Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Jewel of the Chaotic Souls ❯ Reunited ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter One

Reunited

The streets of Tokyo buzzed with activity. Students rushed to school, afraid that they'll be late, while adults honked their cars from at the traffics. Some might stop by at the local bum, and give him a few coins out of sympathy, while others would just continue down the block with no backward glance. Suits and ties ready, and a briefcase on hands, man after man, woman after woman hailed a taxi to get to work.

A single girl was unaffected by the hustle and bustle of the city. Walking quietly through the parks, her long raven black hair rippled behind her in gentle forms. Her sea-gray eyes danced, as she viewed the streets from her vintage point. She was in no hurry to get to school.

"I'm back. I'm finally back."

Happily, and with a new burst of excitement, she leaped into the air and started running for the city shrine. And as she ran, she matched the city's rhythm with a pace of her own. Sneakers danced across the pavement streets, as she made her way through the crowd of people bustling through the streets.

Never did she once crash into someone, though several complained from her narrow collapse a few times. She would always just hurry on, throwing back a loud "Gomen*" over her shoulders. And the people, catching onto her excitement, would shake their heads each time and smile.

Running through Tokyo, she finally reached her destination, panting and just slightly out of breath. She stared at the front sign. It looked exactly like she'd left it. The wind-chime was blowing gently from the wind, clinking happily. The welcome sign under the torii* was still the usual happy strokes from her grandfather, who was convinced that he was a priest. Trees of pure green stood on the side, blowing quietly and dancing softly to nature. The steps were clean enough, with just enough speckles of dust around the edges to showed that the little boy inside the shrine had cheated off his chores again.

From the outside, one gets the image that this was a place of eternal peace. It seemed that this Shrine had somehow managed to escape the constant development of Japan, had escaped the many technological advances of the entire world. People respect this shrine, honoring it as much as ancient trees. It was in the ways of the Shinto. Anything that was unearthly would be viewed as "Kami*" for it MUST be the will of the gods that this creation was so beautiful, and had lived to such a ripe old age in the first place!

But then, they would step inside, and the moment they open the shrine door, that image of peace would break. Inside the shrine doors was a homely family. A widowed mother who made wonderful profits from her job, a retired grandfather who did not get the respect he wished from his beloved grandchildren. And there would be two children.

One, a ten year old boy, who is annoying, pesky, and underneath it all, somewhat shy. And a older girl of fifteen, who is accustomed to her life, and is happy with everything life has offered her.

And yet, the girl was no longer the same as the girl that left.

Kagome Higurashi took a deep breath, and slowly walked up the steps. She'd been gone for so long. But, of course, they would not notice. And maybe that was for the best. While SHE had been without them for around 500 years, give or take, THEY had only seen her leave just yesterday.

And yet, she is no longer the same girl they knew.

After she'd become the Protectress of the Shikon no Tama, the well had closed up for her, causing her to be stuck in the Sengoku Jidai* and wait for the day when she would be back to her family's side. She lived through the first few decades of her years with Sango, Miroku, and InuYasha, happy and content with her friends.

Eventually, Sango and Miroku had grown old, and they had finally died of old age. So she lived with their children, and with InuYasha. But, as the years passed, they too grew old, and now, even InuYasha was starting to feel the tolls of old age.

A few decades more, and InuYasha was even gone from her grasp. She is now left only with her kitsune* son, and with the descendants of the taijiya* and houshi*. But, as Shippo grew older, he became more known to the world's ways, and eventually, he had found himself a mate.

As the two kitsune youkai* moved off into their own den, Kagome was left alone in the world, and the ache for her family returned to her. She wanted her friends, but she knew they were happy in the Realm of the Dead. And eventually, she'll meet them there, so there's no point in mourning too much. But her family, her family in the future, was alive--and she craved to be with them once again.

The only one left in her old crowd was Sesshoumaru, InuYasha's half brother. At first, Kagome hated the man's guts, because he was colder than ice itself. But, after a while, she realized, through Rin, that Sesshoumaru really was a sweetie at heart. He just had to built all those barriers around himself, to ensure that he wouldn't get hurt.

And because of that, Kagome's heart melted for him.

He, along with Rin, became her best friends. And Kagome could only be ecstatic when Rin became immortal along with the youkai society, and Kagome. The two became close to Kagome, so close that they were almost her family.

And the Protectress could hardly be more happy to help the Ice Prince establish a realm dedicated solely to youkai. It was becoming hard to maintain the human casualties, and so Kagome, along with the rest of the "Council" had help create a realm dedicated solely to Humans (Nigenkai*), Demons (Makai*), and Supernatural Beings (Reikai*).

Technically, Kagome belonged to the "Supernatural Beings" criteria, but, because of her living family in the Nigenkai she was able to return to the realm to live out the rest of her family's life.

And finally, the day has come for when she could be reunited with her loved ones.

She walked through the steps, and gingerly opened the shrine door. She'd been watching, as her smaller self grew older by years. And she'd been quietly helping her family through those hard financial times--though they never DID guess who their benefactress was.

And Kagome's been waiting all this time, afraid to show herself, for then the Laws of time would be completely warped. And now, finally, after her past self (future self?) had gone back to the well to do battle with Naraku one last time, Kagome could get back to her family.

Mrs. Higurashi was talking on the phone while she catered for some celebrity's party. Souta was, of course, complaining about how he wants more slices of cake for his lunch, while her grandfather was gripping about how he can sense all this demonic ki* surrounding the house.

For just a moment, Kagome's eyes filled up with unexpected tears, and she had to quickly dry them off before they could fall. Her mother looked up then, as though sensing her daughter's turmoil, and promptly said a hasty goodbye when she saw Kagome's face.

She dropped her spatula right there on the counter, dripping in flour and egg, and rushed over to Kagome in her flour caked apron. "Darling," she breathed, wiping the last remains of Kagome's tears away, "Whatever happened?"

Souta and Jii-san* both came, forgetting about the slices of cake and demonic ki. "Nee-chan*?" Souta asked tentatively, a bit unnerved to see his big sister cry. Kagome NEVER cried like this. Whenever she's upset, she'd throw tantrums, and scream. She NEVER cried silently.

So much for keeping them clueless...Kagome sniffed, and hugged them hard. She's missed them so much. It didn't occur to her just HOW much she missed her family, until finally, she felt that painful hole fill up. Mrs. Higurashi stroke her daughter's hair, as the miko* cried herself out.

"I've missed you, all of you." As Kagome composed herself, she smiled knowingly at them. "I'm so happy to see you all again."

And the Higurashi's knew then, that this Kagome standing before them, was no longer the carefree innocent girl that they once knew. This girl has seen the world--twice.

~*~*~*~

And meanwhile, the plot had already begun. A man, with short black, black hair, jerked awake from his bed. His hair was short, dark, darker than night, and he had a wide `x' running through his right eye to slash across his nose. He clutched at the sheet, and felt as though his heart was eating him away.

That strange, vivid dream still coursed through his mind. "Shikon..." he whispered. "Shikon...The Dark Side of the Shikon no Tama...!"

VOCABULARY

Gomen: Sorry

Torii: The large stoned gates that shrines have. The ones with a stone ledge on top, and with two stone legs supporting it. You know, those large gates that shrines have that one can look on forever and forever at...

Kami: God, or anything that is extraordinarily beautiful or unearthly

Sengoku Jidai: The Era of the Warring States. This is the setting that Rumiko Takahashi chose for the series of InuYasha.

Kitsune: Fox

Taijiya: Demon Exterminator/Hunter

Houshi: monk

Youkai: Demon

Nigenkai: This was from the YYH series. The Nigenkai was the realm of the Humans. No demon was allowed into the Nigenkai unless they had a special purpose dictated to them by the officers in Reikai.

Makai: This was ALSO from YYH. This realm was SOLELY for the demons. Any humans who wish to venture into this realm is, of course, entering at their own risk.

Reikai: Also a creation in YYH. This realm is for those that is neither human nor demon. Like, for example, a god or a ghost. This is the Realm of the Dead, so to speak, because all those who died would be sent off to Reikai. The Gods also reside there (those of you who know YYH, you should know this) and acts as judges for the just deceased. You can say Hell is in this realm, because the Gods have right to send the dead to whichever level they deem they deserved. On the contrary, there IS no heaven, just a blissful version of hell.

Ki: energy

Jii-san: Grandfather

Nee-chan: Sister

Miko: A priestess

Author's Corner

^^ None of you can imagine HOW happy I am with this new story. Hachi's been working overtime, and I must say, I rather enjoy it! In the beginning, I'd plan on putting this story up when I finish another, but, because of these IDEAS brewing inside my mind (thanks to Hachi!) I can't seem to concentrate on my other fics until I WRITE THEM DOWN!!!

I'm happy with the way things are so far, because I seem to FINALLY have SOME things done, and I am VERY happy that I'm finally going to have a [crossover] fic. (My friend should be happy--this whole thing was for her.)

I hope I didn't confuse TOO much people, and I hope I didn't LOSE too much people. But, heh, it was INTENTIONAL if any of you have questions. I tried to leek some things out, without TOO much! If you don't HAVE questions, that's COOL too! That just means I've got the thing down (basically) and you're accepting what I'm saying--which is way flattering.

*sigh*

I hope you all enjoyed the beginnings of my new story, and please READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of love from,

Yukisora and Hachigatsu