In Your Eyes, I See

Author's Note: To all those wonderful, lovely people who reviewed, thank you so, so very much! I love you all! Enjoy this chapter, minna!

Standard Disclaimers Apply

Chapter Two:

Sesshoumaru was surprised.

Okay, okay. To be completely honest, he was shocked.

Who wouldn't have been, if you suddenly found yourself in a room with a young miko whom he had met hundreds of years in the past and hadn't seen ever since? He had gone to one of the most prestigious private schools in America expecting to have left everything connected to the Feudal Era in Japan and now here was one of the people he had associated closely with in Sengoku Jidai!

He was sure that if any other person was in his place right now, they would have fainted, or croaked, or dropped dead, or whatever it was that most people did when something totally, totally unexpected happens to them.

But get real. He was Sesshoumaru, former Lord of the Western Lands and present owner of a business empire that stretched its connections to halfway around the world.

In any case, Sesshoumaru's eyes just widened, and that was that.

The professor consulted a sheaf of papers he held in his hand, adjusting his reading glasses on the bridge of a slightly curved nose, then looked up at the two new arrivals. "You are Kagome Higurashi?"

The female nodded in answer, a tiny half smile on her face. The old teacher inclined his head towards her companion, who had remained silent. "And you are Ren Francis Fariah, of course."

The young man smiled a slow smile, showing two straight lines of perfect white teeth. "Of course," he echoed.

The professor smiled as well, as if he and Ren were sharing an inner joke and turned back to face the class. "Your new classmates, Miss Kagome Higurashi and Mr. Ren Francis Fariah. Their original birthplace is Japan, but both are currently residing here, am I right?"

Kagome nodded, a small dipping of the head that was almost nonexistent. She gave a very short bow to the room, and then skimmed her eyes around the room.

Sesshoumaru froze when her eyes swept past him, but he saw nothing in them. No recognition, no fear, no joy, nothing. It was as if she hadn't even seen him, and he felt a little miffed at that.

Kagome nodded again, and then gave another half-smile to everyone, opening her delicate mouth to speak. "I am Kagome Higurashi and it's my pleasure to be here."

"No, it's ours!" A boy from the middle row shouted out, and his outburst was immediately followed by several cat calls and whistles from the other males in the room. They seemed to be quite enamoured with the young miko, Sesshoumaru mused.

Kagome smiled again, and Sesshoumaru was struck by how different she was from the insecure and almost scrawny teenager he had encountered in the past. Her hair was much, much longer than what he remembered, though still in its layered style. The slightly wavy tips of thick, luscious raven black hair with streaks of midnight blue reached almost halfway her legs. She had filled out and her feminine curves were noticeable at one glance. She looked healthy and well, completely different from when she was forced to roam the countryside of Japan in search of Shikon shards day and night.

Even the way she talked and moved had changed. 'And it has certainly been a change for the better', he acknowledged silently. The loudmouthed, clumsy female he remembered was in complete contrast with the young lady standing before his class today. She spoke quite softly, though every syllable was distinct. Every move she made was infused with innate grace and her every gesture was made with precision and expressiveness.

Sesshoumaru shifted his gaze to the second arrival and his senses were suddenly bombarded by a full load of information. 'Youkai!' Every instinct shouted at him. He controlled himself, knowing it was the usual reaction of seeing another youkai whom he did not know.

"Ren Francis Fariah," he murmured to himself. 'A panther youkai,' he was sure. Wearing an all black attire consisting of a snug-fitting tank top and baggy cargo pants, he was also wearing a silver necklace, the pendant that of the Chinese kanji for 'infinity'. His face was impassive as he too looked around the room just as Kagome had done.

Sesshoumaru's ears were pricked through the concealment charm and the steady murmurings of most of the female body about how 'gorgeous' Ren looked was not hidden to him. He could see that even some of the youkai females were assessing the young man with half-curious, half-seductive eyes.

He studied the youkai again, understanding what attracted the women to Ren. Sesshoumaru was a man, there was no doubt about that, but he also had an eye for beauty and had excellent taste of his own. Dark hair, like Kagome's except without the bluish streaks was arranged in a carelessly windblown style that was nevertheless very nice to look at. Slate gray eyes with a slightly cat like shape flicked around the room, perhaps studying his surroundings as well. The panther youkai was not muscular, but he moved with quiet confidence and a grace that was only in those with considerable knowledge of martial arts.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes for a minute and he listened as the professor told the two to go find seats. He noticed that the room had quieted down considerably, as if waiting with bated breath to see where the two new students would sit.

'They are highly excited', Sesshoumaru thought contemptuously, 'with something as simple as that?'

After a few moments, he opened his eyes again and looked boredly down the aisles. An involuntary shiver ran through his spine when he met with a pair of startlingly vivid deep blue and gray orbs. Kagome and Ren had found seats near the middle, but she was still standing up, looking up at him with her face slightly raised, revealing the smooth line of her creamy ivory neck.

He was more than startled by her eyes. They were telling him something, he knew, as he stared at the myriad of passing emotions that flickered in her eyes. But then she turned and sat down, and the moment was broken.

Blinking, Sesshoumaru leaned into his seat. Lightly massaging his forehead, he tried to process what had happened as the professor droned on and on in the front of the room. What had happened back there? When he had met her eyes, it had seemed as if everything around him had faded into insignificance and they were suddenly alone in the room.

He did not like this.

He was going to have a talk with the young miko soon, he decided. He was going to find out what that look had meant.

Author's Note: What I have to say is short, concise, teensy-weensy, a bit, definitely not lengthy, and heartfelt.

You want to know what I have to say?

Okay.

People.

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~Marie-Claire~