Kagome's Paths
By Kagehoshi
Ch1 The Mistake

*Disclaimer- I do not own Inu Yasha or The Labyrinth. I have dreams about David Bowie though*

Kagome Higurashi leaned back in her chair and sighed in relief. Finally she was done with her assignment.

Since completing the Shikon no Tama and having the well seal behind her Kagome had spent all of her free time in study trying to make up for lost time. Now here she was, her third week of her last year of High School and she already had massive amounts of work to do. Most of it was completely pointless and utterly unfair. Take the assignment she had just completed.

In her English class each student had to pick a play out of a box full of old English play-books, read it, and write a summary of what it was about. When the box had come to her, Kagome's eye had been caught by a little red leather-bound book in the corner, partially under some other play about a dead salesman. When she had pulled it out she noticed the title embossed in gold across the front, 'The Labyrinth'. It seemed interesting so she decided to stick with that one. However she soon came to regret that decision. Hour after agonizing hour had been spent in deciphering the antiquated production. Kagome had been proud of her English skills, but this assignment had pushed her abilities to the limit. Once deciphered the story line had been interesting though. A tale of a girl who had done the wrong thing by accident, and the paths she must travel in order to make right her mistake. Until finally after having traveled long and hard, and grown stronger through it, she faces the villain to take back what was stolen.

In a way Kagome could sympathize greatly with the girl in the story. It seemed so similar to what she herself had gone through in the past, in order to regain the Shikon and defeat Naraku. So though she had gone through hell in order to decipher the play, Kagome was glad she had picked this particular one.

She stretched and rubbed her sore neck muscles, this was one assignment that would not get the best of her.

"Kagome!" She heard her little brother, Souta, call out, "I'm hungry!" Rolling her eyes the young school girl pushed herself back from her desk and made her way downstairs to where her little brother was sitting in front of the TV playing video games.

"Souta! Don't sit so close to the TV you'll hurt your eyes." Kagome admonished as she entered the kitchen. Souta stuck his tongue out at her and continued playing his game without moving. Kagome started making dinner, her mother and Jii-chan were out for the evening, so it was up to her to watch her little brother. She decided on Oden, not only was it delicious, but it was also easy to make. Yeah I love Oden!

When she was done cooking Kagome called for Souta and together the two had a nice dinner. Afterwards Kagome decided to take advantage of the remaining daylight and practice on her archery. Even though her quest in the past had been over for a year, Kagome still felt the need to keep her skills sharp. Though they were few and far between she could still feel youkai in the city. She was still a Priestess, and she knew her duty should any demon become a threat.

Feeling the firm wood of the bow in her hand Kagome calmed and began firing at the target set up at the edge of the yard. The twang of the bowstring and the sound of the arrow hitting the mark, all gave Kagome a sense of peace that could not be matched by anything else on this earth. She had practiced hard at her archery and now could consistently hit the mark at 500 paces. A level that not even Kikyo could match. Load, pull back, aim and fire! The rhythm of her practice was etched so deep into her muscles that thought was no longer required.

After about an hour Kagome stopped her bow, the waning light too dim to continue, and made her way back into the house. Souta was nowhere to be seen, so she continued upstairs to her room intending to change out of her uniform and into pajamas. However, when she entered her room she paused and looked around. Something was wrong, something was…missing. Closing her eyes she let her senses fill the room, there in the corner on her desk. Kagome walked to her desk and towards the box where she kept Inu Yasha's Rosary. She had taken it off him before the final battle with Naraku, unwilling to leave it on her hanyou friend any longer, in case something happened to her. Now the slight bit of magic that the rosary exuded was missing, and when Kagome opened the box that was supposed contained it she found it empty.

"Souta." Kagome growled, he was the only one who would dare. Her mother and grandfather understood what that necklace meant to her. Furious now, she turned and barged into Souta's room, fully intent on causing mass destruction. Souta paled at the sight of his sister and backed up several paces. "The Rosary." Kagome bit out, "Give it to me." She held out her hand. Hesitating only slightly the young boy reached into a nearby bag and pulled out the string of beads and dragon teeth. Snatching it back, Kagome fought the urge to smack him. "How could you?" Souta winced at the coldness in her voice, "You know what this necklace means to me. How could you just take it?"

"I only wanted to borrow it." Souta answered his voice quavering, "I just wanted to hold it for a while, I didn't think you'd miss it. You never open that box."

"This isn't a toy!!!" Kagome yelled her voice booming around the small room causing Souta to flinch back, "This isn't some little bauble to be passed around. This is all I have left of him!"

"Why do you want to keep your memories so bad?!" Souta yelled back, now becoming upset as well, "They only make you sad!"

"Stupid brat! I owe it to them not to forget! Sometimes you're so selfish it makes me sick!!" Kagome shook with anger, "I wish the Goblins would come and take you away forever!"

That stupid play, that stupid stupid play. It had wormed its way into her head so that even now, when so was so angry she couldn't even think straight, she uttered a line from its pages.

The room grew silent, then dark. A huge gust of wind knocked Kagome off her feet and caused her long black hair to fall into her eyes. She heard Souta call out, and then there was nothing.

********
Hope you enjoyed this, I don't see many IY/Labyrinth crossovers so I thought I'd give it a try. Tell me what you think.