Hey, y'all! Here's the first chapter of the second story for the Trinity Contest! Imma be honest, I did not beta this as much as I usually would, so make sure to point out any errors or strange sentences, etc. because it'll go toward your points to win! This one is semi-creepy, but it's really not that bad. Hope you all enjoy!

Much Love~


Summary: When Kagome moves back into her childhood home, she gets to reunite with her best friend, picking back up right where they left off. But the house isn't as homey as it once was ... and it feels as though she's always being watched.


Chapter One: 1 … 2 … 3 ...

She could hear the loud thumping of slow footsteps as they drew nearer. She urged herself to take slow, deep breaths; to be quiet and calm, but the racing of her heart as it pounded in her chest was making it impossible. She could hear it loud and clear in her buzzing ears; she could feel the blood coursing through her veins as her eyes watched the shadow from under the door make its way past her tauntingly. Tears began to trickle forth as she covered her mouth in an attempt to silence herself. She felt a meager moment of relief as the dark figure could no longer be seen from the hallway light, mistakenly letting her guard down. The floorboards went silent as her pursuer halted, possibly having heard the soft sigh that escaped her quivering lips. She could hear the sniffing, the scratching of his nails scraping the walls as he languidly made his way back to her. She couldn't hold it in anymore, she was getting hot, sweat trickling down her body to soak the floor, and she knew that it was over. He had found her.

"What a troublesome human wench," she heard him mutter, his silhouette coming back to haunt her from under the door. "You always did like this hiding spot."

20 Years Ago …

"Where in the world are those two?"

"Well, Mrs. Higurashi, Kagome is hiding in the upstairs linen closet, and Inuyasha is currently checking the bathroom while pretending not to know where she is," informed Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's older brother. Mrs. Higurashi giggled sweetly, a hand coming up to press to her lips.

"And how, may I ask, do you know that?" She was laughing lightheartedly, not mocking at all, and it was something Sesshomaru wasn't used to.

Sesshomaru shrugged as he laid languidly on her couch, playing a game on his phone. "I can hear them," he stated matter-of-factly.

"But how do you know that Inuyasha knows where she is?" He glanced up at her in annoyance. Why his father couldn't come to watch over the pest at this human's house was beyond him.

"If I can hear them, he can hear, and probably smell her. Trust me, he has pretty keen senses for a half-breed."

"I see. How interesting. I wish I could hear her as you both do sometimes, it would be so much easier to find her."

"Your cookies are burning, Mrs. Higurashi."

She smiled at him, heart warm as it poured from her eyes. She didn't get up until the oven dinged a moment later, signaling that they were done. It was infuriating how even though he had tried to help, she had stayed right where she was, sitting pretty and kind as she ignored his heed. She politely excused herself as she went to the kitchen. He could hear her opening the stove and then flinched at the high pitched scream that came from upstairs, footsteps pounding as the two obnoxious 6-year-olds ran from one room to the next. He couldn't understand why his idiot brother let her escape so often, pretending to be slow when he could've just ended it all about forty-five minutes ago. There had been a time when he had asked him and his answer had been … unexpected ...

"Because that would be cheating. She doesn't have the same instincts or senses that I do."

"Why don't you use such big words around her?"

"Because her brain doesn't mature as fast as ours, duh."

"You're half human, does that mean you're dumber than I am?" He had grown tired of his younger brother, wanting to put him in his place.

"No, it just means that, unlike you, I'm able to empathize with demons and humans."

The little punk thought he was so smart. It was infuriating how right he had been, however; Sesshomaru understood very little about how the human mind worked. Mrs. Higurashi was a prime example, even though he had warned her that her baked goods were burning, the ones she had worked so hard to make, she just continued to wait until they were thoroughly black. It was stupid.

Just then, she walked into the room with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk, putting it down in front of him. He held back the urge to cringe as he watched her go back to the kitchen, making more plates for the brats, no doubt. He wasn't a fucking child, he didn't need cookies and milk. He shifted his gaze to the plate of chocolate chip cookies to find them absolutely perfect. He sat up, slightly confused as he grabbed one and took a bite out of it. His mouth began to water as it all but melted in his mouth, nothing short of amazing. He didn't understand, they had been burning.

"This particular recipe is a family secret," he heard her say from the kitchen three rooms away. She knew that he was listening, apparently, because she went on. "They have to be cooked for an exact amount of time to turn out this way. They weren't burning, they simply just smell that way because of the mixture of ingredients." Ah, that made sense, he supposed. He found Mrs. Higurashi to be somewhat proud in a way, not having explained this to him earlier only to skillfully shove it in his face. She was … interesting. He found himself obsessing over it for the next few days, not able to control himself as he looked forward to the next time he was to take Inuyasha on his play date. He couldn't understand it himself, but he found this Mrs. Higurashi to be fascinating in a way he had never encountered before.

He remained stoic as he watched her from the kitchen island, moving about as she cooked dinner. Her humming was nice, he found it was soothing. He couldn't stop thinking about what his father had said, about Mrs. Higurashi actually being Mz. Higurashi. A widow, and she had yet to remarry. He couldn't understand why, surely she had many human men chasing after her, possibly a few yōkai even. He caught sight of the wedding ring on her finger, the light pouring in from the window just right to bounce off and project over his features for only a moment. Why was she still wearing it?

"Mz. Higurashi, why do you still wear your wedding band?" He saw her body come to a halt as he heard her heart palpitate and her breath catch in her throat. He smelled the change in her scent almost vividly and it was intoxicating. She turned with wide eyes, hand on her hip, and this was the first time he had ever seen a stern look on the woman. She had a glare worse than his own mother. It excited him in a strange sort of way. He found himself sitting up straighter in his chair and bowing his head slightly. "My apologies, sometimes I can be overly curious." How odd. He had never been one to extend any form of remorse. It must have just been a mere slip of the tongue; it was a formality his stepmother had been trying to instill in him, nothing more.

She sighed as she pivoted back around toward the stove, shaking her head. "Indeed." And that was all she said to him for the rest of the night. He was there another two hours, but not a peep. She joked and spoke with Inuyasha, Kagome, and Souta, but would hardly look at him, if at all. He had never in his life, not once that he could recall, felt bad about something he had said or done. He would never openly admit to it … unless it was Mz. Higurashi. This was another first experience that included her, and looking back over them, she was in many.

This was so unlike him. Why he was at the Higurashi residence with a bouquet of sunflowers was lost on him. He can't even really remember how he got here or how he had gotten the flowers or even why he was here with flowers. And for Mz. Higurashi of all people. He was crazy! Completely lost his nut!

"Sessy?" He gasped slightly as he turned, his well-trained expression of lacking interest minorly differed with a lifted eyebrow. "Wait, did I actually scare you?" Sesshomaru glared, silently arguing that, no, he didn't scare him. "What are you doing here?" His little brother stood there at the bottom steps of the porch, hair a mess with tree leafs. The little brat was looking up at him in something like disgust, confusion mixing his golden gaze.

"I told you not to call me that." Sesshomaru turned toward him, skillfully tucking the dumb bouquet behind his back as he did so. "Why are you here?"

"Playdate, duh." The smug asshole of a seven-year-old had the audacity to roll his eyes at him, the little shit. "What about you? And why do you have flowers?" Fucking half-breed had to have top-notch demon senses.

Sighing, he turned back toward the door, set in ignoring the little dimwit as he rang the doorbell.

"Wow. Someone's not paying much attention. I'm surprised you can't hear them." Sesshomaru watched as his little brother walked away from him, shaking his head on the way to the backyard. Ah, yes. He could hear them now, they were playing hide and go seek outside today. Good.

Mz. Higurashi filled him with impulses he'd never had before, one being to enter her home without permission and finding a vase for the damn sunflowers. Luckily, the front door was open, so he just let himself right in.

They never saw him, and he left the flowers on the dining room table. It was an awful business, this sort of weird tingly feeling in his chest. It was all so stupid and regrettable. But … the next time he had to go to the Higurashi household, she had smiled at him so brightly, thanking him for the flowers because Inuyasha had ratted him out, the snake. He didn't care though. It was all well worth that smile of hers.

Yasha's mean older brother has been acting really weird lately. I think I saw him smile the other day, which never happens, but it's only when mommy is talking to him. He brought her flowers a few weeks ago, too, something I never thought he would do, but he did, a whole bunch of mommy's favourite flowers. It makes me feel real uncomfortable when he stands next to mommy; he always gets too close, I think. Yasha says he thinks he likes her because he's nice to her and treats her different and stuff, but he's too young for mommy. She's a woman and he's only a big boy. Sometimes I see him just staring at her as she cooks, his eyes moving up and down her body while she's not looking. He does a lot of things for her that he doesn't do for anyone else, too. Like replacing light bulbs and cleaning up after dinner; he does the dishes for her and has started fixing a bunch of stuff mommy can't fix by herself. The other day he came over by himself to clean out the gutters on the roof and she gave him some pie. He used to say he didn't like pie, but he always takes everything she gives him, eats it up and smiles at her. Just a little smile, but still. He's never smiled at me before.

"What?" Kagome had been staring at him for quite a while now, not having touched her plate of cookies. At present, he was watching the kids while Mz. Higurashi was running an errand. She had smiled at him again, thanking him immensely before running out the door with a, "Be back soon!" He really didn't like kids, but at least they could take care of themselves for the most part. But her daughter was just sitting there on the opposite couch, staring at him innocently one moment and indignantly the next. It was the shaking of her head as she rolled her eyes - just like his brat of a brother - and the sigh that followed right after that was getting to him, that and her unwavering stare. He would usually just tell her to go elsewhere, harshly if needed, making her cry and run to Inuyasha, but now it was different. He couldn't put his finger on it, but because of how her mother was affecting him, he couldn't treat the small child badly. It was agonizing to try and be nice to her as she speculated him. It was like she knew. Knew? He internally chuckled at himself. Knew what? There was nothing to know.

"Do you like my mommy?"

"Beg your pardon?"

"Do you, Sessy McFluffy-stuffinyurpants, like my mama?" He was stunned. What an absurd question to be asked by a seven-year-old. And what the heck was with that nickname? 'Stuff in your pants,' she had said. What was that supposed to mean?

"What did you call me?"

"I asked first."

"I'm older."

"So?"

"So, I'm in charge."

"I don't care." Wow. She might have been even more stubborn than Inuyasha.

"Alright. Depends on what you mean by 'like'."

"'Like' is 'like', isn't it?"

"No. There are different kinds of 'like'." He couldn't believe he was actually talking about this, with a snot-nosed kid, no less. It was embarrassing.

"How?"

"Well, … you like your brother, right? But it's different from how you like your friends or your mom."

"I still don't get it."

"Okay … do you like your brother?"

"Yes."

"Do you like Inuyasha?"

"Well, duh. I love Inuyasha." Oh, look. Another trait she's managed to pick up from the half-breed.

"Yeah, so it's a different like, right? You don't like Souta the same way you like Inuyasha."

"Ew, of course not."

"That's what I mean by different likes. I like your mom like you like Inuyasha … 's mom." Huh. He hadn't really acknowledged the fact that he liked her before, he had never liked anyone. And even though he was telling the truth, it felt like … a small lie in a way. What was it that wasn't true?

"That's weird … but whatever. As long as it's not the way I like Inuyasha." She laughed then, the same way her mother does, without any sign of mockery or ill will. "That'd just be wrong." Kagome jumped up, running upstairs to play with the boys, finally leaving him in solitude.

'Wrong indeed.'

Present Day …

She heard the sinister chuckle vibrate through her as the lights flickered out, making the hairs on her neck rise in anxiety and fear. She had never heard him so happy before; it was evil and terrifying, demonic even. He was thrilled by the chase, by hunting her down; it was sickening. She reached the top of the stairs as he got to five, counting to one-hundred as to give her enough time to hide herself away. Luckily, he was counting rather slowly, allowing her a sufficient amount to cover her tracks with scents like essential oils and bath salts, some strong perfume and air freshener. She kept them all in the same place, so she quickly mixed them together and threw them all over the place, not worried at all as to what might happen to the wooden floors of her childhood home. After that, she went for the cleaning supplies to really throw him off. He was now up in the forties as she quietly splashed walls and floors with the bleach she had just bought, along with different tile, tub, counter, and window cleaners. She was running out of time, not being left with enough to fulfill her plan of escape, so she hid.

Tears still leaked down her cheeks as she stifled a sniffle. She had put in so much work to cover her scent, she couldn't make a sound now, not if hiding was her only choice. She went with her gut, the best place she could think of, and shut the door as quickly as she could behind her. The bottom step squeaked loudly, a warning of his coming, an aural reminder that this was real, this was happening. She told herself to relax, that it was just a game as he made his ascent up the steps, one by one, making sure each of them twisted through the air with a sound of torment. She could hear the distinct difference of the floorboards as he reached the second floor.

"Well done," he began to clap, slowly pronouncing each meeting of his hands. "This just got a whole lot more interesting."


Short, but there s'more (puns are fun) to come! Soon, my loves, soon. Don't forget to leave a review to win yourself a story (for whatever genre, whatever plot, whatever FANDOM you choose, written by yours truly). Look out for more stories and updates to add to your points as well! If you don't know the rules and how to best earn points, go check out my bio for full details!

Until next time!

Much Love~!

K.T.