This was the original second installment of the series before I remembered Bleach. Next one Kagome won't be appearing but I feel giddy already thinking about how it flowed once I got inspired. Also, as of the next installment, order of publication will stop being something relevant to the timeline.

Also also, OMG I saw Infinity War and had I not loved the MCU enough already to make stories out of it this would have been the last nail in the coffin.

I hope you enjoy it!

Cruel Angel Thesis

It had come as a surprise to find some other who did not really belong to this world, though after meeting Susan she knew she was not only probable but also to be expected.

She couldn't tell how she knew the man currently tending to her small fever wasn't as normal as he seemed to be. Perhaps something to do with the fact that his aura seemed brighter than most humans, yet not in any way she could recognize as supernatural in origin. Her curiosity only grew when with barely a look he was able to tell what was her problem and start to give council - and it only reached astronomical levels when she decided to risk it and use her powers to see his soul - and found it missing.

Weird, that after meeting people whose beings were pure soul she know met those without it.

Her reaction was... to be expected to anyone spiritually aware, to be honest when was the last time you looked into a person and found it soulless in a literal sense?!

She freaked out alright and had her shining bow prepped in a second. He was quick enough in lifting his hands defensively and that, along with his calm eyes and missing fingers, gave her the clue this wasn't the first time this man found himself in the wrong point of a weapon - and that given the chance would fight her. Her surprise reached astronomic levels when a cat came seemingly out of nowhere, hissing aggressively and it turned out it held the shine of a pure, uncontained human soul.

This day had gone from mild to time-travel weird in the space of mere minutes.

Her eyes saw the sting that connected them, similar yet different from the chain she had seen conecting soul with body back during her times with Kisuke. This one was more like threads made out of pure gold and she could almost feel the warmth and love radiating out of it. The question was out of her mouth before she could even begin to filter what she wanted to say to what her awed/terrified being part wanted to express.

"Why is your soul inside a cat?"

Confusion drowned his gaze for a second, then sharp understanding before his clever eyes went back to a mask of tranquility.

"I don't even know what you are talking about, but perhaps you got a turn with the wrong specialist. I can get you to a good psychiatrist if you let me…"

Her snort was undignified to an apprentice of the great Sesshomaru, but she conceded had she been any other Miko in modern times – or hell, even before she met the Shinigami back in Japan – she would've seriously considered his words. She let her aura flare for a second, directing it towards the soul hoping it could feel the mystical powers she had been born with.

"My particular brand of madness is not treatable, thank you. You seriously think you should be lying to a Priestess with a drawn bow though?"

The cat stopped hissing only to adopt a smug posture and the man followed, though to a lesser degree. His hands lowered and she saw in his gaze the confidence of one who thought wasn't going to die today. As she wasn't a murderer he was quite right, but he didn't have to know that – she kept her arrow pointed at him.

"I am afraid you are going out of work then, as I have in good faith that Nietzsche's dream has finally come true."

It was her turn to be confused.

"I'm sorry, Nietzsche?"

He seemed to deflate a little and lose momentum.

"You know, the whole 'God is dead', 'when you look into the Abyss the Abyss looks into you' guy? Very important philosopher of the last century?"

She finally allowed the bow to disappear, all sense of ambient gone with his change in tone and confident enough that she would be able to draw it in seconds if need be.

"Sorry, I had a little bit of trouble to follow through some of the courses at High School, and I'm not even sure Western Philosophy was one of them."

He sighed and his soul went to rub against his legs. Kagome could now feel his stress as her own, and she came to the realization that perhaps her outburst had been out of place. She couldn't expect everyone with a past would be as willing to share it with her as Kisuke and Susan had been, especially when she wasn't so keen on sharing her own. A sigh left her own lips and she sat back on the chair she had been, letting him have the upper position for now and showing no – more – ill ilk.

"I'm sorry Dr. Parry, it's been a couple of hard months."

He looked at her as if she had grown another head, which after her reaction was pretty fair on his side, before tiredly pulling his rolling chair and sitting on it. His head rested comfortably on his hands while the cat jumped and sat next to them. He probably didn't even realized that the fingers of his mutilated hand were softly caressing the animal's fur.

"Call me Will if we are going to talk about souls and gods. Kirjava tells me you've got a pretty interesting one even when it's not manifested."

She caught the gist of what he said but didn't want to jump to conclusions. "I'm sorry, Kirjava?"

He caressed the purring yet alert cat deliberately this time.

"My daemon, my materialized soul. She tells me yours is unusually bright and powerful, that she can see it even when you don't have a daemon of your own."

Now she was interested. Damn it to hell if Kisuke's mad scientist quirks had rubbed off on her.

"A materialized soul? I didn't even think that was possible and I've seen quite a few things done with and to souls. How did you even managed to do it?" The sudden tension on his limbs was enough for her. "Don't answer if you don't want to, I've had my soul ripped in two once so I guess the process for it to materialize couldn't have been free of pain."

The cat suddenly had all of its attention in her, as well as Will. They both seemed dumb folded somehow and she had the same feeling she had the first time she told Susan of her few encounters with the Shinto Gods. Somethings were just too close to personal experience to be open to new perspectives on it - hell, a part of her still was one denial about Aslan and the Shinigamis that kept balance in the world.

A quick glance at the clock confirmed her growing suspicion, and the doctor followed. A sigh and then a quick unintelligible scribble into a few papers.

"I'm afraid we must cut this short. I've got other patients and little time."

She stood awkwardly, suddenly feeling ridiculous and out of place. Yet she still had a card to play. Pulling her bag and taking the things the doctor was giving her she asked for a pen and did her own, careful scribbles on a piece of paper.

"I am meeting with this woman who also traveled to another world in her youth if you want to come and share your story you are more than welcome."

Will gazed, first at her and then at the piece of paper she was handling him, with distrust before Kirjava huffed and grabbed it herself. Kagome found it hard to contain her wish to caress the cat's fur, but it didn't seem very courteous to touch other person's soul. She shuffled nervously while trying to decipher the medication he had prescribed her before standing next to the door.

"I hope to see you there Doc, have a nice day!"

"You too." Was the response given by a feminine voice and soon enough the Miko turned to find the cat smiling smugly at her. A small smile grew on her lips.

"Bye Kirjava."

"Goodbye Kagome."

Will sighed while he caught the sight of a male collie in the periphery of his vision, trotting happily with his tail wagging behind his mistress before the Asian woman closed the door.

"Thirteen years and trouble still finds you, I'm starting to think you were the trouble magnet instead of Lyra."

He groaned, and with the laugh of his daemon returning to her drawer hideout and the tingle of power still infusing them both with a giddy happiness he pocketed Kagome's note and called in his next patient.

Next Saturday he would get answers.