Becoming Higurashi
Jessylane318
"You're back," said a voice, it sounded familiar. "I wasn't expecting you so soon."
Kagome turned around, curious.
"Kikyo?" she said softly, staring at a dark haired priestess garb with red hakamas and the familiar white haori. "What are you doing here?"
The woman laughed honestly, a mirth about her she hadn't seen before.
"You are a harbinger of trouble," replied the woman jokingly. "Can you truly not live a lifetime without disturbing the worlds?"
"Worlds?" she asked softly.
"There was only one, once," answered the woman patting the grassy spot beside her. Kagome looked around and found the darkness had receded, leaving them in a familiar clearing, the God-Tree standing tall behind them.
Kagome took the spot without hesitation.
"When you made a wish, you broke the flow of time. Where one set of us had lived, another set was made to relive differently."
"That's what Kanna said!"
"Yes," replied the woman with a sad smile. "She could not adjust. She went from nothingness to something in a moment. With nothing to hold onto, her anger transformed her, destroyed her."
"I purified her," Kagome said sadly, hurt. "I didn't know what else to do."
"You freed her," Kikyo said with a shrug. "She's been angry for over a thousand years, waiting for you to return. She tricked the child's uncle into finding and destroying you."
"How did she even know I was here?"
"Her mirror."
Kagome frowned and remembered the sword and it's beautiful reflection.
She looked around their clearing, sitting in silence for a moment.
"Is it true?" she asked suddenly. "Did InuYasha really wish away all of the demons?"
The young woman laughed outright at her fearful face.
"Yes," she said with a grin. "He was so nervous that his tongue slipped. He was very upset afterwards, especially when he realized there would be no more good fights."
"Then how does Naruto have one in him?" she asked confused. "And the other boy, he has one sealed as well."
"Ah, Kagome," said the woman with a motherly stare. "You and I should know better than anyone that nothing is forever."
"How are you here?" Kagome asked suddenly, her mind swinging from topic to topic. "Am I dead?"
"Not quite," replied Kikyo slowly as she stood, her fingers pressing against the mark she had pinned InuYasha too. "I am here because I am a part of you. When I died, my soul contained the Shikon Jewel. Whereas it should have reincarnated, it travelled through the well, merging with your own."
"So I'm not your reincarnation?"
"Does it matter?" asked the woman, curious.
"No, not really…"
Kagome looked to the sky, her face warming in the sunshine. A pair of white clouds floated by, it felt nice here, and she wouldn't mind staying. No worries, no responsibilities.
"Will you forsake them?" wondered Kikyo aloud; she had climbed onto one of the tree's lower branches.
"Who?"
There was no answer. Kagome looked up again to see her gone.
She furrowed her brows. What had she been doing? What was she waiting for?
"KAGOME!"
She looked over to see Sango and Miroku waving at her excitedly in the distance. Kikyo was walking calmly towards them, a peaceful smile on her face. She grinned and took a few steps towards them. It was like walking through a swamp, and the ground seemed to literally pull her away.
She scowled.
Why couldn't she see her friends? Hadn't she spent enough time away from them?
She trudged several more steps, and the effort was becoming easier. They only seemed about a kilometer away.
They waved at her excitedly. Kikyo, however, turned back, an angry look on her previously kind face.
"What are you doing!"
She stopped, blinking at the fury in her voice.
She tried to reply, but found her voice oddly lacking.
"You fool!" said the woman, and Kagome was reminded of the old Kikyo, with eyes like sharp embers. "Go home!"
It felt like a slap.
"GO HOME!"
She remembered:
"Jeez, what do you want to do, just sit around in this musty old hut for eternity? You said it yourself, it's over, move on!"
"Excuse me," she growled, squeezing her fist. "You're the one that went head first into the well. You're lucky I'm here to save you-"
"Or you'll what?" asked the man tauntingly? She glared defiantly adopting her best version of the defensive stance Sango had once tried to teach her. "You stupid bitch, you think you can fight me? You got lucky that last time!"
"Heh," she muttered, rubbing her arm as she smiled, "you two, huh?"
"Tazuna says they're going to rebuild that bridge, but with all the accidents and problems, I'm not sure how." Kagome worked quietly as he spoke, threading the needle and pushing it through the skin, pulling the two pieces together. "I hope he can do it though. We've been starving for what seems like ages."
"What are you?" asked the masked man sharply, clearly disturbed.
"Are you coming with us?" he suddenly asked, and Kagome looked at him oddly. That seemed a little out of character. He seemed to think so too, because he huffed and crossed his arms, looking away darkly. "Not that it matters!"
"Ugh!" sneered the boy as he stuck out his tongue. "You live in that!"
"I'm looking for Kakashi," Kagome said blankly, suddenly remembering she had not gotten a last name. "He's about this high, and he's got three little kids with him, a blonde, a brunette, and the pink one."
"Mah, Kagome, if you wanted in my room, you had only to ask. I would never treat a woman so-"
"He killed them all, except me."
"You pervert!" she shouted. She didn't bother to try to hit him, she always missed. "If I ever get my hands on that book-"
"You won't," he said darkly from behind the orange cover.
Her eyes flooded with tears and she grabbed her head. What was going on?
Suddenly, Kikyo was standing before her, her face angrier then she'd ever seen it.
"Go home Kagome!" she shouted.
The world spun in front of her, colors meshing together.
"GO HOME!"
And she fell back, again, into the darkness.
