Golden Eyes
By Lady of the Ink
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but you knew that . . .I hope. But I do own this plot and all the twists that it takes.

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Flash One
Strong Hands

Kagome Higurashi stared intently at her reflection, her eyes searching for the minute flaws that she was sure hid within the image. She studied her hair critically, making sure that it was as perfect as she could make it. The thick, full length fell in a straight, shiny curtain to the middle of her back. A small section on each side of her face was pulled up and secured with clips that glittered with every turn of her head.

Satisfied with her hair, she moved on to her makeup. The thin coat of mascara was unmarred, the light blue eye shadow evenly applied. Her lips shimmered with lip-gloss that had just the slightest hint of pink to it. She hadn't needed any blush; excitement had added enough color to her cheeks without it.

A smile bloomed across her face as she thought about why she was so excited. In less than half an hour, she would be on an official date with Hojo, the most popular boy in school. She couldn't resist doing a little dance of happiness. Sure, it was just a movie and ice cream, but it was a big deal all the same. Even though her friends had told her that she'd been out with Hojo before, this would be the first time that she could remember.

Her excitement dimmed a little as that thought dawned. It was a bit depressing to realize that there were entire months that she couldn't remember. Her mother had offered her what comfort she could, but Kagome had felt an odd sort of hesitation from her at the same time. It was like she knew more about what was going on than she let on. It was unsettling enough that she had brought it up with her friends during lunch one day. That was when they first told her about all the illnesses that she had had recently.

While her mother had mentioned the fever that was apparently behind her memory loss, she hadn't gone through the long list of other ailments that had come and gone over the past months. She had a feeling that the sicknesses might have been the reason behind her mother's strange hesitation. It was entirely possible that she hadn't wanted to weigh Kagome down by mentioning all the things that had been wrong with her. Having to worry about one of them reappearing on top of the memory loss would have been more than she would have wanted to handle. But even with a good idea of the reasons behind her mother's omission, it was still weird to hear the long list of afflictions and not be able to remember having suffered them.

Kagome squared her shoulders. Lost memories and unremembered sicknesses aside, she was much better now. It was time to focus on the present and not the unpleasantness of the past. Smiling, she flashed her reflection a thumbs up before turning away.

A quick glance at the clock showed that Hojo would be arriving any moment, so she hurried to finish getting ready. The deep blue bag that exactly matched her knee length dress was waiting on the desk. She'd already placed her touchup makeup and money inside, so all she had to do was grab it as she headed out the door.

Her timing couldn't have been better as the doorbell rang just as she reached the living room. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could feel it in her ears as she pulled open the door. Hojo stood there, a small bouquet of flowers in his hands. He immediately held them out to her, blushing slightly as he met her eyes.

"These are for you," he said. Kagome accepted them with a blush of her own before inviting him inside. He followed her to the kitchen as she found a vase and filled it with water. Mrs. Higurashi, seated at the table with a cup of steaming tea, greeted them both.

"So where are the two of you headed?" she asked.

"To the movies and then out for ice cream, Mrs. Higurashi. We're catching an early show, so we should be back before nine, if that's all right with you." Hojo's answer was perfect, revealing everything that she might want to know in a sincere tone. By the smile curving her mother's lips, Kagome could tell that she shared her opinion.

"That's fine. Have a good time and Kagome, don't forget your jacket."

"I won't. Bye, Mom." Kagome gave her mother a little wave as she led the way back to the front door. She grabbed her coat from the closet and slipped it on as they started down the shrine steps.

The first few minutes of the trip passed in silence as they both tried to work out how close to walk and whether to have their hands in their pockets or swinging by their sides. It was a little awkward but in a good way. Kagome marveled to herself at how the right person could make even the most common action seem almost exotic. Even though she had walked this exact path a hundred times before with her family and friends, doing it with Hojo made it into an entirely new experience.

"So, you seem to be feeling a lot better lately," Hojo said, his voice breaking into the quietness. "You haven't missed a day in a long time now."

Kagome felt a blush rise to her cheeks once more at the happiness underlying his words. She was glad for the slight chill of the night, a ready excuse should he happen to notice. Gathering her thoughts, she hurried to reply. "Yeah, I guess so. It's kind of strange to hear people say it though, since I don't really remember being sick."

Normally Kagome wouldn't have brought up the whole memory lapse thing, but Hojo already knew, so she saw no reason not to. Her friends had filled him in during the same conversation that they had urged her into accepting his invitation to the movies. Like she had needed urging, she scoffed to herself. Hojo was one of the most popular people at school for a reason. He was polite and friendly and kind to everyone that he came across. Any girl would be a fool to turn him down, and she had told her friends exactly that.

Their reactions to her words were a little strange, when she thought about it. They had seemed taken aback at first, as though they had been expecting an entirely different answer. Their shock had quickly turned to happiness as they set about planning an immediate shopping trip to find the perfect outfit for the occasion. Kagome was glad that they had taken such an interest; with their help, she had managed to find a soft and flowing dress of medium blue material. While it was a bit cool for the spaghetti straps, her new coat was cute enough to add to the look. With strappy-heeled sandals, she knew she was the definition of dressy-casual.

She wondered if Hojo had noticed and liked her outfit. He had seemed to, if his smile of appreciation when she had opened the door was any indication. She stole a look at him from under her lashes only to find him doing the same. Both caught in the act, they laughed out loud. The rest of the walk passed with a much lighter air, the laughter having relieved some of the pressure.

The movie was a comedy, enjoyable if not exactly engrossing. Throughout its hour and a half run, Kagome found herself sharing frequent smiles with Hojo. Every time that their hands brushed as they reached for popcorn at the same time, a delightful little tingle worked its way up her arm. Even if the movie had been a bomb, Kagome knew that she still would have enjoyed the experience.

It was only when they sat across from each other at the ice cream parlor that they got back to talking. Kagome was smoothing her ice cream with the bottom of her spoon when Hojo cleared his throat, causing her to look up.

"It's been really good seeing you at school everyday, Higurashi. I'm glad that you've been doing so much better." He ducked his head slightly as he made the admission, sounding almost shy.

"Thank you," she told him, feeling a host blush steep into her cheeks for the tenth time that night.

"Although I'll always be a little grateful for your illnesses." It was his turn to turn red when he caught her surprised look. Answering the unspoken question, he went on. "It wasn't until I heard that you were sick that I got up the nerve to talk to you. Bringing you those things from the shop was a good excuse to approach you. Not that I didn't want you to get better!" he added, looking worried that she would think badly of him. Reaching across the table, Kagome rested her hand over his and smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way.

"Then I guess I'm grateful to them, too." She smiled widely. "But I have to say it's nicer getting flowers than orthopedic sandals." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she paused. She hadn't remembered any of the gifts that everyone had told her Hojo had brought, but suddenly an image of the sandals had just popped into her head. Shaking it off, she returned her attention to the chuckling boy across from her. Whether or not it meant that the rest of her memories would begin to return, there would be no benefit for her to dwell on it at the moment. She would much rather focus on making the second half of the date go as well as the first half had.

Her plan was successful as they finished their ice cream and started their walk back to the shrine. The conversation stayed light with silences that were comfortable rather than awkward, as they might have been. It wasn't until they were just a few minutes from her home that another odd thing happened.

Hojo had been slowly moving closer to her as they walked until his hand brushed hers with every swing of their arms. Kagome, while pretending not to notice, was highly aware of what he was doing. She knew that it was only a matter of time before his gathered his courage and took the next step.

The moment that his warm and just slightly damp fingers wrapped around hers, Kagome was swamped with a feeling of unease. His hand felt wrong surrounding hers, his palm too smooth, his grip too loose. It was all she could do to keep from pulling away in shock.

The sensation was unlike anything she had ever felt before and it sent a cold chill dancing up her spine. It was only with a high level of determination that she kept her steps even and her expression clear until they reached her front door. Her goodnight to Hojo was a bit distracted but he didn't seem to notice as he gave a little wave and disappeared back into the darkness.

Kagome slipped inside to find her mother sitting in the living room with an open book on her lap. Answering a few questions, she pleaded tiredness as soon as she could without being rude. Mrs. Higurashi smiled indulgently, obviously knowing that sleep wasn't the only thing sending Kagome to her room so early. Of course Kagome knew that Mrs. Higurashi couldn't know that it wasn't the date that she needed time to about but the strange moment that had come after.

Teeth brushed and pajamas on, Kagome sat on her bed, staring down at her hand. It looked the same as it always did, with the neatly trimmed nails with their coat of clear polish. She rubbed her palm with the opposite hand's fingertips and still the strange feeling from earlier didn't return.

She heaved a sigh and flopped onto her back. There was no way that she'd get a good night's sleep with this problem weighing on her mind. Almost unconsciously, her hand fisted at her side. Frowning slightly, she closed her eyes and thought back to the exact feeling that had knocked her so off balance. Maybe by focusing on the details of the moment, she would be able to make enough sense of it to put it out of her mind.

The grip should have been stronger, she thought, just short of painful in its intensity. Hojo's palm had also seemed too soft and smooth; she felt like it should have been rough, calloused from hard work, perhaps. The setting had seemed wrong as well. It shouldn't have been the way that it was, just holding hands for the sake of holding hands. There should have been a purpose behind it . . .a reason that proved a connection never spoken of in words . . .

She was surrounded by darkness, an absence of light so deep and heavy that she knew instantly that it wasn't natural. There were noises coming at her from all angles, too many overlapping and echoing for her to figure out exactly where they were coming from. She turned blindly in circles, her arms sweeping in wide arcs in search of something solid to aid her in getting her bearings. But everywhere that she could reach, there was nothing but emptiness to meet her questing fingertips.

"Kagome!" Kagome . . . Kagome . . .Kagome . . .Kagome . . .

Kagome turned so quickly that her hair slapped across her face, but she couldn't tell where her name was being called from. Her heart, already pounding so hard that she could feel the impact through her entire chest sped up even more. She was filled withadrenalin and urged on by a strong sense of urgency, knowing that time was an issue. The sooner she could get to where she needed to be, the better the chance for both survival and success. Her hand tightened forcefully as she started forward, imprinting the wood and string of the bow she carried onto her palm.

Grim determination filled her as she continued walking. The further she went, the clearer the sounds around her became. There was the slap of flesh meeting flesh, the heavy thud of bodies connecting with solid surfaces. She heard scattered clangs and scrapings of metal along with the helicopter like noise of the air being cut by a heavy, fast-moving object. But all of that was little more than background noise; her full attention was on the voices overlaying them. She winced at the grunts and groans, but it was the sound of a childish cry of pain that had her rushing forward with anger singing through her veins.

She came upon the light so suddenly that she was momentarily blinded by it. As much as she hated to waste even a second, she knew that she had to let her eyes adjust or risk walking into trouble. Squinting and blinking rapidly to hasten that transition, Kagome tried to focus on what she could hear. The sounds of the fight were much louder, letting her know that she had at least managed to find the thick of the action.

"Look out!"

Before she could even think about obeying the shouted warning, a hand latched onto her own with bruising force. She was yanked almost off her feet by it, which turned out to be a good thing. A split second after she was jerked to the side, something flew past her cheek on what seemed to be a blistering wave of heat. Her heart stuttered at the realization of what would have happened to her had she not been pulled out of the way.

She began to open her eyes, wanting to see for herself that she could, that she really was okay. But even as she urged her muscles to obey, her mind was stuck on the knowledge that she had come so close to injury or death . . .

Her eyes opened a crack, letting a bit of light through her lashes.

So close to death . . .

Her eyes opened further, revealing a bur of subtle movement and color.

So close . . .