InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cats and Dogs ❯ Only A Week Ago ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Prologue

 

 

Kagome and Kagura stand in front of a fairly large, pale grey, mansion. 

 

Red and blue eyes meet briefly, before the half-sisters tighten their held hands and Kagura rings the doorbell. 

 

The two 17-year-olds can hardly believe that it’s come to this. 

 

… 

 

Their parents had divorced when they were still very young. Their shared father had had an affair with another wind demon, resulting in Kagura’s birth only six months prior to Kagome’s. 

 

Kagura’s mother died from puerperal fever a week after her birth, which forced Kuro Higurashi to expose his affair to his wife. 

 

When Kagome was born a half-demon, and not a priestess as her mother had hoped, Mrs. Higurashi had raised the two children until they no longer required a mother’s milk, and had divorced Kuro as soon as she possibly could afterwards. 

 

Mr. Higurashi had taken great care of his two daughters, and they loved him as much as they loved one another, however, the good times weren’t meant to last. 

 

Only a week ago, the girls had been visited by a pair of policemen, who had informed them that their father had died in a car accident earlier that day. 

 

So now, here they were, at the house of their next of kin, the woman who had wanted nothing to do with them from the minute she knew them…

 

Kagome’s mother. 

 

… 

 

Kagome feels herself shrink in on herself when she hears approaching footsteps, and she smiles slightly when Kagura tightens her hold on her hand reassuringly. 

 

‘It will be alright.’

Kagura thinks, sending the telepathic thought through the link she’d established with her sister early on in their lives. 

 

‘Not like we can go anywhere else.’

Kagome sighs in reply. 

 

In truth, she was anxious to see her mother again. She had often snuck out of the house, using her demonic nose to track the scent that was so similar to her own and using her powers to fly up a house wall to peak into a window and see her mother. 

 

It was because of her regular snooping that she wasn’t all too surprised when a young boy opened the door for the two girls. 

 

The same could not be said for Kagura. 

 

‘…You’re sure this is the right address?’ 

She asks her little sister, her brow furrowed as the boy’s brown eyes stared into her own red orbs. 

Kagome bit back a chuckle. 

 

‘Yeah, this is Hikari Kumoiro’s son, Souta… My half-brother.’

Kagome confesses, knowing that Kagura knows that she regularly snuck out to keep tabs on the other half of her family. 

 

Stepping forward, Kagome crouches to the boy’s eye-level before addressing him. 

 

“Hello. I’m Kagome. My sister and I were hoping to speak to your mother, is she home?”

Kagome asks, keeping her voice steady and clear. 

 

Souta’s eyes grew large as he turns his attention to the teen currently kneeling before him. 

Apart from their eye colour and age difference, even he has to admit that this Kagome girl looks A LOT like him. 

 

Realising that he’s staring, and hasn’t answered Kagome’s question, Souta averts his gaze, blushing as he nods. 

 

Both girls feel their ears twitch when the unmistakable sound of heels on tiles echoes toward the door. 

 

“Souta! I thought I told you not to open the…!” 

 

Hikari Kumoiro suddenly stops shouting when she rounds a corner to see her son standing in front of their open entrance. 

 

“…door.”

Her voice suddenly becomes very quiet when she see’s exactly WHO is standing on her front porch. 

 

Though she soon finds her eyes glistening when Kagome rises to her full height next to her sister. 

 

“It’s been a while, Hikari.”

Kagura says, a cold breeze suddenly winding its way into the house and causing a rush of shivers and goosebumps to race along Hikari’s arms. 

 

She was wearing an a-line pencil skirt with matching blazer and white blouse underneath, which meant that the goosebumps, at least, were hidden from sight. 

 

Squaring her shoulders and setting her jaw, Hikari moves to pull her son against her front, a protective hand on his shoulder. 

 

“Kagura.” 

She says, meeting the teen’s red gaze full on. 

 

For such a hot colour, it was amazing how cold Hikari got every time she looked into those eyes. 

 

Kagura wasn’t all that easy to get along with either way or, but if you’d hurt her family the way that Hikari had, there was no getting back in her good books. 

 

“I was hoping the police would have already come by, but…”

Here Kagura pauses, eyes narrowed as she notes Hikari’s human scent of confusion and slight fear. 

 

“… it appears we’ll have to explain the situation ourselves.” 

Kagura sighs, sweeping past the boy and his mother in such a smooth motion, one might have thought she was walking past a maid with her child while entering her own house. 

 

Kagome followed her older sister not two steps behind. 

 

“Hello again.” 

She whispers with a sad smile as she passes her mother and half-brother, following Kagura through the foyer and into a fairly large study. 

 

Kagura didn’t even bother to knock, knowing that the mad behind the door was merely busy typing something on his computer. 

 

“Sorry Darling, just let me finish this one Email and we can…” 

Hikari’s husband, Kaito, says from behind his screen, though he is cut off by a buffeting wind as Kagura manipulates the air to send the business man flying out the door of his study, over the heads of his wife and son and into the living room. 

 

Calmly turning on her heel, Kagura takes Kagome’s hand in her own and, with a look, sends the rest of the family to join the head of their house, without any need for her powers. 

 

“Cancel any plans you may have had today, there are more important things to be discussed.”

Kagura states firmly, though Kaito isn’t about to set aside his work without a valid reason. 

 

“I’m sorry young lady, but I don’t think…” 

 

“At least we agree on that.” 

Kagura’s sudden comment has Kaito fuming indignation in no time. 

 

Before things can escalate further, Kagome decides to step between Kagura and the Kumoiros. 

 

“I apologise for my sister’s behaviour, however, we really DO need to talk.”

Kagome intones in a calm voice that brooks for no arguments. 

 

Hikari snorts though. 

 

“Really? I don’t see why.” 

Her disinterested comment cuts Kagome deeply, but it’s Kagura who speaks up in her defence. 

 

“And THIS is why I said we’d take the orphanage option.” 

She growls, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. 

 

Souta’s expression turns to confusion, as does Kaito’s, but Hikari looks likes someone has just pulled a rug from under her feet. 

 

“I’m sorry, would you mind explaining that?” 

Kaito asks diplomatically, resting a reassuring hand on his wife’s shoulder, despite still not really knowing what’s going on. 

 

Kagura raises a brow at that, though a squeeze from Kagome’s hand quiets any snide remark she may have wanted to make. 

 

“Where were you guys last week?” 

Kagura asks instead, answering with a counter question that catches all three family members off-guard. 

 

“Well, we were abroad… There was that deal with the Americans, new deeds to sign with our international partners…” 

Kaito trails off. 

 

“I’m sorry, how is this relevant?”

He asks, this time his eyes are fixed on Kagura alone, and she sees his determination in them. 

 

“Had you been home last week, you would have seen it all over the news.” 

Kagura answers simply, turning to Hikari as she continues in a monotonous voice that gave away nothing of her emotional strife. 

 

“Kuro Higurashi died in a car accident a little over a week ago.” 

The room is shockingly silent after Kagura finally comes out and says it. 

 

“We’re essentially orphans now… and, since we’re not 18 yet, we need a legal guardian.” 

Kagome explains quietly, her tear-filled, hopeful eyes tear at Kaito’s and Souta’s heartstrings, though her eyes are focused solely on the mother who had once thrown her away because of what she was. 

 

“…Get out.” 

Kagome feels her heart breaking at Hikari’s quiet words. 

 

“Please, Ma…” 

 

There’s a wild look in Hikari’s eyes as interrupts the half-demon standing in front of her. 

 

“GET OUT!” 

She yells, an instinctive white light bursting from the hand she’d used to gesture that the two demons should leave. 

 

The action of attacking one’s own child speaks volumes, but Kagome merely does a quick sidestep so that she shields her sister from her mother’s attack. 

 

The white light splits on either side of Kagome’s outstretched hand, as she diverts her mother’s power away from her sister and herself. 

 

“I’m afraid we can’t leave.”

Kagome says with tears in her eyes, her hand was glowing a pale blue, her hair a static swirl sparking around her head as she struggled to control her emotions. She quickly extinguished her blue powers once Hikari’s white attack had completely dissipated. 

 

Taking a shaky breath, Kagome keeps talking, ignoring the wide-eyed looks she was getting from both Kaito and her mother. 

 

“I know you mourn for our father, and I know that it’s painful to see me looking so much like him, but we’re only asking that you take us in until Kagura turns 18. I PROMISE we’ll move out as soon as we’re legally allowed to.”

Kagome pleads, though her words don’t seem to be registering in her mother’s ears. 

 

“…We’ll take you in.” 

Those simple, soft-spoken words cause Kagome’s and Kagura’s heads to turn sharply towards Kaito. 

 

“My wife needs some time to process this, though no more so than the two of you do, I’d wager…”

He says with a small smirk. 

 

“So, you are both welcome here until you feel ready to leave. We won’t kick you out as soon as you’re legally able to take care fo yourselves.”

He elaborates, rising from the couch while supporting his wife. 

 

“Souta will give you the grand tour while I bring Hikari up to our room, you can have any of the guest rooms for your own.” 

Kaito finishes, exchanging a quick smile and nod with his son, before escorting his wife to their room. 

 

Kagome and Kagura blink once, share a look and give each other a fierce hug. 

 

‘You did so well.’ 

Kagura soothes, petting Kagome’s hair as her younger sister trembles in her arms. 

 

‘I-I was SSSSO s-scared!’ 

Kagome hiccups in her mind. 

 

‘I know little one, I know. But you did it! You separated your powers and protected yourself from her, just like I knew you could.’

Kagura congratulates her quietly. 

 

‘Now come, I think your little half-brother is getting impatient despite his curiosity.’

Kagura continues with a quiet chuckle. 

 

Still hiding in Kagura’s shoulder for a moment, Kagome quickly dries her tears and turns to face the young boy currently venting his impatience by tapping his foot on the carpeted floor of the living room. 

 

Smiling, Kagome bends down to gain the boy’s attention. 

 

“Sorry for the wait, we’d love it if you’d give us a tour of the house now.”

Kagome says, causing the boy to grin up at her. 

 

“Awesome, let’s go!” 

He says excitedly, taking Kagome by the hand and half-dragging her out of the living room and towards a wide spiral staircase. 

 

Kagome laughs as she’s pulled behind the young boy, with Kagura tailing them, heaving a rueful sigh as she goes, though a tiny quirk of her lips gives away her relief and good mood. 

 

It turned out that the decent sized mansion wasn’t any smaller on the inside. 

 

The Kumoiro residence had 3 stories, and that wasn’t counting the attic and basement.

 

They had 6 guest rooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 living rooms, 2 studies, a conference room,  fully equiped gourmet kitchen, dining room, games room, gym and, of course, a master suite and Souta’s room. 

 

They also had two live-in maids, Marjorie and Aline, both human and both with a French background, though they have lived in Japan for as many as four generations. 

 

When the tour came to an end, Kagome and Kagura already knew what they wanted to do. 

 

‘Attic rooms?’ 

Kagura suggests with a smile. 

 

‘You think they’re sound proof?’

Kagome queries. 

 

‘Even if they weren’t, we’d still be most comfortable up there.’

Kagura supplies, which pretty much seals the deal for the two girls. 

 

“I think we’d like to take those two attic rooms, if that’s ok?”

Kagome asks, turning her attention to Souta. 

 

The boy smiles and nods. 

“Sure thing sis!” 

 

The nickname had come about during their tour. Souta hadn’t even asked, he’d just gone along with his assumption, and when he didn’t find himself flying though the air, he knew that he was indeed related to the two older girls now in his house. 

 

And, quite frankly, he couldn’t have been happier. 

 

His parents were ALWAYS working, and having friends over maybe twice a week just didn’t cut it for a kid who was as social, despite his initial shyness, as Souta was. 

 

The rest of the day passed in a blur. 

 

Kaito contacted a moving company and the girls went back to their father’s old place to pack the last of their things before instructing the workers on where to put their stuff in their new home. 

 

Soon enough, the two rooms had been furnished with the girl’s stuff. 

 

The two rooms were connected by a little door in the wall, which both Kagome and Kagura made sure to leave accessible. 

 

Other than that they each had a bed, nightstand, vanity, their clothes in a new closet, a beanbag each and, most importantly, their musical instruments. 

 

Kagome had her violin and acoustic guitar propped in one corner of her room, while Kagura did the same with her flute and electric guitar. 

 

A couple of hours later, the girls are called down for a delicious dinner. 

 

No-one mentions the fact that Hikari is absent from the table, because they all know she’s still crying in her room. 

 

Kagome and Kagura know because of their heightened senses, and Kaito and Souta know because they’d gone to check on her a few times during the afternoon. 

 

After thanking Marjorie and Aline for a lovely meal, the two sisters retire to their rooms and set about tuning and cleaning their instruments. 

 

It’s during this time that there is a knock on Kagome’s door. 

 

She and Kagura both recognise the scent of Kaito and keep doing what they’re doing. 

 

“Come in.”

Kagome calls, lifting her violin to make sure there weren’t any missed dust particles hiding between the strings. 

 

“Hi… oh, you’re both here. Well, that makes this easier.”

His uneasiness is evident, even without their demonic senses, but still, Kagome and Kagura give the man the curtesy of setting aside their instruments and looking at him. 

 

“What’s up?”

Kagura asks tiredly. 

 

“Well, I managed to talk to Hikari, and, as she understands it, the two of you were homeschooled?”

Kagome and Kagura both frowned at the direction of this conversation. 

 

Indeed, they had both been homeschooled, but they’d officially passed their final exams a few months ago.

 

Curious in spite of themselves, the girls both nod their answer. 

 

“Oh, well, since the new school year begins after this weekend, we thought you might like to finish your final year of high school at an actual school.”

Kaito suggests, quickly continuing when Kagura rises from her seated position and into a just slightly intimidating stance. 

 

“This school is specially designed for students with certain talents. So demons, half-demons, priestesses, monks and the like are the only people who go to school there.”

 

Kagura snorted. 

 

It was so typical for humans to try and seperate and classify everything that was different. 

 

Demons had been around for thousands of years, and their existence was common knowledge, but, as a minority race, they were still sidelined in many different aspects of their lives. The perks of being fear-inspiring. 

 

“I’m not really sensing a different option here, so, why are you talking like we have a choice?”

Kagura asks honestly. 

 

Kaito blinks, then rubs the back of his neck, a typical human tick that often hinted at nervousness. 

 

“Well, High School isn’t mandatory, but, I figured I’d ask if you guys were preparing for uni, before I got you transferred.”

He says slowly. 

 

Kagura blinks at him, as does Kagome. 

 

‘I don’t think he realises that we’ve already got our high school diplomas.’

Kagura thinks. 

 

‘I agree, but, I also think going to school might be fun.’

Kagome says hesitantly. 

 

Kagura is silent for a moment, woolgathering. 

 

‘well… It’s not like we have anything better to do with our time.’

She finally thinks with a shrug, which makes Kagome smirk slightly. 

 

Turning their attention back to their somewhat stupefied step-father, Kagome decides to give him a straight answer. 

 

“We would be very happy to attend our final year of high school at the institution of which you speak.”

She replies diplomatically. 

 

“Though I believe an alias may be in order for the two of us. If you feel comfortable sharing your last name, we would take that. If not, Honoyama would be acceptable.” 

Kagura adds, knowing that the Higurashi name is prone to catching all the wrong sorts of attention.

 

“Will do, I’ll just contact a few people who can get you settled in and then you should be good to go by Monday.”

Kaito says, slightly excited at the prospect of having done something that could make his two new step-daughters like him. 

 

Not that he would ever intentionally do something to make them dislike him, but he wasn’t exactly experienced in dealing with teenage girls. 

 

Once he was gone, Kagome and Kagura finished cleaning and tuning their instruments, put them back in their cases and opened the attic window in Kagome’s room. 

 

‘Well, it seems someone’s eager to practise her flying.’

Kagura says with a small smile, which makes Kagome pout. 

 

“Come on sis, don’t be like that. We can practise our music when we get back from a trip around the town perimeter.”

Kagome offers, receiving a nod in response. 

 

Launching herself out of the open window, Kagura hovers above the roof of the house, indulging in the winds that keep her afloat and waiting for her sister to join her. 

 

‘Just remember to focus on the wind surrounding you. Your air is only enough to keep you suspended in the air, you need to work with the wind if you want to be able to move alongside it.’

Kagura offers, though she’s lost count of the amount of times she’s told Kagome those words. 

 

‘I KNOW, geez.’

Kagome answers in a huff, following her sister’s example and first propelling herself into the air, before using her own aura to keep her suspended in the sky. 

 

As Kagura flies around her, Kagome notes how her sister breathes in tandem with the air currents around her, AND that her aura is riddled with little holes that allow her direct contact with the air that doesn’t stem from her own power. 

 

‘Hm… Let’s give that a try.’ 

Kagome thinks, reducing the density of her aura. 

 

In doing so, she immediately notes that she has a stronger sense of her surroundings, and she isn’t descending. 

 

Smirking to herself, Kagome let’s her body feeling the air currents and the wind around her, before manipulating the air surrounding her to make her body move. 

 

A joyous little squeal escapes Kagome’s lips as she flies over the roof of her new house. 

 

‘This. Is. AWESOME!’

She shouts gleefully, causing Kagura to smile softly. 

 

Indeed, her little sister managed to surprise her every day. 

 

She was only a half-demon, but her powers, though weaker, were by far more diverse. 

 

…

 

Kagura could remember the day Kagome had first awakened her Miko powers. 

 

She hadn’t wanted to go to the park with her little sister, and their father had expressly said that Kagome was not to leave the house without Kagura by her side. 

 

When Kagura refused, the girl had thrown her first ever tantrum, which had somehow translated to a need for protection, and hence summoned a rapidly growing sphere of pale blue purifying powers, with Kagome at their centre. 

 

Kagura’s hands were badly burned, but, the second her sister’s scream had registered in Kagome’s mind, she’d called her powers back and turned into a worried, crying mess. 

 

The burns had healed after three days, but Kagome had constantly been at war with herself ever since. 

 

So, Kagura had taunted her little sister until her demonic side had taken her over once as well. 

 

Showing her superiority had made Kagome’s beast respect her, which was how Kagura was able to stabilise the delicate balance within her sister until she slowly learned to do so herself. 

 

…

 

Coming back to herself, Kagura follows her happy sister the whole way around town, without once having to use her feather to catch her, which had always been the case until now. 

 

Kagome still wasn’t able to fully control her beast, if her emotions ran haywire, it was better for Kagura to be around. 

 

That was one of the reasons the two sisters stuck so close together. After their father’s death, they had only had each other, and Kagura had needed Kagome as much as Kagome had needed her. 

As it was, the girl’s were grateful for the presence of the other in their lives. 

 

When they came back from their flight, they decided that one song before bed would be enough. 

If there was one thing that had helped the sister’s bond, despite their different mother’s and even more different personalities, it was their shared love for music. 

 

No, not listening to it, creating it. 

 

With the window closed and all the lights in the house off, the girls decided on a violin and flute piece.  

 

Kagura started on her flute, signalling Kagome’s entrance after a typical four bar intro. 

 

They played a soft, sad and gorgeous cover of Yimura’s “River Flows In You”. 

 

It was such a fitting tune, starting off so sad, but then picking up speed and a major key change to turn the whole song around, just like how those two lonely sister would try to turn their life around from the recent tragedy life had thrown their way. 

 

And the first step to doing that, was going to be attending high school… for the first time EVER. 

 

- - - - - 

 

Author's Note 

 

Hello my Lovelies! 

 

This Idea only recently came to me, and I am absolutely BURSTING with new inspiration!

 

The only problem is that Uni just started up again, so I can't write as much as I'd like to... BUT, I'm really enjoying writing this story!

 

Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments! 

 

Tora