Disclaimer: I can claim no ownership of Sengoku Otogizoushi - InuYasha nor the Dark Hunter series for they belong to Takahashi Rumiko, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and various companies. No profit is being made from this, and everything not mine will be returned when this is done.
Warnings: AR for Inuyasha; Set pre-Wulf's book; mature content; mature language.

Blood Duty
The Foreign Curse

"Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was choice, but falling in love with you was completely out of my control."
Written as a gift-fic for Ryukotsusei

The year of 1557 in Japan found it to be a turning point in many ways. Ways that history would never remember, not even in legends or stories.

A great evil had been defeated and a powerful jewel removed from existence. The names were best left forgotten in the long run as no one needed to know, and those who had lived through such dark times needed no reminders. Yet the non-existence of the jewel caused two reactions. The one miko who had the mark of enlightenment and love of Amaterasu-ōmikami had her soul finally free to go to the afterlife. Unlike the Western gods, Amaterasu had no desire to take the soul of the miko loyal to her. They could not die by normal and some unnatural means, but that one had found the out-clause.

Amaterasu had never gone without a miko blessed with her mark. Her one miko that she could openly communicate with about how the world was going; the woman who could provide crucial insight for her descendants, the emperors of Japan; the one human with which she could consort with freely. Because even gods needed a break from each other, to have a good chat with one who had known the fears of mortality and so could see the world through different eyes.

Yet Midoriko had left her with a more than suitable replacement. The young time-traveling miko seemed to be better than her first miko.

Her heart was just as large and untainted. Both held unimaginable power for a human. One had been great, the crowning piece of a legend forgotten; the other held the potential to be just as great, the ending of that lost legend.

When she freed Midoriko, Amaterasu knew the young girl had no idea what she had done with such an act. Yet her rules were the rules: she set free her miko, she would replace her.

It had been easy enough to fool every one of her friends into believing she had been returned to her family, yet it was only a beautiful illusion. Instead she kept the miko among the darkness of death for just a bit longer. They had much to discuss, especially about the terms of being Amaterasu no Miko. It was one thing all gods, East and West, had in common: there were always terms to keeping pets.

No friends from before. No family from before. Those two rules were the only same ones, and they existed for a very good reason. Almost always, the pet of a god had been dead. This miko was no exception. Only no one knew it: her friends of the past thought she was safely home, her family from her true time thought she was safe in the past. Yet Amaterasu and she knew the truth-only the dead could become one with the jewel.

Amaterasu was not so cruel as others to deny her miko the companionship of others. Immortality was already a cruel path; there existed no reason to make it more so. Nor did she have to hide her away from the eyes of other gods, only a fool would dare harm her miko. They were gifted with such gifts that could harm even a god. All true miko had hama no reiryoku, though they also had extra gifts.

Midoriko could not only purify souls, but she could subdue yōkai. Her replacement was untouched by other magic and curses could never hold her.

Just like the woman Amaterasu knew the girl to be, she accepted her fate with little fuss. So she left her mark on the young girl, a kiss to the forehead. Four petals appeared, a mark of enlightenment to those who did not know better. A warning to those who did: Higurashi Kagome was now hers.

Four centuries would pass before Kagome would be set on another adventure. All because of the mixing of East and West that was happening. To assume the gods were not hearing of each other and their special "pets" would be folly; if humans could mingle then so could gods. It was simply a disaster waiting to happen.

Especially for many to discover just who their counterparts were.

Though Kagome had only heard rumors during Amaterasu's brief visits through the centuries. She had no desire to watch trouble brewing between gods, no matter how hilarious some of the stories seemed. She much preferred living a simple life in Ujiyamada. Being the only miko of Amaterasu came with the curse of being unable to move away. Ujiyamada was the home of Amaterasu, housed her greatest shrine, and so she needed to be close by for whenever the god decided to visit her. It was for the best, living in seclusion on Honshu meant she would be quite unable to cross paths with any of the youkai from her past who might still live, and any of her family when that time finally came about.

At least no one questioned how she had lived for so many centuries in the same home. That would be just fun to explain. It was bad enough she had grown used to wearing a bandanna around her forehead to hide her mark. Again, questions no one needed. She doubted that anyone could even see her small, ancient home. Thanks to a certain god, no doubt.

Kagome turned her head when she heard her door open. Only one ever entered her home as she never left to mingle, and she had long grown used to such unexpected visits.

"Good afternoon, Kagome," Amaterasu's feathery voice called out.

She inclined her head to the woman. "And to you, Amaterasu-ōmikami. Tired of the shrine's tea again?"

The pale-faced goddess laughed, the melody making the room seem brighter. Such was the gift of such a goddess. Kagome had grown used to that, too. Amaterasu took dainty steps toward Kagome, her traditional kimono and its long sleeves dragging across the tatami. Like the epitome of grace, she sat down next to her miko. "This Amaterasu-ōmikami cannot deny that the taste of simply-made tea is not a welcome change after centuries. However, this Amaterasu-ōmikami wishes that the tea of her miko were her only reason for visiting."

Feeling ungraceful and uncoordinated when next to the goddess, Kagome stood to gather the necessary utensils to have tea. Amaterasu always seemed to know when she had just made a pot of tea, though she was thankful for that. There was nothing more awkward than having to make tea for a guest, let alone for one many would consider the highest god of Shinto. Only when she had brought back the tea, and Amaterasu had enjoyed the first taste did she dare to continue the conversation. Though her curiosity was piqued to know what could bring Amaterasu to visit her if not a social call, she knew better than to be so rude. She could get away with less than polite speech, and if she was not imagining things Amaterasu enjoyed it when she was not unfailingly polite, but even she knew better than to push her luck. More so since luck was something that had never been on her side.

It explained the sinking feeling in her stomach. Which only increased when Amaterasu took another drink instead of answering her question as to why she was there.

The goddess placed her cup on the low table between the two, her dark eyes meeting Kagome's light ones. Had she not known Amaterasu for centuries, she would have been in awe over her beauty. However such things fade with time, which was a pity. "This Amaterasu-ōmikami has come to request that you accompany her to the West for an indefinite period of time. A matter involving that God Artemis has been brought to the attention of this Amaterasu-ōmikami. It is believed that you may be of great importance in solving this matter. Is this Amaterasu-ōmikami correct in assuming you can speak English?"

Kagome nodded. "Yes, I can. Being immortal does have a few perks, as I'm sure you know." Amaterasu hid her amused, yet knowing smile behind her hand. "But, I keep out of these things. What could I possibly be able to do?"

"You are untouched by curses, are you not?"

She furrowed her brows, her mind attempting to figure out what she could be needed for. If it involved a curse, she did not know how helpful she would be. She could only banish the ones that others inflicted on her, she did not know about other people or objects. "Yes... But I don't see where this is going."

"That god Artemis has a human touched with a terrible gift. That is all this Amaterasu-ōmikami knows, more shall be revealed there."

Kagome resisted the urge to sigh as Amaterasu faded from view. It was always the same, though most times she waited until stepping out the door to disappear. She only hoped she would not be heading to America, Greece sounded like a much better place to visit.

Kagome did not get her wish. Then again, had she not already been over this with herself? Luck was not on her side.

As Amaterasu met with Artemis and some of the other gods of the West, she was left to fend for herself in Minnesota. She had not known such a state existed in America, having only heard of some of the much larger states and cities that existed. Though it was obvious it was a much colder place that she was not entirely used to experiencing. Since this was for an indefinite amount of time, she had been provided with her own house. One she would have to share with gods, she knew as Amaterasu hated being too far from her. Because of that, she just knew she would be bringing back other gods to have discussions.

Somehow she knew living with Amaterasu would be worse than living with a teenage version of her little brother. In that case, she could kick the guests out. Not so with a god's guests.

With nothing else to do until the goddess returned with some answers for her, never mind the fact that she was sure she did not want to know the answers, she headed out. While the goddess may not need to eat actual food save for when she decided to humor her priests, Kagome did. Starving oneself when one would be unable to die from it was no fun at all.

She bundled up with at least two layers of coats, feeling rather weak and out of shape when compared to the days she could trek across Japan in any kind of weather wearing only a school uniform, before heading out into the streets of Minnesota, the Twin Cities to be exact. Given the bad mood she was already in, she paid little attention to her surroundings. Save for the power that was nearby; that she could not ignore no matter how she tried. It was dark and distinctly Western, something she had to scrunch her nose up at in distaste. It was so unfamiliar, and she was already homesick.

America and she did not agree in the slightest.

Given the darkness of the near-dawn, she almost missed the source. Though she did not know how she could, given his state of dress. Entirely muscle in his height and build, dressed all in black down to his hair. She would not be surprised if his eyes were also black, given his dark appearance. It would be too fitting. Yet as he walked closer and his image became clearer to her eyes-he was much, much taller close up-a muzzy sensation took over her mind.

She knew she could see him, he was plain to her eyes, yet something in her mind screamed that there was a dark power at work. Something that was trying to remove his image from her memory even so soon after seeing him. They had not even crossed paths, yet the closer he came the stronger the pain became. In the middle of the block, she stopped and clenched her eyes shut. Resisting the urge to clutch her head was harder than she first thought, and she really did not need anyone to think she was crazy.

If only they knew the half of it.

Kagome gave in to her desire halfway. She lifted one hand to her forehead, appearing as if she was going to massage her temples. Given her foreign looks people would assume she was tourist who was trying to remember directions, or so she hoped with her actions. In truth, she summoned some of her hama no reiryoku into her fingertips and used the motion to throw off whatever was trying to make her forget. It took only one swipe, though in its defense she did have a little too much power gathered in her fingertips, to remove the dark power from her mind.

But not without a jolt hard enough to make her stumble. And if she was not mistaken, the man who brought on the feeling stumbled as well.

Good. He deserved it.

He recovered first, steadying her after she stumbled into him. His large hands dwarfed her shoulders, making her feel small and insignificant. The look he gave her only intensified the feeling. With just one touch and one look, he had managed to strip away all the centuries and coldness immortality and death had brought, and she finally felt human for once. Being able to see him so close up made her stiffen with awe and wonder. She had seen gods and youkai who had been beautiful beyond words so many times that she was immune, but to see a human with such looks... It felt as if her whole world had been brought back to what it had been when she had been a little fifteen-year old girl.

Or it could have been a side-effect of banishing such power from her mind and memories. She liked to think it was the former.

She straightened and backed away when he broke eye contact with her. The spell or whatever had been broken, and they both realized it. She bowed her head. "I'm sorry about that, but thank you."

He waved it off. "Don't think about it."

And then he walked away. There was a certain slump to his shoulders that made her curious. And his choice of words... Though she may not be a native of the country, she knew enough to know that was not a common farewell, especially not to strangers.

It was all so curious.

She turned and continued on her way as well, thoughts of him in her mind. It was such a strange situation... That power, that man. It was just another mystery to add on to the reasons why she had been brought to America. Though her bad mood had all but disappeared. Maybe she did not dislike the country that much when she thought about it.