Summary: With the well closing, Kagome returns to her hometown of Makochi. A magnet for trouble, it's no surprise that chaos finds her every step of the way. Umemiya knows that something is weighing heavily on her, but she holds tight to her secrets. When those secrets are unveiled, could she ever learn to let go of the past of pain and loss that holds her so tight?

Pairing: Hayato Suo/Kagome Higurashi

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

Chapter One

Despite initially hailing from Makochi, she'd never taken note of the distinct way the atmosphere of it felt. Then again, she'd left before she'd fully become in tune with her senses and the like. Now that she was back, she couldn't help but note the discrepancy between the way she'd always assumed the town to feel and the way it actually felt against her senses. Maybe it was because things had changed in her absence.

No, that wasn't much of a wonder. It had, in fact, changed in her absence. It'd changed for the better. Despite that, it still felt the same in some way.

She glanced up at the sky above her before briefly swapping her focus back down to the gardening plot she'd been working on. It'd been tended to, and that marked the last one. She pushed herself up onto her feet, dusting the dirt from her hands as she quickly sought out the man up on the school's rooftop with her.

She'd felt his eyes on her for a few minutes now, but when she finally looked at him, the white-haired man flashed her a full smile.

"You all done over there, Kagome?" Umemiya asked. Faintly, she nodded in response, glancing back at what she'd been working on out of reflex. "Great!" he exclaimed. "Why don't we sit down for a moment and take a break?" he suggested. Before he'd even gotten all the words out, he was already encouraging her to follow him to a table set up in the shade.

She sat on the side opposite of him. He rested his chin on his palm as he looked at her, his smile never once faltering. After a moment, he sat up. "You know, I'm glad you're back," he stated. At the sound of his voice, Kagome turned her attention to him. "I know I've said it before, but I mean it."

A faint smile lingered on her face as she nodded. "I'm… glad to be back, too," she said following a brief pause. She meant those words. It felt nice being there, almost as if she was able to put her burdens concerning the well to rest. "It's like a breath of fresh air, Hajime," she said. The meaning behind those words would go unspoken for now, yet she could note the shift in his aura when she said it.

"Yeah?" he responded, his tone softening some. "How was it when you left?" he asked. It didn't seem prying at first, but she knew the reason he was asking. "Did you get into any sort of trouble like you always do here?" he added with a faint teasing lilt to his tone.

The thought of lying to him wasn't one that she necessarily liked, yet a deeper part of her knew that she couldn't just open the vault and spill the events of the last year of her life to him. While some of it was harmless, it all was tied to deeper, more complicated facets. She doubted he'd even believe her if she got into the nitty gritty of it all.

"Just because trouble likes me doesn't mean I find it everywhere I go," Kagome eventually responded. A pout lingered on her face as she accounted for the last comment he'd made. He hummed softly in response, almost as if he was carefully contemplating her response.

Umemiya traced his gaze over the girl. As he did, he didn't miss any of the new marks that littered her skin in the form of scarring. Some were inconspicuous, while others were clearly something much more. A gnawing feeling started in the pit of his stomach when it seemed there was something she was hiding. Despite that feeling, he didn't want to push or force her into answering his questions.

"Well," he began, a faint smile reappearing on his face as he leaned to rest his chin on his palm. "You did manage to get into trouble your very first day back in Makochi," he reminded. "I suppose I just expect it to follow you everywhere you go."

Kagome matched his stare for several long seconds before she ultimately looked away.

If only he knew just how right he was…

"At least I can take care of the trouble by myself," she responded. Umemiya laughed at her response.

"I suppose you're right," he acknowledged with a grin. He reached a hand out to gently pat the top of her head, idly smoothing down the few messy locks of her hair. "You're pretty tough for someone so small."

The remark, while not intended to be malicious, made her glare at him. He wasn't fazed by her glare in the slightest. Instead, he laughed as he got up, motioning for her to do the same. After a moment, Kagome sighed and got up from the table as she went to follow him.

"There's still a few plots that are empty," he stated. "Tell me if you have any vegetables that you want to be planted in particular and I'll get the seeds for them!"

There was a tension in the air. She could feel it before that group ever got to the school's rooftop. Her attention had been called to the door that led to the stairs long before it ever opened. When it did, she silently took in the group coming through. She could make out the appearance of Hiragi, recognizing him easily enough but the others…

The others were a different case altogether.

Kagome glanced over her shoulder, looking to Umemiya to see if he'd picked up on the group's presence yet, yet he didn't look away from the plants in front of him. She folded her arms across her chest as she swapped her focus back to the group, watching silently as Hiragi broke away from the rest and came over to where they stood.

He was stressed about something. She could see it written clearly on his face, just as she could feel it flowing through his aura.

"Umemiya, we have trouble," Hiragi stated upon getting close enough.

"Yeah, I know," Umemiya responded not long after. Kagome glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "We don't have enough sprouts to fill the plots," he continued, glancing over his shoulder while motioning to the garden in front of him. "I have an extra plot, but Kagome here won't give me any more suggestions," he continued as he stood up. "Is there anything you want to eat?"

"I'm not talking about the plots," Hiragi stated. "Shishito-"

"Shishito peppers?" Umemiya cut him off midsentence, much to Hiragi's notable annoyance. "Can you handle them with your stomach problems?"

Kagome sighed and stepped away from Umemiya's side.

"They're really not on the same page at all…-"

The comment caught her attention, and she glanced back at the group that'd followed Hiragi up. The one who'd made the comment was a boy with warm auburn hair. Kagome nodded faintly in agreement as she removed the protective apron and shook the remnants of dirt from it before hanging it up.

"It happens quite a bit, admittedly," she remarked. At the sound of her voice, eyes went to her, but she merely offered a polite smile in greeting. "Just bear with it. I'm sure they'll get it sorted out in the end."

"Who are you?"

The question was blunt, coming from a boy with split hair and eyes. His appearance was unique, even by her frame of reference. Without saying much, she jutted her thumb in Umemiya's direction.

"Didn't you hear him a moment ago?" she asked in a flat tone. She braced her weight on the wooden pole behind her, folding her arms across her chest as she looked the group over with a more discerning intensity.

"Umemiya… didn't he call you-"

Abruptly the boy with long dark hair snatched the one with duo-colored hair by the collar of his shirt.

"Show some respect! Don't just go around-!"

"Huh?" Umemiya's voice carried over the space as if he'd finally tuned into the other's presence. Kagome glanced back at him, her eyes momentarily drifting to Hiragi's rather stressed expression. "What's everyone doing up here?"

She hid her sigh as she shook her head. That wasn't so surprising, after all.

Auroua-chan: I'm gonna wrap this up here. The following chapters should be a bit longer. The category for Wind Breaker sadly is not on the site as of right now. If/When it gets added, I'll migrate it to the category.

So, Kagome's trips through the well have concluded, but there hasn't been much mentioned about it so far. Umemiya knows there's something more to her claims. After all, scars tend to paint a rather powerful story. It's not always a good ending, after all.

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, and Follow, thank you!

Bye for now~