Summary: By nature, Kagome was anything but cruel. She was kind, compassionate, and friendly, so how in the world did she ever achieve the title of strongest girl in Japan? It was something she certainly didn't boast about. Instead, Takemichi couldn't help but notice how she seemed to regard such a thing as a burden, but why…?

Pairing: Undecided

Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Seven

Her silence was easily noticed by the silver-haired figure who sat and calmly observed her slumped figure at the dining table. Her chin rested on her palm, and a faraway look seemed to have invaded her gaze. Should he want, he could stir her from her thoughts, but he refrained from acting on that whim initially. A few more minutes of silence dragged by before it was eventually broken by the distinct clatter of a jewel colliding with the table. It glimmered in a pure light as she moved to cover her face with her hands, rubbing at her eyes with a heavy breath falling from her lips.

"Something weighs on your mind," Sesshomaru remarked. It was no question, nor was it meant to come across as one. He folded his arms over his chest as he leaned against the counter, golden eyes closing as he felt her gaze lift to settle on his face. Something in her scent shifted, and it was all the confirmation he needed. She could try and lie all she liked to him, but he'd see through it every time. At least it was something she was aware of, so it made things easier.

"Is that you asking for insight?" she asked in a flat tone as she let her hands fall to rest on the surface of the table. One of them found the jewel, guided by an absent-minded motion. Her finger landed on the curve as she rolled it back and forth along the hardwood.

He leveled gold eyes on her face in a silent response. It conveyed the message clearly enough. To her, it did, at least. Others, she knew, would only see a glare that bore into their flesh like acid. She sighed and sat back in her chair, long locks of raven hair pulled over her shoulder in a sweeping braid.

"I… don't have anything I can tell you," she stated in a low tone. It felt uncomfortable admitting to it. "I don't even know what's going on, let alone how to even begin trying to explain."

"Start from the beginning," Sesshomaru responded. "You're someone impossible to read, should you choose to properly keep your emotions concealed."

Kagome sighed, taking several long moments to herself in order to think. Her grip on the jewel tightened after a brief pause, her fingers snuffing out the glistening sparkle it gave off. Her eyes remained pointed at it still, however. "I've met a time traveler," she stated finally.

Her comment piqued his intrigue, though it didn't show on his face or in his aura.

"Do you see a threat in their presence?" Sesshomaru asked. Kagome knew immediately what he was getting at. She sighed and shook her head.

"No, he's pretty far from what I'd call a threat," she stated. "But…-"

Her silence wasn't missed, and Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes as he waited for her to continue.

"I can no longer see the future," she murmured in a low whisper. This time, the surprise actually broke through to the surface of his expression. It lasted for only a second or two before the fleeting glimpse faded back into his solemn glare. "It's almost like back before I ever fell down the well," she continued. "It's strange, and it feels weird, almost like I'm blind."

"You've grown used to it, so being without it will impact you in some way," Sesshomaru stated. Kagome nodded.

"I don't understand," she stated. Silence once more returned as her grip on the jewel tightened enough to cause her knuckles to turn paper-white. Sesshomaru knew there was more, and that she'd speak without him having to prompt her again. "I gave Takemichi the task to find me here at the shrine in the future. I…- I could never see myself anywhere else."

"What was he greeted by?" Sesshomaru asked. He could tell by her tone and scent that it hadn't been her, that's for certain. He didn't miss the way her gaze softened, yet the emotion behind it was impossible to gauge.

"Shippo and you," she said. It spilled from her as if it were a whispered confession. "That I was dead, but he didn't know anything else. No other information could be found, and you weren't willing to talk."

Sesshomaru matched her silence with his own. He observed her, almost as if he wished to see how saying that information out loud impacted her. There were no tears, but he wasn't anticipating any.

"It got me thinking," she whispered.

"About that?" Sesshomaru asked. He didn't miss the wry smile that lifted at her lips for a split second before it faded.

"You're the closest thing I have to family now," she stated. "Well, Shippo and you, that is." There was no shift in his expression as she said that. She never lifted her gaze up to catch his own, either. "I suppose it's fitting that he ran into the two of you in my stead at the shrine."

Twelve years.

Takemichi said that he could travel twelve years to the exact date in the past. It wasn't that long of a window, but sometime between now and twelve years from now, she died. She had no faith that Takemichi would ever be able to get that sort of information out of her demon companions, though. Even if she asked now.

There were some matters and knowledge that would never be passed onto ordinary humans, especially about her she knew.

"Can you gauge the cut-off point of your sight?" Sesshomaru asked. "Where does it end? What is the last thing you are able to recall?"

Kagome blinked and looked up at him. It was then she realized that he'd gotten closer. "The last thing…-?" she repeated as she attempted to recall. "I'm… I'm not sure," she whispered. "There's people I don't know, a location I'm not familiar with…" Her grip on the jewel tightened as she picked it up. "I can't see any faces or hear any of their voices. It… I can't make sense of it."

She figured the last thing she could recall seeing in her future sight would inevitably be the last moment of her life, but it didn't help when none of it made sense to her now.

"The impact the present has on the future is everything," she whispered. "I don't remember any of them because I have yet to meet them, or that version of them. I won't know who they are until it's too late."

There was no preventing what she couldn't see.

She glanced at Sesshomaru, noting the dangerous pulse in his aura. She knew that wouldn't prevent him from killing them the first chance he got in retaliation.

She wasn't even sure what led her there that afternoon. A red sign flashed in front of her, the four letters lighting up one after the other before it blinked and reset, reading 'OPEN'

It was something she never once considered in her life, yet, here she was standing in front shop as she faintly tuned into the conversations of those walking by. She'd neglected going to class again, but, by now the school day was long over.

"Well, look at who it is."

Kagome turned upon hearing the voice call out to her. She was surprised at first, but it didn't show on her face. Blue clashed against black as she looked up at the familiar figure. It was that second that he noticed where they were crossing paths, cutting his eyes up at the shop behind her before looking back down at her face.

"Not where I thought I'd run into you again," Draken stated, hands shoved into his pockets. Kagome was quiet for a moment before she shrugged.

"I guess I'm acting on impulse," she said. It hit her then that she had already made up her mind while standing there, though she was only now realizing that. Her comment made Draken arch a brow.

"Ever got one before?" he asked. Kagome promptly shook her head. She didn't miss the way he looked back at the shop before shaking his head. "Come with me," he said, much to her confusion. Before she could ask, he nodded at the building. "I wouldn't go here," he advised.

"Oh…" Kagome responded. As Draken turned to walk away, he paused a few feet away as if waiting for her to catch up. Soon enough, she realized that it would be better for her to just follow along.

"Come with me, I know a better place," he said. Kagome nodded, relenting and falling into pace with him.

000

She already had her mind made up on what she wanted before she was even greeted. It was nothing ornate or drastic, but it felt far more so than anything else ever could be.

The shop Draken led her to looked better on the outside, and smelled somewhat sterile on the inside. There was the faint buzz of tattoo guns in the background as she sat behind him. She wanted to ask him why he was still there, but the words wouldn't form.

"Do you know what you're getting?" he asked, eventually breaking the silence between them. Automatically, Kagome nodded.

"It's nothing ornate or anything, but it's… special," she responded.

"Yeah?" Draken asked, a faint smile on his face. Kagome nodded. It wasn't long before she was called forward.

000

It was a few hours later when it was all said and done, a permanent patch of ink forever etched into the skin on her shoulder. There was a faint ache in the area, but nothing too bad.

"For your first one, you didn't even flinch once," Draken remarked on her reaction. "Looked like you didn't even feel a thing."

Kagome glanced at him, a faint smile on her face as she looked away. "I guess I just have a good pain threshold."

She glanced in the mirror, her gaze landing on the navy mark that curled over her shoulder. One point started at her collarbone, while the other end reached the swell of her ribs, just before reaching her breast. There was no ornate pattern. It was just a normal crescent moon in navy ink.

It was quiet for a moment before he broke it.

"All right, I'm curious," Draken said. "You said it's special right?" he asked, and Kagome nodded. "How so?"

Kagome smiled, lifting her gaze to him briefly as she pushed herself up from the chair.

"I figure it was time I matched my Aniki."

Auroua-chan: Gonna end this chapter here.

Kagome's got her own tattoo. It's a crescent moon, intended to match with Sesshomaru.

Kagome and Sesshomaru had a chat about what the future holds. It's a wonder how she died in the current future, but it's unlikely those behind it managed to live a very prosperous life.

Sesshomaru's presence surely holds a lot of sway in the present. A peer into his personal doings might yield some… very fitting information. (Though surely jarring to others unfamiliar with him.) I'll go ahead and say it, since it's not really any sort of spoiler. Of course, Sesshomaru can only be involved with the Yakuza. Now, does the same go for Shippo? Maybe, maybe not. He doesn't give off the vibes to everyone, at least.

It's a shame no one who has bad intentions for her is unaware of her connections to Sesshomaru (and the Yakuza by association.) If they did, then maybe things would be different…-?

Anyway, that's it for now! Thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoyed! Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.

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Bye for now~