Revision::
11/18/06 -- fixed typos and grammar, still searching for pre-readers, added a few paragraphs at the beginning of lunch scene
11/11/06 -- release date

Special Thanks to:
Celes Tempest

And to the person reading this.

Shards of the Spirit
by iCe
Chapter 1

Kagome woke up abruptly from her sleep, gasping for breath with perspiration lightly dotting her forehead. She rubbed the base of her hand between her eyes and took a deep breath. But no matter how hard she tried to remember, the dream wouldn't come back to her.

She had the niggling sense that she had forgotten something important, that her dreams were omens rather than just figments of the imagination. She peeked out of her window; the first rays of the sun were showing. She glanced at her watch, which read six-thirty. More than enough time to prepare for school.

Yawning, she stretched and put on her slippers. There was no use in dwelling on her dreams. They would come when they needed to come. When she opened her door she found Sota lingering there with a frown on his face.

Kagome knelt in front of him and smiled, offering her hand. "Morning, Sota. Did you want something?"

He stood in the hallway for a moment, undecided, and then finally shook his head and ran towards the dining room. Kagome scratched her head. Sota had become so withdrawn lately.

"Kagome, you should hurry up and prepare for school," a chiding voice from reminded her from behind. Kagome whirled around to see her grandfather, his hand gently prodding her in the back.

With an obedient nod, she went back inside her room to pick up her uniform and toiletries for a bath.

-

As soon as Kagome stepped into class people started calling out their well wishes in the form of, 'I hope you feel much better, Higurashi!' and some even jokingly suggested she take her health charms seriously.

Kagome frowned briefly, remembering that she had been sick on and off for the entire semester, without feeling any worse for wear. She was about to make a retort when the school chimes started. The people that had begun to surround her desk dispersed towards their seats and soon after, the teacher slid the door open.

"Stand. Bow. Sit," the monitor of the class intoned.

Their teacher smiled as she motioned towards the door. Kagome swiveled her gaze towards the door, where a student was standing waiting for the teacher's signal. "Please say a little about yourself, Mr. Inoue."

He approached the center of the room with a confident swagger, used to the introductions and being the center of attention. He was easy on the eyes, with long black hair tied neatly in a ponytail behind his back and gracefully swift movements. "I'm Inoue Yasuharu. I usually transfer a lot of times, but I'm hoping I'm staying here for good. Please take care of me."

Kagome frowned. There was something familiar niggling at the back of her mind. Certainly not the way he spoke, but the way he moved. Before she could pinpoint exactly what it was, the teacher pointed at the back of the class. "Take the empty chair behind Mr. Yoshimura, Mr. Inoue."

He nodded. Before he moved past her row, though, he made eye contact. There was a brief moment of surprise and then a small smile before he moved out of her peripheral vision. She shook her head and scowled. It would be just her luck if she picked up another playboy. She frowned at the thought. 'Another?'

Her reverie was broken by a small shove from behind her. "Higurashi, your name is being called."

Oops. "Present!" Kagome called.

"Ms. Higurashi, nice to see that you've recovered from -- what was it again?" The teacher raised an eyebrow and the class laughed. Someone supplied a sickness that Kagome could neither remember nor pronounce. Apparently the teacher couldn't either, because she just said, "Ahh. I was just about to mark you absent out of habit."

Kagome was merely thankful that she wouldn't have to explain her sudden bout of sickness. She couldn't really remember the specifics, just that she had been in bed rest for days and that this was the first time she had been able to come to school.

She sighed as she pulled out her notebook from her bag. She needed to study; she had missed a tremendous amount of lessons due to illness. Daydreaming in the middle of lessons was not an option.

-

Because the lessons seemed foreign to her, by the time the lunch bell rang, Kagome was extremely thankful for the break. She had shut her notebooks, deposited them under her desk as she opened her bento.

People had gathered around her again, wishing her well before Ayumi chased them off so that Kagome could have lunch in peace. The girls all laughed and waved goodbye to move towards the canteen to buy their own lunches. Ayumi, Eri and Yuka pulled up chairs and surrounded her table, depositing their bentos around her so that they could talk and eat at the same time.

It was a little crowded, but they managed to fit all four of their bentos in one table. Kagome then fast realized that whenever single-girls come together, the talk usually spirals down to their state of boyfriendlessness – if there was such a term.

By the time Yuka was lamenting, Kagome was already half tuning them out, wondering if there was any other form of conversation her friends knew other than boys and their love lives. So it had taken a while for Kagome, to realize that Eri was trying to get her attention.

"Ne, ne, Kagome," Eri prodded her in the middle of lunch. "The new kid is looking at you again."

Kagome tried to steal a subtle glance to her left and back, at the table of the new kid. He was staring. 'Great, another person to follow me around.' She paused at the thought. She shouldn't have arrived at that conclusion, and the only other person who was remotely following her around was Hojou-kun.

"I still say that Hojou-kun is the best for you," Yuka stated, leaning towards Kagome. "But you really should try and date, Kagome."

"What happened to the rough guy you brought around at the school festival?" Ayumi prodded, diverting Kagome's attention from Yasuharu. "Aren't you going to see him?"

"Rough . . . guy?" Kagome's brows knit in concentration. The only people she had 'brought' to the school festival were her family.

"Forget about him, Kagome," Eri dictated. Yuka was nodding in agreement. "You deserve someone better than a two-timer."

Kagome bit her lip. Her grandfather had explained to her haphazardly the other day that she might have gaps in her memory due to her illness. They were rather large gaps, spanning months on end. She groaned, deciding to tell her friends about her condition, rather than half-guessing who they were talking about. "Guys, I think I have some sort of amnesia."

"Ohhh, does that go with gastritis nowadays?" Yuka asked in contemplation.

"I thought it was heartburn," Eri corrected.

"Those are just two of the hundreds of things Kagome suffered this semester," Ayumi reminded them. She focused on Kagome again. "Truly, though, you don't remember what's-his-name? -- actually, I don't believe you ever mentioned his name."

Kagome closed her bento. She really did not want to talk about her nonexistent love life. She hadn't understood half of the lesson that morning and she didn't know when her next bout of illness was going to pop up.

She was saved from having to come up with a flimsy excuse to get away by Hojou peeking around the door. Kagome stood, and with a shove from Yuka, walked towards him. "Hojou-kun, what can I do for you?"

"Ahh, Higurashi-san, here are some therapeutic sandals. I hope it helps you with your sickness," he said, offering the sandals to her as soon as she stepped out of the classroom and away from the sight of her three friends. Kagome looked at it with a small smile as she accepted the package.

"Thank you, Hojou-kun, I'll wear them at home." Most of the time she never knew what to do with Hojou-kun's gifts. They were sweet, but they didn't seem to be helping with her health problems.

"Higurashi-san, I was wondering," he mumbled, half-stumbling over his words. "Could we meet up after school on Saturday?"

Kagome paused, she had only gone out with Hojou-kun once before. She nodded, deciding that it was her fault she couldn't form an opinion the last time she met with Hojou-kun since she had been sick in the middle of their date.

"Great!" Hojou exclaimed in eagerness as he went towards his own circle of friends. "I'll meet you after school on Saturday, okay?"

A small smile played at her lips. Hojou really was a sweet guy. She started to move towards the corridor leading to the library, to steal a few moments of quiet time, when she noticed the new boy closing the door of the classroom. He'd just stepped out of the room, and he wasn't looking directly at her.

"How about me, Kagome? Have you forgotten about me, too?" he murmured, releasing the door and walking away from her.

Kagome stared at his retreating back, a frown forming on her face. She peeked back at the classroom. Her friends all had happy smiles plastered on their faces. Was Inoue one of the people that her memories couldn't piece together?

She strode back to her desk again, leaning towards her three friends who were still surrounding it. "Guys, the guy you were talking about. The one I brought to the festival. Did you get a good look at him?"

"Yeah, you brought him over one other time too," Ayumi confirmed.

"Does he look anything like Inoue-kun?" Kagome inquired.

They shook their heads. Kagome glanced at the door again, rubbing the base of her palm against her forehead. What was it that she was forgetting?

Disclaimer: Kagome and Co. were borrowed from the brilliant mind of Rumiko Takahashi -- may she be able to finish Inu Yasha with spazz and finish finding out how the heck Sesshoumaru came to dislike that well-loved hanyou. (I can't believe I forgot to place a disclaimer)

Author's Notes:

I think releasing before any pre-reader was the worst mistake I have ever done in my entire fanfiction career (if there are such things).

It's bad form to release before an exam, bad form to release before anyone has seen it, or before anyone has preread it for me, but I wanted to release becuase I found out it was Inu Yasha's 10th year anniversary (and an Inu Yasha fic seemed the best way to commemorate it), and this has been sitting in my harddrive for some time now.

I have one pre-reader here, but if anyone is still up to the task, please PM/mail me. My usual pre-readers pre-read Ranma 1/2 and therefore they might not be willing to pre-read inu yasha.

For those who're reading this and reading Rend as well, the style will be different. Don't expect rend here.

This will be based on both the manga and the anime. My priority to finish will be Rend, (because man, it's just around three chapters + 2 epilogues away from the end) but I WILL finish this as well. (there I go breaking my own policy of starting another fic while one is still on going)

And speculations on what will happen is always welcome (I get to know if I'm so transparent or not).

Criticism is welcome. A little note of warning: I haven't read inu yasha fics in a while, I do not know fanon. Haha. I do still keep track of the manga and I own all of the anime and movies. (because I am a fan and therefore collect these things)

Until the next fic,
iCe

email: siuane at gmail dot com
livejournal: ice underscore of underscore dreams