Summary: With everything said and done, and the jewel supposedly gone, Kagome returns back to the modern era. Things are far from peaceful as she's taken and turned into a prize for winning in the Dark Tournament. Among her frustrations, she's surprised to realize that one of the competitors is no other than her cousin, Yusuke!

Pairing: Undecided.

Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Note:

Flashbacks/Past are written in bulk Italics.
Any OOCness is intended.

Prologue

A midnight sky rested over the land. Her eyes seemed to mirror the sky as she gazed up at the star-painted deep, dark abyss. The crescent moon cast soothing moonbeams down on the ground. A somber aura remained around her, her damning emotions oh-so visible in her saddened eyes, even if she didn't make a move to breathe a single word. Resting against her legs were the dozing pair of children, a large, sunshine-yellow blanket draped over them to help fend off the night chill.

The peace and quiet wasn't disrupted, even as he traversed the space over to her and sat down not far from her side. Gold eyes watched her, and she soon turned to meet his gaze. As she did, she smiled, pushing back all other feelings in favor of presenting her usual radiant personality.

Time was running out, he knew, but bitter stubbornness kept him silent. She'd seemed so solemn ever since she returned from the void that'd taken her away so suddenly. Relief of a battle won settled over the area like a soothing blanket. The evening of excitement and joy had slowly concluded, and now, most of her pack had succumbed to sleep. Not her. She was the lone outlier in the group, still awake even though the exhaustion showed clearly.

"It's really peaceful now, huh?" Kagome mused softly, keeping her voice down as to not wake the children that had wanted to gaze at the stars with her. They'd fallen asleep as she mapped out constellations for them. She gazed down at them, a hand each combing through auburn and black hair. She smiled and looked back up at the sky, avoiding the golden eyes of the demon sitting with her. As she did, he was keen to observe the way her expression softened. "... everything is over with, and we can all move on with our lives."

Her voice had gone near-silent in her hushed whisper, but he was still able to hear it with clarity. "What do you plan to do?" he asked, and she looked back at him out of surprise at hearing him say anything in response. A second or two of holding his stare, she shrugged.

"I… I think I'm going to go home," she said after a few seconds. "I think that will be for the best, at least."

He nodded, making no move to try and persuade her to choose a different option. "Will you ever return?"

Kagome looked away and shrugged a second time. "Maybe one day," she said. "I'm not sure if the well will let me back through once I go home this time." She no longer had the jewel, and, for all she knew, it might just seal up the moment she returned to the era she'd been born to. Still, she knew she had to go home.

She needed to see her family after the entire ordeal she'd been forced to endure.

"Very well," he stated. She glanced at him for a moment, a smile on her face. Silence fell over them again, and Kagome got the sinking suspicion that there was something more he wanted to say. When the stoic demon lord turned away from her, she stifled a giggle.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, if there's anything else you wanna say, you can," Kagome said. "You know that, right?"

He stood the following second, and Kagome sighed. "There is nothing more," he stated. His statement was punctuated by him walking away and leaving her on her own. She sighed again, louder this time, and shook her head.

"You big liar."

She knew that he heard her comment, especially when he paused and glanced back at her with a glare fixed on his face. She smiled at him and stuck her tongue out, unable to stop the childish gesture from creeping up on her.

He could kill her without any true effort on his part, but she wasn't afraid of him. She stifled a giggle as he turned and continued on his way, shaking her head as she looked back up at the stars. As she did, her eyes traveled to the crescent moon.

"What a liar…" she whispered before she let silence sweep back over the area.

000

The next morning, she went through with her plan of heading home. Once she'd said her farewells to her friends in this era, she made her way to the well. As she made it to the wooden well that served as her passage through the years, she came to a surprised halt upon seeing something resting on the grass directly in front of it.

She approached it with a curious air around her. Once she reached it, she picked it up and discovered it to be an elegant kimono. She was careful as she examined it, her eyes landing on the crescent moon along the back of it. A small smile appeared on her face as she realized who this was from. As she did, she was able to sense the lingering remnants of his aura around the well.

He was long gone now, but that didn't matter.

"I'll never understand demons," she commented to herself.

She'd never understand him, was more like it.

She shook her head and smiled. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama!" she called out. She couldn't be sure if he'd be able to hear her, but she decided to give it a shot anyway.

She carefully fixed the kimono back to how it'd been for her to discover and draped it over her arm to avoid dirtying it any. The reason why he'd left it for her was lost on her, as there was no note to be found, but she didn't let it bother her any.

Kagome carefully heaved herself up on the lip of the well before jumping down it and returning back to her era.

Two months passed since she returned home, and she'd started high school alongside her childhood girlfriends. As they left their usual after-school hangout, she waved to them as they all went their separate ways.

A soft sigh fell from her as she made her way down the familiar streets. The upcoming test was weighing heavily on her shoulders, and she knew she had to start studying the earliest she could.

"Man… go figure that doing math is more stressful than fighting demons," she grumbled to herself, patting the back of her hair to smooth it back down. Sure, it was a bit easier now that she wasn't balancing between the two times, but it was still a nightmare and a half. She let her hand fall back to her side as she gazed up at the water-colored sky, the sun already starting to set.

She was halfway home when she became aware of the unfamiliar aura tailing after her from a pretty spacious distance. A frown appeared on her face, but she refrained from changing her pace any. The aura was odd, and, after scouring her brain, she could be certain it was one she didn't know.

She diverted from her normal path, ducking along between alley paths in hopes of shaking her pursuer, to no avail. Without warning, a different figure appeared in front of her, and she froze.

"We're best to handle this with a bit of caution."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the comment, unsure of what he meant by his words. "What do you want from me?" she asked. She was keenly aware that the figure behind her was getting far too close for her liking. She kept tabs on his movement as her gaze remained focused on the one across from her.

"It's best not to worry about that," he responded.

Before she could respond, a lavender-tinted mist began to swirl around her. Her head felt fuzzy and she stumbled, unbalanced, on her feet. As the sweet aroma surrounded her, the world around her began to blur into undefined shapes. She attempted to escape, to no avail.

She stumbled into the chest of the figure behind her, and her arms were forcefully pinned behind her back as some sort of binds were fastened around her wrists. Her weight tipped forward, and she fell to the ground as she succumbed to the mist that was coaxing her to sleep.

Auroua-chan: Ending this one here for now!

Pairing is up for debate! I have a few I'm considering right now, but suggestions are more than welcome!

Poor Kagome, she just can't catch a break in either time. Is the jewel really as gone as she thinks?

Inuyasha characters will reappear soon!

Anyway, that's it for now! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed. Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.

Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!

Bye for now~