Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho and/or Inuyasha.

Revised 7/06/11

Chapter Seven

"We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say - and to feel – 'Yes, that's the way it is, or at least that's the way I feel it. You're not as alone as you thought.'" ~ John Steinbeck

"Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out." The small mantra within her mind couldn't stop her from feeling the eyes of strangers staring at her like some science project. It didn't stop the fear nagging at the back of her mind. She could remember the last time she had interaction with any being. The fear of the last incident still shook her fragile form.

Kagome had yearned to be placed back with her family in her own simple time, but she didn't think she would have to recall her past adventures. Her mother had been adamant about the subject. It took the sight of her mother's tears to break Kagome's silence. That was why she was now sitting at her kitchen table surrounded by family and the Detectives. They're judging stares fueling her anxiety as she felt her fingers twitching.

Large blue eyes glanced at the mysterious priestess from between the part in her bangs. Botan sat across from Kagome silently marveling at both the Higurashi females. The loving bond among the family brought a new kind of pain to the Reaper; however, she quickly cast the foreign emotion aside to bask in the wonders of a mother's affection.

'Truly, a mother's touch is amazing. Kagome hasn't faded in or out since she's come from up stairs with Mrs. Higurashi.' Botan thought.

The large group sat in relative quietness waiting for Mrs. Higurashi to finish preparing a new kettle of tea. A few whispers were shared amongst the Detectives. It wasn't until Asako Higurashi started to hand out fresh cups of tea that tensions began to grow within the room. Kagome's calm breathing patterns broke apart into harsh gasps as fear gathered her into its suffocating grasp.

Mrs. Higurashi quickly took the open seat next to Kagome. Her arms encircled her first born whispering the familiar chant of breathing in and out. Kagome ducked her head into her mother's arms trying to take her mother's strength as her own.

"Kagome, you can do it. We're right here." Asako mumbled.

Kagome bit her lip slowly reigning herself into control for her mother's sake. Beautiful sapphire eyes took in the people watching her through the safety of Mother Higurashi's embrace. Her brother stood at her side and their grandfather quietly sat on a stool behind their mother. The one they called Koenma sat beside Botan in front of her. Those who made up the Spirit Detectives leaned against the walls and counters. All of them were waiting for her to relive a past she wanted to bury.

Souta gently squeezed her shoulder in encouragement.

Kagome's tired blue eyes closed in exhaustion as she readied herself for a decent into the ugly truth.

"My name is Kagome Higurashi. I was born April 14th 1982 at this very shrine. While growing up, I had heard countless stories and tall-tales. I watched Ji-chan bring in authentic and replicas of any holy artifact, but I hadn't believed in any of that until on my fifteenth birthday." Kagome mumbled.

Kagome felt the soft breath of mother on head as she said; "Kagome, speak a little louder please."

The priestess nodded her head before she continued on. "I was heading off to school when I saw Souta in the shack that housed the well. I went to go scold him for playing in there, but I noticed Buyo's cat bowl in his hands."

A small-depressed laugh left Kagome's lips. "He was looking for our fat cat Buyo and was too scared to look in the darker parts of the well shack. I had gone in teasing him for being such a scared-y cat."

Souta quietly ran his fingers through his hair. "Would things have been different if I got Buyo by myself? It never crossed my mind, but would that have saved us from all this pain?" He asked himself. His hand unconsciously squeezed Kagome's shoulder again.

Kagome raised her hand to his squeezing it gently as she recounted her story. "Everything was normal until this blue light burst through the top of the well. These weird wisps of light came from the well grabbing me from behind. I can't remember if I even got the chance to scream. Before I really knew what was going on, I was met with this ugly face that's now burned into my memory. She kept on ranting about having a jewel at the time I had no clue what she was talking about." Her voice broke as she mentioned the jewel. Visible shivers went through Kagome as she buried her face deeper in her mother's embrace.

Kagome gripped the sides of her mother's dress till her knuckled turned white. The memories of countless battles over shard pieces assaulted her mind. She tried to close her eyes willing the images to halt, but they only came faster. Her hands let go of her mother as she quickly placed them over her eyes.

"It was all about the jewel." She whispered bitterly. Tears raced down her cheeks. The sound of her tears clattered against the floor. "Nothing came before it and almost all fell to the evil around it."

Koenma averted his eyes to the scene as his thoughts tried to figure out the mystery of the priestess. "How in Enma's Empire is she doing that. Her tears can solidify. They crystallize for Kami sake, but she isn't exactly alive."

The Netherworld Prince looked around the room taking in the scene near him. Kuwabara was busy picking up the crystals that littered the floor. Mrs. Higurashi was occupied comforting her daughter. The men of her family stood to the side of the eldest born child letting Kuwabara get to the crystals. Kurama and Hiei seemed to be sharing words with each other through whatever connection they had he figured.

A heavy sigh crossed Koenma's lips as he imagined the building piles of paper work on his desk. It would be the new complicated report that would have "Higurashi, Kagome" stamped on it.

"I'm sorry to do this Kagome-san. But, I need you to continue with your story." Koenma said.

Waves of killer intent flooded him as the Higurashi men, Kuwabara, and Yusuke glares burned into his skin.

"What were you saying about me being insensitive, Koenma?" Yusuke asked.

"Not now, Yusuke." Koenma said rubbing his temples by habit. He heard a sarcastic reply saying yes sir, but ignored it.

A soft voice broke through the rising tension in the air. "I can continue." Kagome murmured.

Eyes wondered over to Kagome as she brought her hands back to her lap relaxing under the hands of her mother and brother. "Miss Centipede, the demon, pulled me into this seemingly endless sparkling blue space. Her grip tightened painfully around me. Like I said, she kept on demanding a jewel, but I didn't know what she was talking about.

"In truth, I don't know what caused it, but this deep warming feeling washed over me and this light blue glow came to my hands. The next thing I know is Miss Centipede is drifting away from me.

"After that, I'm hauling myself out of the well. Nothing looked the same. There wasn't a shack around the well or traces of my family shrine. Despite all that, I thought I had to be near home if I was close to the well. The Goshinboku, the tree that sits outside our house, acted as my shining light. It stood out above all the rest of trees. That was my sign that I was still on my family's property.

"I walked around the forest unprotected and blissfully ignorant to the dangers that would confront me. It became painfully clear that I wasn't home when I came to stand in front of The Goshinboku." Kagome explained.

A humorless giggle broke pass Kagome's lips as she began to be submerged in her memories. "It was breath taking. Even to this day there isn't a sight more wondrous than how I saw The Goshinboku in that moment. Those ancient huge roots protruded out from all around it. Countless branches with an infinity number of leaves cluttered its massive trunk. It put the sun to work as if the star was its own personal production lighting. The way the sunrays would bounce and reflect off the leaves like the night sky had been trapped in by The Goshinboku. It was overwhelming by itself, but it wasn't just the tree."

Tears began to streak down her face again; however, Kuwabara hesitated to pick them up. His eyes couldn't leave the sight of the broken woman before them. He had taken note of the tree outside. The Goshinboku had radiated a low hum of energy not unlike that of a holy article. The way the priestess described it though added more interest than any stone inscription could.

"In the center stood most gorgeous creature I had set my eyes on at the time. He wore red garbs like a Shinto Clerics. An arrow stood out from his chest piercing his heart. He had been there for so long that The Goshinboku had embraced him with its branches keeping him securely to its surface. You could have sworn he was just sleeping if it hadn't been for the arrow." Kagome intense whisper reached everyone's ears. She stopped herself for a second taking her time to wonder if Inuyasha's chest had been rising or falling for air.

Pain danced behind the young time travelers eyes.

"Beautiful silver hair danced in the breeze with two of the most adorable fuzzy ears sticking out from them." Kagome smiled at the memory wiping the tears from her downcast features.

A reminiscent sigh left her lips. There was such a sweet overcast of innocence in the start of her adventures. In past times, she would dream of her life as the revised version of Sleeping Beauty. A sword would be in her hands fighting off beast after beast to reach her beloved kept in a cold sleep. Shippou would be on the side cheering her on to victory. Miroku and Sango would act as her mentors guiding her through the struggles until at last she would reach him.

Those days were over though. They couldn't even be used for the many times she had looked back on the years pulling the promise of "the good will prevail" to face a new and darker day.

Kurama's ears perked at the sound of faint growling. His eyes scanned the room landing on the young Higurashi son. He watched in curiosity as the son clenched his free hand in controlled anger.

Kagome unknowingly voiced her personal thoughts to the outside world. "He really was a sight to behold. Almost innocent childish facial features. Pink lips silently pressed together neither in a frown nor smile. Elegant sharp edges dangling dangerously on each finger tip." Her smile soon left her face as one of her hands lifted to trace her right cheek, where thin scars from those same elegant claws should be. "The same claws that ruthlessly took all I had to offer. The same claws that held me at one point. The same

claws that helped destroy all I held precious."

Botan's eyes widened as a question popped to the front of her thoughts, "Kagome-chan, were you in love with this Inuyasha?"

The young priestess's words came back haunting while replaying in her mind, "The same claws that ruthlessly took all I had to offer." Can love really do that to a person? Does love really have a dark side? Botan asked herself.

Kagome felt someone's arms wrap around her.

A soft voice brought her back to reality, "Kagome, I'm so sorry sweetie."

The young miko turned her head looking into her mother's guilty eyes.

"Don't apologize for something you couldn't control, Mother. It was his actions not yours." Kagome said.

Hiei could feel the beginnings of a headache nagging at the back of his mind. Almost the whole room was shouting their thoughts out letting any telepathic to read them. The huge gorilla, Kuwabara, couldn't wrap his mind around the thought of any male hurting a girl that loved them. Yusuke was surprisingly silent on the outside for his detailed violent thoughts. Hiei almost let a smirk cross his features as he recognizes his influence on the team leader with sharp objects.

Swallowing the lump in her throat she pushed on to utter his name into the new modern world. "I came to find out that the young man or hanyou was Inuyasha, a person my life would be entangled with for years to come."

The minutes were filled with her first interactions with the village that lay beside Inuyasha's forest, claims of being a Kikyou impersonator, up until Miss Centipede chased her into the forest.

Kagome's eyes closed trying to remember what exactly happened from there. A frown smeared her face as she concentrated on the memory. "Somehow I wound up at the Goshinboku. I had fallen to my knees tired and in a state of panic. The hanyou's, Inuyasha's, eyes fluttered open still pinned to the tree it was a complete shock to hear his scratchy voice insult me. He thought, like the villagers, I was Kikyou."

"Can you imagine what it's like living in the shadow of the dead?" Hiei snapped to attention as the loud thought surpassed all others. The depressed voice belonged undeniably to the priestess. His eyes narrowed on the small troublesome woman. He had tuned out some of her story, yet it appeared that he opened his ears at the right time.

Kagome said, "She was going to devour me and that's when the feeling hit me again. The same deep warming feeling washed over me, before the hand I swatted her away with hit. Three of Miss Centipede's arms were cleanly cut off. I was amazed at what happened.

"Then my side began to glow this bright blue. She came at me again ripping her teeth into my glowing side. I was tossed into the air. I don't know why I wasn't in pain; I just felt oddly numb as I flew threw the air watching my blood spraying out along with this beautiful purple sphere jewel."

Koenma's eyes glazed over as he whispered to the world, "The Shikon No Tama."

Kurama almost purred in delight. He wasn't exactly interested in the power, but the priceless jewel part certainly caught his attention. The thought of such a rare artifact in his hands was mouthwatering. Nothing he had ever stolen in his past life would compare to the swiping of the Shikon No Tama. However, the louder and far more logical part of his being spoke of the down right foolhardiness it would take to try to steal a jewel that Koenma and his father planned to keep if found.

Hiei's mental scolding cut through his contemplations, "Pay attention, Fox. I don't want to explain anything to you later."

His emerald eyes flickered to the Forbidden Child in the corner before he focused once more on the shaken woman.

Kagome's fingers tapped against the table as she spoke in a strangely detached voice just before she reached the end of her words, "Everything went by so fast, Inuyasha practically slaughter Miss Centipede. Kaede-sama told me to point out where a glowing piece of flesh was. She went to where I pointed and handed me Hell in the form of jewel, The Shikon No Tama." Kagome hissed with venom at the name of the jewel. She may not have been able to hate the people in her past; however somewhere inside she found the ability to loath her Kami given "gift".

In a surprising show of calm and grace Kagome stood from her seat. "Forgive me, but I have to stop right there for now." She whispered into silent room with that she slowly made her way to the hallway. Shocked eyes watched her every move as she turned into the hallway.

The loud crash of a hallway stand and broken glass shook everyone out of their stupor. Souta was the fastest out of all of them with Yusuke and Kuwabara just inches away from his heels. Just as Asako jumped out of seat she heard the heart wrenching cries of her eldest child. "Kagome!" She yelled.

Chapter Seven Fin

Please R&R

AN: Made a couple of revisions.