Notes: To clear up something from the last chapter, that wolf was not Kouga. I'm sorry that I didn't make it clear. You'll see who the wolf is in due time. ^__~ This chapter might be confusing if you don't pay attention to the change in point of views. The way I am writing the story is odd in itself because it's from first person to narrative (omnipotent). I'm sorry also, but there is little action in this chapter. It was more to establish the relationship between Makoto and Kagome. Oh! I'm giving too much away. Please read the story whose characters I don't own. There are review shout-outs and a little extra section at the end. My apologies in advance about the bad text formatting.
Once in a Blue Moon: [1] A Cure for Boredom
by Sarien-chan (ChibiSarien@netscape.net)
'So cold.' I shivered and clutched my small corner of the blanket closer to my body. "Damn, Rei-chan took the blanket again!" This of course wasn't the first time she had stolen the blankets. No, Rei was a repeat offender.
"I heard that Mako-chan," my friend said sleepily.
"Well if you heard me then why do you leave me shivering with no blanket?" To that, Rei mumbled something incoherent and returned to her dream where she was probably a J-pop idol.
Sighing, I looked out the window. There was already a false dawn on the horizon. It looked…odd. Things didn't feel the same, not on the other side of Japan. The water even tasted different, but I guess that's just me.
"My next boyfriend is going to have to know what the word share means," I muttered then frowned as I realized that nobody was going to want to date the freakishly strong tom girl.
Depression and boredom aren't a good mixture, but as of late it seems like it is a feeling that I would never get rid of. Things have become boring in the months after we defeated Galaxia. So boring in fact that the other senshi, minus Rei, had signed up for an exchange program in America. I, of course, didn't go because there was the whole airplane issue. I know I'm a coward but I still couldn't force myself to see them off at the airport, too much trauma in that part of my past.
You must be wondering how I ended up here at this shrine since I'm not religious in any sense of the word. Rei just dragged me away from my normal life and brought me along on her visit to a Shinto temple. The Shinto workshop is two months long, and it was the second semester of school already. Rei's ojiisan was planning about retiring and since we're going to graduate in two years, she wants all the Shinto-related experience she could get. That includes trying to beg an extended stay for a short apprenticeship from Higurashi-jiji.
I glanced at our Sailor V mini-clock. It was 5:30 AM. Minako had given it to me at the going away party. Immediately I felt a twinge of guilt. I didn't even go see them off. Maybe one day I'd get over this fear of heights. A least I have something more important to distract me from such dismal thoughts.
Today is our first day of school. Higurashi-san, the woman whose home we're staying at, enrolled us in the 11th grade at the local high school (though we still were forced to take entrance exams). Higurashi-san says that her daughter goes there, which is strange because I've never seen anybody else here but the genki Souta and the old Shinto priest, Higurashi-jiji.
"Oh well," I said and gathered my training clothes.
It was a mystery but the least of my worries. How would T.K. High school treat me? I doubt the rumors would have spread from Azaba Juuban all the way to Tokyo. I'll just have to remember to keep my temper in check. Now that was a task in itself. But I doubt I could take on a gang by myself anymore. I've gotten lazy in the last few months. Now was no time to get out of shape. Who knows what evil might pop up…though Setsuna did told me that there would be no evil in the future. I still don't really trust her powers of prescience. Besides, I don't want to be shamed during my P.E. class on my first day of school….
~---Kagome---~
Kagome Higurashi jumped as if bitten when her alarm clock rang. She clicked the 'snooze' button and smirked at the kawaii bunny clock. It was a new one. Inuyasha had destroyed her old one on his last visit to her home. "Inuyasha no baka," she whispered fondly. Her heart constricted as she thought about the previous night's events.
"Kikyou," she whispered.
She was still shocked that the dead miko didn't make an attempt on her life. After all, they were both stuck in the inside of a giant youkai. But then there was the fact that Kikyou had been injured and unable to escape. You don't kill the only person who could save your life…or corpse at least.
"That's right…I saved her. She barely even acknowledged it too. At least Inuyasha didn't meet her again." She couldn't bare the thought of Kikyou's cold lips on Inuyasha. It evoked several emotions in the miko. Jealousy was the main one, which she immediately denied.
Now was no time to get sentimental over the arrogant hanyou though. Today was Friday and her self appointed guardian, Inuyasha, had decided that she could take a day's break to go back to school. "He still doesn't understand that I have appearances to make. I wonder when grandfather is going to run out of excuses. What was it last time…oh yeah, the bubonic plague!" She chuckled at the memory of Hojo carrying her home because he felt she shouldn't waste her energy.
"If Inuyasha had seen…why do I care what he thinks? He has Kikyou," she said bitterly. Somewhere inside of the miko was a fondness for the hanyou. "I hope Hojo can take a hint this time. I have to go back to Sengoku Jidai tomorrow and hunt up some more jewel shards. Isn't that all I'm good for? A jewel shard blood hound?" She was ashamed as soon as those words escaped her mouth.
Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and even Inuyasha, cared about her (in their own way) and had put their lives on the line trying to save her more then once.
'Will things ever get easier?' she thought as she opened the window. The soft morning light filled the room as she looked at the Go-Shinboku. "What the…"
Down below in the courtyard was a girl practicing kicks and punches. It was almost hypnotic. The girl looked like she knew what she was doing and even resembled an Amazon warrior. But what was the girl doing at the shrine?
"Oh yeah, now I remember. Grandfather was hosting a Shinto workshop. About twenty people are in our guesthouse. Can this girl be a miko? She doesn't seem the type…" Kagome's thoughts were interrupted when her mother called her down for breakfast.
~~~-Makoto-~~~
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and collapsed on the stone bench. Something suddenly sent chills down my spine. I already knew I was being watched by a one of the Higurashi family members, so that couldn't be it.
"What is this strange energy?"
I looked around the empty courtyard. There was nothing there…other then a very large, ancient looking tree. Rei's sixth sense must have rubbed off on me because I could feel waves of lingering emotions from centuries past: Betrayal, Anger, and Death.
"Mako-chan, come on and get ready, we'll be late for our first day of school!" Rei yelled. I ran back to the guesthouse, giving the suspicious tree a large berth. Memories of previous plant youma made me wary. I didn't want to have to transform in public if it could be avoided.
"Coming Rei-chan!" I answered, deciding not to relay to her what had happened. At least only one of us would be worrying that way. Besides, I would be more then happy to kick some evil butt right now.
~---Kagome---~
"Kagome-chan! Pay attention," whispered Yuki.
"Huh?"
"Egami-sensi is explaining the material that will be on the next Geometry test. You've missed last week's lessons on the Trigonometry functions so try to catch up."
Kagome blushed and focused her attention back on the geometry teacher. Sine and Cosine weren't enough to keep her thoughts from straying towards Sengoku Jidai. The teacher noticed this and was just about to assign the daydreaming girl more work when the classroom door slid open and Nakada Inoue, the school headmistress, walked in.
The woman took a cursory glance at the students before nodding satisfactorily. She turned and whispered something in the teacher's ear.
Higurashi Kagome tried to make herself as small as possible.
'Oh no! The must have found out why I'm really always absent. I'm going to have to repeat the 11th grade! Please don't let it be for me. Please don't let it be for me.'
While Kagome repeated this mantra in her head, Inoue walked out the room. The teacher looked back at the class as if looking for something. This caused the miko to slide down further in her chair. She gulped. 'He's looking my way.'
To her immense relief, the door slid open again. A girl walked into the classroom. Immediately, she drew the attention of all in the room. She was very pretty. Her chestnut colored hair was up in a ponytail. The girl wore a school uniform that fitted to her well-developed body, making her legs look impossibly long. The only reason the boy's weren't drooling over her was because her expression and body stance said to 'Back off.'
The girl's stunning emerald eyes scanned the classroom briefly.
"Ah, there you are. Inoue-san told me you would be coming," the teacher turned to the class, "Class 11C, I'd like to introduce you to the newest student. Kino Makoto is from Azaba Juuban and new to Tokyo. Why don't you tell us about yourself?" Egami asked, without much warmth. The teacher hated to be interrupted. Makoto already made her way onto his 'to be watched' list.
Makoto met the teacher's eyes without flinching then turned back to the class. A hesitant smile grew on her lips, making the boys briefly ignore her 'back off' signal.
"Ano…Watashi wa Kino Makoto. I'm going to be staying in Tokyo for the remainder of this semester and-"
"Now take your seat," Egami interrupted, "There's an empty one next to Higurashi."
Makoto looked annoyed as she made her way to the only empty seat next to the raven-haired girl. There were a few audible snide remarks from jealous girls, who were promptly quieted by glares from the new girl. She finally made it to her seat and sat down without further mishap. The attention of the male population was once again on their work seeing as the brunet's mask of being "untouchable" was once more on.
The new girl was all but forgotten as Egami continued on with the lesson. Well…all but Kagome forgot her. She kept sneaking sidelong glances at Makoto who was beginning to look frustrated, copying down the foreign language that was math, hurriedly.
'I know that I have seen that girl somewhere…'
Also frustrated, Kagome turned her attention back on the Geometry lesson. 'I should let Inuyasha kill the 'test' for me. [1]' Images of a Chibi Inuyasha chasing her 'spell book' [2] with his Tetsusaiga danced through her mind. She giggled softly.
~------(Makoto)------~
I looked at the girl next to me though the corner of my eye. It was faint but I could feel an aura of white magic around her, similar to Rei-chan's power. A miko? With my luck it would be a kuromiko [3]. I could tell this because the senshi of Mars had taught me the basics of chi sensing. It scared me how much untapped magical potential this high school girl had. Strangely though, her aura felt incomplete.
But why was she laughing? Idiots and power don't mix well. She must have been laughing at me. My fists clenched underneath the wooden table.
'Sot the rumors did get this far, huh? As much as I'd like to punch somebody right now, I can't. I must prove them wrong. But first, I have to figure out what the hell this guy's talking about. Cosine? Tangent? What?' Rubbing my temples, I longed for the days when Ami-chan was my tutor.
~-~
The bell rang at the end of the day and several cries of relief could be heard. Mine were among them. I don't know how I made it through the rest of the day. Rei wasn't even in any of my classes. Our lunch schedules weren't even the same. Somebody up there wanted me to be alone forever.
"Oi! Mako-chan! How'd your day go?" Rei asked as I closed my locker door.
"Every one of my teachers are out to get me. I have homework in every single class, P.E. included, and I have to be all caught up by tomorrow. Yup, a normal day," I said sarcastically. "How was yours?"
She grinned. Obviously her day was going well.
"I made it as co-captain of the archery club!"
"What? But today's your first day!"
"Yeah, I still can't believe it either. We were practicing archery during P.E. After my turn, the teacher pulled me to the side. I thought I was in trouble or something. Apparently Chiso-san is the coach of the girl's archery club and one of their captains moved away. None of the other team members are experienced enough. Can you believe it Mako-chan? Chiso-san thinks I'm good."
I forced a smile. Somebody up there was going all out to make sure I was alone.
"That's great Rei-chan. All those 'Mars Flame Snipers' must have done you some good."
She must not have noticed my false enthusiasm.
"You should join too Mako-chan. Having at least one extra-curricular activity is recommended."
"No thanks. I'll stick to my karate classes. I think I'll go look for a near by dojo right now. You coming?"
Rei stopped walking, we were already at the front gate.
"Gomen, Gomen Mako-chan but practice starts today. The Tokyo archery tournament starts in a month. We have practice every day, even Sundays!"
My face fell as she said this.
"What about your workshop at the shrine?" I asked hopefully.
"I can work around that."
"I see…"
"Rei-sempai!" a voice called. My friend looked around and spotted a familiar face.
"Gomen Mako-chan. Practice is starting. I promise to make it up to you later. Bai Bai!" With that, the raven-haired girl ran off, leaving me alone.
I sighed and looked up at the cloudy skies. It was already 5:00. Maybe I'll try looking for the dojo on Sunday. Giving my new school a last look, I walked towards the gate.
~-----(Kagome)----~
"Hojo-kun…really, it's too much," said Kagome Higurashi as she attempted to collect her school bags from the ever so genki boy.
"Nonsense Higurashi-chan. With your anemia, you shouldn't over exert yourself," he said with a big smile.
'I'm going to kill ojiisan when I get home…I could have sworn we've used that excuse already. And still, Hojo can't seem to take a hint either. He's very sweet though…unlike some arrogant boy I know.'
Kagome plastered a big smile on her face. "Ano…Hojo-kun, I feel better now. The medicine just kicked in." She took her book bag back from the boy, who didn't look one bit abashed.
"At least let me escort you home Higurashi-san. It's not safe for a female to be alone in the evening," he implored.
'Inuyasha might be thick headed but he's very overprotective and if he finds Hojo's scent on me…' Kagome looked around frantically for a way out of this new predicament. The school lawns were almost empty…almost.
A tall, forlorn looking brunet was walking slowly towards the school gate. And as if feeling the young miko's gaze on her, the brunet turned around. Their eyes locked briefly and Kagome shuddered. She could sense power coming off this girl in waves…but they weren't in Sengoku Jidai where someone with that kind of aura would be a youkai. She shrugged it off as paranoia.
'Kino-san…she looks so alone. Ah! Maybe I can walk her home, getting rid of Hojo too. She looks like she can beat even Hojo up. He can't say that I'm not protected,' she thought triumphantly.
"Hojo-kun, sumimasen. I forgot that I was meeting Kino-san here after school. She can walk me home. Arigato…for thinking about my health. Ja ne!"
Before the boy could protest, the girl was off.
----~(Makoto)~----
'Why does she keep looking at me? Is there something on my face? Poor girl though. She doesn't really look like she wants to talk to that boy. I can't blame her though. From what I've seen, he's too nice for his own good. There should be laws about being that nice.'
'These people are weird. Maybe it's the air.'
I switched my book bag to my other hand as I walked out the gate. All of my new books were heavy. Nothing the senshi of Jupiter couldn't handle.
"Kino-san! Kino-san!" a familiar voice called.
I spun around and saw the girl with the wandering eyes standing there. My skills must be getting dull. I didn't even notice her approach.
"Kino-san I-"
"Call me Makoto or Mako-chan," I interrupted, unused to honorifics.
"Erm…Mako-chan. May I walk home with you? I only live a couple blocks away," she said shyly.
I suspected some ulterior motives but then again, I wanted to ask her some questions.
"Sure…Kagome-chan." She smiled and followed me.
~----~
"Why do you want to walk home with me? Aren't you scared that the new tom girl is going to beat you up?" I asked bluntly.
She looked genuinely puzzled. "You wouldn't have hurt me Mako-chan," she said simply, "Hojo-kun was very insistent about me not walking home alone."
"I can't say I'm jealous. Is he your boyfriend or something?"
"Who? Hojo-kun? No, he's just a friend though Inuyasha doesn't even want him even as that. I swear, he just doesn't know when to stop," she paused and blushed, "I'm babbling, huh?"
"It's okay. I do that too sometimes. Who is he though? He sounds like an overprotective boyfriend. He's not violent, is he? If he is then I'll just have to show him not to mess with innocent girls," I said, clenching my fists. Being with Freddy taught me not to hate boys like him.
Kagome laughed nervously. "He's not exactly my boyfriend. He's just a violent, overprotective…friend," she added lamely. "He won't hurt me so don't worry Makoto. He's really just one big puppy underneath it all." Then, for some reason, she laughed. It must have been some joke she was looking back at. Still, I didn't really believe her. But I don't have much right to question a girl I just met about her personal life.
"Kagome-san, why-" This time she was the one to interrupt me.
"Call me Kagome-chan or just Kagome. All of my friends do."
"Right Kagome. Why were you staring at me?"
"You, er, noticed that? It's just that you remind me of a girl I saw this morning at the shrine." My eyes widened at this unexpected response.
"That's because I was that girl. You must be the Higurashi daughter your okaasan told me about. I never saw you when I arrived. It's like you were in another dimension all together."
She hiccupped…and hiccupped…I had to pat her back until they subsided.
"Are you a miko?" she asked quickly.
This aroused my suspicions. 'From what I felt earlier, this girl can be the strongest miko I felt, Rei included. Can't she sense these things? Is she trying to play stupid?' I thought.
"I don't have an ounce of white magic in me. I'm staying at your shrine because Rei-chan wouldn't come alone. The rest of our friends are in a foreign exchange program so I had nothing else to do. I also heard that they have some good dojos here in Tokyo."
"I see. Maybe I can show you around then. I don't know any dojos since I'm not a fighter."
I smiled. She didn't seem evil. Of course, Nephrite seemed perfectly human, just one who happened to have a lot of power and worked for Beryl.
"Sure, I'd like that a lot. Now, where's the shrine again?" I asked, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly. We had covered four blocks and I didn't recall any of these buildings. Then again, I wouldn't since this morning I was too nervous and anxious to pay much attention.
"Ano…Makoto, it's right behind you," she said while giggled. My cheeks were burning with embarrassment. How could I have missed the giant gates? My senses really were shot.
-----~(Kagome)~-----
Dinner was a noisy affair. The dining room was filled with hungry Shinto priests and priestesses. Kagome knew it must have been expensive. It was a good thing that everybody had paid for meals in advance and was staying in the guesthouse, not the small main house. The shrine wasn't exactly a large source of income.
Kagome was thankful to get out of there early. She knew that she couldn't stay even if she had wanted to. Inuyasha would come looking for her and he didn't know about the workshop. Half of them would notice his presence and join her ojiisan in throwing ineffective talismans at the hanyou…not that it wouldn't be an interesting scenario.
She raced up the stairs, taking two of them at a time. By the time she got to the top, she was out of breath. The girl knew she didn't have time stop.
After opening her room door, she ran in hurriedly, and shut the door behind herself. Finally she felt she could relax for a minute and possibly catch her breath. But the fates seemed to be against her as she turned and found herself locking gazes with a pair of familiar amber eyes.
"Oi, bitch. What took you so long?"
Well, she could always rest later.
"Did you bring the Ramen?" Typical Inuyasha, always thinking of his stomach first.
'How dare he just break into my room and demand food after all I went through to get here on time!'
"In-u-ya-sha," Kagome said through clenched teeth. The hanyou braced himself. He knew what was coming by the tone in her voice and the fire in her eyes, though he didn't know what he did to deserve it this time.
"Osuwari!" *thump*
~------(Makoto)-----~
I was halfway through the second verse of the Sailor V song (which I was mentally singing out of boredom) when I heard a soft thud coming from upstairs. Looking around, it became clear that nobody else noticed, so deep were they in their philosophical debates. Rei seemed to be arguing with Higurashi-jiji about the Western influence on the Shinto style architecture.
It was better not to interrupt so I slipped out the room quietly and walked up the stairs.
'I could have sworn the sound came from upstairs…but from which room?"
"Bitch! Do you want me to break my back?" a gruff masculine voice asked. The sound was coming from the door to my right.
"Osuwari!" Kagome yelled back. There was another loud thud followed by a lot of cursing.
'Go Kagome! She must have hit that boy back…wait, boy? What's a boy doing in her room this time of night?' she wondered, pressing her ear to the keyhole.
"Inuyasha! I have a name. Use it!" hissed Kagome. By the tone of her voice, she was annoyed with this boy. Obviously this had happened before.
"Keh!" he responded.
'This must be the same violent not-boyfriend she was talking about earlier.'
"Come on wench. Kaede-baba says there some rumors of a human with a Shikon no Kakera in a village by home," he said.
"A…human?" she asked, clearly surprised.
"Yeah, wench, are you deaf or something? Maybe if we hurry and get the shard, we can have time to find that bastard Naraku. Now get on!" Some shuffling could be heard after Inuyasha's speech.
"Inuyasha!" she shrieked.
My indecision was over at the sound of my new friend in trouble. I threw open the door, hoping to make a heroic rescue and maybe beat up this 'Inuyasha'. But there was nobody in the room. It just didn't make sense. Unless he was evil and took her through a portal, the only other exit was a window that happened to be wide open. I ran to that window and looked out.
There was some movement in the far side of the shrine grounds. I could have sworn I saw a flash of red and white over there. But I must have blinked or imagined it because it was gone.
"Well, there's only one way to find out what happened." I jumped out of the second-story window, rather gracefully I might add, for all that I haven't trained in months. I ran as soon as my feet touched the ground, towards a small edifice where the red and white thing disappeared.
As I approached I noticed that it was some sort of wooden storehouse. The door was still open. Things were just getting more interesting by the second.
The inside of the storehouse was eerily dark, illuminated only by the light of the full moon. From what I could tell, it was mostly empty.
"Ka-go-me?" I called out. There was no answer.
A 17-year-old girl just doesn't disappear into thin air…unless Inuyasha was working for the dark side and really did take her through some portal. My instincts weren't betting on that however. I knew there was some perfectly logical explanation.
"I said I was bored and I get a mystery," I mumbled as I climbed down the stairs to the lower portion of the storehouse.
"Is that a well? What is a well doing here? Ahhhh!" I shrieked. My foot had landed on something soft and furry. This soft and furry woodland creature had claws. I could tell as they raked my bare legs. My old white and brown school uniform wasn't much in the way of protection.
The contact caught me unprepared. I tumbled down the last stair…and into the strange well.
'Damn neko!' was all I thought as my forehead connected with a loose stone. I was unconscious before I reached the bottom.
[OWARI CHAPTER ONE]
[1] I remember from the anime that Inu-chan offered to kill Kagome's tests. Very cute.
[2] Inuyasha referred to Kagome's Geometry book as a spell book (unless I'm getting confused with fanfics again -__-)
[3] A miko is a white magic user so a kuromiko is a black magic user. Remember that old kuromiko Inuyasha & company encountered?
[4] Anybody know Freddy's Japanese name?
[5] I know in the anime, Inuyasha called Kagome 'wench' (though there were a couple "b's") but for the purposes of adding to Makoto's dislike of him, she'll be called both. They'll make up eventually.
[-] Some translations…neko (cat), ano (hmm…), Higurashi-jiji (grandfather Higurashi…not too sure about this one), Watashi wa (I'm…), Gomen (sorry), Sempai (read Makoto Almasy's Ah! My Sempai for this one ^__~), sumimasen (I'm really sorry), Ja ne (later), Shikon no Kakera (jewel shard), Shikon no Tama (Jewel of four souls)
Notes: That wasn't that big of a cliffhanger. Consider yourselves lucky. ^__^ About the honorifics used, I was watching Furuba when I wrote it and all of Tohru saying Souma-kun really rubbed off. There won't be many because in the Sengoku Jidai they weren't too formal with each other. I also doubt I'll be using many more Japanese words.
Favorite line/scene/quote: - He knew what was coming by the tone in her voice and the fire in her eyes, though he didn't know what he did to earn it.- [Silly thick headed hanyou]
-Images of a Chibi Inuyasha chasing her 'spell book' with his Tetsuiga danced through her mind -[cute]
I got the idea to do this from Silver (who wrote a wonderful Rurouni Kenshin story). I have low self esteem so this should help. You'll be seeing it every chapter.
To Girl-chama: You don't know what an honor it is to have you reviewing this story. You and a couple other authors were my idols when I first clicked into the crossovers section. I'm glad you enjoyed this and noticed my improvement (though my grammar wasn't too good in this chapter). A year can do wonders for most people. The wolf wasn't Kouga but you've caught on to my "insidious plot." Ayame will be a slight problem, and I forgot about her. It won't be too hard to work her in. She'll show up for conflict. Oh, how I enjoy toying with my characters. *evil laughter* And don't worry, reviews like this are helpful.
To Vash-chan: Anipike is a life saver for me when reading a lot of this new fanfiction. Lately I've been getting the shivers too. The couple is fairly obvious but that wolf from before wasn't Kouga. It's an original character. But keep your musings on the hush, you're found me out.
To all reviewers: Thank you for reviewing. I means a lot to me, if only to inform me that people actually read this. You guys are going to make my ego grow even larger then it already is!