Chapter One
Break A Leg
Sixteen years old. Sixteen years old and she could see her future dancing in front of her eyes, like an endless procession of pictures and scenes, like string puppets skipping on a stage following the script of two hands beyond their control.
She could picture her graduation and going to college, she could picture Miman proposing to her without even moving in together first. She could see her wedding so clearly she could almost smell the telltale aroma of the fog machine when she danced for the first time with her husband in the kimono that had once been her mother's. Mr. and Ms. Hojo for the world to see! She could taste the first bite of that vanilla cake he would put in her mouth, the cake she had chosen alone because he 'didn't know about those things'.
She could picture the two-story house with three bedrooms, their two children, their cat, the vacationing places they would return to every year.
She was trapped, seeing the loop that her life would be spiraling out of her control, like watching a movie with an ending she already knew.
She panicked.
She stood from her chair rather abruptly, almost knocking it off and sending her homework flying.
She couldn't breathe, thick tears falling down her cheeks, a pressure in her chest and throat.
She ran.
Sock covered feet quickly made their way outside, and she closed the door softly, not wanting to wake her family up. As soon as the panel slid closed, she fell to her knees, panting, dazed, trying to fight her way inside out, to calm herself, to be connected to the real world.
The real world. The fucking real world where she was trapped, where her future had already been written for her…
She was just a teenager! How could she possibly feel so old, so frail, just by thinking every day she woke up was one more step towards condemnation.
She wanted to scream, to get away.
So she stood.
She walked aimlessly and made it to the God Tree that her shrine protected. She sat between the roots, ignoring the bite of the winter wind across her pajama. She hug her legs and she cried loudly.
Between hiccups and hardly muffled screams against her arms, she begged the Gods to get her out of this. She didn't want this life. She wanted more. She needed more. Kagome felt that if she were to give up and let the flow carry her through her destined path, she would simply wither and die.
"Am I being selfish? Is it wrong to want a life of my own?" She whispered to herself, whipping away the tears with the heel of her hand.
But what else could there be for her in this world that did not involve hurting those she loved?
How could she live, when life meant coloring inside the lines and nothing else?
Her head went back against the trunk with a loud thud. She did it again and again, stronger and stronger, clenching her jaw and feeling the pain, looking to focus in anything other than her despair.
Her shoulders shook and she remained there, against the tree, looking up, eyes closed.
She just wanted to disappear.
She felt the snowflakes that filtered between the leaves settle on her cheeks and her lashes, and she let out a calming breath out, a cloud of steam forming in front of her lips.
She decided it then.
She would not follow the script.
Slowly she opened her eyes, staring at the grey sky that had a tint of orange from the light pollution of Tokyo, the black silhouette of the tree opening with the wind here and there to show the clouds between empty patches in the leaves.
She almost jumped out of her skin when she noticed a pair of feet clad in red pants hanging at least twelve feet above her head.
She crawled away, turning and sitting on her ass, staring at the legs that seemed to dang against the bark, the part of the body from mid thighs up completely covered by the lower branches.
Someone had hung themselves up there. In the Goshinboku, in her front yard!
Kagome's lips trembled as she freaked out for very different reasons than previously. She scrambled to her feet and forced the gears of her brain to work.
If someone had committed suicide in the shrine for God knows what reasons, it had had to be recent. No one could sneak around such an open place and hang themselves in broad daylight.
Suddenly, she gasped. If this was a suicide… shouldn't there be a ladder close by for the miserable to climb on and finish their life?
Oh, Gods, this had to be a homicide. The most impractical of all times, but a murder nonetheless. Some psycho had dragged a body to the shrine grounds, hang it like a Christmas decoration on the God Tree to send some kind of message, and then slipped away, fading into the night.
She had to call the police! No, wait. They would blame her family! They would search their house! They would arrest them all, cat included!
If she hadn't been having a panic attack then, she sure as hell was having one now. She paced around, completely and utterly unsure of what to do.
Waitaminute… what if it was just a prank? A pair of stuffed pants hanged there by some jackasses? The stress could kill her grandfather!
Finally, she decided that she would call the police… after she got a good look at the supposed corpse to make sure it was worth the trouble.
She went to the back of the house and returned with a long aluminum ladder. Her hand was burnt from grasping the cold metal, but she shrugged it off, rubbing her palm against her pajama and continuing towards her objective.
She placed the contraption against the trunk. She bowed solemnly, asking the God Tree for his forgiveness in advance.
She climbed, this time hissing when the gelid texture hurt not only her hands, but also her feet. In the darkness of the night, she had to make it almost to the final step before getting a good look at the thing that was hanging from the tree between the shadows.
When she saw it… him, she almost jumped back, falling the four meters she had ascended.
There was a boy there. Silver hair that shone even in the dimmed light, in the most convincing replica of a haori she'd ever seen, and two triangular ears atop of his head. She wanted to touch the things, but she couldn't reach them. So she kept on studying him.
She couldn't explain it. If this was a prank, it was a damn elaborated one at that. His upper thighs and torso were covered in bark, hands resting free at his sides. A spot opened, eye shaped, around an arrow that came straight out of his chest.
Maybe this was, after all, a crime scene. That arrow looked awfully real. She wanted to touch it, to see if it was made of rubber.
She couldn't reach it, but with her eyes pinned to his chest she realized he was breathing, his ribcage heaving softly up and down. He actually looked peacefully asleep.
Kagome decided that if this was some sort of sick joke or not, the arrow would give it away.
She climbed to the very last step of the silver ladder, ignoring the shrieking sound it made at the base. She stretched on her tip toes, her fingertips barely brushing the slim wood. Just a little closer, she pushed a bit more, standing on a single foot, and she finally grabbed the arrow, grinning victoriously, completely forgetting the supposed corpse.
The ladder shuddered, and Kagome squeaked, trying to regain her balance, but soon she felt the pull of gravity and the way her stomach flipped. There was no life -past or future- that flashed in front of her eyes. Only one thought settled in her mind.
I'm falling.
When the cry of pain came, it was for her left shoulder. A pulling sensation instead of a collision in the back of her head. Her lids were tightly closed and she didn't dare to breathe.
Maybe she had landed on her shoulder; maybe she had broken her skull and couldn't feel anything but that particular area.
"What the fuck, Kikyou…!?"
Kagome gasped and her eyes shot up.
"You're alive!"
With a snarl, the silver haired boy tightened the grasp he had on her wrist. He looked down at her, a darkening expression.
"Tell me one reason why I shouldn't let go right now…" his voice was masculine and filled with a threatening promise.
Kagome was mute, and even more terrified than she had been before. She looked up at the boy, bright blue eyes and tears. She was breathless when she talked. "P-please!" His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. "I-it hurts!"
He growled, low and deep, clenched jaw. "You look pathetic…" Both hands had a firm grasp of her arm and he squeezed again. "Beg."
She wheezed, cold and frightened, and more tears, this time caused by fear, fell. "Please, I'm begging you! I don't wanna fall! Please, don't let go! I'll break my legs or worse!"
"Say my name, like you said it when you shot," he snarled. "Beg me right."
Her throat froze. "I don't know your name!"
The snarl was feral and she whimpered, scared out of her right mind. "YOU BITCH! DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME ALREADY!?"
"I-I didn't! I really don't know your name!"
"LIAR!" One hand let go, and Kagome shrieked, shaking like the leaves of the Goshinboku, the strong wind balancing her sideways.
"N-no! I swear! I would remember your name if you ever told me! Please, don't let me fall! Please! PLEASE! Pull me up! It hurts so much!" His wrath was spiraling out of control and the girl wasn't sure of what she was scared of the most, if the ground or that… thing. The tears fell freely, salt streaking down her face. "Please! I'll do anything!" She whispered, too scared to think her words through.
He smirked, the muscles of his face relaxing. "Anything?" She nodded frantically. "Do I get to kill you if you don't do what I say?" When she didn't respond he loosened his one-hand grip and she shrieked in horror.
"YES! Yes! Please pull me up! I'm begging you!"
"Geez, all right, Kikyou. I'll save your life; you don't need to get nuts about it…"
His left hand went down and clasped other wrist she now offered, pulling her up.
She panted, still shaking, as he held her against the bark that covered his chest. A pained, guilty look shone in his eyes, but he scowled it away.
"Now, the first thing you're gonna do is set me free." Despite his statement, he still sounded like he suspected she would betray him.
"Huh?"
"Don't make me repeat myself."
She started panicking again. "But… the bark is so thick… I'd need a chainsaw!"
He clicked his tongue. "Not the bark you stupid! The arrow!"
She glared at him. "Who do you think you are to call me stupid? You're the stupid one! What if I take the arrow off? What would happen with the bark then!?"
His eyes widened. Kikyou never had talked to him like that. He blinked, dumbstruck, but he scowled again. "Who the fuck cares about the bark!? I can handle it! Now pull this damn arrow out of me!"
She grunted outraged but did as she was asked. When her fist closed around the thin strand of wood and pulled, however, it exploded in a flare of light, and she gasped.
The bark of the Goshinboku shifted, and his body pulsated. With a feral growl he pushed himself away from the tree, tearing the wood open, descending with a gracious leap to the floor.
He landed right next to the fallen ladder, and rotated his neck and flexed his claws, feeling like he had just woken up from the longest nap ever. "Damn, my back hurts…"
He looked down at Kikyou, who was holding her shoulder and shaking, hissing at the soreness in the snow, and he could smell the stench of pain and fear dripping off of her.
He closed his eyes tightly and took a calming breath.
His lips were pressed in a tight line when he realized he didn't care she had attacked him and then pinned to the God Tree.
He still didn't want her to feel pain.
"Your shoulder." Her face jerked up and she almost jumped away, but his tender tone made her looked up at him, confused. "Does it hurt too bad?"
"I just… I just need to sleep it off. I don't think it'll hurt so much in the morning."
He nodded. "Where's the village?"
"Huh?"
He looked around. "I can't smell anything, there's a lot of smoke in the air. Was there a fire?"
She blinked. "I… I don't understand what you're saying. You mean where's my house?" He nodded and she pointed with her good arm. "It's that over there…"
For the first time he looked at the strange and shiny construction. He would have asked about it, but she hissed in pain again.
She stood up, and he couldn't help himself. "Let me get ya in there."
Kagome yelped when he hauled her in his arms, dark red staining the cheeks of both of them. "What are you doing?"
He gulped. Reaching for the slide front door and opening it. She instructed him to go upstairs and he looked around in the dark, in awe.
When they made it to her door, he tried to slide it but failed. She was shocked he couldn't work a doorknob, but she reached out silently and with a flick of her wrist, it was opened.
"Y-you can put me in the bed now…" He lowered her in the odd futon, staring at her, looking intently at him, sitting on the sheets. "Close the door, but be quiet. My family's asleep" she whispered.
He nodded and pushed the door closed with a click. Then turned around to look at her again.
She was rotating her shoulder slowly, her face constricted in pain, and it broke his heart.
But still, she was there, fabric wet from the snow clinging to her skin, spread in the bed, and he wanted her more than ever.
His hands twitched at his sides. "K-Kikyou… why…?"
She looked up at him. "Why do you keep calling me that?" She interrupted. "I don't know who Kikyou is, but my name is Kagome." Knowing just how odd her name was she repeated herself. "I'm Ka-go-me."
He blinked and frowned. She had to be making fun of him! "You gotta be her! Cause if you're not there's no way you could smell…"
His nose twitched and he was suddenly grasping her good arm, sniffing it thoroughly.
Kagome fought down a shiver. She was utterly confused and a funny feeling settled low in her abdomen. But as two furry triangles moved atop of his head, her attention went elsewhere.
When he felt her gentle touch in one of his ears he almost jumped back, knowing any contact was likely to become a yank. But she massaged, scratched, and even caressed the inhumane appendage at the same time he sniffed even the slightest nuance in her scent.
"They're real…!"
"You're not her…!" They both whispered in shock at the same time, staring at each other.
He scowled. "Look, whoever you are… you're gonna give me the Jewel… I know you have it somewhere around here, I can feel it."
"The… Jewel?"
"The Shikon no Tama, you gapping fish. I know you have it, and since you agreed to do whatever I wanted, you're gonna hand it over now."
Kagome gasped outraged before standing, effectively gapping again. "Who are you calling a fish!? How dare you!?"
"You're doing it again right now!" He mocked the movement of her mouth. And she growled.
The hanyou received a piece of wet fabric across the face with a slap. When he huffed, she hissed angrily at him. "Cover your eyes, I'm changing clothes."
Under the light pink pajama shirt, he blushed madly. She was changing right in front of him?
He discretely peeped over the edge and the view almost knocked the air out of his lungs.
She was wearing nothing but a scrap of white fabric, her endless legs and back completely bare for him and the gaze that had suddenly turned heated. He gulped, and was sorely tempted to demand everything from her, considering he was her savior.
Kagome slipped into a very warm baby blue onesie and carefully placed her arm in the sleeve, zipping it on the front.
She didn't care there was a male in the room -possibly a peeping one-. Hojo had seen her changing before, and she found this boy whose name she didn't even know… attractive.
If she was honest to herself, he was eye candy.
And he was right behind her. In her room, while her whole family was sleeping.
Nobody had to know…
His claws bit in the palms of his hands as he clenched them to keep from growling when the scent of her arousal invaded his senses.
Subtle as an avalanche, he let the panic get the best of him. "What the hell is wrong with you, wench!?"
She hissed, reminding him to stay quiet. She listened intently trying to identify any waking member of the Higurashis. After several eternal moments, she let go the breath she had been holding.
"Would you keep it down? If my mom gets up and realizes I snuck some random guy into the house… Oh my God, she'd skin me alive." His ears crooked at odd angles as he took it literally. "Listen, if you hear anyone coming upstairs or even close to this door, you have to hide."
"Hide? Why would I…?"
"Because she'll skin you alive, too!"
He gulped. "I-I'd like to see her try!"
"Don't you know anything about moms? This is serious!"
That hit a sore spot. Yes he knew about moms… Once upon a time, he even had his own.
"How did you end up there? In the Goshinboku, I mean," she finally asked.
He glared. "Kikyou attacked me and then pinned me against the Tree."
"Who is Kikyou? Does she really look so much like me?"
His eyes scanned her before adverting again. He thought of saying Kikyou was cuter, but this girl… She was being nice, and he didn't necessarily want to hurt her… more. "Nah, not that much really. Not when you start looking for differences."
"But who is she?"
He shrugged. "She ain't no one important…"
A sigh. "I can tell you're lying…"
He shot her a look, but silence dragged in the room for almost a whole minute.
"Why do you have those ears? What are you?"
The tone in her voice was gentle and curious, so he restrained himself of attacking. He huffed and looked away again "I'm a hanyou."
"A… hanyou?" He nodded. "And just what is that?"
"You don't know what a hanyou is? Who the hell would give the Jewel to a girl who doesn't…? Never mind… A hanyou is a half-demon."
She jumped in surprise. "And the other half?" He didn't answer. "Half-human?"
"I might be half-human but I'm still stronger, faster, and far more powerful than any human ever!"
She gave him a warded look. "Are you going to hurt us?"
He scoffed. "I could, but I won't if you just give me the Jewel."
"So, if I get you this Jewel of yours, you promise you won't hurt me or my family?"
"Yeah, whatever…"
She smiled brightly. "Then it's great that you're half-demon!"
He scowled and she giggled, sitting on the bed again, rubbing her shoulder.
"Where's your family."
He shrugged again. "Dead."
"Oh… where do you live, then?"
"In the woods, or some cave I find."
She gasped. "Seriously? You don't have a home?"
A snarl. "Don't look at me like that, I ain't needin' no pity."
"Sorry… I never met someone who was homeless before."
"Meh, it ain't that bad."
Kagome remained silent, and then looked back up at him. "You'll have to hide in my closet or under the bed if you want to stay tomorrow. Tonight, you can sleep in my bed."
He almost chocked on his own tongue. "Wh-what!?"
"If you want to stay, you have to behave. You can't let my family find you. What do hanyou eat?"
He blinked, dumbstruck. "I… You… Wha…"
She sighed. "Are you hungry?" Like a charm, his stomach grumbled in front of the possibility of eating for the first time in so long. "Thought so. Wait here and don't make any noise."
She stood again, opening the strange door, and closing it behind her. She returned after several eternal minutes, and he jumped from his place in the bed.
She handed him an extremely odd steaming cup that smelled like heaven, and two chopsticks.
He sniffed the thing and his stomach grumbled louder. "Go ahead, you can eat now."
The hanyou shook his head. "No way, what if you put poison in it? I ain't gonna trust ya with my food!"
Kagome huffed and snatched the ramen from his hands. She took a mouthful of noodles and munched and swallowed, glaring at him. She let out a series of quick exhalations, and muttered 'it's hot!' under her breath. "There, see? No poison."
He gave her a funny look and retrieved the food, sniffing again and taking a small amount of noodles in his mouth. The next load was half of the container, which made Kagome giggle. "This is the most delicious…!" He let out before capturing another fill with his chopsticks.
"I take it you liked it, then. You've never had ramen before?" He shook his head and slurped a noodle before drinking the remaining broth at the bottom. Once he had successfully licked the cup clean, he gave her puppy eyes and her eyebrows lifted. "You want more?"
He nodded and she sighed, standing up.
"Wait! Can I see how you do it?"
"Ermh… sure… but you've gotta be very quiet. Remember, my mom can't wake up and see you!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
He followed her down the stairs, and she entered a room filled with different and delicious aromas that made his mouth water. She moved a shiny round item and water started to pour from an elongated silver object, that she used to fill an extremely polished kettle.
She placed the container in a surface and clicked a button. Kagome almost jumped when she heard a low rattle behind her. She turned, seeing his knees had collided with the low dinner table when backing away from the sudden flame, and he looked shocked. "What's wrong with you?"
"You're a witch!"
"Huh?"
"You made fire in a second! How did you…!?"
"I just… turned the stove on, is there a problem?" He gulped. "You've never seen a stove before?" Her tone was sad.
After a minute, she opened a cupboard over her head and retrieved two cups colored slightly different. "Would you rather beef or chicken? I think I might have a shrimp one somewhere back there, if you'd like."
His face scrunched in concentration, but then he looked at her with determination. "Both!"
"Both?"
"Both."
Kagome sighed. There was no way her mom wasn't going to notice the distinct lack of three ramen containers.
She winced when her shoulder suddenly pulled, and went to a large white artifact. Opening it, a light emerged from the interior. Kagome took a crinkling object and placed it on the sore joint.
The sizzling of boiling water caught her attention, and she turned off the flame with another flick of her wrist. She emptied the water in the cups and handed them to him careful of not dropping the frozen peas she had placed on her shoulder. "You can't eat it right away; you have to wait for the noodles to get cooked. Let's go wait in my room."
He went upstairs and, in front of her door, she opened the it using her good arm.
He entered and sat on the floor, Kagome retrieved the chopsticks that rested on her nightstand. "Can I eat them now?"
"No, just a couple more minutes…" He scoffed and she smiled, but rubbed her shoulder again, under the crinkling package.
"Still hurts a lot?"
"I should have brought a painkiller since we were downstairs."
"Maybe it's disjointed."
"I think it would hurt a lot more. I'm pretty sure it's just inflamed."
An apologize was stuck in his throat, but he scoffed again. "Take off your top."
The bag of frozen peas landed against his face in a motion so swift he couldn't dodge it. He was going to scream at her, but her death glare promised pain if he didn't keep his voice down. "You pig…" She hissed.
"I didn't ask to see ya naked, ya bitch, I wanted to check your shoulder injury!"
He whirled, offended, and heard her sigh after almost a minute.
"Does it look inflamed to you?" She called softly.
The boy turned and he almost chocked on his tongue again.
She was slowly pulling out her wounded arm out of the strange clothing, the zipper low and barely covering her chest, the swell of her perfect breasts plainly exposed to him.
"I-I… You… I…"
"Well? You said you wanted to check it! It was hard to take the sleeve off, so now come here and do it."
He swallowed hard and walked the two steps that separated them. He sat on the bed, and hesitated before tracing her milky white skin with the pads of his fingers.
He was careful, and it didn't hurt. After a few seconds, Kagome smiled. "Your nails need a trimming."
"They're claws," he answered absentmindedly.
"Oh," she breathed out, feeling the deadly spikes ghosting over her flesh.
For a second, the gears in Kagome's brain whirled at full speed.
This guy, this gorgeous guy was in her bed, touching her naked shoulder, and she felt a fuzzy feeling in her lower abdomen. She had begged the Gods for something more and suddenly this… hanyou? He had popped into her life.
Adventure, excitement, stimulation. She really wanted to go down that path. She really wanted to lose her mind… Kagome didn't mind a bit that she didn't even know his name.
If he wasn't a divine signal, she didn't know what was.
She inched closer, leaning into his touch, and his ears snapped forward. He stared at her intently and her arousal caressed his sensitive nose. Was she…? Did she know…?
Her lips were so close, two pink petals wet and ready, asking to be kissed. Her blue eyes were hooded with desire and his cheeks turned dark red with the only bit of his blood that wasn't busy elsewhere, but she remained calm. She wanted him.
This girl wanted him. He never had seen a woman stare at him that way, luring him closer, pressing her body against his. Kikyou had loved him, but she always remained virginal and distant. Lust was something new for him.
His hand moved to her face without his permission and he cursed his lack of self-control. What was he doing!?
"Well?" She asked, her nose almost touching his. "Is it swollen?"
He gulped. An answer almost came out but he remembered she was talking about her shoulder. "It's… it's fine… Just don't move it…"
Her hand rested on his torso and he almost dropped dead right there. She caressed his defined chest slowly, teasingly, and scooted even closer.
"Good. I'll have to be careful if I wanted to… move…"
The way the word rolled out of her mouth had him aching for her in a second. She wanted him, he was sure. Couldn't understand why, but still…
He closed the distance between them and his lips barely brushed hers. She took the last bit of initiative and kissed him softly, then again and again. When her tongue brushed his lips, the last strand of his sanity almost snapped.
The kiss became deeper, needier, rougher.
Before he knew what was happening she straddled his hips, careful of her shoulder, her other arm wounding around his neck and pulling him encouragingly. She moaned while tracing his fangs, and his hips buckled up, out of his control, and his lips muffled what was almost a pleased cry.
She hissed and bit his lower lip, parting the kiss to breathe, and he whined, leaning forward and trying to follow.
Her eyes widened in shock. "What did you just call me?"
His mind backpedaled. Suddenly he realized he had moaned Kikyou's name. Stunned, he stared at the bright blue eyes that shone with such a rage it was scary.
"Never mind," she growled, stepping off his thighs. "It's late and there's school tomorrow."
"Wait, Ki- I mean, no, I didn't…!"
She glared with hardly contained wrath. "Go. To. Sleep."
She shifted in her onesie, zipping it and covering herself completely from his heated-turned-desperate staring.
She pressed herself against the wall as tightly as she could, the cold material relieving the pain in her shoulder, before jumping back up, turning off the light, and returning to her previous position.
He stared, mute. And as soon as he moved a single muscle, her voice hissed, angrily. "If you're gonna be sleeping in this bed tonight, you better don't even think of touching me."
"Ok, ok, geez…"
He leaned forward and snatched a Styrofoam cup, stuffing his mouth with cold chicken-flavored noodles.
He stared at her silhouette and the bright full moon that shone from between the dissipating clouds. He didn't understand what was happening or where he was, but he knew he had fucked up bad.
He hoped the crazy girl wasn't mad enough not to make him more of these noodles, though. They tasted amazing, even cold.
A/N: Have you ever started writing something hoping to find out how to finish it along the way?
In Japan dating couples some times don't even kiss months into the relationship. Things usually move slow. Kagome's behavior is scandalous, not only for feudal terms, but also modern. Keep that in mind.
As many of you know, Hojo's his last name (in Japanese culture it's common to call people by their surnames). Miman, the first name I chose for him, means "insufficient".
Poor thing.