Like Rain
by ookaminokage

Chapter One: Ame vs. Inu
Things were boring as usual at school. Rain Freemark had Summer Vacation Itch worse than ever, as she would be spending her vacation in Japan, doing a free study of manga art in Tokyo. She forced herself to concentrate on her chemistry exam, the last exam of her freshman year of college. She just had to get through it and then it was off to Japan the next day.

After handing in the exam, she pulled the letter from her host family, the Higurashis, out of her bag. It had arrived yesterday, and she hadn't been able to read all of it. She was excited to know that there would be someone close to her age there, Kagome who was sixteen. Kagome had sent her a seperate letter, which Rain hadn't been able to read at all.

In carefully written English it read:

Freemark-san,
I'm sorry if I cannot be there to meet you. I am hoping that I can be there, but I have an unusual friend who may make it difficult. His name Inuyasha, and he's not exactly your normal kind of guy. One could say he isn't "paper-trained" if you get my drift.
Sorry,
Higurashi Kagome

Rain smiled. She knew how Kagome felt. She had a bunch of friends that didn't want her to leave for Japan. They even tried to steal her luggage so she didn't leave them. She had to admit, she would miss them.
Rain had a spring in her step as she slipped out of the lecture hall. She sung randomly, "It's off to Nihon I go!"

"Who are we waiting for, Kagome?" Inuyasha yawned in a bored fashion. "We've been sitting here at this 'airport' for hours. We should be collecting shards!"
"I've told you a thousand times, " Kagome rolled her eyes, " we're waiting for Rain Freemark, an American student who's coming to live with my family for the summer. Just keep holding that sign that says her name."

Inuyasha started to complain again when a very pale girl with dark brown hair, large blue eyes and luggage galore struggled her way up to them, bowing as best she could.

"Konnichiwa, watashi no name wa Freemaraku Rain. Anata no oname wa?"

Kagome smile as the older girl greeted her in near-perfect Nihongo. " Higurashi Kagome desu. Would you be a bit more comfortable with English?"

Rain shook her head. "Ie, I would much rather work on my Nihongo. Correct me though, if I'm going to make a fool of myself. Who's your friend?"

" I'm Inuyasha." Inuyasha pointed at himself with the sign. " So now that we've got you, we can go find the..."

Kagome elbowed him hard, unfortunately he was caught off balance and the bandanna he was wearing to cover his ears fell off as he tried to right himself. Rain's mouth fell open at the sight of them.

"Now I understand why you said he isn't paper trained. " Rain muttered. " And the Inu part of his name...he is a dog!"

Kagome, admitting defeat at trying to keep Inuyasha and her adventures in the Sengoku Jidai a secret, filled Rain in on how she got "stuck" with Inuyasha. Not that she minded getting stuck with him since things had changed for the better between them. Way better in fact.

As Kagome, with Inuyasha's help, finished her explination on the ride home, Rain's eyes lit up. " So, can I come along? To the past I mean."

Kagome frowned a bit. " I'm not sure if you can get through the well, but didn't you hear the part about the danger, the demons..."

"Especially my brother I mentioned earlier. " Inuyasha interjected. " Sesshomaru has been really irritating lately. Seems he does want the Tetsaiga, despite the fact that he has Tokijin to fight with. Something about birthright..."

Rain shrugged. "I guess you're right, but I'll be around if you need an extra pair of hands for something."

"I'll remember that. " Kagome smiled. " Maybe we can take you someday, when things are different."

The rest of the car ride was Kagome and Inuyasha arguing about something that Rain was puzzled about but didn't bother to ask. It was just great to be in Nihon, seeing the crowded streets filled with colorful people. This is so different compared to Michigan, where most people are kinda' bland...not all but most...

They finally arrived a Sunset shirne, Kagome's home, only to be greeted by Shippo, the kitsune cub they had told Rain about. He was breathing heavily, a tiny glowing shard clutched in his paw. "Hurry! Sesshomaru is attacking the camp...by the well! HURRRYYYY!"

Rain threw down her luggage and followed the other three as the ran for the mini shrine that housed the magic well that would transport them to the Sengoku Jidai. She felt weighed down by her enormous backpack, but she realized hers was not as big a Kagome's bag, as the younger girls nearly fell into the well. Inuyasha signalled for Rain jump in ahead of him.

" Guess this is your chance to get a piece of the action. If you die, it's not my fault!"

" I'm not the one who's going to die!" Rain cried as she leaped in to the well.

It was a strange feeling, falling into a well, but the four of them landed fairly softly. They crawled outm only to see why Shippo was so panicked. Sango lay injured on the ground, stripped of Hiraikotsu. Her faithful neko youkai, Kilala, stood protectively over her friend. Miroku, who was standing to protect Sango as well, was knocked off his feet by none other than Inuyasha's full demon brother Sesshomaru.

Rain's mouth fell open at the sight of him. He was incredibly tall and elegant, a swirl of silver hair, expensive cloth and pure white fur. His face was as flawless as a marble statue, with magenta stripes on cheeks, and a deep clue cresent moon on his forehead. No emotion what so ever showed on that face. He was gorgeous!

Inuyasha drew the Tetsaiga against his brother. Sesshomaru didn't even bother to draw Tokijin, and didn't have to. As Inuyasha charged him, Sesshomaru tossed him easily away, sending him hurtling towards Rain. She leaped away in time for Inuyasha to miss hitting her, but as she ducked, she felt Sesshomaru's claws rake along her cheek, stinging with a small dose of demon poison.

Rain's anger boiled over. Before anyone could blink, she had a hold of Tokijin, pointing it directly as Sesshomaru. The blade hummed with a power so evil, she was almost nauseated. It cried for blood...Inuyasha's blood. Rain growled staring at the blade. Angry red tenticles of darkness swirled about it, yet as she stared, a deeper crimson power curled around Tokijin's power, pushing it away from her.

"What's this?" Sesshomaru said, raising one arched eyebrow in icy amusement, breaking Rain away from her stare-down with the sword. "Need another human wench to protect you little brother? It doesn't matter, Tokijin should be taking over her by now."

"Those are rather tough words, Sesshomaru." Rain hissed. "Especially when I don't fear you, or your fancy sword."

Sesshomaru smirked slightly. "Those are tough words from a weakling human. You will die by my claws, if you don't die from my poison first."

Rain snorted. "We shall see."

Sesshomaru cocked his head slightly. The human wench was even odder than the previous one that followed his hanyo brother around. Both girls were about the same height, but this one was extremely pale. Her torso was long, her limbs short, barely covered by bizzare black clothing. Comparing her to the other women was like comparing a dog to a crane. She was extremely well-endowed, breast-wise, something he noted with amusement. Her eyes, burning with rage as they were, were large with a child-like roundness to them, the color a brilliant blue, though her face held little that indicated anything else child-like. Pity I'm killing her. She could prove interesting to toy with...

Without a word or any other indication of what she was doing, Rain charged him. To those looking on it was a flurry of black and white. For every strike Sesshomaru threw at Rain, she dodged and countered with the ease that belonged to a youkai, not a human. She actually had the upper hand, wounding the youkai lord minorly several times, rather than becoming the bloodly lifeless mass everyone expected her to be any second.

With a growl, very much out of character for the youkai, Sesshomaru lept for Rain claws ready to destroy her, when the icy sting of steel greeted his mid section. Rain was on one knee, glaring up at him, Tokijin blocking his strike, holding the long knife that now stuck out his back. Her arm was halfway through him. Her breath was ragged from her effort, Sesshomaru's only consulation, as he cursed at not noticing she was armed to begin with.

"That wound won't kill me, wench." he muttered.

" It will slow you down though, punk." she muttered back with a wicked grin. "I win."

" You hav-"

Sesshomaru slumped over onto Rain, having been hit in the head with Shippo's ever famous giant top trick. He was out cold.

Rain chuckled. " Now this is a Sesshomaru I like."