Chapter 1: Skilled
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Okay so I started watching Attack on Titan again (I completely dropped off after season one since the second season took so long to come out) but I'm binging it and I realized how much I love Levi and Kagome! I feel like they have so much potential so I'm going to play with this in a short fic - five chapters max- and see if I can make them a thing. It'll be post-Naraku and it will follow the events of Attack on Titan anime.
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Also, I'm messing with people's ages. The 104th Cadet Corps will all be around 18-20 when they begin training and early twenties when they graduate. This is just to make more sense with Kagome's timeline. Levi will be in his late twenties as opposed to his early thirties (as a personal preference).
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Has it already been three years? Kagome thought to herself as she stood tall, lined up with her classmates as their graduation ceremony began. I had always thought the well had one mission for me... That it was powered by fate's desire to finish what Kikyo started with the Shikon Jewel. And yet... here I am.
Keith Sadies, commander of the 104th Cadet Corps walked onto the small, wooded stage, his expression still as cold and stoic as it had been throughout the years of training. He began making a speech about what it meant to serve in the military, and what their persistent efforts through the years meant for them as soldiers. Kagome tuned in and out, knowing that, despite his harsh and intimidating demeanor, Commander Sadies was hopeful for the class, his bitter tactics just a means of getting the recruits to reach their full fighting potential. While many may have held a deep disdain for the man in the beginning, most of the graduating class merely developed a respect.
Still, Kagome couldn't get herself out of her head during this surreal ceremony. After the jewel was destroyed, the well brought me home. And after a few years of it not working, I thought all I wanted was to be with Inuyasha. But instead, the well brought me to this odd place, one that was rampant with these giants called Titans that devour humans. I was terrified. The girl thought back to how she emerged from the well, expecting to be greeted by the silver-haired hanyou and the rest of her Feudal Era friends. Instead, what she saw was a village, it's architectural makeup reminding her of the Victorian Era, which she studied in school. Small children had been running around the stone streets, merchants had been selling their produce and other goods on every corner, and housewives had been busying themselves with laundry, hanging the clothes out to dry. It was clear that, wherever she was, there was no modern technology. And yet, something about the village had seemed much more modern than the Feudal Era.
Kagome continued to remember her arrival, as if her current graduation was pulling at these memories. It wasn't after a few hours of wandering and being rejected by angry townsfolk that I had bumped into Grisha Jaeger, a doctor who took pity on me. He thought I had developed some sort of psychosis initially, but eventually took me under his wing and taught me everything about this world. He taught me about Titans, about the three walls that kept everyone safe. He even helped me find a place of my own in the Shiganshina district and introduced me to his family in a matter of weeks. She smiled, remembering her brief interactions with Eren Jaeger and Mikasa Ackerman back then, Grisha's son and adoptive daughter. The two were around her age, but they always seemed mentally preoccupied with something. Kagome never would have guessed that they would have become her comrades.
I had hope that eventually, the well would work again and I could go home. Even with Grisha, I still felt so lonely here. I couldn't figure out why the well brought me here. I had no idea what time period I was in or what my purpose was. Suddenly, she felt her heart drop, It wasn't until that fateful day when Titans broke through Wall Maria that I knew what I was brought here for. I saw so many get eaten, stepped on, and torn apart. It was worse than anything I'd seen in the Feudal Era. And even though I made it out alive, I've felt compelled to help humanity ever since.
Kagome sighed. She had never known what happened to Grisha Jaeger after that, and spent a while assisting a few doctors within safer districts. She had aided in the treatment of those from Shiganshina, wondering if her calling was to provide quality treatment to those suffering. Eventually, though, she decided to join the military, hoping to find her truer calling there. Healing had always been my specialty. I was, after all, a priestess in the Feudal Era. I just assumed that maybe I was meant to heal humanity's scars... But it had never been enough. I wondered everyday about the Titans, and all the mysteries that surrounded them. I wondered everyday about the people who had never known freedom. And I mourned for those who died horrific deaths. I wanted-no... I needed to fight for humanity. Fight the way Inuyasha showed me how. Like every Titan was Naraku.
"Number 7! Jean Kirstein!" Kagome snapped back into the present, realizing that the Top 10 cadets were being announced.
"Yes... I finally did it." Jean, her peer in the 104th Cadet Corps, stood in the row in front of her, her barely able to contain his excitement. He had been quite open in his desire to join the Military Police, a regiment in the military that resided safely in the inner most wall to serve the king. The option to join this regiment was saved only for the most elite of the cadets, making it a requirement that one make it into the top 10 to enter. Kagome shook her head in amusement. She couldn't blame him for desiring a simple life within the interior, though his arrogant and blunt attitude had always caused friction with others.
"Number 6! Eren Jaeger!" The ranks continued to be called out. Kagome peered around as Annie Leonhart, Bertolt Hoover, and Reiner Braun all followed Eren to earn the fifth, fourth and third spots respectively. Kagome found herself anxious, wondering if she had worked hard enough to earn herself a spot on the list. She knew Mikasa would surely be at the top, but the former priestess still hoped that her name would be called, too. She had spent so long running around and fighting demons that she felt compelled to prove to herself that her survival wasn't a fluke and that the Bone Eater's Well brought her here for a good reason. She bit her lip tentatively, her brows furrowed together.
"Number 2! Kagome Higurashi!" At the sound of her name, the girl felt like her body was just going to drop to the floor, like all the air had been snatched from her lungs. She was so excited, her insides could hardly contain it. It was as though her heart was glowing beneath her chest, light as a cloud. And yet, she managed to stay in her upright position without so much as flinching. Her mind did all the jumping around for her, and as she reminisced about all the harsh trainings, day and night, she couldn't help but fall back onto one thought. If only Inuyasha could see me. He would be proud.
Mikasa took the top spot, an unsurprising turn of events that ended the graduation. After speeches from each regiment commander, everyone left for the barracks, satisfied with their own accomplishments. They all had much to think about as well. Many still were unsure of which regiment they'd choose. For those who didn't make it into the Top 10, their decisions were confined to just two options: either the Garrison Regiment or the Scout Regiment. The Garrison regiment specialized in wall maintenance and protection, while the scouts were the group of soldiers who ventured outside the wall and hoped to discover more about Titans and how to defeat them. It was the most dangerous regiment, with successful missions a rarity and the bloodshed of soldiers often seen as pointless. Still, the Scout regiment was the only regiment that worked to fight the enemy.
"Hey! Higurashi!" Kagome turned to see Eren walking towards her, Mikasa following not too far behind.
"Oh! Hey, guys!" The former priestess smiled.
"Nice job getting that number two spot. Have you decided which regiment you're gonna join?" The man held a smirk on his face, one that gleamed with purpose and pride. Kagome knew it came from a place of determination, the kind that coursed through one's veins when they found passion in a goal. She knew it well and could spot it anywhere.
"Yeah, I think I'm sticking with the scouts." She replied, placing a hand on her hip, "The Military Police just seems far too boring."
"Ha! I knew it! I always pegged you for a scout as soon as I saw you in the cadet corps." Eren chuckled enthusiastically, "You got that look in your eye like you wanna fight for something important."
Before Kagome could respond, Mikasa joined in, "She has a reason to fight, Eren. She was there, remember?"
It was clear she was referring to the fall of the Shiganshina district. Just the thought of it made Kagome's blood boil and her eyes glaze over with sorrow at the same time. It was a storm of melancholy and rage.
"Yeah, well..." She shrugged off the intense emotions like swallowing a dry pill, "It wasn't my first time seeing innocent bloodshed and I'm sure it won't be the last." The wind blew by as she spoke, sending chills down everyone's back as if to compliment the current dark ambiance of the conversation. Mikasa and Eren both gave her a look of understanding, though Eren eyes twinkled with curiosity.
"You worked with my dad a lot, but you never talk about your life before that. My dad just said you were misfortunate." He maintained eye contact, as if he was trying to read the woman in front of him, look for any secrets swirling around in her eyes.
But none did, not that he could see anyways. "That doesn't matter now. Let's just say I've battled a lot of demons in my past."
"You can shoot an arrow better than Sasha..." Mikasa joined in, her attention clearly pulled to the conversation, "Did you perhaps live out in the mountains as a hunter before coming to Shiganshina?"
"I lived in a small village surrounded by forests." Kagome answered coolly, thinking about Kaede's village and the Forest of Inuyasha. "And yeah, I was trained to hunt." Hunt down the fragments of the jewel...
"What happened to the village?" The dark haired man continued to prod.
But Kagome stood there a moment, unsure of what to say. I don't know what happened to it, to my friends... I'll likely never know. And they'll never know what happened to me.
"Eren, I think we've interrogated her enough. You should get some sleep, anyways." Mikasa swooped in, almost as though she sensed the sorrow that built up in the other woman's heart, like a snowball rolling down a white mountain.
"Oi, I don't need someone to give me a bedtime, Mikasa!" Eren shot back, frowning at his adoptive sister's motherly tendencies towards him, "Hey, Kagome. There's no hard feelings if you don't wanna talk about it." He looked back at the former priestess with a warm smile, flashing his teeth as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. Despite getting defensive with Mikasa, it was clear he realized he might have been a little pushy. He scanned the woman in front of him carefully, but Kagome just nodded her head.
"Maybe I'll tell you both more at another time. For now, my only focus is being a useful soldier." Kagome smirked, "Maybe even getting on your level one day, Mikasa."
Mikasa rarely smiled, and usually remained stoic in her expression. But this time, there was a falter in her seriousness as her lips twitched upwards a bit. "I look forward to seeing that."
"Count me in to see that, too!" From behind ran Armin Arlert, another from the Shiganshina district, and close friend of both Eren and Mikasa. He excitedly stood next to Kagome, his blonde locks shaping his childlike face. "Titans won't stand a chance."
Kagome glanced at him for a moment, his blue eyes shimmering with innocent determination. Then, she laughed at loud, "If we're all joining the scouts, they already won't stand a chance."
And there they all stood. Laughing as the moon shined bright over the sky, except for Mikasa of course, who only let out a small chuckle. It was the comradery that brought about hope and courage that all of their dreams could be realized together. And if Mikasa was the goal, Kagome would reach her skill level. And after that, they both would surpass it and help the others surpass it, too until no Titan was a match. Until all the Titans together were still no match.
In the memory of my friends and what they stood for, I will defeat every enemy and I will bring freedom to all people.
Though, Kagome was prepared for what would happen next. And even as she slept, feeling like she could take on the world, she knew it wouldn't be the memory of her friends that would lead her.
It had to be herself.
Alright. I know no one reads a romance fic just for one half of the pair to not be mentioned in the first chapter!
But, to be fair, since Kagome isn't from AOT, I had to provide some background on how her character got there.
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So, just to be clear, Kagome fell down the Bone Eater's Well and to the Feudal era on her 15th birthday. She met Inuyasha and the gang and, eventually, she successfully rid the world of the Shikon jewel. Afterwards, the well closed and she was stuck in the modern era until her graduation from high school. Then, the well re-opened and she said goodbye to her family, thinking she would be brought back to the Feudal era. However, she crawled out of a well in Shiganshina a mere weeks before the events of AOT's first episode. There, she attempted to work as a healer until eventually joining the military and becoming a member of the 104th Cadet Corps and ranking second below Mikasa.
Now, with her new comrades, she plans on joining the scouts.
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Let me know what you think so far!