A/N: So, I really debated to keep working on this one or not for a variety of reasons (read A/N at the end) but in the end, I decided to stick with it because I honestly like the characters and I think it can make for an interesting character stud, because Tokyo Revengers has a solid start and some really endearing characters, so I'll keep going with this….and completely ignore the last two maybe three arcs, maybe I'll bring some of the characters that appear there, but I'm not so sure, anyway, I'll leave the exhausting explanation for the end of the chapter.
Chapter 2.- Once is coincidence
2005, before deviations
Life can just change.
With no warnings. No rhyme or reason, and with absolute disregard for anyone's feelings. That was something Kagome thought she'd learned as a child when her father vanished from their lives because of a traffic accident, causing her grandfather's shrine to become her home…and then she was dragged down her family's well by a centipede demon that should've only existed in old legends. Her world was turned upside down, priorities shifted before she had time to breathe, the stakes turned deadly. But the girl adapted, and despite all the risks and dangers that came with traveling over 500 years to the past, she found her own place along with those she came to call friends and ragtag pack. They trusted her to watch their backs, and she knew her life was safe in their hands. And two weeks ago, it all ended. All of it was over, just like that.
Her life changed once more.
Going back to what used to be should've been easy; it was a part she'd already played. She knew the role and everything it came with, but her words rang hollow, and her delivery was always too stiff. It was as if she was just half a second late when it was time to say her lines. A mistake not bad enough to disrupt the play but more than noticeable for her to feel out of place. It was nobody's fault but her own; it was Kagome who, half a step out of pace, now struggled to find her way and fit in with everyone around her. Logically, the priestess understood how her world worked and why it did, but going from fighting for her life against evil, corrupted beings to sitting in a classroom, learning grammar felt beyond jarring, making it unbelievably hard to settle back onto her old life. Already, she'd almost gotten into trouble for talking back to an honor student who felt entitled to be given deference just because of how high his name was on a list.
Well, that was one of the things Kagome could claim never changed.
Jerks were jerks, and people often tried to abuse others only to get their kicks. Kagome huffed. Those sorts of thoughts made it harder to go back and play her role right. Her way of thinking gained a bit of a cynical turn after spending a year traversing through the countryside of Japan's feudal era. During her travels, she'd met some of the most selfless people she could ever meet, and she also got to see the depths of human depravity. Things were rarely black and white. Closing her eyes in an attempt to get her thoughts under control, the priestess almost jumped as the darkening red of sunset finally registered when she opened them back.
Curses ran through her mind as Kagome wondered if maybe she made a mistake by not thinking things through. The supermarket she was supposed to go to wasn't that far from the shrine, so the girl decided to forgo her bicycle in what was slowly becoming a trend, but the herbs her grandfather requested were nowhere to be found, so she'd just kept wandering until she found everything listened on the crumpled piece of paper between her fingers, not paying attention to the time or place. And now she was very much on the edge of one of the invisible street lines her mother warned her against, with the light of day quickly fading. The bags tightly clenched in her hands weighed almost the same as her bright yellow backpack did when the plan was to hike for over a week. Letting out a sigh, the girl resigned herself to getting home well after nightfall, and once more, she had no one to blame but herself, so losing feeling in her fingers until she got back home might as well serve as her reminder not to let herself get lost inside her head. She was worrying Mama too, even if the woman did her best not to let it show…
Rather than the sound of something crashing against a wall, it was the panicked tone that laced a feminine voice that caught her drifting attention.
She'd heard it before, more than enough to lose count.
Azure eyes scanned the streets around her; it didn't take long for her to find the source of the noise.
The group wasn't even that far from the store's parking lot. All three boys seemed to be around her age, and they were surrounding a lone girl still clad in a somewhat familiar school uniform. And for all that the girl's posture was all but screaming for help while two assholes tried to push her into an alley, not one of the many people passing by seemed to give a damn. Oh, they looked at the scene, glanced at the group, and some even faltered in their steps, but none was willing to offer help or call the police.
Some things just remained the same.
Ignoring the part of her that screamed to go home, the priestess crossed the distance between them in long steps, absentmindedly dropping her shopping bags before reaching them. This wasn't what a good, normal middle school girl would do. This wasn't how Higurashi Kagome would've reacted a year ago. These were not the lines her character was meant to say. But Higurashi Kagome had never liked to see people bully others either, so maybe that part of her had just been amplified. Besides, it wasn't like she wanted to start an actual fight. She was only going to try and de-escalate the messy situation in front of her. Try not to give her mother more to worry about. At least, she'd make an attempt not to make things worse. Judging by how the three thugs kept throwing crude remarks, chances of that not happening weren't all that high. Well, outnumbered or not, none of these guys moved with the kind of fluidity that the girl learned to associate with skilled fighters. If the worst came to pass, she should be able to handle it on her own.
"Sorry." Her voice was saccharine as Kagome stopped an offending hand from grabbing the panicked girl's wrist. "But she doesn't look like she wants to be here."
"Huh? The hell are you?" The gangster pulled his hand away, glaring at her to complete the image of a shaved gangster.
"No one important." Forcing a smile, she tried to keep her voice calm. "I just figured maybe you guys could use an outsider's perspective."
"Just a nosy nobody, huh?" Thug number two, the one having a smoke, scoffed.
"Wait." Leering at her, the first one licked his lips. "Lemme take a look at her."
"Oh, right, you like bold chicks, right bro?" Crude laughter came from the third gangster.
"Come on, guys," she raised her hands, trying not to get angry. "I'm sure we all have better things to do."
The other girl seemed to be forgotten as the trio of jerks moved their focus to Kagome. Glancing at the scared brunette whose eyes were wide with a mix of fear and hope, the priestess tried her best to give a reassuring smile before nodding. This wasn't the first time someone looked at her, seeking permission to run away, and Kagome was certainly glad to see the other teen hesitate for just a second before taking off in a hurry. It was better this way.
Even if none of these jerks were anywhere close to someone like Sango or Miroku, it was clear they were familiar with street brawls, and while the girl felt confident she could keep herself safe, the same couldn't be said about her ability to ensure someone else's safety during a fight. Not that the three idiots seemed to have noticed anything.
"We can have something better to do, sure." Gangster number one turned to fully face her now. "We can have a real good time."
"Sorry, but my family's waiting for me."
"Don't be like that." The smoker was moving to her right, trying to surround her. "There're some nice places we can go have some fun."
Holding back a sigh, the girl looked down, ignoring the jeers and leers her action brought. Words wouldn't be enough to settle this. Azure eyes flickered through the possible paths in front of her. Getting out of the semicircle they were creating wouldn't take much effort; after that, she could reach the main street and go back to the convenience store to pointlessly wait until they got tired and left or to ask the clerk to call the cops. Losing them on the street would mean abandoning her shopping bags, though. A narrow alley wasn't easy to move around in. Most people would be limited to straightforward actions to try and corner her…and she could work with that. Even low-level youkais were stronger than this.
"Sorry," For now, the miko would borrow one of Miroku's tricks. Angry attackers were predictable enemies. "But not one of you is my type, so I'll have to decline."
Taking a step back, pretending she didn't notice they were trying to corral her, the girl kept her friendly smile in place. Speed would be her trump card.
"Hey, Ken-chin." A voice sharply cut into the assholes' jabs. "Is it me, or is there some trash here that doesn't belong."
"Yeah, figures it stank around here."
Her head whipped to the side to find two boys standing at the entrance of the parking lot, both bleached blond and wearing what had to be black modified uniforms. And neither looked particularly happy to see what was going on.
Something rang on the edges of her senses.
The trio of thugs shift their attention to the taller boy. Not that the miko could blame them; the guy was beyond tall, he'd shaved the sides of his hair, and she could see a dragon tattoo. He looked like the epitome of a delinquent. Certainly intimidating. And yet, her gaze was locked on the dark void of the shorter blond's eyes. He looked almost unassuming, lean but not particularly muscly, one hand holding a popsicle and the other resting in his pocket and unbothered by the three assholes that were ignoring him. But that something drew her attention to her. Humans, both of them were undoubtedly humans, but it felt like Kagome was missing a detail that was way more important than the new uncertainty of her current situation.
"Huh?" Thug number 1 turned towards the newcomers. "Fuck off, this ain't your business."
"Yeah, this is just between us." Smoker was trying to posture now, failing to look bigger.
"Doesn't look like she wants to be anywhere near you." The tall blond raised a brow.
The jerk in charge made a grab for her arm. And intimidation tactic, more than likely. A sloppy and poorly executed one. A single step to her left and half a turn was all she needed to avoid those disgusting hands. Raising her hands in mock surrender, she gave one more unscripted line as she smiled. "Yep, sorry, but I'd rather have a date with my cat."
"You little…!"
It was over before it even started.
The sound of a foot slamming against bone was almost as familiar as the sight of a person crumpling to the ground.
All the noise within the alley seemed to be absorbed by the presence of the two boys as the thugs' enraged yells died in their throats at the sight of their leader being taken out before they could even register what was going on. And for good reason, this was the first time she'd seen a human move this fast without the aid of a Shikon fragment. But her eyes still caught the moment when the shorter blond's kick connected with her attacker's chin, and the strength behind it was nothing to scoff at. As if not to be left behind, the taller blond jumped to take out one of the remaining two. The whole thing lasted only an instant, leaving the three thugs on the ground.
"Talk about being bold, going after girls in Toman's territory,"
"Harassing others like that," the shorter blond huffed as the trio of assholes ran out. "Giving delinquents a bad name."
"Well, spineless assholes are spineless assholes," Kagome added, glancing at the bunch of cowards.
Unexpected lines earned her a pair of astonished looks, both boys blinking owlishly at her. They'd probably thought she would've run away by now; that was what the girl Kagome tried to help did. It would've made even more sense for the priestess to flee, to get away from the new additions that weren't even trying to hide the fact that they were delinquents. They were the sort of people who wouldn't hesitate to use violence as their first go-to in order to solve their problems. Good, well-behaved girls avoided getting involved in fights, that was the part Kagome was meant to play. But when the look of surprise within the shorter blond's eyes changed into something sharper, the miko only smiled in return. Violence wasn't a foreign concept to her, and if she could glare and talk back to Sesshoumaru when the Lord of the West was still trying to kill her and Inuyasha, she could at least stay and show a bit of gratitude. Because the new-comers' auras, while rough, still felt quite good-natured.
"Ahem, in any case." With a smile, the girl offered a short bow. "Thanks for jumping in. I really didn't want to have to deal with them."
"Huh, do you know how to fight?" the shorter blond asked, dark eyes unashamedly locked on her.
"Oh no, not at all. I can't throw a decent punch to save my life," she laughed. At the end of the day, she was an archer, first and foremost.
"Eh?" What had looked like an exasperated look morphed into shock. "Wait, then, what were you planning to do?"
"You see, I'm actually very, very good…" Deciding to ignore her script, the girl leaned forward, amusement tugging at her lips. "…at dodging. I could've outlasted them too, make them run in circles until they passed out.'
Utter silence lasted for a heartbeat before the boys exploded with laughter, and there was nothing Kagome could do but join in with them. Really, this was the kind of incredulous strategy that would've had Inuyasha yelling at her for being stupid, but things still worked out for her. Maybe she should've kept quiet, but for once, the priestess didn't feel the pressure to watch her words, and the sound from the boys' laughter was only joyful, lacking the slightly uncomfortable feeling she got from some of the other times when he failed to recite the lines her role asked her to.
"Not a plan I've heard before." The tall blond shook his head.
"Probably because it's a terrible one." Kagome managed to get out after finally calming down, still grinning. "I've been insanely lucky it's worked so far."
"Was it just luck, though?" Amusement still evident in his voice, the short delinquent smiled back at her.
"Ok, maybe I could tell they weren't actually strong." She brushed a strand of hair back, her gaze shifting to the side, unsure what reactions her answer would get. "I better stop tempting fate and get on my way."
"Say, where do you live?"
"O-oi, Mikey!"
"What?" The shorter blond, Mikey, frowned at his friend's disapproval. "It's already dark, isn't it?"
This time, it was Kagome who burst out laughing.
If the priestess thought her improv was reckless, it had nothing on the way this Mikey just blurted out whatever was on his mind without worrying how his words would be received. Not that the reason behind the delinquent's question was all that unreasonable; they'd just heard her claim to be willing to pick up a fight despite her massive disadvantage, and the sun had fully set by now. Of course, that didn't mean the taller guy wasn't right when he turned to lecture his friend about how creepy asking that to an unknown girl was. From the slight exasperation the priestess could hear in the tattoed delinquent's voice, he was likely used to acting as an interpreter. Odd reaction to the question or not, Kagome couldn't keep quiet because while it was different, this wasn't that different from trying to figure out what Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru truly meant. She didn't mind it.
"That's fine with me." Her words forced the taller guy to stop his scolding. "I don't mind having some company."
This wasn't the kind of action any of her classmates would take. Beating up the jerks that were harassing her was nice, but that didn't mean they couldn't be assholes in different ways. These guys were strangers, delinquents. Leading them back to her home could be risky. No matter how peaceful Japan was, humans could be dangerously unstable; reading people wasn't a science, and she wouldn't be the only one to deal with the consequences. But risky or not, this was a bet the girl wanted to take. Judging by the surprise painted on the taller blond's face, he clearly wasn't expecting a positive reaction.
"See, Ken-chin, it's totally ok."
"I do have one condition, though," Kagome added after spying the helmets on the tall delinquent's hand. "We walk all the way."
"Heh? Don't tell me you're scared of speed?!" The look on the shorter blond almost had her giggling again; he was almost offended.
"Nope, not that." In a way, she'd gotten used to traveling fast, especially during fights. "To be honest, I've grown to really enjoy high speeds. It's just that today I'm in the mood for a walk."
Pure, genuine confusion took over the unnamed blond before he made a face. Not bothering to bite her tongue, Kagome let out a laugh. For someone who'd just won a fight before it had a chance to start, this guy could also show quite the childish reaction. Shaking her head, the girl walked to where her grocery bags lay waiting for her. The people peeping into the alley may have been unwilling to lift a finger to help her, but at least, the miko supposed, they hadn't stooped low enough to steal. The bare minimum. No, it wasn't her place to complain. The daughter of a shrine keeper wasn't meant to be bitter nor willing to even notice this sort of thing. Forcing her thoughts to a stop, the girl let out a sigh before grabbing her bags, she'd been having a good time, there was no point in ruining it by becoming cynical.
"Here." The tall blond extended an open hand. "Since we're walking, then at least let us help."
"Fine, fine. But our bikes are in the parking lot." Following his friend's example, Mikey took a bag with his free hand.
Her easy agreement earned her yet another glance from the tattooed delinquent, but even that was dismissed fairly quickly as the girl caught up. But for one reason or another, the shorter boy didn't seem to mind the oddity of her off-scripted lines or actions. In fact, his words and actions didn't appear to be keeping to the demands of what his role would usually demand either, and Kagome wasn't actually feeling like she was doing something she shouldn't, as if there were words she was supposed to be saying, and kept missing her cues anymore. So the girl followed the duo to the couple of bikes that were probably more impressive than what she could appreciate and took over the small group to guide them to the shrine. Walking meant it would be about a 15-minute trip, not much to her standards, but she'd already spent a lot of time going from store to store, her mother was probably worried by now. Accepting the ride would've been the smarter choice. But with every random question, the miko could feel herself getting more and more comfortable.
Yes, weird fell short of describing some of the topics they went through, not a single question ventured towards any of the personal areas that she had no answers, unlike how her conversations with her school friends always went. There was no hidden concern within their eyes the way her mother's held when they talked. Both boys were rough around the edges as they bragged about the gang they'd founded, but this was the most relaxed she'd been since the well closed a little over a month ago.
"Wait, a real mummified frog leg?" Mikey wasn't even trying to hide his disbelief.
"I can tell you it definitely wasn't a Kappa's foot." She had seen what it looked like, and what her grandpa got her wasn't one. "Though it was oddly big."
"Alright, I don't know which of us has it worse in this." The tattooed delinquent looked like he wasn't sure whether to laugh or groan.
"They're different types of shocking, I guess."
"Nah, I think rotting frog leg still beats random sex toys in freakiest birthday present ever." The shorter blond dismissed her comment. "I mean what can you even do with a mummified Kappa leg?"
"My cat seemed to like it," she laughed before making a face. "I don't know how, it stunk."
How the conversation ended up in a contest to see who'd received the grossest or oddest gift ever, Kagome genuinely didn't think she could explain, but honestly, she didn't mind it. It was silly and nonsensical; none of the topics they covered had been important. They'd stayed far away from things like school, grades, and, more importantly, her non-existent love life. With no need to lie, edit, or try to dodge any particular issue, the out-of-time priestess could feel her smile and laughter become more genuine. What little tension was left from their unusual encounter had entirely vanished. And once the braided blond got over his slight uneasiness about bringing up his more sex-oriented gifts, the contest became truly challenging. Without an eccentric, myth-obsessed grandfather or an extremely unique living situation, Mikey had been quickly outmatched and took over as the somewhat neutral judge of their impromptu challenge. Whatever hesitation the boys had about walking instead of biking all the way to her home was quickly forgotten after placing her heavy grocery bags on the bike seats. To the point that neither of her unexpected companions seemed to notice the girl had been steadily slowing down and had actually stopped in front of the shrine steps.
"Well, I can take it from here." Holding out her hand, the Kagome turned around to fully face them. "Most people are a little intimidated by the stairs."
"You live here?"
"Where else would my grandpa gets all of his gifts?" She raised a brow. "We have a whole shed full of historical treasures."
"Ohh, I want to see that!" Contrasting his friend's quiet reaction, Mikey looked like a kid about to enter an amusement park.
"Oi, oi, we have a meeting, remember?" With a huff, the tall delinquent turned to her. "We can handle the stairs, no worries…ehmm…?"
"Kagome," she said with a laugh. "Higurashi Kagome from the Higurashi shrine, but just Kagome is fine."
"Oh right, guess we sorta forgot that. Well, I'm Mikey, and this is Ken-chin." The shorter blond moved his bike closer to the stairs before…parking it? Was that the correct term?
"Don't call me that." The taller delinquent groaned as he took the bags from the bike's seat. "Just call me Draken."
She didn't fight the urge to laugh a little at the irritated look on Draken's face. This was clearly a familiar discussion; there was something to the easy friendship between the two that helped soften the harsh appearance they gave. Then again, maybe this was the byproduct of learning to read others to the point that she'd started to get a brief feeling for other people's auras, but Kagome felt…safe with these two. More than that, the more she talked with Mikey, the more convinced she was that something about him was different. And Kagome was intrigued.
At least it looked like they weren't lying about being able to handle the stairs since none of them were struggling to keep up with her.
"You're a priestess here, then?"
"Uhmm, kinda." She wasn't sure the term meant the same thing for her anymore. "I mean, I help around the shrine when I have the time, but it's not like I dress up in a miko outfit unless we're short-staffed during festivals or the like."
"Huh, I think it suits…in a way." Something lurked inside the shorter blond's eyes as he gave her back the bags.
"Thanks…I guess." He wasn't talking about just the outfit, was he? "I'd offer you guys a cup of tea, but I think you're probably running late."
"Just a little," Draken said, passing her groceries bags and giving her a smile. "Take care, then, Kagome-chan."
"We'll take that tea another time. Don't go jumping into fights without us, Me-chan!" Mikey waved, massive grin in place, before rushing down the stairs.
Me…chan…
Was that meant to be her?
Shaking her head, the girl let out a soft laugh as she watched the pair of blonds sprint down the shrine steps. Something about how he'd said it made her believe that finding Mikey back on top of the stairs was likely far more probable than what a random encounter like this would usually lead her to believe. And Kagome really wouldn't mind too much. Since there wasn't much of a fight, getting an accurate reading of their fighting skills wasn't really possible, but if she had to bet, they probably weren't exaggerating much when they talked about the biker gang they founded. For all that those two clearly held themselves to their own set of principles, having them around would likely invite trouble to come her way. To begin with good, well-behaved students weren't meant to even talk to someone most people wouldn't bother to differentiate from the things that tried to harass her. But the idea of anyone getting annoyed because the image of delinquents was being tarnished wasn't one that had ever crossed her mind, and suddenly, the stage her life had been trapped in vanished, and there were no lines to mess up or cues to miss.
But her mother worried enough as it was.
It was never said out loud, but Kagome could feel her mother's stress leaking from the older woman's aura. Regardless of how annoying it might be, it wouldn't be fair to blame her. Mothers were meant to protect and help their children. It was part of her role, but in the unique situations surrounding the young priestess such a thing was virtually impossible. So quiet, concerned glances thrown her way were all that could be done. No one but her direct family would ever be willing to believe her tales. Processing her grief, or mourning, or whatever else should help her would be ignored in favor of institutionalizing her to deal with the evident delusions. For better or worse, Mrs. Higurashi seemed to understand that, but she never felt confident enough to push whenever she attempted to touch more serious topics. So, despite her wooden delivery, the woman accepted her daughter's chosen lines.
Letting out a sigh, the girl opened the door.
"Ah, Kagome," her mother rushed to greet her at the door before Kagome could even kick off her shoes. "Is everything alright? You took so long."
"The shop was out of Jii-chan's medicinal tea, so I went around until I found it."
"Oh, darling, there was no need. Grandfather wants to send some sutras to one of his friends. I could've gotten some on the way back tomorrow morning." The woman hurried to take the bags from her, huffing under the weight. "In any case, I'll get dinner started so you can go and wash up."
"Yeah, I'll do that, thanks." The smile on her lips felt too tight, too stiff.
Awkwardness had settled over the house.
It was as if now that the well was closed, the rest of her family was back to their usual roles, pretending nothing ever happened. But because of her inability to slide back into her old part, it was as if the curtains had been pulled a little too much so that the things that should've remained hidden could now be seen, and no one could ignore it anymore. It didn't help that Kagome kept making blunders. For weeks she'd woken up in the middle of the night, plagued by memories that sent her running to the soothing presence of the Goshinboku. And while she didn't wake up screaming, the real problem was that every so often, she fell asleep under the sacred tree's protective branches and wouldn't wake up until her mother came looking for her, eyes wide and scared of never finding her daughter again.
It wasn't like the well could get its power back. There was no way for her to go back. However, that wasn't something he could tell her mother.
But as the girl turned the shower on, Kagome couldn't help but notice she didn't feel quite as tired as she had for the past few days. And there was only one thing that didn't follow the usual script.
She couldn't go looking for them.
After spending a year in the Sengoku era, surrounded by dangerous youkais, the girl learned to trust her intuition, and what her instinct was telling her right now was that if she allowed her path to intertwine with that of the odd delinquents she met today, then her chances of learning how to get back into her old role might as well be thrown off a cliff. Honestly, she wouldn't be sorry if it happened. For her family's sake, however, the girl would try to stay put, performing her lines despite her off-pace delivery, if those two were to find her again, however…
That feeling of freedom that allowed her to ignore the script, Kagome wasn't sure she could reject them.
A/N:Alright, so as I mentioned, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue with this one or not for various reasons. First of all, the formatting, I want to keep the past/future format from TR but I also want to add relevant scenes from what would be the original timeline and some of te other variations but wasn't sure if I wanted to add these scenes throughout the chapters (at the beginning or end), dedicate a full chapter to those moments and have them on a 1 to 1 ratio or just add them as they feel relevant (I'm leaning towards that last option, but if anyone has any other ideas I could use the help).
Another reason was the upload schedule, I don't want to have so many ongoing series that several months will pass before a new chapter comes out. But I think I can juggle this many without loosing my mind, or at least I hope so.
But the main reason it's because…well I just can't get behind the Tokyo Revenge ending. it felt forced, rushed, contrived and a little too much of a deus ex-machina. I was willing to not think too much about the time travel part of the story (like I did with Erased/bokudake) but then they tried to explain it and then they had that ending that completely broke any pattern that had been shown before. quite honestly, I would've been happier had they ended things with the wedding. It would've been a bittersweet ending but it kinda fit with the series so far, and Takemichi's main goal was accomplished after all, maybe if the focus of the story had changed after things would've worked out better, but the whole dark impulses thing really should've been left out. The focus went from defeating a cunning schemer to fighting some vague supernatural force? It just didn't work for me at all.
Now then, as for the character who're gonna be changed from their canons considerably are basically:
-Kisaki: his motivation is going to change, completely. I still want him to have a deep dislike for Takemichi but the reason is not going to be Hina, his plan for that was so stupidly convoluted and long winded that it felt senseless. I mean, really, 12 years to even try to confess to a girl?
-Kagome: she's usually shown as the same bright, kind and happy person she is in canon but I'm not going for that. I want to use the slightly more grounded consequences seen at the start of TR for her story too. This someone who was dragged to the past when she was 15yo (14 in this fic for the ages to fit), she was almost killed more times than she can count, she was kidnapped (to be literally eaten, used as bait or assaulted) several times, she watched people get killed in front of her eyes over and over, had to search corpses for weapons, had to climb a nest made of hair and human skulls once, was mind controlled like a puppet and almost forced to kill her first love…that more than justifies a few traumas. So in this version the disconnect between her old self and who she became is too much for her to seamlessly go back to her old life. Her whole outlook on life has changed even if she's trying to fit in.
-Mikey: as I said, the whole dark impulses/urges are gonna be just that, an inclination towards violence that's always been there but he keeps in check trying to follow his brother's code. He knows it's there, he's aware of it, and while there may be times I refer to "whispers" or "voices" that is solely for the artistic imagery, not a magical concept that takes full control of him and can just vanish because of reasons. I mean, even Inuyasha's demonic blood was just a part of him, it was his survival instinct taking over, sure, but it was still him. In this fic, it'll be somewhat similar to that, impulses and instincts that show up whenever the situation finally pushes him into it, in a "the straw that broke the camel's back" sorta way. Especially because it fits into what we see during the first few arcs, those urges always show up when he's in an emotionally unstable state of mind. In a way, he's in a similar situation as Kagome, he knows those violent impulses are there and that he shouldn't just indulge in them, and he tries to keep it contained, but that is just a part of him.
Ahem, well then…
As always, thank you guys so much for reading (specially if anyone went through that rant) and any and all reviews/comments/criticism is greatly appreciated it.