Hello, readers
This story is intended to be a romantic comedy with moments of drama. Please read and review. Thanks
Important: This is not shounen-ai or yaoi, I just want to say this before you read.
The prologue is long but later chapters will be shorter, probably no more than 500 words each.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Inuyasha.
Kagome tiredly heaved herself up the well and opened the well house door. After much convincing, first by begging and later through forced suggestion, Inuyasha finally allowed her a much needed break from shard-hunting and demon-slaying. Kagome intended to spend her short stay home to catch up on schoolwork.
With a sigh, she walked into her house. It was late evening and upon her entrance she was greeted by the tantalizing fragrance of her mother's cooking. Although she never express it, Kagome truly missed the comfort of her home. The days spent trekking the crude roads of Feudal Japan were not pleasant in the least. She went to greet her family with an energetic 'I'm back.' She had this habit of hiding her discomfort and it wouldn't be good to show her family what horrible near-death experiences she happened to be involved in on the other side of the well.
After a great dinner and a relaxing bath, she went to sleep in the comfort of her bed, taking what little rest she was allowed before going to school tomorrow. She decided that she wouldn't stay up late to study again, for fear that she might fall asleep at school tomorrow.
When her friends greeted her at school, she was prepared for what to come. Every time she went to school, she would be bombarded by questions from her three friends, who were all too eager to hear about the development between Kagome and her supposed jerk-of-a-boyfriend. Ayumi went up and hugged her, much to her surprise. Although they were good friends, Ayumi or anyone else tended to not come in close contact with Kagome without warning, all because of her grandfather's list of illnesses Kagome was supposedly "suffered" from. Kagome was taken aback and lost balance when Ayumi's weight was upon her. Half expecting to fall flat on her butt from the powerful hug, Kagome braced herself for the impact. Instead, she bumped into something at the back of her head.
She let out a small yip as a pair of hand gripped her shoulders and set her straight on her feet. She twisted her head to peer at her unknown helper. She was surprised by what, or rather, who she saw. A young man, a head taller than her, peered down at her, his hands remained their hold on her shoulders. This was by no mean the first time she'd seen a guy, but she couldn't help but let a small gasp escape as her eyes traveled to this stranger's handsome, no, beautiful and ethereal features. His piercing eyes had the ability to make girls swoon, his fair skin was capable of making any female green with envy, and overall his face would make any female from five to sixty fall in love at first sight. Kagome was never one to be swayed by look, but she found herself blushing at this charming stranger and a remote part of her brain was secretly placing him on her 'best looking men' list, right up on the top with Sesshoumaru.
"Be careful next time," he said in a soft voice. God even his voice sounded heavenly. There was a certain silkiness about it and the words rolled out of his smooth lips like gentle, soothing water. After a while, Kagome finally registered what the hot guy said and she snapped out of her day-dream.
"T-Thank you," she muttered again, a blush staining her cheek.
The guy looked apprehensively at her with a knowing look and it seemed as though he was about to say something when a deep voice rang out.
"Hikaru!"
"Coming, Hiro-chan" said the hot guy, his hands slipped from Kagome's shoulders and he turned to join up with another handsome guy.
Kagome stare at his retreating figure before her friends' dreamy voices interrupted.
"He's so cool! Kagome, you're so lucky, to be helped by the handsomest boy in our school! I'd do anything to trade places with you," Eri sighed while Ayumi and Yuka nodded their agreement.
Kagome, fully out of her trance, mentally kicked herself for getting carried away and acting like a lovestruck schoolgirl. After all, it's not like her to drool after some guy she just met. Although she had to admit, the guy was probably the handsomest guy she'd met ever, well, since Sesshoumaru. Once again she snapped herself out of such thoughts. It wouldn't do any good to daydream, especially in school. It was an accepted fact that Kagome's abysmal grades will sooner or later make her repeat the year. Since it was such a rare occurrence that she could go to school without Inuyasha's presence haunting her, she had decided to learn as much as possible. Sighing at her uncertain future, she morosely made her way to the classroom. 'Hopefully Hojo-kun won't bother me too much,' added Kagome as an afterthought.
Kagome walked home after a stressful day at school. She was once again given the knowledge that her understanding of school materials was nonexistent and more than likely she would need to spend sleepless nights trying to catch up. Unfortunately, she promised Inuyasha to be back within three days and truthfully she was starting to miss her friends in the Feudal era.
'Is it weird for me to think shard hunting is easier than schoolwork?' she thought, her fingers absently stroke the pouch containing the few shikon shards she always carried with her.
Kagome slowly climbed up the stairs leading to her family's shrine. However, she failed to notice a malicious presence following her at a distance until a blurred figure suddenly appeared in front of her, knocking her a distance from the well house. She heaved herself up and winced from the pain. The impact probably bruised her side pretty badly as her hand went to clutch at the wound.
Kagome was starting to panic when she laid her eyes on her attacker. Before her was a man, probably around mid-thirties, whose human appearance was soon morphed into an oni. The demon opened its mouth full of sharp teeth and roared.
"You have shikon shards, give me!"
Kagome instinctively grasped her shikon shards and attempted to stand up. She was in a difficult situation, and she knew it. She had left her bow and arrows back at Kaede's house, Inuyasha would not be here until two more days and she was risking her family in danger.
She gathered her breath and concentrated her power, hoping that the oni will sense her miko power and retreat.
Unfortunately, the oni only got more aggravated and it leaped at her, its jaw opened wide as it plunged at the defenseless girl. Suddenly, a familiar voice called out:
"Look out!"
Before Kagome could register what was going on, she was snatched from the oni's path and into the arms of the boy she met this morning. The handsome boy gripped at her waist, a serious expression on his face. He ran and kicked the oni at inhuman speed, then half-dragged Kagome into the well house. They leaped down the darkness of the well and Kagome faintly registered a whisper from the boy, seemingly said to himself: "Damn, the seal prevents me from using my power."
Momentarily, both of them arrived at their destination and with one big leap from the boy, they were out of the well.
Kagome was still shocked from what happened, and the boy stared at her for a moment before asking, "Are you alright?"
Kagome nodded, still in a daze from the last few minutes' event. She winced as the boy's hand, which was held firmly at her waist, let go. Tenderly, she rubbed the bruise she received from the attack and the boy looked at her with a small twinge of worry.
It was then that she started to question this situation. Who is this boy that appeared out of nowhere? Why did he help her? And how did he know about the well? Judging from his expression, he already knew what the well could do and wasn't the least surprise by his new environment. She was about to ask him when Inuyasha's voice could be heard.
"Oi, wench! What are you-"
He was cut short by the sight before him. Kagome was standing there clutching her side with a painful expression and there was some guy he'd never seen before standing before her. Inuyasha immediate went into his fighting stance and pulled Kagome behind him with one hand, while the other hand unsheathed Tetsusaiga.
"Bastard! Who the hell are you?" He let out a snarl and leaped at the guy but was stopped short by Kagome's urgent yell of "SIT."
He soon recovered from the sudden crash and sent a glare at Kagome's way.
"What the hell are you doing, wench?"
"Inuyasha, he's not an enemy. He just saved me from an oni." Kagome replied, annoyance evident in her tone.
"Keh. I don't smell any oni around here."
"Of course not! It's still on the other side of the well."
Kagome immediately panic as she thought about the implication of her statement.
"NO! IT'S STILL ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WELL! Mom, Grandpa and Souta are in danger!" She ran to the well and was about to jump down when the boy held her arm.
"No, your family should be safe. The oni was only after your shikon shards. Since it has a human appearance when you first seen it, that would mean the oni is blending in and living with humans. It would not do anything foolish like attacking people without cause." He calmly said, his eyes looked straight into her own, "plus if you return immediately after disappearing down the well, it will figure out the secret of the well and you, as well as your family, will be in constant danger."
Kagome was clearly surprised at the boy's speech, her mouth stayed agasp while Inuyasha glared at him with suspicion. Deciding that there is still much mystery about this event, Kagome decided to find out from the only who seemed to know what's going on - this mysterious, handsome stranger she had just met hours before.
"T-Thank you for helping me, again, um-"
"Call me Hikaru, Kagome-san," the boy said, small smile showed on his perfect lips.
In Kaede's hut, everyone was assembled, including Sango, Miroku, Shippou and Kaede. Kagome recounted what happened to the group while Inuyasha sit in the corner, still angry at Kagome's sit. After every event had been told, right up to the point when Inuyasha appeared, Miroku was the first to question,
"If I may ask, Hikaru-sama, I remember Kagome-sama telling us that there is no youkai in her time, yet what happened proved otherwise. Do you know the truth behind this?"
"Humans in the future think that youkai don't exist because they've never seen one. In reality, youkai are co-existing with humans, albeit in disguise. It's common for youkai to have disguises that make them appear humans and mask their youki. Since the humanrace has multiplied into such large number, youkai find themselves with only two choices: to perish under human's extremely fast development or blend in and lead their lives as human look-alike. Most choose the second option." Hikaru patiently explained
"Since you know about this, does that mean you're not human?" Kagome asked in wonderment.
"Of course this bastard isn't human! He doesn't smell like human, or youkai for that matter. What the hell are you?" Inuyasha chose this moment to lash out the question he had been wondering since he first saw this stranger.
Hikaru wore a mysterious expression, which Kagome interpreted as a small, barely visible smirk, as he said, "That's a secret."
Inuyasha showed his annoyance and opened his mouth to say some profanity, but was interrupted by Kagome's glare. She turned to Hikaru and smiled,
"Well, if you don't want to talk about it then you don't have to. I'm just grateful that you saved me, Hikaru-kun."
"Keh, he's probably planning to steal the shikon shards by being all nice," Inuyasha spat.
"Although what you said is plausible, it will not happen because I have no interest in the shikon shards or any such evil trinkets for that matter. I just happened to see Kagome-san in danger and decided to help, it's that simple," a small smile played on his face that made Sango and Kagome blush. He was just too handsome to resist!
"Now, if you don't mind, I would like to rest for a while. Today has been an eventful day for me"
"O-Of course, you can rest in Kaede-baachan's hut for a while, I'm sure she won't mind," Kagome quickly replied, her face still a light shade of pink. 'Boy is it gonna be hard to calm myself when he's around...' she thought.
Hikaru stood under the Goshinboku tree, looking up at the darkened sky. He sighed and let out a small whisper to himself, "finally, the time has come."
Not so far away, a certain youkai lord was heading into Inuyasha's forest. However, his presence was not lost to the other man.