A very good day to whoever is going to read this story!
I can't believe I'm dabbling in a Sesshomaru romance.
I've been a big fan of Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's always been a particular favourite, but he's such a pain in the neck to make a romantic story for.. All kinds of OC's have been auditioning in my head for practically forever, but they never feel quite right to me.
Personally I still think youkai ending up romantically with humans is a rarity in the Inuyasha universe and, although by the end of the 'fairytale' Sesshomaru has come to learn that there are good and even beautiful sides to humans, I just can't see him ending up with one.
Apart from that I've always been a little bugged by the fact that there are such awesomely powerful youkai in the feudal era, yet none are left in Kagome's modern day... Soo I decided to delve into that and give it my own spin!
In this story, I'm following the anime canon.. let's see if you can figure out which episode I'm tucking my OC into it ;)
All credit for the Inuyasha tale goes to Rumiko Takahashi, I do not own a thing.
Dear diary,
My name is Constance Harris. Or well, that's the name my adoptive parents decided to give me. They found me abandoned in a seashore cave when I was a baby and, despite my peculiarities, decided to take me in.
I say pecurliarities because, unlike 'normal' children, something about me appears to be slightly 'off'. Or so my ever evasive little brother John once told me. I suspect my pointy ears and overly large canines have some influence on that, not to mention the fact that I have a very strange kind of mole on my chest.
The combination of these oddities and the superstitions that plague most people, have led to my parents keeping my existence hidden.
Which is why I would've started this diary entry by saying something like: 'but my friends call me Connie or Stanzi.' if not for the fact that I don't actually have any friends...
Dear diary,
Recently, we received an unexpected call from some pillagers, something not uncommon on these pirate infested islands, though they rarely ever treck this far land inwards.
They threatened my family and I'm sure they would've hurt us if not killed us all, but my anger at them was so extreme that I quite literally turned into a vicious animal and ripped them apart. I'm afraid my family has been keeping their distance ever since, until my father gave me this diary. I suspect it's his way of apologizing that they can't help me, that they do not understand what I am and are even somewhat scared of me.
Perhaps they hope writing will have a calming effect on me and prevent me from turning into a monster yet again?
Dear diary,
I know I should write more often, but I just can't seem to find the time to sit still long enough. I prefer to be out and about, running through the endless stretches of forest surrounding us. I brought down a Jaguar twice my size the other day, I'm ashamed to admit I ate it raw and absolutely loved it. I've never tasted anything so revitalizing in my life!
I'm pretty sure my family would cringe in horror if I told them...
Dear diary,
It gets really frustrating sometimes that, despite having reached my eighteenth birthday well over a month ago, my parents still treat me like an infant. I understand it's difficult to let go of that idea, even I don't know why I still look like I'm only six...
Dear diary,
John came home from his overseas education. I'm afraid our years apart have quite estranged us. he has changed a lot and I appear to have barely changed at all, at least physically. He dared make fun of me for not being feminine with my short hair, though he was quick to recoil when I accidentally growled at him. I can't help that my hair's so short, I wish it would grow...
Dear diary,
I have decided to leave home and go in search of others like me, or whatever information I might find, about what it is that I am. I have come to accept that I am not human, though I will not deny that it took me a very long time to truly embrace this fact. Save for my few oddities, I appear human enough after all. Except yesterday, I no longer did. I woke to my mother screaming in fear, only to realize I had paws instead of hands. Father and John came to her aid at once and tried to protect her from me! When I eventually regained my human form they appeared astonished, but no less frightened. John said I was a demon from the pits of hell, mother no longer appeared capable of speech.
Upon informing them of my decision, my parents seemed relieved and gave me the blanket they'd found me in and a book.
They told me they had found it with me in the cave, I did ask why they never gave it to me before, to which they explained that the book was unreadable. Sure enough, the book contains strange markings, but it gave me something to pursue and so I have gone in search of a linguist who might be able to help me...
Dear diary,
Being out in the open world isn't near as romantic as I'd pictured it. For other people's safety, I've learned the hard way that it's best to be mistaken for a boy. Easily enough done with my short hair and the overly large cap I tend to wear to hide my eartips. After going through a lot of trouble and people actually shooing me away from them, I finally managed to find a young teacher who told me the book's markings resembled an ancient language, he thought it could be Greek.
Seeing as it's the only clue I have to go on, I joined a sailing crew on a ship headed to the port of Rotterdam, from there I'll make my way to Greece and see what I'll find along the way.
Dear diary,
To prepare myself for this months long journey, I hunted, ate and drank untill I could take no more. But, despite being able to go prolonged periods without any food or water, I wish we'd get there already!
Living in such close quarters with dirty, smelly, loud mouthed men for such a long period of time isn't doing anything good for my overall mood.
I've been feeding my rations to the captain's dog when no one seems to be looking, which has caused for the beast to follow me around the ship all day. Some of the sailors are starting to fall ill and, despite no one having figured out that I'm a female due to serious lack of personal hygiene, several are starting to eye me in a way that makes me itch to rip their eyes out. I hope we reach shore before we start getting a body count...
Dear diary,
It's been a while since my last entry and I am now somewhere on the European mainland.
I'm relieved to be on foot again and have found that, with concentration, I can indeed transform into some kind of dog. Though the only reflection I've seen was in a body of water, which remains a little vague. In this form I can reach incredible speeds, and this, including of course an obvious lack of money, has made me decide to travel without further vehicles.
When I visit a town or village I still pretend to be a boy, both to avoid trouble and because their clothes are infinitely more practical than the corsets and dresses women tend to wear. Sure we wore dresses back home, but never anything quite as uncomfortable as what these women seem to be suffocating in. I'm currently lazying about in a tree, listening to the sounds of the night. I find it oddly relaxing to be on my own and to have the freedom to travel anywhere I wish.. perhaps I shall postpone my mission a little while longer.
Dear diary,
I've finally come across something I absolutely can not stand! Cold, cold, cold.. snow may be beautiful, but good lord is it cold! I've never shivered so much in my life. We never experienced true cold on the islands, but this is ridiculous. I raced across countries for days without stopping untill I reached a warmer climate in the south, I'm never going anywhere near cold lands ever again!
"Miss Harisu! Pay attention if you please, I'm trying to teach a class here. Being a straight A student does not give you the right to be rude during my teachings."
Closing the old leather bound diary with a delicate 'snap' she smiled an apologetic smile at her teacher and pretended to pay attention to the math problem he was explaining on the chalk board.
Why the balding middle aged man had gone into teaching was still a mystery to her, he most certainly didn't do a good job of making math understandable to the average person and, judging by the obvious signs of stress on his features, he wasn't even enjoying it.
Bored, she looked out of the window. She hadn't eaten in a while, perhaps she should go hunt when class was over. Glancing at the clock she realized she still had a little over half an hour to go and sighed deeply.
Kagome grit her teeth, these names didn't ring a single bell. Nibbling her pen in frustration she looked back down at her text book. Why couldn't they be studying the feudal era for history class? At least that period was familiar to her.
Thinking of the feudal era made her think of Inuyasha and she scowled. She should probably go back this weekend, but every time she thought of Inuyasha's misplaced anger at her over the Kouga thing she hesitated. Stupid, baka Inuyasha.
Suddenly, her head shot up and she looked out the window. She sensed a presence, somewhere nearby. Tentatively she tried to place it, it was definitely youki. Frowning, she scanned the classroom, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
She looked up at the clock, perhaps she could ask for a bathroom break. Fifteen minutes of class left, there was no way the teacher would let her go now, she'd have to wait it out. She shifted in her seat, how could such strong youki be felt here? In the present era?
Whatever it was, it couldn't be anything good...
When the bell finally rang she delicately placed the diary in its protective cover and put it in its special section in her book bag. Having thrown her math books inside without a care, she lifted the bag over her shoulder and stood up.
She was the last to leave the classroom and, as soon as she exited, immediately felt a pair of eyes on her. Looking to her right she noticed a group of four girls, one of whom was staring at her intently. She could've sworn she hadn't seen her before, but she was wearing the school uniform and was obviously friends with the other three, so there was no doubt she was a student here.
Shrugging, she head the other way towards the lockers.
She was just changing her shoes when the girl who had been staring showed up next to her, a wary kind of expression on her face as if she was afraid approaching her might end up being the last thing she ever did.
Constance finished pulling on her mary janes and straightened to place her school slippers inside her locker as she looked at the strange girl. She was pretty, pale skin, long raven hair and large brown eyes. "Can I help you?"
The girl looked her over, as if not quite believing that she was wearing the same outfit as herself or something.
A thought crossed her mind, but she deemed it unlikely. In all her travels, she'd met a few people who could tell she was different, that she wasn't human. But those cases had been rare and far between and usually they were older, with more life experience and a kind of zen lifestyle, like buddhist monks and such.
She noticed the girl's eyes darted to her nails, the ever long and sharp appendages were unfortunately rather difficult to cover up. Curling her hands away slightly, she picked up her bag and made to move away.
"What are you doing here?"
Raising a brow at the odd question she turned back around. "Have we met?"
The girl shook her head and narrowed her eyes.
"If you're after the jewel shards you can forget it."
Raising the second brow to match the first, Constance now gave the strange girl her full attention.
"Jewel shards? What jewel shards?"
"Don't play around with me, youkai. What other reason do you have for being in this school? I won't let you harm the students here if that's what you intend."
Constance blinked. Score one for the strange youngster, obviously she could tell she wasn't human after all.
Smirking slightly, she looked the girl over with renewed interest. She wasn't very tall, but quite slender. She looked like she was in good physical shape, probably worked out a lot or part of an intense sports club.
"Perhaps we should talk this over. Care to grab a drink?"
When the girl hesitated she snorted a laugh in amusement. "Don't worry, I won't bite. My name's Harris, Constance."
Still hesitant, the girl seemed to think over her options for a moment.
"Higurashiii!" Both girls turned to see an overly enthusiastic brown haired boy coming over. He came to a halt in front of them, smiling brightly.
"Higurashi! You're in school! Not sick anymore then?"
The girl named Higurashi started fidgeting a little uncomfortably, but smiled up at him.
"Would you like to go see a movie this weekend?"
"A movie?"
"Yes, we haven't seen each other lately."
The girl hesitated, looking away as if trying to come up with a good excuse to let him off easy. Constance leaned back casually against the lockers, watching the awkward scene unfold. She nodded to Hojo when he greeted her before eagerly turning his attention back to the black haired girl in front of him.
She remained silent for so long that eventually he spoke again. "Is Saturday a bad day for you?"
Her mouth barely opened to utter a reply when suddenly she was half tackled by two of the girls Constance had seen her with in the hall earlier. Eagerly responding in her place.
"She's going! Right Kagome?"
"She wants to go!"
Hojo's face lit up like a tree at Christmas. "Really?"
"Eh.. Hey!"
But Kagome's protest was fully ignored as Hojo waved his goodbye.
"Then this coming Saturday, okay?!"
Kagome pushed her friends off of her after Hojo had walked away.
"Hey, why'd you do that?!"
One of the girls gave her a determined look, almost as if scolding her. Constance couldn't deny the situation was kind of amusing.
"A normal guy like Hojo-kun is just right for you!"
The other girl thrust a finger in her face to emphasize their point.
"Yes! Someone stubborn and rough is not someone you should be seeing! Your future will be ruined!"
Kagome backed up slightly, obviously a little overwhelmed by the force of her friends' convictions. But the first girl wouldn't have it and grabbed hold of her, leaning her face close.
"You got that? You're definitely going to the movie!"
The somewhat awkward atmosphere seemed to go on for several minutes before the girl with the yellow hairband finally noticed they weren't alone and bowed slightly to Constance.
"Oh, hello Harisu-san. Sorry about the commotion."
Kagome turned to look at her friend.
"You know each other?"
Constance shrugged and pushed off from the lockers to stand straight again.
"Don't worry about it Eri-chan, it's quite entertaining."
Kagome gave her an odd look at her mentioning her friend's first name in such an informal manner, but Eri soon explained.
"Harisu-san is a senior, she sometimes tutors me to help with exams." Her face lit up and she looked enthusiastically at Kagome. "You should get some extra tutoring Kagome, with all your illnesses it would be a big help. Harisu-san is really good."
Constance smiled serenely at Kagome who was staring at her as though she'd just seen a pig fly by.
Yuka looked at her watch and tsk'd. "Ah, I'm going to be late!"
She grabbed Eri by the arm and started dragging her off. "Don't forget Kagome! You're going to the movies this weekend!"
Kagome stared after her friends, shaking her head before looking back up at Constance, eyeing her speculatively.
Then she sighed.
"Well, let's go have that drink then."
They went to a quaint little coffee shop, neither speaking and the atmosphere slightly tense. Constance was mostly curious, it was after all very rare to encounter a human who realized she wasn't what she appeared to be.
The Higurashi girl seemed quite high strung though, as if ready to defend herself should the need arise. It was an odd reaction, normally when she came across someone who was aware of her, they showcased one of two reactions. Either they became scared witless and started praying to their god as if she was the devil incarnate. Or they became all scholarly and curious, wanting to find out what she was and where she came from.
It was the latter that always helped her gain a lot more knowledge of local myths and legends in whatever area she found herself at that time.
But this girl just seemed wary of her, almost as if she had had experience with non-human creatures before and had reason to be on her guard.
She shook her head, that was ridiculous, she'd wandered the planet for three centuries for goodness sake, she was the only one of her kind. And if there had ever been more, then this girl sure as hell had never met them.
They took a seat across from each other, a waiter soon asking them for their order. Constance leaned back in her chair, waiting for the girl to speak.
"So if you're not after the shards and you've been in the school long enough to tutor people, what exactly are you doing here?"
Constance thanked the waiter for her tea before looking back at the girl again.
"First off, it's quite rude that you haven't introduced yourself yet. And secondly, I have every right to go where I please, I owe you no explanation."
Kagome was slightly taken aback, but soon remembered her manners.
"I'm sorry, my name's Kagome, Higurashi Kagome. And I'm asking because in my experience youkai tend to be up to something, especially when they show up around me."
Constance's cup froze halfway to her mouth and she cast the raven haired girl an incredulous look.
"In your 'experience'? Are you saying you've met others?"
Kagome hesitated. "Well, not around here no."
Constance narrowed her eyes. "Where then?"
She shrugged, laughing uncomfortably. "That's a long story."
Constance leaned forward. "Time is something I have plenty of. Where have you met others like me?"
Kagome looked her over curiously after that adamant reaction, her eyes widening slightly when she came to a realization. "You've never met others have you?"
Constance frowned, then sighed and leaned back. What the heck, she had nothing to lose anyway, worst that could happen was Kagome ending up in a loony bin.
"No, I haven't. I've been travelling forever to find out more about myself and if there are others. I never found more than myths, legends and whispers of creatures that, if they ever existed, are now long gone."
She calmly took a sip from her tea before continuing.
"Your school's students gain access to the Tokyo library's restricted section, albeit under supervision. I enrolled because of that, though I can't say I've found anything very useful yet. I'd have preferred university really, but even after centuries I can only pass for seventeen."
Kagome looked at her in wonder. She couldn't imagine what it must've been like, not knowing who or what you are, trying to find clues around the world year after year. At least Inuyasha had always known he was a Hanyou, even if he was scorned for it, he knew what he was and where he came from.
Constance saw the pity forming in the other girl's expression and rolled her eyes.
"Well? Are you going to talk? Or do you intend to just stare at me all day feeling sorry for me?"
Kagome blushed and shook her head. "No, sorry."
"How'd you even know I wasn't human by the way?"
Kagome perked up at that and absentmindedly stirred her iced tea as she answered.
"Oh, that's easy, your youki is quite strong. You're not even trying to hide it are you?"
Constance quirked a brow, obviously not getting what she meant and Kagome shook her head.
"Nevermind." She bit her lip, then shrugged as if thinking 'what the hell, I might as well talk'.
"I've met other youkai in the past."
Constance stared at her with a 'no DUH' kind of expression and Kagome laughed.
"No, I mean literally, the past. I miss school a lot because I travel back in time.. it's why my gramps keeps coming up with exotic illnesses to cover for my absence."
Constance raised her brows. "You... travel back in time?" She was obviously sceptical, but decided to play ball anyway. "I've been in the past you know, weren't any youkai there either, if I even am one, I'm not even Japanese."
Kagome nodded enthusiastically. "Oh you're a youkai alright, though perhaps you'd call it demon? And I travel back to the feudal era, I'm not sure why there aren't any youkai left in this day, but I guess something happens to them between then and now." She thought for a moment before adding. "Or between then and whenever you were born, since they were gone already at that time it appears."
Constance thought this over for a while, the girl seemed to be ripe for the loony bin already. But honestly, she had nothing else to go on and it wasn't as if she appeared to be getting any older.
"Alright... let's say, for argument's sake, that I believe you. How are you going to the past? And why for that matter? You just leisurely study history as it unfolds for better grades or something?"
Kagome snorted. "I wish. I sort of ended up dragged there because of the Shikon no Tama and then I kind of shattered the stupid thing and now me and some others are working on finding the shards and putting it back together and all these youkai keep trying to take the shards and..."
"There are others who travel to the past with you?"
She shook her head. "No, my friends live there. One of them is a Hanyou."
Constance eyed her in a way that clearly conveyed she didn't understand and Kagome proceeded to explain about everything she'd experienced and learned in feudal Japan.
They weren't nearly finished when night started to fall and Kagome ended up inviting her over for dinner, which she accepted, though she didn't actually take anything besides water.
Apparently trusting her well enough, Kagome showed her the glass vial containing the two shards she and her friends had managed to collect not long ago, and she eyed them in wonder.
"So these are the shards you thought I wanted to take?" She looked them over curiously, as if slightly hypnotized by their pink glow. "They're odd, they seem to be... calling to me somehow."
Kagome nodded frantically and tucked the vial safely away again. "Yes, they grant power to the bearer and even wishes. But it almost always ends up in some kind of disaster." She sighed. "I think it's probably safer if no one used the jewel."
"So that's why you don't use it yourself?"
Kagome nodded. "I don't know, I guess it's my miko instincts warning me to stay the hell away from experimenting with it."
"And this Naraku guy was once human? and obsessed with your previous incarnation?"
Kagome nodded and Constance whistled. "That's some messed up shit." She laughed without humour. "Maybe all the demons are gone because that jewel of yours destroyed them all."
Kagome shook her head. "If someone would wish for all demons to be gone, I think the jewel would turn corrupt. It would be a selfish and harmfull wish. Such a wish would definitely have a backlash."
Constance shrugged. "Global warming?" She grinned sheepishly as Kagome snickered at her half assed joke.
By now Constance was convinced that, however surreal, Kagome's story must be true. Either that or she'd spend her entire fifteen years of life coming up with all these people and details of adventures she'd been on. And she didn't think anyone had quite that wild of an imagination.
"So..." She smirked as she casually leaned closer to Kagome. "how about you show me this well of yours?"
