Chapter 1: The Miko & The Kitsune

~Normal POV~

Twenty-three year-old Kagome Higurashi was busy. Waking up everyday at 5:30 a.m. to shower, dress, make breakfast, and pack Shippo's lunch took her until 6:30 to complete. Then she had to go wake Shippo up and get him dressed, fed, and ready for school. At 7:15 a.m., she dropped him off at school on her way to work.

Kagome worked at a child welfare agency with her best friend Sango Taija. They helped to relocate children who were taken from abusive families or children whose parents had died and who had no living relatives.

Sango was seven years older than her and was the one who legally fostered Shippo until Kagome graduated from college. Sango'd helped Kagome with all her paperwork when she filed for adoption. After everything was said and done, she'd won the battle; Shippo was hers forever. S

hippo's adoption had created quite a stir, a human adopting a youkai? Her agency had handled all the inquiring press and had kept everything under wraps. She was one of their top workers and they didn't want to lose her.

Tomorrow was Shippo's seventh birthday (technically he's a lot older being a youkai, but as far as looking your age, he was about seven) and Kagome was busy preparing for it. After getting off work, she and Sango went to the store to finish getting decorations.

Miroku picked Shippo up from school for her. (Miroku is Sango's fiancé whom she met at one of her parents' dinner parties.)

While Sango and Kagome decorated the house for the party, Miroku took Shippo to the park for a couple of hours. It was close to 10:00 p.m. by the time they were finished decorating. She tucked Shippo into bed before bidding Sango and Miroku goodnight. After they left, Kagome went to the kitchen and began making Shippo's birthday cake. A three layer vanilla cake with homemade strawberries and cream filling and covered with homemade cream cheese frosting (colored green for Shippo). An orange candle shaped like the number seven, completed the cake. Briefly prepping the foodstuff, Kagome showered and headed to bed, it was 1:45 a.m.

~Next Day~

Toga InuTaisho was listening to Rin's excited babbling. Rin was his eldest son's adopted daughter. His son, Sesshomaru, hated humans and yet he'd adopted Rin, a human. Snapping out of his musings, InuTaisho managed to catch the end of his granddaughter's babbling,

"…and then after cake and ice cream we're gonna play games and then we're gonna open presents. Shippo said that his mom said that he could have some friends spend the night and he said that he wanted me to stay over. Shippo said we could set up a tent in the living room and use the fireplace as a campfire so we could roast marshmallows to make s'mores."

A camp-out in the living room? Shippo's mother must be very eccentric; very few youkai, much less people, liked kids enough to allow them to mess up their entire living room for the sake of a sleepover.

"Shippo's mom agreed to let him do that?" Toga asked Rin.

"Hai, it was actually his mom's idea. She said it wasn't safe enough to camp outside, so if he wanted to have a campout he could use the living room."

InuTaisho was surprised. This Shippo boy's mother was the one who'd suggested using the living room? He had to agree with her thinking though, camping outside was dangerous nowadays.

"So Shippo is your best friend from school?"

"Hai grandfather, he is."

Toga was slightly confused; Shippo was an unusual name. It was almost as if the name was of youkai origin. That was impossible though, right?

"Shippo is an unusual name; did his mom choose his name?"

"Iie, that was already his name when she adopted him."

"Adopted?"

"Hai, Kagome found him under a bush at her dorm apartments while she was still in college. He'd run away from home after witnessing the murder of his parents. Her friend Sango fostered Shippo for her until she graduated from college and could adopt him."

Toga was reeling. This child had witnessed his parents' murder and was still well adjusted? Rin broke through his musing with her next phrase,

"I can't wait for the party; Shippo said he'd show me his fox fire. He promised that if I came to his party he'd show it to me."

"Whoa, oi, fox fire?"

"Hai, Shippo is a kitsune"

Toga froze, a kitsune? The kitsune clan was thought to have been wiped out three years ago by the Thunder Brothers. From what Rin had told him Shippo had escaped after witnessing his parents' murder, was it possible that he was the sole survivor of that massacre? Before he could continue his questioning, however, Sesshomaru entered the room.

"Sesshomaru-sama, Rin is so glad to see you! Rin has been very good for jii-chan while you were gone so does that mean she can go to Shippo-kun's birthday party?"

Sesshomaru looked down at his smiling daughter,

"When does the party start?"

"It starts at noon, we're going to eat lunch, then play games, then we're gonna have a water balloon fight, then we're having cake and ice cream, and then Shippo's gonna open his presents."

Toga looked over at his son,

"It's a quarter after 11:00 now"

Sesshomaru looked down at Rin,

"Do you have a present?"

"Hai, obaasan and I picked him out a present yesterday when we went shopping."

"Well then, do you know how to get to his house?"

"Hai, Shippo-kun's mom put directions on how to get to their house on the back of the invitation."

Rin handed the invitation to her father, who flipped it over and read the directions.

"Your friend is human?"

"Iie Sesshomaru, her friend is a kitsune," InuTaisho answered his son's question.

Sesshomaru looked to his daughter for confirmation of his father's words.

"Hai ji-chan is correct; Shippo is a kitsune. His mom is a human though.

Shippo was bragging just last week about how his mom was top of her class at the shrine. She is training to be a miko. Shippo said his mom is way powerful and that the only reason she began her training was so she could protect him if the youkai who killed his parents discovered where he lives and tried to kill him too."

By the time Rin had finished her explanation, both Sesshomaru and Toga were frozen in place. A miko by the name of Kikyo was responsible for the death of Inuyasha; Sesshomaru's half-brother. Inuyasha was Toga's son from his second mating to a human, he was a hanyou. With the help of a hanyou demon named Naraku, Kikyo had killed Inuyasha. She'd been after the Shikon no Tama.

The Shikon no Tama was powerful and legend held that it could grant its holder any wish they desired. She wanted to make Naraku a full demon with unimaginable power so he could rule the world with her by his side of course. After killing Inuyasha, they fled when they realized he didn't have it on his person. The Shikon no Tama was never found; there were no leads or traces of it, Kikyo, or Naraku. Whoever had the Shikon no Tama had a powerful ward over them because if there hadn't been one, they'd have been able to track it down.

Sesshomaru was the first to recover from the initial shock upon hearing that a youkai was being raised by a human; a miko.

"Shippo is a kitsune with a miko for a mother?"

"Hai Sesshomaru-sama. We need to leave now though, or we're gonna be late. Can we go now, please?"

Sesshomaru shared a look with his father, before he answered,

"Hai Rin, let's go. Father and I wish to meet this 'miko' you speak of."

First chappie is up! Wahoo!!! Hope you enjoyed it, please RxR.

Terms to Know:

Youkai demon

Hai yes

Iie no

Oi hey

Kitsune fox

-sama master; someone of higher rank or status

-kun male honorific; used between close friends

Jii-chan grandfather, grandpa, grand-dad, gramps

Obaasan grandmother, grandma, grand-mom granny

Miko priestess

Shikon no Tama Jewel of the Four Souls; legendary item said to be able to grant the wielder their hearts desire.