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Disclaimer: I do not own Weiß Kreuz or the angel idea or Yu Yu Hakusho or Inu Yasha. What I do own I've told you so many times I don't feel like saying it again. From here on out, assume that what I've said before still holds true, and I'll just add to either list as things go on. Hmph.

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Blau

Overlapping Religions

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Hiei looked at the little shard of crystal. It sparkled at him, pulling at him in an odd manner. Shrugging, he stuck it inside his shirt.

"There he is!" Inuyasha yelled.

Hiei flitted away. Hn. Wonder what that was? Oh well - not important. He returned to the Makai and promptly forgot about it.

Years passed. Hundreds of years passed, until the time the well connected to arrived. Kagome fell through the well for the first time. A few more years passed. Hiei passed by the well again.

At the same time, Kagome and Inuyasha pulled themselves out, went to the door, and spotted him.

Inuyasha being Inuyasha, he tried to give chase. Of course, he couldn't keep up with Hiei, but he did manage to track his scent outside of Tokyo (with Kagome tagging along) and caught up with him there.

And, of course, Inuyasha being Inuyasha, he tried to attack.

Fortunately, Kagome sat him before Hiei could leave, startling him into stillness. An odd human indeed, who didn't seek to win by any means necessary.

"Hello," she said quietly, and bowed a little, thus earning the beginnings of his respect. "I am Kagome of the Shikon no Tama. You carry one of its shards. May I have it back, please?"

"I don't carry any Shikon no Tama," he returned. If she was startled by the deepness of his voice, it didn't show. Definitely not an ordinary woman.

"You do," she said. "It is near your heart and well-hidden in your aura. I'd say it's been with you a long time."

"How can you tell?" he rumbled.

Inuyasha began to stir, so she sat on him, a hand in his hair telling him to keep quiet. "It has been with my soul for over 600 years, and it knows me as its guardian. Similarly, I am the only one to see its glow."

"And where is it now?"

Getting up gracefully, Kagome walked towards Hiei, caught the sword he automatically drew in a faintly glowing hand, and reached forward.

Hiei held absolutely still.

With fingers unnoticeable but for their intense, searing purity, she pulled the shard from its resting place. The instant her hand touched it, it turned from dark black to blindingly clear, a paint purple and yellow glow pulsing, matching Kagome's heartbeat. She pulled the rest of the jewel from its hiding place and the two pieces fused themselves together.

Dropping the jewel back into security, she smiled at Hiei. "Thank you," she said. "Might I know your name?"

"Hiei."

Kagome smiled again as she let Inuyasha rise. "Flying Shadow, yes? Appropriate, but unpretentious. You're not like any other youkai I've come across."

Hiei snorted. "Of course not. If the youkai you know are like that-" a contemptuous nod at Inuyasha- "then they're ningen. I'm from the Makai."

"I see. The Shikon jewel does not belong to that world, which explains why it wouldn't combine with you."

"Why should it?"

Inuyasha growled.

"It gives ningen youkai a great deal of power," Kagome said. "The more - or larger - the shards, the more power. The entire jewel is enough to turn even a centipede demon into a worthy opponent."

"Feh," Inuyasha said.

"Hush," Kagome told him.

Hiei smiled. "Kagome, hmm?" he said, grabbed her hand, and raised it to his lips. "A pleasure to meet you." Blood red eyes laughed up at hers before he flitted away in time with Inuyasha's hmph. He would have to tell Kurama about her.

~~~-~~~

The hell? Ilde thought, then quickly contacted Min. /*Oi. Guess who I found.*/

/*And?*/

/*Can we?*/

/*They're your responsibility.*/

Satisfied, Ilde grinned to herself. She knew just how to get them, too. "Brad!" she yelled, throwing herself at the American and hugging him. "Oh, God, Brad! They told us you were dead!"

Large hands fell to her shoulders and pushed her back slightly, but his voice was gentle. "I might as well be," he said. "I'm afraid I don't remember anything before waking up in a hospital."

Producing tears, she turned to Farfarello. "Jei? Tell me you remember, please!"

He shook his head, sympathy clearly written in his face, his stance, and his thoughts.

"I see," she said, looking downcast. "Will you at least come home again? I told Min, so everyone will know. Please?"

She didn't let her eyes widen when she felt them subconsciously communicate, using the old connection Shou had put up. Instead, she just looked at them with a hopeful expression. Carefully, she inserted an urge to trust her.

"Alright," Crawford said at last.

Smiling, she linked her arms through each of theirs, and guided them `home,' chattering away about nothing, mixed in with information about the places, the people, and the relationships they had forgotten.

~~~-~~~

"Kagome? You're Kagome?" Ranma asked, surprised. He shouldn't be so surprised, he thought. He was nineteen, so she was eighteen. It should make sense that she was a beautiful young woman.

Kagome blinked up at him. "Yes, I am. Who are you?"

"I'm Saotome Ranma," he said. Sorry about this.

"Ranma? She asked. After a moment of disbelief, she threw herself into his arms. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"

Twin growls came from opposite sides of them. Ranma immediately stiffened. "Akane-"

"Sit," Kagome said. Inuyasha slammed into the ground.

Akane stopped growling and looked surprised.

"Ranma is my cousin," Kagome explained. "His father and mine were brothers. Ranma, this Is Inuyasha, my protector. I gather that's your fiancée? Or have you married yet?"

"Yup!" Ranma said happily, glad to get out of trouble. "Akane's my wife." He freed an arm to wrap it around her waist, looking proud. Akane melted.

Inuyasha, however, was not impressed. He pulled himself up, stalked forward, and yanked Kagome out of Ranma's grasp and into his own. He snarled warningly. Behind him, the god-tree snickered, and he blushed and pulled away before jumping into its branches.

Kagome seemed entirely unperturbed. "Akane-san, might I know what your family name was before you married my cousin?"

"Tendo." She looked uncertain. On the one hand, Kagome was probably a very nice girl, but on the other she was just too calm and womanly and she had a bow and a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder, and Akane still wasn't out of the habit of being jealous of Ranma. Then again, she wore miko-kimono, and there was that rough-looking guy with the white hair and dog ears, but maybe he would want to fight Ranma, and… And Kagome was looking amused, which made her a little angry.

"That family?" Kagome raised an eyebrow.

Ranma scratched at the back of his head. "Yeah."

Kagome smiled. "Ah well. Love is love is love overcomes pretty much everything else. I wish you well."

"Thanks."

"Now wait a minute!" Akane yelled. "Are you saying my family's-"

"Not yours specifically," Kagome said calmly. "But my elder sister was married into the main branch of the clan and went mad as a result of her treatment at their hands. I'm just saying that I won't hold a grudge."

"Oh. Sorry." Then another thought came to her. "Wait. How did you know-"

"That he loves you?" Kagome smiled again, gently and a little sadly. "Before we continue further, please forgive me for not inviting you in. My family is out and I must attend to the shrine. Would you like some lemonade?"

"Yes, please."

After seeing them settled comfortably and attended to, Kagome eased into a half-ready position near the god-tree, and resumed. "The Saotome family tradition is to make as many possible matches for its children so they can have the honor of an arranged marriage as well as the comfort of a love-match. Both Uncle Genma and my father went through an ordeal much like Ranma's, although from the occasional letter we get about it, I think his was far more chaotic than most. Although my father had to take my mother's name to enter our family, he tried to continue the tradition, so I know."

The whispering in the god-tree stopped abruptly.

"However, I'm following in Grampa's footsteps, and my father died before he knew about Souta, so the tradition did not continue after all." She took a deep breath, looked up at the god-tree for a moment, and turned back with her smile firmly in place. "So why are you here, cousin? Surely this is not just a polite visit?"

"Um, well…" Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously. "Pop wants you to come to stay with us at the dojo. He says it's his duty to take over where his brother left off."

Kagome shook her head. "My duty holds me here."

Genma, true to form, showed up. "Don't argue, girl! The family honor-"

"Has been upheld," she interrupted firmly. "As my grandfather's heir, I am bound to this shrine, to the dry well, and to the god-tree. Moreover, I am the priestess of the Shikon no Tama. It is a devotion longer than life, stronger than marriage, and more important than honor. Besides," she said, leaning against the god-tree, "I already have someone."

"And who would that be?" Maybe, Genma thought, if it was someone they'd already made an agreement with…

"That would be me," a voice said as its owner slid down from the god-tree.

Genma fell over. Akane stared. Ranma said, uncertainly, "Cousin, I didn't know that you… uh…"

Kagome blushed and looked irritated.

"Or rather, the male me."

Massive face vault.

"Shaya!" Inuyasha yelled, also dropping down from the god-tree and trying to strangle her.

She evaded him with apparent ease. "Goodness," she said. "You really do hate all your surviving family members, don't you?"

Kagome sat up and calmly sat Inuyasha.

"I'm so hurt," Shaya said, snickering. "You'd think you'd love yourself better than that."

"Shut up," her - brother, for lack of a better word - ground out.

Of course, where one went, the others were soon to follow. Sessa (who had a strong resemblance to Shaya and Inuyasha, but had stripes on her cheeks and arms and a crescent on her forehead in the place of dog ears) and Nara (who had rather wavy black hair and seemingly no pupils) jumped down from the god-tree as well and framed Shaya, all three of them grinning at the Saotomes while Kagome rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I really should get rosaries for you three," she commented.

"And she-who-is-not-in-this-story would take them off again," Nara said.

Kagome gave them a weird look. "You are stra~ange."

"Of course! Let us have our fun. Haven't we been helping you?"

"Not really. You're just annoying."

Genma gaped at his nieces handling of these - these - these demons.

"At least we admit it," Sessa said with a snort of laughter, squatting down and helping Kagome up. "Naraku is a power-hungry idiot, Sesshoumaru is full of himself and a prick (although he's getting better), Inuyasha's angry, rude, and overprotective, and we're sadistic. Those are the facts of life. But we don't kill you, we don't go after the jewel, and we confuse your enemy. You like us." She winked and they ran off somewhere so fast they couldn't bee seen.

~Hwoooooooooooooooooo~

After a long pause, Genma spoke. "Were those demons?"

"They are youkai, yes." Kagome said.

"Ranma, you must send them back to their own world!"

Inuyasha snickered.

"This is their world, uncle. Those are ningen youkai. Now, if you want one from the Makai…"

Genma looked very nervous.

"…then I'm sorry, but the barriers between the worlds have recently been renewed. They won't start showing wear for another 150 years or so."

And he could breathe again. There was still the matter or marrying her off, but…

"I can't leave, uncle. But if you like, you're welcome to stay for a while. I guess."

Genma's eyes lit up. He'd be able to fulfill his brother's duty after all! "Thank you," he said, suddenly polite. "We'd love to."

"Actually, I'd like to go home. Right, Akane?"

Genma fell over again.

~~~-~~~

Kerry sat in the middle of nowhere and mused. She-who-is-not-in-this-story, huh? Oh well, at least they hadn't called her `Mama'.

~~~-~~~

Listening politely to Ilde, Jei was completely unprepared to see a face very similar to his own pop up not more than a few inches away from his own. He recoiled, reaching automatically for a nonexistent knife.

Makizeen handed him a knife and looked at Ilde. "Saa," she said simply. "Do they remember?"

Ilde shook her head. "They don't remember anything before a hospital," she said.

"Oh." Makizeen stood there for a moment, then gently took the knife back from Jei, not bothering with reacting as the sharpened metal cut into the fold of skin between her thumb and index finger. "I'll tell Min," she said, and disappeared back down the stairs that appeared magically as they approached.

"Jei? Are you okay?" Ilde said, looking worried. "I apologize for Maki. She doesn't really think about the effect her actions have on people."

"It's okay," he assured her, and let her lead him into down the stairs and into the new Schwarz headquarters.