Summary: She called on him to make a deal. She knew the payment, but she didn't mind. They wronged her. She'd be sure to make her fall into hell worth it. Her choice leads to another one of her past lives being revealed. To her surprise, it looks like her connection to the demon she's tied to runs far deeper than the price of her soul. A happy ending in hell seemed odd, but not impossible.

Pairing: Alastor/Kagome.

Disclaimer: I don't own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Note:
Hints to another past life for Kagome. More information at the end AN.
Flashbacks/Past are written in bulk Italics.
Lacks canonicity.
Dream state is written in bulk Bolded Italics.
Reuploaded!

Chapter Two

Her demise was sudden and swift, neither painful nor tortuous for her. It swept over her as she fell in a comatose state. Despite being well aware of where she'd be going, there wasn't a look of unease etched into her pallid skin. A look of peace resided on her face, and she looked like she was asleep. It was enough to stir memories that had been slumbering inside him for decades now, looking down at her face as the last remaining embers of life were removed from her.

It was in the late hours of the night, and he bided his time patiently for her companions to finally part from her side. He'd treaded around them carefully enough during her final days- though it was much harder to do so with the two little demons of the rag-tag crew. He'd managed with enough tact, and now he stood above her motionless body.

They'd placed her in a hut on her lonesome to protect her body from critters and the like until the burning ceremony that would take place the following morning. At least, that's what he'd overheard whilst lurking within the shadows. There were many charms and protective objects put up, surely meant to ward off demons, but none of them held any effect on him. If anything, it was just a mild sting as he passed by them.

Red eyes peered down at her silent form. She was garbed in traditional wear befitting a priestess of her status, her long hair carefully brushed out and left tangled free. It laid flat below her, spreading out behind her head and back just like raven wings. Finally, her hands here resting over one another on the flat of her stomach, carefully laid out so as to not leave any wrinkles in her clothing.

Alastor bent at his waist as he looked her over, a few locks of his two-toned hair falling forward some as he did so. A low hum left him before he finally moved again, this time reaching down towards her center with one hand. As he did, a faint memory flashed through his mind and rendered him frozen.

For a moment, the woman laying there completely shifted in appearance.

Blood matted in her hair, staining her skin and her clothes alike. Her chest was forced open, her ribcage broken right down the middle. Still, that peaceful expression remained, just like she was in a deep slumber.

His smile faded, his eyes widening as he nearly stood back up. After a moment, the glimpse was gone, and he was once more staring down at her well-cared for corpse. A feeling he could only describe as dread lingered in him for a moment before it left, and a smile returned to his face before three seconds had even passed. He closed his eyes, letting out a low chuckle as he shook his head.

"We should be on our way now, Darling," he said finally. This time when he reached for her, his fingers made contact with her chest. Once they did, a soft glow encased her body. He stood back up, and, as he did, a white orb followed. Moments later, the orb pulsed a few times before it took the shape of the girl still laying motionless. He picked her up, the translucent shape the orb had taken starting to glow a soft pink hue.

Cradled in his arms, she was still motionless and seemingly in a dozing state. Though the body he held was translucent, she felt solid to the touch. He knew she'd awaken when she was ready, and he was in no mood to rush her along. He had no desire to do so.

He stood back at his full height, allowing her to lean entirely into him.

"Well, now," he said gently, "it's time we go home, my Darling."

It'd been two years since she'd been brought into his manor. She'd yet to awake from her comatose state. She stayed as she was, resting in a bed in a room full of shadows. The only light, it seemed, came from the glow surrounding her.

He never bothered to rush her in her awakening. It would happen when it did, and rushing her would only either cause needless harm or it would be like struggling to light a candle underwater- ultimately useless.

She remained as she was, seemingly in a dreaming haze. Her body steadily became more and more real, the transparent look to it steadily fading away with each passing day.

Alastor sat on the bed beside her, red eyes gazing down at her resting face. He chuckled as he stood up, heading for the door.

"Take as long as you need," he said as he left. "You have me eagerly awaiting, Darling."

The wait, he knew, would be well worth it.

oOooOooOooOo

It was silent around her as she leaned her weight back on her palms, light blue eyes trailing up to watch the slowly moving clouds in the sky above her. A gentle breeze carried through the trees, making the branches and leaves tremble some. A few blooms drifted free from where they had grown, being carried away in the wind.

When one of the pink blossoms landed on the ground in front of her, she tilted her head to the side with a faint hum. Not long after, she slowly rose to her feet and carefully moved down the wooden steps to get to it. She plucked it up from where it had landed, cradling it gently in her tiny palms as a small smile appeared on her face.

"Pretty," she said softly, marveling at the gentle way the petals shifted under her touch.

"Hanami!"

She jumped the moment she heard her mother's sharp voice, and she turned slowly. Soon she was looking up at her mother, her sharp, brown eyes glowering down at her. She dropped the blossom back to the ground when she realized she'd been caught doing what she wasn't supposed to be doing.

"I told you to stay where you were," her mother said, her voice as cold as her haughty gaze. "What do I always tell you?" she asked a second later, and the young girl in question looked away. She narrowed her eyes. "Well?"

"A troublesome girl will never make an elegant, refined woman or wife," she said eventually. "When I don't obey, I make you and father look bad."

"Exactly," her mother responded. A second later, she snatched her by her wrist in a painfully tight grip and forced her along behind her. "I refuse to have such an ill-behaved girl making needless trouble for our proud family. I won't allow my bloodline to have produced such a disgrace."

She was silent as she was towed along by the older woman, barely listening to her as she ranted on about things that held very little interest for the young girl.

"We have been well-regarded and have held our status for centuries, Hanami. We must uphold our traditions."

When she wasn't paying attention, the small girl looked up at her mother and stuck her tongue out with a frown on her face.

"Think of how they'd react if you'd gone and dirtied yourself!" her mother exclaimed as she whirled around. Hanami froze when she did, noting the ire that spread across her mother's face when she caught her red-handed sticking her tongue out at her. Without wasting a single second, she brought her hand down on the side of her face. Out of reflex, she brought her hand up to cup the side of her face, covering the aching area as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Disrespectful little girl," her mother hissed. "I've never had such issues with your brothers or sister," she continued. "Now, behave. You are to sit quietly. Do not speak unless someone speaks to you first. Understood?"

She sniffled, holding her tears back as she nodded. "Yes, Mother."

"Good," she said as she turned. "Behind me. Now."

oOooOooOooOo

As she grew, she never quite outgrew her mother's nicknames for her. Disrespectful, troublesome, ill-behaved, and everything that seemed to exist in between the lines of those words. She was called one nearly every day as she grew.

She was the youngest of five children. It went her two eldest brothers, then her sister, then her third brother, and then her. They had never been treated the same way she'd been, and she knew that for a fact. Her mother regarded her very differently, and it was many times that she'd made it apparent that she'd been hopeful for another son as her final child. She knew it probably didn't help her that she was brought into this world already regarded as a mistake. She was well taken care of, just like her siblings, but she was definitely regarded in other lights.

She was more distant to them as a result, but she doubted it weighed them down any.

Friendly voices carried out all around her in all directions, but she barely paid them any mind.

"Hey, Hana," a voice a bit closer than all the others caught her attention, and she picked her head up long enough to catch the gaze of the man walking beside her on the busy street. He was a tall man with dark eyes and matching dark hair. He was the reason she was here, choosing to take her to a place unfamiliar to her for some touring. "Pick where you want to go," he said. Even as he spoke, his voice wasn't exactly friendly. It wasn't cruel, but it wasn't what she'd call inviting, either. "I brought you here to cheer you up some. That frown has been bothering me ever since I met you. Careful, or else it'll ruin that lovely face of yours."

He was, unfortunately, her parents' proudest choice in her suitors. He sounded so snide whenever he spoke to her, and she loathed that. He was gentle, yet condescending at the same time.

"How about that flower shop we passed a few moments ago?" she suggested anyway, burying down her displeasure at having to play so nicely with him. If he called off their engagement, then she knew… she knew that she'd never hear the end of it. He arched a brow at her suggestion as if to mock her, and she held her tongue before she said something that'd irk him.

"Really? There's flowers everywhere," he said, seeming to brush off her suggestion without even pretending to humor her. "Let's keep going and see where that takes us."

As he walked by her, she leveled a glare at his back, aggravation evident in her eyes.

"I did what you asked," she said, not budging an inch. "Why bother saying anything if you weren't going to go where I wanted?" she asked.

"If you wanna see flowers, you can go look at wildflowers," he responded, not turning around. "Come on."

She narrowed her eyes at him, contemplating if she should just bite her tongue and go after him, or if she should just go on her own. He was getting further and further away, and, just as she was about to give in and follow, the streets suddenly flooded with people leaving buildings in flocks of two or three at a time. It limited her sight, and, before she could realize, he was out of sight.

She remained frozen where she stood, lost in a place she had no understanding of where anything was. People passed her by, paying her no mind as they walked by in their own groups, and she backed up a few paces. She looked around, searching for anything familiar, only to have no luck.

She was about to chase after the path he'd taken when her eyes met a pair of light brown ones. In a single second, she froze.

Why did it feel like, for the first time she could remember, she was actually being seen? And by a stranger, no less. He offered her a smile, and her heart skipped a beat when she quickly figured that it was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen.

It was warm and gentle, and bright and dazzling at the same time. The gesture seemed so familiar, but the undertones to it seemed so brand new. It was a smile unlike any other smile she'd ever seen. It wasn't haughty, nor condescending, nor cold. It was everything she'd never seen in a smile directed at her. She was entranced, like a moth was to a light.

At once her panic faded, and she slowly padded over to him, being mindful to avoid running into people as she did so.

"Sorry to stare like that," he said once she stopped before him, and she cocked her head to the side. His brown hair was slightly ruffled from the breezy day, and a pair of glasses rested on the bridge of his nose. Behind them, those light brown eyes stared at her with a faint hint of intrigue. "I watched him walk off and leave you. Not quite a good thing to do, hm?" he said, and she sighed softly.

At least someone seemed to have seen it, and that they seemed to understand her grief at the situation. "I wasn't having the best time with him, so I'm not too upset by it, but it's frustrating. He did the research to know his way around, but…" she trailed off, her expression contorting some. "I don't know my way around so well."

"Is that so?" he hummed softly. "I could help you search around for him. If you want that, that is," he suggested. "If you truly weren't having much fun with him, I'd be more than happy to show you around myself. My name's Alastor, by the way."

"Hanami," she said, introducing herself just as he had done for himself. "Most people call me Hana, though," she offered. She paused for a moment, thinking carefully to herself. Did she want to try and find the man who'd basically left her all on her own in an unfamiliar place? Truthfully, she didn't, and, so, she let him stray far from her mind.

"Actually," she began, offering him a smile she felt paled in comparison to his own. "I'm sure he'll be just fine on his own," she said before walking around Alastor a bit. "I really want to go to this flower shop," she admitted, and she nodded towards the direction it was in. "If it's not too much trouble, that is," she added after a brief pause.

Alastor chuckled and nodded. A second later he offered her his arm so as to be sure she wouldn't get lost, and she gladly took hold of it. "No trouble at all, Darling!" he responded, and the nickname nearly made her heart speed up. "I was just on my way there, as it is."

She beamed up at him, and they started to head down the street. "Thank you so much!"

oOooOooOooOo

It was some hours later that they were walking down the street. They'd spent nearly every minute of the past few hours talking nonstop about all sorts of things. She was overjoyed to have someone who seemed to listen with as much earnesty as he did- for her, those who did were few and far in between.

She jumped when a hand curled around her free wrist, and she was abruptly yanked to a harsh stop.

"I've been looking all over for you, Hanami."

The familiar voice made her expression sour, and she glanced over her shoulder to spot the man who'd left her behind. "Oh, have you?" she challenged. He tightened his grip on her wrist, and she winced when it turned into a bruising grip.

Without missing a beat, Alastor reached out, curling a gloved hand around his wrist in turn. His grip was tight, tight enough to make him let go of her wrist with a faint curse rolling off his lips. "That's certainly no way to treat a lady," he said, a smile on his face. It was ominous, and the other man was silent the moment he looked at Alastor. Something more dangerous seemed to brim in his eyes, and it made him hesitant to speak. "Now, is it?" he hummed, letting go of his wrist and brushing his hand off on his pants as if he'd just touched filth- despite the glove he wore.

"If you'd bothered to come back to the flower shop, then you would've found me much sooner and easier," Hanami said with ire lacing her words. As she said that, the man's attention was drawn to the red-petaled flower now resting in her hair, right above her ear. A gift Alastor had purchased for her when it seemed the shop's pickings were too slim to do anything more with, most of the other flowers already gone in the late evening hours. "I said I wanted to go there, so I went there. It's not my problem you left me behind on the street."

He glared at her and turned on his heel. "Fine enough," he said. "Come on, then. Time to go, Hanami."

She eyed his back before she turned her nose up. "I refuse," she said without letting a second go by. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her, but she found herself caring less and less about what would happen should she go against him. Should she go against her parents. She refused to let him believe she'd obey his silly demands and desires. "If I'm to spend time here, then it'll be by the side of someone who wants to be my company, not someone who feels obligated to because of some stupid arrangement." She turned away from him, feeling the weight of his gaze when he abruptly turned to face her. Even with her back to him, she could feel the disbelief in his stare. "Now!" she exclaimed, smiling up at Alastor. "Before we were so rudely interrupted, you were showing me around," she said, before offering, "shall we get back to it?"

Alastor chuckled and nodded. "That we should, Darling!" he responded.

She'd already turned to leave, but he hadn't. Wordlessly, Alastor sent the other man one last parting smile, that same ominous sheen to it. It was cold, and a trace of maliciousness lurked in his eyes before he turned and offered her his arm again.

"Don't worry, my friend," Alastor called over his shoulder. "I'll be sure to bring her back without a scratch on her." His words were polite. Friendly, even, but the way he spoke, however, cautioned him of two things.

He was not a friend of his, and overstepping would have grave consequences.

oOooOooOooOo

Years later found her walking down that familiar street. Alastor walked beside her, his arm held in her own as they talked softly to each other. She always enjoyed his days off. A lot of the time they would stay home to enjoy their time together, but every couple of weeks they'd go out.

They visited that flower shop, and, as they left, Alastor placed that same type of flower in her hair, much to her joy.

It'd been years since she'd last seen, let alone even heard, the man her parents had chosen for her. She tried not to let him get to her too much, after all. Last she'd heard was that he still hadn't returned to Japan, according to her parents. Her last encounter with her had been far from pleasant, and, so, she often neglected to think of him, refusing to allow him to take up space in her head.

It was weeks after she'd decided to sever whatever engagement they had, deciding to no longer waste her time with someone she felt no happiness with. She came back here, happily resuming her time with Alastor, only for him to follow her and try to force her to come back.

A fight erupted between her and him, and she said everything she desired to say about how she felt and why she never wanted to see his face again, and she figured he must've taken her words to heart when he never showed up around her again.

Of course, she'd vented all of what had happened to Alastor the moment she could, unable to pretend it didn't happen when she had the bruises and marks to prove what he'd done to her. In the following weeks, she received a letter asking about where he was, but she had no answer to that question. There were moments where she still occasionally worried he might pop back up, but Alastor was always there to assure her that she never had to worry about him again. Soon enough, she let whatever distraught feelings she harbored at the idea fade away.

She'd rather move on.

oOooOooOooOo

Days later, a stark change was suddenly noticeable. More so, her previously remaining human body seemed to have changed overnight. Alastor froze when he noticed. A second passed, and then another, and then the light surrounding her faded away entirely. Not long after it did, she sat up with a low hum, her eyes opening at long last.

He fell out of his frozen state as a smile spread across his features.

"I was wondering when you'd finally stir," he said, and Kagome looked up at him, the haze of confusion slowly ebbing away.

"Alastor?" she asked softly, and he merely nodded in confirmation. Her head ached, memories from her sleep pounding harshly through her skull, and she grimaced.

What had all that been about?

She brushed it off, and she glanced down at her body. A soft nightgown covered her petite frame, but that was the last thing that caught her attention.

Soft, gray skin covered her entire body, and, as she got a good look at it, she felt her eyes widen.

"You look like a deer in headlights, Darling," Alastor chuckled upon seeing her doe-like expression. A second later he motioned towards a mirror on the wall as if to encourage her to get up and take a look. "You look en-deering if I do say so myself," he chuckled. Kagome eyed him as she got up and dashed over to the mirror. As she moved, she couldn't help but be painfully aware of her prancing like steps.

She stopped in front of the mirror, her eyes widening even more as she took in her new appearance. Sure, she looked the same, in most aspects, but there were certainly a few eye-catching changes.

Her skin had turned to that shade of gray all over. The color was very similar to Alastor's own. The closer she looked, she eventually saw little spot-like patches of white dotting her shoulders and dipping down past the gown she wore. The eyes looking back at her were still her same blue, but the whites of them had turned to the color of black ink. Her nose now had a heart-shaped pattern of black at the tip, and her teeth had sharpened considerably.

She lifted her hands to her hair, and she caught sight of her long, white claws at last. Her long locks were still predominantly their natural raven color, but the underside was now a shade close to sapphire blue. Not just there, either, but her bangs seemed to have streaks of the same blue throughout them. The longer sections of her bangs were entirely sapphire, as well.

Her gaze landed on the two things that protruded from her hair, zeroing in on them as they twitched a few times. At once, her hands shot up to them, and she nearly squealed when she felt them. Along with being extremely sensitive to the touch, they were also extremely real. They were similar to Alastor's, only a bit smaller in size and a bit more oval-shaped at the tips. They were primarily raven, but the inner fur of them was sapphire.

She felt the back of her gown start to sway some once she touched her ears, and she straightened her spine. "What's moving?" she gasped, turning so her backside faced the mirror. Something small seemed to be wagging in the middle of her back, right at the swell of her rear end. Alastor chuckled again, and with a snap of his fingers, her clothes changed to a deep red dress with a white ribbon around her middle to tie it firmly against her. In this change of clothes, she could see very clearly the small, cute, blue and black tail that was still wagging back and forth. The dress had a hole in it so it was visible. It, much like her ears, was very deer-esque.

"... I have a tail." was all she said, her voice flat.

Auroua-chan: Reuploaded!

Next chapter will be the first one with Kagome awake and aware in hell.

For her demon form, I initially planned for her eyes to turn white, while the sclera would turn blue. However, after reading the reviews, I decided to change it so her eyes stayed blue, but her sclera turned black.
Also! Kagome has a deer tail (This is my hint that, yes, Alastor will also have a tail in this story. He just keeps his hidden…)
I contemplated having her stick with a more human-esque look, but ultimately changed my mind because having her match Alastor sounded too cute of an opportunity to pass up.

This chapter revealed a lot about this past life of Kagome's as her memories from then started to unlock. More will follow. This chapter, we had a glimpse at her childhood and what her life was like here. As well as her meeting Alastor, and a bit more. It also revealed her name, which was Hanami. Also the man her parents chose for her most likely doesn't die in peaceful, natural ways. Just an fyi.

I've decided that I'm going to have her know of Alastor's murderous hobby, but how she figures it out isn't decided on. At the least, she did learn about that aspect of him eventually. Was she complicit in it? Yes and no, in a way. The full answer is a secret to be revealed later.

And, yes, considering Kikyo died, Kagome does have her whole soul once more.

Anyway, that's it for now! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.

Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!

Bye for now~