The Story

Chapter 2

Hooray, Chapter 2 is up and running! Please enjoy! (and review, if you like)

Disclaimer: I own nothing that doesn't belong to me.

Fingertips

Don't start with me. Just don't do it. I know, I know, he finally caught me. Get off my back about it; it couldn't be helped.

If it had been any other day, it wouldn't have happened. If it had been any other day, I would have been more careful. If it had been any other day then I wouldn't have been sitting right there and he wouldn't have been watching, and I wouldn't have been caught. However…

"Keija, what are you doing, exactly?" he asked me. I turned around and saw that he was staring at me intently.

"Nothing," I lied. "I'm not doing anything at all, Gohan-san." However, there must have been an under-lying tone in my voice that gave me away.

"Show me," he said. And, not knowing what else to do, I held up my fingers for him to see.

At first glance you wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary. However, as you looked, and if you really concentrated, you could barely just see them: little flames coming out of my fingertips.

Gohan stared for what seemed like an eternity. Right after he had walked up behind me, I had been in the process of making the flames grow more and more transparent, and now they had nearly disappeared, but they hadn't gone unnoticed by my teacher.

Lately he had been teaching me how to fight. While I thought I had simply tripped and fallen off of a cliff or a rock face, he seemed to believe otherwise. He wouldn't tell me just what, but he did say I ought to learn some sort of self-defense.

He therefore began teaching me how to fight. He was a very good teacher and I liked him. He was hard on me, though. Any inattention or lack of respect on my part was rewarded with pain, and I didn't enjoy that very much. I learned from each lesson, each of the days he taught me, but I eventually grew to hate him. Having a student to teach gave him a newly found arrogance that I found to be rather disturbing.

Goku, Gohan's father, didn't train me at all, even though he had much more experience than his son. But I did enjoy Gohan teaching me at first. He was my equal, not my superior. We lived under the same roof, ate at the same table, and went to bed at the same time. Occasionally, he would even walk me to my school.

His ego grew, though, and he eventually wanted me to do chores for him.

But I refused.

Normally we got along peacefully; I didn't understand why he wouldn't be nice. Yet, one small thing and he thought that gave him leverage to be on top?

Hell no; it just got me totally pissed.

I completely refused to do his chores, and he learned the hard way that I wasn't his slave (I short-sheeted his bed, dumped ice water on him in the middle of the night, etc, etc…). Unfortunately, that was the day he noticed the flames I could command to appear at the end of my fingertips.

My first complete thought was 'oh, shit.'

"So you say no note was left, nothing written down anywhere to suggest that she might have run away?" the investigator asked of Mrs. Higurashi.

"No, there was nothing at all," she sobbed loudly. "She stayed late at the school for a meeting and never made it back home…"

"Now, now, ma'am, please don't cry. It will be okay; we'll find your daughter. But we need to know the timing…it would really help."

"I'm sorry officer," Mrs. Higurashi gushed out, "but I really don't know the time…I can tell you what time the meeting was supposed to end, but that's about all…"

"Thank you, ma'am, you've been very helpful," the investigator wrapped up after he'd gotten as much information from the distressed woman as possible. "It's getting late; how about I send somebody over some time tomorrow?"

"Yes, that would be nice…thank you very much, and good night."

"Good night, ma'am."

The investigator left, and Mrs. Higurashi was left to pacing back and forth, trying to decide what to tell her husband. He wouldn't be home for another three months because he was presently on a long business stay in Japan. He was supposed to call her the next morning. Mrs. Higurashi didn't want to worry her husband, but she knew she had to tell him at some point that their daughter was missing, so she resigned herself to the task.

Souta Higurashi lay down in his bed, mulling things over. Kagome had said something strange to him that day. She had said, almost as if she were in a trance, "I shall see you again, brother." Then she just turned around and left to walk toward her school, like nothing happened. It just wasn't like Kagome to speak in such a formal fashion. Normally she'd have said "See ya later, bro," or "Meetcha after school, Souta." It wasn't normal at all.

The boy sighed heavily. 'I wonder if she's really all right?' he asked himself. 'It seems like she should be…but darnit! I should've asked her what was wrong right then. But I didn't really think about it until after she disappeared. Hmph…I just don't understand her! But I hope she shows back up soon…When Dad finds out, he's sure to flip…oh man, what's he gonna say when we tell him we lost her? C'mon sis, hurry home…'

"I hate school."

"No you don't, Keija."

"Yes, I do. I can prove it. Give me a torch."

"Oh, and why's that?"

"So I can burn the school down and prove to you just how very much I loathe its existence."

Gohan smiled lightly. "You know you don't really hate school," he admonished. "You're just disappointed is all. By the way, I hadn't noticed, but your Japanese has really improved."

"Of course it has," I replied icily. "It's the only language I know, Gohan." I had recently dropped our previous formalities. My voice, however, betrayed some of my still less-than-warm feelings.

"Gohan," I continued, almost haltingly, "where exactly do you suppose I came from? Originally, I mean. I couldn't have just appeared out of thin air, you know."

"Well, I don't really know, Keija," he admitted. "As I've told you before, I was out on a walk, trying to find Iccharus, when suddenly I came upon you lying unconscious in the mud. You looked near death. When I began climbing the hill hiding you from sight, I felt a malevolent presence nearby. I thought about turning back, and I nearly did so, but I really needed to speak to Iccharus, so I kept going, then found you.

"It took you over a week to finally wake up, and, as you know, it was more than a month before you were well enough to even get up and walk around. But now you get to go to school and make new friends. It's really not that bad, is it, Keija-chan?"

I sighed. I asked myself what I would really do if someone were to hand me a lighted torch right at that moment…the thought caused me to laugh silently, a smile lighting my face. Gohan hadn't said anything more about my flaming fingertips. I suppose he realized that it wasn't his business at all.

"Heeey! Keija-chan!"

I turned around to see a girl my age come barreling toward me. "Kayko-chan!" I yelled back with glee.

"Hurry on over here, or you'll be late!"

Kayko obliged and continued over in our direction so quickly that she nearly ran me over when she reached us. She was a really nice girl, and was also very popular, especially with the boys. She was around my height, not very tall, with short brown hair and a huge grin on her face 24/7.

"You've never been late to class before, though, have you, Kayko?" I laughed. "You don't want to break your record, do you?" Kayko and I met on my first day back in school. That was back when I could hardly put together a Japanese sentence, let alone keep a good conversation going. She helped me out with my homework a lot as well, as I couldn't understand the kanji at all.

Kayko laughed brightly. "You're not one to talk, smartie; you're the one who's late to class most often than not!"

Gohan, who was still walking with us at this point, looked at me oddly while Kayko absentmindedly divulged the secrets I had been keeping from him.

"Ah, yes, well…" I struggled to create an excuse for this revelation, but before I had come up with a semi-believable one, Gohan said, "Keija-chan, if you would excuse me, I need to get to class…come and see me after school…" and he walked off toward the high school. I cringed.

"Hurry, Kei-Kei, or we'll be late!"

"I'm coming, Kayko…you go on ahead; I've got something I need to do…"

Kayko, not wanting to be tardy, ran ahead to class, while I sprinted off in the opposite direction, toward the power that I sensed, the power that did not belong where it was.

The telephone wouldn't stop ringing. It should have stopped a while back and flipped over to record the message, but it hadn't. It simply kept on ringing.

Mrs. Higurashi was at the grocery store, and Souta didn't want to bother answering the phone, because "The Ultra-Cool Adventures of Super-Guy" was counting down the top ten best episodes ever, but…the phone just wouldn't stop.

"For crying out loud…" Souta trudged down the hallway and picked up the still ringing phone.

"Hello?" he tried. "Helloooo? Tch, stupid telemarketers…never answering…" He was about to hang it up when there was suddenly a deep, scratchy voice at the other end of the line.

"You love your sister, don't you?" it asked.

"Wh-who's there? Who is this!"

"It doesn't matter…Just tell me, boy…where is your sister…?"

"H-how am I supposed to know that, you jerk!" Souta was trembling.

"I see…she did not tell you…in that case, we shall have to lure her to us…"

"Wha-what is that supposed to mean, you freak! Who is us!"

"Heh, heh, heh, come, seek and you shall find, little one…"

Souta stared at the phone in horror as the voice faded; that voice was creepy and gave him goosebumps all over. He hung up the phone none too gently, then began to pick it up again to call his mother when, without his mind's consient, his body slumped to the floor.

He reached up and felt the thin needle that had penetrated the thin skin at his neck. As he looked up and out of the open window above him, he could just make out a glove-covered hand hidden amidst tree branches, holding a modified dart gun.

Souta could see the image for a moment, before blacking out completely, lying still on the floor in silence. A black shadow descended upon him, and when it lifted, the boy was gone.

"Shit!" The outburst came from my mouth the moment I looked at my watch; it came with good reason. "I cannot believe this! I'm actually a whole 30 minutes late for class today! Gohan's gonna kill me…"

I was literally sprinting toward the school now. The building was right in front of me, just yards away. However, my feet stopped abruptly when my eyes spotted the assistant principal glaring at me from the doorway.

"Oh, crud," I muttered under my breath. "As if Gohan wasn't enough…" I approached the seething teacher with caution. Yet, instead of revealing my true thoughts, I quickly plastered a wide smile on my face.

"Good morning, sir," I greeted him. He regarded me with distaste.

"It's closer to noon," he replied grumpily.

I couldn't help but grin even wider. "Yes, but it is still morning, sir; where's your happy face?" He continued to glare. "Sir, I'm truly sorry that I'm so late, but you see, my alarm clock broke sometime last night, and since I live way up in the mountains, there was nothing I could do. I came here as quickly as I possibly could. I'm so sorry."

Here I put on one of my sad puppy-dog faces, and the assistant principal couldn't help but stop scowling.

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped. Move along to class now, Miss Kan."

(A/N: Keija's adopted 'Kan' as her last name.)

I 'moved along' and slipped into my seat next to Kayko. She stared at me with a scowl rivaling that of the assistant principal's, but I ignored her and focused on the remainder of the class.

After class had ended, Kayko bugged me to now end in order to find out why I was so late to school. I know she wouldn't believe me, so I never did tell her. During lunch, however, the school secretary called me into the office to say that I had a phone call. Ha! Saved by the phone!

I followed her into the office and picked up the phone. "Moshi, moshi," I said.

I waited for a moment, then heard, "Hello, Miss Kan. May I speak with you for a moment, please?"

"Er…yeah, who is this?"

"That is unimportant, Miss Kan…may I call you Miss Higurashi?"

"I beg your pardon…but why?" I asked, bemused.

There was certainly a sick form of humor in the voice's following words.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter what I call you, but…Miss Kan, are you aware of the fact that you have a younger brother? No? Well, no matter…you do have a brother, whether you remember him or not, and at this moment, he happens to be here with me…would it not be terrible if something were to happen to him…?"

"Now wait just a minute!" and I noticed suddenly all of the stares directed my way, and quickly toned down me voice. "I'm not aware of having a brother, and I cannot simply take your word for it…give me proof that you're not pulling my chain."

"Very well, Miss Kan," the voice replied patiently. "Listen up."

"K-Kagome?" I heard a young voice tentatively speak across the phone.

"Kagome, is that you? Please, they say it's you! You need to get home! Mom is worried sick, and she hadn't told Dad yet that you were gone, but now I don't even know where I am, so she's probably told him about both of us by now. He won't be back from Japan for a few weeks still, I think, but…Kagome? Are you there?"

I was frozen in time. I could hear the boy speaking, and it was as though I recognized the voice, but I…

Souta.

The name sprang up into my mind, and I suddenly knew the speaker's name was Souta. Then my mind processed some of what he'd just said.

His father was in Japan…I was in Japan…if I could contact the boy's father, maybe I'd get some answers! I needed to ask what the father's name was, fast. Maybe I could help them out.

However, it suddenly crossed my mind that "Souta" didn't appear to be speaking Japanese. I was able to understand what he wanted me to hear, but I could not understand the actual words coming out of his mouth. Or could I?

But I knew that I didn't have time to mull it over. I had to act immediately.

"Souta?" I tried. "Is that your name? Are you still there?"

"I…Kagome…I hear you, but…"

"Souta, tell me, quickly…what is your father's name? His whole name, his phone number, address. Quickly, tell me!"

"…Okay, it's Hideyoshi Higurashi…his number is 555-1010...the address is at Pink Mt. Lane, in Texas, USA. Did you get that, Kagome?"

"I've got it! Thanks, Souta!"

"Sis, call mom! Tell her--"

"Well, wasn't that sweet," the voice interrupted. "It was just a simply beautiful reunion. However, if you don't mind, we have a few things to attend to…"

click

"Hey, wait! Don't hang up on me, you coward!"

But it was too late. He had already hung up on his end. I resolved to log onto Gohan's comuter as soon as I returned home. I would find out just who this 'Hideyoshi Higurashi' was, and just what he had to do with me.

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