InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Choice of Destiny ❯ Setting the Stage ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the characters in the series, movies, etc. All other characters are my own creation and cannot be duplicated.

Choice of Destiny

By angelwings

Chapter 1 ~ Setting the Stage

How long had it been?

How long since that day?

It seemed so far away now. Four years had come and gone. She could barely remember the life before then. Before, she had been adjusting to the strange world of highschool, but instead she was becoming comfortable with feudal Japan. Her closest friends had been a couple of normal teenage girls checking out the cute boys until that day. Now her dearest of companions was a fox, a demon hunter, and a monk. Her responsibility of homework and chores became a hunt for a shattered jewel. She had fought monsters the size of skyscrapers and battled enemies that held as much power as an atomic bomb. She had slept on rocky ground and hiked endless miles.

All because the family cat had hid in the well house her world had flipped upside down and inside out.

However, she wouldn't change it for the world.

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"Why haven't I built a ladder for this stupid well?" Kagome groaned while she dragged herself over the lip of the stonewall, "Four years of climbing twenty feet high you would think I gain a clue."

Wearily the young twenty-year-old tossed her thirty-pound backpack to the ground. Tired from her climb, the girl decided to take a rest and sat comfortably on the well. Kagome peeled off her old highschool jacket and sighed, "The sun feels so nice. Although summer is in a few days, the nights have been chilly in this era."

Her hand swept back her dark mane and revealed her slender shoulders protruding from her green tank top. Smiling she stared up at the empty blue heavens.

'I wonder how long it will take for Inuyasha to smell my scent. He should be surprise to see me two days earlier than plan.'

As if on cue, a gruff voice spoke, "What are you doing here, wench?"

She rolled her eyes, "Nice to see you too, Inuyasha."

He stood there, frown on his face like he done so many times before, but all she could see was the smile in his eyes. He tried to hide it, but she had known him for almost half a decade. He could not hide the truth from her.

"My finals ended early this year" she giggled anticipating his next reaction, "I moved out of the dormitory yesterday. I spent the night with the family and now I am ready for three months of jewel hunting."

Now his face changed, "You mean you're not leaving Feudal Japan until the beginning of your junior year?"

"Yep" she smiled her eyes glowing. She was so excited to be in the warring states. When she had started college, she could no longer ignore the work of her education. She was barely able to take time away from school to visit the historical Japan. It was a good thing the jewel shards had become rare or else Inuyasha would have never let her leave. It now took two weeks for the group to find a lead on a shard and even then, it took a while before they could get a solid location on the fragment.

It had been too long.

Slowly she looked over the demon man before her. He didn't look a week older than the first day they met. His face was hard as usual and she could see the hint of muscles pushing against his clothes. She nearly laughed aloud when she saw his gold eyes narrowing on her. He had the front of a warrior, but the soul of a teddy bear.

He smirked, "So you finally know your place as a shard detector?"

And the head of chauvinist pig . . .

Kagome rolled her eyes and wrapped the arms of her jacket around her waist, "Come on, Inuyasha. Let's go see the others. It's been two weeks since I was last here."

"Feh." He grunted his regular reply, "I don't think you should be going to school. It keeps you from finding jewels."

She was already walking away, "If it wouldn't take forever to find a single shard then my presence here would be important. Even when I'm here I'm no help. The only jewel fragments we haven't found are too far away for me to sense. We need to follow up on stories about rampant demons before we can ever head into a direction."

"Stop giving excuses!" he floundered helplessly, "If you were here more often I wouldn't have to go on stupid goose chases!"

He sounded so harsh, but Kagome felt complemented by his words. Perhaps chasing dead end leads frustrated him, but the young woman could read what he also meant.

He missed her.

Kagome tossed a warm smile over her shoulder at the man making him blush.

"I've missed you, too, Inuyasha."

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The welcome had been as warm as always. The village had bubbled with joy at the young priestess return and her dear friends had eagerly brought her to Kaede's hut, Kagome's second home. A fire was started and tea was shared as the group happily spoke about the last few weeks.

"How has college been?" Sango asked rolling the unfamiliar word over her tongue, "Have you been well?"

"Oh, quite well. My professors were impressed with my grades and said I shall do well once I finish my degree" Kagome cuddled her small fox kid, "They also said I had a real passion for history."

Miroku grinned, "Well, you are part of it."

They small group laughed. It was good to have their friend back. When Kagome was away in her present time their odd family felt incomplete. Without her, they felt empty. Kagome was the backbone of their group. The person who kept them together with hope and determination had always been her. She didn't understand the impact she had on every individual, but they did.

Each of them had been lost in their paths when they had encountered the young teenager. Unknowingly to each member a bond immediately grew with the reincarnated priestess. She held out her hand and they took it dragging themselves out of their personal abandonment. She became the foundation on which they built their new starts. Now as they began to stand on their own feet, their own strength, their dependency faded, but their bond with her did not. It grew.

"So how have all of you been?" Kagome asked while sipping her herbal tea, "I have been wondering how the hunt was going."

Automatically the group crowding around the hut's fire sat up straight. There would be plenty of time later to chat. There was business to discuss now.

"We have been questioning all travelers for the last two weeks about any strange disturbances" Sango began, "but there has been nothing out of the ordinary demons causing havoc."

"Until this morning" Miroku interrupted, "Today a young samurai on horseback arrived in the village. When we asked the regular questions he said there had been a strange reaction going on in the north."

"What do you mean?" the priestess questioned.

"There had been demons deserting a mountain area in the Great Peaks" Sango answered, "At first it was thought to be some migration, but then large hordes of random demons began rushing from the mountains as if it was poison. The samurai also said a dark cloud began to form over one of the peaks as well. He thought it was a bad omen."

Inuyasha asked the question no one had yet to speak, "Could it be a shard?"

"Who's to know? It could be a shard or just bad weather approaching" the monk joked weakly.

"We have to go see what it is!" Shippo cried excitedly. He couldn't wait to get out of the boring village and again travel with his foster mother. He had missed her so.

"It could be nothing" Inuyasha grumbled, "Just another goose."

Sango ignored the grumpy demon, "What do you think Kagome?"

Everyone waited for the maiden's answer. Kagome, unknown to her, was their decision maker. If they could not decide Kagome had the answer.

"I think we should check it out" the woman muttered staring at the floor, "Something tells me this is more than a shard, but whatever is going on over in the mountains seems too big of a situation to pass up."

The group nodded in agreement except for the dog demon, who just grunted.

"I say we stay here for the night and start off early morning," Miroku suggested. Everyone agreed.

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Kagome sat on the front porch of Kaede's hut. Her family lied inside peacefully sleeping as the woman stared at the stars. A breeze swung by and the teen pulled her jacket tighter around her.

'I wonder where Inuyasha went. Probably went sleep in some tree.'

She leaned her back against a pole for the roof 'I wonder what is waiting for us at the mountains. Is it a shard? I hope it is at least for the sake of Inuyasha.'

She tucked her knees against her chest, 'It so hard for him. He can't stand to do nothing. It's not in him to laze about. He feels like he's disrespecting Kikyo if he's not searching out Naraku or the shards.'

"What are you doing up?" a voice spoke overhead. Kagome lifted her face and saw Inuyasha leaning over the edge of the roof staring down at her, "We have to be up early tomorrow. You need rest."

"Oh, I couldn't sleep" she replied sweetly, "I tried to go to bed, but I just tossed and turn for over an hour. I decided to sit outside and enjoy the night air."

He put his elbows at the edge of the roof and laid down his head, "You missed this era, didn't you?"

Kagome swallowed the lump growing in her throat, "Yes. It's not the same to be in my time. I love my family back in Modern Japan, but you all are my family as well."

She casually brushed back her hair while wiping away a tear, "To be separated from either is hard. Sometimes I am confused about where I should be."

"What do you mean?" he asked a little bewildered, "You belong in your time."

He didn't mean it the way it sounded. She knew that, but it was still hard to hear.

"I know" she choked back more tears, "but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be here."

Inuyasha cocked his head to the side. He could smell saltwater. Was she crying?

He studied her still form carefully and noticed a small glimmer on her cheek. Immediately he swung over the lip of the roof and landed softly in front of her. She frantically tried to hide her fresh tears, but he grabbed her hands.

"Sorry for getting emotional" she whispered with her head down. She knew Inuyasha was very neutral with emotions. He hated to show any sign of sentiment. So, you can imagine her shock when he tenderly brushed away her tears. Her eyes shot up and found his gold ones staring softly at her.

"Don't apologize" his ruff voice spoke quietly, "I already know you're too weak to keep in your emotions."

Again, he sounded unsympathetic. Of course anyone who had ever come to know the hanyou knew he was trying to show his concern. It was just his way.

She smiled her understanding and slowly looked at the blinking stars.

'I was brought here to you and the others. I don't belong in this time, in this world, but here I am. Fate gave me this second family.'