Author's note: Yes I know this update is nearly two weeks late but as I explained in Breaking the Pattern I was busy (chapter 8 has details) and had writers block, so thanks to whitefeather378 for clearing that up, I used part of your suggestion.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is in no way shape of form the property of Apocalypse fantasy, damn lawyers rubbin' it in.

When Good Mikos Go Bad

Chapter 17 New Memories

Inuyasha hadn't been able to get his mind to shut up since he found out where they were going. What am I supposed to say to them? 'She fell off a cliff we thought she was dead but don't worry we just can't find her.' Kagome's mom is gonna kill me, her brother 'ill start bawling, and I'll be lucky if the old man doesn't seal off the well for good, not that it'll work.

It wasn't like Kagome hadn't been gone this long before, two months wasn't that long, but normally she came for a restock on supplies and left a note saying that she'd been back. He had avoided coming back for a reason; he didn't want to be the one that told Mrs. Higarashi her daughter was lost and had been presumed dead. Not a talk I'm willing ta have.

Again and again Inuyasha went over what he say to Kagome's family, excuses he might come up with, reassurances he could deliver, or half truths he could tell. Knowing that he had nothing they would believe Inuyasha was getting ever more frustrated. He looked up at the darkening sky by this time tomorrow we'll be back in the village.

Holy koro Kagome couldn't help but curse as fifteen years worth of memories flashed through her mind, overwhelming her senses with thoughts and emotions she had forgotten now returning in a rush of energy.

Momentarily pushing aside the shock that was her life, Kagome scanned the ashes at her feet quickly locating the tinged pink aura of a slightly tainted jewel shard. As soon as her figures made contact with the jewel it purified, its glow flashing white before returning to a pure pink glow. Robotically she uncorked the bottle around her neck and placed the recovered shard with the others.

"Perfect Kagome! That plan couldn't have gone better!" Tari bounced up to the stunned miko, trying to make eye contact. The tension rolling off her friend was so tangible Tari was surprised it had taken so long to notice. "What's wrong?" No response came so Tari pulled gently at the girl's elbow, leading her away from the demon remains. Sitting her down on fallen a fallen tree the young woman took Kagome by the shoulders forcing her to meet her eyes. "What's wrong?"

Tari half expected not to get an answer but she did barely audible and rather shaky "I remember…everything." Nearly as shocked as Kagome herself Tari sat down next to her, giving her hand a light squeeze of understanding.

When it appeared Kagome wasn't going to move any time soon Tari called over Shiri, who was glancing at them both worriedly. "Shiri can you start setting up camp, Kagome needs to rest?" Shiri nodded and skipped off with Kagome's pack to ready the bed rolls, all the while glancing at the others nervously. Marianne busied herself with clearly away ashes as she kept a keen ear fixed on the others for details of the implanted memory.

By the time Kagome was ready to speak darkness had fallen and Marianne had a blazing fire going. Both Tari and Shiri were hovering protectively around the young woman whose memory had been returned.

With a gentle nudge from Tari, Kagome launched into her story, "I was the one who broke the Shikon no tama. To their credit they hid their shock well, if Kagome didn't know any better she would have said they already knew.

She told them of the guilt she felt and the demons who came after the jewel. How she had taken it as her duty to recomplete the jewel and find a way to destroy it. "One demon, or rather half-demon, called Naraku brought destruction upon all whom came across the shards. As I searched so did he but while I was alone he had legions of minions to do his biding." Shiri crawled into the miko's lap lending her comfort in the simple action.

"Three of his minions kept coming after me; two sibling taijiya who are the sole survivors of their village, Naraku offered them sanctuary and a piece of the jewel to help restore their clan if they served him with their demon cat, and then a monk who was granted the power of a wind tunnel in his right hand which could suck up anything in its path, in exchange for his loyalty." The information seemed slightly off somehow even as she spoke.

"Naraku has a habit of setting traps and using others rather than getting his own hands dirty. Tricking people and playing with their emotions is a hobby of his." She couldn't understand the pang in her heart that the words invoked. "We were battling when I fell off the cliff." As Kagome described how Naraku's youkai army and personal minions had backed her to the ledge and how the one called Daichi had made the earth beneath her crumble and fall.

She stopped then of the next moment she had two conflicting memories; one distinct and clear and the other distant and hazy which she only recalled from a dream.

Clearly she remembered falling with the destroyed cliff yet that regression journey had told her that someone had tried to save her. Even if it was insubstantial and fuzzy Kagome somehow trusted this memory more than the clear new one, perhaps it had something to do with that voice: the one that had called out to her as she fell. Trying to place that voice, give it a face Kagome dug through her arsenal of new memories yet came up blank, no one she could remember was a match nor could she remember this voice being at the cliff when she was fighting Naraku's forces. The confines of her mind were being pressed as she struggled for recognition.

Her discomfort must have shown on her face for Tari suggested that they had had enough reminiscences for one night. Upon Kagome's lap Shiri had fallen asleep looking completely peaceful. As the other two miko settled in for the night Kagome sat on her bed roll with Shiri and silently pondered memories she had not shared with the group; ones of her family in another time, of a broken well, and a disembodied voice.

She could recall every detail of the life she led 500 years in the future: the shrine she and her family kept, her friends at school, her cat Buyo, her grandfather, her little brother Souta, her mother, and even her deceased father. On her fifteenth birthday how Mistress Centipede had come up out of their well and taken her 500 years into the past. She remembered the demon tearing the Sacred Shikon jewel from her body, and she remembered how the monster had swallowed it, and how she and a group of villagers destroyed the centipede and she retrieved the jewel from the demon's corps. Only more came after it and her arrow shattered the jewel just as Naraku had shattered the well and any hope of returning to her own time.

Pain she recalled lots of that, both physical and emotional most caused by Naraku and his plans and traps. She could remember following the path of destruction wrought by the tama and the slaughtered villagers left behind. She remembered longing for home and company yet secretly glad that no one else was at risk because of her stupidity.

Yet as often as she went over it Kagome couldn't help but feel fake somehow. Something was off but she couldn't name it. She even caught herself wishing her voice would come back and give her advice or reassurances; don't be stupid she scolded herself. My mind's just stressed that's all Kagome tried toe rationalize. So mind still reeling with unanswered questions and suspicions she slept, her arms still wrapped around Shiri protectively.

Authors note/ I will try to go back to a chapter a week but since its summer my schedule is rather irregular now so be patient I post when I can next chapter, chapter 18 Reports, will be more focused on Inuyasha and the gang. Kinda short but very important, so give me your thoughts in a review! Ja ne.