What Makes You Different

Summary: Kagome spent her time on the roof of the many Hotels she continued to bounce around to. It was sheer coincidence that she ran into him...and it was by a stroke of luck that he didn't kill her. When she makes a request of this mystery boy, will he see it through, or laugh in her face.

Anime/Manga: Shaman King/InuYasha

Pairing: Kagome/Ren

Genre: Romance

Rated: M for Mature Content

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Kagome listened with her back to her mom's door. She stared around at the hotel room and sighed. She was always moving, always running. But from what; she never asked, she didn't care.

Her mom was always crying, she understood why. She knew perfectly well that her days had an expiration date...she was supposed to die in five months. Thirteen years old, she was sick, the doctors had no cure, the disease was called 'Sleep-X'. Not a real name for a disease; though...you can't call it something if you don't know what it is. They just know that every day it gets worse. She would pass out, days would go by...she'd miss everything one day and not wake up.

The last Sleep-X attack took away nine days of her life before she woke up, hungry and even sleepier than before. Perhaps this is why her mom always yells at her for leaving to stargaze. She may not come back due to another attack. Kagome understood her mother's fear, but she didn't want to spend her last five months in random hotel rooms. Apparently, this weekend, they would be moving to a new hotel. Absently, Kagome wondered if she'd be awake this time, or just wake up in a new room like last time.

Standing, she left her spot by her mother's door. Opening the front door softly and carefully, so not to make any noise, she quickly departed and closed it soundlessly behind her. Making her way up the stairs, it was always best not to be seen by the people in the halls or elevators. They would report to the front desk any children they saw without their guardians or parents with them to the front desk. So she made her way to the roof. The door was always locked, but that was fine. She had her ways of getting up there. She had a secret only she knew about. Her mom didn't even know about it.

How could she though...she would have to have the same secret to know.

"Lotus...please..."

Her hand glowed and with two fine pointed pins, she picked the lock and exited with ease. Making sure to keep the door propped open so that she could return before the sun started to rise.

"Thank you."

Lotus, a woman who wore a black one piece pantsuit, bowed before turning to what looked like smoke and merging once again with the white lotus pin Kagome wore in her hair.

Sitting down, her mind wandered away from her and she found herself thinking back to when she'd first met Lotus; when she first learned of things like Shamans...and the ability to integrate with ghosts. Sitting back on the cool stone of the roof, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander...

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Flashback

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"There must be a mistake..."

"I'm sorry Mrs. Higurashi, there's no mistake."

Kagome watched her mom stare down the doctor.

"So you are telling me...that a healthy twelve year old is going to die because you don't know what's wrong with her?"

"We have nothing on record, but if these attacks continue...the chances of her waking up from another attack in five months...is zero."

"This is bullshit. You don't even know what it is, but you're telling me she's going to die!"

Kagome slipped out of the room, using the bathroom as an excuse. She walked down the hall and thought about what she'd just heard. Yeah, she was going to die...but didn't everyone? It sucked that she was going to die so young, but clearly nothing could be done about it. Stepping up to someone, she looked at the outfit she wore and smiled, "Do you know the quickest way to get to the rooftop?"

The woman didn't pay any mind to her, staring at nothing in front of her.

"Ma'am?" She brought her hand up and it fell straight through the woman. Kagome was shocked, but the woman was at least paying attention to her now. "...do you...know how to get to the roof?"

"Follow me."

Perhaps she should have been more frightened, her hand had just gone through someone...but then, the person that she just ran her hand through didn't seem all too mad, did she?

"The door is locked; can you get out on your own?"

Kagome looked sadly at the stairs and stopped in her trek, "No, I can't..."

"I will help you then. It just so happens, breaking and entering are a specialty of mine."

"...are you a ghost?"

"Observant, aren't you."

Kagome ignored the woman's sarcasm, "Well, how did you die?"

"...I was a nurse at this Hospital...and a part time thief. This was near one hundred and seventy years ago...when this hospital was just three stories high...now twenty-two stories. I had just returned from one of my jobs, it was late, dark, and I was in my office about to change into my nurse's garbs, when someone shot me. I didn't see them until it was too late. The man is long since dead now, but that does nothing to sooth my soul."

"Why did you steal?"

"I sold the items from rich bastards for some profit; the money went to the children."

"...I'm sorry..."

The woman looked at the girl and sighed, "I will join my body with yours, only for a moment, to help you out onto the roof. I've only ever seen Shaman's do this, never have I myself done it, so please take care of me while I am housed in your body."

Kagome didn't understand what the woman meant until her she turned into a ball of some sort and merged herself with her body. Kagome was speechless, and as her hands began to move on her own, she slipped into an office unseen, quieter than she'd ever been, and stole two thin needles before ducking out and around the corner. She took off up the stairs without anyone seeing her, without anyone hearing her. Stopping at a door, she picked the lock, and smiled at a soft click she heard distinctly from the other side. Once the door was opened, the woman vacated her body and Kagome smiled. "Thank you...can I ask you one more question?"

"Sure,"

"...what...is a shaman?"

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End Flashback

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Kagome woke to what felt like a knife to her throat, her eyes opened but she didn't move in fear of getting cut. Above her, she was met with golden eyes which pierced through the night.

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Me: The first chapter is up! Let me know what you guys think, nyan~!