Chapter 2:

Kagome Higurashi hummed under her breath as she waited for her cousin to arrive. Takeru was her favorite cousin, though her mom always laughingly said that Takeru was her only cousin. Her mom was an only child after all, and her dad's sister only had one child; Fujiwara Takeru.

Kagome brought her lightly swinging legs to a stop. They used to be pretty close, especially when her father died, but the Fujiwara family had to move due to work. They kept contact frequently, even though Kagome was two years older and Takeru had an obsession with a sport she wasn't familiar with, the cousins were updated with each other's lives.

When Kagome turned 15 though, her adventures in the past started pulling her away from the present. She tried to keep up a normal image in school, as normal as her supposed illnesses could give her, but lying to Takeru had nearly broken her. The boy was as dear to her as Souta, and she knew her brother had matured too early after seeing her come home too many times with wounds littering her body. She wanted to try and protect Takeru from that as well.

She had managed to keep the truth from Takeru for a long time, especially since she was rarely home anyway and Takeru was far enough to not hear rumors of her health. However, her luck ran out when Souta had let slip to Takeru that she was in the Sengoku Era when the boy was asking for her location. Apparently, Souta thought that Takeru knew about her trips down the well, and had to endure a lot of disbelieving comments from the stoic boy.

When Kagome came home, the traitor immediately called up Takeru, who arrived at the shrine just to scold the older girl. She was severely reprimanded for not trusting her family, and had to spend the whole day explaining to her aunt and uncle the whole situation as well.

It was freeing to Kagome.

That was why, now, two years after the well was closed, Kagome knew could stay with the younger boy and know that she would be accepted. Even though Kagome was quieter and didn't know how to mix with her generation anymore. Even though she practiced archery and sometimes a pink light covered her arrows. Her cousin would have understood.

"Kagome-nee!"

She looked up at the shout, blue eyes meeting the same vibrant blue. She flung herself quickly at Takeru, hugging the boy tightly, unsurprised to find the normally stoic boy to be hugging back just as tightly.

After a few more seconds of hugging and exclamations of, "Look at you! You're taller than me now!", Takeru pulled at Kagome's luggage, beginning to walk away from the train station.

"Is this all you've got?"

"Yup! Mama said any other stuff that I'd need can just be bought here, so I just brought my clothes and important stuff."

"Hmm." Takeru glanced at Kagome, "Okaa-san said that you were homeschooled for two years, right after you graduated middle school." Kagome hummed in agreement. "Then why did you decide to attend school now?"

She sighed, adjusting her yellow backpack on her shoulders. Takeru knew the significance of the pack, and didn't question why his cousin was still using an obviously ragged bag. "Souta had decided that he'd take over the shrine, you know. But he also said that he still plans on going to college because he wanted to learn business to make sure the shrine would still be able to garner income."

Kagome fidgeted with the straps, remembering how determined Souta had looked, but she had also been able to see how nervous he was. "He made me realize that though I wanted to be homeschooled because I didn't know how to socialize anymore, I couldn't remain like that forever. I was learning, but I was stagnating at the shrine; I wanted stability after my hectic days running around in ancient Japan, but I didn't want to just stand there doing something."

She bit her lip, thinking how she loved how peaceful it was at the shrine, but she also felt that she would just fade away there. "It was Mama who suggested that I finish my last year of high school in a real school, and see where I wanted to go after that." She smiled softly, thankful that her mother was able to give her a direction in life. She didn't want to go far, just in case her family had needed her, and it was then that the monthly phone call of Takeru had come.

Getting an idea, her mom had called Takeru's parents, who had informed them that Takeru was staying on his own, as his school was a bit far from their home. After hearing Kagome's dilemma, the Fujiwaras had offered to handle her transfer, as long as she kept an eye on Takeru at school. They had allowed the boy to live on his own because they were worried that he would have pushed himself too much with the distance.

A completely validated worry, it turned out, as the boy still insisted on running from home to school.

Kagome watched as Takeru pouted slightly as she told him the last bit, chuckling at the boy's childish sulking. She hummed as she went back to enjoying the scenery.

It was going to be a good year.

A/N: So I might have lied. I just realized that Ayumu and Kohinata were only 2nd years. So we're back to their original years guys! I guess the only thing that's changing is how early in the semester the story is? Instead of having finished one semester? Or something. Just. You know. I can't take Heath and Kuga off! They're the best! So yeah. Just pretend that the End of Summer happened seriously early and stuff.