A/N: I promise I'll work on the other stories. Sorry for such a delay, for anyone looking forward to them. Physics is crazy.

A Separation of Necessity

Chapter 1: Prologue

The full moon rose out from under the stars, bathing the night in a soft glow, as a group of shivering children struggled to stay awake. They sat still, captivated by the warm, soothing voice retelling a story she herself had been told many times.

"Our magic all stems from our ancient ancestors. The ones that fought the youkai during the War of Inari. The day the gods granted us these powers, we gained independence…and then we lost our freedom.

The Strongest, intelligent youkai took advantage of these people with powers, and were able to control them with their cunning and smarts. They became slaves, only meant to breed more slaves with extraordinary supernatural powers like themselves. The strongest demons prevailed, while the weaker demons grew fewer in number, until only the strongest survived, and the entire human race was enslaved.

Then, a day came when the strongest youkai at the time – the great Inu no Taisho, wed one of the humans. A time of turmoil ensued between the four fiefs that existed at the time, and the other lords banded against Inu no Taisho to once again weed out what they deemed the weakest of the youkai. Before he left the Earth, he did all he could in his power to free as many humans as he could. The freed humans were ingenious, and used their limited resources to build small villages, and learned to fend themselves from any attacks."

The children smiled, knowingly.

"There are still four fiefs, but only two of the overlords have a personal obsession with humans. The bloodthirsty son of the late Inu no Taisho and Naraku, also known as the 'demon devourer'." Kagome looked around at the children, the fire in the centre lighting up their features with fear.

These tales were told every month so that the children of the village would know their history, and so that they would learn what was behind all the maddening secrecy of their lives.

She hated to tell the children that they could not go outside the boundaries of their village where the priestesses or priests could not protect them, or listen to the screams of another child with nightmares of the 'demon devourer', but this was her duty, and she had to follow it through with conviction.

Although she was only sixteen, she was the most compelling, and the children adored her, so she was chosen as storyteller. Also, as a priestess in training, she knew it was her duty to protect. Sometimes called too willful or carefree by the elders, she did not take her duties lightly. There was always a part of her that was scared for all of her village. A part of her that held deeply rooted nightmares of a demon with crimson eyes, and inky black hair, and the feeling of utter hopelessness. But, then again, she had never stepped foot outside the village- not once. Who was she to know if there was not a place where horrible things happened everyday, or that souls were sold in an instant?

Kagome smiled to herself laughing off her musings. No, she could not believe in such things. All she had ever felt was the love and comfort that radiated from her family and friends.

The children one-by-one, overcoming their initial scare as they always did, came up to her, and gave her a hug, and a kiss good night, as their parents ushered them home.

Under the full moon, everything looked so pure and untouched or touched with something pure, that she wanted to take it all in. She decided to take a walk, a stroll under the moonlight.

She started to sing a melodic tune, and like she always did, lost herself in the beauty of the forest.

"Shit," a man swore to himself nearby. "Where the hell is that damn statue?" Just then, his ears picked up the subtle tune above the sound of the wind. The voice was feminine, lilting, and entrancing. He crept behind a tree to find the source of the music. What he saw was a young girl waltzing with an invisible partner with the most beautiful sound he had ever heard, coming from her. He stood at the edge of the clearing and watched, waiting to be noticed.

Kagome instantly stopped when she felt a strong demanding presence. She whipped around, and was suddenly face-to-face with the most handsome man she had ever seen with eyes that left her breathless. Were they real? Her hand reached out to his face.

-but before it reached its destination, his hand pushed it out of the way, and the spell was broken. She blushed, embarrassed by her blatant indecency, and apologized. The man silently marveled at her. "I was wondering if you know how to get to a statue?"

Kagome debated on whether she should run back to the village, or try to help him, but he was a man, and it was dark. Only one of those conditions would be needed for the whole arrangement to be considered dangerous. Against her better judgment, she replied, "Do you mean the one of the miko Midoriko?"

"Hai."

"I am sorry, but it is out of the village boundaries." The famous statue of the legendary Midoriko was kept outside the village boundaries for valid purposes. The attraction and lore of the powerful shikon jewel drew many unwanted visitors.

He looked bewildered at her answer, so she explained further. "Our village has boundaries we have to abide to, so that demons cannot find us. We cannot leave its protection." She figured it was okay to explain their situation, since he was able to pass the boundary on the village. Only humans were able to do so anyways.

He still did not seem satisfied by her answer. "I do know where it is, but I've never been outside," she whispered, and pulled away from his molten gold eyes.

The man cocked his head to the side, and a brilliant wry grin spread across his face. "Why not try it now?"

Kagome looked up at him again, with a captivation that scared her.

They left.