Disclaimer: Nothing but the idea(s) belong to me.
Author's Notes:If you had already come upon this story in the past, and are confused, please check out my profile. Yes, this is two chapters mashed into one! Unbeta'd and raw, same as the day it was taken down by me. Sorry for the inconvenience, but this story is up here merely to hold its place until one day I come back for it. It is for the few who may wish to read it. That is my excuse for this one-chapter glob of a discontinued story. Either way, enjoy! ^_^
Memory Bound
x0SilverFeathersx0, 2005
Chapter One: Of Reunions
"Now class, today before we delve further into the wonders of Greek mythology, I'll be going over the remaining few of the divine gods and goddesses we have had yet to discuss. First, turn in your printout packets to page 12," the youthful teacher instructed, following her own directions as well, "where we will start with—oh, I bet this'll be a kick for you ladies—the Goddess of Love, Desire and Beauty: Aphrodite. Hmm alright, let's see here…"
Miss Mayumi, the lovely new addition to the high school staff, traveled up and down like a snake through the open lanes existing between the rows of desks in her classroom. While doing so she kept a close eye on her students to expose any misbehaviors that came into sight ("Kayoku-kun, head up or I'm afraid you'll be standing up!") and simultaneously read detailed paragraphs line after line. With the upbeat enthusiasm all instructors appeared to possess when they first started working the woman carried herself with assurance. She was strict, that was for sure, but the kids had nothing to worry about.
It was just a phase every newly hired teacher went through, after all. Their brief glory never lasted terribly long; being worn down in due time by the rowdiness of the modern day's teenagers. It was just a matter of weeks and patience before sweet Miss Mayumi succumbed like her predecessors, as was expected of her.
"According to Hesiod she was born when—Kayoku-kun, get on your feet!—anyways," she coughed lightly into her closed fist, clearing her throat, "as I was saying…"
The rest of the verbal information went to waste for yet another particular slacker; the words reduced to an incomprehensible droning in the background. Not desiring trouble with Miss Mayumi regarding her lack of interest however, with careful tact (which a certain heavy sleeper, Nagisa Kayoku, obviously needed) the student played along as attentive, staring blankly at her reading packet. Thankfully she was able to pass unsuspected, and prayed for it to remain that way. Meanwhile, her hearing abilities "temporarily disabled," the daydreaming girl concentrated on her own inner thoughts instead.
"This school and its killer lectures," she sighed mentally, glancing at the classroom clock. It was pinned securely to the wall above the sliding doors, the instrument's two black hands ticking sluggishly in torment. The girl turned away from the offending machine, and rested the side of her cheek against her knuckles. She directed her attention to the unappealing packet in front of her, trying to make herself get in tune with Miss Mayumi's ongoing speech.
"… when the Trojan prince Paris was asked to judge which of the three Olympian goddesses was the most beautiful, he chose Aphrodite over Hera and Athena. The latter two had planned to bribe him with power and victory in battle, while the fair goddess he'd picked offered him the love of the most gorgeous woman in the world—"
"Crap, I'm… losing the concentration…!"
Her valiant effort failed, and the hopeless student came to accept defeat. Though that had not been too difficult to do.
"I wonder what BlackTailmon's doing in the Digital World," the girl thought, looking out the classroom window she was seated against. "Whatever she's up to, it has to be more exciting than this. I haven't been in contact with her since I moved; I think I'll give that kitty a call sometime soon."
She watched boys around her age run across the school's sports field, kicking along with them an inflated ball, playing their beloved soccer game with vigor. Reminded of a certain someone from the past who she had sworn was in love with the very sport, she smiled fondly.
"Come to think of it, I wonder what they're doing these days, too…" Twirling a lock of raven hair between her fingers, she continued watching the boys. Interestingly enough, one of them caught her attention right away. Dressed in a blue uniform, he played splendidly for his team, and just by watching him, the girl could feel his passion for the game even with the distance between them. Most of the time while he was running, his back was to her so she couldn't properly see his face, but the way he carried himself was familiar.
The girl thoughtfully tapped her chin, thinking, "It's been three years, and that's a long time… but, there's no reason as to why they shouldn't still be around. I—"
With a screeching halt, her train of thought came to an abrupt stop.
He, the boy she had been watching with interest, had turned. Just for a short period of time, so his teammate could pass him the ball, but long enough to reveal his identity to his hidden admirer. Wild chestnut hair bouncing in accordance to the rebelling wind, he sprinted across the field, and delivered an impressive kick to land the black-and-white checkered sphere into the net goal. The male brunette jumped high off his feet and delivered a punch to the sky, along with a victorious yell. His team happily joined him in the vocal celebration, and several of the boys patted him on the back praising him well done.
"No… way…" whispered the raven haired teen.
"Erm, excuse me?" questioned Miss Mayumi, who had coincidentally come upon the girl's desk just as she had spoken. Momentarily pausing her lecture, she stared confusedly at her student, who seemed to be zoning out from reality, looking through the window. "What are you ogling at, Kagome-chan?"
Snapping out of her reverie, the girl blinked and faced her instructor, speechless.
Tilting her head, Miss Mayumi arched her neck to get a good view of what the young lady had been so distracted by. When she saw the group of soccer boys she turned back to the surprised girl, who expected a scolding.
"Oh, um… I can explain, Miss Mayumi! I was just—"
"Now now, Kagome-chan," the teacher said lightheartedly with a wink, "I know you're at that certain age but please pay attention in class. Those boys are usually there after school as well, you know. Won't kill you to wait until then to go out and watch them, right?" She then continued up past the dark haired girl's desk, pleasantly murmuring under her breath phrases such as "I remember those days," and "oh the joys of adolescence!"
Burning with embarrassment as a few of her classmates snickered behind their hands, Kagome stared determinedly at her handout, forcing herself to ignore her peers. Although the crimson blush on her face stood out like an irritable stain on white carpet, she would not be swayed. Miss Mayumi, pretending as if nothing had happened whatsoever to interrupt her lecture, went on.
"Let us move onto Eris of Discord, shall we?"
"Hey Yagami-senpai, good game today!" shouted a boy from the distance. He had short black hair gelled up into spikes, and a boyish grin on his face. He was dressed in a red uniform fit to play rough in. Sending a short wave of acknowledgment, he returned his attention back to the field, intent on practicing his skills some more before going home.
Taichi returned the gesture with his own cocky grin. "Thanks, you too! Work hard!"
The school bell rang on cue, signaling the end to yet another day of high school for its attending students. Sweeping a hand over his school clothing to smoothen it out, the boy then slung his black briefcase over his shoulder and proceeded in a direction to exit the campus. Today had been a very strange day for Yagami Taichi. Normally he would stay after school to continue expressing his infinite adoration for soccer, since one whole period of it never was able to satisfy him. But all day he had had a strange feeling, like something important was going to happen, and his instincts had told him to head straight toward his house as soon as possible.
Back when he was traveling with his friends in the Digital World, his natural impulses as a leader had saved them dozens of times—as well as plunging them right into danger—and so he listened. As crazy as it sounded, he just… didn't feel like playing on this day. Staring innocently at the clouds above his head, as he walked out the school gates among the crowd of many other teenagers, he never knew what was coming at the very instant.
"Taichi!"
Stopping in his tracks, the boy turned on his feet. He raised a curious eyebrow.
"Did someone… just call my name?" he thought to himself. "Nah… I must be hearing things. Geeze, I wonder if I'm sick today. I'll ask Kaasan to check up on me after I get home."
He considered for a moment though, the voice he had heard; it was strikingly familiar somehow, but he couldn't pinpoint who it could belong to. The boy dismissed the thought and advanced ahead. Soon he split apart from the large mass of other students and onto the road that would lead him home. Behind his back he never saw the raven haired girl dressed in his school's uniform, pushing desperately through the thick number of persons gathered closely together, spitting out numerous apologies for her impetuous actions.
"Looks like he hasn't changed a bit, that crazy hairstyle and his unhealthy infatuation with soccer," Kagome mentioned to herself, though in a delighted manner. Still, it wasn't enough to just be near him, she had to speak with him. No matter what it was a must, or her heart would burst from dismay. At least, she felt it would. "It's been three years. I don't want to wait anymore!"
She broke apart from the crowd, running after her target on the road she saw him take.
"Taichi!" she shouted, louder than before as she sprinted. Traveling in the Digital World and keeping fit by playing sports had done good to the boy—he walked much too fast for his own good, apparently. Much to Kagome's annoyance, though she was glad he had been keeping fit. "Where—" she gasped, "—did he go?" After turning a corner, the girl had come upon three separate sidewalks, all leading into far off directions. The young man she had been pursuing was no where in sight.
If Kagome picked the wrong path, there was no way she would be able to find him. Just as well, there was the possibility of her also getting lost, as she was unfamiliar with this part of the city.
Tears of sheer disappointment pricked at the corners of her eyes. She had been so close… yet, so far. That phrase took a whole new meaning, now that she understood it.
The panting girl steadied herself and stood erect, despite the severe chest pains and major cramps throughout her body. This sort of sprinting was nothing compared to what she had been able to manage every single day back in the Digital World. Taichi had just inadvertently made her see how out of shape she'd gotten over the span of three years. That was something a young lady did not like to realize.
A thin layer of sweat made its presence obvious to her from underneath her ebony locks, much to Kagome's displeasure. She shut her teary eyes and inhaled deeply. Her hands curled tightly around the handle of her black briefcase. Kagome readied herself for one last shout, though this final yell was more for herself.
"TAICHI NO BAKAAA!"
Her loud cry traveled a fair distance before it died out.
Upset, drained, and desiring a hot bath to which she could drown her filthy, disgusted self, the girl released a frustrating sigh. Somewhere inside she'd hoped that the boy had heard her from the distance, and would jog back to see who it was that dared scream his name and insult him. Kagome stood there, bearing the difficulty to breathe, the disturbing beads of moisture rolling down her back beneath the thin uniform, and most of all her disappointment. Civilians bypassed her on the sidewalk, sneaking weird looks to the odd female student who had just rather loudly made her existence known. As minutes ticked by, the number of people walking by lessened noticeably.
Still… no boy possessing unruly brown hair and an overconfident grin appeared.
But even then, Kagome felt the need to stand there. And wait. She couldn't explain even to herself why that was so, but eventually she tore her feet away from their frozen positions and stepped back. With the remaining might she had, the girl blinked back all her tears. To break down and cry at that moment, she would never forgive herself afterward. It wasn't like she had completely lost Taichi, anyway. At the most she was just… sorely discouraged by her failure.
Maybe tomorrow… yes, maybe.
Aided by a will of steel, the determined girl turned on her toes to head back. She shook her head to rid her mind of its distress and current thoughts; long strands of raven hair following in motion. Then she raised her weary head.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Despite all the yelling she had achieved just moments ago, not a word slipped out of her mouth now. The grip Kagome had on her briefcase slackened, and she dropped the item with a dull thud. Slowly raising her shaking hands to her lips, her eyes shined again with renewed tears, waiting for their ultimate release.
"Err, hey there, been a while," the boy greeted, his expression nervous. That was him, in the flesh before her, in all his poofy-haired, soccer-freaky-obsessive-loving, Yagami Taichi glory. How long he'd been standing there behind her, Kagome had no idea. Judging by his reaction she guessed that he had at least heard her for the most part. Stupid Taichi… he never did know how to handle girls when they were upset. In the hand not grasping the handle of his briefcase, the boy held an ice cream cone; it was melting rapidly. She figured out what must have happened: while she was being a mindless klutz chasing after him she had actually ran past him, while he had momentarily stopped by a moving cart to purchase the treat it sold. It was the regular human traffic in their city that'd kept her from spotting him among the countless number of human bodies.
The boy advanced toward his upset friend, who in response averted her eyes away from him with a pout.
"Kagome…?" he asked carefully, troubled by her condition and afraid of "pushing the wrong buttons." He had enough experiences with Sora to know that it was what he wanted to avoid doing. "How come you look so sad?"
Throwing aside all the dignity she had, the girl allowed the drops to fall fast from her eyes. Kagome embraced the surprised boy (who fell back one step from surprise) gripping the back of his green uniform jacket, and pressed her face into the soft material at his shoulder. She said nothing to him and didn't even bother to chew his head off, which was what he had been expecting and would rather prefer. It confused him to see girls, and nonetheless, her like this—especially when they hadn't even communicated for three years. She trembled slightly against him, her body language signaling the arrival of silent tears.
Taichi, glancing at his imperfect ice cream cone, sighed and threw it to the bushes. The thing had outlived its prime, and he didn't favor overly melted treats very much. At least the sticky substance hadn't gone far enough to come into contact with his fingers. With his now free hand he affectionately patted the head of his old companion.
"I think someone could use some ice cream," he suggested playfully. "How 'bout it? My treat."
Breathing in his trademark leafy scent, Kagome smiled. "Sounds good."
Chapter Two: Cat Gone Wild
The moment she came upon the scene of an enormous orange bird duking it out with an equally impressive elephant, eleven-year-old Higurashi Kagome knew something was amiss. After having experienced four summers ago what the ignorant people of Hikarigaoka referred to as a "terrorist bombing," she had known since then that it would only be a matter of time, before the strange creatures from that day soon returned to yet again wreak havoc on Japan.
Recently the girl had discovered an interesting fact; she could see plain as the day, especially in the daily news on television, that the natural disasters occurring everywhere on Earth were no coincidences.
At first it had puzzled her how no one ever exclaimed anything like "Look at the TV!—there's a giant snowman moving around by itself on the edge of that frozen building," or "Don't tell me that's a man made of fire knocking up the temperature there?" because those types of phrases were exactly what had gone through her mind.
Kagome, worried back then by the obvious lack of panic or concern from her family, had decided to tactfully mention what she saw to them. Her mother had laughed gently and patted her on the head; grandfather had asked her if she felt a bit under the weather, and checked her forehead's temperature. And Souta, well… the preschooler had "went along with her game," although she was sure that in truth he hadn't a clue what she'd even said.
Sorely vexed but not wanting others to think she was a lunatic seeing things, Kagome had chosen from then on to keep the observations to herself. The reactions she had received from her family were discouragement enough.
Nevertheless, even if she was the only person in the universe who could realized what was happening, the girl had never doubted herself. Scattered distances apart from each other and creating mild chaos all over the world, were undeniably real, extraordinary monsters. In some ways she saw resemblances in the current events, and the so called "terrorist bombing" that took place four years ago.
Much to Kagome's surprise, just a short while ago she had seen one of the creatures in her own city, Odaiba. Just as expected (though she had hoped to be wrong), even with the sickly green ogre-like abomination towering above them and sticking out of the scenery like a sore thumb, the people of the city had continued their daily lives without a single cry of horror.
Almost instantaneously after spotting the beast, Kagome had then watched it engage in a savage fight with a significantly smaller, more friendly looking dinosaur-like being. Building were ruined, windows smashed, and much concrete cracked, but the everyday humans of Tokyo continued minding their own business. Eventually, what appeared to be a large, ethereal portal had formed high in the sky among the clouds; sucking easily into its depths the two battling opponents. That as well had been dismissed as nothing odd by the people, apparently.
Kagome had thought she was hallucinating when with her own eyes, she saw a kid around her age head straight toward the mystical vortex. It was ridiculous how his expression had been so calm, when he was about to fall—or rise—into an unreal, mysterious vortex. A normal person in that situation should have been screaming, crying, trying to latch onto something—anything—solid to hold their existence in the world.
Or maybe, just possibly, the boy was somehow "unique," like her. Unique meaning he too had a sense of what was going on.
Not long after she'd finished her thoughts, a strange and delightful feeling had began tugging at her heart. Then the pleasant waves had extended to her fingers, and lead them to involuntarily rise toward the glowing portal.
The boy with no fear had completely gone by then; wherever it was he had ended up, if he hadn't exploded into tiny bits of atoms.
A strange magical feeling had woven itself around the girl's body, and pushed her gently toward the same portal that had already "eaten" the boy. And an invisible, light sensation had tickled her feet. Kagome had sworn in the next fleeting instant that she had been momentarily swept off her feet (literally) by a holy power that beckoned her to come forth. But before she too could successfully have been sucked in and wiped away from the face of the Earth, the heavenly vortex had closed; satisfied with having devoured one young male.
Shortly after the bizarre vortex dispersed, the civilians of Odaiba had then taken notice to the damages that resulted from the ogre and dinosaur's fight. Like how they handled the similar event four years prior, they had come up with another ridiculous excuse like "earthquake."
Kagome had been terribly frightened, not just for herself but mostly her family and friends. How could they escape from the clutches of danger when their eyes were unable to perceive what was in front of them? It was the first time one of the monsters had actually arrived in her city, and the aftermath of that single incident had been horrendous. It was troubling because she had never expected the detestable creatures to come so close. Really it was like war; people know they're going on in other places of the world, but never actually care until one's happening right outside their home.
"Big birdy, onee-chan!" Souta squealed excitedly, pointing at the behemoth.
Kagome stared at her younger brother, shocked. "You can see it?" The grip she had around his hand tightened, but just enough so it wouldn't hurt his little fingers. Questions raced through her mind: "Why are the monsters coming to Tokyo now?" along with "How can Souta see?" and more.
The boy nodded furiously, wanting to impress his sister.
As the two giants clashed and the heat of their conflict intensified, the ground began to rumble and structures shake. Knowing it would be unsafe to stay in the area, Kagome murmured a quick "I'll take you to the park another time," and hurriedly rushed back toward the direction to her grandmother's house, baby sibling in tow.
Her family had undoubtedly picked an absolutely atrocious time to drive up and visit their relatives in Hikarigaoka. Steps quickening by the second but mindful of the smaller feet trailing behind her, the raven-haired girl turned her head back to take in the view once more. Her brother followed her actions.
Souta waved his chubby fingers and beamed. "Bye bye, birdy-san!"
Just as he bid his farewell, a brilliant flash of light enveloped the oversized winged animal, and morphed it to an even grander beast. This new one was bigger and had various human features, though clearly it was not. "Birdman" let loose a booming cry ("Shadow Wing!") and unleashed a powerful attack that obliterated its enemy.
"Buyo… Buyo!" Kagome called, her hands cupped around her lips. "Come here, kitty kitty!"
Drawing forth no results, she sighed, "Just wait 'til I find you…!" Kagome stared unhappily at the mass of trees before her; their great numbers and close proximity to one another making a decent mini-sized forest at the city's edge. The family cat just had to go psycho and run off after a nice round of dinner.
Kagome, who had been the only one to see her pet sprint away into the night through its transport of the house's open door (Mama Higurashi had left it opened to allow the aroma of her cooking to clear out) had reluctantly chased after him. In her fully satisfied, drowsy state, it would have made for a far more appealing choice to just let the feline go do as he pleased and come back on his own.
However, she and her entire family knew a bold fact about Buyo: he was the laziest cat in all of Tokyo, and that meant the day he decided to walk a few steps from his comfy cat bed, was the day… well… simply put: something very, very unorthodox was happening.
Kagome remembered her grandfather talking about it. He'd lectured her about their cat a few times before, and about how Buyo's ancestors had aided priestesses and monks many a times in the past. They'd had the ability to "sense pure evil," and that was exactly why the Higurashi, through each generation, raised a cat from that particular lineage. Or so he said. In response the amused granddaughter, giggling, had replied, "Buyo doing anything other than eating and napping? Not in a million years, ojii-chan!"
"Mrow…" came a quiet, familiar purr.
Squinting her eyes, Kagome saw the round, chubby figure of her cat between a pair of bushes.
"Aha! There you are!" she cried. The girl jogged over to her pet, but as soon as she reached the spot where she had seen him, the animal had vanished on the spot. Scratching her head, confused, the surprised girl wondered to herself, "When did he get that much faster…?"
From somewhere deep in the forest, another small whine rang out. The exact same one Buyo always used to tell Mama Higurashi that he was hungry.
"What's wrong with you Buyo," Kagome muttered under her breath. Looking over the forest in front of her, she hesitated. It appeared rather creepy, and much too dark for her liking. Her feet didn't move an inch, and her arms stayed down at her side. The girl pursed her lips together, contemplating what she should do. Would it be okay to just head back home and pray the cat would return on its own accord? "He can probably come back by himself… He has, uhm, what did Mama call it? Ins-instent? Instic—"
A terrible hiss made its way to her ears.
"B-Buyo!" Kagome cried, her self-talk interrupted. The image of her cat being attacked by a vicious rogue animal crossed her mind. The pudgy, adorable thing wouldn't last a minute! Unable to think up another solution, the child grabbed the sharp wooden stick that had lain motionless near her right foot and rushed to where she'd heard the noise.
It didn't take much running before she stumbled upon a shocking scene. There was Buyo on the forest floor wrestling with what appeared to be a really odd-looking… bat. The cat's sharp teeth were clamped tightly around a dark blue wing; its claws digging into the body of the prey.
"Stop it boy! Friends are not food!" Kagome scolded, rushing over to break apart the two. "Geeze. Don't we feed you enough already?" she asked, dropping the wooden stick and grabbing a hold of her cat. She pulled Buyo none too gently off the "bat," which was motionless, and placed him at her side.
"Did you kill it?" she said in a whisper, amazed at the unexpected display of aggression from her usually happy, peaceful kitty.
In response, Buyo growled.
"What's wrong with you," Kagome said for the second time that night. She wasn't liking the newfound attitude her family pet was displaying.
Something rustled against the grass floor. "Will you shut up! Damn humans! Just what the hell does it take for them to keep quiet?"
Kagome froze. Her eyes moved from Buyo, to the "bat," which was supposed to be dead. Or so she had assumed. It was perfectly up and about now, its weirdly colored wings rubbing at dazed, yellow eyes. Perhaps it had been sleeping, because that's what it seemed like now. But other than that, the most mysterious thing at hand currently…
"Did you… talk right now, little guy?" said the girl, her tone laced with caution.
"Little guy? Who do you think you are, you low scum of a human!" the bat yelled at her, wings flapping angrily; golden eyes now wide awake, and furious.
Instantly starting to dislike the strange and small character, Kagome scowled. "Is that how you thank someone after they save you?" she demanded. Sure it weren't as if the talking bat had been in any great perilous danger in the first place, but still, she had released it from the clutches of a gluttonous cat.
"Save?" the rude creature mimicked. Its large eyes wandered over to Buyo, who sat on its haunches, tongue hanging out. "So it was you!"
Kagome raised an eyebrow, and scratched her cheek. What was this crazy bat talking about? And how could it talk at all?
The bat flapped its wings in fury again, and it appeared as though it were trying to get up in the air, but couldn't. "Think I didn't get enough crap already from Vamdemon-sama thanks to that dumb Tailmon? Right after I do, out of nowhere when I'm going off to do my own business, I get knocked over by some fat piece of—"
"Okay, okay!" Kagome interrupted, hands out in front of her. She was tired of hearing this tiny insane monster's negative mouth. "I apologize on Buyo's behalf, I'm really sorry, and who's Vam—"
"Pico Dart!"
From beneath its wings the bat produced needle syringes and shot them toward Kagome and Buyo.
"Woah WOAH!" the girl exclaimed, grabbing her cat and thrusting it to the side ("MROW!") while she herself rolled rapidly to the side. They both escaped unscathed.
"Pico Dar—"
"Oh no you don't!" Kagome yelled, lunging toward the bat. She covered it with a powerful, full-on body slam. Though the girl was small, the creature itself was considerably smaller. When there was no movement beneath her, the girl got up to her hands and knees, and looked down. Again the strange bat was unconscious; swirls evident in its eyes. Buyo emerged from the bushes where it'd been thrown into, and walked up beside its master. Leering at the potty-mouthed bat, it paused for a moment, before opening its mouth wide and heading straight for a ragged wing.
Kagome held it back. "No more trouble, boy." Sighing, she looked over the bat. Observing it closely under the moonlight's shine, she could definite fresh wounds; several marring the creature's petite body. Buyo for sure wouldn't have been able to cause them.
"What to do Buyo… what to do."
Beneath the glare of the bright moon, a little girl emerged from a thick forest located at the city's edge. At her side was a plump cat, groaning loudly in the hopes that Mama Higurashi would hear and feed him. Held in her skinny arms was a really odd-looking… bat.
"How should I explain this to Mama?"