Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, or any of the characters that appear in the show. They belong to Takahashi-sama.
Oh yes, and this disclaimer goes for all chapters of the story.
AN:
This chapter 1. Um.. I'm sorry it's so short, but well.. have fun reading it anyways. And please tell me what you think! Arigatou!
…
Kagome climbed up the ladder and hauled herself over the edge with a sigh. She so rarely came back to her time that this week would be interesting… Interesting to see what rare, elusive illnesses her grandpa had thought up of this time.
She still didn't like the idea of leaving the shards of the Shikon back in the Sengoku Jidai, but Sango had promised to make sure Inuyasha didn't run off to find Kikyo. And besides, the whole gang was doing pretty well; they hadn't run into any demons lately, and it seemed that Naraku's incarnations were leaving them alone. She hoped.
Of course, when she did get to school the next morning, she was swarmed by Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka.
"Kagome! I hope your bad knee doesn't hurt!"
"Did you really fall down the stairs of the shrine?"
"Are you sure it's ok to be at school? I mean… it sounded pretty nasty…"
What have you been telling everyone, Grandpa?! Kagome wondered, then let out a sigh. "I'm fine, really. I feel great, couldn't be better."
"In that case!" Yuka dragged Kagome along, into the school, up the hallway, and stopped… right in front of Houjo's locker. And Houjo.
"Oh, hi, Kagome!" Houjo smiled happily, then looked worriedly at her. "Here, I brought this medicine for you… It's supposed to be a very good pain reliever." He handed a small bundle. "You wouldn't happen to be doing anything after school today, are you?"
Kagome blinked at Houjo, "Ano… I don't think so…"
"Great, see you after school then!" With that, Houjo bounced off to class.
Yuka, Ayumi, and Eri swarmed Kagome again, squealing. "See, I told you he likes you! Now you had better go and meet him, Kagome! You'll see, he's soo much better than that two-timing guy!"
They walked to class, and Kagome sat down, thinking. What was Inuyasha doing? Had he gone to see Kikyo? Did they still have the shards? Not that it mattered much… they hadn't collected that many shards, not after Kikyo had given the ones she'd stolen from them to Naraku. Still, a shard was still power, power they didn't want falling into Naraku's hands.
Suddenly she got a strange feeling. Looking up, the door to the class opened and there stood a girl.
The new girl was pretty. Straight black hair tied in a ponytail, blue eyes? And her ears… they looked normal, but Kagome concentrated and realized they were slightly pointed. Weird. The girl headed for the empty seat at the back corner of the class. As she walked past Kagome's seat, the miko felt a strange sensation, and she eyed the girl warily. But the girl simply sat down and took out her books.
…
After school, Kagome remembered her 'date' with Houjo, who was waiting by the front doors. "Hey, Kagome! I thought maybe we'd go for a snack or something. Um.. are you up to it? I mean, if you're still in pain, then we don't have to go.."
Kagome could almost laugh; there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. But it was nice to know somebody cared. "No, I'm fine, really!"
"Ok, only if you're sure."
They sat down in a little café, and Houjo began telling her what had happened while she'd been 'sick'. Kagome half-listened, half thinking about Inuyasha and the gang.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the same strange feeling, and she felt more than saw the new girl enter the café. Interrupting Houjo, she pointed. "Who is she?"
"That's Asami Morimoto, the new girl… she started here last week. Why?"
"Oh, I don't know… Well, I've been away for so long…" Kagome's voice trailed away. She knew she didn't want to tell Houjo the real reason, and he probably wouldn't believe it either. After all, how many teenage girls in this time could claim to be mikos? And on top of that, feel weird about some new student at her school… Hopefully she should find out soon, but Kagome knew Houjo would be no help.
…
"Hey." Kagome looked up to see the new girl walking beside her. "Um.. hi."
The girl smiled brightly. "I'm Asami, you must be Kagome! You live at the shrine, ne? I've been dying to meet you, ever since I've heard about you. Houjo – he really likes you, you know – says you're sick a lot of the time, that's why you've been missing so much school. But you know, he's been over almost everyday, asking how you've been. That's what he tells me, anyways."
Kagome looked at Asami. She seemed to talk to Houjo a lot. Well, if Asami liked Houjo, then maybe she could go out with him instead. Poor Houjo was just wasting his time on Kagome; her heart belonged to another… "So.. you know Houjo?"
Asami laughed and rolled her eyes. "Do I? Well yeah, my foster sister is his cousin." She sighed. "You have no idea how crazy it gets at home. It's like I get home, and then this tornado strikes, and then I get bombarded with questions, how I like school, are the teachers being nice to me, and on and on it goes. I never thought such chaos could happen in a shrine!"
Kagome remembered that the Morimoto family lived at the shrine across the city from her family's. Asami looked at Kagome. "I noticed you in class yesterday… you know, you remind of a painting I saw a while ago. It was some weird painting, a scene from the Sengoku Jidai, or so my sister says. You look like the miko in the painting, except for the clothes. It's kinda funny, really, considering that you live at the shrine…"
Kagome's thoughts raced. A painting? Of the Sengoku Jidai? Was the miko her, or Kikyo? "Ano.. Were there other people in the painting?"
"Weelll… yeah, it was a very odd collection of people. You know, like a demon exterminator, with a hiraikotsu, a monk, this funny little kid, with really fluffy orange hair, and this odd guy with long, white hair. And funny ears, too. That's what I remember… well, like I said, I saw that painting a while ago. But really, you look so much like that miko in that picture… Well, except the clothes, and the fact that well, that painting was done a long, long time ago."
"Do you remember what the miko was wearing?"
"The miko?" Asami laughed nervously. "What, are you related to her or something? I don't know. Well, just a really pretty kimono. Blue, I think. Umm.. really, I don't remember that well. Really, why?"
"Oh. I.. um.. it was a project I did before, yeah. A- about.. this miko who lived a long time ago. Yeah, that's it." The words tumbled out of Kagome's mouth. The two continued to walk to school quietly. Kagome stole a glance at Asami's ears. They really were pointed, just a bit. Strange…
To Kagome's relief, they were at school, and Asami ran off as Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka crowded around Kagome, demanding details of the previous day's date with Houjo.
…
A week, two more visits to the café with Houjo, and countless exclamations of "Are you sure you're ok, Kagome?" later, she could finally return to the Sengoku Jidai. She sighed. School was almost over, just had to wait for that bell…
And voila, school was over. Finally. Time to head back.
On the way home, Asami found her again. "Hey. Houjo had practise today, he told me to ask you, if you could go out with him tomorrow to the movies?"
"Sorry.. I can't. Something um.. came up. Tell him I'm sorry, but I can't."
"Okay. Sure. He'll probably mope around a bit, or not. Maybe you could go next week? He really likes you, you know. Well, I gotta go." With that, Asami ran off.
Kagome shook her head. Poor Houjo.. he really didn't stand a chance against Inuyasha.. ack! Inuyasha!
She ran the rest of the way home, grabbed her pack, and headed for the well. She stopped at the edge and took a deep breath. "Well, here I go again!" she thought. What had passed while she'd been away? Had they found any more shards? Had Naraku created yet another reincarnation yet? How was Inuyasha? Only one way to find out… she jumped into the well.