Disclaimer for this story: Yu-Gi-Oh! is property of Kazuki Takahashi and InuYasha is property of Rumiko Takahashi (no relation, so sadly no official crossovers :( ). All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author, punkish furball. The author, punkish furball, is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. The author, punkish furball, makes no profit from this fanfiction. No copyright infringement is intended.

punkish furball – I told you I was gonna do it! :)

Words to Ponder:

Hello, everyone and welcome to Fragmented Fate, my first attempt at a Yu-Gi-Oh!/InuYasha crossover. I love me some Seto Kaiba! XD Yugi too! …And Yami…And Marik…and Bakura…Oh hell, I loves 'em all!

For this story, I'll be using the names that appear in the Japanese anime/manga because I like those better.

As always, have any questions? Comments? Words of Wisdom? Contact me! Feedback is much appreciated. Without further ado, here's chapter 1!

Chapter 1

Higurashi Kagome sighed happily as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped her body in a warm, fluffy towel. Of all the modern advances she missed while she traveled in the Feudal Era, indoor plumbing was definitely in the top three. After she thoroughly dried herself off, Kagome put on a fresh pair of pajamas and wrapped the towel around her wet hair.

"I wonder if Kaa-san needs any help with dinner," Kagome said to herself as she made her way downstairs to the kitchen.

Just as she reached the doorway, she saw her mother and grandfather seated at the kitchen table with troubled looks on their faces, appearing as though they were having a serious discussion. There were opened envelopes and folded documents scattered on the table's surface.

'What's going on?' Kagome thought and hid on the side of the door to listen in on their conversation.

"We're behind on these payments too," Kagome's mother, Nodoka, stated as she leafed through a stack of papers, most likely bills.

"I know. We're just not bringing in the money like we used to," her grandfather, Sojiro, said with a sigh, "How much do we have left in our savings?"

"Enough to keep us afloat for a few more weeks," Nodoka answered worriedly, "but we can't keep dipping into that money without having any coming in. Soon there will be nothing left for us to live on."

'We've been having money trouble?' Kagome thought with an unsettling feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't been home long enough to notice anything was amiss.

"We need to bring in more income somehow," Nodoka continued and tiredly ran her fingers through her short hair, "Looks like I'll have to find a part-time job, and we might need to apply for a loan or two."

"And I could probably get early access to my retirement. It'll be enough until we get back on our feet," Sojiro said, "Our family has owned and operated this shrine for generations and we will remain here no matter what."

Unable to take any more of the somber discussion, Kagome turned to the stairs and retreated to her bedroom. Even though there were only a few remaining shards of the jewel to be found, Kagome spent most of her time in the past continuing the group's search without many solid leads on their location. Naraku and all of the trouble he caused was no longer part of the picture, so there were hardly any serious obstacles in their way. Even so, Kagome spent more and more time away from home and was completely oblivious to the problems her family was having.

'All this time, we've been in debt. We could lose the shrine and our home if we don't gain any income,' Kagome thought, 'There has to be something I could do to help.'

"I don't know much about finance," Kagome said to herself, "so I can't really budget or balance accounts or anything useful like that."

She plopped down in her desk chair and rested her head in her hands, thinking of any other options she had. She just couldn't travel back and forth to the past and remain ignorant as her family faced financial ruin.

"Ojii-chan said we need more business at the shrine so we can get more money. Maybe I can help with that!" Kagome exclaimed and shot out of her seat, "I can ask Kaede-baa-chan and Miroku-sama for their help. They should know how to get more people to attend the shrine."

With new resolve and determination, Kagome finished drying her hair and set the alarm on her nightstand. She wanted to start tomorrow morning bright and early to help her family and protect their home. Once she finished dressing, Kagome head back downstairs to help with dinner, hiding the fact she knew anything was wrong.

-O0o0O-

InuYasha sighed as he rested against the bark of the Goshinboku with his eyes closed. Kagome had only been gone for a day, but he was already anxious for her return. It was always like this whenever she returned to her home in the future. Her presence was deeply missed by everyone especially him—not that he'd let anyone see him like this.

'Good luck getting her to come back early,' he thought with a snort.

Kagome was adamant about getting time off from shard hunting and InuYasha couldn't make a convincing argument to make her stay. The group currently didn't have much information to go on, so taking a break was a reasonable move.

InuYasha's right ear twitched when he heard a rustling noise coming from the bottom of the well. Within seconds, Kagome's raven head peeked over its rim. She hoisted herself up and over the edge, landing firmly on the other side. He noticed she didn't have her yellow bag with her, so it didn't seem like she would be staying long.

"InuYasha!" she called out toward the large tree, "I know you're up there! Come down and give me a lift to the village."

The half demon huffed lightly before jumping out of the tree and landing next to the girl who called him.

"What do you have to do that's so urgent?" he asked while putting his arms in his haori sleeves.

"I need to see Kaede-baa-chan and Miroku-sama," Kagome answered, "It's important."

"What is it?" InuYasha asked roughly.

He immediately regretted his words and his tone when Kagome's mood dampened almost instantaneously. InuYasha hated whenever she was sad or upset and hoped she didn't start crying.

"I'd rather explain it to everyone at once," Kagome answered solemnly, "They all should be around the village, right?"

"Yeah," InuYasha responded and lowered his back in front of Kagome so she could get on.

After she took her customary spot on his back, he bounded off toward the village. Kagome held onto InuYasha's haori a little tighter than usual. She always felt secure when he held onto her as he sped forward at top speed, and she definitely needed that feeling now. Although she had a plan in mind, with so much at stake, and she didn't even want to consider the possibility of failure.

"We're here," InuYasha announced as he skidded to a stop in front of Kaede's hut.

Kagome jumped off his back and headed toward it. Miroku was seated on the hut's porch, cleaning his staff while the others were nowhere in sight.

"Kagome-sama," he greeted her, surprised to see her, "It's unusual for you to return from your home so soon."

"Something unexpectedly came up back home, and I had to come back," Kagome explained briefly.

"Are you or your family in some kind of trouble?" Miroku asked with concern.

Like all the members of the group and their allies, he held the priestess in high regard. He'd hate to think that something horrible happened in her homeland.

"Somewhat," Kagome answered softly, "I came here to get some advice. Are you the only one here?"

"Not at all," Miroku responded quickly, "Kaede-sama is in the herb garden. Sango-san and Shippo-chan should be helping her. I shall go retrieve them."

Miroku stood up and left the front porch while Kagome and InuYasha went inside to wait. The others arrived shortly after Kagome and InuYasha sat down around the fire pit. Their arrival was signaled when Shippo torpedoed himself at Kagome's abdomen and made himself comfortable in her lap. Everyone else sat close to Kagome and InuYasha.

"Kagome!" he shouted happily, nuzzling into her stomach, "You came back early!"

"Yes, ye have," Kaede said, "Houshi-sama said ye are in need of aid. Tell me, child, what troubles have plagued thy homeland?"

"You see," Kagome began, her voice slightly uneven, "my family seems to have run into some serious financial trouble."

"Financial?" Sango asked; the word sounded unfamiliar to most of them.

"Trouble with money," Kagome clarified, "Our shrine isn't bringing in enough to support my family and pay our debts."

"Debts?" InuYasha mumbled curiously to himself. He wasn't sure he completely understand what Kagome was referring to, but, by the look on her face, it couldn't be anything good.

"How horrible!" Miroku exclaimed, "How long has this been going on?"

Kagome sighed before she answered. "I'm not entirely sure. From what I understand, we do have some savings, but it isn't enough to support us for long if we don't start making more money. If we don't, we may end up leaving our shrine and there's no telling when or if we'll be able to return."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Sango asked eagerly, "Anything at all?"

"Indeed. Truly all is not yet lost," Miroku said reassuringly.

"That's actually why I'm here," Kagome explained, "I wanted to ask if there is any way to help bring more visitors to the shrine."

"But ye have improved thy miko abilities, have ye not?" Kaede asked, "Surely having an accomplished miko on site will bring in more visitors."

"I'm afraid that isn't going to do any good. There aren't many people who really believe in such things anymore," Kagome said with a bitter smile.

"How unfortunate. Gaining a reputation based on your spiritual powers would no doubt bring in more visitors if they recognized such things in your time," Miroku stated, "Perhaps there is another way to generate interest and gain some acknowledgment?"

Shippo trembled violently as he sat in Kagome's lap. He didn't want her to go away. If her family didn't have enough money to keep their shrine, they would have to move and leave the portal that held his world and Kagome's together. She may never be able to return here if she left.

'I have to think of something!' he thought desperately until he came up with an idea.

"I got it!" Shippo shouted.

"What is it, runt?" InuYasha asked roughly.

"People in your time like old things, right?" Shippo asked Kagome, ignoring InuYasha.

"What do you mean?" Kagome questioned.

"In your school books," Shippo attempted to spell out his idea, "There are a lot of pictures of old things in them that people in your time like. So you can bring old things from here to your home and sell them so they can take more pictures for your books!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" InuYasha asked. The others were also confused at the young kit's reasoning; his words didn't seem to make any sense.

"You must mean my history books," Kagome said, "Those pictures are of items that are considered artifacts of a specific time period like this one."

"Artifacts?" Sango repeated, "Are these items considered valuable?"

"I suppose so," Kagome said slowly, "To museums, universities, and maybe a few private collectors, they're worth a lot."

"If that is the case," Miroku began, "I believe Shippo-chan has the start of a grand idea. I imagine that these artifacts are hard to come by considering how much time could take a toll on them."

"Yes," Kagome said, "It can be very difficult to locate and retrieve authentic relics."

"But by using the well to travel back and forth," Miroku continued, "you can simply bring the items with you, and there will be no damage done to them at all."

Kagome's eyes widened at the sudden realization. That idea never occurred to her before but made perfect sense. She always brought things from her time period to this one, so why not do the reverse?

"I see," Sango said, "If we obtain various items here, Kagome-chan can bring them to her homeland and make a profit by selling them."

"That's what I just said," Shippo grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest as he pouted. He perked up when Kagome affectionately ruffled his hair, silently thanking him for his idea.

"We just can't pick up any old junk," InuYasha grumbled, "It's gotta be worth something here too, right?"

"I have a suggestion," Sango said.

"What do you have in mind?" Kagome asked.

"We could go to my old village," Sango answered, "There are many taijya weapons and other items that might be considered valuable in your time."

While the demon slaying community was essentially wiped out, Sango continued making trips to her old home, maintaining the grounds and preserving the memory of her fallen friends and family.

"That's an amazing idea, Sango-chan!" Kagome replied, "But do you really want to sell that? It's all you have left of your family and the other taijya."

"I know," Sango began, "but there can always be more weapons made from the demons we slay in our travels, and the taijya tradition will be continued as long as I'm here to pass it on." Sango paused and grinned in Kagome's direction.

"Plus," she added, "I can think of no better way to honor the memory of my family and preserve their legacy."

"Thank you!" Kagome exclaimed and reached over to pull the older girl in hug, "I promise I won't let you down!"

"In addition to that," Miroku said, "Mushin-sama may also have a few worthwhile things lying around from my days as a traveling monk. We should pay him a visit as well. Perhaps he could also give you a few pointers on dealing with your shine's clientele."

"There are also many religious items in my possession that should be of some value," Kaede added.

"So we just gotta go pick up some of our old crap and you can keep that shrine of yours?" InuYasha surmised and stood to his feet, "Let's get going!"

"InuYasha! Don't be so disrespectful!" Miroku scolded the hanyou, "This is a delicate matter."

"It's ok. Really," Kagome said with a smile. She knew his gruff behavior was just InuYasha's way of showing he worried about her.

-O0o0O-

Kagome nervously pulled at the sleeves of her outfit; she wasn't used to dressing in business attire. She wore a black jacket over a crisp white blouse and matching black skirt that ended just below her knees. The nearly completed Shikon no Tama was nestled safely around her neck against her collar. She was sitting in the lobby of the Domino City Museum waiting to be seen by its director and a few experts on Japanese history and artifacts. The city was about an hour or two away to her hometown of Tokyo depending on the amount of subway traffic.

Immediately after the group left the village in the Feudal Era, they headed to Mushin's temple. They managed to find a few religious scrolls that possessed some value and a modest collection of items Miroku had "acquired" in his traveling days. Hachi was also there and Miroku managed to enlist his aid when they traveled to the slayer's village to collect more items. His transformed body along with Kirara's larger form was barely enough to carry all they had acquired, but they managed.

Retrieving everything was the easy part. The next phase was sorting and categorizing the artifacts thoroughly and accurately. It took several days to finish that task alone even with everyone's help. After that was completed, Kagome had to determine what would be the best way to showcase these items and gain a reputation for her shrine. With Miroku's input, she decided the best course of action would be to sell the artifacts to a museum so its staff can add to their collection of Japanese artifacts. After receiving rejection letters from establishments close to her home, Kagome was contacted by a Domino City Museum official. The museum's director was interested with her collection of artifacts and immediately arranged a date for her to present what she had to offer.

After that, Kagome dove into her research, collaborating with her friends and combining the accounts of their present with historical records of the past. Despite the amount of work and her rigorous schedule, Kagome liked learning about each item and incorporating her friends' own personal touch to the descriptions.

Once she finished drafting all her materials, Kagome practiced her proposal with the others until she got everything perfect. All the while, she kept her every movement secret from her family. She didn't want to alert her mother and grandfather that she knew about their financial troubles. For now, they were doing their best to keep the family afloat and Kagome was working as fast as she could so they could get financially stable.

"Higurashi-san," the woman at the front desk adjacent to where Kagome sat said, "the museum directors will see you now."

"Yes, I'll be in right away," Kagome said and stood to her feet, grabbing all her materials. She walked inside the conference room where the director and his associates sat ready and waiting for her to start.

"Good afternoon," Kagome said after she entered the room and closed the door behind her, "Thank you for taking the time to see me today and consider my proposal." She gave a short, polite bow.

"Good afternoon, Higurashi-san," the director greeted her with a slight smile, "I understand you have quite a few things to show us today. Please begin your presentation."

'Looks like they're wasting no time on pleasantries,' Kagome thought and inwardly took a deep breath. She quickly set up her presentation, displaying images of the Higurashi shrine and a select set of items behind her.

"Of course," Kagome replied and went right into her presentation without skipping a beat.

Her audience didn't give any indication of their thoughts and opinions as she spoke, so Kagome hoped they were impressed. By the time she finished and was asked a few questions by the museum director and the others in attendance, Kagome was told to wait in the back room for them to discuss their decision. She bowed politely before exiting the room and taking a seat outside, waiting at the edge of her chair for their response.

'It looks like they got a lot to say,' she thought as the minutes slowly ticked by, 'I hope I didn't screw up!'

Kagome immediately looked up when she heard the door to the conference room creak open.

"Higurashi-san," the director said from the doorway, "Please come back in. We have made our decision."

She nodded and entered the room without delay. Once again, she stood nervously in front of the museum director and his associates.

"Before we give you our answer, let us say you preformed remarkably for one so young. Your knowledge of history combined with your passion for it is definitely something to be admired," one of the director's associates said with a friendly smile.

Kagome smiled to herself; she definitely had a reason to be passionate about the past.

"Thank you for the compliment," she replied and waited for them to continue.

"Concerning your proposal," the museum director began, "we have decided to purchase a set of your shrine's artifacts to add to our collection as well as hold an entire Feudal Era exhibit here at the museum to showcase everything you presented us today."

"An entire exhibit?" Kagome blurted out loudly. She immediately blushed after her outburst, causing her audience to grin and chuckle quietly.

"We are so impressed by your research and we feel that it should be shared with the entire historic community," the director began, "As you outlined in your presentation, we would like to present your shrine's artifacts in those three main categories: the life of Japanese nobility, Shinto and Buddhist religious artifacts, and Japanese folklore concentrating on Yōkai and weapons of Ancient Demon Slayers. It will last approximately six months and end just before the start of our Ancient Egypt exhibit scheduled for next year."

"Sounds fantastic!" Kagome exclaimed with a grin, "Thank you for this opportunity. I accept your offer on behalf of my shrine and my family and I won't let you down."

"It will be a pleasure working with you," the director said cheerfully, "We will contact you within the next week so we can get everything set up for the first segment of the exhibit."

Kagome nodded eagerly before she bowed and left the room. Before Kagome could get too far, one of the director's associates stopped her.

"A word if you have the time, Higurashi-san?" he asked with slight American accent. The older man had gray hair with a matching mustache and friendly blue eyes.

"Yes?" Kagome answered.

"You have other items in addition to those you have shown us today, correct?" the older man asked.

"Of course," Kagome answered, "Any particular reason for asking?" Although she knew the old man didn't mean any harm, it didn't stop her from being a little suspicious.

"I know avid collectors of Japanese relics and some very generous supporters of our museum," the man explained, "Perhaps your shrine can host a social event to promote the exhibit and hold a private auction. I'm sure the turn out will be exceptionally well; even prominent business owners who do not support the historic community will attend and make donations."

"That sounds like a great idea," Kagome said after a few moments of thinking, "Thanks for the suggestion."

"No problem, young lady," the older man said with a smile, "You really impressed me today. Should you hold this event, you will certainly see me in attendance."

"Don't worry," Kagome replied, "I will take care of everything."

"Well then, I'll leave you to it; you have a lot of work to do," the man stated, "I send my regards to your family and I wish your grandfather well for me."

'I wonder,' Kagome mused after he finished speaking, 'why did he specifically wish my grandfather well? Could they know each other?'

"I'll be sure to…" she began but realized she did not know the older man's name.

"Hopkins," the man supplied, "Arthur Hopkins, an archeologist from America."

"It's been a pleasure meeting you, Hopkins-san," Kagome said with a short bow, "Thank you for your support."

"It's been a pleasure meeting you as well, Higurashi-san," Arthur replied, "I will you luck."

Without any further delays, Kagome made her way home to get started on the event preparations. Arthur looked on as she left the museum doors before he pulled out his cellphone. He needed to make a quick phone call to an old friend about this recent development.

-O0o0O-

Kagome practically skipped on her way up the shrine steps. Everything was going better than she could have ever hoped.

"I still have a lot of work to do," she said to herself, "I need to get started right away."

When Kagome reached the top of the stairs and entered her home, she hoped to make it to her room without anyone noticing her return so she could get right to work. It was going to take a lot of effort on her part to plan an entire private auction and reception at the shrine without anyone else's involvement.

'Eventually I'll have to let everyone know what I'm up to,' Kagome thought, 'I hope they won't be too angry at me for going behind their backs.'

"Kagome," Nodoka called out to her daughter as she passed by the kitchen, "Come in here please."

Kagome gulped; she had heard that tone enough times to know what it meant. She walked into the kitchen and saw InuYasha seated against the wall with his arms in his sleeves and her mother standing next to him.

"Hai, Kaa-san?" Kagome asked softly.

"InuYasha-kun told me everything that you have been doing for the past few days," Nodoka stated without much emotion though there was a harsh look in her eyes. Kagome immediately stiffened and the hard look on her mother's face softened a bit.

"Gomen nasai," Kagome said in a soft tone, "I didn't want to let you know I found out we were in trouble. I just wanted to help our family."

"I understand why you wanted to help our shrine," Nodoka began, "but you didn't have to do it alone and the both of you didn't have to go behind everyone's back to do it." She cast a disappointed look in InuYasha's direction causing the hanyou to shrink back a bit.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way," Nodoka exclaimed after clapping her hands together once, "InuYasha-kun brought the last of the artifacts from the past this morning and Sota and Ojii-chan have been putting them all in the store houses out back. I also started to transfer all of your research notes and documentation to computer files and started building a database. You know how everything's going digital these days! Anything else we need to do?"

It took Kagome a few seconds to come up with a reply. Her mother's attitude pulled a complete one-eighty—not that that was unwelcomed.

"Well," Kagome began, "I had a meeting with Domino Museum's director and historical experts today. They agreed to buy a large portion of the artifacts I showed in my presentation and hold a six month exhibit on the Feudal Era with everything else."

"They liked that old crap that much?" InuYasha said in a somewhat belittling tone, but he was happy everything turned out to be successful for Kagome and her family.

"And, in addition to that all of that, one of the museum's archeologists suggested we host an event in the shrine for supporters of the historic community and prominent business owners. He said we could hold a private auction for collectors to publicize the exhibit and give the shrine more credibility," Kagome said excitedly.

"Looks like we have a lot of work to do!" Nodoka exclaimed, "InuYasha-kun, please do your best not to get in the way and give the boys a hand, okay?" She shooed InuYasha outside; he stood and walked out of the door, grumbling the entire way.

"Get in the way? Whatever," he said to himself before disappearing outside. As he walked toward the store houses, InuYasha could still hear Kagome and her mother inside hard at work. The sound of their excited chatter made him smile.

-O0o0O-

punkish furball – Alright one chapter down! Not too many Yu-Gi-Oh characters this go round, but that's what chapter 2 is for. Before I close I shall leave with a joke/riddle:

How many kids does it take to ruin any foreign animation?

Be the first to answer that and I might be inclined to writing a one-shot request or something for you. Furball out!

(revised 04.16.2013)