Disclaimer: Dragonball Z & Inuyasha and its characters are properties of Akira Toriyama & Rumiko Takahashi, Bird Studio, Toei Animation, Shogakukan Inc., Sunrise, etc. I do not own them and I don't make any money out of this. This is written for fan entertainment and the fans around the world!

Pairing: Gohan x Kagome

Rating: T

Category:short fic, drama, general, crossover, AU

Fiction note: Kagome did go to Sengoku era, learned to harness her powers even more, but she lived in the DBZ world when that happened. Also made few changes compared to the DBZ storyline.

Gohan and Kagome have known each other since they were children. As they grow older, their feelings for each other changes.

A Dragonball Z & Inuyasha Crossover Fanfiction

"Lifelong Friends"

Written by k-tiraam © 2016

Gohan was out in the woods, heading for the river nearby his home. It only had been half a year since Porunga, the dragon of Namek, told them that his father Goku Son would come back, in time. At that memory, the half-Saiyan sighed. It was quite typical of his father to train elsewhere to become stronger; strong enough to protect his friends and family.

'Father… I hope to see you soon. It's weird not having you here. I miss you.'

"Help!"

Gohan's head snapped up, looking around. For a moment, he heard a girl's voice. More like an echo that pounced off from elsewhere. The young half-Saiyan focused hard, trying to relocate its location. As seconds passed by, Gohan began to feel useless when he couldn't locate the source of the voice. Only one opinion was left; he had to wait for the girl to shout again. Luckily, he didn't need to wait for long.

"Help me!"

'There!' Gohan powered up and flew to the shout's location. Quickly enough he found the girl; with no time to waste, Gohan flew to her. The river was strong and she was holding onto the fallen tree log for her dear life – and was dangerously close to the waterfalls. From the look of her face, she was getting tired.

"Ah! Hang on!" He grabbed under her armpits and soon had her in his arms. The girl coughed the remaining water from her mouth, wrapping her arms around Gohan's neck, feeling safe and warm. Gohan flew them back to the riverbank, calming the girl down from the shock she has been through. He noticed the girl's shiver from cold, telling him that she needed to be warmed up.

"I better get you to my home and get you warmed up." Gohan pointed out.

"Y-yeah… I-I'm feeling a-a bit c-cold," the girl smiled weakly at him.

"Alright then," Gohan took her into his arms again, "hold onto me. My mom can get you some dry clothes and maybe something warm to drink at home." The girl looked at him with awe but did as he asked her to do. After that, Gohan took off into the sky and headed to his home with speed. The girl let out a tiny shriek of surprise.

"Y-you can fly?" The girl asked in shock, her greyish blue eyes wide open. While panicking, she didn't notice that he flew to her rescue.

"Er," Gohan blushed, he had forgotten that not all humans could fly, only those who have great control over their ki. Like Kuririn. "Y-yeah… I, you see, I'm a martial artist and…"

"It's so cool!" The girl said with excitement. "I wish I could fly as well!"

Gohan stared at her dumbstruck, blushing at her words. "R-really…? You don't think of me weird or…?"

The girl shook her head negatively. "No, I don't! I think you're cool!" She blushed slightly.

"Gee, thanks." Gohan laughed nervously. "Say, what's your name? I'm Gohan Son."

"Nice to meet you, Gohan-kun. My name is Kagome Higurashi." Kagome smiled sweetly at him, causing the half-Saiyan to blush slightly.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, what were you doing out here? All by yourself?" Gohan asked, a pink hue still shining on his face.

"I got lost from my family. We were hiking, papa and me, and I kinda… wandered away from him. And then I tripped over a rock nearby the riverbank and fell into the river." Kagome said in embarrassment. "I got to find my way back to them somehow and tell them I'm okay. They must be worrying about me."

"Does your dad have a cell phone?" Gohan said as they are approaching to his home. "You could try to phone to him from my home and tell him that you're okay."

"Yeah! Papa got his cell phone with him, in case someone wants to reach him from work!" Kagome's face brightened from the memory. Her father works in a big company and he always carried his phone with him. He didn't get many vacations from his job, so this was one of those rarest times for them to spend time together. Her family had been planning this trip for some time, but now it seemed that she had managed to ruin it. That thought alone, made her feel a bit sad. Gohan saw her sad face as he landed on the ground. Much like his father; he had no idea how to cheer up the girl.

"Um, everything will be fine! You'll see! As soon as we explain to mom, things will be better!" Gohan took a hold of her hand, leading her into his home.

"I hope so," mumbled Kagome sadly.

Gohan was feeling a bit uncomfortable, 'What to do? What to do? I've never been in this sort of situations!' Only one person can help him out here. "Mom! Are you home?"

"Hm? Gohan?" Chichi looked around from the kitchen, until she saw the two kids entering into the house. "What were you doing outside? I thought you were upstairs, doing your homework." Chichi scowled at her son, holding a fry pan.

"Heh! I, err, I wanted some fresh air and I, umm, eheheheheh…" Gohan scratched the back of his head; much like his father does whenever he's out of words.

Chichi was about to scold him further, when she saw a shivering and wet little girl standing close to her son. "Oh my goodness! What on earth have happened? And who is she?"

"This is Kagome, mom. I rescued her from the river and she's lost."

"Oh my, get inside quickly before you get a cold!" Her anger was forgotten, the girl's health was more important than scolding her son for skipping from his studies.

Gohan and Kagome explained to her, what really had happened, and in no time, Chichi phoned to Kagome's father once the little girl told her the phone number.

It took an hour for Kagome's father to arrive to the Son family's house – feeling relieved to find his little girl safe and sound. Kagome apologized numerous times for wandering away from him, crying. But her father just smiled, holding her closely and calming her.

Once Kagome had calmed down, Mr. Higurashi bowed down at Chichi and Gohan in gratitude. "Thank you for looking after my little girl. We were worried about her once we noticed her being gone from our sight."

"It was not a problem." Chichi turned her attention to her son. "Gohan here did all the rescuing."

Kagome's father looked at his daughter's rescuer. "Thank you, Gohan-kun. It was very brave of you to help her out of the river."

There was that typical Son reaction again; Gohan scratched his neck again, feeling a bit shy.

"Well, we better get going now. Your mom is worried about you – so is Souta-chan." He held out his hand for her. Kagome sniffled for the last time, holding on her father's hand.

Before they left, Kagome turned to look at Gohan. "I hope to see you again, Gohan-kun! I would like to play with you someday." She smiled.

Gohan blushed, looking hopefully at his mother. The puppy look did the trick and Chichi sighed in defeat. Perhaps it would be good for Gohan to have friends with his age. After all, most of his 'friends' were Goku's friends – and that green monster who taught him to be a rebel. (She was thinking about the time, when Gohan went against her mother for the first time, wanting to go to Namek.)

"It's fine with me, if it is okay to your father, Kagome-chan."

Mr. Higurashi nodded. "We will be touched with you then." Kagome smiled happily.

After giving the Son family the quick farewells, both Higurashis were off to their camp where Mrs. Higurashi and Souta were waiting for them.

Even though it was sad to see her go, Gohan felt happy; he had gained a friend.

The friendship between Gohan and Kagome grew stronger. Occasionally, they visited at either one's home – mostly at Kagome's since it was easier for Gohan to visit her than for Kagome to visit him within the woods.

Their visitations became less and less as the time passed by. Saving the world from its certain doom took most of Gohan's time. Also, the death of Kagome's father made them move away from their old home, to her grandfather place, located in another city. Far away from Satan City. Her grandfather had been living all by himself, since the death of his wife.

The distance didn't stop them from being contacted to each other. They kept in touched via phones, exchanging their daily greetings and stories.

Years passed by; Chichi finally gave in and let Gohan enter to Orange Star high school. It might do him good to be around with the other teenagers, and finally be a normal person. As 'normal' as he could, considering his inheritance from his father – and all those battles he had to go through in his young age.

As long as he didn't do anything 'weird', he would be just fine.

"…Well now, let's me introduce you to a new student. Come on inside," said the teacher, gesturing Gohan to enter.

"H-hello, I'm Gohan Son. Nice to meet you all." Gohan said, a little bit flustered seeing so many students in the class, whispering to each other.

"Pick a place for yourself." The teacher told him. Gohan nodded and looked for a place for him to sit down. A hand rose up, which caught his attention.

"Teacher, he can sit by me," said a female student, "there's a free seat for him."

"Oh, thank you," the teacher took a quick look at the sitting order, "Ms. Higurashi."

Gohan blinked, making his way to the empty seat next to her. "Higurashi?" He stared into her greyish blue eyes, finally realizing it. "Ah, Kagome-chan!"

Kagome giggled. "For having a brilliant mind, you're still a bit dummy, Gohan-kun."

Gohan blushed, scratching his neck in embarrassment. "Y-you've changed since we saw each other, Kagome-chan…" 'Man, she changed a lot, indeed!'

"I'm not the only one, who've changed, Gohan-kun." Kagome pointed out, checking out her childhood friend. "C'mon, sit down already. We can exchange more stories after the school. The teacher will have our heads if we don't start paying attention to his class." She looked at their teacher, who was giving them a silent warning: 'pay attention, or your homework will be doubled'.

Not wanting to test the teacher's patience, Gohan quickly sat down next to her and took out his notes and books. Class continued on and Gohan felt happy to be at high school – especially now, knowing there was at least one familiar face.

Every time she giggled, Gohan's eye brow twitched and his face became redder than before.

"Can you please, stop giggling about it?" Gohan asked. Baseball practice game was a disaster! He had hard time to follow the rules and control his powers – so the others wouldn't think he was a freak or something.

"B-but, you tried so hard to keep your powers as a secret. I can't help it…" Kagome answered, wiping away few tear drops that escaped from her eyes. "And the look of others' face was hilarious!"

"Anyway," sighed Gohan, deciding to change the subject, "what brought you here? I thought you lived with your family?"

"Well, I thought to change the sceneries. (Anyways, what's with this name for the city…? It's weird.)" Kagome said, skipping a bit head of him turning around so she was walking backwards. "What about you, Gohan-kun? Done any hero-acts?"

"W-well…"

"You're the Golden Warrior." Kagome stated out.

Gohan's whole body flinched. "H-how did you-?!"

"Heh. I sensed it. Not to mention, I was there when you stopped those robbers."

Even as kids, Kagome knew about his powers. She told him, she came from the generations of priests and priestesses, so sensing auras was no problem for her. She also had a way to find out dig out the truth from him. Her and his mother. Girls, they were a mystery to him.

"Umm, Kagome-chan… could you…?"

"No worries, Gohan-kun. I know it's a big secret for you and your family. So I won't say a word." Kagome smiled, assuring him. "I made a promise when we were kids, right? I won't break that promise to you."

Gohan nodded. "Thanks, Kagome-chan."

One day, Gohan invited her to meet his mom and his little brother, Goten. Chichi welcomed her, saying she had grown into a fine-looking young woman. (Gohan blushed when Chichi said that; sometimes his mother embarrassed him with her words.)

Goten was a bit shy seeing the girl; he knew about Kagome but had never met her face to face. But Kagome won him over, smiling kindly and telling him she also had a little brother – a bit older than Goten.

In time, Goten overcame his shyness and began to tell her how he was training to be a fighter like Gohan.

"So, Kagome-chan," began Chichi, offering her some onigiris, "I heard that you go to the same high school as Gohan?"

"That's right. I'm glad that Gohan-kun is there. It's nice to have a familiar face around."

The boys were eating their seventh onigiri; Kagome kept staring at their eating habit. 'Ah, he still eats a lot. Looks like Goten-chan have also inherited their father's appetite.'

"Umm, Gohan-kun?"

Gohan gulped down the rest of his snack. "Y-yeah?"

"Are you planning to enter the World Martial Art tournament?" Kagome nibbled on her onigiri.

"Er…"

"Eh? They still hold them?" Chichi asked.

"Yeah, I just learned about it. Videl-chan mentioned about it and she plans to enter. From her, I also heard that you will take part of it." Kagome glanced at shocked Gohan, circling her thumps over the tea cup. Gohan tried to shush her; he hadn't told Chichi about it yet! "If you do enter, I'll cheer for you, Gohan-kun!"

Chichi tsk'ed, shaking her head. "No, Gohan won't be entering it."

Kagome titled her head in puzzlement. "Why not? Gohan-kun is good with his skills. It would be shame to have them wasted."

Chichi's head shaking grew stronger. "I don't want my darling boy to hurt himself."

'Ah, the overprotective mother enters.' Kagome thought. "There is a winning price, 10 million zeni…"

"10 million?!" Chichi rose up, banging her hand on the table. "Gohan! You enter that tournament!"

"B-but mom, I need to take a week off from school…"

"I'll call to high school and explain it!"

Things did not go as planned.

Everything changed during the tournament. New enemy made its appearance; the world was in danger again. Another intense battle between life and death was ahead.

Vegeta surrendered himself to the dark powers, just to battle against not-quite-alive Goku. The Saiyan prince destroyed half of the stadium, killing and injuring people while doing so, just to lure Goku into one-on-one battle.

Afterwards Gohan learned that Kagome was one of injured people. She tried to protect the people from danger with her powers, but she got herself injured badly in process. Bulma and others managed to get her out under the fallen rocks of the stadium; Kagome was barely breathing, her body full of serious injuries.

His precious friend; Gohan's heart ached from the thought of losing her, her smile and her kindness. She had accepted him as he was and supported him when his father died for the second time. (Thought she didn't know about that.)

Once he and rest of the Earth's people were revived by Namekian dragon, Porunga and helping out his father to defeat Majin Buu Kid, Gohan began to locate on one specific ki. The half-Saiyan soon found what he was looking for, flying fast to the location.

Meanwhile, Kagome was wondering what had happened to her. First, she was fighting for her life after being crushed under the pile of rocks. Second, she was taken to the hospital by Bulma and others – and soon after, she was healed by Bulma bringing one of those Senzu beans. Third, she went along with Bulma and then she saw a flash of light coming at her…

No. No. She didn't want to think about it any further. It was just too horrible for her to remember it. That pink creature… Gohan, where was Gohan? Was he okay? Or was he still out there, fighting along with his father? "Gohan-kun?"

A powerful, sudden gust caught her by the surprise, her hair flying over her eyes. Brushing her hair away, so she could see more clearly. Then again, she didn't need her eyes to see, to know who had just arrived. The familiar, calm and yet powerful aura that made her feel safe all the time ever since they were kids.

"G-Gohan-kun?"

He stood before her, wearing the same outfit Goku wore all the time. His eyes wide in wonder, thinking she was a dream. Gohan took a step then another. No. It wasn't a dream, she really was her; alive and well.

She didn't get to say any more words when he wrapped his arms around her petite body, holding her closely and carefully, remembering that she was a human. Gohan hid his face into her hair, taking in the scent of lilies from her hair.

"You're alright, Kagome." His voice was muffled by her hair, but she heard him. "I'm glad you're alright…"

Kagome blinked, a bit baffled about this. His heartbeat was so strong against her ear – and it was getting stronger still. She could feel hers to beat in rhythm with his. Ah. Such a wonderful rhythm their hearts created together. The heartbeats spoke more than any words could now. After a moment of silence, Kagome wrapped her arms around his as a favour, comforting him.

Her dear, dear friend.

When did they fall in love for each other?

Like any relationship – or were they the only ones to feel like it – the beginning was awkward for them. Gohan's friends and family kept bugging them, asking all kind of questions. His mother was the worse; when would there be grandchildren? Kagome's mother was the same as well.

It was all new for them, at least for Gohan it was. For his surprise, Kagome told him that she had gone on a date, but it didn't go well at all. Talk about the pressure that gave to him.

In the end, all went well for them; they dated while they were in high school, got engaged when Gohan went to university, while Kagome went to college. Got married once they graduated – and now, they had a child together.

Pan.

"Heh."

"What is it, Kagome?"

"Nothing." Kagome looked through the family album. "Just remembering the day when we met to the day when Pan was born."

Gohan sat next to her on a couch, wrapping an arm around her. "Ah. We began as friends…"

"…Then became husband and wife." Kagome smiled, resting her head against his chest – enjoying the warm and love her husband gave to her.

End of story.

First draft: February the 22nd, 2016

Author's note: Something old for once. There aren't so many Gohan & Kagome fics around, so why not writing one? (I still love Goku & Kagome pairing more.) I had this idea lingering in my mind for some time now, and I'm glad I managed to have it written down.

Now, onwards with other fics! Yeah, I write one short fic at the time – mostly within a day – and then leave it be for a day, so I can re-check it again. (And yet I still don't see all the errors in my fics. They do say that writers can't see their own errors… heh. All too true.)

Thank you for all the reviews so far! Catch'ya later~!