Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice © QuinRose

Kagome let her eyes roam over the forest that she had been carelessly left in by the gray-haired incubus once he let her out of the spirit realm he had confined her to. The air was different than it was back home, there was no pollution, but it wasn't the absolute cleanliness of Feudal Era Japan—where everyone she cared for resided..

She brought a knuckle up to her mouth to keep herself from crying. She hated the fact that she had been forced to leave with no choice in the matter without having been able to tell everyone about it first. At least then they would have been prepared for this who-knows-how-long absence.

"Damn that incubus.."

Normally, Kagome was a caring person; however, being forced into traveling into the past because of the Shikon no Tama was one thing. This.. She didn't even know what to classify this as! Was there even a way for her to get back to her home, to the people she cares about?

Her eyes stung with unsure tears as her gaze remained fixated on the base of a nearby tree that she was no longer able to tell through distinction, but by it's general colours.

Were any of her friends looking for her? Oh dear.. The blue-eyed girl let go of her knuckle to cover her entire mouth, what was Shippou doing to cope with her disappearance?

A small hiccup escaped passed her hand into the air, and Kagome closed her eyes, free hand clenched at her side.

The sight of seeing the man wearing an eye patch in her mother's living room sent off alarm bells in the back of her mind, distracting her momentarily from leaving to go back to the past. Her choice had been made up, and she was going to live back with Inuyasha and all the others despite having been born in modern times.

"Kagome, why don't you greet our guest before you go?" Her mother may not have showed it, but was desperate for the last few moments with her daughter before she left them permanently.

The blue-eyed girl looked between the pale male and her mother's gently inquisitive eyes, any automatic decline shriveling up on the back of her tongue as she heaved a sigh, "All right."

The smile sent to her by her mother tore at her heart.

Kagome set down her well-worn yellow pack, moving to her mother's sideto give a small bow to the gray-haired man, "Hello, my name is Higurashi, Kagome."

His left eyebrow rose just a small bit, unknowingly to her, as he smiled at her, "Gottschalk, Nightmare."

Raising her head to look at him, she couldn't help the utter confusion over meeting such a person with the type of name he had. She righted herself and bit her bottom lip as her brow furrowed together.

Her mother tilted her head to the side as she smiled at the man, holding out an offered cup of tea that he accepted with a thanks and smile, "'Gottschalk'.. Is that German by any chance?"

Nightmare looked at his hostess, "Yes, I believe so."

Her breathing stilled when the sounds of footsteps and rustling vegetation entered her ears. Acting on instinct, the oriental girl hid behind the closest tree, heart pounding as she stared straight in front of her, not daring to look at whatever or whoever had made their way to where she was.

"I could've sworn that there was something here.."

"Really?"

Kagome bit her bottom lip as she listened to the what sounded like to be three people, two of which.. They sounded like children! She ignored the sharp copper taste of blood coating the tip of her tongue as it entered her mouth to mix with her saliva, as well as trail down her chin.

She had to wonder, what did they look like? Her lip release, Kagome pressed herself up against the tree some more as she tried her hardest to look around it to where she had just been—the sudden silence was starting to unnerve here.

She gave a very unbecoming squeak as she came face-to-face with a fuchsia-haired male, falling back onto the ground, cat ears atop his head twitching curiously as he stared at her.

"She looks like she could be related to you two."

Two sets of eyes peered around the odd cat-person, one red and the other blue, and then Kagome was able to see just what it was that the people talking looked like. They really were children, adorable ones at that. They looked older than Shippou had when they first had him join the ragtag group..

"I don't see it."

"Neither do I."

Kagome gave the trio a leveled sour glare, opting to stay silent, fingers curling into fists-making trails in the soil as they did so. Well, aren't they a charming bunch.

"Hm?" She could feel the need to touch and tweak those pierced cat ears as they zoned in on her person as her heart calmed down from the surprised increase it had.

"What is it?"

"Yeah! What?"

The gold-eyed male crouched down to her level, arms resting on his thighs as his tail waved back and forth, "Your heart.. So you're the foreigner?"

The twins gave the black-haired girl their complete rapt interest towards her, "So she's like onee-san, Boris?"

This Boris gave a large Cheshire Cat grin, and looked over at the twins, "Yeah~"

Kagome jerked back when the pink-haired male stood up and extended a hand out to her. She backed up from the trio, ignoring their confused stares, and used a nearby tree to get up on her own and bolt from the area—anywhere from them.

In hind sight, that most likely wasn't the brightest thing that she had done since coming to this Country of Hearts. However, she wanted to be alone—unfortunately, she had done the same thing not that long ago to a man with a clock earring.

Kagome silently cursed to herself as a small inkling of guilt gnawed on the outermost parts of her heart, conscience berating her for being rude to someone she didn't even know. Pausing at a tree, the blue-eyed girl looked up to the sky, eyes widening as what was once a clear noon sky abruptly darkened, thousands of stars glittering as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Sighing, she looked around her, trying to recall which way it was that she had come from after running out on the clock man.

A cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck as the realization of being lost dawned on her.

Kagome heaved a sigh as the sky once again changed on her for the umpteenth time, foot snapping a twig in half as she made her way in a general direction of where she had come from.

The only thing she had remembered of where she left was that there were several towers surrounding a larger central one.

A frown marred her features as she put a hand to her mouth. Thinking about it reminded her of a clock, much like the one the man had dangling from his left ear. What kind of a world had she been dragged to?

Her footsteps turned aggressive as her thoughts fell back onto the incubus, hands itching to wring his neck. Her feet ached as she let go of her anger for now, walking around a tree, before a smile broke out on her face as she spotted the building she had left.

"Are you visiting Julius also?"

The smile fell from her face as Kagome looked in the direction of the voice, having to look up at the brunette's red eyes, "Excuse me?"

The tall man gave her a smile, not at all looking agitated with having to explain, "This is the Clock Tower. Surely you must have business with Julius if you're here."

The blue-eyed girl gave a somewhat forced smile to the man, "Yeah, I'm here to visit.. Julius."

"Ah, so am I!" He took her elbow in his hand, "Let's go see him together, then~"

Kagome didn't have much of a chance to protest or make any sort of comment as she was pulled along by the brunette towards the Clock Tower.

I made a reference to the bad ending for Nightmare in one of the games (I forget how many he's in), but of course, it's changed to fit the story. I apologise if the italics are irritating, but it just shows that Kagome is speaking Japanese. It irritates me putting HTML around her dialogue on my phone as it slows how fast I type up the chapters. I edited this the best that I could.