tell me what's going on already?" said Kyou.
"And who are you talking about?" asked Yuki.
"It's my cousin on my mom's side- Kagome Higurashi." explained Tohru.
"She recently found out about Tohru-kun's situation, and she's finally finished college. So she's moving nearby so she can be there for Tohru." Shigure said.
"How do you of all people know Honda-san's cousin?" Yuki asked suspiciously.
"How rude! For your information, she's only a few years younger than I am. We went to school together, and have been good friends since she was in Kindergarten. Her great grandmother on her mother's side also happens to have been a Sohma." said Shigure indignantly.
"So where is she staying? She can't stay here." said Kyou.
"There's a house nearby that she's going to move into. Starting this weekend, she'll be our neighbor. And she already knows about the curse, so no worries there."
said Shigure.
"Honda-san," said Yuki, "How is it that she only just found out about your mother when it's been a year now?"
"We've always been really close. But it's been a few years since I've seen her. We used to write all the time, but her letters got fewer and fewer until I was lucky to get one once or twice a month. Then half a year before Kaa-san died, we lost touch."
'They really are related.' thought Shigure, 'Only the two of them could manage to keep in touch with someone if the one of said people are as busy as Kagome has been.'
Yuki's eyes narrowed. "If you lost touch, then how did she find out that your mother is dead and you're staying with us?" 'It better not be one of Akito's tricks.'
"She always had a way of knowing or finding out things." Tohru answered, "But I don't know. I'm actually surprised this time."
"She probably found out from Ha-san or Aya," said Shigure, "Ever since graduating medical school and getting his doctor's license, Ha-san's been the only doctor the Higurashis use or trust given a choice." 'And according to Aya, even though she now usually refuses to wear skirts or dresses, she still rarely gets clothes from somewhere besides his shop without having been dragged on a shopping spree.'
"She knows Hatori-san and Ayame-san too?" Tohru asked.
"The four of us were very close- still are. In fact, some considered us the 'Mabudachi Quartet' instead of the 'Mabudachi Trio'." Shigure explained.
"... Would you please allow me to see your letter, Honda-san?" Yuki asked.
She handed him the letter. Kyou and Yuki read it. It said:
Dear Tohru,
How are you doing? I'm so sorry about Kyouko- I can't believe that something like that happened to her. I wish I'd known a lot sooner. I could have been there for you. You were seriously living in a tent? You silly thing, why didn't you come to us? We would have gladly taken you in. Luckily, however, things turned out all right. Better than that, from a certain perspective. The Sohma's, huh? It seems like we both have a habit of ending up in a world the likes of which we never thought existed. Shigure took you in, huh? He'd better appreciate you. Yuki-kun and Kyou-kun, too. Anyway, I've finally graduated from college and wrapped up some business (I'll tell you about it myself, and in person) so I'm moving nearby- the house closest to Shigure's, to be exact. I want to be closer to you and I need to keep an eye on you, after all. I should arrive two days after you get this letter. I'm looking forward to seeing you.
With love,
Kagome
PS: If you've already met Akito, don't let him get to you. He'll probably warm up to you once he gets to know you.
Yuki rose an eyebrow. Kagome seemed like... quite the character. She also seemed to know about the Jyunishi. What surprised him the most, though, was the post script. Was she actually someone who could stand Akito? He had a feeling that things would change yet again with Kagome Higurashi's arrival.
Kyou was surprised. Was this the same Kagome? If it was, Shigure was actually right. They are similar. He hoped this was the same Kagome. It had been years since he last saw her. He watched Tohru out of the corner of his eye. That was good. He liked it when Tohru was happy. A smile suited her best.
'She must really love her cousin.' though Kyou, 'I've hardly ever seen her this happy.'
Shigure was grinning. He couldn't wait for Saturday. It was about time Kagome moved back here. He'd been missing his little angel terribly. Especially since he didn't see her as often after she'd moved onto her grandfather's shrine with her mother and Souta, and then almost not at all after she first fell down the well.
Shigure snickered quietly, remembering her reaction when her grandfather and the dog-eared pest of a boy shouted at him and tried to chase him out the second to last time he'd went to the shrine to visit. It had served them right, too. All he had done was put his arms around her from behind and say that if she was going anywhere, it would be with him to celebrate her birthday- mostly both to announce his presence and to break up the argument. Which made it Inuyasha's fault in his opinion. Besides, she had been happy- if her squeal of 'Shigure! You're here!' and her asking 'Where are you taking me?' were anything to go by. It had ended up badly for Inuyasha- especially after he tried to attack him after he suggested the two of them go to an amusement park for the weekend- sharing a room to save money, of course. Or dinner and dancing followed by a sleepover at his house. His mind wandered to the letter.
Dear Shigure,
How are you doing? It's been a while since I've seen you. I miss you. Stupid school. Stupid Inuyasha... Anyway, I heard that my aunt died a while ago, and that you took my cousin Tohru in after you found out that she was living in a tent. Silly girl, she's lucky that not only is she okay but that she met you. Anyway, now that I've finished with the quest, dealing with Inuyasha, and college, I find that I'm my own woman again. So I'm moving nearby, to be closer to all of you. I'll be there two days after you get this letter. Which you'll regret happening if I find that you seriously tried anything on Tohru. See you soon.
Yours truly,
Kagome
PS: Don't worry about Akito's reaction to Tohru.
Shigure chuckled again. Only Kagome would account for his slightly perverted nature (which she claimed to be nowhere as bad as her monk friend Miroku's) and have it occur to her that he rarely meant anything by his teasing or perverted comments. She could tell when he didn't really mean anything perverted while everyone else thought it was. They had always had a strange relationship. They were very close. He would flirt with her half jokingly, and she would flirt right back. Though he still didn't know if she meant anything by it... She was also kind and selfless for the most part yet had an attitude. Altogether, she's a remarkable woman. He'd really missed her.
Two Days Later
It was Saturday. Tohru, Yuki, Kyou, and Shigure were meeting Kagome at the train to help her move in. She already had someone apparently, who was bringing her things in a moving van. Yuki was there because he wanted to meet Tohru's cousin. Kyou wouldn't say why he was there, but Shigure knew that he was curious. Finally, the train came in.
"How do we know it's her?" Yuki asked.
"No need to worry;" said Shigure, "Tohru and I would no doubt recognize her anywhere. Besides, she'll probably find us."
"Tohru! It's been way too long. How have you been?" a female voice said enthusiastically.
The three guys turned towards Tohru and the voice. They saw a woman who looked to be around twenty three hugging Tohru from behind. She had long black hair that had a blue sheen to it which wasn't much shorter than Tohru's and midnight blue eyes. She was wearing a purple tank top, a black leather knee-length trench coat, black jeans, and black boots. Tohru looked up.
"Kagome Nee-chan!" she said, "I'm great. What about you? I missed you."
Kagome smiled and chuckled. "I missed you too. To answer your question, I'm doing good now that I'm here. You do look great- you're getting prettier and prettier every day."
Tohru blushed at the last comment, making Kagome chuckle again.
'Modest as ever, I see.' she thought.
All of a sudden, she noticed Yuki out of the corner of her eye. He had his eyes narrowed at her suspiciously.
"Ah! You must be Yuki-kun. I'm Kagome. It's nice to meet you."
"... The pleasure is mine." he replied.
Suddenly she was behind Kyou, one arm loosely wrapped around his shoulders and the other on his head, giving him a noogie. She was also grinning- Shigure suspected it was partly due to the light blush on Kyou's cheek.
"Kyou-kun! It's been a long time. How have you been?" she asked.
"It's nice to see you too, Kagome. Now please let go of me." Kyou replied. 'It really is her.'
Kyou had learned from experience that one of the worst things one could do around Kagome was be rude. So Kyou just glared at the look Yuki was giving him. The damn rat had an attitude as bad as he did- just in a different way. Kyou couldn't wait until Yuki slipped around Kagome. His reaction to her temper- and the kind of thing that tended to set it off- would be amusing. In fact, Kyou had a feeling that Haru- either black or white- would find it amusing too.
"Oi! What about me? You haven't forgotten about your favorite author, have you?" said Shigure.
Kagome looked around. "Last time I checked, JRR Tolkien is dead. And I don't see his ghost anywhere, either. Do you?" she said.
"Kage-chan!" Shigure whined, "That's mean! Have you been hanging out with Ha-san too much?"
Kagome chuckled. "I'm just teasing you, Gure. I could never forget about you."
Shigure 'pounced' on Kagome, giving her a hug.
"I've missed you, Kagome-chan! You were gone for far too long." he said.
Kagome returned the embrace and her eyes softened. Both were now giving gentler, more genuine smiles.
"I missed you too, Shigure." Kagome said.
'How can you stand him?' Kyou and Yuki thought at the same time, not realizing that she was hugging him.
Then they proceeded to jump back and glare at each other as if knowing that the other had thought the same thing. Tohru started panicking, worried that they'd start fighting. Kagome and Shigure also noticed. Kagome rose and eyebrow.
"Are these two always like that, Shigure?" she asked.
"They tend to be worse, actually." Shigure answered, "Though they've actually improved since meeting Tohru."
Kagome started giggling. It reminded her of Tom and Jerry or Inuyasha and Sesshomaru… or Inuyasha and Kouga.
"What's so funny?" asked Shigure.
"If I hadn't seen Tom and Jerry, I'd think that Yuki-kun thinks that he's the dog instead of the rat the way the two of them fight- a lot like the stereotype for cats and dogs."
Shigure chuckled. "They do, don't they?"
"A-ano. Excuse me, but shouldn't we get going? We don't want to miss the moving van." said Tohru.
Kagome smiled. "That's true. We wouldn't want to keep them waiting, now would we?"
Later, at Kagome's new house
The group of five had just arrived at Kagome's house. Yuki and Kyou were surprised when they saw the house- one that they thought that he Sohmas owned but didn't use. They couldn't help but wonder just how many Sohmas Kagome knew, and what she was to them. How did she get a hold of this house? Just as they reached it, a moving van pulled into the driveway. The three teens- and Shigure also, to a lesser extent- were surprised at who got out of the van.
"Ha-san! I didn't know that you would be here." said Shigure.
"Well, I knew that Kagome would need someone responsible to help her move in. So since she wanted to know how to get to her house from the train station so that she could visit her family, I offered to drive the van for her." Hatori said.
"Ha-san! Don't be so mean." Shigure whined.
"How else will I keep you in line when you're being so ridiculous?" Hatori deadpanned.
"Now, now. Hatori. There's no need to be so hard on him. Give Shi-kun at least a bit of a break." said Kagome.
"Whatever. Let's just get started." said Hatori.
"Kage-chan! Why didn't you tell me you were coming today?" said a voice that made Yuki and Kyou tense half in fear half in annoyance.
'Not him.' they both thought.
"Ayame!" Kagome said as she was 'hug attacked' by said snake jyunishi, "It's so good to see you! And I thought Hatori would tell you."
Ayame pouted, then pouted deeper as he noticed something. "Kagome-chan, why aren't you wearing one of my outfits?" he asked.
"Do you really expect me to wear something of yours? Especially when I'm moving?" she replied.
Ayame pouted again, anime crying on Shigure's shoulder about how Kagome was as mean as Hatori. Shigure patted his back, comforting him. Hatori just smirked. Kagome always had been the sane one out of those three… for the most part.
"Ah, come on, Aya. I'm only teasing you- mostly. Besides, I didn't want to ruin anything you made." she said.
Hatori, Kyou, and Yuki mentally sighed in relief when she successfully got Ayame to stop pouting.
"Can we get started already?" Kyou grumbled.
Kagome chuckled. "Kyou-kun has a point. We don't want to stand around here all day, do we?"
She then headed to the moving van. The others soon followed. After they were done, Kagome invited them all to stay over for dinner. Everyone was tired and Kagome refused to let Tohru cook, so they ordered pizza.
"Higurashi-san-" Yuki said.
"Kagome." she interrupted.
"Pardon?" Yuki said, confused.
"Please call me Kagome. Higurashi-san would be my mother." she said.
"All right. Kagome-san, then. How is it you can hug us?" Yuki said.
"You mean the curse? It's simple. My great grandmother was a Sohma, and I have the abilities of a miko. The two combined probably makes me immune- or at least, that's what I think. It could be the fact that I'm actually part of the Zodiac also. Either way, the fact that I've learned to combine said abilities helps- I usually never have to worry about the curse."
"What do you mean?" asked Kyou.
"I'm the fourteenth Zodiac- the fox. But my Sohma blood being so diluted makes my curse weaker. That- or it's negated by a significant amount of reiki, or spirit energy." Kagome said.
"Kagome… what exactly were you doing? All this time after you moved, you still wrote or visited all the time- until the letters just stopped five years ago." Kyou said.
Kagome sighed. "It all started on my fifteenth birthday, eight years ago. I was headed to school when I noticed Souta, my brother, in the doorway of the well house located on the shrine we lived on. I asked him what he was doing- we weren't allowed in there. He said that Buyo, our cat, had gotten in there. I was helping him find Buyo when a creature that I later learned was a demon called Mistress Centipede pulled me down the well and I ended up in the Feudal Era. The village's miko, Kaede, mistook me for her late older sister Kikyo, the previous miko, at first, then claimed that I'm her reincarnation- which I've always believed to be a bunch of bull. I then met a dog-eared boy named Inuyasha who was half dog demon, half human, and at the same time learned that I had had a jewel called the Shikon no Tama in my side. To make a long story short, I broke the jewel trying to retrieve it from a crow demon and ended up having to travel back and forth through time and across Feudal Japan retrieving the shards. Along the way we were joined by an orphaned fox demon kit named Shippo, a perverted and cursed monk named Miroku, a female taijiya, or demon slayer named Sango, and her two-tailed cat demon companion Kirara. There was also Inuyasha's full demon half brother Sesshomaru- who couldn't stand Inuyasha and was plain out hated by Inuyasha and a wolf demon who took forever to get the hint that I wasn't interested named Kouga. Our nemesis for a good part of the quest was Naraku; a human bandit turned half demon. Then things changed five years ago. By the time I'd finally finished the quest a year later… I'd lost contact with Kyou for some reason. I tried to keep contact with everyone… but between college and tying up loose ends on the other side of the well in Feudal Japan, I failed. Which I apologize for. Though it doesn't help that two Sohmas moved during this time without telling me."
At the last part, Shigure and Kyou looked sheepish.
"Sorry…" said Kyou.
"I apologize, Kagome." Shigure said.
Kagome smiled. "It's all right." she said.
"It's really that time? We'd better be going. Let's go, Tohru-san. I'll help you study for the test." Yuki said.
"All right. We'll see you tomorrow, Kagome-chan!" said Tohru.
With that, the three teens got up and started to leave.
"Are you coming, Shigure-san?" asked Tohru.
"You kids go on ahead." said Shigure.
They turned to leave. But right before he walked out the door, Kyou- who was the last one to leave- paused.
"You're… not leaving again, are you?" asked Kyou.
Kagome's eyes softened. "No, I'm not. Now that I'm finally back, I'm here to stay." she said.
"Good." Kyou said. Then he left.
"Well now that the kiddies are gone, we can get down to business." Shigure said.
"Indeed!" said Ayame, "We have catching up to do."
"Calm down, you two." said Hatori. They complied.
"Kagome-chan, what happened? After you graduated from high school, you were on the other side of the well for a whole year." Ayame said.
Kagome's expression darkened.
"A lot happened." she said.
"Such as?" prompted Shigure.
"You already know that I'd become better acquainted with Sesshomaru, who had been training me. You also know that I had befriended Bankotsu, Jakotsu, and Suikotsu, who were all that was left of the Band of Seven because of Renkotsu. It all started during winter break right before I graduated. One day, when I'd been left all alone except for Shippo, I' ran into Naraku. We were taking a walk and there he was, in the middle of a clearing- and obviously in no condition to fight or even be a threat. He wasn't injured; no, Naraku just seemed upset. I talked to him. It turns out that we were mistaken about him. Naraku had been a single demon whose normal form appeared mostly human who had fused with Onigumo because he pitied him. But Onigumo locked him away once they were fused, and took the habit of absorbing demons to increase his power. Naraku was still as much a part of the being, though, and could not stay dormant for long. Naraku regretted what he had done. So he tried to get rid of Onigumo and the other demons. But to do that he seemed to need the Shikon no Tama. At that point, Onigumo was almost always dormant- Naraku had been steadily gaining strength. I felt sorry for him. I also knew that Naraku wasn't actually so bad and that everyone deserves a second chance. So I agreed to help. When I told everyone else- except Inuyasha, who had been MIA therefore most likely with or searching for Kikyo- agreed with me. Inuyasha had been acting weird for a while, so I knew something was up… but I was still surprised…"
"What did he do?" asked Hatori.
"He betrayed us," she said, "It turns out that he was worse than even Sesshomaru knew or thought, and he had never had a very high opinion of Inuyasha even when he was a child. He'd been using us all along. When I got back after I had graduated, Inuyasha attacked us. He failed to kill us because he had underestimated all of us- especially me- but got away with my jewel shards. He ran to the waiting Kikyo, who he'd had make it so that I was stuck in the Feudal Era, they left. Soon after, Naraku, Sesshomaru, and even Kouga joined the group. As a last resort, I managed to purify Onigumo and the demons from Naraku. And so the tables were turned. Instead of chasing Naraku, we were chasing Inuyasha- who was harder to catch than you might think no thanks to Kikyo. Finally, after a year, the quest was over and the well unsealed."
Unnoticed by Kagome, Shigure had to hold back a growl and had unconsciously clenched his hands into fists. Ayame and Hatori had, though. The action made Ayame raise an eyebrow at Shigure, who shook his head, signaling not to say anything.
"That must have been hard." Hatori said, "You never even had a crush on Inuyasha, but you had seen him as a good friend."
"It's no surprise to me- I knew from the start that the puppy couldn't be trusted. Especially after having met him." Ayame huffed angrily.
"Now it's my turn- how's Akito?" Kagome said.
The three men exchanged a look. Kagome got a light feeling of dread. What had happened?
"He's… changed." said Hatori.
"Without you around, he took a page out of his mother's book." said Shigure.
"Hatori… did Akito do that to your eye?" Kagome asked.
Hatori looked away and sighed. Then he nodded. There was no point in lying to her. Even if he wanted to or tried to, it would do no good. She knew him too well.
"What happened?" she asked.
Hatori told her. Kagome was miffed. How could she? If Kana truly loved him, the incident should have ended differently. But she broke; therefore Kagome doubted Kana had ever truly loved Hatori.
"Don't worry, Hatori- you'll find someone better. If she reacted like that, she wasn't right for you. I'm glad that it doesn't depress you, though."
"That means a lot. And… I'm glad that someone understands." Hatori said, "It's late. We'll be leaving now."
"All right. See you." said Kagome.
"Ja ne, Kagome-chan." said Ayame.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Shigure said, kissing Kagome on the cheek as he left.
Even after they left, Kagome stared at Shigure then the door, a hand on her cheek. Shigure hadn't noticed her reaction, but Hatori had seen it out of the corner of his eye.
Outside
"My, my, Shi-chan. How long has that been going on?" Ayame asked.
"What do you mean, Aya?" said Shigure.
"You're in love with our angel, aren't you?" said Ayame.
"Use your head, Ayame. They've been dancing around each other since she was in Jr. High." said Hatori.
"…Let's pretend for a minute that it's true. So what if I am in love with Kagome?" said Shigure.
"Why haven't you told her yet?" asked Ayame.
"I'll admit that there's something between us but what if she doesn't feel the same? I couldn't bare it if things changed between us in a bad way. She means too much to me." Shigure said.
"She's why you started writing, isn't she?" Hatori stated in a rhetorical question.
They all knew that it's true. It had affected them all when Kagome was gone. No one more so than Shigure, even if most didn't notice a difference in his attitude. They thought that Akito was the most changed. They were wrong. Shigure had always had a darker side to his personality that he hid away. Shigure had also always had a gift for story-telling. When they were in school, Shigure would usually use this to keep them out of trouble if they did something. Though if it seemed like it wouldn't work Hatori would talk their way out of trouble. Kagome loved his stories, she would always ask him to tell her one of his stories. So when it suddenly had been a long time since he had last seen Kagome, he started writing in hope that she would find and pick up one of his books.
You see, what Ayame said was true. Shigure did love Kagome. Shigure had realized his feelings in high school, just after she had started Jr. High. They already often teased each other, but that was when the flirting had become a regular thing and started to be at least half serious. It actually meant something. Though, Hatori suspected that it had meant something to Kagome since it started. It had been obvious to both him and Ayame that the two had feelings for each other since before either had realized it. Ayame had been wanting to do something to get them together for years. But Hatori wouldn't have it. He knew that they would confess eventually. Though, it still hasn't happened. He supposed that one of them just needed a bit of a push.
"You know the answer as well as I do." Shigure said.
"Just make sure that you tell her soon. She won't wait forever, you know." said Hatori.
"You sound so sure that she'll return my feelings." said Shigure.
"Shi-chan, the flirting between the two of you has meant something to her at least as long as it's meant something to you." said Ayame.
"Not to mention the fact that you're the only male that she's ever flirted with in any way, either seriously or purely as playful banter." added Hatori.
"…" Shigure didn't say anything at first. "Later!"
Then he left.
'They're right.' he thought, 'It's high time that I told her. I'll talk to her as soon as we're alone.'
"What do you think, Ha-san?" Ayame asked.
"He can be almost as ridiculous as you, but he's no idiot, and he knows that we're right. Give it a little more time. They'll probably be a couple before you know it." Hatori replied.
"How do you think Akito will react?" asked Ayame, "You know how he is nowadays."
"They should be fine. Akito cares about both of them. He just wants them happy. In fact, he used to complain that they were taking too long to confess." Hatori said.
"Is that so? I'm not surprised. Like Tohru-kun, Kagome-chan has a gift where she can touch any heart- provided she's given a chance and said person actually listens to what she's saying."
"Well, I'd better head home. Good night, Ayame." said Hatori.
"Good night, Ha-san." replied Ayame.
Then they parted ways. Neither knowing just how correct Hatori was. Or that the arrival of Kagome back into their lives changed the course of the future. For not only will certain events be different, but two hearts that otherwise would barely even come in sight of one another would come to be closer than anyone would ever have guessed.
Owari
