Chapter 10 – Paintings of the Past

While the students waited for the final bell to ring, boots clicked against the marble floor in the restricted section of the school. The demoness continued to walk through the halls, looking around at the different rooms, each closed, but beyond the doors were things that only a few would talk of; she, however, knew everything behind them without much thought about it at all. Each was a different color on the inside, each having a single bed, a nightstand with glasses they filled upturned, and a specially designed lamp to dim the rooms to perfection. However, there were no windows, and a spell around each wouldn't allow sound to exit the walls, making sure the younger students didn't catch wind of what would happen during the spring. However, she was merely here to check on a few things, waiting for her oldest friend to end her class, before coming to speak with her.

Moving through the red and black painted corridors, Katana listened to the sound of her boots clicking against the floor. It wasn't often that she could be found moving through these walls, but for now she would make sure that the spells were still intact, and repair the ones that needed to be reinforced. Besides, she had time to spare, since she was also going through the secret door at the end to go get an herb inside the garden beyond said door. It would help Kumo, the History teacher, along with her current illness, and she would only need to hold up her class until the end of the week. Why the damn youkai who had it didn't go straight to the medical wing was still a slight mystery, since the older student didn't like to talk much, but it was clear that he still carried the virus. Lucky thing it was a youkai virus, only, since that meant they could contain it better.

However, Katana stopped for a moment when she came up to a certain painting hanging on the side of the wall. The dark haired woman within it seemed to be emotionless, yet her eyes held a small tinkle the painter had captured. The symbol upon her forehead identified her as a Warrior Miko of the past, while her armor and clothing told someone she was a symbol for the past. She knew this person to be known as Midoriko, though she'd met her once, long ago when she first began her work. The miko was one of the few reasons she came to the school in search of work when youkai and ningen began living side-by-side. Midoriko had been a great miko, who had been said to be the reincarnation of the Shikon Miko, Kagome. However, there were many legends, and tales, some even saying that Midoriko was Kagome's daughter, when that was not possible, considering the time span they had lived, and the clearly different eras they had lived in. Still, it was fun telling others, since once it got around and back to her it had completely changed. However, it had still been a great privilege to have known Midoriko in person, and she almost wished that she had been born further back in time so she could have met Kagome as well, since the woman was said to be the greatest miko of all time, a woman who had held the Shikon no Tama tightly in her grasp, and yet… history never really told you everything that ever happened to Kagome. Pieces of the puzzle were missing, because the family line she made, the Higurashi's, would not allow anymore information to leave the confines of their home, as if the secrets they held would completely change the way people saw the miko. She was sure that everyone would merely look at what Kagome had done with the Shikon, instead of her wrong doings, and cheer for her even more. Still, even Ivy's friend held the information tightly, Higurashi Sakura, who had once come to the school when she was younger. Now her daughter was here, and Katana was sure that the Higurashi secrets would never be told, even if they tried to pry it out of them.

Giving the painting one final look, Katana moved forward, her boots echoing creating a slight rhythm of music as she moved. A small smirk formed on her lips as she turned a corner, moving past the almost endless hall of doors, each containing the items needed later in the year. It was always fun to tell the children that they were going to visit the rooms, and that inside they would find what they desired most of all. However, Ivy would read them off in pairs, knowing who their perfect mate was by then, and when they entered a room they were locked inside, and when they came out they were bound together for life. Plus, the liquid they told them to drink in order to get to see their desires made sure they couldn't talk about the breeding program until they reentered the school.

Of course, there was a limit to the spell, which allowed them to talk about it with anyone who had the liquid inside their system as well, but they never told them that. They had their reasons, but they were their own.

The hall seemed to be filled with a quiet wind, before suddenly the jackal youkai was walking beside her, her gray robes swirling around her like a hurricane. Ivy had always been one for big entrances, and her strange ability to form the place she wanted to go in her minds eye, before actually being transported their, only appealed to her lust for her next big entrance. Or maybe her exit, since it was quite unnerving to most to see Ivy merely fade away as if she were never there. If she hadn't been around her for so many years, it might have bothered even her.

"So," Ivy began, "have you began on your project?"

"Iie," Katana replied, her feet continuing to move forward, continuing to send the echo around the Southern Wing. She had reinforced the sound barrier on the main doors, which were blocked off with heavy magic, but that was about it. She hadn't gotten around to checking the other doors yet, unless Ivy was talking about her other project, as she liked to call it.

"I don't care about the spells, Katana," Ivy shook her head a little, "you know that. Tell me of the students. It is your job to decide which students certain abilities, or attitudes would go together. After all, the wrong matches could end up in disaster, possible death, or killing; you know that."

"Hai, I know," Katana sighed. "It is to early to tell with this bunch, though, Ivy. Some of them will be hard to place until I have given them the spell to the training grounds. I must know their full extend in power, and the others are hard to place until I know their attitudes, and personalities. You know this, and you also know it is to soon to know these things."

"Hai, hai," Ivy said, "I would agree if it weren't for those two."

"Which two?" Katana asked, her feet bringing her to a stop in front of a large wall, which had the craving of two dragons wrapped around each other in battle. Her hand reached out to grasp onto the longest dragons snout, before pushing on the stone, waiting for it to go back completely, and open up for her. The spell upon it stopped the edges of the secret door from being seen, but that did not bother her, since she could have many spells and not tire herself.

"The taiyoukai heir, and the descendant of the Great Kagome, the Shikon Miko," Ivy replied, giving a small sigh. "Already they are at each others throats, obviously, though, underneath their exteriors they are completely different people. Should we bring out that interior then… well, we might have the perfect match already, bringing together the two most powerful lines we have ever had within this school. Or…"

"Or we might start another war between the students," Katana sighed herself. She shook her head a little, before saying, "Its to risky, Ivy. You know we can't do that again. Do you not remember the last time? I admit bringing their lines together might be something good for the future, but what of the kids? From what I've seen, they hate each other, and their hatred has only lessened a bit since they walked through the doors. Perhaps we should find them other mates."

Ivy shook her head, before saying, "I must take this risk, Katana. I must."

Frowning, Katana replied, "Did you see something? Something that needs to be done in order to… well, change the future."

"Hai, I did, Katana," Ivy nodded. "I did, and without them together the war might just happen. I believe that one of my spells might be needed in a few weeks if they do not start getting along. You and I will have to keep close eyes on them, and make sure that you have them close by when they should be, but far apart at other times. Do you understand, Katana? I do not want this going wrong."

"Of course I understand," Katana replied. "I'll make sure to keep a sharp eye on them. Both of them, I promise."

"Good," Ivy whispered, watching as Katana moved into their secret herb garden. The scent wrapped around her, but she paid little attention to it, before turning on her heel and moving back down the hall. Katana would find her when she needed to, until then she would allow the inuyoukai to do as she wished. After all, that old dog couldn't be caged for long before she bit her owner, hard.

oOo

║"Hai, Yuka-sama," Kagome replied, a smile breaking out over her face. She did not understand what the strange youkai wanted, but she knew that when Yuka-sama told her to do something it was in order to protect her. So, she found her ball, and began playing with it, making sure that she stayed far away from the edge of the barrier as she waited for her Aunty Rena to arrive. After all, Aunty Rena had promised to show her how to focus her miko energy. All right, Aunty Rena told her she was going to learn it, instead of promising, but to the young hanyou child it was really the same thing.

Yuka stayed close to the child, watching the barrier carefully for any signs of Inuka. She knew of the bonds between youkai and their children, but she'd heard much of Inuka. That blasted youkai did not deserve to even look at the sweet inu-hanyou named Kagome. Besides, Kagome's life would be ruined if Inuka got his hands on it. Her entire world would be ripped from her, and she would become nothing more then a girl who knew how to kill, fight, and join an army. Kagome deserved so much more then that.

Glancing to the side, Yuka nearly sighed when she saw the white haired woman coming toward them. Rena had always seemed like a warrior on the outside, but she was a true miko at heart. Especially when Kagome dropped her ball and began running toward her. True, at first Rena merely watched as the inu-hanyou slammed against her leg, but within moments she'd lifted the child above her head, listening as she giggled, her voice calling out to the older woman. Watching, Yuka smiled, and decided to leave them alone. Her barrier still in place, however, Yuka turned on her heel, before moving to walk inside the shrine…║

"Kagome! Kagome!" came a voice. She'd had the journal up to her nose as they walked, knowing that Kirara would led her to her history class, but it was obvious that the youkai girl wanted something. So, placing her marker into the book, Kagome turned to look at her, giving her the go ahead with her eyes. That was all Kirara needed as an ok, so she turned Kagome completely in the hallway, showing her the large painting on the wall beside them.

A little confused, Kagome continued to gaze up at the painting, before reaching up to scratch the back of her head. She was about to say, "This was all you wanted to show me" and turn away, but something stopped her. Something about the strange resemblance between the two neko-youkai within the painting and the one at her side, the hair was the same, and the eyes of one of them, but surely it wasn't what she thought it was. Then again, Kirara's family had been going to this school for years, but the painting showed a pregnant female, while her obviously happy mate was holding her around the shoulders. Glancing down at the names, Kagome found a date, and became even more confused, before turning to Kirara, silently asking her if they were her parents, since the painting had been painted nearly two hundred years ago.

"Kagome," Kirara whispered, "they're my grandparents." She glanced excitedly from the painting to her friend, clasping her hands together. She looked at the painting next to it, before saying, "Look, that one has Toji as the last name! They must be related to that Kouga fellow." She looked at the painting thoroughly, before nodding, "Yup, they're both wolves."

"That's strange," Kagome mumbled. She looked at the paintings hanging on the long wall, probably going off into other corridors, and things. However, her eyes blinked a few times, as she said, "What do you think they are?"

"Paintings of the past, Kagome," Kirara replied instantly. "Don't you see, we could probably trace back to the very first relatives of ours who came to this school. We could look at their paintings, and remember…" She moved her hands in a strange way, as if doing so would take her into the very painting, which caused Kagome to giggle. Pouting, Kirara said, "We should try to find your relatives, Kagome!"

"Why not yours?" Kagome asked.

"Oh, I've been told the history of our family so many times. I know that my great-great grandfather was the first to ever come to this school. I suspect his painting to be down," Kirara placed her claw between her fangs, turning in a circle, before saying, "that way!"

Smiling, Kagome said, "You just pointed in a random direction, didn't you?"

Kirara nodded, "Sure did!" Her voice seemed to be higher with each day that she knew Kagome, but she knew that the miko didn't really care. After all, Kagome was kind hearted, and she was her friend. She knew that at first she'd been kind of timid and shy, but now she felt like she was finally coming out of her shell, and with it was a much brighter Kirara, who loved the world. However, before Kagome could protest she went off to find Kagome's families painting, leaving the girl in the hall alone. They still had plenty of time to get to class, since they had went to the bathroom last period, but really they just wanted to get out of class. So, after promising not to make too much noise, they'd moved out into the hall, and the bell had rung only a minute or so ago.

Kagome sighed, before moving to look at each and every painting within the hall. When she neared the classroom door, she came upon the painting she remembered seeing, but not being able to stop and look at. Upon closing inspection, she found the painting to be her mother, heavy with child, while her father stood behind her. It caused tears to come to her eyes, since her father had died when she was little. It was obvious that the child within her mother's womb was herself, but they looked so happy together, and she sighed in frustration upon seeing it. Why did the school keep paintings of every student that ever came to the school? She didn't want to see how happy her parents had been before her father's death. Now, she stood there looking at it, before her vision shifted to the painting next to it, finding two beautiful inuyoukai staring down at her. Upon reading the small golden tag, she found them to be Inu, and Sakura, Lord and Lady of the Western Lands, before Sakura past away, and Inu took a ningen mate.

That was how Kirara found her. The neko-youkai walked up behind her quite confused, before whispering, "You like dogs, huh?"

"What?" Kagome asked. She blinked a few times, before shaking her head, remembering the treatment Sesshoumaru had put her through, "Iie, of course I don't." Yesterday had been the worst day she could remember since the death of her father, and she didn't want to relive it again.

Kirara gave her a knowing look, before saying, "Sure seems like you do."

"So," Kagome said, trying to get away from the subject, "What did you find?"

Kirara blinked in confusion again, before saying, "Well, Kagome, I found seven paintings with your ancestors in them."

"And…" Kagome urged.

"Well, its weird, Kagome," Kirara confessed. "There's a large time span between the fourth and the fifth ancestors. Its like there's a painting missing, or something; in fact, it did that with about three family trees. Yours was the weirdest, though, because in one painting there was a youkai as a woman's mate, but its clear you're not half-youkai. The last one, the seventh, was the strangest. It held… well, it was blank. It was like the people inside the painting had been erased, or something. None of the paintings around it, though, were like that. The names were on it, though, Kagome. If you'd like to look after class."

Kirara bit the inside of her lip, "Using my youkai speed I checked nine hallways, but the weirdest thing I found, Kagome, was another painting with a woman who looked strangely like you. So, I read the name, and it said, Ikari Kagome. It's about the only painting where the woman was looking up as if she were looking into the face of her mate, but there's no one there. I mean, there was a faded image of a male, but it's so destroyed that you can't even see him. That wasn't the weird thing, though, but the fact that his name wasn't listed on the tag below the painting. Only hers."

"Ikari?" Kagome said. "That was my great-great-great-great-many-times-great-grandmother's name before she married her husband. But, she must have been born around the time that the school started. Why would she be here, and why is it that in one of the paintings my ancestor was a youkai? I don't get it, I've never been told I have youkai blood pulsing in my veins."

"I donno, Kagome," Kirara sighed, "It might have been something the family didn't want to get out. Or maybe there have been so many ningen within your family line that the youkai blood isn't dangerous, and they just didn't think it was important."

"But it is important, its my history," Kagome sighed. "These paintings are strange," she said, reaching out to touch the painting of Inu and Sakura.

"Don't feel bad, Kagome," Kirara said, "Sesshoumaru's family line is messed up, too. I was looking through them, and your family and his are the longest to have ever stayed in the school, or according to the dates. Many of his paintings are messed up, but all of them were inuyoukai. Some are erased, and faded, though, if that makes you feel any better."

"I guess," Kagome said, "Come on, when we have time, tomorrow or something, we can look at them again."

"Sure thing, Kagome," Kirara replied.

However, Kagome turned back to look at the image of Inu and Sakura, and nearly gasped when she saw the image beginning to fade. Her head began to hurt quite suddenly, her body growing cold, as she breathed faster in confusion. It was like her touch had suddenly ruined the beautiful painting, but something in her told her that another painting had changed as well. As she blacked out, something told her that when she saw the paintings again, different ones would be faded out, some completely gone, while hers were perfectly normal. That didn't stop her from faintly, though, nor did it stop Kirara from screaming, which brought the teacher to their side.

OoO

KibaSin:

God I'm tired…

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. It took me a while, but I did manage to get it wrote. Hopefully I'll get the next chapters to 'WH: R' and 'TBYS' done soon. Anyway, I completely took this in a different direction then I was going to. The story is going to have a major skip two chapters from now, about two weeks, but that's all. Anyway, the next chapter:

Chapter 11 – The Medical Wing: Sickness

Pretty much what it says. You'll find out another reason as to why Kagome fainted, other then shock.

Kiba