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Once Aya lifted her claw it seemed as if the kanji were all absorbed into Kagome’s body. They slowly faded away, leaving only the girl’s skin. Aya sat by the girl patiently, knowing the inevitable was soon to happen. A few seconds later Kagome’s body started writhing, sweat formed on her forehead and body from the pain that swam through her blood.

Kagome’s eyes opened as the pain hit her system in full force. Aya quickly put a cylindrical piece of wood in Kagome’s mouth to keep her from biting her tongue. The fox demon brushed at Kagome’s forehead, but was powerless to do anything to help the poor child. Kagome felt as if her body was being ripped apart from the inside, the demonic and holy auras were battling with each other for dominance in her spirit. The pain was getting too much for Kagome to bear and she felt as if her mind was going to snap as well as her body. She screamed even as her teeth clenched tightly to the piece of wood.

“Fight it child. Fight the insanity that pursues you. I know you can. Do it for them. For your family, your friends.” Aya’s voice broke through the haze in Kagome’s mind caused from the pain. The images of her family smiling and waving to her as she returned home flashed through her mind. The pain started to subside, though the auras still battled for dominance. Kagome closed her eyes tightly as she concentrated on the energies like she had been taught by Kaede. The young girl tried to get them to coincide with one another and melt together.

The sweat flew down Kagome’s face as Aya watched the girl wage an internal battle for her survival. Guilt washed over the fox demon as she knew that she was the cause of the girl’s suffering. She just couldn’t let that girl sit there and die, she didn’t want to cause anyone pain from losing her. She knew the girl was well loved by friends and family. “Pull through.” The female demon urged Kagome to fight the pain and come back.

Kagome was still inside her own mind getting the holy and demonic aura to melt together. She gritted her teeth once more and yelled at the auras in her mind. It was the only way she could think of to get them to quiet down. After she finished yelling at them, the auras seemed to quiet down and they flowed together easily. It made a strange sensation in her body. Kagome felt herself relax as the pain slowly subsided. When a new wave of pain hit her body.

Kagome’s eyes flew open and a scream wrenched from her lungs was muffled by her clenched teeth. Her gray eyes looked to Aya frantically, she wanted to know what was happening now. The fox demon’s eyes filled with guilt and she looked down at the ground in dismay. She knew what was happening, this was the changing of Kagome’s body to accommodate the demon blood.

“Your body is changing now little one. It is changing so that the demon in you can reside peacefully. This time the change is purely physical.” Aya smiled comfortingly at the girl, though she couldn’t quite meet Kagome’s eyes. Kagome’s teeth tightened on the piece of wood as the pain of her rapidly changing body ripped through her again.

Her limbs grew longer, bone and muscle stretching out, more elegant and regal. Her torso also lengthened slightly, but stayed basically the same. Her wounds healed which was painful in itself. Kagome felt her hearing become intensely sensitive. Her hands clamped down over her ears to block out the noise when she felt her nails scratch her skin. She yelped, the piece of wood flying out of her mouth. She ignored the loud sounds to inspect her hands. She found her fingers long and elegant, almost like a model’s hands. The girl also discovered that her nails had grown into the claws that had scratched her. Kagome whimpered as she felt her head tilt back slightly from the sudden weight of her hair. Smells assaulted her nose and she clamped one hand over it to block most of them out.

“I will teach you to gain control over your demon senses child. Calm down first. If you panic it will only make them worse. A demon’s senses become more alert the minute they become frightened.” Aya kept her tone soothing as she had when Kagome had been unconscious. The girl nodded and released her nose as she took deep breaths. Finally Kagome felt the last threads of fear leave her body. She waited patiently for Aya to continue.

The fox demon instructed Kagome in the ways of controlling her demonic senses. After twenty minutes Kagome finally had her senses to a tolerable level. Though it was still a bit difficult not to cringe when she heard something loud, that wasn’t really loud when she was human. The girl had some questions for Aya and Aya was waiting for them patiently.

“What exactly happened to me Ms. Aya?” Kagome looked down at her body and noticed a few changes. Nothing too extreme, she just had a more elegant looking body than she had before. Her hair had been incredibly long before she had convinced Aya to cut it back to its original length. Now the girl sat on her knees, her wounds completely healed, and watched the fox demon patiently with intense gray eyes.

“You were nearing death my child. You remember everything up until the point of your becoming unconscious?” When Kagome nodded the fox demon continued. “After you lost consciousness I knew there was not much time left for you to live. I did inquire about your thoughts first before I attempted anything. Your soul and heart told me that you wanted to live. The only way to do that was to turn you into a full blooded demon.” Kagome’s eyes widened in shock, she hadn’t thought that was possible without the complete jewel. Aya saw Kagome’s surprise and nodded.

“It is possible to do. Though only certain demons know about it. I believe there are currently three to date that know how to use the ancient magic.” Aya explained the history of the magic to Kagome who absorbed it all in. “So you see, I used that to change you into a full demon. It will only work on females, which is the drawback to it. The female is usually the weaker mate, though the more vicious, which is why the spell was created. To make the females stronger for their men.” Aya chuckled as she saw Kagome’s blush.

“I didn’t do this for your man Kagome. I did it to save your life so that my nephew wouldn’t suffer the pain of losing someone he loves again.” At Kagome’s curious glance Aya smiled. “My nephew is Shippou. He looks to you almost like a surrogate mother, though I’m sure he knows you can never replace his true mother. I only want him to be happy, I cannot take care of him because I am ill suited for children.” She chuckled at the words she chose, it was true, she was horrible with children. “You are the perfect one to take care of my nephew. I know my brother would approve of it.” Aya smiled warmly at Kagome.

“What will happen to me now Ms. Aya?” Kagome looked down at her lap where her hands were clasped tightly together. Worries flew through her mind. What was she going to tell the others? How could they continue their journey now with her being a demon? What was her family going to say about it? The worries flooded Kagome’s mind and she needed answers to at least some of them.

“Being a demon is not easy Kagome. If your friends and family truly love you, I believe they will accept who you are. No matter what blood runs through your veins. You are still you on the inside Kagome. Your soul has not changed, only your body.” Aya placed a hand over Kagome’s tightly clasped ones. She squeezed reassuringly as she met the young girl’s eyes. “Do not fret. If your friends are as good as I have heard they are, I am sure they will not say anything against you. It will be difficult at first, but once they come to see you are still the same, I believe it will not be hard at all for them to accept you.” Kagome nodded but the worry caused tears to flow from her eyes.

“But what if they hate me Ms. Aya? Sango’s family and friends were killed by demons! She is a demon slayer! Miroku is a Buddhist monk, he may not accept me either! Shippou, Shippou would accept me. I know he would. InuYasha…” Kagome’s eyes widened in slight fear. “InuYasha would never accept me! He has always wanted to become a full demon, and now look at me!” Kagome lifted her hands to her face as she cried out her fears and anxieties. Aya hugged the girl rubbing her back comfortingly.

“If you believe this is so Kagome, you can always go venturing forth on your own. You are a demon now remember? You are strong and can defend yourself. It is instinctive for you, believe me.” Aya felt Kagome’s shoulders shaking from the sobs and guilt washed over her again. She had done this to Kagome, but the fox demon still believed it was the right choice. She just hated seeing the other in so much pain.

“You are right Ms. Aya. I should go out on my own and finish the journey myself. I don’t want to leave Shippou behind though. I want him to come with me.” Kagome smiled at the fox demon. “It wouldn’t feel right without him with me.” Aya nodded and stood up quickly, as she dusted her clothing off from being on the ground.

“I will go fetch Shippou for you Kagome. You may use some of my spare clothes, since yours are ruined.” Aya got out her spare clothes from a bag resting at the base of the tree. She handed them to Kagome and waited until the girl had pulled them on. A black tunic and black pants that had an overlaying black skirt. The skirt had splits up the sides to enable easy maneuvering. Kagome bowed to Aya and thanked her for the clothing. “No need to thank me Kagome. Now, I will return with Shippou shortly.” Aya bounded off to the village following the scent of her nephew.

Shippou paced impatiently inside Kaede’s hut as he waited for Kagome to return. He looked towards the door every few seconds which amused both Kaede and Sango. Miroku was out in the village gathering information and being his normal perverted self. They had an idea as to where InuYasha was and could only hope that Kagome didn’t see. The kit looked again towards the door, but Kagome still didn’t come through it. He sniffled a bit, Kagome was late. She usually was late, but not this late. InuYasha usually went and got her, but he had refused this time.

“Where is Kagome I wonder?” Kaede sat by the fire as dinner was prepared. Sango cleaned Hiraikotsu as Kirara rested on her lap. The old woman was getting worried herself about Kagome. She had a bad feeling something had happened to the girl, but she was unsure if it was good or bad. The old woman’s head lifted up as she sensed a demonic aura approaching the hut. She noticed Sango had also tensed and Kirara’s fur had puffed out a bit in preparation for a fight. Only Shippou seemed oblivious to the approaching demon because of his concern for Kagome.

“Excuse me.” Aya stopped at the door and bowed deeply to those inside. “May I come in?” Her tone was polite and respectful as she waited for invitation. Kaede sensed no hostility coming from the demon. She didn’t trust the demon, but with Sango so close the old woman felt somewhat safe. Kaede nodded her agreement and Aya entered the hut. She looked down at Shippou and her heart warmed. The little fox wouldn’t recognize her he had been so little the last time she had seen him. It did her well to see he was turning out to look like his father, but she had business to attend to.

Aya sat down across from Sango and Kaede and made sure she looked somewhat presentable to the humans. She cleared her throat and looked at them, from one to the other. “I presume you are worried about Kagome.” Shippou zipped over to her side as Sango stood with Hiraikotsu at the ready.

“You know where Kagome is?” The little demon asked worriedly as he stared at the older fox. Aya nodded and smiled at him. Her smile told Shippou to be patient and wait for her to finish, and so he went over to sit with Kaede and Sango. Aya waited until Shippou was comfortable before continuing, even though Sango still stood and held Hiraikotsu.

“I stumbled across your friend in the woods. She was severely injured from being hit by something big. I am not sure what it was, but it did very bad damage to her. I could not let her lay there and die as it seemed that was what was going to happen. I felt a strong will to live from her, but also pain. I sense she had witnessed something that had caused her great pain as she was moving faster than her wounds should have allowed.” She looked over at Sango and Kaede, the demon took note that Sango had sat down.

“I am a holder of an ancient demon magic that allows the transfer of demon blood. I imagine you are familiar with it milady?” Aya nodded to Kaede respectively. Kaede closed her eye to ponder for a moment before she remembered an old folk tale.

“It is an old folk tale to warn children away from the forest. It tells about women and children being captured by demons and turned into demons themselves. That can’t possibly be true can it?” Aya nodded in approval, the old tale was in fact a fact.

“Yes. It is true. Though only three demons to this day know about it, myself included.” She explained the details of it briefly to give the humans and idea of what had happened to Kagome before she told them the truth. “I knew this was the only way to save Kagome.” She let that sink in before waiting for their responses.

“Does this mean that Kagome is a demon?” Sango looked distressed before raising Hiraikotsu and pointing it at Aya. “Your forced it on her didn’t you?” The demon slayer was quite angry and sad for her friend. To go through all of that alone.

“I did not force her. Do you think me stupid?” Aya growled dangerously at the young girl. “It was Kagome who chose it. I offered her the option of life and she chose it. Her soul told me everything I needed to know. Yes, it was more painful for her because of her priestess blood. However, that child was able to make the demonic blood and priestess blood coexist with one another inside her body. She is incredibly strong for doing that.” Aya’s eyes flashed dangerously as she watched Sango’s grip tighten on Hiraikotsu.

“Calm down Sango. She is telling the truth. I sense no ulterior motive coming from her.” Kaede sighed and rested her hands on her thighs. She needed more answers before she could trust this demon. “What has become of her now? Why has Kagome refused to come here?”

“Kagome was afraid. More afraid of her friends rejecting her because of her demon blood, than of becoming demon.” Aya looked to Kaede, Sango, and Shippou before she continued. “She wishes to go on by herself. She is not sure if she will be accepted by everyone and wants to get used to her demon self before revealing herself to her friends. I trust you will trust her judgment?”

Kaede sighed and nodded. “Worrying about others. That is her way.” A hint of a smile appeared on the old woman’s lips. She looked down at Shippou before looking at Aya once more. Her old bones creaked as she leaned forward to get a better look at the fox demon.

“What does she plan to do with little Shippou?” The old priestess lays a hand on Shippou’s head affectionately. Shippou nodded and looked at Aya curiously.

“She does want to take Shippou with her. I don’t believe she would leave him behind for a minute. Kagome will come back, she just needs time to accept her new self.” Aya saw the pain in Sango’s eyes and felt the crushing guilt once more.

“Oi! What’s going on in here?” The brash voice grated on Aya’s ears. Kaede sighed and Sango simply crossed her arms and hid her sadness. InuYasha came into the hut and noticed the new demon a snarl ripped form his throat. “What the hell? Why is she here?” He indicated towards Aya.

“She is a guest InuYasha. I invited her in and you are to treat her nicely.” Kaede’s voice was soft but steel was underneath it. Sango also nodded, she didn’t need InuYasha to make the fox demon mad. That was her only way to get to Kagome. Sango didn’t care that her friend was a demon, she only cared about Kagome!

Finally posting some feedback.

This really drew me in. Enough that I'm wondering where you'll go with this, how long you'll make it and what sort of ending it will have.
I'm hoping for a pleasant experience and even though my reading record of SesshKag fics is nil, I'm hoping it's not a stereotypical 'bad guy falls for the good girl'.

However, the usual circumstances have changed and I have certainly never seen any fics where Shippou may have any contact with Sesshomaru or Rin before.

I was a bit meh-ish about Aya being an aunt to Shippou though. Even assuming she was one of many litter-mates to his father, it feels a bit weird to me.

However, I did love the reactions of Sango, Miroku, Kaede and Shippou. Especially Sango's.

A general note: Try varying the names used for each character a bit. Might be a bit hard with Kagome being changed and all, but in character heavy scenes it mixes things up a little and makes reading a bit easier.