Chapter Three

First Impressions

Kagome had finished the space she made for Akemi. With the little amount of room she had, Kagome found it a challenge to try and accommodate another person. After many experiments, they eventually decided to buy a small futon that could fit underneath Kagome's bed during the day, then pulled out at night next to Kagome's bed. I hope she's not Closter phobic. Kagome thought as she put her clothes to one side of the closet.

Kagome had decided at the beginning of the day that she wouldn't think about Inuyasha or the consequences of having a roommate. It's too complicated right now for me to worry about everything. Kagome tried to justify herself, feeling she may have fell short of doing so.

There were moments in the day that she found she was actually excited to see what Akemi would be like. She had never known someone from another country, maybe she can help me with my English homework. That thought brightened her mood a little. It might not be that bad, really. Of course, that's when you leave out Inuyasha and the others... Kagome pushed her intrusive thoughts once again to the back of her mind.

A quite tap on the door startled Kagome back to reality. That must be her. "I'm coming." Kagome called from her bed.

Walking over to the door, Kagome felt her stomach flutter up into her chest, causing her breath to catch in her throat. She opened the door, her jaw drooping slightly from surprise.

When Principal Wong had told Kagome that Akemi Yutori was an American, she had assumed he had meant Japanese American. But clearly Kagome had been wrong to assume such things.

The first thing Kagome noticed was that Akemi was at least an inch and a half taller than her. Her intensely red hair was styled straight and hung a little below her shoulders. Her large grey eyes were almost metallic and when the sun caught them at certain angles, they would glint like silver. Dressed in baggy grey cargo pants and a cropped leather coat, Kagome only saw hints of lightly freckled pale flesh underneath.

"Hello, I'm Kagome, you must be Akemi." Kagome recovered quickly from her initial shock and ushered Akemi into her room.

"It's nice to meet you Kagome. Akemi replied with a practiced calm. "I like your room." She added, hoping to strike up some kind of conversation.

"Oh, thank you. It's the most comfortable place in the world to me." Kagome answered nonchalantly, but an odd note in her voice made Akemi wonder if there was more to that statement than Kagome said.

"Well..." Kagome struggled against the pending silence. "Let me show you around." She suggested. Akemi set her bags down and shrugged in approval. "This, of course, is my room." Kagome waved vaguely. "I cleared a space for your clothes in my closet." She opened her closet door and helped Akemi place her things there temporarily.

"Thank you..." Akemi flushed slightly. "You didn't have to go through all that trouble."

"Oh!" Kagome's eyes lit up as she moved over to her bed. Reaching underneath, Kagome pulled out the futon. "And this is your bed while you stay here."

Akemi found this situation so funny that she almost cracked a smile, but she caught herself and instead gave a smirk. "Looks like we're going to be close friends."

Kagome laughed nervously at Akemi's remark. Her mind trailed back to Inuyasha. Shaking her head, she cleared those thoughts once again from her mind. "How 'bout I show you the shrine?" Kagome asked hopefully.

"Yeah, that'd be cool." Akemi replied casually. She took off her jacket and laid it on one of her suitcases. She followed Kagome out of the room, noticing a glimmer of pink from the corner of her eyes. Akemi turned her head discretely and saw two small gems in a bottle. The looked as if they were ordinary rose quartz, but something felt strange about them. It was almost as if they had their own inner glow.

"Yaow!" Akemi jumped back.

"What is it?" Kagome whipped her head around, half-expecting to see Inuyasha Standing in front of Akemi. Oh god! Not now! She thought frantically. But, there was no one.

"Oh, I...uh...think I stepped on something." Akemi fumbled for the words. In truth Akemi didn't know what had just happened. "Could you, show me where the bathroom is?"

"Of course." Kagome smiled, feeling a little nervous at Akemi's sudden outburst. "It's that door on the left." She pointed down the hall.

"Thanks, I'll meet you downstairs if you like." Akemi pushed the door open and rushed inside.

"Okay, see you in a minute." Kagome called through the door. Not here five minutes and already something weird is going on. "Why does weirdness follow me like this? Kagome muttered to herself as she walked down the stairs.

"Ah Kagome, how are you getting along with Akemi?" Her mother asked her as she walked into the kitchen.

"Alright I guess." Kagome heaved a sigh. I've been gone for a couple of days now. Inuyasha will come looking for me soon. Kagome looked out her kitchen window to the yard, lost in gloomy thoughts.

As soon as the door shut, Akemi ripped off her pants. Her thigh was badly burned where her pouch had been resting. Pieces of cloth were stuck to her skin and it took all her discipline not to cry out when she pulled them off.

Akemi picked up the pouch she had hidden on her person while she was on the plane. It only had one object in it. "Papa's pendent." Akemi breathed to herself. It was still okay. When her papa had found her, he was wearing this pendent. She remembered he had called it his good luck charm. You see, I wore this, and then I found a daughter. He told her when she would ask him about it.

The pendent was a dark red oval, and looked like polished glass. It was as large as Akemi's fist and fairly heavy, a thick cord of leather was used as its chain.

It had been in the Yutori family for generations. Something a mother would hand down to their daughters. Her papa had been an only child and was childless when his mother died, so he had inherited it.

Toshi had never married and had begun to wonder if the pendent would stay with him forever. So, when Akemi came to him, he took it as a sign, giving it to her.

Akemi usually never took it off, but when her friends teased her about being strip-searched in customs, she began to get worried and decided to hide it down her pants for the rest of the journey. She had almost forgotten it was there when she had been burned.

How can a pendent burn flesh? Did I have a firecracker stuffed in there as well or something? Akemi didn't understand and wasn't sure she was ever going to. A true skeptic, Akemi was unable to even think about the possibility of mysticism involved.

Turning to the mirror to fasten the pendent around her neck, Akemi watched her figure, noticing the dull grey of her eyes from hours of exhaustion. "I need to start getting sleep." Akemi commented to herself as she opened to door to go down stairs.

"Sorry it took so long." Akemi averted her eyes from Kagome and the others, hiding the events of the last few minutes.

"That's alright Akemi." Mrs. Hiragashi was smiling brightly. "You came just in time. Lunch is ready."

Akemi smiled and sat down next to Kagome. "Maybe after lunch you can show me the shrine like you were saying?"

Kagome felt herself relax a little. She must have just had a long flight. She concluded, thinking no more of the outburst upstairs. "Of course." She replied outwardly. "Let's eat."

Akemi was still thinking about upstairs but was finding herself drawn to the fried eggs in front of her. "Thank you, I'm starving!"