Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or Inuyasha

Chapter One: Settling

It was first snow.

Then hunger. Or maybe it'd been the exhaustion that'd slowly built up over the course of her stay. Whatever it was, it'd doomed her from the very beginning.

Kagome was tired. She was just so, so sick of it all.

Especially them. They were never far; their auras palpable and suffocating, smothering her in its intensity.

'Like now.' She surmised, gazing left, and observing the two red eyes staring back. She wanted to cry a little, thinking of how twisted her short life had been.

At a young age, her stays in orphanages had been numbered. Where she'd been born or who had given birth to her had always remained a mystery. And now, cast out from every available place, she was pretty sure she was going to die.

Be it the natural occurrences of nature, or the vampires leering at her, waiting for her spiritual powers to wane into nothingness.

'Whatever.' She unsteadily exhaled, leaning back against the damp wall. It had begun snow and she wondered if this was how she was going to die. Snow was something she detested because it always made her cold. She rather preferred spring because it was warm.

Her own life, however, was about to be snuffed out.

The steady barrier she had managed to put up for the last few days slowly disappeared. Along with it went her protection.

From across, the red eyes blinked in curiosity.

She felt the lump rise in her throat, "Why?"

The being stepped out, realizing what was happening. She saw the familiar features of the monster that'd been stalking her the last couple of weeks.

Kagome wasn't stupid, even though all the adults ever saw was a child on the verge of death. She knew who'd done this to her, who taunted the humans, causing varying degrees of 'bad luck' to whoever adopted her. After a while, the town's folk got the hint, and stopped helping her. 'Mom' and 'dad' returned her time and time again, until she was turned away completely.

The novelty "child from the well" no longer was popular, she was simply shunned.

"Why did you do this to me?" She watched as it trekked closer, drinking her small figure in. He was about halfway when she felt fear begin to set in.

None had dared to approach her, not even him. They simply watched, but this one had made subtle gestures to get closer to her. A flick of her powers always sent him off.

"Why can't you leave me alone?!"

She sagged against the wall, sliding down as he neared. The way his eyes glowed eerily in the darkness frightened her, and she thrust her hand out, "Get away!"

That was her mistake and one she couldn't correct as he seized the moment given. In an instant, he'd latched onto her wrist and held her there.

"Let go!" She tried to yank her arm back, but he held her with ease.

His mouth opened, revealing his inhumanly sharp teeth. He grinned down at her, "Hush little one."

"No! Stop!"

She saw herself reflected back in his inhumane eyes, trembling in fear. When she was ushered forward, against her will, Kagome dug her heels down into the ground.

"Help! Anyone!"

He leaned down to her level, hand at her back to keep her in place, as if whispering a secret, "You can't escape me now."

"STOP!"

When she felt his breath at her neck, the tears welled up, but she continued to struggle within his hold. She struck and hit at him, but her blows were like mere shoves rebounded off.

"Spitfire." His lips curled up in dark amusement.

When his teeth broke her skin, she screamed, voice rising painfully high. His teeth dug mercilessly into her soft flesh, clamping down on the junction of her neck, and she knew pain like she'd never felt before.

"Delicious," He hummed, drawing back to look down at the pretty picture she made. She felt the copious liquid slide down her neck, shaking when she saw her own blood smeared all over his mouth.

"W-Why?"

He gave her no reply, wiping away the blood that stained her cheek. When he again went back to taste her blood and puncture her flesh again, she let loose a small cry of dismay. It soon soon rose back into a shrill scream.

It was then she saw flashes of something pass through her tear filled eyes.

Golden eyes. A magnificent sword. Blood. Red. Red. Red.

She hated red. She hated red eyes.

Naraku.

In between her flashbacks, her memories, and fear, it was as if something shattered. Like it'd long ago rotted before, and the tension building up had tipped the ice berg.

She vaguely noted she was still screaming, but the being holding her had gone tense.

Kagome sniffled, looking up at him in bewilderment. All at once, looking at this beast in human form, she felt the tendrils of something well up.

Why? Why her?

"I only wanted a place to call my own." Kagome moaned out in confusion. She looked all around her, "Why? Why isn't anyone helping me?"

Power began to swell within her, reacting to her unstable emotions. The little girl that she used to be faltered. And it was enough.

"W-What're you doing?!"

'Filthy. Disguising. Monster.' Her mind supplied.

A purple light that shot up, encompassing them both, but it did nothing to her. The vampire disintegrated into sand moments later, cursing her. When he was gone seconds later, she fell to her knees. The blood dropped off her shoulder and she watched as it hit the ground.

Part of her was inwardly panicking but another watched blankly. The snow fell plentiful around her and she watched as her blood dyed it a crimson shade.

Already, she could feel the others stirring, tittering in hunger and amusement. At any moment, she knew more of them would come for her.

'Let them come.' Part of her whispered, 'We will fight to the death. '

After having her blood sucked, and realizing how cruel the world could be, Kagome realized she just didn't care anymore.

All she wanted was to live.

She would carve that message into the world.

It was with that mindset that she stood up and waited. When they came, to kill her, she fought back.

Her mercy forgotten, she killed and killed as they rushed at her. Her powers snapped and came forth unrestrained.

When she felt she was being too cruel, and wanted to curl up to die, the blood that warmed her body reminded her.

She was alive.

And she wanted to keep it that way. Her powers came to her aid even when she didn't want it herself.

Until there was a pile of sand surrounding her, and she was dizzy from the amount of blood she had lost. Until she was sure her conflicting emotions would be the end of her.

And when she felt no more of their wicked aura, not even for miles, she allowed her body to give out on itself. The snow that chilled her body and the wounds she had sustained lulled her quickly to sleep.

Before she passed out though, she thought she glimpsed something silver in the moonlight.

In her delirium, her mind whispered something she quite didn't understand.

'Inuyasha...?'

It was something she soon forgot moments later, as the person neared and she succumbed to exhaustion.


Her throat burned.

That was the first thing she noticed upon waking. The second was that she was currently in a bed.

It took only a second for her memories to return.

The vampire. Her wound. Fighting until she passed out.

Fear gripped her heart as she bolted upward. All coherent thought gone, she began to tear at her throat. The bandages that were wrapped around her throat were lost in her frantic motions.

When she finally had them removed, she immediately began to feel at her neck. Searching, only to be met with smooth skin.

No mark. No scabs. Nothing.

Her heart dropped in response, "W-Wha?"

"You're awake."

The statement spoken to her was neither welcoming nor friendly.

Kagome scarcely had enough time to question the stranger before he crossed the room in a blink of an eye and grasped ahold of her neck.

She barely even realized she was choking, looking up and trying to register in her brain the silver strands and hardened amethyst eyes staring coolly down at her.

"I didn't think you'd live." He quietly confessed, squeezing harder at her neck.

She felt the pressure, the discomfort on her still burning throat. His hand was squeezing the life out of her.

"S-Stop!" She faintly cried out. "NO!"

Her silver haired stranger watched on silently. He could feel the fight leaving her body, and marveled at how petite she looked, even for a small child.

Kagome was sure this was how she would die, at the hands of someone she didn't even know. Her vision had begun to dim. She was on the verge of passing out.

When her life had begun to slip away, it happened.

"Ichiru."

His hand was off her neck at the call, and she greedily gulped up the air afterward. When he left her line of vision, she rolled over, coughing violently.

And to her surprise, was met with the most beautiful person she had ever met in her life.

She even forgot the pain she in.

"Ichiru," The woman repeated, stepping into the room.

He was at her side, "Shizuka-sama."

Shizuka-sama. That was the name of this lovely being.

Her silvery long hair, the light pink cherry blossom irises currently regarding at her, even the strange garment she wore flattered her.

"W-Who're you?" Kagome managed out from her aching throat, scrubbing at her watery eyes, "What happened to my throat?" She felt the smooth skin again, unblemished by the vampire's bite marks from earlier, and shuddered. "What did you do?"

A noise of irritation left the male's throat. Her heart flopped when she dared to look up. The chills raced up and down her arms, knowing, feeling that somehow she displeased them. The cold chill that invaded the warm room startled Kagome, and she uneasily gauged the situation; sending out soothing waves of her aura.

She was rewarded with a laugh, light and airy.

Kagome reeled back in obvious surprise. "Y-You're..!" She swallowed the panicked shivers racking her body, and could only spit out the next word. "Vampire!"

Shizuka let out a pleased sound, "You noticed."

Kagome gripped her neck in recollection of the bite, trying to quench the uneasy feelings rising up. "You're different from the others." Her nails dug into her skin, feeling the aura Shizuka emitted. It was relaxed but spoke volumes of power she'd never felt from the ones in town. "Different from them." She narrowed her eyes, "What are you?"

The male at her side shifted, pulling something out that glinted in the moonlight, "I tire of this tryst, Shizuka-sama."

Shizuka reacted faster than either of them anticipated, earlier than her own powers rising up in response to the threat, moving faster than they could follow. In a fraction of a second, she appeared from behind Kagome.

Her breathing cut short as she felt petite hands land on her shoulders.

"You're amusing." Shizuka murmured against her ear, "Just like him."

She saw Ichiru tense at the statement.

"I'm Kagome." She supplied without thinking, "No one else."

Another laugh. "That you are." She felt the mockery in the statement but ignored it.

"Are you going to kill me?"

Shizuka wrapped sinewy arms around her, "Why would I do that?"

"You're a vampire." Kagome kept her gaze steady even as she felt the glare from across the room.

"You're right." She felt hands toying with her hair, "A vampire's nature is cruel and bloodstained, after all."

She felt a bitter smile rise up, "Isn't that the same for humans too?"

"You're sinful." Shizuka remarked, "I like that."

She looked down at her hands, "Sinful huh?"

Red. Red.

'What is it?' She questioned, shaking her head. 'That color, it's so ugly. Ugh.' Nausea swelled in her belly.

"What is it?"

Kagome brought a shaking hand to her mouth, "I think I'm going to be sick." She unwound the arms from around her and took a step from the bed. "I feel... I don't know."

"Ichiru, tend to her." Shizuka gestured once she fell to her knees. "Our guest is unwell."

There was no disagreement like she expected. And Ichiru picked her up much softer than she had expected, looping his arms under her legs and back. She could almost say it would've been intimate if he wasn't so stoic.

While she pondered the new changes, which wasn't much different from when she had woken, Shizuka fluttered by. "Get better soon my lamb." She chastised as he settled her down on the bed.

"Y-Yeah." She hesitantly agreed, awkwardly watching as she sashayed out and Ichiru pulled the covers around her. She even "eeped" a little once he laid his hand on her forehead for a moment, watching the lavender eyes with unveiled curiosity.

"Your temperature is higher than normal." He noted, pulling back.

She could only nod, pulling the blanket higher to hide her hot cheeks.

"Sleep."

When a dizzying wave hit her, she again nodded, closing her eyes. It was enough to calm her embarrassment.


Throughout the night, she could vaguely recall a gentle touch on her face. It was a cool reprieve from the hotness that consumed her body, and she ached to feel the snow on her face once more. Ironic that she'd hated it a few hours back.

When she woke, her body was that of a warm tingle, and she inwardly thanked the wet rag on her forehead.

"You're awake."

'Again.' She thought, opening her eyes. 'We meet like this again.'

The figure by the window moved, and she was pleasantly alarmed to see it was not Ichiru this time, but Shizuka.

"You're not gonna choke me too this time, are you?" She halfheartedly croaked out, wincing at the sound of her own voice.

"I see that you've overcome the fever."

"It's been… a long time since I last slept in a warm bed." She quietly admitted.

"You're not from here."

She blinked at the statement, before apathetic-ness settled onto her features, "I don't know where I came from."

"Then you're lost."

Kagome felt another bitter smile resurfacing, reflecting her state of mind. "That's a nice way of putting it." She looked up at the ceiling, "When really, I've been abandoned."

There was a quiet silence, possibly the ponderings of the vampire in front of her, before, "Everyone will face moments of solitary periods."

"Are you trying to console me?" She began, observing the intricate ceiling, "That's very un-vampirelike."

She did not startle when a shadow presented itself upon her, the shine of the moon blocked out by Shizuka's tall stature.

"Are all vampires inhuman?"

"Yes." Kagome answered without hesitation, "You're all callous and cruel." If she were to die today, would anyone care?

No.

The taller one the two hummed in agreement, "We are all trying to find our way."

"We?"

The cherry eyes flicked down to her. "Are you not looking for a place called home?"

"That's a foreign word to me."

"Perhaps, we should give it to you?"

Kagome furrowed her brows. "What are you planning?"

A wave of her hand, "Stay here with Ichiru and me."

"You're joking right?" As if she'd stay with the likes of them.

Shizuka's eyes sharpened, "I never joke."

The young adolescent cast her a look of cold fury. "I'm in no mood for games. Kill me if you wish."

"Ah, but that would be such a waste. No, I need you as you are."

"I have no wish to continue such a miserable existence!"

Her blood chilled when Shizuka abruptly kneeled down to her, "Give your life to me."

"Eh?"

"This existence of yours, give it to me if you have no desire to keep it." The earnest look on Shizuka's face confused her, scared her.

"Why would I do that?"

"All around you, this life of yours has been cruel, no?" She placed gentle hands on her face, "But beside me, beside Ichiru, you will have a reason to live."

She stared hard at the floor. "I don't want to be here anymore."

"Would you rather I cast you back into the world; a child to be taken in the eyes of everyone else?"

Kagome shut her eyes against the terrible memories, the chill of the seasons, and clenched her teeth together. "Why are you doing this?"

In the darkness of the room, Shizuka saw her as she was. Weak. Vulnerable.

Her lips curled up. 'Perfect.'

"Kagome-chan." She called, "Won't you make a place for yourself here?"

The tiny child jolted, entranced by her name. "Shizuka?" She hesitantly replied, "Why? Why me?"

Her eyes glowed red, "Does there need to be a reason?"

'Naraku.'

Kagome felt the tears well, "Yes." Even as she felt her hair being brushed aside, while she remained still in Shizuka's arms, her mind screamed at her to push the pureblood away.

"You are special."

End of Chapter One

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