Altered Essence

Chapter One

Goody Two-Shoes

Author: Aqua Butterfly

Author's Note: Whoa! Have I been busy! I had my second test in World History since Christmas break ended this morning and I have a Biology test tomorrow! But I tried to make this a quick(ish?) update for all you wonderful people. Please remember to review after you read, reviews really are awesomely amazing! And now, I present to you, chapter one of Altered Essence! Enjoy! XOXO, AB

Disclaimer: (My bad! I forgot to include this in the prelude.) I do not own Inuyasha, the characters, or Katy Perry.

X

Monday mornings are often considered the worst part of the entire week by many, many people. The exciting weekend heralds the way for the first weekday, leaving one tired and grumpy from their late-night partying or whatever they choose to do on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night.

Kagome Higurashi just so happened to be one of these precious 'Monday-haters'.

'--you're yes then you're no, you're in then you're out, you're up then you're down--'

Kagome groaned, and without opening her eyes hit the snooze button on her radio-alarm clock for the eighth time that morning. She wondered vaguely who had switched the station from hits to oldies, but dismissed the thought as she shifted her position in bed and felt a sharp pain just at the top of her head.

"Ow! What the-" she sat up and gently pressed her fingers where the pain was now rapidly fading. And, sure enough, right beneath her ring finger and pinky was a particularly large bulge. It throbbed at her touch, and she hissed quietly in pain.

Three beds down there was a small motion beneath the blankets. "Stop yelling…!" groaned the voice of Eri, who's eyes were now squinting up at Kagome as she tried unsuccessfully to shade herself from the sun with her sheets.

"I'm not yelling!" snapped Kagome. She tried again to examine the bump, but found it impossible to do so without wincing. "Ouch… I think hurt my head…"

Eri stretched and pushed herself up onto her elbows. Eying her roommate with a incredulous expression, she asked, "Don't you remember last night at all?"

"Er… you guys were throwing me a fifteenth birthday party in room seven-oh-five?"

"Go on."

Kagome tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"I snuck out, and - oh!" Memories flooded into Kagome's mind with such speed that she plunked back down upon her bed once more--though not without being cautious of her injured head. "I was almost caught by an S.D.."

Sensory Detectors, or S.D.s, were commonly seen around the dorms and school buildings after curfew, and were basically the most important and advanced alarm system for The Institution. They were balls of metal roughly the size of a basketball, and they hovering approximately five feet off of the ground. The metal they were composed of clicked softly, almost menacingly, as they drifted around the corridors. Their gears shifting and aluminum sliding with every inch they moved.

If the S.D.s detected any living presence that's DNA wasn't programmed into it's database, it would immediately notify the headmaster of The Institution. It did something else too, something that kept the troublemakers at bay while the authority figures made their way to the "scene of the crime". But no one knew exactly what.

Eri's head bobbed excitedly. "Yeah. You just missed it! Me, Yuka, Ayumi, and that girl that always picks her nose at dinner were all watching through the window of the classroom door. You just kind of collapsed at the exact moment it came across the corner. It looked like you had fainted or something…"

Yes, Kagome remembered that quite clearly. She remembered the cold chill of dread as the ominous click, click, click echoed through the empty halls; her muscles flexing in fear. The way time seemed to have slowed down as Kagome had let herself fall backward…

"It was way awesome though!" assured Eri. "It looked like you were a secret agent in a spy movie!"

Kagome laughed, but grimaced as her lump gave a particularly nasty throb.

"It doesn't feel awesome." Kagome grumbled.

"But the party was still great!" said Eri, as if that dismissed the fact. "Yuka got beer and Ayumi managed to bring the really good stuff. Your fabulous fifteenth was the best bash since Nabiki Fujioka's seventeenth, and she didn't even have alcohol!"

"Ick," said Kagome, sticking her tongue out in distaste. She'd never really enjoyed drinking. Give her a good old can of pop over a shot of vodka any day!

Eri giggled, "Have you ever even tasted it?

No.

"Sure. Loads of times," murmured Kagome. A little too quickly.

"Hah! Liar liar! As a friend, I advise that you try it sooner rather than later. I promise you won't be disappointed."

Kagome gritted her teeth quietly. Eri was seventeen, and therefore in her sixth form compared to Kagome's fourth. It really wasn't fair for a girl two years older to mock the inexperience of a fifteen year old. For goodness's sake, Eri had slept with her stuffed koala up until last year! And for goodness sake's again, Kagome wasn't even that fond of Eri! In fact, she'd barely consider themselves 'roommates' (Eri was always out partying or something) let alone friends!

"Ugh. Go away."

"You're such a goody-two-shoes!"

"No, I'm not."

Yes you are!"

"No. I'm am not."

"Yes huh!"

"Shut up!"

"Alright, Little Miss Perfect," said Eri, raising her eyebrows. "Prove that you're not always such a stiff… Skip gym with me today."

"Oh," said Kagome, biting her lip. "Uh…"

"C'mon!" whined Eri. "You never miss class! One time won't hurt!"

Uh. Yes it would.

Kagome was pretty much the perfect scholar. She was never late to class, never turned in an assignment late, and was always the first one to participate in class discussions. But there was a reason for Kagome being such a model student. A very good reason, in fact.

Kagome wished very much to be one of The Chosen.

You see, every Monday morning, just as everyone was settling down to eat breakfast, a different man or woman--dressed in very professional and expensive looking clothing--would enter the dining hall through the large set of double doors, read one or two peoples' names off of a slip of paper, and then leave with them. After that, the teenagers were never seen or heard of again. (The ones that were taken were always teenagers. It was the only requirement.)

Everyone that was Chosen was usually ecstatic about it. After all, who wouldn't be glad at a chance to leave The Institution? To escape the fate that had been decided for you since before you could walk and talk.

No.

The fate that had been decided before you were even born.

It was just the way that society ran nowadays. Children were born, they were taken from their home, and they lived at The Institution until they turned eighteen. When their eighteenth birthday finally arrived, they were sent off to different specialty schools to further study what they were best at, and after four years of lessons they were sent off to cities to work at whatever job they were assigned.

The cycle then repeated itself.

Indeed, it was a dull and boring life… But not for those whose names were on the list. Those were the privileged ones that were able to break the chain. The ones who were too remarkable to follow society. They were different. They were intelligent, beautiful, and athletic. They were special. They were wonderful.

Which was why Kagome wished with all her might that her name might appear on the list. She wanted to be a leader, not a follower. She wanted a full and exciting life, not one barred by all the stupid regulations the government established.

And if she skipped gym, Kagome felt that she certainly wouldn't be Chosen.

"I-I'm hungry! … I'm going down to breakfast," grumbled Kagome, bouncing out of bed and hiding her red face as Eri howled with laughter.

"See! You are a pansy!"

"So?"

"Well," said Eri, a bit smugly. "If you haven't noticed, It's too late for breakfast now, Kagome. Have you even bothered to look at the time?"

Kagome's eyes immediately moved to check the clock. Whoops. Looked like she had hit the snooze button a few more times than she had originally thought.

Eri sighed. "It's after nine, which means breakfast is already over." she informed. "And even if we left right this very second we'd still be late for gym. So why don't you just go ahead and pass that class for today?"

Ugh! Kagome hated to lose an argument!

"Fine," cried Kagome, throwing her hands up in defeat. "Fine. Whatever. But I'm still dressing in uniform!"

"Did I ever say you didn't have to?"

X

Kagome trotted nervously behind her sixth form roommate as they crossed the massive (yet oddly deserted) courtyard. She was nervous. No. She was downright terrified. What if they got caught?! What if they got in serious trouble?! What if she passed out from hunger?! And no matter how many times Eri told her to "chill" or to "relax", Kagome couldn't keep her eyes from darting about anxiously.

"God, Kagome. Take a deep soothing breath or something!" scolded Eri, yet again. "We're not going to get caught."

Mentally, Kagome thought that if they did indeed get caught, her dear friend would find her stuffed koala bear with it's button-eyes gauged out.

"I know. I know… I'm just scared."

"Scared of what? Lions and tigers and bears?"

"Oh, hah hah! I'm scared… because… because--"

Eri shushed her. "See, you don't even have a reason! You've snuck out before, how's that so much different than this?"

"Well, everyone sneaks out! The teachers don't even mind if they catch you, it's only if you get caught by an S.D. if you're really in trouble. But no one skips class…!" said Kagome, and finished with a tiny, dramatic moan of dread.

"Ugh. Shut up."

"You're the one that asked!" snapped Kagome, then a new thought occurred to her. "What are we even going to do, anyway?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yep."

"Well, that doesn't sound like much fun." Kagome glanced sadly over her shoulder. "I would have rather gone to gym! Or at least to breakfast…"

"If you want we could go swimming!" Eri grined. "I've heard that there's a little lake to the west of the perimeter fence…"

Oh! Swimming! Kagome had only ever went swimming once before. Of course, she had almost drowned but--

"Woah! Hold the phone!" shrieked Kagome, and stopped mid-step, causing herself to stumble slightly. Eri paused also. "We're crossing the border!?"

"Hell yes. As if there's anything to do inside this prison!"

Oh, hell no!

Kagome placed her hands heatedly on her hips. "You listen here, missy! I am not--in any way, shape, or form--going outside of The Institution grounds. That's just plain stupid!"

"How so?"

Kagome rolled her eyes and smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand, which clearly stood for 'What the heck, Eri. Are you two kinds of crazy?!'. Everyone knew about the security laser that followed the school's outer limits. It kept the students in, and it also kept the people who wanted to cause trouble at The Institution out. From what Kagome had heard, the laser was about twelve yards from the outside of the perimeter wall (Which, by the way, was taller than the fourth floor of the school building. Kagome hadn't the slightest idea of how they were going to climb over that.) and the moment one crossed it the whole entire school would be alerted.

"Has anyone actually ever seen that stupid laser thingy?" Eri asked calmly.

Kagome opened her mouth, but quickly closed it again. Now that she thought of it, Kagome had never heard of anyone except for the professors speak of the security laser.

"Exactly. And have you ever heard an alarm of any sort go off that signaled that a student had 'crossed the border' or whatever?"

Now Kagome had an answer for this one!

"That's only because no one is stupid enough to try!" said Kagome, but her face was a brilliant shade of red. It might now have been a good answer… But it was an answer nonetheless.

"Don't be dense! Can't you see? The stupid teachers are telling us lies!" cried Eri. She certainly wasn't calm anymore. Her face was more red than Kagome's and her breathing was uneven. "They're always feeding us bullshit; trying to scare us out of being ourselves. Out of being individuals. They're not creating people at The Institution, they're creating clones!"

Kagome was quiet as she watched Eri's face turn from scarlet to pink. It wasn't until after her breathing had slowed before Kagome dared to speak, "Eri, it's okay. You can't say it's all that bad here! People have… personalities here! Kids are breaking rules all the time and… and stuff."

"Whatever, Kagome. Whatever," sighed Eri. She seemed very tired all of a sudden, and Kagome noticed that she looked close to tears. However, before she could comfort her, Eri turned on her heels and began to walk again.

"Are you coming?" she snapped. "We're almost there."

"Y-Yeah."

The two girls had made it across the courtyard, and were now making their way between the Boy's Academy and the Girl's Academy. The Institution was a semi-coed establishment, and it had been since it was first recognized over fifty years ago. Boys and girls both lived within it's boundaries, but they had separate living quarters and separate schedules and even separate buildings for classes. The teacher's were also very strict when it came to opposite sexes interacting with one another, and on the rare occasions that one gender was in close proximity with the other, the professors made certain that they didn't speak to one another or intermingle in any way possible.

Because of this, Kagome had never really gotten to know anyone of the opposite sex. She had a brother, but she never saw him since he lived at a separate establishment that had a different holiday outline than her own; she had a father once too, but Kagome couldn't remember him and her mother got all teary-eyed and sad whenever he was mentioned .

Eri was looking up at the Boy's Academy with forlorn eyes. "I met a guy." she suddenly announced.

"Really?" Kagome asked, her eyebrows jolting up in surprise. "What was his name?"

"Hojo. I met him sneaking out about three months ago," said Eri. "He was nice."

"W-Well that's cool," murmured Kagome, unable to think of anything else intelligent to say. The first non-related male a female "formally" met was supposed to be her husband, as was how that particular practice had been for the past forty years. And the girl didn't even get to choose the guy. A computer did the matchmaking.

Eri began to speak again, making Kagome feel even more uncomfortable. "He tried to visit, but there's something about the security measures… the girl's dorm can tell if it's a male trying to enter."

"Oh. Wow, that's--"

"Hojo got kicked out."

Silence.

Kagome blinked twice. Trying her best to clear the shock from her face. "That can actually happen…?"

"Yeah. He was almost eighteen anyway. He was just sent to another establishment." said Eri. She looked as if she were about to cry. Again.

Kagome had no clue what to say. Privately, she agreed with this method. The computer was supposed to pick your perfect match based on at least one thousand different facts and details. There was no way one couldn't fall absolutely and madly in love with their tech-chosen spouse. Was Eri actually wanting to get her heart broken?

Yet another reason why Kagome wasn't all that fond of Eri: she was bent on breaking the rules, even if it meant hurting herself (or her heart) in the process.

But suddenly an awful sound broke their intensely awkward silence.

Berooong, berooong, berooong!

"What the hell?!" Eri screamed, but Kagome didn't hear her. Loud, horrible sirens were blaring loudly in what seemed to be every direction.

And then Kagome saw it.

The Sensory Detector.

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(A/N: What was that? A Cliffhanger? Whoopsie!)