How to Build a Fire Chapter 1, an inuyasha fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha...but I do own this disclaimer...and an old Brownies vest.

Enjoy!

'Ring! Ring!'

The merciless master that was the alarm clock issued a groan from a pile of green covers. They spit out a rather drunk looking arm, which fiddled around until it found the small, red button that was pressed far too frequently for its owner's liking.

"Ugh…"

Another groan came in muffled tones, before a mountain of raven-colored bed head emerged from dormancy.

Swinging her feet to the side of the bed, she found her slippers; eyes closed. She was rather good at this, after so many self-loathed years.

'6:30'. Great.'

It wasn't the earliest she had ever had to arise; why, all throughout high school-what fun-she had awoken none too bright eyed at a crisp hour of 5 in the morning. But, that was what she got for applying to a school half an hour away from her family's shrine.

'Well, it was a nice school. Not to mention the uniforms were cute…wonder what's for breakfast...how much money's in the retirement fund…eh?'

Her mind could not choose a topic to stick to at such an ungodly hour, so, she let it wander of its own accord.

She didn't take showers in the morning. This was a scheme of hers to 'conserve lighting' –aka- get an extra half an hour of sleep.

Trudging over to the sink in her none too cheery pink bathroom, she reached for her hair brush. The wood felt good as she wrapped her dazed fingers around it, carefully stroking what her little brother had liked to call, 'the lion's mane.'

When she could see her face through half closed lids in the mirror once again, she sloshed cold water in her face.

After drying it off, she grabbed her toothbrush and cleaned like mad in an effort to get more sleeping time. However, she was unusually slow today, and alas, would receive no such reward.

Opening her closet, she quickly selected a gray suit-and-skirt ensemble, with a light blue undershirt to liven things up…a little bit.

Applying a small amount of make-up, which she hated wearing, and making sure that she looked decent, she shrugged up her bag, and locked the door to her little apartment.

Flying down the stairs after a tragic decision to look at her watch, she almost bumped into her neighbor, Miroku.

"Hey, are you okay Kagome?" he asked, attempting to help her regain her balance.

"Yeah…I'm just not a morning person, that's all. How are you, Miroku?"

"Oh," he looked at his feet, "I'm great. Nothing new. You?"

"About to be docked twenty dollars of my pay check for being late. See you la-,"

His hand was uncomfortably close to her posterior.

"Miroku…how is that…therapist, you're seeing, holding up with you as a patient."

He laughed, taking his hand away.

"Money is money- besides, I don't believe too much in that psychology mumbo-jumbo."

"Uh-huh. Well, I've got to get going. See you later!"

She raced down the stairs, a furious blush on her cheeks.

'The nerve of him! I try to help him by letting him see my mother at a discount- a discount, for crying out loud!- and he hasn't changed a bit!'

Starting her car, she drove out of the complex as quickly as she could.

At this rate, they wouldn't pay her at all.

"Good morning class!"

"Good morning, Higurashi-sensei!"

Kagome set her bag down, and began to write on the new white-board they had installed in her classroom two years ago.

'Do pg. 3 in your math workbooks for practice.'

The children groaned a bit, their little third grade bodies quivering with ridiculous amounts of energy.

But, the second she put on that sweet smile of hers, all of the children set to work, their sole goal in life to impress her.

Turning back to the white board, she added something beneath her previous instructions.

'When you are done, come see me to check your answers. If you get a one hundred on your first try, I'll give you whichever sticker you want.'

Kagome was renowned as a teacher by her students for her collection of interesting and adorable stickers; and it was as good as gold to the boys and girls, demons and humans, who were scribbling away in an effort to claim their favorite ones.

Sitting down at the desk, she flipped through the science textbook, wondering how much homework to give for the night.

The first one to be done was Hitomi, of course, the smartest little girl in the class. The teacher scanned through the work, and when she was satisfied that her student was correct, she opened her drawer, and drew out a big, red box.

Undoing the latch, with a special key, she opened it, and allowed the mesmerized girl to take a peak inside the fabled treasure chest.

"When you see the one that you want, take it, and return to your seat."

Hitomi stood there for a few moments, contemplating on the most difficult choice: a pretty purple unicorn, or a bunny rabbit with soft, white fur.

In the end, the rabbit's natural charm prevailed, and she returned satisfied to her desk.

Kagome's eyes sparkled, fondness pouring through the soft brown edges of her sight. This was why she enjoyed being a teacher.

When the school bell rang, and she had dismissed her class, Kagome began to clean off the white-board, and wrote new words upon it.

'Welcome, Mikos! Today's Lesson: The Code of Rules.'

In addition to being one of the third grade teachers, Kagome also had the pleasure of being the new leader of the Miko Scout Troop #15.

She had been a Miko Scout growing up; and whenever she saw the red caps and vests, her heart fluttered with nostalgia.

Today would be her first day as the troop leader, and she was excited and nervous at the same time. Trying to calm herself down, she failed to notice the first little girl enter the room.

"Excuse me, Ms. Uh…"

"Oh," she turned quickly, embarrassed for not making a very good first impression.

"It's Ms. Higurashi."

"Oh, Ms. Higurashi, that's a very pretty name. Mine is Rin."

The little girl was wearing red shorts, and a little white shirt, indicating that she wished to join the Miko Scouts, as she seemed to be dressed in every bit of matching uniform she could find.

"Hello Rin. I think that's a pretty name, too. Are you here to join the Miko Scouts?"

"Uh-huh! Lord Sesshomaru thinks that it would be good for me to join a group."

The teacher nodded, dismissing the odd reference to 'Lord Sesshomaru', whoever he might be to the young girl.

"Well, he's right! You'll have a lot of fun!"

She looked a bit uneasy now, her foot making circles on the classroom floor.

"What do we do, Ms. Higurashi?"

"Lots of fun things, Rin! Let's see…you can make friends, help people, and learn important things about life and nature, and-,"

"Hey! Is this the Miko Scout room?"

The teacher and the student turned to see a small thunder demon, looking up at them expectantly from the doorway.

"Oh-yes, yes it is!" Kagome responded quickly with a smile.

"My name is Soten. I'd like to join."

"Alright, well then," she fished through her bag, pulling out a clipboard and a stubby purple pencil.

"Here you go! Write your name, class, and phone number in one of those lines." She pointed to the second blank log entry on the piece of paper attached to the writing surface.

Soten held the clipboard in her small hand, and with none-too-little grace, scribbled out her name, and the required information.

When she was finished, she handed it back to Kagome. Her eyes hurt as she tried to decipher the illegible hand-writing that doomed the page.

'Uh…well…'

"Here Rin, I'd like you to do the same, please."

As the girl was filling out the first log entry, two more girls entered the room. They were Hitomi, and another girl from Kagome's class named, Satsuki.

After explaining the directions once again, she sat at her desk and fished out her vest and red cap. Putting it over her blue shirt, she felt immense pride well-up inside of her.

'Just like old times…' she reminisced.

Fixing the cap atop her head, she turned to see the admiring eyes of the four little girls.

"You look so pretty, Ms. Higurashi." Rin smiled up at her.

The teacher blushed a bit, flattered and grateful that at least she looked good in uniform.

"Thank you, Rin. And you know what, all of you get uniforms just like it!"

Four pairs of eyes shone despite themselves, thrilled at the prospect of an enforced dress code.

"So, as soon as possible, bring in 1,000 yen and I'll give you each one of your own vests and hats. Now, if you could all take a seat, we'll begin in about twenty minutes."

After about twenty minutes, four more girls had shown up: Koume, a cute little girl with short pigtails, Mayu, another student in Kagome's class, Ai, the youngest girl in the Scouts, and Moegi, a quiet girl who studied in the classroom next door to her own.

Impressed with the turn-out, she went through her bag yet again, preparing to welcome all of the students who had come to join her troop.

"Welcome! My name is Ms. Kagome Higurashi, but you can call me Ms. Kagome or Ms. Higurashi. This is Miko Scout Troop 15, and it's great to see you all here! Have all of you signed the sheet?"

The eight girls nodded in unison, plainly excited at the idea of being Miko Scouts.

"Alright then. I'll begin by telling you all something about myself. Then, I'd like you all to tell me something about yourselves."

Clearing her throat, she began, "My family owns a shrine, I have a little brother named Sota, and I love dogs."

Nodding for the girls to begin, she looked expectantly at Moegi, who was in the front row at the far left of the room, by the door, from Kagome's perspective.

Moegi looked a bit shy, alerting the new troop leader that that might be a skill to work on while she was a part of their group.

"I'm Moegi. I like to read." She spoke quietly.

"Nice to meet you, Moegi. I like reading as well."

The smallest girl, Ai, was next.

"My name is Ai, and I love to swim!"

Kagome smiled at the confident and energetic half-demon. Moegi, also a half-demon, was by tradition, in a bit of a socially awkward position. Being neither human nor demon, they had never been fully accepted by either race. However, there were exceptions to every rule, they were just hard to find sometimes.

That was one of Kagome's goals: to provide a place to be yourself, and to create an accepting and nurturing environment, no matter if you were demon, or human, or half-demon.

"My name is Koume, and I have a cat named Kuroro!"

They continued in a line.

"I'm Mayu, and I like to watch fireworks and go to festivals!"

"My name is Satsuki, and I have a big brother who's in the war!"

"My name is Hitomi, and I have a white rabbit at my house!"

"I'm Soten, and my best friend is a dragon named Koryuu!"

Finally they reached Rin.

"My name is Rin, and I will always be with Lord Sesshomaru!"

The other girls just stared. Rin shrank awkwardly down into her seat, cheeks red.

Kagome felt instant pity. From the looks the little girl had been given, it was apparent that Lord Sesshomaru must be a demon. It was one thing to be a half-demon, but being a human taken care of by a demon was a rarity that was frowned upon.

'Poor girl…I don't think there's anything wrong in being with a demon. He probably cares for her as much as any human guardian would.'

"That's very nice, Rin! You should bring in Lord Sesshomaru one day, so that we can meet him!"

Rin perked up, though her answer didn't match her enthusiastic expression.

"That would be great! But he probably won't come."

"Oh," Kagome looked sad. Demons tended to avoid school contact. It was still a new principle to ancient beings such as themselves.

"But I'll ask him anyway!" The little girl smiled with determination.

The other girls did not look at her so strangely, but they made no effort to communicate their agreements either.

"Well, now that we've all met, we'll recite the Miko Scout Promise! Repeat after me," Kagome instructed with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

"On my honor, I will try:"

"On my honor, I will try:" they repeated.

"To serve Kami, and my country."

"To serve Kami, and my country." They chorused.

"To help humans and demons at all times,"

"To help humans and demons at all times," they echoed.

"And to live by the Miko Scout Law."

"And to live by the Miko Scout Law." They finished.

"Great! Now, we'll recite the Miko Scout Law!"

"Repeat after me," she instructed, right hand in air: pledge stance.

"I will do my best to be:"

"Honest and fair,"

"Friendly and helpful,"

"Considerate and caring,"

"Courageous and strong,"

"And responsible for what I say and do,"

"and to respect myself and others,"

"Respect authority,"

"Use resources wisely,"

"Make the world a better place,"

"And be a sister to every Miko Scout."

Kagome's eyes shone.

"Alright! That's it for today! Next week, for our next meeting, I'd like for you to bring the thing that's most important to you to the meeting, okay?"

"Okay!" the girls shouted in unison.

"Great, now your Moms and Dads are waiting for you! Don't forget, if you want a vest and a hat, bring 1,000 yen to the next meeting!"

"Thank you, Ms. Kagome!"

And with that, they were gone.

She smiled, wiping the sweat from her brow.

'Today's been a great day, huh?'

"So, what do you say? Will you please be the troop leader, since their old one had to retire?"

"Keh. If all I hafta' do is watch a couple of brats, then fine."

Miroku smiled, his heart pitying the Youkai Scouts who were about to follow his best friend's every order.

But in truth, his friend did not even realize what he was getting himself into.

So, how was it? Sorry if it's not that great, but I'll work as hard as I can to improve it (maybe I should write while on the treadmill...all this pocky is goin' to my thighs!)

Well, please review, if you would like, and thank you for reading the first chapter! Also, if anyone would like to correct me on any incorrectness (not sure if that's a word) in the story, involving Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts, let me know in a review! I would really appreciate that! I hope you will continue to read this story in the future!

Have a GREAT day!

Byebee:3

TohrutheGreat