A/N: The scenario suggested by Cyrus559. It's not much, but yeah, hope you'll like it a little :D

A Kind of Heirloom

Kagome rolled over to face the wall and shield her eyes from the morning sun. After battling youkai for the shards in the past and two days and nights of studying and tests in the future, she was spent. She just wanted to sleep...

Someone drew the curtains, obscuring the sunlight. Kagome sighed in bliss. Since she didn't hear footsteps she knew it had to be Inuyasha, her mother would make noise while walking towards the window.

No matter, she was grateful. After the emotional strain of the more and more dangerous battles with Naraku, Kikyou's final death and all that followed... It had been pretty rough on her and she wanted to prolong the serene state of her dreams for a couple minutest longer before facing the cold, dreadful reality. In her dreams she could imagine Inuyasha wasn't sad, that the final battle wasn't looming over them all.

Soon she sank in the warm fuzziness of her dream, only hazy thoughts forming slowly in her mind as she tried to drift closer to the welcoming embraces of slumber.

And she had one of the worst dreams. You know, not the one about vile youkai attacking you or your crush being dragged to the underworld. Not the one about vile spider taking over the world or humongous white dog spilling acid at you. Not the one about vicious tests and merciless teachers even.

Nope, the worst dream possible is the one in which you get up off of your bed and dress in your daily clothing. The one in which you brush your teeth and in general prepare for the new day. The one in which you go downstairs to eat breakfast before Inuyasha could come in and drag you back to the past.

And she had this dream right now.

Want to know what's so bad about it?

Because once you actually wake up you're still in the bed, dressed in your pajamas, your hair a total mess and Inuyasha is stamping his foot, glaring at you from his spot next to your desk.

A part of Kagome was aware that she couldn't move without actually flexing a muscle. But still, the feeling of her brush combing her hair and the fabric of her clothing rubbing against her skin, the smell of her mom's cooking - it all felt so real.

That was why she finally gave up dreaming and decided to investigate this weird feeling of too real for a dream.

Kagome opened her eyes to see she was indeed in the kitchen, her mother standing by the stove and Souta sitting by the table. Eggs were burning on the forgotten pan on the stove, Souta frozen with his glass of milk held halfway to his mouth. Both were staring at her as if they saw a ghost.

Something was wrapped around her tightly, supporting her body in an upright position. As she got more aware of herself and tensed, the grip loosened slowly until she was free to move. Something pale flashed on the peripheral field of her vision and she looked upwards. She almost fainted when she saw what was swirling overhead.

At least a dozen of soul collectors were flying in circles above her like bees over a honey pot. One flew to land on her shoulder and nuzzle her cheek before it took off to join its kin.

"W-what are those...?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"Soul collectors," Kagome replied slowly. "They were Kikyou's... How are they here?"

"Soul... collectors?" Souta gasped when one of the snake-like beings flew around him in a lazy loop. "Are they youkai?"

"Yeah..." Kagome looked down at herself to find herself in the miko attire she had once brought back from the guessed the soul collectors had dressed her in the garment they were familiar with. She guessed buttons and zippers weren't their strong suit. She sat down and gave her family a reassuring smile. "They aren't dangerous to living, so relax."

Mama Higurashi gasped when she finally realized that she was turning eggs into coal, so she went to dump them in the trash and prepare the pan to fry eggs for Kagome. "That's a relief."

"Yeah," Souta nodded. When a soul collector flew closer to him this time he outstretched a hand for it to sit on. It lingered for a moment, blinking lazily at the boy before returning to the flock "They look strange, but not scary."

"They were getting Kikyou souls of deceased to sustain her," Kagome explained. "They were also scouting ahead of her and carrying her whenever she wanted. I... I don't understand why they came to me. Kikyou's dead now, I assumed they would go with her or go to where they usually live."

"Keh!" came from the direction of the window. "I see the old hag was right, the stupid snakes came to pester you, because they sensed your reiki is similar to Kikyou's. Kaede says they might think you're their mistress now."

Kagome gasped and looked towards the window to see Inuyasha sitting on the windowsill.

"Inuyasha!" she gasped, relief washing over her. Whatever she had to face, with the arrogant jerk of a hanyou she felt she could take on the world.

"Miroku and Sango found them floating around the village at dawn, as if they were looking for something," Inuyasha said. "When I came back from hunting they told me that the soul collectors went through the well. Obviously I went after them, just to make sure Kaede was right and they weren't going to do anything dumb."

Two of the soul collectors flew to him and hovered over him, one trying to actually nibble at his ear. Inuyasha waved a hand at them as if they were bothersome flies.

"Oh, Inuyasha!" Souta's face practically lit up when he saw his personal idol so casually sitting on the window sill. Mrs. Higurashi smiled as well.

"Wash your hands, Inuyasha, and join us for breakfast," she said, pulling out of the fridge the bag of sausages.

"Na-" Inuyasha was mere seconds from scoffing at the invitation and demand that Kagome went with him immediately, so they could discuss with Kaede what had happened. But the smell of food caught his attention. Kagome smirked when she saw his ears perk up in the direction of the sausages and the eggs on the pan. "Keh!" the hanyou jumped off of the windowsill to go and wash his hands.