InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Price You Pay ❯ Prologue

 

 

I wouldn't call this my full prologue but whatever.

 

DISCLAIMER: I do not own inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho and this goes for the rest of my story. Enjoy!

 

~~~*~~~

 

She was born in Tokyo hospital's main birthing unit, room number seven, and was a quick and easy delivery. The few nurses at the birth congratulated the woman on her beautiful baby girl. It had been a long time since any of them had witnessed such a simple birth. Besides the usual screaming at the start, the child had remained silent and chose to gaze up at her surroundings quietly. The woman's eyes watered at the sight of her darling child all wrapped up in a pink birthing cloth. Her newborn.

 

A few minutes later, two men entered the room. One, being her father and the other man, her husband. He smiled at her and his eyes grew large at the sight of his child. He stepped forward and she placed the baby in his arms. She watched, greatly amused, as her husband stared at the child with complete and utter fascination.

---

 

He was speechless. To him, it seemed as if he had been granted the world's most treasured gift. Her little hands clasped by her side, tiny wisps of ebony black curls, chubby cheeks poking out towards him and a small nose that held the hint of promised elegance. He couldn't imagine how the little beauty had acquired her perfection. She was a jewel, nothing more and nothing less.

 

But it was her eyes that shocked him the most.

 

Both him and his wife had dark hair and dark brown eyes. It was nothing unusual; most Japanese people had such features and neither of their families had been gifted with anything else. Besides that, it was rare for one to see a person of a more foreign heritage, even on the streets of Tokyo.

 

But here she was, lying peacefully in his arms with startling purplish-blue eyes.

 

It wasn't easy to determine the exact colour. They seemed to flicker about, in and out as if deciding on what to be. One second they were blue and the next, he could have sworn that he'd been staring at a purple eyed baby.

 

Of course, this was nothing special. He was positive that he'd heard somewhere that babies' eyes tended to change colour soon after birth. She would have brown eyes in a few weeks once her body had recovered a bit, he was sure.

 

“Mamoru?”

 

He looked up from his daughter to see his wife sighing wearily. She was tired and, come to think of it, their child probably was too. He smiled sheepishly and handed the child back to her mother so that she could begin feeding. He stared at them a little longer before giving them the privacy they needed. He couldn't begin to comprehend just how great it felt to be a dad. The feelings were bubbling inside of him, tumbling, twisting and turning in a colossal wave of emotions. He was on top of the world and nothing could bring him down.

 

…It suddenly became apparent to him, that his father in law had not said a word since he had arrived. Mamoru turned to face him and was shocked by what he saw.

 

The old man was smiling sweetly at his new granddaughter with an expression of contentment upon his face. Though he had led a pleasant enough life, he was not usually a happy man, and was a constant complainer. The change she had brought upon him was startling; not only was the man smiling, he hadn't made any offensive or degrading comments yet. Kami knows, it was a rare sight to behold.

 

Viciously steering himself away from the awning sight, Mamoru made a quick exit out of the room and sat down on one of the soft waiting room sofas. It was Time to Think.

 

`What would be a good name?' he thought, `Mikoumi said that she wanted her first child's name to begin with a `K'…but I'll be dammed if I can think of a good one now.'

 

He pondered on the small number of options available to him, taking into account her face, origin and parentage. It would be no good to give her a name that would be held under the family name's restrictions or give her a name that meant `Daring' if she grows up to be meek and simple. It needed to be flexible, and yet, not so much that upon hearing it, people would lose respect for her altogether.

 

He was lost deep in thought, completely oblivious to the numerous nurses that passed him with words of congratulations or to the strange looks of envy from men who's children had yet to be born. Had he seen them, he would have paid no mind, save to thank the Gods later for his joyful gift.

 

He stopped thinking and stared at the birthing room he had just left, thirty minutes before.

 

`Gift.' He thought, needing to hear it sound in his head. `Why can't we call her gift?'

 

The name was flexible enough, had no hidden messages or discretions, and rolled around in his head quite nicely.

 

`Gift.'

 

Of course, the Japanese term for gift was odd and he wasn't too sure that his wife would be pleased if he decided to name her something funny.

 

`Perhaps though...'

 

They could always fashion a name from nothing and say that it meant `Gift'. After all, he knew that in this modern day and age, it was no longer necessary to have a traditional name and they were becoming less and less common each day.

 

`Yes! That's a great idea! I'll make up your name! You're going to be a special one I promise!'

 

He racked his brains again, searching desperately for a good name using all the possible `k's. There was Ke, Ko, Ku, Ki, Ka…yes he liked Ka. Okay now for the tricky part.

Ka…what?

 

Ka…Ka…Ka-go…? …!!!

 

That sounded quite nice actually!

Now…okay. He had formed Kago, now all he needed was a final syllable to complete his chosen name.

 

Kago-ru… no, not feminine enough.

 

Kago-li…hmm, he wasn't too sure…

 

Kago-go…? Where did that come from??!!

 

NO! NO! NO! There was something special out there, he knew there was! He just needed to find out what it was, keep it in his memory, write it down and…

 

He paused mid sentence.

 

…Me.

 

Kago-me.

 

Kagome.

 

It fit perfectly.

 

The new father smiled triumphantly. It had been decided, she had been decided. He got up and walked towards the bedroom with a stupid grin plastered onto his face.

 

`Kagome… His daughter!!'

 

His gift had been a special one, sleeping peacefully, tightly embedded in her mother's arms. He would never allow harm to come to his gift; she would be essential to the world, a pure jewel.

 

…What remained to be seen however, was in what form the gift would come.

---

 

It was early afternoon and the sun was making a stunning appearance. The weather forecast for the week had been dreadful; yet everyday the citizens of Tokyo enjoyed a blissful amount of sunshine. Many of the city's younger generation were using this to their advantage and were spending time enjoying the perfect day. At school, everyone was in recess, outside playing games or running around in the sun.

 

One child however, did not indulge in such cheerful pastimes.

 

The little girl traipsed up the temple steps, slightly cautious about coming home early from school.

Koji from drawing class had been mean to her and poured red paint all over her hair. She was so angry that she cried and her teacher sent her home, after giving naughty Koji a good beating.

 

“Silly Koji.” She said smiling.

 

Her mother was waiting for her at the top of the steps, wearing a simple blue dress with an apron tied around her waist. She had paused during the act of sweeping the outer shrine floor when she had seen her daughter approaching.

 

“Mom!” Kagome yelled, wiping her tear-stained face and running up the last steps. Her mother dropped the broom quickly and was soon engulfed in her five year olds strongest bear hug.

 

“Careful dear, my stomach.” Mikoumi said and relaxed when Kagome eased her hold slightly. The woman was expecting again and they hoped that this time they would be blessed with a baby boy. Though, if Kagome were anything to go by, they wouldn't mind either way.

 

“Now dear, why are you home early today?” she asked putting on a fake frown. She knew her daughter didn't always enjoy school and would relish any opportunity to skip a day off.

 

“Oh! Mama well, that's because Koji put paint all over my hair and teacher got mad and said go home and I said okay I'll go home so I went with a big girl who left me at the bottom of the stairs and I climbed all the way up the stairs all by myself I didn't even stop to breathe I just walked!” the little girl said excitedly, finally pausing to take a deep breath.

 

Mikoumi managed to keep a straight face and silently gave thanks to the Buddha for her good fortune. In her opinion, her daughter was the sweetest child she had ever come across. She was so darling and cute! She looked like a miniature angel especially considering her unique cream skin and azure eyes. Her husband had thought that she would have brown eyes, but surprisingly, they remained blue-grey. The eyes had to be Mikoumi's favourite part of her daughter's visage as they were so odd. She loved her daughter's large smile and neatly kept hair as well. There were just so many things about her that she loved!

 

Whenever Kagome made a decision she thought about the others involved before deciding and was always kind and polite. She carried an almost surreal innocence to her that most youngsters these days lacked greatly.

 

She knew how her husband had chosen the name for their child and she believed his decision to be wise. Kagome was in every way, the perfect gift.

 

“Okay dear, you can go inside and play but make sure you clean your room first.” She chided, sounding exactly like the perfect housewife she was.

 

“BUT MOM!!!!” Kagome whined quickly putting on her cutest and most influential puppy dog eyes. Mikoumi's resolve faltered slightly as she gazed into her daughter's large violet-blue eyes.

 

`Oh darn, she looks so sad…' Mikoumi thought. `What am I saying? Snap out of it Mikoumi! Stay strong! You can't let your children influence you just because they've got cute, innocent, adorable, sweet… -!!'

 

“No buts dear, now run along, I need to finish sweeping the shrine.” She said quickly, averting her eyes away from her daughter.

 

Kagome pouted but stopped pleading with her mom. She knew that she could get what she wanted if she really wanted it, but it just didn't feel right to push her mother in such a way.

 

She loved her parents completely and she knew that they would do anything for her. She didn't pretend to not know about the way her mother praised her to other parents or the way her father always compared her to other people's naughty kids. She was special and she knew it. But she also knew that there was nothing to gain by flaunting her talents around. Not yet anyway, she was much too young.

 

She changed her facial expression hurriedly and faced her mother. “Okay mom, whatever you want.” And took off at a run, her lunch box swinging wildly at her side.

 

Mikoumi gave a faint smile at her daughter's sudden departure.

Yes, she knew her daughter was special, but just how special she wasn't sure.

 

Every day she would find out something more strange and unique about the child and it brought odd feelings of foreboding. She had not missed the calm, concentrated look that had swept onto her daughter's face after she'd been dismissed just a few minutes ago. It was unnatural to see a five year old look as if they were older than their parents, let alone older than their grandparents!

 

`Oh well,' she thought, letting out a loud sigh and returning to sweeping the shrine. `Maybe our next child will be a little more… normal.'

---

 

Inside the house, in a small bedroom decorated in white and pink, Kagome lay down on the floor, resting peacefully. Her legs were crossed over one another while her arms were positioned as if glued to her sides. The lids of her eyes fluttered with each breath she took and her long eyelashes tenderly caressed the base of her eyes. A faint breeze was slowly entering the room through an open window beside her bed. It swept in, uncovering every item and object, including the room's sole subject, sleeping on the floor. Rare it was to see the young girl in such a state, if ever there was one.

 

Her room was a natural reflection of herself. On most days it was immaculate: even without her mother having to tell her to, she did her chores on impulse. On those other days however, her room was exactly like a pigsty, full of stray toys strewn about the floor and unanimous objects littered everywhere.

 

Some days, her mother would come in during the morning and see Kagome sitting on her bed with a helplessly confused expression on her face. Half of the room would be tidy while the other half was in complete disarray. It had been the most peculiar thing, especially since when asked about it; Kagome replied `I don't know what to do mommy, I just don't know.'

 

Certainly, something was up and though she was still incredibly young, there was something foreign and completely ancient about her, which despite all her efforts to conceal it, was blatantly obvious.

 

“Mmmm…”

 

Kagome rolled over onto her tummy, as comfortable on the floor as she would have been on any bed. She tried to prolong the inevitable `waking up stage' but was hit by it full force instead.

 

“Mmmm…no….” she mumbled, stretching her limbs out. Her black hair was ruffled out of its previous clips and bands while her uniform remained pristine. Her small little hands lifted to rub her eyes till they opened to reveal pale, yet wild amethyst irises.

 

The eyes scanned the room with a new found intensity and then relaxed into her usual calm. She stood up, sweeping her long hair aside and smiled.

 

It happened too fast for human eyes to catch it.

 

Suddenly, in the place of a once innocent little girl, stood a woman of an incredible height, 6ft at most. Her hair was darker than a raven's feathers, and a texture so fine, that a peacock would have hung its head in shame.

 

The woman was not wearing Kagome's clothes, instead she wore attire similar to that of the ancient ones, spoken and known only in legends. Her stance spoke volumes; she was undoubtedly powerful and capable of anything.

 

Well, almost anything.

 

Though Midoriki was strong, an intelligent woman who was refined and famous for her superior knowledge, it was a well-known fact that every life, no matter how special, must end.

 

So, after centuries of so-called immortality, she was ready to accept her fate.

 

Death had come knocking.

 

But being the rather eccentric human miko she was, Midoriki had chosen to evaluate her time left on this earth and before death, attempt to perform the most unselfish deed to ever grace humanity.

 

Lets just say she made a few mistakes in her planning.

 

When she created the Shikon No Tama, her intentions had been purely to expel all evil from the surrounding district and finally cleanse the over contaminated air. It would have been a perfect plan if news of the jewels power hadn't spread across Japan like wildfire. Then, the youkai which she had been so desperately trying to suppress, had come rushing at her from all sides, full force.

 

It had been simple at first; kill a few lesser demons here, some stronger youkai there, but eventually her opponents became more skilled and more impressive. She had never expected A class youkai to be after her, attacking her for something they had only heard of in rumours. It seemed pathetic to her; she had always gone under the belief that not all youkai were bad, that not all were so tainted with corruption and greed and lust that they would approach her in such a way.

 

It was a downfall to their species and an insult to her person. One of her most treasured lovers had been a youkai and he had been the most arduous male she had ever known. In fact, a large percentage of her loves had been of the demon species and they had all been good lovers.

 

…Until she'd killed them afterwards.

 

It wasn't that she was particularly sadistic, far from it; it was merely a safety precaution. Midoriki couldn't even begin to imagine what event s would occur if a lover had run off to tell others about her most hidden desires and weaknesses. It would have surely led to her downfall.

 

But later, when her downfall seemed eminent, at the hands of many hoards of ruthless demons, she did the one thing that she believed would save her.

 

Performing a spell to hold the demons at bay for a little while, she relieved the pressure and pain she'd been feeling by joining the power of the jewel with her own, so the two were immersed within each other. It was a wonderful occurrence of purity and magic sealing into one entity.

 

Though it was only later, after she'd eliminated her foes and come to rest at a nearby village, that she'd realised her mistake.

 

By binding herself to the jewel, she had evaded Death and eluded her enemies. But the jewel was a pure thing and she had used it for a selfish deed. Positive clashes with negative, with the results usually ending for worse.

 

The catch? Sure she'd never die, but she would also never live and would remain stuck to the Shikon No Tama for all eternity.

 

When she had finally realised this, it was too late for Midoriki. The village priestess watched with sad eyes as the legendary miko's soul whispered out and slithered into the Shikon. She knew it was of immense importance that nobody should find out the truth of the jewel. Before she had left, Midoriki had entrusted the jewel to her and it was her belief that she could protect it.

 

So, from that day on, the priestesses of that village became in charge of the Shikon and guarded it dutifully. All remained calm and peaceful till one day when a young miko, on the verge of becoming a woman, fell in love with a hanyou who sought for the jewel.

 

And thus it began.

--

 

When Kikyo sealed her lover to the tree and fell ill from an unknown wound, Midoriki decided to take action. After all, just because she was confined didn't mean she was stupid.

 

She still retained every single drop of her previous powers, with more to spare. So she was absolutely horrified when it was announced that The Shikon No Tama would be burnt along with the dying miko's body.

 

She would not stand for it and soon devised a plan to once again elude the inevitable.

 

It was her intervention that had forced Kikyo's soul to reincarnate. The kamis and leaders in charge of reincarnation would have refused ordinarily. She harboured too much hate to possibly live life again, in the hopes that she could exact revenge on those that wronged her. But using a little, no a lot, of magic, Midoriki had managed to confuse the leaders and 500 years later be reborn into the body of Kagome Higurashi.

 

She believed that their bond was unique; two souls harbouring one body often both fighting for control. At times it was rough and boring when she was stuck in the back, forced to watch from the sidelines. But kagome was kind and when they had their privacy, she could go out and enjoy the wonders of life.

Breathing, eating, seeing through your own eyes. Those were all things she had taken advantage of over the years and was now paying the price for it.

 

Thankfully, kagome made it cheaper and she had begun to love the girl with a fondness not known to herself. For though she was pure, she wasn't perfect, and had often separated herself from others due to the belief that she wasn't like them.

 

She was special. Kagome was special. They were special and Midoriki knew that in this body she could obtain happiness.

 

`We'll be together forever.'

---

 

Ten good years later, after much suffering and pain, the family were joined together again to celebrate their eldest child's fifteenth birthday. It was a lovely warm summers day in the middle of May, and all was calm.

 

Mikoumi had prepared a small cake for her daughter and bought a variety of girly gifts. Grandfather had contributed also and surprised everyone by buying her a new pink bicycle. It was slightly childish but she accepted it all the same.

 

Kagome wanted to spend the day with her family instead of inviting her friends over to her house. It was a quiet family moment they all wanted to share…at least until the siblings started bickering.

 

“SOUTA!!!!” she shrieked angrily, making a dive for her younger brother as he leapt over the couch. “I TOLD YOU TO GIVE MY NOTEBOOK BACK!!”

 

Said child gave a small grin and ran out of the living room, making sure to stick his tongue out at her first.

 

“Just you wait, Souta! I'm gonna get you!!” Kagome yelled as she ran after him. The sound carried on till both were out of sight and she was once again all on her own.

 

`Alone…'

 

Mikoumi sighed wearily. Being a mother of two without a husband could be as tough as hell, she thought sadly. Every day she would think of him and she wondered how she could still go on without him beside her. His death had been so sudden, so shocking; that she thought her heart would tear from loneliness. Souta had only been one year old at the time and Kagome was six. The loss of her father had been too much for Kagome and she became a recluse, spending countless hours alone in her bedroom. Once, while Mikoumi was cleaning the first floor landing, she had heard Kagome sobbing in her room. She was about to go and comfort her when she heard her daughter talking to someone in muffled whispers.

 

“What am I going to do, Miki?” she cried in between sobs. “I miss him so much!”

 

Mikoumi decided that her daughter had created some sort of imaginary being to comfort her when she was sad. It made her relax slightly, since she knew it was quite common for children to have imaginary friends at young ages, to help them through difficult times.

 

`Miki's' presence continued on till Kagome was in her pre-teens and after that Mikoumi heard of it no more.

 

`I suppose that she realised how childish she was being.' Mikoumi mused drifting out of thought. The fact that her daughter was looking to someone else instead of her for comfort had made her just a little bit jealous.

 

`Okay, I was more than a little bit jealous.' She confessed to herself.

 

It was true. She and her daughter had never gotten as close as most mothers had with their daughters. When Souta was born, kagome felt slightly left out when her mother couldn't spend time with her anymore and all her attention was put into caring for her newborn baby. Then with the loss of her father, things just became even worse for the child. She was pushed to the side and even though she hadn't done it intentionally, Mikoumi still felt extremely guilty for treating her first child in such a way.

 

`Never mind. Hopefully there will be a time for us to become close again.'

 

The woman finished setting out the dining table and wiped her brow. Whatever happened she knew that she had to remain strong. `It's what Mamoru would have wanted.' She told herself and began to search for her children.

---

 

Kagome was mad; no she was beyond mad! The little twerp had ran off with her diary and hidden himself somewhere. Well she was gonna find him no matter what! She ran outside the house, passing some elderly tourists being shown around the house by her grandpa. He called out to her but she rudely ignored him and kept running towards the well house.

 

Another side of her was telling her to calm down, that it was only her brother trying to get her angry. Younger siblings always did this, she should be used to it by now!

 

But the fifteen-year-old girl stubbornly insisted that he had gone too far this time. Her small hands curled into fists at her sides; she couldn't wait to give him an atomic wedgie!

 

Her paces slowed as she entered the well house where she was sure her brother was hiding. After all, where would a little boy hide if not in the darkest, oldest, creepiest place he could find? Nowhere else of course.

 

Kagome stared into the darkness before her with a deep scowl across her face. She held her breath and uttered not a sound while waiting for him to give himself away. As if on cue, small scuffling sounds could be heard directly on her left, and she gave a triumphant grin.

 

In seconds, she was standing in front of the well facing her brother with harsh, predator eyes. He trembled under her gaze.

 

“Uh…sis?”

 

“Yes Souta?” she asked, trying not to laugh at the fearful expression on his face.

 

“Sis…um…wha…” Souta started, but then stopped mid sentence with his mouth hanging open. Kagome was just about to ask why he was staring at her like she'd grown six heads, when she felt warm breath tickle against her skin.

 

“AAAHHH!!!!!” Both she and Souta screamed in unison and she turned around swiftly.

 

Before them was the ugliest woman Kagome had ever seen, with numerous arms and legs and a horribly inhumane face. Before she could run away, the creature grabbed her with one of its many hands and resurfaced back into the depths of the well, leaving a terrified Souta behind.

 

“Kagome!!” he shrieked, peering over the sides of the well.

 

The little boy's heart crumbled at the sight of the empty well below him and tears slid down his face. He didn't know what had happened to his sister, but he knew that the cause of her disappearance was entirely his fault.

---

 

What began that day was the turntables to Kagome's life. No longer was she an ordinary teenage girl that went to school everyday and had crushes, or a girl that struggled with her homework and cried when she got slightly emotional.

 

No, she wasn't like that anymore, what she had become was different to anything that she could have ever imagined.

 

She was a miko.

 

Originally, she had been merely a shrine priestess born with minimal powers and strength. Though since she had been born in the modern days where no one believed in assessing spiritual powers, it was hardly likely that they would flourish.

 

Even with Midoriki's intense energy flowing through her, it was still Kagome's body and without the proper knowledge on how to instruct herself properly, all of her powers would be lost.

 

So it was for the good of all mankind that little miss Higurashi fell through the old Bone eaters well at the far end of the shrine. Her destiny awaited her, and many trials, including love; terror and harsh battles would come, without any clue as to when they would end.

 

~~~*~~~