Summary: Blue eyes landed on the form of her brother. To her, the rest of the room seemed to fade away into nothing. Tears welled up in her eyes as she darted over to him and threw her arms around his shoulders in a trembling hug. "I'm here, Kagome," Shiro murmured against the crown of her head as he held her to him, "please… don't cry anymore."

Pairing: [Very strong] Hinting towards Keith/Kagome. Final pairing undecided. Info at bottom of the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belong to their rightful owners.

Note:
This chapter is prior to the start of V:LD.

Chapter One

"You're not going without me!"

A hand gripping tight to his sleeve stilled his movement. He froze in his steps as he glanced down at the small girl holding it captive in an unwavering grip. He let out a muted noise of annoyance as he snatched his arm free from her reach. "What makes you think that I want you to tag along with me?" Keith said as he came to a halt, glaring at the small woman that matched his position.

"Face it, Mr. Emo. You're in the same boat as I am!" she snapped back. "You have no one, and now so do I- well, unless I count you."

"So?"

"Do you really think that I'm just gonna let you march out into the desert and get yourself eaten by coyotes or some shit?" she asked him, her voice losing its edge as she muttered that. "Here, I'll give you the answer- no!"

"I don't want you around! You're loud and annoying, and a whole lot of other things that I can't think of right now because you're being so annoying!"

"Of course you don't want me around," she responded with a calm smile on her face. "You don't want me around because you need me, and you don't want to need anyone. Trust me when I say that I know exactly how you feel, Keith." She closed her eyes and glanced down at her feet. "The news report says everyone aboard the Kerberos Mission is assumed dead, so now I really have no one."

"You don't believe that, though."

"Of course I don't, because I know my brother is alive. I can feel that he is," came her response. "Why trust someone's words when what I feel is much more reliable?"

Silence mounted between the two of them as their shouting finally died down while they calmed down. Keith glanced at her and spotted her now avoiding looking at him.

It had been a first. The first time he had actually heard her get so angry and loud. She was calm most of the time, even when he got hotheaded. She looked timid, just standing there as if her entire world was teetering on an edge.

… of course, it was. Without her brother, she was left on her own in a place where barely anyone knew her name. Forget that- she was in a place where hardly anyone knew she existed. Well… outside of him, now. He closed his eyes and closed the distance between the two of them.

"Fine…" Keith relented finally. "If you really want to, you're free to tag along. I'll look out for you in Shiro's place."

"That's sweet of you to offer, but I don't need anyone "looking out" for me." She knew what he meant by those words. That he would protect her in Shiro's place. It flattered her- it really and truly did, but he had no need to do such a thing for her. "I may be smaller than you, but I'm anything but weak. How about I look out for you, instead?" she stated in a tone devoid of any humor or amusement. She was dead serious. "With your hot-headed, impetuous personality, everyone knows you need someone looking out for you so you don't run off and get yourself hurt- or worse."

"We'll look out for each other, then," Keith said. "Sound fair?"

A middle ground was proposed, and she let a small smile curve her lips.

"That's fair," she nodded in agreement. "We'll look out for one another."

He met her smile with a small one of his own, and the pair resumed their walking with a bit of space between their bodies.

The empty room was easy to notice, and he wasted no time in setting his things to the side as he made his way to the shut door. He took a look outside and spotted his roommate standing a few yards away from their shack. Her back was turned to him as she stared up at the sky. He stepped outside and let the door close behind him as he wandered over to her.

She showed no signs of hearing his footsteps, but he knew she heard him. Keith came to a complete stop a few feet behind her. He stood there as he observed her for a moment or two.

She had made a routine out of this over the past year. In the middle of the night, she'd stand in this spot while glancing at the sky. It didn't matter if it were clear or cloudy. She'd still stand and watch it. A few times he would sit with her in the silence she would keep up as she did this.

Her small stature was the opposite of the man at fault for them knowing one another. Hell… everything about her appearance was the opposite. Her hair was long and messy, but his had been short and kept neat. She was short, and he was tall. His eyes were gray while her eyes were a clear blue. Her shoulders and arms were small, despite her impressive strength, while his were larger.

Keith crossed his arms over his chest as he thought of something he could say that would get her attention. The way she stood told him she was listening for him. Her head had become tilted in his direction, even as she watched the sky.

"You… okay?"

The sound of his voice reached her ears even though his words had been softly spoken through the black night surrounding them. A warm breeze passed through the area, the wind lifting her dark hair and swirling it into a mess around her small shoulders. She continued to gaze up at the stars with a soft expression on her face.

"I'm fine," she murmured in response. She spoke in English so the male with her could understand what she said. For a while now, it had been the only language she spoke in. With just having him around, there was no one there who could understand her whenever she would ramble and rant in Japanese. It confused him when she did so, so she had refrained from doing it in front of him. Whenever she tried to explain to him, he would be unable to understand.

The scuffle of shoes treading over dirt and rocks could be heard. It went silent for a second. A hand falling to rest against her shoulder did nothing to steal her attention away from the dark sky overhead. Her smile grew a fraction at feeling his grip tighten a bit as though he was attempting to comfort her, despite not knowing the proper way to do something like that.

She didn't mind that he didn't know. She appreciated the effort he had put into it, and she finally tore her attention away from the sky. Her eyes focused on Keith as she folded her arms over her chest.

"He's out there somewhere," she muttered then. Her expression softened as clear liquid built up in her blue pools. No tears fell as she closed her eyes and willed the moisture away. "I know Takashi is out there- alive somewhere. I can feel it," she whispered as she pressed an open palm against the left side of her bosom, over her heart, "I can feel it in here."

The silence between them grew lighter as she said that.

"My older brother is strong. He will not fall easily."

"Yeah…" Keith nodded in agreement with her words as he slowly pulled his hand back from where he had it against her shoulder. "You and him have that in common."

Kagome froze for a moment. Her eyes widened as she glanced up to meet his stare. Her silence made him tense up, and he glared at her.

"What?" he snapped at her, only to be answered by a soothing smile.

"It's nothing…" she shook her head and turned away from him to start on her way back to the building they roomed in. She paused after taking a few steps to turn and grin at him. "Thank you, though. I've never been complimented in such a way."

Something flashed in the sky and it caused her expression to contort into one showcasing her confusion. She lifted a hand and pointed at the bright light tearing through the pitch black. "What's that?"

Her words and actions caused him to turn so he could see what she saw. He squinted as he backed up so he stood closer to the girl.

"It isn't a shooting star or meteor," she added on. She had seen many of those during present and past, and it looked to be neither.

"No, it's not… It's an escape pod!" he responded, and he grabbed her by her wrist and dragged her through the dirt until she started to move her own feet. "Come on!"

"H-ey!" Kagome let out a hiss at being pulled forward. "Stop pulling so fast! I'm wearing flip-flops, dammit!"

"I'm not at fault for your awful fashion choice!"

Auroua-chan: Finished this up, so I figured I'd post it. I'll try to get the next part out sometime tomorrow, or Tuesday.

I am leaning towards Keith/Kagome for this fic a lot, but I am open to consider all around. Either way, there will be a lot of Keith/Kagome influence in the text, even if I pick a different pair.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! Hopefully, I managed to catch the errors before posting, but, if I missed a few, then sorry~

Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thanks!

Bye for now.