Summary: Kagome thought she knew exactly who she was, but then she got pulled into the past and everything she thought herself to be steadily crumbled. With her motivation for skating gone and her confidence wavering, she felt lost. Viktor's baby sister, Kikyo's reincarnation… She was more than all that. All she wants is to be seen as herself, not the shadow of someone else.

Pairing: Undecided

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

Note:
Flashbacks are written in bulk Italics.
Will occasionally lack canon plot for both series.

Chapter One

Even though her room was still dark, the light from the rising sun being blocked out by her green curtains, she still tugged her blankets up to cover her face the moment she opened her eyes that morning. She squeezed her eyes shut, a mild hmph coming from her as she rolled onto her side, letting her heavy, comfortable blankets wrap around her petite frame. Her hair was in her face but she couldn't be bothered to extend the effort it would take to wiggle her arm free and brush it away, so she let it stay as it was.

She was far from a morning person, but she couldn't control it by now. It was automatic for her, almost second nature, no matter what she did to try and change it. A habit she'd been forced to pick up. A habit she hadn't managed to break like she'd hoped so much for.

No matter how long she stayed like that, laying free of all motion save for the gentle rise and fall of her chest, she couldn't fall back to sleep. She wasn't sure how much time passed by before she gave up and slowly unravelled herself from her blanket prison. Her nightshirt had gotten worked up her body, her sweatpants still resting comfortably against her hips. As she glanced down, deft fingers gripping the comfortable, oversized shirt, her eyes landed on the unsightly scar that was forever left on the left side of her ribs.

The starburst-shaped mark was unpleasant to look at, even long after it'd healed. It was jagged, messy, and about the size of her palm. Above all else, it was a horrible reminder of a world she had, quite literally, been unwillingly dragged head-first into. At the memory alone, she subconsciously ended up embedding her blunt nails into her skin as she grasped at the mark left behind to forever disfigure her skin. She ignored the sparks of pain her action caused as she pulled her hand away and tugged the shirt down to cover it, as if that'd do anything to erase its presence.

It wasn't as if she regretted every single moment of those days, but even she couldn't deny the small specks of that feeling that were present in her heart. Why her? Why not literally anyone else? Why did it have to be her to be born with the jewel inside her body? Why…- Why did it have to be her to endure it all?

Eyes the color of blue crystals clouded over some and she shifted her position on her bed to drape her legs over the edge of her bed. When she closed her eyes, she could see that aged well in perfect clarity, as if she was still standing there and looking directly at it. No matter the distance between her and it, she couldn't ever forget it, it seemed. Long, unruly locks of raven hair tumbled down past her shoulders. Her plump lips were curved in a tense frown as the memories paraded through her head. She couldn't stop them as they washed over her.

The well, the jewel, the fights, the faces of friends and enemies, it all came rushing back in a painful blur she couldn't fend off. As she sat there, she lifted a hand and let it fall to land against her cheek, flinching when she felt the warm rivers that ran down the sides of her face. She got up from bed, only to freeze the moment she caught her reflection's gaze in her vanity mirror. She mapped out her own features, uncertainty flooding her as she saw another person in her own reflection, but she couldn't find the strength to tear her gaze away.

She didn't feel like she was looking at herself, not anymore. It was her features looking back, but the memory of someone else clouded it all.

They were her features, but they were also Kikyo's.

Whenever she looked inside herself, she couldn't find any hatred for the other woman, but, at the same time, she couldn't stave off the disdain she felt upon recalling, all over again, just how similar they were to one another. During those few, short months, the notion that she was Kikyo's reincarnation, and not her own being, had been engraved into her brain over and over again. Seeing the similariarties she bore herself felt so damning. No matter how often she tried to prove that she was more than just that, she was left feeling as if she'd only been wasting her breath the entire time with each argument made.

She was a mirror to Kikyo. Just not as good as the deceased priestess.

Kagome finally willed her gaze away from her mirror, letting it shift to the pink jewel resting on the surface of her organized desk. She felt her frown deepen as she approached it. She looped a finger around the chain and slowly lifted it from where she'd placed it the night before.

She'd chosen to not stay there for many reasons, but being back didn't feel quite right. Being compared to Kikyo left and right for all those days left her feling so unsure of herself. It'd also made her realize that things, while not the same, weren't all that different in her own time. Just like there, she was in the shadow of someone else here, too.

What had once made her feel so happy and free now felt like lead chains strapped to her arms and legs. Each day she felt like she was being pulled more and more underwater. Air was running out, and before long she'd drown, surely. It was only a matter of time.

She knew, deep down, that it wasn't ever said to be cruel or degrading to her. She knew that people meant it as a compliment whenever she was compared to her brother. That it was meant to be postivie and encouraging, but… she hated the idea of being in the shadow of another person. She wasn't regarded as her own person that way. Kikyo's reincarnation, Viktor's sister, she wasn't solely those things. She was her own person, too, but those claims made it so hard to be it.

It'd been months since she'd come home from Japan, but she hadn't stepped foot on the ice yet. Not even once. She had tried many times, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Before she'd left for Japan, she spent all the time she could practicing, but now… now she just couldn't face it.

She'd gone to Japan for what was meant to be a learning experience, staying at a distant relative's shrine for those few months. The original plans had gotten shattered so quickly, and all thanks to that one single moment where she got pulled down that old well. She didn't know how to come out and confess about it all to her brother, so she simply never did. For all he knew, her days spend there had been flawless, so she knew he was confused when she suddenly acted so different than the girl he knew her to be.

She felt bad about hiding it all from him, but she didn't know what else to do. She couldn't just come out and say it. She had no idea how he might possibly react to her story, and she really couldn't be bothered with it when she was already dealing with so much already.

Kagome uncurled her fingers and let the jewel clatter back onto her desk. As it landed, her gaze fell back on it, that same complicated light reentering the expressive blue. Even though it was locked in a dormant state, it still felt so odd to her. Seeing it like that, as nothing more than some simple trinket, as if it hadn't been the cause of so much danger, was strange. She couldn't, no matter how hard she tried, see it as anything other than the cursed jewel that'd once been located within her body. She couldn't get rid of it, even if she wanted to. She couldn't bring herself to do it, and, so, she was stuck with it.

Kagome ignored it as she carefully worked her brush through her sleep-mussed hair. Once it was brushed out, she gently wove her long locks into a loose braid, letting the tail dip over her shoulder. She changed from what she'd slept in and left her room the following second.

She quietly padded across the hardwood flooring as she made her way through the home she shared with her brother. At first, she'd assumed she'd left her room before he woke up, again, but she was proven wrong when she stepped into the sitting room. Her eyes landed on him sitting on the couch, Makkachin resting his head on his lap happily. He seemed to notice her before her brother did, picking his head up and wagging his tail at the sight of her. On cue, Viktor looked up from his phone and smiled her way.

"Good morning!" he exclaimed, setting his phone down on the armrest. Kagome smiled back out of reflex.

"Mornin'," she calmly responded as she grabbed her running shoes and worked on putting them on. Viktor stood up, Makkachin trotting over to her and sitting down beside her with his tongue hanging out. She paused in putting on her shoes and reached a hand out gently pet him a couple of times.

"Where are you off to?" Viktor asked as he came to a halt in front of her. Kagome downcast her gaze with a shrug of her shoulders, finally rising back up to her full height once she was finished with her shoes.

"Just gonna go for a run," she mumbled. "I'll be back after a little while," she added as she walked away from him. She could feel his stare lingering on her turned back as she walked off, pretending she didn't. Even if she couldn't sense auras, she would've still been able to pick up on the worry he felt but didn't vocalize as he watched her walk off.

She knew he could pick up on the shift in her personality, but talking to him about it was daunting. He was always so supportive of her, but all this… she didn't think he could help her with her issues now.

Auroua-chan: This is something I started a while ago but never got around to finishing. I did some revision and now it's ready to go up finally.

Kagome's pairing is undecided. For this story, she'll be 15/16. I do have a few pairing options in mind, but nothing committed to stone. Demon friends of Kagome will appear, too.

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.

Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!

Bye for now~