A\N: This is my first Inuyasha story everybody. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Chapter 1 Who's that girl
Drip drop. Drip drop. Drip drop….
The sky was dark with angry clouds. Thunder rolled around as lightening flashed passed. The rain fell down heavily on the people still out and about. Cars splashed water onto sidewalks as they drove quickly. People rushed to get out of the rain. Shops were shutting down as it got later and later into the night. All that were left open were clubs and bars. It was one in the morning. The only people out were druggies, gang members, and unfortunate people who had night shifts. Nobody walked the streets but a few.
Drip drop. Drip drop. Drip drop…
The rain pitter pattered onto the ground. A girl sat in between a club and a bar. The club and the bar had beef with each other. Those who went to the club were part of P gang and the bar housed those in Y gang. Yet with all the fights happening, no one took notice of the girl sitting in the alley way. Her eyes were glazed over as she watched the rain. The thunder boomed in the sky. She didn't take notice of it. She sat with her back against P Club. Her head was tilted to the left a little. Her mouth slightly parted. Her arms lay limply to her side. Her legs were bunched up close to her.
All she could focus on was the rain in front of her and the memories hidden behind her eyes.
She was not dressed for the weather. She had on a white tank top with red splashes on it and pink short shorts. She wore nothing on her feet. The only other thing she had on was a black eye patch on her left eye which happened to be flipped up at the moment.
Drip drop. Drip drop. Drip drop. Splash…
Focus started to return back into the girl's eyes. The rain pattern was different. She could sense it in the air. Someone was looking for her. Her mind flew into flight or fight mode. Should she stay or should she leave? Were they a friend or foe? Her eyes shifted around the small area she found herself in. She closed them and let her other senses run wild. She couldn't sense any animosity directed at her. So they were a friend? Or at the least someone who needed her expertise and hunted her down for that purpose.
Whoever it was she would stay until they show up.
Drip drop. Drip drop. Splash. Splash. Splash.
They were here. The girl eyes glanced over to the entrance to the alleyway. Over there stood the silhouette of the person looking for her. It was a male. He was tall with long silver hair, pointed ears, and markings on his face. He stepped closer. His tail was wrapped around his waist and folded over his shoulder. It was big and fluffy.
Fluffy…
Fluffy…
"Sesshomaru," the girl tested on her tongue.
The figure stepped even closer. Her guess was correct. Standing before her was Sesshomaru, Inu no Tashio first born. He was the heir to half the corporation. He was next in line of being the Leader of the West. And he was also the only person outside of her close nit group that she trusted. His amber eyes bore into her.
"You're eye patch is up." He stated as if he was talking about the weather.
The girl hand rose slowly. She covered her left eye before letting out a small chuckle. "So it is." She stated. She pulled down the eye patch. The world around her changed.
"What do I owe this visit to Sesshomaru," his name rolled off the girl's tongue. She blinked and mouthed his name again. She flicked her tongue back and forth as she worked through the last part of his name.
"You have a weird name Sesshomaru."
If she was anyone else she would have been met with a death glare. Actually she was met with a death glare by the famous, or infamous, Sesshomaru. The difference between her and others were that she didn't care.
Sesshomaru didn't scare her. He was like…
"A puppy that wants to be taken care of but too tough to let just anybody do it…"
"So you're back to that annoying habit."
The girl cocked her head to the side. Whatever was he talking about? Sesshomaru shook his head, his silver mane flying everywhere.
"You're thinking out loud again. And I am not a puppy."
The girl covered her mouth and giggled. Everything she did was in slow motion. She slowly moved her hand away from her mouth and fixed Sesshomaru with a hard stare.
"Why did you come for me Sesshomaru? I wished to be left alone."
Her voice got harder at the end. Her stare turned into a glare. The weather wasn't the only thing making it cold outside. Just like how the girl ignored his glare, he ignored her. Not because he wasn't scared of her, she was one of the few things he did fear. It was more of the case that he knew she wouldn't strike him. She still wanted to know why he hunted her down for. Afterwards she may or may not attack him. Sesshomaru knew it would have been the latter. She wasn't in the right mindset at the moment and she never holds grudges.
"I have been made aware from some unidentified sources that you have not been going to your job."
The girl raised a brow. "You hunted me down for that. I'm on vacation leave me alone."
Sesshomaru let out a sigh of frustration. She was also one of the few that made him lose control of his emotions. She knew him inside and out. She could pick and choose how she wanted him to feel. She was an observer. She sat back and watch before making her move. She knew the right buttons to push to make him happy, sad, angry, moody, excreta. In turn, however, he was very close to her as well. He knew secrets of hers that not just anybody was privy to. He could play her as well as she could play him.
"Vacation does not last a year and a half."
"What's your point," she retorted popping the 'p'.
"My point being is that your council is starting to get suspicious. They will be looking thing up soon."
The girl rolled her eyes and kicked her legs. They popped as she moved them around. She had no idea how long she stayed in that position but her body was as stiff as a board. The rain wasn't making anything better.
"So! Let them look! They'll find nothing of importance in my files. I should already know I have looked through them plenty of times. They make for a very entertaining read."
"So I am to assume that you do not care that your education or lack of is written in your files. Or the fact that if the council finds out that you have no education then they actually have a valid reason to kick you out the owner seat."
The girl raised a delicate brow. "Can you spell education without school…I'll wait…huh what's that…you can…then tell me why you consistently insist on me going to school. I can't stand people."
"You can. I can. But those old geezers on your council cannot. They do not like you. They downright hate you. If it's found out that you stopped going to school after junior High they will have you thrown off the CEO spot. You have traitors in your company. Traitors that have the chance of taking over your company. Do you really wish to see that happen? To see your family company go down the hill like that?"
The girl paused. She had a retort on her tongue but it disappeared when her family was brought into the conversation. Could she really do that to her family? It wasn't that hard of a choice. She would never do anything to tarnish her family reputation more than what she already have. Her eye met Sesshomaru's.
"You talk a lot," she deadpanned.
Inside Sesshomaru was doing a little dance. He knew that he had swayed her to his reasoning. If he hadn't they would have still been going back and forth.
"What school would take me in this late with no questions asked?"
"My school. Shikon Academy is known for doing crazy thing like that."
She heard of that school before it was also nicknamed, "the crazy fighting school…"
Sesshomaru felt like smacking his forehead. "Yes that is the nickname that my school has gained itself. It is a fighting school that helps train ones abilities. It is also a very renowned school for learning as well. Located in Jewel City Shikon Academy is as good as it gets."
"Sounds like you were reading that off of a pamphlet."
"That actually is what the pamphlet says."
The girl sighed. "Should I really go there? What if nobodies like me? I'm not a very likable person."
"You'll do fine. Besides I thought you didn't like people so why does it matter if they don't like you?"
The girl shrugged her shoulders. "No one wants to be completely hated and I have enough hate already."
"Everything will be fine. Just come to Jewel city within a week's time. Register and go to Shikon Academy. Take the test they'll most likely place you as a junior. That means you'll only have two years in that hell hole before leaving."
The girl sighed. She nodded her head. "Fine fine I'll do it sign me up whatever."
She stood slowly and faced Sesshomaru with all her shortness. Sesshomaru towered over her but she didn't let a thing like height stop her from glaring up at him. She placed both her hands on her hips and leaned forward slightly.
"Now because of you I have to uproot everybody and go to school. Snow likes it here and Yume just started opening up around people."
"I believe that Yume would have better chances of opening up in Jewel City. Snow likes it anywhere."
"Not true. Ironically Snow didn't like it in Snow town."
Snow Town, a town located not too far from the mountains. It snowed all the time there and was generally too cold for humans to live. Snow, the child of a Yuki Onna did not like Snow Town. How that came to be, the girl had no idea. Just like her name, Snow's powers lies within ice and snow.
Snow hated snow.
"Funny," Sesshomaru deadpanned.
The girl shrugged. "I try."
It really was a joke, Snow town. The girl moved them out there because they had to leave the last place they were staying at. She couldn't think of any town names so she decided Snow town because of her little Snow. They stayed there all of one day. Snow completely hated it there. Out of her anger she created an avalanche that nearly snowed Snow town. They were kicked out and told never to return.
Thus the jokes were on them.
It was a really pretty town though.
Oh Sesshomaru about to start talking again.
"A week. You have a week to move from here to Jewel City. I'm sure your family has a house located somewhere there."
The girl blinked. "Now that you mention it…we do have a house there. Sure sure we'll be able to be there within a week's time. Don't make me regret this."
Once the threat was left in the air, the girl disappeared in the rain. Sesshomaru sighed. Talking to her always left him drained. It was a battle of the wits most times. Everything she does was meant to unnerve him. Her thinking out loud, her slow actions, her glare, her threats, her mentioning of those other girls, and then her disappearing, everything she did was to make him rethink his decision.
He wasn't going to though. He could be just as stubborn as anyone else when it came to his decisions. And he knew deep down that this was the right decision.
Now if only he could get rid of this feeling he was having. It was almost as if something was going to go down.
Sesshomaru chuckled. He was a Dog Demon not a witch or a seer. Whatever he was feeling had to be because of the weather and not any premonition.
Right?
Right.
One Week Later
A tall building stood before the short girl. Her long black hair blew in the wind. She covered her eyes to shield them from the sun as she got a better look at the school. She moved in to her family home a few days ago. Sesshomaru took her on a late night tour of the city showing her all the great places. He told her of all the gangs that were housed in Jewel City and their hangouts. Standing in front of the large school, the girl sighed.
For it to be that large it meant that a lot of people went there. Sesshomaru told her she had to come early. She did. No other students populated the place. For a minute the girl stood and admired the beauty of Shikon Academy.
And the peacefulness feeling that it gave her.
The peace didn't last long as sound of cars could be heard in the distance. Shrugging her shoulders, the girl made her way to the main office.
The main office was decorated in red and white. The walls were all write. Red and white checkered tiles colored the floor. Paintings were hung up on the walls. One was a painting of a boat and the sea. Another one was of the Shikon no Tama and the battle that created it. The secretary desk was off to the side. Behind it a woman with long blond hair and thick black rimmed glasses typed away.
"Excuse me…"
"Oh!" the woman looked up showing her bright blue eyes, "How can I help you?" she pushed her glasses back up on her face.
"Um I'm here for the placement test. Was told to come directly here and see the principal."
The blue eyed woman typed away on her computer. She exclaimed loudly and looked up at the black haired girl.
"I see…you are schedule to see Kaede-sama at this time. Go right those doors right over there."
The blond woman pointed to two large oak doors behind her. The girl blinked. She did not see those doors there at first. The girl looked back at the woman who was hiding her mouth behind her hand. The blond woman giggled with closed eyes before fixing her blue eyes onto the young girl in front of her.
"Kaede-sama is a very accomplish miko, a descendent of Midori herself. In an order of protection she hides the doors to her office behind a very powerful barrier. She has gifted me with the abilities to open those barriers to students and teachers that need her."
The girl nodded her head slowly as she made her way to the door. She stood in front of the door and touched it with her hand. The barrier holding the door shimmered lightly before disappearing again. The blond woman took her glasses off and cleaned them. She put them back on and stared in amazement as the barrier was put up again. It felt different to her thought. It was like it recognized a new master. The girl smirked and opened the door to Kaede's office. She stepped inside the cozy room and walked over to the chair.
Kaede sat behind her desk going over paperwork. The student government was asking for more money again while the council was trying to cut the money given to the students. The council were upset of the nickname 'their' prestigious academy was gifted. Kaede snorted. The council could kick rocks for all she cared. This was her school and no one was going to change that. She knew that the council was out to get her. They sent many assassination attempts to get rid of her for they can't vote her out of the academy. She was a descendent of Midori. Midori was the creator of the Shikon no Tama and Shikon Academy. Before her demise she created this school to help teach mikos, demons, demons slayers, and humans all to get along.
As a descendent of Midori she automatically inherited the school. That meant that the council could not remove her in any legal way. Killing her would make the school go to the next in line. Since the next in line was her younger sister Kikyo, who was not old enough to take over the school, one of the council member would be voted in until Kikyo was old enough to take charge. By that point, rules may have been change never allowing Kikyo to take over her birthright.
In order to make sure she was well protected she outlined a layered barrier all over the main office. The layered protection started off outside of her office. A weak barrier that repealed ill intentions was casted in the secretary office. The secretary herself was a long haired blue eyed woman that wore glasses. Her name was Nana. Nana was a human that had a high spiritual awareness. While she was unable to use any miko abilities, she could pick up barriers and illusions on a level that even some mikos couldn't compare too. She also had an ability to break barriers and illusions. It was unlike that of a miko. It was also a latent ability when Kaede first stumbled upon the woman.
Training her to control her latent ability was a lesson well learned. Some abilities were not meant to be controlled. Nana, however, was able to control it to a point. It was enough for her second layer of protection. The doors to her office were covered with a strong barrier. The barrier was so strong that unless down, the doors to her office were hidden in plain sight. Long with that she cast another protection spell on her office, the same as in the secretary room. The spell casts out all ill intentions.
The only one with the ability to take down the strong barrier was herself and Nana. Kaede was more than protected in her office because of those two barriers. An I.M appeared on her computer. It was from Nana letting her know that the new girl was here and ready to see her.
Kaede felt the drop in her barrier. It wasn't gone, just weakened so the doors could appear. The old woman was putting her paperwork aside when she felt a disturbance in her barrier. Her eyes widen as her barrier was overpowered. It shattered for a moment before coming back even stronger than before.
The door opened. A girl no older than her sister age stepped into the room. She was short, no taller than 5'3. She had long raven colored hair that reached her mid back. Strangely enough a blue streak ran from the center of her head all the way down as well. Her right eye was blue. A white eye patch with red splashes covered her left eye. She wore a white haori top that held red splashed in it as well. Her pants and shoes were the same as the rest of her outfit. Her pants where white skinny jean with red splashes going up in a diagonal manner. Her shoes where white air force ones that had red splashes on them as well
The doors closed behind her. She made her way over to the only seat in the office that wasn't already occupied. She sat down in the brown chair with a large back.
"What did you do to my barrier?"
Kaede appeared as calmly as she could though on the inside she was nervous. It had taken her seven days and nights to create that barrier. She poured every bit of her spiritual powers and then some into that barrier for those seven days and nights. No one the council sent was able to break that barrier, yet a child no older than her younger sister was able to break it.
"I apologize," the girl's honey like voice melted out, "It tasted so good though. The monster in me couldn't help but chew on it. You're a very pure miko, probably never dabbled into the dark arts either have you…yes I could taste it. It's not every day I meet someone so pure like you."
Kaede narrowed her eyes. The girl was able to gather all of that by breaking her barrier. "What do you mean it tasted good? How can you tell whether I'm pure or not?"
The girl one visible eye widens. "Someone as old as you do not know of which I am talking about?"
"I am not old I am seasoned!"
The girl laughed. It was an open and honest laugh.
Kaede blanched. She couldn't believe that she let someone so young get to her like that. It shouldn't have been so easy for the old woman to get riled up like that. And especially on something as trivial as her age. It must be because of what the girl did. Yeah, Kaede told herself, it was because of the girl breaking down her barrier. That made the older woman on edge so of course she would act reckless on something so trivial.
"I apologize," the girl let out again.
Kaede sensed it now. The apology was nothing but words coming from the girl. No meaning was behind them. She said it to appease the older woman only, not because the girl actually meant it.
"Answer my question child."
The girl leaned back in the chair. She sat up straight quickly a pained look on her face. She moved her hair from behind her and leaned back again. "There goes my cool beginning…gotta start from the top now…"
Kaede raised a brow at her strange behavior. She didn't have enough digits to count out how many strange people she met in her day, but the girl in front of her was quickly making the top of her list.
"There are many wonders in this world. New powers are being found out while old powers are disappearing. New races are becoming possible to create while the old ones are going extinct. Do you know that a lot of demon clans are going extinct? Hanyous while hated are up on the list than most demons clan. Humans still are great in numbers but for how long?"
"What does this have to do with anything child?"
Kaede already knew this information. While not on any news show, conspiracy theories are popping up out of the woodworks. It was more than just one conspiracy theorist as they take many different stances. One stated that hanyous were going to be the next great race. They stated that hanyous have a long life span like demons strong like demons but held the human nature as well. They stated that the rise of hanyous would become larger and larger as the years go by. They gave evidence of the birth of hanyous being greater than before and stated since it became legal for different species to marry and reproduce that hanyous were the next best race. What got a lot of people, mainly human, nervous was the author spoke of how humans were going to be a thing in the past. Hanyous were going to take their places.
"I was just creating the background. I did not want for you to have a heart attack when I say what I have to say."
"I'm not that old child!"
Again the girl laughed. Again Kaede wanted to smack her forehead. How could she let this child get to her so easily?
"I have an ability that I can barely control. It's has a mind of its own most of the time. Causes me great pain as my clothes always gets dirty from it…" the girl continues muttering about dirty clothes.
Kaede sweatdropped.
"…I am a barrier eater."
"A who da what now?"
The girl raised her hand placing it on her cheek. She turned to the side, letting her hair fall between her and Kaede like a curtain. She sniffed repeated before facing Kaede again. Crystal clear tears fell from her bright blue eye.
"I knew it. Every time I mention my uncontrollable ability someone always stare at me like I'm a fool. How dare they? I am not the foolish one. They are for they do not know the hardship of being a barrier eater."
"I apologize child for I have never heard of that term before. I do not know your hardship. I am sorry for coming off as insensitive."
The tears disappeared as quickly as they came. The girl smiled brightly showing off her sharp canines. "It's cool no one ever really heard of it. I made the name up myself." She flashed Kaede the peace sign with her finger before laughing again.
Kaede was ready to rip her hair out. She was actually in the process of doing just that.
"Seriously though," the girl started. Her voice took on a serious tone. Kaede paused in her hair pulling, staring at the girl with wide eyes. "There is no real name for this power. I searched everywhere in my family Gilmore in libraries, in other people Gilmores. I coined the name barrier eater myself because that's essentially what it does. What I am to a degree…"
The girl looked down. Her bang covered her one good eye. She raised her hands in front of her. Kaede stared in amazement as her spiritual pressure in her hands became visible. Two birds appeared on her hands. A blue bird appeared on her right hand and on her left was a green one. Their eyes were gold. They swirled around the girl's hands flickering in and out. Their heads turned towards the door. They grew quickly and flew towards the door. The girl clenched her fist and the two birds disappeared.
"What just happened?"
"You have multiple barriers put up. I eat barriers. It's different from simply breaking a barrier. I eat the energy that was used to create the barrier essentially giving that energy to me. If it's dark, light, pure, evil, or grey it doesn't matter. The monster in me will feed off of it. It doesn't matter if it's barriers from allies, myself included, or barriers from enemies. You do not know the struggle of walking into a heavily guarded place and accidently eating the barrier on something important than having to explain why I was not trying to steal whatever the barrier was hiding while dodging projectiles."
The girl placed her hand on her forehead in a show of shame. Kaede could feel the stress coming off of her in waves. What the girl before her just described must have happened on a lot of occasions for her to have that reaction.
"If controlled that ability is very useful," Kaede mused
The girl nodded her head. "Yes but not all abilities are meant to be controlled. There is a reason I have not been able to control this ability and I have summed it to being too powerful to control completely. Some powers cause insanity; this just might be one of those powers."
Kaede nodded her head. It was the same with Nana. She gained too much control of her latent ability and it caused her bad eyesight. Her eyes were so in tuned to the barriers and illusions that surrounded everything that she couldn't see anything besides those two. She tried to gouge out her eyes to hide from them. She lost part of her control and part of her eyesight.
"However, if you let your spiritual powers out you will sense that I've have replace your barrier."
Kaede did just that. She was amazed that her barrier was still there. It was even stronger than before. Her eyes widen in amazement as she opened them.
"How is that possible?"
"As I've stated before, I ate your barrier giving me your spiritual energy. It was child's play replicating your barrier again. However doing so I caused my energy to mix with yours adding to your barrier. I am no longer out of the loop so to say. I will always be able to enter this room because the barrier recognizes my spiritual energy."
"Is that part of your latent ability as well?"
"Creating barriers is one of the many things I can do, so no it is not. The mixing of energy however is a latent ability. Using different energies is not however. The only part I cannot control all the way is what I eat so to say or mixing the two energies. If I could I would not have added my energy into the mix however as it is once I starting the eating process the mixing process comes next."
"So my energy in the barrier was already mixing with your own energy when you replaced my barrier resulting in your energy being put into the replaced barrier."
The girl nodded.
"Astounding! Simply amazing! I've seen some pretty neat stuff in my day child but ye have blown a lot of thing out of the ball part. Just this alone makes you pass certain portion of your exam. However," Kaede reached behind her desk and pulled out a very thick packet. She dropped it on her desk. It landed with a loud 'BOOM' echoing throughout the room.
The girl mouth dropped opened.
"Now ye have to go through the academic portion of the exam. I know for a fact that ye has more abilities that ye are not telling. I do not fault ye as this is a fighting school and any means of winning that does not result in sabotaging death is allowed. I will put up Barrier Eater as one of your abilities on ye student profile. Know this; your student profile will be update when more of your powers have been found out. The element of surprise only last for so long in this school."
Kaede typed away on her computer. She turned the monitor so the girl could see what she was writing. It was her student profile.
"Now before you begin, tell me child what is your name."
The girl closed her one good eye and smile.
"Higurashi. Kagome Higurashi."
"Kagome the barrier eater welcome to Shikon Academy. Prepare yourself for your first test."
Well there we have it. Kagome is now on her way to becoming a member of Shikon Academy. How will she fare in this fighting school? What other tricks do she have up her sleeves? What will the council think of her going back to school? How will the students respond to having her at the Academy? Is Sesshomaru foolish to dismiss his feelings that quickly?
You shall find this out and more in the next chapter of Barrier Eater!
Review and tell me what you think :)