Hello again! This is out a lot earlier than the other one, quite proud of myself. And I'm proud to say that this chapter has no breaks! Whay! Was thinking to put two chapters into one but... Nahhhhhh! So enjoy the read my lovelies .
Disclaimer: I don't own diddly squat!
Chapter Four: Introductions and Proposals
"I don't now what you mean," Kagome pulled the front door closed slowly, "Now if you'll excuse me I was just about to have breakfast."
Permanent frown stuck her foot in the door stopping it from closing and lunged forward, clasping her hand around Kagome's lower arm and squeezed.
Kagome's mouth opened with a straggled scream. She then stomped on permanent frowns foot and slammed the door repeatedly on the arm until it released the 'dog' mauled appendage. She looked at her bandages and could see that part of it was smeared a pale pink.
Her mother had flown down the stairs at the sound of the commotion and the scream she had heard only to find her daughter sitting on the floor with her back to the wall. She glanced at her to find that one foot was locked straight against the shoji front door to stop it from opening. The door was shaking from the pounding it was receiving from the other side.
"What on earths going on!?" Mrs. Higurashi demanded looking to the crowd that had formed at the living room door. The three girls just shrugged and pointed at Kagome, whereas Souta was just staring at his older sister with egg on his chin and fear dancing in his chocolate brown eyes that were so much like his fathers.
"Lady Miko, please! Excuse Kikyo, she sensed some demonic energy around your wound she only meant to help you! Please! Let us enter so we can talk, I'm sure you have just as many questions as we do. Please!" It may have been muffled but she could tell it was permanent smile talking.
'I knew that cold bitch looked familiar. It would just have to be a 'Kikyo' wouldn't it.' Kagome thought bitterly. "I hope I broke your arm, you frigid bitch!" she shouted through the door.
Big mistake. Out of the corner of her eye she caught white socks. Her eyes travelled up the tweed skirt past the apron that partial hide the yellow shirt, past the mouth that was pressed into a thin line to meet the hard wood brown eyes of her mother. Only under certain circumstances was anyone allowed to swear in her presence unless they wanted to die.
Mrs. Higurashi eyes flickered to her daughters arm then back to her up turned face. "Stand up."
Kagome did as she was told. To disobey would only shorten her life span to a lot less than it already was. She watched as her mother opened the front door only to be berated with apologies from permanent smile. "I'm truly sorry Lady Miko; Kikyo didn't mean anything by it." She carried on saying the same thing only changing the words to a different order or using a different word with the same meaning. Mrs. Higurashi paid the bowing woman little heed, knowing that this wasn't the one of the two persons responsible for re-opening her daughters wound.
"Nabiki, stop your incessant whining. There is no need for you to apologise for me. I'm not sorry for what I did. It was necessary." Kikyo stated in a calm cold voice meeting the hard steel of Mrs. Higurashi's eyes.
Mrs. Higurashi's hand snapped out with the speed of a bullet to meet her target. In its wake her hand left welt. The burst capillaries under Kikyo's pale skin already browning into a bruise.
Kikyo's eyes widening in surprise only to narrow in sub zero anger as her power flared around her. "You dare strike me?" Kikyo hissed through clenched teeth.
"It was necessary." Mrs. Higurashi replied her voice deadly calm as she broke eye contact with the angered priestess to watch Nabiki.
"Lay a hand on my mother and you'll lose it." Kagome's power had flared in defence of her mother and challenge to Kikyo's aura, her eyes flashing their new found colour of electric blue.
Eri and Co which now included Souta were grinning wildly at the display of mother protecting daughter and vice versa. Seeing now where Kagome got her angry streak from, though they had rarely seen it, it had shown a lot during the early hours of day they had spent together in the park. They didn't know if she was aiming for the poor ducks in the pond or it was just pure luck that every time she threw a stone it skimmed the water it ended up in the side of a Mallard. They promptly left when the park keeper started giving them dark looks and his hands started to twitch with the need to throw stones at them.
"Enough!" Nabiki bellowed, her permanent smile vanishing as though it never existed. Making her power flare to at least three levels higher than what was being radiated from both priestesses. Both gasped as their attention on each other was broken due to Nabiki's change in temperament and aura power, their auras shutting off.
'This sort of display was saved for men smacking their penises in each others faces.' Nabiki thought dryly as she shut off her power, her joyous smile returning but her tone of voice remained deadly serious. "Madam I am truly sorry for my companions actions as I am sure she is as well," Nabiki shot Kikyo a glare as she continued, "I wish to ask your daughter some questions on how she came about her knowledge and techniques on how she made her barriers if you will allow it." She finished with a bow, her pale brown braid falling off her shoulder to hang close to her cheek as she stared at the snow white socks.
Mrs. Higurashi sighed a sigh of long suffering and pulled the young woman out of her bow and waved the air in front of their faces. "Forget about it. You should really be talking to my father though, he is the head priest after all and he would enjoy your company more."
Nabiki wasn't taken aback by the woman's sudden change in character as was everyone else. In fact she had found a kindred spirit in the older woman seeing that her aura much resembled her own minus the purifying magic. "Are you sure? I mean after what happened I'd understand if you didn't want us to..."She was stopped when Mrs. Higurashi chuckled gently.
"Now. Now. All is forgiven. I wouldn't be a shrine maiden if I didn't forgive people for making mistakes, as long as they learn from it," she regarded Kikyo for a moment then returned her warm brown eyes back to Nabiki, "Now come the both of you, and you can introduce yourselves over a cup of tea."
Nabiki beamed, latched onto Kikyo and dragged her following the retreating form of Mrs. Higurashi. She defiantly liked this woman.
Kagome continued to give Kikyo dirty looks as she passed her. It was enough that the woman was in the past and now that she was in her present made her blood run cold. 'My life is just one big let down after another.' Another bitter thought, that she filed under 'I Hate My Life'. She slammed the front door shut, and unceremoniously stomped into the kitchen where her mother had situated the two 'strangers' and fell into a chair around the table to continue her shower of dirty looks on Kikyo.
"Thank you for allowing us into your home Miss...?" began a cheerful Nabiki.
"Higurashi," Kagome grated.
Over looking the tone Kagome used, "Miss. Higurashi., my name is Hanaoka, Nabiki." She bowed as best she could around the table. Silence followed for thirty seconds. Nabiki turned her head whilst still bowed and glared at Kikyo, who was glaring at Kagome, who was looking at Kikyo like Souta had tracked shit into the house. Nabiki elbowed her travelling partner.
"Yamamoto, Kikyo," she didn't bow.
"We hale from Okinawa where many a priestess has gone for tuition in the arts of demon extermination."
This caught Kagome's attention, "There are still demons in this world?" she asked Nabiki denying Kikyo's existence for the time being.
"Oh yes! But they are mainly spirits and apparitions that eventually end up possessing some poor unfortunate soul," Nabiki's demeanour changed, doing a one eighty, "Then there are the stupid people that call forth demons purposefully to help them financially or politically. And we're left cleaning up their mess," another one eighty, "Most of our priestesses move on to be employed by the government or rich families to help prevent these sort of things from happening."
Kikyo stepped in, beating around the bush wasn't part of her nature, and "We came here to find out how you," Kikyo nodded in Kagome's direction, "were able to erect three very powerful barriers without our training You will tell us what we need to know so we can move on to more important business."
"What she means to say is that we would be grateful if you told us where you got your training from, because our shrine is the only one left in the world that still trains potential miko's," the lines on her face took on that of embarrassment, "most people don't believe in us anymore."
"How do you know I was the one that put up those barriers?"
"Oh that's easy," Nabiki said with ease, "The same magic that's in your aura is that of the barriers."
"Oh," said Kagome. She'd expected something along the lines of "We have spying spirits that we have bound to our will," or "We have a seer and she sees all," something profound, not as simple as "Same magic as that in your aura."
The tea arrived along with Mrs. Higurashi's presences at the table. "So... will you tell us of your training miss?" Nabiki half pleaded.
Another chuckle left Mrs. Higurashi's lips, "Forgive her for being rude," she chided Kagome with her eyes, "Her name is Kagome." With that she sipped daintily at her tea.
Kagome sighed, this woman had come here with good intentions, only wanting to know how the barriers came into existence and all she'd done was bite off her companions head, 'Though she deserved it.' Kagome thought defensively.
"I haven't really had any training what so ever. I was told by a... family friend how my powers work, through my emotions and at times of desperations they manifest themselves. The only control I have over my powers is if I'm using a bow, and even then I'm not sure I have total 'control'. And when I do shoot an arrow it's either all or nothing." She threw her hands in the air, her head lolling back to rest on top of the chair back. She could see just how 'useful' she was. 'No wonder he didn't want me,' a thought, but a fleeting one.
"Why would you need to use arrows?" Nabiki sipped at her tea talking as though she was asking a question about the weather.
Kagome's eyes widened seeing more of the ceiling than usual. 'Damn me and my mouth! Just when I find someone like me I almost leak my secret. Way to fucking go Kagome! Think! Think!'
"I... ", 'Think damn you!', "have to do clubs... ", 'Keep it going!', "at school. And I took the archery club," 'Yes!', "I found out at school when I left a target smoking. Lied blamed it on a prank 'cause I was new to the club. After that I kept practicing when everyone was gone, to see if I could control it. I found that if I don't concentrate my powers won't manifest. Also! Found that I shouldn't vent my anger when I practice either 'cause my powers decides to work." Kagome's eyes remained glued to the ceiling praying that she didn't over lie to hide her tracks.
"I see," was the only thing she got from Nabiki. Her brain whooped and wooed and did a jig proud of itself for coming up with that at such short notice, "That makes sense, but why would you need to erect three barriers? And so close to your home." Nabiki finished, empted her cup and asked for seconds.
"I don't know," Kagome said with a shrug, "the well house stinks, its damp and a heath hazard. Do you know how deep it is? So I put a seal on the well door and if anyone can get through that there are two on the well."
"There 'were' two seals on the well," Kikyo interjected. Kagome's eyes and body snapped to attention. Kikyo hadn't said anything for such a long time she'd actually forgotten she was there, "You're lying." Kikyo smirked at her clear discomfort.
"Fine then, how about this. It's .None. Of. Your. Business." Kagome clipped out, just in case this Kikyo was as hard of hearing as the one she knew.
"O.K," Nabiki could see where this was going, "Instead of your reasons for putting them up, how about 'how' you put them up."
"I don't know, I guess I just felt it and it did it, or maybe my power wanted it and I did it. I seriously don't know, all I wanted was for him not to come and get me and there they were."
"Him?" Nabiki blinked at her, very confused.
"Thought you said my reason were my own?" Kagome snapped, mentally kicking herself for letting another one slip.
Nabiki held up her hands implying she was leaving that subject well alone. 'Whatever it was that broke through those two seals was strong and she obviously has things under control, with the seal on the well door that is several times more powerful than both the two seals that were on the well.'
With a sigh Nabiki regarded her half drunken cup of luke-warm tea. 'Orders are orders.' Another sigh escaped her lips as she pushed her glasses further up her nose. She looked to Kagome and asked what she was really here for, "Higurashi, Kagome. We would like to offer you a place in the Sisterhood. My peers have sent both Kikyo and I to see just how powerful you really are and how much control you have over said power. And we find that you have a lot of raw potential to become one of the most powerful priestesses in this generation maybe even in the last few generations," Kikyo's hand clenched into a fist under the table the knuckles turning white, she saw this but ignored it, "Will you take up this offer of training to better your control over your powers?"
Kagome's mind seems to have a relapse back to when she was very embarrassed by a boy when he was pushed into the girls' locker room. Her mind seemed to have gone for lunch. Twenty seconds later it returned with an espresso, downed it in one and came up with...
"Wha... What?"
End of Chapter Four
:D There she blows! And for those of you that want to see Sess, you're gonna have to wait a while, I'm sorry :(. But I'd like for this to have a plot instead of my ideas just sneezed out. So please bear with me. Also didn't get as many reviews as I wanted for chapter 3 tear ahwell I your out there my stalkers so let yourselves be known! :P
Reply to Reviews
ra: Thank ye kindly! And I'll keep this is up until the end! This I promise.
anime-gurl1989: :D coz you love this I love you! Not in a lesbian way o' course. And :D it's a quicker update than before lol.
lil'bookworm-chan: Thank you for your repeat praise . And yes she will be able to go back into the past so don't worry hun .
waterdrgonmaster: You like so I have written more! :P
lilyoko: Glad you like the tattoo hun . And I'll continue to update though you didn't ask for that lol. Bwahahahaha! I'll still be writing when the cows come home!
Kay Out