InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pack Law ❯ One Week – Journey in the Present ( Chapter 7 )

Pack Law

 

Chapter 7: One Week - Journey in the Present

 

A/N:

 

I know, at the top of the chapter? Whoa! Anyway, let's get this out of the way now: I love to do research on stuff, but when it comes to handling Kagome's schooling, it's DEFINITELY based in American education rather than normal Japanese education. They say write what you know… and, well, I never went to school in Japan (sadly!). Also, please note: this chapter runs concurrently with the first part of Chapter 6.

 

 

Sunday

 

Kagome left early that morning, with a kiss for InuYasha and Shippou, a hug from Kaede and Sango and a good luck charm from Miroku. Holding her bow and completely full quiver, she once again promised InuYasha to stay aware and come back if she faced any problems.

 

A few moments later, she was swallowed up by the pale blue glow of the time slip. She was suspended between 500 years for just a moment, then her feet touched down on the solid soil of her own era.

 

`Is this really my home, though? I thought once before about how I'd have to choose between one world and the other. I guess that decision will wait until we collect all the shards of the jewel again… if we do.' Kagome had tried to hide just how disconcerted she was about finding a shard of jewel in her time. Even more upsetting, Hitomu had alluded to Ken coming back after her for the jewel shards. `He wasn't surprised to see a youkai there. In fact, he was prepared with a weapon and ofuda. That must mean there are more youkai here than I thought. I wonder if I made a mistake in cracking the jewel all over again. Maybe I really screwed up the future…'

 

Kagome kept her eyes to the ground as she tried to think if anything else had been changed. `Then again, would I realize it had changed? Wouldn't my memories of my childhood change with whatever was affected by a change in the space-time continuum?' Now she was starting to sound like one of Souta's science-fiction and fantasy movies. She hadn't ever seen the best of them… and didn't really want her little brother worrying about everything. Kagome shook her head to clear it of the increasingly troubling thoughts. It overwhelmed her.

 

So engrossed was she in her thoughts that she never noticed the intense green eyes peering at her from behind the well house.

 

**********

 

Monday

 

For once, Kagome was wholly appreciative of the early hours InuYasha insisted upon when they were traveling. She had woken up with the sun, and had her new high school uniform pressed and looking perfect. The pleated, plaid skirt was much different, a bit longer than the green miniskirt she had sported throughout middle school. She loved the jacket and the little bow.

 

Slipping on a new pair of shoes for good luck, Kagome grabbed her new shoulder-bag and ran out the door. This time, she double-checked to make sure she had her pass. She had to travel on the subway across town to get to school and didn't want to take a chance on being late!

 

Kagome sighed thankfully as she saw Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka waiting by the shrine steps. She had spoken with each of them on the phone the night before; they had decided to walk together since they were all going to the same school. Kagome still had a strange feeling of disconnect around the girls, but at least this time, they weren't asking her about gross, made-up diseases! The night before, before her little “conference call” with the girls, she had come to a decision with her family: they would tell people she was doing much better, and recovering at a sister shrine in the south. That way, she could go there anytime she suffered a “relapse.”

 

“Are you upset, Kagome?” Yuka almost sounded worried.

 

“Eh?” She was back for a week of school; she was going to do her family proud! Why would she be upset?

 

Eri tilted her head. “Houjou's going to an all-boys school now! You two won't see each other anymore!”

 

“You're not interested in Houjou like that anymore, are you, Kagome? You have that two-timing boyfriend, after all.” Ayumi piped up from behind the others. Kagome rolled her eyes.

 

“I keep telling you guys, he's not two-timing. In fact, he couldn't anymore. Kikyou died last year.” Kagome wasn't sure what pushed her to share that bit of information with the girls. After all, it's not like it was really any of their business. Yet, their blatant judgment irritated her, pressed upon something that encouraged her to finally have them stop once and for all.

 

Whatever reactions the miko expected, it wasn't what happened. Eri sucked in her breath. “Oh, you must be really relieved. Now that she's gone, he can't go taking off after her anymore!”

 

Kagome gaped. “You can't be serious!” `Wow, have I really outgrown my old friends that much? Are they really that shallow?' A bit heatedly, she continued, “I'd never, ever wish death on somebody!” `Other than Naraku… but they don't need to know that!' “How could you say such a thing?”

 

Eri at least had the grace to blush and stammer in the face of Kagome's shock. Yuka laid a calming hand on Kagome's shoulder. “I don't think she meant it like that. After all, it was probably a really horrid time for both of you. You said the girl was his first love, right? I bet he was really broken up about it. That probably didn't really help your relationship, did it?”

 

Kagome could only shake her head. While the other girls were “commiserating”, she could only be shocked at their callousness. Then again, they had never known a world where simply surviving was something to be proud of. She sighed quietly as the conversation turned to the classes they were taking.

 

**********

 

The miko blew out her cheeks in a sigh of relief as she lowered her head to her desk. `I think I'd rather take on a raging group of youkai than have to put up with those three all day!' She frowned at the negative tone in her thoughts. `That's not nice of me to think! They're my friends! At least… they were… but really, they've changed. Or maybe I've changed.' Either way, those thoughts, and the fact that she'd never quite gotten rid of that unsettling feeling of “wrong” throughout the summer weighed heavily on her mind.

 

Waiting for class to begin, Kagome fidgeted with the ring on the chain around her neck. Amused, she slipped the ring on, keeping the chain around her neck but giving her just enough contact to view the auras around her. Her powers manifested themselves strongest in emotions; it had been a shock to realize the emotions of others would come out so strongly in what she gleaned from other people. Right now, the classmates around her exuded mostly excitement and nervousness. Still, it was enough to set her even more on edge, and she slipped the ring off her finger, keeping it on her hand.

 

A flash of red to her side, Kagome tilted her head to look at the girl who had just come in. The girl had red-brown hair, shoulder-length with a few dusty blonde highlights here and there. Brown eyes sparkled with interest as she gazed around the room. The only empty seat was to Kagome's right.

 

“Good morning!” The girl chirped perkily at Kagome, lips opening in a grin at the young woman's wary expression. Still, this person's happy attitude was catching, and Kagome quickly found herself lost in conversation.

 

“Good morning. I don't believe we've met?”

 

“We sure haven't! I haven't really been here all that long. The only thing I've done since I've gotten here is sleep! I hate jet lag!”

 

Kagome's interest was perked. The woman's Japanese was only slightly accented. “Where are you from?”

 

“Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't even introduce myself! My name is Sarah. Sarah Inoue. My father is Japanese,” she said in response to the look of confusion on Kagome's face. “But I grew up in America. My mother is American. I guess you can say I'm half and half.” She held out her hand for a Western-style handshake.

 

“Higurashi Kagome. Nice to meet you!”

 

Sarah's eyes sparkled with what Kagome almost took as surprised recognition before Sarah looked over her shoulder, out the window in the direction the miko knew her family's shrine was. “Higurashi, ne? Your family runs a shrine, right?”

 

Kagome nodded. “Yes, we do. How do you know?”

 

“My grandfather is from around the area. He used to frequent the shrine a lot, though he hasn't been able to visit in the last year or so.” Turning back to Kagome, Sarah's face had a mischievous quality to it that seemed so… familiar. Maybe it was too early, though, because she just couldn't quite pin where she'd seen that look before.

 

The sensei walked into the room, and the women stopped their chattering to turn to the front. After greeting, the English teacher passed out a syllabus, encouraging the students to begin reading the first chapter of their books. The weather was beautiful, though, and Kagome couldn't stop her mind from wandering.

 

`I wonder what InuYasha's going now? I wonder if he'll stay away all week.' InuYasha had almost begged her to let him stay in the future with her, at first. She had reluctantly put her foot down. `I just can't focus on my homework with him looking over my shoulder all the time! Or touching my shoulder… or holding me…' Kagome's face turned red as she realized where her thoughts were going. `Ooooh! He's even a distraction when he's not here!' Kagome could imagine the sly smirk on his face if he could have ever heard her say that. `Knowing him, he'd make some arrogant comment about how it means I should have just let him come along.'

 

Fidgeting again, she slipped her ring on and off her finger, amused at the rush of emotions and sensations that dulled immediately upon the metal losing contact with her skin. `I wonder if this is what it's like for InuYasha turning human. I'm used to not feeling as much… it's overwhelming to get so much information from somebody without them knowing. I almost feel like I'm prying. I guess if I had grown up with it, though, I'd feel incomplete without it.' For the first time in her life, Kagome truly empathized with what her beloved hanyou must go through monthly.

 

Kagome was so deeply lost in thought that it was only after a few moments of playing with the jewelry that she realized she was feeling a tingle of something other than emotion; she was feeling the surge of youki tickling at her miko's aura. Not unfriendly, but completely unexpected at her school! The miko sat up straighter, slipping the ring firmly onto her hand.

 

A twitch to her right brought her attention to where Sarah had stopped doodling on the corners of her notebook and was now sporting an expression of concern and wariness.

 

Kagome stared.

 

Sarah stared back. Her brown eyes had disappeared behind a pearlescent, pale and yet striking green. Her reddish hair had turned almost copper in color, with no highlights to speak of. Most noticeable of all, she had two black-tipped, fuzzy red ears on the top of her head, pointed straight at the miko in shock.

 

`Sarah's a kitsune hanyou!'

 

**********

 

Sarah and Kagome walked to the music room together. Both had chorus as their next class. Both could tell the other wanted to say something. Neither knew where to start.

 

Kagome cleared her throat. In a low voice she knew Sarah could hear, she muttered, “Kitsune hanyou?”

 

Sarah nodded. “Hai. You're a miko. A powerful one, at that.” She bit her lip as she looked away, unaware that Kagome was doing the same thing. “I had been warned, but it really rippled through my youki when you did whatever you did to activate your powers like that. All my instincts told me to get up and run away!”

 

Now that the two had started talking, Kagome could hardly contain the flow of questions. “Are there lots of youkai and hanyou around now? Are you wearing a concealment of some kind? Is it only because you're kitsune that you've changed shape? Why could I see through it when I-” She slowed down as Sarah started laughing.

 

The American hanyou had opened her mouth to start talking when a young man's voice called out from behind them. “Sarah!”

 

Sarah turned, smiling. “Hito!”

 

Kagome's jaw dropped again. Here was the young man who had rescued her that fateful day in the park, running at them as if he was one of Sarah's closest friends. In fact, it looked that way, as he grabbed the girl and spun her in a circle, both laughing.

 

“You left so early today! I was still asleep!” The young man's voice was filled with laughter.

 

“Well, I've had enough sleep for a while! Either way,” Sarah looked away guiltily, “I should have stayed around to walk with you here. I'm sorry!”

 

“Don't be sorry! Your jii-chan hollered a bit, and Uncle bellowed about letting you out when you don't know your way around, but I'm kind of used to it.” Letting Sarah stand on her own, Hitomu turned to stare at Kagome. “Higurashi, you're looking better than the last time we met! You seem to have recovered well.”

 

Kagome fidgeted; Sarah gazed from her back to him. “Recovered? What do you mean?”

 

“Ken came after her.”

 

Sarah gasped, “Why?”

 

Hitomu tilted his head, sending the girl a look that easily read, `Duh?' Sarah flushed and gazed at the ground. “Oh, the shards. Makes sense. He didn't get his hands on them, did he?”

 

Hitomu lifted an eyebrow. “Do you really think Uncle would let him get away with that? Plus, Kagome's a really strong miko; she wouldn't let him take them. I was passing by at the time and helped to chase him off. In fact, we took one of his!”

 

“Now just one minute! How do you know about the shards, Sarah? What do either of you know about that fire youkai?” Kagome hissed the questions, looking back and forth. “Just what is going on here?” `Why does it seem you're way too familiar with me? We've never really met!'

 

Hitomu met the concern in her gaze with a steady one of his own. “Be at ease, Higurashi. We have to hurry to class, or we'll be late!”

 

Kagome blustered. `Just who does this guy think he is? My keeper? InuYasha? Kami-sama, why won't they give me a straight answer?'

 

The bell rang as Hitomu grabbed both girls by the hand. “Come on, let's hurry to chorus. We'll talk about things over lunch.”

 

**********

 

Eri, Yuka and Ayumi were flabbergasted when Kagome basically blew them off for lunch. The miko felt guilty for the curt tone of voice she used when she asked them to leave her alone, but honestly. She had questions and she wanted answers; it stood to reason that Sarah and Hitomu wouldn't divulge their secrets with three mortal, clueless humans listening in.

 

`I'll make it up to them later,' she promised herself. Soothing her guilty conscious with plans to take the girls out later that week, she pinned Hitomu with a glower that would have shaken a lesser man. She noticed, slightly disgruntled, that it wasn't affecting him in the least. “Spill.”

 

With a smirk reminiscent of Miroku (it pained her heart to think her feudal friend had died) he replied in a smooth voice, “Spill what, Kagome? I can call you Kagome, right?”

 

Kagome waved his concerns away. “You can call me almost anything you want if you'll just answer my questions!”

 

Hitomu nodded. “Well, let's see. Obviously, youkai and hanyou are fairly prevalent in these times.”

 

Sarah took up the explanation. “I am kitsune hanyou, but all species are able to blend in with the general population. We've all got glamour charms to give us human appearances. My grandfather played a big role in getting them mainstream.”

 

“Okay. I guess that makes sense…” trailing off, she put a finger to her chin in thought. “Hitomu, you didn't seem very surprised to see Ken had a jewel shard. In fact, you seemed to know right where it is. And it almost seemed like you already knew I had some. Can you sense them, too?”

 

The young man squirmed in his seat, looking uncomfortable for the first time. “I'm sorry, Kagome, but there are a few things I'm really not at liberty to talk about right now. That's one of them.”

 

Changing the subject, Kagome wondered how the two knew each other. “You said you were staying with your Grandfather, Sarah? Are you two neighbors?”

 

“More like distant cousins,” Hitomu answered for her. “Obviously, we're not related by blood, but we've known each other since we were young.”

 

“And what about Tsukiyoshi?” Kagome had met the other young man in chorus, as well. The four of them had been grouped up to work on their first project; Hitomu and Sarah had greeted him as though he were a brother.

 

“Another not-related relation.” Sarah grinned. “I noticed you weren't expanding your powers in that class, so you may not have noticed, but he's youkai, as well.”

 

Kagome sighed. In half a day, her entire world had been turned on its ear. Again. This was becoming a rather common occurrence; she couldn't say whether or not she was pleased. She realized belatedly that Sarah had continued talking.

 

“-so we could meet to work on that music later today or tomorrow. What do you think, Kagome?”

 

“Eh?”

 

“I asked,” Sarah sighed patiently, “How good you are with English. Yoshi and Hito are fairly fluent, and I'm fine; it's my native language, after all.”

 

“English has usually been one of my best subjects; Grandpa insisted I learn it so I could help give tours of the shrine to American and European tourists.”

 

Sarah nodded happily, “Then our project shouldn't be a problem. I'm so excited we're doing American musicals first!”

 

Kagome sighed again. Their chorus teacher was also the head of the theatre department. Johnson-sensei had explained to the class how he was over here a year on a teacher-exchange program from Hawaii. Most of the girls had been thrilled over his exotic looks. Kagome had been more impressed with his plan to introduce American music into what had been well-known as a traditional chorus program. Either way, she was thrilled.

 

“I'm sorry, but I can't come over today.” `I promised InuYasha I wouldn't go wandering off with people I didn't know. But maybe it'd be okay, since technically he's met Hitomu…' The fact that InuYasha had been obviously distrustful of the boy didn't escape her mind, but she glossed over it hopefully. `It's got to be okay, it's for an assignment!' She also inwardly admitted that she was really coming to like Sarah. “How about tomorrow?”

 

A/N:

 

Just FYI - I took a lot of stuff (Kagome's new school uniform, etc.) from the Manga, chapter 554.

 

Longest chapter yet! Kagome's got a *lot* of schooling to deal with this first week back, so this chapter only covers the first two days she's back.

 

Inoue - “Above the Well”

 

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any other characters from the anime/manga. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi.