Disclaimer: I do NOT own either Inuyasha or Uta no Prince-sama. They both belong to their respective authors and owners.

Prologue: The Bird in a Cage

She stared into the well. It had stopped working six months ago and would not work no matter how much she tried. Kagome clenched her hands around the wooden lip of the well as she tried to fight back tears. For some reason, she didn't think she would ever be able to go back. Tears dripped from her cheeks and several landed on her necklace. The Shikon started to glow a shimmering pink. She closed her eyes and slammed her hands against the wood as she slid to her knees and started to sob once again.

She had cried so many tears these last six months. It had taken three years for them to get to the final battle and kill Naraku. But the moment that she got the Shikon and reunited all the pieces there was a brilliant flash of light and…. she was back in her time staring up out of the Bone Eaters Well. When the well wouldn't let her through the grief had been overwhelming. She couldn't go back! Why?

And the Shikon would not leave her person. It seems to have decided that it liked her as a guardian and she couldn't take it off. It always rested on her chest often beating in time with her own heartbeat. Kagome had never been more thankful that she had at least been able to graduate from her high school years just before the final battle. If she still had to work on school while dealing with this… she likely would have failed. As it was, her grades had sadly been average. She did not get a good reference to a university and a part of her didn't want to go anyways. She had always planned to live the rest of her life in the past with her friends, her feudal family. Kagome bit her knuckle to stifle a keen of agony. If only! She had hoped… but it seemed like it would never happen now.

Soft hands came to rest on her shoulders and Kagome stifled her instant reaction to attack. She had been trained and fought in too many battles for her not to gain the instinct to attack first and ask questions later.

"Kagome-chan, maybe it's time you get away from here for a while. I hate seeing you like this darling."

"I don't want to leave, what if the well opens back up?! And, where would I even go Mama?"

Her mother gently turned her before hugging her close stroking a hand through her daughter's long hair, "Wherever your feet take you. Just leave the city behind for a while. Travel through Japan; see what has changed since you last did that. I want to see you smile again."

She gave a watery laugh, "Too much will have changed, and they won't be with me. I…I can't even sing anymore Mama. It's like…it's like when Papa died."

The arms around her tightened, "Oh darling."

Singing had always been special to Kagome. Her father had been a musician and composer and she had taken after him. As a child, she loved to play piano and sing with her best friend Haruka-chan, but after her friend had to leave for her health and her father died in a car crash in the same week she had gone mute for months. Even after she started speaking again, she kept up with the piano, but it was only when she had gone to the past that she had started to sing again. Her pack had loved to hear her sing and she had loved when they joined in with her. The harmony they had created wasn't perfect or completely refined but it had been real. Soul-achingly real, like it was when she was little, and she had lost that once more!

"What about going to visit Haruka-chan? She came to visit you a few years ago, you could return the favor."

Kagome shook her head, "She told me that she had been accepted to Uncle Saotome's acedemy and I can't be around music right now."

"All the more reason to travel for a little. I know you'll stay safe Kagome, you have grown up so much, and I want you to get away from the shrine for a little. To come to terms with everything that has happened."

She stayed silent for a long time before sighing, "Maybe you're right Mama. It might be good to get away for at least a little. And I need to keep up my skills and physical abilities." She gave a sad giggle, "My pack would hate for me to lose all the skills they drummed into my head just because I was too lazy to keep up with them."

Mama pulled back and cupped her cheeks. "Good. I will help you pack and get ready. I want you to check back in with us at least once every two weeks, once every week if you can manage it, alright? And," she smiled down at Kagome, "listen to music again. Even if it is just the music of nature, until you feel able to sing once more, my little song bird."

Kagome smiled softly at the nickname, Papa had always called her that. "I'll try, Mama. I'll try."

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