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 Fourteen

She felt like a complete idiot.

Kagome rubbed her face with her hands as she groaned behind her palms, the realization seeping in gradually but swiftly. There was no earnest reason as to why it should've taken her so long to piece it together, really. Not when her senses were as sharp as they were. She was slipping and lacking, but hey, didn't everyone?

She decided there and then to pin the blame on the stress of… well, everything. Deep down, a nagging part of her silently wagged a finger in disappointment but she ignored it.

Ugh, she was better than that, wasn't she? She wasn't the type of person who could just let her guard down. The world was full of people who sucked, and it seemed as if they were drawn to her like moths to a flame.

She noticed a shift in the air, and she pulled her hands away from her face just in time to observe him lean a bit closer- much to close for her liking. She reeled back automatically, nearly knocking her head against the wall behind her in her pursuit to move away. His look of confusion was fleeting, soon morphing into an amused grin.

"Say, that red flush on your face is pretty cute, y'know."

Kagome gritted her teeth in agitation, catching onto the game he was playing. It bled into his aura like a flashing warning sign. Yet again, something about him triggered that fight or flight instinct within her, and, while she was certain she could take him down with ease, something else within her cautioned her against it. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but for some reason that caution heavily outweighed anything else, and she found herself listening to that impulse.

She scowl on her face deepened as she processed his comment, and she folded her arms across her chest. The gesture was a defensive one, closing herself off as she navigated these uneasy feelings he seemed to stir within her. Maybe it was due to the fact that she struggled so hard to see though his external facade, or maybe it was contributed to something else. Whatever it was left her stagnant in a pond of trepidation.

She observed him with a glare directed at his face. It was a harsh contrast to her rather soft features. It was a glare she'd learned from Sesshomaru, the haughty look searing with both ire and pride. He wasn't fazed in the slightest, his grin only widening a fraction more as if he was looking at something he found endearing.

"Cat got your tongue?" Ran mused when her silence stretched on for several seconds. If looks could kill, then he'd surely be six feet under by now. "Or do ya just get flustered by compliments, pretty girl?"

"Neither," Kagome remarked in a deadpan tone. A curious expression settled across his face when she finally said something. She combed her fingers through her hair, dark lashes dusting against her cheeks as she sighed and shook her head. "Geeze, you're not the easy one to read, huh?" she murmured. It was mostly to herself, but he still heard her rather annoyed retort.

"Oh?" At once, Ran's intention was piqued by her comment. So she'd been trying to size him up? "So-"

"I'm over it," Kagome remarked, swiftly cutting him off with a shrug of her shoulders. He hadn't been expecting that, and she nearly laughed when she felt something akin to offense seep into his aura at her casual disregard.

He was a flirt, and a shameless one that that- that much she could tell. Frankly, that in itself was a mess, and fate wasn't on his side when it came to her. She wasn't one to fall for such superficial praises and compliments.

"It's late," Kagome murmured, pulling her hand from her hair as she sighed. She might as well go to class tomorrow. Something in her told her that maybe, just maybe Takemichi would show up with some better sort of information that could be taken into consideration. "As much as I loved this little chat, going to bed seems like a much better use of my time," she stated, her voice lacking any sign of inflection.

Ran sighed, hand sweeping through his patterned hair. "Y'know, I was thinkin' the same thing, pretty girl," he stated. Before she could even take two steps, she ended up coming to a stiff halt when his next words left his mouth. "You're more than welcome to join me…"

She glanced over her shoulder, sending him a look that teetered between annoyance and disgust. After a moment, she turned her back to him with a scoff spilling from her lips. "Ugh. Hard pass."

He didn't seem to take offense to her response this time, his grin reappearing on his face.

"Careful there, that attitude of yours is almost bigger than you," he remarked with a chuckle. Kagome's brows narrowed in response. A second later, she turned.

"Tch, whatever," she huffed.

She was more than over it at this point.

Seriously… how come she attracted the problem people all the time? When would it be someone else's turn?

She made her way back where her newfound companion still lurked. He glanced at her when she reappeared, his expression a steady constant. A beat or two passed, and Kagome shook her head, shoving her phone into her pocket after peering at the time once more.

As nice as it was to have the chance to merely breathe, she wasn't able to shake the feeling currently coiling tight within her, the one that told her to leave. She was one to always abide by her instincts, and she didn't feel like ignoring it starting now.

"Y'know, it's later than I thought," she stated. There was also a lingering thought about school tomorrow, and she remembered she hadn't stepped foot in a classroom for a few days now. "It was nice to meet you, but I think I'm gonna go," she added as an afterthought.

Rindou shrugged, brushing a hand through his blonde and blue hair. "Suit yourself," he stated. She had already walked to the door by the time he was on his feet, her hand lingering on the doorknob as she glanced at him.

"I'll see you around," she said. Those words served to be her parting message. The next second, she'd swiftly left through the door, using her senses to navigate a mostly unfamiliar territory.

She was confident she'd end up crossing paths with him again. She could strive to avoid them both at all cost, but she knew perfectly well the course her life tended to go. That nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach worsened each second she dwelled on those thoughts.

Both of the brothers. She knew it wasn't going to be the last time she ran into them. Deep down, something told her that this would be the most peaceful interaction. That notion did nothing to ease the pit she could feel growing.

She always had such rotten luck.

Kagome could safely say she understood how Inuyasha felt waiting for her to come back to the past. Really, now that she was in his place, she couldn't blame him for his impatience back then. People say that patience is a virtue. Well, she was also swiftly learning that it was no virtue of hers.

She'd gone to class that day, but it took her only a few seconds to realize that the person she'd been expecting had yet to return. It was hours later, and she was outside tending to some general outdoor upkeep of the shrine.

She could feel a familiar aura treading up the stone staircase, and her grip on her broom loosened momentarily. A second later, she turned. When she did, she caught sight of just the person she'd been waiting around for.

Takemichi bent over to catch his breath upon reaching the top of the stairs. He braced his palms on his thighs, shoulders heaving as he recovered from his sprint up them. Sure, he hadn't needed to run the whole way to the shrine and then up the stairs, yet he'd done it anyway, and now he was stuck dealing with the painful burning in his lungs as a punishment.

Kagome observed him silently for a few seconds. After a moment, a smile broke out across her face. She set the broom against the side of the well house and closed the gap to him.

"You get used to it eventually," she stated, talking about the stairs. Takemichi groaned.

"Between you and me, I don't think I'll ever get used to them," he muttered in response. It didn't matter whether he was in the past or future, those stairs were nothing to mess with. His legs were still a bit jellified, too!

Kagome's smile softened some, and she reached out her hand. She rested her palm on his shoulder. It was abrupt, the way all of his discomfort faded. It was as if her touch had restored his labored breathing and soothed the aches in his calves. At once, he was reminded of their first meeting, and how she'd so seamlessly tended to his injuries with a touch that seemed like magic.

Well, with everything he knew about her, he wouldn't exactly be surprised if she was magic…

"There," she murmured in a delicate, nurturing tone. Her hand eased off his shoulder and fell back to rest at her side. "Is that better?"

Takemichi stood back up to his full height and nodded. "Yeah, actually," he responded. "How…-? How do you do that?"

Kagome blinked owlishly, a look akin to surprise flittering across her face when he called her out on it in such a steadfast manner. After a moment it faded, and he was left looking at her usual composed expression.

His question made her think. After all, he already knew quite a bit more than anyone else outside of her demon companions did. Did it really matter if she kept secrets from him at that point? A long pause of silence stretched out between them, but she soon broke it with a bell-like laugh.

The answer to her own question had a very obvious answer. She'd answered her own question long before the thought was even fully formed.

"Short answer?" she mused softly, a faint hum spilling from her lips in apparent contemplation. "I'm a priestess."

While it was an answer, all it served to do was awaken more questions in him. She seemed to catch onto it, and she stifled a giggle behind her palm.

"Among other things, my spiritual energy is also quite strong," she stated, lifting a hand. At the same time, a faint glow started in the middle of her palm. It was pink and felt comfortably warm. "I can use them for a lot of things, but I prefer using them for healing. In the end, I think it's better for everyone if I were to utilize them in such ways."

Her response, while strange to hear, was easy to believe considering the other things he already knew about her. The more time he spent around her, the more he talked to her, the longer the knew her…- All it did was add more and more to the unique image that she possessed.

"You're… strange," he stated after a long pause. It took him not even a full second to peg what he just said, and the color drained from his face as he held his hands up by his head, waving them erratically as if to try and wave off those words. "Ah! I didn't mean it like you're a weirdo or anything, I just-!"

Despite his clear panic, Kagome's expression never once changed. She soon cut off his rambling with a faint laugh. "No, you're right," she said. At once, he fell silent. "I'm plenty strange, but you're hardly one to talk."

She had him there, and she knew it. The panic on his face faded into a smile. A second later, she turned away from him.

"Only difference between you and me is that no one will ever believe you," she added, a grin spreading across her face as she cut her eyes back at him, peering at him through wild raven hair. He caught her comment, his smile faltering into an expression of offense.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?" Takemichi asked, swiftly following after her as she walked off.

"Hmm?" Kagome hummed, turning to fully face him. She clasped her hands together behind her back as her smile turned into a sly smirk. "Oh, nothing~"

Takemichi pouted, his shoulder slumping in defeat. Well, it wasn't like she was wrong.

000

He was as nervous as he had been before being back inside the seemingly peaceful shrine. Out of reflex, he glanced over his shoulder to see if any of the faces he'd met in the future were around, but to his relief, it seemed like she was once again the only one home.

"If you want, you can sit at the kitchen table," Kagome stated, breaking away from him and heading to the staircase on the other end of the hallway. Before he could ask what she was doing, she pointed a finger towards the stairs. "I'm gonna go grab something from my room and then I'll join you."

"Oh, right," Takemichi nodded, already heading in the direction she'd pointed him in. He sat at one side of the table, idly glancing around. He'd done the same thing last time he'd been there. He couldn't help it. It seemed like every little thing around the shrine did a little more to piece together the mystery that was Kagome.

Something warm and wet touched his ankle, and Takemichi jumped out of reflex. The chair under him wobbled some as he bolted up onto his feet. He peered under the table, and when he did, he spotted a cream-colored cat sitting staring up at him. Her tails flicked to the side

Wait…

Tails? As in more than one?

He could remember reading a few things online about animals getting born with extra limbs and features, but he never thought he'd see something like that in person. He crouched down, getting closer to the cat as he let out an amazed sound.

"Woah…-"

It wasn't just the double tail that made her seem so unique. Her crimson eyes were also unlike anything he'd ever seen in person before.

"You look so cool," Takemichi murmured, reaching a hand out for her to sniff. The cat leaned closer, scenting the air around him curiously. Once she'd done what she wanted, she backed off and jumped up onto one of the chairs, making herself comfortable as she tucked her tails behind her and her feet under her.

Takemichi smiled and turned to fix the chair he'd been in. He moved it closer to the table again. Footsteps in the distance caught his attention, and he assumed it was Kagome coming back down to join him. He turned to face the doorway, and a few seconds later, a figure came to a standstill in the middle of the frame.

At once, Takemichi felt the color drain from his face when he realized that it wasn't the girl he'd been waiting for.

Cold, almost freezing, gold eyes locked onto him. Even the air in the room seemed to grow colder under the intense weight of his stare. He looked the same as he did twelve years into the future, long silver hair flawlessly shining.

The molten pools of gold narrowed as Takemichi felt him sizing him up. The look on his face alone was enough to render him completely silent.

If he'd been intimidating in the future, then this was next level.

He didn't even need to speak to convey a thousand words.

"I-I… I uh…-" Takemichi struggled to form a sentence under the weight of his glare.

000

The bizarre scent clinging to the blue eyed teenager standing in the room was so akin to the sort that clung to Kagome. So much so, that he'd initially mistaken it for her. It didn't take him long to figure out the differences, however.

Sesshomaru watched as he fumbled and struggled to say something, anything. If he recalled correctly, this boy… He must've been the one Kagome spoke of. If the scent clinging to him meant anything, there was no mistaking it.

If that were the case, then he knew details pertaining to her fate in the future, did he not? The thought alone lingered in his mind.

He didn't just know the details, but the person at fault.

"I'm back! Oh-" Kagome paused upon spotting Sesshomaru and Takemichi, the latter of which was practically trembling. She sighed and shook her head, flicking a hand to try and dismiss Sesshomaru. "Geeze, you're the worst sometimes," she stated in a flat tone. Sesshomaru glanced at her, unfazed by her comment. "I thought you had stuff to do."

"I do," he responded after a pause. He was unbothered by her lecturing comments. "I was merely leaving."

"Liar," Kagome stated, weaving her way around him. Sesshomaru paused in his tracks, glaring at her. Greatly contrasting the way Takemichi had nearly crumbled under the weight of it, Kagome merely smiled and stuck her tongue out at him. "Bye-bye~"

There was no response offered as he turned and left, and Kagome stifled a laugh behind her hand. A moment later, she glanced at Takemichi. She reached to pat his shoulder in a reassuring touch.

"He's really not that scary," she stated. It was a lie, and she knew that.

"That's easy for you to say," Takemichi muttered, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. "I think running into him now was scarier than running into him twelve years from now."

Kagome cocked her head to the side, and she chuckled a second later. "You just gotta get used to him."

That was something he'd doubted he'd ever achieve.

"So you're saying things didn't change in the future," Kagome stated in a low tone. There was a hint of knowing to her voice as she said those words, and Takemichi felt his hands tighten on his lap.

"But you already knew that, right?" he asked. He couldn't ignore the pang of hurt that clenched at his heart when he only nodded in response. "I figured as much, but…-"

"It was still worth it for you to go back," she stated, cutting him off before he could finish what he was going to say. She felt his gaze linger on her, but she kept her gaze downcast to the table. "I… Even if my fate doesn't change, that doesn't mean others won't."

"That doesn't matter to me," he responded. "Because I want to save you, too."

He hadn't known her long, but he was already positive about what he wanted to do. She… Kagome didn't deserve to die so soon. He didn't miss the way her expression turned more tense.

"I should be the last person you're worried about," Kagome stated in a blunt tone. For a moment, he was taken aback by her response. "Focus on your priorities."

"First, second, last… it doesn't matter!" Takemichi argued back. Finally, Kagome lifted her gaze to his face. The glare on her face was very familiar to the Sesshomaru's. "Because even if you think you're the last person I should save, I'm still going to do it. Even if you're the last person, you're worthy of being saved, Kagome."

"Sheesh… childhood ignorance…-" Kagome muttered under her breath. Despite her comment, she found it sickeningly sweet- the way he seemed to mirror her old self. The reversal of roles felt so strange for her. "Do you even realize-"

"Before you asked me what I'd do if it ended up that I couldn't change anything," Takemichi said, cutting her off as easily as she'd done to him. "You asked if I would be able to live with the burden left behind. Back then… I didn't have an answer, but now I do," he stated, his hands tightly clenched in his lap. A new sort of resolve seemed to seep from his pores. "If it comes to that, then I'll shoulder that burden knowing I did everything I could, but until then I'm not going to give up! I'm going to save everyone I can, and that includes you! Even if you give up on yourself, I'm not going to."

The words had all come forth before he could even try to stop them. In the silence that followed, he repeated the words in his own mind. There wasn't a single part of him that wanted to take them back, so he wouldn't.

"I've made up my mind," Takemichi stated. "No matter what it takes, I'm going to do everything I can to change the future into something better."

"Mikey spiraled out and went awol with her gone."

Even if she wrote off how much she meant in her own head, that paled in comparison to the truth.

"If you're gone in the future, Mikey won't be himself. Toman turned evil because Kisaki was basically left in charge after you died and Mikey hid away, to the point no one can even find him," Takemichi stated. Her expression cracked some, a hint of sadness brimming in her blue eyes at the way he'd said those words. "If not for yourself, then find someone else to try and survive for. If you survive, then maybe…-" he trailed off in a thoughtful tone. "Then maybe that's exactly the change that's needed."

He hoped that she'd see it the same way as he did, but he already knew that she was stubborn. Still, that did nothing to keep him from being hopeful.

Kagome sighed, the sound breaking the silence that'd built up between them. "You've changed, you know?" she murmured, resting her chin on her palm as she peered at him from across the table. The comment took him by surprise.

"You think so?" he asked, motioning towards himself with a finger. "In what way?"

A soft smile lingered on her face as she shook her head. "You're… more confident." she stated after a moment. "It's a good thing. Y'know, no one wants to lean on someone unreliable and lacking confidence."

Her words caused a burst of warmth to form inside his chest, a smile appearing on his face at her gentle acknowledgment. "I've found my resolve," he stated. Kagome nodded, moving to fold her hands on top of the table. "And I'm not about to give up now."

"What else did your trip back to the future reveal to you?" she asked. He'd been gone for quite some time, so he must've stumbled across some sort of information or hatched some plan. Her question brought a solemn look to his face.

"Right…" Takemichi mumbled, glancing down at his lap. "On August third, Draken is supposed to die."

"On August third?" Kagome repeated, perking up some. "That's the day Toman will be fighting Moebius."

"You know about that, huh?" he asked, and Kagome nodded.

"I got the memo from Mikey and Draken, actually," she stated.

It didn't surprise him in the slightest.

"Something happened leading up to that day," Takemichi stated. "Apparently there's some sort of fight that's supposed to happen between Mikey and Draken, and then sometime during the fight with Mobius, something happens to Draken and causes him to die."

Kagome was quiet as she took in his words, her expression darkening. "Then we can't let that happen," she stated. Takemichi nodded.

"Right," he said. "In the future, Mikey started to change after Draken's death. If we can stop that from happening, then maybe…-"

She'd been debating on getting involved in the whole thing, but now it seemed like she had no other choice. Kagome rested her chin on her palm, idly tapping her foot against the ground.

Whether it was to fight or not, she would be present at that conflict.

"I'm going to stick with Draken and be a bodyguard," Takemichi stated. Kagome perked up again, arching a brow at his bold claim.

"Really?" she asked in a flat tone, but Takemichi merely smiled and nodded. "Good luck with that," Kagome snorted as she stood up.

Auroua-chan: Gonna wrap this chapter up here.

Everything's about to get good, and I'm so excited for it! Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed. Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry. My spellcheck is being wonky.

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

Bye for now~