Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but I own this plot, and I would appreciate if you didn't take it from me—if you do, then please ask for permission. Thanks!
A/N: WARNING: This fiction is rated for language, violence, and sexuality (though this won't come for a while), and Kagome's a bit OOC, but it's all in good reasoning. Oh, and I promise, more of Kagome's personality is in the following chapters; this first is mostly for information. :P
Terminology
People/Names
Youkai – demon, spirit, monsters; often evil
Yuurei – soul, ghost; those who cannot move on
Yougisha – honorific for a criminal suspect
Jukeisha – honorific for a convict/offender
Keibu – honorific for a police inspector/captain
Taijiya – demon/youkai slayer or hunter
Reibai – spirit medium, "ghost-whisperer"
Miko – girl shaman, priestess, aide to a kannushi
Kannushi – Shinto priest, owner of a shrine
Youkaihanta – ghost buster, spirit hunter
Kami – gods of Shinto, the Greeks of Japan
Onryou – ghosts who'd been wronged in life
Ubume – dead mothers who were giving birth/had kids
Goryou – ghosts who'd been upper-class
Funayuurei – ghosts who'd passed at sea
Zashiki-warashi – child ghosts; not a threat
Ningen – human being, mortal
Yue-Laou – a figure in Chinese traditional poetry
Gekkahyoujin – matchmaker, cupid
Kitsune – a fox demon/youkai
Jii-chan – an informal way of saying "grandpa"; "Gramps"
Oji-chan – a formal yet endearing way of saying "uncle"
Things
Youki – typical demonic or youkai energy/aura
Jyaki – wicked demonic or youkai energy/aura
Goshinboku – sacred tree found on shrine grounds
Hakama – traditional Japanese pants worn daily in the past
I'm Higurashi Kagome, a new addition to the fair suburbs of Tokyo. There's a high school I'll attend as a third year that's always energetic though some students are lifeless. There's an old house in the neighborhood where the owners always leave sooner or later, though one person stays there no matter what. There's a hospital I'm about to work at down the street where the patients are checked out, yet never leave. There's a graveyard us shrine keepers will go to that's always crowded with people yet never full with bodies. Last, but not least, there's an old tree on my Jii-chan's holy grounds that'll have an odd boy on its branches, sleeping the day away and going unnoticed by everyone. Everybody but me, that is. And what's weird about all these places? Well, they have ghosts. And I'm one of the very, very few people who can see them. Not to mention I can tell whether or not people belong together due to my ability to see red strings of fate on the living's pinky fingers and ankles. Being me is such a great way to fit into a new town, isn't it?
SOULMATE:
YOU'RE A SOUL YET I'M YOUR MATE?
1: A Not-So-Ordinary Life
"There are good days and there are bad days,
and this is one of them."
—Lawrence Welk
The reporter on TV with dark brown hair and perky breasts kept babbling. "Recently, the wide-ranged murder cases occurring across west Kyoto have all been solved. Back in the beginning, when the bodies were found, it seemed as if nothing had happened, yet when autopsies were performed, medical researchers found that all internal organs—guts, heart, liver—were missing. Strangely, there were no scars or marks to prove that a procedure had been performed, and there was no evidence found at the crime scene to draw any conclusions to possible suspects. Authorities began calling this phenomenon 'the Open Heart Case', and it went on for two months, killing sixteen people on the west side of Kyoto.
"However, just a week ago, the murders had been solved when a man, who only addressed himself as Kotatsu, had rushed into the Kyoto Police Department, where he'd confessed to the killings. After interrogation, police believed Kotatsu Jukeisha to be insane. Nobunaga Keibu had this to say about the killer: 'So far, this man has claimed to have used magical ink demons for his murder weapon. Kotatsu Jukeisha told us that the youkai would enter the victims' bodies in an ethereal form, pull out their guts, and bring the goods back to him in order to survive. We have taken him into custody and discussed sending him to a mental asylum.'"
Blah, blah, blah…
"The killings stopped after that," the female reporter goes on, never getting tired of hearing her own voice, I'd bet. "When questioned about his sudden change in heart, Kotatsu Jukeisha had only said, 'I cannot reveal my manipulator. My very life may be in stake—she'd kill me.' The question is, is this 'manipulator' a hero or someone to look out for? Citizens and officials are leaning towards the latter, Nobunaga Keibu already having a few leads as to who Yougisha may be. They're afraid the female will be a risk to Kyoto's health despite her possible assistance in the Open Heart—"
My eye twitches, and I throw the remote at the television, tired of them talking about my latest mission. I mean, mother of all that's—! That bastard had what was getting to him. Really. After doing my research and discovering who was killing everyone, I tracked Kotatsu down and threatened him. Of course, he unleashed his effin' youkai on me, but they were easy to deal with; all it took was a zap of miko power, and bam! You have officially killed a demon, whether they are made out of ink or not. The real problem was convincing that son of a bitch not to rat out even a detail of my identity—including gender. I told him not to even mention me or our meeting. But, as fate would have it, I'm now Public Enemy Number One, a yougisha, and in my kind of hometown at that.
Great. Just freakin' peachy.
I sigh and begin packing up my bags. I grab clothes, personal treasures, books, and the necessities from everywhere in my room, tossing them into whatever container I can find. I'm always prepared to pack; with a life like mine, you never know when you'll have to leave your current location. And though this is my first time having to move, I've been prepared for years now, because if there's the slightest chance that youkai and yuurei-gone-bad find out about me, I could die just as easily as a salted slug.
Souta will not be happy to hear we have to move, but oh, well—it's not my fault Kotatsu's a dumbass. I zip one suitcase shut before hopping over to Souta's room across the hall. We're currently at our second cousin Tsuyu's house. Being ten years older than me at the age of twenty-eight, she's a big-time businesswoman right here in the heart of Kyoto, and has allowed us to stay in her home ever since our parents died eight years ago, when I was ten and Souta was five. Sure, we could've moved in with Jii-chan, but whenever we'd visited him, he was a total crackpot. And if you haven't realized it yet, you should never raise growing kids with a senile old man—never.
Sadly, I'm sorry to say that we're going to see him very, very soon. I knock on Souta's door, and it opens quickly, despite him taking his precious time to stomp up to the doorway. With a bed head and all, he barks groggily, "What?" before plopping back down on his futon.
Gods. Stupid thirteen-year-old boys. "Twerp, get up!" I shout, making him pop up some. "We're gonna move!"
Now he's up all the way. "Why?"
I sigh. "Technically, the idiot police have mistaken me for the bad guy." He gives me a dumb look. "I can't risk it, okay? Now, c'mon, pack up. We're heading out in the morning."
Souta whines sleepily, "It is morning!"
"Eh, shut up," I mutter. "It's almost three hours after midnight. Nothin' big."
"NOTHING BIG?" Souta screeches.
I shoot him a hard glare when I hear Tsuyu panicking at the loud noises he's making. Moron, I think to the male teenager as our cousin bursts through the door in her nightgown. "What happened?" she asks breathlessly.
My eyes turn into slits as I glower at Souta, who hides under his covers. I explain, "You know how I told you we might leave at any time?" She nods. "Well, it's time."
Her dark eyes turn sad. "Really, Kagome? You've been living here for eight years now, and now it's a threat that people may know about you?"
"Uh…yes?" I say, not wanting to tell her the entire reason we have to go since she'd be more heartbroken than she is right now. She sighs, and I get up to wrap my arms around her slim form. She embraces me back, and I can feel her tears on my face and clothes. Aw, man. "Tsuyu?" She looks at me expectantly, and I feel my heart drop. "We'll come to visit every other week, okay?"
She nods tightly, and I exhale. I'd never wanted to leave this place. Really. Tsuyu's been like my mother since the accident; she's always warm, kind, and understanding, wanting us all to go on vacations and spend time together like a not-so-messed-up family. Souta, not really remembering our parents, always thought of me and her as his parents. It must be just as hard on him as it is for me.
I probably never would've gotten into this mess if I'd never been with my parents when they died. Seriously. I remember: It was my tenth birthday; Jii-chan was babysitting Souta while Mama, Papa, and I all went to my favorite J-pop band Cream's concert to celebrate. On the way home, Papa was still a little mellow because of some sake he'd had, and Mama was so happy, she jumped around in her seat. My parents looked relaxed and carefree; it put me in a good mood, too. Mama turned around in her seat—
"Hey, Kaggie honey bear."
"What, Mama?"
"You wanna see a magic trick?"
I loved those. Her stupid, silly gag tricks got me every time, and I still giggled when they came around. "Yeah!"
"Okay." She took out her ruby necklace from underneath her shirt and swung it in front of my face, trying to hypnotize me. "When I count to three, you will fall into a deep sleep. When I snap my fingers, you'll wake up and obey my every command. Okay?"
"Gotcha." I'd said it confidently, prepared for anything. Together, we both chanted, "One…two…three—!"
Then a flash of light came and everything went dark. Long story short, I was spirited away and gained the ability to see yuurei, which led to me exorcising and befriending them, which led me to learning the existence of youkai. No one but me, reibai, psychics, spiritual beings, and taijiya know about these creatures. We hunt and kill them most of the time, if not turn them good or help spirits move on; since we're given the abilities, I guess it's just our job to follow out orders. And let's just say, seeing the connection between soul mates and being a gekkahyoujin is pretty weird, too.
An even shorter version of it all: my life sucks.
I guess I should start from the beginning. I'd lived in Tokyo my whole life with my parents and little brother in a small apartment. We were always happy, and though we didn't have many family members or friends, we were content with how things were. During a car accident with my parents on my tenth birthday, I blacked out and moved to the spirit world. I somehow returned to reality, obviously, but while unconscious, gained the ability to see yuurei.
It was kind of weird to see my own parents' spirits before me, but after that, I was still baffled. Why me? was a reoccurring question in my head. All I'd caught on to was that I needed to "help out in any way" possible, and that I could see people no one else could. Souta and I, then orphans, moved in with Tsuyu, visiting Jii-chan once a month. He was too old to take care of kids who didn't know anything about home life or chores or work, so we moved in with the woman who'd just become of age and could mother us to adulthood.
And, once again, Jii-chan's a crackpot.
Of course, one year after the accident, I learned what it meant to "help". The first passing on I'd ever did was to a baby bunny that'd never been snuggled up to by its abusive owners. I'd mistook it for a normal one, a rabbit you'd see in a petting zoo, and cuddled it in my arms. When that happened, it evaporated into mist and the same light that took my parents surrounded it before it disappeared completely. It was then that I began researching ghosts, mediums, and exorcisms. This is where I explain my world to you:
Yuurei are ghosts with things keeping them from moving on. It can be that they never completed something nor got to say goodbye to someone close to them; honestly, there's millions of reasons for staying behind. The most common is being overpowered by great emotions such as revenge, love, jealousy, hatred, or sorrow; people who commit suicide or are murdered also can stay behind as spirits. Those who died before their time or have many regrets also turn into ghosts. Yuurei are usually harmless and just try to get to the next world without much help while others decide to do immoral deeds in these forms.
By doing majorly wrong things in ghost-form, they turn into evil spirits. This is where people like me, youkaihanta, come in. We ghost busters of the modern age are those who can see yuurei and have the ability to help them pass on, whether it be through force, exorcism, fighting until it's weak and desires to truly die, or simply convincing them to move on. Ghosts can be dangerous since they too have supernatural powers, though theirs go more along the lines of setting up illusions, trying to send you to one of the eight hells, or hurting you without touching you (aka, magically throwing inanimate objects your way). But, at the same time, you stand a chance through the techniques mentioned.
Yuurei can only touch other spirits and those who can see them—anything out of the norm, including demons and reibai, are things they can naturally have contact with. They can train themselves to touch average objects, though it takes much time to even pick up a pencil. Psychics, beings possessing spiritual power, and some taijiya can also see yuurei, though the spirits come across as a haze instead of the clear, real-life vision I and other reibai have.
Youkai are demons and monsters who are living, but evidently non-human. Some are even spirits, though they weren't really once living or innocent. Most youkai I've heard of are evil; I've never really met one who didn't try to kill me at least once. They were likely found during feudal times, but now most of them are ghosts—either that, or in hiding, disguising themselves as humans. They all have their own reasons for the things they do, no matter how ethical or malicious they are, and there are demon-hunting organizations filled with taijiya who hunt down certain youkai whenever something weird's going on. It's kind of like my job, though they don't focus on yuurei as well. I'm not in a group—I work on my own—but I've come across societies before, and that's where I'd received my weapons and combat training from. Most often, youkai are the ones to cause the crimes and murders I check into; yuurei are more of the gossip going around, like isn't this weird? or something's up. Demons, however, are often just full-blown call the police, there's something wrong! situations. All youkai also have youki, or your average demonic energy. It's an aura that shows off their strength and heritage; you can tell who you're fighting when you feel their youki, whether they be an animal-like demon or malicious remains. Some youkai have jyaki, though, which is kind of like youki, but only youkai with completely evil intentions and powers have jyaki; you have to see the differences between youki and jyaki to know if a youkai means well or not.
Reibai are those who can see ghosts, and as far as I know, you have to be spirited away or have a near-death experience—both of which I've experienced. Since I'm a miko as well, I guess you could say my powers are more enhanced than normal reibai or spiritual beings—spirits are like living people to me, and I can make them somewhat visible to the average eye if I want to. Normal ningen can't see yuurei without assistance, though if youkai reveal themselves to the humans, they'll see them just fine.
There are many types of yuurei and youkai, but I'll just explain yuurei right now, since youkai are too in-depth. Onryou are vengeful ghosts who stay in the physical world due to a wrong done to them during their lifetime. Ubume are mothers who died in childbirth or left young children behind; they come back to their kids in death and try to take care of them from there. Goryou are rancorous spirits who were of the aristocratic class, most of them especially coming back if they were martyred. Funayuurei are those who have died at sea; I've yet to see one, though I've heard they may look somewhat like a fish or mermaid in their ghost-form. Zashiki-warashi are the souls of children, though they're more mischievous than dangerous, but they can still turn into evil spirits. Samurai ghosts are those who'd died in battle, though they have various reasons for staying behind, and then there are seductress ghosts, the yuurei that have post-death love affairs with living humans.
Ever since I found out about the world of the dead, I've "ghost hunted", for lack of a better term—I help out any yuurei I can and tame those who're evil and black-hearted. It's been my volunteer work for the past seven years. After hazardous missions like crimes and murders involving ghosts began to pop into my agenda, I told Tsuyu of the danger and warned her that I may have to move at some point if it got too bad. Of course, at that moment, I hadn't realized a lot of the ghosts I was seeing were youkai, too, but demons are just as difficult as effin' ghosts. It was annoying at first, but then it got easier, especially when I discovered I had sacral powers down the long road ahead.
At first, I wasn't really sure how I got the ability, but when I hit puberty at thirteen, I began seeing red strings wrapped around people's pinkies or ankles. A kind, elderly married couple passed once during all this confusion and I asked why they had a red string tied to their legs, connecting them together. Thinking nothing of my strange inquiries, they merely told me the tale of the red string of fate, where soul mates were destined to come together and fall in love. They told me that no matter how tangled and lengthened the string became, it never broke—meaning that no matter what hardships and obstacles came between you and your destined, you were still meant for each other and born to be together. I decided to do research on ningen possibly being able to see these possible strings, but was quickly stumped.
It was very puzzling to me, this whole supernatural business in general. When I began noticing more couples—whether they be romantic or just friends—with the red strings on their hands or feet, I finally realized I could see the bond between soul mates. I figured out anklets stood for stable relationships while pinky strings represented unstable bonds; when someone falls with it tied to their pinky, the other falls, too, and it's hard to get back up again, whereas if someone with an anklet falls, the other will help them get back up easily. Makes sense? It should; I tried making it understandable. And I didn't know how I, a reibai and miko, could have attained such an ability, but I used the skill to my advantage, setting up people tied together and helping them find each other, plus fall in love. Let me just say, I have never failed once before.
My whole life, I've been playing as a ghost whisperer and matchmaker, plus occasional demon slayer on the side. Not only that, but I also had to keep attending school and, I don't know, live a normal life, not to mention raise money for university by getting some jobs. After eight years of living in Kyoto, while in my third and last year of high school and as I aspire to become a doctor, I can't believe I'm going to move away, leaving the loving Tsuyu behind along with all my goddamn friends and crushes, no matter how few I may've had.
And it's all because of stupid Nobunaga Amari Keibu—aka, Tsuyu's soul mate. Though she knows I have special gifts, I haven't told her Mr. Klutz is her man-to-be, because this man has been the reason why I've been so cautious with crime missions recently; he's on to me, and that's not good. So, what else should I have to do but run?
/~\*/~\*/~\*/~\*/~\
The ride to Tokyo is boring, tiring, and saddening all at once. Tsuyu has to drive us because I haven't taken any driver's lessons yet due to my busy schedule. Her car's small, thus crammed with all our crap—there's our bikes, bags, suitcases, boxes, and other stuff in the trunk, and it takes up more than half of the backseat, squishing Souta to death, much to my amusement. Meanwhile, Tsuyu plays Cream as I check all my pockets and secure areas for weapons. I have my blessed knives, three guns, holy water, purification dust, chalk, and grave soil—most of it's for exorcising demons, but can be helpful on ghosts, too, though evil spirits need calming down more than anything else. My bows, arrows, swords, and all that good stuff is in my luggage since they're too big to carry around.
Tsuyu watches me check my weapons, sighing heavily. "Are all of those necessary?" I give her a look that says yes, they are. She sighs again before watching the road intently. She hates how I put my life in danger, but I've got to stick to my goal and keep my promise of helping others. Gods, I hate it when she gets that depressed glint in her eyes. Right now, it makes me feel like a total jerk.
I give her an apologizing look before checking out the pamphlets of everything that'll soon be in my life: my new high school, Souta's new middle school, the hospital I've sent a job application to for a nursing position, and our new home, Jii-chan's old Shinto shrine. So far, the Higurashi (or "Sunset") Shrine's interested me most, since the booklet's more interesting than hearing the old coop go on about our family legends and the amazement of his inheritance. There are multiple sections of the shrine that catch my attention. The Bone Eater's Well, the Sacred Tree, some shacks made for holding artifacts, and the shop where Jii-chan sells all of his products. I've only ever visited the shrine before, so I wonder what it'll be like to actually live there. I'm sure our crazy grandpa's going to fire all of his help and put me and Souta to work in both the shrine and the house. Which, you know, he can't—or shouldn't—do to me since I already have my heart set on that hospital.
I guess it's weird to people who know what I do for a not-so-living—you know, tasks involving yuurei, youkai, and romance—that I would want a career in medicine of all things. Sure, there's the benefit of treating to my wounds if I ever obtain any (though my miko powers are useful enough), but that's not even close to my reason for wanting to become a doctor. I guess I just want to help people more than I am right now.
I look back at Souta; he wants to be a soccer star, and is showing it ever-so-excitedly by always wearing sports clothes or carrying around a soccer ball. "How much longer?" he whines to Tsuyu, and she just smiles and tells him one hour. Since we've already been driving for more than two hours, Souta groans before tapping his ball impatiently, probably wanting to get to the spacious shrine grounds to play.
I roll my eyes at his maturity and begin reading some Tokyo newspaper clippings from the internet. I focus on crime, local events, and anything else that can land me a mission. I'm trying to find something, anyways, when Tsuyu gives me those sad eyes again. I raise an eyebrow at her look. She explains, "Despite seeing you do this for almost seven years, I can't help feeling you might get hurt one day." I don't bother to tell her how many wounds I've healed with my holy powers instead of asking for her help—so many injuries she has no idea existed. "Just knowing that I won't be able to see you every day and know that you're okay… It scares me, Kagome."
I look away when tears brim her eyes. She always was too nice and emotional; I can't handle seeing her breakdown. It hurts me, too. "I'm sorry, Tsuyu," I whisper, "and I truly mean it. But I can't back out—not now, not ever." I give her a solid stare. "This is my duty as a reibai and miko: work as an independent taijiya and youkaihanta. No matter what, I'll just keep doing this until my job's done." When that'll be, I don't know—I'll just have to wait until my mother sends me a message. Whether it be through dreams or reality, I have the feeling that somehow, wherever she is, she'll tell me when I've fulfilled my promise to her.
Tsuyu focuses on the road again, and Souta stops watching silently from the back. He just turns and stares out the window before getting situated for a nap. Suddenly realizing how sleepy and exhausted I am, I close my eyes, attempting to wipe away any thoughts of my insane life from my mind.
Of course, this doesn't happen.
Sometimes in my dreams, the idiot who gave me the ability to see red strings—Yue-Laou—calls upon me to visit him in death or whatever. On my sixth night with the skill, I found myself having a weird dream where an old man talked to me about it and further discussed red strings of fate. It was the night I realized what was going on. Then, of course, he kept showing up and talking to me about my little job playing matchmaker. He's Yue-Laou, people; the man of Chinese legend known for bringing soul mates together. How he gave me the ability is what I don't know, though I'm pretty sure I know why I see these red strings.
The jerk decided, without consent, that I would be one of his successors.
Most people would think since he's big and famous that he lives up to the word of being a cupid, right? Well, he may be able to assign people to each other, but he sucks at matchmaking, for one thing. Because of him, there's a lot of dysfunctional relationships. Another thing: Since he's always up in the land of Kami—because he died long ago—I can only visit him through my dreams.
While asleep, I stomp through the clouds angrily to his section of the sky. Upon seeing me, the tall, skinny man grins in greeting. "Hello, Kagome," he says, sipping some tea in front of him as he sits cross-legged. "Have a seat, why don't you?"
"Why in the hecks did you call me?" I yell, not paying him any mind. "You only bring me here for important reasons at important times, so what's oh-so-important, 'Laou?"
"I will explain once you take a seat," he says sternly yet calmly, taking another sip of his freaking tea. I scowl, not bothering to even be kind to the pillow as I plop down on it. I hate it when he brings me here. He just gets on my nerves, being overly formal yet informal at once and everything. Besides, whenever I'm summoned, he mostly lashes out on me for doing something wrong, despite him being horrible at his own job. He asks me, "Just how many couples do you bring together in a month, Kagome?"
I grimace when he says my name as if he's close to me, but shrug it off, already used to his relaxed attitude for the most part. I count the pairs on my fingers—I've never been good at mental math—before answering, "I help and kill about three to eleven yuurei and four to seven youkai a month, but making couples? Probably one to none relationships are formed in a month. Why?"
He sips his tea again, and I bristle at his sudden change to formality. "The number you should be obtaining is somewhere near a dozen."
Well, that sucks. But why should it matter if I make the mark or not? He can't take away my powers; I've already asked for him to do so in order for me to avoid angry, dysfunctional couples' wrath in the future. "So? What about it?" I question with a raised brow.
He raises one back. "You're eleven behind on the average per month, Kagome." I frown. "It's your duty as a gekkahyoujin to bring people together and make them fall in love."
"Aren't they supposed to do that on their own?" I gripe, fisting my hands at my sides and huffing in annoyance. "Isn't that what the strings are called? 'The red string of fate or destiny', meaning no interference should be needed?"
He smiles knowingly. I grind my teeth together. "We are the people who control fate, Kagome." I hate the sound of my name on this moron's tongue. "Without those who control fate and make sure it happens, how will anything ever occur?"
"What about Kami?" I question. "Aren't they supposed to do this stuff?"
He sighs, finally breaking some of his businesslike façade. "We have already discussed this before, Kagome. Kami are extremely busy, and besides, they're not in charge of people's relationships—that's our job."
I mumble something unintelligible to his ears, and he returns to smiling. I snap, "Fine. I'll work around my job, my chores, my school life, my social life, my hunting life—everything—just to make sure freakin' couples end up with each freakin' other."
He grins again. "Now that that's out of the way…" He hands me something from the table, and I narrow my eyes. He offers properly, "Jelly doughnut?"
I shake my head before tapping my temple. Getting the message, he sends me back to the normal dreamland, though I don't dream. I wake up in Tsuyu's car, not bothering to look around when I open my eyes. We must be in Tokyo now, because there's large office buildings and the Tokyo Tower amongst neon lights. I exhale and feel Tsuyu's eyes on me as she realizes I'm up. I turn and give her an assuring beam. Surprisingly, she must've stopped worrying too much like she does whenever I'm too professional, because she smiles back brightly as she drives down a street that takes us away from the bright lights and closer to smaller structures. The casual, ranch exteriors mean we're entering Tokyo suburbs, leaving the lively Tokyo city behind. I've always liked suburbs, anyway; they're quieter, calmer, and it's much easier to find youkai and yuurei here, even though the cities carry more of them quantity-wise.
We pass by the hospital I want to work at on our way to the family shrine. It's your typical place: white exterior, big red cross, a few levels high, has a large parking area—the works. I'm able to see some spirits wandering around outside already; they all walk through things and wander around with no purpose. Another reason I want to work in medicine is because of that. If I get a job at a hospital, I can make money while I also help the yuurei who'd died there and haven't been able to move on.
We're right by the shrine when I see an old-looking house next-door. A young couple are packing things into a truck while another man nails a FOR SALE sign into the ground. On the porch, I see a little boy ghost looking sadly at them. How do I know he's a yuurei? His feet are going through the porch, making them touch solid earth; that should be enough proof. He's also a youkai, because there's youki coming off him. He must've wanted to try to talk to them, but scared them off instead; they're packing their things like they're in a rush, frightened for their lives. And yet, this kitsune's face looks extremely sad to see them go, as if it's happened a million times before, but he couldn't get used to it. I promise myself to go see him when I have the chance, just to brighten up his face a bit.
Finally, we stop in front of the shrine steps, Tsuyu coming to a soft pause before she rips the keys out of the ignition. "Ready?" she says. I have the feeling it's more towards herself, that we should be asking that, but Souta and I both nod anyways before grabbing some bags and rushing up the stairs.
It's a long trip, but finally, we make it to the top to see the shrine grounds. Souta's literally kissing the cement while I have to deal with Jii-chan, who beelines my way. "Kagome! Souta!" he croaks, giving me a wide grin. "How have you been? What're you doing here? I thought you weren't going to visit for a while!"
I blink and stare before blinking again. "Uh, Jii-chan?"
"Hm?" he says, leaning on his broom nonchalantly. He still looks astonished to see us.
I frown. "Tsuyu and I called you this morning; we talked a few hours ago. Souta and I have came to live here, remember?"
Now it's his turn to look confused as his eyes widen. "Your father's cousin Tsuyu's here?" Then, almost as if it was more shocking— "You called?"
Just then, Tsuyu walks onto the leveled grounds. "Yes, we called, Oji-chan." Ah. She must've heard most of it. "We told you through that phone call that Kagome and Souta were ready to come and live with you." She would never inform Jii-chan that his theory of youkai existing is true; she wouldn't tell him about my abilities or what I do, either. Honestly, I agree with this logic since it seems whenever something happens—a pen dropping, something disappearing—Jii-chan automatically assumes it's a demon coming to get us. I'd rather not increase his paranoia any further than we possibly have.
"Oh, I suppose you did," he said, though still sounding baffled and unconvinced. I sigh. "Well, what're you waiting for? Grab your bags and get in! Tsuyu, you can make some food for us!" My eyes narrow. Somehow, the topic of this family member being related to me is in question. Supposedly, he's my dad's dad, but secretly, I'm hoping he broke out of a mental asylum for old people and stole the identity of my real grandfather. This man's forgetful, traditional, stereotypical, and old.
As Souta lugs my bags for me, Jii-chan saying how the boy shouldn't let a woman do "a man's work", I spot something in the tree to the right of the shrine. In the way back is the house, to the left of that is the well house, and in other areas, there are the shacks and shop. But when you first enter, there's a tree—Goshinboku. I see movement coming from it and whip around to see what had caused it. Sadly, the tree's canopy is covering it up; all I see is feet and red hakama as I feel faint traces of youki. I wonder how a youkai got in here since shrines should have protective barriers to prevent demons from trespassing. With my hands ready to grab my weapons, I'm about to go investigate when Tsuyu's eyes fall on me—I can feel her worried stare. I sigh, telling myself I can go find out why a youkai's here later, and walk to the house with my second cousin at my side.
But I feel eyes on me the entire time.
A/N: That's the first chapter of SoulMate. Tell me what you think so far! ^.^
