Summary:One small thought, an action, and suddenly history has been changed. Consequence: The jewel was never destroyed and Kagome has to get used to her new position. AU. Blend of both manga and anime.

Authors note: I never imagined that I would get so much response for just one chapter. Thank you, everyone! Don't be afraid of telling me your thoughts on this fanfiction, it motivates me to write more. Hope you like the changes one small jewel can make for our dear Kagome. I kind of pity her actually (or laugh, I do that too).

Please enjoy the chapter!

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Chapter 2

Marching back to the village was no casual feat by any means. The former thugs and now self-proclaimed guards to the Miko was either glaring at everything that moved or staring with open-mouthed reverence to the village she currently resided in. The villagers was doing the same, but they were whispering or pointing at them with a suspicious look that only cleared after they saw the reincarnated Miko in the middle. Still wary, but they calmed down enough to not outright glare. The children escaped from their mothers and had fun as they ran across the road, giggling and spreading the rumor quicker than their little group could walk.

That's why, when they had arrived to the village center, Kaede was already standing there, waiting for them. She raised one gnarly hand and beckoned Kagome inside her hut, only raising an eyebrow in surprise when those behind her insisted on doing the same after they had tied their horses securely.

In the end, Kaede was sitting on one side of the fire pit while Kagome sat on the other, the former thugs crowding behind her.

"I figure ye have a story to tell."

Kagome clearly did, and so she retold the events of the day, of how she sneaked off to jump inside the well again, though she didn't say those exact words partly because of those sitting behind her, and partly because of her embarrassment, but the old lady understood. Kagome also told her about how she was kidnapped, and several men suddenly had their eyes directed to the floor so that Kaede wouldn't see their shame, though of course she didn't miss that.

Kagome then calmly spoke about the crazed leader that had seemed obsessed, and had chased them around and how close to death she had been, and regrets about those that had died in the one-sided fight. Inuyasha ultimately came barging in and saved them, and the jewel was once again in her possession.

Kaede hummed when she was done. "Sounds to me like ye encountered the death crow."

"Death crow?" She echoed blankly.

She nodded with a grimace. "Aye. They are foul youkai who prey on the flesh of the newly deceased and controls them from the inside. I reckon that man had been dead for some time, maybe even a whole day."

Kagome heard a sharp intake of breath behind her, and figured this revelation must come to a shock for them. She looked sympathetically at the men behind her and murmured a condolence, but it only made them startle and stare at her again.

Kaede grabbed her attention with a cough, and Kagome turned around to see her sit there with a worried frown. "Are ye alright, Kagome-sama?"

She almost broke down then and there with the honest sincerity the question held.

Of course she wasn't alright. She had almost lost her life again thanks to a youkai, something that doesn't even exist except from myths where she came from. The thought of dying caused a chill to crawl across her body, and she resisted the urge to curl in on herself and rub her arms frantically. This was all becoming too much for her, really.

"No," she whispered, swallowing tightly but offering a small smile to the worried woman, "but I'll be alright. Just wish I could..." She trailed off and looked at her skirt, absentmindedly straightening the folds. Kagome didn't really wish for anything, but she wanted to go home. The small pink jewel around her throat seemed to weigh more than the earth itself at the moment. She wanted to be able to decide for herself what she could and couldn't do.

She wanted to be herself again. To be home and worry about school. To be with her friends.

She wished she could decide her own life.

Kaede nodded in understanding, and almost as if she could read her mind, she said; "Aye, the Shikon no Tama is a heavy burden to bear."

Her smile wavered a little as she looked up again. "That's right, and it's my burden to bear, I guess?"

"No one but Kikyo-oneesama had the abilities to both purify it and protect it against those that wished to use it in evil."

"And since I'm her reincarnation..."

"That duty is now yer," Kaede finished. Her sorrowful smile morphed into a cheeky one as she continued, "But at least ye have a following."

A pointed look behind her, and she turned again to look over her shoulder.

Right. They had followed her.

"Can I ask for your names?" She asked sheepishly, rubbing her arm in embarrassment. "Can't keep on calling you my kidnappers, now can I?" Kagome joked weakly.

They either grinned back, looked down in shame or stared at her in awe. It was only after Kaede cleared her throat in impatience that they began to introduce themselves.

"Fugaku." The one that she called 'the smoker' introduced himself first.

"Daiki," the thug sitting next to him said energetically. He seemed to be the youngest, thinnest, and perhaps a smudge eager as he couldn't seem to sit still. The others were more patient as they only nodded in a greeting and said their names.

"Eita."

"Aoto."

"Chikao."

"Batsuni."

She recognized the last one to be the man that she had to help walk. He was the largest of the gathered, muscles rippling like a smaller version of a sumo boxer, and he had his hair shaved, or bald, Kagome couldn't really say. What she did know, though, was that he was the one that had probably sprained his ankle. She frowned at him, and suddenly he looked nervous, eyes flickering left and right.

"Okashira?" He asked.

Ignoring the name for now, although Kaede raised one eyebrow, she beckoned him forward. Batsuni hesitated, but he did as asked with a slight wince when he put his weight on the wrong leg.

She nodded, stopping him with a small hand motion. "I thought so." She sighed. "Do you have any bandages I could have? Or a soothing salve or something?" Kagome directed her questions to Kaede.

"Aye, and I would not mind giving it to ye." She nodded, sat up and walked over to an adjourning room to fetch the equipment. "It doesn't look to be too badly hurt, though, but ye can never be sure. Can ye handle it?"

Kagome smiled reassuringly and thanked her when Kaede handed them to her. "It looks like a harmless sprain; painful but easily healed. Souta got it all the time when playing football carelessly." Her smile dimmed a little at the thought of her little brother, but she quickly shook it off and shuffled nearer the man that looked uncomfortable with the attention on him.

"Would you mind if I helped, Batsuni-san?" She asked, just to be sure she didn't offend.

His eyes widened, and he shook his head fervently. "No, not at all. I would be honore–"

Kagome stopped him right there with a huff. "Please cease with the 'I would be honored' speech you guys have got going. I'm just Kagome, and it's not like I'm anything special."

"But you're the Shikon no Miko!" Another clamored in, disbelief written on his face. She recognized him as the younger one. Daiki, perhaps?

"And a normal girl with the name of Kagome," she injected.

The men in the room shared a glance of incredulity. If anything was to be said about her, normal wasn't one of them.

Completely missing the look they had, Kagome once again bent forward to take hold of his ankle.

There was a sudden startled gasp, and at once they all jumped in front of her with waving hands, forcing her to lean back so not to be hit. "No, no! Don't!"

She stared at them, confused. "I'm just tending your injuries?" Her hesitance made it a question.

"I didn't think you meant that you would–" Batsuni started, horrified.

"You can't!" Another cried out.

"– not proper –!"

"– noble should never –!"

"A woman –!"

"– our Okashira!"

She only heard fragments of their words as they all started yelling their reasons at the same time, but what she could make out was ridiculous to her. "I can't?" She repeated, unimpressed.

Fugaku was the first one who shook his head in panic. "No! It's not..." He visibly struggled with his words. "Becoming," he settled with, "of a person with your rank to do this lowly deeds. Here, let me," he reached his hands out for the bandages, but she pointedly ignored them.

"It's not?" She felt like a parrot, repeating their words like that, but she was honestly having trouble seeing it their way. Kagome turned to look pleadingly at Kaede, but she only chuckled quietly, amused.

"We can't let you lower yourself." Aoto said firmly, a hard glint in his eyes. He was the one that had first asked to become her follower. Already she could recognize devotion written plainly on his face, though it was rather different from Daiki who was several years younger and almost looked at her with stars in his eyes. Aoto's devotion was more professional, in a way.

That actually gave her an idea.

"Don't argue with me about little things like this," she reprimanded gently, but exasperation shone through. "And if you don't remember, since you're my 'samurai' guards, shouldn't you accept my 'expertize'?" Kagome made sarcastic quotation marks with her fingers, a habit she had picked up from her three best friends. It was quite obvious how she thought about the word samurai, but the men in the hut didn't pick up on her meaning considering they were a couple of hundred years before that particular habit started.

They were rather startled, again, with her. To them, she had just officially accepted them as her personal guards, and in the same breath revealed her high noble heritage since it was only the highly ranked that could have permanent samurai. Money issues, mostly, but also tradition.

Kagome was oblivious to this, and instead used their frozen forms as an opportunity to examine the ankle. Batsuni hissed in sudden pain at the cool fingers that pressed on the swelling, trying to see if it was broken. "Sorry," she murmured, grimacing in sympathy. She let her fingers travel around his joint, and nodded, satisfied when it didn't seem too bad.

She leaned back again, smiling at him. "Nothing to worry about. You will be using it again in no time."

He breathed out a sigh of relief.

"But..." She edged, and he was holding his breath now as he stared at her. She wrinkled her nose. "You should probably bathe before I bandage this. It would minimize the risk of infection in the cut you got."

He nodded, shoulders relaxing again. "I can do that."

"Great. Kaede-obaachan, is there a hot spring nearby?"

"Aye, just around the corner. Ask a lad on ye way." She smiled grandmotherly, her eyes crinkling. "And Batsuni-san? Take the other men with ye, they would benefit from a proper cleansing too."

They hesitated and looked to Kagome. She only nodded in agreement, not realizing the significance of the pause. Kaede did however, and her eyes were calculating as they left her hut.

There was a long silence when the two women were left behind.

"Kagome-sama," she spoke up finally, trapping her blue eyes with her own brown ones. "Do ye even understand what happened this eve?"

She opened her mouth to reply in the affirmative, but it was something about those steely eyes that made her ultimately shake her head.

She nodded, slowly. "Aye. I thought so."

"What do y–"

"GAAAAAAH!"

Her head snapped to the door, and without thinking, her hand shot down to the floor and she pushed herself from it in a sprint, running towards the sound. Kagome barely turned the corner outside the village before she stopped in her tracks, stumbling a little from the abrupt halt. Kaede came huffing behind from a distance, but she barely glanced at her as she looked at the sight in front of her.

There, Inuyasha stood with his teeth bared again, eyes narrowed in anger. The men had spread out in a triangle directly across him, swords raised.

From what she could hear, hostile insults flew like rapid gunfire between them.

Honestly, and here she thought it had been something serious, like another youkai attack. But instead it was only stubborn men. She clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes heavenward. "Why. Me." She groused.

Somehow, Kagome suspects it was those fluffy ears that twitched, Inuyasha noticed her presence. He didn't look happy. The human men followed the direction he was looking and brightened up. At least they looked happy to see her.

Just then, before they could say anything, the elder Miko reached them. "What is it?" Kaede's sharp voice asked in a tone that brook no argument, eyes searching for danger. "What happened?"

Immediately, Aoto pointed to Inuyasha and explained, though his eyes never left Kagome's. "The youkai got too close to the village with dangerous intent. Kagome-sama, I suspect he plans to steal the Shikon no Tama."

She blinked.

"Osuwari," she said, almost as if she had developed a reflex to do so when he acted badly. He slammed into the ground with a barely heard 'Wench!' Aoto seemed satisfied with this, but he clearly didn't appreciate the passing comment he gave.

Aoto glared at the fallen form.

"Ye have it wrong," Kaede cut in, shaking her head. "He is no youkai."

Batsuni raised one eyebrow, surprise coloring his already flushed features. "A hanyou?" He asked. She nodded in confirmation. "What is he doing here?"

Kagome frowned, puzzled. The way he had said it was almost like it had been strange for a hanyou to be even seen. She had been under the impression that hanyou was as common as youkai. Kagome had definitely not imagined the recognition from the villagers or the murmurs, so she couldn't imagine why it was being proven wrong directly in front of her. She also shifted uncomfortably from the prejudice she could almost taste in the air. Was the gap between races really that large? He seemed like a nice guy, if only a bit... angry? Hostile? Kagome chewed on the right word for a moment, but was brought back when Kaede sighed in aggravation.

"As ye said; he wishes to steal the Shikon no Tama."

As if that had been the key word, the men once again faced the lying hanyou with renewed vigor.

Sensing the incoming confrontation, Kagome decided to step in. Literally. "Hey now, be nice." She stood in front of the surprised men with a stern look and arms crossed. "As long as those subjugation beads work, he won't be able to take the jewel. In the meanwhile," she raised a hand to stop the protests she could see bubbling forward, "go take a bath and we can talk more about this afterwards if you so wish. Don't bother him unless provoked until then, alright?"

They shuffled a little, glaring at the form behind her. Kagome tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for their confirmation. Though, a small part of her wondered; why was the subjugation beads still working? She couldn't remember it working so long, and Inuyasha was still on the ground, muffled cursing slipping out. Resisting the urge to look behind her, she continued to stare impatiently at the men.

Seeing as they still wanted to stubbornly protect her, wherever those feelings had arisen from and however misguided their actions were, she decided to direct her most angry glower to Daiki and Aoto that stood conveniently next to each other.

The youngest of the men jumped guiltily and almost immediately sheathed his sword, taking a step back, and an apology ready on his lips that was silenced at her continued glower. Aoto was steadier, but she could see it affecting him too. In the end, he sighed and sheathed his sword, also taking a step backwards in defeat.

"Hai, Okashira. As you command."

Kagome resisted the desire to cringe at the title, but watched in relief as the other men followed their lead and nodded, chorusing their agreement. A moment later, they went to the hot spring with only a backwards glance at the hanyou.

When they were out of sight, she slumped in exhaustion. "Whew, that was hard."

As if on cue, Inuyasha jumped up on his feet, finally released from the spell. She had been expecting cursing and plenty of new swearwords that somehow involved her, but she was surprised when she only got a sneer and "Humans," as if that was the worst curse and would explain everything.

Then he jumped away, and she could only stare at the spot he had been in before.

"What's his problem?" She mumbled, frowning.

"Ye stopped them from trying to hurt him."

Kagome jumped with muffled cry, spinning around to see an amused Kaede watching her. She laughed sheepishly, having forgotten all about her.

"Ye truly know next to nothing, child?" There was sympathy and surprise in her question, but Kagome only nodded in answer, already confused at what she meant. Kaede beckoned her to follow her back to the hut, and she did so. "Yer a unique one, that is for sure."

"Unique?"

She glanced up at her, mouth twitching. "Aye."

She didn't explain further.

Back in the hut, Kaede had offered her tea as she asked what troubled her. Kagome thought that was obvious, but with prompting, she poured her heart out and laid her soul out, so to speak. She expressed her desire to go home again, her troubles with the jewel, guilt for thinking about abandoning it, the sudden responsibility for the men that wished to follow her, the confusion about youkai and hanyou and why some just seemed hell bent on eating her, and she even lamented the state her hair was in.

Basically, she treated Kaede like the psychologist that she desperately needed.

After it was all said, the lady hummed in that way only the old could manage to sound wise, and started Kagome on her very own crash course of this time.

As she listened, she was torn between paling in horror or howl in laughter, because really, how had she survived? Her actions and words and clothes and hair and so-many-things all involving too-many-to-count silent rules had been broken and abused beyond repair.

The thugs? Apparently saving them hadn't been a decent thing to do as a human being, but an act worth of saintly levels, especially since all involved parties knew they weren't worth it.

...Eh?

She tried to wrap her mind around the fact that because they were fallen people and had gone bad in orders to survive; they couldn't be forgiven and shouldn't be saved. Human life was always human life to her, but apparently that was not common here.

When Kagome had showed her control of Inuyasha with the command word and basically told them she was a miko, and then later on allowing them, however grudgingly and with a great slab of pity, to follow her as some sort of subordinates had apparently sealed the deal.

It was like a bad joke.

Instead of a; "Congratulations! It's a boy!"

She got a; "Congratulations! It's your own samurai unit!"

Kagome closed her eyes and heaved a gusty sigh. She was now responsible for their well-being, like finding food and shelter for all six of them, and it was also her job to make sure they didn't kill innocents in her name.

Oh, and she was a noble too. Can't forget that. How had she managed that anyway?

Kagome could vaguely recall that anyone with a family name in this time was of noble birth, but she hadn't even said that her name was Higurashi Kagome. So how had they come to that conclusion?

Either way, Kaede continued with explaining further about what youkai really was; that there existed some sort of noble daiyoukai that she should avoid as if her life depended on it because they weren't known to be nice to humans, and hanyou that tended to avoid everyone.

"Why is that?" Kagome asked curiously.

She shot her a mildly incredulous look. "Because, child, they are not accepted by their youkai kind, nor are they by human kind. Hanyou are shunned and cannot fit into either society."

That explained why Batsuni was so confused about Inuyasha's presence, she mused.

"Although," Kaede interjected after a pause, frowning at a long-forgotten gossip, "there is a rumor that there exists a town in the southern mountains with only hanyou."

"A whole town with hanyou?"

"I reckon it's true. After all, ye do not live this long without knowing about the youkai towns. They probably wanted a sanctuary just like those."

"A whole town with youkai?"

Kaede chuckled. "Are ye hard of hearing, Kagome-sama? Aye, they are not barbarians. They have houses, families and traditions just like us."

She found this hard to believe since she had only met the full-blooded youkai that had wanted to kill her, or alternatively, eat her. Not particularly society material in her eyes.

What followed was a lesson about the little Kaede knew of this, how there existed intelligent youkai and mindless youkai that acted as fodders to the others that didn't have a taste for humans, and the pack mentality that existed almost as a whole to them all. When Kagome nodded in understanding, though it took a while to push the thought of a whole culture into her head after only a day, Kaede delved into the Miko's role.

Protectors, healers and beacons of hope.

"And that's where I come in, right?" Kagome sighed, sipping her cooling tea in misery.

"Correct."

She explained her duty was now to protect the Shikon no Tama from those who wished to use it and that it was a heavy undertaking that would burden her wherever she would go.

Kagome figured that out her first hour when the centipede youkai had tried to kill her and had taken a huge chunk out of her side. Absently patting the wound, she wondered why it didn't hurt. Kaede noticed her trailing thoughts.

"It is the Shikon no Tama."

She blinked, startled. "Sorry?"

"That wound," Kaede nodded to her side, "was healed by the Shikon no Tama. Though ye do not wish upon it, the power is so great it amplifies those who bear it. As the reincarnation of Kikyo-oneesama and the vessel of the Tama, yer more receptive than others."

"Great," she muttered into her tea. "At least I get some benefit from it."

Still, she felt with her fingers, a scar had been formed that felt mottled, almost like spilled ink over her once smooth skin. Kagome sighed. Her mother wasn't the most traditional, but she would still give a look of pity since it would decrease her chances of finding a husband. She snorted. Hōjo would probably not mind.

At the reminder of her home again, she valiantly tried to fight off tears.

What if she can't ever meet them again?

Kaede only watched on in sympathy as the young girl underwent a vast range of emotions with the knowledge that she had probably lost her family. It didn't take long before Kaede let out a small chuckle as she saw Kagome drooping, her head nodding as she tired. "Dear, let me take ye to yer bed."

She nodded blearily, standing up sluggishly. "Mm, 'kay. But what... what about the men...? Batsuni still needs... needs treatment," she said slowly, blinking hard to remember. She was really exhausted. It didn't help that she was starting to see double from fatigue.

Kaede waved away her concerns, gently leading her to an already prepared bed. "Let me take care of it. Ye just sleep."

Even if Kagome had tried to protest, her body decided it for her as it practically shut off when her head hit the pillow.

She smiled at the youth that so resembled her sister from long before. Kagome unwittingly brought back memories inside her old heart that both made Kaede want to laugh and cry, but she did neither and instead settled on rearranging the blanket with a soft smile. "Sleep well. Ye will need it."

A/N Another chapter for my readers. I tried to show how Kagome would have reacted to another world realistically since I think the show never really plunged into her emotions at first. How she missed her family, and so on. Do you think I managed it? I want this to be as realistic as possible, which is why this is going to a very long journey. Prepare yourself for everything supernatural between heaven and earth.

(By the way, I changed the title of this story. Hope there is no confusion thanks to it.)

Anyway, thanks for reading this! Don't hesitate to tell me your thoughts.

See you at the next update!