Hostile

Chapter 1- Strange and Familiar.

Kagome sped past the commuters on the busy streets of Tokyo as best as she could. She needed to be home before Inuyasha decided to come and escort her. He'd had an attitude with her lately and she really didn't need to have another argument with him. She sighed as she continued her slight jog through the streets. Her life had been nothing but home and the Fuedal Era ever since she managed to graduate high school (with respectable grades to boot).

One would think that a nineteen year old girl would be focused on university life or friends or even a job, but not Kagome. She had the entire fate of the world on her hands. No big deal. To be honest, she'd much rather the stress of school. As she continued on her way to her house she caught a glimpse of stark white hair.

'That hair is so familiar. It couldn't be…'

She had a mini heart attack, thinking for a brief moment that Inuyasha had come to look for her in the streets of Tokyo. Oh goodness, if he had been parading Tokyo and brandishing his sword looking for her she would surely lose her mind. On closer inspection, she noted that the hair was very short with a modern cut on a very handsome young man about her age. Definitely not Inyuasha's wild, unkempt mane. As she stared at the oddly familiar face of the young man, she felt her body collide with another person.

The person grabbed her by her arms so that the recoil would not send her to the ground. She quickly caught her bearings and looked up to thank the stranger.

"Sesshoumaru?" She gasped.

"What are you doing here?!"

Sesshoumaru was just as stunned as she was at their encounter. He had an almost worried look in his eyes as he scanned the area. He gently released Kagome's arms and stared at her.

"Umm, Sesshoumaru? What are you doing in this time? How did you get here?" she asked him again, a nervous tinge in her voice. He was dressed very smartly in a tailored business suit. His markings were all gone but she could sense that that was as a result of a magic suppressor spell. His hair was still long and silky white down his back. He seemed to be the same Sesshoumaru she had left in the Fuedal Era being irritated by Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru had been on amicable terms with their group and had even started helping them acquire shards of the Shikon Jewel. He had become tentative friends with Kagome after all the time he was spending with their group, but she was still weary of him and the past they shared.

"I am a demon, Kagome. I have a very long life span."

She was taken aback by his response. Of course he would survive this long in the world. He was one of the most powerful demons she'd ever encountered. She could still feel his power under all of the masking spells he'd donned.

"Hey, Dad! I didn't find the store but I'm sure-" a voice came up to them.

Kagome glanced at the source of the voice. It was the handsome young man with the white hair.

Dad?!

Kagome looked from the young man to Sesshoumaru, flabbergasted. They were strikingly similar, but the young man held a softness to his features, a familiarity that she just couldn't place.

"I didn't know you were a father, Sesshoumaru," she managed to say.

The young man stared at her deeply. Sesshoumaru looked at her with a sad smile.

"Kenchi, that is enough. Go to the car." He commanded his son.

Kagome frowned in confusion as Kenchi followed his father's orders.

Sesshoumaru stared longingly into her eyes and said, "My dear Kagome, be strong. The coming months will be hard on you. Don't lose your gentle heart."

With that, he softly touched her cheek before resting a brief kiss on her lips. Kagome gasped, highly confused over his behaviour.

"What do you mean?" she questioned, but he had already disappeared into the crowd.

Her hand rested on her lips. She stared into the crowd, hoping she'd catch sight of him again so that she could force him to explain all that he'd just said, but he was gone. She shook her head, and continued on her way home.

Her legs pounded up the steps of the shrine as her mind raced over her encounter with Sesshoumaru.

"My dear Kagome, be strong. The coming months will be hard on you. Don't lose your gentle heart."

What could he have possibly meant by that?

She entered her house swiftly, noting that no one was home and more importantly, Inuyasha was not there for her. She grinned, picking up her already packed yellow backpack. She swung it over her shoulders before she skipped to the well. She let her feet dangle over the edge before jumping in. She smiled as the familiar swirl of magic surrounded her for only a second, then it was gone. She looked up and gone was the roof of her shrine and in its place was a clear, blue sky. She used the vines to the side of the well to pull herself out as she usually did. She flung her bag over before using one last serge of energy to heave herself out of the well and onto the grass. She dusted herself off and picked up her bag, eager to follow the trail back to Kaede's village to meet her friends.

She stopped. There was no trail. There was no cleared path for her to follow. There was only a thick, unwelcoming forest before her. Her heartbeat quickened. What was going on?

She heard the yips and barks of animals come from inside of the forest. They steadily grew louder and louder, competing in her ears with the sound of the blood pumping through her body.

Where is Inuyasha? What happened here?

A group of men burst through the forest, assessing her with their greedy eyes.

"Ah, told you I smelt something fresh fellas," one of them called. He had two horns protruding from the sides of his nose which grew in a curved manner like a hog's, threatening to grow down into his skull. His singular tuft of black hair in the centre of a pair of ears which were set atop his head made him look more like a cartoon character and less terrifying than other men.

"She smells a little funny, Fou," another cried. He had a long, reptilian tongue and blue skin.

"She may smell funny, but she's human. And she's young too. She's exactly what we've been looking for," the first hog, Fou grinned at her.

Kagome tried her best to keep her face impassive. These men were demons. They were low level demons, but were still powerful enough to take an almost human form. She was not far along enough in her miko training to combat this many demons.

Inuyasha where are you?

"Smell that boys? She's frightened," Fou smirked. The other men laughed and began easing their way towards her.

She took a couple steps back, dropping her bag in the process. She steadied her breathing, calling her power forth. She focused it into a tiny ball and aimed it at the nearest demon.

The man screamed and dropped to the floor. He writhed in pain as the scent of burning flesh began to fill the air.

"Witch! Sorceress!" the men cried out in anger as their companion slowly burned to death from Kagome's purification powers.

"Not a witch, a miko," Fou spat angrily.

Kagome continued to move back, edging away from the well and the demons surrounding her. That blast had significantly drained her energy. She was already feeling light headed.

Fou seemed to sense this. He grinned sinisterly.

"Mikos are rare, but an untrained miko is even rarer, my friends," he announced to his group.

"Let's take her in!" another voice called.

Kagome tried to blast out one last bit of miko energy before she turned and ran. She didn't get very far and soon she was being held down by the demons. She kicked and bit them but they refused to let her go. Her powers were spent and her energy was dwindling. She forced her face to show defiance and not the true terror and weariness that lurked in the pit of her stomach.

"Don't worry little miko, where you're going you'll need all that fight in you," Fou laughed as he motioned to his gang.

They bound her hands and feet, gagged her and blindfolded her before one of them lifted her onto his shoulder. She felt herself regretting using so much of her energy. Her mind was slowly slipping into unconsciousness.

The last thought that floated through her mind before she blacked out was, 'Where on earth is Inuyasha?'.