Warnings: None

Note: This idea grabbed me and would NOT let go. This is a side-story (not to be considered story canon) for Lucky Child. If you haven't read Lucky Child, TURN BACK NOW. This will make very little sense without the context of that story. But just in case you aren't deterred, know this: both Keiko and Kagome are OCs (or an SI, in Keiko's case) reincarnated in the bodies of canon characters. They will NOT act like canon Keiko and Kagome…not completely, anyway. Enjoy!

Title subject to change.


Daughters of Destiny

Chapter 01:

"Down the Rabbit Hole"


"Don't freak out, OK?"

Kagome looked at me with guileless brown eyes, Bambi-like in their liquid charm…but I was not to be deceived. I scowled and crossed my arms over my chest.

"You know that's the absolute worst thing you can say to someone with anxiety, right?" I said. "And the least suspicious thing you can say, to boot."

She blinked. "Suspicious? Me?"

"Yes, you. You are clearly planning something, and I don't like it." I pinned her with a look of concrete demand. "Spill, chiquita. What the hell are we doing in here, anyway?"

Kagome whistled, rocking back and forth on her heels like a little kid. At ten years old she cut a completely unimpressive figure, with height diminutive, limbs gangly, and face as adorable as a kitten's. Totally out of place inside the shed covering the Bone-Eater's Well. Kagome belonged in sunshine, not stuck in here with cobwebs and dust. Why she'd called me that afternoon and demanded I come over for a weekend sleepover I still wasn't sure, but as soon as I'd arrived at the temple she'd dragged me in here. This did not bode well.

…oh. A pun. Nice job, Not-Quite-Keiko!

Kagome stared at me for a few moments, lips rolling together as she considered her words. Then she smiled and waved a hand over the edge of the railing, down into the pit of the Well itself.

"No sense beating around the bush, I guess," she said. "So here's the truth, plain and simple: I went through the Well yesterday!"

Took a minute for my brain to recover from the intense shock that statement summoned. My jaw dropped, my eyes bugged, my palms went slippery with nervous sweat as my heart stuttered like a bad engine—and then I put my face in my hands and groaned.

"Oh my god, Tigger," I said.

She sounded like a kicked puppy when she said, "Aww, phooey, Eeyore. I knew you'd react like this."

"Of course I'd react like this," I said, lifting my head to glare at her. "You travelled to the past before your canon started, alone, as a defenseless ten year old!" She pouted, toe kicking forlornly at the floor. "Tigger, what the hell were you thinking? That was an incredibly dangerous decision! Why did you do it? Also, how?" I paused a second, ire fading into curiosity. "Actually, start with the 'how.'"

"Oh, that part was easy-peasy," she said with all the nonchalance of smalltalk. "I just jumped in."

"Just jumped—" My jaw dropped again. "You could have broken your leg!"

"But I didn't!" she whined. "And I threw a pillow down first just in case the Well didn't work!"

"…a pillow. Really. A single pillow to break a ten-foot fall."

"…maybe I should've thrown down more," she conceded, but then she shook her head like a wet dog. "But that's not the point! I made it through! That's the point! I made it through to the past and I walked around a bit and then I came back, safe and sound, and now I think we should take a trip together!"

Once again, my mind didn't immediately catch up. It couldn't wrap itself around the concept of doing something so utterly, completely reckless. I gaped at Kagome for a solid minute before realizing what she meant—what she meant, and why she must have called me here for a weekend-long sleepover.

"You—you want us to go to the past?" I said. "Together?"

"Well, I don't want to go alone," she said, 'duh' written all over her petite face. "I only went for five minutes last time."

"Five minutes?" I repeated, because I wasn't capable of much else.

"Yeah. Five minutes." She tossed her hair with a triumphant smile. "I'm not stupid. I went through and only walked a few meters away, to see if I could see anything. I spotted the god-tree where Inuyasha got shot with Kikyo's arrow, just the top of it above the rest of the trees, and then I turned back. But I want to see the tree up close!"

I massaged my temples with my fingers and somehow resisted the urge to smack Kagome upside the head. "Up close, you say?"

"Yeah. And I figured if it took a long time, we could stay the night." She spoke as if she hadn't just proposed something utterly stupid, insane, and altogether foolhardy. "I already packed a bag with survival gear and tents and food and stuff. And you brought over your sleepover clothes, so we're prepared!"

Gleeful and hopeful and proud, from under a floorboard she produced a backpack, heavy enough that she had to lift it with both of her tiny, child-sized hands. She was closer to 40 years old in mind, but her adolescent shell was absolutely that: adolescent. Helpless, childlike, and about as useful in a fight as a Rock-'Em-Sock-'Em Robot. I would know. We'd been taking aikido lessons together for months. While she could dodge and evade with aptitude, her small size kept her from being able to hit with any noteworthy force. Certainly not force noteworthy enough to stand against a demon.

And as we both knew, the Feudal Era was rife with them.

"We might be prepared in terms of supplies, but we are completely unprepared in every single other way that counts," I said. I smacked an open palm against my chest. "We're children. Or at least we're the size of children. If we ran into a demon, any demon at all, we could get killed or—"

Kagome's face fell as I explained all the specific, gruesome ways this could go wrong: demons could eat us, villagers could mistake us for witches and burn us alive, we could fall down a mountain and bash our heads in. Hell, we could get food poisoning and shit ourselves to death, or drink unfiltered water and vomit up our own guts. Kagome listened with a sad expression and hefted the backpack higher on her shoulder. For a moment I hoped she was taking my words to heart, and that she'd give up this crazy scheme of hers.

The hope passed fast.

As I spoke, her expression changed from sad to determined. She met my eyes and smiled, though with apology I didn't quite understand. I stopped talking and stared at her with unconcealed alarm.

"Tigger?" I said.

"Sorry, Eeyore," Kagome said. "You make great points, but I've made up my mind." One eye closed in a mischievous wink. "See you on the other side!"

I went cold. Once again, shock kept me from moving. Only when she took a step backward did I find the will to lunge at her.

"Tigger, no!" I screeched.

But my protest didn't stop her, and my hands scrambled for her too late. With a sunny, beaming smile, Not-Quite-Kagome took two steps back and hopped over the railing—flying both feet first into the depths of the Bone-Eater's Well, and into the arms of the Feudal Era.

I only had to ponder what to do for a moment.

Keiko's irritatingly responsible nature left me little choice but to follow Kagome down the demonic rabbit hole.


NOTES:

Little quick intro. Have this whole thing planned. Will keep chapters short so I can update quickly. Tagged this as a true crossover fic since it's taking place in Inuyasha's Fuedal Era.

This is gonna be fun.