The Great Kingdom's Guardian
Rating: T
Pairing: Kagome/Atem/some Seto
A/N: Officially the redone version of the original first chapter. It is shorter than the original, but I believe it makes up for the poor writing that I published years ago. It's still not perfect, but I think the best I can do without removing the fic and restarting completely…
Kagome growled to herself as she stomped through the forest. Having gotten into another fight with her friend, she realized she needed to leave the situation to prevent any more damage to their relationship from occurring. She began to slow down once she noticed just how far it was that she traveled from their campsite.
She gave a sudden sigh and felt a wave of exhaustion hit her. There was only so much fighting she could deal with, especially since tensions were high with Naraku attacking villages that were growing closer and closer to their own. She had just been taking a walk with Sango and when they got back to their makeshift camp, Inuyasha had immediately yelled at her and Sango for taking such a long time.
At first, his snide remarks only left her rolling her eyes at the childish behavior, already used to his hot temperament. Soon enough however, the words became more biting and personal, and caused her to begin lashing back as well.
~Flashback~
Inuyasha jumped down from the tree branch he was sitting on, and stopped a foot away from Sango and Kagome. "Where the hell have you two been? We have to leave soon to look for the rest of the jewel shards."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Inuyasha we were just taking a walk."
Sango nodded her head. "Why can't we be allowed the freedom to roam around every once in a while? You disappear all the time without telling us and we were nice enough to at least mention where we were going."
Inuyasha snarled profanities and useless excuses for his reasoning at the demon slayer, entering her personal space enough to have her step back and away from the angered dog. Kagome saw the frustration flash in Sango's eyes before she huffed and turned away, walking over to where Kirara was and occupied herself with polishing hiraikotsu instead of fighting a silly battle.
"Inuyasha! Where is this coming from? There's no reason to speak to us like that. Don't forget that you leave nearly every night to go and look for Kikyo without a word." Kagome yelled at him, her fury growing every second. "We're not stupid Inuyasha, not to mention you leave us weakened as a group each time. We need to stick together here and have each other's backs."
Inuyasha's ears flattened against his head as he was called out in front of the group. His face flushed and he yelled back. "That's because I love Kikyo and I can actually stand to have her around, unlike with you! She'd actually be a useful contribution to this group."
Kagome narrowed her eyes. Even if it did sting to hear Inuyasha say that, she didn't wish to give him the satisfaction of seeing her hurt. "How can you even trust her? She probably doesn't even love you anymore. How much do you want to bet that she's working for Naraku? It wouldn't be surprising if they were sleeping together either."
Inuyasha glared at her and while she looked deep into his dark amber eyes. The stubbornness and anger that she saw within them as he held her gaze gave her an answer she didn't want. She threw her hands up in the air with a sense of defeat. Fighting off the urge to get the last word in, she spun on her heel and stormed off into the forest surrounding their camp.
~End Flashback~
He would follow Kikyo to the ends of the earth. Kagome sighed and looked upwards at the darkening sky visible above her. She had realized how serious he was about following her incarnation when he had nearly been dragged to hell with her. Growing in what she assumed to be her miko powers, she learned she could read into the true feelings of those around her with a long look into their eyes. It was something that she had originally thought was just a good judgment of character on her part, but she had proven the thoughts of those around her time and time again. And Inuyasha was very set on being with Kikyo always, even if it meant being sent to the grave together.
She sighed and raised her hand gently to a petite ankh that hung on a chain around her neck. Her mother had it in the old storage room and gave it to her, figuring she'd find it interesting. It glowed softly when she first touched it and her mother seemed so delighted to be able to move another item, however small, from their cluttered storage room. It would bring her a feeling of peace whenever she held it close, and at the current moment she was thankful she had it on her. According to her grandfather's tales, it was given to an Egyptian priest by the god Anubis and was said to hold the god's power within.
Eventually she looked up from her stroll, feeling calmer, and realized she was closer to Kaede's village than she would have thought. She glanced to left, staring past the village and rice fields to the woods where her group was staked out by the bone eater's well. With a sigh, she decided to go straight to Kaede's hut and change into something more decent than her school uniform. It was about time to go home, and she agreed to meet her mother for dinner.
Standing in front of the wooden home, Kagome gave a light knock on the doorframe. Hearing no response, she lifted the fabric covering the door and peered inside, not seeing the elder priestess. She continued in anyway, and pulled a pair of spare clothes from a small cubby to the side of the main room. She changed quickly in case anyone were to come looking for the older priestess, and walked back to the door, dirty uniform in hand, to step outside.
Kagome sighed, sadly thinking about her first friend in the feudal era. "I wish Inu-baka would come to his senses. It's obvious that Kikyo is using him." She grabbed her yellow backpack from outside the door fondly, realizing sheepishly she must've been where she had left it earlier in the day. She hadn't even noticed it, and berated Inuyasha about what he had done with it. She felt a pang of guilt and stuffed her uniform inside before swinging it onto her shoulder and heading towards her way home.
Once she got to the clearing to where the well was, she stopped and looked back at the dense forest. I just need a break from everything. Once I come back I should feel better and then maybe I can talk to Inuyasha again. I just hope Miroku and Sango won't lose their patience with him while I'm gone.
She didn't wait for Shippo or Inuyasha to smell her proximity to their camp and jumped into the well, surrounded by a familiar blue light. In just a few seconds, she landed on the floor with barely a sound.
Reaching upwards, she pulled herself up and over the ledge of the well and smiled. "Time to take a nice bath and relax."
She slid open the door to the old well house and step out into the sun. She put her hand over her face, already feeling beads of sweat form on her forehead. "Geez, it's so hot here today."
Once she got in her house she looked around before huffing in annoyance. "Mom? Souta? Gramps? I must've missed them…so much for dinner together." She took the purple note of the fridge and threw it out. They probably assumed she would end up missing the meal with them tonight. She went upstairs to her room and picked her phone up from her desk, glancing over the recent texts from her group chat. Kagome decided to go to the mall, where Yuka and Eri currently were. She could use a new pair of pants since the last she brought with her on a jewel shard hunt got shredded in battle. She shrugged off her bag and laid it on her bed, feeling slightly nervous at the thought of being with her friends at the crowded mall. She had a feeling they would try and dress her up in something crazy again to get Hojo's attention, and suddenly she shivered in disgust. But sacrifices had to be made.
Kagome ran down her stairs and rushed out the door so that she could make the next bus that stopped by the shrine. She hopped down the shrine steps two by two, nearly tripping as she went. The stop was only a block away from her house so it was easy to get to, and she sprinted the last of the way to catch the bus towards her destination.
