AN: This is a pilot story and will remain a one-shot until further notice. This is under one of my 'hopeful stories,' meaning that I hope to continue them someday. This was actually my first written story, but Shattered ICE held most of my interest.
It's mostly a narrative with no dialogue, but I hope you enjoy reading it.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than my imagination. InuYasha and Natsume Yūjin-chō respectfully belongs to their rightful owners.
Prologue...
Eternal Guardian of the Shikon no Tama, Higurashi Kagome now a fully-fledged, fully-trained Miko, and battle-hardened warrior.
A Miko, otherwise known as a vessel of Kami, is literally a Holy Being, who will ascend once their life on the mortal plane is over. A priestess or a priest, is a servant of Kami. They are the ones who worships, the ones who serves a certain Kami. They are holy people.
Heiress of the Western Lands and a Lady of the House of Moon, Higurashi Kagome is the Imōto of the Lord of the Western Lands and Current Head of the House of Moon, Taishō Sesshōmaru. An ancient blood ritual known only to each DaiYōkai Cardinal Lord, had blood bound them as siblings, giving her the markings and crests of the Western Lands and the House of Moon.
This blood ritual also bound Kagome and Shippō together as mother and son with Sesshōmaru conducting the ceremony. The newly mother and son pair now gained characteristics from each other.
Shippō is now more resistant to holy or spiritual powers, possibly even capable of using holy or spiritual energy himself. His hair became two-toned, crimson red and a dark black, his green eyes gained blue flecks.
Kagome is now capable of using kitsune-bi and illusionary powers. Her eyes gained slit pupils and would flash an emerald green with her heightened emotions, and a section of her hair turned a dark red almost black and blends in with her hair that she parts to the side framing her face.
Long before the final battle, Kagome no longer holds any love or affection for Inuyasha. Years of broken promises, years of wasted tears on lonely nights and broken hearts, Kagome finally had enough, and let her feelings for Inuyasha go. Years of Inuyasha's abuse, of letting his words get to her, Kagome finally stood up for herself, finally letting her broken heart and fragmented soul to heal.
Kagome's destiny, her fate and her path now no longer coincides with Inuyasha. The moment she let her feelings for Inuyasha go, set her on the path to her true destiny. Kagome finally became her own person, she was no longer the reincarnation of Kikyō and with this revelation, Kagome knew that she was never the reincarnation of Kikyō.
Kikyō's soul was just attached to Kagome's soul with the Shikon no Tama to be carried over to the past, where she had the chance at redemption. However, Kikyō ruined that chance once she fractured and stolen a piece Kagome's soul. Had she not, she would have been resurrected with a human body, instead of a body made of clay that needed souls to anchor her own soul, to keep it from moving on to Reikai.
Three years, three long years has been spent five hundred years in the past. Battle after bloody battle had been fought until the final battle with Naraku. It was a long and gruesome battle. Naraku held nothing back and sent hordes upon hordes of yōkai to battle Kagome and her group until only Naraku and his incarnations were left. The battle lasted twice as long as the battle that created the Shikon no Tama.
Many battles were won, many battles were lost, and many battles were left at a stalemate. They may have lost many battles, but they have not won the war, and it was a war that they won. Naraku was finally defeated and the Shikon no Tama completed, but at a price. Once the last shard was used to complete the Shikon no Tama, Kagome was sent back to her time before she had the chance to say her goodbyes.
When Kagome was back in her time, it's as if she has never been sent back 500 years in the past. She's 15 years old again. She woke up in the hospital from a coma. According to her family, she fell down the well on her 15th birthday when she was trying to find their cat, Buyo, in the well house and hit her head. She has been sleeping for a year. The hospital bills had been handled by a mysterious benefactor, who only gave the name Taishō.
Kagome knows that it was Sesshōmaru who paid for the bills, but she does not tell her family since they probably won't believe her if she told them the truth, the whole truth. Her family has no recollection of any of her travels in the past.
Kagome had expected something to happen once the Shikon no Tama was completed and had taken Sesshōmaru aside, that if anything were to happen to her that he would take care of her son, Shippō. She expected to be transported back to her time, but not for her existence in the past to be erased, her participation in completing the Shikon no Tama to be completely forgotten.
She didn't expect for time to literally turn back in time, to the time she first fell down the well, back to her fifteenth birthday only to wake up from a one year coma with her family having no recollection of her journeys to the past.
It turns out that anyone who was involved with the Shikon no Tama in the past remembers everything, but they don't remember who Higurashi Kagome ever was. Her existence in the past has been completely erased. It was only Sesshōmaru and Shippō who remembered her because of the blood bonds that bonded them together, as Sesshōmaru's imōto and as Shippō's mother.
The only thing the others remember was that a strange girl, who became a powerful Miko Warrior, destroyed the menace that was Naraku, and completed the Shikon no Tama. The battle with Naraku for the Shikon no Tama became a legend that was passed down through many generations. No one knows what happened to the Shikon no Tama besides Sesshōmaru, Shippō and Kagome, so there were many speculations about what happened to the jewel.
After Kagome's disappearance in the Feudal Era, Sesshōmaru and Shippō had taken all of Kagome's belongings and sealed them within the boughs of the Goshinboku for Kagome to find in the future, knowing that the Goshinboku will protect it from time. All of her weapons that she has amassed and mastered, her ceremonial robes, formal kimonos, battle kimonos, haori-hakama sets, and all sorts of things, from dangerous to ancient relics that she has collected in her travels in the past, has been sealed within the boughs of the Goshinboku. Along with extra stuff from Sesshōmaru and Shippō has been adding to it. It has become a treasure trove over the years that many have tried to seek but unable to find.
Kagome has also found out the world has split into three realms, Makai, Ningenkai, and Reikai. The Makai is the demon realm, the Ningenkai, the human realm, and the Reikai, the spirit realm.
The world split a couple hundred years after the final battle with Naraku to maintain the balance. Before, it were only the Ningenkai and the Reikai. But with the yōkai and ningen constantly fighting for power, it disrupted the balance of the world. It was then decided that the yōkai will be moved to a separate realm, which was called Makai.
The realms that make up the world are still connected to maintain the balance. Most yōkai moved to Makai, but there were some who stayed in Ningenkai, and most of them were ayakashi and yōkai, who needed spiritually aware humans to actually see them, and tended to stay in more rural areas. The ones with more power could make their forms visible to the naked eye, but they prefer to stay out of human sight.
Sesshōmaru and Shippō were one of those who decided to stay in Ningenkai, but not before Sesshōmaru established his own territory in Makai and eventually becoming the King of Makai. Sesshōmaru has also established his own business empire, Mikadzuki Inc. in the Ningenkai, becoming the richest bachelor in Japan, and possibly the whole world.
Shippō had also become a successful person. With his artistic sense, imaginative mind and illusionary craft, he has become a world famous artist and designer. He would often work with Sesshōmaru on projects that required his expertise.
So now, not only is Kagome heiress of the Western Lands and a Lady of the House of Moon, she is also the Crown Princess and Apparent Heir of Makai, and his business empire until Sesshōmaru produces an heir of his own, which is very highly unlikely.
Kagome knew from a young age that she was not normal. Kids her age picked up on that and teased her because of it. Kagome knows how it feels to be ostracized since childhood and had learned to hide anything unusual or unnatural from a young age.
From her name and unusual blue eyes that were not common among those of Japanese descent, Kagome was teased and bullied by her peers. Adding to that, she can see what others could not, ayakashi and yōkai.
She moved around a lot when she was young, until she moved to the shrine where her grandfather lived. Then she fell down the well on her fifteenth birthday. She traveled five hundred years to the Sengoku Jidai of Japan, had the Shikon no Tama torn from her body and endured a lot of hardships, and witnessed firsthand the horrors of the Sengoku Jidai that would have broken a full grown man.
A lot of things have changed for Kagome and she wasn't that naïve fifteen year old girl she was at the beginning of her journey anymore. She may have regressed in her physical age, but she was mentally older and wiser, and she was still that battle-hardened Miko Warrior she had become in the past. Despite being fifteen again, going on sixteen, Kagome still retains all her powers and skills she trained for in the past, but she may have to condition her body again to be able to use them because her current fifteen year old body is quite frankly, very weak.
First thing that Kagome did after she was released from the hospital was meditate, to calm her chaotic thoughts and found that there was a seal blocking half of her soul. It was a powerful seal and it limits Kagome from using her full potential. It wasn't harmful, yet it was also dangerous.
The longer a part of a soul is sealed off, it might eventually fracture the soul and since half of Kagome's soul is sealed it might have devastating effects. When Kagome's soul was fractured, only a small part of her soul was stolen, and since Kagome has an abnormally large soul, there was little to no pain. Only an uncomfortable feeling, as if feeling phantom pains from a missing limb. If half of her soul was sealed off and then fractured, the pain of such a thing happening will eventually kill a person. No one can live with only half a soul.
So Kagome trains her mind, body, and soul until she was strong enough to break the seal. It took a while, but she was chipping it off bit by bit whenever she uses her powers. Once the seal was broken, Kagome feels complete and her markings and crests came back along with the changes her body had made with the blood bonds.
She had wondered where those had gone. With her soul complete once again, her powers were quite unstable due to her young body not able to withstand the intensity of her powers, so she wears multiple limiters to help her control her powers. She won't be able to use the full potential of her power or otherwise, she would risk destroying her body and end up killing herself.
The limiters consists of two bands of gold armlets on each of her arms, a silver anklet with a bell that chimes when she uses her powers, otherwise it doesn't ring, and an intricate helix earring on her right ear. She also wears a velvet, black choker with a crescent moon pendant dangling from her throat, and crescent moon studded earrings that conceals her markings; unfortunately it cannot hide the changes in her hair and eyes.
Waking up from her one year coma, Kagome knew that things will be different from now on. Not only does her family not remember anything about her travels to the past, Kagome feels too old in her skin, too jaded despite the fact that she just turned sixteen. Her family noticed the change, but they can't do anything about it because they don't know what to do. Kagome won't talk about it since she knew that no one could possibly believe her.
They would sooner put her in the loony bin once she speaks about her adventures in the past. Telling the truth hurts, but lying is even more painful. Kagome couldn't even speak the truth because no one will understand nor believe what she has to say. They would probably think it was a dream caused by her one year coma. So Kagome let them believe what they want, knowing that no matter what she says they will not believe her.
Kagome decides to make up for what she had lost when she was travelling in the past, and that was going to school. Since she apparently has a second chance at getting an education, she decided to make the best of the situation.
She decides to transfers to a high school in a much more rural area to get away from her overbearing friends and especially, Hojo, who couldn't take the hint that she was not interested nor was she ever interested. She has also contacted Sesshōmaru, once she found out his contact information, and told him about her current situation.
He agreed and set conditions of his own, which was to keep up with her training, and to give him monthly updates of her situation, if not, he will hunt her down and double her training.
Her family thinks it's best for her to have a change in scenery, and so, her mother called up one of her old friends. She asks if Kagome could stay with them for awhile since the high school she will be transferring to will be near their home. It turns out that they have an extra room, but it was currently used for storage, so it will take awhile for it to be ready.
The Fujiwaras were a nice couple and very accommodating, so they agreed to Kagome's mother, Kun-Loon's request. As long as Kagome wouldn't mind sharing a room with their foster son, a distant relative of theirs, who is about the same age as Kagome until a room is ready for her.
The Fujiwara couple lives in a small rural town within Hitoyoshi, a city in the Kumamoto Prefecture of Japan and that's all they way in the Kyūshū Region of Japan, while Tokyo is in the Kantō Region. It's about two to three hours flight from Tokyo to Hitoyoshi. Her tuition and travel fees were completely paid off by her mysterious benefactor and her family was grateful, otherwise they would be in debt if they use the funds they make from the shrine.
Kagome was transferring quite late into the semester of her new high school, so she decides to get there a bit earlier than expected and warns the Fujiwara couple of her early arrival. Most of her belongings had already been packed and sent to the Fujiwaras, so she wouldn't have to lug all of her stuff with her.
She only had to carry her personal belongs that she didn't want anyone to tamper with. And most of her personal belongings came from her treasure trove she found sealed within the boughs of the Goshinboku. She took most, if not all of the important and dangerous stuff that only she can manage, and left the miscellaneous items Sesshōmaru and Shippō had given her behind.
While it was beautiful, most of it was impractical, who wears a jūnihitoe nowadays, but it did not stop her from taking a few sets of kimonos and haori-hakama sets, as well as one of her ceremonial robes and the traditional attire for a miko. She was pretty sure that there were a couple local shrines and or temples near where the Fujiwaras lived, perhaps she could work part-time there as a miko.
She also packed a beautiful music box that plays the Song of Spirit Sending she heard from the hanyō children of Hōraijima, and a beautiful calligraphy set complete with its own brushes, inkwell, ink stones and parchment papers, stored in an ornamental box, decorated with playful kitsunes, and inus howling at the crescent moon, both from Sesshōmaru. As well as a beautiful makeup box that was probably from Shippō.
Her mother had always said, "Makeup is the war paint of a woman. Whenever you find yourself headed into battle, make sure you wear it. That way you'll be certain you'll never cry. If you cry, your makeup will run. And no matter how little you apply, your face will end up looking disgraceful. That's why no matter how difficult things get, you'll keep yourself from crying," so Kagome brings with her the makeup box, no matter how little makeup she wears, maybe she will doll herself up during special occasions.
A few months later… At the Fujiwara residence...
Kagome has been staying with the Fujiwaras for quite some time now and the couple very much reminds her of her own mother and late father. Fujiwara Touko acts very similar to her mother and Fujiwara Shigeru vaguely reminds her of her father, who passed away when she was younger.
Natsume Takashi on the other hand, he was very different. Her first impression of him was that he was very superficial. While he seems to genuinely care for his foster parents, he was very polite and guarded, as if he doesn't want to become attached to them.
The only reason she can come up with was the overwhelming spiritual energy that he exudes, and she knows the kind of trouble that attracts anything with any hint of spiritual energy and he has a lot of it. She also suspects that he has the Sight, the ability to see ayakashi and yōkai.
She doesn't confront him about her suspicions, so she gifts him instead with a beaded bracelet that will somewhat conceal his spiritual energy, and will project a barrier that will protect him from harmful spirits with him none the wiser. She also gifts the Fujiwaras something similar, a necklace for Touko and a bracelet for Shigeru, so he doesn't get suspicious, only saying that it was her way of thanking them for letting her stay with them.
Kagome has become very close to the Fujiwaras over her stay with them and treats them like her family and has also become close to Natsume, finally getting him to call her Kagome instead of Higurashi-san with her calling him Takashi instead of Natsume-kun.
It was during one day Kagome noticed that Takashi forgot to wear his bracelet because ever since she gave it to him he had never forgotten to wear it. Since she doesn't start school for a couple more days, she looks for him after school ends, knowing that trouble will be looking for him without the protection his bracelet gives him.
Kagome had gathered quite the attention when she arrived at his school after classes has ended for the day asking if Natsume Takashi has left yet, and was quite annoyed when she was bombarded with questions instead. Only when she got the answer she wanted did she politely excuse herself, dreading the rumours that will spread and mentally apologized to Takashi for any problems she had inadvertently caused.
It seemed that he had already been heading home when Kagome left for his school, so when Kagome encounters with classmates of Takashi, Kitamoto Atsushi and Nishimura Satoru, saying that he seemed to be in a rush looking for a shrine, Kagome quickly went after him leaving two befuddled teens. Kagome figured that he was being chased by yōkai of some kind.
She finds him at a shrine with a broken seal. He must have tripped over the seal breaking it, staring at an odd cat in the shape of a maneki-neko. She decides not to interfere and conceals her presence and stays hidden behind the bushes.
When the odd maneki-neko transformed into an enormous inu, but smaller than Sesshōmaru's true form, and seemed to attack Takashi, did she act. She ran in front of Takashi while throwing up a barrier to protect them.
The inu slammed into her barrier and he poofed right back into his cursed form of a maneki-neko, all swirly-eyed. Since most of her powers were currently sealed with her limiters, the barrier did not contain an ounce of holy energy that could have purified a yōkai of his caliber. She could have changed the quality of her barrier to cause harm, but since the odd maneki-neko seemed harmless for the moment, she stayed her hand and remained cautious.
Though she did wonder how a yōkai that strong, got sealed in a shrine, and in the form of a maneki-neko of all things.
While the maneki-neko regained its bearings, Kagome went to check on Takashi, and saw that he was passed out on the ground. It seems all the stress from the chase and the shock of almost being devoured by a giant inu finally took a toll on him.
She found it odd that an inugami took on the form of a cat, specifically a maneki-neko, talk about irony. She had a good laugh about it. If Sesshōmaru was cursed into a form of a cat and laughed in his face, there was no doubt that she would be killed, then revived with Tenseiga and would have her training doubled.
To be continued…?
AN: There are some references to Saiunkoku Monogatari and Yu Yu Hakusho. I don't own any of them, they belong to their rightful owners.
I did some research, prior to writing this story. The setting of Natsume Yūjin-chō is based upon real-life locations, and one of them is Hitoyoshi, where the Fujiwara couple, along with Natsume, currently live. Hitoyoshi is really a city in the Kumamoto Prefecture within the Kyūshū Region of Japan.
There are some Japanese terminology that I'm too lazy to translate, but I did them in italics, so if you want to know what they mean, you can easily google translate them. They should be easy to understand even without needing a translation. I used terms that are almost universal in the world of fanfiction and anime.
Please leave comments and reviews~
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