Disclaimer: I claim zero ownership of Mystic Messenger or Inuyasha. They both belong to their rightful owners. Please support the creators.

Warnings:
Features abuse, dark topics, and character death. Abuse and abusive language will be frequent in this work. Please don't read if you think it might trigger you.
If you haven't played Another Story yet there will also be spoilers for it.

Chapter One

Feudal Japan;
[est.] completion of the Shikon no Tama.

Somehow things felt so bittersweet to her as she stared down at the sparkling pink bauble in her right palm. She smiled the best smile she could manage as she turned on her heel at last, bright blue eyes finding the amber ones of the man standing not so far away from him. There was something off in his eyes that she could see, and it nearly stopped Kagome in her tracks. Her smile fell, and she silently pondered what he was giving her such a somber look about.

Was it because he was realizing that now he could use the jewel to become a full demon at last, and he was starting to realize that meant he'd most likely leave everything he knew behind. She didn't know what he was feeling at that moment, but she figured it might've been quite a toll on him. So, she pulled her soft smile back onto her face in hopes it'd provide him with some encouragement.

"It's finally whole again," Kagome commented as she trotted over to him, closing the distance that had been put between them. He blinked, jumping some as though she had startled him. Kagome blinked curiously.

It wasn't like him to be caught so unaware. She'd never seen him in such a state.

Kagome smiled and held the jewel out to him. He silently stared at it, but he didn't reach for it. She felt a little sad, but she didn't let it show as she offered it to him. "Here," she said finally. "You can make your wish now, Inuyasha. I won't stop you if it's what you really want." She'd decided to remain in the past a long time ago, and the well was now sealed up with her choice. A part of her still hoped that he had changed his mind about becoming a full demon.

"..." He watched her hand, his amber eyes focused on the pink jewel with a faraway look in his eyes.

Kagome didn't rush him, never straying to lower her arm. It'd been such a strife to recover it, and it hadn't been without pain. Inuyasha had lost Kikyo for good, and saying farewell had been painful to him.

Without warning, he suddenly yanked her to him. He sought her warmth with desperate arms. Kagome was stunned into silence as he crushed her against his chest in a sturdy grip.

"I-Inuyasha!" Kagome stuttered out a surprised yelp, her cheeks turning a bright red as she was cradled close to him. One hand rested on her back and the other was pressing her head into his chest. Her soft smile returned to her face, and she let her arms circle around him, linking her hands together behind his back. She didn't know what brought this on, but she was happy he did it.

They stayed still for a while, arms tangled around each other in a sturdy hold. When she heard Inuyasha start to speak, she felt her confusion return to her.

"... I'm so sorry, Kagome…"

Kagome frowned. "What're you apologizing-!" Her voice failed her and went silent when a searing pain tore through her midsection. It was then that she realized the hand that had been resting against the small of her back had moved from its perch. His other hand still held her head firmly against his chest, but she could feel it trembling. She couldn't move in his grip, even when her legs began to fail her. Her legs gave out, but he held her up against him. The jewel fell from her hands, rolling along the grass before it came to a halt hidden among the green blades of grass. His claws threaded through her hair while her head rested on his chest, gently combing through her thick locks.

"Inu… yasha…?" She couldn't form the words she wanted to say, the metallic taste of blood wafting over her tongue as it trickled out from her mouth. When her eyelids began to feel heavy, she could only barely register him laying her gently on the ground before he picked the fallen Shikon no Tama up.

Kagome fought to keep her eyes open, Inuyasha standing over her and looking down at her with moisture in his amber eyes. It was then that she realized he was crying. Clear, glistening trails were dripping down his cheeks.

"This was the easiest way for you," he said, his voice wavering with regrets and sorrows. "It would've hurt you too much if… I'm sorry," he said, abruptly standing back up and finally speaking the words that brought clarity of reason as to why he had done what he did to her.

"I wish Kikyo was alive again."

Those words were the last she heard before darkness consumed her entirely, the frigid hands of death finally clawing up and ensnaring her dimming life in an iron-tight grip.

ooOOooOOooOOoo

"Rika… Rika!" The soft whisper through the pitch-black room caused the blonde girl to roll over slowly. Green eyes found her blue in the dark before she slowly moved over. A smile lifted at Kagome's lips as she climbed into bed with her, nuzzling up close to the older twin. She felt safe there, pressed up against the softness of her sister.

"Did you have another nightmare?" Rika asked softly, her voice not daring to drift above a whisper, lest they're discovered awake hours after lights out. She felt Kagome tense up, and she nodded against her. Rika started to comb her fingers through Kagome's long dark hair, humming softly in her ear.

Rika didn't need to ask what it was about- it was always the same one with her, plaguing her mind with blood-soaked images of someone who looked eerily similar to her. She had been dealing with it for years it seemed.

Their adopted parents hated how she'd speak about her nightmares. What'd used to pull from sleep with blood-curdling screams were annoyances that only brought their disdain to her. Furthering their belief that she was nothing more than a burden, a weird little freak who brings misery wherever she goes.

Their shared bedroom was dark, shadows making demons on the walls that loomed threateningly over them. Rika stared them down in the hollowed sockets they had for eyes, wondering if this might be the night they finally became real and stole their lives away. If tonight they'd finally reach inside them both and rip their ribs out one by one before swallowing their souls whole, leaving nothing but hollow carcasses in their wake.

She felt Kagome nuzzle as close as she could, but she could tell that she was nowhere close to falling back to sleep. After all, she knew what awaited her in her dreams.

ooOOooOOooOOoo

"His love for you is nothing more than a cruel illusion. One day he'll forsake you and leave you withered away by the sun… my dear sister. You're so weak and frail. No one will love you if you choose to remain useless."

Cold hands gripped in the loose sleeves of her shirt, tugging just enough to ensnare the attention of the woman with long, raven locks. Blue eyes clashed against the green of her sister. Her gaze, soft and trembling, falling to crumble pitifully under the intense darkness lining the bright green. The hands gripped tighter, holding the docile woman in place with a steel-like grip.

"Kagome. V's love isn't real. No one is capable of loving someone such as you… such as us. We only have one another in this forsaken world. …Would you really allow yourself to be swayed even more by cruel deception? Once he's done with you, he'll leave you broken and alone."

"Rika… That's not true…" Kagome shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut tight, fighting as hard as she could to fend off the horrible flames of doubt Rika's words were fueling inside her. "I can feel it. V's love is warm and strong. It doesn't hurt. It's nice."

"It's manipulation." Rika's eyes turned cold and hollow. "Are you really going to let him turn you against me? My only flesh and blood, the only one who can ever share my pain, my darling little sister. Would you really betray me for a man trying to manipulate you?"

"Rika I-"

"A world of love and light isn't for us. We are vermin meant to be exterminated by the strong of this world. You'll only get hurt if you open yourself up to believing you're worth anything." Rika abruptly dropped her grip on Kagome's sleeves, this time pulling her against her in a hug that was practically smothering. She cradled her close, almost as if she was terrified the dark-haired woman would fade away into hideous shadows the moment she managed to slip out of her desperate reach. "You, me, we're filth deemed tragic from the start. Please… Kagome… don't abandon me in this dark, horrible place all alone."

"Rika..." When Kagome returned the hug, Rika smiled against her shoulder. Her sister's hands trembled as she dug her fingers into the back of her dress. Kagome clung to her, her shoulders trembling just like her hands as she started to weep, burying her face into Rika's neck.

"You're hurting. I can see that, I can feel your agony. You were so hopeful in welcoming a child into this world, but now that hope is no more. Who do you think is truly at fault for the loss of your unborn child, Kagome?"

"I… It's my fault." The broken tone was muffled from where Kagome buried her face into her shoulder, and it made Rika sigh softly.

"Yes, in a way, I suppose it is. You shouldn't have been so hopeful. You knew of the complications you have in conceiving, yet you still dared to hope when you had no place to. Because of that, you brought suffering onto a poor, unloved soul." She could feel Kagome trembling harder under her hands as if she was so close to breaking into pieces as the sureness in Rika's voice. "V is also to blame. He wouldn't consider your feelings on the matter. He only cared for his own pain. He pressured you into ending your pregnancy, and, like a weed, you were trampled under the weight."

"No… no… V didn't do it to hurt me." Kagome shook her head, fighting back tears as she pulled away from Rika. "He made me understand that… that... this wouldn't end well." She closed her eyes, blinking the tears away before more could fall. As she did, she let her palm ghost over her stomach, feeling for the bump that she still sometimes woke up daring to hope she still had. Nothing was there, though.

V and she had made the decision together. He hadn't pressured her one way or another! She knew that. He'd never do something so cruel to her… The entire ordeal hurt him just as much as it hurt her!

Her pregnancy was a hazard to her health. If she had chosen to keep going along with it, then it would have ended up killing her- and most likely killing their son with her. If he had somehow managed to live, then the guilt of knowing his life came at the sacrifice of his mother would be his unwrought burden to bear. She couldn't sentence her child to a life full of guilt due to her own selfishness.

She was never meant to be a mother, anyway. She should have never been able to conceive, as it stands. Her child had been a miracle, one deemed from conception to never take his first breath. The heartbreaking choice was still plaguing her mind. Every minute… every day… she never shook the feeling that her choice was wrong.

"I wish you'd see the truth, Kagome. Life will be less painful for a burden like you that way…"

Modern Time;
[est.] 1.5 months after Another Story start.

The pristine stone before him brought on a multitude of different emotions to him. Even though he knew it lacked validity, it still burned a hole in him. He stood before a grave, the name written into the stone causing a bitter feeling to burn alive in his chest. That feeling turned to acid when it reached his tongue, sizzling holes into it whenever he tried to talk about it.

He knew his decision had been extreme, and he did regret it. What kind of person dared to construct such a lie? Surely a terrible one did, and he deserved the fire that'd come his way should the truth ever be revealed.

Cool metal brushed his palm as he lifted his hand and pressed it to his chest. He was nearly startled by the feeling of the ring hanging delicately from the chain around his neck. His eyes burned more than normal, the clear image of the gravesite turning into a blur of stone and flora.

He'd told himself he was protecting her from the scrutiny of others this way, that saving her from judgment and resentment was the best way he could show his love even if she departed from him. He knew that wasn't true, and now he wanted nothing more than to reverse this extreme mistake he'd brought to reality.

He had killed her. In every sense of the meaning, her death rested on his shoulders. Even if she still breathed in that nightmarish scape made by her own flesh and blood, she was still dead to everyone who knew and loved her. If she ever wanted to return, there'd be no way to do it painlessly for her.

A glimpse of blue eyes and a display of black locks flashed behind his closed eyes as he gripped the band he'd once worn proudly on his hand, the cool metal warming in his grasp.

"I'm so sorry, Kagome…" He whispered through the empty and quiet stretch of graves surrounding him, spilling his aches and truth to the left behind remnants of flourishing life. Maybe if he spoke it enough, then his words would reach her far away in her own cell of pain.

A beam of sunlight tore through the clouds overhead, lighting up the grave in a beautiful display. Her name practically glowed in the essence of the light.

V watched it for a moment. Maybe it was delusion at this point, but he didn't care. It felt… oddly encouraging. In a way, it felt as though she was reaching out to him, and it gave him the motivation he needed.

"I won't leave you alone, Kagome," he said, wishing he could say them directly to her face again. Somewhere along the line, that promise of his had gotten lost and buried under her darkness.

He would undo this. He'd fix everything with his own hands if he had to, just to spare the rest from the pain of the truth.

Hi so this is the first thing I've actually written with the intention of posting, so I hope I did well on it. There might be some grammar and spelling errors in there still, but I tried to get them out as I saw them.

So…. I'm happy to be on this site! I'm also on Ao3 under the same name.

See you next time!