INUYASHA ALTERNATE: JEWEL OF TOMORROW
Episode 1: Asuho Ichiyama, Bearer of the Yellow Rainbow Pearl
The path of tragedy is often lit by the light of the moon, and not harbingered by storms or darkness as many might believe. No, terror and death is often marked by the screams of those who are able to see monsters in the moonlight, and do nothing to stop themselves from being devoured.
Hanashima was a village struck by such tragedy, as it's people were slaughtered one after the other by hordes of starving demons.
The village priest struggled to steady his breath as he rushed towards the palace, passing screaming citizens and half-eaten bodies as he did so, not stopping as to prevent himself from being affected by the deaths of the people he had grown up with. The roads were slowly being stained red, and even the steps of the palace were splashed with the blood of the guards. He hoped with all his heart that the princess and their treasure was still alive.
He nearly reached the palace doors, but was stopped by a coiling snake demon blocking his path. It bared it's countless teeth and roared,
"Give it to ussssss! Give us the Rainbow Pearl!"
With a burst of courage the priest slayed the demon with the sword of one of the fallen guards, stepping over the demon's smoldering corpse and rushing into the palace.
The seemingly endless corridors were silent, a vast difference from the chaos raging outside, but the priest did not stop, finally reaching the princess's chambers.
"Princess Ichiyama! Are you here?!" he called, receiving no answer. "Please answer me your highness!"
"I'm here!" the princess cried, her kimono splashed with blood as she clutched a dagger in her hand, but the pearl necklace fastened around her neck remained pure and untouched. Strings of pearls lead to a golden pendant over the curse of her breasts, housing a single yellow pearl that glowed with demonic power.
"Princess, we must make haste! They've come for it!" the priest cried, delicately taking her hand in his.
She shook her head, grasping her necklace tightly. "It's already too late, but I won't let them take the Rainbow Pearl, if it is possessed by malicious souls there is no telling the destruction it will cause… we must destroy it!"
The priest only stared, the palace walls beginning to shake as the demons drew ever closer. "Is such a feat even possible princess?"
Princess Ichiyama nodded, "I've found a spell that will ensure it vanish from this place and never be found by any demon." She lead the priest to a fire pit in the center of the room, carefully removing her necklace before placing it in the center of the hot coals.
The priest and the princess linked hands over the fire and began to chant, their magic words causing the coals to turn into a raging yellow flame over the pearl. The earth shook as the pearl's power was being contained, and the demons in the palace began to scavenge for the princess's room.
As quickly as the fire burned, it vanished as the Yellow Rainbow Pearl seemingly crumbled into ashes among the dying embers.
The last remaining living souls of Hanashima village were instantly slaughtered as the demon horde invaded the princess's room, but their wrath was all for nothing.
The pearl was gone, and with that knowledge they once again vanished into the night.
Tokyo was a city constantly in motion, daily commuters rushing onto trains and into work or school, to be quick and on time was essential to the average person.
But average people didn't understand the value of looking cute.
Asuho Ichiyama thought of herself as one of the few teenage girls in all of Japan that put time and effort into her appearance, firmly thinking that things like good grades and financial comfort were worthless if one was not at their cutest while achieving them.
Hence why she always woke up a few hours early to properly get ready for school, styling her newly dyed blond hair with star barrettes pinning back her double half-tails and spreading a layer of shimmering gloss across her lips. She also put on a pair of earrings to match her hair, the little red stars dangling among her golden locks while she fastened her red bowtie and adjusted the buttons of her shirt to rest a little lower than what was allowed, her periwinkle colored nails going perfectly with her tanned sweater.
Asuho was officially as stunning as a 15-year-old high school student could be, she thought as she finished brushing mascara onto her dark lashes, uniform demerits be damned!
She silently ate a few strawberries from the fridge as she absentmindedly looked around her apartment, wondering if her father was back from his business trip to Osaka yet. She'd gotten her monthly allowance in the mail the previous week, so maybe he'd be home soon now that he'd gotten his paycheck.
Unlikely, but she was allowed to be wishful.
Leaving a note on the counter in case he did come back, Asuho grabbed her school bag, her Kumabear keychain jingling away, and began her walk to school, not even bothering to lock the door.
About halfway from her apartment she was greeted by two familiar voices, belonging to a couple of girls with styled hair and the same shade of pink lip gloss as Asuho.
Minako and Sayori often lamented that if they were as bold in their appearance as her their parents would kill them, but because Asuho didn't have such an issue, the two were free to envy as much as they pleased.
"Hey Asu! Whoa, loving the new hair!" Sayori chirped, wrapping one of her black twin-tails around her finger.
Minako grasped her shoulders, her glasses catching the light as she laughed, "Yeah, did you dye it yourself?"
The blond gave a wave, tucking her compact mirror back into her bag as the trio began to walk together, Minako and Sayori welcoming her to walk between them.
"Hey Mina, hey Yori!" Asuho ran her fingers through her hair, taking pride in the admiration in her friends' eyes. "Doesn't it look great? I saw one of the Stardust Girls wearing it and I just had to have it for myself!"
"Oh I love them! Gala is my favorite!" Minako cried, hearts practically radiating from her body.
Sayori squawked in protest, a look of horror behind her glasses. "Gala? My favorite is Rosa! Obviously, the best out of all of them!"
Asuho giggled as her friends bickered, only half listening to their heated debate about the best Idol girl. In all honestly, she did dye her hair to be like Honey from the Stardust Girls, but while she showed the magazine picture to her dad she was hoping he would protest, and that would lead to an argument, leading to her father knowing she enjoyed Idol groups and maybe spending more time with her.
But like she said earlier… wishful thinking was just wishful thinking.
She was sure the hall monitor would have a field day though, unless it was Hojo, then he would just compliment her new look and let her go in peace.
The pair continued their squabble with Asuho silently listening between them all the way to school, only changing the subject once they all reached the classroom and just shyly sneaking her past the hall monitor.
She sat comfortably in her chair while Mina and Yori chatted away about the upcoming class trip to the Higurashi Shrine, barely noticing Kagome's empty seat, but her absences were becoming commonplace lately, to the point where seeing her was like seeing a unicorn.
"…What do you think Asu?" Minako chimed, grabbing her attention while she was playing with a lock of her hair, lost in thought.
"Hm?" she hummed, earning a giggle from Sayori who was sitting on the surface of her desk.
"The trip today, do you think we'll be able to make our wishes come true? I know I'll be wishing for a date with Hojo!"
"Yeah, right Yori! You know he's been pining for Kagome since forever!"
"I still don't get it, Higurashi is hardly ever in school anymore, when I asked the teacher he just said she had bunions or something." She said, disgust shining behind her glasses.
"Ew, last I heard it was osteoarthritis." Minako added.
Asuho chuckled into her hand, "At least we know she'll be acing the health exams, with how often she's at the doctor."
Her friends laughed, "Yeah, and if her diseases don't kill her, her absence demerits probably will!"
The trio laughed, not really thinking about how mean their conversation probably sounded, as far as they knew Kagome really was at the doctors and out of school constantly due to her many ailments, but that was how teenage girls tended to be, mean without realizing it.
The day continued on like normal, which meant nothing interesting happened, like ever. I mean, Asuho liked her life, how could she not with a luxurious allowance from her father, good friends, popularity, and a locker stuffed full of love confession letters, but she did wish it wasn't so boring. She inwardly groaned at the idea of the most interesting thing happening to her so far was dying her hair.
She was however looking forward to the field trip to the Higurashi shrine despite her cruel jokes at Kagome's expense, maybe she could wish for something new and exciting like a celebrity falling in love with her and it would actually come true.
Asuho smiled to herself, as if that would happen.
The Higurashi shrine was actually kind of beautiful; it was nestled on a hill and while the ridiculous amount of stairs was annoying, it was secluded and quiet, a nice change from other shrines which were always so crowded.
Their class was free to roam and make prayers or purchases in the gift shop, which was where Asuho and her friends currently found themselves stuffing their pockets and emptying their wallets with love charms.
Minako held up a love talisman, bright red and covered in gold and pink hearts. "Do you think if I give this to Hojo he'll fall madly in love with me?"
Asuho snickered as she snatched the charm from her friend, "Maybe you should just get pneumonia like Kagome, then all the boys in class will fall for you!"
The trio laughed, the blond then spotting a keychain charm that said Shikon no Tama, Jewel of Four Souls huh? It was yellow and sparkly and actually kind of cute, so Asuho bought it, latching it onto her bag along with her Kumabear.
With a sigh she was officially bored, not seeing the point in making prayers for wild things like love or a good grade, especially when those things were already pretty easily achievable. Then, as if sensing her boredom, one of her classmates approached her, it was a boy, Toshi I think, pretty cute though not as gorgeous as Hojo, he had a piercing in his left ear and a dimple in his left cheek.
"Hey Asuho, buy any good luck charms?" he asked, a friendly smile on his face.
She smiled back, showing off her Shikon no Tama charm. "No, but I did get this! Totally adorable right?"
"Ah cool! A Shikon Jewel, maybe I'll get one too and we can match!"
Asuho giggled in response, the rouge applied to her cheeks giving the impression of a natural blush. Even if it wasn't funny that's what you did with cute boys, you laughed and acted cute, and Toshi was certainly a looker worthy of her attention.
"Actually, I was just thinking this trip was kinda boring… I'm not much of a shrine person, yaknow?" she shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
Toshi chuckled, "I know what you mean, if you're not into this I found something really cool, totally not boring at all."
His offer quirked her interest, and before she thought about it too much she was following him away from their classmates to an old wellhouse locked up by chains. Asuho gave Toshi a questioning look, silently asking how they would get into the decrepit building, but the boy overturned a rock beside the gate revealing a key. The two exchanged grins before the boy unlocked the chains and opened the gate to the old wellhouse.
The well was completely devoid of water and the inside was covered in dust and grime. "This place is pretty gross." She mused, poking a bouquet of flowers laid at the foot of the well.
"I heard the well at this shrine used to be used to dispose of the bodies of the Higurashi's enemies, now their bones are stuck down there forever." He told in a spooky voice, making spider-motions with his fingers.
Asuho giggled, twirling a blond strand around her finger and looking down into the well. She couldn't see any bones, but it was majorly creepy, I mean who just has a well house that never gets used in this day and age? As if.
The two fell into comfortable silence for a while, until Toshi stood in front of her with a passionate look in his eyes.
"You know Asuho, I actually brought you here for another reason…" he said, swiping some of his dark hair back and exposing his warm brown eyes. "I wanted to get you alone so… I could ask you to be my girlfriend."
The blond stared at her classmate for a long moment, processing whether or not he was being serious. Sure, many guys in and out of her class had asked her out, but none of them were worth her time, (partially because thinking about stuff like love and emotional intimacy freaked her out, but she would never admit that to anyone ever). By the looks of it Toshi was being completely serious, a wistful puppy dog smile on his handsome face.
He wasn't hideous or cruel by any means, but Asuho didn't feel that way about him. He was fun to hang out and flirt with on occasion, but that was the extent of her feelings.
She sighed, "Sorry Toshi, you're not my type, I can't be your girlfriend."
Her rejection seemed to paralyze him for a second as he blinked dumbly at her, but then his expression soured. "Come on Asu, we'd be great together, I've seen the way you look at me."
Asuho didn't try to hold in her cruel laugh, "Hate to break this to you, but I look at lots of guys."
He scoffed, getting closer to her. "Is that why you still don't have a boyfriend, because no one's good enough? No… I bet it's because they get chased off by your terrible personality!" he snapped, getting in her face.
The girl gasped in horror, "Who the hell do you think you are?! Everyone in our class, no, our school loves me! You're just mad because I don't wanna lower myself to your level by dating you!" she sneered, crossing her arms and pouting furiously.
They were getting much too close to the edge of the well for her liking, and Toshi was getting angrier the more she insulted him.
"Why are you so mean all the time?!" he demanded, grabbing her arm and squeezing her roughly, she winced under his grip, trying to pull away. "Everyone says you're cold and cruel and I thought they were just jealous of you but it's all true! Nobody wants to be your friend because you're just too mean Asuho!"
Toshi's words stung but she didn't care, because he was right, people were jealous of her. Her looks, her money, her father's connections, and they were jealous because none of them were good enough for her anyway.
She yanked her arm away from Toshi's grasp, "Let go of me! Now!"
He let go just as she pushed him and pulled back her arm with all her strength, but she overshot how hard she had to pull, because before she knew what was happening she'd slipped and lot her footing, the back of her knee hitting the edge of the well.
The next thing she knew she was falling, the wind tickling her cheek and disheveling her perfect hair as she flew to the bottom of the Higurashi well.
Asuho would never be one hundred percent sure of what happened next, but she felt her left eye burn as a bright golden light exploded out from it, engulfing the well house entirely. She briefly saw what looked like a rainbow surround her, glowing bright as she fell through the air.
She felt the back of her head smack hard against the bottom of the well, and her vision went totally black.
She woke up with the worst headache of her entire life. Her head felt like it was full of rocks as it throbbed uncomfortably, her back was also totally sore and she just knew her uniform was covered in dirt and dust.
There was gonna be hell to pay when she got out of this stupid well! Asuho pouted as she rubbed her head and assessed her position among mud and what looked a bit too much like an oversized ribcage, must be a prop the Higurashi's threw down to freak out tourists. Mission accomplished, those bones looked super real and were so totally creepy.
The blond sighed loudly, looking up and finding herself confused as well as annoyed.
The ceiling was gone…
The well faced up towards the clear blue sky and not the ceiling of the Higurashi wellhouse.
Maybe she'd hit her head harder than she thought…
Luckily, vines and plants grew all the way down to the bottom of the well, so Asuho was able to scramble and climb her way out, though she had scraped her knee and ruined her nails in the process, but she made it out and was greeted wit fresh air and the taste of sweet freedom.
As it turns out, it wasn't just the ceiling to the wellhouse that was gone, the whole damn shrine itself had vanished along with it! Asuho was looking at an empty meadow surrounded by dense woods with no sign of civilization in sight, and she was starting to freak out a little bit.
"Where is everyone?" she said aloud, feeling the crisp breeze brush against her cheeks. "Wow, I really must have hit my head bad…"
This had to be a dream. It was the only logical explanation. She'd fallen into the well and hit her head and now she was dreaming! Toshi had probably alerted their teacher and was working on getting her to the hospital as she spoke!
She hummed, "Okay, if this is a dream, then I just have to wake myself up somehow!"
Asuho proceeded to pinch and prod every inch of her arms and legs, wincing each time and deducing that pinching wasn't enough to wake her up.
She slapped her cheeks really hard, and even tried calling for someone into the well, but she was only met with creepy silence.
In a fit of annoyance Asuho groaned and threw her arms out angrily, and what followed could only be described as impossible.
Some kind of wave tore through the grass of the meadow and crashed hard against a tree, its thick trunk splitting into splinters before it crumbled and fell with a thundering thud against the forest floor. Asuho gasped, taking many steps back as the golden glow behind her left eye once again went unnoticed.
She stared at her hands, finding them glowing with a faint yellow light.
Definitely a dream.
Turning to face the other end of the meadow, Asuho flexed her hands before swinging her arm in a mock punch again, another wave shooting out from where she stood and carving its way across the field and slamming into more trees.
"Whoa… apparently I'm a superhero or something in my dreams…" she muttered to herself, looking at her hands as their glow faded away. "I wonder…"
She squatted down in the same position she took for gym class, with her fingers brushing the ground as her legs prepared to kick off into a run. She took a deep breath before she took off, feeling what must have been a great gust of wind push her forward as she began to run faster than she ever had before in her life. She made it to the tree line on the other side of the meadow in less than ten seconds, not even feeling tired!
Asuho laughed giddily, enjoying this dream probably too much as she ran all around the meadow with her newfound super-speed, unaware of the power pulsating from her left eye.
Since everything was just a dream, Asuho took her powers for a spin through the forest, running through the trees at top speed without breaking a sweat and even jumping high enough to land on a branch without much effort.
"This is amazing! Best. Dream. Ever!" she cheered, jumping to a new branch with each word.
Looking back on the incident years later, Asuho would call herself a total idiot for thinking any of what was happening was a dream, but she was enjoying herself far too much to notice the amount of power she was emitting like beacon, and beacons tended to attract lots of nasty things.
"Give it to me…"
She stopped dead on a branch, holding onto the trunk to stabilize herself as she heard a gravely voice hiss nearby. She couldn't see anyone around, but she knew she'd heard someone.
"Such power… I need it…"
"Who's there?" Asuho barked out, getting a bad feeling brewing in her stomach.
The dense forest suddenly felt much more ominous than it had a moment ago, the endless expanse of trees thick enough to hide any manner of creepy things, and the feeling of being watched was growing uncomfortably strong.
"The Rainbow Pearl… how did you get it?" the voice hissed again, this time from right behind her.
Asuho screamed as she jumped away, coming face to face with what looked like an extremely pale young boy. His hair and skin was a translucent white, as was his silk yukata embroidered with patterns that looked like spiderwebs, but was especially odd was the crimson markings on his face and his equally scarlet red eyes.
His expression was cold as he looked at her, as if he was assessing her from head to toe.
"How did you get it?" he repeated.
Asuho blinked, "Get what? What do you mean?" she asked, shuffling further away from the extremely freaky boy.
"Your left eye, it has a Rainbow Pearl sealed inside… I want it… give it to me." The boy held out his hand like he was asking for something as simple as a piece of candy, but the look in his eyes was much more intense, almost murderous.
This must be how it feels to watch your dream turn into a nightmare, she thought as she turned to make a run for it.
She made it to the next tree branch over when she felt something thin and wickedly sharp slice into her hand, letting out a scream as she fell to the ground barely landing on her feet in time.
"Running away will do you no good Human Girl, I just want the Golden Rainbow Pearl… hand it over or I'll kill you." The boy said, floating down from the tree to join her on the forest floor.
Asuho cradled her hand to her chest, watching horrified as blood poured from her wound in a steady stream between her fingers.
She felt dread hit her like a slap to the face as she realized that none of this was a dream.
It was real, and this freaky kid was trying to kill her!
"Look kid, I swear I have no idea what you're talking about!" she pleaded, backing away slowly, but each step she took was met by a step forward from the monstrous boy. "This is just a misunderstanding, for real!"
He didn't look amused, in fact he looked even angrier if that was possible.
"You dare call me kid? I exceed your human age by hundreds of years… the Rainbow Pearl's power is wasted upon your weak human body!" he touched one of the spiderweb patterns on his yukata, pulling what appeared to be silken threads from his fingertips and flicking his wrist slightly, the threads quickly wrapping around Asuho like a fishing net and trapping her like prey to this predator.
"Hey! Lemme go!" she cried as she struggled, but the monster didn't grant her the decency of a reply, only reaching for her and preparing to dig his pale fingers into her eye. Asuho felt fear pierce her heart like an arrow, not understanding why but knowing that she could not let this monster get anywhere near her eye. Despite the pain as the spider-silk threads cut into her skin, the blond tore her arm free and gave the boy a hard push back. "Hands off!"
The same golden light that brought her to this nightmare world flooded out from her left eye as well as her hand, the pale boy flying back as the raw power hit him dead on. The webs burned away and without hesitating she ran, pushing through brambles and underbrush but not caring as she made her escape, she could bug out about how the forest was messing up her outfit later, when she was safe.
Her eye burned like it was full of sand, so she knew it was still glowing like crazy, and the longer she ran the more her exhaustion began to weigh her down. She felt so full of energy a moment ago, so why did she suddenly feel so tired?
The blond beauty queen did not have time to think on that as she crashed into what felt like a brick wall made of… fur?
Her dazed green eyes met a pair of golden ones that looked at her like she was a pile of mud he just stepped in. They were attached to the most gorgeous looking man Asuho had ever seen in her life; his silver hair hung around his legs as he stood a good head above her, his elegant clothing making her dirty school uniform look like rags in comparison even with her accessorizing skills at play.
The beautiful man did nothing for a long time, and for a minute Asuho believed she was safe from that freaky monster kid, but her hope was quickly destroyed as the man's clawed hand closed tight around her neck, lifting her off the ground as she desperately tried to breathe.
The light in her left eye glowed brighter, and she swore she saw her killer smile as he squeezed her throat tighter.
Asuho choked and gasped, gripping his wrist in a fruitless attempt to wrangle free, but it was no use, he was just too strong.
Her vision began to blacken, and unlike the well, she knew that once she fell asleep she wouldn't wake up again.
"Someone… help…"
With Yashahime being as awesome as it is I had to get back into Inuyasha, so against every better judgment I am starting ANOTHER story! I give you Asuho Ichiyama, the bitchy popular girl who I promise will grow on you! I honestly have no idea what the update schedule will be for this one, as I am mostly working on Stray of Ba Sing Se and finishing up my Descendants story, so I guess I'll see you when I see you! Enjoy! Fav and Follow! Ciao!