Bec: Ok, well first of all, I want to thank my one reviewer!
moonmagicks, you are a legend:) I'm happy someone has at least let me now they've read it…and it makes me even happier to know you enjoyed it! #Bec lets out a sigh of relief that it wasn't a flame# Rin is mentioned in the last chapter, but I love her too, so you won't be disappointed…we'll see more of her, and very soon! And you wanted a list of names and grades…(sorry I forget that you guys don't know the things I do:p) Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Inu, Kikyou, Ayame, Kagura, Kanna, Kouga, Ginta, Hakkaku, Eri, Yuka, Ayumi, and Houjo are all in the 17/18 age group and are in second last year of school. Naraku is 25, Sess 21, and Rin 16 (However the latter two are still in the same year as the others) Apart from that…I don't think there's much else to say:p
Ok on with the…#Bec stops and silently fumes for a second, we hear a singsong voice chanting in the background# Who owns Inuyasha? Not Bec, not Bec…#Bec visibly tenses and her eyes flash momentarily…#
Now that's over maybe we CAN actually begin the story?
From Chapter 2...
'Sorry to disturb you, but do you mind if I sit here?'
Chapter 3Kagome flinched before then registering that the voice was feminine, she turned suddenly, to find Rin standing a little way behind her looking hopeful. Relieved it wasn't Kouga or Houjo, she nodded a yes. They sat together in silence for a while, both enjoying the fire and immersed in their own thoughts, then… 'Do they always do this?' Rin said in a quiet voice, which despite its volume did not lack strength.
Kagome glanced sideways at her, slightly confused by this question, only to be greeted with determined eyes staring into the flames. Eyes that were glazed with tears, threatening to spill at any moment…she also noticed that Rin seemed to be sporting a slight graze on her cheek. Rin seemed oblivious to both these things though, and her voice was still steady as she continued, 'I hoped this time it would be different.' Her voice had dropped to a whisper by the end, and Kagome had to strain to hear her. Kagome, still confused, didn't know how to respond, 'Different this time? Different from what?' she mentally shook herself as Rin turned to her, her unspilt tears glistening in the firelight. 'What did I do? Why do they have any right to search and ransack my tent?'
At this last statement Kagome's thoughts crystallised and her eyes hardened. So they'd chosen to exercise their 'powers' on Rin had they? 'Of course,' she thought bitterly, 'they wouldn't do anything to Ayame's things would they?' Sadly she now knew exactly what had happened…but how it had happened was more of a puzzle. Kikyou and crew, having finished their meals would have been looking for a way to exercise their 'power', as it was referred to…for some reason they seemed to have an unusual sway, and hold on most people…
'What better way than to terrorise the new girl?' Kagome thought disgusted, remembering all too well her own first day. As she stood she resigned herself to another fight, despite her polite and seemingly helpless exterior, she was tough and had no problems standing up for herself, or her friends. She wasn't easily intimidated either, but had no love of violence, or even verbal fights, and so avoided them when at all possible… 'Sometimes you just can't lie down though,' she thought, grimacing at the memory of her previous two fights with these particular girls.
-----Flash back----
The first had been on her first day at school, a stunt similar to this, trying to push her into line, make sure she would be a quiet little sheep, like the rest. They, trying to prove their non-existent superiority, had tried to make her move from a seat she had chosen in class (Maths to be exact). She could tell from the way they had moved they hadn't expected her to refuse, as if it was a given she would move. What had seemed to infuriate Kikyou all the more was the resemblance, in looks between them that some people had drawn attention to. It had seemed she was determined to show this particular 'new girl' the way things were done. What had happened next had surprised the trio; Kikyou had created an orb of her miko powers (which couldn't be seen by general populace, this is why they preferred it to the powers of the other two, which were visible on the normal human plane), as usual, and had prepared to strike. The blow would cause a small shock to the intended victim, and usually was all it took to get them scurrying away. However as the pale pink had snaked towards Kagome and reared to strike it was absorbed by a white shield, which flickered into view only as it absorbed the shock, and left Kagome without a scratch. Kagome was still sitting there, looking out of the window. The trio were in shock, and had had to resort to something less subtle. They soon found Kagome could also hold her own in a fight (which had resulted from them overturning her desk), which unnerved them somewhat…from that moment on the enmity was born. Little did she know what had most unnerved them was the fact that she seemed totally unaware of her powers. The glowing shield, only visible momentarily, had been that of a powerful miko. Kikyou was worried, if Kagome ever gained knowledge of her powers, she would be even more powerful than Kikyou herself…the power to cloak your powers only came with the most powerful of miko powers, and white was a colour she had never seen before. Kikyou however was not worried; Kagome appeared to have no knowledge of Mikos, or demons…so all was well.
It had been reinforced when Kagome had intervened on their terrorism of some first years during the previous year, something that had hither to then been unheard of…no one could stand up to their strange 'powers'. When questioned about it Kagome had become confused, saying only that she didn't know of any powers they had, and had stated it seemed to simply be a matter of showing them you weren't afraid of them.
-----Present----
She looked over at Rin and thought she didn't seem one to give up easily, or be intimidated either. The determination in her eyes gave her away, 'so what's the issue here? I feel like I'm missing something.' Pushing that to the side of her mind, she smiled at the younger girl. 'Shall we make them rue their invasion of your privacy, and regain your tent?'
She left the fireside with Rin in tow and headed to the tent…distinctive by its 'honour guard' of Kagura and Kanna flanking the entrance. At the sight of her their faces hardened. As if in response to some telepathic connection, Kikyou chose this moment to emerge from the tent with Ayame, a sneer firmly in place. 'Well look who it is,' she commented, and then turned to Rin, 'I honestly didn't think you'd go running to someone, I didn't take you for a tattler.' She said viciously. Rin stared determinedly back. 'It seems you have missed our point…' Kikyou smiled and pulled out what appeared to be an old piece of paper. 'Look what I happened to find in your tent,' she taunted. Kagome looked closely and saw it was actually a photo, although years old by the looks of it. She couldn't quite see the image, and there also appeared to be some writing on the back. 'There was nothing worth out time in there, so we thought we'd have this instead…' Kikyou's voice rang through the silence, as Kagome was trying to understand what was going on. Rin's eyes widened, and her face turned pale, she suddenly looked as if she had seen something terrible, and she started to tremble. It seemed as if there was a totally different girl standing before them. Kagome moved towards Kikyou threateningly, to try and put an end to this situation quickly, a look of annoyance crossed Kikyou's features and she held up the picture and made as if to tear it. Rin cried out, and stepped forward, then appeared to not quite know what to do. 'Please,' her voice was strained and hoarse, 'can I have that picture back, you don't understand…' her voice trailed off abruptly as she saw Kikyou's look of vindictive pleasure and heard the unmistakable sound of tearing. 'No!' she cried, crumpling to the ground. Kagome and Kikyou both looked down at her as her eyes glazed over. Kagome looked at Kikyou, her rage flaring, 'You hand me that picture now,' she said quietly in a dangerous voice. 'And if I don't?' Kikyou replied taking a step back to give herself more room. Kagome didn't answer, she looked quickly at Rin, from whose eyes were now flowing tears. She seemed oblivious to what was going on, in a complete world of her own. Her unseeing eyes missing the glance sent her way.
Kagome took a breath, and turned back to Kikyou, 'You will pay.' She replied, keeping her simmering anger in check. Kikyou held up the half torn photo, 'come any closer and I'll finish the job.' She smiled icily over at Kagome, who stood for a second, utterly confused, and not liking the situation one bit, she was stuck in the middle of something she didn't understand.
Bec: Well, that's it for today folks…tune in next time to find out what the photo is all about (if you can't guess:p) And also to see things get a little more complicated…:) Let me know if you're around and reading! ;)
