"... gentle… try not to hurt him."

Sensations of being moved brought Aomine back into the world. Above him, he vaguely registered a soft, feminine voice whispering urgently. Slowly he came to, eyes bleary with sleep. Pain lanced through him viciously when he adjusted himself, the spot where the creature had bitten flared. Aomine lay upon a cot covered with a thin blanket that barely covered his frame. He fully opened his eyes when a warm, soft hand gently laid against his forehead.

"Oh! You're awake!" The voice belonged to the brightest pair of blue eyes Aomine had ever seen. Dots ran across his vision when he tried to get up, a small gasp leaving his lips. Firm hands placed him back down as gently as possible. "Lay down, you're still hurt. Inuyasha, grab another pillow for him to sit up while I get some water."

A man in a red kimono placed a cushionunderneath Aomine's head. The basketball player cringed under the rough minstrations and turned to tell the guy to lay off when he saw two white dog ears sitting atop a shockingly white head of hair. Rich blue stared in gold for a moment before Aomine shot backward. The action was not graceful and resulted in him tripping over the blanket, landing on his ass, and hissing in pain.

"What the fuck is this?!" Aomine demanded to know, ignoring the fire burning his shoulder as he pointed his finger at the dog-eared person. The dog man merely gave him a bored look before scoffing.

"Told ya he'd freak the fuck out, Kagome."

"Stop, you're antagonizing him. Here, drink this. You'll feel better."

Ocean blue eyes had a face, and soon Aomine was staring stupidly at the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She knelt close to him, holding out a wooden cup filled with water. The girl looked like an extra straight from an old samurai movie with her white and red kimono. Glancing at the dog man, he was also dressed weird. Were these people trying to mess with him?

When he didn't move to take it the girl sighed, grabbed his hand, and wrapped it around the cup. Redness crept from Aomine's cheeks to the tips of his ears. To prevent either person from noticing it, the basketball player quickly turned away to down the cool water. Gulping down the refreshing liquid, Aomine was caught in a revelation. The dog man had called the woman Kagome, which was not a common name. Looking deeply into the sea of blues and gray of her eyes told him everything.

This was the girl in the picture, Nodoka's daughter. Higurashi Kagome. If he was seeing her that meant he was…

"Dead," he whispered.

Aomine's eyes turned glassy as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. For all of his good deeds, he ended up dying at the bottom of that well and landed in Hell. Was this punishment for his laziness? Never in a million years did he think he was that bad of a person. Sure, he liked his fair share of gravure idol magazines. But what teenage boy didn't indulge in beautiful, buxom women every once and a while? Maybe he could pray to the gods and ask for a second chance, no more magazines and no more fucking around if only he had a second chance at life!

While Aomine dealt with his inner turmoil, the stormy expression on his face caught Kagome's attention. Gently, she called out to him and asked if he would like another cup of water. The boy flushed a dark shade of pink as he snapped back to reality. Turning his whole body away from her, he handed her the cup which she filled with water and returned to him. Kagome couldn't help but chuckle at the display.

"Who are you people?" Aomine finally asked after drinking a few more cups.

"My name is Kagome, and that is Inuyasha. Don't let his mean face trick you, he's a big softie."

"Fuck off, K'Gome," Inuyasha muttered. As the two bickered, Aomine watched the interaction with mild interest. Though they were strangers, there was a familiarity in the arguing. Funnily it reminded him of the dynamics of the Generation Miracles. Friendly, but fiery arguments. A strange feeling hollowed out in his chest.

"I'm out of here," Inuyasha growled at her and promptly stomped out. Kagome scowled, muttering under her breath about antagonistic jerks at his retreating form. Sighing, she turned back to face Aomine, her smile fixed back into place.

"How are your wounds?" Her voice was soft and gentle as she watched the basketball player attempt to move. Grimacing, he adjusted himself into a proper sitting position. Aomine did his best to ignore the agonizing pain shooting through his shoulder.

"For being dead, it sure as hell hurts," Aomine answered. Tentatively, he applied pressure to his shoulder earning him another wave of discomfort. "Fuck!"

"Stop messing with it and lay back down, you'll be in bad shape if you reopen those stitches." Kagome chastised him.

Aomine opened his mouth to argue but was promptly shut down as the girl was suddenly very close to his person. Kagome's palms were warm against his shoulder as she applied gentle pressure to the spot. Were dead people supposed to feel so comforting? Her eyes were narrowed in concentration as she continued to run her fingers along his skin, leaving blazes of fire in their wake. While she performed her ministrations, Aomine kept his focus solely on her. With each brush of her fingertips, he felt like he was going to burst as he watched. Maybe being dead wasn't such a bad thing, after all. When she lifted her hands off of him, Aomine tried to ignore the sore disappointment that came over him.

"There. That should help hasten the healing process. You'll be good as new in no time!" Kagome said with a satisfied clap of her hands.

"Yeah right," Aomine snorted. "You don't need to be healed when you're already dead, stupid."

"Stupid? Who are you calling stupid, ungrateful jerk!" Kagome exclaimed, glaring at him angrily.

"Watch who you're calling a jerk, woman!" Aomine snapped back without thinking.

"Listen here, you ungrateful ass, I saved you from that Spider Head AND brought you into my home. So don't you dare call me stupid or insult me for trying to help your sorry hide!" Kagome completed her diatribe with an exasperated huff. Grumbling to herself about ungrateful and rude men, she slid her bow over her shoulder. Aomine watched as she loaded her quiver with arrows with a smirk on his face. Although the situation was decidedly not in his favor, Aomine couldn't help the excited feeling that buzzed in his veins. At least his afterlife wouldn't be boring, so long as he kept the beautiful spitfire around.

"There's water in the bucket and food in that basket over there. Please get some rest." As kind as her tone seemed, the instructions came through clenched teeth. Smooth operator, he was. Before he could attempt to rectify the situation, Kagome stopped at the door and looked over her shoulder at him a with strange look.

"Also, you're not dead. I saved your life and you should at least be grateful for that." With that, she left him.

"What do you mean I'm not dead?" Aomine screamed at her retreating form. In vain, he attempted to lift himself from the ground. Fireworks burst across his vision and vertigo brought his massive body to the ground with an unceremonious thud.

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A/N: OOPS! I am so sorry for the goof on this chapter, I uploaded the wrong one. Remember folks, check your labels! lol. As always, please let me know your thoughts, musings, or critiques. I love hearing from fans of this niche pairing. Should I include feudal GoM? Maybe? Let me know ;)

Thanks for reading!