Panting and sighs of relief filled the air when everyone had returned to the house. Kagome was, of course, the center of any fixed attention; that is, whenever any of the guardians found time to concentrate on something, that something was Kagome. Though she hadn't been wounded in any way, the oukami had—to their knowledge—just been saved from a merciless foe who, by the looks of his face, wasn't even fazed by the fact that they'd just run off with his captive.
"Kagome," said a boy with short, black hair accompanied by dyed-blue bangs of longer, uneven lengths. He had waited until everyone else's minor inquiries had passed before approaching her. "You must tell us exactly what happened before you blacked out. It may be possible for us to prevent another attack from Naraku if we know what he did in the first place."
Thinking for a moment, painfully aware that all eyes were upon her face, Kagome hesitated in silence. Then, finally, she said in a slow, quiet voice, "I don't know."
"You /must/ know." This time, the speaker was, by means of appearance, the same one who had shouted so boldly at Naraku just minutes earlier. The only visual difference was the color of his eyes, which had changed from an endless black to a solid, vivid green.
"But I really do not know," Kagome replied, speaking with heartfelt sorrow. "All that I remember is the scene at the cliff. Naraku forced me, by his control over my body, to attack Sakura, then Miyako and Steph, I think. It was also the only time I've ever teleported, though I'm sure it was not my own ability that allowed me to do it."
The blue-banged boy took Kagome's hands, staring deeply into her russet-colored eyes with his own chilling blue ones. "Please/try/ to remember as much as you can. None of us can bear to even think of seeing you in such a state a second time. Even those who didn't see it are afraid to imagine it."
Wrought with chills and involuntary, minor tremors, Kagome averted her eyes and did not utter but two words: "I can't."
Sakura, seeing the boy grow frustrated, made her way to Kagome and the blue-banged boy, taking his hands from hers and muttering, "Enough, Soujirou."
"Sakura…" Kagome said softly, looking up with regret into the older girl's eyes… those orbs of pale yet vicious lime green. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" A low, calm voice—male—rang out from behind the others. Everyone looked back at the man who had just uttered the curt inquiry. His hair was long and black, hanging to his mid-back. He wore a blood-red cloak that concealed most of his body, but what clothing was visible was all black. "Why are you sorry, Kagome? You didn't do anything."
"That's just it, Vincent," the girl responded. "I can't remember. I can't do anything to help myself. I rely too much on you—all of you—to protect me. I'm weak."
Steph's sincere, stern gaze was now the strongest one fixed on Kagome. "No, you're not," she said strictly. "You are the Starlight Sovereign. You are the ruler of Stelvayne. By no means, mental, physical, or spiritual, are you weak."
"I /am/ physically weak," protested Kagome. "We all know this is true."
A cold silence followed. Steph's eyebrows met as she frowned, but before she could argue her point further, Miyako stepped forward.
"That's why we protect you, Kagome," she said gently, as though trying not to bruise Kagome's dignity any further. "It's not only because you're important, or because you aren't quite all-powerful, but because we choose to look after you and watch out for you."
"To guard you," said Axel in agreement.
Kagome's eyes filled with tears. "I… I think I get this speech from you guys way too often," she said mirthfully, allowing herself a small smile. The others laughed, maybe except for Vincent.
"There, see? All better," said the green-eyed boy. He spoke with an incredibly strong British accent. "Right?"
"Of course." Kagome's smile strengthened a bit as she looked at the entire group and repeated her gratitude to them. "I cannot thank you enough for protecting me as you have, and as I hope you shall continue to do. You will remain…" She paused, searching for the right words. "…my friends."
After another long, pressing silence, the group burst into spontaneous merriment when Steph shouted, "Ryou!" and pounced on the green-eyed albino boy, toppling him to the floor. Sakura cracked open a few bottles of various liquors, most of which she combined in a large pitcher and served to all who wished to partake in her concoction.
"I call it… uh… Well, it doesn't have a name, but it kicks ass!" Sakura shouted gleefully, already partially under the effects of the alcohol.
With all the insanity going on in the living room, Kagome disappeared into her bedroom, curling up on her bed and wrapping herself once more in the warmth of the wedding blanket. She reached for a book, sitting on her bedside table, which was bound in black leather and scripted on thin, ancient paper. Its pages were interrupted around the middle by a plain, silver bookmark, and so Kagome was able to relocate the place in the text at which she had previously stopped reading. As she resumed, she lost herself in the words written on the pages, allowing her mind to drift as it always did when she read such texts. It was a book written in the Divine Tongue, the first language ever created, and the rarest known by the most recent generation. She was, in fact, one of the few deemed eligible at birth to be taught in the Divine Tongue as an equal to the human language; the Divine Tongue was created by angels and, as they had wished, taught only to angels of the highest intelligence and spiritual strength.
Apparently, Kagome was an excellent example of such a being.