Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Inuyasha or Kuroko no Basket, they belong to their respective authors/creators.

The Battlefield of Basketball: It's Just Began

Chapter Four: Beginning Again

Tokyo, Japan

March 12th

It took a few minutes before Kagome had the energy to let go of Buyo, who immediately scaled the well wall to get out, and start climbing back up the well herself, leaving her yellow backpack at the bottom. She would grab it later when it won't be suspicious. Souta had already run to get their grandfather, scared of the bright light that had happened when Kagome had first gone into the well. They came back, as she was closing the door to the wellhouse, "Kagome! Are you alright? Did you get Buyo? Why are you crying?!"

Wiping her cheeks, she said, "I'm alright Souta, just some dust in my eyes and Buyo climbed up by himself. He must have gone back to the house."

"Kagome, what about the light that Souta saw?" Her Ojii-san asked.

She shook her head, "It was nothing to worry about." He looked like he might continue, but she quickly glanced at her phone before saying, "I have to get going or I'm going to be late for school!" She waved and headed towards the stairs. "I'll see you later Ojii-san, Souta. Have a good day!"

Walking towards school, she kept wiping her cheeks, 'Why can't I stop crying!? I'm home! I've kept my promise! I can just live my life now… so why… why does my chest ache like I just lost everyone yesterday?! Why do I feel so alone? Yuuto? Naraku? Can you hear me?'

No answer. What was going on? She knew that they were still resting in her soul, their powers felt odd within her, flashing and flaring, though never breaking above where her power rested just beneath her skin. Even though they had worked and melded their powers together while outside of time, it wasn't while she was in her physical body. 'There might be some side effects from making that bargain with Yuuto that I didn't think about… Naraku has a massive amount of youkai, and Yuuto's powers are unique themselves… I may be a rather unique miko, but my body is still mostly human.'

She paused just outside the gates to her middle school as a frown crossed her face, 'The question is, for how long? When I had Kikyo's soul resting with mine, we were similar in many ways, so there were no incompatibility issues. Even having the Shikon in me all those years just affected my powers, sealing and containing the Shikon's power and with Magatsuhi using the Shikon to seal most of my abilities in reverse. It didn't feel anything like this.' She winced as a sharp flare skittered across the nerves in her spine. Without thought she headed towards the restrooms, even as she sent a sharp surge of her own powers towards where her two companion's power was coming from. Hoping they got the message to stop it. She wouldn't be able to think if that kept happening all day!

Thankfully, they calmed down. Kagome sighed in relief before she saw her face it the mirror! "Aa! I look awful! Oh, this is bad! I need to fix my eyes before the girls see this! They'll never leave me alone if they do!"

Splashing cold water on her face for a minute before getting out some concealer from her bag, Kagome felt her lips tilt up a little. 'At least I was prepared for any problems today.' Looking up, she tried to give a happy-go-lucky smile, like she used to just yesterday, or over 500 years ago. It didn't work. It looked jaded, or maybe that was her eyes. For all that her face and body were back to her teenage self with the memories to go with those years, it didn't change the centuries that she had also lived. She'd always had a bad poker face and her eyes couldn't lie…they looked old, ancient, and remote. They reminded her of his eyes.

Tears started to come up again and Kagome roughly shook her head before patting her cheeks. "No! No more crying! It's my birthday and I just finished something amazing! I'm going to focus on myself and my life from now on. I don't need to be responsible for anyone else!"

Nodding resolutely, she headed to her homeroom as the bell rang and students hurried to get to their classes. 'Yes, it's time I focused on myself instead of everyone else. I don't need to worry about them anymore. Everyone is fine! And so am I!'

'Alright, maybe not so fine.' Gym class was going badly. She was even clumsier than she used to be! She kept coming up short in her reach and steps, which caused her to fumble with any ball tossed her way and trip over her own two feet. Doing only five laps around the field exhausted her! Her! The Shikon no Miko! Who, towards the end of her quest, could keep up with Inuyasha if she fed her powers into her muscles! Who could fight nearly toe-to-toe with Sango!

On the far side of the field she leaned over, hands on her knees, trying to get her breathing even again. 'I'm back to my weak, untrained body! I'll have to do all that work all over again if I want to have any of my old skills! Kuso! Why?! Just why! I'll have to go through my growth spurts again, and the hormones! Ugh! Why was that bargain worth it again!?'

"Sheesh, Kagome-chan!" Yuka exclaimed as she came up beside her, "What's going on? Normally, you're better at gym than Eri-chan and Ayumi-chan, but now you're worse than both of them together!"

"Gee, thanks Yuka-chan. Just what I needed to hear." Kagome muttered.

"And that's another thing! Since when are you so sarcastic? I thought we all agreed, I'm the witty sarcastic one, Eri-chan is the relationship guru, Ayumi-chan is the sweet songbird, and you're the happy sunshine one." Yuka grinned as Eri and Ayumi collapsed on the ground by them, "When did we switch roles? And why didn't you tell me!? This could be fun! Do I get to give the relationship advice today instead of Eri-chan?"

Kagome started to giggle and couldn't stop. She collapsed on the ground, holding her stomach as she laughed harder than she had in what felt like years.

"I think you broke her, Yuka-chan. And on her birthday too! How is she going to get a boyfriend if they all think she's cracked!"

"Eri-chan, I'm sure no one will be thinking that. Maybe Kagome-chan just needed a laugh today." Ayumi grabbed Kagome's hand to help her sit up as her giggle fit slowly died down. "Are you okay Kagome-chan? You've been very serious today. Is everything alright?"

Kagome gave a small smile, "I'm okay Ayumi-chan. Just doing some thinking. We're all fifteen now and headed into high school next month. It's just a lot when I think about what's next."

"Maa," Yuka sat down with them, "Don't worry too much, Kagome-chan! It will be exciting to be a high school student and getting to do fun new things! But seriously, what's going on with you today? You're being so clumsy!"

She blushed, "I…I think I'm starting a growth spurt. My coordination is off. I can't seem to walk right, and I keep dropping things!"

Eri giggled, "Well at least it's nothing crazy, like a deadly sickness, but the next few months aren't going to be easy for you."

Kagome groaned and flopped over Yuka's shoulder, "Don't remind me! It's going to be awful; I can just tell!"

"Well, we'll be there to help you through it!"

"That's sweet Ayumi-chan. Thank you!"

"Though it's not going to be easy with us picking different high schools to go to."

"True, Yuka-chan, but we can still meet up on the weekends and talk about boys and classes and clothes and boys!"

"You said boys twice, Eri-chan."

"Exactly!" Eri beamed at them. "We're all going to have boyfriends by this time next year or I'm going to swear off matchmaking forever!" She paused, "Well, at least for three months."

Kagome gave a soft snort, "Forever is much shorter than I thought it was."

Eri swatted at her, "Don't be like that Kagome-chan! Don't you want to have a special someone?"

She stiffened and pulled away from Yuka, standing up and looking towards the teacher, "I don't think I want to get into a relationship right now. Especially with new schools and helping out more at the shrine. Maybe we should head back now, the teacher looks like he's going to call us soon."

"Eh! No, he isn't! Don't change the subject! Kagome? Kagome?!" Eri frowned at her friend's back, "Did she forget we have lunch after this? She's not getting out of this conversation!"

"Maybe she didn't want to talk about it where everyone nearby could hear it?" Yuka crossed her arms and glared at a nearby group of boys that, while talking amongst themselves, occasionally glanced their way.

Ayumi stood up and then helped both of them up, "Well, let's head in and then find a nice secluded place in the courtyard where we can talk during lunch!"

Both nodded and did just that, with Eri clinging onto Kagome's arm, dragging her behind them as she marched over to a quiet corner of the courtyard. Making sure Kagome sat down with Ayumi on one side and Yuka on the other, Eri completed the circle and cut off any escape avenue she could have. As everyone opened their bentos and started to eat, Eri could only wait so long before she picked up the conversation where she left it.

"Why don't you want to be in a relationship, Kagome? I thought you were interested in Hojo-kun?"

She grimaced and shook her head, "No! Maybe I was, but it's different now."

Yuka crossed her arms, "Since yesterday? Really?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Ayumi gently grabbed her hand, "Kagome-chan? Did something happen? Did Hojo-kun do something?"

Her eyes widened, "No! Of course not! He's too kind to deliberately hurt someone!"

"Then what's going on? It can't just be the growth spurt or thinking about high school." Eri was frowning.

Kagome rubbed her face with one hand and avoided their eyes, "I… I started miko training earlier this week. It's more serious than I thought and part of it, at the beginning, is about self-reflection, knowing myself deeply before I can help others in their own lives. Hojo-kun is very nice, but he's not what I want for my future. I… I don't think I'll ever get married." Her eyes welled up, "I don't… don't think anyone can… match up to my… my red string of fate, but… but that's been cut."

"What… what do you mean by that, Kagome-chan?" Eri whispered as they all leaned closer to her, both to hear her quiet words better and to shield her from anyone who may come towards them.

She tightened her grip on Ayumi's hand and tugged on a piece of her hair with the other. "I… I have some traditional miko abilities… and one is seeing the auras around people and places, but that also means I can see connections… if… if I look hard enough. The red threads of fate are connections and when I looked at mine this morning… it… it…" Tears choked her and she couldn't finish, so Yuka did for her, "It was cut."

She nodded.

"Oh, Kagome-chan!" Ayumi pulled her into a hug with Yuka and Eri wrapping their arms around her as well. She burst into tears again, grieving anew for what was already lost to her. Maybe if she didn't know it was a red string of fate it wouldn't hurt as much, but she knew, and she also knew no one else would ever compare to… to… She buried her head into Ayumi's shoulder. 'Why am I crying so much today!? I just want to move on with my life! I want to let the past go!'

Even as she thought that she knew it for the lie it was. She never wanted to forget. She never wanted to let go of her love for him. It was such a large part of her heart and had been for centuries. If she gave it up, Kagome knew she would be empty in a way that was dangerous to anyone with the power she had. If she gave that love up, without anything to take its place, and became numb to her emotions… she didn't want to imagine what she would do in that state. 'Part of what makes me, me, is my emotions.' She didn't want that part of herself to change. 'I'll take the pain, the agony; as long as the love and happy memories stay with me as well.'

Slowly her crying stopped, and she just rested in her friends' arms, "Thanks you guys. I… I needed that."

"Anytime Kagome-chan," Ayumi whispered as Eri used her napkin to wipe Kagome's cheeks and Yuka squeezed her shoulder, "Anytime."

History was the last class of the day, which Kagome was distantly thankful for since that meant she didn't need to pay close attention to it. She'd seen a huge part of it firsthand anyways and, irony of ironies, they were reviewing about Tokugawa Ieyasu in class today. 'Well,' she thought as she stared out the window, 'at least I'll do good on the test next week.'

"Higurashi-san, since you aren't listening, I trust that you know what era the creation of the Tokugawa shogunate under Ieyasu-sama brought about? And the significance of the Tokugawa shogunate to our history?"

Absentmindedly, she responded while still staring at the cloudy sky, "Hai, sensei. It brought about the Edo Period, which had a massive effect across all of Japan in government, politics, foreign affairs, and more. The Tokugawa shogunate took the nation from the warring states era into over 260 years of stability and peace, the longest in Japan's history. The shoguns held the power during those years, leading and guiding Japan towards where we are now." She paused, then added softly, "I think Ieyasu-kun would be pleased with how far his legacy took the nation into the modern era. He was a visionary and a charismatic leader, for all that he was rather pragmatic and cunning as well."

A stunned silence greeted her response and it finally registered what she said. Her eyes snapped into focus. Looking around she saw the dropped jaws of her classmates and the shocked look on her sensei's face. 'Kuso! That was too much information! I didn't think about how that would sound or if I have information that doesn't quite match up with historical records!'

Blushing, she let her hair fall forward to hide her face as she said, "At least that's what I would assume from what I've heard my grandfather say about that part in history and what I've seen in the records at my family's shrine."

Kagome felt the shock drain from the room as everyone took what she said at face value.

"Ah," her teacher coughed before continuing. "It's good to know students are taking such an interest in our history and heritage. Keep it up, Higurashi-san."

She nodded and looked down at her text. Reading over what history had to say about someone she knew so well, someone she had guided and taught for decades, a friend whose legacy was just as much hers as it was his. A bitter smile slid across her face, yes indeed, what irony time and fate had made of her.

"I'm home!"

"Happy Birthday, Kagome! I made your favorite for dinner! It will be ready in just a few minutes."

"Arigato, Mama! I'll be down soon." She kept smiling until she reached her room. Looking around, she cringed, 'Pink, pink, and more pink. I haven't liked this much pink in years! Just one more thing I'll need to change in the next few weeks.' She set down her bag and brushed a hand along the windowsill, 'So many things are different. How am I going to explain this to Mama and Ojii-san? I don't want to lie or tell half-truths like I've done all day, but would they even believe me?'

"Kagome! Dinner!"

"Coming!" Going down the stairs, Kagome tried focus on the here and now. 'I don't need to decide today. For now, I'll just enjoy my time with my family. It's been so long since I've seen them.'

Sitting down to her Mama's food was wonderful. It was great to just sit with them all in peace and listen to their days, even talking a little about her own. Smiles started to come more easily, and she focused on these brief sweet moments.

After helping clean up, Souta headed into the living room to join Ojii-san and Mama set down a cup of fragrant green tea in front of her. As she set down across from her with a cup of her own, Mama asked, "Kagome dear, are you alright? I haven't seen you so somber on your birthday in years. Did something happen?"

The concern in her voice and the worry on her face nearly made Kagome crumble. Looking down at the tea, she shook her head, "No, nothing happened." She paused before whispering, "But yes, something's changed. I… I can't talk about it yet, but," She took a deep breath, letting the steam of the tea fill her lungs even as the smell caused nostalgia to hit hard again with memories of tea around campfires and the discussions at night after a day of travel. "But I want to study more miko duties for the shrine. I'd also like to work on kyudo and martial arts behind the house if that's okay?"

"I don't mind, and I'm sure your grandfather will be ecstatic, but what brought this on?

"I want to get in better shape and… I need something to focus on right now." She looked up into warm brown eyes, "I'm different from who I was yesterday, and I want to make some changes, both in myself and around me. Can I change my room too?"

Her Mama's hands gently grasped her own cupped around the tea, "Of course. And when you're ready, you know you can come talk to me about anything Kagome."

She smiled, "I know Mama, and I will. Just… not yet."

Mama nodded and they finished their tea in comfortable quiet, both deep in their thoughts.

Kagome wanted to try and mediate before going to sleep, to get in contact with Naraku and Yuuto, but she was exhausted from the day. Collapsing on her bed, she was asleep in less than a minute. Dreaming she slowly slipped deeper and deeper into her soul until a pair of arms pulled her into a lap and her hand was put on the head now resting on her stomach, "We were wondering when you would come, Ka-go-me."

Grinning she opened her eyes to see gleaming red eyes looking down at her and both of them playing with her hair and cuddling with her. "It was a busy day, and you both didn't help with flaring your powers like crazy earlier!"

"We couldn't contact you, Kagome-chan! It was frustrating so we decided to get your attention."

"Well, it did do that. But if you were saying anything, I couldn't hear you."

"So we gathered, with the jolt you sent back," Naraku said. "We'll need to work on that. I would rather see what is going on with the world outside, even if I can't influence it."

She sighed, "Yeah, not sure how that's going to work."

"Why are we having such a problem? We've combined power and abilities before with no issue." Yuuto asked as he twisted a piece of her hair around and around his fingers.

Kagome gently tugged on his hair giving him a half smile, "I'm back in my body, Yuuto. Normally the soul is tightly bound to the body and what happens to one effects the other. When we were outside of time and put my body into stasis, I didn't have any of those limitations anymore. It made it easier to blend powers and abilities that aren't natural to a human body."

"Kukuku, not a full human. Remember your one ancestor is Inuyasha."

"True, but that was centuries ago and I'm mostly human, even if not completely." She leaned against Naraku, "It might get even worse as my body tries to adjust to both of your powers being active. Plus, I'm so used to blending our powers that I'll probably try to do that instinctively and it could be a problem until we work out what I can handle."

"Yes, it's likely your body will start changing to adapt. Some of our traits might start bleeding into you even more than before, Kagome-chan."

"Yeah, it's not going to be a fun next few months as we deal with this and then the next five years as I grow up again." She huffed and closed her eyes, "How about we worry about that tomorrow? I need to rest before we do anything about this."

"Okay, Kagome-chan." Yuuto snuggled closer to her, "We have a surprise for you tomorrow too!"

"…should I be worried?"

"Kukuku, sweet dreams, Kagome dear."

The next day she woke up early and headed outside, stopping in shock by the Goshinboku. It didn't have the scar in its bark anymore! She had missed that yesterday, but it made sense since Inuyasha was never sealed to it. Even though she had seen it occasionally outside of time and had the fresh memories of the recent fifteen years with this as the new normal, it still looked weird.

Shaking her head, she moved towards the wellhouse. Opening the door, she quickly went down the well and grabbed her worn yellow backpack. Coming back to the entrance, she glanced around and checked her home. No lights on, no sounds of people nearby. Good. She quietly hurried up to her room and stuffed the backpack into the back of her closet hiding it behind a few boxes and some clothes. She'd look over what was in there later, much later.

Going back outside she headed towards the few trees behind her home and beyond the storehouse. She sat down right in between them breathing deeply and calming her mind. Her powers started to ebb and flow as she worked with them before she dove deep to where Yuuto and Naraku rested in her soul. Lightly touching their powers, she asked, 'Can you both hear me?'

'Loud and clear, Kagome-chan!'

'Yes, now open your eyes Kagome. Let's see if we can show you our surprise.'

'Alright, here goes,' Opening her eyes she looked towards the sky where just hints of yellow showed that dawn was coming.

'It's so nice to see the sky in real time! Now you need to head back to the Goshinboku!'

'Okay, if you insist.' Getting up, she went back over to the Sacred Tree.

'Put your hand where the scar used to be, what do you sense?'

Kagome did so, closing her eyes to focus better. 'A barrier!'

'Hai! Go through!'

Pushing her powers to the surface, her hand glowed a gentle blue-white with wisps of purple and pink interspersed within it. The barrier yielded and she stepped into the tree and came out behind it in a forested glade. It was eerily familiar.

"Nani!? Inuyasha's forest!? How is this still here? When did you put it into a pocket space!?"

'After you saved their daughter and helped protect the village, I went to the monk and slayer a few decades later in a dream while you were mediating and asked about putting a barrier around part of the forest with the Goshinboku as the entrance. I told them it could be a safe haven if the worst should happen, but only those with powers would know that it was there.'

'As time passed those with the knowledge and abilities to sense what was there died away like all others. Once when we blended our powers, I took some of yours to reinforce the barrier while you were distracted with one of the southern barriers. This is our gift to you. For the last 500 years and the bargains you made with us, we present-

'A piece of the past!'

Tears started falling as she slowly walked into the center of the glade and collapsed into the tall grass and wildflowers. She could smell the earth and green living plants all around her. The taste of the forest lingered in the air. Even just a day into her original time and she had missed the wilderness and clear air that had slowly disappeared over the last 500 years. They had given her a piece of it back and no one else knew this was here. It could be a sanctuary for her through the coming years. She could train here without worrying that someone would see! "It's perfect!"

'It's just what I needed! Thank you! Thank you both so much!'

'Kukuku, you are most welcome, little miko.'

'Glad you like it, Kagome-chan! Go explore! We still have time before you need to go back to the house! We put the barrier in a half-circle away from the old village with the far side being 12 kilometers away!'

'Hai!'

Laughing she stood up and jogged into the woods, picking up her pace until she was flying around the trees. Leaping and twisting, pushing her powers into her muscles to jump higher and run faster. Tripping up hills and then sliding down them into little dips and valleys. It felt like she could go on forever, though her body had different ideas. She jerked to a halt by a lovely small pond panting for breath as her legs trembled.

Breathless, she laughed, "This is so, so wonderful! I wish I didn't need to go to school today. I could just explore here and work on building up to where I was before!"

A rustle came from behind her along with a, "Mrrr-eow?"

Kagome spun around. A large form stepped out of the bushes, two tails waving.

"Kirara." Kagome breathed, trembling hands covering her mouth.

A head tilt and trilling purr was her answer as the large feline kept stepping closer to her.

"Do… do you know me?"

A purring head was shoved into her chest, nearly bowling her over even as she wrapped her arms tightly around Kirara's neck, sobbing into the cream fur.

"You remember! Oh, you know me! I thought no one did!"

Rumbling Kirara slowly laid down with Kagome curling her body close to the nekomata. "I've missed you so much! I… I miss everyone!"

A rough tongue licked her face, causing Kagome to giggle through her tears. "It's good to see you too! I'm so glad that you're here!"

A deeper "meow" came from beyond Kirara. Kagome raised her head to see three other nekomatas coming into the clearing. The largest one had soft gray fur with red eyes with the two smaller ones were a mixture of Kirara's and, who must be, her mate's colors. Kagome gave a soft smile, "Oh, Kirara, you have a family! I'm so glad you weren't alone here!"

Slowly the three came towards where they were sitting on the ground, sniffing her curiously before rubbing against her and accepting her scratching behind their ears.

Finally, Kagome glanced at the sky and saw that at least two hours had passed since she left the house. She began shifting to stand up from the pile they were all in. "I'd love to stay longer but I need to get back before my family starts worrying about me."

Kirara stood up and shook out her fur before nudging Kagome towards her side. Her face lit up, "Really! You don't mind?"

A purr was her answer. She hugged Kirara's neck again, "Thank you!"

Turning she waved to the others, "I'll be back later! We can get to know each other more then!"

She hopped onto Kirara's back and, with a roar, she leapt into the sky, flying back towards the Sacred Tree. Kagome laughed. 'I've missed this! Flying through the air, feeling a friendly demonic energy pushing against my own.'

'Have you forgotten about me that quickly again, Ka-go-me?'

'Of course not! But it's different when it's not coming from a soul resting in my own soul.'

'Hmmm.'

Quickly they reached the tree. Sliding off, she gave Kirara another hug and a kiss to the forehead, right in the center of the diamond. "I'll be back later. We can catch up then, alright?"

"Mrrr-eow." Was purred at her before she was pushed into the Goshinboku and stumbled out back onto her family's shrine. Hurrying back into the house, she greeted her mother and grandfather as she raced up the stairs to her room. Cutting off her connection to Naraku and Yuuto as she got ready for the day before reconnecting with them while gathering up her schoolbooks and papers.

'Why can Kirara remember, Yuuto? I thought no one was supposed to.'

'We didn't make any bargains for her, Kagome-chan. Plus, she was a companion to Midoriko before I was ever created. Since she's older and tied to one of the ones who brought me into existence maybe she was skipped over.'

'Maybe. Either way I'm so glad she knows who I am! Even though we can't speak to each other, we've never had a hard time understanding each other. I can't wait to spend time with her and her family!'

'As long as you don't forget us in your distraction, little miko. I doubt you'd want to deal with the trouble we'd cause you if you ignored us again.'

Kagome snorted as she headed down the stairs to the kitchen for breakfast, 'Believe me Naraku, I already learned that truth a long time ago.'

'Kukuku, just a little reminder, Kagome, just a little reminder.'

Quick Note: Thank you everyone for the lovely comments and thoughts! I always love to check out the reviews and see what people have said! Whether it's a short note saying you enjoyed the chapter or you've got a guess about what's coming next or you're just excited for the next chapter, it's always a pleasure and joy to see them! Thank you all for enjoying this story journey with me!