Kagome blinked in confusion, her head was hurting, it was as if she was trying to remember something, the voice of the Shikon no Tama was pressuring her to make a wish. She was in an almost laying position as she floated in the almost unbearable darkness, it was familiar to her.
She had been here before.
She didn't know how she knew, she just did, but when? Her head hurt thinking about it.
The voice were drowned out by the intense pressure being put on her by her own mind, looking around, although she knew she wouldn't find anything, she attempted to push the pain back, as hard as she tried, it would not leave, she'd even go as far as to say that fighting the pain in her head was making it worse.
So she relaxed and left the pain, a sudden relief spread through her as the pain lessened before gasping as it came back with a lot more intensity and memories of a life before her own. Grasping her head in her hands, she curled in on herself and screamed in pain, the sound coming from her mouth was something she'd never heard and yet she had heard, it was violent sounding, loud and scratchy, almost computer-like in comparison. As quickly as the pain came, it left, she remained sat in that position for a few minutes, attempting to figure out what had happened and sort out the memories that she had just gained.
"What?" The same scratchy sound came out of her mouth, she could understand it, but she felt like she shouldn't be able to.
Stretching out, she looked at her right hand, turning it around, she felt a frown tug at her lips. She felt weird, her body wasn't right, Kagome quickly came to realise that the memories were that of her past life.
This made sense in reality, they had found out a while ago that she wasn't Kikyo's reincarnation as they had found her real next life in the future, she had been quite a lovely girl and remembered her entire life as Kikyo, the whole ordeal had put Inuyasha into a bad mood.
Her past life was interesting, she mused the voice of the Shikon no Tama had been pushed to the back of her mind as she thought about what she'd do once she was out of the void for the second time.
Her sudden knowledge of an intense amount of things was welcomed, her opinion of science as a general subject had just been flipped. Before she had gained the memories, she had hated it with a burning passion for her inability to understand it, yet now she understood it perfectly, the passion her past life had for the topic had given her hope in passing school, with high grades too.
In that moment Kagome knew what she'd be doing as soon as she was home from the past, but for now, she just had to find a way out of the dark abyss she had found herself in.
She felt content, knowing her past life, all the memories from their birth to technical death, she felt complete, as if she had always been missing that part of herself, as if she had always needed that part of herself.
Reaching her left hand towards her chest, she did something her past life had been familiar with, yet her current life had never done. She summoned her soul.
White, with the tip pointing upwards, the soul of a monster.
She could feel the magic humming through it in as it hovered over her palm and she blinked, watching as it faded back into her. Kagome felt a small smile tug at her lips for the first time since she had been in the void due to the Shikon's actions.
She didn't know how long she had been in there for and although she felt tired, the void's strange lull of having no time pass inside of it made it so she could not. For all she knew, months, possibly years could have passed in the world outside of the void, she just hoped she'd be out of there soon enough.
Kagome sighed as she lay against the wall Kaede's hut, she had been drained of her energy once she'd left the void and so she was resting there until she felt stable enough to walk. She blinked as Sango passed her a bucket of water, before nodding gratefully and sitting up, still heavily leaning against the wall, she reached in and grabbed the wet rag that had been soaking and wiped her face, which had been covered in dirt and blood from the final battle, she looked at her reflection in the water as she moved the fabric away from her face and paused.
Her eyes were purple, a very vibrant purple that seemed to shine with an unnatural glow to them. This was normal, in her last life at least. but a few days prior they had been an earthy brown colour.
What had caused the change? Was it the fact that she'd gained back her memories, or perhaps that she'd tried tapping into her powers?
Either way it was weird seeing her eyes like this on her now human body, but at the same time it was comforting, to know that something was now the same as it was in her last life. She grinned at her reflection and dunked the rag back into the water, rinsing off the grime that had collected on it before continuing to clean her face.
An actual bath could wait, but currently she just wanted to get the filth off the same place she'd be eating from.
It had been three months since she had come home from the past and settled into a relatively normal lifestyle, she'd managed to not only catch up to her schoolwork but surpass her class in what they'd been learning about, she had the bragging rights in her little friend group after that, it was quite amusing to watch the three smaller girls pout.
That was another thing she'd noticed, ever since she'd left the void with all her memories intact, her body had grown, seemingly catching up to the height that her past life had been at her current age, she was getting used to the advantage of being tall, like being able to reach the top shelf at a shop, that was always fun.
Kagome snapped out of her musings as she watched her little brother run around his room picking out things to pack, their mother had told them they needed a change of scenery, their grandfather had passed away recently and she thought that Kagome herself needed to be away from the well, as she had seen her return to it many times. So they were moving to America, when she had found out exactly where in America they were moving to, she'd been pleasantly surprised and had voiced her approval to her mother countless times. She knew all about Kagome's past life as she made sure to tell her all about it, take a few fact that she felt she didn't need to know.
They'd be moving to a small country town called 'Ebbot' which was a town shrouded in mystery, most of it stemming from the mountain that loomed over it, the myths that surrounded it being about seven human mages that sealed monsters underground.
A story she herself knew was true, after all, her last life had been a monster and Kagome in her current life still felt as if she were one, she didn't quite fit in with most humans, she could use magic and there was another thing she had a theory about but would rather not attempt it, she felt as though she'd dust if she were to die.
She could feel the magic humming around her body and her soul was very stable, if she were truly a human with a monster's soul, her body's sheer determination would have caused her soul to cease to exist a long time ago, her body had changed to house it, becoming more magic in nature. This was most likely why she could use the powers of a Miko.
"Kagome, have you seen my laptop?" Kagome's head snapped towards the boy.
"Huh, did you say something?" The words although he could not understand her slipped out naturally now and she often forgot that others couldn't understand it without hearing it constantly for possibly years on end.
"Kagome I have no idea what you are saying!" The boy said as he walked up towards her, he slapped both of his hands on either side of her face, bringing her head down to his he headbutted her. "Think before you speak you butt." Kagome chuckled at her brother's antics before she replied to him.
"Sorry, I asked if you said something." He gave an exasperated sigh and let go of her face.
"I asked you if you knew where my laptop was." He muttered.
"Downstairs in the living room on charge where you left it last night." He thanked her before rushing down the stairs to get it, she rolled her eyes and made her way down the stairs as well, her bag and suitcase were at the front door along with her mother's four suitcases, they were only waiting on Souta to finish packing, then they'd get to the airport to wait.
She opted to fiddle with her new clothes as she waited, black pants and a white turtle neck were what she was currently wearing along with her military grade hiking boots, a long black trench coat was draped over her bag, she'd put that on as they were leaving, her outfit gave her a sense of familiarity, one she felt should not leave her.
She heard a few loud thuds and a couple of scuffles of shoes, she put her right arm out just in time to catch her brother who had tripped up on the stairs.
"Thanks Kagome!" He practically yelled into her ear, she winced at the volume but smiled at him.
"It's okay shrimp." She muttered, he gave a playful scoff and poked her cheek.
Their mother stood at the door, smiling at them, Kagome stood up, slipping her trailing coat on and pulling her backpack over it, attached to her backpack was Buyo's cat carrier, the fat cat was already asleep, she grabbed her own suitcase and one of her mother's. Souta had his laptop bag, his own suitcase and another of their mother's suitcases. Their mother held both her other suitcases and a large shoulder bag, they walked outside of the house, locked up and slipped the key through the postbox, the man who'd bought the shrine from them already had a set of keys and told them to do that as he wouldn't be able to collect them from them.
They turned around to look at the shrine one last time. They stood like that for a few minutes before their mother nudged their arms and they made their way to the taxi that was waiting at the bottom of the steps for them.
"Dad, you're home!" He turned around from shutting the door, unable to even take his coat off before two young figures smashed into his form in a tackle-like hug.
"Yes, I am, I do need you to let go of me so I can take my shoes and coat of though." He chuckled as he looked down as his children, his eldest was holding the back of his head in embarrassment while his youngest was pouting. He took the opportunity to slip out of his coat and untie his shoes. "So, what do you two want to eat tonight?"
"Spaghetti!" Came the excited voice of his youngest.
"You say that every night, Paps." His eldest.
"That's because spaghetti's the best!" He was grinning.
"Dad, what do you want?" He smiled at his child, before letting his eyes slide close.
"I don't mind, as long as I have you two with me."
Kagome felt her eyes snap open, they were still on the plane, only two hours into their journey, she'd decided to take a nap, she was secretly glad that she'd had the window seat, flicking her eyes over to her left, she saw that her mother and brother were watching a film, she didn't know which and she really didn't want to disturb them.
Her throat felt dry, so she looked up and found the button to call the flight attendant over to get a drink, she snorted in amusement as her family seemed confused for a slight moment before remembering that she was there.
"Looks like sleeping beauty is up." Souta snickered, she poked her tongue out at him before taking a sip of the water she'd gotten.
"I'm hoping to beat jet lag." She muttered jokingly.
He rolled his eyes at her and turned back to his film, their mother watched them back and forth before laughing and settling back into the film herself.
After awhile, she felt herself drift back off to sleep.
"My friend, I must ask you something." He was walking in the garden of golden-yellow flowers with his king, the slight breeze causing a few trees nearby to rustle, he looked up at him through the corner of his eye-sockets he hummed as if to say go on. "With the humans preparing for war against us." He saw the taller monster sigh.
He stood up to his full height, which was still nothing compared to the tall boss monster, he allowed one of his summoned hands to appear and patted him on the shoulder gently.
"You can ask me anything your Majesty, I won't bite." He chuckled slightly, his soul filled with warmth as he chuckled along with him.
"How far would you say your loyalties lie?" He looked at him shocked.
"My king, what bought this on?" He sounded slightly appalled at the idea that his king thought he would side against his own kind, against those attacking out of fear.
"A morbid curiosity, I guess." He sighed, letting his eye-sockets close slightly, before snapping them open.
"My loyalties lay with you in such a great scale, that if my soul were strong enough to pass on to another life, I'd remain loyal in my next." He watched as his king laughed.
"As amusing as that thought is, if a monster's soul was strong enough to reincarnate, they wouldn't be able to remember their last life, let alone a promise held by them." He huffed.
"It's the thought that counts though, right?" He watched as the monster smiled at him.
"Right."
Kagome yawned as she slid off her bed, it had been a few weeks since they had moved to America, the town of Ebbot was quiet, which was fine by her, she and her family still had to be sorted into the systems of America, they'd all applied for citizenship's about a week ago and they were just waiting on an approval, this gave her family some time to adjust to living here before they transferred to their new schools.
She'd slept in quite late for herself and she could hear her brother running about downstairs, it was eleven in the morning, she stood up and got ready for the day, showering, brushing her teeth and getting dressed.
She walked downstairs just in time for lunch and just in time to feel a powerful force of magic pulse rapidly around the town followed by a loud boom, the half a sandwich she was eating fell out of her hand in shock.
"Kagome, what was that?" Came the frantic call from her mother.
"The barrier." She muttered, her mother heard it and looked at her funny.
"What?" Her brother was starting to panic, but she was preoccupied.
"I have to go, I'll be back later." She was fast in her movements, she was in her more relaxing clothes, a pair of tracksuit trousers and a regular t-shirt, she slipped on her boots before running out of the door.
She made it to the woodlands entrance surrounding the base of the mountain within fifteen minutes of consecutive running, she bent over, her arms resting on her knees as she caught her breath, a few other people had caught up to her as they waited anxiously at the bottom of the hill, wondering what would come out.
She could hear people muttering about explosions when she finally caught her breath, the murmurs of the people waiting was slowly cut off as they heard a crunch of leaves and twigs.
Kagome felt her jaw loosen slightly.
"HUMANS, I THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAVE COME TO GREET YOU AND BRING YOU THE FRIENDSHIP OF MONSTER-KIND!" Kagome stared at him and saw that he was looking at them in a slightly shy way.
"Oh my lord, you're a cinnamon roll!" She shouted at him, giggling slightly, it hurt her to know that she'd have to pretend that she didn't know him, that thought was cut off as the small crowd of humans started chanting 'cinnamon roll.'
He seemed really confused and she saw his brother come out of the treeline. Kagome had joined in the chanting, finding it rather amusing to see his very confused expression.
"SANS, WHAT DOES 'CINNAMON ROLL' MEAN?" She saw the shorter skeleton monster start to chuckle at his brothers confused expression.
"i dunno bro, why don't you ask them?" Papyrus looked at the group of humans who were chanting it over and over before he settled on grabbing the closest on to him, who just so happened to be her. He gently set his hands on her shoulder and looked at her in the eyes.
"HUMAN, WHAT DOES 'CINNAMON ROLL' MEAN?" She gave a giggle at his confused puppy-like expression, covering her mouth with her hand, she peered up at him, a small smile on her face.
"It means you're someone who needs all the protection from the world." She gave him a secretive smile and placed a finger to her mouth in a 'shh' motion.
"SANS, I DON'T GET IT." This was the scene that Undyne, Alphys, Toriel, Asgore and Frisk all turned up to, a confused Papyrus, a laughing Sans, a tall woman holding a finger over her mouth and a group of humans chanting 'Cinnamon roll' needless to say they were very confused.
As soon as it all calmed down, the rest of the humans were questioning everything, Kagome however was fighting her urges to go and pet Asgore or Toriel's ears, they were so soft looking. She had retained her habit from the feudal era of petting ears, which had started with Inuyasha. Kagome felt her hand twitch, her eyes were locked on the ears, there was no helping it. She walked up to Asgore and tapped his arm.
"Oh, what is it human?" He asked her, Kagome gave him direct eye contact.
"I... Can I pet your ears... Please?" She gave him to most pleading eyes she could and he laughed before leaning down. Kagome could hardly repress a squeal of excitement as she started petting them. "They're so soft!" She muttered as she continued petting them, he was laughing at her and her obvious love of fluffy ears but she did not care. She could feel the eyes of multiple people staring at her. After a few minutes, she pulled back and away from him. "T-thanks for uh, letting me do that..." She felt embarrassed as he laughed at her again.
"It is quite alright." He hummed in thought as he stared down at her, it was then that Kagome noticed how dark it was getting.
"Hey, do you have a place to stay tonight? If you want, the living room where I live is big enough for you all to stay in and I'm sure that we have more than enough blankets laying around, it is getting quite late after all and I doubt you'd want to climb up that mountain again if that's where your home is, my mother wouldn't mind." He hummed in thought, watching as the other monsters and their human ambassador interacted with the rest of the humans that stayed behind.
"I think I'll take you up on your offer, miss?" She blinked owlishly and remembered that she'd forgotten to introduce herself, almost forgetting that he did not know her anymore.
"Kagome, my name is Kagome." She muttered and he smiled.
"Well then miss Kagome, if you're sure, then lead the way." He called out to the rest of his group and explained what was happening, Kagome gave a shy smile as he introduced her before she led the way to the house.
It had been about a week since they'd started staying at their house, her mother hadn't minded it one bit and also decided to tackle Asgore's ears as soon as she saw them, which he had commented about the similarities. Her brother had found them all cool and Kagome was both pushing herself into their lives and pushing away from them, it was an interesting situation to say the least.
She'd gotten her mother and brother into the kitchen to tell them what was going on and to not let them know of her past and they'd accepted that as her wishes, which she was grateful for.
The small group of monsters had been in and out for the past week, getting official work done and integrating into human society without causing a panic, Kagome had called in Sesshoumaru who had found her as soon as she came out the well for the last time, but had stayed distant from her, to help with a couple of bits, pulling some strings here and there to make their transition work out as smooth as possible.
Currently she was the only one in the house, she'd taken the time to put on her fuzzy pyjamas and curl up on one of the sofas, watching the news, she heard the front door open and quickly shut and the shuffling of feet came soon after. She heard Asgore clearing his throat and she blinked before turning her head to face him.
"Would you like some tea?" Came his soft question, she hummed.
"Yes please." She heard his shuffling into the kitchen and sighed, grabbing the remote, she muted the TV, she had a feeling he wanted to talk, so she'd bite.
It wasn't long before he came back in, two mugs of tea in his hand, she shuffled up to the end of the sofa and curled in the corner so that he could sit down. She took a sip of tea as she waited to hear him talk.
"The thought was amusing, wasn't it?" She paused mid-sip and looked at him.
"What do you mean?" She watched as he chuckled and her eyes slid shut for a second.
"I'd have to be a fool to not notice, as much as you're making it hard to notice, you're making it obvious too." He took a sip of his own tea and continued. "I know who you were and still are, Gaster." She froze, before sighing.
"That obvious?" He nodded and she took a sip. "Don't tell them." She muttered, he looked at her confused.
"Why not?" He asked her, she looked at him in the eyes.
"I've hurt them enough, not been there when they needed me, they don't need me to smash their hopes more than I already have." She muttered.
"You do not have confidence in yourself." He sighed, before placing a paw on her shoulder. "I will not tell them, but if they find out, I'm not saving your ass." He laughed and she gave a smile.
"I wouldn't expect you to." Sipping her tea, she un-muted the TV, before flipping through to a film channel, the two sat there watching whatever was on.