InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time and Time Again ❯ A New Life ( Chapter 1 )

*AN: Okay, I forgot to put this in the previous chapter, but reviews would be greatly appreciated. Lots of thanks to Anette Chase, my only reviewer. Merci! By the way, if any spellings seem odd to you, I am using the spellings from the manga, except for Shippou because 1) I think it looks better that way and 2) it's the only way my computer will accept it.

Dang, I forgot this too-Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-Yasha, but I am the owner of a Japanese breed of dog and two cellos by the name of Duchess and Red Dragon (yeah, yeah, I'm crazy-tell me something I don't know). Akitas are awesome!

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**One year later**

Kagome looked up at her new school apprehensively.

She had moved to a new house in a new city two weeks ago. Her old house had simply held to many memories, for good or bad.

She nervously fingered the large jewel around her neck. After the battle with Naraku, Kaede had managed to take the seriously wounded Kagome back through the well. She had stayed in Kagome's time a while with the excuse that she had found Kagome being attacked on the streets because she had been unable to go back though the well without the Shikon Jewel, and had, after the month that Kagome spent in the hospital, taken Kagome back through, explaining to her the importance of keeping the accursed thing with her. Kagome had agreed, but only because Inu-Yasha had wished it.

Inu-Yasha . . . Kagome closed her eyes. Even after a year the memory was still as painful as it had been the day after. The fact that she couldn't speak of him to her family only made it worse. She had found, as soon as she had been well enough, that all her family remembered about her time in the Feudal Era was that she had been very sick, and her grandfather had excused her from school. After all, Inu-Yasha had died over 500 years in the past-how could he appear in her time? She kept him a secret, and her family blamed her depression on the mugging. She felt tears well up at the memories of not just Inu-Yasha, but Sango and Miroku and Shippou and Kirara . . . even Sesshomaru and Rin to a point. Kaede had insisted that she take things from each of them-Inu-Yasha's haori and Tetsusaiga . . . Shippou's acorns . . . Sango's Hiraikotsu . . . Miroku's staff . . . Kirara's pelt. Kagome had rejected the last one, refusing to see that done to a dear companion, but Kaede had said that the demon exterminators did it to honor one of their faithful fighting companions. One of the villagers would've taken it if Kagome hadn't.

Kaede had said to take the things, if not to remember her friends, then to honor them for what they had done. Kagome hadn't seen it that way. She found herself wishing-often-that Naraku had killed her too. But . . . she knew that she couldn't just leave Souta and her mother and grandpa. 'They wouldn't want you to cry…not for them' that's what he said. I'll cry Inu-Yasha . . . I'll always cry . . . but I will never give up. I owe you that at least.

Kagome opened her eyes and blinked the tears back. Crying wouldn't bring her friends back; that at least she had come to terms with. Straightening Inu-Yasha's red haori about her slender frame and gently pulling her raven-black hair out from under it, the seventeen-year-old gathered up her courage and marched into the impressive stone building in front of her.

Kagome somehow managed to push through the throngs of students into the school office. She frowned uneasily as she sensed a demon presence nearby, and turned her storm-grey eyes to look upward. She sighed. Wonderful, she growled mentally, my new school is suffering from a bad infestation of demon rats. I'll just have to be careful with the Jewel. Even after five hundred years, I can't believe that these damn demons are still after it. It's a good thing most of them aren't very powerful anymore. The demon rats I should be able to purify if they come near me. Dismissing the rats, Kagome focused on the task at hand . . . getting the irritated-looking secretary at the desk to look at her for more than two seconds. When waiting patiently didn't work, she cleared her throat in hopes of gaining attention.

"Ahem."

The secretary snapped her head up to look at Kagome, the beads on her large and rather tacky glasses clinking. "What do you want?" She snapped, pretending that the paperwork she had been doing was vitally important to the school. Unfortunately, Kagome noticed that it was apparently informing the local plumbing company that the boys' urinals needed to be fixed.

Probably was vital the school, come to think about it.

Kagome finally spoke. "Umm . . . I'm Kagome Higurashi-I'm new."

The secretary muttered incomprehensibly to herself as she scrolled down a list, looking for Kagome's name. "Ah, here we are. Another girl will be down in a few minutes to show you around. You can sit there until she comes." She motioned to an empty chair near the window.

Kagome thanked her and obediently sat down, pulling her arms defensively into the haori. As she did so, she thought she caught sight of a flash of red and . . . silver? She couldn't stop her heart from racing as she checked through the window to make sure. There was no one there.

Kagome mentally berated herself. Stupid! You know he's gone . . . all of them are! Stop thinking that every single little thing you see out of the corner of your eye is one of them!

Kagome was so absorbed in mentally abusing herself that she didn't notice a tall, elegant girl with her long hair tied up in a ponytail walk up to the desk and speak briefly with the secretary. She didn't actually notice the girl until the girl stopped in front of her and offered a hand and a smile. Kagome looked up into a pair of slightly wary magenta eyes.

If miko training hadn't taught her to control her expressions to a degree, she would've gasped, or at least gaped for a few minutes. She couldn't believe it, but this time the evidence wasn't in the corner of her eye.

No . . . it can't be . . . I saw you die . . .

"S-Sango?"