by ElysianKiss
Clear Skies
Logan brought the X-Jet in for a landing in the nearby
forest. According to their map of the land, they were no more than
a few miles from the Higurashi shrine where their target was located.
The plan was for the Professor to take Jean and Logan with him. Normally
it would have been Scott, however, Logan was the only one amongst them
that spoke Japanese due to his life as a samurai in the past. The trio
walked quickly toward the shrine, dressed in civilian clothes so as not
to alarm the Higurashi family.
At the shrine, Kagome was just waking up from her
sleep. Sota was sitting next to her, with a worried look on his face.
Kagome grimaced as she tried to sit up. Sota moved to help her accomplish
the now difficult task.
"Are you all right, Kagome?"
"I'm okay, Sota. Thanks."
"Do you want anything?"
"Water. I'm very thirsty."
"Okay. I'll be right
back, sis!"
Sota left to procure the requested liquid. Grandpa Higurashi
walked into the room and sat on the bed, next to Kagome. He sighed
deeply and took her hand in his. Kagome looked at him strangely.
"Grandpa?"
"Kagome. I know this
is a difficult time for you, finding out that you're a mutant. But
I will do all within my power to help you get through this. Maybe
when you feel better we can start your training. I'm not certain
what we'll do yet, but I'm looking into finding someone like you to help
out."
Kagome smiled gratefully. She was glad to know that her family
wouldn't disown her because of this.
"Thanks, Grandpa," she whispered.
The old man nodded and hugged her softly, mindful of her wound.
"Now you rest up, Kagome.
And no going back to Feudal Japan until you're fully recovered!"
"Yes, Grandpa..."
A ring of the doorbell interrupted their conversation.
Mrs. Higurashi was the one to answer it, since she was closest.
"Good morning. How
may I help you?" she asked.
"Good morning, Higurashi-san.
My name is Logan and these are my associates, Professor Charles Xavier
and Jean Grey."
"Logan-san, Xavier-sama,
Grey-san," Mrs. Higurashi addressed them.
"My associates can't speak
any Japanese, so I'll be translating. We're here about Higurashi
Kagome. We've come all the way from America."
"Oh! Well you must
be exhausted. Do come in. We'll talk about Kagome once you're
all settled in and she makes her way over."
Mrs. Higurashi waved them all in. Logan translated for the other
two and they all sat down.
"Would any of you care for
a drink?"
"We're fine, thank you."
"Sota, will you help your
sister come over, please?"
"Sure, mom," Sota replied,
rushing to take Kagome her water and also help her walk to the living room.
Kagome had just finished dressing in a pair of jeans
and a loose T-shirt when Sota knocked on the door.
"Come in."
"Kagome, you have visitors
in the living room," he said.
"I do?"
"Yeah. They look foreign.
Only one of them speaks Japanese...here's your water."
"Thanks, Sota," Kagome says,
taking a sip, "I'll be right out."
"'Kay. Don't take
too long. Mom says I have to help you walk over."
Kagome's face goes a bit sour.
"I can walk just fine...,"
she mutters.
Jean sat and smiled at Mrs. Higurashi, not sure
what else to do in this awkward situation. Mrs. Higurashi smiled
back and cleared her throat. She hoped her english was not too rusty.
"So," she began in slightly
accented english, "You are from America?"
"Uh, yes!" Jean replied,
a little surprised.
"My english is not so good,
but I can still speak some," Mrs. Higurashi smiled.
Kagome walked into the room slowly, a slight bit of pain showed in
her eyes.
"Oh! Are you all right?!"
Jean asked, getting up.
Kagome looked at the red head confused and then she smiled.
"I'm fine," she replied
in slightly better english than her mother, "Just in pain. I was
shot last night."
"I see," Professor Xavier
replied, "Well, since our language barrier seems almost nonexistent I should
perhaps reveal our intentions. Let me introduce myself. I am Professor
Charles Xavier, this is Jean Grey, and Logan."
Kagome smiled at them all and bowed. Mrs. Higurashi helped her
daughter to sit.
"We are from a special school
in America where we teach young mutants to control their powers.
The institute also serves as a place of refuge from those that would like
to harm us. Like the man who shot Kagome last night."
"What? Ame, what are
they saying?" Kagome's grandfather asked from the doorway.
"They're from a mutant school,
father," Mrs. Higurashi replied.
"Can you tell us exactly
what happened last night?" Logan asked in Japanese.
"Yes," Grandpa Higurashi
replied, "We were attacked by bandits! They came to rob our shrine!
They tied us up and then Kagome arrived. They were just about to
take advantage of Kagome when her eyes just lit up like a demon!
An unnatural wind picked up and the ground shook. One of the bandits
left in fear. The other one shot her and then left."
"Hmmn...so it's safe to
assume that Kagome's powers center around weather control as well as seismic
control," Professor Xavier said, after hearing Logan's translation.
"So are you here to ask
me to come to your school?" Kagome asked in english.
"Yes. There's no pressure,
of course. But your powers seem to be unstable. I think it
would be beneficial for you. You can stay as long or as short as
you'd like," Xavier replied.
"We'd love to have you,
Kagome. You can meet others like you and train with us to become
stronger," Jean smiled.
"Train to become stronger,"
Kagome thought, "It would definitely help me in Feudal Japan..."
Kagome remained in thought for a while longer before she looked to
her mother and grandfather.
"I think it's a good idea
for Kagome to train," her grandfather spoke up after hearing the translation
from Logan.
"I'm not too fond of sending
her so far away. But there are no such schools here in Japan.
So I suppose it's the only choice," Mrs. Higurashi replied.
"So Kagome's going to America?"
Sota asked.
"Yes," Kagome replied and
then switched to english, "I will go. But I need to fully recover
first. You're welcome to stay here..."
"Thank you, but we must
be getting back. We'll come back in a week to pick you up.
I already have the perfect instructor for you in mind," Xavier smiled.
"Thank you, Xavier-sama."
The X-Men left the shrine feeling rather accomplished.
That had been one of their better recruiting missions. Logan took
in the pure smell of the forest around the shrine. Some bits and
pieces of memories flashed before him. He shrugged and stored them
away to tell Charles about them later. Jean, Xavier, and Logan stepped
back into the X-Jet where Storm and Scott were waiting.
"So how'd it go?" Scott
asked.
"She's coming in a week,"
Jean replied, "She seems really nice too."
"Ororo. I think you'll
find particular interest in this new student. She has powers that
are similar to your own. I want you to personally help her control
them," Xavier said.
"I will, Charles," Storm
replied.
Logan powered up the X-Jet and they were back on their way to America.
Meanwhile, Kagome was looking outside from her window
upstairs. She had managed to make it to her room, changed her bandages
and drag a chair before her window. She rested her chin on her palm
and her elbow on the window sill.
"If I hadn't told Sango
to keep InuYasha from coming after me, I wouldn't have been shot.
But then, I wouldn't have met Xavier-sama, Grey-san, and Logan-san.
I think this is going to be good for me. I just hope InuYasha, Sango,
Miroku, and Shippo will be okay without me. I should probably go
back to the Feudal era to let them know. But if I do, InuYasha is
bound to make me stay!" she thought, "Still, I shouldn't just leave without
telling them. It's settled then. I'll go and tell them.
And if InuYasha tries to stop me, I'll just sit him!"
She stood up with determination and nodded her head.
"Yes, I will!" she spoke
aloud.