A/N: Sooo...late Halloween present I suppose. I've been meaning to do a KagomeXInutaisho mini-story for a while now. DEFCON is giving me some serious writers block so to appease the masses and the plot bunnies, I might just start puking up stuff like this every once in a while. I don't know. Someone tell me how I'm doing on one-shots since I really don't do them.

Enjoy!

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Stranger than Fiction

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Kagome had never liked the shed that was behind the shrine.

Everything else was perfect. The grounds were beautiful, the trees spread their strong arms to the sky and cast shifting, relaxing shadows over the worn cobblestone pathways and grass, the wind bending their branches and knocking loose a few more leaves. The air was full of the scent of Autumn and the world had exploded into a riotous color spectrum not unlike a pile of embers. Golds and reds abounded without number, and what grass remained was no longer green but the patchy, brittle brown of the coming cold.

Everything was earthy, and even the deep depths of the concrete jungle, so fraught with clean, unnatural lines and peerless technology was not unaffected. The many, many trees that lined streets, parks and paths were announcing their coming departure for the winter, and all around there were leaves. Hundreds of thousands of them, scattered to every corner of the city in a blanket of crisp, aromatic color. The creeping ivy had long ago lost its emerald tone, but the spidery fingers of life still clung to walls as a silent reminder of nature's perseverance. It would be back by spring.

The air was chilled pleasantly. Not too cold to excuse the need for a sweater, but not the unbearable summer heat that stuck your clothes to you as if they were your skin. The sun, far off in the horizon and dipping behind the skyscrapers was slowly descending and throwing its fire across the sky. She could see the near nuclear pink highlighting the clouds, and just there, at the very edges of the puffy white, grey and blue, was a line of pure glittering gold. It was times like these, Kagome thought rather poetically, that only nature could make death seem so beautiful.

But that shed.

Kagome extended the rake as far as it was go before tugging the dead leaves away from the shed wall. Maybe it was just her, but it seemed that the beauty of Fall was effectively sucked right out of the air around the small building. The sweet smell of decaying leaves seemed more sickly around this part of the shrine grounds, and the decay was more of a rot than anything else. The ivy that had always struck her as pretty was now sinister, slowly engulfing the rotting, creaky wood and threatening to choke any other plants that dared come near. Kagome shivered a little, readjusting her jacket before braving a few steps closer and getting a particular stubborn leave out of the muck surrounding the perimeter of the shed. The air was even colder around this place, too.

Her brother thought she was on crack. She couldn't really blame him but Souta always had a mind for logic and seemed thoroughly removed from the world around him. He thought she was crazy for talking about "auras" and "energies" and "dammit Souta can't you feel that?" and insisted that everything was just her imagination. But she couldn't imagine gut instinct, and she couldn't imagine feeling paranoid. She was a little hesitant to wonder what caused those feelings per se, after all she was still a twenty-first century woman and the age of superstition had come and gone. Everything had an explanation now, and far be it from her to run screaming through the shrine that there was a demon inhabiting the grounds.

That didn't mean that she didn't think something was in there though. She had absently entertained the idea that there was a body buried under it, somehow. Of course, science argued that if that was true the thing would be full of life, not death, seeing as how corpses are rather morbid fertilizer. Still, the chill that surrounded the thing made her wary and think of ghosts.

Souta still thought she was nuts. Snorting, Kagome reluctantly skittered closer to the shed and cleaned out the leaves as quickly as she possibly could be for hopping away, like she was afraid the shed could make a hand and grab her or something. The mere thought, ridiculous as it was, made her shiver. Pulling the much more dead and disintegrating leaves towards her other pile, which had come mainly from the goshinboku tree and was nearly to her knees with big, golden leaves, Kagome sighed.

She wasn't sure how Souta was getting out of this particular chore, but she was once again roped into ground duty. She could only hope that mama was making him clean the mold out from under the sinks and in the grout of the tiles. She hated mold, and this time of the year it was always so perfect for the nasty stuff to grow and cumulate and ewww….

Heaving a little, Kagome stood up straight and allowed her back to readjust to normal posture. Being hunched over a rake all afternoon had made it hurt and finally she was finished. Dropping the rake she grabbed a big black plastic bag and started to heartily shove the leaves into them. If it were up to her she'd just burn the pile—the smell was amazing—but with all the wood around it was a hazard so she had to put up with the boring way like so many other citizens.

Twenty minutes later her chore was complete and she had two absolutely stuffed garbage sacks to haul to the garbage. She did so easily and then walked to her house. The Higurashi family was pretty religious about cleaning so it was rare when they really needed to dive in and deep clean, and those instances were usually announced at random by mama. This was once such instance, and the kids were getting the brunt of it. With grandpa exempt from all but the smallest of chores, and mama busy keeping up with finances and dinner, it had fallen to Kagome and her brother to tackle the shrine.

Kagome had been on a round-robin of tasks since late morning, from trimming the bushes to reorganizing the dish cabinet. With the sun setting behind her, she was confident that the raking of the leaves was the last chore that she would be subjected to today. Mama was wary of working out in the dark, and after the sun set it was a general rule that all energy went with it. Most everyone ended up asleep. So with that comforting though in her mind, she waltzed in through the front door and into the kitchen, set on accepting dinner as her reward.

"Oh Kagome, there you are. Are you finished with the yard?"

"Yep? Are those leeks?"

"Oh, yes, yes they are. Listen, once last thing." Kagome gave her a look that resembled a kicked puppy, but the woman didn't seem to notice. "Grandpa was talking about some sort of old sword he'd stuffed somewhere in the shed. He really wants it for some reason, but he's far too old to be going around on ladders nowadays. Would you go get it? He said it was on the top shelf."

Kagome tried not to let her discomfort show. Of course it would be in the shed. Why, oh why, couldn't grandpa ever store any of his so-called preserved demons, spiritual talismans, and other ancient and dusty paraphernalia in some place other than the shed? They had a spare room upstairs, and although mama was slowly taking it over with a collection of old paintings and outgrown toys from her children's pasts, there was enough room for some other stuff.

Frowning, Kagome turned and made her way back outside. The sun was nearly set by now, but there was still a good deal of light to guide herself by, even in the shed. Grabbing the ends of her jacket and zipping up the material, she shoved her hands into the pockets. It was seriously starting to get cold now that the sun wasn't heating the ground like it had at noon. Shuffling in a sort of half run half walk kind of way, Kagome made it over to the wooden building, and determined not to be intimidated by the thing, didn't even pause before she yanked open the door and going inside.

She left the door open to give her light and carefully scrutinized her surroundings. There was another reason for her wariness when it came to the place, and why she was so convinced that at least a ghost was here. Peering into the darkness, she gingerly stepped on the wood floor and heard it creak. Her eyes were split between focusing on what was above, and what was by her feet, ready for attack.

Without fail, every time she came into this place she came out with a new bump or bruise. Whether something fell on her from one of the shelves, or she stubbed her toe or the wooden floor gave way, something bad happened to her. Predictably, she couldn't keep her eyes watching out for misfortune and finding the sword her grandfather was talking about at the same time, so after one more scan that assured her eyes that there was nothing that was close to falling off one of the shelves, she let herself relax a little.

She knew what sword grandpa was talking about. It was an old, dusty thing that was wrapped up in paper and had so many charms stuck to its outside that it could pass as some sort of bumper sticker magnet. She didn't know how it had fallen in to their possession, and she had never bothered to ask. But it was there since before she was born, and every single time she came into the shed it was always the first thing her eyes were drawn to.

It rested on the far wall, left, on the very top shelf. Kagome snagged the step ladder as she made her way deeper in the dark shed. I was a creaky, old structure and it smelt of wet wood most times of the year, though she couldn't for the life of her understand why, especially in the summer. Needless to say, even though it was solid, Kagome still watched her step.

Lucky for her the step ladder was very much metal, and she unfolded it with a satisfying clank, stomping up its four steps easily and reaching on her very tip toes for the weapon in its place of honor. The sword itself wasn't kept on a stand, but rather in a case, and Kagome was grateful that the wooden rectangle had smooth edges. She hated getting splinters.

"Alright grandpa," she sighed, tromping down the steps and leaving the stool there. She'd probably have to return the sword later tonight, before bed, so she left it out and headed for the door, the sword clutched to her chest. At least she didn't get hurt coming in this time. "Let's see what you've cooked up this time."

On her way out her foot snagged on a protruding something in the dark and she went crashing painfully to her knees.

"Dammit!"

XXX

"And there, in the sky was a demon and he had that sword!" grandpa was saying, pointing dramatically to Kagome as soon as she rounded the hall corner and emerged into the dining room. "And he sliced it and lighting burst out and destroyed everything!"

"What then?" Souta said with mild interest. Enjoying the story but obviously not considering a single word seriously. "W-well," grandpa faltered, coming out of his exuberant pose at the dry tone of his grandson's voice. "I woke up, that's what happened then."

"Another vision, grandpa?" Kagome was careful to keep her voice even, but her tone still dipped meaningfully on her second word. As much as she loved her grandpa, he was deeply steeped in tradition and loved the shrine as much as his own life. He often brought fantastical stories to the breakfast table, claiming his dreams were not dreams but actual visions of the past that the world has forgotten. "It shot lightning!" He was insisting, trying to gain a reaction out of the kids. "And so did that dragon," Souta pouted, more interested in dinner. Kagome came more fully into the room. "And the water-horse."

"And that weird tree that ate people."

"And—"

"It's not my fault that demons liked lightning! It was a powerful weapon to tame! Hmph!"

"What are you planning on doing with it, anyways?" Kagome asked curiously. Grandpa always had something he was going to do with his artifacts, whether it was a practical demonstration in banishing evil spirits or…actually that was pretty much it. "I have reason to believe that there is a demon trapped within the blade," Grandpa said seriously, accepting his offering of rice from mama gratefully. His tone was serious, as he so often was, and he stared thoughtfully at the sword. "Seems right up your alley, sis," Souta commented, elbowing Kagome as she sat the sword down on the floor before joining her family at the table. "What with all the spooky stuff happening at the shed." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she swatted at him. "Shut up, twerp."

"Hm? Something's happened at the shed, Kagome?"

"Oh, yes," Souta answered for her. "Kagome says that there is an aura of some kind around it. Sounds awfully like a demon to me." He shrugged innocently and Kagome glared at him. "I was thinking more along the lines of somebody being murdered in there, to be honest."

"You feel energies from the shed? What are they like?" Kagome wasn't so sure, but grandpa seemed to be a little more intent on her answer than normal. She waved him away. "It's nothing grandpa. It just sort of freaks me out. Cobwebs and all."

"So what are you going to do with it?" Souta saved her from a second longer of grandpas strangely piercing gaze. She shot him a quizzical look when he wasn't looking, and searched for her mother's eyes. Mama seemed to have noticed grandpa's uncharacteristic intensity as well, and could only raise an eyebrow at the behavior. Giving a helpless shrug, Kagome turned back to the conversation.

Grandpa stroked his beard thoughtfully. "For the past week I've been receiving visions from what I believe to be a spirit locked inside the blade. The visions are not…" for a moment he seemed at a loss for words. "They are deliberate. I see a great battle, a great light, and then the inside of the shed as if I were placed on the top shelf, right where the sword was. There is a demon in that sword, I swear it!"

"So…you're going to let it…out?"

"Of course, Souta!" Grandpa seemed like he couldn't comprehend another way to handle the situation, and went back to stroking his beard. "Nothing so magnificent as a demon should be cooped up in an inanimate object. A sword is a fine cage, but a cage nonetheless."

Kagome frowned. "You know, you always said that demons were sinister beings that wouldn't hesitate to eat me as a kid. Wouldn't letting one out sort of be like shooting ourselves in the foot here?"

"Ah, most demons are. But I can tell that this one is different. Besides, he'll be grateful for letting him out and won't hurt us. The generosity of a freed demon…can you imagine all the knowledge we could have?"

It was clear at grandpa's starry-eyed expression that it was the idea of being able to actually talk to a demon that excited him. "But!" the old man shouted, upsetting his dinner just shy of toppling it all over with his careless movements. "We must all participate so that the demon cannot harm us if he tries. I will not be outwitted!"

Kagome shot a pleading look to her mother, hoping that she could reason with her exuberant father. Releasing demons from swords was all well and good, but she had homework upstairs and if she failed one more test she was going to have to attend remedial classes. The thought of spending even more time in school—or worse, getting a private student tutor—was a fine motivator to buckle herself in for equations and explanations she didn't understand.

Alas all her mother did was shrug helplessly and smile a warm, indulgent little smile while she whisked away the rest of the dinner dishes.

"Souta, come here. I want you to help me set up the circle."

"You're not going to paint the floor with chalk are you?" Mama asked, her eyes narrowing a little in warning. Grandpa flapped his hand. "No, no, dear. You make a circle out of anything. Sticks, stems, candle-wax," he pulled a book from a nearby shelf and wiggled it meaningfully. "Books. Kagome get over here. You're going to help too."

Satisfied that her floor wasn't going to be ruined just after she'd cleaned it, mama ushered Kagome towards the boys. "It'll just be for a moment, Kagome. Just play along."

"Fine."

So Kagome got up from the kitchen chair and walked over to the living room. The floor was hardwood, but it was mostly covered by a beige rug. She kneeled to the floor, frowning a little and rubbing her knees where she was sure a bruise was forming from her fall earlier. Stifling a sigh she helped her grandpa and brother arrange the books in a circle.

"We aren't doing a pentagram?" she asked after a moment, regretfully curious. Grandpa waved away her question. "Pentagram, bah! Circles are stronger!"

"Why's that?" Souta looked a little puzzled as he handed yet another stack from the bookshelf to be distributed. Grandpa accepted them and cheerfully passed them all on to Kagome. "Circles have no beginning, or end. They are solid, endless, and containing. What else would be used to contain power? No, no Kagome. Stagger the books, so we don't have any cracks. Wouldn't want the demon escaping right away now would we?"

"I thought you said it wasn't going to hurt us."

"It won't! But…" Grandpa looked a little smug. "I am no fool."

"Well then let me help," Mama entered at last, the dishes humming away in the dishwasher as she sank to the floor and went about turning Kagome's rough oval into a near perfect circle. "Now, Souta I want you to sit here. Keiko across from me, and Kagome will be at the head of the circle."

"Why does she get to be at the head?"

"Because she has the most spiritual abilities of us all, that's why. Maybe if you'd accepted my training to become a priest you'd be at the head."

Souta made a face but settled down anyways, watching intently as grandpa's old hands started to peel away all the protective charms plastered to the wood of the sword case and then face it towards her.

Kagome watched him, crossing her legs and propping her cheek on her fist, and thought this was all quite silly. Sure she felt that the shed was creepy, and yes she found that the fact she apparently couldn't escape bodily harm whenever she went in odd. She was naturally a bit clumsy but not that much of a klutz, and while the sword did have a sense of reverence about it (it was centuries old for heaven's sake) it wasn't like it felt evil or something else demonic. Snorting, she shifted position and leaned back on her hands. Yeah, whatever demonic aura felt like; she sure as hell didn't know.

Honestly she didn't even understand where this idea that she was spiritually endowed came from. It seemed to her that grandpa just woke up one morning and decided that that was how it should be and it was. She was all for the fact that living creatures had energy and that those energies could affect other people—she was a spiritual person. She was on a shrine—but this whole business of being able to purify and whatnot was a bit much.

So she was completely content to sit back and play devil's advocate. If not to avenge her lost time that she could have spent doing homework, then for the fact that she was tired and very much ready to be done with this all.

"Are you ready, Kagome?"

"Have you considered what we'll be doing with the demon once we get it out?" She asked. She didn't actually think something was going to happen, but her grandpa did so she was aiming from his angle. "Would we just re-seal it or—"

"Absolutely not! He doesn't deserve to be in there, and should be free once more."

"It could be a she." Grandpa ignored her and continued talking. "And besides, it would probably just wander off."

"Wander off. Just like that? No haunting, no possession, no death or curses?"

"Of course," the old man waved a hand casually. "They always wander off. Or so the stories go."

Great, Kagome thought. Let's rely on age old stories passed down orally from superstitious ancestors that could be dramatized, altered, and shifted from century's worth of playing the game of telephone. Just great.

Of course, it's not like she was going to have to worry much. As Souta was properly demonstrating with his expression, it's not like this was actually going to work.

"Now sit up girl, and repeat after me. You're going to lead the chant."

Kagome sat up straighter and scraped back her hair. Whatever. She mine as well make the best of this experience. She could just view it as family bonding time. As funny as it was, it was much more entertaining that the thick textbooks mocking her from her desk upstairs. Scooting closer the circle of books she dutifully looked up and quickly memorized the little chant that she was going to do, adding claps and hand motions when necessary.

When they all had a good grasp what they were going to do they settled in more firmly and Kagome began the chant with three loud claps of her hands.

"Ox, Ox, Monkey, Boar. The white lotus blooms."

Kagome stretched out her left arm and gestured towards her mother, who stretched out her right at the same time, their fingers touched before both Kagome and her mom clapped three more times. This time, when Kagome continued the chant Keiko's voice was added to hers.

"Tiger, Tiger, Snake, Dragon. The sun rises in the east."

Her mom repeated Kagome's gesture, extending her left arm to meet Souta's right. The three of them clapped together before reciting the third line of the chant they'd just learned.

"Rat, Rat, Sheep, Horse. The sakura blossoms fall."

Souta met grandpa's outstretched arm, and now they all clapped three times, the combining of their voices a powerful swell compared to Kagome's lonely first line.

"Dog, Dog, Rooster, Rabbit. The winter snow melts."

They all clapped three more times. Souta, mama, and grandpa all held their hands together, palms inwards in a prayer position after the last clap. Kagome stretched her hands out towards the sword. The top had been opened so that the blade, still sheathed, was easily visible as it nestled in its velvet container. Taking a breath, Kagome had a momentary burst of interest and made the conscious decision to channel her…powers? Focus? Whatever it was down her arms, into her hands, and out towards the sword. She figured she'd humor herself, pretend for a second she had the force, if only to say that she'd tried.

"I release you."

They waited for a second. Kagome held her breath, half expecting lighting or thunder or some sort of terrific noise that would scare her senseless. But…nothing happened. The light was still very much on, the power hadn't been shorted out, they were all still settled around a circle of books, and the dishwasher was still going. Kagome lowered her hands to her lap with a limp plop.

It hadn't worked. Obviously.

"Well," she said, completely unfazed by the lack of reaction. "I've got some homework that I have to do."

Grandpa sputtered at her disregard for the failure of their unsealing, but she only got to her feet as he bent forward towards the sword. "Was there a charm still on the case? That could have nullified the spell." He was stroking his beard, looking fiercely at the case in front of him like it was going to grow a mouth and tell him. Kagome patted his shoulder as she stepped into the circle. "I'll take this back grandpa, before it gets too dark."

"Wait, wait. Take it out first."

"Why?"

"I may have stuck a charm under the stuffing, just in case someone else might have tried this. Just let me see."

Muffling a sigh, and idly realizing how heavy her eyelids had suddenly gotten, she just did as she was told. The scabbard was cool to the touch, a mix of wood with metal inlay for decorative purposes. Lifting it from its case, she took advantage of the moment to truly take in the weapon. She'd never actually seen it before, despite being within easy reach for the entirety of her life, and she was surprised by how beautiful it was.

The craftsmanship was impressive. The saya was of high quality wood, sanded down to a finish and lacquered to prevent rot or decay. She was surprised by its light color. Most scabbards had been painted darker, or even red. She didn't think she'd ever seen one quite as bright as this one. The wood was a near white that reminded her of marble. The inlay was silver and sparse, and she was surprised by the length of the blade itself. It was…unusually long, almost like a European broadsword rather than the sleek, relatively short katana blades that she thought it originally was.

The blade guard was modest, but the hilt was quite exotic by Japanese standards. There was no trace of the diamond shaped wraps that wound around the blade of a traditional sword. Instead what met her sights was smooth metal, two prongs that sat close together and eventually split to accommodate a rather large crystal. It was a light pinkish in color. Rose quartz? She thought a little baffled. Why would someone put polished quartz into a blade? It seemed entirely unnecessary. Looking down the length of the scabbard once more she wondered if it were possibly made for a woman? The blade was quite slim, and light.

Curious, she took a hold of the hilt, the sounds of her grandpas speculations drowned out as she focused on her task. The metal was cold under hand, and quite slippery. Tightening her grip she pulled.

The sword clicked a little as it moved once more.

There was a hiss of metal.

And her world exploded in light.