The Seventh Year by Doll-Fin-Chick

Telling Lies

Unreal, that's what life seemed to her now. Of course, she thought with a somewhat wry twist of her lips, nobody would believe her to be truthful if she told them demons, magic swords, and reincarnations were very much more the reality she was used to.

It had been, oh how long now? Kagome glanced at the calendar and frowned. Surely not….She did some quick math in her head, yes it had. Three years almost to the day.

"Kagome-chan? Come down, I've got breakfast ready!" The miko sighed and got up, checking her image in the mirror and tugging on her clothes. Her hair stuck up awkwardly in the back, so she yanked a comb through it quickly and then made her way downstairs.

She could hear her family getting ready for the day as usual, and she paused by the stairway to listen in on them for awhile. "You're a visionary now?" Her mother was asking, of someone."

Souta replied, "I dunno, I just feel like something is going to happen this year."

"Like What Souta-kun?" Kagome asked, entering the kitchen and accepting her breakfast from her mother with a smile. Her brother patted her on the shoulder, sympathy shining from his eyes. It was always there, the sympathy, the worry.

Her grandfather and mother also watched her all the time. Those same looks. It was driving her mad.

Souta shrugged, "I just bet I'm gonna get a job this year! And maybe you'll get in to college too!" Kagome strained a smile at that, she had no more hope of getting in to a good university with her grades from high school than she had of…well never mind.

Souta seemed to realize he'd said something wrong, so he awkwardly patted her again and then grabbed his lunch from the counter. He still had school to go to.

"Ne Souta-kun, wait a moment, I'll walk part of the way with you." Kagome said, getting to her feet. Her mother frowned, glancing at the plate of pushed around un-eaten food. "Kagome! You can't leave yet, you've barely eaten a thing!" She scolded, as Kagome fetched her jacket and pulled her hair back in a pony-tail.

Her daughter smiled back at her, "I'm not really hungry momma, thanks though!" She said quickly, as she pushed Souta out the door. Then she was outside and in the clean air. She breathed deeply, rubbing her hands briskly together.

"We better get going, don't want you to be late to school, and I have to get to work." She said, walking towards the Shrine's steps. Souta jogged to catch up beside her. "You really should have eaten breakfast Sis." He said quietly, glancing back at the house. "Momma worries about you." Kagome grabbed his shoulder and hugged him to her side, "I'm fine silly! Just wasn't hungry this morning, that's all."

The fact that she was hardly hungry ever anymore was left unspoken. She'd lost a lot of weight in those days after her return…though she had regained some of it, the fact remained that Kagome was a lot thinner than she used to be.

She just couldn't find her appetite anymore.

The streets of Tokyo were busy at anytime, and the two wound their way through foot traffic until Souta came to his school. He waved good-bye to her and vanished with a group of his friends, leaving Kagome alone.

Just the way she liked it. She sighed, and let the smile she kept on for her family slide away, and then she picked up her pace and glanced at her watch. She was going to be early, like usual.

The hopital was quiet when Kagome got there and clocked in. She carefully put her things away and changed in to her work uniform and then went to see what needed to be done.

Kagome had gotten this job on a huge stroke of luck. A friend of her grandfather's had a granddaughter who worked at the hospital and they had needed volunteers to clean, run errands, and to just sit and chat with patients.

That volunteer job had now turned in to a paying job, where Kagome did more cleaning and running about then she did chatting it up with sick people. But for her it was perfect. It meant she didn't have to talk to anybody, and she was kept busy so she couldn't think straight.

Day after day she helped keep the hospital sanitary and sparkling clean. Day after day she went home exhausted and ready to drop. Day after day….the same old routine.

At the end of her shift Kagome took a shortcut through a park, and tried to blind herself to the sights of the city, and deafen her ears to the noise. It never worked. She missed the feudal era too much.

When she had left, it was like a piece of herself had also been left behind. Inuyasha…

What hurt the most? The not knowing? Or the job undone? For the jewel was not exactly destroyed.

She felt it pulse within her with every breath, every heartbeat. For when the battle had been won, when Naraku had been defeated….The jewel shards had been brought to her, and she had made them whole.

She had been told her miko powers rivaled those of any known priestess. The problem had always been that she had not learnt to control them.

In the confusion and chaos she had fled the feudal era, terrified of what was happening to her, and wanting more than anything to go home. The well had gladly swallowed her, and then abandoned her.

Her family still had no idea of the whole truth. She could never tell them what had been done. She herself was unsure.

Her senses were much more than they had been before…she could smell things, see things, feel things, and taste things she never had. That was the true reason she hardly ate anymore. The preservatives, and chemicals laced in her food sickened her and made her ill.

But she had no idea how to explain this. Nobody to turn to for guidance. Kagome was desperate. There were…other changes as well. These things unsettled her.