Title: Butterflies

Title derived from the chaos theory: "It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world"

Summary: After Naraku is destroyed and the Jewel wished out of existence, Kagome wakes up in a world where her adventures have never happened. Equipped with memories of her alternate life, as well as this new one, she takes on the mundane as well as the extraordinary with her old friend from this schoolgirl reality: Yusuke Urameshi.

This was a request fic. I'm not so sure if I am going to make it into any length, but here's what I have.

The request was for a story in which Yusuke and Kagome, who knew each other in high school, meet up in college.

Without further ado, let's begin.

Chapter 1:

The college freshmen (1) left their first class and scattered to the four winds. They were still getting used to the fact that they were no longer the high school students that they once were and that they had a bit more time between classes than they did in previous years.

Darting between other students in the crowd was a girl who otherwise would not stand out. She was beautiful, yes, with silky black hair that reached the middle of her back and a face that was nicely tanned and blemish-free. But, in the crowd of all of the other students, she was merely another face, another body trying to get to class.

Her life had not always been so mundane. Two years before, she was out in the wilds of Feudal Japan, fighting demons with her mortal life on the line. She had worked tirelessly to rid the world of evil, only to do so and find herself thrust forward back into her original time.

It was strange: when she returned to her time period after the destruction of the evil mastermind Naraku, it was as if she had never left. She still retained the memories of her trips, while at the same time she had other memories. In these new ones, she went to school on her fifteenth birthday with a bruise where she had tripped into the side of the well (but was not pulled down into it.) She had gone to school, done rather well in math (calculus, she decided, was very easy when one has enough practice) and had many different friends.

One of these new friends from this time period was Yusuke Urameshi. He had, in this new reality, come over to the shrine one day when Kagome had just turned sixteen to ask her grandfather several questions about demonology. That reality's Kagome was very much disinterested with the conversation, yet very interested in the boy. He was a rather attractive boy, underneath all of the hair gel and bad attitude. After the conversation about that most loathsome topic-demons-Kagome approached the strange boy.

Their conversation was a strange mixture of Kagome's blatant and failed attempts at flirting with the boy and Yusuke's discomfort in dealing with her. He was still quite attached to his "girlfriend" Keiko, and he did not like the idea of other girls flirting with him. After the awkwardness subsided on both accounts, they discussed their friends and perspectives on life. More importantly, they discussed demons.

The topic of conversation that Kagome avoided the most was suddenly the most interesting topic she could imagine. Hearing Yusuke's stories, fictitious as she thought they were, opened up the door for her acceptance of them as a possible explanation of the unexplainable.

She did not know at that time that the stories were all true, that demons were real and dangerous and, more importantly, corporeal. That enlightenment was saved for a year later when the two realities of her life merged together after her completion of the Shikon Jewel: one of the innocent schoolgirl, one of the demon fighting miko.

Kagome shook her head to dispel the reverie and the dual memories for those two years of her life. From her fifteenth birthday until a month after her seventeenth birthday, she could piece together two identities which, thank goodness, were separate enough for her to balance the two in her mind well. However, after she was enlightened on that fateful day, her family and friends saw a major shift in her behavior. She was more confident than the Kagome they knew: more accepting of challenge and trusting of the rest of humanity. More importantly, she was more interested in the topics of demonology. Yusuke's stories from before had done nothing to make her interested in her grandfather's stories, but now she was very much interested in everything he had to say.

Thinking about Yusuke made her sigh once more. After their first meeting, they had become fast friends and called each other constantly. Then, one day about six months later he stopped calling and answering the phone. Kagome was not concerned with that, thinking that maybe he was out on some trip as he had done several times. She waited a few days and tried again and repeated this process for a month. When she started to panic, she checked the obituaries for his area, but saw nothing. Finally, after about three months, a woman answered on the other line. When Kagome asked about Yusuke, the lady (obviously drunk as a skunk) started to wail about how her son had left her without telling her where he was.

Kagome effectively declared him dead to her and moved on with her life. About a month before college started, however, she received a call from him. She felt like she wanted to punch him in the face for making her worry. He laughed at her, saying that he would come visit soon, after he got his college schedule worked out and reestablished ties to his other, closer to home, friends.

It was in her second class that morning that she noticed that he had enrolled in the same college, for they shared their English class (2) In the lecture hall, Kagome spotted the boy sitting in back, trying to look as intimidating as possible to avoid anyone sitting around him.

At first, Kagome did not recognize him. His trademark gelled hair was forgone in favor of leaving it messy and somewhat longer. His face was more developed and his happy-go-lucky look that Kagome had remembered had faded away into an almost harsh look that she was used to seeing on angry demons. In addition, there was something else that she was picking up from him. As he had disappeared before she had merged with her demon-hunting-priestess alter ego, she had never noticed just how much power was radiating off of him. It felt very human, yet very demon at the same time. Not like how Inuyasha felt to her, however. No, it was more he had powerful human spiritual power that had an undertone of demonic power that felt as though it could spring up and take control at any second. Was this the same Yusuke that she had known before? Surely even her weak, untrained schoolgirl self should have enough spiritual power to see through him and feel the discomfort of his presence.

She tried to ignore that feeling in the pit of her stomach as she approached her friend.

"Well, looky who's here!" Yusuke said with a grin as he saw his friend, "If I'da known that you were goin' ta school here, I prolly woulda stopped by earlier, you know? I woulda thought that you were doin' some classes online for some fancy-schmancy 'academy' in Kami-knows-where."

"It seems our time apart has had an impeccable effect on your speech patterns, I see," Kagome commented, faking a snobbish accent.

Yusuke howled in laughter, oblivious of the glares that he was receiving from the rest of the class and, more importantly, the professor.

Yusuke calmed down considerably and began speaking in his normal cadence, "It really is great to see you again. Wow, has it been that long since I've laid eyes on you?" he asked rhetorically, looking her up and down the same way a painter examines his almost-finished work. "Seriously, you grew from the ugly ducking into the beautiful duck."

"Don't you mean swan?" Kagome asked with a smile as she settled herself down in the desk.

"Nah, you'll never be quite a swan: that word is for those fake girls who try too hard to be pretty. Yours is natural. I hope," he commented as his eyes drifted over the front of her blouse. She glared and smacked him over the head.

"Class is starting, you idiot," she whispered loudly as the professor took his position at the front of the class.

"We'll finish this later, ducky," he said, smiling as he returned the insult. Kagome stuck out her tongue like a little girl and pretended to ignore him.

Yes, it was nice to have him back. But, where had he been all this time?

END CHAPTER

Wow, that actually came out, dare I say it, rather nicely.

I think the request was more for an AU, but I like this plan. Yes, the chapter is short, future ones will be longer. However, I am probably going to make this a 5-10 chapter story, so don't get your hopes up on something really grandeur.

Story notes:

(1): The US is one of the youngest-graduating-high-school-age countries. Most of the rest of the world begins college around 19-20 rather than 17-18 (case in point, my school's Korean and Turkish exchange students were all at least 19 at graduation, one that I know of was 20.)

(2) Yes, they are in Japan. Think of it as a foreign language. It is the only subject in which they would naturally be in the same level: Kagome is too studious in this reality to be in lower level maths or sciences or histories (remember, she had two years after she was enlightened in her past), and Yusuke didn't really go to much high school. He was too busy dealing with (insert spoiler here. Three King's Saga is incorporated in the story for those dying to know.. It's rather obvious) stuff and got into college by. well it'll be explained when they talk.

Notes intended for explanation. contains spoilers and are not needed to understand story (hopefully). I accidently published them on the initial release and decided to keep them because they explain the duality concept well. So, don't be suprised if you don't understand all my shorthand:

Koenma is the evilest character ever that I like to use. Ref. EPL, TTMS, and now this. Yusuke's status of detective, though stopped shortly during his lordship/demon learning experience, still is active. As a now-adult member of society, it is very important that Yusuke knows how to act in human society and play by their rules. Thus, as a refresher from his demon-days, Koenma decided to send him off to college (where he could socialize with people his own age and not have to worry about people seeing him as extraordinarily different. He is taking a basic course load, funds provided by SW. The admissions and administration people are aware, to a point of his presence in school (just that Koenma wants him there and who Koenma is).

His grades are not of concern, for as long as he behaves, he will still receive an honorary degree and will not be kicked out. However, for simplicity's sake, it is easier for him to pretend to study and do well on tests than to fail everything and have people discover his situation. He has unlimited ability to miss class, though he still needs to show up when he is not busy.

As for Kagome, she identifies herself with both egos. However, her behavioral patterns are much closer to those of the feudal Kagome. This is for several reasons:

1. That Kagome is more popularly known and is thus easier to write

2. The modern Kagome is, for lack of better description, inexperienced. Feudal

Kagome's mix with modern Kagome did not diminish her feudal experiences.

Remember, before she went to feudal Japan, she was innocent. This is the same thing, only with the time paradox aspect added.

Why did Kagome's life change so much after the jewel was destroyed?

The Jewel's power exists out of / in control of time. (Ref. time-travelling being possible in the first place.) Thus, when it was absorbed into Kikyo's remains, it went straight to her reincarnation: Kagome. However, the Jewel needed time in the past to be detached from Kikyo's influence, so it moved the time for arrival for fifty years later. This made several things possible that were not before:

1) it allowed the team to organize as it did

2) it prevented Inuyasha from being involved in war (Ref. Sesshoumaru discussing war with the panthers)

3) It allowed a mentor to be available (Kaede, who would have been of little help if they had taken Kagome back right after Kikyo's death.)

4) It prevented the villagers from killing Inuyasha

Once the Jewel was completely removed from this plane of existence, it no longer existed in the future (Ref. Noh mask. That shard was from the future, but notice they do not end up with a duplicate shard. That shows that there is only one jewel in any given reality.) Thus, Kagome no longer needed to go back in time to get rid of the jewel. But, since she did not go back in time, then the jewel still did exist, meaning that she had to go back, only to not go back..

Confusing, yes. Basically, there are two realities, as stated before: one where she does go back, one where she does not go back. During the time where this duality is an active force in her life, she can only experience one. But, after the fact (as both realities have the same end: her at home with her family, going to school, taking classes, and being with friends) she is able to draw on the memories of both incidents.

Because the jewel's power drew her back in time, only she is attached to it. The only other person who can say that would have been Inuyasha discussing the future. However, his duality works differently.

He would have been attached to the tree the whole time had Kagome not saved him.

Thus, he had no memories of then. After Kagome would have destroyed the jewel, if we work on a timeline, then Inuyasha was released. While he retained the memories of what he had done with Kagome, he woke up in a different reality, leading him to suspect that he had in fact been dreaming the whole time.

In this story, he lived a hard life after that, being without friends (never met them) and eventually died in the hands of his brother (who got the sword and retained both hands.)

For Sesshoumaru, the Tetsusaiga was worthless, though he still tried to use it.

He eventually migrated to Demon World and retained his status as Lord. After several wars, though, he relinquished his power to the mighty Raizen and lived in a mansion.