Disclaimer: I do not own either Inuyasha or Kuroko no Basket. They belong to their respective authors.

The Battlefield of Basketball: It's Just Began

Prologue: The End is a Beginning

Feudal Era- Japan

Year 1502

Kagome watched in horrified resignation as Naraku somehow ripped his soul and youki out of his physical body, just before they destroyed it with her purifying arrow, Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga, and Inuyasha's Adamant Barrage, and he was sucked right into the nearly complete Shikon no Tama. She closed her eyes with a sigh, 'We should have guessed he would pull something like this.'

Opening her eyes, determination glowed in their sapphire depths. It had been five years just to get to this 'final battle' and she wanted this over with. Thankfully she had a plan, had had this as a backup plan for two years now, ever since she had knuckled down and studied the scrolls left in her family shrine. She had even asked her grandfather for information! Surprisingly, her ji-san knew quite a bit about spiritual powers and youkai, even some things that Miroku didn't know.

Kagome shook her head; so much of the information that the group had was wrong or misconstrued, but she'd never gotten up the nerve or desire to tell them and battle out all the arguments that would follow. It would have cost too much energy from everyone: especially her.

She had finally finished high school with only average grades; as well as, studied weaponry with Sango and honed her spiritual powers with Miroku. Even Sesshomaru had helped with her training when he had joined his pack to theirs a year ago. He was, obviously, skilled with a blade and even had youkai techniques that helped refine her powers. She had never told anyone, but sometimes his advice worked better than Miroku's when it came to controlling her powers. Though she still was an amateur compared to those who knew and worked to control their spiritual powers since childhood. Still, three years had been long enough for her to depend on everyone else to watch her back and save her when she was in distress. Kagome grimaced, 'Geh, I've had enough being the damsel in distress to last me a lifetime.'

Staring at the now purple stone that was floating in a malevolent aura, she was so glad that Shippou and Rin were safe in Edo, guarded by A-Un and Jaken, and far away from this. Drawing a deep breath, Kagome dropped her bow and ignored everyone as she poured out the eleven shards she had into her hand. 'I really, really hope this works.' Cupping her hand she lifted them up and pushed all the power she had within her to the surface. Those still standing around her felt the energy build up as her hair moved in ripples and she started to glow pink before she turned a brilliant blue white- so bright it hurt their eyes to look at her. Kagome's soul was shining outside of her body again, though this time, without Kanna and her void mirror involved the light was a deeper, more natural blue tone in the brilliant white. In her hands a pure pink show from the shards.

Opening her eyes, her friends saw that they were an endless blue, lit with her power, like the ocean on a clear bright day. "Shikon no Tama," her voice rang in the dead still air like a clarion bell, "I offer no wish or plea, but a bargain. Something gained for something given. Come," Kagome stretched out her hands. "Come home."

The stone seemed to quiver in the air before it shot forward like a purple comet to land in her hands. Closing her hands over it, the energies around her condensed and then exploded outward. The energies shimmered into a barrier of purple, pink, white, black, and light blue that completely hid Kagome from everyone's view.

Losing sight of Kagome spurred Inuyasha out of his shock and he ran at the barrier, "Kagome! Oi, wench! Let me through!" When he attacked the barrier with his sword, it didn't break or even shock him like the others thought it would, instead a web of the same colors was spat out and trapped him on the ground thrashing and cursing like a landed fish. As he tried to get free the others more cautiously approached the barrier, studying the interlaced colors without touching it.

"It's similar to a barrier created by five spiritually powerful souls." Miroku, though exhausted and covered in cuts and yokai guts, carefully nudged the barrier with the tip of his staff. A flare of energy ran up the staff, but once it hit his hand it dissipated. "Very powerful souls with enough skill and knowledge to give the barrier a semi-sentient state to judge intent for the look of it."

"So how to we break it monk?" Inuyasha snarled still stuck covered in ethereal netting.

"Hn, Kagome has made a wise move and clearly does not desire any interference." Sesshomaru's voice was still utterly bland. Even having traveled with them for nearly a year, he rarely interacted with anyone in the group unless it was necessary. The only exception to this was Kagome. In the evening after they had made camp, she would often gravitate over to where he was sitting and they would hold long discussions, occasionally even debates, about philosophy and many other topics. As expected this shocked the rest of the group and drove Inuyasha up a tree, often literally so he could get away from seeing Kagome near his bastard of a brother. He'd learned that if he interrupted their discussions Kagome would often osuwari him into the ground. It had only taken three months for this truth to be hammered into Inuyasha's skull, still he couldn't stand his icy cold half-brother.

"And how's that bastard?" Inuyasha snarled.

Sesshomaru looked down his nose at him, "There is no such concept as a pure wish. For even a wish for others will likely still benefit oneself. Kagome has realized this and seeks instead to bargain with the jewel; thus avoiding the wish and keeping free of the consequences that have befallen all who have carried the Shikon before her."

"But, what about wishing for the jewel to just disappear?" Sango had crouched down to look over the web covering Inuyasha. Kirara, now in her kitten form, sat beside her, cleaning grime and blood from her fur as she listened. "Wouldn't that work?"

Miroku shook his head. "Even if she did it for noble reasons, Kagome-sama would still benefit for she would be free from the burden of protecting the Shikon no tama, as Kikyo-san wished when she guarded it." He flicked a glance at Kikyo who lingered at the edge of the clearing watching, but came no closer.

"Oi monk, don't bring Kikyo into this!"

Sango scoffed, "She's been in it from the start, baka, ever since she was reanimated in a clay husk of a human. And you're the one whose always saying that Kagome is Kikyo's copy and has to fix what she broke."

"She promised that I could have the Shikon to make my wish!"

"Foolish hanyou, there are five energy signatures within that barrier. Does your small mind not comprehend what this means?"

"Shut your trap, Sesshomaru! Why are you even still here, you bastard?"

"To ensure that the outcome is to this Sesshomaru's satisfaction."

Before Inuyasha could do anything more than gnash his teeth, Miroku interjected, "Lord Sesshomaru, I can understand having four souls in the barrier- Kagome-sama, Naraku, Midoriko-sama, and Magatsuhi; but the last…would be the Shikon no Tama itself?" he paused, studying the barrier and colors. Sesshomaru flicked a glance at Miroku before striding up to the barrier and laying his hand on it. Aside from a brief flicker the barrier did nothing to him. "Hn, answer this monk. If Midoriko and Magatsuhi have been in conflict within the jewel since it was created, who would grant the wish and chose the consequences?"

"You are suggesting that the Shikon itself was doing this. But why would a jewel made from the clash of Midoriko-sama's great fight with Magatsuhi have it's own power, it's own….soul?"

"Keh monk, it's a jewel, it doesn't have smarts." The barrier suddenly flared pink and the net zapped Inuyasha who whined in pain.

"And that, little brother, both proves this one's point and confirms that you are an imbecile."

Sango interrupted before Inuyasha could shout off curses in retaliation. "But how did this happen? It doesn't make sense for a jewel to have a soul, a non-living creation to have a soul."

"Does it not, slayer? What brings a soul to a body?"

Sango floundered before looking over at Miroku who had sat down right next to the barrier and was, in fact, using it as a backrest. "Miroku?"

He glanced at her, looked over at the daiyoukai, before leaning his head against the barrier and staring up into the overcast sky. Kirara, finally clean, came over and hopped into his lap for a nap as he answered her Mistress. "A soul comes from the Kami to a body when two souls in two bodies come together and a child is conceived, the soul then has a house for itself in the new baby." Looking over at Sesshomaru he continued, " I believe Lord Sesshomaru is implying that the battle between Midoriko-sama and Magatsuhi drew a soul to the Shikon no tama."

Sesshomaru shook his head, "No, this one is saying a new soul was created. A blend of youkai and miko, light and darkness."

Miroku frowned, "…That should not be possible."

Inuyasha scoffed, "Doesn't that make the jewel a hanyou? It has a human and youkai for its 'parents'."

"And yet again you display the ignorance you possess." Sesshomaru turned away from them to look out over the plain that they had fought on. He seemed to contemplate something as silence fell over them. "Hn, this one will only speak of this once, listen well Inuyasha.

"Youkai do not have souls as humans do. We are nature spirits, born from the power and life of the earth itself. Each time a youkai is born we are an original soul. The high youkai live longer than humans, some have been known to see several thousand years of life. Even the lower youkai, who often live in their base instincts have greater lifespans than humans. Rarely do we die of old age or sickness as the humans do, we are more likely to die fighting in battle.

"Thus the Kami do not have us share in the reincarnation of souls as the humans do. We are more than a life lived again and again though the ages. We are like the earth, whereas most humans are the weeds and flowers upon the earth, quick to live and quick to expire."

Turning back to the group avidly listening to him Sesshomaru flicked his hair over his shoulder. "Hanyou are not youkai. They carry a human soul within a body that is, in part, youkai. Thus they are despised, for they can never match the true might and power of a full youkai. For a youkai, power and strength are greatly valued."

"Oi, I've beat and killed a lot of youkai, bastard! I've even beaten you!"

Sesshomaru sneered, "Did you not use our father's fang to do so? Do you not have his blood flowing through your veins? The Inu no Tashio held great power and strength, even your human mother's blood could not dilute all the potential, but you have no control. You would be lost within your base instincts without the sword binding your youkai blood, for you have not the soul to contain and harness the power. Many hanyou become berserkers, their human souls drunk on the power their youkai blood gives, and kill all in their path, recognizing neither kin nor friend."

There was a pause, before Miroku spoke up, "What of Horaijima Island? It was a peaceful place with youkai and humans living in harmony with many hanyou children."

"And were not most of those hanyou born to a union of a youkai and miko, monk?"

Miroku drew a quick inhale as his eyes widened with understanding, "Humans with souls blessed with spiritual powers have the potential to mate with a youkai and have a hanyou who would have an instinctual control of their abilities for the spiritual powers would nullify or contain the youkai blood!"

"Hn," Sesshomaru inclined his head, "That is what this one has surmised from seeing Horaijima Island."

"But," Sango interrupted, "that doesn't mean that they create a youkai soul, which is what you are implying that the Shikon is, right?"

Sesshomaru turned to look at the barrier again, "Has it not been said that Midoriko was the most powerful of all miko to this current era?" He passed a cold gaze over the group, "This one would say, given what the Shikon no tama, is that she had the potential to create a new soul if paired with a youkai mate."

Miroku frowned, absent-mindedly petting Kirara. "Midoriko-sama and Magatsuhi's battle was said to go for seven days before she pulled Magatsuhi's soul and youki into herself before expelling both their souls from her body forming the Shikon no tama. That could be considered a union in the lightest sense of the word. Even if Magatsuhi originally had a human soul, he likely gathered enough youki in consuming hundreds, if not more, lesser youkai to form his body and power to not only battle Midoriko-sama to a stand-still but to also bring a new youkai soul into being if Midoriko-sama still had the power to match him."

"Hn, this one did not say that the Shikon is a youkai soul, monk. This Sesshomaru said it was a new soul. It was created from the darkness of the youkai power and the lightness of a miko's soul. This one has never heard of such a powerful union before, thus it is no shock that the Shikon is a soul powerful enough to influence most humans and youkai within its reach. It has the potential of both races."

The group lapsed into silence as they thought over the many times that the Shikon had driven those carrying, even just a shard, mad with power. 'Kagome-sama is the only one who has never fallen to the jewel, even carrying it as long as she has. Though others have held a jewel shard and not been corrupted; nearly all have used the power of the shard, even Lord Sesshomaru used a jewel shard once. And yet Kagome-sama has never needed nor wanted the Shikon for its power.' Miroku mused.

He hesitated for a moment, flicking a glance over at Inuyasha, before turning back to his elder, colder brother. Perhaps it was only his, admittedly, perverted imagination, but he wondered... "Lord Sesshomaru, would not Kagome-sama have the same potential as Midoriko-sama? I would venture to speculate that she has a soul possibly stronger than Midoriko-sama. Her body contained the Shikon no tama for fifteen years, it was neither corrupted nor was she."

Sesshomaru looked down at the monk and Miroku saw his eyes flare golden with heat for a split second. He contained a perverted smile, so he had been right; but before he could speak again the barrier flared a brilliant blue white before collapsing into itself, taking the netting over Inuyasha with it, and sucking all that light and power into Kagome's body.

Two streams of energy, one a pure white and the other the deepest black, flew from her hands. The two energies hovered for a moment over Kagome, each touching her forehead for a brief instant before streaking across the horizon to vanish from view. Kagome gave a deep sigh and let her cupped hands fall to her side. There was no Shikon no tama in them.

Inuyasha was up in a flash and shaking Kagome's shoulders, "Oi, Kagome, where's the Shikon!? Where's that bastard Naraku!? What were those two lights? What did you do such a stupid thing for, wench!?"

Kagome's eyes snapped open and Inuyasha flinched back releasing her as they flared pink and purple before dying into the brilliant blue they were when her powers and soul called the Shikon. "I'm fine, Inuyasha, thanks for asking. And the Shikon isn't your concern anymore, neither is Naraku."

Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango all cringed at her voice, even Sesshomaru frowned hearing what sounded like echoes of other voices within her normally sweet tone. It was unnerving and worrisome. Kirara mewed and jumped onto Sango shoulder, rubbing her cheek to give what comfort she could.

"Kagome, what of the bargain with the Shikon?" Sesshomaru's cool voice snapped her attention to him and he watched as the power flared before it dimmed and her sapphire eyes were once again visible. "The bargains were accepted. One has already been completed, but I have two days before the others take effect and I have to go back home to my era."

Miroku started to take the beads off his right hand, but Kagome yelled, "Don't!"

Everyone froze, looks of shock and horror crossing more than one face. Did that mean…Naraku wasn't… Kagome suddenly started to sway, her face paling. "Maybe I should sit down for a little."

Inuyasha was just able to catch her as she passed out. "Kagome! Hey, I thought you said you were fine wench!"

Miroku and Sango hurried over and checked her out, "Kagome-sama has used a massive amount of energy. She needs rest, but otherwise she seems fine."

Sango added, "Her cuts aren't poisoned and I don't think she's lost too much blood, but we all need to get cleaned up and bandaged after what we've gone through."

Sesshomaru was the only one to notice as the clay miko disappeared into the trees. Looking back at the group as they began to move toward the village of Edo, he frowned, 'She mentioned bargains. What would she have offered for more than one bargain? This one believes that the Shikon is within her once more, yet the monk's wind tunnel is still within his hand else she would not have stopped him from removing the restrictions. This implies that Naraku is not dead.' His eyes narrowed at that thought, as he glanced to the limp form that Inuyasha was carrying. 'What have you done, Kagome?'

Sesshomaru rested against an old tree looking over the clearing where the well rested. He knew that Kagome would have to leave this era the same way she had come, through the Bone Eaters Well, and he refused to allow her to leave without his questions answered. Curiosity was a weakness to most Inu, and while he could restrain his own nature, Kagome had roused it with her actions two days ago. He would not wait five hundreds years for answers! It was beneath his already limited patience to do so.

She had been unconscious for one full day and had only been awake on this, the last of her two-day limit. He knew she had been gathering her belongings and speaking with each of her group individually or in pairs, likely to say good-bye. Even now she was speaking with his half-brother and the clay miko. His ear gave a slight twitch as he heard light footsteps coming up the path towards the well. He could smell her coming into the clearing, the breeze bringing her jasmine and thunderstorm scent to his nose.

"Sesshomaru! I felt you nearby. I'm glad you're here."

His eyes slid open watching as she set her bags by the well, "Hn, this one has questions, Kagome."

As she continued digging through her bag, she huffed, "Of course you do, everyone does! Could you just take my word for it that Naraku and the Shikon are no longer any threat?"

"No."

Pulling out a small rectangular object she started toward him, "And I can't put you off, can I? You'd see the evasion and get annoyed."

"Hn, it is good that you know this one's response. Thus you will tell this Sesshomaru what became of the hanyou Naraku. This one has already surmised that the Shikon no tama is once more within your body. Yet you spoke of several bargains and this one would hear why you bargained for more than a single concession."

Kagome paused about seven paces in front of him and sighed, "Okay, good assumption. Yes, the Shikon is once more within me. As for Naraku and the bargains…" she paused and lifted the little box to her face. "I'd like to get a few pictures of you real quick before we have this discussion. Do you mind? I've been taking pictures of everyone in the group with my camera, to have something to remember them by when I get home. You don't have to do anything, just stay where you are."

She peeked over the 'camera' in her hands and tried for puppy dog eyes. He silently scoffed, he was Inuyoukai that would not work on him. Still…

"Hn, if this one must."

Her smile lit up her face, "Arigatou, Sesshomaru."

Several clicks and flashes later, he watched her pocket her camera and come to sit near him, careful of the kimono she wore as she settled onto the grass. Sesshomaru observed her in silence, pleased that she had changed to wearing kimonos or hakama several years ago rather than that disgraceful uniform. It did her status no good to travel in cloths more revealing then what a whore would normally wear. He much preferred to see her in the traditional clothing of his time rather then her own era's unique clothing.

Sesshomaru watched her fidget in silence. He had already told her what knowledge he desired. There was no need to repeat oneself and he had learned in traveling with his half-brother's pack that she could never stay silent for long.

Kagome looked over at him and gave a sad smile, "I will miss our discussions, Sesshomaru. I've enjoyed getting to know you better this last year. It was wonderful to speak with someone of your intellect and skills."

"Hn, naturally." At her pout he gave a half smile, pleased that she would miss their interactions. "I will likely not have the pleasure of such interesting conversations again until I find you again in your era; unless it is possible for you to return again through the well."

Her smile, which had grown happier with his informal language, died at the end of his sentence. "No, I'm afraid that is impossible. It will never be a portal through time again."

Sesshomaru gave a slight frown. She had gone from happiness to a deep sadness in moments. He tilted his head, breathing deeply of both her scent and the emotions that layered it, 'Not just sad, but devastated'. It left a bitter taste at the back of his throat to smell it.

He had come to prefer her scent to any others, it spoke both of her power and her nature. It was often as sweet as her nature, but now it smelt deluded with miasma and honey, a cloying combination. A foreboding swept through him and his beast stirred in response. "Kagome, where is Naraku?"

"It was part of one of the bargains." She glanced down at her hands as they twisted around each other before she stilled them. Looking at him for a second she turned to stare at the well. "Do you believe in balance, Sesshomaru?"

She gave him no time to respond, "I do, though I grew up on a Shinto shrine, I have seen too much to discount that the Kami created everything with balance- light and dark, day and night, summer and winter, heat and cold, ying and yang. There is a balance also between youkai and humans, put in place by the Kami in the form of monks and mikos."

Her sapphire eyes turned to him, "The bargains are also about balance. To free Midoriko and Magatsuhi from the jewel, I needed to offer caretakers for the Shikon." A half smile formed on her face, "He's very young you know, even being three centuries old. He doesn't like to be left alone yet, not when he was left alone for nearly two centuries. He still has a lot to learn and he needs, as he said, guides."

Sesshomaru stiffened, the relax air around them fading as his eyes focused intently on her and the ominous feeling grew, "It is no surprise to this one that the Shikon chose you as a caretaker, you are well suited to be one. But why would Naraku also be chosen? This one cannot see the half-breed being pleased by such a thing."

Giving a deep sigh, Kagome tugged on a strand of her hair, "At first he wasn't, but it was partly my suggestion. The Shikon had already wanted the both of us to take the place of Midoriko and Magatsuhi, but I didn't want to fight an endless battle for centuries. So all three of us made a truce, sat down, and worked out a compromise."

"And what was this compromise, miko?" Sesshomaru growled as the black feeling grew and fully awakened his primal side. Slowly he stood and stared down at her, eyes partially tinted red. She gave him an apprehensive look, rose to her feet as well, and started to ramble, looking everywhere but at him, "It's kind of tied into my other bargains as well. It's become rather convoluted to tell you the truth. But Naraku gets power, in the form of influence over both the Shikon and I, and really it's a second chance for his soul. And everyone else will get loved ones returned and there will be fewer deaths once the final bargain is enacted. And…"

He reached out, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her lightly as he snarled, "Kagome! What have you promised in return?"

Kagome lifted her hands and rested them on his forearms. She closed her eyes and he could smell the tears before they even glimmered on her eyelashes, "Life for life, bond for bond, time for time."

She opened her eyes to meet his now crimson gaze and he saw grief in her blue eyes, "The bargains had to balance out. I've done what I could for my friends. Even for you."

Sesshomaru felt a rumble start in his chest at her words, his bestial half now clawing at his control as dread mounted. His hands tightened on her shoulders. She winced, but didn't pull away. Instead she leaned her head over and rested her cheek against the back of his left hand.

Her hands lightly rubbed his forearms as a tremulous smile met his stare, "I know how much you care for Rin. How much it would hurt you to see her die, even of old age. She's part of your pack now. So I made a bargain for her life. She will be an inuyoukai, just like you. She will live as long as you now." Her hands came up and caressed his cheeks, the markings jagged with his control partially gone. Her touched startled him, but it, unsurprisingly, soothed his primal half. Sesshomaru let her trace his features, even as he watched her face: tense, poised for an attack.

Finally he growled out. "What was the price?"

More tears came and spilled down her face, some falling onto his hand. Kagome turned her face down as she whispered, "My bond with you."

In that instant a thick red ribbon became visible, linking their souls, their hearts together. 'Mate!' his primal half howled as his eyes widened. Soul mates! It was rare, even for youkai, to find their fated half. Most often, the higher youkai married for political reasons, for power or strength, for the breeding of their line. To find his soul mate… in the blink of an eye Sesshomaru saw a pink light flare and slash at the ribbon as close as it could possibly get to his chest. He would have moved away, would have stopped it, but it was over in an instant. The ribbon was severed.

For a moment he felt monumental grief and agony, his bestial half howling and thrashing in a pain so acute it stole his breath and frayed his control to the breaking point. 'Mate! Lost! Dead! MATE!'

And then it was over, the grief and agony fading away as if nothing had ever been there and Sesshomaru drew a deep breath. He felt empty, as if a part of him that he had never known was there had been shorn away. Only after it was gone did he notice it had even been there to begin with. The smell of blood suddenly filled his senses. Her blood. Quickly he removed his hands from her shoulders, staring at his bloody claws. Soul mates were eternal, those ties could not be broken so easily! What had she done!

"What have you done?!" He snarled only to freeze when he looked at her. The grief he had seen in her earlier was minor compared to what he saw before him now. The agony he had felt only moments ago was written in her eyes and across her face. It was an ageless desolation. His agony should have been like hers, it should not have faded! One did not recover so easily after losing one's true mate!

Sesshomaru's mind flashed to the ribbon cut so close to his chest, not in the center as a bond would normally be severed. Eyes widened in anger. She had taken the recoil, all the agony of a severed fate bond into her own soul! He had none of it!

The sorrow and grief darkened her eyes to black and it suddenly felt as if a gulf had been built between them. They stood feet apart and yet she was now hundreds more away from him. She opened her mouth, but choked, doubling over as if in physical pain. Gasping for breath, coughing, as tears streamed down her face Kagome stumbled even as he reached for her.

"Kukuku. She belongs to us now, Lord Sesshomaru." Instantly his eyes flared brilliant red and his fangs and claws enlarged as he saw the vague outline of Naraku form behind his mate and wrap possessive arms around her waist.

"Release my mate, half-breed. I will tear you limb from limb for daring to touch what is mine!" He could barely form words so close was he to shifting forms.

"But she isn't yours," spoke a new voice, a young male's voice. Sesshomaru noticed a vaguely humanoid form waver into being in front of Kagome. It leaned back to rest its head against Kagome's stomach and above Naraku's hands. He watched as eyes of pink opened to look at him. "Kagome belongs only to us now. All key ties from this era have been cut. You were the last one."

Sesshomaru flashed forward, attempting to strike this being and Naraku both, but a pink barrier threw him back. He rumbled a menacing growl as he stalked around the barrier. "You will release Kagome and I will make your death swift, Shikon no tama."

"Ah, my name is Yuuto now. Kagome-chan helped me find a name. And that wasn't part of our bargain, Sesshomaru-sama." Yuuto paused before he spoke again in a sing-song tone, "Bond for bond, daughter for wife, life for life- bargain balanced, bargain done."

So deep in his rage was Sesshomaru that he did not notice how they had moved closer and closer to the well, until Naraku grabbed Kagome's bag, one arm still wrapped around her possessively.

"It's time for us to leave now, Sesshomaru-sama." Yuuto stated.

"You cannot think that I will forget this, forget her! That I will not find her!" He snapped, as he attempted to break the barrier again. Even in his burning rage, he dare not use Bakusaiga, not with Kagome between both of them. She looked dead to the world, the grief making her blind and deaf to everything around her. Even now he could smell her tears, her sorrow and agony. It filled his throat, choking him, and drove his beast to a fury even higher!

Yuuto laughed, "You will not even remember her. No one will. It was her final bargain. In return for all the unnatural deaths that the shattering of the jewel caused to be returned, Kagome agreed to have her presence wiped from this time. It will only be an unclear memory of a kind miko, no name and no face, that helped bring the Shikon no tama together and died to wish it gone forever that you will remember. That anyone will remember."

With that said, Naraku gathered up Kagome as the Shikon melted away with a final laugh and jumped into the well. Sesshomaru stilled the rush of panic his beast felt at forgetting the last five years, of forgetting Kagome. MATE! Instead of rushing to the well, his strategic mind came up with a scheme. He spoke to his primal half, even as he licked his claws clean of her blood, 'I will not forget all of her! Even if I do not remember, you will. Remember the taste of her blood, remember the smell of her scent. If we forget all else, remember the taste and scent of our mate!"

His primal half rumbled an agreement before he bundled that taste, that scent deep within his soul letting his beast curl around it to hide and protect it, even as a massive wave of power exploded from the well and spread across all of Japan.

Please leave a review on your way out. Let me know what you think. Comments and criticism welcome as long as it isn't pointless flames.