She moved swiftly through the oceans waters, the waves welcoming her with playful pushes. The water was dark and the clouds promised storm, but she was not going to let a little rain ruin her homecoming. She took in a breath of the salty air before diving deeper into the depths of her home. Her raven hair blended with the seaweed she now was swimming through. Her pale skin glowed like moonlight in the dark and was the only thing that suggested she didn't belong there in the sea's depths. Her fluid movements were graceful and much like the water she now swam through. A trail of bubbles escaped her lips as she pushed off a rock and parted the water at the surface so she could breathe in another much-welcomed dose of air. Up ahead, she spotted some sea lions with their pups. Luckily there were no males. The cows were fine, but those bulls would get you. Kagome could remember growing up on the shore. Well, she was mostly in the water, but when she wasn't, she was normally on the beach. Some nights, she would sneak out and bring a blanket. Kagome would also equip herself with a flashlight and book and go down to the beach and read. She could remember falling asleep, book in hand and waking up to the sound of the sea lions, barking. She remembered being quite thankful for the fact they would wake her, because it gave her time to get back to bed before her parents had awakened and found her to be gone. Now as she began to swim back toward the sand, she couldn't believe she had allowed herself to be away from her home for 10 years. As she walked up to the shore and wrapped herself in a towel, she allowed herself to recall what had happened. They had lived at Raikiri Beach all her life. Then, the summer of Kagome's 8th birthday, her father died. It was hard on the family, and her mother had handled it quite well considering what had happened. But her mother had decided that the best thing to do would be to uproot and start fresh. So they moved into her grandfather's shrine and she began attending school in Tokyo along with her younger brother Souta. Her mom had also returned to college and was studying law. They had never returned to Raikiri Beach. In fact they'd never even spoken of it since they'd moved. But at 17, Kagome began to long for the home she once new. Now, a newly turned 18 year old, Kagome had moved back to her hometown and was now attending a college in Kyoto, a 15 minute drive from the beach. Shaking herself out of the past, Kagome began trudging up the sandy path to her new car. "Well…it's not really that new." Kagome admitted to herself sheepishly. It was a used Honda. "Made in the late eighties and runs like a charm!" The dealer had assured her. Well, she hadn't had a problem with it yet. Putting a towel over the seat, she climbed in and pulled out her keys. Buckling up, she put the keys in the ignition and with a roar of protest from the car; she began to head for home. She had an hour to get to her apartment, shower, get dressed, grab her books, get some breakfast and head to school. "Shit!" she swore under her breath realizing she had forgotten about Sango. The previous day, she'd told her childhood friend she'd give her a ride to the college. Great, now she would have to skip breakfast. Again. # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # The silver haired demon zipped along the highway in his shiny new convertible. He was driving away from his residence in Raikiri Beach and heading towards the college he attended in Kyoto. He sighed, feeling a bit better now that he was living alone, and not having to put up with his baka half brother and his whores. His father had also been getting on his nerves. So, he'd convinced his father that by letting him use his weekend place in Raikiri Beach, it would help promote 'responsibility' and to 'prepare him to look after himself'. So his father had agreed, thank Kami, and he, Sesshomaru, was going to go over to his previous home before he went back to the beach to discuss rent with his father. He hadn't really counted on having to pay rent, but it didn't matter. They were the richest family in Japan, and Sesshomaru was definitely never short of money. It was almost to good to be true how easy it was to get his way. He pulled into town and began weaving through the streets to the college. He could bet that his group, Kouga, Hiten and, unfortunately, Inuyasha would already be there waiting. He pulled into his parking space and got out. Walking over to the entrance, he realized he had been right about his friends, but had failed to count Kagura, Hiten's girlfriend and Yura, Inuyasha's toy. "Hey Sesshomaru!" Kouga called. Sesshomaru continued to climb the stairs and raised a hand in acknowledgement to his friend. Hiten raised a hand and Kagura said hi, meanwhile it looked like Inuyasha and Yura were eating each other's faces off. Yura gave Sesshomaru a very seductive glance and deepened her kiss with Inuyasha. Sesshomaru sighed again. Typical morning. "Hey, nice car!" Inuyasha snickered at the prehistoric Honda that was in the middle of parking. Sesshomaru looked and had to suppress a smirk. For once Inuyasha seemed accurate in his exaggeration. It was definitely 'prehistoric' looking. "I wonder why I haven't noticed that car before…?" He wondered. They'd already been attending for 2 weeks and he was surprised he hadn't noticed any new students. He was sure he would have noticed that car before. He watched as that human girl Sango, emerged from the passenger side door and then saw the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on. He sniffed the air and sighed for the third time that morning as her vanilla jasmine scent hit his nose. She even smelled beautiful. But she was human and that would half to be enough to stop his fascination with her. He was a respectable demon after all, and couldn't afford to be around a human girl. He caught the faintest scent of arousal and turned his head towards Kouga. It looked like he'd also been wondering why he hadn't seen her yet. But, Kouga however, didn't look like the fact that the girl was human bothered him. Sesshomaru felt a low growl escape his throat as Kouga went down to meet this new girl. But when he realized what he was doing, he immediately stopped. He hadn't even spoken to her yet and already he was acting possessive over her. What was wrong with him? Kouga had almost reached the bottom of the stairs, when Kagome looked up. $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ When Kagome had gotten home, she'd ran out of the car, zipped up towards the stairs and ran into her apartment. Opening the door, she raced inside and had a 5-minute shower she hadn't thought she was capable of. Running out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair and body, she went to her room. After drying herself off, she raided her droors for a par of tight dark blue jeans and a T-shirt. Then she pulled out her favorite hooded sweater. It was black and fuzzy and fit her well, complimenting her small figure, hips and breasts. She ran back to the bathroom again and she quickly brushed her hair and tied it back while brushing her teethe, After she put on a bit of makeup and ran into the kitchen/living room, where her books sat on the coffee table. Kagome shoved them into her bag and went and pulled on her worn sneakers. She then took her keys off the hook, opened the door, locked it behind her and flew down the stairs. Racing towards her car she flung open the door, shoved the keys in the ignition and sped off towards Sango's house. Kagome sighed. Now she could finally relax. She had almost a half hour to detour over to Sango's house and then make it over to the school. Kagome's mouth began to water as she thought about the coffee shop by her friend's apartment building. Maybe she could stop in for a coffee and a muffin. "Yummy..." She drooled, thinking about the big fresh muffins they had first thing in the morning. Soon, Kagome was pulling up in front of the building and saw her best friend Sango sitting on a rock, waiting for Kagome. When Sango emerged into the car with two big mochas and what smelled like Kagome's favorite muffins she could have kissed her. "Hey Kagome!" Sango chirped, "I figured you'd be skipping out on breakfast again, so I thought I'd pick up something." She smiled. Kagome returned the smile. "Thanks Sango." She said gratefully. "I really needed this." She said before sipping her hot mocha. She started up her car and with a groan from her little Honda; she began to make her way to the college. "I finally went for a swim this morning and I'd totally forgotten about giving you a ride." Kagome admitted to her friend. "Maybe I should save those swims for the evening!" She smiled. Sango laughed and agreed. It was good to here Sango's laugh. It was familiar and reminded Kagome of how much she used to laugh with Sango. Sango was more down to earth, more fun. Her friends in Tokyo, Yuri, Eri and Ayumi, had been your standard party girls. They were way superficial and Kagome was so glad she hadn't gotten into anything stupid with them. Well, Ayumi was sweet, but too much of a follower to Yuri and Eri. Kagome sighed. It was good to be home. One eaten muffin later, she found herself parking in front of the school. Slinging her book bag over her shoulder, she grabbed her coffee and let herself out, Sango following suit. After locking her car, she was about to start up the stairs when Kagome caught a glimpse of what had to be the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen, and he was staring right at her.