Summary: She's done it! The jewel is finally complete and she can put fighting demons in the past as last! With a sigh of relief, she turns her focus to her future. Able to resume her school life, she somehow gets dragged into the world of "S" by classmate and new friend, Reki. Meanwhile, Kojiro is forced to realize that his baby sister isn't a baby anymore.

Pairing: Undecided

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

Note:
Jewel is still around, but it's dormant.
Flashbacks/Past are written in bulk Italics.


Chapter One


Upon making it home that afternoon, she was very much aware of the new presence there. She heard a familiar laugh coming from the kitchen, and, upon peering her head in, her eyes landed on a figure she hadn't seen in several months- something that could entirely be accredited to the jewel's awful situation.

"Oh, hey! Speaking of, there she is!" Kojiro turned upon noticing her there, looking at her with a gleaming smile. His tall stature was the exact opposite of her own petite one. Looking at them, it was hard to see the relation there, but it was surely there. "Mom here said that you're all better now."

To keep the chaos of it all under wraps, it was limited who all knew about her trips to the past. It'd been her choice to do it that way. And, because of that, her older brother did not know of it. He, much like her classmates, was just told she was too sick to have visitors. She felt bad about lying to him, but it was more or less for his sake as opposed to her own. She couldn't even begin to imagine how worried he would've been to learn the truth.

She gave him a smile as she nodded, stepping more into the kitchen to join her mother and older brother in there. By the look of it, Souta was still out with friends. "Ah… yeah, I am," she responded, lifting to tuck a lock of hair back behind her ear. "Able to go back to school and everything."

Even with her heightened senses, she couldn't anticipate his next action. She was muffled up against his chest as he pulled her into a warm, enveloping hug. Just like she could always remember from when she was younger, his arms left her feeling warm and secure.

He'd always been a bit too overprotective of her, always taking his role as the big brother way too seriously. That's another reason she never passed the knowledge of her time-traveling onto him. On top of it adding even worse worry, it'd also just make things harder on him.

It was just the simplest route to take.

At least, that's what she told herself. Justifying her lies never felt right, but in the grand view of it all, it made her feel less guilty. So, frankly, she'd take it.


"Wait, let it simmer for a bit, and then add the seasonings," Kojiro stated, glancing briefly over his shoulder as if monitoring her progress. "It gives it a better taste."

Admittedly, standing in the kitchen beside him, it felt like nothing had ever changed. Even when she was younger, she'd always help him cook. Although… back then it was mostly him lifting her up so she could add the seasonings and other miscellaneous things. It'd been so long since they'd been like they were. He'd moved away already, so a lot of time spent together was mostly fleeting. Then, when it came to the past year, nothing was ever easy.

"Ah, careful-!"

The knife in her hand was abruptly claimed by the taller man. When Kagome looked up at him, she arched a brow in a silent question as to what he was doing. He met her with silence, slowly retracting his hand from the knife she had been using to chop a few peppers. A second or two later, he lifted that same hand to rub the back of his neck with a sigh.

"I forget that you're not eight anymore," he admitted, looking at her. "I trust you to be able to cut vegetables, I promise," he added as an afterthought as he recognized that expression. "It's just… last time were cooked together, you were a baby."

Kagome huffed, wiping the blade of the knife off on a towel, and setting it down beside the cutting board a moment later. "Well, I'm not a baby anymore," she responded with a huff. "Who do you think does most of the cooking around here now?" she countered.

He laughed at her comment. "Yeah, yeah, I know that you're not a baby anymore," he stated. "I just… sometimes that's what I remember, and I forget."

Kagome puffed her cheeks out in a pout, knocking him out of the way of the stove with a bump of her hip. He moved, letting her take the spot he'd once stood in. "Well, stop forgetting it," she stated, rummaging around in the spice cupboard until she found what she was looking for. "I'll have you know that I know exactly what I'm doing."

He reached for the container she held, thumping her in the middle of her forehead as he put it up and grabbed another. "Oh, do you?" he asked, "because that's not the right one."

Kagome huffed, snatching the offered container from him as she jutted her nose up into the air. "I was just moving it out of the way to grab that one."

He arched a brow, folding his arms across his broad chest as he looked at her. "Yeah… riiight." He wasn't about to feed the stubbornness he knew all too well she possessed. He ruffed her hair and moved around her. "I'm just giving you a hard time."


It didn't take long for Kagome to become good friends with the boy she sat in front of in class. His carefree personality was easy for her to get along with, and, frankly, it was a nice change from what she had become so used to. It felt nice to simply just exist.

She felt her phone vibrate in from her back pocket, and she curiously tugged it from her shorts. She tilted her head to the side and stopped her movement as she opened the message. It was from Reki. She had just been on her way to meet him at his home, actually.

From: Reki
Hey! Change of plans. Meet me at the park. I have something for you!

Kagome arched a brow in faint confusion at the sudden shift from the plans they'd decided on after parting the prior day. With a shrug of her shoulders, she typed a quick response and slipped her phone back into her back pocket. The next second, she changed the path she'd been taking, hurrying across the road before more traffic could come.

She was mildly perplexed by the promise that he had something for her.

It didn't take her long to reach the park, and she was able to follow her senses to where he sat waiting for her on the same bench they always met up at. She lifted a hand, waving it in the air as a bright smile appeared on her face.

"Reki!" she called out to him, and, on cue, he picked his head up and leaped up from where he sat, waving his arm in the air too, as if to flag her down. She stifled a giggle and came to a stop, using her foot to kick her skateboard back into her grasp. He looked beyond ecstatic, that emotion bleeding into his aura as he jammed a hand into the front pocket of his hoodie, digging around for something. "Hm?" Kagome let out a curious hum, leaning her weight forward. When he suddenly tugged what he'd been looking for free from the pocket, holding it proudly before her eyes, she tilted her head to the side.

"Here ya' go!" Reki exclaimed with a bright gleam in his eyes. Kagome looked at what he held for a few slow seconds before swapping her focus back to his face. Confusion was apparent in her azure eyes as she craned her head to the side innocently.

"What is… this?" she asked. Despite her confusion, she took the offered item either way, turning it in her hand as she looked at it. It was a small pin in the shape of a yellow diamond. What looked like an elegantly designed S was in the center of the pin in the colors of red and white with a heavy, black outline. It covered most of the diamond shape, spreading off the points of it some. Strung through the S was a black arrow with a red heart opposite of the point.

Reki smiled at her apparent confusion, and he leaned to sling his arm over her shoulders a second later, tugging her into him. She let out a mild huff as she was pulled against his chest, glaring up at him from under her bangs. "Oh, it's just your invitation to probably the coolest thing you'll ever see," he said in a promise, and she hummed.

Well, she was somewhat doubtful of that, given her history, but she was definitely intrigued. She looked from Reki and back at the pin she held. "Oh, well, you've gotten my attention," she said, pulling out from under his arms and placing her hands on her hips, grinning up at him. "Better hope you can back up those words, Reki," she said. He matched her grin with his own, leaning closer to her proudly.

"You know it!" he exclaimed. "I'm gonna come pick you up at the shrine tonight, so clear your plans if you have any."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Oh you mean my plans of sleeping?" she grumbled, "oh sure, why not?" Reki snickered in response, and she huffed silently, reaching out with her free arm and socking him in his with her fist.

"Hey!" he yelped, stumbling back a few paces. "Sheesh… you don't look it but you're way too strong…" he mumbled, rubbing the place she'd hit. She rolled her eyes, able to feel the humor in his aura as he said those words.

"Keep playing and I'll really make you hurt," she stated as she placed her skateboard back on the ground, jumping on it again a second later. As she went past him, she glanced back and smirked. "You better catch up~" she sang.

Reki sighed and rolled his eyes. "Man, you've gotta have some sort of sixth sense or something…" he grumbled as he followed suit with her, matching her pace easily. "How do you do it?"

"Huh?" Kagome glanced at him fully, confusion in her eyes. "Do what?"

"Oh, come on, you know," he responded, moving his hand beside his head without any genuine direction. "It's like you're hyper-aware of everything. It's crazy cool, you know."

A faint flush of pink appeared on her face, and she looked away from him before he could notice. "I-I have no idea what you mean," she responded. She didn't have to be looking at him to just know he was looking right at her, his disbelief clear as day on his face.

"Uh-huh," he responded flatly. "You know… you might be super cool like that, but man you're an awful liar and it sure shows Kagome."

She glanced back at him, sticking her tongue out. He responded with a similar gesture, and they both giggled.

"C'mon you're really not gonna tell me?" he asked, a pout in his voice. She rolled her eyes and sped up to put more space between them. "I thought we were friends…"

"I can't tell you if there's nothing to tell, now can I?" she responded.

Sure enough, she could tell him, if she wanted to. However… she didn't want to. Not from lack of trust or not liking him enough to spill her secrets, but because she wanted a moment to live just as she was now. Free of all that.

She saw nothing wrong with burying that part of her from her public life for a little while longer. She'd tell him eventually, sure, but only when she was ready. Until then…-

"Ugh Reki, you're so slow- yah!"

Her innocent taunt was ruined the moment she glanced fully behind her. When she wasn't paying attention to what was in front of her, she had so very ungracefully ran over an empty plastic bottle lying on the ground, and she was sent stumbling from her skateboard.

While she landed sprawled out, wide-eyed and very confused, she heard a familiar laugh start up from the redhead.

"Hahaha!"

Reki caught up to her and grabbed the back of her shirt, pulling her up and helping her onto her feet all the while he kept laughing. Without missing a beat, he flicked her in the middle of her head, and she huffed, that same flush of pink returning to her cheeks.

"Oh, real big talk from someone still tripping over water bottles," he taunted. Kagome huffed and snatched the bottle up with a mild growl. She threw it into a trash bin with malice in her eyes.

"... maybe Sesshomaru was right to hate humans so much…" she grumbled. Those were words she never thought she'd say, but boy was she feeling that right about now. Reki glanced at her, confused.

"Huh, what was that?"

Kagome perked up, spine straightening, as she forced a mild laugh. "Haha, oh, it was nothing. I was just mumbling."

He seemed to accept her explanation easily enough, and he paused long enough to wait for her. "Fine, fine," he said. "Well, get a move on slowpoke."

Resuming her place on her board, she followed after him. "Alright, let's go!"


Auroua-chan: This chapter has been a long time coming! So, there was a little bit of interaction between Kagome and Joe. He doesn't know about her days spent time-traveling, instead thinking she was sick (much like her school friends were told)

With him so protective of her, it just seemed to be the easiest option.
Speaking of, Joe still sees her as that little kid. It can't be helped, really. She's a bay to him after all. Just wait until he meets her friends like Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, haha

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~