InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A New Dream, A New Destiny ❯ Chapter 1

A New Dream, A New Destiny

 

Disclaimer: YYH belongs to Yoshihiro Tagashi; IY belongs to Rumiko Takahashi; I'm neither, pity me!

 

Major props to my girl Houseki; she helped me smooth out the finer points of my plot and is The Most Awesomely Metal Beta!! ^____^ *glomps 'seki*

 

Chapter One:

 

Kagome stood transfixed at the bottom of the steps, staring at the boy from her dream. He was at the top of the steps that led up to the school entrance, staring back at her. Kagome felt herself being drawn to him, her feet moving step by step upwards, closing the distance between them. Ten steps away from him, her view of him was suddenly obstructed by a mass of people heading into the school. She started trying to move through the crowd, to see the mystery dream boy again, when she was accosted by six familiar pairs of arms.

 

“Kagome-chan!” Yuka greeted her friend, wrapping her arms around her. “We missed you so much!”

 

“H-Hi, Yuka-chan,” Kagome said, caught off guard. She had forgotten they'd all gotten into the same high school. She remembered her own surprise at passing the intense exam to enter the prestigious school, considering she'd still been traveling back and forth between her time and the Sengoku Jidai with Inuyasha at the time that she'd been required to take the test.

 

“Are you feeling well enough for the first day of school?” Ayumi wanted to know.

 

“Yeah, how have you been feeling?” Eri piped up.

 

Kagome grinned her best at her friends, “Actually, I've been feeling great. I think my days of chronic illness are behind me.”

 

“Oh, Kagome-chan, we're so happy to hear it!!” Ayumi exclaimed and hugged her tightly.

 

“Oof,” Kagome said as she was suddenly squeezed tightly by all three girls. “Okay, okay! I'm happy to see you, too… can we go inside now?”

 

As they climbed the remaining steps, Kagome looked all around for the redheaded boy she'd felt the youki from, but couldn't see or sense him anywhere. She and her three friends made their way to the auditorium, after swapping their normal shoes for school slippers, and found seats together for the welcoming ceremony.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

Kurama saw the girl walking towards him, as if in a daze, and felt mesmerized just watching her take each step closer to him. The slight breeze played with the hem of her skirt and made her long, raven hair dance as she walked. Kurama felt his heart racing and realized he was holding his breath. He let it out shakily as she got almost close enough to reach.

 

Suddenly, the crowd of students trying to get into the building swarmed, and Kurama lost sight of her. Kurama started pushing his way through the throng, eager to greet the beauty from his dream, but was soon unable to move any further as he was surrounded by a group of fangirls.

 

“Oh, Shuuichi-kun! We didn't know you were coming to this high school as well!!” A brown-haired girl cried. The others giggled giddily behind her. Kurama recognized her as the leader of the group.

 

“H-Hai, Sato-san,” Kurama said, forcing a pleasant smile. He knew the girls wouldn't know his smile was false; it was the same one he always used with them.

 

“You don't have to call me `Sato-san', Shuuichi-kun. You can call me Mika-chan, or Mika if you like,” the girl said cheerfully, closing in on him to the point that her body was almost against his.

 

“Ah, sumimasen, Sato-san,” Kurama said, ignoring her request as he firmly pushed her away, “I must be getting to the auditorium.” And with that, he turned back towards the building and squeezed through the crowd as quickly as possible to get away from them.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

“Looks like he wasn't interested, Mika-chan,” a blond-haired girl smirked at Mika from the front of a different group of girls nearby, emphasizing the `chan' in mock of the girl's overheard request.

 

“Ridiculous,” Mika insisted, sticking her nose up in the air. “It's the first day of high school for the former head of our Junior High class; of course he doesn't want to be late. Just you watch, Nori-chan, I'll have Shuuichi-kun yet!”

 

“That's right,” one of her followers piped up, “Mika-chan has a much better chance than any of your little freaks, Nori.”

 

“Hmph, really?” Nori replied coolly, “Want to put that to the test?”

 

Mika narrowed her eyes at her rival, “What do you have in mind?”

 

Nori grinned evilly, “It's simple really. We'll both try to get Shuuichi-kun for ourselves by the end of the year. Whichever one of us doesn't succeed, agrees to give up on him altogether, and must announce it in front of the whole school at assembly before we leave for Winter Break.”

 

“What if no one succeeds?” a short, pink-haired girl behind Nori asked. Nori's answer was a swift fist to the top of the girl's head. The other girls around her giggled.

 

Nori turned back to Mika, “So, do we have a deal?” She stuck out her hand in offering to seal the pact.

 

“Deal,” Mika agreed, shaking Nori's hand once before turning back to her group and heading into the school.

 

“So is this gonna be a fair fight?” another of Nori's groupies asked slyly.

 

Nori smirked again, “Now, now, what kinda girl would I be if I didn't play fair with my dear friend Mika-chan?”

 

The pink-haired girl from before put her finger to her lip to think, “Um, you'd be Nori-chan?”

 

Nori grinned, a gleam in her eyes. “Exactly right, Katsuki-chan.”

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

As he entered the auditorium, Kurama fanned out his senses and scanned the seats looking for his lost dream girl, but had to give up his efforts as the crowd coming in behind him began to push forward. He found a seat near the front of the auditorium and waited for things to start.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

The seats in the auditorium filled up quickly, students eagerly finding their friends to sit with them. The usual excited chatter that always accompanied the reunion of friends echoed around the large room, but soon quieted as a short, stout, balding man walked onto the stage. He adjusted his thin black tie over his white dress shirt and straightened what was left of his black hair as he approached the microphone.

 

“Ohayo, minna-san! I am your Vice Principal, Tanaka-san. Welcome to a new year at Meiou High. To our returning students, welcome back; and to our students entering from Meiou Junior High, we're happy you chose to stay in our school system! Congratulations to you all on your excellent entrance exam results. We expect great things from you! Now, please give your attention to our Principal, Yoshida-san.” The short man stepped to the side of the mic, clapping as a younger, taller man walked onto the stage. Tanaka bowed slightly to the man that looked to be in his early-30s and gestured for him to use the mic.

 

“Arigatou, Tanaka-san,” the man spoke into the mic, “Ohayo, minna-san. As our Vice Principal already said, congratulations on your entrance to Tokyo's highest academically rated high school, Meiou High! As we start this new school year, there are a few changes we've made around here that you may notice.”

 

Yoshida took the mic out of the stand and continued speaking as he slowly walked back and forth across the stage, addressing the students, “The Director of our schools recently spent some time in America, and she has brought back with her a few changes to our traditional school system. The most prominent of these changes is most likely to be the changing of classes. Most of you are used to staying in one class while your teachers switch classes each period, staying with the same group of people all year round. In America, however, the students switch classes each period. They have classes with many different people and our Director believes this would be a positive adjustment to our system, allowing you to get to know a wider range of people. Ito-san, perhaps you would like to inform us of the rest of your changes?”

 

A thin, middle-aged woman with gray-streaked jet-black hair in a tight bun stood just behind him and to his side. She took the microphone when he offered it. “Hai, arigatou, Yoshida-san. The main difference in your normal school lives will be this adjustment to the switching of classes. There may be a few other minor details you may notice, such as the opening of our new eat-in cafeteria, rather than eating in your classes, but for the most part your student responsibilities will remain the same. You will all still be required to uphold the public appearance of Meiou students, including leaving seats free on public transportation, keeping your fuku tidy, and behaving respectfully. You will also still be required to participate in Sougi each day before after-school clubs commence. As for any other changes, I leave it to your sensei to help inform you and adjust to things. Our Japanese government has yet to completely commit to these changes, as they believe it to be a focus on socialization rather than academics, so only a few schools in Tokyo will be incorporating the changes on a trial basis. I urge you all to make the best of things and try to adjust quickly, because, unlike popular belief, I think the differences will be good for you. Yoshida-san?”

 

“Hai, thank you for coming personally for our assembly, Ito-san,” the principal responded, accepting the microphone back from her. “Okay students, this ends the beginning of the year announcements. You have all been sent your homeroom assignments already, I believe, so please see your way to your classrooms. Your sensei will have their own words for you and then they will lead you through a practice run of how we will be switching classes this year. Maps have been provided for new students and anyone needing a new map can find them in my office next to the main entrance. The attendants will release you from your seats row by row now. Your homeroom sensei await you in their classrooms. Once again, congratulations on being accepted to Meiou High and have a good year!”

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

The ushers, who looked to be specially-appointed 12th year students, started at the front of the assembly, releasing students row by row. Kagome and her friends waited patiently in one of the middle rows for their turn to leave. Kagome idly watched her fellow students passing her, silently guessing what year each person was by gauging their age. Most of them looked to be older, maybe grade 11 or 12. Suddenly, she felt butterflies in her stomach when the red-haired boy from before walked down the aisle. For a moment that seemed to move in slow motion, he turned his head to her and they held each other's gaze. Then, as quickly as the moment had started, it was over and he was forced to continue down the aisle and out of the auditorium. She felt the urge to get up and go after him, but restrained herself so as to not get in trouble on her first day of school.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

Kurama followed a group of 12th year boys up the aisle as they made their way out of the room. Feeling that same prickle from before, he turned his head and found his eyes locked on sparkling blue eyes. He held her with his emerald gaze for as long as he could until he finally had to leave the aisle. Kurama felt a strange shift in his ki as the kitsune within him seemed to mourn the loss of her already familiar presence along with him.

 

`We'll find her again, Youko.' He silently promised.

 

(It better be soon, Kurama. I do not know why the pull to her is so strong, but I feel as though delaying our meeting much further could be disastrous.)

 

`Don't worry, Youko, I feel the same way. I won't allow this day to end before we see her again. Maybe she'll be in our homeroom.' This seemed to placate the kitsune for now, and Kurama felt his ki mostly return to normal as he made his way up the stairs to his homeroom.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

When Kagome, Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka got out into the hallway, they broke off from the group they'd been walking behind in order to check their room assignments. Ayumi and Eri were in the same homeroom, but Yuka and Kagome were each in different rooms. Kagome checked her map and the four girls made their way up the stairs, going their separate ways as they each found the room they'd been assigned to.

 

Kagome and Yuka said goodbye to each other outside Kagome's homeroom. When she entered the room, Kagome held her breath hoping she would see the redheaded youkai boy among the already seated students. She was greatly disappointed when she found no sign of him whatsoever. She took a seat beside a short girl with pink hair and waited for her sensei to call the class to attention.

 

As she waited, Kagome's mind wandered to memories of her dream the night before. What had caused it, and how had a strange boy she'd never met made his way into it? She couldn't think of any explanations, but kept pondering nonetheless. She was soon brought out of her thoughts by a tap on her arm. She looked to her left to find the origin of the tap.

 

“Ah, sumimasen,” the pink-haired girl said softly, “I don't mean to bother you, but I wanted to introduce myself since I've never seen you before. You didn't go to Meiou Junior High, did you?”

 

Kagome smiled sincerely at the girl, “No, I didn't. I went to Takahashi Junior High. Higurashi Kagome.” Kagome offered her hand in the Western greeting of a handshake.

 

The pink haired girl accepted the handshake with a shy smile. “Hino Katsuki,” she introduced herself. “Nice to meet you, Kagome-chan.” She looked like she was about to say more, but a tall, slightly busty blond girl walked up to the seat behind her just then and Katsuki suddenly clammed up. She quickly took her hand back and adjusted herself in her seat to face the front again.

 

Kagome eyed the actions suspiciously, glancing briefly at the blond girl that had seemingly caused the reaction in Katsuki. The teacher finally called the class to order just then, beginning her practiced start-of-year speech, and Kagome thought no more of it the rest of the day. She was too busy learning the ropes of her newly-Americanized schedule.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

The day passed quickly, as they had no real classes the first day. The three hours they were in school was spent mostly filling out paperwork, with a short interval to run through the changing of classes. Kurama had been disappointed by this fact, since the girl from his dream wasn't in his homeroom, but held hope that he would surely catch her out on the school grounds. The only other thing that made Kurama wish the day would end sooner was the fact that over half of his homeroom class was filled with fangirls. The teacher had explained that they'd been assigned to homerooms alphabetically according to the English alphabet. Evidently, a lot of his fangirls had family names beginning with a letter close to his in the English alphabet.

 

When he'd realized this, Kurama had discreetly rolled his eyes. He couldn't help but wonder if most of them hadn't forged their family names in order to get into class with him.

 

`Ah, but surely that's ridiculous,' he thought to himself.

 

(I would not be so certain, Kurama. You have seen the insane lengths these rabid onna go to just to be near us. Who is to say they are above forging their identities?)

 

Kurama couldn't even think of a suiting response. He merely sighed in his mind, exhausted just from the memories the comment had brought up. Many of the girls currently crowding his classroom happened to plague those memories as well, which only made it worse. He took a tiny bit of comfort in the fact that neither President of the two different `fanclubs' in his honor were in his homeroom. Without their leaders, the rest of the girls generally were too shy to actually confront him. In fact, only one girl in his class seemed bold enough to do more than catch glimpses of him. He figured she must not belong to either fanclub yet, since she didn't seem to know the rules of the hierarchy, but from the looks she'd been giving him he knew it was inevitable that she would join one soon.

 

Over the years, he'd learned to deal with the extra attention he drew, but it still irritated him a little. They all seemed to think he owed them a piece of himself, just because of his looks, and didn't even bother hiding their obsession with him. This new girl brought the discomfort of the situation to the surface.

 

She hadn't yet approached him, for which he was grateful, but he kept catching her staring at him. Each time he caught her staring, Kurama got a strong nagging feeling in the back of his mind, like he'd seen her before, but he knew she'd never gone to school with him before. At the sensei's instruction, each student had introduced themselves and answered what Junior High they'd come from. This girl, Nakano Yuka, had gone to Takahashi Junior High. That was on the opposite side of Tokyo that Meiou Junior High had been. Plus, none of the other fangirls in his class had known her, so Kurama couldn't find a reason for his feeling of déjà vu.

 

At long last, class ended, and Kurama grabbed his schoolbag and headed for the door. He considered himself lucky when the girl that had been watching him so closely seemed to completely forget about him as she made her way out the door. He groaned mentally when he heard her voice just outside the door, which was joined by two more girlish squeals when the girl informed her awaiting friends of the `hottie' that was in her class.

 

A traffic jam of people in front of him prevented Kurama from hurrying out the classroom and escaping the girls waiting to pounce him. He resigned himself to his fate and strolled out the door calmly when his turn came to leave the class. He saw right away that his suspicions had been correct about the girls laying in wait of him.

 

Yuka, the girl with bobbed black hair, stood against the wall opposite the doorway, and she had two friends with her. He thought they all looked almost identical except for the length and style of their hair. One had her chin-length hair held back with a headband and the other had longer, slightly wavy hair.

 

When she saw him, the girl from his class gasped and said, “There he is! Oh, Shuuichi-kun!” She waved her hand at him in askance for him to join them.

 

Kurama started to shake his head to decline, but the girl suddenly walked to him and grabbed him by his arm to pull him towards them. The other two girls merely stared at their friend in disbelief as she dragged Kurama to them, and Kurama almost let a chuckle escape at the shock on their faces. They seemed to get over it quickly though and, instead of staring blatantly at him, turned to each other with the same question.

 

“Where's Kagome?” Each girl asked the other.

 

The girl holding Kurama's arm answered them as they approached the other two girls, “She was in Sakano-sensei's homeroom. It's down a different hallway. Oh, wait, there she is!”

 

Kurama steeled himself for yet another fangirl squeal, and reluctantly looked, though with closed eyes, in the direction the girl with the deathgrip on his arm was waving. As soon as he finally opened his eyes, he felt the youki from Youko flare up slightly in excitement at the sight before him. There, standing just a few paces down the hall from him, was the girl he'd been waiting all day to see. For a second, he wondered if he was dreaming again, but knew he wasn't when he realized he was once again being dragged by his arm. He was being dragged towards the girl with long, raven hair and startling blue eyes; dragged towards the girl from his dream. The girl that been addressed as Kagome. He stopped resisting and willingly followed Nakano Yuka.

 

End Chapter One

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

A/N: Just wanted to mention, this fic also has a theme song; Love is Strong by The Rolling Stones. I think it fits quite perfectly. Uber thankies to Johnny Walker for the excellent song choice!

 

Also, I'd like to thank everybody that reviewed the previous chapter while it was still a one-shot; that includes the people that e-mailed their review to me. This wouldn't have been continued if it wasn't for you guys.

 

R&R Onegai!