Chapter Two, Recognization
Inuyasha was his usual, grumpy self this morning. He swore and snapped at everyone who tried to talk to him. Although he denied it, everyone knew what was going on in his head. Inuyasha had not been in a good mood ever since Kagome died. No matter how much they argued, they still loved each other and Inuyasha knew it. Of course, being his usual, stubborn, stupid self the hanyou refused to show it. But the truth was, he missed Kagome. Not long after she died he realized that the girl had a special place in his heart no one else could replace, not even Kikyo. On the outside, he was his usual, ornery self. But underneath all his transparent lies, sorrow and grief are slowly devouring him from within. Sometimes, under the starry night sky, when he was by himself, he would even allow a few drops of tears to run down his cheek and regretting that he never showed how he truly felt for Kagome. And now, he might never…
But there was still a chance, there's still a chance, Inuyasha kept reminding himself. He must follow Kaede's instructions and find Kagome's reincarnation. But there would always be a small, ugly voice that reminded him of his fears: Would things be the same? After all, the reincarnation could be someone totally different. And would she be able to love him back? There's a good chance that she wouldn't even remember who he was. At those moments, Inuyasha would quickly wave those thoughts aside, ignoring them. Or he would dismiss his feelings for Kagome as foolishness altogether.
"Miroku, get up you big bozou!" Inuyasha shouted. It's almost eleven o'clock in the morning and the lazy monk was still in bed. "Do you think there's something wrong with him?" Sango asked, she tried to hide the worry in her voice, but her eyes betrayed her emotion. Inuyasha smiled one of his rare smiles. He remembered how Kagome used to set them up all the time. But both Sango and Miroku had been extremely dense. Then he remembered, Kagome… Sango leaned down to examine a (seemingly) sleeping Miroku. Inuyasha was almost surprised when… "Can't you get your mind off of it you pervert!" Sango slapped Miroku one of her hardest and most painful slaps. Any person with an IQ larger than his shoe size could figure out what happened. That ought to wake him up pretty quick, Inuyasha thought. "Come on, we got to get to the well! And this time I have to find something to cover up my ears." "Yeah, and maybe this time we won't find a frightened passer-by calling the, what did he call it? Dog shelter," teased Miroku. "SHUT UP, Miroku," Inuyasha gave the unfortunate monk a punch in the head.
They met up with the priestess Kaede at the village. Shippo was complaining all the way there about how he's not allowed to go until Lady Kaede gave him a sweet bun. Kaede then reminded them of all the precautions they must take before going to Kagome's era. Inuyasha wondered for a second if Kaede knows a bit too much about Kagome's era, considering she's never been there before, but didn't say anything about it, he was eager to start off today's search.
Fifteen minutes later, they were on the streets of Tokyo, continuing their search for the reincarnation of their friend. "Dear Sango," Miroku said, still with a red mark on the side of his face, "I'm so glad that you have concern for me." Sango ignored him. People on the streets were staring, as usual. She had almost gotten used to it. Almost. They could wear clothes from this world to blend in better, she thought, but Inuyasha insisted they wear clothes from Sengoku Jidai, or the Warring States Era. Although he didn't say it, Sango knew he wanted Kagome's reincarnation to recognize them once they find her.
After a long and weary search, the gang were ready to go back to the other side of the well. Miroku good-heartedly reminded Inuyasha that they had to consult Lady Kaede as soon as they return. But Inuyasha punched him in the head and shouted that he remembers. Though he didn't say it, Inuyasha always had a feeling that Lady Kaede knew more than she should. But what it was that she knew, he couldn't tell.
It's the late afternoon and the gang was going towards the shrine. Sango and Miroku kept silent. They knew that every time Inuyasha was near the shrine he became sad and sullen with the memories of Kagome. The Higurashi family moved away from the shrine they had lived in for generations after Kagome's death and Kagome's grandfather had tried to seal the well with his (useless) sutras. Inuyasha knew the old shrine and the Sacred Tree had a special place in their hearts, yet they moved away. Maybe the memory was too painful for them to bear, too.
Miroku was just about to break the intense silence when Inuyasha suddenly turned around and started sniffing. "What's the matter, Inuyasha?" he inquired, knowing something was afoot. His first reaction was that they encountered demons, but then realized that there weren't a lot of demons in this world. Besides, Inuyasha didn't take out his Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha ignored him and continued sniffing. Then, an idea dawned him, could this be what they waited for? Miroku followed Inuyasha's intense gaze and saw a girl standing not far from them. The image hit him hard. The resemblance was uncanny, he thought. The girl had medium length black hair that almost appeared as reddish-brown when the sun shone on it. Her eyes were big, they appear to be black with brown, just like Kagome's, but were also mixed in with a bit of green. She was wearing a kind of clothing Kagome called "school uniform". In fact, they were just like Kagome's except hers was white and brown, while Kagome's had green skirt and collar. Wow, if there was a reincarnation, then it must her, thought Miroku. Then he saw the look of alarm that darted across Inuyasha's face and suddenly noticed the differences. Certainly this girl looked and felt like Kagome, but there was something, or rather SOMEONE else, there, too.
Ai felt the intense and focused stare the boy in the red kimono gave her and was a little bit uncomfortable, she never had boys staring at her like that before. But it happened today, twice! What's going on? Curiosity took over as she gathered enough courage to look at him right in the eye. What she found there astounded her. There was recognization, happiness, longing, fear, pain, and even love in those eyes. Ai knew that to be able to feel all those things about a person you have to know that person for a long time. But they had just met, how could it be? Do I know this person? She searched her brain for the memory of a boy with silver hair and dog ears, but finding none. Instead she had the strangest feeling of déjà vu.
Ai became alarmed as the boy tried to reach out to her. She wanted to run away as fast as possible, but a part of her told her to stay right where she was. "Kagome," the boy called out. Kagome, he must've mistaken me for someone else, Ai came to the conclusion, in spite of the fact that her own déjà vu remained unexplained. The boy's next move astounded her even further. Without saying another word, he grabbed her sleeve and pulled her into his arms. Ai was so shocked that she didn't know how to react, and when she came to her senses, she tried to protest, but the boy held her even tighter. Ai felt herself tense up as he buried his head in her silky hair, sniffing, and enjoying, her scent. Ai knew she must stop this at once. She opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by his lips pressing against hers.
"WHAT are you doing?" Ai yelled, placing her hands on his chest and pushed him as hard as she could. The boy lost his footing and stumbled, but quickly regained his balance. "What was that for?" he yelled back. Ai stared at him, wide eyed: he just kissed me for no reason and now he's demanding an answer from me? "You are such a jerk! We are perfect strangers and you KISSED me! And now you are asking me why I pushed you away? Be reasonable." Ai said angrily. But her anger was soon subdued when a look of sadness darted across the boy's face. "So you don't remember," he said softly, "I wish I had mistaken you for someone else, but I now know for sure that you are who I'm looking for. The way you smelled, the way you felt, and the way you yelled and pushed me away. It's all so like her." "So, you loved her?" Ai asked. "I love you," he said, looking at her right in the eye, "I won't repeat my mistakes Kagome, I'll help you remember."
Ai couldn't think of any replies. But even if she did, she would never gotten the chance to answer because right at that moment, she felt a gust of wind brushing past her and the next thing she knew, she was yanked out of the boy's arms and was now carried in a very awkward position by a tall boy with long coat, jewelries, and flaming red hair.
Ai was at first shocked at the boy's speed but quickly reacted. She examined her position: she was being swung across the boy's shoulders and he held both her arms and her legs. This could be tricky, she thought. She used her only available weapon, her teeth, and bit his neck. "Aww!" he yelled in pain, immediately slowed down. As soon as she felt his grip weaken, she yanked out her right hand and hit him in the base of his skull with her elbow, knocking him unconscious. She jumped down, and saw the boy in the red kimono already caught up to them. Wow, he's fast too. "Are you okay?" he inquired with concern. "I'm fine, but I don't know about him, though." The boy grinned, showing his fangs. Ai gasped. "What?" "Y-you have fangs!" "So do a lot of people," he said with a smirk, "now lets get this guy out of the way." He was just about to kick him aside when someone yelled from behind, "Stop!" They turned around, and Ai let out a low "oh-oh." It's the group from this morning. Then she remembered that the boy with red hair was part of the group. Now I'm in big trouble, she thought. But instead of attacking her, the people in the group just stood there and gawked at her. Finally, one of them spoke,
"Miaka? Is that you?"
Ai doesn't know what she felt at that moment. First Kagome, now Miaka? Ai was struck numb as a tall guy with a short ponytail ran to her and took her into his arms. Ai felt anger rising inside her. Was this some sort of sick joke? Ai had never been popular with boys and never wanted to be. Right now she just wanted these people to leave her alone. She bent her leg and hit the boy in the stomach with her knee. The boy stumbled but quickly recovered. "What's matter?" he asked, trying to grab her arm. Ai ignored him and swung a punch at him, he dodged with amazing agility and speed. This guy's good, Ai thought. She then quickly got down and did a spin kick. The boy jumped away.
Ai noticed everyone present was staring at her but she didn't care. All she could feel was the red-hot anger inside her. "I don't know what's with you people," she said loudly, "but if anyone try to touch me again, he will be sorry!" The second she finished saying this she felt a hand on her butt. "Okay, I warned ya!"
Sango was holding a bucket of water, beside her was Inuyasha. They were both standing over an unconscious Miroku. Sango poured the water onto his face and after five seconds, he stirred and woke up.
"Miroku, when will you ever learn?" Inuyasha said impatiently, Sango just gave him a cold stare. "Just promise me you will not ask her to bear your child, would ya monk?" Miroku just nodded, too dazed to argue.
"Man, I've never seen her fight like this before," Inuyasha observed. Then he noticed one of the guys from the other gang turned around to look at him. "You know her?" said the guy with the blue Mohawk. "Why do you need to know?" he snapped. "You see," the blue-haired monk said hesitantly, seemingly thinking of which part of the story should he tell him, "we suspected her to be the reincarnation of our priestess and we need her to continue our mission." "WHAT?" Inuyasha shouted, "YOUR PRIESTESS? She's the reincarnation of Kagome!" "Kagome. Is she also a priestess?" he asked. Inuyasha nodded. "Well that's funny…" "Why don't we just ask her?" a lady with purple braid said.
Now all eyes were on Ai, demanding an answer. Ai felt nervous as sweat dripped down her neck. "No, you are mistaken," she said, looking at the ground, "I'm no priestess." After this, she turned around and walked away, oblivious to the disappointed glances of the people behind her.
