Eighteen-year-old Kagome Higurashi was always a little odd among her peers. As a life magician, rare and powerful, her abilities were well known and well sought after [AN: Was that good English? It's been too long since I wrote something...]. She was a bit short compared to her peers, at 5'2", though it bears mentioning that all of her peers were quite tall. Long black hair cascaded down her back and across her shoulders, and framed a pale face, with blue eyes gazing out from under messy bangs. She had flowers in her hair more often than not, because she could conjure them with a snap of her fingers, and she hardly ever wore shoes, much to the annoyance of her teachers. ("It's not my fault, I like to feel the Earth.")

She attended the School For International Magick Students (the name was old, no one spelled magic that way anymore) with her friends Sango, a pyromancer with a fire cat named Kirara, Miroku, a man who controlled the winds, and Inuyasha, a shapeshifter whose abilities made him almost invincible. It was a good life she had, albeit strange. She was thinking these thoughts as she walked home from class one day, but she was drawn from them when she heard a child shout from in the woods that framed the path to her home.

She dropped her school bag and hurried toward the sound, not noticing that flowers were growing in her footprints, a nervous tick.

When she reached the stream, which ran farther than she'd ever been, through the whole town, she saw a little boy splashing in the water, clearly struggling. The water was red around him, and he seemed about to faint.

"Hang on!" she called, "I'll be right there!"

She leaped into the river, swimming straight toward him, and pulling him toward the shore. When she managed to drag him onto the gravel he seemed half dead, and was bleeding everywhere.

"Shit," she muttered, and laid a hand on the boy's stomach, summoning her strongest healing magic. The boy's wounds closed, and he sat up, coughing up water in a violent torrent. He lit a small flame in an attempt to dry his clothes.

"So, you're a pyromancer?" Kagome asked weakly, tired from the healing spell.

"Yes," he responded, "And you're a life magician? Is that how you healed me?"

"Yep," she said with a grin, getting shakily to her feet, "But right now, I'm feeling a bit faint. Can you help me out? My house is that way, and I'd be very grateful if you could bring me there. "

"Sure," the little boy said, grinning, "It's the least I could- Hey! What's wrong?!"

But Kagome didn't answer. As the terrified little boy watched, her energy too drained to stay conscious, she tipped backward into the river, hitting her head hard and sinking beneath the water as it pulled her away.


When Kagome awoke, she was on the bank of the river, but she didn't know where. She could tell that her head was bleeding, and she must have been hallucinating, for she could have sworn that there were two suns. Strike that, she thought as the suns... blinked, Those are eyes.

"Where are we?" she tried to say, but broke off as a coughing fit rattled her chest, and she flew upright into sitting position, retching as her coughing brought up water.

After she was done, she placed a hand to the top of her head and healed the gash there, then she turned to see the person from before- a boy, with golden eyes and short silver hair to his shoulders- whole feet away, as if he'd thrown himself backward.

"Are you alright?" she asked moving towards him.

"Don't touch me!" he said immediately, moving further away.

"Why?" She asked, not getting any closer.

"You'll die."

"What? That's ridiculous!"

"No!" he said immediately, indignantly, "It's true! Look!"

He reached out and touched a nearby tree, and it withered immediately, leaves and fruit falling in dried and wrinkled clumps. Kagome winced, hearing the tree scream in her mind.

"Well that was hardly necessary," she muttered, and moved toward the tree, "Move over."

He did as she said, and watched, astounded, as she placed on hand on the tree and it came back to life.

"How did you do that?" he asked immediately, moving as close as he dared to look at the tree.

"I'm a life magician. It's what I do. I heal people, bring plants back to life, etcetera."

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but closed it again, looking at the tree.

"Where are we? You never answered me."

"We are far upstream from the town. Many miles."

"Crap," she muttered, looking up at the setting sun, "I can't get home in the dark. Do you know anywhere that I could stay?"

"I have a house in that direction," he said, gesturing to the woods, "You can follow me if you wish."

It was clear that this strange boy walked this path often, Kagome noted, for every plant in the vicinity was dead. Frowning to herself, she let her magic escape her feet, spreading out and bringing the plants around them back to life. The boy ignored this, leading her back toward his small home and not saying a word as he did.


Secretly, Sesshomaru was surprising even himself. He knew that it wasn't safe for others to be around him, so why was he offering to let this near-stranger come into his home? He thought he would have learned his lesson, after last time...

He was pulled from his brooding when he sensed her magic behind him, bringing the plants around bloom once more. He could hear her magic's pure energy, and feel it combatting his own, a quiet buzzing in his ears and a slight shiver throughout his whole body. It was... uncomfortable, but not in the extreme, more new than anything else.

"Can you control that power?" he heard her ask, sounding grim, as if she already knew the answer.

"No. I can't. Anything that comes in contact with me... it dies. Magicians included."

He heard her make a small noise, a hum of sorts, and then her voice broke the silence again.

"What about me?"

"What about you?"

"Can you touch me? My magic combats yours. I know you can feel it."

"It's... risky. Don't test it."

"Can I... teach you something? About your powers?"

"What could you possibly-?"

"More than you think. It'll be an exchange. You let me stay, and I teach you to control your powers."

"... Fine. But will your family-"

"No family. It'll be fine."

"And your education-"

"I'm eighteen. I can quit going whenever I want. Besides," she conjured a small flower out of the air and tucked it behind her ear, "I'm pretty good at my craft."

He didn't respond to this, and they walked in silence for a few minutes until he announced, "We're here."

She took a look around the clearing. It was barren, dead trees all around, a withered up garden off to the side.

"What do you eat then, if you can't grow plants? Just meat?"

He nodded silently, moving toward the cabin along a well-worn path.

"This way."

She followed where he led, a small smile forming on her face as he held the door open for her, though it crumbled when he leaned away from her.

The inside of the cabin was neat and sparsely decorated. There was a small bed to one side, and a dining table and fireplace to the other side. A large bookshelf stood directly across from the door, looming over them both, tall and imposing.

"It's nice," she commented vaguely, moving toward the bookshelf like a moth to the flame.

Sesshomaru moved to his bed, sitting down tiredly and watching her move out of the corner of his eye. He hadn't really had the opportunity to take in her features until now, but he found himself surprised at what he saw. She was plain, that much was clear, but she still seemed to glow, as is there was a solitary sunbeam that only illuminated her. She was wearing a pretty floral sundress, and she seemed to be without shoes. Her skin was tanned, probably from spending her days outside, and her eyes seemed semi-dull with a type of long-standing exhaustion. Her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose were lightly dusted with freckles, and her bare arms had little daisy chains wrapped around them. The flowers in her hair all matched her eyes, but the ones on her wrists (various colors, most likely enchanted) went together with the print of her dress.

She was sitting at the dining table now, reading one of his books (A Tale of Two Cities) and humming lightly under her breath. He didn't know why he'd expected her to look any different than she did. Maybe it was something in her voice. Perhaps the quiet desperation when she asked to stay? Or maybe he'd expected her to be less... out there. Her voice had sounded tired, while her features looked... intense.

"Get a picture, it'll last longer."

Sesshomaru was confused, but he got the implication that he was being teased.

"Hn," he huffed, and crossed his arms.

Getting to her feet, she moved toward him, sitting on the far edge of the bed.

"I'll try to teach you something if you want me to."

"Do as you wish."

She sighed at his lack of motivation, "Alright. You can feel your magic, yes? Like a... like a second soul in your body... or energy in the pit of your stomach?"

He nodded.

"And do you feel it spread through your body whenever you touch a living thing?"

"Yes."

"Great. That's the first step. Now you just have to control that. And that's what I'm here for."

She put two fingers together and a flower appeared to grow from between them.

"Use this. Hold it, and focus on keeping your magic where it belongs."

He took it, careful not to touch her in the process, and held it between two fingers. It stayed it's nice golden color for a few seconds, before it withered in his hand.

She took it back, fixing it, and handing it to him again.

This time, he managed to keep it alive for almost ten seconds, before it withered again.

"You're improving," she said with a yawn, "That's good."

She fixed it one more time, and when he looked up, thirty seconds later, she was asleep.

Sighing, Sesshomaru lied down on the floor.

[Did you like it? Did you hate it? I won't know unless you tell me, so please review!]