Summary: She's done it! The jewel is finally complete and she can put fighting demons in the past as last! With a sigh of relief, she turns her focus to her future. Able to resume her school life, she somehow gets dragged into the world of "S" by classmate and new friend, Reki. Meanwhile, Kojiro is forced to realize that his baby sister isn't a baby anymore.
Pairing: Undecided
Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.
Note:
Jewel is still around, but it's dormant.
Chapter Four
At the end of the day, Kagome practically let out a sigh of relief to head home. She walked into the shrine and set her things in the usual places. A second later, she shouted, "I'm home!"
On cue, Kirara rose up from her resting position on her shoulder and jumped from it, yawning as she landed on the ground and stretched. As Kagome walked around Kirara, a familiar aura grazed her senses and she came to a slow halt for a moment. Confusion settled in her, and she curiously walked into the kitchen, where she spotted a familiar silver-haired demon sitting there alone. Kagome tilted her head to the side.
"Sesshoumaru?" she questioned as she walked in to join him. He hummed in response and she looked around. "Where's my family? And why are you here?"
Without moving to speak, he motioned to the fridge, where a note was hung up using a magnet. Kagome went over to it, plucking it down and scanning her eyes over it.
Apparently Souta was at a friend's house for the night, and her mother and grandfather had gone to have tea with some family friends for the evening. Kagome sighed and shrugged it off.
"You know this only answered one of my questions," she commented dryly, setting a hand on her hip. "That doesn't explain why you're here. In my house. In my kitchen."
He sighed and rose from the floor, long locks of silver hair cascading over his shoulder way too elegantly for her comfort. Her eyes narrowed.
It should be illegal to be that pretty, like c'mon! He didn't even try! It wasn't fair.
"I came with the intent of offering you some information, a warning if you will," he commented, and Kagome felt her frown deepen.
What was with the faint pit of unease forming within her chest?
"What for?" she asked, opening the fridge and pulling out two bottles of water. As he passed her, she offered him one before she fell into step with him. Together the pair walked outside, the cool air of nighttime settling around them as they came to a halt. She knew he had no intention of staying for long.
"My fool of a brother plans to visit you."
She unintentionally froze upon hearing those words, downcasting her gaze at the thought alone. The conflicting feelings inside her fought to whirl up, but she kept them buried far below the surface. Her gaze softened, a frown appearing on her face.
"... I see," she responded, her voice nothing more than a whisper to be drowned out by the wind. "Well, thanks for giving me a warning," she added, this time letting her voice rise a bit in volume. She felt his gaze lingering on her, but she refused to rise to the challenge and meet it.
"I'll prevent him if you don't wish to see him," he said, but she quickly shook her head, denying the idea.
"There's no need for that," Kagome said. "I… I should be able to face him," she continued, "he's my friend, after all."
Her friend who constantly compared her to someone she'd never be. Her friend that saw her as a sliver of the woman he loved. Her friend that she'd fallen in love with, only to feel like a replacement for the one who held his heart.
She heard the sigh that came from Sesshoumaru. She felt the flick of irritation in his aura, and she subconsciously flinched away from him.
"Ultimately, this is your decision," he said. Kagome nodded as a sign she heard his words. "My opinion on your decision matters very little."
"I mean, why shouldn't he be able to see me?" Kagome asked. "Everyone else has come to visit me- Shippo, Kouga, even you," she paused for a moment and sighed. "After everything, he's still my friend and I care about him."
It wasn't right to avoid him because she couldn't get her feelings in line. She was trying hard, but… it was harder than it looked.
He still meant so much to her after everything they'd gone through. She valued him as a friend, so why couldn't she just push her other feelings to the cliff and let them fall into the abyss of her mind? She knew moving on was for the best, but it didn't go so well when her heart was still hung up on him- and painfully so.
"I..-" Kagome cut herself off before she could say what was on her mind, burying the words deep inside her so they couldn't slip free by accident. With a faint sigh, she pulled a smile on her face and shook her head. "Well, if he wants to, then he's more than welcome to come visit me," she said. She felt Sesshoumaru's attention focused on her, but she ignored it as she turned on her heel. "Oh, well, thanks for stopping by and all, but I need to do some studying."
With that, she closed the conversation, giving him no room to respond. Well, despite being able to, there was little chance she'd actually process the words he said. He glared at her retreating backside before turning away from her.
She was painfully hard headed and stubborn, too worried about everyone else she cared for. Try as hard as she might, she was still neglecting her own emotions by doing so. No matter what words she used to justify her bending and swaying.
If she kept at it, it wouldn't be long before she ended up bending until she broke.
As gentle as she was, caring and eternally compassionate for the well-being and emotions of everyone around her, she was far too neglectful of her own emotional well-being.
It was easy to hide it from the rest of the world and even herself, but it was pointless to lie to him.
000
Despite trying to study, she found it next to impossible to actually focus on the notes she'd taken in class. Kagome slumped over her desk, resting her chin in her hand as a frown appeared on her face. The bracelet on her wrist jingled some, and her frown only deepened.
Unlike the short timeframe it'd been for her, she realized it had been five-hundred years since Inuyasha had last seen her. For her, it'd only been a handful of months at most, and the memory of everything was still fresh on her mind. It didn't matter how badly she wished to put it all behind her when it was still hovering over her as if it was some dark cloud.
It hurt; remembering the harsh things he'd said and the ways he'd compared her to Kikyo. She was torn on wanting to see him and wanting to have a bit more time to heal on her own. She wasn't ready to see him. The feelings she had for him were still regretfully there. Maybe not as strong as they'd been when she was still risking her life fighting demons, but they were there. She couldn't deny it, no matter how hard she wanted to.
The thought of seeing him again left her feeling so conflicted. There was a weight in her chest, holding down her heart and making her feel an abundance of emotions she didn't want to try and identify. If she gave them a name, then they might stick around and the thought of that possibility made her feel so uneasy.
He was her friend and she missed him, but how was she supposed to move on if she didn't give herself the chance to actually do that?
"Tch… whatever happened to cherishing myself over him?" she hissed at herself in her mind as she buried her face in her arms. "Ugh I'm such an idiot. It's not even funny anymore…"
Moving on felt like it was impossible. It was miserable at this point.
"Hmph… you figure after everything he's said and done I'd be over him already…" she muttered to herself. Her eyes began to sting, her vision growing blurry, but before a single tear could fall, she squeezed her eyes shut and slammed her hands on her desk. She pushed herself out of her chair.
"Argh! Enough!" she exclaimed. She heard Kirara scramble up from where she had been dozing peacefully on her pillows. Kagome buried her hands in her hair and ruffled it up. Kirara peered up at her, tilting her head to the side with a faint chirping mew as Kagome yanked her door open and stalked from her room. Without waiting, the cream-colored cat sat up and bounded down the hall after the aggravated miko.
Kagome busied herself in the kitchen, fixing herself something to eat as a means to distract herself from everything else hovering in her head.
She'd eat dinner, have a nice, long bath and then she'd go to bed and get some rest.
Mind made up, Kagome pushed the rest of her thoughts far from focus. Once she'd finished fixing her dinner, she settled down at the table, placing a small plate of fish down for Kirara.
She ignored the restless feelings inside of her chest and ate.
Oh, what did it matter if she ate her feelings at this point.
When she woke up the following morning, she decided early not to go to school. Her emotions were still in a jumble, and she didn't feel up to facing the world. The thought of someone seeing her with a weakened façade made her feel ill.
She didn't want her vulnerabilities to show so brazenly to the world around her.
Kagome sat up in her bed, her blankets slumping in her lap as she tangled her hands in them, tightening them into fists.
Her dreams hadn't been a golden getaway from the thoughts that plagued her mind. Instead, her dreams had turned into a slideshow of past memories- most of which she'd happily get rid of without any sort of regret.
With a soft sigh, she rose from her bed and crept over to her desk on silent feet. Once there, she settled down in her chair and tugged a heavy book free from a few stacked in a row. With a faint trace of hesitation in her motions, she opened it, revealing it to be a photo album she'd been working on.
The faces of her friends from the past greeted her, and a smile appeared on her face. It was one of fondness, and a familiar sting started in her eyes.
Before returning home for good, she'd taken a camera to the past in order to capture these moments so she could look back at them for the rest of her life. She'd captured images of all her friends, all the familiar faces she met and grew to care for.
It was nice to see them all comfortable and, well, happy. After Naraku had been taken care of, peace was able to settle in all of their lives. Of course there would always be dangers of all kinds, but the one person who'd caused so much misery and despair was gone at last and everyone was able to begin to fully heal from the wreckage his actions had brought.
Nothing would undo what he did, of course, but the promise of a new beginning for those left standing was such a sweet thing.
To her, that made all her pain and suffering worth it.
Her friends had been able to live happy lives, and that's what mattered to her.
She flipped through the pages until she reached the one she'd left off on last time, moving around the photos that were still to be added. After choosing the one she wanted for that page, she fixed it into the slots and picked up her marker, writing a bit of information below it.
She did this over and over again, the stack of photos slowly getting smaller and smaller. Before she could even realize it, she'd already finished it all. Kagome spared a quick glance at her clock, and saw that she'd been at it for a few hours already. It was nearing noon.
She stood up and gathered the finished photo album in her arms, heading over to her bed and settling down on the floor beside it. She carefully slid it below her bed for storage. As she did, she felt around for a different one, tugging it out and dusting off the small bit of dust that had accumulated on it.
She had two similar looking photo albums. One for her modern life, a hobby her mother started for her and she took over when she was in middle school, and one for her feudal era days.
She flipped open the one for her modern life, casually turning the pages and gazing at the photos.
Photos of school friends, photos of family, photos of events and festivals held at the shrine, and many more littered the pages. She reached the last page that had something on it, realizing there were still several pages yet to be filled. Once she'd gone down the well, she'd started to neglect this quite a bit. Not by choice, but because it was hard to find time while balancing everything else on an already cluttered plate.
She hadn't even put in the photos taken during her middle school graduation yet.
She set the photo album down beside her, crossing her legs as she reached back under her bed. This time she pulled out the box she kept hidden below it. She was a bit braver in her actions this time. Upon opening the lid and setting it to the side, she plucked the collection of photos from it and then pushed the box away from her as she leaned against her bed.
She credited her desire to go through them to her need for a distraction from her thoughts. Either way, she wasn't going to question what urged her to do this.
There were plenty of her with him. Not just him, but her brother and Kaoru, too. As she flipped through them, she could remember bits and pieces from those days. A small smile remained on her face. There weren't many photos in the stack; just ten.
She paused when she got to the last one, her gaze lingering on it.
It was one of her older brother and her. She was perched high on his shoulders, his hands keeping her steady with a grip on her legs.
Her smile grew a bit larger, and she collected a few of those photos, leaving out every one that had even a hint of the blue-haired man in them. Once they'd been separated, she tossed the ones with him back in the box, and she tucked the ones with her brother and Kaoru into the photo album.
She'd put those in at a later date.
She wasn't certain about showing up at S that night, her conflicting emotions weighing her down more than she cared to show. After a bit of going back and forth with herself, she ultimately decided to go. If she didn't want to stay after all, then she knew Kirara would gladly assist her in leaving without wasting a second.
That night she decided to wear something entirely different from her normal, casual attire. She dug around in her closet for a few minutes until she found what she was looking for- a handmade uniform given to her by Sango.
She pulled it from the package it was stored in, and a small smile claimed her lips. To her, it seemed perfect. After all, when else would she have the reason to wear such a thing?
Mind made up, she dressed herself in it just as she remembered Sango telling her. It was easy to put on, and quite comfortable in terms of support. It wasn't too tight on her skin, and it was amazingly breathable considering it was a bodysuit.
The dark material hugged her figure flawlessly, clinging to her hips in a natural way that didn't leave her feeling uncomfortable.
Sango had made it with her in mind, and, as such, it differed greatly from the uniform she had. For starters, this one had a connected skirt that covered her rear. It was about the length of her school uniform skirt, and it was the same color as the night sky, matching nicely with the pitch black of the suit itself.
The suit also tied at the side, a jade green strand pulled through the material below her right arm much like a corset. On the left side was a connective ribbon in the same shade of green- most likely for her to attach a quiver of arrows. Instead, she had it tied into a neat bow.
She put on the armor as well, leaving out the one that would normally go over her stomach. The armor was white and had jade green ribbons that were to be used to put them on and keep them in place.
After giving herself a once over in her mirror, she felt like something was missing from her appearance. She hummed, tapping her chin with her finger. A few seconds passed, and she figured it out.
She pulled a haori out from her closet and put it on over the uniform. She tied it closed, the material falling to her mid-thigh. It faded from black to white, and in the middle of the back it had a crescent moon between her shoulders. The sleeves had gray, smoke-like ends on it.
A gift from Sesshoumaru. Much like the uniform, she never had a cause to wear it.
Kagome looked at herself in the mirror and smiled, liking the look on her.
"I think it looks cute on me," she commented, turning to look at Kirara, who sat gazing at her. "What do you think?"
"Mew!" Kirara sat up with more energy, letting out a cry of what Kagome presumed to be agreement. Kagome's smile grew and held her arms open for the feline to jump in them.
"Let's go then!"
000
When she got close to the entrance gates, she urged Kirara back down to the ground a little bit out of the line of sight. Once she landed, Kagome hopped off her back and Kirara reverted back to her smaller form. With her now back on her shoulder, Kagome went to join the rest already gathered around. It didn't take her long to place familiar auras, and, with a cheerful smile on her face, she made her way closer.
She came to a halt behind a familiar redhead and tapped his shoulder. A second later, Kirara flung herself at his head- much to his obvious surprise. He turned around, startled, as amber eyes landed on her.
"Kagome?!" Reki looked at her, wide-eyed as he took in the abrupt shift in her clothing style. At the same time, Langa turned to face her, and she lifted a hand to twinkle her fingers in a wave.
"Fancy seeing you two here, boys!"
Auroua-chan: I was hoping for this to be a bit longer, but I like this ending point moreover than the other one I had.
I rewrote the same part a few different times, but overall I'm happy how this chapter turned out. I wanted to give a bit of insight on Kagome (such as her relationship with Sesshoumaru, and her feelings towards Inuyasha.) Sesshoumaru, as cold and as indifferent as he can be, does worry about her to a small degree at least. Kagome has conflicting emotions about Inuyasha. (and he's not the only one, either, but we'll get to that soon enough when it gets into full swing- pun intended.) She presents herself as bright and cheerful on the outside, even if she feels anything but. She's hesitant and cautious to show her vulnerable side due to her history. She doesn't trust many people with her secrets, so its hard to let her guard down. She'll really only let it show around Shippo at this point (maybe a few others, too)
Speaking of- I can't wait until he's introduced. He'll probably cause a bigger stir up than Sesshoumaru will, if I'm being honest lol.
Anyway, that's it for now! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.
Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!
Bye for now~