Okay, I realize this chapter may be a bit confusing. Don't worry, it'll pull together.
This is for mah darling Rin, whom I hope is inspired a bit. ^.~
Props to Colin and tdei for betaing and idea-tossing. Sankyuu~ :D
--==--
Masa sighed, staring darkly at the desk at the front of the classroom. It was the last class of the day. Hiroshige-sensei's class.
They had had a substitute teacher for three days now - Hiroshige-sensei was supposedly attending to a family emergency.
Masa knew better, of course. Hiroshige-sensei had left because of him.
The new teacher, Higurashi-sensei stood at the front of the class, lecturing animatedly, and he idly drew sloppy spirals on his mostly-blank notebook.
It was strange to see a substitute so involved with their subject. At first he had ignored her. But she talked like she had been there. Like Hiroshige-sensei talked. And now his attention was caught, even though he couldn't care less about the subject.
He stared at her even after the other students had packed their bags, until the classroom was empty. He didn't even realize it until she stood in front of his desk.
"Tanizaki-san, right?" She cocked her head to the side. "Did you need something?"
He started, shutting his notebook, shoved it into his bag. "No, nothing."
Her mouth turned thoughtful. "Alright."
He stood and shouldered his bag, turned to go.
"You're worried for Sesshomaru, aren't you, Miroku?"
The soft words made him inhale sharply, freezing in his tracks. Slowly, he turned around to look at her. She watched him, eyes dark, serious. She looked slightly tired.
"Don't call me that." His throat felt tight, sore.
She shook her head. "No, you're right. You're called Masa now, aren't you? I'm Kagome."
His eyes widened. Kagome...
Flashes of people, words he didn't understand. A dull roar in his ears, that grew in intensity. He clenched his teeth, shut his eyes, trying to force it back down, away from him.
"Masa..." Her voice sounded distant, and worried. He opened his eyes.
She stood close to him, one hand holding his upper arm, as if to steady him. She held up her other hand, a slim white paper dangling loosely between her fingers. "Miroku..."
The paper touched his forehead and he felt himself being sucked away, pulled in a thousand different directions. He opened his mouth to scream, but he was falling away, leaving his body behind-
--==--
Kagome squeaked as the boy collapsed, grabbing for him, but only managing to be pulled down by him.
Rubbing what would probably be a painful bruise on her knee, she looked at him ruefully.
He wasn't supposed to pass out like that. Of course, this was the first time she'd actually performed this particular spell, but she was sure that she had done it right, and she had never heard of this particular side-effect.
Well, at least Sesshomaru wasn't there to see it. He hadn't trusted her at all when they first talked, and convincing him to let her get involved had been... difficult.
Sesshomaru watched the human priestess calculatingly. "Possession? If Masa is indeed Miroku's reincarnation, that would be impossible."
Kagome drummed her fingernails against the tabletop meditatively. "You're thinking about this all wrong. It's almost like a possession, but not precisely - Masa and Miroku share the same soul, but personality isn't part of the soul, really. It consists of superficial mannerisms, memories... only lightly grounded in one's soul. Usually, in reincarnation, the previous personality is subsumed, it simply... disappears. However, in rare cases, they remain separate, fighting for dominance. This can cause severe problems... in fact often humans diagnosed with mental illnesses are-"
She looked up and blushed at Sesshomaru's impassive glare. "-Anyway, instead of casting out the evil spirit, like you would in a case of true possession, you have to convince the foreign personality to relinquish its hold on... itself. And that can be tricky, usually the personality feels it has something to accomplish before it dissolves. I'm assuming Miroku-sama has kept his own consciousness for a reason."
"What?"
"That's what we'll have to find out."
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
She gritted her teeth into a confident smile. "Of course I do. I -am- a fully trained priestess now."
A low groan made brought her attention back to the boy. His eyes fluttered open, disoriented and heartbreakingly familiar.
"Kagome?"
"Miroku!" She grinned happily, then paused, leveling him with a glare "...nice to see you haven't changed. Now, are you going to remove your hand, or am I going to have to resort to violence again?"
--==--
Masa sucked in a deep breath, stretching, the staff in his hand jangling softly in the early morning air.
It was clear and cool, one of those autumn days that felt almost like the birth of summer. Like time was running backwards.
He sighed, watching the horizon lighten more, clouds turning the color of honey.
There were days where he would wake up to this, the sky gilding itself, a display of riches enough to make him forget that he was sleeping on cold, rocky ground instead of a plush bed in a palace.
Of course the bed in the palace was always preferable, but still. One had to see the sky occasionally, to remind themselves that there was a world out there.
Now, he always woke up in a bed, warm, comfortably wrapped up in the slim, soft arms of his wife.
Now he wasn't a monk anymore, though he still wore the robes, carried the staff. The world wasn't as dangerous these days, thanks to him and his companions, but old habits died hard.
A small hand twined into his, and he looked down at his youngest daughter, who had half her free hand stuffed in her mouth. Her hair was adorably mussed, sticking up from all angles.
He smiled, sitting next to her, pulling the girl into his lap. She curled up, leaning her head on his shoulder, and sighed deeply.
She was still tired, breathing deeply and slowly while she probably left a trail of drool down his robes. He held her close, watching the sky.
A bit of movement caught his eye, down the hill that he sat on. A girl, just shy of being a woman ran through the tall grass, her distant laughter a memory of bells. He watched her as she spun around, her hair flying.
A flash of silver on gold - another person emerging from the forest to walk across the clearing, following the girl.
Sesshomaru. He sucked in a breath involuntarily. The youkai paused, looking up at him. Their eyes met.
"Who are they?" His daughter's question was strung out over yawns.
He sighed, frowning. "No one important."
No one important... Suddenly he felt cold. He nuzzled into her warm hair, inhaling the sweet smell.
"Let's go wake your mother up."