Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Fruits Basket.

Execution

The demon lord was as frightening as ever. Although 500 years have passed by already, his demeanor and aura never faltered. And for that Kagome was a little glad. The changes Inuyasha and Shippo went through was great for them, but it made Kagome feel a little uneasy. They felt foreign for some reason. But the same old Sesshomaru, still with that deadly aura pouring out of his undefeatable figure, made her feel at home. She chuckled lowly to herself. How absurd to think that the Killing Perfection would be the one to calm her uneasiness? And yet it was true. At this moment. The presence of Sesshomaru overwhelmed her with familiarity she longed for such a long time that it made her fill with joy. Yet another irony.

"Miko."

"Sesshomaru dono."

Sesshomaru acknowledged her presence with a curt nod and Kagome greeted his curtness with respectful bow. She was a subordinate in the pack, and although she wished to punch the demon lord on the face for her stupid curse, her position only meant that she was to be submissive. And that annoyed the hell out of Kagome. But it wasn't like she could push her mountain spirit curse issue too hard on the pack leader, for the only reason Sesshomaru took her companions under his wing was to compensate for what he had done to the miko, making the servant of god only into servant of a mere mountain spirit. And most of all, the dog demon had kept his promise to "find" her after 500 years in her time to remove the curse of the mountain spirit. He managed to locate her even after she abandoned the shrine and hid herself. Typical stubborn dogs.

"Have you enjoyed your little hide and seek game?"

"More than enough, Sesshomaru dono. I was starting to wonder if dono had given up." Kagome replied with humorous tone, and Sesshomaru narrowed his golden eyes at the tiny human standing in front of him. That twisted sense of humor of her always got his nerves, irritating him greatly. It wasn't just a joke, but rather a reminder that her fighting spirit was still there, and her respect for the demon lord could always be casted away if she wanted to. Still challenging his authority just like five hundred years ago…Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed with annoyance but somewhat with relief almost. That familiarity made him comfortable for some odd reason. It was rather refreshing to see the same human alive after five centuries with the same stubbornness, while so many humans he came to know, like Rin, the taijya and the monk, changed and soon deceased. He would never admit, but the little priestess was a good entertainment occasionally. Most of the time she was just way too childish and bold for Sesshomaru to stand her.

"I heard of your circumstances. Why did you abandon the shrine, miko. You know better than to abandon a god's house."

"I thoughtyou knew of my circumstances, Sesshomaru dono. Why the question?"

"Explain it yourself. I do not wish to believe the floating words of humans."

Floating words. Such a fancy way to say gossip, Kagome noted and laughed mentally. The tendency for the demon lord to say simple matters in fancy manner was still there, and it still made her crack up. Ah, the old days. Trying to stifle a laugh as much as possible, Kagome straightened up and looked into the dog demon's cold golden eyes. Her eyes that shined with joy and happiness were shadowed by what Sesshomaru understood as grief and tiredness. He stared back at her for a minute before breaking of the contact and motioned her to follow him. With a bow Kagome accepted his invitation and followed Sesshomaru, while Inuyasha and Shippo stared at their old friend's back, wondering what had happened to her.

For a day like this, the weather was just too damn perfect. Shigure sat in the passenger seat in silence while Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru sat at the back, somewhat tense. And Hatori…Shigure let out an inaudible sigh at the sight of his friend's solemn face. They both were fully aware that everyone here in the car wouldn't be the same anymore after today's visit to Sohma residence. Of course Shigure would always be the perverted dog while rat and the cat would continue to quarrel and the girl would always be the caring girl, but Shigure knew. It would never be the same anymore. Why did things have to turn out this way? Shigure was very certain he could convince the head of the family to let Kagome stay, but even before he could even try Akito had made a decision. The cruelest decision of all, even.

"We are here."

At Hatori's voice Shigure lazily got out of the car, observing the "festival" Akito had prepared for them. In the entire Sohma family history, there were only two incidents of execution recorded. It was that rare. It also meant that this event was something to be taken with utmost seriousness. Execution. It was something that went against the Sohma tradition of erasing the memory of non-Sohma individual. Rather than erasing the outsider's memory, it was the Sohma family members that would have their memories erased. Why the Sohma family came up with such ritual they didn't know,

"The following persons shall stand in front of the head of the Sohma estate, Sohma Akito sama. Sohma Shigure, Sohma Yuki, Sohma Kyo, and Honda Tohru."

With nervousness the said four individuals stood in front of Akito, who looked down on them lazily from higher ground. From Shigure's glare Akito figured he was doing something that caused the zodiacs to hate him even more than now, but it didn't matter. After the ceremony all the hatred Shigure was giving him would disappear, and Akito would have his peace again. He would reclaim their love for him today.

"Hatori, proceed."

Shigure let out a small sigh as Hatori's usual calm eyes flickered with guilt. Before he realized Shigure found him surrounded by darkness before completely blacking out.

It was few days after she visited Sesshomaru that she came back to Shigure's house to tell the Sohmas and Tohru that she would be moving out of the place. After her family moved out of the shrine and it became abandoned and Inuyasha and Shippo came across the place, they decided to buy the shrine and move in. Now that Kyoko had past away and Kagome had more freedom, she could live at the shrine with her old acquaintances if she wanted to, to which she said yes. It was a chance for her to keep some distance between Tohru and Shigure and weaken the link, which was the best for everyone. But still…There was something that kept bothering her, and it was annoying. Standing infront of the wooden door of Shigure's house Kagome stood and pondered for long time, debating whether or not she should knock on the door.

It was then when the door in front of her suddenly slid open to reveal the zodiac dog looking down at her in surprise. Startled herself, Kagome hiccupped as Shigure continued to stare down at her with clear surprise. Was it that shocking to see her?

"Hi Shigure san! How have you been?" Kagome laughed a little nervously trying to ease the awkward atmosphere between him and her. She was definitely disturbed by the fact that Shigure stood there like he had seen a ghost, but she easily dismissed her discomfort thinking that Shigure was only teasing her.

"I have been good. Thanks for asking. But I must ask…who are you?"

For a moment Kagome felt her breath hitch in her throat. Shigure always pulled pranks on her, and Kagome told herself not to fall for his usual jokes, but that genuine confusion on his face told her that it wasn't Shigure's usual pranks. He really was asking her who she was. Had he forgotten about her in that last few days she wasn't in the house? What happened she didn't know, but something was definitely wrong. She stood in front of the confused dog for some time before mustering up the courage to mutter a short apology for mistaking him for someone else, and turned around. Behind her she heard Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru making a fuss about something, and Shigure's laughter.

She used to be part of them.

Wiping away the tears before it slid down her cheek, Kagome jumped up to a nearby tree and transformed to a raven after making sure that no one was around. She heard of the Sohma estate's doctor's ability to "erase" memory, and it probably was the reason why Shigure couldn't remember her anymore. The thought of the dog not being able to remember made her bitter. The moment she started living with Shigure's little family Kagome knew that the day she left them she needed to erase their memory of her, so that she could return to her duty of being the secret guardian of Honda Tohru. Surely Kagome knew there would be a day when they would not remember her anymore, but this was too soon and unexpected for her to accept.

With flap of her wings Kagome floated into the air, and flew towards the direction of the shrine. As she gazed into the darkening sky, she continued to convince herself that this was good for both her and them, and that this was what should've happened anyways. But Kagome couldn't help herself to ignore the overwhelming loss that grew deep inside her mind.

6/4/13

1,604 words