A/N: For anyone who's also in AO3, I finally managed to recover access to my account so I'll be posting all my series over there in the next few weeks, I'll keep posting here, of course, but the notification issue has gone for way too long.
If you want to look for me over there you can find me under Anya_6
Chapter 4.- Rough beginnings
Maybe she'd been too hasty in accepting Gojo Satoru's deal.
Then again, perhaps this was the only choice she could've made.
When the sorcerer mentioned a school, Kagome wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the massive collection of traditional buildings hidden behind a barrier in the middle of Tokyo. A part of her couldn't help but wonder how she'd never noticed the place, then again, it wasn't like she'd ventured to places outside walking distances since her 15th birthday happened for the second time. Besides, until she met Satoru, she had no reason to be on the lookout for a place she didn't know could exist in the first place.
Jujutsu High was understaffed, always, that's what Satoru mentioned this morning, so that'd explain why she hadn't come across other sorcerers before. The thought felt foreboding, but it was hard to focus on the implications of what little she'd gleaned last night when the self-proclaimed strongest sorcerer decided to completely forgo the idea of personal space, one arm thrown around her shoulders as he guided her through winding halls.
Complaining about him changing her clothes would've been ridiculous. He knew she hadn't healed her feet, and covered in crimson as she'd been, there was no other way to make sure she wouldn't bleed to death on his bed. Besides, hands shaking out of embarrassment could've dire costs when trying to stitch close a gaping wound. Kagome had certainly seen her fair share of skin, and though Sango did her best to patch the time-traveling miko up, there were times another set of hands was needed, leaving Miroku to help wrap things up. As for her invitation to share a bed, well…guilt pushed the words out of her lips. Being able to see auras made it easier to figure out how trustworthy a person was, and while she didn't think Satoru would break his promise, the naive and trusting girl she'd been faded after spending enough time on the other side of the well. There was a difference between optimism and stupidity and there was always space for mistakes. Still, she wasn't lying about trusting him not to cross the line, and it's not like they were about to cuddle for warmth. They could just keep a respectable distance. But it looked like the white-haired man chose to take that as an open invitation to keep pulling her along even after getting her through the outside barrier.
Before she could push him off her for the third time in their short walk, Satoru kicked open a door.
Azure eyes snapped to the shoji screens in the middle of a room barely lit by candles.
"Hello, everybody!" Fake cheer dripped from the white-haired sorcerer's words. "Good, good, everyone's here."
"Gojo Satoru, what is the meaning of this?!"
"Oh, this meeting?" Satoru's voice remained unconcerned despite the obvious admonition. "Figured we might as well get introductions out of the way. This is Kagome, she'll be my TA once classes start." Without letting go of her, he snapped his fingers. "Ah yeah, a contract needs to be drafted, right? Wait, no. Never mind that I'll hire her myself. Less red tape that way."
"Wait, what?" Forgetting her position, Kagome whirled around to stare at him.
"You'll get better pay that way," he grinned. "Anyways, now that all's settled, we should get going. Got lots of stuff we need to get done today."
"Satoru!" A second voice exploded from the closest shoji screen. "You ignore our summons and bring a non-sorcerer here, breaking confidentiality! We still need to find that unknown sorcerer…!"
"Man, are you really that slow, or do you want to look like idiots?" There was something starting to seep through the sing-song way Satoru spoke. He was expecting the outrage. "Kagome here is the person from the mall; she's the one who kept those people safe. Why else would I bring a random woman here?"
"This woman has no cursed energy!" The first voice yelled again.
"Probably because I don't use cursed energy." Pulling away from Satoru, the priestess crossed her arms, frowning. "I'm pretty sure I told those people I was a miko, but I guess sometimes the same word can have different meanings."
Only Satoru's muffled laughter broke the shocked silence.
They weren't expecting her to talk. Arrogant assholes truly expected her to remain quiet as they decided her fate with no regard for her input. Now that the priestess had spoken out, it seemed like none of them had any idea what to do. Rolling her eyes, Kagome uncrossed her arms to place one hand on her hips. She could feel the so-called cursed energy emanating from the people behind the shoji screens, attempting to drown the room in its oppressive feeling. It took all her of her self-control not to scoff. With Mr. Strongest standing right beside her, their attempts at intimidation were frankly a little pathetic. Especially when Satoru was essentially flipping them off since he opened the door.
"Well, there we go. Kagome-chan was the one who protected the survivors; she created the barrier they hid in, healed their injuries, and exorcised the special grade on her own. No matter how you look at it, she meets all requirements. Hold on, I guess she's technically not a sorcerer, one more reason to just hire her myself." Satoru's smile was sharp, too wide to be friendly. "You were worried I wouldn't be able to handle all the responsibilities of a teacher alone, and this way, I won't be teaching by myself. And just in case you don't believe her power is real, then…" Without losing her smile, Satoru turned around to face her. "Heads up!"
It was up before she finished thinking about it.
Bright pink surrounded her as soul-ingrained instincts took over. The impact of the negative energy that crashed against her rushed shield was enough to shake her balance, forcing her to take half a step back, even as it vanished when it touched her reiki. Azure eyes could only stare in disbelief as Gojo Satoru made a mocking bow before turning to the council members as if he'd just made the most logical argument in the world.
"Did… did you just shoot at me?" Pink shimmered out of existence around her.
"I knew you could block it." The man waved carelessly. "'Sides, it wasn't that strong."
"What if I needed a talisman to put up a barrier?!" Her voice was a little shrill, but in her defense, it was perfectly justified.
"Then you could've healed yourself." Again, he was speaking as if it made perfect sense. "I didn't aim anywhere vital."
"…please tell me this isn't how you're planning to teach…"
Because if it was, they would have a problem.
Yes, by the time her journey came to an end, only a few months from now, she'd become quite efficient as a miko. Between the patchwork training Miroku-sama managed to give her and some quick thinking, Kagome could face dangerous demons even when she got separated from the others. The Shikon threw her into the Sengoku era head first and did so again when she was stumped into this alternate version of her world. Both times, the girl managed to find her footing, but that particular achievement was in spite of such a risky approach, not because of it. If she had no choice but to become Gojo Satoru's TA, there was no way in hell she'd smile and step back, letting a group of teens be thrown to the deep end without proper instructions. She really needed to have a talk with Satoru about this. Yes, the priestess was young and inexperienced with this world's curses, but she was an experienced fighter nonetheless.
Honestly, the main reason she agreed to the deal was self-preservation, but Kagome wasn't about to make a joke of this job.
Teaching had never truly appealed to her (regular jobs almost didn't register anymore), and dealing with students who'd only be 3, maybe 4 years younger than her physical age at most wouldn't be easy, but the miko had been taught to never be half-hearted after committing to something.
"Mah, mah~" Lifting his hands in surrender, the white-haired sorcerer went for a fake apology. "What matters is that we proved your reiki works." Shrugging, the man turned back to the shoji screens. "Oh, right, no need to worry about the housing issue. I've been thinking about moving out for a while now, the sights have gotten pretty boring. Of course, Kagome-chan'll be coming with me, that way, I can make sure she's all caught up by the time the new school year begins."
"If you…!"
"When was that decided?!" Cutting off one of the old men, Kagome went to grab Satoru's long sleeve.
"Just now," he said, lifting a finger as if making a good point. "Don't worry about the money, I can buy all of Tokyo five times over, and it wouldn't even begin to make a dent in my account. I'll take care of the payments. Just pick what you want, the Gojo coffers are disgusting to see."
"And you were planning to let me know when exactly?"
"During the house shopping?"
Her next words died on her tongue as her gaze fell on the expensive short heels on her feet.
This morning, Kagome had woken up to find another set of clothes in bags and two pairs of shoes with brand names she didn't even want to remember lazily thrown on the front of a walk-in closet. His attitude towards her attempt to reject the offerings reminded her of young feudal lords, overly accustomed to luxury and who wouldn't think twice before throwing away an entire fortune because of a whim. Any doubts about that could've remained vanished when she followed him out of the apartment building and she recognized the streets of Roppongi. Replacing her clothing wasn't an act of kindness but of convenience. Having her walk around covered in blood would do nothing to make her strength any more credible. Meaning this new plan of his also had to be motivated by convenience.
Part of their deal included her safety.
Letting out a resigned sigh, Kagome shook her head. Her mother had taught her to pay back favors; it went against the older woman's principles to accept money or expensive items from others. Then again…it's not like she'd ever complained about how Miroku-sama secured their accommodations for the night or spent the money he conned out of entitled lords. Sometimes, taking what she could get was the best thing to do. She'd pay back for the first set of clothes and simply consider everything else a unique part of her job benefits. No need to make her headache worse by thinking too hard about this.
"Fine, but things like that should still…"
"Enough!" Finally, the second voice grew tired of the ongoing argument. "There are protocols to follow! Regulations that need to be observed!"
"Regulations? What exactly do you plan to regulate?" Satoru asked, a predatory tone lingering under his words.
"The Jujutsu Headquarters…!"
"Jujutsu-related affairs, no matter how big or small, fall under Headquarter's jurisdiction." Uncaring of the increasing anger, Satoru kept going. "But ya see, that's the thing, Kagome has no cursed energy, not a sliver of it. Those rules and protocols, all of them, apply only to jujutsu. And Kagome is neither a sorcerer nor a curse user; she's simply a Japanese civilian the head of the Gojo clan decided to hire. You can refuse to grant her access to the school on those grounds, but then I'll just get her to become my personal assistant for everything else. Unless you're claiming you can supersede my authority over a non-sorcerer's employment…"
Oppressive waves of energy filled the room, rolling off the white-haired man's lean frame. Whatever fake cheer had been coating his words earlier had frozen over, leaving behind the ice she'd felt in his aura from the moment they met. And it took all of her willpower not to laugh. These people's earlier attempt at intimidation looked like a joke in comparison. Judging by the sudden silence from behind the shoji screens, it seemed they could sense the obvious threat as well. To be fair, if not for her own experience, Kagome would've squirmed in place. After a second of deliberation, the miko moved to comb a lock of hair with her fingers. They'd either think her a naive girl who was in over her head and couldn't even ensure the surge of negative energy coming from her right or assume she was strong enough to withstand a bit of luck they'd see her as an idiot.
"Alright, let's say we approve of this…hiring." A new voice spoke out, chewing through his words before spitting them out. "For that to happen, we'd have to treat her as a sorcerer, how are we meant to rank her?"
It was as if her presence here didn't matter; these people seemed intent on not addressing her directly.
"Didn't I tell ya already? She's the one who exorcised the special grade from the mall." His words had lost some of the frost, but Satoru was still baiting them.
"Getting the endorsement of the head of one of the Three Families is indeed commendable," the same voice responded, trying to de-escalate the situation before it could become a genuine confrontation. "However, considering the special circumstances, it's important no doubts remain about her capabilities."
"My word not enough?"
"A test with a representative of our choosing to serve as a neutral observant is all we're asking for." Again, the voice remained calm. "Surely that's not unreasonable."
"Unreasonable? When you're…"
"Fine by me," Kagome spoke again, this time cutting Satoru off before he could keep inciting the old men behind the screens. "I don't mind."
Her words silenced all voices as she forced them to acknowledge her for the first time since she entered the room.
The clever thing to do right now would be to bite her tongue and let Satoru handle this mess. She didn't even understand the basics of this version of the world, and had no clue what sorcerers were capable of, but Kagome had never one to cower and let assholes walk all over her. Besides, there was more than one way to get others to underestimate her. Sooner or later, they'd say something outrageous enough for her to snap; it was better to let them see a little of her temper and chalk it up to her being an ignorant child who was overconfident in her abilities. Going by how they were treating her, that shouldn't take much effort on her part.
"Next week," the first voice said, apparently he'd managed to recover a semblance of propriety. "We'll decide on an observer and notify you when the exact date and location is determined."
"In the meantime, you'll have to fulfill your assigned missions as usual."
"Fine, I'm taking a vacation then. Haven't taken a day off since I graduated, so I'm cashing those in." Regaining his faux cheerfulness, Satoru was back to his exaggerated gestures. "Now, if we're done here, Kagome-chan and I have tons of shit to do, so we're taking our leave. See ya!"
With a mocking wave, the sorcerer turned around and laced an arm around her shoulders, essentially pulling her out of the room. Fighting down the urge to escape his hold, Kagome let him guide her outside. This was going far beyond disrespectful; with every single one of his words and actions, the silver-haired man had all but spitted in their faces. Antagonizing the people in charge of this organization almost felt counterproductive to her safety. But even if her eyes were blind to auras, this one meeting was all she needed to know that trying to be reasonable wouldn't work.
"Well, that went well."
"Your definition of well and mine can't be more different," Kagome scoffed. "Anyone else we need to meet today?"
"Nah, we can meet the director after the test."
Kagome hesitated for a second.
Glancing at the side, she could see the sun high in the sky.
They were meant to come to this meeting first thing in the morning, but when she opened her eyes, it was already past 10. It wasn't exactly surprising that even after waking up last night, she ended up feeling tired enough to sleep in; still, she hadn't expected the sorcerer to be lounging around the living room with yet another buffet of sweets, cakes, and pastries. He'd brushed off her concerns and wasted even more time before finally stepping out of the apartment, so this early morning meeting ended at noon. She was well aware of what she should ask Satoru for, and yet, the words refused to leave her tongue.
"So…I'm guessing you were serious about the house shopping?"
Dipping her fingers into the water, the girl sighed at the cool temperature before getting into the bathtub and willing herself to relax. The sorcerer had not been joking when he said he was going to buy a new house…although Kagome wasn't sure house was the right word to describe the property list he'd pushed in her hands. It only took her flipping through a couple of options before she decided not to look at the pricing or the general location to avoid stressing herself by thinking about how much she'd have to work to pay even a quarter of its value. All the while, Satoru had followed her example for entirely different reasons. It looked like he really hadn't been exaggerating about how much money he had. By the time they made it back to the apartment, the miko wasn't sure if she'd ever felt secondhand embarrassment as intense as she had when the sorcerer all but bullied the poor real estate agent into getting the place ready for tomorrow morning.
Watching the steam rising from the hot water, the girl sighed happily as she felt the soft splash when Sango followed her lead.
Bubbles rose as she let herself go fully underwater, eyes closed as the pain in her head subsided. It lingered, but at least she could get some rest. Satoru had left some time ago to deal with so-called clan bullshit, and now that she was alone, her thoughts kept whirling inside her head. Coming out for air, she refused to open her eyes. After three years of living in this reality, the last thing the priestess expected was for her world to be upturned for a third time, yet here she was. And the only thing that was left for her to do was to figure out what to do next.
Their day had gone by peacefully, still since they were in a more deserted area of Japan, it meant most of their day had been spent walking. Over the last three years, Kagome's physical condition had improved greatly, but hiking for days on end made everyone in the group exhausted, so the girl was beyond thankful Inuyasha found a hot spring. Glancing back, she let out a small giggle at the sight of the demon exterminator melt as she relaxed into the water.
At the end of the day, the miko couldn't bring herself to ask for the phone and call her family.
Once she realized the tangled mess of memories assaulting her brain was, in fact, real, Kagome had deliberated whether to share the secret behind her migraines with her family for weeks. It might be hard to explain, but even if they couldn't see the light of her purification powers, she could prove the truth of her words with barriers or by healing herself. Temptation almost made her spill everything; after all, her family knew the truth the first time around and nothing went wrong. She missed the warm support they'd given her the understanding in their eyes when she collapsed on a sofa, tired but happy. Still, the always present power of the Shikon slumbering within her soul forced her to swallow down those words.
Right now, the jewel was inactive, and it had been that way since the miko opened her eyes at the bottom of the Bones Eater Well. It should've been reassuring, but something felt off. The Shikon went as far as sending them both to what was essentially a different reality, to think it'd be content to remain sealed obediently for the rest of her life was laughable. It was a few weeks after having to deal with her migraines that she finally came up with a plausible answer. If her headaches were happening because both versions of her worlds were occurring at the same time, then that'd mean that despite feeling the whole of the Shikon inside her soul, it was also currently shattered, its power splintered into shards. It'd definitely try to attack her once it was whole once more…and honestly, Kagome wasn't sure how this would end up.
Unlike the last time around there was absolutely nothing her family could do to help her. It was bad enough for them to worry about her mystery headaches; they shouldn't have to deal with the guilt of knowing that a version of her was fighting for her life and suffering from injuries of varying degrees of severity at the same time. She'd already planned on going away for the final week before time caught up to her with a vague excuse about camping.
Of course, the situation was different now.
Sango laughed; the conversation had somehow ended up landing on Shippo's most recent pranks. Lately, it felt like it was harder to find scattered shards, so Kagome couldn't help but think they were reaching the final stage of their journey, and the girl was worried about the fox kit's future. She wasn't sure what would happen when the ritual was over, but even if everything went right, her human lifespan was still incredibly short compared to his, and there was no one more knowledgeable about kitsunes than the demon exterminator. Besides, the kit's jokes helped lighten the mood.
The so-called official story for the mall's disaster was an unfortunate mix of a gas leak and an engineering problem creating a perfect storm.
Going through one fake news report after another only made the implication of those words fully sink in, and it reinforced her decision to prioritize her family's safety. Against monsters, youkais, and even these new curses, Kagome felt fairly confident in her ability to keep them safe. It might be hard, and stressful for everyone involved, but it should still be doable. If there was an official story, however, the influence of these jujutsu people extended all the way to the government.
Encountering beings with tainted and corrupted auras from traveling through the Sengoku era had taught her what to expect from those who had them. From the moment Satoru wasted no time setting a guard in the shrine, she'd been suspicious about how trustworthy these leaders of his were. And their auras were exactly what she'd thought she'd find. Cowardly and greedy, every single one of the people behind the shoji screens was the same. They weren't the worst she'd encountered, but Kagome knew how Inuyasha had been persecuted; she'd seen how the villagers had treated Shiori-chan and Jinenji. Humans weren't always kind to those who were different. And now, Kagome was the freak. An anomaly in the closed world this society seemed to be wasn't likely to be easily accepted. And when they figured out that Higurashi Kagome wasn't someone who could be easily intimidated or killed, it wouldn't surprise her if they set their targets on her family. Gojo Satoru's protection wasn't something to be easily dismissed; he proved that to her today, but he'd also made liberal use of loopholes in their system to escape their grasp. Her family's survival might be assured, but there was more than one way to kill a person.
For someone like Satoru, providing for three more people was probably incredibly easy, but there was nothing he could do to deal with the anxiety.
Paranoia gained a new meaning when she fell down the well. Even after she learned how to see, there was never any guarantee that whatever person they came across wasn't one of Naraku's (willing or unwilling) accomplices. And yet, even at her most powerless, Kagome could fight back. Mama, Souta, Gramps... they couldn't even see the regular curses lurking on the streets. Forget about being able to help her; they couldn't help themselves. If worst came to worst, they'd have to rely entirely on the protection she and Satoru could offer, all the while living under the stress and fear that came with knowing that they were targets to be used against her. And selfish as it was, Kagome didn't want them to have to go through that. At the end of the day, recovering from the pain of a broken relationship was easier to overcome than the guilt that'd come with knowing that not only was Kagome putting her life on the line fighting monsters, but that they could become a fail-safe to control her at any time.
"How long are you going to stay this time?"
"Well, finals are coming soon, so…around three days, maybe five. Once I'm done with high school, I might just take a year off."
"Is that really okay?"
"Yeah, it's not really the best thing to do if you want a great record, but it's not uncommon either. A single year is still salvageable."
Azure eyes looked up, admiring the stars usually hidden by Tokyo's artificial lights and smog during the modern era.
Mimicking actions that would never happen, Kagome opened her eyes to find the white ceiling staring back at her through her raised open hand.
Due to her habit of losing track of time when she went out on walks, Mama shouldn't have started to truly worry until it was time to lock up and go to sleep. By yesterday morning, panic would've begun to set in, and she would've learned about the mall's disaster; it wouldn't have been a stretch for her to think Kagome could've gotten herself involved in the tragedy, but with no bodies to create a list of casualties, confirming her presence there would've been impossible. They would've spent most of yesterday and today looking for her in hospitals and whatever the government set up for the families of the mall disaster victims, but if the miko let things go on like this, her mother would go to the police to file a missing person's report. And that was the one thing she couldn't let happen. The more affection was evident between them, the bigger the target on their backs. If she could convince the leaders of these sorcerers her family members weren't valuable as hostages, she could buy herself enough time to fully understand the world she now lived in.
"Think Sesshoumaru will show up before we make it to the village?"
We're about to go back," Kagome shook her head. " It'd make no sense for him to go to Edo."
"Right, that's why we've been coming across him so much."
Water dripped down her skin as she stood up, forcefully trying to focus on the world she could actually affect. She had to fight back the urge to scoff because even the towels were clearly way too expensive and hurried to put on a somewhat generic, but likely way too expensive sundress that'd had to serve as her pajamas for the night.
If something were to go wrong, there'd be no one to catch her.
Still, it'd be fine.
Kagome had been dragged into one of the most chaotic time periods in Japanese history with the added bonus of power-hungry demons and every other mythological being. And yet, she'd managed to find her footing. Once the miko got a good grasp of her new reality, she'd try to fix things with her family. Even if it didn't work, she could handle the aftermath of this decision when she was certain she could keep everyone safe.
It was fine. She would pull this off.
Taking a deep breath, Kagome opened the door only to find Satoru lounging on the bed, a box of pastries in his hand, looking like it was the most natural thing in the world. Deciding to follow his example, the miko moved to roam through the drawers, searching for a brush. In the grand scheme of things, this really wasn't the weirdest thing that had happened to her.
"Done with your clan stuff?"
"For now," he replied. "So, what did you think about the old farts?"
"They were…not surprising. I guess you weren't lying when you said you were the strongest." The girl shrugged.
Not that those people were what the miko would usually call weak, but the gap in raw power she felt was wider than she thought. It was reassuring, in a way.
"You didn't believe me?" Dramatically, he clutched his shirt.
"Who'd blindly trust a stranger's self-assessment?" Taking a second to study the brush in her hand, the girl began to unknot her messy hair. "There's always someone stronger."
"Not right now~" Smug grin in place, he bit into a donut. "But you do believe me now?"
"I can tell you're strong. I just didn't think they'd be so…" Her hand faltered halfway through her hair as Kagome let the sentence hang.
Laughter exploded, interspersed with coughs as the sorcerer tried not to choke on the doughnut.
Shaking her head at the outburst, Kagome took her chance to look at the man's auras. In a way, it truly reminded her of Sesshoumaru. Far from a saint, but someone who struck to his own code of ethics.
"Think you can beat them, Miss Archer?"
"Maybe?" It was her time to shrug. "It's not like I have a clue what any of you are truly capable of. Judging from raw power alone is a good way to get yourself killed. I mean, Kanna was technically weaker than all of us, but there's little we could do when she could absorb our souls or reflect all of our attacks. And there are beings who cannot be harmed by any type of energy I know." Her types of curses were also completely different. "That said, as long as they don't attack at the same time, I think I could have a chance."
"Oh, how about me?" His follow-up question was unsurprising.
"You're probably faster than me," she said, trying to make light of it. "There's not much I can do if I don't have the time to notice I need to fight back."
"What if you had the time?"
Azure eyes wandered back to the sorcerer, hesitation holding her tongue. She felt the power coming from him; he was stronger than Naraku had been. The other version of her, the one currently setting up camp for the day and trying to figure out a new way to prepare 5-minute ramen probably wouldn't have enough power to defeat him. Technically though, the Shikon was a part of her now. It might not like being sealed, and it'd certainly try to absorb her or get away if given the chance, but for now, it slept peacefully inside her. Were she to call for its power in the heat of battle, it'd have no choice but to acquiesce. After all, the jewel would never lay down and let itself be sent to the cycle of Samsara still chained to her soul. Maybe the playing field would be more level than she thought it'd be. However, something told her that wasn't the real motive behind the seemingly random question.
It took her longer than it should've to recognize what the lingering feeling on the man's aura was, but she blamed it on how tired she'd been.
Now that she'd seen it, there was no way for her to pretend she got it wrong. Because underneath Satoru's cheerfulness laid the same emotion hidden under Inuyasha's grumpiness, Sesshoumaru's indifference, and her forced smiles whenever her mother asked if she was sure she didn't want to look for a second medical opinion or when the girl told her fantastical adventures pretending she'd forgotten how many corpses she'd buried. Gojo Satoru was the strongest sorcerer, and the gap between him and every other soul they'd cross was so massive it felt like a joke. Her odds against him in an all-out battle didn't exactly spell doom for her if she was being honest. And yet, her honest answer refused to leave her lips.
Because it didn't escape her notice that the sorcerer didn't offer his protection until after she healed that boy back in the mall. He knew she wasn't a sorcerer from the very start, and still, he waited quite a bit before offering that second deal. Even without looking at his aura, it was obvious why he hadn't stepped forward. She wasn't sure exactly how, but the girl was confident she was useful to him. It's not like the miko had been under any delusions when she shook her hand. Plus, she was using him all the same; the transactional element of this relationship wasn't so important (her and Inuyasha's friendship began that way, after all), but her friends weren't here and if she failed at keeping the Shikon sealed, there'd be no one in this world able to contain it.
Vibrant viridescent blue flashed behind shades, and Kagome had to force down her embarrassment.
Shit, she'd taken too much time with her analysis.
"Attack me like did this morning again, and we can find together," she said with a playful warning. "So…what should I expect from this test?"
"Depends. If the old farts think they can humiliate me, then a curse weaker than the one you fought; if they take me seriously, then probably a stronger special grade, maybe a curse user. Ya feeling scared?" Satoru half-teased, half-asked.
"I wouldn't have managed to seal the Shikon if I was easy to scare," Kagome snorted; even with all the uncertainties this carried, it was far more controlled than the battlefield of the feudal era. "Now, come on, we have to go shopping."
"Huh? Just buy whatever you need online," he drawled.
"Wha..." Kagome trailed off before realizing what he thought she meant. "I'm not talking about clothing. I'll pick up my stuff tomorrow. But if we're going to be housemates, I'm not about to let our give me diabetes because you have the same diet a 5-year-old would kill for."
"What's wrong with sweets for dinner?"
"You'll end up with blood sugar, and I'm not chasing you around with whatever meds you'll dismiss." Shaking her head, the girl smiled at him. "And since I'm cooking, you're carrying the bags."
"No way, I'm the healthiest human you'll ever meet." His voice was dripping with fake outrage.
Dramatic yells followed her, and the girl couldn't help but laugh. Her future was as uncertain as it could be, but if she was being honest, this was far from the worst scenario she could've found herself in. She'd gotten enough time to get used to the idea of living in a different reality and learning how to cope with her headaches, and while there was still a lot left unsaid between her and the silver-haired sorcerer, she didn't think he'd break his word on a whim. He didn't even try to kill her before agreeing to work together. Sure, it wouldn't be easier than surviving in the feudal era had been, and there were so many more things to take into account, but this was still doable. She could do this.
Besides, even if Kagome were to fall, with no hand to help her, what mattered was how fast she could find her ground and stand back up.
A/N: I debated how involved I wanted Kagome's family to be this early in the story before ultimately deciding in this. There's a big difference between fighting monster and a handful of malicious humans and potentially being targeted by someone with that much political/social/economical power as an organization that can cover up massive tragedies. Honestly, if Kagome had just finished her journey at the original 15, maybe even 18 she probably would've told them anyway, but the whole reality/time fiasco with the Shikon made her far more uncertain about how much to share.
As for Kagome's decision to move out she is going along with Satoru because she does trust him to not blatantly break his promise, at least not without her giving him an excuse, and she knows it's over all safer for her family if she's not in the shrine anymore. They'll come to trust and lean on each other eventually, it's just gonna take a bit of work on both sides.
That said, they will be involved sooner and later. And we'll absolutely see Megumi in this, because how could we not. As for how other organizations are gonna react to Kagome it'll likely be varied but troublesome all the same.
Also…about I think I should probably try to clarify how powers are going to work in this fic.
Long explanation incoming, if you're not interested just jump to the TL;DR part.
I'm doing my best to keep as close to both series' canon as I can, but I think it's also important to keep in mind that trying to compare JJK and Inuyaha's power system is something I genuinely don't believe is possible because of how their stories work. They're close enough that it doesn't feel right to just invent rules on how they interact, but they're also different enough that there's no direct equivalent. So for anyone who's interested, here is how I see things:
Jujutsu Kaisen works in what's essentially a hard magic system, it's rules are detailed and specific and it's all in the series itself, and it works in a fight fire with fire kind of principle. Curses are created by cursed energy, exorcised by cursed energy, and the characters can even heal themselves with cursed energy (even if they have to turn it into positive energy), and despite the terminology, it's not really based on myths and legends, cursed energy is created by negative emotions. We know for a fact people can run out of it, and aside from exceptions (like Satoru and Okkotsu) it doesn't look like most sorcerers have a lot of it. And because of that we have no idea how it'd react to something like foreign energy.
But it works perfectly fine for its story. That said, if we want to compare them we have a looot of questions left unsolved.
Would barriers like the one Naraku and Shiori can create work like simple domains inside territorial expansions? What about Kanna's ability to reflect attacks with her mirror? And the swords' barriers? Tenseiga physically transported Sesshoumaru away during when he lost his arm, and Tessaiga's barrier has physically protected both Kagome and Inuyasha, so how would those work with it?
Inuyasha on the other hand, is pretty much the definition of a soft magic system. We get barely any explanation on how the powers work or why or how, instead we get an idea of those answers as we see them used in-story. Honestly, it seems like Rumiko Takahashi just grabbed what she liked from Japanese myths and legends, as well as Shinto and Buddhism beliefs…which means there's a lot of gray area. And to fill in the holes of my understanding, I'll also be using those to get an idea of what to make or not possible. As for the scale…well, it's all over the place. The wind scar attack is the weakest of Inuyasha's attack but it managed to destroy a hundred average demons and a mountain, but we never see any of the other stronger, attacks get a similar demonstration, we don't know how corrosive Sesshoumaru's acid is either, but it works well enough for it's story.
The most important thing to consider in my opinion, is the sort of variety in the series. We know the sacred/spiritual energy of priests and monks is different from youki, which is different from curses, which is different from ghosts, which is different from witches (Urasue), which is also different from dark priestesses, and the guardians of the underworld, etc, etc. Personally I don't think reiki would be a direct opposite to youki, because while a lot of people (including me) use the word demon as its translations I don't think it's accurate. Looking at both real myths and the anime/manga depictions, youkai are closer to something like Celtic fae, they can be evil by nature, but they can help people too (kamis are quite similar), so I'd think the power of priests and monks just work on thing that are not specifically human…
….and they can also affect humans…Mt Hakuei affected the Shichinintai despite being humans, even Miroku feels stifled and the implication for that is that his perverted tendencies meant the purifying energy of the barrier was affecting him. Things like rituals to cleanse negative energy also exist in Shinto and Buddhists practices.
TL;DR part:
So, TL;DR on how it's gonna work here: reiki is likely going to have an advantage with regular techniques and some territorial expansions, but it's not going to give Kagome the same boost cursed energy can give sorcerers when it comes to physical abilities. It'll also struggle more to block/counter attacks with a physical core (if someone tries to drop a car on her it's gonna take faaar more to block). At the end of the day, for the sake of the story, I need Kagome and Satoru to be on fairly equal terms, and while I'll try to stick as close to canon as I can there are some things that I'll need to tweak. That said, if there are any recommendations or questions about how they're utilized (or should be) feel free to reach out.
As always, thank you guys so much for reading and any and all review/comment/criticism is greatly, greatly appreciated. And be careful with extreme climate you guys, they can catch you off guard.