A/N: Um…hello:Glances around nervously: Yes, I know it was like two years ago that I put chapter 1 up, and I promised I wouldn't leave anyone hanging, but… :gulps at knives being wielded: heh-heh :backs away nervously: I have a good reason! Really:Gulps again at readers with deadly gleams in their eyes: See the thing was, it was my senior year of high school, and when I started this story I had tons of free time, but I got involved in sports and clubs and stuff and it evaporated in about a second. :Looks hopeful at the sight of lowering knives: Then, if that wasn't enough, as soon as I got really into writing this chapter and finished up the absolutely huge chapter 1 of my original story (posted on Fiction press, but it's just the prologue... Stupid computer... :Growls:), my computer's hard drive up and dies! All my work… Completely gone: Other authors nod in understanding: I was so pissed. Not only was it all my fan fic writing (including first chapters for about three other stories, some extremely long) and original stories (One posted and one just a idea half formed on paper), but also all my old school essays. My comp. 1 essays were basically a group of original short stories, most quite good, that I had been thinking about maybe posting (Fiction press). Unfortunately, I didn't have disks to back up my files, and I only had hard copies of the comp 1 essays that I had turned in (luckily I had decided to keep those). So everything I was working on was quite literally gone. :Takes a deep breath: Then - oh yes, there's more - there's Ivan. :pauses dramatically: I live in Pensacola, where hurricane Ivan hit directly, so not only did we loose power for several days, and internet for several more after that, there were also eight huge trees (seven oaks and a pine) that were down in our yard. Two other oak trees were completely stripped of everything but the trunks, another two had about half their foliage (including limbs the size of small trees) either hanging precariously after only partially being torn off or littering our yard with more debris, and a few more of the trees that surround our land leaning dangerously to the side. My Dad is sort-of a perfect yard freak and so he did everything in his power to get the yard cleaned up before school started back up (Both because he's a teacher and that he wanted me for manual labor). Which meant everyday from early morning to sunset I was picking up and lugging pieces of trees to the side of the road - by hand. :takes another deep breath: So yes, I have a good reason –several in fact- and now that I'm in college (and I just switched my major from engineering to art: I want to do animation :grins:) I have a little more free time in which to write (sort of… basically I'm making time). So, without further ado… chapter 2 of Human Upgrade…
Disclaimer: They've replied! They've replied! They've… :reads letter and face falls: said no. :crumples up second letter of refusal for ownership and throws it across the room: Why'd they say no? It's not like I asked for permanent ownership or anything. I just wanted ownership for like a minute just so I could say I owned Inuyasha, but no… :glares at paper ball: They don't want to loose any of their precious money. :huffs angrily: Damn lawyers… not like they need any more money anyway…
Human Upgrade
Chapter 2
The Changes
When Kagome woke the next morning, something was off. She couldn't tell exactly what it was that was giving her the feeling, nor could she explain it. Something was just off.
There was a disturbance in the force.
Kagome snickered quietly at the stray thought. American movies had truly rotted her brain.
She could hear the village start to come to life and rose to begin her own morning ritual. Stretching and mindful of her slumbering companions, she gathered her bath supplies along with her staff and quietly exited the hut.
The sun was just peaking over the horizon, the sky lightening in pastel shades of pinks and yellows as the sun's golden fingers extended over the countryside. Kagome inhaled deeply and allowed the fresh air to cleanse her senses and relax her mind. She knew it wouldn't be long before the others would wake, and so wasted no time in starting down the not so worn but well known path, eyes focused on the breath-taking sunrise.
It was times like these, of peaceful solitude with nature's beauty laid out at her feet, that the reason she loved it here was so obvious. She would gladly live here after the jewel was completed, as long as she could still visit her family. Deep down she knew that she no longer fit into her old future life. She could never be a "normal teenage girl" again. The staff at her side simply proved it.
Of course, she could never say that aloud. If she openly admitted to it and began to live her life as such, and then the jewel sent her back to "her" time, she would be completely devastated. That fear was why she was still in school. She would have dropped out a while ago, but she knew if the Shikon trapped her in the future, she had to have somewhere to start. At least she only had a few weeks to go before she graduated. She still had to decide about what she would do then. She had considered staying in the past at a more permanent level, and only going to the future to visit her family on occasion, but that would be admitting that she belonged here. By denying that she fit into the past more than she did the future, she could keep herself unattached.
She shook her head. She knew that was a lie. The only thing tying her to the future was her family. If they were gone - she couldn't even finish the thought. She didn't know what she'd do if something happened to them or the well closed up. She pushed the thought away. She couldn't think about this now or she'd be depressed for the rest of the day. She didn't know how Sango did it.
She reached the small, secluded pool she had discovered about a year after arriving in the past. She couldn't necessarily call it a hot spring, because the only time it was actually hot was in the summer, but there was a hot spring somewhere deep underground beneath the pool to keep it warm and comfortable all year round. It wasn't necessarily pretty; the only way she could describe it was that it was natural. A mixture of boulders and trees secluded the pool, and a small stream continuously refreshed the water within.
She smiled softly as she set her bath supplies and clothes on a nearby boulder, her earlier dark thoughts fading away under the softly tinkling sound of the small river. The sound was soothing and comfortable as she eased herself down into a crossed-legged position and began her daily meditation, a ritual she had done since she had started her training.
Surprisingly, it had been Miroku who had offered to train her after he had happened to overhear her confessing to Keade her frustration over her often-unreliable powers. She had been simply asking for advice from the aged miko; they never stayed in the village long enough for her to actually train under the older woman even though she would have been delighted to do so.
The group had left in search of a rumored shard the next day, and Miroku had waited until he had managed to get them slightly distanced from the rest of the group before making the offer. To say she was ecstatic was an understatement. Quite possibly the other group members may have thought she had lost her mind – she practically tackled Miroku in her happiness (which made him very happy too).
And thus the training began…
That was nearly two years ago. She was surprised when it was not simply instruction on meditation and control as she had expected. To her immense delight, he also began to teach her close ranged combat, both hand-to-hand and weapon use. Her staff was a gift from him.
She grazed the smooth wood of the staff with her fingertips, lightly tracing the simple carvings as she smiled at the memory. Returning to the present, she gently laid it across her lap and expanded her senses. Her surroundings faded away as her soul took flight over the countryside, stretching and searching, going distances far beyond any she had ever reached before. It was completely amazing. Every detail was sharp and clear, man, beast, tree - everything in stark detail. Their auras reaching out for her, begging for her to touch them, for a split second to become them, view the world as they did, sharing their thoughts and ideas, listening, learning, discovering.
She continued to stretch outward, hungry and thirsting for more, completely unaware of how her power swirled lazily about her body in translucent waves of purple and blue. Something was calling to her in the east and she moved her focus in that direction. It started as a faint tug, like a small child pulling on her sleeve, but quickly grew into something much more violent, yanking her towards it and surrounding her in darkness. Harsh thoughts raced through her consciousness, primal and dark, chilling her to the bone.
"Rip...maim...tear…kill…" The words slithered across her mind, sending a chill down her spine. "Power…must have more power…shikon…you have it...I must have it…I will have it!" Slimy hands gripped at her soul and eyes the blood red of madness flashed in the darkness. Her soul screamed as she sent out a burst of power towards the creature holding her captive.
Gaining her freedom, she raced back towards her body feeling sick and dirty all over. Slamming back into her physical self, she scrambled off to the side, half crawling, half lunging towards the bushes located there, before promptly emptying her stomach. Once finished, she sat back, wiping her mouth with one hand and shaking all over.
Slowly her breathing and heart rate returned to some semblance of normal, and she pushed herself to her feet. Removing her clothes, she made her way towards the water's edge. Wading in, she walked until the water was waist high before dunking under to remove the last of the cold sweat from her body. She washed quickly, desperate to feel clean after that experience before sitting on a natural seat made by two boulders in the shallow water.
Safely back in her own body and about a hundred miles away from the madness driven creature that had captured her, Kagome relaxed in the warm water. After her initial terror of the experience was over, she could recognize and understand what just happened. She knew the feeling of power driven madness caused by the shikon no tama. She had never felt it so strongly before, but it was the same feeling she got right before she purified a corrupted shard of the jewel. This youkai, like many others, was not strong enough to control the shard, thus the shard controlled it, reducing it to its basic, primal urges.
She sighed. That meant they would have to find it and kill it before it destroyed any more innocent lives. She hated killing, even if it was a power-crazed youkai, but she knew it was necessary. It was a fact of life she had learned here in the past, and something that further separated her from the future: killing was sometimes necessary.
Once again completely calm, she exited the pool and dried off before pulling on her clothes. Even they had changed. She no longer wore her school uniform. It was completely inefficient for trudging around feudal Japan, and not only were they expensive to replace, but it didn't take long for her to run out of excuses to tell her school for needing new ones. Besides, with Miroku training her, she wanted to be as covered as possible. Now instead she wore slightly baggy black cargo pants, a plain red tank top and black sneakers (or something similar). Not only were they more modest (although the people in this era still found them highly indecent, she thought with a grin), but they also were much more effective for fighting and long distance hikes.
She gathered her supplies and headed back towards the village. The others should be awake by now which meant she could inform them of the jewel shard to the east. Inuyasha would more than likely insist on heading out immediately – they had all been getting antsy about the lack of leads – so it was good she had packed enough for a long trip, something had told she would be needing it. She could only hope they would be back in time for her to make her final exams; she didn't think she could handle another year of school if she didn't graduate – it'd drive her insane.
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Inuyasha was driving her insane, and she was quite close to killing him –literally.
They had left almost immediately after breakfast when she had announced the location of the shard, and only Miroku seemed to notice anything strange about the distance and accuracy at which she could sense it, if his look had been anything to go by.
That was nearly ten hours ago. Since then, Inuyasha had been driving them at an absolutely insane pace, with only a small break for lunch (it had taken several sits to convince him to stop then), three hours ago. It wasn't that she was tired, she knew she could keep going for several more hours if she really wanted to, but she was hot and sweaty and the headache from last night was back and getting worse, and she wanted a water break now.
She picked up her pace to catch up with the hanyou. "Hey Inuyasha, how 'bout we…"
"No" he growled, cutting her off, and picking up his pace.
She just gaped at him for a second before it swiftly turned into glare. How dare he? Just who did he think he was, cutting her off like that? What she wouldn't give to have their places switched.
She was hot and sweaty and the headache was pounding at her temples making her vision go spotted. She was pissed, more so then usual when it came to the hanyou, and she wanted to hurt something, preferably a "something" with silver hair and dog-ears. Somewhere deep inside something warned her that she shouldn't be this angry, but she ignored it.
She continued to glare, deciding best how to cause the pain –sits weren't nearly hands on enough- when something tickled the back of her mind. It was a shard, her sense of it dulled as if its power was being contained, and it was headed this way.
Just what she needed – an ass to kick.
She turned and began walking in the direction of the approaching youkai, completely ignoring Inuyasha's enraged shouts. The pounding in her head was growing fiercer with each step and causing her vision to go grey at the edges, but she just gritted her teeth and kept walking.
It took her a moment to realize she could sense it, not just the shard but also the youkai itself, and as she expanded all her senses to find out more about the approaching opponent, the pain her head eased before disappearing completely. The slightly musky edge to the scent she took in as she inhaled told her it was male, the almost inaudible sound of crushing leaves and slight vibrations in the earth told her he approached on the ground running on two light feet, and his power blazed like a miniature sun in her miko senses.
Her anger had faded, only to be replaced immediately by eager anticipation as she grinned. He was strong.
Something inside her shifted, then stretched, filling her completely and reducing her thought processes to basic instinct as her opponent came into view. It was time to fight.
She surveyed her prey, eyes raking over his form, and grinned predatorily, causing his eyes to glint with intrigue. In other circumstances she may have found him attractive; he stood approximately six feet tall with blood red hair that framed a handsome face, amazing silver eyes and nicely tanned skin. His body was perfectly formed muscle, solid but not bulky. Definitely billboard material.
However, the circumstances being what they were, she didn't notice, only seeing a strong opponent that would put up a good fight. Her grin never faded as she slipped into one of the many fighting stances that had been drilled into her over the past two years.
That is, until something silver and red landed between her and her chosen prey.
"Move," she said quietly, dangerously. It was not a request. This person – Inuyasha, her mind supplied her with the name after a moment- this Inuyasha was an obstacle, and if he would not move on his own then she would just have to move him herself.
The only acknowledgement he gave her was a twitch of an ear and a quick glance over his shoulder, before he attempted to engage her opponent and steal her fight.
Anger bubbled up inside of her, red hot, and threatened to consume her whole. She reached up and yanked him down, slamming him into the ground.
"I…"
She grabbed the front of his horai,
"Said…"
And lifted him bodily from the ground as a look of disbelief crossed his face,
"Move!"
Before she flung him back towards the rest of the group.
A quick twist of her wrist and a barrier formed around her and her opponent insuring that there would be no further interruptions. She gave a quick upward tilt of her lips in satisfaction and turned back towards her prey, his interest now clear in his eyes.
"Well," he said with a grin, "this should be interesting." His voice was deep and smooth, coating her like warm honey.
Her eyes flashed white as she returned with a grin of her own as her anger once again faded into excitement, "So it seems."
She dropped into a defensive crouch, inviting him to attack, and he did not disappoint her.
The blood pounded in her ears as she dodged the lightning fast kicks and punches, and a part of her realized she shouldn't be capable of seeing these strikes let alone absently dodging or blocking them while looking for an opening in which to start a counter attack.
All such thoughts fled, however, when she spotted a weakness in his attack. He was slightly slower in recovering when kicking with his left leg and it left his left side open for a split second before his defense was once again flawless. It was so small an error that his speed more then likely covered it when he was fighting other opponents who were less patient during fights. She still sometimes didn't notice it even when she was looking for it, but she knew it was there, and that was all that mattered.
The slight shift in her weight was the only warning he had a split-second before she landed a hard kick to his left side, cracking several ribs, and pushing him back several feet. Using the momentum she had created as she pushed off his chest, she did a back handspring putting more distance between them before straightening up and waiting for his next move.
ssssssssss
To say Jin was surprised at the move (and the woman in general) would be an understatement. When he had first arrived and the small human woman had been the one waiting to engage him he had been mildly annoyed. He knew the rumors of this group –it was the reason he had sought them out- and while she was said to have rather formidable powers as a miko, she held no bow, and appeared to be the weakest of the group physically (other than the young kitsune of course). While he knew appearances could be deceiving, humans in general were naturally much weaker then him, and it was rather insulting that this slip of a woman was the one to face him.
He would have just ignored her, he had come to face the famed Inuyasha after all, but she surprised him by grinning –he hadn't thought a human could look that feral- before slipping into an obviously well trained fighter's stance. At that point he would have fought her for curiosity's sake alone, but then Inuyasha himself took over and the point became moot.
That is- until what he hitherto thought was a normal human woman threw the hanyou bodily out of her way. By then, she had his full attention, especially when she surrounded the pair of them by a very powerful barrier –he was positive he couldn't break it- with as little effort as blinking.
When she slipped into a defensive position, he wasted no time in accepting the unspoken invitation to attack. He held back, he had wanted to test her, and had once again underestimated her abilities, and now he was paying for it. He winced as he straightened, feeling the bones in his left side realign themselves. His healing ability would take care of any damage, but he would be sore for several hours.
And now, instead of pressing her advantage and weakening him further or perhaps even winning the fight, she was giving him the opportunity to recover before continuing. He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he had seen worry cross her features when he winced. He smiled. She was an enigma, this little miko, and his curiosity was piqued. However, that could wait until they finished this fight, he still wanted to see what she could do.
"I seem to have underestimated you miko-sama," he purred dangerously, "so let's up the intensity, shall we?" He dropped into a defensive crouch.
"Yes, let's." She attacked.
ssssssssss
The rest of the group was in a complete state of shock as they watched the attack. Not only had Kagome just thrown Inuyasha about twenty meters with one hand, she had created a barrier that not even the red tessaiga could break – all it earned them was a glare and a nasty electric shock when they had tried- and was now engaged in what appeared to be in mortal combat with a very strong youkai, moving faster than any of them had ever seen.
At first they were frantic with the thought that Kagome was going to get herself killed, but then were surprised when she was the first to land a hit and with enough force that they could hear the youkai's ribs crack even from the distance they were at.
Now they could only watch in fascination, as the speed of the fight became too fast to follow. Even Inuyasha stopped his nervous and angry pacing to stare in amazement at the two opponents silhouetted by the setting sun.
ssssssssss
Miroku was both amazed and confused. This fight was in a level way beyond any of the training he had given the girl. Never before had she displayed this level of strength and speed, and not only that, but he had noticed the moment he had first seen her today that her spiritual power –already impressive- had increased tenfold. He had wanted to talk to her about it earlier, but she had seemed highly unapproachable for most of the day and so he had waited; now he wished he hadn't.
ssssssssss
Kagome waited to use her miko power, and as she belatedly deflected part of his wind attack –apparently he could control the wind much like Kagura- she wished she hadn't.
She glanced at her right arm where the first part of the attack hit before she could block it, and was surprised to see it healing before her very eyes. Her opponent seemed surprised as well, and she used his slight pause to attack, this time adding her miko power to each hit.
She could feel her power coursing through her, larger then ever before, and a part of her was frightened. However, that part of her was greatly overshadowed by the much larger part that was completely invigorated and felt like it had never been more alive. She also noticed that instead of getting tired as the fight continued, she seemed to have more energy and began to move faster and hit harder. She lost herself to the thrill of battle.
ssssssssss
Jin never considered he might actually lose, but he began to get worried when she once again increased the speed and strength of her attacks. Not only that, but since she added her miko powers into the mix, he couldn't even block without get burned. So he was left dodging and having no way to go on the offensive.
His eyes widened in shock when the last of the sun finally dipped behind the horizon.
Her hands and feet were glowing.
As he continued to dodge, he watched as the glow quickly spread from her hands and feet to her arms and legs, and continued until her entire body was engulfed and she was glowing like the midday sun. He quickly put distance between them; he couldn't even be within a meter of her before his skin started burning. She could easily kill him and he could do nothing about it. The purification created a shield against his wind attacks, and there was no way he could touch her physically without being purified to dust.
His fear must have shown on his face because she halted her approach.
ssssssssss
Kagome's mind cleared when she saw the fear on her opponent's face. She wasn't sure what had caused his sudden fear, all she knew is it had something to do with her. It was a very strange roll reversal from the norm. Usually it was some strong youkai causing her fear while she tried to defend herself and others. What had caused it?
She decided to try to get him to relax. She didn't want to cause fear, and he simply seemed like he wanted a good fight, he hadn't yet made a demand for the jewel, so perhaps they could come to some sort of agreement over the shard he possessed without any more violence.
She dropped her barrier and smiled. "You're an amazing fighter," she said, and though he had relaxed some, he still seemed wary and would not come within a few meters of her, "I'm Kagome by the way."
He paused for a second before replying, "Jin."
He still seemed very uncomfortable, but that could be because they had just been fighting or because the rest of her group was now running over to them. "Well Jin, I think it's safe to assume you're not here for the jewel shards. What are you here for and what are you planning to do with the one that's currently in your possession? I can tell you're not using it."
He paused while he seemed to weigh his words and the rest of the group joined them. "I have been searching for your group actually. I have been looking for strong opponents to fight and build my strength, and your group is well known, and as have just witnessed, for good reason." He paused again with a glance at the large piece of the Shikon no Tama that rested around Kagome's neck. "As for the jewel shard, I have no use for its artificial strength. I simply acquired a piece during my travels, which I shall give to you, both as the winner of our fight and as its rightful protector." This said, he pulled the shard out from inside his gi.
However, when she approached to take it from him he backed away with a grimace. "Wha…?" she asked before turning towards the others. It was then that she noticed that Inuyasha and Kilala, and even Shippo -who normally clung to her any chance he got- were keeping their distance. It was Sango who finally dropped the bomb.
"Kagome, you're glowing."
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A/N: Finally it's done. This chapter was hell to write. I knew what I wanted to happen in it, but it fought me the entire time. Not only that, but when my hard drive crashed (:grumbles: Damn computer) this story took a whole leap in a different direction. The only good thing is that the storyline has mostly solidified itself in my mind now and some of the things I wanted to have happen (like Kagome's fighting ability) now have a reason for being there instead of just magically appearing. Hopefully the story will start to flow on its own soon instead of me having to drag it along.
As for the next chapter, I'm not making any promises. Last time I said two weeks, it ended up being two years, so who knows. However, I can almost completely guarantee that it won't take as long as my last update. :grins: My muse decided, since she has finally given me direction on this project, that she deserves a long vacation in the Bahamas. So, perhaps I can actually get something done without her to pester me 24/7. But, on the other hand, she has somehow figured out how to make my computer sporadically play "You Are My Sunshine", and it is slowly driving me insane. So, until next time (baring I don't loose it and get put in a nice padded room),
hug, hug, kiss, kiss
Nicoleana
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