Untitled Document

** This chapter's mainly an interlude, filling in on wat Aska and Sesshoumaru are doing right now, before they meet once again.

After reading other fics about Sess and Kag (which were really well written!), i realise that my story has got LOTs to improve on . *sobz* So if any of you have ideas on what to add into the story to spice it up, or anything you might want to read about but are just too lazy to write out *hehe* feel free to let me know!

And pleeease please give me more revieeewws!!! o____o I (and my little story) simply thrive on them \\(^^)// **



EYES ON ME
-Chapter 4-

"Point number three...wears a kimono, looks more costly than my entire wardrobe...point number four...has very long silver hair, probably paid alot to get it dyed..." Aska muttered to herself as she scribbled furiously into her pink, hello-kitty diary. In front of her, the table lamp cast a gentle glow, lighting up her bedroom with a warm orange tinge.

Putting her pen away, she stared at the contents of her diary for a few seconds before pushing it aside with an exasperated, "aargh, way to go detective fluff-head!"

She rested her chin in her palm and sighed, staring out of her bedroom window in front of her desk. The faint laughter and chatter of her family below drifted slowly to her ears as they 'chilled' in the den. Familiar sounds that managed to comfort her, a sort of gentle reminder that she was still the same old Aska afterall, and her life was still pretty much the same old life--a tad predictable and boring maybe, but she wouldn't have traded it for the world.

She definitely wasn't Kindaichi material, but that wasn't about to stop her. No. She hadn't given up on solving the mystery of 'Kagome and the silver-haired woman.' In fact, she was quite adamant about finding out the truth. Those sleepless nights and peculiar occurances were starting to take a toil on her, and she concluded that the sooner she found out the truth behind whatever was going on, the better. At least maybe then, she would stop thinking about them in the day, hopefully before anyone else noticed her weird behaviour.

Chewing on the pen, she reflected on the dreams once again. They didn't seem like normal dreams. Normal dreams were...bizarre. Things like pink elephants and giant tellytubbies. They just weren't real. But these dreams were different. Somehow it seemed almost as if they were...plucked, from some long-forgotten memory deep within her, as if they really had happened to her before. And then there was that presence, that almost tangible presence...she knew who it was, somehow. It was just so achingly familiar! But it...it couldn't be...could it? That the presence she had never been able to see, the one with those startling gold eyes, was actually...that woman?

"They do have the same gold coloured eyes!" She murmured, the realization striking her suddenly.

As if on cue, the cordless phone one her study desk started ringing.

"Moshi moshi, Shinzaki Residence..."

"Aska?" An excited voice replied.

"Hai. What's up Reira?" Deciding to set her musings aside for the time being, she put her pen down and strolled over to her cosy bed, flopping down with a soft 'thump'.

"Aska, you wont beliieeve the news I've just received!" Reira squealed.

"The test tomorrow's cancelled?" She asked dryly, wincing a little at the girl's sharp voice.

She could almost picture the other girl's look of annoyance. "No, Aska. Don't you ever think of anything else except for tests?" Apparently she had thrown Aska's recent 'insanities' to the wind. Oh well, all the better.

"Do you know," Reira continued imapatiently. "That *TAKESHI KANESHIRO IS COMING TO OUR SCHOOL!" She ended with a screech, her voice rose to a rich (and ear-piercing) tenor, as if she were some opera-singing diva.

Boy did Reira have a set of powerful lungs! Rubbing her tortured ear, Aska rolled over on her belly. "And who, may I know, is that exactly?" Probably some dumb j-pop idol of sorts, she guessed.

"Aska, he is THE most HANDSOMEST, most CHARISMATIC, and the most SEXY actor, EVER!" Reira declared dramatically. The phone cackled with static softly. Obviously it was suffering the same torture treatment as Aska.

Aska raised a cynical eyebrow. "And I suppose you're thinking what a country bumpkin I am now, ne?" She teased, pretending to sound angry.

"Oh please, I've always known that." Ooh that Reira..."Anyway, he will be arriving tomorrow at noon! Can you just believe it?? I have absolutely got to get prepared now! I'll talk to you tomorrow...no maybe the next day! Ja ne!" And with a click, the phone was silent once again.

Peace at last, Aska sighed as she sat back at her desk. What's so attractive about this Takeshi Kaneshiro guy anyway? I don't think he has silver hair or golden eyes... Eyes suddenly wide open, Aska slapped her hand over her mouth as she realised what she had just thought. "Oh I did NOT mean that!" She huffed, crossing her arms firmly in front of her. One way or the other, she had to get to the bottom of this matter, or at least find out who that woman was...

***


She was holding a bow in her hands. It was long and curved, heavy but comfortably so. The weight felt reassuring and as her mind gradually relaxed, she could feel her body and spirit merging to become one with the graceful weapon. Taking a long, deep breath, she extended her bow arm slowly, feeling the tension increase slowly but steadily, her eyes narrowed with concentration.

Then, she let go.

It was an exhilirating moment, as the slender arrow whizzed forward, almost too fast for the eye to see. Then there was a loud 'thunk'. The arrow had struck the bull's eye.

Relaxing from her stance, a large smile spread across her face as satisfaction coursed through her body. She was getting better at this, ever since she had arrived here. She remembered the first time she held a bow...it had felt foreign and clumsy, and she didn't have half the strength to draw the bow string.

"Doing well aren't we?" A gentle teasing voice sounded from behind even as a pair strong arms wrapped firmly around her.

Contentedly, she rubbed her face against an arm, feeling the warmth and solidness of the muscular body against her back.

"Mmm..."

"Don't you mmm me young lady."

Shooting up straight, Aska looked around her in a daze. The bow...where had it gone to? And Se...wait a minute...she was in her room!

"It's that dream again!" She exclaimed, turning around only to see her Mrs Shinzaki staring in amusement and annoyance at her.

"What dream? You're late for school already!" Mrs Shinzaki clucked, pushing the girl off her bed. "Now scoot off and get changed. I've laid your breakfast for you already." Mrs Shinzaki was a tall, slender woman, and with her chic bob hair-do combed slickly and her flawless complexion, she looked every bit the modern working woman and none the benevolent housewife that she really was. Even with an apron on.

Rubbing her eyes, Aska yawned loudly as she threw her blanket aside, earning a frown from her mother.

"Aska-chan!"

"Sorry okasan." Aska apologised, sticking out her pink tongue. Her mother had always been fussy about having well manners. Sleepily, she took her brown and white uniform down from the rack and trudged into the connected bathroom. She wished she had inherited her mother's tall figure instead of her father's short one, though fortunately it stopped there. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, she looked at herself contemplatively.

"I'm not that bad am I?" She wondered out loud, recalling how one of her male classmates, callous as they were, had taunted her, calling her a 'flat chestnut'. She turned this way and that in just her underwear. Right curves at the right places, look, I've even got a cleavage! She thought triumphantly, as she crossed her arms together and puffed up her chest. She held that pose for a few seconds then deflated, shaking her head and laughing softly at her own childish behaviour.

Abrubtly, the vision from yesterday flashed into her mind. That strange girl who had resembled her so much and yet seemed completely different at the same time. Slowly, she took one step closer to the mirror and peered intently at herself. Bright blue eyes stared solemnly back at her, framed with dark curling lashes and rather unsightly dark eyebags. Just as ordinary looking as ever. How in the world did she manage to conjure up that image??

Frowning, she tried her hardest to recall the name which came to her right before she had awaken. But like one of those fleeting dream images, she just couldn't seem to grasp hold of it. The more she tried to reach for it, the more it seemed to elude from her. It wasn't 'Kagome' this time, more like something which started with an S...or was it a T??

"Aska-chan!" Her mother's impatient voice called out abrubtly, giving her such a scare that she sprang into action immediately, washing up and getting dressed for school in record time. The wrath of a housewife was not a thing to be trifled with.

***


When he first arrived in the mortal realm, he was without a shelter over his head and without food supplies. In just a day, he had acquired a supposedly 'posh' living quarters in the middle of Tokyo and an abundance of cash. Not that any of these mundane matters meant anything to him. Just that he was, afterall, a Great Youkai, and wandering around the streets simply did not appeal to him at all.

He inspected his temporary lodging idly. Somehow, his terrified host had managed to spurt out one by one, in barely intelligible gibberish, the functions of these weird contraptions. Grudgingly, he noted the human-race's effectiveness in turning their weaknesses into strengths, as they managed to invent gadgets which made up for their lack of strength and supernatural capibilities.

Some however, were merely a nuisance. Like the hideous square box they called a 'television-set', or the tinier box which, as his trembling host had so kindly explained, could transfer the voice of one to another regardless of distance. Somehow, humans in these modern times seemed to take a liking to square things, he noticed. How utterly distasteful. He would have to change that soon, at least in his own territory, impossibly small as it might seem.

Indeed it was tiny. Perhaps barely __ acres in width and length. But it would do for now. A corner of his full lips turned up in cynical humour as he recalled the abundance of land he had commanded during his early days, in the Sengoku Era. That was long ago, before he had left behind with his horde, this piece of land he had once called home. He remembered how he had fought ferociously with other powerful demons, for territory, each battle never failing to be a triumphant one. It had been a long time since he had lived that sort of life. A hundred years or so since he had set foot on this place.

With an almost rueful expression, he considered the possibilities of what he would have done had he been three hundred years younger. Rampage this land and go on a killing spree, wreaking endless havoc no doubt. But he had grown wiser now, and even without any advance knowledge about this new age, his gut feelings told him that this was not a land where the one with the greatest strength ruled. Those miserable little humans had grown cunning, shrewd, vastly knowledgable. They had learnt how to make use of the endless resourced around them, turn things around to their advantage, a touch of a button, a flick of the wrist was all it took. And as much as his Youkai pride disagreed, he had to admit that it was not advisable to act rashly.

How his loyal old servant, Jaken, or even his bastard half brother, Inuyasha, would have reacted, he thought almost in amusement. They would have been shocked, no doubt about it. He, the Great Sesshoumaru, was actually exercising precaution? Yet, it was all he could do. In this small amount of time, he had squeezed every bit of information about this new land that he could out of his pathetic host (who, unfortunately enough, was probably on his way to the the nearest hospital by now). He knew that it was dangerous, though not fatalistic, to over-flaunt the superior youkai powers he possessed.

Stripping down to his kimono pants, he tossed his outfit onto a nearby sofa and sauntered to gaze out of the wide windows. It was, undeniably, an almost amazing sight. The hundreds of people dotted across the streets like the little insects they were, skyscrapers which reflected the very image of the sky. Everything was grey, grey and more grey and it shone with a metallic sheen that was alien and yet strangely alluring to the youkai lord. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru had an urge.

As he leaned over the parapet, the smooth muscles on his back and arms rippling, he surveyed the scene with a wildly demonic glint in his golden eyes. At that instant he was reminded of the times, hundreds of years ago in feudal Japan, where he would stand exactly the same way and look over the vast wideness of the Western Lands he owned.

Suddenly, he knew what he wanted.

He would take control of everything here, get rid of the 'evil' and claim this piece of earth as Youkai Territory once more. The youkais would return full force, and he, Sesshoumaru, would make sure of that.


-Reviews corner-

[velvet twillight] Hehe! actually...i thought it would be fun to let her continue thinking that he's a 'woman'!! \ ________ / *evil grin*

[FishyKittie] Wooopsie~!! me bad!...his eyes are GOLD. Thanx a whooole bunch for letting me know!! And regarding the alternate reality question, well i suppose i'll have to clarify some stuff that might not be obvious in my fic...*how unprofessional of me = ( * -- he's now in modern day japan, approximately 500 years (give or take a few years) from the Sengoku Era. In other words, he has come to Kagome's time! But i cant tell you exactly when just yet, or it would give the story away! =p

[Itadakimasu] I'M relieved that you like my chapters! : D

[Sesshoumaru] Your wish is my command o-Sesshoumaru-sama! *deep bow*

-end of chapter 4-